Dory and Nemo are so cute and fun. Preschoolers and grownups both love these two fish! I created free stick puppet templates of them for children to make. I love stick puppets because they are so easy for preschoolers to make and hold, and are lend themselves well to creative play. Print off my free Dory and Nemo stick puppets craft template and make your own stick puppets and create lots of fun adventures for Dory and Nemo.
craft stick (I used the jumbo sized craft, but the skinnier one should work just fine)
How To:
This Dory and Nemo stick puppet craft is pretty quick and easy. Print the template — it is a free, downloadable PDF. Color your fish and then cut them out following the dotted circle outlines. Next glue or tape a craft stick to the back of each picture. Once they are dry, let the puppet play begin!
More Crafts
Do you like puppets? My son and I think puppets are a lot of fun! We’ve made quite a few together. Check out some more of our puppet ideas:
Flounders are kind of funny looking fish because you can see both of their eyes at the same time while they are sideways; it makes them look smushed. My son saw a flounder at the aquarium and was intrigued by this weird looking fish. So when I suggested we do a fish art project, he wanted to make a paper plate flounder craft.
Supplies Needed:
– 1 paper plate
-scissors
-stapler (optional)
-glue stick
-tissue paper squares (about 1 inch x 1 inch)
– large googly eyes
-(optional glitter glue)
How To:
-To make your fish, have your child cut out a triangle from the paper plate. This makes it look like the fish’s mouth is open. My son loves being able to use scissors, so he liked this craft.
-Staple the triangle to the back of fish to make a tail. You can always glue the tail on, but then you have to wait for it to dry.
-Now it’s time to decorate the fish! Using the glue stick, glue tissue squares all over the plate to make the fish’s scales.
-Finish your fish by adding googly eyes.
My son thought it needed some sparkle, so he added blue glitter-glue polka dots to his fish.
Ready to learn about narwhals? These whales are fascinating! While often nicknamed the unicorn of the sea, narwhals don’t actually have a horn. They have a long tooth that sticks out, which looks like unicorn’s horn. Narwhals live in the icy northern waters with many other interesting, snow-loving animals. Here are 6 fantastic narwhal stories to share with your preschooler to learn more about these whales.
The ocean is full of musical sea creatures! Wendell the narwhal wants to make music too, but he can’t clap, pop, go tweedly dee, or whoosh like the other creatures. While they are making music together, Wendell is feeling sad and like he doesn’t belong. One of the jellyfish comes up with a great way to include Wendell in the musical fun — Wendell can be the conductor! His tusk is perfect for leading the undersea musicians. Now everyone is in harmony and Wendell is happily taking part in the lovely symphony.
Is it a unicorn or a narwhal? A young unicorn named Kelp lives under the sea with a group of narwhals. Kelp feels like he doesn’t quite belong under the sea. One day, he meets a bunch of unicorns on land and they are just like him! These unicorns teach him all kinds of cool unicorn stuff. So while being with unicorns is awesome, Kelp misses his narwhal family. He returns home to tell them that he is actually a unicorn, not a narwhal. His family knew that the whole time, but it didn’t stop them from loving him! In a beautiful display of love, family, and friendship the narwhals and the unicorns all get together at beach where Kelp can be with everyone at the same time. Preschoolers will love the beautiful illustrations throughout this book.
3. I’m a Narwhal (Little Golden Books) by Mallory Loehr–
Little Golden Books keeps coming out with super cute book! Your preschooler will love this narwhal book. It has adorable illustrations and is packed with interesting information about these mysterious whales. Read this one together and learn all about the narwhal’s tusk, its habitat, and its family.
This series of finger puppet board books is so much fun to read with your preschooler! My family has several and they keep coming out with more. The baby narwhal puppet is adorable and the short story will keep your child engaged. Explore the icy ocean with baby narwhal and learn what activities narwhals like, the sounds this whale makes, and who is in this baby’s family.
A young narwhal goes off adventuring in the ocean and ends up lost. Where is it’s pod? There are no narwhals to be seen, but the little narwhal does find a pod of beluga whales. This book does a great job at explaining the differences between the whales, as well as their similarities. In a lovely, rhyming take about acceptance and overcoming differences, the little narwhal makes new friends and sets a good example for young children. I love that the book introduces the readers to other animals that live in the northern, icy waters. The book , based on a true story, includes facts at the end.
