Text Sets – A(nother) Year of Reading

Poetry Friday: Rhyming Fairy Tales

My work so far as the Kids Club Reading Specialist has been very peripheral, very fragmented. I’m at each site weekly, and I’ve met with students one-on-one or in small groups every other week…if we’re lucky and their parents don’t pick them up in the middle of a lesson or before we even get started.

I’m not complaining, but I AM looking forward to next week when schools are closed for two days following Martin Luther King, Jr. Day for a Professional Development Day and a Records Day. On Tuesday and Wednesday, 24 students will participate in all-day Kids Club, and I’ll have the opportunity to work with them as a whole group!

Tuesday will be Fairy Tale Day. We’ll start with TELLING STORIES WRONG by Gianni Rodari. This is the story of a grandfather who just can’t seem to tell the story of Little Red Riding Hood the way it’s supposed to be told. Clever readers will be able to figure out why. This book doesn’t rhyme, but it will lead us to others that do.

Next up, I’ll have some of the older students prepped to perform a poem from VERY SHORT FAIRY TALES TO READ TOGETHER by Mary Ann Hobermann. Then I’ll invite pairs of students to practice and perform a poem from one of the You Read To Me, I’ll Read To You books.

Finally, in the upcoming weeks when we’re back to the regular schedule, my read aloud with small groups and individuals will be…

…ENDLESSLY EVER AFTER: PICK YOUR PATH THE COUNTLESS FAIRY TALE ENDINGS by Laurel Snyder. This rhyming picture book is a tour de force of planning. I literally have no idea how she must have plotted this book so that the reader has SO many different paths to follow! And in RHYME, no less! I love that not all of the endings are happy and not all of the paths are long. Plus, Dan Santat’s illustrations are tons of fun! I can’t wait to explore this book with readers of all ages and see what they think. I’m not sure we’ll get much past read aloud in those sessions…and that’s just FINE!

This week’s Poetry Friday Roundup is hosted by Susan at Chicken Spaghetti.

And here’s the lowdown on the Poetry Sisters’ January Challenge: We chose the word TRANSFORMATION to guide our work throughout the year, and for January, we’re writing a CASCADE poem. The Cascade form takes every line from the first stanza of your poem and TRANSFORMS those lines into the final lines of each stanza thereafter. (The link helpfully creates a little form that shows you how easy this might be.) Beyond that, there are no additional rules. Long or short, free verse, sonnet, or sestina, find a way in which you can incorporate the idea (or word) transformation as you write. We’ll post our poems on the last Friday of the month (1/27/23). I hope you’ll join us!

Poetry Friday: Reconsidering Read Aloud…Again…Still

Hard to believe that it’s been TWENTY years since my book, Reconsidering Read-Aloud was published! And here I am, still a teacher (kinda-sorta) and still thinking about the power of the books I choose for read aloud.

As the reading specialist for an after school program, I no longer have a classroom of the same-aged students every day all day long. No more chapter book read alouds that span weeks/months with conversations that evolve as our experience with the book deepens.

Now I have K-5 students in small groups or one-on-one for 15-20 minutes once a week. I try to make sure I see every child at least once every two weeks. My lesson plans are required to address information standards, literature standards, and functional skills/fluency standards. These constraints have changed the way I choose my core read alouds.

I’m still learning, but here are some successes I’ve had, and my thinking around my choices.

I have established a pre-reading ritual for each read aloud. First we look at the front and back covers to see if the image spans across both covers. If there is a dust jacket, we check to see if the dust jacket image and the cover image are the same. Next, we look at the endpapers and think about the reasons behind this design element.

WAIT AND SEE by Helen Frost was my main read aloud in October. This book is an informational text that I’m calling “lyrical nonfiction.” It has photographic endpapers which, in the beginning, show a preying mantis hanging upside down on a spikey leaf with a light background. At the end, there is a preying mantis upright on a rounder leaf with a dark background. The conversations about the reasons behind these choices of images were fantastic! (Day/night, light/dark, colors, shapes, position, etc.) The photo-illustrations also prompted lots of conversation both during and after reading. We didn’t read the back matter, but I pointed out to every group that it was there to satisfy any curiosity you might have for more facts.

