Anyone who knows me knows (and for those of you who don’t, you’ll soon learn) that I love books. (I say love, my husband says obsessed…does it really matter how we label it?). They’re good for every occasion, are the perfect way to start and end a day, perfect for the car, on the road, at home. . .Throughout every nook and corner of our house, from the basement to the living room and up through each and every bedroom, we have books. It’s no surprise that a lot of those books are in Spanish and Slovak, which we’ve selfishly accumulated over the years to avoid having to translate books from English to Spanish and Slovak. The story just flows better when we’re not struggling to translate in realtime and it’s a lot easier to include stories that rhyme when the book does it for you.
In any case, today I present to you: my top 10 (though I could go on and on) recommendations for books in Spanish featuring animals or about animals for preschoolers! (These are all affiliate links):
La primera luna llena de gatita 
Our family loves this book. As a newborn, my now-toddler could stare at the black and white images for amazing, catch-my-breath minutes at a time. And our preschooler loves being in on the joke that Gatita thinks she is chasing an enormous bowl of milk that is actually the first full moon she’s ever seen. The story is sweet and the simple drawings are wonderful. It’s one of my go-to gifts for any Spanish speaking young kid.
La oruga muy hambrienta
This classic book is now available in Spanish and is a good introduction to days of the week, counting to five, and foods.
Jaja Jiji Cuac
This is the silly story of a farmer who leaves his mischievous animals with a caretaker for a few days.
Oso panda, oso panda, ¿qué ves ahí? 
I love this one for the introduction to so many different types of animals and the repetition, which young kids love and is key for learning and retaining vocabulary.
La araña muy ocupada 
As you can tell, I’m a fan of Eric Carle. His illustrations are beautiful and my kids love this story’s onomatopoeia.
Miau (De La Cuna a La Luna)
A cute book to learn various animal sounds.
Cha-cha-cha En La Selva 
I’m sure this book is meant to be sung, but I can’t for the life of me figure it out. In any case, my kids love the rhyming, rhythmic verses as the book uncovers various animals in the jungle and their movements, which are repeated by the illustrated kids.
Los tres cerditos aviadores
My mom brought this book from Puerto Rico on another visit and my son was in LOVE. It’s imagined as a sequel to the Three Little Pigs who have not learned their lesson.
Las Jirafas No Pueden Bailar
E adores this book. She loves seeing all the dancing animals and hearing me ‘sing’ the various rhythms and songs to which each of the animals dance (cha cha, tango, etc.). I love that N knows this book so well that he has it memorized and ‘reads’ along with me.
If buying books isn’t your thing, I recommend you check out the local library. In our case that’s not an option because our local library apparently transferred its entire Spanish collection because they were not in enough rotation. I hope you have better luck!
If you have any favorites you’d like to recommend or share, please do so below!
