Kindergarten read aloud

All posts in the Kindergarten read aloud category

In November, by Cynthia Rylant

Published October 17, 2014 by Dagmar

In NovemberThis is a very peaceful book about the changing seasons and the coming of winter.  Beautiful illustrations by Jill Kastner are a great accompaniment to Cynthia Rylant’s words.

“In November, the earth is growing quiet.  It is making its bed, a winter bed for flowers and small creatures.”  “In November, some birds move away and some birds stay.”  “In November, the smell of food is different.  It is an orange smell.  A squash and a pumpkin smell.”

The story talks about the animals, birds, trees and finally ends with a family joining in a special meal, presumably Thanksgiving.  This is a wonderful book to share with your younger students as Thanksgiving approaches.

The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything, by Linda Williams

Published October 17, 2014 by Dagmar

The Little Old LadyHere’s a fun read for your younger Halloween fans.  This book is a perennial favorite at my school.  I  usually read it with kindergarten, pre-k and 1st grade students around Halloween and love to have them join in with me as I read.

There once was a little old lady who wasn’t afraid of anything.  As she walks in the woods, she is followed, first by shoes that go CLOMP, CLOMP.  Then, she is followed by pants that go WIGGLE WIGGLE, a shirt that goes SHAKE SHAKE.  Each time, she turns and says “Get out of my way, I’m not afraid of you!”.  When she gets home, who should knock on the door, but the shoes, pants, shirt and a pumpkin head all trying to scare her.  When she says she’s not afraid, the pumpkin head looks so sad that she comes up with a great way for him to scare someone. Read the book to find out how!

Happy Halloween!

 

Fletcher and the Falling Leaves, by Julia Rawlinson

Published August 26, 2014 by Dagmar

fletcher and the falling leavesFletcher and the Falling Leaves is one of my favorite fall books.  Fletcher is a little fox who discovers that his favorite tree is changing.  He begins to worry about his tree when the tree’s leaves turn brown and then begin dropping off.  Fletcher tries to fix his tree, trying to tie the leaves back onto the tree.   He is distraught when a squirrel and porcupine make off with the fallen leaves.  When the tree is finally bare, Fletcher takes the last leaf and makes a little bed for it in his room. The next day, winter has arrived, and Fletcher is amazed at the sight of his tree shimmering with icicles.

This story is very sweet, but what really makes it a keeper are the incredible illustrations of Tiphanie Beeke.  Her water colors are beautiful, and my students always love the last “shimmery” page.

I love to read this to my K-1 students and talk to them about the life cycles of trees.

Fall Leaves Fall, by Zoe Hall

Published August 26, 2014 by Dagmar

Here is a great, simple book about fall for young students.  I like to read this with my pre-k and K students.  The book begins with leaves in summer and then moves to how we know fall leaves fallfall is here…leaves changing color and falling from trees.  The simple illustrations show children catching falling leaves, collecting different leaves and comparing them, raking leaves and finally jumping in leaves!   The children then drink warm cider and make pictures using the leaves they’ve collected.

My pre-k students really enjoyed this book.

The Monster’s Monster, by Patrick McDonnell

Published August 26, 2014 by Dagmar

Grouch, Grump and little Gloom ‘n’ Doom are monsters.  They each think they are biggest, Monster's Monsterbaddest monster.  They spend their time arguing and trying to best each other.  Then, they decide to settle their argument with tape, gunk, glue and a lightning bolt.  The monster they create will be truly horrible and will scare everyone in the monster-fearing village just down the hill from their castle.

What a surprise when their terrible, giant monster doesn’t realize that he’s a monster.  His first words are “Dank you!” He then proceeds to greet all the bats, snakes and other creatures in the room – much to Grouch, Grump and little Gloom ‘n’ Doom’s chagrin.

They are hopeful when their monster goes down the hill to town, sure that he’ll wreak havoc there.  They are disappointed again as their monster goes inside the bakery and then leaves it with a “Dank you!” and a white paper bag.  The monster goes to the beach and sits.  The three little monsters sit next to him.  When their monster hands them each a powdery jelly donut, they do something they don’t do often.  They say, “Thank you.”

This is a funny, sweet book that my students loved.  Enjoy.

 

 

The Black Rabbit, by Philippa Leathers

Published May 8, 2014 by Dagmar

BlackRabbitHere’s a really fun read aloud.  I read this to students from our transitional kindergarten, kindergarten and first grade.  All of them LOVED this book.

Black Rabbit comes out of his burrow into the bright sunlight.  He sees a big black rabbit behind him and is very scared.  He runs from Black Rabbit, but Black Rabbit runs after him.  Rabbit hides behind a tree but when he comes out from behind the tree there is big Black Rabbit.  All my students yelled out, “It’s his shadow!”, but this book has a couple of great twists that kept them totally interested until the end.

My students all immediately said, “Read it again!”  Don’t miss this great book.  A Junior Library Guild selection.

Tippy-Toe Chick, Go!, by George Shannon

Published May 4, 2014 by Dagmar

This is one of my favorite books to read to my Pre-k – Kindergarten students.  People constantly underestimate young children’s abilities, and in this case?  Big chickens underestimate chicks, until they fiTippyToend out just how smart a little chick can be.

