Reading File: 100 Picture Books
By: Harper Parkey
Score System:
5 – captivating with a clear message
4 – enjoyable with a clear message
3 – was cute but no clear message, or was boring but had a clear message – not both
2 – rather boring and wouldn’t use unless necessary
1 – not enjoyable and wouldn’t use in my classroom
Caldecott Honor Book (20)
1. The Hello, Goodbye Window (2006 winner)
o Title: The Hello, Goodbye Window
o Author: Norton Juster
o Grade level- Pre-K up to maybe 1st – very elementary (mentions naptime)
o Genre: Realistic Fiction
o Short synopsis: The little girl talks about all the wonderful things to
discover both inside and outside of her grandparent’s house. It talks
about the adventures a young child might have and also demonstrates
the loving relationship that grandchildren have with their
grandparents. Everything relates back to the kitchen window known
as the “Hello Goodbye window.”
o Activity: For young children – what goes inside and what goes outside
the window exercise. Very elementary level book
o Personal Review: (3) Good message but not super captivating in my
opinion
2. A Sick Day for Amos McGee (2011 winner)
o Title: A Sick Day for Amos McGee
o Author: Philip C Stead
o Grade level: K-2
o Genre: Fantasy
o Short synopsis: Amos McGee goes through his morning routine and
arrives at his job at the zoo. He does specific things with each animal
(like paying chess with the elephant, or reading stories to the owl).
One day when Amos McGee is sick, his animal friends are sad without
him, so they come over to his house and the animals keep him
company instead.
o Activity: Opposites activities like a matching game which makes you
find opposites or an around the classroom game to name opposites.
Could make a little paper board game as well where as you move up
the game, you have to name the opposite of whatever word on a piece
of paper.
o Personal Review: (5) Captivating with a clear message – Loved this
book!
3. One Fine Day (1972 winner)
o Title: One Fine Day
o Author: Nonny Hogrogian
o Grade Level: 1-3
o Genre: Fantasy
o Short Synopsis: There was a fox that was traveling through the forest
and got so thirsty that he drank an old lady’s milk. She was so angry
that she cut off his tail and would only give it back if he found her
more milk. A series of sequential events happen in order for him to
eventually get milk to pay back the old lady so he can get his tail back.
o Activity: Sequential events activity. Each student gets a piece of a
story and they have to arrange the story in logical order. You could
also use this story in history and transition into talking about
timelines as well. Make a timeline of your life forwards and
backwards. (Include 6-7 events that you can remember… might be
more of a homework assignment)
o Personal Review: (4) enjoyable with a clear message – I liked this
book pretty well
4. Song and Dance Man (1989 winner)
o Title: Song and Dance Man
o Author: Karen Ackerman
o Grade Level: 1-3
o Genre: Realistic Fiction
o Short Synopsis: A Grandfather shares with his children the “good old
times” when he used to be a performer before there were TVs and
things of today’s age. He brings them up to the attic and does a tap
dance and clown tricks for them and they have an enjoyable afternoon
with their grandfather. It is a really cute story of bringing the past
back to life.
o Activity: You could do a what do you want to be when you grow up
and why and what qualifications would you need for that job, or
depending on your demographics, you could potentially have your
students interview their grandparents on what they did when they
were younger. That could be potentially sensitive though, so be
cautious with that assignment.
o Personal Review: (3) enjoyable, with a mostly clear message for
young readers – I still really enjoyed it and would read it to my class
5. May I Bring a Friend (1965 winner)
o Title: May I Bring a Friend
o Author: Beatrice Schenk De Regniers
o Grade Level: PreK-1
o Genre: Poetry
o Short Synopsis: A young child is invited to tea with the king and the
queen, and he asks if he can bring a friend. Each day of the week he is
invited back for one reason or another and brings a different animal
friend each time. Finally on Saturday, the child says to the king and
queen my friends want to have you for tea, so on Saturday they all
have tea at the zoo.
o Activity: What do you do each day of the week activity. Make a big
schedule with the class. You could also have each student draw a
picture of whom they would invite to their party and try and write the
names of the people or write a sentence even for older students.
o Personal Review: (4) Enjoyable and had a rather clear message for a
very young audience – I liked it but didn’t love it
6. Sylvester and the Magic Pebble (1970 winner)
o Title: Sylvester and the Magic Pebble
o Author: William Steig
o Grade Level: K-2
o Genre: Fantasy
o Short Synopsis: Sylvester, a donkey, goes wandering in a field one day
and finds a beautiful pebble, which he soon realizes is magic. When he
is on his way home to tell his parents, he runs into a lion, and is so
scared that all he can think is I wish I were a rock. Sylvester turns into
a rock, and even though his parents look for him they can’t find him.
Eventually his parents go for a picnic and sit on the rock. They find the
pebble next to the rock and they all three wish for him to come back
and he does!
o Activity: “Be Careful what you wish for” Cause and effect activity of
the positive or negative consequences of what could happen if you do
this or that. (Eat too much chocolate, study really hard, etc.)
o Personal Review: (5) captivating story with a clear message - One of
my favorite books!
7. Joseph Had a Little Overcoat (2000 winner)
Title: Joseph Had a Little Overcoat
Author: Simms Taback
Grade Level: PreK-1
Genre: Realistic Fiction (It could happen)
Short Synopsis: Joseph had a little overcoat that got worn so he made
a jacket out of it and so on and so forth until he got down to just a
button. When he lost the button he decided to write a book about how
he was so thrifty with his jacket. You can always make something out
of nothing
o Activity: Give students lots of different simple shapes and tell them to
put them together in different formations. Alone it’s nothing but a
shape but together it can make something bigger. You can also do it
with random materials and see how creative you can get. You could
even ask them to tell a story about the creative thing they made with
their “nothings.”
o Personal Rating: (5) captivating with a clear message – definitely
another one of my favorite books!
8. Many Moons (1944 winner)
o Title: Many Moons
o Author: James Thurber
o Grade Level: 2-3
o Genre: Fantasy
o Short Synopsis: The princess falls ill and the king wants to make her
better so he offers her anything in the world, to which she says she
wants the moon. The king frantically tries to get the moon but fails
and eventually asks his daughter how big the moon really is. He finds
out that she thinks it’s small so he makes her a small moon necklace.
The next night he doesn’t want her to see the moon so he tries to
come up with ideas of how to block her vision, but he fails and
eventually asks her why there is a new moon. She says a new one
grows just like when you cut down flowers. The main idea was
communication
o Activity: Play the telephone game! That game can be so fun and goes
by pretty quick, and it is a good example of how things can easily get
miscommunicated. Another science lesson you can transition into is
how does the moon really work and would another one grow in its
place?
o Personal Rating: (3) it was a cute story but long and hard to follow
with a good message – I thought it was good but rather long and could
get boring for young readers
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9. Where The Wild Things Are (1964 winner)
o Title: Where The Wild Things Are
o Author: Maurice Sendak
o Grade Level: K-2
o Genre: Fantasy
o Short Synopsis: Max doesn’t want to go eat dinner and he is lonely so
he plays pretend basically and imagines that his room turns into a
jungle and he goes to where the wild things are. He becomes king, but
when he orders them to go to sleep he gets lonely again and goes back
home to find his dinner waiting for him.
o Activity: The importance of imagination. Have students take ordinary
things and turn them into something with much more imagination.
Have them draw it on paper and write a sentence or two about it. You
could even show them a Picasso to give them ideas of how everything
doesn’t have to be just as it appears.
o Personal Review: (3) good but not great – I liked it but it is a tad
boring
10. Noah’s Arc (1978 winner)
o Title: Noah’s Arc
o Author: Peter Spier
o Grade Level: PreK-1
o Genre: Poetry or Historical Fiction
o Short Synopsis: There is only one page of words and it is a poem about
the story of Noah’s arc. It is about how God flooded the world for 40
days and nights and the whole world basically hit the reset button
with the exception of Noah and his family who found favor in the Lord
and were saved. Noah built the arc and took two of every kind and
then they were all saved and the dove and the rainbow showed the
promise that God would never flood the entire world again.
o Activity: For young children everyone is assigned an animal and they
draw a picture of it. Then they wear their picture on their shirt and
have to find their “partner.” Could do a matching memory game as
well with the two by two animals. Then if you are brave the class goes
walking outside to see all of God’s creation. You can have a geology
lesson, count trees and the numbers of things you see, talk about
colors, and even point out new animals you see. After the walk talk
about God’s beautiful creation again.
o Personal Review: (4) great book about Noah’s Arc!!!
11. The Funny Little Woman (1973 winner)
o Title: The Funny Little Woman
Author: Arlene Mosel (retold)
Grade Level: 2-3
Genre: Fantasy
Short Synopsis: The little Japanese woman has a dumpling roll out the
door and then she chases it, but the earth opens up, and she has to
chase it under ground. She asks everybody where it went but when
they tell her they warn her that it went to the oni and she should be
careful. She always just laughed and eventually the oni captured her
and had her cook for them. She always just laughed and cooked rice
with a magic spoon. When she left one day she was in the boat but
when they noticed she was gone they tried to drink all the river water
so she couldn’t escape. She made a fool of herself trying to run away
so they laughed and the water came back. Now she escaped and is a
super successful rice maker in Japan.
o Activity: Since the dumpling rolled and rolled you can do a story that
rolls and rolls. Have students in groups of 3-4 and pass around a story.
Each person starts an introduction then they pass around the paper
until each person has added something to each story. They will have
all written a beginning, middle parts, and end of a story. Works on
their creativity as well.
o Personal Review: (2) – it was pretty strange and I couldn’t see the
lesson very easily. Not one I think I would use in my classroom
12. Officer Buckle and Gloria (1996 winner)
o Title: Officer Buckle and Gloria
o Author: Peggy Rathmann
o Grade Level: 1-3
o Genre: Fantasy
o Short Synopsis: Officer Buckle had many safety tips and he would give
speeches at school. When he did though, all the children would be
bored and not listen. When he brought his dog Gloria along she would
do tricks in the background and the students would remember them.
They wrote tons of letters to him about the success. When he found
out that they only liked Gloria, the officer was sad and stopped
coming. Gloria was sad on her own though and the children fell asleep
again. At the end his final safety tip was always bring a buddy!
o Activity: Teach kids how to write a thank you letter. They can send
one to a place like the police station or they could send one home to
parents (which they would love!) You could also do this at the start of
school and have the students come up with their own safety tips for
the classroom.
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o Personal Review: (4) good story with a good message – I really
enjoyed this book!
