I’m a fourth grade language arts and reading teacher, and my favorite part of every single school day is reading aloud to my students. Daily read aloud time is a non-negotiable in my classroom, so over the years, I’ve come to love a lot of different picture books. You can catch my first post about my love of books here.
Below are ten more books I think should be read to every child. If you are unable to work on anything else at home with your children, make reading to them and with them the priority!
Before you jump into these stories, checkout the app Novel Effect. It’s an awesome app that adds sound effects to the stories you read. I can hardly read a book without them now, and my students and personal children absolutely love it!
- The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend, Dan Santat – This is a beautiful story of an imaginary friend who waits patiently to find his child. It’s so sweet and teaches children about the importance of friendship and courage. It’s also a Caldecott Medal Winner.
- Big, Vashti Harrison – This is another Caldecott Medal Winner that knocked me off of my feet the first time I read it to my class. It’s about a girl who feels like she never fits in due to her size and body shape. She embraces who she is and learns to love herself, despite what others say. This book teaches children more lessons than I can count.
- The Legend of Rock Paper Scissors, Drew Daywalt – This book sheds some hilarious light on the origin of the famous game Rock, Paper, Scissors. It kept me laughing the entire time and my students could hardly contain themselves. The illustrations are fantastic too!
- Can I Be Your Dog?, Troy Cummings – The dog lover in me loves this book so much! Arfy is looking for a new home in this sweet adventure. It teaches children about communication and opening up your heart to something new.
- The Story of Ferdinand, Munro Leaf – This sweet story is about a bull who doesn’t feel the pressure to fit in with the herd. The illustrations are beautiful and the children’s movie inspired by it is pretty great too.
- Stuck, Oliver Jeffers – I’m a big Oliver Jeffers fan, but this book is another one my students laugh at the whole time I read it. It’s a silly story about a little boy who gets everything stuck in a tree. It’s a great reminder to use logic and simple solutions to fix your problems.
- Alma and How She Got Her Name, Juana Martinez-Neal – This sweet book is about a little girl with a long name. She asks where her name came from and her father tells her the rich history behind it, and why we should always be proud of who we are.
- The Crayon Man, Natasha Biebow – This is a wonderful story about the history of Crayola Crayons. Not only is it educational, but it’s entertaining with gorgeous illustrations.
- The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lesmore, William Joyce – This is a breathtaking story about the importance of books and the power they have to change our lives. Get ready — it’s a tearjerker!
- Henry’s Freedom Box, Ellen Levine – This beautiful story is about a slave named Henry and how he finds his way to freedom. Not only is the story itself emotionally moving, but it’s my absolute favorite story to read during Black History Month.
