Best Children's Camping Picture Books
Young readers will love preparing for a family camping trip by reading the best camping books on the market! Whether you are setting up your camp in your own backyard or headed on a big camping adventure outdoors, new experiences await!
These favorite camping books will have your kids packing up their sleeping bags and packing the car for a road trip!
Fun Camping Books to Prep for Your Next Camping Trip
Warm weather has arrived, and it is time to go camping and be outdoors for so many families! If your family is gearing up for a camping trip, get your preschooler or child excited by reading books about camping for kids! Books about camping for children are such a fun way to talk about what to expect, answer questions, and share plans during the trip!
Warm weather has arrived, and it is time to go camping and be outdoors for so many families! If your family is gearing up for a camping trip, get your preschooler or child excited by reading books about camping for kids! Books about camping for children are such a fun way to talk about what to expect, answer questions, and share plans during the trip!
Some of the links below are affiliate links. This means that, at zero cost to you, I will earn an affiliate commission if you click through the link and finalize a purchase.
Some of the links below are affiliate links. This means that, at zero cost to you, I will earn an affiliate commission if you click through the link and finalize a purchase.
How Can Teachers and Librarians Use these Camping Books?
Teachers will love gathering these fun camping books to create a new adventure for students and young children in their classroom. Turn your class into a great big backyard and read campfire stories in the circle with these perfect camping books. The Camping theme would make a perfect summer camp week theme, a fun way to learn about the outdoors at school, or a great homeschool lesson plan as well.
Must Read Books to Get Your Family Excited for Camping
As an amazon affiliate, I earn a small commission based on purchases made through these links at no additional cost to you.
Camping Board Books for Babies and Toddlers
Hello, World! Let’s Go Camping
Kids can learn all about the joys of camping in this cheerful and informative board book—with colors, shapes, sizes, and super-simple facts. ("Stars look brighter when you are camping because there are no other lights around.")
Told in easy-to-understand terms alongside bright illustrations of tents, camper vans, gear, marshmallow roasts, and stargazing, this sturdy book makes learning easy for little ones and offers useful prompts to help adults engage with the reader on each page.
C is for Camping
Introduce your toddler to camping with this colorful alphabet primer featuring themes from the great outdoors. An engaging collection of 26 illustrations featuring campground favorites from Campfires and Hammocks to S’mores and Wildlife. Illustrator Greg Paprocki’s popular BabyLit alphabet board books feature his classically retro midcentury art style that’s proven to be a hit with both toddlers and adult. I love this book for tiny readers wanting to build a collection of camping books.
Little Observers Go Camping
Introduce your baby to camping in this fun book and see the plants and animals they might find in the wild.
Prepare your littlest family member for their first camping trip with Little Observers: At the Campground board book. What kind of animals might they see? What will they hear? What will they roast around the campfire? This board book about camping is such a fun book for camping for babies and toddlers alike.
Goodnight, Campsite
“Goodnight, Campsite” is set in a beautiful nature park, and the story follows visitors as they explore the park during the day (hiking, biking, fishing, etc.), and then returns with them to their campsite at night. There is an emphasis on RVs, which sets this title apart from other camping books on the market, which only feature tents.
Preschool-aged children will love the beautiful and colorful pictures – and searching for the squirrel hiding in the pictures. Rhyming text will keep children engaged, as they build sound associations and phonemic skills. Also included in the book is a Campsite Bingo game!
The Little Book of Camping
Camping is easy if you know what to do! The Little Book of Camping provides a simple, fun roadmap for young boys and girls, preschoolers, and toddlers of all ages to learn what they need to know about camping. I love this camping book for children and will definitely get your family excited about camping this summer.
Grand Teton Stampede
Twelve-year-old Isaiah Rawlings wished for only one thing this summer, a camping trip outside of Kentucky. I’m so tired of camping in my backyard, he groaned. Isaiah pleads with his parents to reconsider their usual summer trip to dusty old museums and big cities.
When his dad unexpectedly announces a trip to Grand Teton National Park, Isaiah is ecstatic! This children’s book about camping is part of a 3-book series that is a great family read aloud or perfect for an independent reader to get your child excited about camping.
Flashlight
A wordless picture book for kids about camping with stunning visuals that aims to lighten the fear of the dark and the noises that come with it. This camping book is perfect for all ages to discuss topics like darkness or sleeping outside and discussing strategies to feel safer while camping.
Biscuit Goes Camping
Join Biscuit in the great outdoors as he goes camping. From tents and flashlights to frogs and fireflies, there are so many new things to discover when you're sleeping outdoors. But are those rain clouds in the sky? How will Biscuit go camping now?
Biscuit Goes Camping, a My First I Can Read book, is carefully crafted using basic language, word repetition, sight words, and sweet illustrations—which means it's perfect for shared reading with emergent readers. This early and emergent reader about camping gives children of all ages a change to grow with this book!
Maisy Goes Camping
When Maisy sets off to go camping in the country, it’s only natural that all her friends come along, too. But they soon find that pitching a tent is not an easy thing to do. Maisy is a simple yet loveable camping book for toddlers that the littlest readers will love.
Kit and Kaboodle Go Camping
Hit the trail as Kit and Kaboodle head up a mountain on their camping trip in this Level 2 Highlights Puzzle Reader. Kids can help the duo by finding items for their journey in six Hidden Pictures puzzles that double as story illustrations. With a bonus picture dictionary, Kit and Kaboodle Go Camping is perfect for readers who are starting to explore reading.
The Hike: Nature Book for Kids, Outdoors-Themed Picture Book for Preschoolers and Kindergarteners
The Hike is a fun and sweet adventure camping story about three intrepid young female explorers who set out to conquer the outdoors in their local forest. The Hike will be a family favorite for children of all ages to read and share their love of hiking and camping.
