Favorite Books for Children

"Pete the Cat: I love My White Shoes" is just one of the great Pete the Cat books. I was introduced to these stories about 5 or 6 years ago and have loved them ever since. All of the Pete the Cat books can be found on YouTube with several readings and songs to go along with them. I love these books because Pete always looks at the bright side of things and shows children how to be positive even in hard situations. I Love My White Shoes is about Pete stepping in large piles of numerous things that turn his white shoes different colors. But does Pete get upset? "Goodness no!" This is a catchy phrase in the story that can be used in the classroom for a number of things. With younger grades, it can be used when doing transitions. For example, if the teacher says, "Do we run?", the students could respond, "Goodness no!" and so on. Another fun activity that can be done, and I actually did this in a class, is have the students continue on with the book except they come up with their own pile of something for Pete to step in and decide what color it would turn his shoes. This is great for younger grades to practice creativity and colors! This could be done independently or with a partner/small group. They could write it down and illustrate it as well. If they are struggling with writing and spelling, they could just draw it out.

Lexile: AD460L

Suggested Grade Level: K-2

"Tuesday", by David Wiesner is a picture book with no words. This opens the door for so much creativity. This book would be a great writing prompt for students. Each page could be assigned to the students to write a story on what they think is going on or going to happen. They could also make predictions about what they think is going to happen. The beginning of the book starts with saying its Tuesday around eight o'clock and the rest is up to you. The author mentions different times throughout the story to give the reader a sense of the time of day it is. This would be a lot of fun to see what they students come up with. You could list questions like "where are they going", "what are they doing", "are they on a mission", to prompt any student who may be having trouble. I would use this book for an grade for creative writing and using their imagination. You would get difference responses for all grade levels. 

There is not a reading level for this book that I could find, but the recommended age level is 4 and up.  

This book of feelings is a great way to portray feelings to younger students. It goes through all different kinds of emotions all of us feel at some point and gives a description of how you might feel when you feel that particular emotion. This opens an opportunity to discuss those feelings are how we may handle them in the best way. After introducing this book to the class, the teacher could create a board with several of the emotions on it. Create and name tag and laminate for each child and as the students come in everyday they can choose their name and stick it under the emotion they are feeling that day. This can let the teacher know who may have had a rough start to the morning and those that are 100% that day. Also after reading the book, the teacher can have a template in the writing station, or during a time allotted for writing, that asks the students how their heart feels and why. Have them illustrate their writing when they are finished. This would be great for the beginning of the year while you are getting to know your students or around Valentine's day. Several activities can be done with this book.

Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level: 2.7

Flesch Reading Ease: 87.3

This story is a great way to show how random acts of kindness, smiling at someone, giving compliments, or helping someone in some way can go so far! "Have You Filled a Bucket Today?" paints a picture that everyone has an invisible bucket that is always with them. This bucket carries their happiness and good thoughts, but when it is empty they are sad. You can spread joy and happiness just by being kind. This book will go hand in hand with the fairly new program that most school are doing, Leader In Me and the 7 habits. Several schools have adopted this program and really pushing being a leader and being kind to one another. One term they use is called an "emotional bank account" which is exactly like the invisible bucket in this story. This book is a great example for students to picture everyone's feelings being in that bucket. I think it helps them connect the idea instead of just telling them to be kind. I would read this book to any grade level. It is a great reminder, even for adults!

Lexile: AD710L

I love this book for the message! "The Empty Pot", by Demi, is a great story to read when talking about honesty and how always telling the truth is best. In the story, the Emperor is looking for someone to replace him for when he is too old. He gives out seeds to all the children and sends them on their way to plant them and grow their seeds for one year. After a year, Ping, the main character in the story, has tried and tried to get his seeds to grow only to be left with an empty pot. Why didn't his seeds grow? When it was time to meet the Emperor, Ping had to present his empty pot while all the other children had beautiful flowers flowing out of their pots. Ping was upset, but the Emperor chose his pot because the seeds he had given the children were all cooked which mean they would not sprout. This showed Pings honesty and he was chosen as the next in line for the throne. It is always best to tell the truth and be honest about any situation, because honesty will usually keep you out of trouble. Another lesson that could be introduced is how seeds grow and how a cooked seed will not grow. The students could then plant their own seeds to grow in the classroom and watch how they sprout. They could also spent time observing plants and learning parts of a plant. This book could be used in several different ways.

