Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

Author: Judith Viorst

Illustrator: Ray Cruz

Genre: Fiction

Ages: 6 and up

Themes: Friendship, Family, School

Summary: Alexander wakes up one morning and everything that can go wrong, does. He is having an awful day and with each thing he does, Alexander's day gets worse. 

Pre-Reading Activity: Talk about what makes a good day or a bad day. Make a T chart to list characteristics of each.

Post-Reading Activity: Write the different events from the story on sentences strips. Let students work together to put the sentence strips in the order that they happened in the story. Discuss how all of these events happened over the span of one day. 

Reflection: Students will love the humor in this book and will be able to relate to some of the events that happen to Alexander in this story. 

About the Author

Judith Viorst

Judith Viorst has written many books for children. One of the books she has written is Just in Case, illustrated by Diana Cain Bluthenthal. She lives with her husband in Washington, D.C.

(www.barnesandnoble.com)

Harold and the Purple Crayon

Harold and the Purple Crayon

Author: Crockett Johnson

Genre: Fiction

Ages: 3 and up

Themes: Imagination, Drawing

Summary: Harold decides to go for a moonlight walk with his purple crayon. This is the story of Harold and how far his imagination will take him. 

Pre-Reading Activity: Show students the cover of the book and tell them that Harold draws things he wants to see in his world. Ask students what they would draw to make their school better? Their homes better? Their city better? Record these responses. 

Post-Reading Activity: Give students pre-drawn pictures that illustrate a problem Harold may come upon, i.e a kite stuck in a tree, Harold is walking and it starts to rain. Let them use a purple crayon to draw another picture that would help Harold out of the situation. 

Reflection: All the "Harold" books are really good books to use with young children. It is a great way to expand students' imaginations and let them freely express themselves. 

About the Author

Crockett Johnson

Crockett Johnson was the writer and/or illustrator of over 20 books for children. He was also the creator of "Barnaby", one of the most popular comic strips of the 20th century. Mr. Johnson received his art training at New York University and Cooper Union.

(www.barnesandnoble.com)

Caps For Sale

Caps For Sale:

A Tale of a Peddler, Some Monkeys and Their Monkey Business

Author and Illustrator: Esphyr Slobodkina

Genre: Fiction

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Ages: Grades K-4 

Themes: Counting

Summary: A peddler selling his caps wanders around through the countryside wearing the caps on his head. When he gets tired and decides to take a rest, he needs to do some sneaky thinking to outsmart some monkeys.

Pre-Reading Activity: Do a picture walk of the book, discuss with the students what a peddler is and ask them what he is selling. Stop the picture walk right before the peddler throws his hat on the ground and ask students to predict what will happen.

Post-Reading Activity: Read a companion text, Five Little Monkeys Sitting in a Tree, let students work together to complete the monkey/banana rhyming game

Reflection: Caps for Sale is a great, classic children's book. There are a lot of extension activities that teachers can do to branch off to other content areas, including math and science. Children love the silliness of this story. 

About the Author

Esphyr Slobodkina

Esphyr Slobodkina was born in the Siberian town of Chelyabinsk in 1908. She immigrated to the United States on a student visa when she was 29. She worked closely with children's author Margaret Wise Brown as an illustrator. 

(www.barnesandnoble.com)

Llama Llama Misses Mama

Llama Llama Misses Mama

Author and Illustrator: Anna Dewdney

Genre: Fiction

Ages: 3-5 years

Themes: School, Family

Summary: Llama llama has to go to school for the first time and is very sad without her mama there with her. Once little llama learns to have fun and makes friends at school, she is very excited to go back again. 

Pre-Reading Activity: Ask students what is something that makes them sad or that they are scared about. Let them draw a picture about it.

Post-Reading Activity: Ask students to discuss what Llama Llama was so worried about in this story. Then discuss what happened that made llama feel better. Let students illustrate on a paper with 2 boxes what they were sad about and what they can do to feel better.

