Looking for the best St. Patrick’s Day books for preschool? Check out our favorites!
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COUNTDOWN TO ST. PATRICK’S DAY
As soon as Valentine’s Day is over, I’m ready to move on to all of the fun preschool spring activities & holidays, including St. Patrick’s Day, Easter, and Earth Day!
Here are some great St. Patrick’s Day books for preschool that you can use in your classroom or at home with your own littles.
This book list includes both fiction and nonfiction books, plus I’ve included a snack idea (we love storytime snacks!) and a FREE letter sounds activity.
These are our absolute favorites & they’re sure to be a hit with your little learners!
Want to see all our favorite St. Patrick’s Day activities? Check out this post!
ST. PATRICK’S DAY BOOKS FOR PRESCHOOL
The Littlest Leprechaun: This book is part of “The Littlest” series of books that we love! In this story, Liam is looking for a big important job, but he feels too little to do anything. When he finds a unicorn stuck in the forest, Liam’s size makes him the perfect leprechaun to help save the day!
A Dublin Fairytale: Out of all the books on the list, this one is the most special to me because it is from Ireland! My husband and I took a trip to Ireland a few years ago, and we picked up A Dublin Fairytale for our daughter. This book is a reimagining of “Little Red Riding Hood.” It tells the story of a girl named Fiona who travels across Dublin and sees some of the most iconic parts of the city (and meets some very interesting characters along the way!) Even though it’s not exactly a “St. Patrick’s Day” book, I still love to read it at this time of year because of its connection to Ireland!
There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Clover: Little ones love the silly “There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a….” books, and this one follows the same pattern! It has silly rhymes such as, “There was an old lady who swallowed a clover. I don’t know why she swallowed the clover but she didn’t roll over.” The repetition in this book is great for building memory skills, and the illustrations are sure to make any little one laugh!
Ten Lucky Leprechauns: This is the absolute cutest book! Not only does it rhyme, but it helps your little one practice counting leprechauns from one to ten. The illustrations are fun and colorful, and the leprechauns learn that friends make you even luckier than a pot of gold!
Jack and the Leprechaun: This book tells the story of Jack Mouse, who goes to visit his family in Ireland for a special St. Patrick’s Day party. One day, Jack is in the woods looking for shamrocks, when he stumbles upon Liam the Leprechaun. If he catches Liam, he’ll get his pot of gold! Can Jack catch Liam, or will Liam escape?
S is for Shamrock: This is a fun Irish-themed alphabet book…each letter of the alphabet is used to explain something about Ireland. A is for “Ancient Ireland,” B is for “Blarney Stone,” C is for “Claddagh Ring,” and D is for “Dublin.” I learned so much from this book! There is a lot of text on each page, so I wouldn’t recommend reading this all at once.
St. Patrick’s Day: This story tells about a boy’s experience on St. Patrick’s Day at school. In his class, all of the students wore green, Kate played the fiddle while they danced to Irish music, and they learned about St. Patrick and many Irish tales. Not everyone in school is Irish, but they can all celebrate St. Patrick’s Day together!
Three Ways to Trap a Leprechaun: This book is adorable and so much fun for kids! Claire wants to prove to her little brother, Sam, that leprechauns are real, so she works hard to trap a leprechaun named Finn. She makes three different traps, and she finally catches him…but then he magically disappears! In the end, Sam is excited to help Claire trap other magical creatures now that he knows leprechauns are real. There’s also a section in the back with directions for how you can make your very own leprechaun trap.
Happy St. Patrick’s Day, Curious George: This is a fun board book for toddlers and preschoolers alike! It has tabs they can use to open the different sections of the book, and it features the beloved character Curious George learning all about St. Patrick’s Day traditions. There is a lot of text on each page, so it’s better to be read one section at a time (as opposed to all at once).
How to Catch a Leprechaun: We love the “How to Catch A…” series of books, and this one is just as clever! It’s the night before St. Patrick’s Day, and the leprechaun is running through town, causing messes and trouble! He carefully avoids traps set in each of the houses he visits while turning toilets green, pulling shoelaces out of shoes, and putting glitter everywhere! Will someone be able to design the perfect trap to capture him?!
A Pot O’ Gold: This book is a collection of Irish stories, poetry, folklore, and of course…blarney! My daughter loves flipping through this book and reading a few stories at a time (it’s 182 pages long, so there are quite a lot to choose from!)
