At age 3, children are bursting with imagination, becoming independent talkers, and starting to ask big questions about the world around them — and books can be one of the best ways to support this development.

By this age, children are ready for slightly longer stories, more developed characters and books that invite them to think, laugh and imagine. The right books can help to expand their vocabulary, explore emotions, spark creativity, and build a lifelong love of reading.

But with so many books to choose from — from timeless classics to modern favourites — how do you pick the best books for your 3 year old?

Using trusted parent recommendations from the MadeForMums Top Testers Club, we've rounded up the best books for 3 year olds, including favourites from Julia Donaldson, Judith Kerr and more.

Whether you're looking for a story that makes your child laugh, helps them wind down, or encourages conversation, there's something here to suit every little reader.

Best books for 3 year olds at a glance

What kind of books are best for 3 year olds?

By age 3, children are developing stronger language skills, longer attention spans and vivid imaginations. The best books for 3 year olds should reflect these leaps by offering slightly more detailed stories, richer vocabulary, and opportunities for interaction that go beyond the page.

Engaging Stories with Structure: 3 year olds are ready for books with a clear beginning, middle and end. Simple storylines that follow a character through a problem and resolution help develop comprehension. Books that introduce structure but are still fun and engaging, like Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson (no. 3 below), are good examples.

Interactive Elements: While they may be moving beyond basic lift-the-flap books that are great for 1 and 2 year olds, 3 year olds will still benefit from interactive stories that encourage them to participate — whether it’s repeating a refrain, answering a question, or acting something out. Books that prompt interaction help build language skills and keep them actively engaged.

Rhymes and Repetition: 3 year olds thrive on rhythm and repetition. Rhyming books encourage prediction, memory, and confidence as your child starts "reading" along with you.

Imaginative and Playful: At this age, children love to pretend. Books that include magical worlds, silly characters, or playful surprises fuel their creativity and make reading extra fun. Think talking animals, imaginative adventures, or books with unexpected twists.

Vibrant Illustrations: Bold, expressive artwork is still important at this age. At 3, children enjoy spotting details in pictures, identifying familiar objects, and noticing emotional expressions in characters. Choose books with dynamic images that enhance the storytelling and invite discussion.

Best books for 3 years olds to read in 2025

1. The Ten Little book series by Mike Brownlow, £7.99

Best counting books for 3 year olds

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The Ten Little book series by Mike Brownlow product shots

Whether you're counting along with pirates, superheroes, aliens, princesses, robots, monsters or dinosaurs — these brilliant books put a fun and adventurous twist on a traditional counting rhyme. The fun-filled stories are perfect for young children to read along with, they have an easy rhythm, captivating illustrations and will help your child count from 1 to 10 and back again.

Parents in our Top Testers Club really rated this book series and admired how much the books help their children with their counting skills. Parent tester Anne-Marie said this book series "really helps with my child's counting". Parent Beth told us: "my 3 year old loves the Ten Little series. They're great for helping with counting and really easy to read along!". And parent tester Jenny agreed: "these books are great and have brilliant rhyming throughout with colourful pictures too, they also help us count."

The Ten Little ... series are great. As we were counting down I would say 'and then there were...' and wait to let my little boy say the number. It's really good for teaching numbers as shows the numbers in written word and number format and you can count the monkeys/robots/aliens etc. on the page. They rhyme and flow well so they're nice to read out loud.
Parent tester Rachel

Available from: Waterstones, Amazon

2. You Choose... book series by Pippa Goodhart and Nick Sharratt, £7.99

Best interactive books for 3 year olds

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You Choose book by Pippa Goodhart

You Choose is a true timeless classic that kids will love again and again and again! The collection offers a world of scenarios where your child gets to choose their own adventure, with something new to find during every read.

Our parent testers told us they especially love how these books encourage creativity. Parent tester Cali said these books are "great for encouraging conversation and imagination" and parent tester Victoria agreed: "these books are so good at getting kids conversing and choosing their own story." Plus, the books will stand the test of time too, particularly given their unique nature.

Parent tester Amy told us, "the You Choose books are brilliant from 3 years up. The way my kids have engaged with them has developed as they've grown older too, I love books with longevity."

With an inventive storytelling mechanism, vibrant images and a variety of titles to choose from, such as You Choose in Space, You Choose Fairy Tales and seasonal editions such as You Choose Christmas, these books are perfect for young readers and storytellers.

My 3 year old's favourite is the 'You Choose' collection. Fun, bright colours and encourages them to use their imagination and make up stories.
Parent tester Tanya

Available from: Waterstones, Amazon

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3. Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson, £7.99

Best Julia Donaldson book for 3 year olds

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Room on the Broom product shot

It's no surprise that Julia Donaldson is one of the most recommended authors when it comes to children's books. Parents and kids alike love the exciting stories, beautiful illustrations, clever rhymes and repetition of her books, making them a "firm favourite" for families everywhere.

Before getting to what is regarded as this author's most iconic book, The Gruffalo (which we would recommend from 4 years old), we think that one of the best Julia Donaldson books for 3 year olds is another classic: Room on the Broom. It features everything you would expect from the author and parent tester Lauren told us "it has been great for my children's speech and repetition."

Our parent testers were really full of praise for this book: parent tester Jenna said her child loves this book because, "all of the rhyming is fab and the characters are engaging" and parent tester Viki agreed, she told us "our little boy loved lots of the Julia Donaldson books at that age. He loved the pictures and followed along with the story well!"

Room on the Broom is a firm favourite. The rhyming, repeating words and such great illustrations too, all of which make it a fantastic read!
Parent tester Hayley

Available from: Amazon, Waterstones

4. The Colour Monster by Anna Llenas, £7.99

Best book about emotions for 3 year olds

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The Colour Monster book product shot

This gentle but powerful book is a great option if you're looking for a book to help your 3 year old talk about emotions and understand how they're feeling.

The book follows the title character, the Colour Monster, who wakes up feeling confused as his emotions are all over the place. As you continue through the book, a little girl helps to make him make sense of what he's feeling through colour, which helps children to understand and identify what different emotions mean.

Beautifully illustrated and incredibly poignant, it's a great book that will really help children explore and navigate their feelings. Parent tester Rebecca said, "I'd recommend The Colour Monster, my eldest loved telling me about all the different emotions she feels and it really helped her recognise different emotions with the beautiful pictures."

It's available as a paperback, board book, or even the original pop-up book (£16.99).

My son loves The Colour Monster pop-up book as it has really helped him to understand his emotions — and it’s beautifully illustrated!
Parent tester Michelle

Available from: Amazon, Waterstones

5. Mog the Forgetful Cat by Judith Kerr, £7.99

Best classic book for 3 year olds

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Mog the Forgetful Cat product shot

An absolute classic, no list of best children's books would be complete without Judith Kerr's tale of the lovable, forgetful cat Mog. Children will have great fun reading along with Mog's funny escapades, and, as parent tester Tanya said, "my children loved the traditional Mog stories. They are captivated by the illustrations."

Parents also love how readable the books in the Mog series are, parent Theviya said "my son loved Mog and the Vet, it's easy to read and has helped with his reading for his age."

This beautiful picture book is, as parent Rebecca told us, "funny and a classic", and has been charming and delighting children (and parents!) for over 50 years — it's a firm favourite for many families and an essential for any child's bookshelf.

Available from: The Works, Amazon, Waterstones

6. Mr Men and Little Miss series by Roger Hargreaves, from £3.25 for each paperback

Best books for repeat reading for 3 year olds

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Mr Men and Little Miss books product shots

With over 90 characters showcasing a wealth of different personality traits, it's no wonder that Mr Men and Little Miss have continued to charm children for over 50 years. Whether you're enjoying the fun antics of Little Miss Sunshine, Mr Bump, Mr Tickle or Little Miss Bossy, these short and whimsical books are a delight to read to children. Parent tester Hollie told us, "my daughter absolutely lovely Mr Men and Little Miss books! They are great because they are fun to read and my daughter belly laughs at them!"

Parent tester Lauren's son Mayer read Little Miss Surprise as part of the MadeForMums Toy Awards and she told us, "my son got so much enjoyment out of this book and it will be read over and over again. He was so excited when he saw it and wanted to read it immediately. He made me re-read his favourite pages and laughed out loud at the part about Little Miss Surprise’s fridge. We spent a long time looking at the pages and the different characters we could spot."

