12 Great Animal Sound Books for Toddlers

Many of our favorite children’s books have animals in them. Learning animal sounds is a great way to work on beginning language skills. Pairing a consonant with a vowel is one of the easiest ways to make a word. Simple words are easy to imitate. Here is my list of top animal sound books for toddlers. What would you add to the list? Affiliate links are included in this post. Clicking on the book covers or titles will take you to Amazon.

Sandra Boynton’s animal books are some of our favorites. They top the list in our favorite books for babies post. Toddlers love them, too. Parents can read them again and again because of their whimsy and humor. Moo Baa La La La has the standard animal sounds with a twist. Do pigs say, “la la la?” No? My favorite line is at the end of book. “It’s quiet now, what do you say?” We always repeat each animal’s sound and point to the animal.

Doggies is another fun read by Sandra Boynton. Count the barks of the dogs. Each dog has its own bark. “One dog. Woof! Two dogs. Woof! Yap Yap!” On the story goes until you reach one cat at the end. The meowing cat always makes my daughter giggle.

What’s Your Sound, Hound the Hound? by Mo Willems only has 3 animal sounds – the hound, the chick, and the cow. But in typical Mo Willems style, there’s added humor. Cat the Cat asks Bunny the Bunny what his sound is. Bunny looks upset. What sound does he make?? Don’t worry Cat the Cat and the other animals make him feel better.

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin, Jr. – Technically, there are no animal sounds mentioned in this book. However, when I read the book to my daughter, I add them in. “Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see? Raaaawr! I see..” And on the last page with all of the animals, we say the animal sounds again. The animal sounds seem to keep my daughter more engaged in the book.

You Are My Baby: Farm is cute little board book. There is a little book inside the bigger book. On each page, a mama animal says something to her baby. Then, the baby makes a sound. “You have a curly pink tail. You are my baby little piglet.” “Oink! Oink!”

Do Cows Meow? (A Lift-the-Flap Book) is by Salina Yoon. She is most known for her Penguin picture book series that started with Penguin and Pinecone. Do Cows Meow? is a simple board book with animal mouths. Lift the flap to open the mouth and see what the animal says.

Clifford’s Animal Sounds by Norman Bridwell. The beloved big red dog (as a puppy) is meeting animals and learning their sounds. My son (age 5) has always loved Clifford. My daughter (age 1) has an affinity for all dogs. This book was a fun read for her as the puppy was a prominent character.

Oink-a-Doodle-Moo by Jef Czekaj. The animals play a game of telephone and as you expect, it doesn’t work out like it should. Lots of fun animal sounds in this silly book.

Baby Says “Moo!” by JoAnn Early Macken. Baby meets lots of animals in this book. Ask her what they say and she only has one answer: “Moo!” This is a great book for children who love books with babies AND animals.

Little Blue Truck Board Book by Alice Schertle. My daughter loves this book for the animal sounds, but many children will also love the trucks in this book. Beep! Beep! Beep! All the animals and the Little Blue Truck help out the big dump truck who gets stuck in the mud. It has a good message for helping people out and being nice to others. Also see our Farm Animal Races with Little Blue Truck.

Peek-a-Moo! by Marie Torres Cimarusti will be loved by children who like to play peek-a-boo. The animals in the book are all hiding their faces. Guess who they are. Pull the arms down. “Peek-a-moo says the cow.”

Hi! (Animal Words) by Ethan Long. We first fell in love with Ethan Long’s art work and comic book style with My Dad, My Hero. In his new book, Hi!, Long introduces us to animals’ first words in a rhyming call and response.

Bonus

Moo! by David LaRochelle – The whole family loves this one. The entire book consists of one word: Moo. Follow the cow as she gets into a bit of trouble with the farmer’s car. The book is hilarious. You and your kids will love speaking the voice the of the cow. Moooooo! Just try not to giggle while reading it. I bet you can’t.

What are your favorite animal sounds books?