13. Mirette on the High Wire (1993 winner)
o Title: Mirette on the High Wire
o Author: Emily Arnold McCully
o Grade Level: 2-3
o Genre: General Fiction
o Short Synopsis: The little girl Mirette works at the inn where a tight
ropewalker stays. She is fascinated by him and wants to learn how to
do it. She tries and falls many times, but eventually makes it. Bellini,
the tight ropewalker, teaches her how to master her skills. She gets
afraid and stops doing it, but at the end Bellini puts on a performance
and she accompanies him. It a great story about conquering fears and
perseverance.
o Activity: Discuss things you are afraid of but also discuss the
difference between a celebrity and a hero. Bellini was a hero to
Mirette, and heroes don’t have to be famous necessarily. Assign
students someone to research and then it can be a longer project
about a person who is a hero. This could be a fun history project for
older students.
o Personal Review: (4) great story with a great lesson – definitely one
that I enjoyed and would use!
14. Frog Went A-Courtin (1956 winner)
o Title: Frog Went A-Courtin
o Author: John Langstaff
o Grade Level: K-2
o Genre: Folk Tale
o Short Synopsis: A Frog wants to marry a mouse and he gets the
father’s permission. Then lots of different animals come to help set up
the wedding. It is a song that has been turned into a book.
o Activity: First play them the song on YouTube. Talk about what a Folk
Tale is. You can discuss the different types of insects and animals in
the book. You can do an activity where you discuss the difference
between insects and mammals and then divide up the creatures in the
book on a chart together as a class or individually on a piece of paper.
o Personal Review: (4) Very cute and good introduction to folktales –
Not sure I would use this but still enjoyed it
15. Grandfather’s Journey (1994 winner)
o Title: Grandfather’s Journey
o Author: Allen Say
o Grade Level: 3-4
o Genre: Realistic Fiction
o Short Synopsis: It is about a grandfather’s journey to the US and back
home to Japan. It is a great book about immigration and family history
that is in multiple different countries.
o Activity: Discuss immigration and what that meant. Then have
students write about their own journeys like moving houses or going
on a trip or how they get to school each day. Ask them specific
questions for better writing. For homework students could ask
parents or grandparents about their journeys (of any kind) and then
record it on a pre-made worksheet.
o Personal Review: (3) good message but could be uninteresting to
young readers – I liked it but didn’t love it
16. This Is Not My Hat (2013 winner)
o Title: This Is Not My Hat
o Author: Jon Klassen
o Grade Level: 3-5 would find humorous
o Genre: General Fiction
o Short Synopsis: The small fish steals a hat from a giant fish. It doesn’t
matter because the big fish is asleep, nobody will tell, and he is going
to hide in the tall grass anyways. Eventually the big fish finds him
because he wakes up, people tell, and he finds him in the tall grass and
eats him. It is a great story about honesty.
o Activity: Discuss honesty first. Then you could research different
types of fish for science lessons, do fractions with different sizes of
fish for math, and for writing you could finish the story (what
happened to the small fish… eaten or get away?). Students could even
write an article about a missing hat and place the newspaper flyers
around the classroom.
o Personal Review: (5) LOVE. It is short and easy to read and
understand with a great message – I thought this was great! I just
hope young children can understand it as well
17. The Glorious Flight (1984 winner)
o Title: The Glorious Flight
o Author: Alice and Martin Provensen
o Grade Level: K-2
o Genre: Historical Fiction
o Short Synopsis: The story tells the many different tries it took for
Louis Bleroit to get a plane in the air and to get it safely across the
English Channel. Great book to show the evolution of airplanes and
transportation.
o Activity: Discuss and look at pictures of how travel was so different
during that time. Have each student brainstorm all the words that can
go along with travel, airplanes, or vehicles. Then have the student’s
use those words to write sentences and draw pictures that match
accordingly.
o Personal Review: (4) great story with a great message – I enjoyed it
pretty well
18. Once A Mouse (1962 winner)
o Title: Once A Mouse
o Author: Marcia Brown
o Grade Level: K-2
o Genre: Fable
o Short Synopsis: A man was thinking about big and small when he saw
a little mouse trying to run away from a hawk. He saved the mouse
and protected it, and eventually turned him into a tiger so he would be
safe. When the mouse was a tiger, though he became very proud, and
the man reminded him of how he got there. When the tiger was
ungrateful, he turned him back into a mouse and never saw him again.
o Activity: Locate India on a map and talk about the culture of that man
and perhaps why he was living alone. Discuss the character traits
mentioned in the book. Then for a language lesson review all the
actions that the different animals do (snatch, scurry, etc.) Do fill in the
blank sentences as a class or even as individuals.
o Personal Review: (4) good story with a good message – I really
enjoyed this book!
19. The Little House (1943 winner)
o Title: The Little House
o Author: Virginia Lee Burton
o Grade Level: K-2
o Genre: Realistic Fiction
o Short Synopsis: There was once a little house and the family said that
they would keep the house in the family so the great-great-great
grandchildren could see the house. As time went on though roads
went in around the house, then more and more construction until the
house was in the middle of a big city instead of in the countryside.
When the great-great-great granddaughter found the house, she had it
moved to the countryside again and the house became very happy and
felt at home again.
o Activity: As a class look at pictures of evolving cities and discuss the
history lesson of evolving cities. For a literature lesson you could also
have students write about the family and use their imagination to
come up with what the lives of the family look like.
o Personal Review: (4) good story about changing cities – I really
enjoyed this book!
20. Madeline’s Rescue (1954 winner)
o Title: Madeline’s Rescue
o Author: Ludwig Bemelmans
o Grade Level: PreK-K
o Genre: General Fiction or Poetry
o Short Synopsis: Madeline fell into the river and the dog Genevieve
rescued her. They brought Genevieve back to the orphanage, but
when the trustees came, they kicked the dog out. When they finally
found the dog again, the girls argued over who would sleep with the
dog. Finally after the argument was settled, soon after the dog had
puppies. There was one for every girl and nobody argued anymore!
o Activity: Have students organize blocks into rows of two straight lines,
discuss the fact that Paris is on a different continent, or ask about pets
and talk about sharing
o Personal Review: (4) Sweet story with a good message - I really
enjoyed this book!
Seasonal/Holiday (10)
1. The Snowy Day (Caldecott)
o The Snowy Day
o Author: Ezra Jack Keats
o Grade Level: PreK-1
o Genre: Realistic Fiction
o Short Synopsis: The little boy is excited about the snow and tells of
all the adventures he has while playing outside. He saves a
snowball, but it melts in his pocket inside. He has a dream that all
the snow melted, but when he wakes up there is more snow and
he gets to do it all again
o Activity: Make paper snowflakes and talk about how no snowflake
is the same. Also talk about weather and how snow is made. Could
even do shapes activity and build a snowman and label all the
shapes.
o Personal review: (2) – had a simple message but was a tad boring
and probably wouldn’t want to use it unless I didn’t have other
options.
2. The Christmas Promise (Caldecott)
o Title: The Christmas Promise
o Author: Susan Bartoletti
o Grade Level: PreK-2
o Genre: Realistic Fiction
o Short Synopsis: A young girl and her father are “hoboes” and travel
via boxcars. It tells about their journey and the different signs, but
Christmas is coming up soon. Her father finds a safe home for her
to stay with an older woman, and he promises to come back after
he finds work. Eventually her father finds work and keeps his
promise.
o Activity: Methods of travel for younger ages, or maybe make a map
of your route to school. Could even do a write up about promises
you have made or reading goals you have for over the winter
break. Have students write down their goals and show their
parents.
o Personal Review: (3) good story but could be uninteresting for
young readers – I found it to be a little depressing and dark but a
sweet message
3. Leprechauns Never Lie
o Title: Leprechauns Never Lie
o Author: Lorna and Lecia Balian
o Grade Level: 1-3 (have to pay attention)
o Genre: Fantasy
o Short Synopsis: Gran is old and can’t work and Ninny Nanny is lazy
and won’t pick the potatoes, fill the water bucket, or patch the
roof. To fix the problem Ninny Nanny wants to find a leprechaun
to get his pot of gold so they won’t have to work anymore. The
leprechaun tricks her into doing all these different things to “find
the gold” but remembers he moved it to a safer place. All along she
does the work, and then is so tired she gives up, and the
leprechaun moves his gold again.
o Activity: St. Patrick’s Day crafts for younger students. For older
students you could do activities that earn you “gold” like team
spelling games, working hard, using certain numbers of
vocabulary words in your writing assignments etc. Then at the end
of the day each student gets a “homework pass… Lucky you!”
o Personal Review: (5) Captivating with a clear message…. Would
LOVE to use this on St. Patrick’s Day
4. The Polar Express (Caldecott)
o Title: The Polar Express
o Author: Chris Van Allsburg
o Grade Level: PreK-3 all ages will enjoy
o Genre: Fantasy
o Short Synopsis: A young boy is about to fall asleep on Christmas
evening, when the Polar Express picks him up. It tells of their
travels to the North Pole and eventually they see Santa and he
picks the little boy to receive the first gift. The boy chooses a sleigh
bell, but he thinks he has lost it. Santa delivers it to him on
Christmas morning, and only the children can hear it, because they
are the only ones who believe. Eventually even his sister cannot
hear the bell, but he still has the spirit of Christmas within, so the
bell chimes on for him.
o Activity: Not much goes on the day before Christmas break, but a
fun activity like a Letter to Santa or making up a silly Christmas
story could be fun. A fun story contest could even be a long-term
project if you worked far enough in advance. If you wanted you
could even do geography lesson in this and discuss the different
climate the North Pole might have and things like that. (my school
did a story contest in 3rd and 4th grade and it was really fun!)
o Personal Review: (5) Captivating with clear message – My Favorite
Christmas story of all time
5. The Egg Tree (Caldecott)
o Title: The Egg Tree
o Author: Katherine Milhous
o Grade Level: 3-5
o Genre: Realistic Fiction
o Short Synopsis: It is about children at their grandparent’s house
and they are on an Easter egg hunt, and the young girl finds some
painted Easter eggs in the attic. They place them on a tree and
make an egg tree. Each year they design more and more eggs so
that they have a tree full of eggs. It is about tradition and family.
o Activity: Talk about your family traditions. Make own Egg tree and
decorate paper or plastic eggs with sharpies or makers.
o Personal Review: (4) good story with good message - definitely
one of my favorite Easter books
6. Franklin’s Thanksgiving
Title: Franklin’s Thanksgiving
Author: Paulette Bourgeois
Grade Level: PreK-2
Genre: Fantasy
Short Synopsis: Franklin and his family prepare for the harvest.
Franklin’s grandparents cannot come to thanksgiving this year, so
Franklin, his mom, and his dad all invite neighbors and teachers to
join them. Eventually when everyone arrives as a surprise, they all
sit outside and eat thanksgiving meal like the pilgrims did. Talked
about various foods, traditions, and the harvest.
o Activity: Make a quilt like the class did in the book (you can use
paper instead of fabric). Also do the generic what are you thankful
for activity. You could even talk about the foods that are
mentioned in the book compared to the foods that your family eats
typically. Make a chart or a “pie graph” for thanksgiving about the
class’s favorite pie flavors.
o Personal Review: (4) great story with a good message. I really
enjoyed this book and would love to use it for younger students to
talk about thanksgiving.