AUTUMNBLINGS by Douglas Florian and HALLOWEEN ABC by Eve Merriam were my backup literature choices. (I’d forgotten how dark Merriam’s poems are, but luckily kids are kind of into spooky, so it was all good.)

Are you noticing the trend towards poetry? I figure poetry is one of the least represented genres in the classroom and so it will have the greatest representation in my work!

There were a couple of other books that made an appearance in October and November. I fell in love with CHESTER VAN CHIME WHO FORGOT HOW TO RHYME by Avery Monsen and tried it out with a variety of ages. Fourth and fifth graders had a ball with Chester. I was surprised that the younger students weren’t able to provide the missing rhymes. I filed that tidbit and will be doing some focused work on rhyming in the upcoming months. ON A GOLD BLOOMING DAY by Buffy Silverman was a great rhyming photographic book to pair with WAIT AND SEE. I waited until later in the fall to start working with my Kindergarteners. I wanted to meet them and read with them before I gave them their letter identification assessment, so I chose Z IS FOR MOOSE by Kelly Bingham. It has a different image on its dust jacket and its cover, and the story starts before the title page. It begins predictably, but then Moose causes chaos (which the Kinders loved!)

But the absolute best read aloud so far, the one that stood up to multiple readings with all ages, the one that kept surprising me all the way to the last reading, was 12 DAYS OF KINDNESS by Irene Latham. This book has everything! Cover and dust jacket are the same, but we had a chance to discuss the Big Idea that’s on the back of the book (“Kindness is a gift.”) The end papers are different illustrations and foreshadow the story that’s found in the illustrations, and the arc of that story (morning to night). The story begins in the illustrations before the title page. The text has repetition and rhyme and is cumulative. It can be sung to “The 12 Days of Christmas,” and I had one group of 3/4/5 girls who did just that! All the way through! So fun! Without being didactic, Irene Latham shows the reader that there are lots of small ways to be kind to those around us. There is much to discover about the way the illustrator (Junghwa Park) contrasts the new text on the left page of each spread and the cumulative text on the right page of each spread. The illustrations tell a story that doesn’t match the text, but rather extends the meaning of the text. There’s lots to infer about the characters in the illustration’s story, plus so many fun details! I didn’t notice the kisses in the last spread until one of the final readings! This is the book I’ll use as my gold standard in choosing all future read alouds!

Karen has this week’s Poetry Friday roundup at Karen Edmisten*.

Franki’s Weekly Text Set– Intentional Use of Dialogue: Picture Books with Talking Bubbles

Texts for this Text Set have been posted daily on Instagram. Follow @TextSets there to get daily updates!

This week’s books could make up a mini-unit on the intentional use of dialogue in narrative. So many young writers work hard to create dialogue in their writing and many are reading books in graphic novel form, that dialogue makes up a great deal of their writing.. For readers, it is important that they understand how dialogue impacts a story. For dialogue to work in a story, the author has to be intentional about its use. This week’s set of books will give young readers a way to look at dialogue with a writer’s eye–why did the author make this decision about dialogue. Hopefully after studying a small set of texts, writers can be more intentional and effective in their use of dialogue.

I think I’d get started with Lift and Dumplings for Lili. Lift is in graphic novel format with very few words. Much of the story is told through illustrations. But there is some dialogue that is important to the story. But the author is intentional about every word of dialogue. This book would make a good first book to notice and wonder about the decisions about when to include dialogue and when not to and how the dialogue adds to the story. In Dumplings from Lili, there are two kinds of dialogue–the dialogue in the text and the dialogue in talking bubbles as part of the illustrations. There are different reasons for each and thinking together about why some of the dialogue was embedded in the text while other dialogue was embedded in illustrations (what purpose does each serve to the story and reader) will make for good conversation.

In both Not Enough Lollipops and That’s My Sweater!, the dialogue is critical to the story. The story would make no sense without the dialogue. Sometimes dialogue adds some detail and sometimes the dialogue is used to tell the story. These are two books to think about how and when dialogue is used to tell the story. Dialogue is used in very different ways in these two books but much of the storyline depends on the dialogue in each.

