There’s no better way to get kids talking about, laughing at, and interested in books than a good read aloud. Some books just come alive when read aloud to a group of eager ears and eyes. These are some of my favorites!
1ST GRADE READ ALOUDS
Sam and Dave are digging a hole to find something spectacular. They dig and dig and dig, but find nothing. After a lot of work, the boys take a rest, and something quite spectacular happens.
Kids will laugh out loud as the boys dig and miss finding anything spectacular (they are often oh-so-close). It’s also a great read for examining illustrations. Subtle differences from the beginning to the end of the book make a big difference!
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The Bunny family adopts a new son, but their daughter Dot is not impressed. In fact, she’s worried because her new brother is a wolf! She tries to warn her parents that Wolfie will eat them all up, but her parents are too smitten with Wolfie to listen. One day it is Wolfie, not Dot, who is threatened. Can Dot help her new brother?
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Lou and her friends love adventure! Building fortresses, rescuing wild animals, being race car drivers, or being a deep sea diver – it’s what they do. But when a pirate adventure needs a ship, and their ship is up in a tree, Lou knows she’ll have to sit this one out. She’s never climbed a tree before and she doesn’t think she can. She avoids the ship, she makes excuses, and she comes up with SO MANY REASONS not to try. Lou simply cannot climb that tree.
Her friends, however, finally give her the oomph she needs to try and climb. And as Lou grabs on and starts to climb, she struggles and she pulls herself and… she doesn’t make it. But that’s okay. As she and her friends run off to play a new game, she knows she’ll try to climb that tree again.
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Farmer Brown has a big problem! His cows learned to type and now they are typing out demands and going on strike until they get what they want. When other farm animals join in, the problem only escalates.
Kids love the humor and repetition: click, clack, moo.
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Digger, Crane, and Dozer work hard every day to build tall buildings, bridges, and roads. But when Digger finds a blue flower in the middle of their rubble, he stops to care for it. When the city is full of buildings and there is only one spot left to fill, Dozer starts his engine and cuts the flower down before Digger can protest. Digger then sets out on a new course, away from the city, to salvage what remains of the flower.
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A hungry fox invites a mother goose to dinner. As they trek closer to the fox’s house, the mother’s goslings repeated warn and shout that it is “really not a good idea!”
With great illustrations, repetition, and a twist ending, kids love reading and re-reading this book!
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Kids love the easy to read Fly Guy Series! This book puts a spin on the “There was an old lady who swallowed a fly” story. When Buzz and his pet fly Fly Guy go to Grandma’s house, she accidentally swallows Fly Guy… and then a spider and then a cat and so on. It’s a great combination of an old nursery rhyme and an introduction to a new series kids love to dive into.
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Duncan wants to color, but when he opens his box of crayons, no colors can be found. Instead, he only finds letters from each color telling him they’ve had enough and are done! Orange and yellow are arguing over the correct color of the sun. Black wants to be used more often. Every crayon has a reason. What can Duncan do?
*Bonus Book: The Day The Crayons Came Home
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Iggy Peck loves building! Iggy also loves building with a variety of creative materials – peaches, apples, dirty diapers? Unfortunately, his teacher states that she doesn’t like architecture. This only helps Iggy realize how much he loves it and how important building is to him, revealing the theme of the importance of pursuing your passion.
*Bonus Book: Ada Twist, Scientist & Rosie Revere, Engineer
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Everyone has heard the story of the three little pigs, but have you ever heard the wolf’s side of the story? You might not know all the facts, and Alexander T. Wolf would like to explain how this big misunderstanding happened.
Kids (and adults) love hearing the wolf’s spin on how he is actually innocent in this fairy-tale remake.
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Everyone knows how Humpty Dumpty fell off that wall, but have you ever wondered what happened after? This book is about picking up the pieces after an accident. Our stories don’t stop when we make mistakes. What matters is what happens after we get back up.
