Classic Picturebooks/Randolph Caldecott Winners

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie
Laura Numeroff

Grade Level: Pre-school and up

I love Laura Numeroff books! If You Give a Mouse a Cookie has the same layout of If You Give a Moose a Muffin and If You Give a Pig a Pancake; all starting off with one request from the main character that takes you to another request, and another, and another, and so on. Very cute! Kids love these books and they are definitely great read-alouds because the storylines are easy to follow. These books are good for doing a mini-lesson on cause and effect.

No, David!
David Shannon

Recommended Ages: 4-7, Interest Level: Pre-K -2^nd grade

This Caldecott Honor is very cute. It tells the story of a little boy, David, who is constantly being told “No!” -Don’t color on the walls, or don’t jump on your bed, until he is finally told at the end of the story, “Yes”. I think that children find this book funny and relatable. This makes a great read-aloud because every time I’ve read this book, the students are hysterical laughing and can’t get enough of seeing the illustration of David running naked down the street. The illustrations are unique.

Strega Nona

Tomie De Paola

Caldecott Award Winner

Interest Level: K -2

I loved this book growing up because I call my grandmother Nonna and I told her about the book when I read it. She got a kick out of me calling her a witch! Strega Nona warns Big Anthony not to touch her magic pasta pot, but he does anyways. When the pasta continues to flow because he doesn’t know how to stop it, Strega Nona makes him eat it all. The idea of a guy eating enough pasta to fill up the town, when you are seven or eight years old is hysterical, or at least it was for me! This is another great read-aloud. The illustrations are average compared to today’s pictures.

Kitten’s First Full moon

Kevin Henkes

Caldecott Award Winner

Interest Level: Pre-K -2

Kitten believes the moon is a bowl of milk the first time seeing it. The story tells her quest of trying to get to the bowl of milk and will make children laugh when she tries to lick the moon and gets a bug on her tongue instead. The whole book is in black-and-white with a big font, but it is classic and enjoyable.  

 
Lilly’s Plastic Purple Purse

Kevin Henkes

Age Level: 4 and up , Grade Level: Pre-school and up

Lilly usually loves her teacher Mr. Slinger, but she gets angry with him in this book. That’s because he has taken away her new, favorite, purple, plastic purse that plays music. Even though Lilly was distracted by the purse, she’s so mad with Mr. Slinger that she writes a mean note/drawing to him. When Lilly gets her purse back she’s saddened to see a nice note from Mr. Slinger, which makes her feel bad about the drawing she made.  Illustrations and small details in this book are amazing. It is definitely a good read-aloud with a discussion to follow with questions like, Why did Lilly’s purse get taken? and How do you think she felt when she read Mr. Slinger’s note?

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

Age Level: 6 & up

Alexander has one of those days when everything seems to go wrong from the minute he wakes up, and continues throughout his day. This is relatable to everyone! Everyone has bad days, or has had bad things happen to them during the day, and sometimes even consecutively. So the message is very important; that it’s okay to have a bad day. The illustrations are decent, and the mom’s message to Alexander at the end is worth discussing with students/patrons.

A Chair for My Mother
Vera B. Williams

Caldecott Award Winner

Age Level: 3-6

This book is heartwarming. Rosa, her mother, and her grandmother lost their furniture in a house fire. The story tells of the three of them all saving their change so that they can buy “a wonderful, beautiful, fat, soft armchair". Awesome book, amazing illustrations! This would make a great read-aloud.

Goodnight Moon
Margaret W. Brown

Age Level: 1 and up

Goodnight Moon is one of the most, if not the most, classic picturebooks of all time (in my opinion at least). It is about a bunny saying goodnight to all of the objects, and even the inanimate things, around him. He says goodnight to things within and outside of the house (“cow jumping over the moon”). I believe parents have been telling this goodnight story for ages and will continue to for a long time. It is absolutely a read-aloud and a staple to many children’s personal libraries.

