What are some compare and contrast books for preschoolers?

Teaching students to compare and contrast is an important cross-curricular skill. Furthermore, the application of this skill, specifically to fiction stories, can greatly improve a student’s ability to analyze texts. So, today, I am going to describe some of the Best Books for Compare and Contrast! Below, all the links to books are affiliate links to Amazon!

Comparing & Contrasting Stories from DIFFERENT Authors

Little Red Hen & Little Red Elf

First, Little Red Hen and Little Red Elf are great fiction books to compare and contrast!

Little Red Hen is the classic tale that taught us that we reap what we sow. This is the story of a little, red hen who wants to make a cake. She asks for help when she plants the wheat; when she waters it, cuts it, grinds it, and even when she bakes the cake. However, not one of her friends agrees to help her with the hard work along the way. So, when it comes time to eat the cake, Little Red Hen enjoys it all herself!

Little Red Elf is a Christmas-themed retelling of “The Little Red Hen” is about a busy little red elf and her lazy friends: the hare, the penguin, and the reindeer. It is the perfect paired book for “The Little Red Hen.” When the little elf asks for help planting a pinecone, none of her friends want to pitch in! So, after planting, watering, and cutting it herself, she brings the Christmas tree inside to enjoy. She decorates it herself. She even puts out cookies and milk for Santa on her own. So, when she wakes up on Christmas morning, there will be a lesson learned by her friends!

Cinderella & The Rough Faced Girl

Next, Cinderella and The Rough-Face Girl are both stories of young girls who deserve more than their families provide. It is nice to compare and contrast these stories, focusing on how the setting affects each.

Cinderella tells the story of a beautiful young girl, who is in the care of her evil step-mother. Her stepmother and step-sisters treat her cruelly, making her work day and night. After being told she cannot join them at the Prince’s ball, Cinderella is visited by a fairy godmother who helps her get to the ball, but only until midnight!

The Rough-Face Girl is a young girl who is scarred from working by the fire in her village. Her step-sisters are unkind and the people of the village don’t look at her, for she isn’t “beautiful.” There was an invisible being who was rich and powerful. All of the young women want to marry him. However, you had to prove that you had seen him in order to marry him.

Little Red Riding Hood & Honestly, Little Red Riding Hood Was Rotten

Sometimes, the best books for comparing and contrasting are fractured fairy tales! These two book versions of Little Red Riding Hood will help your readers see the events from two perspectives!

Little Red Riding Hood is a well-known fairy tale about a girl who goes to visit her grandmother in the woods. But, when she arrives, she is shocked by her grandmother’s sharp teeth and cunning eyes. When she discovers a wolf in her grandmother’s place, she runs to head back down the path she came.

Honestly, Little Red Riding Hood Was Rotten is a fractured fairy tale that gives you the wolf’s perspective of this story. A funny retelling, this story will let you take a look at a classic story with spin. Who do we believe? Little Red Riding Hood? Or the Wolf?

Reading Beauty & Sleeping Beauty

Using a classic fairy tale with an updated plot can help your readers see how stories change over time. You can compare and contrast these two books while looking at how each of the main characters display their traits.

Sleeping Beauty is the fairy tale of a princess who pricks her finger and is cursed to sleep for a hundred years. An evil queen is the mastermind of her curse and Sleeping Beauty cannot be awoken without a prince.

Reading Beauty is an updated version of this fairy tale. The kingdom is threatened by a fairy’s curse of eternal sleep that can be brought by paper cut. A brave, space princess, Lex, is on a mission to break the spell so that her kingdom and people can read books again, without fear.

Goldy Luck and the Three Pandas & Goldilocks and the Three Bears

These are two more books that will encourage your students to compare and contrast how a setting can affect the plot of a story! Plus, they are greatly entertaining for your readers!

Goldilocks and the Three Bears is the classic tale of a young girl who comes upon an empty house. She enters, anyway, and finds porridge on the table. After deciding to try some, she finds it is too hot. So, she tries the next. Too cold. The last one she tries is just right. She doesn’t just try the porridge, though. She tries the chairs, which are too big, too small, and just right. And, the beds. Too hard, too soft, and you guessed it, just right. That “just-right” bed is “just right” enough for Goldilocks to fall asleep. And, she learns her lesson when the three bears come home!

Goldy Luck and the Three Pandas Goldy Luck’s mom asks her to take a plate of turnip cakes to the neighbors, the Chans. Only, they aren’t home. So, Goldy decides to try some of their rice porridge, Then, she sits in their chairs and even lays in their beds. hat doesn’t stop Goldy from trying out their rice porridge, their chairs, and their beds. This funny story has a disastrous twist that helps Goldy learn the responsibility for her own actions and it is great for comparing to the original!

