Sharing books with classroom read-alouds is an important part of learning. It doesn’t take long to find great titles, not only for students, but to guide teachers on how to effectively use the strategy in the classroom. Last week was part one of the best read-alouds around, this week is part two.
Trelease, Jim. (2013). The Read Aloud Handbook. (7th Ed.). New York, NY: Penguin Books.
First published in 1982, this title is a must-have for novice and experienced teachers at every grade level. Not only does the author provide numerous reasons for reading aloud to children, extolling the benefits passionately and enthusiastically, but he also gives suggestions for how to make reading aloud more effective. While literacy experts continue to tout the value of starting to read aloud to children at an early age, the practice often seems ignored in today’s busy world and in many classrooms. Kindling a love for reading early on can point youngsters on the road to reading for the rest of their lives. Anyone at a loss for where to start may use this user-friendly book, which is brimming with books that are excellent read-aloud titles. How can a book that has been printed in seven different editions steer anyone in the wrong direction?
Ages 4–8
Miller, Pat Zietlow. (2015). Wherever You Go. New York, NY: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers.
Starting off on a new path or life adventure can be a mingled blessing, promising many new experiences but also feeling somewhat intimidating because of its unfamiliarity. In this picture book a rabbit and his friends set off on a series of adventures that take them along all sorts of paths. Their cheerful attitudes serve as good models for us all about embracing whatever lies ahead. The illustrations, created with dip pens and India inks and colored with watercolor and gouaches, are filled with light and color. Hearers will enjoy the skillful use of repetition concerning what roads do. For instance, not only do “Roads...merge,” but “Roads...remember,” and in the end, as often happens, many roads lead right back to where we started. Likely to remind readers of Dr. Seuss’s classic Oh, the Places You’ll Go! (Random House, 1990), this picture gently delivers an important lesson about life.
Yuly, Toni. (2015). Night Owl. New York, NY: Feiwel & Friends.
Readers will enjoy sharing the strikingly colorful illustrations of a young owl as he tries to figure out just who is making all those sounds around him. Although he’s not all that scared and enjoys listening to nature’s sounds, Night Owl wonders when his mother will return, and with each sound he feels a little more urgent about a reunion. Even through a fierce storm, he feels safe and sound because he knows Mommy Owl is nearby—and of course, she is! This one is perfect for sharing with youngsters since it reassures them that they might be alone for a little while, but there is nothing to fear, even from unfamiliar sounds. Youngsters will enjoy hearing the same sounds Night Owl hears and will probably repeat them for themselves.
Ages 9–11
Polacco, Patricia. (1992). Chicken Sunday. New York, NY: Philomel Books.
After the narrator's beloved grandmother dies, her friends’ grandmother steps in, treating her like one of her own grandchildren and sharing food, music, and fellowship. The youngsters enjoy Sunday outings when they attend church with Miss Eula who sings in the choir. When her boys, Stewart and Winston, and the narrator notice how much Miss Eula longs for a beautiful hat in a store window, they plan to buy it for her. But before they can earn enough money for it, they are accused by the storekeeper, Mr. Kodinski, of playing pranks. After seeing the beautiful Ukrainian eggs the youngsters paint, he realizes they are blameless and the much-wanted hat becomes his gift to Miss Eula. Young readers will delight in the facial expressions, the beams of delight on the children's faces, and the joy in simple pleasures depicted here in the exquisite drawings. Close observers will certainly note the concentration camp number tattooed on Mr. Kodinski's arm and Miss Eula's admonition that he suffered a great deal in the past, a reminder of the Holocaust’s horrors. Perfect for sharing and discussing how families come in different shapes and sizes as well as having to sometimes prove ourselves to others, this is another memorable picture book drawn from the author/illustrator's treasure trove of family stories. It's just as fresh, lively, and appealing today as when it was first published.
Ylvisaker, Anne. (2014). The Curse of the Buttons. Somerville, MA: Candlewick Press.
Once war breaks out between the North and the South, all the men in the Button family volunteer to do their part. Those too young for combat volunteer as drummers. Although 11-year-old Ike is too young to go, the youngster is bound and determined to figure out a way to join them. But all of his plans are thwarted by two tricky neighbor boys and he’s stuck at home. Surprisingly, Ike and his best friend Albirdie end up aiding the escape of a family of runaway slaves passing through Keokuk, IA, on their way to freedom in Canada. Filled with all sorts of eccentric characters and adventures, this is a fascinating story, filled with all sorts of eccentric characters and adventures. Fans of the other two books (The Luck of the Buttons, 2011, and Button Down, 2012) will relish seeing what Granddaddy Ike was like as a child. Told engagingly and perfect for sharing aloud with all its amusing scenes and fascinating characters, this story is filled with humor and pathos as the town’s two feuding families briefly, but only briefly, set aside their differences for a good cause. The author introduces complex twists of history and law through her story, pointing out that although Iowa was a free state, it was illegal to help fleeing slaves. This skillful storyteller easily keeps readers’ attention while making it clear that war was being fought on various fronts, even at home.
Ages 12–14
Poblocki, Dan. (2014). The Book of Bad Things. New York, NY: Scholastic.
When 13-year-old Cassidy Bean arrives for her usual summer away from Brooklyn, she finds many changes in her host family, particularly her friend Joey. Whitechapel, the town where she is staying, has always seemed safe to her, but not this summer. After the death of elderly Ursula Chambers, very odd things start to happen. Not only was the eccentric recluse a hoarder, but she had good reasons to be one. As the town's citizens start to plunder some of the stuff secreted in the house, the house wants the stuff back. Against her will, Cassidy is drawn into a fight to the death with a mysterious evil force. Cassidy's fears and her reasons for writing in her own Book of Bad Things will resonate with readers. There is a mysterious, eerie quality about even the most mundane moments in this book, which is best read aloud with all the lights blazing. Readers who like this sort of thing—thrills, chills, zombies, houses built on ley lines—will gobble it up while also shuddering in horror.
Ages 15+
Yansky, Brian. (2015). Utopia, Iowa. Somerville, MA: Candlewick Press.
Aspiring screenwriter Jack Bell sees dead people, a talent that is not all that unusual for someone living in Utopia, IA. Many of his counterparts have their own strange gifts, after all. As Jack sleepwalks through his senior year and deals with his long-standing—but unrequited—crush on his best friend, Ash, teenage girls start dying in mysterious ways and then seek Jack’s help in solving their murders. Before he knows it, Jack is on a journey to another time and place to bring back his grandmother who also has special powers. The author blends into the modern story the saga of a queen who betrays her king with a mortal and spends centuries looking for a way out of her lonely existence. Readers won't see the connection between the two stories until near the end. Readers will particularly enjoy the parts of the book in which Jack draws connections between current events and a famous film, complete with its writers and main actors. The inclusion of the troubles between Jack's parents allows readers to be reminded that keeping love alive can be a lot of work, even in a town called Utopia where things aren’t quite as perfect as they might seem.
Barbara A. Ward teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in literacy at Washington State University, Pullman. She spent 25 years teaching in the public schools of New Orleans where she worked with students at every grade level, from kindergarten through high school as well as several ability levels. She is certified in elementary education, English education, and gifted education. She holds a bachelors in Communications and a masters in English Education from the University of Tennessee and a PhD in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of New Orleans.
These reviews are submitted by members of the International Reading Association's Children's Literature and Reading Special Interest Group (CL/R SIG)and are published weekly on Literacy Daily.