BOOK SUGGESTIONS & REVIEWS
- Suggested Books and Activities (curry.edschool.virginia.edu)
- A Book A Week (curry.edschool.virginia.edu)
101 BEST BOOKS (taken from 101 Best Books For Children (pdf list))
| BOOK | GENRE | USE |
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Story | Predictable Text Rhyming |
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ABC Book | Guessing Element |
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ABC Book | Alphabet Animals |
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Info Book | Science - Biology Suggestions for Children |
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Info Book Recount |
Fall Growing |
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Story | Science |
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Story | Foods We Eat Feelings |
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Info Book | Baking |
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Recount | Predictable Text & Colors |
| Info Book, Recount |
Sculpey Clay pictures Colors Farm |
|
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Story | Bed Time Feelings - fear |
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Story | Predictable Text Acting Out |
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Wordless, Story |
Language Development Block Play |
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Info/Recount | Sequence |
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Poetry | Predictable Text Months of the Year |
 
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Chant | Rhyming text with excellent meter. Children to follow directions |
 
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Recount | Predictable Book |
| Corn-On and Off the Cob (Rookie Read-About Science) 
| Info Book | Farming, Native Americans |
 
|
Counting Book/ Story |
Rhyming Text |
 
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Story | Remembering Study Phonemic Awareness |
 
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Alphabet Book | Rhyme, Alphabet |
 
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"I Spy" Book | Nursery Rhyme Predictable Text |
Eating Fractions
|
Info Book, Math |
Math Food |
 
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Alphabet Book | Growing |
 
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Alphabet Book | Alphabet Farm Objects |
 
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Counting Book | Dinner Preparations Numbers Af-Am Family |
 
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Song | Farm Animals |
 
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Counting Book | Number Concepts |
 
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Info | Predictable Text Transportation Unit |
 
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Story | Winter Attention to Sound |
 
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Story | Sounds Kindergarten Transition |
 
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Info | Sequence Ice Cream |
 
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Folk Tale | Acting Out Story Structure |
 
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Wordless Story (mostly) |
Zoo Bed Time Language Development Compare/Contrast |
 
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Info | Holidays |
 
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Story | Echoes |
 
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Story | Imagination Crayon Unit |
 
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Story | Predictable Text Where's Waldo aspect |
 
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Info Book | Social Studies |
 
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Info Book | Planting suggestions Attention to different Seeds |
 
