Kindergarten Preschool Toddler
Book ListsMathLanguage Arts
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Shapes are everywhere and preschoolers just love learning about them. Toddlers as young as two years old begin to recognize and name basic shapes such as circles, triangles, and squares, especially as they see them in everyday objects. There are so many ways to bring a variety of shapes into their world. From talking about the shapes you can see all around you to naming the shapes while building with blocks, teaching your students about shapes is easy and fun. Adding some shape books to your activities makes their learning even more meaningful.
We’ve compiled a list of our favorite shape books for preschoolers and so many of these books are perfect for working on some amazing math concepts as well. Whether your child likes books about animals or silly stories, there is a shape book that is sure to capture their interest and reinforce their developing geometry skills.
Books about Shapes for Preschoolers
Whether your students already know their shapes or they’re being introduced to the names for the first time (or even being introduced to a few new shapes that they’ve never been seen before!) they’re going to love these shape books for preschoolers!
They’re some of the best books that we’ve found for teaching shapes and with their bright colors and often simple text, they’ll have your little learners engaged for hours.
Mouse Shapes by Ellen Stoll Walsh
Mouse Shapes by Ellen Stoll Walsh is a staple in our classroom. The simple illustrations and engaging story about some adorable, clever mice and the things they can make with various shapes is sure to capture your little learners imagination.
Round is a Tortilla: A Book of Shapes by Roseanne Thong
This engaging rhyming book names many items all around that have different shapes. The author incorporates Spanish words throughout and includes things that are part of Latino culture. The author asks readers to name other things they know that are the same as the featured shape on the page. This book is fun to read and encourages interaction during a read-aloud.
Shape by Shape by Suse MacDonald
Can you guess what the shapes will become in this book? Clues are given as each part of the creature is drawn. Hint: Your dinosaur loving preschoolers will really enjoy this book! It can serve as a great directed drawing resource for kiddos who want to draw a dinosaur but aren’t sure where to begin.
Ship Shapes by Stella Blackstone
A great book to read aloud with a small group or enjoy with a little one sitting on your lap, Ship Shapes has colorful illustrations. The author asks a question about the shapes on each page, encouraging young children to interact with the book in meaningful ways.
Color Zoo by Lois Ehlert
With an engaging, rhyming introduction and colorful pictures, Color Zoo will grab your child’s attention and spark their imagination. The shapes in this book come together to form different kinds of animals. Children can practice color recognition as well when enjoying this book.
Bix Box of Shapes by Wiley Blevins
Two children find a big box of shapes in this charming story. What kinds of shapes do they find and what can they make with them? Read this book with your students to inspire them to create with shapes, too!
Flip-a-Shape: Go! by SAMi
Flip-a-Shape: Go! is a great way to introduce the concept of shapes with your littlest of learners. This adorable board book is filled with simply drawn illustrations and die-cut pages that your preschool kids are going to love! Pair it with a fun file folder game like this 2D Shape Sorting game to really give your preschoolers a hands-on learning experience!
Snippets: A Story About Paper Shapes by Diane Alber
The story about Snippet is charming and sweet. Snippet, an irregularly shaped piece of paper, shows the regular shaped square and triangle how much fun they could have creating together. This is a great story to reinforce kindness and celebrate differences, too!
The Greedy Triangle by Marilyn Burns
The triangle in this book wants to be other kinds of shapes. This is a fun story with mathematically correct geometric vocabulary – perfect for your very curious and more advanced students.
Tangled: A Story About Shapes by Anne Miranda
One of our absolute favorite books, this book is about shapes who get caught inside a jungle gym. The shapes have to work together and use teamwork to get untangled. The rhyming text and two dimensional and three dimensional shape vocabulary make this book a great choice to read to kindergarteners.
Color Farm by Lois Ehlert
Color Farm is similar to the Color Zoo book mentioned above. The farm animals are made using cutout shapes throughout the book. It’s a simple story filled with vibrant colors and a great book for little ones to look at with a grown up and by themselves.
Not a Box by Antoinette Portis
Get ready to inspire your little learners and spark their imaginations with this simple yet powerful book about a creative rabbit with a great imagination. Make sure you have some boxes on hand for your students to use after you read it aloud!
Brown Rabbit’s Shapes by Alan Baker
Brown Rabbit receives a gift! Check out this book to find out what is in the box and what he does with the items inside. Shape and colors are taught throughout the story.
Walter’s Wonderful Web by Tim Hopgood
Another class favorite and one that we absolutely HAD to include in our favorite shape books for preschoolers – Walter’s Wonderful Web is about a spider who weaves webs of different shapes as he tries to build a strong web that won’t blow away. This sweet story is fun to read and encourages perseverance at the same time! Bonus: If you happen to be working on the letter W and the sound it makes, this story provides lots of exposure to this letter!
Apples and Robins by Lucie Felix
Fall, winter, and spring are mentioned in this story about apples and robins. The simple shapes are turned into the apples, robins, a birdhouse, and more. Young learners will enjoy seeing how the shapes come together to make the useful items found throughout the book.
Square Cat by Elizabeth Schoonmaker
Eula, the square cat, feels sad about her square shape until her friends find a way to help her appreciate her shape. This book helps children learn about the features of round and square objects.
Perfect Square by Michael Hall
What kinds of things can be a perfect square become if it is torn, cut, and changed? This creative book is a must have on a list of the best shape books for preschoolers and it also teaches children about the days of the week. Have some paper squares ready for the inspiration it will provide for creativity!
Circles by David A. Adler
This is a great book for helping children learn about three dimensional shapes like spheres as well as two dimensional circles. It includes instructions for drawing the shapes as well.
City Shapes by Diana Murray
The things that are all around us in the city have shapes and this book beautifully describes them with its rhyming text and detailed instructions.
This is the perfect book to kick off a discussion with your students about the shapes that they might find in their own neighborhood making it a fantastic way to make a connection between those basic math concepts that they’re learning in the classroom and the things they might see in their daily lives.
Shapes that Roll by Karen Nagel
Shapes that Roll incorporates lots of vocabulary for curious learners. This would be a fantastic addition to a preschool or kindergarten unit about two and three dimensional shapes. It also includes rhyming words and interesting illustrations that could generate thought provoking questions for your students to help them deepen their knowledge about the features of shapes.
These shape books are sure to be a great addition to your classroom or home library whether you want to teach children about shapes, reinforce their knowledge, or inspire their creativity when building or creating.
My Very First Book of Shapes by Eric Carle
Perfect for introducing some of your littlest learners to different shapes, this adorable interactive book is going to quickly turn into one of their favorites as they match the top and bottom half of each page to build their shapes!
Circle, Square, Moose by Kelly Bingham
If you’re looking for a funny way to teach your students about shapes, you’re going to want to add this book by Kelly Bingham to your classroom bookshelf!
Your students are going to love reading about best friends Moose and Zebra and the mischief they get up to all while learning about shapes at the same time!
More Fun Shape Activities for Preschoolers
Looking to build an entire shape theme unit for your class? Pair these shape books for preschoolers with a few fun printable activities for hours of learning!