Comparing & Contrasting Two Books from the SAME Author

In addition to comparing similar stories, we can use books by the same author to practice compare and contrast. Our focus will shift to similar plot elements, problems, characters, etc. The following are some of the best books for comparing and contrasting stories by the same author!

Jumanji & Zathura

Jumanji is the story of a game that comes to life. Judy and Peter find the game and decide to play before fully grasping the instructions that state: “VERY IMPORTANT: ONCE A GAME OF JUMANJI IS STARTED, IT WILL NOT BE OVER UNTIL ONE PLAYER REACHES THE GOLDEN CITY.” Thirty years later, the game is found and the game continues. With twists and turns, this book is action-packed and fun to read!

Zathura is another Chris Van Allsburg story that brings fantasy to life. In fact, on the last page of Jumanji, you can see Walter Budwing with a game called Zathura tucked under his arm. Danny and Walter Budwing are always fighting. But, as the two decide to sit down to play an unknown game, they will be forced to work as a team to overcome wild, intergalactic challenges!

The Mitten & The Three Snow Bears

The Mitten is a beautiful Ukrainian retelling of a story of a young boy who loses his mitten. He had dropped it in the snow on a walk through the woods. And while he didn’t notice it was missing, the animals sure did notice it was there. One by one, the animals crawled into the glove. Each animal is bigger than the one before. While the text tells the funny story of the mitten, the illustrations tell the reader what Nicki, the young boy, is up to throughout the day!

The Three Bears is the story of an Inuit girl who was ice fishing when she noticed her sled dogs drifting away on an ice floe. So, she sets off to save them but comes upon an empty igloo along the way. Similar to Goldilocks, Aloo-ki decides to go inside while the polar bears, who live there, are away. She eats soup, tries on boots, and takes a nap. The polar bear family swims out to rescue Aloo-ki’s dogs, all while she is fast asleep in the baby polar bear’s bed.

Wemberly Worried & Chrysanthemum: Final Best Books for Compare and Contrast Set

Wemberly Worried is a classic Kevin Henkes story about Wemberly, who worries. She worries about everything! However, she must start school, which is something that worries her, too. Coincidentally, she learns that she isn’t the only one who worries when she meets a new friend at school. Finally, she is able to build a connection and spend her time having fun, instead of worrying!

Chrysanthemum is a story about acceptance. This story is about a sweet girl who absolutely loves her name until she starts school. Her new “friends” tease and taunt her, making her question her own acceptance and self-esteem. Teaching a valuable lesson about compassion and kindness, Chrystanthemum is a great read-aloud for your classroom!

Interested in a *free* Compare and Contrast activity?

FREE COMPARE AND CONTRAST ACTIVITY!

Get this Compare & Contrast freebie sent directly to your inbox.

Want to read more about Compare & Contrast?

Teach kids to compare and contrast is an important thinking skill for young learners so they can determine categories and classifications by considering what’s similar and what’s different. That’s why I’m going to share the best mentor text children’s books with compare and contrast examples to read aloud with children. You’ll want to start early–long before your children are writing contrast essays in high school with thesis statements and fully developed arguments. Comparing and contrasting is an essential skill!

What is the definition of compare and contrast?
What does compare and contrast mean? Comparing the similarities and differences between two or more things or concepts is comparison and contrast.

Use these picture books as mentor text examples and models to compare and contrast thinking in preschool, elementary, or even middle school, teaching Venn Diagrams, or introducing basic writing compare/contrast text structure which features similarities and differences between two different topics or subjects. 

Compare and Contrast Thinking Maps

For younger students, start with a Venn Diagram.

To support kids with the compare and contrast thinking strategy, take notes using a thinking map such as the double bubble map.

If you’re using the notes to write a compare and contrast essay, help students to use the block method to write paragraphs that discuss similarities in one paragraph and contrasts in another paragraph, or more. The thesis statement should be a general statement of what you’re comparing and contrasting and what the overarching similarities and differences are.

Compare and Contrast Questions

As you compare and contrast, guide students to deepen their thinking with these questions.

• What is the author comparing and contrasting? (Go point by point.)
• How are these things (ideas) similar? How are they different?
• Are there more similarities or more differences or is it the same?
• Do the authors use transition words to indicate a comparison?

