This post contains affiliate links.

Dinosaurs are a main topic of conversation around these parts. My oldest, H, is almost 4 and his days are consumed with those Triassic reptiles. He also loves reading and learning and quizzing me on my dinosaur facts, so our library is never short on dinosaur books. Here are some of our favorite and the best dinosaur books that have been kid and adult tested and approved!

(In no particular order)

The best (toddler approved) dinosaur books for kids:

Discovery Kids “Rumble with the Dinosaurs” sound book: 10 awesome sound buttons and full of vibrant pictures and cool facts, this is a fantastic dinosaur book for kids. I love that the sounds aren’t too loud, and they sound really crisp!

“How Do Dinosaurs Play with Their Friends?”: A really cute book with not so secret teaching moments about friendship. The illustrations are fantastic, and I love the lessons its helping teach H about being a good friend and sharing. Gives you an easy “okay, bud, remember – how do dinosaurs play with their friends?” line that serves as a gentle reminder, too!

How Do Dinosaurs Go to Sleep?: Another teachable book from Jane Yolen and Mark Teague. If your kiddo struggles with bedtime at all, check it out. How do Dinosaurs go to Sleep is great to read before bed! Plus, H thinks its pretty hilarious that the giant dinosaur has human parents. And he likes telling me how the dinosaur should be getting ready for bed, which is a great conversation.

Oh Say Can You Say Di-no-saur?: All About Dinosaurs: Utilizing Cat in the Hat as their guide, Cat takes Dick and Sally on a dinosaur filled adventure. H loves that he recognizes the main characters, and that he can learn the actual way to pronounce dinosaur names. This book is clever, educational, and always makes H giggle.

Can You Find 1001 Dinosaurs and Other Things?: This is SUCH a fun book. Dinoland is pretty much on H’s bucket list, and after reading this awesome dinosaur book with your kiddo you’ll understand why. It keeps his attention, and he LOVES trying to find all the things on the list. The pictures are bright and bold and I love that it includes numbers to add in an educational element.

Dinosaur Pet: H loves the song that comes along with this awesome dinosaur book. He learned about Dinosaur Pet at Preschool, and came home asking to read it with me repeatedly. It’s a great sing a long book with a catchy tune and awesome illustrations. Definitely high on our favorite dinosaur book list!

Dinosaurs Love Underpants: This awesome dinosaur book always leaves us giggling. H thinks its hilarious to see dinos walking around in underwear, and he never gets tired of reading it. Dinosaurs Love Underpants is a really cute book full of great rhymes. As a bonus, it really helped get H excited about wearing undies! So while its not technically a potty training book, we kind of used it as one!

The Usborne Big Book of Big Dinosaurs: My mom got this for H last year and he pulls it out every time we go visit. It is easily his most read and most requested! We love Usborne, and this dinosaur book is no exception. The illustrations are amazing, the content is incredible, and it is really educational. H has found a few new favorite dinosaurs, and I love that it gives facts and pronunciation help. It’s really cool to see how some dinos compare to others, too!

“Dino Parade”: This might be one of the physically coolest books ever. As you read, it unfolds and stretches across the floor! Super colorful and unique, H and I both love reading this Dino Parade book. The text is simple to read, all the cut outs are awesome, and we always find a way to march along side the dinosaurs for an at home parade too. 

Dinosaur Zoom: If your kiddo is anything like mine and loves dinosaurs AND anything with wheels, you need this dinosaur book. It teaches colors and totally has H hooked every time we read. The storyline is really cute, dinos going to a birthday party, and the writing is pretty catchy. Its a great book for dinosaur loving toddlers!

Danny and the Dinosaur: We started with the first Danny and the Dinosaur book and now are adding to the collection. This 5 book set is awesome now for me to read to H, but will also be great books for when he starts to learn to read! Think Clifford, but less red and more reptile. We love love love this entire series of awesome dinosaur books, and they’ve been around for forever for a reason. Highly recommend!

Dinosaur Dance!: Sandra Boynton is a household staple, and this Dinosaur Dance book is so cute. Short and sweet, and easy enough for H to memorize, we read this daily. Like her other books, its clever, its bright and colorful, and always gets H up dancing along. 

Oh My Oh My Oh Dinosaurs!: This was actually our first Sandra Boynton book! And what got us hooked. I love the sing-songy text, and the play on opposites. It’s educational while still being fun, and a lot of fun to read aloud with different voices. We always buy this one as a shower gift!

Bang! Boom! Roar! A Busy Crew of Dinosaurs: This is one of our favorite dinosaur books for sure! Bang Boom Roar combines dinosaurs with construction and it’s like toddler heaven. I love that it’s educational and takes the kids from A to Z. Each page has hidden letters for your child to find, and the story is pretty funny. We love the illustrations and I love how it kind of grows with H as he gets older. So creative!

Dinosaur Dig!: Another favorite that combines all of the best things in life: dinosaurs, diggers and dirt. We love reading along with the rhythmic text and how the book helps H with his counting. Without giving away the ending of the book, it’s pretty awesome to see what the 10 dinosaurs work together to build. Easily a favorite of all the dinosaur books we read! Plus, the sound effects are really fun!

Dinosaurumpus!: If you’ve read Giraffes Can’t Dance and loved it, you’re going to love Dinosaurumpus!. H loves that he gets to dance alongside a T. rex and other dinosaurs. He asks to read this dinosaur book often, and I’m happy to do so. The rhymes are really catchy, the illustrations are bright and colorful and it’s just a really fun book. 

Harry and the Bucketful of Dinosaurs: So we actually saw the show on Netflix before reading the book. But we loved how imaginative and sweet the show was, and H thinks it’s pretty cool that the boy and he have the same name. It is a wonderful book with a great story! H is now on a mission to find himself a bucket full of dinosaurs that can come to life!

How Do Dinosaurs Eat Cookies?: This was recommended by a friend and I immediately added it to my cart. There are Scratch and Sniff (!!!) cookies on each page, how awesome is that?! Dinosaurs, sweet treats, and good smells? Sign me up! As a bonus there are also two recipes included at the end of the book!

What the Dinosaurs Did Last Night: A Very Messy Adventure: Another friend recommendation! She says her son is obsessed with this book and requests to read it every single night. It’s a super fun and playful book that definitely sparks imaginative thought. According to the reviews on Amazon, even parents enjoy reading it – so I definitely am adding this one to our list!

Do your kiddos have any favorite dinosaur books?

Find all these great dinosaur books here: