Toddler and Preschool Transportation Theme Books That We Love

Inside: Looking for toddler and preschool transportation theme books? Here are our favorites for the home and classroom!

There are a lot of fun transportation books for toddlers and preschoolers.

In fact, it can be downright hard to choose which ones to include!

But during the many years I’ve been a teacher, I’ve come up with a list of favorites that I love to bring out year after year for our preschool transportation theme.

In fact, some are out throughout the year regardless of our theme because they are favorites with our children.

The first selection is what I am reading with my 2 and young 3 year olds.

These are simpler (mostly board) books, some that have peek-a-boo flaps.

The second section is geared more for preschoolers, most with more detailed text.

Toddler and Preschool Transportation Theme Books That We Love

Here are the books we will be reading this year with our 2 and young 3 year olds:

Vroom, Vroom, Trucks!

Our younger children love lift-the-flap books! This collection includes a bulldozer, cement truck, crane, dump truck and an excavator.

Pop-Up Peekaboo! Things That Go

Here is another lift-the-flap book that is filled with illustrations of all sorts of vehicles that move.

Planes

Explore different types of airplanes, from seaplanes to crop dusters to planes that write messages in the sky. The short text is perfect for toddlers!

Machines at Work

A simple book with rhythmic text about what happens at a construction site as workers gather.

Transportation Books for Preschoolers

Here are more books for your transportation theme that we have enjoyed over the years. Many of these are more suitable for preschoolers since they are longer than the above selection.

Roadwork by Sally Sutton

Our preschoolers love the sounds that are included in this book, such as screek!, squelch!, and swish! A fun rhyming book that truck lovers especially adore.

If I Built a Car by Chris Van Dusen

Jack has an amazing imagination as he designs a car that is loaded with fun features!

My Truck is Stuck! by Kevin Lewis

What happens when a truck gets stuck? Another favorite every year in our preschool classroom!

Duck in the Truck by Jez Alborough

This is one of our favorite books! We love the rhyming words as all of duck’s friends work to get duck’s truck out of the muck.

Little Blue Truck by Alice Schertle

Little Blue is well loved by our preschoolers (and our todders, too). They especially love this book because of all of Little Blue’s animal friends, and how they try to get him out of the mud.

Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site by Sherri Duskey Rinker

This is such a favorite construction book that it inspired me to create a construction sensory bin for our toddlers and preschoolers!

Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus by Mo Willems

This book is just as funny as all the other Pigeon books and has our children laughing as we read each page.

The Wheels on the Bus by Raffi

This is a favorite, especially with our youngest preschoolers, that we read (and sing) all year long, not just during our transportation theme.

Trains by Byron Barton

The simple text and illustrations make this book perfect for younger children, especially those that love trains. As the train moves through the town, we learn about different types of trains and what they do.

The Little Engine That Could by Watty Piper

This classic story is about a train that is filled with toys and encounters challenges during her travels to children on the other side of the hill.

Freight Train by Donald Crews

Our preschoolers are drawn to the bright colors in this book … red caboose, green cattle car, black tender …A fun way to build color recognition skills!

Trains by Gail Gibbons

We love this book because it helps our train lovers learn about a train’s parts with detailed pictures.

Row Row Row Your Boat by Iza Trapani

This is a fun sing-along book that we enjoy during circle time.

Boats by Byron Barton

Super simple for young readers, this board book shows different kinds of boats with colorful illustrations.

Flying by Donald Crews

Younger children will love the minimal text and bright illustrations while watching a plane’s journey.

Roaring Rockets by Tony Mitton and Ant Parker

We not only move around Earth, but also into space! This is a fun book that shows how powerful rockets can be as they whiz into outer space.

After reading the book, try some of these transportation activities:

• Transportation Art
• Painted Roads
• Rainbows Made by Cars