Tag: #booklove

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Picture Books For Los Posadas

This is part of a series on writing booklists about holidays beyond Christmas. To read more about it, you can see it here.

Happy first day of Los Posadas! This holiday celebrates the journey Mary and Joseph made to give birth to the baby Jesus, celebrated in Mexico and parts of the United States. Here are some fun picture books to read during this holiday! 

Uno, Dos, Tres, Posada! This book is fun because it incorporates Spanish and English and teaches someone who is not familiar with Los Posadas what the holiday entails. 

A Pinata in a Pine Tree: A Latino Twelve Days of Christmas A cute spin on the Twelve Days of Christmas from a Latino perspective celebrating Los Posadas. 

The Legend of the Poinsettia This book is longer, but a great one for learning about poinsettias and why they are significant to Los Posadas. 

Nine Days to Christmas: I really love the simplicity of the illustrations in this book. It’s another great one to learn more about Los Posadas! 

What are some of your favorite Los Posadas picture books to read?

Cover photo from tuscon.com

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Hanukkah Picture Books

This is part of a series on writing booklists about holidays beyond Christmas. To read more about it, you can see it here.

Happy Hanukkah! Hanukkah started yesterday, December 10th, so let’s celebrate with a list of picture books to read during this festive time! 

Hanukkah Bear- A book about Hanukkah, delicious food, and a fun bear! Such a cute read. 

Latke, The Lucky Dog– A mischievous dog that goes through the day of Hanukkah with his new family. 

The Story of Hanukkah- This one gives a good background on where Hanukkah came from and why we celebrate it. A fun history book with beautiful illustrations! 

How Do Dinosaurs Say Happy Chanukah?- A fun, familiar series of books with a Hanukkah version. This book gives the non-examples of how to act on Hanukkah for kids but then finishes by showing a great example of what to do, by taking turns and being respectful. 

Meet the Latkes- I love that this book starts with some history behind the holiday before it begins. Such a fun book! This read aloud was one of my favorites I’ve watched so far, so check out this video by Mrs. Lemansky. 

What are some of your favorite Hanukkah read alouds? 

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A Picture Book List For Diwali

This is part of a series on writing booklists about holidays beyond Christmas. To read more about it, you can see it here.

Welcome to our list of favorite Diwali books! This holiday was a favorite of mine to research because of the colors involved with Diwali, making the illustrations in every book so fun! Here are my top four:

Festival of Colors by Kabir and Surishtha Sehgal

I love how this book is simple and on a child’s level, while still incorporating the Diwali jargon and vocabulary. It is also very inclusive of multiple races, showing that Diwali can be enjoyed by many! 

Lots of LIghts: A Story About Diwali by Kavita Sahai

This one is fun because elephants are the main characters that walk kids through what Diwali is, again, on their level. 

Rani Saves Diwali by Anita Badhwar

A princess saving Diwali! Such a fun book with cute illustrations. 

Binny’s Diwali by Thrity Umrigar

Binny is trying to tell her class about her favorite holiday, Diwali. And her peers love it!

What other Diwali books do you love reading to your class? How do you observe Diwali in your classroom or school?

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Merry Christmas! But What About Other Holidays? We Need More Picture Book Representation

Friends, I’ve written a lot of posts about Christmas picture books, but there are many, many people who don’t celebrate Christmas and have a different holiday they observe. And while finding book lists for Christmas is easy, it’s a little more difficult to find picture books for other holiday celebrations such as Hannauka or Diwali. So over the next few weeks, I’ll be blasting you with book list after book list for these other holidays. 

I’ll be covering
Diwali
Hanukkah
Las Posadas
Chinese New Year
Winter Solstice
Kwanzaa
Three Kings Day

Photos from pexels.com

Typically, I don’t like to recommend books unless I’ve held them in the flesh or even on an eReader and read every page to know if it’s something I really want to share with friends. However, our little, local library has limited access to some of these holiday books. I made a friendly suggestion to our children’s librarian that we should add some of these new titles and she agreed and promised to do what she could! 

Because of this, I have had to get creative and watch read alouds on YouTube or do research on Goodreads on some of these picture books to make sure it is something I truly want to recommend to you. 

Another great resource I have found is this free printable of different holidays with QR codes to scan that you can share with your students to learn more about each holiday. 

So happy holidays and stay tuned for lots and lots of books that will help you teach your students about multiple holidays, not just Christmas! 

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The Christmas Book List Of 2020

Christmas books! I’m giddy about putting together this post! The Christmas season is my favorite time of the year, and books are one of my favorite subjects. Let’s put the two together! 

Pick A Pine Tree: We don’t own this one yet, but I’m looking forward to the day we do! 

Dasher: Doesn’t the moody cover of the book just invite you in while you sit under a cozy blanket with a cup of hot cocoa?

Red & Lulu: The same author as Dasher. The magic of New York during the Christmas season is captured in this holiday book. 

The Crayons’ Christmas: A holiday twist on The Day The Crayons Quit. 

What books would you add to this list? Need some good book ideas for the holiday season that aren’t Christmas themed? Stay tuned for next week! 

Featured photo: pexels.com

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Why Picture Books In The Classroom?

Between Mary and I writing blog posts over the last few years, I think we’ve put together somewhere around 100 book lists. What can we say?! We are both book lovers! You can see Mary’s book round-up here. And I’ll be working on one in the coming months! 

But maybe we need to step back and focus on the why. Why books in the classroom? Why have Mary and I written endless lists and posts about reading and books? Here are a few reasons.

TO BUILD RELATIONSHIPS

With the books, the characters in the books, and with reading. To see more on this idea, read Looking Into The Bond We Make With Literature.

TO SET THE FOUNDATION FOR LIFELONG READERS.

Especially in those early years, having the example of being read books can help curate a love for reading in children. 

TO LEARN HOW TO VISUALIZE

Reading books with pictures leads to reading chapter books and seeing the pictures in your mind. 

TO TAKE A BREAK

What better way to switch up the mood of the classroom than to pull out a picture book and get lost in a new world for a time? 

TO LEARN A LESSON 

Sometimes a good solution to learn a needed lesson is to let a beloved book character do the teaching. 

Here’s what Mary has to say on the subject: 

“[Picture books] make for outstanding anchor texts for students to learn small, targeted skills, both for writing and for social/emotional learning. Everyone should check out Jill Heise’s #classroombookaday for more on daily picture books! And regular fifth grade books for grade level texts to build up and transfer reading skills.”

What is your reason for reading picture books in your classroom? 

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High School Read Alouds: Books For Fun!

If you search book lists on our blog you’ll find multiple posts full of lists and lists of good read alouds, books for certain subjects, etc, etc. This blog is chucked full of book lists! What it’s missing is a list of read alouds for high school. I’m not talking books approved for English class to read and pick apart, but just a fun book to read to your students, no matter what subject you are teaching. Here’s my favorite list of chapter books you can read to your high school students. 

I Am Malala

What books do you like to read aloud to your high school students?