20 of the Best Interactive Books for Kids

Interactive picture books are books that require some participation or interaction from the reader. You can make storytime exciting for your preschoolers with these fun, interactive books for kids.

What Are Interactive Books?

Interactive books include lift-the-flap books, touch & feel books, and other types of hands-on books.

Why Are Interactive Books Important?

You can create excitement about literacy and make storytime fun for your preschool-age kids by using interactive books. Kids get very excited about books when they can engage with a book.

The Best Interactive Book Ideas

Here are some of the best interactive books for your kids. Give some of them a try, and let me know what you think.

Make Your Own Interactive Books

You can make custom interactive books for your kids. In fact, some of the most popular books on a classroom bookshelf are homemade class books. You don’t have to be creative to make them as there are printable templates that you can get to help you out.

Interactive Books from the Book Store

If you don’t have time to make a DIY interactive book, there are many great ones that you can pick up at your local bookstore or from Amazon. These are my favorites.

Press Here – This book encourages you and your kids to press, shake, and tilt the book. Your kids will be delighted to see what happens when you turn each page.

Mix It Up! – Teach your kids about combining colors with this fun interactive book. Your kids will have fun mixing colors WITHOUT the messy cleanup.

Don’t Push the Button – When someone tells me NOT to push the button, it makes me curious to see what happens when I push it. Can I get an amen? This silly monster book celebrates our natural curiosity.

If your kids enjoy Don’t Push the Button, they will also enjoy these titles by Bill Cotter.

Tap the Magic Tree – Your kids can help the lonely tree change as the seasons change by tapping, patting, clapping, and wiggling.

If your kids are Tap the Magic Tree fans, check out these additional titles by author Christie Matheson.

When I say OOH You Say AAH – Your kids can help tell this silly story by responding to the book’s verbal and visual cues. The book is hilarious, but be warned, it does contain innocent underpants humor.

Huff and Puff – Kids can play the Big Bad Wolf part in this interactive version of the 3 Little Pigs tale. This version has a lovely twist at the end.

Don’t Wake Up the Tiger – Through the repetitive prose, your kids can help keep the tiger sleeping as the other animals prepare for the sweet surprise ending.

Bunny Slopes – Kids can shake, tilt, and turn this book to help Bunny ski down the slope in this fun book. It’s a great interactive winter-themed book for your kids.

Play This Book – This book serves as a great introduction to various musical instruments and is perfect for a music or 5 senses theme. The author invites kids to “play” the instruments on each page.

I Got the Rhythm – Your kids can sniff, snap, shake, and clap along as a little girl hears rhythm in her neighborhood.

Give & Take – Kids press out a shape on each page of this book and use it to complete a picture on the next page. This interactive book allows them to work on shape recognition and motor skills.

Cat Secrets – As you read this silly book, your kids will have to perform some cat acts to prove that they are a cat. You don’t have to be a cat lover to enjoy this book. But, if you happen to be a cat person like myself, you will LOVE it.

One Red Dot – Kids can search each of the 10 pop-up sculptures to find the one red dot.

Don’t Wake the Dragon – While everyone in the castle is making noise, your kids will help make sure that the dragon stays asleep.

What’s Next Door? – Kids can help the crocodile find his way home by tracing the lines in the book with their fingers to create new doors for him to go through.

Can You Make a Scary Face? – From the author of my favorite rhyming book, this fun interactive book is great for a group of kids. The bossy ladybug instructs kids to do a variety of silly actions.

Well, I hope that you enjoy some of these interactive books for kids. Did I miss one of your favorites? Please let me know, and I’ll add it to the list.

Additional Books for Your Kids

Are you looking for additional book ideas? Check out more books for preschoolers.