If you are putting together a jungle or rain forest unit study for your children, a stack of bright colorful picture books is always a great place to start! Since most of our kids are unlikely to experience a tropical rain forest during their childhood, these jungle books for kids are just what you need.
A quick note:
You’ll notice that most of these books are about rain forests. Since all jungles are forests, this is a great conversation to have with your kids who can understand. “Jungle” is a casual term, while “rainforest” is the more scientific one.
12 Jungle Books for Kids
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Start with a broad non-fiction book that introduces different aspects of the tropical habitat.
Our library had Tropical Climates by Cath Senker.
Other good non-fiction books are:
We Both Read About the Rain Forest by Heather Johnanasen and Sindy McKay
Rain Forests: A Magic Tree House Research Guide by Will and Mary Pope Osborne
In the Rain Forest by Catherine Nichols
Up a Rainforest Tree by Carole Telford and Rod Tehodorou
Predators in the Rain Forest by Saviour Pirotta
Our kids also enjoy reading fiction jungle books! Here are some of our favorites:
Over in the Jungle: A Rainforest Rhyme by Marianne Berkes
“Slowly, Slowly, Slowly,” Said the Sloth by Eric Carle.
The Great Kapok Tree: A Tale of the Amazon Rain Forest by Lynne Cherry
We’re Roaming the Rainforest by Laurie Krebs
Secrets of the Rainforest: A Shine a Light Book
By the way, have you heard of cloud forests? I picked up this book at the library, all about the Monteverde Cloud Forest in Costa Rica:
The Forest in the Clouds by Sneed B. Collard III
And one “eh” book:
Most lists of recommended jungle books for kids include Rumble in the Jungle by Giles Andreae. And while it is a completely cute book, I just can’t get over the fact that (gasp!) it’s not even about jungle animals. In case you want to check it out for yourself, click here:
If you have a favorite jungle book, I would love for you to leave it in the comments! And if you’re looking for any jungle-related learning activities, be sure to check our latest family activity guide, now available in The Play School Club.
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