7. The Valentine Bears
o Title: The Valentine Bears
o Author: Eve Bunting
o Grade Level: K-2
o Genre: Fantasy/Fiction
o Short Synopsis: Mrs. Bear wakes up from hibernation 4 months
early in order to celebrate Valentines Day with Mr. Bear. She goes
through many preparations and then eventually they celebrate
together. Very cute story
o Activity: Discuss what hibernation is for science, do rhyming
words (like the poem that Mrs. Bear wrote) or talk about the
vocabulary words in the book, could even talk about what four
months early meant and how many days weeks etc. are involved in
4 months.
o Personal Review: (3) good book with cute message – I liked it but I
think there is an even better Valentine’s book out there
8. The Very Fairy Princess Follows her Heart
o Title: The Very Fairy Princess Follows her Heart
o Author: Julie Andrews and Emma Walton Hamilton
o Grade Level: K-2
o Genre: General Fiction
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o Short Synopsis: Gerry made special valentines for each person in
her class for Valentines Day. She accidentally forgets them at home
though, and so instead she says something nice to everybody in
the class. Then her dad brings the Valentines Day cards and she
gets to share her sweet sayings with each person. It was a cute
spin on Valentines Day!
o Activity: Make sweet little “compliment cards” for each student
and have them all say something nice about the other person. They
can go around the room and write on everybody’s desk. For
younger students, have them all say something nice about each
student and write it down for them. Then they can each decorate
their own valentine or if that is too much effort they can just be
creative and make valentines on their own for themselves, or
perhaps for the Principal, librarian, lunch ladies, or even janitors.
(They would love it!)
o Personal Review: (4) great story with a really sweet message – I
loved this book and would definitely use it on Valentines Day! Not
super girly like it appears either!
9. Gingerbread Baby
o Title: Gingerbread Baby
o Author: Jan Brett
o Grade Level: PreK-1
o Genre: Seasonal/Fantasy
o Short Synopsis: Matti wants to bake gingerbread men, but he
opens the oven too soon to peek and out pops a gingerbread baby.
He runs away and says to each person he passes “catch me if you
can!” Nobody can catch him, but eventually Matti makes a
gingerbread house and traps him inside. Finally the gingerbread
man was caught.
o Activity: In kindergarten my teacher made us all “gingerbread
houses” where they were milk cartons she had collected and then
put graham crackers as the walls and roof. You could have each
student decorate one with party candy. You could also discuss as a
class other creative ways you could’ve caught the gingerbread
baby as a class.
o Personal Review: (4) cute Christmas story that was easy to pay
attention to – I enjoyed it and would read it to my class during
Christmas. Kids would probably find it really funny!
10. The Hallow-Wiener
o Title: The Hallow-Wiener
Author: Dav Pilkey
Grade Level: K-2
Genre: Fantasy
Short Synopsis: Oscar is a wiener dog, but hates being called that.
He is so excited for Halloween but is so embarrassed when his
mother gives him a hot dog costume. Everybody makes fun of him
for it, but in the end he saves the day. Even though he is small he
still has a big heart.
o Activity: There were lots of interesting words in there. For older
students have them fill in the blank for the vocabulary word
sentences. For younger students, you could make a construction
paper Oscar or you could draw Oscar and draw your Halloween
costume.
o Personal Review: (4) cute story with a great message – I really
enjoyed the book and remembered loving it as a kid. It would be
fun to read in class and I think students would enjoy it.
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Math/Number/Counting (5)
1. 1,2,3, To the Zoo
o Title: 1,2,3 To the Zoo
o Author: Eric Carle
o Grade Level: PreK (not any older)
o Genre: Counting/Instructional
o Short Synopsis: It basically just shows students the number that
matches with how many animals are in the cage. It is very visual
and good for learning how to count to ten or learning names of
animals as well.
o Activity: Counting to 10! If students know how to do this, you
could also do a worksheet just like the book where you write the
number next to the cage saying how many are in there (students
would count this themselves). You could also look online at the
San Diego Zoo and see live stream and students could count the
number of animals they see in each camera. Kindergarten students
at Tarrant loved watching the animals so hopefully preschoolers
would as well!
o Personal Review: (3) great for a preschool classroom but not
super duper fun. I would use it but only if there wasn’t a more fun
option.
2. My Two Book: First Steps to Math
o Title: My Two Book: First Steps To Math
Author: Jane Belk Moncure
Grade Level: Pre K-K
Genre: Instructional
Short Synopsis: The little girl named “two” does many activities
and sees lots of different things all involving the number two. The
book is very interactive and has students say things twice, or jump
twice, clap twice, etc. It is really fun and interesting.
o Activity: At the end of the book it actually gives activities for
students to do. Draw the number two with your finger, write the
word itself, and then count things around the room that are in
twos. It even gives subtraction and addition fill in the blanks for
students to do with the number. You could make worksheets and
do this on the carpet as well to really reiterate the point.
o Personal Review: (5) captivating and taught the message well. I
LOVE this series and would absolutely use it in teaching numbers
in my classroom.
3. My Four Book: First Steps to Math
o Title: My Four Book: First Steps to Math
o Author: Jane Belk Moncure
o Grade Level: Pre K – K
o Genre: Instructional
o Short Synopsis: A little boy named “four” does lots of activities and
sees lots of things and does things in fours. It is the same as the
number two book and is super interactive and is even a little more
fun than the number two book because it involves more things.
o Activity: At the end of the book it has the same activities. When
studying numbers I would like to have a system of activities like
always drawing the number, writing it, and then doing fun
addition and subtraction games. For this one since there are more
numbers, you could give each child four of an item and have them
come up with as many combinations of that number they can think
of. Go over it before hand and see if they can remember what you
talked about, or just do it together as a class on the smart board.
o Personal Review: (5) captivating and great lesson – I love this
series and would definitely use it in teaching numbers in my
classroom.
4. My Seven Book
o Title: My Seven Book
o Author: Jane Belk Moncure
o Grade Level: Pre K- K
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o Genre: Instructional
o Short Synopsis: A little boy named “seven” does lots of activities
involving the number seven and sees seven pairs of things or sees
two of one thing and five of another to make seven. This one works
on adding and subtracting as well as being interactive. It was a
really fun book.
o Activity: Same as the other two books with learning the numbers.
At the end of the day if you have a little extra time play heads up
seven up as well. Or incorporate the number seven by going
outside and counting seven of something or collecting seven items
(leaf, blade of grass, pinecone, mulch, etc.) then do a little craft
with all of them together. Would incorporate multiple subjects in
this lesson
o Personal Review: (5) captivating and clear message – again I love
this series and would definitely use it in my classroom.
5. Making Change at the Fair
o Title: Making Change at the Fair
o Author: Julie Dalton
o Grade Level: 1-3
o Genre: Instructional
o Short Synopsis: Children are working at the fair selling snacks and
they need to learn how to give back proper change. They learn the
value of each coin, and learn to first say how much they were
given, then say what the cost is, then count up from there to give
proper change. It is a great introduction to giving change and
really clearly explains it in a real scenario.
o Activity: You could do a sheet giving them the same problems that
the students had and see if they get the correct answers. For a fun
more hands on activity you could recreate this “store” in your
classroom and have some students be cashiers and others be
buyers. They can buy supplies and get back proper change. If you
plan well enough they can buy supplies for a creative science
project as well (debrief them on what they will need or want for
perhaps the egg drop experiment).
o Personal Review: (4) great story with a great message – I really
enjoyed this book and it was very realistic. Not exactly an
imaginative book, but it definitely teaches the lesson especially for
older students. If you could find an electronic version to play on
the screen that would be even better.
Science/animal/nature (10) --- most of these were non-fiction, but short picture
books that could easily be read aloud to a classroom
1. The Little Island (Caldecott)
o Title: The Little Island
o Author: Golden Mac Donald
o Grade Level: K-2
o Genre: very difficult to decide – fantasy because of the animals but all
facts are non-fiction
o Short Synopsis: The story talks about how the seasons affect the
island and how nature changes accordingly. The cat comes to
understand this by talking to a fish.
o Activity: Anything seasons related is a good activity. You could do
activities that talk about what you would find each season, types of
animals, what you wear, what the weather would be like etc. Also talk
about the solstice and things like that. Incorporate technology if you
can. You can do a paper plate divided activity where you have certain
cutouts and then each item belongs to a different season. Glue that
item in the certain area.
o Personal Review: (3) it was a good book about weather but can be
boring at times if you don’t pay attention – I thought it was good but
not great
2. A Tree Is Nice (Caldecott)
o Title: A Tree Is Nice
o Author: Janice May Udry
o Grade Level: PreK-K
o Genre: Non-Fiction with a fictional character for pictures
o Short Synopsis: Basically tells about all the different things a tree can
do and at the end the little girl plants a tree. Great to read on Earth
Day.
o Activity: For young children talk about the different parts of a tree
then have them make a tree on a piece of paper with those materials
(would have to collect them prior). Could also make pinecone
birdfeeders, do handprint trees, or even if you can get them donated
early enough, have each child take home a tree to plant at home. (My
school always did that on Earth Day)
o Personal Review: (4) good story and good lesson – I thought this was
really cute and easy to read
3. Swirl By Swirl: Spirals in Nature
o Title: Swirl by Swirl: Spirals in Nature
o Author: Joyce Sideman
o Grade Level: PreK-K
o Genre: Non-fiction
o Short Synopsis: It basically shows different animals and features of
nature that have swirls. It had great illustrations and could lead to lots
of discussion. Very short book and very elementary
o Activity: Look at pictures and discuss all the different things shown in
the book. This could be a great carpet activity. You could then divide
things up into animals, bugs, and nature and have students cut out the
pictures and glue them in the correct category. Lots of discussion
could come from this. (Can even look at live webcams from San Diego
Zoo if you want… my teacher did that in my sophomore year
observations and the kindergarten class LOVED it!)
o Personal Review: (4) good story that taught a good lesson – great for
younger students and not super lengthy.
4. Stellaluna (about a bat)
o Title: Stellaluna
o Author: Janell Cannon
o Grade Level: K-2
o Genre: Animal Adventure
o Short synopsis: When Stellaluna was flying with her mother one night
an owl attacked them and she fell into a bird’s nest. She learned to
grow up like a bird, not a bat and developed bird habits. Then one day
she flew away by mistake and a bat found her. Stellaluna learned that
she was a bat so she did things differently from birds, and her mother
found her as well. She and her bird friends thought they were very
different, but agreed that they were all still friends.
o Activity: Discuss the difference between bats and birds. Make a Venn
diagram about things that bats do, things that birds do, and things
they both have in common. Have each student do this individually
(depending on age and writing ability) and then do it as a class
together as well if you have time or do it as a class initially depending
on how young and have them try and copy the words from the main
screen onto their paper. For an additional character trait discuss how
even though the animals were different they were still friends.
o Personal Review: (4) good story with a good message – I really
enjoyed this book and would definitely use it in my classroom.