Get ready for some giggles when you read this silly book! A girl blames her messy room on a narwhal, and then a real narwhal shows up to defend itself. In this hilarious back-and-forth between the girl and the narwhal, an unlikely friendship forms between the two. Your child will want to read this one over and over again.
Disclaimer:
Thank you for reading narwhal stories with us! Check your local library for these and great books to read together. To help cover the costs of this site, I joined Amazon’s Affiliate program and I provided affiliate links to the books I listed. If you buy an item through one of my links, I may receive a small commission (at no additional cost to you). Thank you for support. Happy reading!
There are so many amazing ocean animals that we usually don’t get to see unless we go to an aquarium. Some of these animals live in the icy, cold waters at the North and South Poles, while others live in the warm ocean waters. Visit your library and check out these ocean animal stories to discover who lives in the ocean and whether they like warm or cold habitats.
My family loves this is fun rhyming story (with great pictures) about a grumpy fish who realizes that friendship can really brighten our day. It’s written sing-songy and in our house, we really get into this story, with the whole family singing the refrain and acting out the “blubs.” The Pout Pout Fish has many sequels so you can continue to read about Mr. Fish and his underwater friends. The original is my favorite, and I love reading this one out loud at storytime 🙂
My son got this book for his birthday and it is AWESOME! It has fantastic pictures that were formed from clay by artist Jeanette Canyon that perfectly compliment Marianne Berkes’ sing-songy text. You and your little one will want to study these pictures over-and-over again to get all of the details incorporated onto each page. This book introduces a variety of cool sea creatures. It also lends itself well to movement activities that preschoolers will love to do. At the end, there is a seek-and-find activity to search for all of the sea creatures
This is great story about best friends who just happen to be a shark and a minnow. The minnow, Nugget, starts school with the other little minnows and learns that sharks are big, scary predators out to eat minnows and they most definitely cannot be friends. Fang is devastated by the news, and tries his hardest to keep their friendship in tact. It doesn’t look good for their friendship, until Fang saves the little minnows and teaches them that sharks and minnows can be friends. What is 10 minnows plus 1 shark = 11 awesome friends!
In this beloved children’s story, the Rainbow Fish learns what it means to be a good friend. The Rainbow Fish has the most beautiful sparkly scales and it was so very proud of its shimmery scales. Other fish want a sparkly scale too, but Rainbow Fish doesn’t want to part with them because they make it such a pretty fish. Hesitantly, the Rainbow Fish shares just one sparkly scale with a little fish. Soon everyone wants a pretty scale. Turns out Rainbow Fish likes sharing. Now the ocean is full of fish with glimmering scales! Even though the Rainbow Fish has only one sparkly scale left, it feels happy having shared and being a good friend.
We discovered this book at our library and it is perfect for young shark fans. It is a cute story about a girl who is obsessed with sharks and she is convinced that she is getting a real one for her birthday! She shares all of her favorite shark facts with her dog as she weighs the pros and cons of which shark species would make the best pet.
Oona, a mermaid, finds a lost baby beluga whale and sets out to help reunite the baby with its family. Heading north to the icy waters of the Arctic, Oona, her best pal, Otto, and the baby whale brave storms and other dangers. Illustrator Raissa Figueroa does a fantastic job of showing the underwater plants, and real life animals who inhabit the artic. Seals, orcas, and narwhals can be seen in the cold northern waters, as well as on the floating ice. The land pictures are just as stunning as the underwater portrayals, showing the beautiful northern lights and the snowy landscape.
This is a super cute picture book about a shark and an octopus looking for some love. You will giggle your way through the story reading the silly ideas these two friends come up with to get the beachgoers to give them hugs and kisses. In the end, the two friends realize that they don’t need hugs and kisses from the beachgoers because they have each other to exchange hugs and kisses with — awww!
Raffi turned some of his best-loved songs into books, including Baby Beluga! This book, illustrated by one of my favorite illustrators, Ashley Wolff, features a busy little beluga whale and many other animals that live in the Arctic Ocean. Read this book and find out what the little whale and its friends do all day! The picture of the baby beluga back with its pod for nighttime snuggles is especially sweet.
I love this rhyming story about ocean animals! Each animal gets its own little poem that tells something interesting about them. This book covers so many different types of sea creatures, from huge blue whales to small barnacles! Which one is your favorite?
