Children's Picture Books

Deedy, C.A. (2007). Martina the Beautiful Cockroach. Atlanta,GA:Peachtree.

 Martina is a beautiful cockroach.  It was time for her to choose a husband. Martina was worried about finding a husband.  Her grandmother told her to spill coffee on each suitor's shoes as a test to see how they would treat her when they were married. As all of the animals of Havana came calling, Martina performed the test.  After spilling coffee on each of them, she could see their true colors.  At last a quiet mouse was waiting to call on her.  She was prepared to spill the coffee on him, when he spilled it on her shoes instead. Now the coffee was on the other foot. At last she found her perfect match.

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Martina the Beautiful Cockroach 1

Martina the Beautiful Cockroach 2

Video: Read-Aloud of the book
 

DePaola, T. (1983). The Legend of the Bluebonnet. NY: Putnam.

This is a Native American legend that describes a time of drought and famine.  The famine took the very young and the very old.   A young child named She-Who-Is-Alone, has lost all of her family.  The only thing she has left is a doll with a beautiful blue feather.  It is her most valued possession.  The great spirits told the shaman that the people have become selfish.  To bring back the healing rains they must sacrifice a burnt offering of the most valued possession in the tribe.  The other members of the tribe did not wish to sacrifice their treasured possessions.  In the night, She-Who-Is-Alone burned her doll as a sacrifice for the tribe. In the morning the hillside was green with grass and covered with blue flowers, as blue as the feather on her doll's head. The girl is now known as One-Who-Dearly-Loved-Her-People.

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Lesson ideas

Guided Reading Lesson Ideas

 

Falconer, I.(2009) Olivia. NY: Atheneum.

Olivia is a little girl pig who is full of energy. She is good at lots of things, especially wearing people out. She likes to play dress up, she likes to move her cat Edwin,  and she likes to go to the beach and build huge sand castles.  Olivia also hates taking naps. She gets in trouble often, but her mother tells her she loves her anyway.

Great lesson ideas and extensions for this book:

First grade lessons

Olivia Unit

 

 

Sendak, M.(1963). Where the Wild Things Are. NY: HarperCollins

A mischievous boy gets into great trouble at home one night.  His mom sends him to bed without eating. While he's in his room he sees a forest grow and a new world appear.  He sails away on a boat and lands on an island where the wild things are.  The wild things were roaring and gnashing their teeth and Max tames them by staring into their eyes. The wild things made him the king. They all had a wild rumpus parade together.Then, suddenly Max smells something good to eat from far away.  He leaves the wild things to sail back home. When he returns to his bedroom, he finds his supper waiting for him, and it's still hot.

Great lesson ideas and extensions for this book:

Many games and activities

Lessons and ideas from Pinterest
 

Singer, M. (2010). Mirror Mirror. NY: Dutton.

This is a book of very unique poems. The poems are about many different fairytales, such as The Princess and the Frog, Beauty and the Beast, as wells as Sleeping Beauty.  The poems are written in reversible verse.  You can read the poems from top to bottom, then reverse the lines and read from bottom to top. It provides an interesting new way of looking at each fairytale.

 

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Teaching books.net

 

 

Lesson ideas

 

Wiesner,D. (2001). The Three Pigs. NY: Clarion.

This book starts off as your basic three little pigs story, but then something different happens. The wolf blows a pig right out of the story. Soon, all the other pigs are knocking down pages to jump right out of the book. The pigs then begin to explore the world outside of the story.They turn one of the book pages into a paper airplane and fly away on it. When they crash the plane, they notice other books with animals. They run through the books and interact with the other characters. The pigs then decide it's time to go back to their own story. The characters they met from the other stories come to their book to visit them and end up saving the pigs from the wolf.

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Many ideas for The Three Pigs

Discussions and Activities

Klassen, J. (2012). This is not my Hat. Boston, MA: Candlewick

A very small fish  takes a hat from a very large fish while he sleeps.  The small fish thinks he will get away with stealing the hat by going far away and hiding in the tall grass.  He only tells one other animal what has happened and he is sure that this animal will not give him away.  In the end, we see the big fish swim in the tall grass and come back out with his hat on his head.

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Lessons on Questioning

Writing Lesson Plan

Brown, P. (2014). My Teacher is a Monster. NJ: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers.

Bobby and his teacher do not really agree or get along.  Bobby's teacher looks and acts like a monster, until one day when Bobby sees his teacher at the park. They soon find many things to do together. Things begin to change and Bobby begins to see his teacher in a new way.  She slowly changes from a monster to a real person.

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Character Traits lesson

Smith, L. (2011). It's a Book. NY: Roaring Brook

A monkey is reading a book when a very tech savvy jackass begins to ask him questions about his book.  The jackass doesn't understand that the book does not allow you to blog, scroll down, or text.  It also doesn't need to be charged.  When the Jackass finally sits down to read the book, he doesn't want to give it up.  The book ends with a very hilarious one-liner!

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Lesson ideas

More lesson ideas and guides

Munsch, R. (2012). The Paper Bag Princess. NY: Annick Press

The Paper Bag Princess begins with a beautiful princes dressed in fine clothes.  She is planning to marry a prince named Ronald.  Suddenly, a dragon flies in and ruins her castle, burns all her clothes and takes off with the prince.  The only thing for the princess to wear is a paper bag.  She then begins her search for the prince. She finds the dragon and tricks him into breathing fire and flying around the world until he is so exhausted he falls down and sleeps.  She takes off to rescue the prince, but he is not happy with her paper bag dress or how dirty she is.  The princess decides not to marry the prince after all. 

Great lesson ideas and extensions for this book:

Many lesson ideas for reading and writing

Many ideas from Pinterest




Children's Picture Books Criteria