Buying books for 5 year olds is a TON of fun.
There are so many choices of books they can start to read and ones that you can read to them. There are fiction picture books that tell stories and others that teach lessons. There are AWESOMELY fun non-fiction books too that encourage creativity, teach kids lessons about things, and take them on adventures around the world.
These books are linked to Amazon to help save you time. Some links are for paperbacks, hardcovers, and kindle editions. If you purchase a book online, please make sure that it is the edition that best fits your 5 year old!
Books for 5 Year Olds
These books would be great additions to your home library, to download onto your mobile device for reading on the go, or books to put on your list for library checkout day as well!
Classic Picture Books for 5 Year Olds
Harry the Dirty Dog Originally published in 1956, Harry STILL delights children with his silly antics and distaste for taking baths. My little brothers’ favorite book of all time and now my 5 year olds favorite as well. Read the full book description here.
Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type Click – clack – moo, clickety – clack – moo! These cows are not ordinary cows, they are cows that can type. On strike, they ask for electric blankets. Will the farmer meet their demands? Listen to this hilarious book on tape for an added enjoyment. Read the full book description here.
Character Driven Picture Books for 5 Year Olds
Franklin
Ok, call me old school, but Franklin rocks. He is the sweetest, kind hearted turtle you will ever meet. The stories are well written and always model good behaviors. Franklin says please and thank you, he wears a helmet biking, and is nice to his little sister. The wording is a little bit longer, but 5 year old’s attention spans are able to enjoy longer stories. If you do not have a Frankin book, then you need to check one out! We have the treasury series and have even taken it with us on plane rides to Grandma and Grandpa’s house. They also have a video collection of the Frankin stories as well. If you choose to buy one book for your child, I would recommend Franklin.
Fly Guy
Fly guy has easily flown into being my 5 year old’s favorite character. My 5 year old calls them a MUST READ!!!! The books are short and a little sassy, just the way we like it! Fly Guy and Buzz are always on a short little adventure (like hide-n-seek) and run into some trouble (like Buzz ends up at the garbage dump with a bunch of other flies and Fly Guy can’t find him). The stories have a huge entertainment value. To make up for the education part – Fly Guy has a non-fiction series too. If your five year old is like mine – start with the set of fly guy books for hours of reading and giggles!
Clifford
Clifford has snuck his way into our bookshelves in over 30 books. Yup – this is ME with a few of our Clifford books! I like how the books are designed to teach children how to navigate life’s problems such as being nervous to try new things, helping others out, and not judging a person before you get to know them. They also have a good variety of beginning readers and books for parents and teachers to read with children too.
Fancy Nancy
A newer character to children’s literature, Nancy like to use fancy big words in all that she does. These books are not only entertaining, but great for developing a larger vocabulary. This character series now has I Can Read books, picture books, and chapter books. Try one or buy a set!
Pete The Cat, The Gruffalo & Mo Willems Books are also 5 year olds favorites!
Non-fiction Books for 5 Year Olds
National Geographic Readers
This collection is my go-to source for non-fiction readers for 5-8 year olds. Your kids can participate as Super Readers and check off the books as they find and read them!
Ed Emberley’s Drawing Book of Animals This book provides easy to follow directions for learning how to draw a variety of animals. Read the full book description here.
The Great Big Art Activity Book There are many arts and craft books on the market. I’ve used this one for over 12 years and still enjoy it! There is a wide variety of projects for kids to make. Read the full book description here.
Thanks for sharing this list. There's a few on there we have not read in my class 🙂
Hayley