My son loves this book! It is a true story about an octopus named Inky, who escapes from an aquarium in Australia and makes its way back to the Pacific Ocean. We learned a lot about octopuses from this non-fiction picture book, and we were fascinated by Inky’s journey. My son was so excited when he learned that Inky liked playing Legos just like he does! Out of all of the books written about Inky, this one is our favorite. Sy Montgomery is a gifted storyteller and we were absolutely fascinated by this amazing octopus. I check out lots of library books for my son and I to read together, but this is one book that we felt that we needed to own. We truly love this story and read it over-and-over again.
Disclaimer:
Thank you for reading ocean animal stories with us! Check your local library for these and great books to read together. To help cover the costs of this site, I joined Amazon’s Affiliate program and I provided affiliate links to the books I listed. If you buy an item through one of my links, I may receive a small commission (at no additional cost to you). Thank you for support. Happy reading!
Add some ocean-themed math fun into your preschooler’s learning with this ocean graphing STEM activity! What is ocean graphing? Ocean graphing is recording how many times an ocean animal picture shows up each time you the roll the di on the bar graph included in this set. The purpose of this activity is to introduce young learners to the concepts of probability, recording answers, and counting. Once you have completed your graph, count how many times you rolled each animal.
Ocean Graphing STEM Activity:
Start by printing this free template. The ocean graphing template includes the di, colored tiles, and graphing chart. I used regular printer paper; however, if you use cardstock, then your di will be much sturdier.
Begin by cutting out the dice. Once fully cut out, gently fold the gray tabs inward. Then begin to fold your squares into a cube shape. Add some glue to the tabs and glue them onto the underside of the squares as you form your cube. The very last tab is hard to glue and might require tape. Once your cube is formed, set it aside to dry.
Cut out all of the colored tiles. You will have 4 of each color–red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple. Each color corresponds with one of the ocean animals. Here’s the color scheme: crab=red, clown fish=orange, clam=yellow, sea turtle=green, whale=blue, and octopus=purple.
Let’s Graph!
Now it is time to begin ocean graphing. Ask you child to gently roll the di. Which ocean animals picture is on top? Is it a red crab? Take a tile of the same color and set it on the graph above the corresponding-colored ocean animal picture. Keep rolling the di and setting tiles in the correct columns until you reach the top of the column.
The best part is you can use this activity over and over again since there is no glue involved. Try this ocean graphing STEM activity again and see which ocean animal makes it to the top this time!
Why STEM?
STEM stands for science, technology, engineering, and math. It is important to introduce these concepts to preschoolers in a fun way so that as they get older, they are excited about STEM subjects. What are preschoolers learning in this activity? Preschoolers are learning their colors (science)! They have to identify the color on the di, find the same color on the chart, and then correctly add the same color tile to the graph. Preschoolers are learning how to graph, an important math concept! Add some extra math into this activity by counting how many of each color tile is on your graph and how many tiles your have altogether. Preschoolers are also learning about engineering as they help build the di!
More STEM Activities
If your child enjoyed this graphing activity, I made a free blank di template so you can customize it with your own pictures. You can add computer images, stickers, or draw whatever you want on the dice and graph for your child to practice more graphing skills.
Flamingos are amazing birds! My son loves them so much and always wants to read about these beautiful pink birds. We had a great time learning about flamingos in these 8 great flamingo books!
In this cute story, Lola, a young gray flamingo refuses to try shrimp. But shrimp are good for you, and delicious, and will turn your feathers pink, and that’s what flamingos eat, her parents say. Nonetheless, Lola believes that she won’t like the shrimp, so when her parents are distracted, Lola sneaks away and eats an assortment of fruits. Lola changes colors with each new food she tries turning a whole bunch of different colors! Finally, Lola agrees to try a shrimp and it turns out that shrimp are super yummy! Now Lola eats all of her shrimp and her feathers are a lovely pink color.
A young flamingo named Mingo, gets separated from his parents and crash lands into a farm. Oh no, Mingo has forgotten who he is! The farm animals take Mingo in and promise to let him stay as long as needs. when Mingo suddenly remembers that he is a flamingo and needs to fly and rejoin his flock, his new friends come up with a clever idea to get the injured flamingo home!
In this wordless picture book, Flora, a young girl, puts on her pink swim suit, her flippers, and a diving cap. She silently tries to copy the flamingo’s graceful movements. After a few struggles with the movements, the flamingo takes Flora by the hand and leads her through a beautiful dance that ends with great leap into the water. Preschoolers will enjoy lifting the flaps scattered throughout the book and looking at the lovely illustrations.
