Title

Author/Illustrator

Genre/Award

Recommended Grade Level

Ideas for Classroom Use

Brief Summary

There was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly

As told by Simms Taback

Caldecott

Pre-K-1^st

Let students practice telling the story on their own with flannel board characters. ELAKLSV1d

A silly folk poem about an old lady who swallows all kinds of creatures trying to get rid of a fly.

Sylvester and the Magic Pebble

William Steig

Caldecott

2^nd-4^th

Introduce the book and then have the children write down 3 things they would wish for, or would wish to be. Read the story and then discuss how important those things are after hearing what happened to Sylvester.

Sylvester the donkey finds a magic pebble that will grant him whatever he wishes.  He finds out wishing to be something else is not always good.

The Amazing Bone

William Steig

Caldecott

2^nd-4^th

Have children play a game where they take turns drawing pieces of paper with sounds on them, and the students have to imitate the sound like the amazing bone.

Pearl the pig finds an amazing bone who can imitate any sound.  The bone saves her life and they become life long friends.

Swamp Angel

Anne Isaacs/

Paul O. Zelinsky

Caldecott

(Read aloud to K-2^nd) 3^rd-5^th

Talk about other American tall tales. Have the students try to write their own tall tales. ELAKR6a

Swamp Angel is a heroic pioneer who saves settlers from a bear known as Thundering Tarnation.  She is like a female Paul Bunyan.

Click, Clack, Moo Cows That Type

Doreen Cronin/ Betsy Lewin

Caldecott

Pre-K-3rd

Use the letters in the story for examples to have the students write letters of their own. ELA2W1

Farmer Brown’s cows are out of control.  The cows are typing demand letters and going on strike.  What is a farmer to do?

Blueberries for Sal

Robert McCloskey

Caldecott

K-3rd

Draw an illustration using only blue color from the book.

Little Sal’s mother takes her to pick blueberries, but they run into Little Bear and his mother.

Jumanji

Chris Van Allsburg

Caldecott

1^st-3^rd

Have students use boxes to make parade floats about the story.

Judy and Peter find a seemingly harmless board game under a tree. Little do they know that it harbors terrors of the jungle.

Owen

Kevin Henkes

Caldecott

Pre-K-1^st

Let the students make a puppet of a character from the story.

Owen does not want to give up his blanket, Fuzzy.

Title

Author/Illustrator

Genre/Award

Recommended Grade Level

Ideas for Classroom Use

Brief Summary

Miracles on Maple Hill

Virginia Sorenson

Newbery*

(chapter book)

5^th-7^th

Bring a griddle and let the children help make pancakes.  Let them try real maple syrup.

Marly’s daddy has not been the same since he came home from the war so the family moves to the country to see if that helps. Marly and her brother, Joe, have fun learning to live in the country.  The whole family is praying for miracles to happen on Maple Hill.

Ramona Quimby, Age 8

Beverly Cleary

Newbery*

(chapter book)

2^nd-4^th

Have students create a commercial like Ramona to sell this book.

Ramona has new adventures and responsibilities as an eight-year-old. She must cope with bullies, a new teacher, a new school, and a moody family… and don’t forget annoying little Willa Jean.

A Long Way from Chicago

Richard Peck

Newbery*

(chapter book)

4^th-6^th

Have students make a memory quilt of things from the book.

Joey and Mary Alice do not want to go to Grandma’s, but every summer Grandma Dowdel leads them on one grand adventure after another.

My Side of the Mountain

Jean Craighead George

Newbery*

(chapter book)

4^th-6^th

Have students put on the Oprah Winfrey Show. Sam Gribley, his parents, and his friends can be the guests.

Sam Gribley is a boy who despises the city.  He moves to the land of his great-grandfather in the Catskills to live off the land.  Sam faces many obstacles, but makes friends with the animals and the land.

Bridge to Terabithia

Katherine Paterson

Newbery*

(chapter book)

4^th-6^th

Have the class form literary circles.  Each student will write a reader’s response journal to discuss with his/her group.

Jess Aarons worst enemy (the fastest runner in 5^th grade) turns into his greatest friend.  She teaches Jess some valuable lessons about life in this story of their own magical land, but even made-up kingdoms are not immune to tragedy.

Title

Author/Illustrator

Genre/Award

Recommended Grade Level

Ideas for Classroom Use

Brief Summary

The Rainbow Fish

Marcus Pfister/ Translated by J. Alison James

ABBY Winner (American Book Club Book of the Year)

Pre-K-2^nd

Allow students to create their own special rainbow fish using pieces of colored tissue paper, sequins, and glue.

A stuck-up fish learns the importance of sharing and friendships.