These books are perfect for 3 year olds and beyond as each one includes a short and funny timeless tale, iconic and vibrant illustrations, and are great for kids to come back to again and again.

I'd recommend the Mr Men books! I think they are really good at describing different personality types and kids at this age love a collection.
Parent tester Stephanie

Available from: Amazon, The Works, Waterstones

7. We're Going to Find the Monster by Malorie Blackman, £7.99

Best adventure book for 3 year olds

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We're Going to Find the Monster product shot

Looking for a more adventurous read for your preschooler's next storytime? We're Going to Find the Monster is an exciting and dynamic picture book with a fun story of imagination, creativity and family. The story sees you join two children as they transform their house into a fantasy wild wonderland — and their big brother becomes the titular mighty monster.

It's a joy for parents to read aloud and for kids to follow along with, and the vibrant and bold artwork will keep young kids captivated.

This book is brilliant for language development with repetition and lovely language.
Parent tester Philippa

Available from: Waterstones, Amazon

8. New Nursery Rhymes by Katrina Charman and Nick Sharratt, £7.99

Best rhyming books for 3 year olds:

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New Nursery Rhymes product shots

Designed to be read aloud to the tune of favourite nursery rhymes, such as Baa Baa Black Sheep or Row, Row, Row Your Boat, these books are fantastic for story time. Vehicle fans will love Car, Car, Truck Jeep, or little seafarers will have great fun on a nautical adventure with Go, Go Pirate Boat.

Kids can read along, sing along, and perform the accompanying actions too. Alongside the fun rhymes and story are bold, colourful images from the great children's book illustrator Nick Sharratt which will delight and captivate kids as they read and sing along.

My daughter loves most books but the Nursery Rhymes books by Katrina Charman and Nick Sharratt in particular are great. They give a fun energy and the pictures really get my 3 year old excited to read.
Parent tester Chloé

Available from: Amazon, Waterstones

9. Hairy Maclary and Friends series by Lynley Dodd, £7.99

Best read-aloud book for 3 year olds

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Hairy Maclary and Friends series product shots

Another classic series of books that are great for reading aloud to children are the Hairy Maclary books from Lynley Dodd. The first title was published over 40 years ago, but parents and kids alike still love this rhyming classic — parent tester Kirsty said "we love the language used and the rhyming."

The playful rhymes are sure to delight your preschooler, and the vivid illustrations are sure to captivate them too. The books are packed full of repetition, fun adventures and are particularly perfect for young children who love dogs.

All of our children have loved the Hairy Maclary books. We love the illustrations and rhyming words. My youngest memorises most of them and likes to spot similar dogs when we are out.
Parent tester Jessica

Available from: Amazon, Waterstones

10. Goodnight Digger by Michelle Robinson, £7.99

Best bedtime book for 3 year olds

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Goodnight Digger product shot

Goodnight Digger is a great book for bedtime — this playful yet soothing story sees you join a little boy as he says goodnight to all his toys. Packed full of delightful images, gentle rhymes and large easy-to-read text, it's a great option to help your child get ready for bed.

Parent tester Claire said, "my son loves Goodnight Digger for bedtime. It really calms him down and sets him up for a good night's sleep." There are also other titles to choose from in the series — such as Goodnight Tractor, Goodnight Spaceman and Goodnight Pirate.

My son’s favourite book is Goodnight Digger. The pictures are beautiful, the story isn’t too long and it’s like a rhyming book so it keeps his attention whereas some books he loses interest very quickly. Also, being about vehicles and diggers — it’s exactly what he’s into.
Parent tester Lindsey

Available from: Amazon, Waterstones

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Authors

Emily Longman WallDigital Content Producer

Emily is the Digital Content Producer at MadeForMums and creates editorial and video content across the brand. She also edits the weekly editorial newsletter, oversees our reviews process and loves creating our craft articles and videos. She specialises predominantly in car seats and pushchairs, and has yet to meet a buggy she couldn’t fold! With a 1st class degree in History, she always researches topics thoroughly to find the best recommendations for parents.

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