Recommended Reads for Preschool: New Additions for 2026-27

This colourful, beautifully illustrated picture book delivers a deeply thoughtful and essential message to its young readers. With Mother’s Day fast approaching, the high street shops are overflowing with gifts. However, the young girl at the heart of this story only has enough pocket money for a card – subtly teaching children that it isn’t about how much you spend, but the love and thought that counts.

When she begins her search, she gives it a great deal of consideration. She reflects on what her mum looks like and the unique things she does that reflect their rich cultural heritage. Heartbreakingly, she cannot find a single card that mirrors her own mother.

Beyond celebrating the beautiful, enduring bond between a mother and daughter, this poignant story raises vital questions about belonging, inclusion and representation in arts and society – every child deserves to see their family reflected on the shelves. This is a heartwarming, culturally rich book which will could also spark meaningful conversations about diversity and love.

This rhythmic story offers a reassuring take on handling shyness.

When a party becomes too much for Hideysaurus, she hides! There is a gentleness and empathy to the pacing of this tale that feels perfect for preschoolers, providing a comforting choice for any child finding crowds or a new school a bit daunting.

With bright and gentle illustrations and fun characters that capture real emotions, this is a lovely addition to the EYFS book corner that encourages connection and understanding. By focusing on small steps rather than forced bravery, it serves as a warm prompt for chatting about big feelings at a child’s own speed.

If you ever have read the toddler board book ‘The Great Big Monkey Story Book’, you will be reminded of one animal’s search for something special, in this warm and welcoming new book by Petr Horacek.

A Surprise for Snail mixes bright collage style illustrations, similar to Eric Carle’s, with the repetitive style of We’re Going on a Bear Hunt. Snail sets off on his birthday with a special goal in mind – to see the sea! Along the way he meets one animal after another, all offering a ride to Snail to help him on his way. However each ride turns out to be a little too adventurous for Snail and finally, worn out from his efforts, he climbs up onto a rock and falls asleep. The rock turn out to be Tortoise who, while Snail dreams, gently carries him on the last leg of his journey. When Snail opens his eyes a spectacular sunset greets him, sparkling over the ocean, and Snail feels grateful for the friendship and support from the creatures all around him.

This is a delightful, gently paced book that will be enjoyed by young children and is bound to turn into a firm favourite at bedtime too!

Set around an old oak tree, two groups of children find themselves at odds with each other. As cross words stop their play, can the children find a resolution to share their special place and turn strangers into friends again?

This stunning picture book emphasises the importance of imagination, communication, resolutions and forgiveness. A great book for reminding children, of all ages, about outdoor play and social interactions. This could be linked to forest school learning, or playtime and downtime, social skills and imaginative play, which is not focused on as much in society today.

A great book that could be used throughout the primary phase to support imaginative play, social skills, communication skills and resolutions. A heartwarming story about the value of teamwork, second chances and the healing power of a meaningful apology.

Every so often a picture book comes along that captures a childhood trait with beautiful aplomb. This vibrant, wittily illustrated and written story tells of Mabel, a small child who does ‘things’ and every time blames the ‘alligator’.

Interpreting whether the alligator is Mabel’s imaginary naughty friend or actually an alligator causing chaos is a dilemma for the reader, and is eventually cleared up, along with some surprises along the way.

This is a fantastic book, illustrations and text meeting wittily and pithily so that one really won’t suffice without the other. Mabel and her parents’ body language is astute and accessible, the grandmother is drawn as young (a rarity), and the creators have made excellent use of the page. An outstanding picture book about acting out and telling the truth – all with a lot of fun.

Told in rhyme, this story of a lost egg looking for its parent features some well-known and some less well-known dinosaurs.

Using bright and bold colours, the pictures fill the pages, and the text font varies according to who is speaking. There is something very tactile about the drawings –  no complex details, just engaging dinosaurs. The lost egg is talking, but the reader cannot see who is inside the egg and so cannot see which type of prehistoric creature’s egg it is. Each dinosaur asks specific questions about what it might look like based on its features (obviously, the Tyrannosaurus is fixated on teeth!).