Make Way for Ducklings

Robert McCloskey

Caldecott Award Winner

Age Level: 3 and up, Grade Level: Pres-school and up

A male and a female mallard duck decide to raise their eight ducklings in the Public Garden Lagoon in Boston, Massachusetts. When the father duck is away for one week, the mother must teach the ducklings (all names ending in –ack) how to be a duckling. This includes how to cross the streets to get to and from the Garden. With the help of a few police officers who help stop traffic, the ducklings and mother cross the highway to meet their father. The book is definitely older, and the pictures are in black-and-white but it is still a lovely story. I could see why it is a Caldecott Award Winner.

Easy Readers

1. Henry and Mudge and the Snowman Plan by Cynthia Rylant

Ages 6-8

Henry and his dog Mudge see a sign in a store window saying there will be a snowman contest in the park. Henry asks his father if he can enter and his father says yes. There is limited text on each page, making it easy for beginner readers to read. There are also great illustrations to keep them entertained. I think children would especially like seeing the other contestant’s snow’men’ (cats, dogs, aliens etc). 

2. Fly High, Fly Girl by Tedd Arnold

Ages: 5-7 Interest Level: K - 2

Buzz and his family are going on vacation. Buzz’ dad says his pet fly, Fly Guy, can’t come, but Fly Guy ends up with the family on the trip by accident. They go to places such as the beach, the art museum, and a fun park. When the family gets lost on the way home, Fly Guy comes to the rescue. This series is a favorite of students of mine and I can see why. The pictures are great, the chapters are short, and the words are limited; perfect for first-time readers. 

3.    Arthur’s Pen Pal by Lillian Hoban

Age Level: 4 and up, Grade Level: K and up

An “I Can Read Book”

Arthur the chimpanzee thinks his sister Violet is a pain. He writes a letter to his pen pal Sandy, thinking that that will be more fun than playing with Violet. Arthur thinks Sandy is so cool because “he is learning karate and he plays the drums” but soon learns that Sandy is not as great as he thinks. Arthur also learns that Violet isn’t as bad as he originally thought. The illustrations are very cute; a little outdated but still nice. Words are also limited making this a great easy reader. 

4. Bravo, Amelia Bedelia by Herman Parish

Age Level: 4 and up, Grade Level: K and up

Amelia Bedelia Series

Amelia Bedelia is a hilarious character that takes directions literally and always messes up. For example, when the musical conductor asks her to play the violin by ear – Amelia thinks she must literally play the violin next to her ear. This is a great series for beginner readers as it is widely entertaining and silly. 

5. Frog and Toad Together by Arnold Lobel

Age Level: 4 and up, Grade Level: K and up

This is another “I Can Read Book”, as well as a series, and a Newberry Honor winner. Frog and Toad are friends and enjoy each other’s company. The pictures in this book are also a little outdated, not because of the copy, but because it was published in 1971. I know that children are visual learners, but nonetheless my students love hearing and reading about the adventures of Frog and Toad. 

6. Pinky and Rex and the New Baby by James Howe

Age Range: 5-8

Rex and Pinky are best friends. Rex’s family is about to adopt a baby but she’s not so sure that’s a good idea. Pinky helps Rex not be upset. This is also an older series but still is great today. There are more words on the pages than the previous observed books, so I think this would be good for higher-level beginner readers (if that makes sense!). 

7. Rotten Ralph Helps Out by Jack Gantos

Age Range: 5-8

Grade Range: 1-3

Sarah’s cat Ralph is always misbehaving and getting into trouble. In this book, which is also a series, Sarah needs to do a school project on Ancient Egyptians. Rotten Ralph learns how to help Sarah with her assignment. There are few sentences on each page. The pictures are bigger proportioned than the words, which works fine for beginner readers. 

8. Stop, Train, Stop! A Thomas the Tank Engine Story by the Reverend Wilbert Awdry

Age Level: 5 and up, Grade Level: K and up

This book is part of The Railway Series. It tells a story of Thomas the Tank Engine not being able to stop, sending the people aboard into havoc. The pictures cover the pages from top to bottom with a few words on each page. This would definitely grab the interest and attention of those who like Thomas. 