Gone Fishing
A father and son go fishing, with a big fishing rod for the daddy and a little one for the child. This sweet story is perfect for families prepping for camping and want to read a great book with children about fishing and camping.
The Camping Trip
Ernestine is beyond excited to go camping. She follows the packing list carefully (new sleeping bag! new flashlight! special trail mix made with Dad!) so she knows she is ready when the weekend arrives. But she quickly realizes that nothing could have prepared her for how hard some aspects of camping are. This is such a great camping book for preschoolers.
Hiking Day
This book about camping celebrates nature and the outdoors with a gorgeous new picture book about a child’s first mountain hike! With simple, lyrical text and bright illustrations that jump off the page, Hiking Day brings the joys of spending an afternoon outdoors to life.
Tiny Goes Camping
Tiny and his friend are going camping! First, they gather supplies, then they venture into the great outdoors (a safe backyard) to set up camp and play games. Together they sing songs, chase frogs, and capture fireflies. But when it’s bedtime, they discover Tiny isn’t quite tiny enough for the tent. That’s okay! Tiny always finds his own way to fit anywhere.
S Is for S'mores: A Camping Alphabet
A Camping Alphabet takes readers on an A-Z trail exploring this outdoor pastime. Veteran camper Helen Foster James tackles topics such as unique camping environments, equipment necessities, famous conservationists, and national parks and other attractions.
Fred and Ted Go Camping
In this story Fred and Ted go camping, and as usual, their uniquely different approaches to doing things (such as packing equipment, setting up camp, and fishing techniques) have humorous—and sometimes surprising—results. A charming introduction to opposites that beginner readers will find ruff to put down!
Pete the Cat Goes Camping
In Pete the Cat Goes Camping, Pete can't wait to go hiking, fishing, and eat s'mores by the campfire. But when he hears about the mysterious creature named Bigfoot, Pete can't help but wonder: Is Bigfoot real?
Kids love exploring the outdoors, and they're sure to enjoy this funny story about Pete the Cat going camping for the first time (and overcoming his small fears).
Llama Llama Loves Camping
, Llama Llama goes camping for the very first time and learns a valuable lesson: what seems scary can actually be super-duper FUN! Your little llamas will love relating to their favorite picture book character as he faces new and challenging situations.
Curious George Goes Camping
Curious George Goes Camping is an entertaining story of the Great Outdoors based on H. A. and Margret Rey’s popular primate and painted in the original watercolor and charcoal style. George tries to be helpful, but he of course just ends up upsetting a nearby camper. As he’s hiding in the woods, he meets a forest creature who catapults the mischievous monkey into a chain of even more outrageous events!
A Camping Spree with Mr. Magee
In A Camping Spree with Mr. Magee, Mr. Magee and his trusty dog, Dee, are enjoying a peaceful camping trip when along comes a lumbering, marshmallow-loving bear and the excitement begins. The next thing the two campers know, they are plunging down a mountain, racing down a river, and teetering on the edge of a waterfall! How will Mr. Magee and Dee find their way out of this slippery situation?
Amelia Bedelia Goes Camping
Amelia Bedelia has never been camping in the great outdoors before. She's trying her best to do exactly as she's told, but pitching a tent is not the same as throwing it into the bushes, and catching a fish with your bare hands isn't easy. As usual, the mixed-up housekeeper makes this camping trip one hugely entertaining adventure.
When We Go Camping
In this beautifully illustrated book, one busy family finds lots to do from sun up to sunset. At the campsite, there’s wood to chop for the fire and fish to catch. And there’s lots of time to explore, climb rocks, splash in the lake, and discover animals in the shadows of the woods. As afternoon turns to evening, supper needs to be made, and just before bed, stories are told around the campfire.
When We Go Camping is as instructional as it is delightful. Each painting highlights the tracks of one animal, which curve from the text into the illustration
The Tent Mouse and The RV Mouse
A modern twist on Aesop’s fable, The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse. While Thomas Tent-Mouse loves to camp in his tent where he feels connected to nature, his cousin Harvey RV-Mouse loves to camp in his RV where he feels safe. Adventure awaits these outdoor-loving cousins, as they learn that it’s okay to like different things.
Scaredy Squirrel Goes Camping
Scaredy Squirrel is cool with camping . . . as long as he can do it from his couch! Who wants to deal with mosquitos, dirt, and wild animals when he can experience nature on his brand-new TV? Except--uh-oh!--first he has to plug it in, which means LEAVING HIS TREE! Luckily, Scaredy's always got a plan. And he doesn't realize he might just explore the great outdoors along the way.
As young listeners see Scaredy face his fears in the silliest of ways, they gain perspective and courage, empowering them to tackle their own worries with a big smile.
Flat Stanley Goes Camping
Reader favorite Flat Stanley Goes Camping, Stanley and the Lambchop family take a trip to the woods. It gets a little scary when Stanley and his brother, Arthur, run away from a skunk—and straight toward the edge of a cliff!
How Can I Make Camping Less Stressful With Small Kids?
Traveling and changing routines and structure for children can be stressful. Camping is a great family activity and provides so much flexibility and space to be moving and busy for little ones like preschoolers and toddlers.
If you are nervous about taking your small children camping keep these things in mind:
Be prepared for various weather! Take ponchos, jackets, warm and cold weather clothing and extra clothing items.
Make a list of items you need so you do not forget anything last minute in a rush. If you are traveling with another family, strategize who brings what so you do not double up.
Talk about what to expect beforehand with your children.
Have checklists and activity books ready for down time or winding down before dinner. You can see the bestseller camping activity books here!
If you are looking for additional books about National Parks books for children, read this round up of our favorite books for children about National Parks here.
