The best lift-the-flap and pop-up books for children

From the creator of Dear Zoo, Rod Campbell promises bright, bold illustrations on every page with Dear Santa. A favourite Christmas book for kids, little hands can lift the flaps to discover what Father Christmas has sent, complete with a touch-and-feel surprise and a perfect present at the end! 

This festive season, Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler, the creative duo behind beloved modern classic The Gruffalo, bring you Squirrel’s Snowman. Squirrel wants to build a snowman, but first, she and her friends must find everything they need! Packed with sturdy flaps and rhyming stories, Squirrel's Snowman is the latest book in the bestselling Tales from Acorn Wood series, perfect for reading aloud with little-ones this Christmas.

From the illustrator of classic children's book The Gruffalo, On the Farm is a bright and colourful board book with gentle rhyming text that little ones will love. Kids can join in the fun on the farm by pulling out the sliders, moving the animals and making all the different noises; quacking along with the ducks, mooing with the cows and neighing with the horses!

Buster's staying with Grandma on the farm. But where will he find the eggs for breakfast? Not in the stable – oh dear! Young children will love lifting the flaps as they turn the pages and follow Buster around the farm. From the creator of Dear Zoo, this 40th anniversary special edition is a great gift for all Rod Campbell fans. 

When the little spotty ladybird hears Lanky Len and Hefty Hugh's plan to steal the fine prize cow, she makes a clever plan, and all the animals join in to help stop the thieves! Move the push, pull and slide mechanisms on every spread to join in too and bring the story to life.

Join the witch and all her animal friends in this magical touch and feel book, featuring all your favourite characters from Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler's Room on the Broom. With a simple text, bright colours and touches to explore on every page, the Room on the Broom Touch and Feel Book is perfect for little hands, and is sure to keep preschool children entertained for hours.

The elephant is fast asleep and the tiger is playing with her cubs, but where are those cunning thieves, Hefty Hugh and Lanky Len? Based on Julia Donaldson and Lydia Monks' bestselling picture book, What the Ladybird Heard on Holiday, preschool children will love lifting the large card flaps to find all their favourite characters. With bright and colourful illustrations and a flap to lift on every page, this interactive board book is packed full of favourite zoo animals and is perfect for little fingers!

This fun animal story from the creator of Dear Zoo is sure to delight young children, with touch-and-feel patches, flaps to lift and a surprise pop-up ending. The hungry mouse likes eating cheese, the rabbit likes carrots and the monkey likes bananas – but what about the hungry tiger? Are you brave enough to turn the page and find out? With touch-and-feel patches so you can feel mouse's ear and stroke rabbit's fur, flaps to lift and a brilliant pop-up ending. 

How many lazy lions are yawning? How many zebras are skipping? Little ones can join in the fun in the jungle by pulling out the sliders, pushing up the tabs and counting all the animals in this bright and colourful board book from much-loved illustrator Axel Scheffler.

Lift the flaps and join in the fun with Mole's Spectacles, a brilliant story by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler. Mole has lost his spectacles. He searches all around his house, in the garden and even in Weasel's sweetshop, but he can't find them anywhere! Where could they be? Lift the flaps to help him find them. With sturdy flaps on every spread and rhyming stories that are a joy to read aloud, Mole's Spectacles joins the bestselling Tales from Acorn Wood which have been delighting parents and children for over twenty years.

Toddlers will love lifting the flaps to meet elephants, tigers, orangutans and more in this board book about endangered animals from the creator of the bestselling Dear Zoo. With bright, bold artwork and a positive message about how to look after our world and the animals in it, this is the perfect introduction to conservation for young children. 

A perfect introduction to the classic story for babies and toddlers, this chunky board book features soft fabric flaps on every page. Little ones will love discovering what’s hiding under each flap, while the bright, bold illustrations will keep them enthralled by the story again and again.

Push, pull and slide the tabs to celebrate the 50th book in the popular Busy Books series with Busy Party! Decorate the house with balloons and bunting, play party games and dance the night away while fireworks fizz and pop!

A perfect present for toddlers who may be celebrating a birthday themselves, young children will love playing with this bright and colourful board book with a gentle rhyme and wonderful illustrations by Jill Howarth. Busy Party has been endorsed and recommended by Dr Amanda Gummer's Good Play Guide.

Push, pull and slides the tabs to discover the environmental heroes who are changing our world for the better. Full of fun facts and bright illustrations, this board book will teach toddlers all about Greta Thunberg, David Attenborough and more. 

