For Other Professionals
Books as Gifts
2006 Buying Guide
- Download the 2006 guide for 4-5 year olds (276K PDF)*
Books for 4-5 Year Olds
Your presence is always the best present! The books below are great to share with preschoolers and kindergarteners. There are 15 books that emergent readers may enjoy reading on their own or, with their engaging stories and playful language, are recommended for sharing with a parent or other caring adult. Browse through the recommended books below or download the guide for 4-5 year olds (276K PDF)* as a one-page handout you can easily take to the library or store.
Eggs are things of beauty and great diversity. Some are large, others small. Some eggs are patterned or spotted, others are one color. Elegant illustrations and straightforward text introduce the wonder and variety of eggs, including the most exciting part — what's inside them!
Lift the flap and black turns to white at the start of this unusual and sophisticated book of opposites. Bold colors and carefully crafted die-cuts reveal a series of unexpected opposites. Readers are sure to delight in the surprise of each page turn.
Bidemmi is a budding artist and a careful observer of the world around her. As she weaves together stories and drawings of the people in her neighborhood, she ties the tales together through cherries — buying them, sharing them, and enjoying them. Learn how Bidemmi uses cherries to create her vision for the future in this brightly colored and softly crafted book that understands and speaks to young children.
Chuck gets in his truck only to be joined by a duck named Luck, dogs Nip and Tuck, and other animals! Soon a rollicking good adventure begins in a predictable rhyming pattern, with textured, colorful illustrations.
Corduroy, a teddy bear, comes to life to search for his lost button after the store closes. Though he doesn't find the button, he does find friendship in this enduring tale.
Introduce children to the five senses in this delightfully offbeat book, with a flop-eared bunny as your guide. Snappy, rhythmic language and expressive, jaunty illustrations create a book ideal for sharing.
When is a gorilla like Curious George? When he (and a parade of animals) follow the zookeeper home at bedtime — and snuggles in with the zookeeper's wife with very fast and funny results.
Shadows come in all sizes and shapes, but where do they come from? An understandable explanation and an engaging guessing game provide the answer, and encourage children to look closely at everyday objects. Vibrant, full-color photographs help illustrate this scientific phenomenon, making it accessible to very young children.
When an industrious red hen finds seeds, the other animals refuse to help her plant them. But when the little red hen finally bakes the bread from the wheat she has grown, the others are all eager to eat it! Luminous, realistic, highly-detailed watercolors breathe freshness into this traditional tale.
When a small monkey spies a banana, he leaves the juggler and starts a chain of events that create chaos and laughs for the reader. Careful readers will note that the signs, which rhyme when read in sequence, add to the humor of this nearly wordless adventure and bring the story full circle.
This classic book is a playful celebration of words — their power, music, and even their trickiness. Crisp, colorful graphic art combines with the text, creating humor and providing insight into our lyrical language. This classic title is as fresh as when it was first published.
When the wizard asks the little dragons to take care of his cats, they work hard to follow the instructions he left behind. They take the cats swimming, put them in a cupboard, and then take them camping — all because, as the Good Knight discovers, the small dragons have not quite mastered reading! Alliterative language and lighthearted illustrations make this a delightful tale of humorous misinterpretations.
Stylized illustrations and rhyming text take readers on a counting journey led by three Masai children through their richly diverse east African country. Along the way, they count the animals (in English and Swahili) that live in the grasslands. Additional information and a map are included.
The adventure of Christopher Robin, his friends, Pooh ("the bear of very little brain"), and the other animals in the Hundred Acre Wood remain as fresh as Milne's language and Shepard's line illustrations, presented here on sturdy, cream-colored pages. The narrator's voice of the audio book is well-matched for the tone of A. A. Milne's writing.
Proceeds from the sale of books purchased at Amazon.com help support the Reading Rockets project. Thank you!
