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I have been a Reading Specialist for 17 years, 14 of them at Oak Knoll School. I love my work. You will find me working in and out of classrooms supporting our young readers. Busy turning emerging readers into avid readers along with our other Reading Specialist, Helga Dinning.
Contact Info: jcebrian@mpcsd.org
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Picture book ideas These also make great gifts...
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Reading aloud with your kids provides so many amazing benefits for their academics, but the real magic is the bonding between parents and kids over loved (and unloved) characters. Aside from the much proven benefits of increased vocabulary and better reading comprehension, it equates reading with comfort when you sit together quietly reading a book with your kids - not distracted by devices or work. It's time together. Be silly. Be brave and use different voices for the different characters. As your kids get older, the themes become more complex and the conversations even more critical. I don't recommend reading aloud Magic Tree House or Rainbow Magic Fairies or any other "beginner chapter book". Those books, with their much simpler language, are meant for kids to conquer on their own, when they are ready. The books I put on my list are books that are fun for children and adults. Read on, and talk up.
Here is a link to a list of 100 great read alouds. I saw many that were well loved in my house through the years.
Here's what I'm reading aloud to my 8th grader now...
Love the main character with all her problem solving strategies.and for car rides, we are listening to this one...
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Refugee
by Alan Gratz Year Published: 2017I love this book as a read aloud for 5th grade and up. Having a grown up near by to discuss some of the super weighty topics in this book will help kids get the most out of it. There are some difficult parts of the book, but the stories are told so well and the chapter ending cliffhangers will make your listener beg for another chapter. Really well done story of connecting events across history.
Two Truths and a Lie
by Ammi-Joan Paquette and Laurie Ann Thompson Year Published: 2017I love booktalking this book! Each chapter tells you about three living things. Two of those stories are true and as you might have guessed from the title, one is not. Very timely book good for discussing how fake stories can be made to look like real stories. Plus, there are some crazy living things in this book! Enjoy together! Talk about how you find out whether something is true or not.
Snicker of Magic
by Natalie Lloyd Year Published: 2014This book is Spindiddly. Great characters, magic memory inducing ice cream, anonymous acts of kindness, rural small town Tennessee. There is magic in Midnight Gulch, but it needs the help of Felicity Pickle and her family to help it return. If you've got a good southern accent and kids 3rd - 6th grade, this book is the read aloud for you. And if you don't have a good southern accent, be brave and try one anyway. Your kids will love it.
Super Happy Party Bears
by Marcie Colleen Year Published: 2016This is my favorite find at the book fair this year. First, its really fun to say Super Happy Party Bears. Try it. You can't help but smile. And with their pants of positivity and a breakfast with a bowlful of the Best Day Ever, it will make you and your kids giggle. It's great for modeling expressive reading. And it's just plain fun.
Towers Falling
by Jewell Parker Rhodes Year Published: 2016With the 15 year anniversary of the World Trade Center attack in 2001, this book offers a way to discuss it with kids who don't understand how it matters to their life. There are a couple of other new books on this topic to look for also.
Runny Babbit
by Shel Silverstein Year Published: 2005Way down in the green woods, where the animals all play, they do things and they say things in a different sort of way -Instead of sayin "purple hat", they all say "hurple pat"....The poems are fun to read (and not as easy to read fluently as you might imagine). Kids will enjoy watching you struggle with the phoneme shifts and its great practice for phoneme manipulation to hear the poems and figure out the "real words". In honor of poetry month, pick this gem up at the library.
Wonder
by R. J. Palacio Year Published: 2012Really great story to read aloud with your 3rd grade and up student. This book made a few of the classroom brackets. Excellent story about perspective and compassion and being different. Kids love this book. It will make you cry though. Great story for sparking conversations about sometimes difficult topics. And the movie comes out November 17, so the timing is perfect for you to read it aloud. 2nd grade and up will enjoy this book.
Phantom Tollbooth
by Norman Juster Year Published: 1961This is a great read aloud with some complex text. If you read it aloud to your kids when they are less than 8, you'll want to come back to it when they are older than that. Something to ponder for all readers. The younger listeners will enjoy the adventure, and the older listeners will enjoy the complicated play on words throughout the story.
BFG
by Roald Dahl Year Published:You can't go wrong with any Roald Dahl book, but this one is being released as a new movie on July 1, so now is a great time to enjoy it together at home as a read aloud. This was my dad's favorite read aloud.
Toys Go Out
by Emily Jenkins Year Published: 2008 Any school age, but 5th grade would be pushing it.This book begs to be read aloud. Each toy has such a distinct voice. Its really fun to read.
