13 Fun Books About Farms & Farm Animals for Toddlers
“The cow says?” I waited.
“Moooo,” my son enthusiastically replied. Then he pointed at the sheep, “Sheep. Baaa.”
I laughed as I turned the page.
Cows, sheep, and all their sounds make the perfect read for toddlers who love animals and imitating sounds. After looking through a lot of farm books to satisfy this interest, these are our favorite books about farm animals.
Choose from this list of our favorite farm books to find the perfect gift for a farm animal-loving toddler. Or grab a few to introduce young readers to some great books with farm animal sounds.
Why I Love These 13 Farm Books for Toddlers
1. Noisy Farm Tiger Tales
Best for: 0-2 Year Olds
Visit the farm as you learn about the different animals and the sounds they make. Noisy Farm* is a touch-and-feel sound book. As your toddler feels each animal, they’re also encouraged to make the sounds along with the book.
Both of my toddler boys immediately loved this simple book. We’ve seen a few of these Noisy Books and this one is the best I’ve seen. The touch-and-feel patches are large and include a lot of different (accurate) textures. If your toddler loves farm animals, they’ll love this book.
2. I’ll Love You Till the Cows Come Home Kathryn Cristaldi
Best for: 0-2 Year Olds
How many ways can you say “I love you?” I’ll Love You Till the Cows Come Home will give you many new creative ways.
This is a sweet read that you and your toddler will love and learn to say “I love you” through. Read all of these outlandish ways to simply say “I love you.”
3. Hello World! On the Farm Jill McDonald
Best for: 2-4 Year-Olds
This book is a great way to teach your toddler about what happens on the farm. It’s full of interesting facts. The artwork in this series is also outstanding. It has bright colors and eclectic images that give it a unique style.
Hello World! On the Farm is perfect for 3-year-old questioners, but reading less information and sticking to the story will keep younger children’s attention.
4. Night Night Farm Roger Priddy
Best for: 0-2 Year Olds
It’s time for the farm to say night night. Follow along through the farm as each animal ends its busy day and says “Night night.”
Night Night Farm was an early favorite of my toddler. He loved saying night night to each of the animals and practicing their names and sounds. This is a farm theme version of the Night Night books. They all have cut-out pages to turn and a glow-in-the-dark feature on the last page.
5. Good Night Farm Patricia Hegarty
Best for: 2-4 Year Olds
Join the farm and it says good night. Similar to Night Night Farm, this is a bedtime book about farm animals. Good Night Farm includes a touch-and-feel element and more text.
They’re both great books for toddlers who are interested in farm animals. Since this one is more complex, I recommend it for older toddlers and Night Night Farm for babies and younger toddlers.
6. Little Blue Truck Alice Schertle
Best for: 1-3 Year Olds
Join this friendly little blue truck as it comes down the road, greeting farm animals as it goes. But when a dump truck rudely passes by, he quickly learns a lesson about the importance of slowing down and showing kindness to others.
This book is one of our family favorites. The rhyming text makes it easy to memorize and the animal sounds included in the story make it perfect for young children.
7. Barnyard Dance! Sandra Boynton
Best for: 0-2 Year Olds
In this book, you’ll join the farm in their barnyard dance. If you’ve read some of Sandra Boynton’s books, you know what to expect from this one. The barnyard friends line up and start their dance with sounds and 1, 2, 3s.
You can dance along or simply have fun reading this silly story and calling out the farm animals.
8. Poke-a-Dot! Old MacDonald’s Farm Melissa and Doug
Best for: 18+ Months
These Poke-a-Dot books are always a hit. Poke-a-Dot! Old MacDonald’s Farm is set to the tune of Old MacDonald. It includes the classic song with dots to poke while you count each animal. Your child will love poking the dots and the farm animal noises.
I find counting, singing, and poking to be a little too much in one read. So I often skip the counting, especially with younger toddlers.
9. Spot Goes to the Farm Eric Hill
Best for: 0-2 Year-Olds
In Spot Goes to the Farm Spot visits the farm to see the baby animals. This lift-the-flap book asks your child to look in different areas of the farm for the baby animals. It teaches the names of farm animals and their young.
If your child loves the original, Where’s Spot? they’ll love to join Spot on this new adventure to the farm.
10. Big Red Barn Margaret Wise Brown
Best for: 2+
Big Red Barn is one of the author’s classic books. It takes little readers through the animals that live in the barn. It shows us their day and what they each do as they play.
With simple rhymes, beautiful illustrations, and animal noises, this book is a great way to teach little kids about the animals on the farm. Perfect for learning about farm animals or for kids who love animals.
11. The Little Red Hen Paul Galdone
Best for: 2+
When the other animals in the house prefer to sleep while the Little Red Hen flurries about cooking and cleaning, they’re happy to benefit from her efforts. Until she asks for their help over and over when planting and harvesting wheat. Only to receive none. When the cake is made from the wheat harvest, the Little Red Hen eats it all by herself. Only then do the other animals learn to help out around the house.
The classic tale of The Little Red Hen is one of the great farm books. It teaches toddlers the importance of helping out and participating in the household. My toddler also loved the repeated phrases of “Not I” and “Then I will.”
12. Clack, Clack, Moo Doreen Cronin
Best for: 2+
In Clack, Clack, Moo, the cows on the farm have a new tool–a typewriter. When they begin writing demands, the farmer has had enough. He has to put a stomp to this immediately. He sends the duck to negotiate.
This is a fun book for kids of all ages, but the simple text makes it great for little learners. Toddlers will love the “clack, clack, moo” and “clack, clack, quack” repetitions. Toddlers who love farm animals will be thrilled by what goes on at this farm. And it’s one of my favorite farm stories to read.
13. Farmer Duck Martin Waddell
Best for: 2+
Farmer Duck is a hard worker. The farmer calls out to him all day long from the comfort of his bed, asking how it’s going. This leaves the duck overwhelmed and stressed out. Until one day, his friends on the farm decide to intervene.
If you want to teach your child about hard work and farm life, this is a great book to do it. It does have a political tone, but your toddler will miss that and simply love how the farm animals bond together to help a fellow animal.
I hope you and your toddler find a new favorite from this farm book list. And maybe your toddler learn some new noises from these farm animal books that will keep you both laughing.
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