Interactive Books for Kids
Interactive books for kids are such a fun way to get kids involved and invested in reading. From interactive board books to books for older children, we have included our favorite interactive kids’ books.
These are the books that are tried and tested, and with five kids between the two of us, you can be sure that if a book is on this list, it is a good one. Interactive books are books that require some involvement from the child to enjoy the book to its fullest. You can also check out my list of Wordless Picture Books. They also provide a great opportunity for kids to interact with books.
So whether your child needs to pull a tab, push a button, solve a problem, or tilt the book, each one of these books has an interactive element that adds depth to the book.
Don’t forget that every extra moment spent reading with your child is an opportunity for learning and bonding. These books are especially great at promoting reading readiness and helping more active children attend to the book. After all, not all kids have an easy time sitting and listening without moving their bodies.
The Best Interactive Books for Kids
Each colorful block below represents the best book in a subgenre. Click on the arrow to reveal my “best” pick in any category. You’ll also be able to use a page jump to see more books in that section.
Best Interactive Board Book
Peek-a-Who by Nina Laden- Jump to Section
Best Interactive Book for Toddlers
Tails by Matthew Van Fleet- Jump to Section
Best Interactive Preschool Book
Mix It Up by Hervé Tullet- Jump to Section
Best Interactive Book for Children
Book with No Pictures by B.J. Novak- Jump to Section
Best Interactive Book for Older Children
Harry Potter Mina Lima Edition- Jump to Section
The Interactive Kids Books Post contains affiliate links. Purchases made through links result in a small commission to us at no cost to you. Some books have been gifted. All opinions are our own.
Interactive Board Books for Babies
Plot
This interactive board book is perfect for the littlest reader. This rhyming board book has cut-outs that make the game of peek-a-boo even more fun. The last page of this book has a mirror that allows your baby to look at themselves.
Why Jackie loves it
With simple rhyming text, this interactive book is developmentally appropriate. The mirror at the end is wonderful for interacting with young kids!
Find this book in: Best Books for 2-year-olds / Interactive Books for Kids
Pat the Bunny (Touch and Feel Book)
Author: Dorothy KunhardtÂ
Illustrator: Dorothy KunhardtÂ
Year: 1968
Genre: Board Books
Age: 0 – 3
Plot
This touch-and-feel book is perfect for little ones to feel the soft bunny and look in the mirror. It’s such a cute classic that launched interactive board books for babies and spawned a million spoof books!
Why Jackie loves it
I love the interactive element of this one! My mom had this book, I had it, and I read it to my daughter too!
Find this book in: Books for Newborns / Books for a 1-Year-Old / Interactive Books For Kids / Bunny Books
Plot
This adorable finger puppet book is interactive and fun. The repetition in this classic rhyme encourages language development and as children get older, they may start babbling along while you read.
Why Jackie loves it
The finger puppet encourages hand-eye coordination while they interact with the finger puppet on this book.
Find this book in: Counting Books / Interactive Books For Kids / Books for a 1-year-old / Books for Newborns
Barnyard Dance
Author: Sandra Boyton
Illustrator: Sandra Boyton
Year: 1993
Genre: Board Books
Age: 0 – 3
Plot
This charming book is a favorite Boyton of every child I know. It features a group of animals dancing to a rhyme that your child can dance along to! Your toddler will want to read this on repeat.
Why Kirsten loves it
Sandra Boyton is a go-to author and illustrator for a reason. She writes the best books for young children!
Find this book in: Interactive Books for Kids / Best Books for a 1-year-old
Interactive Books for Toddlers
Tails
Author: Matthew Van Fleet
Illustrator: Matthew Van Fleet
Year: 2003
Genre: Picture Book
Age: 1 – 3
Plot
My kids and I LOVED reading this book together. It is interactive with flaps, tabs, scratch and sniff, and different textures. Discovering which animal belongs to the tails is only half the fun.
Why Kirsten loves it
I used to read this book with my kids before we went to the zoo and count how many animals we saw. There are so many fun and imaginative ways to read this book.
Find this book in: Interactive Books For Kids
Ten Little Ladybugs
Author: Melanie Gerth
Illustrator: Laura Huliska-Beith
Year: 2000
Genre: Board Book
Age: 1 – 3
More info:
Plot
This interactive book helps kids count from one to ten with little 3D ladybugs that appear on each page as you progress through the story.
Why Kirsten loves it
I love that the raised ladybugs help tactile learners so it is a multi-sensory learning experience.
Find this book in: Counting Books / Best Books for a 1-Year-Old / Interactive Books for Kids
Poke-a-Dot Old MacDonald’s Farm
Author: Melissa & Doug
Illustrator: Melissa & Doug
Year: 2010
Genre: Board Book
Age: 0 – 2
Plot
Not only does this book give your child a chance to make all the animal noises while singing the classic song, but there are interactive buttons on each page that make a popping noise. You and your toddler can also practice counting the animals.
