Candlewick
is celebrating picture books this year and kicked off their celebration with
one of the best videos I’ve seen in a long while. Go check out Travis Jonker
and Elizabeth Bird’s hilarious video communicating with picture book titles and
then come back. (VIDEO)
I love
picture books. And at the start of the school year I share A LOT of them. I
think they are perfect for the classroom. A quick story I can read and
incorporate into a mini-lesson and discussion. These are just a few of the
picture books I’ve shared in the first nine days of school.
What
You Know First by
Patricia MacLachlan. I always begin the school year with this book. I end the
school year with this book. I’m not sure what it is that makes it so magical
for me, but I love it. The kids and I talk about having a favorite author. We
talk about using quiet words but making an impact. There’s so much I treasure
about this. I think the main reason I use this one year after year is I want my
students to see on the first day, and the last day, that their teacher treasures
words and books. 
Enemy
Pie by Derek
Munson. I’ve used this one on and off for the last few years. Love watching
students reactions to it and the awesome discussion that results. This is perennially
a student favorite.
Boy +
Bot by Ame
Dyckman. This was a new one for me this year and the kids cracked up. Watching
fifth graders hooting over the robot putting oil in the boy’s ear, hearing them
reply to each other, “Affirmative” over the next few days, I’m sad for the
classrooms where picture books are considered too young for my age group. And
when I told my students that I’ve Skyped with Ame before? Holy smokes! They
will string me up if I don’t get her in my classroom soon. J
The
Library by Sarah
Stewart and The Gentleman Bug by Julian Hector were both books I
purchased after reading about them on Mr. Schu’s blog. Both celebrate books and
reading. I enjoyed sharing them with my students because they immediately assumed
I bought them due to my love of reading. Love that these picture books can show
my priorities so quickly.
Good
News Bad News by
Jeff Mack allowed me to share a bit about myself. I told the students that one
of the characters resembled my attitude about life and one resembled my
husband’s attitude. The kids and I practiced some inferring as we read and at
the end I asked them to guess which character I was like. 100% of them shouted
out “The Rabbit!” – awesome how well they know me in one week.
And
finally, I shared I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen. We discussed the
illustrations, the actions of the characters, and which “team” my students
would be on. (Overwhelmingly they chose “Team Bear” – sorry, Jen. We did have a
“team armadillo” again.)
I still
love sharing picture books with my own children and my students as well. Many
of them are already debating which books in my collection should be contendors
for the Caldecott this year. After sharing The Dirty Cowboy with a few
kids and telling them it was banned in a school in Pennsylvania, kids read it
together lamenting that children a few states away wouldn’t have the
opportunity to laugh over the hilarious story from Amy Timberlake’s family.
(And they were in love with Adam Rex’s illustrations.) Picture books allow me
to share myself with my students along with showing them a wonderful story. And
as I watched students curl up with a stack during independent reading this past
week, I know they will be sharing their favorites with me soon as well.