9. Bones and the Roller Coaster Mystery by David A. Adler

Age Level: 5-8, Grade Level: K-2

Detective Jeffrey Bones and Grandpa are at an amusement park and must find the missing roller coaster tickets. The pictures are great in this book; updated and colorful. The storyline is easy to follow, the sentences are short, and the illustrator provides visual clues to help solve the mystery. I love David Adler. He is a great author and he came on an author visit to my school! 

10. Harry in Trouble by Barbara Ann Porte

Age Level: 6 and up, Grade Level: 1 and up

Harry has lost his library card and tries to remember where it can be by tracing his steps. The font is nice and big, making it easy for beginner readers to see. The pictures are pretty decent compared to the publication date (1989). 

1st entry - book from childhood

A book from my childhood that left an impression on me – hmm… where to start? I have been thinking about the answer to this for awhile and am having difficulty narrowing down to just one singular book that left a great impression on me because there were so many! When I think back to my childhood and associate reading with it-I think of the authors and series I enjoyed such as Ann M. Martin’s Baby-sitter’s Club, Francine Pascal’s Sweet Valley High series, Beverly Cleary’s endless classics (to me at least) such as the Ramona series, The Secret Garden and A Little Princess that I loved and read multiple times... The list goes on and on. I’d have to say that to narrow it down, Ann M. Martin’s Baby-sitter’s Club, and even Baby-sitters Little Sister, series were the most stand-out to me. I can remember to this day just how much I loved those books. I was obsessed and read them all non-stop. I’m not even sure how I was introduced to them; I wish I could say I remember my school librarian suggesting them to me, but I’m not sure that was the case. All I know is that it was a consistent obsession of sorts for many years. I was hooked and needed to read every single book, even the “Super Specials”. I couldn’t wait for a new one to come out, and I can remember doing book reports and book discussions on the series and my favorite characters I came to love. I know I wrote to Ann (probably more than once too), and she was who inspired me to want to become an author. I would read the books front to cover including her biography in the back, which was mostly the same each time and maybe changed after a couple of years, but I would read it anyways and think ‘one day that’s going to be me!’ (So cheesy, I know! J) But I can honestly remember being so in love with that series and think it had a lot to do with developing my love of reading. I can remember going to my public library and stocking up on these books like crazy! -As if they were going out of stock or something.

            I can’t remember exactly when I started to read the series, but I know that I was reading them by at least third grade, and I think I began reading Baby-sitter’s Club before reading Baby-sitters Little Sister actually. I can remember each book always started the story and then went into the explanations of who everyone was in the club and what the club was etc., and I remember reading about and knowing about one of the main-characters Kristy who started the club and Mrs. Martin would mention Kristy has two step-siblings; a step-sister Karen who would turn out to be the main character in the Baby-sitters Little Sister series. I’m not sure if the little sister series came out after the older girls’ books, or I just read them in the wrong order, but I do know I knew the older club first-and maybe read the other series because I loved them so much and thought they’d be good even if they were easier reads.

Okay so with all that being said- I was supposed to pick one book. It would be difficult to narrow down to my all-time favorite, so since the series itself was most influential to me I will pick the first of the series Kristy’s Great Idea for purposes of this assignment. Kristy’s Great Idea explains the concept of the series; a group of 4 girls (eventually adding on 6 more) form a club where parents in their hometown of Stoneybrook, Connecticut can call and set-up babysitters. Kristy is the main character in the first book, and the one who comes up with the idea (hence the title). Each book in the series is told through the point-of-view of one of the main characters (Kristy, Claudia, Mary Anne, and Stacy originally, with Dawn, Mallory & Jessi added in).

What did I enjoy about the book? At the time reading them, I thought they were just the coolest girls and wanted to be just like them. I also thought it was a cool idea to be working and in a club with your best friends. I can even remember stereotyping which of my girlfriends fit each character’s personalities. I took a liking to Kristy because she played softball like me and was sort of a tomboy, but also could relate to boy-crazy, flirty Stacy. I even saw traces of myself in Mary Ann’s shy, non-confrontational personality. Because Mrs. Martin’s characters were so realistic, I felt connected to them and wanted to see what happened to them in upcoming books. The characters and their ‘handwriting’ intrigued me (Ann wrote the first page of each chapter in that particular character’s handwriting).