There is instant appeal in both the gently repetitive rhyming text and the illustrations; even the not-so dinosaur fixated child will enjoy the rhythm in the text and the cheerful, friendly nature of the prehistoric world. The inside covers provide an array of lesser-known dinosaurs, which adults and children will enjoy looking at and learning from together.

Bessie is an active and busy preschooler with ADHD who loves being outside and keeping her buzzy bees busy. This is easy for her to do when she is at home and in her garden with her Granny, her bees explore the flowers, loop the loop and find adventures.

However, when it is time for Bessie to start nursery, her bees find it hard as they do not know what to do. They interrupt games, knock down block towers and stop Bessie and her new friends from listening to the new story. Bessie does not know what to do with her bees and thinks they do not belong at the nursery, but she wants to stay. With the help of Granny, Bessie needs to find a way to share her bees and manage them at the nursery so everyone has a lovely time.

This beautifully written story encapsulates the journey of a neurodivergent child learning to manage their wiggles (bees) within a nursery setting and learning how to manage new routines and make new friends.

With a rummage through the dressing-up box and a change of glasses, Seren feels ready for anything!

This playful story follows a full week of careers, where she spends each day as someone new based on different pairs of glasses. From a scientist and a ski instructor to a rock star and a secret spy, Seren’s imagination soars.

This book will be enjoyed by children who like dressing up, and it’s also great to see glasses celebrated in a children’s book. It’s a brilliant find for a Preschool corner, especially for teaching the days of the week or starting conversations about future jobs.  This is a fun, lighthearted celebration of how a bit of imagination can turn a simple accessory into a whole day of play.

I wish I had eight uncles! Jehan Madhani’s colourful and quirky book makes you yearn for a houseful of fantastic role models like these.

Warm, vibrant and joyful, this story celebrates family in a way that feels playful but also meaningful for young readers. Madhani touches on this idea beautifully, presenting each uncle as both a mentor and a source of fun and delight. Eli’s uncles bring different talents to share with him: dancing, singing, cooking, and storytelling. These lively skills are complemented by their wonderfully distinctive beards – soft and woolly, wiry and springy, long and flowing – which add visual charm and help to define their personalities!

The story itself is simple and engaging, making it accessible for younger readers, but its underlying messages of diversity, inclusion and positive masculinity are significant and should not be underestimated. This is a celebration of creativity and care that leaves a lasting impression and oodles of enjoyment.

Julia Donaldson has done it again with Follow the Swallow. The story follows Chack (the blackbird) and Apollo (the swallow)’s friendship over the miles. Chack can’t imagine how far Apollo will fly, and Apollo can’t understand the seasonal changes Chack will go through, both in himself and the world around him.

Children love the ‘I don’t believe you!’ repeated refrain as the birds compare their different worlds, which runs through the first part of the book until Apollo leaves for Africa and Chack watches the berries emerge and transform the trees.

The second part of the story follows Chack’s attempt to get a message to his friend (‘Come to the tree!’), but Apollo has already left for Africa. An increasingly funny series of animals mangle Chack’s message until it finally reaches Apollo, who is just about ready to come back to the North for summer. The big reveal of the correct message and of what’s happened with Chack in the meantime is hugely satisfying and the joy in Chack and Apollo’s faces when they meet again is just lovely.

A beautiful, gentle picture book with an environmental theme. This story is about Jack, who heads to the countryside for a summer of den building, making model boats and wildlife watching with his Grandad. The peace is short lived, however, when the pair discover a pile of rubbish dumped near their favourite pond. The pair set about to clean it up, and in turn this soon brings together the wider village too.

This is a touching picture book that beautifully captures the intergenerational bond between grandfather and grandson as well as real-world threats to nature. The book offers a clear encouragement to look after the environment, making it a lovely choice for little ones who like to think about the world around them.

