Chinese Animal Books for Toddlers
If your toddler is in their animal-loving era (aren’t they all?), Chinese animal books are a wonderful way to introduce Mandarin vocabulary in a way that feels natural and joyful. From farm animals to zoo favorites to pets and forest creatures, the books below are toddler-friendly, simple sentence structures, and engaging animal themes. Whether you’re raising a bilingual child or just looking to sprinkle more Chinese into your everyday reading, these picks are great for building your little one’s first animal words in Chinese.
Bizzy Bear Farmyard Fun 小熊很忙 - 欢乐农场日
Is any list complete without a Bizzy Bear book? In this book, Bizzy Bear visits a farm and meets several other animals. Animals featured in the text include pig (猪 zhū), duck (鸭 yā), and rooster (公鸡 gōng jī). And of course, the detailed illustrations include several other animals as well, which I've highlighted in the included pinyin and vocabulary guide — such as cow (牛 niú), snail (蜗牛 wō niú), and more!
Bizzy Bear Zoo Ranger 小熊很忙 - 动物管理员
In this Bizzy Bear book, Bizzy Bear is a zookeeper and we get introduced to wild animals. Like all Bizzy Bear books, this one is full of interactive slides and pulls that are sturdy enough for my toddler. Animals featured in the text include lion (狮子 shī zi), penguin (企鹅 qǐ é), and there are so many other animals throughout the book, like elephant (大象 dà xiàng), koala (考拉 kǎo lā), and others.
All Puppies Are Good Puppies 所有的狗狗都是好狗狗
I'm so excited to stock this board book from Duck Duck Books! We have a goldendoodle in our family and my daughter is obsessed. One of her first words was "dog" — I'm still getting her to say 狗狗 (gǒu gǒu) 😆. This book features dogs of all different shapes, sizes, and colors and has a great message about diversity. I also love that this book features real photos of dogs. All Puppies Are Good Puppies is bilingual in English and Simplified Chinese and also includes inline pinyin. This book is perfect for Chinese-speaking toddlers who love dogs!
This heartwarming book features vocabulary to teach your child animals and clothing items. Elephant (大象 dà xiàng) gives everyone hugs to keep them warm, but he is cold. One by one, the animals bring articles of clothing to keep the elephant warm. Your child will learn about animals such as frog (青蛙 qīng wā), squirrel (松鼠 sōng shǔ), fox (狐狸 hú li), and rabbit (兔子 tù zi).
Not to be confused with the American classic Goodnight Moon, this gentle repetitive bedtime book—originally written in Chinese—features the moon saying goodnight to forest animals as they sleep. Follow along as the moon says goodnight to the spider (蜘蛛 zhī zhū), giraffe (长颈鹿 cháng jǐng lù), kangaroo (袋鼠 dài shǔ), and others. You'll have to suspend your belief that all of these animals live in the same ecosystem and environment, but it's such a cute bedtime story that I think it will win you over!
Animal-themed books are perfect for little Chinese learners. Add any of these to your toddler’s library to start building animal vocabulary in Chinese, one bark (汪汪 wāng wāng) and moo (哞 móu) at a time.