101 Books to Read Before You Grow Up

Call me nerdy, but one of my favorite weeks of the year is when the Scholastic Book Fair is at our school! I'm not sure if it brings back memories of when I was a kid, or if it's just the colorful headers and beautiful displays, but I get giddy when the trucks drop off the cases and our librarian gets to work. This year, one of my favorite finds was this gem by Bianca Schulze.

This book is a graphic delight. It is divided into age groups and provides suggestions for picture books, historical and realistic fiction, poetry, and even a few graphic novels. Each page gives a quick summary, fun facts about the author, and (probably my favorite) a What to Read Next feature with four books that you're sure to be interested in if you enjoyed the featured story. There are also insets that highlight powerful quotes from the books, a place for you to rate the story, list your favorite characters, and a few lines for notes.  

                            

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As a child and an elementary teacher for the last 19 years, I have already read many of the books included in this resource. I plan to read the stories that I haven't, but also involve my children in this process as a summer project. Once we read the 101 on the list, I'd like to explore the What to Read Next selections, as well as use it to stretch ourselves as readers. My daughter tends to prefer realistic fiction and my son likes fantasy, but I think this format will allow us to have conversations that solidify why we like what we do and connect over stories and shared experiences. Great work, Bianca Schulze! 

                           

Of course, I have a book fair shirt from The Wright Stuff. Check it out here!

A Squiggly Story

One of the things I miss most about the classroom is reading to children. There is such power in telling a story well, and read-alouds afforded me the opportunity to use all those skills I learned in high school speech and performance classes. An enjoyment of reading, paired with a well-written children's book can set the stage for a host of learning opportunities, as well as (and equally as important) provide a warm, special experience between a teacher and her class.

Read-alouds build classroom community, provide common experiences, provide models for fluency and comprehension, and are just plain fun. Reading Magic by Mem Fox is one of my favorite books for adults that sheds light on the importance of read-alouds. In it, she talks about the classroom read-aloud and how it's ultimate design is to mimic the loving shared reading experience between a child and parent. Over my years as a classroom teacher, I've accidentally been called, "Mom," over a hundred times, and I truly do believe in the power of books that are read aloud by a trusted adult.

Every so often, a read-aloud comes along that makes me ache to have my own classroom again. A Squiggly Story by Andrew Larsen did just that. It came up in my Amazon list of books I should (of course) want to buy and I fell in love with the believable story line, the darling illustrations by Mike Lowery, and the myriad classroom implications. As the co-director of the Central Texas Writing Project, I am always on the hunt for books that highlight and celebrate the writing process of children who are not yet writing conventionally. This book is now one of my very favorites, and I cannot wait to share it with teachers this summer.

I borrowed a kindergarten class at the campus where I am the instructional coach so I would have a chance to try this book out with real children. After reading A Squiggly Story (which the kids LOVED by the way), we brainstormed a list of things that the kids may want to write about. In the book, the main character's older says, "It's easy, just write what you know." During this time, I modeled stretching out words and spelling phonetically since kindergartners often get hung up on writing because they want you to tell them how to spell everything.

I am so thankful I work with teachers who open up their classrooms and share their learners with me. 

I had such a fantastic time in kindergarten this week! 

Companion pages for A Squiggly Story by Andrew Larsen

Beginning of the Year Read-Alouds

Like most educators, I am slightly obsessed with bookstores. I love the way they smell, I enjoy watching people browse for just the right book, I love hearing the conversations between parents and their young children as they discuss authors and characters, and I get excited every time I find perfect books for lessons I want to teach or share with the teachers with whom I work.

The other day, I was in Half Price Books and found two gems that I am excited to take with me to school this year! Elementary teachers spend considerable time at the beginning of the year building community with their classes and setting the stage for future reading success. It is important to share special books together so that students can anchor their learning to mentor texts, establish norms and procedures for working closely in a shared space, and simply adjust to their new learning environment with the presence of quality children's literature. 

Wise teachers are very intentional about the books they choose at the beginning of the school year. They read books that are funny, books with characters that help children make connections, and books that model expectations in easy, relatable ways. Teachers understand what feelings and anxieties students may bring into their new classroom and can leverage read-alouds for a positive start to the year.

There are classic read-alouds that I have always read to my kids at the beginning of the year, but I get giddy when I find new titles that I can add to my coaching room for teachers to share with their new groups of kiddos. Here are two finds that I highly encourage you to check-out!

The Book That I Love to Read by Joe Fitzpatrick. This is the cutest read-aloud ever! The main character is a boy who has found the PERFECT book. It kind of reminds me of The Monster at the End of This Book because each new page has fun surprises that primary kids will LOVE. Selfishly, I want to keep this book for myself when I do read-alouds in classrooms the first few weeks of school year to introduce myself to the kids. But, if a teacher REALLY wants it, then (of course) I will concede!

How to Read a Story by Kate Messner. This is quite possibly the most perfect book to read to kids before a lesson on choosing a Just-Right book. It is versatile enough to read at home with your own kids or to your class as you establish norms for independent and partner reading.  It is kind of a clearinghouse of all beginning of the year reading mini-lessons, as it addresses everything from choosing a place to read, to changing your voice to match the characters, to boldly exclaiming, "The End." Just precious. Amazon recommends this book for K-2nd grade, but I would read it to third graders in a heartbeat. If I had to choose a similar book, it kind of reminds me of Wolf! by Becky Bloom.

As the new school year quickly approaches, I will continue to find books to support the teachers and students I get to work alongside all year. What are your favorite back-to-school read-alouds?

I Like Picture Books and I Cannot Lie

One of the things I miss most about teaching my own class is reading aloud to kids. It would be fascinating to know the actual amount of hours I have read books aloud in my entire teaching career. When I was pregnant, my own personal children got to hear my voice ALL.DAY.LONG. as I read The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle, Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes, and The Magic Hat by Mem Fox.

The rhythm, cadence, and magic we find in picture books does so many great things for children. Reading aloud models fluent, passionate reading, it builds classroom community, it provides children with mentor texts they can emulate in their own writing, and it builds context for the rigorous content and complex social situations that kids must tackle on a daily basis.

Who was Sojourner Truth and why does she matter? 

Let's read a book about her.

Why do I need to understand probability? 

Let's read a book about it.

What is the effect of sunlight on plants?

Let's read a book about it.

How can a poem and a caring teacher change a student forever?

Let's read a book about it.

I've tried to be sneaky and get into classrooms as much as I can to read to kids. Readingrockets.org is a great website with lots of information for parents and teachers about the power of reading. Regarding read alouds, it says, "Reading aloud is one of the most important things parents and teachers can do with children. Reading aloud builds many important foundational skills, introduces vocabulary, provides a model of fluent, expressive reading, and helps children recognize what reading for pleasure is all about." 

Isn't reading for pleasure really what it's all about?

For more information on the magic of reading aloud to children, check out the Ten Read-Aloud Commandments by Mem Fox. She's my literacy idol, introducing me to Radical Reflections, Tough Boris, Where is the Green Sheep, Reading Magic, and countless others that my kids have heard over and over and over.

Have you read to a child today?

Magical reads...