Read Aloud

Arena, J., & Gilpin, S. (2013). 100 snowmen. Two Lions.

How do you count to 100? You could count 1, 2, 3, 4 . . . or you could count the snowman way by adding 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 . . . A fun chance to practice counting, this rhyming mathematical picture book is perfect for the Hundredth Day of School--and all winter long. 

Henkes, K. (2000). Wemberlyworried. New York: Greenwillow Books.

Nothing is too big or too small to escape Wemberly's worry. Day and night she worries. In bed, on the playground, or in the car, Wemberly worries. But by far her biggest worry is starting school. With the momentous first day looming, a multitude of new worries fills Wemberly. And this time the list of "what if's" is a mile long. 

Matheson, C. (2013). Tapthe magic tree. Greenwillow Books. 

The book begins with a drawing of a bare, winter tree. The text on the next page asks the child to “tap” the tree once. On the next page a single leaf appears on the same tree, and the child is asked to “tap again” four times. Four more leaves appear on the next page. The interactivity builds, and your child will love adding more leaves with each tap and each turned page, rubbing the tree branches to produce buds, jiggling the tree to cause the blooms to fall, shaking its apples loose, blowing the leaves away for autumn, and counting to ten to bring spring back again. This book goes through the full circle of seasons. 

 Reynolds, A., Brown, P., & Bromley, L. (2012). Creepy carrots! Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.

Jasper Rabbit loves carrots. He eats them on the way to school. He eats them going to Little League. He eats them going home. Jasper especially loves the free carrots he can grab from Crackenhopper Field any time he wants. At least he does until those creepy carrots start to follow him around. No one else sees what Jasper sees. But that doesn't mean he's wrong in Creepy Carrots 

Wright, M., & Gilpin, S. (2010). Sneezy thesnowman. Tarrytown, NY: Marshall Cavendish Children. 

Three children try to warm up shivery Sneezy the Snowman. Drinking cocoa, sitting in a hot tub, and warming up by a bonfire all result in Sneezy melting, followed by his request to "Make me brand new!" Each time, the children rebuild him, contributing some of their winter wear to keep Sneezy warm. 

Different Genres

Fleming, C., & Carpenter, N. (2009). Imogene'slast stand. New York: Schwartz & Wade Books. 

Imogene is a little girl that lives in Liddleville, New Hampshire, who is passionate about history. She always talked about history and enjoyed visiting her town’s Historical society, uncle the Mayor of her town declared for the house to be torn down to build a shoelace factory. Imogene uses many historical figures to help convenience the mayor to not tear down the house.

Reading Level Grade: 1 (Historical Fiction) 

 Krosoczka, J. (2010). Lunch Lady and thebake sale bandit(Volume 5). New York: Alfred A. Knopf.

Part of the Lunch Lady series. The disaster strike, while Lunch Lady and Betty are outside, handling a delivery of taco shells, the power goes out, and when the lights go on again, the bake sale goodies have disappeared. Someone has stolen the goodies from the school bake sale,  and it’s up to the Lunch Lady and her sidekick to solve the crime, with a little help from three kids known as the Breakfast Bunch. Reading Level Grade: 1(Graphic Novel)

 

MacLachlan, P., & Charest, E. (2010). I didn't do it. New York, NY: Katherine Tegen Books.

Fourteen simple poems, written primarily in short, blank verse give the reader a delightful glimpse into the world as seen by a puppy. Each poem is told from the perspective of a different puppy. Some of the poems include things the puppy likes, doesn’t like, and one titled I didn’t do it. Reading Grade Level: 2 (Poetry)

Pinkney, J. (2010). The lion and the mouse. S.l.: Weston Woods/Scholastic.

This is a really wonderful wordless telling of the Aesop's fable, with the lion and the mouse both depicted with real character, and humor. (Wordless Fable)

 

Willems, M. (2014). The pigeon needs a bath! New York: Hyperion Books for Children. The Pigeon is dirty and he needs a bath, but he doesn’t want to take a bath. But once you get him in the bath he doesn’t want to get out.  (Reading Level Grade 1)