Ocean Books for Kids (Beach Unit Study)

Ocean books for kids are a wonderful way to bring the ocean home with you and spark your child’s imagination of what may just lie under the waves.

What kid doesn’t love going to the beach?

But have you talked to your child about what lives beyond the beach – in the ocean?

This week I’m joining up with some fellow bloggers to create a rounded beach unit study!

You can find these ocean books for kids at your local library or purchase through the affiliate links provided for your convenience.

Ocean Books for Kids

We visit Florida every year… and we always try to expand our children’s understanding of what just lies under the ocean.

One year we even went panning for fossilized shark teeth — so cool!

From our perspective, a day at the beach isn’t just about building a sand castle.

Some of our all-time favorite ocean books for kids include Hello Ocean and DK Eyewitness Books: Ocean.

Ocean Books for Kids

Hello Ocean

Relive a day at the beach with this lovely book of memories.

You can almost feel the salt spray on your face and smell the musky scent of ocean in the cool morning air.

Remember how the sand squishes between your toes as the tide rushes to shore and taste the tang of the ocean on your lips.

Hello Ocean is a joy-filled and playful poem about the draw of the shore and the effect the ocean has on all five senses.

Spirited language evokes a sense of closeness and nostalgia for an old friend.

The inspiration of the ocean will make learning the five senses as easy as a day at the beach.

Over in the Ocean: In a Coral Reef

Kids will sing, clap, and count their way among puffer fish that puff, grunt fish that grunt and seahorses that flutter, and begin to appreciate life in the ocean.

And the art will inspire many a project.

Plus there are several pages of extension ideas for curriculum and art projects as well as resources on the web and elsewhere.

Ocean: A Photicular Book

A New York Times bestseller, Ocean is like being on a dive. Using Photicular technology, each image is like a 3-D movie on the page, delivering a rich, fluid visual experience.

Open the book, and the reader is swept into the magic of an underwater world, face-to-face with a floating Yellow-Banded Sweetlips; with a glow-in-the-dark Deep-Sea Anglerfish; with a Sea Horse swaying in balletic motion; with a Sand Tiger Shark gliding along the ocean floor, its gaze haunting, its hook-toothed mouth gulping open and closed.

I’m the Biggest Thing in the Ocean!

Now everyone’s favorite squid is just the right size for babies and toddler.

Kevin Sherry’s unabashed squid may be the biggest thing in this catalog, but he’s not too big for even the littlest kids to love.

As the hubristic squid goes about bragging, babies and toddlers will get an eyeful of undersea life – from shrimp and jellyfish to turtles and more.

With its snappy text and bright, bold artwork, this winning modern classic is guaranteed to have even the youngest of readers grabbing at pages and laughing along.

Ocean: A Visual Encyclopedia

A stunning visual encyclopedia for kids, packed with stunning photography and amazing facts on every aspect of ocean life.

From the Arctic to the Caribbean, tiny plankton to giant whales, sandy beaches to the deepest depths, our oceans are brought to life with astonishing images, simple, stylish graphics, and crystal-clear text explanations in Ocean: A Visual Encyclopedia.

Good Night Ocean (Good Night Our World)

An educational and enriching book set in the diverse environments of the world’s oceans, this delightful story will soothe young children before bedtime while fostering an appreciation for the beauty and diversity of the marine world.

Celebrating the wonders of the undersea world, this voyage takes place through the passage of both one day and the four seasons of the year while a family greets a wide range of marine life, including whales, clownfish, crabs, shrimp, eels, octopus, penguins, swordfish, seals, and sharks.

Traveling by sailboat, fishing boat, battleship, and submarine, children will learn about all of the world’s major oceans as well as beaches, islands, reefs, harbors, bays, and icebergs.

Lost Ocean: An Inky Adventure and Coloring Book for Adults

With this coloring book for adults, Johanna Basford invites color-inners of all ages to discover an enchanting underwater world hidden in the depths of the sea.

Through intricate pen and ink illustrations to complete, color, and embellish, readers will meet shoals of exotic fish, curious octopuses, and delicately penned seahorses.

Visit coral reefs and barnacle-studded shipwrecks, discover intricate shells and pirate treasure.

Secret Garden and Enchanted Forest fans and newcomers alike will welcome this creative journey into an inky new world.

Out of the Ocean

Open this book and you’ll be walking along the ocean shore, looking for all kinds of special things.

Some will be small enough to fit in your hand — like shells and sea glass. Others — like the sun and the sky and the waves — will be too big to carry home.

But no matter what your journey holds, you’ll soon learn that looking for the ocean’s treasures can be as important as finding them.

Wish for a Fish: All About Sea Creatures

The Cat in the Hat, Sally, and Dick take an undersea voyage aboard the S.S. Undersea Glubber!

Traveling down from the Sunny Zone to the Dark Zone to the Trench at the bottom, Captain Cat and his crew get up close and personal with the different life forms found at each level of the ocean.

Along the way, they meet sharks, jellyfish, dolphins, manatees, whales, and sea cucumbers, to name just a few!

The Ocean Alphabet Book

Do you know which deep sea creature scares away its enemies by spraying ink at them, or which fish has lights inside its mouth to attract food?

Learn the answer to these questions and other fascinating details about ocean life in this engaging and informative book.

Young readers will delight in Jerry Pallotta’s words and Frank Mazzola, Jr’s illustrations on this alphabetical journey through the North Atlantic Ocean.

The Magic School Bus on the Ocean Floor

When Ms. Frizzle drives the Magic School Bus full speed ahead into the ocean, the class takes a submarine expedition that’s anything but ordinary.

With a well-meaning lifeguard in tow, the class takes a deep breath and learns about hot water vents, coral reefs, plant and animal life on the ocean floor, and more!

DK Eyewitness Books: Ocean

Dive in and discover the watery world covering most of our earth and the amazing wildlife in its depths in Eyewitness: Oceans.

Through images, maps and informative text learn about life on the shore to the darkest depths of the ocean floor, including predators and prey, gas and oil exploration, products of the ocean, brave explorers and what the human race can do to help preserve one of the earth’s most valuable resources.

I Wonder Why the Sea Is Salty: and Other Questions About the Oceans

Insatiable young oceanographers will discover amazing facts in this compendium of marine questions and answers.

How to Hide an Octopus and Other Sea Creatures (Reading Railroad)

Go on a fascinating nature hunt to find the camouflaged octopus, crabs, brilliantly-painted tropical fish, and other wonderful sea creatures hidden in the pages of this book.

Like these ocean books for kids? Find even more engaging book lists for kids with more than 100 book-themed reading lists!

Beach Unit STUDY

In addition to offering recommendations of ocean books for kids, I’ve teamed up with some fellow bloggers to offer you homeschool and classroom unit study resources to teach kids about the beach!