Children

Like stories about the underdog who wins? Like books that rhyme? Like beautiful illustrations? Here is the perfect quick read for you. This book can be sung, and Gerald the giraffe reminds just about everyone who reads it of a jungle version of Rudolph the Red-Nose Reindeer.

High Noon for kids, only except retiring sheriff Gary Cooper, this story features retiring dog sheriff Bart. Probably one of my favorite read alouds to kids over the past couple of months.

Featuring terrific illustrations by R.G. Roth, this delightful book teaches children all about different jazz musicians. Kids get to count up to nine (starting with Louis Armstrong at one) to the beat of “This Old Man.” A wonderful read-aloud for early elementary school teachers and students. 

Maybe it’s because I have been listening to a lot of jazz on my plane rides, but I cannot get enough of good jazz stories lately. This is another beautifully illustrated book by Sean Qualls chronicling the extraordinary life of one of the most important musicians of the 20^th century, Dizzy Gillespie.

A sweet story appropriate for parents preparing little ones who are off to school for the first time. This is pure saccharin with adorable raccoon illustrations by Ruth E. Harper and Nancy M. Leak. I must admit, though, that one of the motivating forces for me to get this book were the free stickers inside! 

Great word-play fun for the beginning of the school year with little ones. Brought to life with wonderful illustrations by Joe Mathieu, this is a popular read aloud in preschool and kindergarten classrooms.

Even if most schools stopped teaching art, there are still a variety of wonderful books to get kids excited about art. I really enjoyed this book, filled with paintings by Frida Kahlo. Bernier-Grand’s wonderful accompanying poems inspire students to use language in a variety of ways to describe their personal experiences.

It’s not easy being young. I love the message in this book that as long as you try your best you should be proud. Beautiful and fun illustrations by Megan Wellman. A great read aloud for parents with kindergartners.

Part of the Fact
Finders series, my students get a kick out of the information about the Internet, cell phones and
Wikis. Heck, I learned a lot reading this book. Since most of the text students face on
standardized tests is nonfiction, I try to expose students to as much interesting nonfiction as
possible. This book is especially popular with boys.

This is part of a wonderful series of Bats books by Lies, and his illustrations and rhymes are always a crowd pleaser with kindergarteners.
In this episode it takes a librarian’s read alouds to settle the bats down, and the illustrations, as always, are fantastic. Just in time for Halloween.

Written for children with terrific illustrations by Lynne Avril, I think a lot of adults should check out this book to better understand
our election process.

Subtitled Survive and Succeed with David Mortimer Baxter, this first in a fun series shares David’s best excuses for getting out of work. What I like best about the series is how Tayleur provides lots of “doodles,” subheadings and font changes, providing students with ideas on how to structure their own texts and help them come to life. Students love the inspiration for different excuses.

This series about a Siamese cat who thinks he is a Chihuahua is always a hit with young children. I recently met Judy and loved her tales of where she gets her ideas and her hat-box collections for story inspiration. Her evolution as an illustrator and author makes a great story in itself. Parents cannot go wrong with this latest tale in the series, which features a trip to ancient Egypt before Skippyjon returns home to his “mummy.”

I have had enough teachers write me with this recommendation that I suppose I must include this magically illustrated book, another in a long line of great reads from the very-talented David Shannon. Kids love this book for the pictures; teachers love it for the message that it’s alright not to succumb to peer pressure. A wonderful book to read aloud and “show off” to kids.

I’ve recommended joke books by Elliott before, and the reason is because I see so many boys who get hooked on reading because of joke books. Perfect for your most reluctant readers.