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Info Book | Growing Animals |
"I Can't" Said the Ant
|
Story | Rhyming Text |
SERIES
Berenstain Bears
I love reading Berenstain Bears books to my girls and they love them as well. Not only are they fun to read, each one contains a great message that is important for young children to learn. They are a little long for very young children but my 2 1/2 year old will sit though as many as I read.
Little Critter Books
Another of my favorite series are the Little Critter Books. They are shorter than the Berenstain Bear books and use language young children can understand.
Clifford The Big Red Dog
Clifford the Big Red Dog are also fun books that children enjoy.
Curious George
This little curious monkey just can't seem to stay out of trouble. Things always turn out right in the end though.
Dr. Seuss
This list would never be complete without Dr. Seuss books. From Green Eggs and Ham to One Fish, Two Fish, these fun, nonsensical books will keep you coming back for more.
Fisher-Price Little People Books
I found these Fisher-Price Little People books at the library and checked them out for my 2 1/2 year old. At first I was a little nervous because they have flaps that you can lift and I was affraid the book would end up in pieces before the day was over. The flaps were pretty sturdy (unlike some books) and my daughter was so excited about lifting the flaps and seeing what was under them that she didn't even attempt to rip them off.
She loved these books! She was entertained by them for a long time. They are full of many things to look at and many things I can talk about with her.
Not only are these books filled with things to see, they also teach children many different things like colors, shapes, counting, matching and opposites.
This book teaches colors, shapes, counting, matching and pairing. |
This book teaches counting, shapes, animal sounds, colors and opposites. |
This book teaches action words, shapes and colors, counting, opposites and feelings. |
Sandra Boynton
I really like Sandra Boynton books. They are funny, the pictures are adorable and the rhymes are great.
PARENTING BOOKS
From Playpens to Proving Grounds is a book on discipline and natural consequences that was recommended to me. Although I have not read it yet I am told it is very good.
Here are several other parenting books. I can't really recommend any in particular since I haven't read any of them, but there are many options and resources out there for parents that are looking to get ideas on parenting their toddler or preschooler.
I would recommend the Parents Magazine to those parents looking for ideas on parenting. It comes monthly and has some great articles on parenting children ages 0-12 years.
ACTIVITY BOOKS
Peak with Books: An Early Childhood Resource for Balanced Literacy
This book has several activities that children can do using picture books as a base. Here is a link to some sample activities for each picture book.
Here are some books that are full of ideas for activities you can do with your toddler and/or preschooler. I especially like the "Busy Books". They have so many great ideas.
MORE BOOK REVIEWS
| How to Choose a Children's Book, Parts 1 and 2 - Subjective Appeal is Not Optional |
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This article is the first in a series on how to choose a children's book. In Part 1 of this article I will lay out the road map for the series, and then in Part 2 I will begin discussing the notion of "subjective appeal", i.e., the considerations that might make a book appealing to a child. In particular I will argue for the importance of considering subjective appeal when choosing a book.
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| Hilarious But Horrible Attitudes - A Review of Diary of a Wimpy Kid |
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With the March 19th, 2010, release date of the movie based on Diary of a Wimpy Kid fast approaching, I thought I would write a review of this madly popular book. Although it was first published in 2007, it remains on the New York Times Bestseller List (for series books) and has been there for 57 weeks (!). In this review I will take a somewhat contrarian view of the book: I do not like it as much as it seems most everyone else does. "Why," you ask? Read on fair reader.
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| Sewing a Friendship |
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Sewing a Friendship by Natalie Tinti is a wonderful story about friendship and how each person's differences are not a hindrance to build a lasting one. It's a warm story about five girls finding each other's company in midst of needs.
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| Nine is Divine! How Dr Seuss Shaped My Thinking |
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Life is serious. Just think about it for a moment - All kinds of child like wonders and accomplishments evaporate when we have to be responsible, serious adults. So, I've been thinking. What if I looked at life the same way I did when I was a wee lass?
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| Humorous Portrayal of Bad Values - A Review of the Adventures of Captain Underpants, by Dav Pilkey |
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George Beard and Harold Hutchins, the main characters of The Adventures of Captain Underpants, are pranksters of the first order. In this installment of Pilkey's Captain Underpants series, George and Harold pull an outrageous set of pranks at their elementary school football game.
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| Gripping Story, Haunting Illustrations - A Review of the Invention of Hugo Cabret, by Brian Selznick |
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Hugo Cabret is an orphan boy who secretly maintains the clocks at a Paris railway station. His father--once an horologist--died in a fire while repairing an automaton, a highly complex machine designed to look and to write like a human being. Hugo has salvaged the remains of the automaton, now hidden in Hugo's room in the walls of the train station, and he steals mechanical parts in his attempt to finish his father's project of restoring it. Hugo is convinced that, once restored, the automaton will convey a message to him from his deceased father.
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| The Virtue of Mercy, Stunningly Illustrated - The Lion and the Mouse, by Jerry Pinkney |
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Pinkney's 2010 Caldecott Medal winner, The Lion & the Mouse, is a retelling--or, rather a re-showing--of Aesop's traditional fable by the same name. As the story is traditionally told, a mouse is caught by a lion and pleads for her life by arguing that one day the lion might need her help.
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| Children's Books - Nobunny Does it Better |
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What's the best first book for children? Only the bunny knows for sure.
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| Dr. King's Historic Speech - I Have a Dream - Forward by Coretta Scott King |
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The idea behind this book is simple: publish the text of Martin Luther King Jr.'s famous "I Have a Dream" speech--delivered in the 1963 March on Washington--accompanied by the illustrative art of fifteen artists whose work has featured in books that have received the Coretta Scott King Award or Honor. The result is a moving and beautiful remembrance of this historic moment in the American story, a worthy tribute to the visionary Dr. King who delivered the speech, and a powerful call to renew the work of forgiveness, justice, and love that Dr. King pushed forward so forcefully in his day.
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| Accessible Style, Stirring Beauty and Power - Martin's Big Words, by Doreen Rappaport |
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This compelling book will appeal to children in several ways. First, the moral themes of justice, equality, and love on which the book focuses connect with the process of moral formation occurring in 6- to-8-year-olds. Children at this age are developing instincts about right and wrong, and good and bad, and Martin's Big Words will engage children in this part of their experience.
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| A Simple Tribute to Delightful Activity - Clap Hands by Helen Oxenbury |
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Clap Hands has tremendous subjective appeal for children in the infant-to-2-years age range. One reason for this appeal is the themes the book engages. Young children relate happily to the familiar activities of clapping, dancing, eating, making noise (music!), waving, and looking to mom and dad for affirmation; these are highlights in a toddler's everyday experience. Indeed, the book often functioned for our children as a call to joyful imitation of the activities.
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| "Two Kinds of Magic" by Claire L Dixon - A Reader Review |
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As children, we are taught the value of things from an early age. From the items we own to our status in society, we have a lot to pick up on in a short time. Perhaps one of the most important lessons we learn is the power of having true friends both in the beginning and near our ends.
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| Great Fairy Series Books For Girls |
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Little girls love fairies. Why not encourage their interest in reading by providing them access to books that feature fairies, from Tinkerbell to the Flower fairies and back again.
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| Multicultural Leadership, Artful Collage - Author Spotlight on Ezra Jack Keats |
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In this article I will highlight the work of one of my favorite children's authors, Ezra Jack Keats. In particular, I will focus on a six-book series by Keats that features a single character-a boy named Peter-and that includes two of Keats's most celebrated books, The Snowy Day and Whistle for Willie. All six of these books are appropriate for children in the "3 to 5 years" age category.
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| Building Strong Character With Christian Kid's Stories |
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Words are so powerful, so look for Christian kids stories that are filled with positive, encouraging words that will help to build self worth and empower children to make positive choices. If you choose the right Christian kid's stories they can be helpful in alleviating fears that your child has or help prepare them for changes that are coming, such as learning to use the potty, going to school or moving to a new home.
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