Literary Tool Kit
Genre/Type
Title
Author
Diversity
Alphabet (1)
The ABC Book
Dr. Seuss
N/A
Grade
Level
K-1
Number (1)
Five Green and
Speckled Frogs
Scholastic
N/A
PreK-K
Predictable (1)
The Foot Book
Dr. Seuss
N/A
K-1
Historical (3)
The Mighty Miss
Malone
Christopher Paul Specific
Curtis
4-5
Summary/Review/Response
The ABC Book by Dr. Seuss is great
for working on the alphabet. He
uses alliteration and repetition to
show each letter. He creates words
to make book entertaining and
engaging. This is ideal for prereaders.
This fun sing-along book uses
animals to practice counting,
specifically subtracting. It is an
interactive way to practice
numbers with young
mathematicians. Also, I really like
the diction and rhythm of the
writing.
The Foot Book by Dr. Seuss is a
wonderful predictable pattern
book. It uses repetition of the word
foot while juxtaposing opposites
from page to page. It also uses
rhyme to aid in predictability. This
is a great book for emerging
readers to begin matching words
to print.
The Mighty Miss Malone is an
excellent supplement for
discussing life pre-civil rights era
and poverty. It offers a powerfully
relatable tale of a young girl
growing up amidst racism, poverty,
and poor education and
overcoming all odds.
Anne Of Green Gables
L.M.
Montgomery
Generic
4-5
Anne of Green Gables is another
great historical fiction book. It tells
the story of Anne Shirley, an
orphan that is taken in by Matthew
and Marilla Cuthbert to help
around the farm. Anne is lovable
but highly prone to mischief and
fantasy, which often gets her in
trouble at the Green Gables
farmhouse. Her unorthodox ways
irritate Marilla Cuthbert, but in the
end enchant her.
Little Women
Louisa May
Alcott
Generic
3-5
Little Women is one of my favorite
coming-of-age tales. It follows four
sisters and their loving mother as
their father is off at war. The girls
vary greatly in their personalities
and interests, with prissy Amy and
tomboyish Jo as the polar
opposites. Refined Beth and timid
Meg fall somewhere in between.
The main themes of the book
include the importance of
Realistic (3)
kindness, selflessness, and family.
The four girls strive to reflect these
traits in order to live up to their
father’s opinion of them as “little
women”.
This hilarious and short read is
perfect for a child ready to take on
their first chapter book. The writing
is easily accessible and the story is
entertaining and lighthearted
without being overwhelming.
Freckle Juice
Judy Blume
Neutral
2-3
Ramona Quimby, Age
8
Beverly Cleary
Generic
3-4
Ramona struggles to be more
mature and stop finding herself in
trouble. The harder she tries, the
more trouble find she finds such as
cracking a raw egg on her head.
She worries her teacher does not
like her and has a hard time being
good to Willa Jean. The theme
would be relatable to third graders
who are working on gaining more
responsibility.
Give A Boy A Gun
Todd Strasser
Neutral
5-6
With the alarming amount of
school shootings occurring, it is
harder than ever to shield children
from such realities. Instead it is
becoming necessary for there to be
more directed conversations to
help children prepare and cope.
Traditional (3)
Grimm’s Complete
Fairy Tales
Brothers Grimm
International 4-5
While I do not believe the vast
majority of my students would be
ready for this book exploring the
perspectives and realities of school
shootings, there may be a select
few that might find this book
resourceful.
Grimm’s Complete Fairy Tales by
the Brothers Grimm is a terrific
resource for a fairy tale unit. This
collection has everything from
Cinderella to Little Red Riding
Hood. These versions are a little
content heavy and therefore
should be scanned and vetted
before sharing with students.
Treasury of Mother
Goose Rhymes
International PreK-1
This collection of classic nursery
rhymes has everything you could
hope to share with your students.
Nursery rhymes are especially
important for young writers and
emerging readers. It helps work on
the fundamentals of reading,
including fluency, vocabulary, and
diction.
A Treasury of
Children’s Literature
International K-5
This treasury includes a little bit of
everything, from traditional
literature to Aesop’s fables to
Grimm’s fairy tales. It offers a wide
Science Fiction (1)
Tunnel In The Sky
Robert A.
Heinlein
Neutral
4-5
Fantasy (2)
Harry Potter and The
Sorcerer’s Stone
J.K. Rowling
Neutral
2-3
The One and Only Ivan Katherine
Applegate
Generic
array of classic tales from around
the world.