Reflection: This is a great book to use to help students feel more at ease about coming to school or just about any issues that worry them in general. It is a very easy to read story with a lot of rhyming text. 

About the Author

Anna Dewdney

Anna Dewdney is the author/illustrator of many books in the Llama Llama series. She lives in an old hold in Central Vermont and is the mother of two daughter and two dogs. 

(www.barnesandnoble.com)

The Rainbow Fish

The Rainbow Fish

Author: Marcus Pfister

Translator: J. Alison James

Genre: Fiction

Ages: 3-5 years

Themes: Sharing, Friendship

Summary: The Rainbow Fish is one of the most beautiful creatures in the sea. All the other fish and animals love to watch him swim with his shimmery scales. The Rainbow Fish is unhappy until he learns to share and realizes what true friendship is all about. 

Pre-Reading Activity: Ask students to list something they like about the person sitting next to them. Make a list on the board and talk about how each student has something special about them.

Post-Reading Activity: Discuss what was so special about the Rainbow Fish and why all the other fish liked him. Give students each a construction paper "scale" and let them write something great about themselves on there. Add each scale to a large class fish to show that each student is an important part of the class. 

Reflection: This is a great resource to use for many different character aspects that should be taught in elementary school. This book could easily be used to teach about sharing, being a good friend or believing in yourself. 

About the Author

 

Marcus Pfister

Marcus Pfister is the author of many children's books. He has worked as a graphic artist, sculptor, painter and photographer. He lives with his family in Berne, Switzerland. 

(www.barnesandnoble.com)

Amazing Grace

Amazing Grace 

 Author: Mary Hoffman

Illustrator: Caroline Binch

Genre: Fiction

Ages: Grades K-2

Themes: Hard Work

Summary: Grace is a young girl who loves to hear stories. She decides she wants to play the part of Peter in the play Peter Pan at her school. Grace wants the part badly even though she is not a boy and she is African American. Her classmates tell her she can't be Peter because of these things but she is determined to do it anyways. 

Pre-Reading Activity: Predictions about what might happen in the story. Have a list of things that may or may not happen and have the students tell whether they agree or disagree (anticipatory guide).

Post-Reading Activity: Look back over the Anticipatory Guide to see if predictions were correct. Students need to share about a time they wanted something but were told they couldn't do it. Explain how things went and what the obstacles were they had to overcome.

Reflection: This is a great book to use to encourage students to have determination. It is an easy book for students to relate to and they can easily understand issues that Grace faces. 

About the Author

Mary Hoffman

Mary Hoffman was born in a small town in New Hampshire. Her family moved to London when she was three. She has written over 90 books for children and teenagers. She wrote the character of Grace a lot like her own self at nine years old. She loved stories and had a similar personality to Grace's. She was thrilled with how popular her series on Grace became.

(www.barnesandnoble.com)

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

Authors: Bill Martin, Jr. and John Archambault

Illustrator: Lois Ehlert

Genre: Fiction

Ages: 3-5 years

Themes: Alphabet, Rhyming

Summary: This catchy book with some rhyming text is a journey through the alphabet while each letter ascends the coconut tree in alphabetical order. After all the letters are at the top, they tumble to the ground and the letters are then gathered back up in alphabetical order. 

Pre-Reading Activity: Allow the students to line up and recite the alphabet together, talk about each letter and the sound that it makes

Post-Reading Activity: Assign each student with a different letter of the alphabet and they will choose a word that starts with that letter and illustrate their word. Then each student will share with the class. 

Reflection: This is a great beginning alphabet book to use with young children to introduce the letters of the alphabet. I have used this book in the past with Kindergarten students and they love it because it has such great rhythmic text. It is also a really great book to use to reinforce the letters of the alphabet with older students. 

About the Authors

Bill Martin, Jr. is one of America's favorite children's authors. He wrote more than 300 books for children including Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?

John Archambault is a poet, journalist and storyteller who worked with Bill Martin, Jr. on many projects. He lives in Idyllwild, California.