5. Bugs, Beetles, and Butterflies
o Title: Bugs, Beetles, and Butterflies
o Author: Harriet Ziefert
o Grade Level: PreK
o Genre: Non-fiction, Poetry
o Short Synopsis: Used poetry to describe the look, feel and actions of all
three animals.
o Activity: Use this book as an introduction to insects for young
children. Then after reading the book observe all three types of
insects. You could do a fun craft with the butterflies as well by pouring
paint down the middle and folding the paper in half, or you could do
handprint or footprint butterflies or insects as well.
o Personal Review: (3) good book with good message but not my all
time favorite – would use this in my classroom, but I might try to find
a different one as well.
6. A Twisted Tale (qualifies both animals and science/weather)
o Title: A Twisted Tale
o Author: Carolyn Fisher
o Grade Level: PreK-K (for animal noises) and 1-2 for weather purposes
o Genre: Fantasy or comedy
o Short Synopsis: A twister hits the girl’s farm, and she brings all the
animals inside and tells of the dangers of storms like that. After the
storm is over though all the animals are doing different things. (The
chickens are in the mud, the cows are clucking on the roof, etc.) To fix
the problem, she takes all the animals to the fair and they ride the
rides to they all spin back to the way they should be. The fair rides
give students the example of how a tornado should look. It is all very
silly but enjoyable and memorable.
o Activity: For tornados you can do the two-liter bottles filed with water
and swirl it around so you see the spiral. For younger students
animals do a matching game with animals and their noises. You could
play a memory game, online unscramble game, or even work on vocab
or spelling for older students by having an unscramble worksheet to
work on different parts of their brain.
o Personal Review: (3) cute story but somewhat lacking on a hardcore
message. I thought it was fun and it taught the lesson well. I would use
it in my classroom because there are lots of fun activities to do with it
and the children would probably love the book because it’s so silly.
7. Leaf Man
o Title: Leaf Man
o Author: Lois Ehlert
o Grade Level: PreK-1
o Genre: Nonfiction
o Short Synopsis: The speaker notices that the leaves make a man in the
grass, but the next day the leaves have floated away to somewhere
else. It describes all the places leaf man went throughout the different
geographical areas and makes lots of different figures with leaves. It
was a cool story about fall and the different scenery. It was also a very
visually pleasing book.
o Activity: Take your class outside on a fall day to gather leaves on the
playground. It would be a fun way to get outside, and hopefully let
them get out some steam. Have them each pick their own leaves (3-5
each) and then bring them inside. Have them glue the leaves down
into a shape and then they can each write a sentence about what their
leaf creature is. Would be fun and uses lots of imagination. You can
also discuss the seasons in a different lesson with this book if you
wanted.
o Personal Review: (5) captivating with a great message and potential
lessons – I really enjoyed this book and it was super easy to
understand for young children.
8. It’s Moving Day!
o Title: It’s Moving Day!
o Author: Pamela Hickman
o Grade Level: 1-2
o Genre: Non-Fiction
o Short Synopsis: It starts out with a bunny living in a rabbit hole and
then it goes on and on as different animals experience moving day
where they move out of the hole and then somebody else moves it.
Great example of the circle of life and introduction into migration and
things like that.
o Activity: You could have the class discuss family trips and compare
them with animal migration. Ask questions about weather, and what
you do to make things comfortable, what are problems that can
happen, etc. and make a chart. One side is animal migration and the
other is human vacation to demonstrate the point. After students
know about seasons and different hemispheres and such then have
them plan where animals would go during the winter and summer.
Would they go north or south do you think?
o Personal Review: (4) enjoyable with a clear message – a good book
but I know I could find others as well.
9. Stars Beneath Your Bed: The Surprising Story of Dust
o Title: Stars Beneath Your Bed: The Surprising Story of Dust
o Author: April Pulley Sayre
o Grade Level: 3-5
o Genre: Non-Fiction
o Short Synopsis: It tells of all the different things that go into the air
that can make dust and how the dust on your computer could even be
dust from a comet in outer space or maybe dust from an old dinosaur.
It was a really cool story and I think boys especially would really like
it.
o Activity: This kind of goes along with germs and being clean, so when I
was in 5th grade we took petri dishes and we swabbed something in
either the classroom or building. We let it sit for about a week to see
what would grow and see what surfaces in a school building were the
cleanest and the dirtiest. (Surprising finds as well!)
o Personal Review: (4) really cool book with a great story – I enjoyed
this and learned something new! It would be fun to share with the
class!
10. Do Goldfish Gallop
o Title: Do Goldfish Gallop
o Author: Michael Dahl
o Grade Level: K-1
o Genre: Non-Fiction
o Short Synopsis: The book asks the question do goldfish do this that
and the other and then it always says no a different animal does that.
It ends with do goldfish swim.. Yes and then explains what that means.
o Activity: Do a matching game to see which animals do what motion or
as a class mimic the animal activities. Then you could also do an
activity to see where the animal would be located (ground,
underground, trees, sky, etc.)
o Personal Review: (4) cute story that taught a lot. It was a great
introduction to the movements of animals and I would use it in my
classroom.
Social Studies/historical fiction (10)
1. When Clay Sings (Caldecott)
o Title: When Clay Sings
o Author: Byrd Baylor
o Grade Level: 1-2
o Genre: Non-fiction
o Short Synopsis: It tells of the background of clay pots and how
they were used and how they were designed. You feel like you are
a part of the old Indian culture when you are reading the book
o Activity: Learn about how Pueblo pots are made through baking in
the sun, and then have students make their own with their own
symbols. Choose things that have meaning in their life like a cross
or a soccer ball or a stick figure family and then have students
write sentences about why they chose the symbols. You could
make them with clay or just have premade worksheets or cutouts.
o Personal Review: (4) good book about Indian culture – I enjoyed it
pretty well
2. Moses (Caldecott)
o Title: Moses – When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom
o Author: Carole Boston Weatherford
o Grade Level: 2-4
o Genre: Biography and some Poetry
o Short Synopsis: Tells of the story of Harriet Tubman escaping
slavery and traveling north and relying on God her entire journey.
It shows how scared she was but also how brave she was too.
When she finally makes it to freedom she misses her family, and
she decides to go back and free many more people. She becomes
the “Moses” of the Underground Railroad and God says “Well
Done.”
o Activity: As a class you could make the map of her routes using
technology, but for an individual activity you can make a timeline
of her life and her journey. Then have students make a timeline of
their lives as well to compare and contrast and for better
understanding.
o Personal Review: (5) captivating with a wonderful message – I
loved this book and this would be my first choice in books about
the underground railroad
3. Me and Momma And Big John
o Title: Me and Momma And Big John
o Author: Mara Rockliff
o Genre: Historical Fiction
o Grade Level: 2-3
o Short Synopsis: This is historical fiction because it is about the
Cathedral of St. John in NYC. The mother works as a stone maker
for the building, and eventually she takes the children to see her
work, and when they see the cathedral they understand what it
means to be a part of something much bigger and appreciate
beauty.
o Activity: Begin by discussing what the Cathedral of St. John is and
the history behind the building. Then after have students construct
stain glass windows out of construction paper and pieces of tissue
paper. Hang them in the window if there is one in the classroom
and it will be an awesome display!
o Personal Review: (5) great message and a captivating story – I love
this book! I’ve never heard of it before, but it was absolutely
wonderful and I would love to use it in my classroom!!
4. Sybil Ludington’s Midnight Ride
o Title: Sybil Ludington’s Midnight Ride
o Author: Marsha Amstel
o Grade Level: 3-5 (read alone and read aloud)
o Genre: Non-Fiction
o Short Synopsis: Sybil Ludington rode throughout her town and
surrounding areas through the night to inform the people about
the British attacking. Her ride is very similar to Paul Revere’s but
much less known. It is a really cool story that I had never heard
before but really enjoyed.
o Activity: Definitely use this when studying about the
Revolutionary war and talk about Paul Revere’s Ride beforehand.
After reading the book use technology to show a map of Sybil’s
ride. You can also talk about what homes traditionally were like in
that time period and discuss whom the different people were (like
outlaws). For a written activity go over the different vocabulary
words (like militia) and then have different historical people that
you go over as well. Have students write all these things in notes
or on a pre made worksheet. I also found lots of interesting
worksheets if those are needed in the classroom for class work.
They asked lots of good questions about the book to get kids
thinking and paying attention.
o Personal Review: (5) great story – I absolutely loved this! It was
super interesting and since it is true it would be a wonderful
history lesson and a great book to read while studying the
Revolutionary war.
5. The Flag We Love
o Title: The Flag We Love
o Author: Pam Munoz Ryan
o Grade Level: 2-4
o Genre: Non-Fiction
o Short Synopsis: It described all the different occasions when you
would see a flag and then talked in detail underneath. The detail
underneath gave great information like who made the flag, details
about the national anthem and pledge of allegiance, and different
historical events. It was a great history book about the flag.
o Activity: After reading the book you can have a history lesson
about the different dates that were mentioned and have students
make a timeline. You could also do a math exercise where students
learn about proportion and how flags come in all different sizes
but they have the same proportional dimensions (discuss how that
is different from the initial flags).
o Personal Review: (5) great information and very interesting – The
best flag book I think I have ever read. I loved it and it was so
informative but yet never dull. Great for a range of ages too.
6. Lincoln and Douglass: An American Friendship
o Title: Lincoln and Douglass: An American Friendship
o Author: Nikki Giovanni
o Grade Level: 4-5
o Genre: Historical non-fiction
o Short Synopsis: Told the background story of both Lincoln and
Douglass and how things led up to the Civil War. It then showed
Lincoln waiting for Douglass at the White House and how it was
controversial that a black man should be in the white house.
o Activity: History lesson about the historical events that happened
in the book (timeline in the back) could do a government lesson on
what Amendments mean and how they came to be. If you have the
technology as well you could divide students into small groups to
research different Supreme Court Cases and present them to the
class on posters or PowerPoint.
o Personal Review: (5) great story with a great lesson – Really
enjoyed this book and would definitely use it if given the
opportunity. Showed a really interesting side of their relationship
that textbooks do not show.
7. Light in the Darkness: A Story about how slaves learned in secret
o Title: Light in the Darkness: A story about how slaves learned in
secret
o Author: Lesa Cline-Ransome
o Grade Level: 3-5
o Genre: Historical Fiction
o Short Synopsis: Rosa and her mother are slaves that sometimes
sneak away at night to go to “school” where a man who’s master
taught him to read the Bible now teaches slaves from all over how
to read. He teaches Rosa and her mother letters, but soon the
masters begin to catch on. They are afraid of being whipped, so
they do not continue to go but when they finally go back they are
the only ones. When they think someone else is coming, they
realize they haven’t been caught but new slaves want to learn.
o Activity: Go online to this website and work on secret letters. Talk
about how strange it would be to not be able to write your own
name. Finish the online assignments on this sight
http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/bhistory/underground_r
ailroad/write_letter.htm
o Personal Review: (5) wonderful story with a wonderful message –
this is something you don’t hear about often when talking about
slavery and the Underground Railroad, but it would be a
wonderful book to share with the class.
