Reading teaches children about the world. Reading encourages children to use their imaginations. Reading leads to meaningful conversations with children.
Reading is awesome.
November is Picture Book Month so I’ve been reading a ton of picture books with my children. November is also Picture Book Idea Month so I’ve been working hard to come up with some spectacular picture book ideas. I also discovered the We Need Diverse Books campaign, which I feel is extremely important.
Our family always reads a lot of books, but this month I have made an extra effort to discuss the books with my children. I have also tried to include a nice mix of fiction and nonfiction books because we definitely read more fiction than nonfiction. We have had some pretty inspiring and fascinating conversations after story time.
These are some of the children’s books my family has read this month:
A Gift for Abuelita: Celebrating the Day of the Dead by Nancy Luenn * illustrated by Robert Chapman
Big Jabe by Jerdine Nolen * illustrated by
Bridget’s Beret by Tom Lichtenheld
Busing Brewster by Richard Michelson * illustrated by R.G. Roth
Courage by Bernard Waber
Dinosaur Farm by Frann Preston-Gannon
Food Trucks! by Mark Todd
Frederick by Leo Lionni
Frida by Jonah Winter * illustrated by Ana Juan
Goyangi Means Cat by Christine McDonnell * illustrated by Steve Johnson
Henry’s Freedom Box: A True Story from the Underground Railroad by
Hugs from Pearl by Paul Schmid
I Like Myself by Karen Beaumont * illustrated by David Catrow
Just the Two of Us by Will Smith * illustrated by Kadir Nelson
King & King by Linda De Haan * illustrated by Stern Nijland
Little Cloud by Eric Carle
My Friend Rabbit by Eric Rohmann
My Name is Yoon by Helen Recorvits * illustrated by Gabi Swiatkowska
Otto the Book Bear by Katie Cleminson
Stuck by Oliver Jeffers
The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend by Dan Santat
The Adventures of Captain Underpants by Dav Pilkey
The Boy Without a Name by Idries Shah * illustrated by Mona Caron
The Heart and the Bottle by Oliver Jeffers
The Hula Hoopin’ Queen by Thelma Lynne Godin * illustrated by Vanessa Brantley-Newton
The Keeping Quilt by Patricia Polacco
The Lion and the Mouse by Jenny Broom * illustrated by Nahta Noj
The Other Side by Jacqueline Woodson * illustrated by E. B. Lewis
The Patchwork Quilt by Valerie Flournoy * illustrated by Jerry Pinkney
The Recess Queen by Alexis O’neill * illustrated by Laura Huliska-Beith
Thomas and the Shooting Star by W. Awdry * illustrated by Tommy Stubbs
Thumb Love by Elise Primavera
Yoko Finds Her Way by Rosemary Wells
Use your mighty imagination!
- What children’s books have you read this month?
- Do you read fiction and nonfiction children’s books?
- Which diverse titles do you recommend?
- What techniques do you use to encourage children to discuss books?
Paint with Words 
Hi there! Tweeted this to you but will add it here, too. If you want to add books by/about American Indians, there’s lists here: http://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/p/best-books.html
Great! Thank you so much!
We love HOT HOT ROTI FOR DADA-JI by F. Zin. My kids love recognizing their own Dadaji in the story…
I used to read the first chapter out loud with my son, then we talked about what might happen next, and then he continued reading independently. After he finished the book, we talked about who guessed right! Usually, we were both wrong, but we had fun with it 😉
Great idea! I will try this with my first grader 🙂 Thank you for sharing!
Picture books are foundational in creating readers! I still enjoy them.
I still read lots of picture books when I go to the bookstore and the library. My favorite genre, though, is Middle Grade and some YA. Middle Grade kids are right on the edge between being kids and teens, and I love this unique stage in our lives when we are not yet adolescents. Great selection of PB, by the way.
I like Andy’s idea of reading just the first chapter and then the child reads the next independently. The more we can encourage kids to think and use books that are read to them or that they read in a creative way, the better the understanding and the more they learn. I often put an extra page at the end of the children’s picture books I write and ask the child to draw or write on this page, perhaps something about the book they just read. The book thus becomes interactive and is a nice memento in later years.
Another idea: my eight year old granddaughter has read all the Warrior Cat series and started to write on the computer her own stories about the cats in these books.
Wonderful! Thank you for sharing!
Reblogged this on Smorgasbord – Variety is the spice of life and commented:
Here is an excellent list of books for children that will be useful for parents on the hunt for colourful and imaginative reading.
A wonderful collection of children’s books. Just give me a corner and some quiet. Yes. ME. Never mind the grandkids. 😀
Haha! Love it! Thank you for sharing :). Have a great weekend!
Welcome and the same to you. ❤
I have read books all my life but I do have to say that young people now have an array of books which didn’t exist when I was young (in the early ’50s). It’s great to see such good books available to encourage children to jump into the joys of reading. And yes, at 67 I’m still reading!
Yes! There’s such a wonderful variety of books these days! My family also enjoys reading the classics. My kiddos love The Velveteen Rabbit and Heidi..just to name a few :). Thanks for stopping by. Best wishes!
Very few parents engage their children this way
Raising readers is very important to me. We read a tons of books at our house:).