Book of the Month Suggestions

Are you looking for some new read alouds for your classroom?  Perhaps you are searching for titles that you can give to all the teachers in your school as a school-wide book of the month project.  I am an avid collector of children's picture books and happy to tell you about some of my favorite titles.  I chose the following books because they do the following things:

Provide opportunities for whole class conversations on issues that matter to students.

Provide opportunities for conversation with young students as well as upper elementary students.

Provide opportunities to learn new vocabulary and read in a variety of genres.

Provide opportunities for community building and opportunities to build a positive school culture.

If you want to read more about school-wide read alouds, I recommend chapter three in A School Leader's Guide to Excellence by Carmen Farina and Laura Kotch.

On with the titles!  Click on them to see links to purchase and to read a few reviews.  My apologies in advance if this post makes your pocketbook a little lighter.  They are all so good!

Calvin Can't Fly

Naked Mole Rat Gets DressedHow to Heal a Broken Wing Animals Nobody Loves (Nonfiction)

Pemba Sherpa

City Dog, Country Frog

Once I Ate A Pie (Poetry)

Looking Like Me

Finally, if you love books as much as I do, you MUST get a membership to the Cooperative Children's Book Center.  This non-lending children's book library is on the campus of the University of Wisconsin Madison.  The librarians on staff (who have historically been members and/or chairs of the Caldecott and Newberry Award panels) read and read and read along with members like you and me to develop reading lists that teachers, parents, and librarians can use.  Here is a link to their site that shares some of the elementary book lists.  If you use the site, please consider joining me as a member.