8. So You Want to be President (Caldecott)
o Title: So You Want to be President
o Author: Judith St. George and David Small
o Grade Level: 3-4
o Genre: Non-fiction
o Short Synopsis: It tells of all the ups and downs and requirements
of being president. Some things are very serious and some things
are very funny in the book. It is a rather long book but it is good to
read.
o Activity: We did this in the 3rd grade where each student was
assigned a President to research. Each student had to write a
paper in first person pretending to be the president telling about
his or her life and accomplishments, and then at the end of the
project each student read the paper like a speech. The speech was
“televised” through our school broadcast network to our own
classrooms and we all got to watch them the next day. It was a
really fun long-term project and this book would introduce the
project really well!
o Personal Review: (3) good book and humorous but very lengthy –
I enjoy it and would use it in my class but it is a very long book so
it would have to be for good attention spans
9. The Secret of the Great Houdini
o Title: The Secret of the Great Houdini
Author: Robert Burleigh
Grade Level: 3-4
Genre: Historical Fiction
Short Synopsis: A young boy Sam goes with his grandfather to
watch the great Houdini escape. Sam is very nervous and thinks he
will not come up. Throughout the book it features lots of
newspaper looking headlines describing the event. Eventually
after about two minutes Houdini comes out of the ocean alive. Sam
was amazed and realized that Houdini’s secret comes from within
his heart.
o Activity: The story features lots of newspaper article looking
headlines. Go online and show the class what those newspapers
might have looked like. After assign each student a famous person
to research and have him or her make his or her own newspaper
article on that person. Use a template on technology for the
newspaper.
o Personal Review: (4) good story with a good message – this story
was not as interesting to me, but it definitely made you feel like
you were there and I know the boys would love this story.
10. I have a Dream
o Title: I have a Dream
o Author: no author because it is Dr. King’s speech, but Kadir Nelson
did the pictures
o Grade Level: 3-4
o Genre: Non-fiction
o Short Synopsis: It is the end of Dr. King’s speech written out but it
has beautiful illustrations that really help people visualize exactly
what his speech is saying.
o Activity: Definitely listen to at least part of Dr. King’s speech on
YouTube or watch it if there is a link. Then do a lesson on heroes.
Have students write a paragraph on what makes a hero or who
their hero is.
o Personal Review: (5) great book with a great message and
illustrations – would definitely use this on MLK day or when
discussing Civil Rights.
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Multicultural (10)
1. Nine Days to Christmas – A Story of Mexico (Caldecott)
o Title: Nine Days to Christmas
o Author: Marie Hall Ets and Aurora Labastida
o Grade Level: 3-4
o Genre: Realistic Fiction
o Short Synopsis: It is about a girl who is old enough to stay awake for
the posada (9 days leading up to Christmas). The story is about how
she gets her first piñata and how she feels when the children break it.
o Activity: Explain the posada and piñatas. Talk about how their
Christmas traditions differ from our Christmas tradition. Go into detail
about Christmas in Mexico. (Learn words, learn dances, do maps,
make sombreros and maracas, etc.) Could be a fun unit for a day.
o Personal Review: (4) Great book but long – I enjoyed it quite a bit but
it is a very long book
2. Abuelos
o Title: Abuelos
o Author: Amelia Lau Carling
o Grade Level: 2-3
o Genre: Realistic Fiction
o Short Synopsis: The father tells the children about the abuelos who
come down from the mountain to make sure children are behaving.
After the abuelos come down the mountain, there is a big party and
celebration for everybody who behaved well. Then it actually
happens, and the little girl realizes that the abuelos aren’t scary
ghosts, but they are actually just adults dressed up. It was a cool story
about that culture.
o Activity: Before and after talk about the traditions of this culture and
discuss that this is a generational event. After you could make scary
abuelos masks out of paper plates, and you could also do a what
scares you activity. Older students could answer the questions what it
means to be scared, what scares you, and how do you overcome fears.
You could write that on the back of the masks or you could do it on
separate sheets of paper.
o Personal Review: (4) good story with a great message! I had never
heard of this tradition before, and I was fascinated. It would be a
really fun book to share with the class and multiple activities could
spring off this book! I loved it!
3. Mei Li (Caldecott)
o Title: Mei Li
o Author: Thomas Handforth
o Grade Level: 3-4 (long book – attention spans)
o Genre: Multicultural – realistic fiction
o Short Synopsis: Mei Li and her brother go into the city to celebrate
Chinese New year and have many adventures. They have to hurry
home to greet the Kitchen Gods before midnight though. Very visual
for the activities that happen in China
o Activity: Definitely need to discuss what Chinese New Year is as well
as go over a map of her city (there is one in the back of the book). For
a writing activity you would definitely want to go over the series of
events that happened in the book. You could also do charts of things
she did and things her brother did. Also compare it to the American
New Year and how the times and celebrations are different.
o Personal Review: (4) good book with good story just very lengthy – I
really enjoyed this book and it was very visual for students, but I got
tired after reading it for too long. It is just very lengthy and could be
risky for attention spans and hard to absorb all the content.
4. The Rough-Face Girl
o Title: The Rough Face Girl
o Author: Rafe Martin and David Shannon
o Grade Level: 3-5
o Genre: Folk Tale
o Short Synopsis: The story is basically a Native American version of
Cinderella. Her two sisters poorly treat the rough face girl. Both
sisters dress in fancy clothes trying to marry the “invisible man” but
the protective sister will only allow someone who has seen him to
marry him. Eventually the rough face girl leaves her hut to go see him
but everyone makes fun of her so she runs away. She sees the invisible
man in the sky (like God) and then the sister says you are the one he
will marry because she has seen his beauty. The rough face girl
becomes a beautiful princess and adored by all.
o Activity: Discuss the Native American culture in terms of social
studies for older students. For younger students you could have them
design grocery bag vests and have them put symbols that have
meaning on them. They could also write sentences about what each
symbol means and why it is important to their own personal culture.
o Personal Review: (5) captivating with a great message – love this book
and definitely want to use it in my classroom. Can probably come up
with many more activities for students as well to go along in a unit.
5. Babushka and the Three Kings (Caldecott)
o Title: Babushka and the Three Kings
o Author: Ruth Robbins
o Grade Level: 3-4
o Genre: Folk Tale – Russian
o Short Synopsis: Three Kings are walking through the cold winter night
to find a baby, and they invite Babushka to come with them. She
denies them but then realizes that this must be a very important child,
so she tries to find the three kings. Nobody can tell her where they
went, so every year on Christmas eve she walks around looking for
them leaving gifts behind. This blends the Christian Christmas Story
with Santa Clause in a Russian folk tale.
o Activity: This blends the Christmas story with Santa Clause in a
strange. As more of a long-term writing assignment, perhaps you
could have children blend two Holiday stories as well. Maybe how the
Leprechaun fell in love with the tooth fairy things like that. Have them
use technology to create a digital storybook then they can share it
with the class on one of the last days before Christmas or with their
parents as well.
o Personal Review: (5) captivating story with a clear message – I loved
this and it was a very interesting ending. It wasn’t what you expected
but I think young readers would enjoy the story and like seeing how
the two stories are blended.
6. Butterflies for Kiri
o Title: Butterflies for Kiri
o Author: Cathryn Falwell
o Grade Level: K-2
o Genre: Realistic Fiction
o Short Synopsis: Kiri gets an origami butterfly and a bunch of pretty
papers for her birthday. She tries hard to make the butterfly but the
paper rips. Eventually she practices many days, and one day when she
is painting she thinks she has ruined her picture, but then she finally
is able to fold the origami butterfly all on her own and put it on her
painting for a beautiful final touch.
o Activity: Be sure to discuss what origami is and what culture Kiri
comes from. Afterwards you could do a shapes lesson. The origami
has many different shapes so go over squares, rectangles, sphere,
circle, etc. Have students working with 3D models of things, but also
have smaller shapes cut out. When they are familiar with the shapes
have them grab a small handful of shapes from a general basket that
you pass around. Make all the different shapes into butterfly wings
that are super colorful. Then have them count how many of each
shape they had. Once that is done make different types of graphs as a
class.
o Personal Review: (4) cute story with a good message – I enjoyed it! I
wasn’t blown away but it was definitely a cute story.
7. Take Me Out to the Yakyu
o Title: Take Me Out to the Yakyu
o Author: Aaron Meshon
o Grade Level: 2-3
o Genre: Realistic Fiction
o Short Synopsis: It is a side-by-side story of a child going to a baseball
game in Japan and in the US. It compares and contrasts the two and
you learn about Japanese culture compared with American culture.
You also learn some cool new words as well.
o Activity: Do a Venn diagram of things that are different and similar.
You could use technology for this! Also talk about the different words
and what Japanese culture is like during a social studies unit as well.
o Personal Review: (5) captivating with a great message – I loved this
book and think it was a wonderful way for young children to be
introduced to Japanese Culture.
8. Jeremy’s Tail
o Title: Jeremy’s Tail
o Author: Duncan Ball
o Grade Level: 1-2
o Genre: Fantasy
o Short Synopsis: Jeremy is trying to pin the tail on the donkey and ends
up walking straight out the door and going on a trip around the world
to pin the tail on the donkey. Every time somebody asks him what he
is doing he simply replies “trying to pin the tale on the donkey.” It is
an intro to new countries and pretty good.
o Activity: For introduction you look at pictures of other countries and
talk about what different people do in different countries. Very simple
activity that will segue into other activities.
o Personal Review: (4) Interesting and a good message – I really
enjoyed this book!
9. An Amish Christmas
o Title: An Amish Christmas
o Author: Richard Ammon
o Grade Level: 3-4
o Genre: Realistic Fiction
o Short Synopsis: This book shows a lot about Amish culture
particularly in the wintertime. It gives details about their school, their
homes, their close families, how they get out early for school to do
plowing, and what they might wear on a daily basis. It was very visual
and descriptive. Encompasses many aspects of Amish culture into just
one book.
o Activity: Definitely need more discussion and looking at pictures for
this book. It would be great to talk about what people would have
worn on the plains and the movement west and compare that culture
to Amish culture. It would help students understand the similarities
and that there are still people who live like that today. You could have
students do a chart as a class comparing and contrasting what the
Amish do vs. what we do vs. what they did in the 1800s.
o Personal Review: (4) great story with a great lesson – it was a
wonderful book about Amish culture that I would definitely like to use
if given the opportunity.