Pinky, a flamingo at the zoo, sees a girl dressed in pink touring the zoo with her class, and he decides to join in the fun. The girl and her classmates spot Pinky trying to blend in with the other animals. Readers will have fun spotting Pinky too! This books is tons of fun to read; both children and adults will enjoy the humor.
Frankie the flamingo enjoys shrimp, but wants to try some new foods too. She becomes a “foodie.” Her eating adventures turns her feathers into different colors! Soon her friends want to join in on the fun and they make different tomato dishes to eat. The friends strut into the Pink Flamingo restaurant with their redish-magenta feathers and create quite the stir. Now all of the flamingos want to try new foods! My son loved the list at the end on how to be a “foodie” and he was inspired to try foods 🙂
Sylvie is a great story about being yourself! After looking at the colors all around her, young Sylvie asks why flamingos are pink. Her mother tells her that flamingos’ feathers are pink because of their diet. Sylvie decides to eat different foods and she turns different colors. At first it is pretty fun to change colors, but Sylvie learns that it is best to be herself. In addition to the book’s positive message, adults and children will enjoy the cute illustrations and humor.
This is a cute rhyming story about all of the things you need to know if you want a pet flamingo. For example, did you know that pet flamingo’s favorite meal is breakfast or that they love to bake? Also, they love to visit the library and check out lots of books! Pet flamingos seem like a lot of work. They want to dance ballet and need you to make them a tutu and they hate to clean up after themselves. And just like children, they want a kiss good night! We checked this out from our library and found out that this book is bilingual and has the text printed in both English and Spanish.
9.Bonus Nonfiction Book: I Wish I Were a Flamingo (Ranger Rick series)– learn all about flamingos in this book. Filled with awesome pictures of real flamingos, children will learn about where flamingos live, their nests, and what makes them pink! My son was so surprised to learn that flamingos aren’t born with pink feathers.
Disclaimer:
Thank you for reading flamingo books with us! Check your local library for these and great flamingo books to read together. To help cover the costs of this site, I joined Amazon’s Affiliate program and I provided affiliate links to the books I listed. If you buy an item through one of my links, I may receive a small commission (at no additional cost to you). Thank you for support. Happy reading!
Preschoolers love animals and learning all about them! Here are 12 great zoo books to read together to learn about the animals at the zoo. I’ve also included some zoo actvities at the end too. Be sure to watch John Lithgow read his book, Never Play Music Next to the Zoo — this read-aloud is fantastic!
It is bedtime at the zoo and the night watchman walks around the zoo, checking on each animal and wishing them a good night. But the watchman is so tired that he doesn’t realize the gorilla has stolen his keys and is letting out all of the animals! One by one, the animals follow the night watchman through the zoo and all they way to his home. Then they creep undetected into the bedroom and settle down for the night. It looks like everyone is going to sleep indoors tonight, until the gorilla wants a bedtime cuddle. Hey, gorillas don’t sleep in beds! Now its back to the zoo for everyone. This sparsely worded book lets preschoolers tell what is happening in the story and is sure to bring on a case of the giggles!
In this sequel to the What the Ladybug Heard, the ladybug is visiting the zoo when it overhears two robbers’ plan to kidnap Monkey Joe, They want to use him to steal the Queen’s jewels! Yikes! Ladybug comes up with a plan to foil the bad guys. All of the zoo animals and the Queen’s pups help out and stop the robbers.
We read Ellieby Mike Wu, a story about a sweet elephant who shows that it doesn’t matter what old or how big you are, everyone can help in their own way. All of the animals are worried about losing their home as word spreads that the zoo is closing. Ellie, a baby elephant is worried too, but what can she do? Ellie puts her painting talents to use to help the zoo. Soon people are buying her paintings and the money made goes to keeping the zoo open!
The animals at the zoo are so excited about the new baby red panda! Fiona and her friends (a sloth, tortoise, cardinal, and skunk) want to visit the baby, but the zoo is a big place and its too far for the tortoise and the sloth to walk. The zoo train passes by giving Fiona a great idea! That night after the zoo closes, Fiona and her friends decide to take the train to see the new baby. Who is going to drive the train? Fiona will! Uh-oh, Fiona is a little too wide to fit though train door (cue the giggles from my son!) and gets stuck. With a little help from her friends, she gets free and is able to take her place as the engineer. All aboard! The animals gather into the train and off they go to see the baby. The cute little baby is sleeping next to its mother, so Fiona and her friends whisper, “hello,” before leaving, careful not to wake the baby.