This pop-up book for children is based on Rod Campbell’s classic story, Dear Zoo. With its bold, colourful illustrations and a pop-up zoo animal to discover as you turn every page, The Pop-Up Dear Zoo is sure to become a firm favourite with animal-loving little ones.

Illustrated by Axel Scheffler.

Push, pull and slide the moving mechanisms in this brilliant board book to meet all your favourite characters from the bestselling picture book The Snail and the Whale – and bring the story to life!

What happens when a tiny snail hitches a lift on the tail of an enormous whale? Push and pull the tabs to see them head off on an amazing journey around the world, help the snail with her big plan to save the whale after disaster strikes and he is beached in a bay, and then slide out the big tab on the last page to watch them both travel safely away – hooray!

Go on a magical underwater adventure with a helpful sea unicorn! Little ones will be engaged and entertained by the push, pull and turn mechanisms and the sparkly foil cover wheel, and gentle rhyming text and colourful illustrations make this a pleasure to read together.  

Discover the other books in the My Magical series.

Help Little Chick look for Mummy Hen in Who's Hiding on the Farm? Lift the felt flaps to see where she is. Which other animals will you find hiding underneath?

With soft flaps on every spread that are easy for babies to lift, helping them develop fine motor skills, and illustrated by Axel Scheffler, bestselling illustrator of The Gruffalo, this is the perfect gift to share with little ones.

With flaps to lift, silly scenarios and witty rhymes on every page The Christmas Bear will make little ones laugh out loud. When Father Christmas sets off to deliver presents, poor Bear is left behind, but not for long . . . Follow Bear on his travels as he chases Santa's sleigh through icy seas and snowy forests. Will he make it to Tom's house in time for Christmas morning?

Rod Campbell's classic lift-the-flap book Dear Zoo has been a firm favourite with toddlers and parents alike ever since it was first published in 1982. Little ones will love lifting the flaps to discover which animals the zoo has sent – but will the perfect pet ever arrive?

Keep little Dear Zoo fans entertained with these Dear Zoo activities for kids.

This rhyming lift-the-flap book by Julia Donaldson and Rebecca Cobb will delight children and parents alike. Little ones will giggle along as they lift the flaps and discover the naughty animals as they thwart the baby’s every activity, including a mole disrupting his breakfast, and an owl borrowing his towel!

Lift the soft fabric flaps on every page to meet all your favourite characters from the bestselling picture book, Room on the Broom – perfect for little ones for Halloween!

With soft fabric flaps which are easy to lift and help develop fine motor skills, this felt flaps book is perfect for sharing with even the youngest child. Join the witch and all her animal friends for a magical broomstick adventure in Who's on the Broom? by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler, creators of The Gruffalo.

This brilliant picture book from award-winning author and illustrator Emily Gravett has wonderfully witty artwork and a giant postcard flap to lift on every page. Sunny the meerkat lives with his very large family in the Kalahari desert. One day Sunny decides it’s just too crowded and packs his bags. He visits his mongoose cousins around the world, but Sunny just doesn’t quite seem to fit in . . .

Children can discover the wonders of the stars, planets and the moon in this First Facts and Flaps book. With over thirty flaps, a turn and learn wheel and a giant fold-out ending, this novelty book encourages children to learn as they play. All the facts are age-appropriate and checked by Jacqueline Mitton, an experienced astronomer and former editor of the Journal of the British Astronomical Society.

Discover all the books in the First Facts and Flaps series.

This magical pop-up storybook has twenty-five play pieces so children can join in with the adventure! Princess Sophia has fallen asleep, and it’s up to her friends Lucy, Lilia and Lottie to make sure she wakes up in time for her wedding to Prince Ethan. This stunning pop-up book comes with a special envelope to keep the play pieces safe, and a pretty ribbon closure.

Discover the other books in the Pop-up Carousel series.

A brilliant gift for mermaid-loving little ones, this interactive book features three pop-up underwater scenes, plus twenty-five play pieces. Children will love finding all of the deep sea details in Ag Jatkowska’s illustrations and creating their own stories with the book’s cast of mermaid characters.

With six pop-up spreads depicting classic scenes from the book, including the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party and Alice meeting the Cheshire Cat, this pop-up book is a perfect way to introduce Lewis Carroll’s children’s classic to young readers. Fans of the original story will love spotting their favourite characters in the book’s full-colour illustrated scenes, which have been adapted from Sir John Tenniel’s original artwork.