Imagination and creative thinking are key parts of childhood for kids all over the world. Taking mundane, every day objects and turning them into portals into other worlds is fond childhood memory for so many adults. After all, who doesn’t know a toddler who’s gotten just as excited about big cardboard box as they are about the contents of that box? Books are a great tool for encouraging kids to continue to think imaginatively about the world around them. Read any one of these books and then use them as a launching point into a day of imaginative play with your child! Whether it’s turning cardboard boxes into race cars, drawing imaginary worlds with a purple crayon, or making sandcastle versions of famous buildings, the time you spend together observing and creating is so valuable! Click on the affiliate links below to buy these books today!

Not a Box (No es una caja) and its sequel Not a Stick by Antoinette Portis

Both these books are a great place to begin for any early reader. Simple high-contrast line drawings make these titles excellent tools for building vocabulary and shape-recognition with infants and toddlers.  They are fun for bigger kids too, who can guess on each page what the box will turn into next.

They are also great books for a rambunctious kid who isn’t interested in sitting still when reading.  Explore each page by acting out the various uses of a box or a stick! Or a couch cushion! Or a bowl!  What adventures will you go on together?

The Birthday Box (La caja de cumpleaños) by Leslie Patricelli

Leslie Patricelli is a very prolific author and illustrator.  She has a gift for telling heartwarming stories with a few words and some illustrations. This is a story about a baby who receives a box as a birthday gift.  There is a dog inside the box, so now baby has a friend who can play with the new box too! Similar to the rabbit in Not a Box, baby and dog discover the many stories we can tell with a small cardboard box and a little imagination.

Harold and the Purple Crayon (Harold y el lápiz color morado) by Crockett Johnson

This classic story is about a boy named Harold who draws a whole whimsical world with one purple crayon. Harold can do anything in his landscape, such as climb to the moon and back. However, Harold’s dream is not always fun and easy. Harold imagines a scary monster, a stormy sea, and a sharp cliff. Though Harold’s creativity does cause him trouble, it saves him too.  He uses his purple crayon to draw an escape route, a sailboat, and a hot air balloon. This book is a great way to explore cause and effect as well as problem-solving skills.

The Squiggle by CL Schaefer

This book is an example of imagination transforming the mundane into the magical. Its gorgeous illustrations are an homage to Chinese art and culture. The text is punctuated with lively sound effects that make it a fantastic book to read out loud.

Looking for more books about creative, adventurous girls? See this post about girls in STEM.

Dreaming Up by Christy Hale

This book is one of my all-time favorites.  These creative comparisons of children’s forts and card towers to famous works of architecture around the world are visually stunning and deeply inspiring.  The illustrations are paired with poetry that evokes the shape and aesthetic of the architecture on each page. Did you ever stop and observe that your sandcastle looks like Gaudi’s Basilica de la Sagrada Familia? After flipping through this book, I want to get up from my desk and build something! Excuse me, while I go find a good sturdy box…