Kite Flying Picture Books

For the past several years we have had the opportunity to visit a local kite festival. So much fun! I always try to connect our experiences to great books, so we have read all of the books in our libraries about kites! Below are our favorites!

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Days with Frog and Toad by Arnold Lobel. My 3yo Bookworm especially loves Frog and Toad. The kite flying chapter is a nice example of growth mindset, (which we’ve been working on this semester) too! #winning

Moonlight Kite by Helen E. Buckley. This was such a sweet story, and I’m sad that it’s out of print! It tells the story of two children whose kite gets stuck in a tree near to an old monastery which they believe is abandoned.  The kids leave the kite, figuring they’ll devise a way to get it down later. During the night, the few remaining monks take the kite out of the tree for the children and enjoy flying it in the moonlight. They decide to place the kite back into a tree, but nearer to the monastery and low enough for the kids to retrieve it. The kids catch on that something mysteriously special is happening to their kite at night, so they again return it to the tree. As the days and nights pass, the two kite flying groups get physically nearer and nearer, and the kids bring more and more friends to fly kites with them, bringing joy to the lonely monks and kids alike.

Storm by Sam Usher. Part of a series of four picture books, aptly titled “Seasons with Grandad” (see also Sun, Snow and Rain) that feature a special bond between a boy and his grandfather. In this installment, the two decide that the windy weather of an approaching storm is a perfect opportunity for kite-flying! In searching for the kite, they reminisce about past adventures, before finally creating a new adventure together. The sweet grandparent interactions in this series are darling!

Horrible Bear by Ame Dyckman. We are big fans of the author’s Wolfie the Bunny, so we mostly picked this one up for love of the author. Kite flying isn’t the focal point of the story. Instead, the plot follows a little girl who sneaks into a bear’s cave while he’s sleeping, and he inadvertently rolls over onto her kite and breaks it. He is actually a very nice bear who doesn’t like having his reputation soiled; in setting the record straight he goes to find her. In the meantime, the complaining girl shouts “Horrible Bear!” to everyone who will listen and ends up mistakenly breaking one of her own toys. She then understands the bear’s feelings and they patch things (including the kite) up. A nice story for empathy.

Kite Flying by Grace Lin. Minimal text, a simple plot, and bright illustrations make this a great choice for the youngest kite flyers. It follows a family working together to design and build their own dragon kite. Includes a note about the history of kite making and festivals in China (where kite flying is said to have been first invented), and a bit around the world. Author Grace Lin is a treasure! I adore her novels inspired by Chinese folklore (Where the Mountain Meets the Moon and two companion books), her middle grades chapter books were favorites of my elementary students, and my early readers love the Ling & Ting series. She’s an author to get to know!

Stuck by Oliver Jeffers. While this isn’t my personal favorite, watching a room full of kids laugh hysterically at the antics taken by Floyd to un-stuck his kite from a tree was compelling enough to warrant a place on my list!

The Emperor and the Kite by Jane Yolen, illustrated by Ed Young (Caldecott Honor). The youngest and neglected daughter of the emperor is the only one who has the pluck and persistence to save her father when he is kidnapped and imprisoned. She uses her kite flying to keep him alive until finally rescuing him. Beautifully told and with an important message!

Kite Day: A Bear and Mole Story by Will Hillenbrand. A nice choice for the preschool crowd! Bear and Mole decide to take advantage of a blustery day by kite-flying, but first they have to make their kite! They get their kite up just in time for a storm to blow in and snap the line. They chase their kite all the way to a tree where it’s been lodged perfectly above a nest of baby birds.

Do you have any favorite kite flying picture books? Connect with me in the comments below, on my Facebook page or Instagram account! The books mentioned in this post can be found at your local library or at the affiliate links provided.  As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.