Integral Tools

The rhythm and tones, the delight and humor, the imagery and beauty that can be found in children's books are just a few reasons why I have found picture books to be integral tools I can use to bring language alive for my students.  Whether teaching rhyming in Kindergarten or use of  metaphors to make a story more interesting  in 4th grade, I have found an abundance of quality children's literature out there to support my instruction.

Lately I have been working on organizing my book collection into lists....lots of lists...by themes, by genres, by strategies...you get the idea.  You might be thinking "Great idea!"  However, seeing that my 4th/5th grade library has over 1,500 books and my Kindergarten Library is packed away in 10...yes you read that number right...10 super-sized plastic containers, this isn't a task I will finish anytime soon.  Since I have slowly been plugging away on my "Tool Kits"  I thought I would take a break to share from a few of them (and I stress few) some my favorite titles.  After all, one of my reasons for starting this blog was to share titles that you might find useful, whether you are teacher, parent, closet reader of all things children's lit. or all three rolled into one!

Rhyming Text:

Silly Sally by Audrey Wood
The Magic Hat by Mem Fox
Jamberry by Bruce Degan
You Read to Me, I'll Read to You series by Mary Ann Hoberman

Cumulative/Repetetive Text:

The Napping House by Audrey Wood
Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See? by Bill Martin Jr.
The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything by Linda Williams
I Took My Frog to the Library by Eric Kimmel

Lanugage Fun:

Chicken Cheeks by Michael Ian Black
The Big Elephant in the Room by Lane Smith
My Teacher Likes to Say by Denise Brennan-Nelson
There's a Frog in My Throat: 440 Animal Sayings a Little Bird Told Me by Loreen Leedy

Memorable Language:

Owl Moon by Jane Yolen
Fireflies! by Julie Brinckloe
When I Was Young in the Mountains by Cynthia Rylant
At One in a Place Called Maine by Lynn Plourde

Just for the FUN of the story:

Little Pea by Amy Krouse Rosenthal (Actually any of her books could be listed here!)
Two Boys Have the Best Week Ever by Marla Frazee
Duck & Goose by Tad Hills
The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka

I would love to hear what picture books you have found to be "must haves" in your "tool kits".