The Princess and the Warrior

by Duncan Tonatiuh

Looking for a great folktale?

This picture book explains the creation of two volcanoes found 40 miles southeast of Mexico City. Expand your teaching to show where Mexico City is on a map, and show photographs of the two volcanoes.  Itza is known as “la mujer dormida” and is an inactive volcano.  Popo sits next to Itza and has errupted as recently as 2013.

Catalog blurb:  Daughter of the emperor, Izta has no desire to marry a wealthy, powerful man like she’s supposed to. Instead, she has her eye on Popoca, a warrior. Izta’s father agrees to allow the marriage if Popoca can defeat Jaguar Claw, the ultimate enemy.

This book would be great to teach

• Folktales
• Problem and Solution
• Beginning, Middle, and End
• Context Clues (there are a lot of Spanish words in this book that are not directly defined)

 

We Found a Hat

by Jon Klassen

Two turtles. One Hat. They found it together. So who should get it?

Great story about friendship, empathy, and sharing. What do you do if two people find one object? Who gets it? Is it right to go get it yourself if the other person is not watching?

Teach right and wrong with this great story!

Last Stop on Market Street

Last Stop on Market Street

by Matt de la Peña
pictures by Christian Robinson

Book Blurb: A young boy rides the bus across town with his grandmother and learns to appreciate the beauty in everyday things.

Award Alert–This book got THREE!

• 2016 Newbery Medal (for the words)
• 2016 Caldecott Honor (for the pictures pictures)
• 2016 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor (given to an African American illustrator)

Needing to teach the life skill of helping others?  This is the book for you.

Needing to get students thinking about being selfless?  This is the book for you.

Just need a book that will get kids thinking?  This is the book for you!

Where’s the Elephant?

Yes, this is a search-and-find book.

But, not in the typical “only find the elephant” kind of way.

This book introduces three characters: the elephant, the parrot, and the snake.  The remainder of the book is wordless where the reader encounters the animals’ habitat constantly shrinking due to deforestation.  Progressively, the animals become easier and easier to find.

Put this in your plans to use next year to compliment any environmental awareness unit or a great discussion starter on Earth Day!

Coming Home

Coming Home
by Greg Ruth

In this nearly wordless picture book, the boy waits and watched until finally being reunited with his mother, who is coming home from her deployment.

Add this book to your list of wordless picture books.

Need ideas on what to do with wordless picture books? Read this from Scholastic.

I will definitely be using this book to introduce the concept of Veteran’s Day next year! It is a great discussion starter for young students to talk about military personnel and the emotions that go along with a deployment.

Waiting

Waiting

by Kevin Henkes

Awards: Caldecott Honor, Theodor Seuss Geisel Honor

Book Blurb from the catalog: An owl, puppy, bear, bunny, and pig wait for marvelous things to happen.

 

Lesson Ideas:

Using illustrations to infer what happens.

Making predictions: What is the rabbit waiting for?

Writing prompt: What are you waiting for?
This book would be a great mentor text to get students writing about their hopes and dreams at the beginning of the year.  What are they waiting for this school year?

A definite must-read for an author study of Kevin Henkes
http://www.kevinhenkes.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Waiting-Kevin-Henkes-Author-Study-2015.pdf

 

The Goodbye Book

The Goodbye Book

by Todd Parr

Todd Parr doesn’t disappoint in his latest book!  He takes the difficult topic of death and grief and makes it accessible to young children.

Great read-along with a child who has just experienced the death of someone special.