The Underpants Zoo was always a hit with my library preschool storytime group! They would giggle the whole way through and we had to stop reading multiple times so the kids could talk about the pictures (an anteater with ants in its underpants — whaaaaat?!?!?). My son loves this book too and he really enjoys pouring over the silly pictures.
This book is so much fun! Find out what happens at the zoo before all of the people arrive. The excitement and silliness from the rhyming text and the bold, emotive illustrations make this book lots of fun to read. Not only does the reader get to learn the names of animals at the zoo, but we get to count along too! Your preschooler is going to ask to read this one over and over again!
Carlos, a chameleon, is the self proclaimed king of the zoo. Chameleon’s color changing ability is pretty amazing! However, Carlos’ friends point out that other animals at the zoo are amazing too. Just look at how big the elephants are and how well the kangaroos can jump! Everyone has something amazing about them. Carlos is starting to feel blue and wonders if maybe he isn’t so great after all. Just then, a little girl sees Carlos and is so excited because he is her favorite animal at the zoo. That’s right, Carlos is the favorite! He perks right back up and realizes that he doesn’t have to be everyone’s favorite animals to still be amazing.
I love, love, love this book! My son and I have read this several times together and I have shared it at library storytime because it is such a sweet story about the power of kindness. Amos McGee works as a zookeeper, where he befriends an owl, a turtle, an elephant, and a penguin. Each animal has its own special needs, which Amos beautifully takes into account as he interacts with them. When Amos gets sick, his friends return the kindness he gave them, and the animals travel to Amos’ house to take care of him. The soft illustrations are perfect for this gentle story.
This interactive board book is so cute! My son has several of the Bizzy Bear books and he loves all of the things to touch and move on every page. These stories are great for young children to become interested in books. In this story, Bizzy Bear is helping out at the zoo. He gets to give the crocodile a bath, help the hippo brush its teeth, and feed the penguins! My son loves penguins and was so excited to see them in this book. He got to turn the wheel and make the penguins and fish swim around. The awesome pictures are accompanied by short rhyming text, making this books an ideal choice for children who can’t sit still too long.
What animals do at night after all of the people have left? They have a dance party! Suddenly a disco ball appears and the giraffes spread the word that it is time to dance. Learn about different styles of dance with zoo animal friends. This book is funny, fast paced, rhyming and full of great illustrations. Little readers will love watching each type of animal show off their moves. The animals’ ability to avoid detection from the zookeeper will leave you laughing. The conga line with all of the animals brings the dance party to a fantastic conclusion.
Pinky, a flamingo at the zoo, sees a girl dressed in pink touring the zoo with her class, and he decides to join in the fun. The girl and her classmates spot Pinky trying to blend in with the other animals. Readers will have fun spotting Pinky too! This books is tons of fun to read; both children and adults will enjoy the humor.
We borrowed this book from the library and were immediately captured by the great photographs of animals. While we enjoyed the illustrations of animals in our other stories, it was nice to see what they really look like! Read this zoo book together and learn what animals eat.
Thank you for reading zoo books with us! Check your local library for these and great zoo books to read together. To help cover the costs of this site, I joined Amazon’s Affiliate program and I provided affiliate links to the books I listed. If you buy an item through one of my links, I may receive a small commission (at no additional cost to you). Thank you for support. Happy reading!
More Zoo Fun!
Paper Bag Tiger Puppet: using puppets to act out stories is tons of fun! Here is a template to make a tiger puppet out of a paper bag that your preschooler can use to tell their own zoo stories 🙂
While adults tend to view snails as garden pests, preschoolers are fascinated by them! Here are 6 snail stories for preschoolers to enjoy! These stories might just give you a whole new outlook on snails and you may think they are pretty great after all.
This book is hilarious!!! And it is so darn cute. We love the snail’s determination and positive attitude. The message of helping others and working toward your goals makes this book a winner. We just keep rereading this one and we laugh every single time –seriously, it is a family favorite! My son even insisted that we buy copies for 2 of his cousins.