10. Layla’s Head Scarf
o Title: Layla’s Head Scarf
o Author: Miriam Cohen
o Grade Level: K-2
o Genre: Realistic Fiction
o Short Synopsis: The new girl Layla is very shy in her 1st grade class
and everyone keeps asking about her funny hat. Its not a hat but a
scarf she insits, but some children do not understand. When someone
points out that her whole family picture features women wearing
headscarfs they are curious and question her. She gets upset, but then
realizes that her scarf makes her special and it is important to her
family. When her friends accept that she becomes more confident in
class.
o Activity: Definitely more discussion than real activities on this one.
You will need to discuss who might wear a headscarf, why they might
wear a headscarf, and what it symbolizes to their culture. As you go
through different cultures in a unit you can make posters with facts
that your class learns about each culture and hang them around the
room when you are finished or as you go. Maybe even have them
going to a map. Talk about acceptance of all students as well.
Issue (5)
1. Alexander, Who’s Not (Do you hear me? I mean it!) Going to Move
o Title: Alexander, Who’s Not (Do you hear me? I mean it!) Going to
Move
o Author: Judith Viorst
o Grade Level: K-2
o Genre: Realistic Fiction
o Short Synopsis: Alexander tells of all the things he loves about his
hometown and why he doesn’t want to move and how he is
avoiding moving 1.000 miles away for his dad’s new job. Then he
ends up saying goodbye to everyone and tells of all the great new
adventures that he will have in his new hometown. It is a great
story about how to cope with moving cities and the challenges that
come with it.
o Activity: This is a fun book that can be read aloud online (found
lots of links for that). Not something I would necessarily pair an
activity with, because I feel like these books require more
discussion than anything. For an activity though, they could do
maps of their house or talk about geography and what a house,
neighborhood, city, state, region, country means. Have them do
this activity on a paper plate and place the smaller circles within
so that they can visually see the difference geographically.
(Explained bad, but found the idea on pinterest)
o Personal Review: (5) great book about moving! I loved this book
personally! Not something I would pull out all the time, but
definitely something good to use when necessary.
2. Franklin Goes To The Hospital
o Title: Franklin Goes To The Hospital
o Author: Paulette Bourgeois
o Grade Level: K-2
o Genre: Fantasy/Fiction – Realistic scenario
o Short Synopsis: Franklin has a small crack in his shell so the doctor
needs to operate. Franklin is very brave, but then when he goes
into the X-ray he is afraid everyone will know that he is scared.
The doctor explains that X-rays only see the bones, not feelings,
and then the surgery goes great. Franklin was a very brave little
turtle.
o Activity: Reading this book if a student ever is in the hospital.
Make get well soon cards for the student in the hospital. Also have
students do an X-ray of them. The activity would be “If an X-ray
could see inside me, it would find…” and they use adjectives to
describe themselves like brave, strong, fast, silly, etc.
o Personal Review: (4) great story with a good message – definitely
want to use this if a student is ever sick and might even use this
just for fun! I really liked this book and this series
3. The Bernstein Bears and Too Much Teasing
Title: The Bernstein Bears and Too Much Teasing
Author: Stan and Jan Berenstain
Grade Level: K-2
Genre: General Fiction
Short Synopsis: Brother bear is always teasing sister bear, and she
never thinks it is fun. Brother learns his lesson about teasing when
too tall and his gang starts to tease him about being a teacher’s pet.
When they start to tease the new boy instead, brother sticks up for
him. They all learn a lesson that everyone is individual and that
teasing is part of life but something we want to avoid.
o Activity: As a class discuss what a bully looks like and write that
down. On the other half of the paper write down things we want to
have in a friend. As a writing activity for older kids, you could have
students write a letter to a bully telling him why what he is doing
is wrong and how to better handle situations. Or for younger
students, give them paper and a situation and tell them to draw it
(and write a sentence as best they can).
o Personal Review: (4) great story about bullying with a good
message – I really really enjoyed this book!!
4. When Dinosaurs Die: A Guide to Understanding Death
o Title: When Dinosaurs Die: A Guide to Understanding Death
o Author: Laurie Krasny Brown and Marc Brown
o Grade Level: PreK-2
o Genre: Issue
o Short Synopsis: This book goes over what alive means, what dying
means, what death means, and what feelings come along with it
and perhaps ways to honor someone who has passed away. It
covers all aspects of death in a really graceful way.
o Activity: Hopefully nobody in your class will ever experience this,
but if parents need suggestions for their child, then this is a good
book to suggest. If goodness forbid, that someone in your class
passes away, then an activity would be bringing in the guidance
counselor for sure as well as perhaps remembering happy
memories of that student instead of dwelling on sad things.
o Personal Review: (5) I thought this was a wonderful book that
covered all aspects of death and the things that come along with it.
It was not just a story but also a guide for children. I would
absolutely recommend this and cannot think of a better way to
describe this to a child. Wonderful book.
5. A Children’s Book About Stealing
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Title: A Children’s Book About Stealing
Author: Joy Berry
Grade Level: PreK-2
Genre: Issues
Short Synopsis: This book talks about two children who steal from
one another. Initially the girl steals from the boy, and then he does
it to her to get even. It deals with the feelings that come along with
both sides of stealing as well as dealing with peer pressure when
other children steal.
o Activity: This is a good book to pull out when needed in the
classroom. I wouldn’t do an activity with this necessarily, but if
you have a development section of class everyday this is a good
carpet time discussion. I would use multiple books in this series
because they deal with many different issues.
o Personal Review: (4) it was a good book about stealing but I think
there can be an even better one. Definitely would use it and this
series in my classroom though.
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Favorite Character/series (10)
1. Arthur’s Teacher Trouble
o Title: Arthur’s Teacher Trouble
o Author: Marc Brown
o Grade Level: K-2
o Genre: Series
o Short Synopsis: Arthur and his class get a really strict 3rd grade
teacher and he gives them all a 100 word spelling test. The top two
spellers go on to represent the school in the spelling bee and
Arthur and Brain are chosen. They study hard and Arthur ends up
winning.
o Activity: Play “sparkle” where you go around the room and each
student gives one letter of a spelling word until the word is
finished. If you get the letter wrong then you are out and if you are
after the last letter then you say sparkle and you’re out as well.
The last one standing wins! (Fun game and fair because the bad
spellers are not always the first ones out)
o Personal Review: (4) good story and good message - I love Arthur
series and this is a good one
2. Arthur’s New Puppy
o Title: Arthur’s New Puppy
o Author: Marc Brown
o Grade level: K-2
o Genre: Series
o Short Synopsis: Arthur gets a new puppy and he has to work extra
hard and show Pal special love in order to train the puppy. He
eventually does it despite the doubts his family had.
o Activity: Talk about responsibility before the lesson and then read
the book. Brainstorm ideas and ask specific questions and write
down responses. Then after the story is read you can actually
write a letter as a class to Arthur. Have the class come up with the
questions and he will email you back if you include teacher’s email.
Link for future reference:
(www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/arthur/deararthur/index.html) -- All
kinds of awesome interactive things on the PBS website!!
o Personal Review: (3) good story but not super useful in a
classroom – I liked it but not my favorite one of all time
3. Arthur’s Family Vacation
o Title: Arthur’s Family Vacation
o Author: Marc Brown
o Grade Level: K-2
o Genre: Series
o Short Synopsis: Arthur’s family is going on a trip, but he is really
sad because he cannot go to camp with Buster. He has a bad
attitude at first but eventually they find awesome fun things to do
while they are on vacation. He ends up writing Buster letters and
having a great vacation.
o Activity: Make “suitcases” and draw all the items you would want
to have on family vacation. We did this activity when I was
younger and it was really fun! You could also write a postcard to
Arthur from your class. (The link is above… that website has great
stuff!)
o Personal Review: (4) good story with a fun message – I liked this
book quite a bit – there is a lot you could do with it in terms of
activities
4. Arthur Tricks the Tooth Fairy
o Title: Arthur Tricks the Tooth Fairy
o Author: Marc Brown
o Genre: Series
o Grade Level: PreK-1 (easy read to self)
o Short Synopsis: Arthur loses his first tooth and the tooth fairy
brings him a dollar. DW wants to have it happen too, but she still
has a few years. At the museum she buys a tooth to trick the tooth
fairy, but Arthur helps out the tooth fairy by putting a dollar under
DW’s pillow.
o Activity: Harder to have a true activity with this one, but you could
talk about proper oral care, and if this is a possibility even bring in
a dentist. If you want to incorporate science then you could even
submerge things (maybe pennies) in different liquids to see which
is “hardest” on your teeth. Fun to see but kind of a stretch going
along with the “teeth” theme.
o Personal Review: (3) good story but not as practical of a classroom
book. More of an at home book
5. DW the Picky Eater
o Title: DW the Picky Eater
o Author: Marc Brown
o Genre: Series
o Grade Level: K-2
o Short Synopsis: DW wont eat anything and even pitches fits when
they go out to eat. She isn’t allowed to come with her family, but
then she feels like she is missing out. When it is Grandma Thora’s
birthday though, she goes out and eats off the menu. She is super
mature, but it has a very funny ending.
o Activity: As a class identify all the foods DW will not eat. Give
students two boxes on a sheet of paper. In one box draw
something DW will not eat, and in the other box draw something
you will not eat. Write the word on the line below. After if you
have this available bring in four or five unique fruits and veggies.
Have students fill out the worksheet as you go along, but they
write the name of the fruit/veggie, say if it is a fruit or veggie, say
how it looks on the outside, say if they think they will like it, then
say if they do like it (after you give each child a small bite…. Be
super cautious of allergies and make sure parents know about
this!!!) You could even incorporate hand washing into this lesson.
o Personal Review: (4) cute story with a great message – one of my
favorite Arthur books!!
6. Arthur’s Pet Business
o Title: Arthur’s Pet Business
o Author: Marc Brown
o Grade Level: K-2
o Genre: Series
o Short Synopsis: Arthur wants to get a puppy but his parents tell
him he has to prove that he is responsible. To do so, he starts a pet
keeping business and he takes care of people’s pets when they are
out of town. He does an extra good job taking care of a mean dog,
and proves he is responsible, so at the end of the book, when the
mean dog has puppies, the owner lets him keep one as a special
reward.
o Activity: You could do a really cool vocabulary exercise with this
and use simple business terms like ‘goods” or “service” and what
the difference between the two is. Ask students specific questions
relating to his business and discuss what that means. You could do
a worksheet individually or as a class do the worksheet together.
Very simple but great learning activity and definitely more
advanced and unique.
o Personal Review: (4) good story with a good message and unique
opportunities for lessons – I liked it quite a bit! Definitely up on
the list of favorites
7. Arthur Writes a Story
o Title: Arthur Writes A Story
o Author: Marc Brown
o Grade Level: K-2
o Genre: Series
o Short Synopsis: Arthur writes a story for school but thinks it is too
boring so he makes it more interesting. As he makes it more
interesting the story becomes weirder and weirder. Eventually
when he presents his story to the class it is strange, but then he
tells his initial story and everyone loved it!
o Activity: Write a short story yourself. Make sure it has a beginning
middle and end. Could also pass around the story activity where
each person writes a beginning middle and end of a different story.