This is a fantastic book for the
imaginative kids in your class
seeking adventure. It offers
complex characters, choices
between right and wrong,
teleportation, survival skills, and
dangerous beast. This contentheavy chapter book would be a
great challenger for more
advanced readers seeking an
escape.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s
Stone by J.K. Rowling is a perfect
fantasy novel for young readers
ready for a more challenging
chapter book. The engaging
material makes this a great read.
The caveat being that the magic
and violence make this book only
appropriate for more mature
students.
This based on a true story
adaptation is beautifully written.
The author gave purpose and life
to Ivan the mighty Silverback
through his inner dialogue and
excellent use of white space. This
was a touching and emotional
Informational (2)
Biography (1)
One Million Things:
SPACE
Carole Stott
N/A
3-5
D’Aulaires’ Book of
Greek Myths
Ingri and Edgar
Parin d’Aulaires
International 3-5
I Am Rosa Parks
Brad Meltzer
Specific
K-2
read, which effectively called into
question the practices of animal
captivity, without too much
judgment.
This informational book offers
everything you could ever hope to
know about space, including what
a day in life is like there and
information on space travel. This is
a great resource for curious
earthlings, and could offer aid for a
science report.
This collection of Greek myths,
offers summaries of each of the
Greek gods and retells their most
famous exploits. This was a really
great book to work on fluency and
pronunciation with the seven year
old that I nanny. It, also, helped the
nine year old write a report in third
grade.
An informative picture book about
one of America’s most influential
people, Rosa Parks. This influential
book shows not only the Rosa
Parks that we know, but
highlighted her life before the
pivotal bus ride that sparked a
nation. It’s a great read and makes
Autobiography (1)
Follow Your Dreams:
Lessons That I Learned
In School
Mychal Wynn
Specific
4-5
Poetry (2)
Revolting Rhymes
Roald Dahl
Generic
4-5
Love That Dog
Sharon Creech
Neutral
3-5
the material accessible to younger
readers.
This documents the school years of
Mychal Wynn, a motivational
speaker. He uses his experiences
from kindergarten through college
to highlight the importance of
finding and following your dreams,
no matter the cost. Education is
important, but courage and other
traits are equally important to
success. This is a great inspirational
autobiography for children as they
finish elementary school and enter
the bigger world of middle school.
Roald Dahl uses his crude sense of
humor to create poetic retelling of
classic fairy tales. These
entertaining twists are not for the
faint of heart, but serve to
entertain more stubborn readers.
Everyone knows the story of
Cinderella, but do they know his
version?
Sharon Creech masterfully uses an
authentic boy’s voice through a
poetry journal style book. This is a
great book to introduce a poetry
unit to a class. She incorporates
many famous poems in her book
Caldecott (2)
Stinky Cheese Man
and Other Fairly
Stupid Tales
Jon Scieszka and
Lane Smith
N/A
3-5
Knuffle Bunny
Mo Willems
Generic
PreK-1
that can be used as supplementary
material. Also, she confronts the
stereotypes on what poetry is and
who poetry is for.
This collection of parodied
children’s stories and fairy tales is
hilarious. The authors took familiar
stories and turned them into
ridiculous versions that reenergize
them for older students. The book,
also, points out many of the
conventions and functions of text
such as the table of contents and
title page. This book is a great read
for entertaining an older class and
then having them create their own
fairy tale parodies.
This heartfelt tale is about a little
girl who loses her beloved stuffed
bunny at the Laundromat with her
father. Her inability to speak
prevents her father from being
able to help her, despite his best
efforts. Of course, in the end
mother knows best and instantly
realizes the bunny’s absence.
Knuffle bunny is returned to Trixie
and all is well in the universe. The
relatable story, as most of us have
lost a precious artifact in our lives,
Newberry (1)
Ella Enchanted
Gail Carson
Levine
Generic
4-5
BBOAT (1)
The Lion, The Witch,
and The Wardrobe
C.S. Lewis
Generic
3-5
and the beautiful artwork make
this a great book for emerging
readers.
This book offers a new twist on the
classic Cinderella tale. Gail Carson
Levine offers a new reason for
Ella’s submissive position in her
family by having her cursed with
the gift of obedience. This is a
wonderful independent read for
young readers, particularly girls. It
would be a great supplement for a
fairy tale unit and one I plan to
recommend to my students.
Incidentally, this was my first
chapter book that I completed
while reading aloud with my uncle.
The fantastic tale of Lucy and her
siblings traveling through a
wardrobe to Narnia is captivating.
The mythical creatures, including
Aslan and Mr. Tumnus, and the
suspense created by the evil White
Queen make this a great fast-paced
read for kids of all ages.