In See the Cat and See the Dog, again dialogue is critical to the story. Without the dialogue the story would not make sense. However the dialogue is used in a bit of a different way in these two as the characters actually converse with the narrator. This is tricky to do well (and sometimes hard to understand as a reader) but it is something many children try in their writing. How did the author have the character talk back to the narrator effectively in these two books would be the question I’d ask with these.

In Our Day of the Dead Celebration, talking bubbles are used throughout the book. The dialogue is often part of the illustration so this is a great book to talk to readers about how important it is to read the text and the illustrations for full understanding. This dialogue adds detail to the main part of the story in very important ways. The way that the author used dialogue to tell more is intentional and effective and worthy of study.

So many of our students love to write with humor. It takes so much skill to do this and a favorite author to study humor writing is Josh Funk. In his fairy tale series (It’s Not Hansel and Gretel and It’s Not Jack and the Beanstalk pictured here) , the use of talking bubbles to add humor is intentional throughout the book. There is intentionality and craft to his decisions and for our writers who want to make their stories funny, studying the ways Josh Funk uses dialogue can help! (And these stories are just great fun to enjoy together!)

This week’s books were linked at Bookelicious and/or Cover to Cover Children’s Bookstore. If you are looking for a fabulous local children’s bookstore to support, Cover to Cover is an amazing one. We are lucky to have them in Central Ohio! If you don’t have an independent children’s bookstore in your town, check out Bookelicious. They are an online independent bookstore for children with an incredible curated collection.

Franki’s Weekly Text Set-Great New Books With Rhyme

Texts for this Text Set have been posted daily on Instagram. Follow @TextSets there to get daily updates!

This week, we’ll look at some great new picture books with rhyme!

If you enjoyed Mary Had a Little Glam, you’ll be happy to know that Mary is back! This time Mary Hd a Little Plan! I love so much about both of these books. IN this new one, Mary works with her community to beatify a space in her neighborhood. I was so happy to have another book with this great character and the rhyme is great fun!

I love a good cumulative tale and Room for Everyone is a cumulative tale with rhyming text and amazing illustrations. What could be better for our young readers. This is a great read aloud for all ages. There is so much to see in each illustration.

Hip-Hop Lollipop is a book that makes you want to get up and move! The rhyme and rhythm of this book is pure joy as is the character, Lollipop! This is a bedtime book but would make a good read aloud anytime of day!

I put I Like This, You Like That and We Want a Dog together because each has simple text that tells a great story. The rhyming text in each comes in short phrases or sentences and the story is told across the text. I Like This, You Like That has a very accessible theme for young readers and the illustrations in We Want a Dog give readers lots to talk about.

Chester van Chime Who Forgot How to Rhyme is perfect for reading aloud to any preschool or primary classroom. In this story, poor Chester has forgotten how to rhyme. Even though readers should be able to jump in with the rhyming word he can’t come up with. This is a book kids will want to join in with rhyming words for Chester.

Franki’s Weekly Text Set-Great Short Read Alouds for Grades 3-6

Texts for this Text Set have been posted daily on Instagram. Follow @TextSets there to get daily updates!

Read Aloud is one of the best times of any school day! And choosing the next read aloud is always so important. I love a great short read aloud, especially early in the school year. I want to build the Read Aloud routine with thinking and talk and I want engagement and access for every single child. I want there to be enough depth for lots of possibilities for talk. I know these first read alouds of the school year will teach me so much about students as readers. This week, I’ll share several of my favorite shorter length read alouds. Short but with depth and complexity for readers in grades 3-6. These writers know middle grade readers well!

I love every book by Pam Muñoz Ryan and I was excited to see this new one-Solimar: The Sword of the Monarchs . There is so much here that makes it a great book for read aloud. It is a fantasy and I think that it provides a great shared experience to understand how fantasy works. It also has a strong femail Latinx character who has lots of decisions to make so there is a lot to talk about there. An added bonus to reading this one aloud is that it might introduce readers to an incredible author whose books they will want to read independently once they know her!