Get ready to laugh with Snail and Worm! These two best friends will crack you up as they explore the world around them. Each book contains three short stories filled with jokes, hilarious misunderstandings, and friendship. You can’t help but fall in love with these two.
In this rhyming book, snail yearns to explore, but is hindered by its size. When a whale offers to help snail take a journey, it is a dream come true. But whale gets stuck and it is up to the small snail to help its new friend. It goes to show that no matter who small you are, you can still help others.
Friends Fish and Snail enjoy reading books! Fish, the braver of the two, travels into new books and then returns to retell Snail the fantastical story! One day, Fish is excited to have Snail come with on a book adventure, but Snail is too scared to go. They end up arguing and Fish goes off alone. Snail misses its friend and decides to bravely go into another book in search of Fish! Reunited, these best friends have an awesome adventure as adorable kitty-pirates!
Escargot is a cute little French snail who just happens to be a picky eater. While he loves lettuce, there is no one you will get him to try a carrot. Preschoolers will enjoy this interactive book and will have fun trying to get Escargot to try a carrot!
This is a funny story about a slug, named Norman, who wants to be a snail so he can join in the snails’ fun. Norman puts all sorts of silly things on his back in attempt to have a shell of his own. Preschoolers will giggle at the funny things that Norman tries to use as his shell! Norman settles on a donut and, after strapping it his back, goes to play with the snails. Suddenly a hungry bird comes swooping down and grabs Norman’s donut. Up in the air goes Norman! Norman uses his slug slime powers and makes so much slime that he slips free, landing safely back home.
THANK YOU
Thank you for checking out my list of snail stories for preschoolers! I hope you enjoy these books! I joined Amazon’s Affiliate program to try and help cover the costs of this site. If you buy something through one of my links on Amazon, then I get a small percentage of the sale (no extra cost to you). Thank you for your support! Happy reading 🙂
Snail Craft:
Paper Plate Snail: this snail is so cute and fun to make too! Draw a spiral around the plate and let your little one paint the snail’s paper plate shell.
Bugs are one of my favorite springtime preschool themes! Preschoolers are so fascinated by bugs in general, but butterflies are definitely a favorite! Here is a list of 10 awesome butterfly stories that are sure to please your preschooler! Check out the butterfly crafts at the end of this post for some fun things to make! Also, listen to this read-aloud to Senorita Mariposa with author Mister G: https://youtu.be/h-s4plLc1OM
Lois Ehlert is an amazing author and illustrator. This is a sweet, gently story about a flower garden awaiting the arrival of the beautiful butterflies. The book uses a rhyming format to teach about a butterfly’s life cycle in short, but informative text. My son and I love the pictures throughout this book. They are so bright and vibrant! This book not only uses color well, but it also utilizes paper as an artform within the book. There is a smaller book inside the book, and less wide pages that utilize the larger pages’ artwork. — this makes reading this book more of an experience. At the end, there is a section that shows each caterpillar, it’s chrysalis, and matching butterfly. My son and I love to look at this part — it’s perfect for young entomologists!
Pinkalicious’ teacher brings caterpillars to the classroom so that the students can watch their amazing transformation into monarch butterflies. One of the best things about the Pinkalicious stories is that Pinkalicious is always so enthusiastic about learning new things and she is full of wonderment! After making friends with one of the caterpillars, Pinkalicious learns about metamorphosis, explaining in it is preschool friendly way, and is delighted when it emerges as a butterfly!
Friends, Bob (a caterpillar) and Otto (a worm) do everything together until one day when Bob climbs a tree and Otto stays in the dirt. Bob goes on to build a chrysalis and transform into a butterfly, while Otto stays being a worm. When Otto sees Bob’s beautiful wings, he begins to regret not climbing the tree and turning into a butterfly too. Fortunately Bob knows that worms play an important role underground aerating the soil so that plants and trees can grow, and he reassures Otto and that each of them are doing exactly what they are supposed to do. Not to worry, the two are still able to be friends and have lots of fun together despite Bob’s change in appearance. Overall a lovely friendship story that is filled with great science lessons!
This lovely rhyming story has talking flowers, fairies, and butterflies, plus it incorporates counting! The flowers want to fly and ask the fairies for wings, so the fairies turn them into butterflies. They have a fun time flying about the night sky, but soon the butterflies realize that being themselves is best. The fairies change them back to flowers with more counting to ten and number groupings!
