Tag: children’s books

Recommended Children’s Books

Some favorites from my students and family members, links to authors and their work, and incredible blogposts by others

http://www.thetututeacher.com/

Instagram @thetututeacher

Vera Ahiyya’s blog has a number of posts focusing on diverse children’s books. (Thank you to @StacyColby3 for the link!)

Mom of All Capes blogpost “Girl Power: Diverse Picture Books for K-4th Graders

@HistoryFrog told me about a YouTube live stream with Amber Coleman-Mortley and her daughters that was wonderful. @MomOfAllCapes is a former educator and currently works in ed tech.

Diverse BookFinder lists multicultural picture books. “The Diverse BookFinder is a comprehensive collection of children’s picture books featuring Black and Indigenous people and People of Color (BIPOC). ” They have catalogued books published since 2002 and have a search tool on their website with an incredible list of categories.

If you know of other blogposts you would recommend, please comment below.

Below is my original blogpost from a few months ago.

When I saw this tweet,

it reminded me of a book I used to read to my 5th grade students The Secret Knowledge of Grown-Ups so this post is all about children’s books and ideas for activities to go with them.

Many of these books can be found from online booksellers, but also at yard sales, from friends, or one my favorite places to go is the Goodwill Bookstore. The one near me has most children’s books for $2 for hardcover and $1 for paperback.

Need more ideas? Feel free to DM me on Twitter @Filibuster3.

Need to organize your collection? I use software called Delicious Library (only available for Mac) and, yes, our home library is organized by non-fiction (Dewey decimal) and fiction (author). With Delicious Library, I can easily create an inventory (saving me from buying duplicates), track books that I’ve loaned out, search by author, title, etc. It has been one of the best programs I have ever purchased.

black bookcases filled with books and a rolling ladder on the right with a stuffed bear and a stuffed dog on the rungs
Yes, we have a few books. I always dreamed of a ladder!

Books vs. Movies

The book is always better, right? Usually, in my opinion, but why not turn it into an activity? With the quarantine, staying home is important. Read a book then watch the movie. #FamilyMovieNight

My niece asked me to read The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson series) by Rick Riordan (and I asked her to read Emma by Jane Austen). Then I watched the DVD and my husband will attest that I yelled at the tv through most of it. Great writing activity, though! Similarities. Differences. Which did you prefer? Why? etc.

Some suggested book/movie combinations:

This image has an empty alt attributeAlexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith ViorstThis image has an empty alt attribute
This image has an empty alt attributeCharlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl (note that the Roald Dahl site had a pop-up for unsecure connection)This image has an empty alt attribute
This image has an empty alt attributeChitty Chitty Bang Bang by Ian Fleming (yes, the same one who wrote Bond, James Bond!)This image has an empty alt attribute
This image has an empty alt attributeCloudy with a Chance of Meatballs by Judi BarrettThis image has an empty alt attribute
This image has an empty alt attributeMary Poppins by P.L. TraversThis image has an empty alt attribute
This image has an empty alt attributeThe Night at the Museum by Milan TrencThis image has an empty alt attribute
This image has an empty alt attributePaddington by Michael BondThis image has an empty alt attribute
This image has an empty alt attributeZathura by Chris Van Allsburg (also author of Jumanji and The Polar Express)This image has an empty alt attribute

Read Alouds

With numerous nieces and nephews spanning a wide age range, we’ve done our share of reading to them such as #TrunkAndRead during COVID-19. I drove to visit my young nieces and nephew and sat in the hatchback while they sat in the back of their hatchback as I read to them. The next time, both of us went.

#SocialDistancing is not the key. #PHYSICALdistancing is!

Some of their favorites:

The Book with No Pictures by B.J. Novak

Humpty Dumpty Egg-splodes by Kevin O’Malley

The Monster at the End of this Book by Jon Stone

Books with Suggested Activities

Your child can create their own version after reading If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Numeroff
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My Head is Full of Colors by Catherine Friend The artwork in this is AMAZING! Maybe it will inspire a budding artist to create their own.

Snow White – The Untold Story by Catherine Heller tells the traditional fairy tale from different perspectives. Follow it up with books like The Stinky Cheese Man or The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs and encourage your child to rewrite other fairy tales from the view of the “villain” or another character.

As mentioned earlier, The Secret Knowledge of Grown-Ups by David Wisniewski. My 5th graders each created their own “secret” to be displayed for open house. I created my own at the time, but later found this blogpost with the image linked above. (Side note: Need an idea for Open House? Use Flipgrid so parents can tour a “virtual” classroom of projects and messages from the students.)

Children’s Books for ADULTS!

When you need a break or you want to read something that you may need to edit for younger children as you read:

It’s a Book by Lane Smith Perfect for those who are a little attached to their screens and seem unfamiliar with “a book”.

 

Rejected Princesses by Jason Porath HIGHLY recommended, especially if you have daughters. These are TRUE stories so some might have content you might feel your child isn’t ready for, but the author has marked the stories to let you know. He also has another book, Tough Mothers, perfect for a late Mother’s Day gift! His website store has options for autographed copies. I ordered one for my sister-in-law and he drew a sketch for her, too!