Too Bright to See was a Finalist for the National Book Award AND a Newbery Honor book AND it won the Stonewall Award in 2021. Every sentence of this book is beautiful. This is the story of Bug, who is getting ready to start middle school. Bug is also grieving–Uncle Roderick recently passed away. Bug is working through so much–grief, friendship, gender identity, and a possible ghost in the house. There is so much love and acceptance packed into this short novel. This is a book I can read over and over because of the character, the story and the gorgeous writing. Lots for young readers to talk about and as always, Lukoff addresses issues of young readers brilliantly.

Harbor Me is an incredible book by Jacqueline Woodson. I’ve read this book aloud with fifth graders and the conversations were amazing. The characters and their relationships give readers so much to think about. The title (Harbor Me) and the dedication (For Lena and Alana, who harbor so many. And for my family, who harbors me.) both give middle grade readers a way to think about the meaning of the word harbor and why it is so important to this story. Often the title gives readers a clue into the theme of a book and by pondering Woodson’s meaning of the word harbor in this story and how it relates to these characters, readers can get depth of understanding.

I think it’s important to include fun reads during Read Aloud time. Maya and the Robot by Eve L. Ewing is fun but with plenty to think and talk about. Who doesn’t love a good robot story. There is so much in this story for children to connect to and Maya is a great character. The STEM thread is great as there isn’t a lot of middle grade fiction that explores STEM ideas. I also think the theme is accessible to this age so it makes for great conversation.

I am a big fan of sharing graphic novels as Read Alouds. Projecting the ebook version on the screen is a great way to experience a book as a community. I worry that so many of our students are reading graphic novels quickly without much support in reading them with depth and seeing all that is there. Reading aloud graphic novels can support a better understanding of how to navigate this format. Swim Team is one of my very favorite new middle grade graphic novels. There are great characters and the history of racism related to swimming is embedded in this story. For our readers who see graphic novels as a quick read, this book provides lots of opportunities to stop, think and talk to read with more depth. I hope this author has more books on the way!

I finished Katherine Applegate’s new book, Odder this week. What a gem of a book. The book is written in verse and follows the life a Odder, an otter who lives off the coast of California. I loved every word of this story (and the audio version is also fabulous!) The author’s note is a fabulous piece of this book as readers learn about the true stories behind this work of fiction. Odder is based on some of the otters at the Monterey Bay Aquarium and Katherine Applegate invites readers to learn more. It’s a fascinating story and Odder is a character who will stay with me for a long time. So many of our middle grade readers are fans of The One and Only Ivan and it would be great conversation talking about the ways this author writes stories based on these incredible animals.

Franki’s Weekly Text Set: What Can an Author’s Note Be?

Texts for this Text Set have been posted daily on Instagram. Follow @TextSets there to get daily updates!

This week, we’ll look at a set of books that could be a mini-cycle on Authors’ Notes. I used to be a reader who skipped things like the author’s note in a book. But one day I walked into Lynsey Burkins’ 3rd grade classroom and they were talking about an author’s note and I was intrigued. I realized all that I had been missing and started paying attention to authors’ notes. Lots of readers are like me and miss out on this critical piece of a book. This week, we’ll take a look at various things an author’s note can be in terms of how it often adds to the main text in such important ways. I could see using this set of picture books for a weeklong study to introduce readers to the power of author’s notes and the things we miss when we skip them!

A Walk in the Words is a great book to introduce Authors’ Notes to readers. Author’s notes do different things but USUALLY an author’s note shares an author’s connection to the story they just wrote. This author’s note does just that which is why I think it is a great introduction. This is a story of a child who struggles to learn how to read and the author’s note lets the reader know that this is based on the author’s childhood. I love it as an introduction to author’s notes and also to talk about credibility of an author when they write about difficult topics. As a reader, I want to know that someone writing about difficulty learning to read, actually experienced difficulty. That’s important if I want to trust the author. In this mini-study of Author’s Notes, I’d ask students to name what this author did in this author’s note (share his personal story/connection with readers). Love this book and the author’s note. A much better story when you don’t skip the author’s note!