Really works on using your imagination. For younger students
have them draw pictures and write a sentence as best they can for
each page. Encourage them to use sight words.
o Personal Review: (4) cute story with a good message – I loved it
and could definitely use it in the classroom!
8. Arthur’s Computer Disaster
o Title: Arthur’s Computer Disaster
o Author: Marc Brown
o Genre: Series
o Grade Level: K-2
o Short Synopsis: Arthur is addicted to a computer game and wants
to play it all the time. He does not have permission to play on his
mom’s computer when she is gone for the day, but he does
anyways, and thinks he broke the computer. He does all he can but
can’t fix it, so then when his mom is home he has to tell her the
truth. The computer wasn’t broken, but his mom was disappointed
and Arthur learned a good lesson.
o Activity: There were some really fun sequencing cards that I found
online for this book. It is basically can you put together the
sequence of events that happened in the book using these cards.
Also talk about proper technology use in the classroom if your
classroom has lots of technology
o Personal Review: (4) cute story with a good message – I really
enjoyed this book and can definitely see it as a good lesson
9. Arthur Meets the President
o Title: Arthur Meets the President
o Author: Marc Brown
o Grade Level: K-2
o Genre: Series
o Short Synopsis: There was a contest about “How I can change
America” and Arthur won. The president invited him and his class
to go to DC so Arthur could recite his speech. They saw lots of
different monuments and eventually Arthur recited his speech for
the president, even though he was nervous and messed up a little.
o Activity: As a class write the same letter to the president and send
it to Arthur. You could also have them individually do that and
have them draw a picture of the white house too. It would be
something fun to hang up in the hallway or around the classroom.
Transition into a history lesson talking about the current president
and all the different monuments they saw in DC.
o Personal Review: (4) great story with a really cute ending and
message – I really enjoyed this one and could use this with many
quality activities I feel like, not just filler activities
10. Arthur Lost and Found
o Title: Arthur Lost and Found
o Author: Marc Brown
o Grade Level: K-2
o Genre: Series
o Short Synopsis: Arthur was supposed to take the bus by himself to
swim lessons, and he brought Buster with him as a buddy. They
fell asleep on the bus though and got lost. They decided to get a
snack, but didn’t have any more money to get home. They talked
with the bus driver and he was nice and let them on and called
their parents. It was a great story about staying calm, always being
with a buddy, and how to handle stranger danger.
o Activity: Talk about the vocabulary in the book and what you do if
you are in a situation like Arthur. For a fun game, you can play the
“hot and cold” game for a lost item. Students can do it as partners
or the whole class can do it together.
o Personal Review: (4) good story with a good message – I liked it
but didn’t love it. Very good for a pre-field trip event to talk about
what happens if you get lost.
Folk Tale/Fairy Tale (10)
1. Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears – West African Tale (Caldecott)
o Title: Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears
o Author: Verna Aardema
o Grade Level: 2-4
o Genre: Folk Tale
o Short Synopsis: A mosquito tries to spread rumors to an iguana that
gets annoyed. Then there is a series of events when each animal
affects another until eventually a baby owl is killed and the mother
owl refuses to wake up the sun. It then traces the events back to the
mosquito as the one to blame, and the mosquito hides and since he
has a bad conscience that is why he whines in people’s ears.
o Activity: Cause and effect activity. Take a sheet of paper and fold it in
half. One side is cause the other is effect. Write down 10 situations on
your own. When you’re finished cut the paper up and then put it
together in a bag. Trade bags with a partner and see if you can
complete their cause and effect chart!
o Personal review: (5) – captivating with a clear message – I would love
to share this book with my students
2. A Story A Story (Caldecott)
o Title: A Story A Story
o Author: Gail E. Haley – African Folk Tale Retold
o Grade Level: 3rd or higher – hard to follow the story line
o Genre: Folk Tale
o Short Synopsis: A man wants to buy the stories from the Sky God,
so he climbs up to meet him. The sky God will only give him the
stories if he does three seemingly impossible tasks (catching a
leopard, hornet, and a fairy), but he cleverly does all of these
things. It can be about pleasing God or it can be a “spider story”
where you don’t allow those who are bigger than you to dictate
what you can and cannot do.
o Activity: Always told don’t drop an egg or you’ll break it, so have
students come up with creative contraptions that won’t allow the
egg to break using only certain materials. You could add a math
component and give them a budget, which only allows them a
certain amount of materials from you (the banker).
o Personal Review: (3) Was very enjoyable, but hard to follow
throughout - I thought it was good but not something I would feel
confident using
3. Cinderella (Caldecott)
o Title: Cinderella
o Author: Marcia Brown
o Grade Level: 1-2
o Genre: Fairy Tale
o Short Synopsis: Cinderella tended to the every need of her
stepmother and stepsisters, and when the ball was announced she
wanted more than ever to attend. She was unable to though, but
her fairy godmother came and rewarded her for being so kind to
her stepsisters, so she gave her a beautiful dress and let her go to
the ball. She was the most beautiful there and the prince fell in
love with her, but she had to run away and go home before
midnight. After the prince tried to find her, and he found her by
using the glass slipper. Cinderella fit the slipper and revealed the
other one. They were married soon after, and Cinderella forgave
her stepsisters for being so unkind to her. Story about inner
beauty and was a little different from the Disney version.
o Activity: Write the Cinderella story from a different point of view.
Perhaps from the Godmother, stepsister, or even the Prince’s point
of view for older children. For younger children have them take a
sheet of paper and divide it into four sections by folding it. Then in
the top two sections draw everyday items, and then in the bottom
two sections use your imagination to change that item into
something Cinderella could use, like the fairy godmother did!
o Personal Review: (4) good story with a good message – I always
enjoy princess stories!
4. Arrow to the Sun – Pueblo Indian Tale (Caldecott)
o Title: Arrow to the Sun
Author: Gerald McDermott
Grade Level: 3-5
Genre: Folk Tale
Short Synopsis: The young boy was born by a woman and his
father is the Sun God. The boy goes on a journey to find his father
and eventually returns as a rainbow.
o Activity: Discuss Pueblo Indian culture before reading the book so
students can identify the things mentioned in the book. After have
students draw scenes of Pueblo Indian culture. As the class
discusses other cultures then we can hang the scenes on the wall
and compare differences. You can also have students write small
paragraphs about each culture.
o Personal Review: (4) good book about the culture. A little hard to
understand, but with explanation before hand it is easier – I
thought this was a pretty interesting story
5. Strega Nona (Caldecott)
o Title: Strega Nona
o Author: Tomie de Paola
o Grade Level: K-3
o Genre: Folk Tale
o Short Synopsis: Strega Nona is an old witch with a magic pot. She
hires Big Anthony for help, and when Strega Nona goes out of
town for a few days he takes the pot and makes pasta for
everyone, even though her one command is do not touch the pot.
He makes the pasta for everyone, but cannot stop it, so when
Strega Nona finally gets back she stops it for him and then makes
him eat all the pasta so the punishment fits the crime.
o Activity: Cause and effect with a little worksheet. Can also do a
board game where students roll the dice and then move up the
board accordingly. Depending on what they land on “ in effect”
they have to do that activity. (Do jumping jacks, hop in place 3
times etc.… would be good to get kids moving and get energy up or
release some energy too). Scholastic also had a really cute idea of
recording the student’s voices where each student reads a small
section of the book and the whole class sings the song parts. Mash
it all together on iMovie for the mac (which I have) and then it
creates a really cool story. You can share the link with the other
classrooms, with parents, or with the school. (Thanks, Scholastic
for that idea!)
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o Personal Review: (5) great story with a great message – I was
captivated by the story and wanted to learn more. Really fun book
that I would love to share with my class.
6. Rumpelstiltskin (Caldecott)
o Title: Rumpelstiltskin
o Author: Paul O. Zelinsky
o Grade Level: K-2
o Genre: Folk Tale
o Short Synopsis: A young girl is taken away into the castle to spin
straw into gold. She doesn’t know how but the little man helps her
until the greedy king eventually marries her. The man only asks
for her first-born child. He gives her three days to guess his name
and eventually she sends out spies to find out his name and he
doesn’t take her child.
o Activity: Lots of funny names in the book and so talk about how
different things can have funny names (like the TV remote or a
hair band). The little man also did a funny dance to act out his
name, so have students get into pairs. From there they will need to
make pieces of paper for words and they will need to copy the
words off the board and write one adjective on each section of
paper. Have the pairs draw a card and act out the adjective (will be
much harder and sillier with adjectives than nouns).
o Personal Review: (4) good story with a good message – I really
enjoy this story and would be fun to even just read at the end of
the day.
7. Mr. Pak Buys a Story
o Title: Mr. Pak Buys a Story
o Author: Carol Farley
o Grade Level: 1-3
o Genre: Folk Tale
o Short Synopsis: Mr. Kim sends out his housekeeper Mr. Pak to buy
a story because they are bored at night. Mr. Pak foolishly gets
trapped into buying a story from a thief and all the thief does is
describe a stork and a fox. The family is puzzled by the story but
they are satisfied with the very good story. Many years later, the
same thief tries to break in and the story makes him think that he
has been caught, so he runs away. They did not realize how very
good of a story they had.
o Activity: This would be a fun introduction into Asian culture
because they often use storytelling in their traditions. Talk about
Asian culture in a social studies lesson, but for a writing lesson
have students come up with their own silly story. You could have
them try and write it backwards too, or just have them draw and
write a silly story. This would also be a fun book to just read at the
end of the day.
o Personal Review: (5) captivating with a great message – I would
definitely use this book in my classroom. I very much enjoyed it!
8. There was an old lady who swallowed a fly
o Title: There was an old lady who swallowed a fly
o Author: Simms Taback
o Grade Level: K-2
o Genre: Folk Tale
o Short Synopsis: The old lady swallowed a fly and perhaps she’ll
die. She swallowed many other things to catch the fly, and
eventually swallowed a horse, and she died of course.
o Activity: Definitely have this one read aloud online. There are
some awesome voices that do it! You could also see if your library
has the doll (mine did when I was little). If not then you can do
sequencing events activities with cards or with worksheets. You
could even make big cards that have different parts of a story that
students can be a living story. Four or five people each have a card,
and then the class has to put the story in order. It would be very
fun and interactive.
o Personal Review: (4) very funny and enjoyable for all audiences – I
enjoy it!
9. The True Story of the Three Little Pigs
o Title: The True Story of the Three Little Pigs
o Author: Jon Scieszka
o Grade Level: 2-3
o Genre: Fantasy/Fairy Tale
o Short Synopsis: The wolf tells his story from his point of view
saying he really just had a cold and wanted to borrow sugar from
his neighbors. When he got there though he sneezed and each
house fell down killing the pig, so he had to eat him. When he got
to the last house the pig insulted his mother and he pitched a giant
fit. When the cops came they thought his story wasn’t cool enough
so that’s how he became the “big bad wolf.”
o Activity: Read the real three little pigs story and fill in your paper
with the details from that book. Then after reading the other
compare the two stories. Ask students a few writing prompts and
have them write about which story they like better and why
(which one was more believable, who’s side are you on, etc.?)