A favourite of preschoolers who love to be in on the joke, this is the story of a bear looking for his hat.

This book crops up on every list of favourite bear books, favourite hat books, favourite massive twist books, favourite squashed rabbit books, favourite picture books – all the favourites – and with good reason! Jon Klassen is the master at taking picture book noir and making it palatable and this book is no exception.

It’s a mischievous and brilliant story about a bear trying to find his hat and told completely in dialogue, so get ready with the voices if you are reading this one aloud.

A classic in the making, this is an inspired book by father and son team Daniel and Finn Ojari (aged 8!). The pair came up with the idea when doodling together at the kitchen table, and noticing the remarkable similarities between objects – a plum and a hippos bum for example! The result is a laugh-out-loud funny, joyous reading experience for younger children, full of simple but gorgeous artwork. A cut out hole in a page reveals part of a drawing, making the reader think they see one thing, but turn the page and the whole object is revealed to be something entirely different!

The call and response structure of the book encourages reader participation, and young children will be unable to resist the challenge of guessing what the hidden image could be in each scenario. Each call rhymes with its response, cleverly and subtly engaging children’s language skills along with their powers of observation.

It’s a brilliant book – an irresistible concept, funny and beautifully presented. This absolutely deserves a place on every nursery and reception bookshelf!

What first strikes you about this picture book are the beautiful and unusual illustrations – simple shapes and evocative colours that move from browns to greens, always muted and rich. They conjure a bare and barren landscape that is slowly transformed into a vibrant and plentiful rainforest.

The beginning of the story tells us that “They said I couldn’t change the world” and this hopeful story says to both the girl in the story and to the reader that maybe you might. The little girl explains that in the place she was born there is now just desert, where once there were rivers and trees.

One day she finds a seed and plants the seed in the dried up river bed. Despite the protestations of those around her telling her that the seed will never grow, she continues to protect and nurture the seed until it grows into an amazing fruit tree – and so producing more seeds that can be planted. As the child grows up, she shows that we can never be complacent, as one of the trees is blown down in a storm. Another young child produces a seed and so continues the cycle of care for the forest so that the forest in turn, might care for those that live there.

An beautiful and encouraging book to give depth and something a bit different to your preschool book collection.

Shane loves his rice and peas, and it does look enticing, steaming hot with its scent wafting into his living room, and the most ultra-super-duper litany of adjectives to describe it. What’s wonderful is the careful insertion of family heritage – a recipe passed down through generations, with its own secret ingredient of pimento seeds. The illustrations take us from Shane’s domestic life, complete with notices on the fridge and a stash of tinned tomatoes behind proud mum, to his visions of grandiosity after eating the best rice in the world.

Until lunchtime at school, and Yinka’s claim that her Jollof rice is the best and the pair embark upon a stand off. But that’s not it. In this ultimate battle of food, everyone joins in, proclaiming their own rice is best – risotto, paella, pilau and more. The resolution, of course, is a tasting and sharing, but there’s also a beautiful little twist.

An absolute zinger of a picture book, vibrantly showing that food and culture and heritage is diverse, and is to be shared and celebrated.

Small’s Big Dream is a beautifully illustrated book that carries a vital, empowering message at its heart.

The story introduces the reader to a young girl called Small. Everything in Small’s world is small, yet despite everything in her world being small, this young girl with a curious and creative mind has big dreams. But Small has heard that small people shouldn’t have big dreams, so she tries her best to lock her dreams deep inside her. However, when night falls, her dreams refuse to be contained. They begin to grow rapidly, becoming far too magnificent and powerful to hide. Eventually, they take over completely, freeing Small to truly believe in herself and realise that anyone can achieve greatness, no matter how small they may seem.T

his is a wonderfully empowering book about the importance of self-belief and resilience, which is likely to capture the imaginations of its readers encouraging them to dream big and stand tall.

Maryam and Issa live at the edge of the Sahara Desert in Mali, Africa. One day, they go on an outing with their parents, but this is no ordinary outing. At the edge of the hot, dry desert, people are creating something, something big, something special . . . something green!

