Are you planning a trip to the beach with toddlers or a child? Maybe it’s their first time or it’s been so long they can’t remember it. Picture books about the beach are a great way to introduce (or reintroduce) children to the beach. It’s important to remember that although the beach comes with a lot of excitement and build up it’s can also bring out a lot of anxiety for our little ones.
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This is why showing pictures, reading books, and discussing all of the things they will see, smell, taste, feel, and hear while at the beach. The better they can expect what will happen, the more likely they are to enjoy it. So whether you are planning to spend an afternoon, evening, day, or week at the beach these books will have you covered to teach your child about what may happen while you are there.
Many of these books are easy to find at a local library, second-hand store, or your local TJ Maxx. However, if you need them quickly or you are an Amazon shopper I’ll post my affiliate link for you with each book.
Llama Llama Sand & Sun By Anna Dewdney
This book is first because it’s for the younger babies and toddlers. It is great for introducing young toddlers to the beach by teaching them about a beach towel, the sand, and of course sandcastles. It also has a fun touch-and-feel to make it more engaging for younger learners.
Don’t forget to pick up Llama Llama Red Pajama while you are at it, they will have fun learning all about Llama Llama!
Duck & Goose Go to the Beach By Tad Hills
Duck & Goose is a go-to duo for preschoolers. They are good friends that are always going on different adventures together. The books are filled with bright pictures and engaging illustrations.
This time Duck and Goose are headed to the Beach. What will happen when a wave comes to wipe them out?!
Spot Goes to the Beach By Eric Hill
Spot is a popular dog for toddlers and preschoolers alike. He goes on a lot of different adventures but this time he’s headed to the beach! He is learning about what to take to the beach, going fishing, and playing catch or games at the beach.
Although it doesn’t give a great picture of what the beach looks like if your toddler already knows about Spot, this book will give them more information about what they can do when they get to the beach. It also has a lot of fun lift-the-flaps making it even more intriguing for preschoolers and toddlers.
Biscuit’s First Beach Day By Alyssa Satin Capucilli
Do you have a preschooler that loves dogs?! If so Biscuit is the perfect book series for your little one! Biscuit is a sweet little puppy that is experiencing his first time at the beach. He’s busy learning all about sandcastles, playing in the ocean, and of course seashells!
If your family is headed to the beach or you are looking to teach your preschooler about the beach this summer Biscuit is a great place to start!
Otto Goes to the Beach By Todd Parr
Otto is a dog and he doesn’t like to be left at home alone so he decides to go to the beach to find a friend. Your toddler or preschooler will learn about the different animals that Otto tries to be a friend to. Eventually, Otto makes a friend.
Not only will your child learn about different things that happen at a beach, but they’ll also get a sweet story about making new friends. It can be hard to make new friends but Otto shows when you are persistent you’ll find someone that would love to play with you!
Pete the Cat: Pete at the Beach By James Dean
If your toddlers or preschoolers are anything like mine, they are big fans of Pete the Cat! My toddler (age 2) can’t get enough! We even bought him the 12 pack of mini-books for Christmas!
This time Pete goes to the beach. It’s so hot that day that he wants to jump in the water, but he’s feeling a bit nervous! Will Pete get over his fear and jump in to cool off? You’ll have to ask your toddler or preschooler their prediction.
The Deep Blue Sea By Audrey Wood
Audrey wood is a best-selling children’s author and there isn’t a question as to why. She has simple but engaging stories and illustrations. In this story, she teaches about the colors of the ocean.
Preschoolers and primary-aged children will love learning about sequencing using this book! I love that it is simple enough but they can practice some great time order words by retelling the story. Time order words are words like first, next, then, last, and finally.
Bluey The Beach By Penguin Young Readers Licenses
Are you and your family Disney fans, like mine? If so you should be watching Bluey! It’s a sweet, cute show about a family of dogs. The mother, father, and their 2 children are always busy doing things that human families are doing making it very relatable. It is a show the whole family enjoys- and bonus it’s only about 10-12 minutes an episode.
In this episode, the family is at the beach! While mom is off walking around Bluey finds a shell. In true Bluey fashion, this starts a whole chain of events that is sure to get you and your little one laughing.
My Ocean is Blue By Darren Lebeuf
My Ocean is Blue is about a girl who goes to the ocean with her mom*. While she is there she describes it to the reader. She explains how it is deep, shallow, rotten, fresh, silent, and loud. I love using this book for visualization. It allows readers to be able to visualize the book using the words given to describe it.
Children could also use this book to identify the main idea and detail. It’s unique because for most texts the main idea is at the beginning. However, in this book, she says her ocean is always different at the end but had already described all the ways it is different throughout the story.
*This is an inference as the words never say the relationship of the woman and girl in the story
Sandy Feet! Whose Feet? Footprints at the Shore By Susan Wood
“Sandy Feet! Whose Feet?” is a book about footprints in the sand at the beach. Your children will enjoy the wonderful illustrations in this book as they learn about different animals and people that visit the beach. At the end of this book, the authors give more information about the animals and sea creatures throughout the book.
This is a fun book to incorporate with a sand sensory box. Children can use different toys, animals, and shells to make prints in the sand. It will help them understand what it might look and feel like when they visit the beach! Let me know what you would try in the sand to make prints?
Hello, Ocean By Pam Munoz Ryan
Hello, Ocean is always a staple to me when I’m teaching in an elementary classroom. It’s full of easy-to-read language that describes the ocean using different senses, figurative language, and provides a great sense of visualization. Young readers will get a real feel for the way that the ocean looks, feels, tastes, smells, and sounds like.
If you have a child you are taking the ocean, Hello, Ocean is a perfect choice to help teach them about what to expect.
The Sandcastle that Lola Built
The Sandcastle that Lola Built is a spin on the classic nursery rhyme, The House that Jack Built. Nursery rhymes have many benefits for early literacy including phonemic awareness.! If you are looking for more information on phonemic awareness please check out my link What is Phonemic Awareness, and How do I teach it?
Anyways, this sweet story is full of repetition, rhymes, and a fun story about building sandcastles on the beach! I’m excited to read this story on the way to the beach this summer with my 2 and 4-year-old! I know they will love it.
Beach By Elisha Cooper
This book has a lot of wonderful details about what might happen at the beach, what might you see or notice other people doing at the beach. For example, some people will be sunbathing, others will be putting up an umbrella, the lifeguard will be looking out at the water, you might see a man playing with his baby, and the list goes on!
This book is full of beautiful watercolor-like illustrations. Some pages are left without words and just show a beautiful picture of how the illustrator visualizes the beach. They also allow the reader enough detail to understand what it might look like when someone is sunbathing or swimming in the water.
I hope this helped you come up with some new books to learn about the beach with your kids. Books are a great way to help prepare children for the unknown and to help support their expectations of what something might be like.
Remember, that a vacation can be a big concept for a child. They oftentimes don’t have the words to tell us how they are really feeling about something. The beach can bring a lot of sensory that they may or may not be expecting. I try to go into our beach trips with kids with an open mind on how long we’ll get to stay and how much they’ll really be able to handle.
Don’t leave without telling me your favorite part of going to the beach and please share this post with someone who needs it.
Love, Ashley E
