12 Nocturnal Animal Books for Kids {with teaching ideas!}

Whether you are studying owls, bats, wolves, or even racoons, night animals are always fascinating These are my favorite books to build background knowledge about nocturnal animals.

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1. Where Are the Night Animals? By Mary Ann Fraser: Learn all about coyotes, skunks, owls, opossums and more in this overview of night animal behavior.

2. Night Animals By Gianna Marino: Possum and his friends are afraid of night animals in this cute fiction story. A simple story for young listeners.

3. Owl Moon By Jane Yolen: A girl and her dad go on a magical owling adventure in this fiction story perfect for older readers.

4. National Geographic Readers: Wolves By Laura Marsh: In this nonfiction book specifically about wolves, readers will learn how they run in packs, stalk their prey and more. The beautiful photographs will capture the interest of kids young and old.

5. Nocturnal Animals By Kelli L. Hicks: This nonfiction book is packed full of information about all the things nocturnal animals do at night. A great book for comparing with Where Are the Night Animals? By Mary Ann Fraser

6. Moonlit Animals: This book is a really interesting and engaging way to learn about night animals. The animals are hidden in the night on the pages and you use a “flashlight” (piece of white cardstock, between vellum pages) to find the animals. The text is interesting and informative, but the real magic is in the special flashlight used to highlight each animal in the night.

7. Out of Sight Till Tonight By Tish Rabe: For kids who are familiar with The Cat in the Hat this science book is sure to be a hit. The rhyming text and whimsical illustrations invite students in while providing quality information and defining important vocabulary.

8. Little Owl’s Night By Divya Srinivasan: In this book, little owl enjoys watching all of the animals interesting activities during the night, but he is curious about what animals do during the day. His mom tries to describe to him what it is like, but he falls asleep as the sun rises.

9. Owl Babies By Martin Waddell: Three sweet owlets wake up to find their mommy owl gone. They worry and wonder where she has gone. The illustrations are gorgeous and make this simple story come to life

10. Owl Sees Owl By Laura Godwin: Owl sets out on an adventure in this simple poetry book, which reverses mid story when “Owl sees Owl.” He sees his own reflection and which startles him into returning home.

11. Secret Pizza Party By Adam Rubin: Everyone love pizza, even the poor raccoon. All he wants in life is pizza, but unfortunately he can’t just ask for a slice. So of course he plans a secret pizza party! If you loved Dragons Love Tacos you’ll love this book from the same author.

12. Owls By Gail Gibbons: Take an in depth look into the life of an owl with this non fiction book. Learn about owl habitats, life styles, birth and development and environmental hazards that are threatening owl species

If you are still a little overwhelmed trying to decide which books to use and what skills to practice, I am taking all the guesswork out of that for you!

I created this Nocturnal Animals: Read & Respond resource to go along with 5 of my favorite fall books above. It is the perfect way to strengthen comprehension and writing skills along with some fun craftivities to keep your kids engaged! And all of the activities are differentiated for K-2 and Common Core aligned.

Learn new vocabulary and practice opinion writing with Where Are the Night Animals? by Mary Ann Fraser.