Why Jackie loves it
Each page has many chances to practice making sounds and expand language and vocabulary. For example, you can say “The cow says moo. Let’s count the cows.”
Find this book in: Interactive Books For Kids
Interactive Preschool Books
Mix it up
Author: Hervé Tullet
Illustrator: Hervé Tullet
Year: 2014
Genre: Board Book
Age: 18 months to 4 years
Plot
This book is amazing. Although you can use this book with older kids, the fun of this book is not only learning the colors but beginning to learn how to colors mix to make new colors. Let your baby try some finger painting to try this for themselves.
Why Jackie loves it
This book can be used in so many ways to promote learning while giving children a chance to interact with the book.
Find this book in: Books About Color / Books for a 2-Year-Old / Interactive Books For Children
Flora and the Flamingo
Author: Molly Idle
Illustrator: Molly Idle
Year: 2013
Genre: Picture Book
Age: 1 – 4
More info: Caldecott Honor winner
Plot
I love the fact that this book has no words because it allows you and your child to make up the story together. Flora and the Flamingo dance together.
Your child can not only flip the pictures and dance with Flora. When you are done, you can put on some music and dance with your little one.
Why Jackie loves it
This is one of my favorite interactive picture books. As wordless picture book, it also helps with language development.
Find this book in: Best Books for 2-Year-Olds / Wordless Picture Books / Baby Girl’s First Library / Interactive Books For Kids
Tap the Magic Tree
Author: Christie Matheson
Illustrator: Christie Matheson
Year: 2016
Genre: Board Book
Age: 2 – 4
Plot
This is the perfect interactive board book for kids who love nature. The story will prompt your child to tap, shake, and blow on the pages within as the tree goes through the seasons.
Why Kirsten loves it
Stories like these make reading fun for the most reluctant of toddlers. If you have a kid who struggles with sitting still, and interactive story like this will do wonders for reading time!
Find this book in: Interactive Books For Kids / Books for a 2-year-old
Pizza! An Interactive Recipe Book
Author: Lotta Nieminen
Illustrator: Lotta Nieminen
Year: 2017
Genre: Board Book
Age: 2 – 4
More info: Part of the Cook in a Book series
Plot
This adorable book is the perfect way to keep your little one engaged while reading. They can stir and mix while learning how to follow directions.
Why Jackie loves it
When you are done, why not make a pizza to eat for dinner? You can have your child help put on all the toppings! Or you can engage in pretend play with this adorable Melissa and Doug set. This book encourages imagination, promotes language development (following directions), and is wildly interactive.
Find this book in: Books for 2-year-olds / Interactive Books For Kids / Food Books for Children
Bunny Slopes
Author: Claudia Rueda
Illustrator: Claudia Rueda
Year: 2016
Genre: Picture Book
Age: 2 – 5
Plot
As you Shake, tap, and tilt the book, you can help Bunny go skiing. This book is completely adorable and trust me when I say kids never get tired of trying to get that bunny down the hill!
Why Jackie loves it
This book about winter is fun and interactive. It’s a wonderful introduction to winter for little ones.
Find this book in: Children’s Books About Winter / Interactive Books For Kids / Bunny Books / Best Books for 3-year-olds
Don’t Push the Button
Author: Bill Cotter
Illustrator: Bill Cotter
Year: 2013
Genre: Picture Book
Age: 2 – 5
Plot
This funny story is the perfect interactive book
Why Jackie loves it
I love this interactive book for kids because it combines humor with language development.
Find this book in: Interactive Books for Kids / Best Books for 3-year-olds
Tickle Monster
Author: Josie Bissett
Illustrator: Kevan J. Atteberry
Year: 2009
Genre: Picture Book
Age: 1 – 4
Plot
This baby monster book is a wonderfully interactive picture book for kids. As you read it, it instructs you where to tickle your child! When you read this book to your little one, you get to tickle and they get to laugh. After all, laughter and books should go together.
Why Kirsten loves it
Sold individually or as a kit, I recommend the kit for the fun tickle monster gloves. Put on the gloves and tickle along with the tickle monsters. Babies, toddlers, and preschoolers alike love this one. Be warned – it’s not great for bedtime because it can get kids in quite a goofy mood.
Important note: Some children love being tickled while others do not. Take cues from your child.
Find this book in: Interactive Books / Best Books for 4-year-olds / Monster Books for Kids / Gender Neutral Baby Books
Interactive Books For Children
The Book With No Pictures
Author: B.J. Novak
Year: 2014
Genre: Picture Book
Age: 3 – 6
More info: New York Times Bestseller
Plot
This is such a fun and interactive book for kids. While most kids will think that a book with no pictures is not a fun book to read, this is a hilarious pick that will have kids giggling and responding while you read the book.
Why Kirsten loves it
This is a great book for listening comprehension. It’s a fun and interactive book for kids.