In the words of their Uncle Cedric, they’re creating a ‘future’; a better future for the birds, for the bees, for everyone. They are creating a better future, one plant at a time, with adults and children working side by side planting plants across Africa to create a ‘Great Green Wall’.

This is a growing plants story about a fictional family, but the Green Wall project they’re involved in is real, and there are information pages at the back of the book for anyone who would like to know more about this immense, ecological project to grow a green ‘wall’ across Africa, as well as guidance on how to plant a tree yourself.

A beautiful, simple picture book with a valuable message at its heart, one that will hopefully inspire a new generation to go outside and grow.

This colourful and high energy read-aloud is so much fun for early years children to enjoy, and dog-lovers especially will enjoy its playfulness.

The story follows a series of dogs, from tiny Agnes the Chihuahua to scruffy Shelby, each hoping to claim the title of the biggest dog in the book. It’s a lot of fun watching the dogs get bigger and bigger as the pages turn.

The repetitive ‘he is not the biggest dog’ refrain is perfect for shared readings, as children will quickly join in with the storytelling.

With its vibrant illustrations and a fun fold-out flap at the end, this is a joyful celebration of dogs of all shapes and sizes.

Have you ever lost something and thought it was gone forever, when suddenly it has magically reappeared? If so, that might be the hard work at the Fairy of Lost Things! She is tireless in her work of returning lost things that children lose, whether it be a kite, a bear or a ball.

The Fairy of Lost things always returns the items as soon as she can, until one day when she finds something so pretty that she wants to keep it for herself. Soon, she finds herself so engrossed with the stolen item, that she starts to forget about all of the children who have lost things and the park starts to become cluttered and full of lost things. It is not until she befriends a magpie, that she realises what she must do.

The Fairy of Lost Things is a lovely storybook which explores themes of kindness, honesty and courage. It is full of beautiful illustrations which almost seem to sparkle and show the fairy’s magic. We really enjoyed reading this story and talking about the decision the fairy made.

Time to Explore Big Machines follows the journey of a new apartment block being built. It starts with demolishing an old building all the way to the new families moving into the newly built apartment block. Each page introduces a new machine and explains some facts about it and also the important job that it does.

The illustrations are bright and colourful and have some much detail in them. The text is split into little chunks which make it easier to read. There are so many interactive aspects of the book which make it a great read. At the end of the book there is a big double page pullout which shows all of the big machines that you have met during the book.

This book is a great example of a factual book being suitable for the Early Years. A great book for any vehicle loving child!

Gus the Goat wants to play and his friend Mavis Mole is happy to agree. There’s one problem – what shall they play? Whack-a-moley? Crack-a-moley? Quack-a-moley or Stack-a-moley? Unfortunately, all Gus’s outlandish ideas aren’t so much fun for Mavis. But then Mavis retaliates with her own outrageous ideas that aren’t so much fun for Gus. After a lot of false starts, they finally settle for something much calmer and their friendship is saved.

Vividly funny illustrations and rip-roaring rhyming sequences bring this story to life. The story is all about consideration for others and finding compromise, but the story provides oodles of fun along the way.

If you read it aloud more than once, encourage joining in with the silliest bits. There’s stacks of slapstick humour and lots of cheerful wordplay with rhymes and puns, re-enforcing phonemic awareness through the laughter, which makes this a great choice for a rumbustious EYFS storytime.

This is a beautiful and gently empowering book for young children. Then book combines impressive facts about nature while positioning impressive facts about humans right in the centre. Without overcomplicating anything, it tells children, for example, facts about an ocean scene where a huge blue whale leaves a trail of tiny bubbles behind, and let’s readers wonder at the fact that they are bigger than a bubble and smaller than a whale – but just as awe-inducing as both.

The illustrations bring each page to life and the additional facts are subtle on the page and give extra information about the mentioned items. The book shows how comparisons can be a good thing and how truly unique we are.