The Napping House

Audrey Wood/

Don Wood

1984 Golden Kite Award, A National Council of Teachers of  English 1984 Teacher’s Choice, and more

K-3^rd

After reading the book teach the students to sing the story like you would sing “This is the House that Jack Built”

A cumulative tale of all sorts of creatures taking a nap in a house. Get ready for a surprise ending.

A Taste of Blackberries

Doris Buchanan

1973 Child Study Association Award, 1974 Georgia Children’s Award, ALA Notable Book (extra chapter book)

3^rd-5^th

Have the children write a eulogy for Jamie.

A story of how a young boy deals with the unexpected death of his best friend.

The Patchwork Quilt

Valerie Flournoy/ Jerry Pickney

Coretta Scott King Award 1986

2^nd-3^rd

Have a project for the students to make their own “quilts” with memories of their families on it. They can use any media to make the quilts.

Tanya’s grandmother teaches her the heritage in patchwork quilts.  When Grandma gets sick the whole family pitches in to finish the quilt.

Dog Breath: The Horrible Trouble with Hally Tosis

Dan Pilkey

Georgia Children’s Picture Storybook Award 1997-1998

1^st-3^rd

Have students write a different ending to the story. (What other courageous feat could Hally have done to remain in the family?)

Hally Tosis has terrible dog breath.  She has to find a new home unless she can lose the smell.

My Teacher Sleeps in School

Leatie Weiss/

Ellen Weiss

Georgia Children’s Picture Storybook Award 1986-1987

K-2^nd

Allow students to draw a picture either about the teacher in the story or you (watch out this could be very scary).

Molly and her friends are convinced that their teacher lives at school.

Title

Author/Illustrator

Genre/Award

Recommended Grade Level

Ideas for Classroom Use

Brief Summary

A Cache of Jewels and Other Collective Nouns

Ruth Heller

Concept Book

1^st-4^th

Have students write a short story using as many collective nouns as possible.

A beautifully illustrated book that teaches children the concept of collective nouns. It talks about a batch or bread, a host of angels, and many more.

A Remainder of One

Elinor J. Pinczes/ Bonnie Mackain

Concept Book

3^rd-4^th

Teach a math lesson about dividing with remainders of one. Allow students to use concrete manipulatives to work the problem, and then try doing practice problems without manipulatives.

A rhyming book about a bug named Joe who is always the odd one out.  A good book to introduce the concept of remainders in division.

The Butterfly Alphabet

Kjell B. Sanved

ABC Book

K-5^th

Encourage children to explore the room to see what objects they can find shaped like letters.

An ABC book of photographs of butterfly wings with letters hidden inside the beauty of nature. It also includes facts about the butterflies.

Title

Author/Illustrator

Genre/Award

Recommended Grade Level

Ideas for Classroom Use

Brief Summary

Giggle, Giggle, Quack

Doreen Cronin/ Betsy Lewin

Predictable Book

Pre-K-1^st

Have children perform a reader’s theater. ELAKR4b

Farmer Brown takes a vacation and the animals, with the duck as ring leader, are up to all kinds of mischief.

Chrysanthemum

Kevin Henkes

Predictable Book

K-2^nd

Let students make up a song about either Chrysanthemum’s name or their own names.

Chrysanthemum loves her name until she starts school and the other students make fun of it.

Title

Author/Illustrator

Genre/Award

Recommended Grade Level

Ideas for Classroom Use

Brief Summary

The Legend of Old Befana

Retold by Tomie Depaola

Traditional literature

1^st-3^rd

Have students write a different ending to the story.

A cranky old woman is too busy to follow the wise men and the new star to the Christ Child in Bethlehem.  She spends the rest of her days searching for him and leaving gifts for children.

The Talking Eggs

Robert D. San Souci/ Jerry Pickney

Traditional literature/Caldecott

3^rd-5^th

Talk about how beauty is only skin deep (ex. The eggs in the story). Have the students make their own illustrations for the story (ex. One of the weird animals or the fancy eggs).

A Cajun folktale about a little girl who has a mean mother and sister. She befriends a strange old woman who gives her a magical escape from her troubles.

The Three Billy Goats Gruff

Retold by Janet Stevens

Traditional literature

K-2^nd

Teach a lesson on beginning-middle-end and have the children use drama to retell the story using flannel board puppets. ELAKR6e

The three Billy Goats Gruff have no grass to eat. They cannot cross the bridge to more grass because of the troll under the bridge.

Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters: An African Tale

Retold by John Steptoe

Traditional literature*

(also Coretta Scott King Award 1988)

1^st-3^rd

Have 2^nd or 3^rd graders write a timeline/ sequence of what happened in the story.