Lexile: 630L

ATOS: 3.8

"Duck for President", by Doreen Cronin would be a great book to read when talking about elections. A lot of students, especially younger students, do not know what election means. This is a great way to introduce voting to them and what it means to be able to vote. Around the time of presidential election or another big election, you could read this book, discuss how to vote, how they are counted, and how a winner is selected. After discussing elections, you could hold an election with your students. Set up a ballot box and give them a piece of paper that looks similar to the way a ballot would look when voting. They could hold their own election for Duck or Farmer Brown or something else you may decide on. There are endless possibilities for voting options. Once everyone has voted, the teacher can count the ballots and record the data on a t-chart for the students to see who won. Students will enjoy getting to voice their opinion and see what the outcome is. 

Lexile Level: AD680L

ATOS Reading Level: 3.9

"Stand Tall, Molly Lou Melon" by Patty Lovell is another good book to use when discussing bullying and standing up for yourself. In this story, Molly is a small child who looks different from her friends. Her grandmother tells her to stand tall and the world will love you. She moves towns and is bullied by a boy named Ronald Durkin at her new school, but she never lets him get her down. She just shows him what she can do and in the end they become friends. I would use this story for any elementary grade to spread awareness about bullying and teach a lesson about always being yourself. It also sends a message to never judge one another based on the way someone looks or talks. Molly Lou Melon gets judged by her new friends and bullied just because she is different. Reading this story on one of the first few days of school could present an opportunity to set up a quick meet and greet in the classroom. Depending on the number of students depends on how you would set up how they can rotate and meet each other. They could have a minute or 2 to share three things that say who they are. Then rotate until everyone has had a chance to talk and meet everyone in the class. This would be better than having all the students stand or get in front of the class to introduce themselves, because some students may be really shy at first. Doing this gives the students an opportunity to talk and share themselves with each other so they can all have a connection from the beginning and know they are all friends in that classroom. There are several other books that would work for this as well, but this story sends a great message. 

Lexile: AD560L

Guided Reading Level: L

Suggested Grade Level: K-2

This book has always been a favorite of mine, especially for the little ones. This book is a fun story about a house where everyone is asleep. It goes through a sequence of people and animals on one cozy bed until one flea bites a mouse. Then everyone is woken up one by one and all crash down and break the cozy bed! This would be a great story to use when talking about sequencing events and retelling a story. A fun activity for younger students would be to make a "napping house" or a "cozy bed" about the size of a small poster. Label different spots on the poster 1-6 to represent the events that happened in the story and attach a Velcro dot to the poster beside each number. Then, find cut outs of the characters from the story and also attach a Velcro dot to the back of the character. The students will then label the "napping house" or "cozy bed", whichever you choose to make, with the character in the order that they appeared in the story. So, beside the number 1, the student would place the granny. By number 2, the student would place the boy, and so on. After they finish labeling 1-6, you could give them a sequencing map for them to record their work they did on the poster. 

ATOS Reading Level: 2.8

Suggested Grade Level: K

"You're Finally Here", by Melanie Watt is one of the newest books to my collection. This books main message is centered around waiting, but can be used for other topics as well. The bunny in the story has been waiting forever for his reader to finally arrive, and he lets you know just how upset he is with you for making him wait so long! At the end he draws up a contract for the reader to sign telling him you will stay forever! This story is funny and children will love it. "You're Finally Here" can be used as a first day back story to read to your students to let them know how happy you are that they are in your classroom and that you have waited all summer for them to get to your class! Before the first day you could type up a "contract" for the students to sign. It could be about classroom rules or things that you expect from your students or anything you chose to make it about. This story can also be used for a writing prompt about what they did all summer while you were waiting on them. This book has many options for activities. I will say it is hard to find a new copy of this book for a cheap price. It also doesn't have a lot of information for it. It is usually out of stock online at Barnes and Noble, but I can't say for in-store shopping. Books a million does not carry it unless they have changed recently. 

