Space is a fascinating theme for many kids. We’ve had unit studies focusing on the moon, stars and constellations, and now the solar system (except for specific study of the moon). Here are some of my favorite space books for kids, especially featuring the solar system.
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Just choose books based on your child’s age and what you think will engage your child’s interest. I recommend checking out the “Look Inside the Book” feature on Amazon and reading reviews there. Another place to learn about a book is on YouTube. You can typically see the entire book there. If you live outside the U.S., be sure to check out Book Depository for great prices and free worldwide delivery.
Montessori-friendly books use photos or realistic illustrations. They don’t have talking animals or a lot of fantasy. But many books that have fantasy and talking animals are wonderful books, and I love sharing them with children who understand the difference between fantasy and reality. I typically have a majority of Montessori-friendly books for a theme, but I include a variety of books that might not be Montessori-style books but that are simply lots of fun or are classic books that I consider an important part of cultural literacy.
Favorite Space Books for Kids {Featuring Solar System Books}
Here are some of my favorite space books for a variety of ages. As I’ve said before, If you’re doing a unit study, you don’t need to include babies and toddlers. They really won’t care if their books fit with your current theme. But an older sibling will love to share the themed books with a baby or toddler. So having baby or toddler books about space will encourage your older sibling to read to your baby or toddler.
Montessori Space-Themed Book Basket for Babies and Toddlers
I typically keep the baby and toddler books for a unit in their own book basket for my grandbabies. Both 10-month-old Sophia and 7-month-old Caleb love this book basket! For this unit, I placed the large glow-in-the-dark earth model in the basket with Baby’s Big World Astronomy by Alex Fabrizio (I got it at a Barnes and Noble bookstore) and Hello, World! Solar System by Jill McDonald. They’re both Montessori-friendly books.
I’m looking forward to seeing the National Geographic Kids Little Kids First Board Book: Space when it comes out next spring.
Sisters Sharing Solar System Book
My almost-5-year-old granddaughter, Zoey, had fun sharing the solar system book with Sophia.
Montessori Book Basket and Shelves with Solar System Themed Books and Activities
Just click on each book image below to learn more about the book!
The Solar System is from a set of 6 science vocabulary readers with easy-to-understand scientific concepts. You’ll see a couple of the other books from the series on my Montessori book shelf later in this post. 
Meteors is a fascinating National Geographic reader with the usual gorgeous photographs.
Planets is a National Geographic reader. Like their other readers, the book is wonderful for beginning readers as well as younger preschoolers.
The open book on the far right of the top shelf is a National Geographic book, Little Kids First Big Book of Space. It’s a beautiful book and perfect for any astronomy study for ages 4-8. This is a book you might want to get from the library rather than buying, though. I saw a number of reviewers saying the pages started to fall out. Our book started to have that happen, too, even though it’s been carefully handled. I’m hoping future printings of the book will have the problem corrected. Zoey loves this book and has pretended to be the teacher while sharing the book with my daughter, Christina, and me.
The Usborne Look Inside Space book (book depository or Amazon) has over 60 flaps and is a fun way to explore space facts.
If you have older kids, you might want to check out the beautiful DK and NASA Space: a Visual Encyclopedia (recommended for ages 7-10) or DK and Smithsonian Space!: The Universe as You’ve Never Seen It Before (for teens and young adults although younger kids would enjoy the beautiful images, too).
The book basket to the left of the shelf has Montessori-friendly books as well as ones that aren’t Montessori style but are lots of fun.
The Usborne Big Book of Stars and Planets is a Montessori-friendly book with a big fold-out display in the center. It’s available through Amazon or Book Depository and is recommended for ages 4 and up.
A is for Astronaut is from one of my very favorite Montessori-friendly alphabet series of books. I love that it has short verses for each letter for younger kids and much more information for older kids. It’s recommended for ages 6-9, although the short verses used with letter sounds are wonderful for preschoolers.
There’s No Place Like Space! All About Our Solar System is obviously not a Montessori-style book, but it’s a fun way to learn a lot about our solar system. It’s recommended for ages 4-8.
Another super-fun book with lots of information about the solar system is The Magic School Bus Lost in the Solar System. It’s recommended for ages 4-8, but it’s obviously not a Montessori-style book. It’s such a fun way to learn lots of interesting information about our solar system, though.
Here We Are: Notes for Living on Planet Earth is a Montessori-friendly book about Earth, its inhabitants, and we we are in space. It has a lovely message and is recommended for ages 3-7.
Me on the Map is a great way for children ages 3-7 to begin to understand where we live in space and on planet Earth.
Montessori Shelf with Space Books
On the top shelf of my language and cultural area, I have a few space books.
If you’re a fan of Nick Seluk (“the Awkward Yeti”), you’ll love The Sun Is Kind of a Big Deal. It obviously isn’t a Montessori-style book, but it has lots of great information presented in a very fun way. It’s recommended for ages 4-8, but lots of older kids (and adults) will have fun and learn a lot from the book, too.
All About Space is best for kids who enjoy books with flaps and tabs and can gently manipulate them. It’s recommended for ages 3-5, although I think it’s probably best for 4 and 5 year olds. It has a lot of information about astronauts and space travel.
Sharing the All About Space Book with Her “Students”
The All About Space book was one of the books Zoey had fun sharing with her “students” (a pretend class except for me) yesterday.
More Recommended Space Books
Here are my previously published book posts for our space themes:
The Best Star and Constellation Books for Kids
More Astronomy Activities and Resources
- Free Solar System Printables and Montessori-Inspired Solar System Activities
- Free Solar System Songs and Educational Videos
- Free Y for Year Do-a-Dot Printable (Montessori-Inspired Instant Download)
- Astronaut Unit
- Montessori-Inspired Astronomy Activities
- Montessori-Inspired Star and Constellation Unit
- Montessori-Inspired Moon Unit
- Montessori-Inspired Solar System Activities and World Space Week Blog Hop
- Montessori-Inspired Astronomy Units
- Montessori-Inspired Moon Activities for Toddlers and Preschoolers
- Montessori-Inspired Phases-of-the-Moon Playdough Tray
- Free Moon Printables and Montessori-Inspired Moon Activities
- Montessori-Inspired Moon Activities with Spielgaben {Free Printables}
- Free Moon Do-a-Dot Printable (Montessori-Inspired Instant Download)
- Free Moon Cutting Strips (Montessori-Inspired Instant Download)
- The Best Moon Books for Kids
- Free Star and Constellation Printables and Montessori-Inspired Constellation Activities
- Fun Montessori Hundred Board Extension – Count 100 Glow-in-the-Dark Stars
- The Ultimate Star and Constellation Unit
- The Best Star and Constellation Books for Kids
- Free Constellations Do-a-Dot Printable (Montessori-Inspired Instant Download)
- Create a Glow-in-the-Dark Constellation with Dictation or Writing Tray
- Free Constellation Cutting Strips (Montessori-Inspired Instant Download)
- Free Astronomy Cards from KHT Montessori
- Astronomy Unit Study Pinterest Board
Have fun studying space! There are so many awesome resources available! 🙂
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