Mufaro has two beautiful daughters. One is very cruel and the other kind to everyone. Which will become queen?

Little Red Riding Hood

Margaret Hillert/ Gwen Connelly

Traditional literature

Pre-K-1st

Let students make a mobile with Little Red Riding Hood, the wolf, the grandmother and the basket of goodies.

Little Red Riding Hood is stalked by a wolf on the way to visit her grandmother.

Title

Author/Illustrator

Genre/Award

Recommended Grade Level

Ideas for Classroom Use

Brief Summary

Applemando’s Dreams

Patricia Polacco*

(author study)

Fantasy

2^nd-4^th

Let children use black construction paper (the drab village) as a canvas to paint dreams with brightly colored chalk.

A little boy named Applemando lives in a dull village, but dreams great dreams in vivid colors.  Only his friends can see his dreams.  Will the elders of the village ever appreciate Applemando’s dreams?

Popcorn

Frank Asch

Fantasy

1^st-3^rd

Try making one of the dozens of popcorn recipes from http://www.recipe-greeting-cards.com/popcorn-recipes.htm with the class.

Sam is home alone and decides to have a Halloween party. All his friends bring popcorn and the fun snack gets very out of control.

The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear

Don & Audrey Wood/Don Wood

Fantasy

Pre-K-1^st

Have students use any art supplies to make the big hungry bear. Let them dictate or write a sentence using punctuation on their bear. ELAKW1e

A little mouse tries everything to save his red, ripe strawberry from the big, hungry bear.

A House for Hermit Crab

Eric Carle

Fantasy

K-3^rd

Make a collage like Eric Carle of Hermit Crab’s new home.

Hermit Crab has outgrown his old shell. All he can find for a new one is a plain white shell. He has an interesting way of brightening up his new home.

Stellaluna

Janell Cannon

Fantasy

K-2^nd

Students will draw a comic strip of their favorite part.

A fruit bat named Stellaluna gets separated from her mother. She gets taken in by a family of birds, but they do everything opposite from bats.

Picnic at Mudsock Meadow

Patricia Polacco*

(author study)

Fantasy (only one magical element; is very close to realistic)

2^nd-4^th

Have a classroom festival with contests like in the story.

William just wants to be better than Hester at one thing, but he keeps failing at the picnic games.

Title

Author/Illustrator

Genre/Award

Recommended Grade Level

Ideas for Classroom Use

Brief Summary

Freckle Juice

Judy Blume

Realistic*

(chapter book)

1^st-3^rd

Ask students to write their own recipe for freckle juice or some other home remedy.

Andrew would do anything to have freckles like Nicky.  Sharon says she knows a secret recipe to give you freckles…for a price.

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

Judith Viorst/

Ray Cruz

Realistic

Pre-K-2^nd

Ask the students to write about where they dream about going when they have a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. ELAKW1b

Nothing seems to go right for Alexander today. He wants to move to Australia.

Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing

Judy Blume

Realistic*

(chapter book)

2^nd-4^th

Put students in groups. Each group will pick a scene from the book and do a tableau. The other groups will try to guess which scene it portrays.

Peter is nothing special. All his family pays attention to is his pesky little brother, Fudge.

My Rotten Redheaded Older Brother

Patricia Polacco*

(author study)

Realistic

K-2^nd

Have students create book jackets for the book.

Rotten redheaded brothers are awful. They always try to out do their little sisters.

Mrs. Mack

Patricia Polacco*

(author study)

Realistic

2^nd-4^th

Have students write a story about a horse. Tell them to create an imaginative name for it and use all the narrative elements that make a good story.

Pat spends her summer learning to ride horses on Mrs. Mack’s place. She also makes a few interesting friends.

Just Plain Fancy

Patricia Polacco*

(author study)

Realistic

1^st-3^rd

Have a class discussion about Amish culture.

An Amish girl longs for just one fancy thing.  It comes rather unexpectedly.

Thunder Cake

Patricia Polacco*

(author study)

Realistic

k-2^nd

Make thunder cake. The recipe is in the back of the book.

A little girl is terrified of storms. Her grandmother has her make a thunder cake to take her mind off of it.

Title

Author/Illustrator

Genre/Award

Recommended Grade Level

Ideas for Classroom Use

Brief Summary

Buffalo Bill and the Pony Express (from the Disney’s American Frontier series)

Debbie Dadey/ Charlie Shaw

Historical fiction*

(chapter book)

3rd-5^th

Let the students write a letter to “Buffalo Bill Cody” to be delivered by the Pony Express.

William Fredrick Cody makes a name for himself riding for the Pony Express.