Lexile: AD390L

Guided Reading Grade Level: 2

Guided Reading: K

"Stellaluna", by Janell Cannon is a great staple to keep on your shelf. This book is about a mother fruit bat that has a baby, and is so in love with her. She names her Stellaluna. One night while flying, she gets attacked by an owl which causes her to drop Stellaluna. She falls and falls hitting branches along the way until she lands in a bird nest. Mother bat looks for her, but never finds her. Stellaluna is raised by a bird and slowly forgets her bat ways. When she learns to fly, she continues to fly far, far away. She gets so tired that she stops in a random palce, but is discovered by her bat family. Mother bat hears her story and pushes through to her baby and they are reunited! This story can be used for story mapping, point of view, vocabulary, beginning, middle, end. It could also be read and do a science lesson on bats. This book could be used for a week long study and used for several different activities. 

Lexile: AD550L

Accelerated Reader Level: 3.5

Grade Level Equivalent: 2

Kevin Henkes has several great books in his collection. This particular one I chose is "Sheila Rae, The Brave". I love this story because it portrays a fearless character who isn't afraid of anything. Young children can relate to this character because, typically, they aren't afraid of much either. Sheila wasn't afraid of the dark, thunder or lightning, or big dogs. She tied up bullies and laughed when the principal walked by her in the hall. She stepped on cracks, fought off monsters in closets, and rode her bike with no hands! Fearless she was, until one day she decided she would walk home. Her little sister, who looked up to her in every way, said she was afraid to walk home. Sheila set out on her journey home and ended up getting lost. She tried to convince herself she was still brave and fearless, but out of her element she was terrified! She cried for mom, dad, and Louise, her sister. To Sheila's surprise, Louise was there! She had followed her and remembered the way back home. The little sister saved the day and Sheila was so thankful! This story can portray being brave no matter how small you are. Students could write stories about a time in their life where they had to be brave and get through a situation that was scary. It could also show them that you don't always have to be brave and that it is OK to ask for help when needed!

Lexile: 500L

ATOS Reading Level: 2.5

Reading A-Z: K

"Bear Says Thanks", by Karma Wilson, is a sweet story about a lonely bear in his cave. He wants to have his friends over for a feast, but there is one problem. He doesn't have any food! What's a bear to do? His friends start to drop by one by one bringing him treats such as pies, muffins, fish, nuts, and tea. Bear is so thankful, but he starts to feel bad for not having anything to contribute to the feast. His friends assured him it was fine and that all they wanted was to be together. This is a good lesson on friendship and the importance of being together. Some fun activities while reading this story would be to get a picnic blanket or table cloth to lay out on the floor for the students to join you while you read. Another extra would be to have a picnic basket full of some of the treats in the story. For the fish, you could substitute goldfish. Of course you would need to know allergies before serving food. To go along with the story, since it is like a poem, would be for them to make a thankful lapbook. The middle could be an acrostic poem using the word "thankful". They can list other things they are thankful for on the sides of the lapbook.

