Looking for Nocturnal Animals books for your preschool theme? Check out our favorites!
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BOOK LIST: NOCTURNAL ANIMALS BOOKS
One great theme to use in your preschool classroom or at home with your little ones is NOCTURNAL ANIMALS.
Preschoolers love learning about nocturnal animals since they’re so unique & different, and it’s a great theme to use in the fall (especially if you don’t celebrate Halloween).
Keep reading to check out some of our favorite Nocturnal Animals books for preschool that you’ll definitely want to read to your little ones…plus I’ve included a freebie and a snack idea to make these books come alive!
Looking for Nocturnal Animals activities to go along with these books? Check these out!
NOCTURNAL ANIMALS BOOKS FOR PRESCHOOL
Flashlight: This is a fun, detailed picture book that depicts our nocturnal friends, plus some diurnal friends as well. This book is the perfect book to explore with your littles and let their imagination roam!
Bats at the Library: Join the free-for-all fun at the public library with these book-loving bats! This happy book is great for your child, as they will learn to love reading and appreciate libraries.
Little Owl’s Night: It’s evening in the forest and Little Owl wakes up from his day-long sleep to watch his friends enjoying the night. A full moon rises, and Little Owl can’t understand why anyone would want to miss it. Could the daytime be nearly as wonderful?
After Dark: When the sun goes down, many animals come out. This collection of twenty-two poems explores the lives of these nocturnal animals. This poetry, along with the beautiful illustrations, will draw in your little readers.
Hedgehog: Winter is coming, and the animals need homes. Hedgehog, however, is not interested in sharing his hedge…he wants everyone to stay out! But will this experience teach Hedgehog to learn to share? This book is great for littles to teach them the value of sharing with others.
Hello, Moon: When the sun goes down and most of us are getting ready for bed, the nighttime animals of the forest all wake up to the light of the moon. This gentle book is great for little ones, teaching rhyming schemes and patterns for them to read.
The Very Quiet Cricket: One day, a little cricket is born and meets a big cricket who chirps his welcome. But the little cricket cannot make a sound. The cricket meets many insects, but it isn’t until he meets a beautiful female cricket that he can finally chirp “hello!” This book can be used to teach perseverance and grit, as the cricket never gave up and found success in the end.
The Very Lonely Firefly: Oh no! This little firefly is all on its own and goes into the night to find other fireflies. Your littles will enjoy this classic and heartwarming story of a very lonely firefly who finally finds the friends he is seeking and finds where he belongs.
Night Animals: What’s making noise out in the dark? Nocturnal animals, of course! Children will love the funny animals in this twist on a cozy bedtime book.
The Midnight Library: When we are fast asleep in bed, the Midnight Library opens its doors to all the nocturnal animals. Inside the library, the little librarian and her three assistant owls help each and every animal find the perfect book. Your child will enjoy this beautiful book about the joy of reading and the importance of libraries.
The Night World: Nighttime looks quite different than what we’re used to during the day! Follow along with the characters as they explore the nighttime world and see nocturnal animals scurrying about until sunrise.
Walter’s Wonderful Web: Follow Walter the Spider, as he weaves sturdy webs to hold up against the strong wind. This book is a great way to teach about shapes.
Secret Pizza Party: This book is by the same author as Dragons Love Tacos and Robo-Sauce, so you know it’s going to be hilarious! Both of my own kids love this one! Raccoon LOVES pizza, but someone is always chasing him away from his favorite food with a broom. What’s a hungry raccoon to do? Plan an elaborate secret pizza party, of course! This book will definitely be a hit with your little ones.
Night Animals Need Sleep Too: It’s daytime and the nocturnal animals are all sleeping soundly except for Possum. His friends try to help him, but the more they help, the more animals they wakes up. Will any of these nocturnal animals find a good day’s rest?
The Big Wide-Mouthed Frog: Travel along with this big wide-mouthed frog as he meets all kinds of new friends and discovers what they eat…even the frog-eating crocodile!
Itsy Bitsy Spider (Sign and Singalong): You know and love this classic rhyme! Help your little ones develop a basic sign vocabulary by singing this familiar nursery rhyme while signing along!
NOCTURNAL ANIMALS BOOKS FOR PRESCHOOL
Stellaluna: Stellaluna is a baby fruit bat who’s knocked away from her mother by an attacking owl. Stellaluna lands in a bird’s nest and is adopted by the family living there. How will Stellaluna adapt to this new way of life? This book also includes factual information about bats at the end of the story.
Hooray for Today! When the moon is up, Owl is wide awake and ready to play with his friends. But everyone says, “Not now! I’m sleepy!” Owl’s playdate gets lonely fast as each friend turns her away…but at sunrise, Owl gets a friendly surprise!
Owl Moon: This classic, award-winning book had to make the list of nocturnal animal books for preschoolers! Late one winter night, a little girl and her father go owling. Whoo-whoo-whoo, the father calls to the owl. Will they find one before they head home?
Diary of a Spider: This book is by one of our favorite authors, Doreen Cronin. I created activities to go along with her other book, Giggle Giggle Quack, which you can see here. This is the diary of a spider who’s a lot like our own kids. He has gym class and celebrates holidays at school. But he also spins sticky webs, scales walls, and takes wind-catching lessons!
The Croaky Pokey: In this play on “The Hokey Pokey,” an unsuspecting fly suggests to a group of musical frogs that it’s time to do the Croaky Pokey. But will the fly figure out that these frogs are really after some lunch?! This book is perfect to get your little ones up and moving!
