When a child starts learning to play the piano, it’s important to set them up for success early on. We’re going to share the best piano books for kids that will help them learn basic piano playing skills along with familiar, fun, and easy songs.
To support your child’s learning and keep things exciting, grab a few books for them, let them help you choose what books they’d like, and check out the tips we share at the end of this article for how to foster your new piano player’s success.
You might also be interested in: Top Five Piano Songs For Kids
What Are the Best Piano Books for Kids?
With so many piano books out there, we’ve taken the guesswork out of it for you. These are our favorite beginner piano books:
- A Dozen a Day
- Little Pianist: Piano Songbook for Kids
- Play It! Children’s Songs: A Superfast Way to Learn Awesome Songs
- Piano Book for Kids 5 & Up – Beginner Level
- Alfred’s Basic Piano Library: Lesson Book Level 1A
- Easy Piano Sheet Music For Kids
- The Beatles for Kids – Easy Piano
A Dozen A Day
Of all the piano books for kids, A Dozen A Day is one of the most universally recognized. While most books below are newer ones, we wanted to include this one because it goes well with songs books as it provides warm-up exercises to be done before practicing songs. A Dozen a Day is the first book in a series that will push your child’s knowledge a little further.
Topic: warm-up activities and basic piano techniques
Ages: beginners of all ages
Why read it: It helps new pianists learn basic techniques and warm-up before practicing.
Little Pianist: Piano Songbook for Kids
Little Pianist is a #1 best seller in new-age music. It’s the perfect book to have handy for your little pianist to play tons of beginner songs, including ‘Five Little Monkeys,’ ‘I Love You, You Love Me,’ and ‘Jack and Jill.’ It also includes free audio to download to help nail down the melody of the songs.
Topic: diverse songs with notes and audio
Ages: 5 – 12 years
Why read it: It provides short pieces of beginner piano music that range from easy to challenging along with downloadable audio to go with the songs.
Play It! Children’s Songs: A Superfast Way to Learn Awesome Songs
Play It! is one of our favorite beginner piano books for kids because it offers a fun and easy way to master the piano or keyboard. The helpful instructions with color-coded notes and character icons make it easy to follow. It also includes piano sheets of popular and favorite songs and an intro for reading sheet music. Songs include ‘Mary Had a Little Lamb,’ ‘The Itsy Bitsy Spider,’ and more.
Topic: piano songs and helpful instructions
Ages: 5 – 10 years
Why read it: It provides helpful instructions and tips along with sheet music to many popular kid songs.
Easy Piano Sheet Music For Kids
If your looking for a first songbook, Easy Piano Sheet Music for Kids is the perfect one! It teaches new pianists how to play classics like ‘Happy Birthday,’ ‘Jingle Bells,’ and ‘This Little Light of Mine.’
Topic: classic piano songs
Ages: reading age is 13 – 18 years, but songs are easy enough for any beginner
Why read it: It provides 40 easy and familiar songs for beginner piano players.
Piano Book for Kids 5 & Up – Beginner Level
Piano Book for Kids 5 & Up is one of the more expansive instruction piano books for kids on our list. It provides famous piano pieces, easy and fun songs, piano technique, and music theory. It also provides lessons for how to read music in the book and video lessons you can stream for your child or student.
Topic: piano instruction books with songs
Ages: 5 – 12 years
Why read it: It covers just about everything beginner pianists need from songs to play and piano techniques to music theory and lessons. Lessons are provided via text and video.
Alfred’s Basic Piano Library: Lesson Book Level 1A
While Alfred’s Basic Piano Library is several years old, it’s one of the best piano books for very young beginners. The book and CD are specifically created with a young learner in mind. The entire book is broken up into steps that build upon eachother so that it’s easy to determine when your child understands a concept and is ready to move on.
Topic: piano songs for kids with tips for learning appropriate playing habits
Ages: beginners of all ages
Why read it: It provides just about everything a beginner pianist needs to know for playing the songs in the book, and it also comes with a CD.
The Beatles for Kids – Easy Piano
Do you have a mini Beatles lover? Or maybe you want to introduce your little piano player to the good stuff? The Beatles for Kids – Easy Piano might be our most unique best piano books for kids. Songs include ‘Blackbird,’ ‘Good Day Sunshine,’ ‘Here Comes the Sun,’ and more. This book also provides practice tips for learning each song.
Topic: piano songs by The Beatles
Ages: 8 – 12 years
Why read it: It helps kids learn to play a new genre of songs on the piano.
You might also be interested in: Piano Keyboard Layout: A Helpful Guide for Beginners
Tips for Helping Kids Learn the Piano
While the best piano books for kids on this list are excellent tools, here are some other things you can do to help your child or student learn the piano.
- Praise them for working hard.
- Sign them up to work with a professional piano teacher.
- Give them positive feedback.
- Help them come up with a consistent practice schedule.
- Allow them to take breaks if they seem discouraged or stressed.
The main goal is to foster a fun learning and playing experience for your child. Using these strategies to support your little pianist while they grow their piano-playing skills will prime them for success!
Photo by Sid Cattaneo
Megan L.