Accelerated Reader Level: 2.3

Lexile: AD540L

Guided Reading Level: L 

"Turkey Trouble", by Wendi Silvano is about a tricky turkey who doesn't want to be on the dinner table for Thanksgiving. Turkey comes up with numerous funny outfits to try to blend in on the farm, but the other animals call him out each time. Turkey comes up with a costume to look like a horse, a cow, a pig, a sheep, and a rooster, but he isn't fooling anybody! They all know it's Turkey. In this story there are repetitive lines so the students can join in while reading! This makes it fun and engaging for them and they are more likely to recall the story. Finally, Turkey has a brilliant idea which saves him from being served on a silver platter. WHEW! Turkey was safe for one more year. Some activities to do with this story would be sequencing of events charts to check for comprehension. Also, the students could do a reader's theater and assign everyone a part to act out. Another fun activity I did with a second grade class was having the students create their own menu and write it out. They were to choose an appetizer, main course, salad, soup, sides, and dessert. They enjoyed this activity and loved sharing their menu with their classmates. Any type of Thanksgiving activity would go along with this cute and fun story. 

Lexile: AD460L

Guided Reading Level: K

ATOS Reading Level: 2.3

"Thelma the Unicorn", by Aaron Blabey is just plain precious! This is another book about learning to love yourself for who you are and not trying to change just because others think you should or because you think you need to be different. The more children hear stories like this, the better in my opinion. Thelma is a sad pony who wishes she was someone special and glamorous. She finds a carrot on the ground and ties it to her head to make it look like a horn. This is enough to trick a truck driver who just happens to be hauling a truck full of pink paint and glitter. Needless to say, the truck driver wrecks and Thelma is now covered in that paint and glitter. So guess what? She became famous! But, guess what else? It wasn't all it was cracked up to be. She was miserable and missed her friend. Her solution was to clean herself up and go back home where she was happy just being herself. With "Thelma the Unicorn", you can use the rhyming words to show how they make the story have rhythm. You can also have a lesson on rhyming words and other vocabulary found throughout the story. This is a great book for reading comprehension activities and for numerous writing prompts. Endless activities for this book.

Lexile: AD520L

Guided Reading Level: L

I have to start off by saying I love this book! I think everyone can related to this character in one way or another. I definitely can! "Crankenstein", by Samantha Berger is a fun story to use around Halloween, although it can be used at any time. Crankenstein wakes up on the wrong side of the bed and is in a BAD mood! He is so ill that all he can say is "mehhrrrr"!! Throughout the story, things that make him angry keep happening and ruining his day. His mom makes him pancakes for breakfast and he has only one drop of syrup! His popsicle melts because it is too hot outside. He waits in a forever long line just to figure out he is not tall enough to ride. It's way too cold on Halloween, and then he breaks his toy. Just when you think Crankenstein is going to lose his marbles, he meets a GIRL crankenstein. It doesn't make him angry like we would think. It makes him laugh! Now Crankenstein is happy. But for how long? I used this book in a second grade classroom to show that the author uses illustrations to help us understand more about what the story is telling us. Some things are not written in the story, but by looking at the illustrations, you know what the author is telling you. We read this book at the carpet and the students were able to make the "mehhrrr" sound with me. They loved being included in the story. I also did an opinion writing activity about if they agreed with the reasons Crankenstein was mad or not and why. I also included a craft where the students got to make their own Crankenstein face and glue it to their writing. This book has endless activities to go along with it. Overall, this is a fun and interactive book. 

Lexile: AD350L

Guided Reading Level: I

ATOS Reading Level: 1.7

"The Chicken Squad", by Doreen Cronin, is just hilarious. This book has 10 chapters of comedy due to a scared squirrel named, Tail. The actual chicken squad consists of four short, yellow, and fuzzy chicks that are trying to figure out what the squirrel is so scared of. Eventually, Tail convinces them that there is something lurking outside the coop and the chickens think it is after them! It is up to the squad to figure it out and save the day! If you want a book to engage your students or children and have them laughing, this is a book you want to read. I just recently read "The Chicken Squad" to a second grade class, and they loved every second. This book could be used as an end of the day read after they are packed up, or snack time read as they have a moment to recharge. This book could also be used for a narrative writing prompt about some "misadventures" they have been on and what happened in the end. This is an all around great, hilarious book that I think any elementary grade would enjoy. 

Lexile: 560L

ATOS Reading Level: 3.3

Guided Reading: N