I love The Year We Learned to Fly and I loved it even more after I read the Author’s Note at the end. Jacqueline Woodson does connect her own life to the book. But she does more than that. She pays tribute to Virginia Hamilton and her book, part of her inspiration. The combination of these two ideas in the Author’s Note gives readers a new way to understand the story and to become curious about Virginia Hamilton’s work. It is a short and powerful Author’s Note that brings new meaning to the main text of the book.

Paletero Man and Delicious are books of pure joy! Both celebrate street food! The Author’s Note in Paletero man (in both Spanish and English) shares the joy of the memories the author has as well as a bit of the history of street food in Los Angeles. The author also shares the cultural connection. I included Delicious even though it doesn’t have an author’s note. Instead, this book of poems, each celebrating street food from a different place in the world, has something else at the end (another mini-unit for another time maybe). The author gives us more information connected to each of the places or types of street food in the poem. Little chunks of information that go along with each poem!

Dad Bakes is a wonderful story of the love between a dad and a child. It is a simple story of the two baking together and also of the dad going off to work at night so bread is ready and warm in the morning. The Author’s Note shares information from the author’s experiences around incarceration and organizations that support individuals and families after incarceration. So this author note gives lots of information but also connects readers with organizations that they may want to support after reading the story. It is an Author’s Note that could also be read as a call to act/help. Rereading the story after reading the Author’s Note is also important as it is a bit of a different experience with the new knowledge.

Authors’ Notes are important in fiction books but they are equally if not more important when reading nonfiction. In The People Remember, the author includes a long Author’s Note that does so many important things for the reader. The author embeds information with personal memories and important moments. She also highlights the 7 principles of Kwanza and adds a historical timeline. This is a very important book and the Author’s Note is a generous addition with so much more to learn and understand for readers.

Franki’s Weekly Text Set: Books to Support Notebook Writing-Volume and Variety

Texts for this Text Set have been posted daily on Instagram. Follow @TextSets there to get daily updates!

There is nothing like kicking off notebook writing with young writers. I remember years ago, learning so much from Shelley Harwayne about the importance of “volume and variety”–how important it was for children to see all that is possible when launching notebook writing. So, the beginning of the school year in writing workshop means lots of invitations to try different kinds of writing-to fill your notebook with lots of different kinds of writing. This week, we’ll explore a set of books that invites writers to “give it a try”. I am adamant that these notebook lessons are always invitations and not have tos because a writer may have something pressing to write about. And by posing these as invitations, our writers can give things a try without a huge risk and see so many possibilities.

Mama and Mommy and Me in the Middle is definitely one of my favorite picture books of 2022. Wow! What a book! I love this one for writing workshop because it is the story of a little girl who misses her Mommy, who is a way on a business trip. I love to use early in launching writer’s notebooks because there are so many ways young writers can connect, so many ways they can “write off” of the book. This book will spark lots of family memories and feelings and this is a great introduction to the ways stories can do that for writers, how stories can be great ways to get your writing brain to remember something that’s happened in your life that you might want to write about.

No matter the grade I’ve taught, list writing is a favorite for so many young writers. The Me I Choose to Be (this year’s John Steptoe Award winner!) and Daddy Speaks Love (two more favorites of 2022!) are great invitations to list writing. These books seem to me like lists turned into a poetry/picture book. Writers can follow the repeated lines in each book to write their own lists or think of another topic to write a list about. I like these as mentors because for those writers who love lists, they can see that a simple list can become a beautiful picture book too!

Yes! The Most Magnificent Idea was released this week and is a sequel to The Most Magnificent Thing-! I love this new one for launching writers notebooks because it addresses the problem of days that you have NO IDEAS! This happens to all creators and it is something that comes up early in the school year for writers. Even though the main character is not a writer, she uses all the same strategies to get ideas for making as a writer does for writing. So lots to talk about and explore for days when you are stuck as a writer. So many reasons to use this new book!