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Jabari is ready to jump off the diving board! But first, he needs to figure out what kind of jump to do. And he should probably stretch, too. Even though Jabari is a great jumper and he’s passed his swim test, the diving board is still a little intimidating. With the help of his patient and encouraging father, Jabari prepares himself for the jump.
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The first book in Klassen’s hat trilogy:
A bear lost his hat and he wants it back. He very politely asks several animals if they have seen it but no one has (even though the rabbit he asks is wearing a red pointy hat just like his). Just as the bear loses hope that he’ll ever find his hat, he realizes he has seen it! The bear charges back to find his hat!
Kids will love the unusual ending to the book and they will love being in on the joke that the rabbit has the bear’s hat the whole time.
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The second book in Klassen’s hat trilogy:
A little fish wearing a round hat quickly tells the reader that he stole that hat from a big fish. The little fish knows it’s wrong to steal, but he rationalizes the theft and isn’t worried at all about the big fish finding him. He has a plan.The little fish’s plan doesn’t go so well when the big fish tracks him down. Kids have strong reactions to the ending which is left somewhat up to the reader. What do you do when someone steals your hat?
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The third book in Klassen’s hat trilogy:
When two turtles find a hat and it looks good on both of them, they decide they should just leave it there and forget they found it. But one shifty-eyed turtle has other plans.
Like all of Klassen’s work, the illustrations are just as important as the text. Kids eagerly wait to see how the turtle balances his desire for the hat and his friendship.
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Every day after school Violet P.’s dog Sugar is waiting to greet her and the other kids. Hannah, however, is scared of dogs and just can’t get over that fear. Even as time passes, the fear doesn’t go away.
One day, Sugar isn’t there. She’s missing. Hannah joins in the search for Sugar and actually finds her. Though she is nervous, Hannah is able to push her fear aside and save Sugar.
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In a follow-up to The Angry Little Puffin the Puffin is back and he still isn’t happy. When the narrator offers the Puffin a muffin, he kindly says, “No thank you,” and explains that puffins do not eat muffins. However, the narrator keeps pressing and Puffin’s responses go from polite to annoyed.
When Puffin realizes he is in another book without his permission just because puffin and muffin rhyme, he gets angry! He schemes and calls upon friends to get him out of the book. When those attempts don’t work, he confronts the author directly to let him know what he thinks of this story he is in.
With its fantastic illustrations and a main character full of personality and opinions, it is sure to be a new favorite!
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Harrison is a hippo who wants to share his love of life with everyone. But he wants to share it a little too much and a little too closely. Harrison doesn’t realize how other people feel when he gets into their space. So when he crowds his friends again and again, his dad gets a few calls from concerned parents, teachers, and coaches.
Harrison’s dad shows him a neat trick called the Space Saver, and they practice it together. Harrison is so good at the Space Saver he even starts using it when he doesn’t need to, which brings up a new set of frustrations from his friends and teachers. With a little more help, Harrison is able to (mostly) leave an appropriate amount of personal space with his friends.
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Stinker is a smelly dog waiting to be adopted. His story is narrated by an orange cat who thankfully explains on the first page that the book will have a happy ending, a much needed reassurance for kids (or adults) who might otherwise be worried about Stinker’s life stuck in the pound.
Though many families and people seem interested in him, Stinker’s stink drives everyone away. With the help of his cat narrator, Stinker breaks out of the pound. Is there a human for every dog? Can Stinker find his?
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LIST OF ALL
1ST GRADE READ ALOUDS
- Sam and Dave Dig a Hole
- Wolfie the Bunny
- The Thing Lou Couldn’t Do
- Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type
- The Digger and the Flower
- That Is Not a Good Idea
- There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed Fly Guy
- The Day the Crayons Quit
- Iggy Peck, Architect
- The True Story of the Three Little Pigs
- After the Fall
- Jabari Jumps
- I Want My Hat Back
- This Is Not My Hat
- We Found a Hat
- Hannah and Sugar
- If You Give the Puffin a Muffin
- Harrison P. Spader, Personal Space Invader
- Stinker
