8 Fun Rainbow Books for Kids

Young children love learning about rainbows, and books are always a fun way to discover more about a topic. Whether you purchase a new book or two or borrow them them from the library, these rainbow books for kids are sure to capture your child’s interest!

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Our Favorite Rainbow Books for Kids

If you have a science- and math-minded kid, he/she might enjoy a non-fiction book that explains why rainbows exist.

Light Makes a Rainbow by Sharon Coan is a beautiful book with simple words and sentences. The science is definitely not “dumbed down,” though. The book introduces light as energy, light waves, wavelengths, and Roy G. Biv. It also includes a couple of hands-on science activities in the back for your family try together. We will definitely be adding this one to our family collection!

A great companion book to Light Makes a Rainbow is A Rainbow of My Own by Don Freeman (author of Corduroy)! It’s a playful book about a young child who chases a rainbow after a rainstorm. When the child gets back home, there is a rainbow reflected on the wall from the water in a fishbowl.

Our favorite fiction book about rainbows is Elmer and the Rainbow by David McKee. This sweet story follows a kind and unique elephant who works together with other animals in his community. They search for the beginning of the rainbow, which has mysteriously lost its colors. I won’t spoil the ending, but it’s heartwarming and teaches about giving to others.

Our girls grew up watching Signing Time, so Rainbow Salad is one of our favorite songs whenever we’re in the kitchen. It’s not on YouTube right now, but you can enjoy this rainbow song from Rachel and the Treeschoolers instead!

For follow-up, you might want to add the board book Strawberries are Red by Petr Horacek to your family reading nook. It’s a simple way to reinforce colors through a toddler’s favorite way of learning: eating!

Finally, if your family likes to grow flowers, Lois Ehlert’s Planting a Rainbow is a terrific book for kids of all ages! After reading the story, you could plant flower seeds or buy an assortment of artificial flowers for your child to “plant” again and again, all year long.

Do you have a hands-on learner? Check out our tactile rainbow activities!

More Rainbow Books for Kids

Just this week, the girls and I sat down to do an online storytime for The Play School Club community. We found a few fabulous rainbow-themed books that also include animals and friendship themes like Elmer and the Rainbow, and I wanted to share those here:

Finally, if your child enjoys interactive books, be sure to check out What Makes a Rainbow? by Betty Ann Schwartz. The “magic” ribbons accumulate throughout the story, leaving a rainbow behind at the end of the book.