Sometimes kids really struggle with learning their colors. I honestly believe it’s because colors are a little more abstract. Color words are, after all, adjectives and not nouns {except for orange, of course.} For example, we hold up a car and say, “red.” Then we hold up an apple and say, “red.” Wait? What? So both objects are “red?” My own kiddos actually knew the majority of their letter names before they knew all their colors. Sounds funny, right?
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To accompany our All About Colors Pre-K/K Pack, we’re sharing 15 Favorite Color Books for Kids. These tuck colors and color words right into the story, making it a great way to sneak in learning colors if your child is more resistant. Yes, sometimes we have to be a little sneaky…
15 Color Books for Kids
Blue Hat, Green Hat by Sandra Boynton is a favorite with kids. It’s just out-right SILLY! The crazy turkey is always wearing his clothes wrong. I loved to hear my younger kiddos giggle over and over with this one.
Mix it Up! by Herve Tullet is a new favorite at our house. My 4 year old, especially, likes how she can interact with the book. I think it’s neat how it teaches kids primary and secondary colors without kids really noticing!
Elmer’s Colors by David McKnee is a great little board book to introduce Elmer the elephant to younger kids. Each of his colors is featured and other objects are mentioned that are the same color. Older kids {Kindergarten and above} will definitely love Elmer by David McKnee, too!
Pete the Cat – I Love My White Shoes by Eric Litwin is a fun sing-songy book that kids will really enjoy singing over and over. I know I get the song stuck in my head. If you’d like to learn it {and get it stuck in your head, too}, the song can be found on YouTube.
Rain by Robert Kalan is such a simple little book that I have grown to love for beginning readers. The focus is the progression of a rainstorm {that’s why I’ve included it in our Rainy Day Pre-K/K Pack book list, too}, but it is packed with color words, too!
Brown Bear, Brown Bear by Bill Martin, Jr. is just one of those books you want to have if you are a teacher of preschool or if you have tots and preschoolers in the home. Such a simple rhyming book and full of color words.
Cat’s Colors Jane Cabrera is one that I was introduced to as a Kindergarten teacher years ago. It is such a cute, little book that has the reader guessing the cat’s favorite color. It’s a GREAT book for teaching or reinforcing colors.
Where is the Green Sheep? by Mem Fox is a cute little rhyming book about sheep that’s also filled with opposites! While looking for the green sheep, some color words are also sprinkled in there. This book is sure to make your little ones grin from ear to ear.
My tots have all been train lovers, especially my older three. Freight Train I could say forward and backward in my sleep and they could too! There’s something addictive about Donald Crew’s text and the images are so simple. If you have a train lover, this is a great book for teaching colors (or ordinal numbers, too.)
Mouse Paint by Ellen Stoll Walsh is the perfect book for color learning! How will the mice hide from the cat and what happens when they step in one color and mix it with another color? All of the mouse books by this author are adorable and keep the attention of kids.
A Color of His Own by Leo Lionni is a sweet story of a chameleon who just cannot seem to find his own color. Every other animal does, but him. This makes him unhappy until he meets a friend who matches his color and he realizes that having a friend is more important than this color.
Planting a Rainbow by Lois Elhert is the perfect spring story of all the flowers you can plant that blossom and flower into all the colors of the rainbow. It also is a great book to review each seasons of the year.
Put Me in the Zoo by Robert Lopshire features rhyming fun and a very talented animal {maybe a leopard} that can change the colors of his spots on a moment’s notice. While he wants to stay in the zoo, he soon discovers that the circus is the place for his amazing talent.
The Crayon Box that Talked by Shane Derolf is one that I always kept in my back pocket for those days when the kids in my Kindergarten or 1st grade class just weren’t getting along. I love the underlying theme that our differences is what makes the world a beautiful place, not that we all have to be exactly alike to be friends.
Little Blue and Little Yellow Leo Lionni is about two colors that are the best of friends. So just what will happen when they hug each other? If kids have any knowledge about how color mixing works, they will have a great guess!
You Might Also Like:
- FREE All About Colors Pre-K/K Pack
- FREE Color & Read Pack
- FREE Rainy Day Pre-K/K Pack
- Letter of the Week Book Lists & Printable Packs
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~Becky