11 of the Best Dinosaur Books for 2-Year-Olds
My 2-year-old son shoved the same book at me again, begging me to read it for the fifth time in a row. I groaned, feeling torn. I didn’t want to say no because I want my son to love reading, but I just couldn’t go through this one with him again.
His love for dinosaurs had appeared seemly out of nowhere and I wasn’t prepared. We needed to get him some more dinosaur books fast.
I set out to find him some great ones that we both wouldn’t get tired of reading.
Even as a librarian, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve bought a book for either of my kids that was just unimpressive. It’s hard to know what’s going to be a hit and what’s going to sit on the shelf untouched. I definitely ended up with a few duds, but here are the great ones we’ve found.
I hope this list of dinosaur books for 2-year-olds helps you pick some great books for your dinosaur-loving son or daughter.
11 of the Best Dinosaur Books for 2-year-olds
Li’l-Gen Dinosaurs Sound Book: Clever Creatures and Boundless Beasts — A Land of Dinosaurs*
This is the book that started it all for us: Li’l-Gen Dinosaurs Sound Book: Clever Creatures and Boundless Beasts — A Land of Dinosaurs. The text may be a little complicated for a 2-year-old, but it has a button for each dinosaur that pronounces its name and the sound it made. My 2-year-old loved this! It was amazing how quickly he could properly pronounce the dinosaurs’ names and identify them based on their features.
As your child gets older, the story teaches them different features of each of the dinosaurs included. This book also comes with dinosaur figurines and the option of a mat. My son loves finding and setting the correct dinosaur on the page as I read.
Oh Say Can You Say Di-no-saur?: All About Dinosaurs (Cat in the Hat’s Learning Library) by Bonnie Worth
This is another fun one that’s primary purpose is education. Oh Say Can You Say Di-no-saur? is a sort of encyclopedia for very young children. This one identifies a decent number of dinosaurs and describes them in a fun Dr. Seuss way.
The thing that I love about this one is that the dinosaur names are written out to help you pronounce them correctly. Each introduction starts with a phrase along the lines of, “Can you say…?” which causes your child to answer the question by repeating the name.
This has a few different dinosaurs that the Dinosaur’s Sound Book didn’t, so it helped my son learn about a few new dinosaurs.
Never Touch a Dinosaur!
This is a fun book. It rhymes and if your child has read the books above or knows a bit about dinosaurs, he/she will have fun trying to identify the dinosaurs in this one. It also has different textures to touch and feel. The graphics are great too.
Never Touch a Dinosaur! includes five different dinosaurs and is a nice quick read for those nights when you don’t have a lot of time but still want to spend some time reading as a part of a routine.
Little Dinosaur (10 Minutes to Bed) by Rhiannon Fielding
This is the most story-centered book on the list, which is a nice change of pace from educational and short board book types. Ten Minutes to Bed Little Dinosaur follows Rubble, a young Triceratops as he avoids bedtime by having adventures. It’s a great, fast-paced story that will hold your young child’s attention even at a young age.
This book doesn’t identify the types of dinosaurs and my son likes to ask me what each one is. If you’ve read the ones above that do identify the dinosaurs, it’s fun to speculate together what they may be.
Related: The Best Books for 2-Year-Olds
Pop-up Dinosaurs: A Pop-Up Book to Get Your Jaws Into (Priddy Pop-Up)
This book stands out for the pop-up feature. For a young children’s book, the graphics on the pop-ups are outstanding.
Pop-up Dinosaurs also includes random dino facts and activities on each page so this is one your child can get a lot of use out of over time. You can engage him with the pages in different ways each time you read–read the story, do the activities, or identify the images.
Roar: A Dinosaur Tour by Michael Paul
This book includes quite a few dinosaurs, which I was slightly overwhelmed by at first. But not my son! He very quickly started to pick up on the dinosaurs that he wasn’t familiar with, asking me what each new one was as we read, and adding each one to his arsenal of dinosaur knowledge.
The story in Roar: A Dinosaur Tour is short and simple, but it goes through each of the included dinosaurs with colorful images. Quickly another favorite.
Dinosaurs: Touch and Explore
This is one of the fun, interactive dinosaur books that I found to be great for 2-year-olds. Dinosaurs: Touch and Explore has a few different interactive elements for kids–like touch and feel, flaps to lift, and questions for a child to ponder for hours (or minutes) about the world of dinosaurs.
One of the features that sold me on this book is the highlight of the Microraptor. My son loves the show, Dino Dana, which now has him continuously referring to the Microraptor as a nuisance in our home.
Besides that one feature, this is a unique book that he loves interacting with.
Dino Block by Christopher Franceschelli
This is a huge book that includes pages within pages for your toddler to open. Dino Block asks questions to get your child thinking about which dinosaur fits the description provided. For example, “I am quick like a fox.” Which dinosaur could that describe? They’ll need to guess. Your child will quickly pick up all the answers and have fun blurting them out as you go along.
I love this book because it’s a little different and gets your child engaged and interacting with the text.
Chomp Chomp Dino by Martin Roy
This one makes my list because of the unique fact that it includes a puppet that your child can use to chomp alongside the dinosaur while you read.
Chomp Chomp Dino has a lot going on in the book and the dinosaurs aren’t labeled so it’s more for fun than learning about dinosaurs. But making reading fun is a key part of fostering a love of reading, so this still has a place in your child’s dinosaur library.
Dino Days with Triceratops
If your child happens to love the triceratops like my son does, Dino Days with Triceratops is for you! It’s a simple book about the Triceratops dinosaur. It does include mentions of the T-Rex, Spinosaurus, and Velociraptor.
The book includes some good dinosaur facts and names of the dinosaurs in the story.
Night Night Dinosaur
This simple book is the perfect bedtime story for your dinosaur-loving 2-year-old. We have a lot of bedtime books and these are my favorite for this age. There’s something about a small amount of text and saying “night night” to each of the animals as they go to bed, that’s just perfect for bedtime.
Use Night Night Dinosaur as a quick read right before bed to get everyone sleepy and calm. The last page is full of glow-in-the-dark stars to light up when you turn off the light.
Related: Dinosaur Books for Toddlers
11 of the Best Dinosaur Books for 2-Year-Olds – Quick List
Be prepared for your next dinosaur reading expedition with these 11 dinosaur books for 2-year-olds.
- Li’l-Gen Dinosaurs Sound Book: Clever Creatures and Boundless Beasts — A Land of Dinosaurs
- Oh Say Can You Say Di-no-saur?: All About Dinosaurs
- Never Touch a Dinosaur!
- Little Dinosaur (10 Minutes to Bed)
- Pop-up Dinosaurs: A Pop-Up Book to Get Your Jaws Into
- Roar: A Dinosaur Tour
- Dinosaurs: Touch and Explore
- Dino Block
- Chomp Chomp Dino
- Dino Days with Triceratops
- Night Night Dinosaur
Use This List to Create Your Own Dinosaur Library
Those are the 11 best dinosaur books I’ve found for 2-year-olds. These books have helped foster my son’s love of dinosaurs and I’m sure they’ll do the same for your son or daughter. And you won’t be stuck reading the same book over and over.
Does this list seem too young for your child? That’s ok. Every child is different. Try Dinosaur Books for 3-Year-Olds to see if that’s a better fit.
Want to instill a love of reading in your kids? Sign up for my free email course on raising readers.
Looking for more dinosaur books? Check out Dinosaur Books for Preschoolers and Dinosaur Books for Kids.
