Sharing a story is one of the best ways to engage kids and teach them about the world. After all, books are full of captivating characters children can enjoy and learn from!
When it comes to ocean animals, the world beneath the water is full of mystery and amazement. While we can’t take kids on a deep-sea dive, we can bring them on a literary journey with some of the best kids books about ocean animals.
Whether you want a factual guidebook or a fantastical adventure, here are some wonderful books that’ll whisk kids away to a whole new world!
Below are some of our favorite ocean animal books for kids. We do not doubt that when you share these stories with your child, they’ll have a newfound appreciation for the amazing creatures that live in our oceans.
For some more ocean fun, check out our ocean crafts for kids. Your little one can make these crafts after reading about ocean animals to create a memorable learning experience.
Ocean Animal Books
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My Little Golden Book About Sharks is the perfect ocean themed children’s book about sharks.
While this book isn’t for early readers to read themselves, each page is packed with tons of cool facts about a variety of unique and intriguing sharks!
Wish For A Fish is another Cat in the Hat learning library book children love.
In this book, kids journey through the three zones of the ocean and learn about some of the animals that live in each space.
Like other learning library books, this ocean book for kids is packed with information, making it a perfect supplement to a classroom or homeschool ocean study unit.
Hooray for Fish! is a silly sea book for the very youngest of ocean fans. This book incorporates rhyming, counting, colors and more to teach little children, all with a cool fish theme.
Peanut Butter And Jellyfish is a silly story about best friends who happen to live next to a very grumpy neighbor, Crabby.
Crabby is always, well, crabby and taunts the two friends until one day, misfortune befalls Crabby. Peanut Butter and Jellyfish must decide whether they should help their grouchy acquaintance Crabby or whether they should pay him back for all his mean comments.
This ocean animal storybook is great for preschool and kindergarten aged kids. It illustrates a great lesson about helping others and doing the right thing.
Another great ocean rhyming book for kids, Commotion in the Ocean is a brightly colored book that talks all about a bunch of animals that live in the sea.
This is a fun book for young kids who love ocean animals.
Mister Seahorse is the second ocean themed Eric Carle book to make the list.
This cute ocean book for preschool kids is about Mister Seahorse, a soon to be dad, who’s carrying around Mrs. Seahorse’s eggs. As he swims along his way, he runs into a variety of other fish fathers carrying around their eggs.
Kids love the story and the see-through peek-a-boo pages too!
This Cat in the Hat book all about sharks will have your little shark lover begging you to read this every night for bedtime!
Hark! A Shark! is loaded with information about many different kinds of sharks and their amazing abilities and features but is presented in the traditional fun (and rhyming) way of Dr. Seuss.
Two thumbs up for an educational and cute ocean themed book.
Moonlight Ocean is an awesome and interactive children’s book about sea animals! Each page features a new sea creature along with fun facts you might not have heard before.
The coolest feature of this book are the hidden illustrations. Every other page has a dark illustration that’s hard to see but when you move the embedded “flashlight” on the page, it reveals the illustrations in a beam of light.
Kids love finding all the hidden creatures on each page!
The National Geographic Kids book series are always some of my favorites because they’re loaded with information and cool pictures.
The First Big Book Of The Ocean is another home run for them! This book is over 100 pages of fun facts on animals that live in all four of the oceans.
I’d recommend this book to older kids who love learning animal facts.
I’m The Biggest Thing In The Ocean is a funny preschool story book about a giant squid who can only find sea creatures who are smaller than himself.
He becomes convinced he is the biggest animal in the ocean until he has a surprising interaction with another ocean animal!
Your kids will giggle at the shocking twist at the end of this book and want to read this book over and over.
I’ll Follow The Moon is an adorable ocean book about the journey a baby sea turtle takes from nest to ocean.
With over 1 million copies sold, this book captures the heart of moms and kids alike and will become an instant classic in your home!
Of course one of Eric Carle’s books made the list of the best ocean animal books for kids.
A House For Hermit Crab is about a hermit crab whose new shell is just a little too plain for his tastes.
All year long hermit crab finds colorful, exciting and fun sea creature friends to decorate his shell until he grows too big again for his home.
This book has a great underlying storyline of accepting and being excited for change so it’s great for young kids who are wary of transitions.
Over in the Ocean In a Coral Reef is one of the coolest illustrated books I’ve ever seen.
Kids love this one for the pictures, but also enjoy the rhyming and counting.
Do you have a favorite kids’ book about ocean animals that didn’t make the list? Let me know in the comments below.
Under The Sea Ideas For Kids
Carry on the ocean adventure fun with these under the sea ideas – from crafting to learning, there’s something to entertain and engage your little ones.
Keep reading to discover these ideas and get inspired!
Sea Creature Crafts For Kids
Crafting with your kids is a wonderful way to encourage their creativity and boost their development. Through crafting, children are able to express themselves freely and develop their fine motor skills as they manipulate and mold various materials.
Beyond just being a fun activity, making crafts with your kids offers a multitude of benefits to their growth and development!
Handprint Jellyfish – With this craft, your little ones can create their very own jellyfish friend! They’ll love using their handprint to be the stinging tentacles and giving the jellyfish big cute eyes and a sweet smiling face. What color jellyfish will your little one make?
Easy Fish Painting Art & Craft – Let your mini-marine biologists explore the ocean’s depths with this easy fish painting craft. They’ll have a whale of a time painting the template, cutting out the shapes, and pasting them onto paper to create a watercolor scene. This is a great craft for encouraging creative expression!
Crab Paper Bag Puppet – Transform a regular paper bag into a super cute crab puppet. Kids can customize their crustacean creations by adding their eyes and a happy smile. Once their puppet is made, it’s time for playtime fun! Let their imaginations run wild and create silly ocean animal stories with this puppet.
Whale Handprint Craft – Your little ones can make a handprint whale that will be cherished for years to come! They’ll have so much fun as they trace their hands to become the water spouting out the whale’s blow hole. It’s sure to be an underwater adventure they won’t forget.
Under The Sea Activities For Kids
Kids can count their way to a colorful masterpiece with these shark color by number printables! This craft is great for kids who love the ocean and want to explore their creative side. Not only will they create a unique piece of art, but they can also practice counting and color recognition.
Our jellyfish dot to dots are the perfect way for kids to flex their hand-eye coordination and concentration muscles. As they connect each dot, a beautiful jellyfish will appear! Once complete, kids can have a blast coloring in their jellyfish and adding fun designs.
This ocean matching game is a great way to help kids learn while having fun. Kids can match up each animal shown on the cards and practice their memory skills as they go. To make it extra fun, they can also try to name each animal and learn a few facts about them!
Download and print these crab worksheets for an under the sea adventure kids won’t want to miss! These entertaining crab-themed activities are perfect for practicing skills like cutting and handwriting. Your little ones will have so much fun; they won’t realize how much they’re learning!
Try these world ocean day cutting practice pages for something hands-on and engaging. Kids will love using their scissors to cut along the dotted lines to complete each activity.
These pages are great for improving fine motor skills and dexterity! With these activities, kids can explore the ocean without ever getting wet.
Share With Us
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More Ideas For Kids
Sam is the crafter and founder of Simple Everyday Mom. She has been featured in Oprah Mag, Good Housekeeping, The Spruce Crafts, Country Living, The Bump and more. Read more.