best transportation books for toddlers and preschoolers
Does your little one love “things that go”?
From zooming cars to soaring planes, transportation books can spark your toddler or preschooler’s imagination while also building vocabulary and early language skills. These engaging titles are perfect for reading together and will keep your child interested and learning.
Ready to dive in? Here are some of our favorite transportation-themed books for young readers!
TRASHY TOWN - The repetition in this book is so great for little learners! As you read it more and more, try starting a sentence and pausing to see if your child can help you finish. You’d be surprised by how quickly they remember.
MY CAR/MI CARRO - A bilingual English/Spanish book that we adore! The simplicity of Barton's work is absolutely perfect for toddlers. Have fun with car noises and learn about how to take care of a car with this fun story.
ROAD CREW COMING THROUGH - You might be familiar with Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site but did you know there’s a whole series? Perfect for your construction loving kiddo.
THE ULTIMATE BOOK OF VEHICLES - We like to include nonfiction books in our recommendations because they are so good for language learning! This is a great one for kids who are interested in learning the different types of vehicles and being able to label and identify them!
LITTLE BLUE TRUCK LEADS THE WAY - Another series we love. The cadence is so fun you won’t even mind reading it over and over (and over).
TOOT TOOT, BEEP BEEP - One of our very favorites. If your little one isn't (yet) talking, there are LOTS of opportunities to copy noises and sounds in this book. We recommend looking for other books by Garcia. She's a great author!
FREIGHT TRAIN - Follow a colorful freight train as it travels through tunnels, over bridges, and across the countryside.
CARS AND TRUCKS AND THINGS THAT GO - This is a great conversation book. You don’t need to read the words on the page. Just see what your child shows interest in and chat about that!
ROADWORK - A lovely rhyming story that follows construction workers as they work together to build a new road.
CARS AND THINGS THAT GO - These wordless books are so much fun to look at and create great opportunities for language. Another great one to see what sparks your child’s interest!
MAISY GOES ON A PLANE - If your little one will be traveling by plane soon, this is a terrific book for introducing what that their trip might be like! We are big fans of alllll Lucy Cousins’ books.
THE WHEELS ON THE BUS - A fun sing along, perfect for little ones learning to talk (bonus points if your little one is a vehicle lover + animal lover)!
GO, BOATS, GO - These illustrations are so delightful! So many fun and interesting boats are shown throughout this book. If you love it, there’s also a truck version as well as a bike version.
SNAKES ON A TRAIN - So many good sounds in this one! Hop aboard on a lively adventure with some silly train-riding snakes and enjoy the recurring “hisssss” of the train.
Want even more book recommendations? Grab our free book list here!
One way to help little ones stay interested in a story a bit longer is to pair the book with a toy. “Play is the work of children” is a saying we totally believe in and it really is so neat to see how they internalize what they see and hear and how it comes out in play!
It’s a fun way to dig into something they’re already loving as well as model language and retell stories or parts of books. There are so many wonderful transportation toys out there. Here are just a few love and recommend!
1.EMERGENCY VEHICLE CARRIER TRUCK - We love all things Melissa and Doug! These wooden emergency vehicles can be loaded on and off and the trailer top moves too!
2. SOFT PULL BACK CARS - These make an excellent first birthday gift! A great opportunity to model cause and effect, exclamatory noises (“uh oh!”, “weeee!”), and they are just precious. Soft enough for babies but still fun that even your older kids will want to grab them too.
3. GREEN TOYS CAR CARRIER - We love these BPA free recycled plastic toys because they are great for playing inside, in the bath, and easy to wash after being outside too!
4. MAGNETIC TRAIN CARS - These can easily mix and match with other magnetic train sets as well.
5. VEHICLE SOUND PUZZLE - We love chunky puzzles for littles and this one makes sounds for its corresponding vehicle once the puzzle piece has been correctly matched.
6. CONSTRUCTION VEHICLE SET - Construction trucks are a staple. These have parts that move and encourage interactive play. You’d be surprised how quickly your little can recognize and label these trucks out in the community too!
7. RECYCLING TRUCK - A speech therapy favorite! Load small toys in the bin, attach it to the lift and use the lever to dump it into the truck. This one has provided so much play and if you aren’t a fan of the sound effects you can easily remove the batteries.
8. LITTLE PEOPLE GARAGE - Little People toys are some of our favorites. This garage has a little crank to lift cars and a bell that dings once you reach the top. So many ways to practice communication skills and story telling with this one!
9. WOODEN TRAIN SET - We love toys that are easy to add onto. This is a great train set that has everything you need and is also compatible with other wooden tracks and trains.
10. RESCUE GARAGE - The keys add another dimension to play with this toy as well as matching colors between vehicles, garage, and key!
We hope this gives you a few ideas of books to check out from the library or grab for a gift as well as ways you can pair toys and support language.
We’d love to know if there are any other books or toys you’d add to this list. We’re always looking for new ones too!
In it with you,
Katie + Carly
P.S. We’ve linked all the books and toys above on Amazon and ShopMy but of course any chance to shop local is wonderful! Happy reading and playing!
Grab 3 Free Storytime & Toddler Song Videos
One of our favorite ways to pass the time with our toddlers is to connect over songs, rhymes, and stories. We created our songs and stories membership so you could sit back and enjoy these moments with your toddler, without having to do so much planning!
The transportation-themed story times are some of the most popular videos!
Our Songs+Stories membership is what you’d get if you mixed a library story time with a fun speech therapy session and your child’s fav high-quality screen time option! To check it out for free, click the button below and download 3 free song and storytime videos.