You can even compare and contrast children’s books by the same author, style of illustration, style of writing, or two different characters. In fact, there are many possibilities if you want to drill down into even more specific literary elements or writing techniques.

In this list, you’ll discover picture books that include comparisons or that lend themselves to thinking about similarities and differences.

However, before you read, start by practicing with other compare and contrast examples. Here are some things you can compare and contrast for practice:

• Fruits
• Cereals
• Cars
• Animals or animals and humans
• Shoes

What are compare and contrast transition words?

• alike
• compared with
• either/or
• similarly
• as opposed to
• different
• both
• same
• in common
• also
• while
• but

Compare and Contrast Examples in Picture Books

Goodbye Winter, Hello Spring by Kenard Pak
Evocative text and gorgeous illustrations show a boy and his dog first standing in the dark of a snowy winter day and then walking in nature, noticing small signs of spring such as the chirping of birds and the melting brook.

An Ordinary Day written by Elana K. Arnold, illustrated by Elizabet Vukovic
On the same street, in two different homes, two different doctors arrive. One doctor is for people and one is for animals. One situation is life — a new baby, while the other is death — the passing of a beloved pet. Parallel stories told in an alternating method with important themes will give readers much to discuss.

This Baby. That Baby written by Cari Best, illustrated by Rashin Kheiriyeh
Two babies in two different apartments go about their day — and this adorable story shows exactly what this baby and that baby do during the day. They play and read and look out the window. They nap or don’t nap, eat and drink. Finally, they walk to the park. Not only is this day-in-the-life cute, but it’s also sweet and fun.

Birds of a Feather Bowerbirds and Me by Susan L. Roth
Beautiful collage illustrations illustrate these fascinating comparisons between a collage artist and a bowerbird who have more in common than you might think. It’s very out-of-the-box thinking which you will love. Use this brilliant book for teaching kids about making art with found objects as well as comparing and contrasting similarities and differences.

Tiny Dino by Deborah Freedman
Learn all about the characteristics of dinosaurs as you compare the little bird’s many features to those of a dinosaur. The plot is clever and the dialogue between the animals is engaging.

Up in the Garden and Down in the Dirt written by Kate Messner, illustrated by Christopher Silas Neal
See what’s happening above and below ground as a little girl and her grandmother work in the garden from the beginning of the spring planting season until autumn gives way to cold snow. It’s an oversized book with marvelous illustrations and juicy descriptions. Beautiful!

Moth & Butterfly written by Dev Petty, illustrated by Ana Aranda
Two good caterpillar friends with a lot in common go through the amazing process of metamorphosis. Then they pop out of their cocoons– one, a butterfly, and the other, a moth. Now they have new differences. Butterfly’s wings are colorful and Moth’s are beige. Butterfly flies during the day and Moth flies at night. Even still, some things are still the same — they still have cool moves and their friendship.

Like by Annie Barrows and Leo Espinosa
Clever, surprising, delightful! Also, informative, playful, and funny! LIKE will be a new read-aloud favorite for its humor and thoughtful discussion-provoking text! Reading the first page, I thought I could predict the rest of the story. I was wrong. And I’m so glad! This silly book compares humans to other things. Can you guess what? TIN CANS! And SWIMMING POOLS and MUSHROOMS.

Amara’s Farm written by JaNay Brown-Wood, illustrated by Samara Hardy
Learn about pumpkins with Amara who needs to harvest pumpkins. As she searches the farm, we learn about the features of pumpkins with our own search and find and compare and contrast. For example, “A pumpkin is large and round. Is that a pumpkin? // No. That’s an apple. An apple is round, but not large like a pumpkin.” A good book to read aloud for fall harvest season.

Goodbye, Friend! Hello, Friend! by Cori Doerrfeld
These best friends show us how to say goodbye and hello. In fact, every goodbye leads to a hello. For example, saying goodbye to Mom at the bus stop leads to saying hello to a new friend at school. “Goodbye to snowman…/…is hello to puddles!” Sweet example after example captured in tender, charming illustrations reassures kids that endings can lead to wonderful new beginnings.

So Big and So Small written by John Coy, illustrated by Steph Lew
A little boy explores size as he compares himself (so big, even gigantic) to different things like a pebble or a butterfly then so small when he compares himself to animals at the zoo and so tiny compared to a waterfall or mountain. “I’m just right,” sums up his thinking as he plays with his baby sister.