The Very Busy Spider: A spider is spinning a web and won’t let herself get distracted by any of the animals on the farm. By the end of the book, she’s able to catch a fly for breakfast! This book is perfect for your little ones to practice farm animal sounds and sequencing.
Owl Babies: This story is about three baby owls who wake one night to find their mother gone. They are very anxious and worried, but of course their mother comes back. This sweet tale teaches our little ones that mom always comes back home.
Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star: This is a beautifully-illustrated version of the classic song “Twinkle Twinkle, Little Star,” that is a must for any theme on nocturnal animals.
The Kissing Hand: School is starting in the forest, but Chester Raccoon does not want to go. To help ease Chester’s fears, Mrs. Raccoon teaches him about “The Kissing Hand” to reassure him of her love any time his world feels a little scary. This book is a great for the beginning of the school year or anytime your little one feels anxious. *If you love this book, check out these activities we’ve paired with it to bring it to life!*
Chester Raccoon and the Big Bad Bully: When Mrs. Raccoon learns that there is a bullying problem at school, she decides to investigate the situation. But after seeing the bully for herself, she shares a story with the animals to help them see the bully in a different way. This book encourages children to understand that many bullies are themselves unhappy and gives readers a good example of settling differences in a peaceful way.
Chester Raccoon and the Almost Perfect Sleepover: Chester joins his friends for a fun-filled play date. But when the animals decide to bed down, Chester can’t go to sleep because he misses his own home. When Chester returns home, Mrs. Raccoon reassures him that his home is always there when he needs it.
Owl Sees Owl: With just three or four words per page, this story follows a baby owl one night as he leaves the safety of his nest and explores the world around him. After being startled by his own reflection, Owl heads back home until he is safe with family again.
Owl Bat, Bat Owl: This wordless picture book tells the story of a mother owl and her three little owlets who live happily on their branch…until the bat family moves in. Can these two families come together and learn to get along?
Five Green and Speckled Frogs: This sing-and-read book is beautifully illustrated by Constanza Basluzzo. Your little ones will love singing along with these frogs as they hop into their cool pool and eat their yummy bugs. YUM YUM!!
Mouse Count: How many mice are in the meadow? This is a fun counting book for our littles to work on counting and number recognition as well as finding out how these mice will outsmart a hungry snake!
Out of Sight Till Tonight: The character from The Cat in the Hat (Cat, Sally, and Dick) visit with nocturnal animals and learn about their special adaptations for surviving in the dark. This book is a great way to introduce your beginning readers into science.
Owl Diaries: Eva’s Treetop Festival: Owl Diaries is an illustrated beginning chapter book series that’s perfect for young readers. This is book #1 in the series, but there are MANY more books that you can see here (we have them all!). Eva is the author of the diary, and she gets into lots of shenanigans with her best friend Lucy. This is a great option if you want to introduce chapter books to your preschoolers.
NONFICTION NOCTURNAL ANIMALS BOOKS FOR PRESCHOOL
Raccoons: This fun and very informative book examines raccoons, including their habitats, physical characteristics, behaviors, relationships with humans, and their hunted status in the world today.
Hedgehogs: This book teachers readers all about hedgehogs, including how they use their senses to hunt prey and what their daily life is like. Other facts include how they interact with each other and humans.
Wolves: This book teachers readers all about wolves, including their habitats, characteristics, species, and more. This book is a great introduction to science-based reading.
Bats: Biggest! Littlest! How does being big help one kind of bat? How does being little help another kind? Sometimes these extremes offer the key to survival. All of these questions and more will be answered in this book, which includes stunning photographs.
Frogs: Gail Gibbons is a wonderful nonfiction children’s author, and this book has so much frog information for your little ones. They’ll be especially fascinated with the frog’s life cycle and how they start out as tiny tadpoles. Science vocabulary is introduced, defined, and reinforced with kid-friendly language and clear illustrations.
Foxes After Dark: Learn interesting facts about foxes in this book, which are paired with beautiful pictures of all kinds of foxes. For an added bonus there are safety tips at the end, which would come in handy if you ever find yourself around a fox.
NOCTURNAL ANIMALS SNACK
Want to pair one of your Nocturnal Animals preschool books with a fun snack? Try these Spider Oreos! Your preschooler is sure to enjoy making (and eating!) these creepy-crawly creatures. You can read more about them in this post!
ANIMAL ALPHABET FREEBIE
If you’re working on teaching letter names and sounds to your preschoolers, you definitely want this FREE Animal Alphabet! Your preschoolers will learn the name of each letter, the sound that letter represents, and an animal that begins with that letter sound. (They can also look to see if any of these animals are nocturnal!)
Click HERE to see how I use these Animal Alphabet cards (along with sign language) to teach the alphabet to my students.
This activity (along with all of our freebies!) can be downloaded from the Free Activity Library. If you’re already a member of our email community, you can click HERE to head to the Free Activity Library, enter your password (it’s on your most current email from me), and download your copy!
If you’d like to join our email community & receive the password as my way of saying THANK YOU for joining, you can click HERE to subscribe. Once you enter your information, the password will be emailed to you within minutes.
NOCTURNAL ANIMALS MATH & LITERACY PRINTABLES
I hope this book list helped you fill-in your Nocturnal Animals 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 Nocturnal Animals Preschool Activity Pack.
SHARE YOUR FAVORITES
Do you have any favorite Nocturnal Animals books for preschool? I’d love to hear them and add them to our list! Comment below or find me on Instagram [@littleslovelearningblog].
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Looking for other book lists for preschool and kindergarten? Click HERE to check them out!
Happy Learning!