“The Day the Crayons Quit” written by Drew Daywalt and illustrated by Oliver Jeffers is a New York Times Best Seller that will keep not only children, but also adults wanting to keep reading! The picture book is a series of resignation letters from crayons to their owner and would be perfect for a readers theater in the classroom. It‘s definitely one of my favorites! This website contains fun and creative teaching ideas to go with the book:

“Wolf in the Snow” by Matthew Cordell is a Boston Globe Horn award winning book about a little girl and a wolf who are both lost in a snow storm and must find their way home. Like “Mr. Wuffles!”, this book wordless and sparks children‘s imagination during a story telling or independent reading. The following website includes teacher resources for this piece: https://www.teachingbooks.net/tb.cgi?aid=8598

“Freedom in Congo Square” written by Carole Boston Weatherford and illustrated by R. Gregory Christie is an incredible nonfiction book that touches on African American history and poetry. The book is about how the people of New Orleans overcame difficult circumstances when they cane together each Sunday at Congo Square and forgot all their troubles. This historical fiction picture book is great for read aloud and has won several awards such as the

“Mr. Wuffles!” By David Weisner is not your average picture book to say the least! This world less book earned itself a Caldecott Award with its creative illustrations and leaves plenty of room for children to let their imagination soar. Mr. Wiffles is a cat who isn‘t interested in his own toys but instead would rather play with spaceships and aliens. This science fiction book makes for a perfect story telling or even an opportunity to have

“Dragons Love Tacos” written by Adam Rubin and illustrated by Daniel Salmieri is a unique and adorable book about just that..dragons that love tacos; all types of tacos! This New York Times best seller is relatable for all ages and a perfect way to keep children interested in this witty, fun spirited read aloud. This website includes some print outs to go along with the cute illustrations within the book:

“Good Night Owl” written and illustrated by Greg Pizzoli is an adorable book about a flustered owl who struggles to get a good nights rest because of a strange sound. The sweet picture book is a Geisel Award recipient and would be great to read aloud in an elementary classroom. Pinterest is a very useful and easy accessible place to find teacher resources for books like this one as you can see by visiting this link:

“Juana and Lucas” written and illustrated by Juana Medina is a Pura Belpre award winning children‘s literature book. This sweet story goes through the life of a little girl named Juana who is living in Colombia and finds the importance in learning the complicated language of English. The following website provides free teacher resources and lesson plans for the book after it has been read aloud:

“The Butterfly” written by Patricia Polacco is a historical fiction book perfect for introducing children to major historical events such as the holocaust. This book appropriately touches on the sensitive topic by following a young girl who‘s village has been terrorized by terrorists. This would be used best as a read aloud followed by the reading and writing activities that can be found in the following website:

An awesome science fiction book for children that I️ stumbled upon was The Most Magnificent Thing, written and illustrated by Ashley Spires. This picture book is great if IR or RA and takes readers through the journey of a young girl who hopes to make the most magnificent thing! She faces challenges but gets it just right with hard work and dedication. The following website includes activities, lesson plans, and useful vocab.

Actual Size, written and illustrated by Steve Jenkins is a nonfiction picture book like no other! This book the actual size of unique animals and will keep children in awe throughout each page. Though it is a simple book, there are some great lessons and teacher resources which can be found in the following website: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.brighthubeducation.com/lesson-plans-grades-1-2/...

Los Gatos Black on Halloween by Marisa Montes and illustrated by Yuyi Morales is a Pura Belpre award winning picture book that is great for incorporating culture into a classroom. The festive poetry book introduces children to Spanish words while telling the story of spooky characters who join together. This link will take you to a read aloud of the book which is a great option of non Spanish speaking teachers who want to share with their class.

The Ugly Duckling by Hans Christian Anderson, and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney is the perfect picture book for introducing students to traditional literature. It has won the Caldecott award and works great for story telling. The book tells a survival story of an awkward duck who faces many challenges but later grows into a beautiful swan. It‘s a great way to teach patience to young readers! The website attached includes a read aloud of the story.

Shel Silverstein‘s “The Giving Tree” is a narrative poetry piece that has gained mixed reviews based on its story. Some argue that the story of the boy who drains the tree for all that it has is inappropriate for young readers and has no educational value, while others believe that the story does indeed teach a lesson and should be used to introduce students to poetry that tells a story. Despite the negative reviews, this book was has been transla

Another classic great for any classroom, “Matilda” written by the talented Roald Dahl and illustrated by Quentin Blake. This was one of the first chapter books that stuck with me as a child and I️ later grew to fall in love with the live motion picture as well. Matilda is a little girl who faces a number of struggles at home and at school but uses her intelligence and love for reading to get through it. There are very distinct characters within th

“Where the Wild Things Are” is a classic in children‘s literature! The book was written and illustrated by Maurice Sendak and is a recipient of the Caldecott award. This story is full of imagination and fantasy- perfect for young readers as a read aloud! Another great thing about this timeless picture book is the amount of amazing teacher resources available to use in your own classroom. Many of which can be found at the following website:

Robert Munch stole the hearts of many for generations with his book “Love You Forever.” This picture book is a perfect read aloud and tells the heart warming story of the bond between a mother and son as thy both progress throughout life together. I️ would share this story with smaller age groups such as preschool to kindergarten. The website attached includes great teacher resources like lesson plans, worksheets, and vocabulary.

Wonder, written by R.J. Palacio is a must read, incredibly heartwarming story. This book tells the story of Auggie who was born with a rare face deformity. As a 5th grade student, he faces many struggles with fitting in and making friends but refuses to give up on showing his peers that he isn‘t much different from them at all. This novel would work great as either an IR or LC book. It has also won several awards and was made into a live motion pi

One Crazy Summer, written by Rita Williams-Garcia is an awesome IR or LC novel for young readers. Throughout the book, readers follow three sisters across the country in search of their mother whom they‘ve never had the opportunity to get to know. There are a number of ups and downs throughout this story, making it entertaining yet relatable in some ways for everyone. One Crazy Summer is also the recipient of numerous awards that all young readers

I️ Am Malala is a truly inspirational books for teen readers and even us teachers! I‘ve never had much interest for biographies/autobiographies until I️ read this book. Malala Yousafazi and Christina Lamb write about the moving story of Malala who was shot by the Taliban after standing up for education in her Muslim country. https://malala.gwu.edu/sites/malala.gwu.edu/files/OVPR-Malala.pdf The website that I️ included is a teachers resource guide

Xo, Ox: A Love Story is a fun and witty book illustrated by Adam Rex and designed by Scott Campbell. The book tells the hilarious story of a hopelessly romantic ox writing love letters to his uninterested love, the gazelle. This picture book would be great for an elementary class as an RA or even an RT. Because the theme of this story is letter writing, there are a number of great activities that can be used in the classroom such as a