Preschool

Preschool and kindergarten, all in one place. The honest version of these years: read aloud constantly, count real things, play games, and do about twenty minutes of something formal once your child is up for it. That is not a lowered bar. It is what the research and every experienced teacher will tell you, and it is why this shelf is mostly books and games.

How to use it: follow the child's stamina, not a schedule. Some five-year-olds will do a workbook page happily; some will not for another year, and both turn out fine. What matters at this age is that books are a pleasure and that nobody learns to dread the table.

The whole year in one place: The Whole Year: Kindergarten.
583 products
In stock
$9.99

The Octonauts Explore the Great Big Ocean

  • Life Science
  • Environment & Ecology
  • Story / Adventure

Why it works: The Octonauts' animal crew crosses the great ocean in a picture-book quest built around underwater exploration. Each new marine habitat and creature gives the journey its next discovery, so ocean diversity is carried by the team's adventure rather than presented as a detached catalog.

Meomi
Low stock
$21.99

Smithsonian Kids Dinosaur Guidebook & Projector

Editors of Silver Dolphin Books
Low stock
$16.99

Smithsonian Kids First Heroes of Flight

Thea Feldman
Low stock
$8.99

Smithsonian Kids: D Is for Dinosaur

Courtney Acampora
Low stock
$19.99

Smithsonian Kids: Space Explorer Guide Book & Projector

Rose Davidson
In stock
$14.99

Smithsonian Kids: Stars and the Solar System: 30 Glow-In-The-Dark Stars!

Courtney Acampora
Low stock
$8.99

Smithsonian Kids Butterflies and Moths: First Discovery Books

Rose Nestling
Low stock
$7.99

Smithsonian Kids All-Star Readers: To the Moon and Beyond Level 2

Editors of Silver Dolphin Books
In stock
$8.99

Smithsonian Kids Planets: And the Solar System

Patricia J Murphy
Low stock
$8.99

Smithsonian Kids Trains: First Discovery Books

Rose Nestling
Soldout
$16.99

National Geographic Little Kids First Big Book of the World

Elizabeth Carney National Geographic Kid
Low stock
$16.99

National Geographic Little Kids First Big Book of Things That Go: All about Planes, Trains, Cars, and Vehicles

Karen De Seve National Geographic Kids
In stock
$16.99

Smithsonian Kids Digging for Dinosaurs

Jaye Garnett
In stock
$16.99

Little Kids First Big Book of Bugs

Catherine D Hughes National Geographic K
In stock
$14.99

Smithsonian Kids: 5-Minute Dinosaur Tales

  • Earth Science
  • Life Science
  • Story / Adventure

Why it works: Twelve short read-alouds give individual dinosaurs a day, a danger, or a growth stage, from an active Tyrannosaurus to a young Maiasaura. Smithsonian collaboration and realistic paleo-art place fossils and reconstruction behind each bite-sized prehistoric story.

Editors of Silver Dolphin Books
In stock
$8.99

Smithsonian Kids Sharks: Teeth to Tail

Jaye Garnett
In stock
$16.99

National Geographic Little Kids First Big Book of Where

Jill Esbaum National Geographic Kids
In stock
$16.99

National Geographic Little Kids First Big Book of Pets

Catherine D Hughes National Geographic K