Arab Arab All Year Long, Berry Song and Tuesday is Daddy’s Day is a set of books that is perfect for helping writers think about traditions that are important to them. These can be traditions that happen annually connected to a holiday or big event, they can be things you do with a family member or friend at certain times during the year or they can be things that you do daily or weekly-those daily traditions that make your days happy. These three books are great for talking about the various kinds of traditions we enjoy, the reasons for the traditions, and the people we enjoy them with. Great invitations for thinking a bit about those important traditions-big and small.

Notebook writing helps us slow down and notice things in greater detail. These two books are great ways to talk about the various ways to write descipritons. Mommy’s Hometown is a description of a place while Wait-and See is more of an observation in-the-moment, a close look at something happening. When we talk about descriptions or descriptive writing, I want my writers to see lots of examples–so I could see a whole text set on different ways or things that authors and illustrators describe. The act of a writer to slow down and notice and find those perfect words is easy to talk about when introduced as description. Young writers often have fun with this type of writing–so many possibilities!

Franki’s Weekly Text Set: Celebrating Our Names

Texts for this Text Set have been posted daily on Instagram. Follow @TextSets there to get daily updates!

Text Sets is back and excited about a new school year! I know celebrating names is something teachers do early in the school year so this week, we’ll share some books that invite these conversations. I think it’s important that we don’t only share these books at the beginning of the school year. Many books about names are better shared once community is established. And of course, the books can also be revisited as part of a writing unit or for a reading mini lesson.

This week’s Text Set starts with a classic–Chrysanthemum. I’m starting with this one intentionally because I think if we are intentional about book choice, we layer texts and have several books that can explore a concept over time. We choose the books that we share because they naturally invite the conversations we hope have. As we work to expand and diversify the books we use, there will always be favorites that still work. The key is not using ONLY one book but to create a text set around a big idea so children have many stories to explore. When I taught K/1, Kevin Henkes was a favorite author and this book helped new readers pay attention to print and text and numbers of letters in names, etc. This book is still one of the best I know to help kids think about names from a print standpoint–to get them paying close attention to print. It is also great because of the theme and because it is often the first introduction young readers have to Kevin Henkes, an author we want them to know! Even though there are lots of new, wonderful books about names that I would also use, I wouldn’t get rid of this one!

That’s Not My Name is my new favorite book in this Text Set. The book was published this summer and does a great job of inviting conversations about the importance of pronouncing everyone’s name correctly. It is done so well for children (and adults) of all ages and the illustrations add a joyfulness to the idea of names that I love. If you are adding one new book to your collections of name books, I’d add this one for sure!

Alma and How She Got Her Name and How Nivi Got Her Names pair together well because they both tell the traditions of how names are chosen in families. In Alma and How She Got Her Name, Alma learns about all of the people she was named after. (Juana Martinez-Neal is another author/illustrator to highlight as she also has picture books, chapter books and more.)In How Nivi Got Her Names, Nivi also learns about the people she was named after as well as the traditions of Inuit naming traditions and their meanings. (And I had no idea how may books illustrated by Charlene Chua I have in my collection–another great illustrator to highlight!) Both of these books open conversations about the various wonderful ways that children’s names are chosen.

Your Name is a Song is another fabulous story that reminds us the importance of every name. Similar to That is Not My Name, the main character is dealing with the frustration of people at school mispronouncing her name. The response is a bit different but with the same important message and empowers her to go back to school with a new understanding. There is a history and music piece embedded in the theme and the author note and pronunciations of the names are an important piece to discussing the importance of celebrating every name. Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow has 3 picture books published and one on the way! I am pretty sure I’ll preorder everything she writes from here on out!

My Name is a Story is another brand new picture book. This one has so much possibility when I think about conversations that might happen. After having negative experiences around her name on the first day of school, her mother helps her understand the beauty in her name and in all that she is. Ashanti does a bit with acrostic poetry in a way that expands the idea beyond just a simple word–which would be great fun to talk about with young readers.

Franki’s Weekly Text Set: Board Books for All Ages

Texts for this Text Set have been posted daily on Instagram.

Follow @TextSets there to get daily updates!

I worry when people think board books are only appropriate for infants and toddlers. Although they are great for that age, they are also great for older readers. I am a big fan of a laundry basket of board books for K-5 as part of the classroom library. The books I am sharing this week are fun and sturdy and great for all ages!