King Kong’s Cousin by Mark Teague
Junior compares himself to his cousin Kong– and he doesn’t measure up in his size or his actions. For example, Kong climbs skyscrapers while Junior climbs the piano bench. But, when Junior saves his kitty stuck in a tree, Junior feels happy and a little bit bigger. Funny and sweet.

Poo-Dunit? A Forest Floor Mystery written by Katelyn Aronson, illustrated by Stephanie Laberis
One morning, Mouse finds a huge poo outside her house — and she decides to investigate to find out who pooed it. Mouse asks the forest friends if it’s theirs but they each explain why their poo is different in DETAIL (gross and informative!) until they finally discover who did it. But then they have to get it out of Mouse’s way — and the mice work together to spread it as fertilizer for flowers.

Anni Dreams of Biryani written by Namita Moolani Mehra, illustrated by Chaaya Prabhat
Anni enters a determined quest to find the ingredients to make the best biryani just like Uncle makes in the cafe across the street. This is a delicious story filled with dreams, culture, perseverance, and food.

Inside Outside by Anne-Margot Ramstein and Matthias Aregui
Gorgeous, oversized illustrations with no text are meant to show readers the inside and outside of something — things like inside an anthill (ants) and outside the anthill (anteater waiting.) Inside an apple is a worm on one page. The next page is a bigger perspective showing a lady about to take a bite out of the apple. Some of the illustrations aren’t perfectly clear so this book begs thoughtful inference and discussion. It’s quite profound.

It’s Not Jack and the Beanstalk written by Josh Funk, illustrated by Edwardian Taylor
On every page, the narrator of this hilarious story interrupts narration to boss Jack around. Of which Jack isn’t a fan because he doesn’t really want to be a thief and murderer. His dialogue with the narrator will crack you up. Finally, at the giant’s house in the sky, Jack changes everything. He befriends the giant, makes him a taco salad, and goes to Cinderella’s house for a party. It’s the perfect updated version of Jack and the Beanstalk with a take-charge hero and curmudgeonly narrator. Use this picture book to compare the two different voices.

A New Home by Tania de Regil
Parallel stories show a little girl and a little boy who are nervous about moving, one is moving from Mexico City to New York City, and the other is moving from New York City to Mexico City. They each share the fun things they’ll miss about their home. As they do, we notice how fun each city is and feel reassured that they’ll probably love their new, fun home. Simple, clear text accompanies charming illustrations.

Wagons Ho! written by George Hallowell and Joan Holub, illustrated by Lynne Avril
Side by side stories in diary and scrapbook form share two girls’ experiences, both of who are moving from Missouri to the West. One story takes place in 1846, the other, in the present day. It’s a fascinating comparison of what is the same and what is different from each girl’s different setting.

I Will Fight Monsters for You written by Santi Balmes, illustrates by Lyona
This clever parallel story is of a young girl (and a young monster) who are both frightened to sleep because of the upside-down world of monsters (and humans) beneath (above) their beds. Luckily, dads will fight monsters for their kids, and they give good advice: “the size of the monsters depends on how scared you are. If you feel very brave, the monster will shrink and run away.” Creative, reassuring, and heart-warming!

Lovely by Jess Hong
Striking illustrations show “lovely” people who are different, short, tall, simple, complex, fluffy, sleek, and more. Use this book to teach adjectives, opposites, and appreciation for diversity.

When the Shadbush Blooms by Carla Messinger with Susan Katz, illustrated by David Kanietakeron Fadden
Compare and contrast past and present cultural traditions and values of the Lenni Lenape. See both past and present-day families planting corn, playing games, harvesting crops, telling stories, and more. Learn the Lenape words for different seasons and moon cycles for significant aspects of nature. Several pages of back matter explain the words and their meanings.

Up and Down Mom by Summer Macon
This little girl lovingly discusses her mom’s days in bed contrasted with her mom’s days of excitement. She shares that she feels many different feelings — and how she stays with her granddad or friends when her mom has to go to the hospital. I’m impressed with how much about bipolar disorder that this book covers in kid-friendly, relatable language.

Miguel’s Community Garden by JaNay Brown-Wood, illustrated by Samara Hardy
Explore the garden with Miguel in this interactive story while he searches for a sunflower. As you search, compare what you know about sunflowers with the other plants in the garden. Finally, you find a tall flower with yellow petals, a round center, smooth green, and pointy leaves — you’ve found the sunflower! This is a delightful, educational introduction to plants in a garden with compare and contrast thinking.

KEEP READING:

How to Use Colors to Improve Learning

All Mentor Text Book Lists for Reading & Writing Instruction

Book Series

Sticker Ideas for Growing Writers