Gingerbread Christmas written and illustrated by Jan Brett is TL that would be a great RA. This is about Gingerbread Baby wanting a sing in his Gingerbread Band. The little boy Matti tells him he doesn‘t have a band. Matti decides to bake some Gingerbread Instruments for him; he bakes them, frosts them, and takes them to town to perform. The villagers are spelled bound by the beautiful music the animals even start to do the animal waltz.

The Pout-Pout Fish by Deborah Dieson and illustrated by Dan Hanna is a TL that would be great for a RT. This was a New York Times Bestseller. The book starts off with a gloomy Pout-Pout Fish; the spreads gloom wherever he goes. He repeats himself with each sea creature that he meets, “I‘m a pout-pout fish, with a pout-pout face, So I spread the dreary-wearies all over the place.” It wasn‘t until he met a silent silver shimmer, that gives him a

Froggy Eats Out by Jonathan London and illustrated by Frank Remkiewicz , is a F, that would be a great RA. This is a fun book to read out loud to young students. The sounds Froggy makes are funny. Froggy parents decided to go out for a fancy dinner for their anniversary; they make Froggy get all dressed up and act nicely, but no matter how much Froggy tries to act good, he can‘t stop fidgeting and breaks his water glass. Then he sees Frogilina

There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly written and illustrated by Simms Taback is TL, which would be great for S. The illustrations for this book won the Caldecott Medal. This lady swallows a fly, I don‘t know why she swallowed, and perhaps she‘ll die. She then decides to swallow the spider to catch the fly; she keeps going to larger animals until she reaches the horse. Once she swallowed the horse, of course she died.

Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O'Brien and illustrations by Zena Bernstein is SF, that is a great LC. This is about mice, most were part of experiments in the NIMH Lab. Mrs. Frisby lives on the farm but needs to move because of Dragon the Farmer‘s Cat and her son is sick. She learns about her husband who was part of the NIMH, and about how they were injected with stuff to speed up their process. She is caught by the farmer‘s son

The Polar Express is written and illustrated by Chris Van Allsburg is a F, that would be a great RA or IR. This is my favorite story to ready during Christmas time, as it shows hope and belief in something that one cannot see. The story is about Christmas train that appears out of nowhere and children hope aboard. They head to the North Pole and there Santa will choose one child to have the first present of Christmas. The boy is chosen, he only

The Magic Straw Hat by Karen Jonice Bricker and illustrated by Valerie Bouthyette, is TL that I would use as a LC, this has won the Purple Dragonfly Book Award. This book is about a magic straw hat that came over from Ireland with Caitie‘s Great-Grandmother, it was thought to be magical. The book talks about the ups and down the Great-Grandmother had in America and go over the ups and down that Caitie have that day when her hat blows away and

The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig by Eugne Trivizas and illustrated by Helen Oxenbury is a TL, that would be great as a RT, it won Parents' Choice Gold Award. This is a great book that reversed the telling of the three little pigs and the big bad wolf. The Big Bad Pig manages to break the first two houses that the wolves built together, but the third house was built of flowers each side a different kind, the Pig started to blow but was

If I Built a Car is written and illustrated by Chris Van Dusen is a great F for a RA even won the E.B. Web Read Aloud Award in 2006. This is a great book about a boy‘s imagination on how he thinks his father‘s car should change, to having a pool, to being able to fly, float and dive. There are so many different areas of curriculum one could use this book with. My link is a science link. I would use EL 41 having students compile notebooks

Martin‘s Big Words, The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. by Doreen Rappaport and illustrated by Bryan Collier, has won many awards: Jane Addams Children‘s Book Award, Orbis Pictus Honor Book, Caldecott Honor Book, Coretta Scott King Honor Book, and ALA Notable Children‘s Book. This is a B that I would use as a RA. It‘s a great book that goes over the life of Martin Luther King, Jr. that makes learning about his life easy for younger students

Robert Frost Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening illustrated by Susan Jeffers is P, would be used as a CR. This is a great poem about winter and how a person stops to enjoy the snowy view, even though he has a promise to keep with miles to go. The UDL is 1.2 is offer alternative auditory information and the EL 17 provides contextual support through audio visuals, models and facial expressions.

I Survived The Attacks of September 11, 2001 by Lauren Tarshis illustrated by Scott Dawson is a RF, I would use this as a PR. The book is about a boy name Lucas who is told that he is no longer able to play football, this is the most devastating thing for him at the moment, but his life is about to change in a few weeks. Lucas heads to the twin towers with his father on September 11, 2011 where they go up to the 110th floor to see the view then

Rabbits, Rabbits, and More Rabbits written and illustrated by Gail Gibbons, is a NF I would use it as IR, it talks about the characteristics of rabbits, it talks about the difference between a hare and rabbit. Has great information about rabbits from around the world. This is a great book if you have a rabbit as a class pet. I would use UDL 7.3 minimize threats and distractions and the

Worth by A. LaFaye is a HF winning the Scott O‘Dell Award. This book is for 5th grade and up. I would use this as an IR. Nate legs gets broken struck by lightning while helping on the farm, he is unable to work on the farm his father takes in an orphan boy name John Worth, who at the beginning Nate and his Ma despise each for different reasons. Though the story you learn about how both boys have learned about loss and how they want to be in each

The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate, illustrated by Patricia Castelao was awarded the John Newbery Medal, this is based on a true story of a silver-back gorilla that was in a strip mall on the side of the highway, this is a F. The teaching strategy I would use is LC. This story goes into friendship with Ivan and Stella and the other animals in the mall. It has compassion and hope, but also sadness. I loved this book but at the same time

Who is Jeff Kinney? Is a B, NF written by Patrick Kenny and illustrated by John Hinderliter. This would be great for and AS and IR. This book is written by Jeff Kinney‘s younger brother, it makes the book feel more authentic and real, some of the information in the book I‘m not sure would be noted if another author wrote about Jeff Kinney. Especially about his brother writing on the door and not getting in trouble, but if Jeff drew on the door he

Let‘s Go for a Drive! Text and illustrations by Mo Willems, is a Theodor Seuss Geisel Honor. This is F book from the series An Elephant & Piggie Book, I would use this as an AS. This is a funny book with the friendship of Gerald the Elephant and Piggie. Gerald wanting to go for a drive, but he comes up with all different situations that Piggie is able to help with, at the end Gerald has a major realization that he doesn‘t have the key item

Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Scheffler, this is a funny rhyming and sequence book that keeps students engage. This is MF, that I would use SR. This is about a kind witch and her cat, the witch drops different items and they have to go down to find the item, each time another animal finds the item and asks to join the kind witch. The witch says yes and they all get on the broom.

How to Train Your Train by Jason Carter Eaton, Illustrated by John Rocco is a great book that is a spin on how to choose a great pet, the only difference is you are choosing your pet train. It‘s a fun TL book to RA to young children. It goes over ways to catch your train all the way to how to keep your train happy. EL 6 & 14, UDL 3.2 & 3.3 #ucflae3414f17 https://www.thoughtco.com/trains-theme-unit-study-1834061

Click, Clack, Moo Cows That Type, is a TL, which is entertaining and funny; this is by Doreen Cronin and illustrated by Betsy Lewin. This would be great for a RT. It‘s a Caldecott Award from 2001; the illustrations really bring the book to life for the younger readers. The cows that type seem like an unbelievable sight. The Cows write a letter to Farmer Brown demanding electric blankets for them at night but Farmer Brown writes back saying no.