If you don’t know the Mathical Book Awards, then you must! It is a fabulous award “for fiction and nonfiction books that inspire children of all ages to see math in the world around them”. 1 Smile 10 Toes is one of this year’s winners and I LOVE IT!! It is an interactive board book and you can flip it around and make so many animals with different combinations of features. This can be a fun counting book for younger children, but older children can think about the many combinations and all readers can just have great fun creating new combinations! One of my favorite board books of all time!

I love this series by Sophie Beers and Love Makes a Family is one of my faves. (Change Starts with Us and Kindness Makes Us Strong are two others in the series that I love). I love this book for young children but I also think this series can be used in word study for older children. Anytime a whole book defines a single word or concept, there is lots to think about as word learners. Highly recommend this whole series! s

Our Skin: A First Conversation About Race is part of another board book series that I love–the First Conversations series. The others in the series are Yes! No!: A First Conversation About Consent and Being You! A First Conversation About Gender. These provide great anchors for good conversations around important topics. The books are done in developmentally appropriate ways with lots of access points and several opportunities to extend with conversations. There is great backmatter to support adults with having these conversations with children. Another series that is incredible for all ages.

Circle Under Berry book is fun for children and adults. Really, I don’t even know how to explain it but it is brilliant. There is so much on every page of this book–spatial concepts, colors, shapes, etc. And the whole design and concept behind the book is worth study. So much to love about this one!

I recently discovered this oversized board book-Little Cat Hide-and-Seek Emotions— that is a fun way to talk to children (of all ages) about emotions they may be feeling (and how to read those emotions when others may be feeling them.). The colors and illustrations make this book extra engaging, making it a great anchor for conversations around emotions.

Follow @TextSets on Instagram for daily books/weekly text sets!

Franki’s Weekly Text Set: Nonfiction for Our Youngest Readers

Texts for this Text Set have been posted daily on Instagram.

Follow @TextSets there to get daily updates!

Often, nonfiction is written with older elementary students in mind. This week, we take a look at a set of nonfiction that is perfect for younger readers. These books are actually perfect for all ages and they would be great writing mentors for middle grade writers. When we think about having enough quality nonfiction for our youngest readers, we want books that not only appeal to them, but books that meet their developmental and reading needs. These books do just that!

Love this new nonfiction guide for young readers-How to Say Hello to a Worm. There is so much content packed into this book but the question/answer format that is embedded in a narrative works well to share the information. The illustrations are bright and I love that the questions and answers are in different color font. This is a great feature that young readers will notice and just enough to begin thinking about the visual set up of some nonfiction texts.

I doubt that The Thing About Bees is officially nonfiction but it has enough nonfiction elements that I include it here. The subtitle “A Love Letter” lets readers know that this is a type of tribute to Bees. And the poetic language makes it a perfect read aloud. The way the information is embedded along with bigger themes is brilliant and there are so many access points for all readers.

Animals are often a top of interest for young readers and these two books are perfect. Animals!: Here We Grow! is filled with incredible photographs showing how animals change and grow. The combination of text and visuals make this one perfect for young readers. And in Steve Jenkins’ and Robin Page’s Who Am I? readers can guess the animal described based on the informational clues. (Another great mentor for older writers too!).

Lift, Mix, Fling! Machines Can Do Anything an engaging introduction to simple machines for young learners. There is so much on every page and key vocabulary is embedded into rhyming text. This makes for a great read aloud and there is also lots to explore in the illustrations on each page.

I discovered This Pup Steps Up and This Cat Loves That on Bookelicious and they are great fun. They are both filled with rhyming text and incredible pictures. The dog book focuses on all that dogs can do and the cat book focuses more on the things cats like and don’t like. Readers will learn a lot while they enjoy so many adorable pictures of dogs and cats. What could be better!

This week’s books were linked at Bookelicious. If you don’t know Bookelicious, check it out today. It is an online independent children’s bookstore with an incredible selection of children’s books and many supports for young readers. Lots of great free events for teachers coming up that you can check out and register here.

Follow @TextSets on Instagram for daily books/weekly text sets!