Books For Young Children Aged 3 -4

Wondering how to choose the best books for young children?

Looking for books you'll actually enjoy reading to your three-year-old or four-year-old?

Choosing great books for children in the 3-to 4-year-old age group is one of those things that sounds like it should be really easy to do. In fact, though, it can actually be quite hard to find books you both enjoy reading without a lot of trial and error.

So how do you and your child avoid the disappointment of finding yourselves wading through another boring book?

And how do you choose books that will make reading loads of fun?

Choosing books for kids this age becomes easier when you think about the things they're interested in, the things they're learning to do and the stuff they love to do at home and when they're out and about. Here are a few ideas of things to think about when you're choosing books for children in this age group.

By the time they're three or four, many children:

• are starting to become a bit more independent from mum and dad;
• go to pre-school, day care or playgroup and enjoy interacting with other people;
• like going to the park, having play dates with other children and going to birthday parties;
• understand and appreciate humour;
• are curious about the world around them and pretty much everything in it;

But, when you're only three- or four-years-old, learning to make sense of the world requires understanding that goes beyond your own experiences. This is where stories and books come in!

Listening to stories is one way children learn about the world, about people and about consequences. Luckily children at this age love being read to and it's a fun age for parents too. 

Great books for 3 - 4 year olds include:

• fantasy stories and fairy tales to feed their imaginations;
• stories about children just like them doing everyday things;
• rhymes and poems for children, especially nonsense rhymes;
• humour in any form!

To get you started, I've put together a list of the best books for 3 - 4-year-olds. These are tried and true favourites guaranteed to appeal to your child. They also make great gifts - no guesswork required!

This is also a great age to start teaching children about emotions and using stories is a brilliant way to do it.

And finally, if you're Australian or living in Australia, this is a great age to introduce your child to picture books about Australian history. They'll study it at school eventually (usually in Year 3) but there are some wonderful picture books you can read now to get them started.