After reading about The Impatient Caterpillarwho finally turned into a butterfly, now we get to read the butterfly’s story! Filled with humor and comical illustrations, readers will laugh their way through this book, while learning lots of great butterfly facts! Preschoolers will be able to relate to the butterfly’s skepticism at being able to travel so far in search of flowers as they too face tasks that seem insurmountable. But the butterfly shows up that perseverance is key in accomplishing one’s goals.
Short, rhyming text by Martin paired with Lois Ehlert’s amazing pictures, makes this book a preschool favorite! Each of the ten caterpillars have a little adventure, but it’s the tenth caterpillar that has the most amazing of all. The tenth caterpillar turns into a butterfly!
While there is no storyline to this book, it does have beautiful, bright pictures of butterflies! Each page has a number, a color, and a number of butterflies, making counting tons of fun. Also included are the types of butterflies depicted in each picture.
Nancy and her best friend, Bree, love butterflies! In fact, they love them so much that Bree is having a butterfly themed birthday! However, Nancy isn’t able to go to the birthday party because she and her family are going out of town to her grandparents’ anniversary party on the same day. Even though she is disappointed not be with Bree, Nancy has lots of fun with her grandparents at their fancy party. The next day, Nancy’s grandparents bring her to the zoo to see the butterfly garden. There are gorgeous flowers and beautiful butterflies and Nancy gets to enjoy butterflies after all.
This beautifully illustrated story is filled with proper scientific terms for the stages of a butterfly’s life cycle. A young girl and her grandfather save a black caterpillar (her grandfather says it is a larva) from a bird and take it home to keep it safe. They create a butterfly terrarium for the little larva to live in while it undergoes its transformation in its chrysalis. Grandfather knows a lot about butterflies, including what they like to eat, so they head out to gather some plants. After some time, the butterfly emerges from its chrysalis and it is time to release it into the wild. As the girl grows up, she remembers what grandfather taught her and creates her own butterfly garden to attract these lovely insects.
10. Clara Caterpillar by Pamala Duncan Edwards–
One day, a cream colored butterfly lays a little egg on a cabbage leaf and names it Clara. Clara is very comfortable in her egg, but other caterpillars bug her to come out and join them. A mean red caterpillar named, Catisha, picks on Clara for being plain, but Clara doesn’t pay her any attention. After a while, it is time for them form chrysalises and turn into butterflies. When all of the little butterflies emerge, Clara has cream colored wings and Catisha has bright crimson wings. The bright wings caught the attention of a crow! Clara comes to Catisha’s rescue and tricks the crow by camouflaging with some cream colored flowers. Turns out that being a cream colored butterfly is pretty great!
Check your library for these and other butterfly stories. To help cover the costs of this site, I joined Amazon’s Affiliate program. If you buy a book through one of my links, then I may get a small percentage of the sale (at no additional cost to you). Thank you for your support! Happy Reading 🙂
More Butterfly Stuff!
–Bug Crown Craft: print and color these bug pictures and glue them onto your own construction paper crown to make a Bug Crown!
–Butterfly Note Holder Craft: Create a cute butterfly note holder on a clothespin and then write a name, a message, or draw a picture on the note to customize it.
–Mosaic Butterfly: make a beautiful mosaic butterfly from scraps of construction paper.
–I SpyButterfly Worksheet — print this free worksheet and then let your preschooler count how many of each picture they see in this “I Spy” challenge.
Here are a dozen great bug books for your preschooler to enjoy! Preschoolers love bugs and exploring outside. Feed their natural curiosity with these stories about butterflies, ladybugs, ants, bees, caterpillars, dragonflies, lightning bugs, and other insects. There are so many cute bug stories available, that I made additional booklists for LADYBUGS and BUTTERFLIES! At the end of this post are some fun bug crafts that you can make at home 🙂
When my son was 3 years old, this was one of his favorite books! He still loves ladybugs 🙂 This book hits all of a preschooler’s requirements for an entertaining read–it has a rhyming story, bright pictures, and stuff to touch! The story starts with 10 ladybugs, but one by one, they wander off. Read this and find out where they are all going.
This story about a little firefly named Leo who is having a hard time getting his “light” to come on. He practices and practices, only to be ridiculed by his friends. However, Leo is determined and sets out to practice again. A a storm comes and lightning strikes across the sky. Leo mistakenly thinks that he made the light!
