Books About Space for Preschoolers
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We recently completed a space unit and, wow, it was incredible. My son absolutely loved learning about space and even though we have moved on to apples, we will definitely be returning to space for some more learning as well. For us the spine of any unit is books. Books were actually part of what inspired me to choose space as our topic. My son is a very young reader and I was realizing how many books written for early readers had space topics. He did not know much about space. Since vocabulary and background knowledge are two huge aspects of reading comprehension I wanted to give him some more space vocabulary and background knowledge. You will see I included an early readers section at the bottom. These books are ALL about space but so many others have space topics. I realized this when he was reading a Henry and Mudge book and had to decode the names of all the kittens “Merucy, Venus, Jupiter…” Having learned about space he wouldn’t have to now!
Most of these books are non-fiction. Space is a fun introduction to non-fiction for a toddler or preschooler. These books are interesting, many very easy to digest, and have real facts. There are some gorgeous fiction books as well included in this post but non-fiction was the spine here. More of the space books we encountered that were fiction fell into the early reader section on the bottom. Of course, those are also perfect for a read-aloud to a preschooler!
While books were our spine, we did lots and lots of fun learning activities for space. I am working on a post as well covering those and hope to get it up in a timely fashion.
Fiction Picture Books About Space
Mousetronaut: This is probably my favorite of all the books about space I read to my son. It is an adorable story “based on a true story” (spoiler: it is very loosely based) about a mouse who goes to space. The protagonist is the smallest of the mice, yet he is chosen for the important mission and proves to be very useful. This is such a sweet story and so fun to read.
Max Goes to the Moon: My son loves this book. It is about a mouse that dreams about going to the moon. He achieves this goal and becomes the first mouse on the moon. My son also loves to read it to himself, and I find him reading it multiple times a day. It is a very pretty and wholesome book.
Dreamstories Galactic Adventures: If you really want to make your space lover’s day this book is the dream. This book uses AI and your photos to put your child as the protagonist of the story. Full disclosure, the company did gift us a copy but had I found out about it before they reached out to me there is no question I would have purchased.
Life on Mars: This book is so darling. The main character believes there is life on Mars, encounters life but doesn’t realize it, and then finds a flower that again convinces him there is life on Mars. This is, of course, fantasy and we used it as an opportunity to discuss that this was not in fact real but a sweet pretend.
Non-Fiction Picture Books About Space
What’s Out There? A Book About Space: This book is a bit wordy, but for a preschooler who loves space like my son does it is still quite engaging. I like that this book includes things such as the phases of the moon which we didn’t see in so many other books.
The Planets in our Solar System: This book is written for children a bit older but it was still a great one for my preschooler. I really enjoyed some of the visuals such as the visual of Jupiter being filled with Earths to show how large it is!
Moonshot: This book is long and wordy but it is also beautifully done about the flight of Apollo 11. The illustrations are beautiful and overall it is a joy to read.
I am the Solar System: This is a great look at what the solar system is written from the perspective of the solar system itself. We also have the moon and the sun ones and all are great, simple, and information-packed to learn about space.
Little Kids First Big Book of Space: This is a bit of a cross between a children’s space encyclopedia and a non-fiction book but it still reads decently as a read-aloud book. It gives a good overview on space.
The Sun Our Nearest Star: This book is, as the name suggests, all about the Sun. It gives a good explanation of what stars are and why the Sun is important. It is definitely written for a bit older of an audience but my son got plenty out of it.
Hello, World Planet Earth: This is a great explanation of the Earth and its place in space. I was somewhat surprised at how much wonderful information is actually in this book as it looks like a simple baby board book. It turns out though it is packed with great information in an accessible way about Earth and its relationship with the Solar System.
Me and My Place in Space: This is another great book for orienting a child to their place on the Earth in space. In our case we plan to go from big picture space to learning about the continents. I liked this as a way to show the Earth as part of the greater system and to understand our place in it.
Early Reader Books About Space
I am aware the vast majority of preschoolers obviously are not reading these independently. Most of these books are at a First or Second-grade level and most preschoolers are not reading at all. However, since my son is reading them independently and they are a bit different than the books designed as read-alouds I decided to separate them in this post. They all work as read-alouds as well, however. Commander Toad is a particularly fun one for adults, especially if you like Star Wars. If you have an older child who is reading independently, this might be a helpful section as well which is why I wanted it seperate! I always like to have some books on a themed shelf that my son can read. This started with very simple CVC books that fit the theme. Now he can generally read any books I have available but I like to get some specific early reader books as well.
Commander Toad Series: Commander Toad is so fun! This is a nice next step from Frog and Toad and Little Bear type books. It is also perfect if your little one likes space. For adults there are so many funny Star Wars references that would also make it enjoyable as a read-aloud. My son does not know any of the references but really enjoyed reading this series and reads some of the books over and over.
Snoopy, First Beagle on the Moon: My son has never seen this show but he has discovered Snoopy through books and really enjoys them. This is his favorite because it is all about Snoopy going to space. He has read this one so many times and also enjoys the space facts in the back of the book.
Ready to Read The Solar System: This is a very easy early reader about the solar system. It is a great introduction to nonfiction!
Spaceships and Rockets: This book is a bit more challenging than the other non-fiction early reader above but it is packed with information on rockets and spaceships. My son really enjoyed reading it!
Pete the Cat and the Space Chase: This is a comic book style early reader. My son loves Pete the Cat so naturally he loved this one about space! It does discuss aliens which I made sure to explain to him.
Big Dog and Little Dog Visit the Moon: My son found this book at the library and he absolutely adores it. It might be his favorite that he reads to himself. It is a cute book about a big dog and a little dog building a spaceship to visit the moon and cheer him up.
Buzz Beaker and the Outerspace Trip: This was another library find and my son really enjoys it. It also involves aliens so is more on the early science fiction or space fantasy genre than some of the other books here.
The shelf pictured here is Sprout Kids (code OnTheWay10 for a discount).
