August Book Selections

Back to School

In the first month of school, I like to read stories that set the tone for the school year and highlight any big emotions my little students might be feeling. The following are my favorite back to schoolbooks.  

Penn, A., Harper, R. E., & Leak, N. M. (2021). The kissing hand. Tanglewood Press.

My first selection is the classroom classic, The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn. This is the heart-warming story of little Chester the raccoon who is feeling anxious about starting school. His mama shares a family secret called "the Kissing Hand" to remind him of her love to provide him with reassurance when they are apart. Ruth Harper’s warm and delightful watercolor illustrations support the telling of this story and its calming and comforting message. This is an excellent story for the first day of school, especially for our Kindergarten students. 

Dewdney, A. (2022). Llama Llama misses mama. Viking.

It's Llama Llama's first day of preschool and everything and everyone is strange and new. The teacher and the other children show Llama Llama how much fun school can be.  This story probably echoes many of the feelings and thoughts of the students in the first few days of school. Many of my students recognize Llama Llama for the Llama Llama book series from Anna Dewdney which features 50 stories. 

Beaumont, K., & Catrow, D. (2021). I like myself! Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

This is a fun story of a little girl who uses her imagination to express her healthy self-esteem and teaches children to love themselves.  The story features silly and colorful illustrations and fun rhyming words. It’s the perfect story to help children feel more comfortable and confident in themselves as we start the new school year. This book is perfect for children ages 4-8 and a fun read to help “break the ice”. 

Ways to expand on the books

• Have children look in a mirror and draw a self-portrait. I like to frame these portraits and display on a wall for the whole year. 

• Have children write about how they felt on the first day of school.

Questions to ask your students

• Ask the children if they can think of a time when someone might feel all alone because they miss someone special.

• What does Chester do when he feels lonely and needs his mom?

• What do you like about yourself?

 Non-Fiction  

        This genre includes informational texts, biographies, autobiographies, and memoirs. Non-fiction has a bad rap for being boring or stuffy but most of the time truth can be just as entertaining as fiction. Children have the natural tendency to be curious about the world around them. We get these questions all the time in the kindergarten classroom. Who found the first dinosaur? Where do crayons come from? How is a car made? Why is the sky blue? These stories help us answer some of those questions. 

Skeers, L.; Miguéns, A. M. (2020). Dinosaur lady: The daring discoveries of Mary Anning, the first paleontologist. Sourcebooks Explore.

        Dinosaur Lady: The Daring Discoveries of Mary Anning, the First Paleontologist is a gorgeously illustrated picture book biography of Mary Anning. This story will not only inform children about the discovery of dinosaurs and how that changed the world but also the importance of female scientists. It is a fantastic biography for young children. 

         Mary was a little English girl who loved hunting for fossils with her father along the coastline of England. She went on to discover and unearth the very first dinosaur bone and created paleontology: scientific study of dinosaurs. The straightforward text shows how Mary determination and quest for knowledge led to one on the greatest scientific discoveries.

         The illustrations are exciting, visually appealing,  bright and colorful. They do a wonderful job of expanding on the text and bringing the story to life. I love that she wears a dress while using tools. 

        My youngest son loves dinosaurs and when we visited England several years ago. We stayed in Lyme Regis where Mary Anning is a hero. We were able to search for fossils on the same beach she made her discovery, we even found a few. I loved reading more about Mary Anning. This is a great story to add to a dinosaur unit and what kid doesn’t love dinosaurs?

Gibbons, G. (2020). How a house is built. Holiday House.

        How a House is built by Gail Gibbons is my selection for a great example of informational text. Gail Gibbons does a wonderful job illustrating and explaining each step of building a house. From planning, surveying, laying a foundation and then each phase of construction. This story is both informational and easy to understand for our young students. 

        The illustrations are bright and contain labels for the new vocabulary words and other important information not always listed within the text. She even illustrates many styles of homes at the end. 

        Gail Gibbons is one of my favorite non-fiction/informational text authors. She has written and illustrated 67 books that have been published. Her books are factual and written with her young audience in mind with every word choice. She has written books that cover many topics and has won numerous literary awards. 

 

Ways to expand on the books

• Have children create “fossils” using salt dough and dinosaur toys.

• Dig for dinosaur bones in a sand table.

• Have the children build a model house with blocks or loose materials.

• Ask a local architect for old blueprints for the children to explore. Encourage them to draw a blueprint of their own. 

Questions to ask your students

• How old was Mary when she made her first major discovery? 

• What does a paleontologist do?

• Which construction job would you like to do most and why?

• Which job do you think is most important when building a house?