St. Patrick and the Three Brave Mice: According to legends, St. Patrick drove all of the snakes out of Ireland with the sound of his bells. In this story, one snake remained in Ireland, cleverly sneaking the bell out of St. Patrick’s hands while he slept. Luckily, one mouse saw this happen, and she and her two brothers steal the bell back from the snake, and St. Patrick is able to drive the final snake out of Ireland, once and for all.
Shannon and World’s Tallest Leprechaun: I absolutely LOVE this story! It has the most amazing message about believing in yourself and realizing that you already have everything you need to accomplish your dreams. When Shannon is feeling worried that she won’t do well in her Irish dancing competition, she counts backward in Gaelic to summon a leprechaun to grant her three wishes. But this leprechaun (who is almost 6 feet tall!) doesn’t just give her what she wants…he shows her that she already has everything she needs, and he helps her believe in herself. It’s such a sweet book that reminds all of us that we don’t have to look a certain way or have certain things to be successful, we just need to believe in ourselves!
The Leprechaun’s Gold: In this classic Irish legend, two harpists (Old Pat and Young Tom) both head off for a harp competition in Ireland. When Young Tom realizes that Old Pat is the better musician, he schemes to be the winner…but a mischievous little leprechaun is there to make sure the best musician actually wins the competition!
Too Many Leprechauns: This is such a clever book that tells the story of how leprechaun gold ended up at the bottom of the rainbow! In a small town in Ireland, leprechauns can be heard making shoes at all hours of the day and night, and nobody can sleep! When an Irishman named Finn returns home to the small town, he comes up with a plan to trick the leprechauns into leaving the town forever.
The Leprechaun Who Lost His Rainbow: This is a cute story about a girl named Colleen and a leprechaun named Roy G. Biv. When Mr. Biv tells Colleen that he’s lost his rainbow, she helps him make a new one by giving him items that correspond to the colors of the rainbow…red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. Once she does, a rainbow appears and clears up the rainclouds, which allows Colleen’s grandfather to play his bagpipes in the annual St. Patrick’s Day parade.
Leprechauns Never Lie: Ninny Nanny and Gram live in a small house in Ireland, and they are not doing well. Their roof is broken, their rain barrel is empty, and their potatoes need digging. Instead of doing the work, Ninny Nanny decides to catch a leprechaun to steal his pot of gold. She catches one right away, and he keeps telling her where he hid the gold…only once she digs in that area, the gold isn’t there. But while searching, she and Gram fix the roof, fill the rain barrel, and dig the potatoes. So even though they don’t get the gold, they get everything they truly need.
Celebrating St. Patrick’s Day: Including nonfiction books for each holiday is so important so our little ones understand why we celebrate & how we celebrate each one. This book is a great nonfiction book all about St. Patrick’s Day. There are only a few sentences per page, and the photographs are large and colorful. This book also includes a craft idea at the back to make your own Green Flowers.
Festivals: St. Patrick’s Day: We love this nonfiction book series from Bullfrog Books that highlights different holidays around the world. This version is all about St. Patrick’s Day and goes over what it is, why we celebrate it, and how it’s celebrated. I also love the color photographs!
If you’re looking for spring-themed books, check out this post!
ST. PATRICK’S DAY SNACK RECIPE
Want to pair your St. Patrick’s Day books with a sweet treat? Try this recipe from Sweet C Designs! This recipe is a variation of the classic Rice Krispie Treats recipe (which we made for Valentine’s Day HERE!)
These Lucky Charms treats are super delicious, plus they’re easy to make & guaranteed to add some luck to your holiday celebration!
ST. PATRICK’S DAY FREEBIE
Need a fun St. Patrick’s Day freebie to use with your preschoolers? Then make sure you download this FREE St. Patrick’s Day Letter Sounds activity. Click here to read more about it and grab a copy for your kiddos!
ST. PATRICK’S DAY MATH & LITERACY PRINTABLES
I hope this book list helped you fill-in your St. Patrick’s Day lesson plans for your preschool classroom or homeschool. If you want an entire pack of printable math & literacy centers for this theme, check out my St. Patrick’s Day Activity Pack.
SHARE YOUR FAVORITES
Do you have any favorite St. Patrick’s Day books for preschool? I’d love to hear them and add them to our list! Comment below or head over to Instagram [@littleslovelearningblog] and share there!
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Looking for more St. Patrick’s Day ideas? Click here for all of our St. Patrick’s Day posts!
Looking for other preschool themes? Check out all of our THEMES organized from A-Z!
Happy Learning!