Find this book in: Best Books for 5-year-olds / Interactive Books
Plot
Based on the popular, Wreck This Journal, this picture book is designed for little kids! With prompts on each page to make creative changes to the picture book, this is a perfect travel activity book for 5-year-olds.
Why Jackie loves it
This interactive book for kids is designed to make children use all their senses while reading the book. They are encouraged to smell, touch, and fold the pages.
Find this book in: Best Books for 5-year-olds / Interactive Books
Duck Rabbit
Author: Amy Krouse Rosenthal
Illustrator: Tom Lichtenheld
Year: 2009
Genre: Picture Books
Age: 3 – 8
More info: New York Times Bestseller
Plot
This Rabbit book is exceptionally clever and hilarious. It is based on the optical illusion that is a duck or rabbit depending on how you look at the picture. In each illustration, children can look at this book from two points of view.
Why Jackie loves it
Besides being hilarious, this book teaches kids that there will always be another point of view. This book is interactive and allows children to see when to let go of an argument.
Find this book in: Interactive Books / Children’s Rabbit Books / Best Books for 5-year-olds
The Jolly Christmas Postman
Author: Allan Ahlberg
Illustrator: Janet Ahlberg
Year: 2001
Genre: Picture Book
Age: 4 – 7
Plot
In the lead-up to the holidays, the sweet postman in this story delivered letters to all the fairytale creatures. It culminates with the postman delivering letters to Santa and Mrs. Clause and getting one for him!
Why Kirsten loves it
This is one of my favorite children’s Christmas books because of the interactive element. The story of the Jolly Christmas Postman comes with tons of real letters for your family to open and read. It’s such a sweet tale that celebrates the joy of letter writing and receiving mail around the holiday season.
Find this book in: Best Christmas Books for Kids / Interactive Books / Best Books for 4-year-olds
Interactive Books for Older Kids
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Author: J.K. Rowling
Illustrator: Minalima
Year: 2023
Genre: Middle Grade Fantasy
Age: 12+
More info: Harry Potter #3
Plot
Harry Potter is back at Hogwarts in the third book in the Harry Potter series. His life is in danger once again, but this time, it is from the escaped convict, Sirius Black. He has escaped from the wizard prison, Azkaban, and seeks revenge on Harry.
Sirius Black is a mass murderer and a follower of Voldemort. Now, there are Dementors patrolling the school and Harry can only read of death and destruction in his divination class with Professor Trelawney. What else could go wrong?
Trigger Warnings
Bullying
Why Kirsten loves it
Book 3 in the Harry Potter series has been out for a while, but now it’s getting the pop-up Minalima treatment. The gorgeous illustrations and interactive elements are sprinkled throughout the story to make reading an adventure.
This is a perfect interactive book for kids who are older and may not have the attention span to read numerous pages of strictly text.
Find this book in: Harry Potter Books
Castles Magnified
Author: David Long
Illustrator: Harry Bloom
Year: 2019
Genre: Nonfiction Picture Book
Age: 6 – 10
Plot
This seek-and-find history book is filled with information and fun illustrations that will transport you back to the medieval era. Learn all about the fuedal system, castles, dungeons, and medicine at the time and finding hidden items on each page.
Why Kirsten loves it
I don’t know what it is about infographics, but kids seem to flock to them and this book is no exception. The magnifying glass and Where’s Waldo-type pages add to the entertainment factor in this book!
Eleventh Hour: A Curious Mystery
Author: Graeme Base
Illustrator: Graeme Base
Year: 1993
Genre: Picture Book
Age: 6 – 11
Plot
This interactive book for kids is a visual game of hide and seek. Horace the elephant is having a birthday party with his friends and someone has eaten the celebratory birthday meal.
With visually spectacular illustrations and rhyming text, you will have to find the clues to solve the mystery.
Why Jackie loves it
How do I count all the ways I love this book? There are gorgeous illustrations, rhyming text, and interactive element that kids will love, and a mystery that I enjoyed too!
Find this book in: Interactive Books
Expert Tip
Interactive books are a great way to engage fidgety readers. Many kids have a hard time sitting still to listen to a book, but that does not mean they are not listening. Here are some great tips for reading these books to energetic little readers.
- Read a page and let them interact with the book, but do not make them sit on your lap or in one place.
- Let kids move around while you are reading the book
- If they are elsewhere in the room when it is time to do the action, cue them to come back and help.
- If they do not want to help, you can do what is required and verbalize what you are doing.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is an interactive book?
An interactive book is any book that requires participation in some way to get the full benefit of the book. Whether you are lifting flaps, turning the book, answering questions, or solving a puzzle, an interactive book cannot be fully appreciated without the reader’s involvement.
Interactive books are great for everyone but especially readers who may have decreased attention when sitting still for long periods.
Related Content
Epilogue
What are your favorite interactive books? I would love to hear recommendations for more books that are not on this list.