The Wall

Eve Bunting/

Ron Himler

Historical Fiction Book

K-3^rd

Ask if students know what a monument is and Memorial Day.  A monument is something to remember people by. Make a monument for the class.  Use bulletin board paper and allow each child to put their name on it and decorate a section. SSKH1g

A boy and his father search for his grandfather’s name on the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, D.C.

Pink and Say

Patricia Polacco*

(author study)

Multicultural

5^th-6^th

Have students write a story they have heard about one of their family members.

Based on a true story of two heroic boys (one black the other white) fighting in the Civil War.

Title

Author/Illustrator

Genre/Award

Recommended Grade Level

Ideas for Classroom Use

Brief Summary

The Random House Book of Poetry for Children: A Treasury of 572 Poems for Today’s Child

Selected by Jack Prelutsky/Arnold Lobel

Poetry Anthology

Any age

Write several of the poems on a flip chart and have children come up and mask rhyming words, or answer questions about certain sounds or words.

A collection of poems for children including everything under the sun.

Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices

Paul Fleischman/ Eric Beddows

Poetry Anthology

(also a Newbery)

4^th-5^th

Have children pair up to write their own poem for two voices.

Poems about insects that are written to be read in parts by two readers simultaneously.

Title

Author/Illustrator

Genre/Awards

Recommended Grade Level

Ideas for Classroom Use

Brief Summary

In a Circle Long Ago: A Treasury of Native Lore from North America

Nancy Van Laan/ Lisa Desimini

Multicultural*

(chapter book)

Pre-K-5^th

Paint Native American paintings on brown paper bags.

This book gives a brief history of Native American Tribes.  It is also a wonderful collection of many Native American legends.

Amazing Grace

Mary Hoffman/ Caroline Burch

Multicultural

3^rd-4^th

Have children think up an alliterative to precede their own names. (ex. Adventurous Anthony) They can write it in big letters and then decorate it with 3-D art supplies (ex. Feathers, beads, etc.).

A girl named Grace can do amazing things if only she puts her mind to them.

Giving Thanks: A Native American Good Morning Message

Chief Jake Swamp/ Erwin Printup, Jr.

Multicultural

Pre-K-1^st

The students will each draw an illustration of something they are thankful for, and then they will either write or dictate a sentence about it. Combine the drawings for a class book. SSKH1d

A Thanksgiving chant of the Iroquois nation.

The Great Kapok Tree: A Tale of the Amazon Rain Forest

Lynne Cherry

Multicultural

2^nd-5^th

Have students draw an illustration and write a page about a rainforest animal. Combine all the students’ work and make a mini-book.

A man is supposed to cut down a tree in the rainforest, instead he falls asleep. He has a dream where all the animals confront him to plead with him to stop.

The Family Under the Bridge

Natalie Savage Carlson/Garth Williams

Multicultural*

(chapter book)

(also a Newbery)

4^th-5^th

Have the children make an open mind portrait of a character from the book.

A hobo in Paris befriends three homeless children, their widowed mother, and their dog.  He helps them through their desperate situation.

Title

Author/Illustrator

Genre

Recommended Grade Level

Ideas for Classroom Use

Brief Summary

Where’s That Insect?

Barbara & Bernice Chardiet/Carol Schwartz

Informational

All ages (read aloud to small children) Even I learned some facts I had never heard.

Go outside on an insect hunt. See if they can spot any of the insects from the book.

A participation book with fun facts about insects.  The readers must find the hidden insects on each page.

The Statue of Liberty

Lucille Recht Penner/Jada Rowland

Informational

Pre-K-1^st

Have the children make a statue of their own out of modeling clay.  SSKK2c

France donates a statue by Frederic Bartholdi to the United States.  Lady Liberty has since become an American icon.

You Want Women to Vote Lizzie Stanton?

Jean Fritz*/Dyanne Disalvo-Ryan

(read aloud author)

Biography*

(chapter book)

5^th-8^th

Children will pretend they are Lizzie Stanton and give a 1-2 minute speech about why they think women should be allowed to vote, or be her friend William Lloyd Garrison and give a speech on why slavery should be abolished.

This book details the life of Elizabeth Cady Stanton.  She fought for women’s right to vote (suffrage).

Fredrick Douglass: Portrait of a Freedom Fighter

Sheila Keenan

Biography

4^th-5^th

Have children write their own newspaper article about abolishing slavery.

This book tells the story of one of the most famous freedom fighters, Fredrick Douglass.

My Great Aunt Arizona

Gloria Houston/ Susan Condie Lamb

Biography

2^nd-4^th

Have students write a poem (any type) about Miss Arizona.

This book is a legacy to a school teacher who taught in a one-room school.  She influences generations of children in the Blue Ridge Mountains.