Every morning, Hen takes her three chicks, Big Chick, Middle Chick and Little Chick to go eat sweet itty-bitty beans and potato bugs.  Until one day, when a dog, tied up near the garden, barks at them as they head to the garden.  Hen decides they better go back home and eat chicken feed, but the chicks don’t want chicken feed. Big Chick tries to reason with the big dog.  The dog barks, and Big Chick runs under his mother’s wing.  The same happens with Middle Chick.  Then, Little Chick, the hero of our story, realizes that if he makes the dog run around the tree, the dog will tie himself up.  So, Little Chick runs, tippy-toe, tippy-toe, around the tree with the big dog chasing him until the dog ties himself up.  Little Chick leads his family past the dog to the garden for sweet itty-bitty beans and potato bugs.

A great, fun  read for all your small, clever chicks.

 

Snowmen at Night, by Caralyn Buehner

Published February 1, 2014 by Dagmar

snowmen at nightWhen I moved from New York State to California 30 years ago, I knew that I would give up the seasons and wouldn’t see snow day to day in winter.  Honestly, the latter didn’t bother so much after years of slipping on ice and digging out driveways.

Many of my students rarely, if ever, have the chance to see and play in the snow.  They know that it’s cold in winter, that some trees lose their leaves, that bears hibernate and that children make snowmen and snow angels in the snow.  I love to share winter memories from my childhood in upstate New York, building snow forts with my big brother, making snowmen and throwing snowballs.

Whether your children or students live in a climate where they know winter well, or whether they only can wonder what it’s like, Snowmen at Night is a great book for a winter read aloud.  The rhyming text is easy to read and the pictures by Mark Buehner are so engaging.

What do snowmen do at night? Apparently quite a lot.  “One wintry day I made a snowman, very round and tall.  The next day when I saw him, he was not the same at all!  His hat had slipped, his arms drooped down, he really looked a fright  — it made me start to wonder: What do snowmen do at night?”

This is a fun book about the secret life of snowmen that delighted my kindergartners.  I hope you have fun with it, too.

Rosie’s Walk by Pat Hutchins

Published January 20, 2014 by Dagmar

Rosie's WalkI do so love an oldie but goodie.  Rosie’s Walk was published in 1968.  Rosie, a hen, is going for a walk.  Little does she realize that there is a hungry fox following her everywhere.  As Rosie walks, fox steps on a rake, falls into a pond, falls into a haystack, has a bag of flour emptied on him and then falls into a wheelbarrow which rolls into bee hives. Rosie completely misses all of the action behind her.  She finally ends up at her chicken coop, just in time for dinner.  Every time I turned the pages, my students would shriek with laughter when they saw what happened to the poor fox.  They were very cute.

I read this to my TK (Transkinder) class, with students who just missed the cutoff for kindergarten.  They absolutely loved this book.  I then tried it with my preschoolers and found that they had a harder time following this book.  I’d recommend it for TK through 1st grade audiences.

So if you’re looking for a quick, funny read for your young students, here it is.

My Brother Martin, by Christine King Farris

Published January 17, 2014 by Dagmar

my brother martinI have some favorite books to read when celebrating Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday and his tremendous life.  One, is Martin’s Big Words, by Doreen Rappaport.  Like me, most teachers love Martin’s Big Words as well.  So finding something different but accessible to young audiences is a always a challenge for me in the library.

Here is a book that I discovered this year that I love for younger audiences.  Published in 2006, it provides a different perspective on this great man’s life that students haven’t heard before.  When I introduce this book to my students, I remind them that before Dr. King became “Dr. King”, he was a child just like them.  My Brother Martin was written by Christine King Farris, Dr. King’s older sister.

In My Brother Martin, Ms. King Farris tells of Dr. King’s childhood on Auburn Street in Atlanta, Georgia.  There are funny pranks that the children, Christine, M.L. (Martin Luther) and their younger brother A.D. (Alfred Daniel) played on neighbors and their piano teacher.  These stories made all my students smile.  Ms. King Farris also tells of the painful time when the children of a white store owner on their street were no longer allowed to play with Negroes (a word I had to explain to my younger students).  The white family sold their store and moved away.  After years of shielding their children from the injustice and cruelty dealt to black people, this episode brought all that home.  Christine, M.L. and A.D. were confused about why their friends would no longer play with them.  Their mother explained about all the “Whites Only” signs.  She also told her children that this injustice was there, “Because they just don’t understand that everyone is the same, but someday, it will be better.”  M.L. then replied, “Mother Dear, one day I’m going to turn this world upside down.”  And that he did.

M.L. and his sister and brother now were aware of segregation.  They watched as their father, a minister at Ebenezer Baptist Church spoke out against it and how he practiced what he preached.  Their father did not allow others to treat him differently because of his skin color and took his business elsewhere when store owners did.  Their parents’ example and the pain of their childhood friends’ leaving provided the inspiration for Dr. King’s pursuit of justice.

This is a heartening and inspiring story of Dr. King that provides insights other books don’t provide.  I highly recommend it to elementary school audiences.  The illustrations by Chris Soentpiet are wonderful.