Recommended Children's Literature
The best way to learn a concept is through doing. It is important to encourage young children to read. Many research studies have shown a correlation between reading time and achievement levels. The more time a student spends reading, the higher achievement level. As a teacher and parent, it is up to you to provide a love for reading both in and outside the classroom. The books teachers have in the classroom should be award-winning children's literate that fosters motivation, engagement, and early reading skills. I have hand picked and listed several great children's books and information below.
A Ball for Daisy by Chris Raschka
- Synopsis: This book is full of wordless pictures that represent the joy and sadness of having a special toy can bring. The book is about a dog named Daisy who has a favorite ball to play with. One day a bigger dog breaks the ball.
- Addressed literacy skills: wordless picture books are great books to use when teaching with the Language Experience Approach. Children are able to see that oral language can be transformed to written language. Children will tell a story based on the pictures and the teacher will write down what the children say. At the end of the activity, children can read their story.
- Synopsis: What is Cat’s favorite color? Children will read along with Cat and explore all the colors around him.
- Addressed literacy skills: concept of print, foundational skills, and print awareness (any book can used to teach these skills)
- Synopsis: Chicka Chicka Boom Boom is a rhyming book in which young children (ages 1 and up) are introduced to both lowercase and uppercase letters. One day the lowercase letters decide to climb up a tree in alphabetic order but eventually all fall out. After all the lowercase letters fall out, the uppercase letters come and help the lowercase letters. Together the upper and lowercase letters climb the tree in alphabetical order.
- Addressed literacy skills: letter naming and recognition and alphabetic principle
- Synopsis: Mr. Brown is a farmer with cows. One day in the barn, the cows find an old typewriter. The cows and other farm animals use the typewriter to write letters to Farmer Brown listing various requests.
- Addressed literacy skills: Print awareness is addressed through the book because not only are the children seeing text on the pages, they are seeing the text in the letters.
- Synopsis: Goodnight Moon is a book about a small bunny that is tucked away getting ready for bed. As he is lying down, the bunny says “goodnight” to various objects in the room.
- Addressed literacy skills: rhyming words and practicing narrative skills.
- Synopsis: I Ran the Zoo is about Gerald McGrew and his dreams of the animals he would have in his own zoo. Gerald McGrew talks about the variety of animals he would have along with this adventures he’ll have to go on to get them all.
- Addressed literacy skills: rhyming words and repetition.
- Synopsis: Baby Llama is sleeping in his own room. One night after his Mama tucks him in, Baby Llama turns bedtime into drama. After Mama tucks Baby Llama in, she heads downstairs and Baby Llama starts to worry. He starts to cry but Mama does not return immediately. Eventually Mama returns to calm Baby Llama down and get him to sleep.
- Addressed literacy skills: Phonological awareness such as word awareness and rhyming words.
- Synopsis: After seeing everyone admire his brothers Benjamin’s stamp collect and Karl’s coin collection, Max decides to start his own collection – words. He collects words by cutting them out of newspapers and magazines. While his brothers are bragging about how many items are in their collections, Max realizes he can use all his words to make a story.
- Addressed literacy skills: print awareness, alphabetic principle, and the understanding that words make up sentences, which can make up stories.
- Synopsis: Pete the Cat has on his favorite shirt, the one with four awesome buttons. As Pete goes on with his day, he starts to lose the buttons on by one. Pete does not cry when each button falls off, he just keeps singing his song.
- Addressed literacy skills: This book is great for students to develop oral language skills because they are able to recall the very repetitive button song.
- Synopsis: What Do You Do with a Tail Like this? is a book that leads children down a trail of exploration. Children explore the many amazing things animals can do with their ears, mouths, eyes, noses, feet, and tails. The book is designed to be an interactive guessing book leading to a book of discovery.
- Addressed literacy skills: Vocabulary – this book can present words children may not know creating time to walk about word meanings. Rich language is presented in the book also.