Four bug friends–a bee, a ladybug, a beetle, and a dragonfly–are looking for a good place to live. Each bug has different requirements for their home. The bee wants flowers, the ladybug wants leaves, the beetle wants dead wood, and the dragonfly wants water. The friends keep trying different spots, but nothing is quite right. Will they ever find a good place to live? You betcha! Butterfly comes along and brings to an amazing garden that has everything they need. Great pictures and humor make this bug book a winner!
This story is a preschool favorite! The fantastic illustrations coupled with one of kids’ favorite bugs captures little ones’ attentions. The caterpillar eats more and more each day until it eats so much that it gets a tummy ache! Soon the caterpillar prepares for its transformation into a butterfly. Get ready to be wowed by the beautiful butterfly picture at the end. This is a must read if you haven’t read it yet. Borrow it from your local library or watch this read-aloudfrom Brightly Storytime Eric Carle has several other bug stories to enjoy too: The Very Clumsy Click Beetle, The Very Quiet Cricket, The Very Lonely Firefly, The Very Grouchy Ladybug, and (even though not technically a bug, but kids call spiders bugs) The Very Busy Spider.
Lois Ehlert is an amazing author and illustrator! This is a sweet, gently story about a flower garden awaiting the arrival of the beautiful butterflies. The book uses a rhyming format to teach about a butterfly’s life cycle in short, but informative text. My son and I love the pictures throughout this book. They are so bright and vibrant! This book not only uses color well, but it also utilizes paper as an artform within the book. There is a smaller book inside the book, and less wide pages that utilize the larger pages’ artwork. This artistic style makes reading this book more of an experience. At the end, there is a section that shows each caterpillar, it’s chrysalis, and matching butterfly. My son and I love to look at this part — it’s perfect for young biologists.
This is a truly educational book wrapped up in gorgeous pictures. In this book preschoolers will learn about the importance of bees, how honey is made, and a year in the life of a bee. In addition to all of the great things your preschooler will learn about bees, this book also provides a great look the four seasons and lends itself well to conversations about changes in weather and hibernation. The end of the book provides bee facts for further discussion.
This book has bright, exciting pictures that will capture preschoolers’ imaginations! Based on the Aesop’s Fable of the same name, this book shows that it is important to work hard and plan ahead, but that it is also important to be a good friend and enjoy some fun!
Preschoolers will love this rhyming book filled with fantastic, real bug pictures! Sue Fliess managed to pack a quick fact about most of the bugs into this short book. The pictures are the real seller here — children can see up close how many legs bugs have, a look at wings, and different camouflage.
With bright, bold pictures and short, rhyming text, young children will really like this book! Learn the names of several different kinds of bugs and something special about each bug. I love that the end of this book sows the bugs in actual size, as well as a spread about how many legs each had, whether they can fly, and whether they can sting. This is a quick read, but be prepared to read this one multiple times!
An inchworm convinces the birds not to it by proving its usefulness in measuring various parts of the birds. When the inch worm meets a hungry nightingale, the bird asks the inch worm to measure its song. How is the inchworm supposed to do that? Check this one out from your library to find out the inchworm’s cleaver plan!
This is one of my son’s favorite stories! He loves ladybugs and was really excited to read this story about two robbers who are outsmarted by the ladybug. All of the farm animals follow ladybug’s plan and the two thieves are stopped! This book is so funny and has great pictures that my son loves looking at.
Preschoolers can relate to caterpillar who is finding it very hard to be patient when good things are to come. This is such a funny story about a caterpillar who just can’t wait to turn into a butterfly. The book provides a good look at the metamorphosis process that caterpillars go through to turn into butterflies.
Check your library for these and other bug books. To help cover the costs of this site, I joined Amazon’s Affiliate program. If you buy a book through one of my links, then I may get a small percentage of the sale (at no additional cost to you). Thank you for your support! Happy Reading 🙂
More Bugs!
Bug Crown: print and color these bug pictures and glue them onto your own construction paper crown to make a Bug Crown!
Egg Carton Ant: paint an egg carton and add some pipe cleaners to make your own cute ant craft.
Mosaic Butterfly: make a beautiful mosaic butterfly from scraps of construction paper.
Toilet Paper Roll Bee: your preschooler will love making this cute bee craft out of an empty toilet paper roll!
Butterfly Note Holder: Create a cute butterfly note holder on a clothespin and then write a name, a message, or draw a picture on the note to customize it.