Then after you could do a counting game like 3s multiplication
tables, or weighing the difference between straw, sticks, and
bricks and doing fractions problems.
o Personal Review: (4) very funny with a good lesson – I enjoyed
hearing the other side of the story and it was very humorous and
you could probably do many activities with it.
10. The Apple-Pip Princess
o Title: The Apple-Pip Princess
o Author: Jane Ray
o Grade Level: 2-4
o Genre: Fairy Tale
o Short Synopsis: There were three little princesses and when their
mother died the kingdom became very sad and barren. She left
each child a gift that they could choose though and the two
daughters chose shoes and a mirror while the youngest daughter
chose a simple wooden box. The king was going to give the
kingdom to one of his daughters so they tried to prove they
deserved it. The two girls built tall towers but Serenity the third
daughter took her wooden box of things her mother left and made
the land beautiful again. It was a really cool story that in some
ways parallels the creation story.
o Activity: Go around outside on a pretty day and observe all the
wonderful things that there are to see. When you come inside
make a little wooden box yourself (with paper of course) and say
what seven items are most important to you in your life. (It can be
tangible or non-tangible) but have students write which items
they chose and why on a separate sheet of paper. These activities
were always challenging but fun in elementary school.
o Personal Review: (5) captivating story with a great message – I
really enjoyed this new story that I had never heard before.
Fantasy/Other (10)
1. Max’s Dragon
o Title: Max’s Dragon
o Author: Kate Banks
o Grade Level: K-3 would enjoy it (activities probably work better
with older ages)
o Genre: Poetry
o Short Synopsis: Max is searching for words that rhyme outside and
his brothers are making fun of him. Max tells them about the
dragons in the sky (clouds) and then when they make fun of Max
again, the dragons change into dinosaurs (storms). In order to get
rid of the dinosaurs, Max tells them they have to rhyme words to
get him to go away. After the storm passes, the older brothers are
nicer to Max and include him in their game.
o Activity: Talk about bullying perhaps but do a rhyming game for
the main lesson. Students have to find the partner in the room who
has their “rhyme word,” or students could do things they see
around the room and come up with a word that rhymes, or you
could even do a board game where you roll the dice and in order
to move that many spaces, you have to rhyme so many words
(there can be little tricks and traps along the way i.e.: having to
double or triple the amount you rolled… Students keep track of all
the words on a piece of paper so you can grade them at the end.)
o Personal Review: (4) Enjoyable with a clear message – I really
liked this book!
2. The Tortoise and the Hare
o Title: The Tortoise and the Hare
o Author: No author, fable
o Grade Level: PreK-3 all ages can enjoy
o Genre: Fable
o Short Synopsis: Hare always thinks he can beat everyone in races, so
tortoise decides to finally race her. Hare sprints off and gets so bored
that she takes a nap because she thinks she can still win even after she
wakes up, because tortoise will be so slow. When hare wakes up,
tortoise is crossing the finish line. Slow and steady wins the race.
o Activity: This would be great to pull out right before state testing since
they can seem so long. For a real activity though, my teacher did this
with us one time. She gave us this mini quiz that was multiple choice,
fill in the blank, and short sentences that were super easy and about
our life or about what you were doing at the current moment. The
questions were super easy, so my class flew through it, but when you
got to the end it said, “Read the directions.” The directions were “put
your name on the top of this paper and turn it in. No questions need to
be answered” It was a great lesson about taking your time on all
assignments and really reading the directions. I have geared this more
for older students, but there are other activities you could do for
younger children.
o Personal Review: (5) Captivating with a clear message…. Great to pull
out at random times when your class seems to need to focus or slow
down.
3. The Tyrannosaurus Game
o Title: The Tyrannosaurus Game
o Author: Steven Kroll
o Grade Level: K-2
o Genre: Fiction
o Short Synopsis: The children are bored at school on a rainy day, so the
teacher has them play a game where the first person tells a story, then
the next person adds on and so on and so forth until each person has
contributed a page of a story and it becomes really silly!
o Activity: Have the students do this game themselves. You can have
them say their page of the story and then you can write it down into a
word document. Print off each page and then give each student his or
her page. Have them illustrate that page. Eventually when you have
time, make each student his or her own book if you can and send it
home as a really cool activity. (Make photocopies or scan each page,
but allow the child to keep the book with their original colorful page…
if that makes sense!)
o Personal Review: (4) cute story and a great message – I love this game
and this book and would enjoy using it in my classroom. The book
itself doesn’t teach much but it is a great bridge into the fun writing
and learning activity.
4. Amelia Bedelia
o Title: Amelia Bedelia
o Author: Peggy Parish
o Grade Level: K-2 (reading level for 1-2 as well)
o Genre: Humorous Fiction
o Short Synopsis: Amelia Bedelia is asked to do lots of chores for her
family like draw the drapes, dust the furniture, and trim the fat on a
steak. She does all of these things literally and it is very silly, but the
family loves her lemon meringue pie and refuses to let her leave.
Eventually the family learns to write all the chores literally and
Amelia still makes her pies.
o Activity: Tons of different activities you could do with homophones or
homonyms. Read this book to introduce them and then talk about it
during the lesson and then proceeding activities such as worksheets
or charts you make as a class.
o Personal Review: (5) great story with an awesome lesson – I loved
this book. It was hilarious too and the children would love her!
5. Chrysanthemum
o Title: Chrysanthemum
o Author: Kevin Henkes
o Grade Level: K-2
o Genre: Fantasy
o Short Synopsis: Chrysanthemum is a little girl who loved her name
and thought it was perfect, until she went to school and everyone
made fun of how long it was. Everybody made fun of her for a few
days and her parents tried to comfort her, but nothing helped.
Eventually their music teacher told everybody about how her name
was a flower and super long as well. After that, everyone was jealous
and was nice to her. It was a book about individuality and teasing
o Activity: Make a flower garden of names at the beginning of school
talking about how much you will grow this year. After each student
makes their own flower name, then you can have a list of names and
students should take blocks our count how many letters there are in
each name. You could also count syllables and vowels as well. You
could make a graph of how many people have 5, 6, 7, etc. letters in
their name. Talk character traits about individuality and how we
should all respect each other.
o Personal Review: (5) great story with a great message – I love this
book and could even see myself using this on the first day of school.
Reading this book, talking about treating one another fairly, and even
doing the name flower garden activity.
6. If You Give a Pig a Pancake
o Title: If You Give a Pig a Pancake
o Author: Laura Numeroff
o Grade Level: K-2
o Genre: Fantasy
o Short Synopsis: A pig eats a pancake which makes him need maple
syrup, which means a bath, and so on and so forth until finally he ends
back with a pancake.
o Activity: Compare if you give a Moose a Muffin and if you give a Pig a
Pancake and talk about how the letters all match. Then assign each
child a letter and have it do its own cover page of a book. You could
display them in alphabetical order around the room. You could also do
“flapjack math” where there are numbers on the back of each
“pancake” and you have to flip them over and add/subtract the
numbers that appear. You could give them a worksheet ahead of time
to fill out or they could just do it on paper. Have each student do it
multiple times at their desk so that everyone gets different
combinations.
o Personal Review: (4) great story with a good lesson to go along – I
enjoyed this book when I was younger and I’m sure students would
today as well!
7. Little Old Big Beard and Big Young Little Beard
o Title: Little Old Big Beard and Big Young Little Beard
o Author: Remy Charlip
o Grade Level: 2-3
o Genre: General Fiction
o Short Synopsis: It focuses a lot on adjectives and changing them into
adverbs, but the general story is about two cowboys. One is tall young
and with a little beard and the other is short old and with a big beard.
They are cowboys that lose their cow, so in order to stay cowboys
they go on a search and eventually find her and go back the same way
they came.
o Activity: After talking about adverbs and what they are go around the
school wandering like cowboys and have students write down as
many adverbs that they can think of or that they see on their journey.
o Personal Review: (3) cute story with a good message but slightly
boring – It was fun to see the adjectives changed into adverbs but the
story itself was a little boring. I would use it in an adverbs unit but
that’s about it.
8. Harold and the Purple Crayon
o Title: Harold and the Purple Crayon
o Author: Crockett Johnson
o Grade Level: 1-2
o Genre: Fantasy
o Short Synopsis: Harold has a purple crayon and he draws lots of
different things and goes on many adventures until he finally ends
back in his bedroom and draws his bed and window and sheets back
over him. It was a really cute story that randomly developed along the
way as Harold drew new things.
o Activity: Have your class do this itself. You can have a large sheet of
butcher paper and start at one end and then make it to the other end.
Each student is randomly called up to draw something and add to the
story. As they say what they are adding you add their lines to the
story. Eventually as a class you made up your own Harold and the
Purple Crayon story. It probably wont be nearly as good but it would
still be really fun and work on children’s brains.
o Personal Review: (5) captivating and a cool message – I really enjoyed
this book and would love to share it and use it in my classroom. It is
easy for students to read as well because there aren’t big words and it
is big type.
9. A Bad Case of the Stripes
o Title: A Bad Case of the Stripes
o Author: David Shannon
o Grade Level: K-2
o Genre: Fantasy
o Short Synopsis: Camilla loves lima beans but is afraid to tell other
students about it. When she stops doing what she loves she turns into
crazy things like the American flag when saying the pledge of
allegiance or eventually having a bad case of the stripes. The only
thing that eventually cures it is being herself and eating lima beans.
o Activity: Do this book early on in the school year as a get to know you.
Make a list of fears that students say they have and discuss those
before reading the book and then compare that to Camilla after
reading the book. You can also have students do their own Bad case of
the…. And the blank can be their favorite hobby or activity. They will
draw a picture of themselves doing the activity and then it is a cool get
to know you thing. If you have a template already made then you
could have it pretty and hanging in the room.
o Personal Review: (5) great story with a great message – I love this
book and definitely want to use it in my classroom.
10. The Giving Tree
o Title: The Giving Tree
o Author: Shel Silverstein
o Grade Level: K-2
o Genre: Fable
o Short Synopsis: A little boy grows up with a tree and eventually
throughout his life the tree gives the boy something as he grows up.
Eventually the tree is nothing but a stump, and he is there for the little
boy to sit on when he grows old. Such a sweet story and a tearjerker
for sure.
o Activity: Go outside and collect sticks and leaves during the fall. Have
students make a tree on their piece of paper and label the different
parts of a tree. You can also have students make handprint trees if
they are younger. You can even do an activity about being thankful for
the things you have been given and the leaves each say a word of
something you are thankful for.
o Personal Review: (5) captivating with a wonderful message – I cry
every time I read this book it is so wonderful and has to be read to
students! I think it is good for many different ages too, not just
younger readers.