(www.barnesandnoble.com)

Leo the Late Bloomer

Leo the Late Bloomer

Author: Robert Kraus

Illustrator: Jose Aruego

Genre: Fiction

Ages: 3-5 years

Themes: Learning, Family, Friendship

Summary: Leo the lion is not developing at the same rate as many of his friends. He is not able to read, write, draw or speak yet. Leo's father is concerned about this, but his mother assures him that Leo will bloom in his own time. 

Pre-Reading Activity: Have students think about something that they are really good at. Discuss how they learned to do the different things and how it makes them feel to be able to do it. Let students illustrate their activity that they chose on a class poster board. 

Post-Reading Activity: After seeing that sometimes people learn to do things at different times, students may be more comfortable sharing something they are not good at yet. Allow students to discuss something they haven't quite figured out yet and then illustrate those activities on a second class poster board. Make a display using the 2 poster boards titled "We Can Do It" and "We're Still Learning" to demonstrate that it is okay for students to learn things at different rates and that everybody is good at different things. 

Reflection: This is one of my all time favorite children's books. It is a great way to expose students to the idea that sometimes you may not be able to do everything that your friends can do and that's okay. It is a great way to build students' confidence in themselves. 

About the Author:

Robert Kraus

Robert Kraus is the author of Leo the Late Bloomer and Little Louie the Baby Boomer. He lives in New York City.

(www.barnesandnoble.com)

The Kissing Hand

The Kissing Hand 

Author: Audrey Penn

Illustrators: Ruth Harper and Nancy Leak

Genre: Fiction

Ages: Grades K-1

Themes: School, Family, Love

Summary: This is a story about a little raccoon ready to start school. He talks about his fears to his mother, fears that most children have before beginning school. His mother comes up with a wonderful idea to help him remember that she loves him and is thinking about him, even when she isn't with him.

Pre-Reading Activity: Discuss the children's fears and hopes about coming to school. We also discuss how moms and dads might feel when their children are away from them.

Post-Reading Activity: On a large piece of construction paper each child makes a red handprint with paint and then clue a small red heart in the middle. They can draw their family portrait if time allows and then give this as a first day gift to their parents.

Reflection: This is a great book to share with students on the first day of school. Many students are shy or even a little afraid of leaving their parents to come to school. This would also be a good book to use with students who are completely comfortable coming to school to allow them to understand and have compassion for how some of their classmates may be feeling.

About the Author

Audrey Penn

Before beginning writing Audrey Penn was actually a ballerina and choreographer. She has always enjoyed children's literature and decided to begin writing as a creative outlet. As a young girl she would keep silly journals of things that happened to her and eventually she was writing everything that she did. Her youngest daughter inspired her to write The Kissing Hand.

(www.audreypenn.com)

The Snowy Day

The Snowy Day

Author and Illustrator: Ezra Jack Keats

Genre: Fiction

Ages: 3-5 years

Theme: Winter, Snow, Friendship

Summary: The story of a first snowfall of the season, and a little boy's adventures in the city. 

Pre-Reading Activity: Show students a picture of a big snowy hill and ask them to make guesses about what it is. Encourage them to share why they made their guesses. Record the answers on a chart paper. 

Post-Reading Activity: Give students a piece of blue construction paper and a big ball of cotton. Let them make their own snowy creations on the paper. Depending on the grade level, students can write a word or sentence to go with their creation. 

Reflection: This is a fantastic  story to use with primary grades since many times these students don't remember snow from the previous year, or have never experienced a big snowstorm. Students are often very creative with their ideas about what the snowy hill is a picture of and also what they create with their cotton. 

About the Author:

Ezra Jack Keats

Ezra Jack Keats was one of the first authors to create multiethnic picture books for young kids. He began creating children's books in the 1960's and realized there was a lack of books written with African American children as the main character. He has written many best-selling children's books including Whistle for Willie, Peter's Chair and Goggles! Mr. Keats died in 1983. 

(www.barnesandnoble.com)