Saturday 10 August 2013

Picture Books 10 for 10: Authors I couldn't live without


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Choosing 10 favourite pictures books is probably one of the hardest challenges I’ve had to face this summer. So, in order to get around the fact that I need to choose only 10 books, I created a list of authors who write those 10 (or more) books that I just couldn’t live without in my classroom or in my life. To feel like I wasn’t “cheating” I only chose 6 authors, rather than 10, since each author writes multiple books I love. 


Amy Krouse Rosenthal: Exclamation Mark, Little series (Little Hoot, Little Pea, Little Oink)

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I love how Exclamation Mark discusses punctuation without actually talking about it. It doesn’t explain what a period does or a question mark, it just shows the dialogue. Love how it’s a cute story with a meaning. 


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The Little series are my favourite because it takes what would kids love to do and makes the animals characters hate it. Little Hoot is forced to stay up late even though he wants to go to bed early like everyone else. Little Pea is forced to eat CANDY everyday, even though he would rather eat spinach and Little Oink has to keep a dirty room, even though he’d rather keep it nice and clean. Such fun books and when your students notice the reversals, they love it too!


Daniel Kirk: Library Mouse series

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I love the words to these stories, it promotes writing in my class. I’m not a huge fan of the illustrations, but the storyline makes up for it. After reading the story, I’ve created my own mouse-sized pencils and books for the students. As they write their stories (about the things they know about), they feel like they’ve become REAL writers.



Oliver Jeffers: How to Catch a Star, Lost and Found, The Day the Crayons Quit (illustrator)

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There’s just something about Oliver Jeffers books. I love that he uses a unique font and that the front covers always have a different texture than other books. I love the story lines and what his characters say - sometimes not expected. His books usually get me laughing out loud in the book store. “The Day the Crayons Quit” written by Drew Daywalt but illustrated by Oliver Jeffers, will guarantee be a hit with my class this year.


Melanie Watt: Scaredy Squirrel series
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Scaredy Squirrel has been a favourite for years. I love the way she created a character that everyone can relate to - either you’ve been there or know someone who is exactly like Scaredy. The humour goes beyond Grade 1 level, which makes me chuckle more than my students at times. Love that she uses a variety of text forms in her writing that can be easily be created by my students. These books in my classroom library are usually taped up a few times, because they’ve been read so much. A sign of a great book!


James Dean & Eric Lutwin: Pete the Cat series


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I’m not sure what’s better, the books or the fact that the books have audio songs. My students LOVED Pete and Cat this year. I think we sang his song all through the year at different parts of the day, even on the bus on the way to a field trip. What I love most about these books, is Pete’s mantra, “It’s all okay”. We have taken that up as our motto in class when things just don’t go our way or we’re talking about flexibility. If we break something, do we cry about it? Oh no...  we say it’ll be okay, try to fix it, while singing our song. :)   Go here for the songs.


Mo Willems: Knuffle Bunny series, Elephant and Piggie series, Pigeon books

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I LOVE these books. My students LOVE these books. Knuffle Bunny has captured audiences in my classroom from Kindergarten to Grade 6. When Trixie goes ‘boneless’ in the first book, I can hardly contain my laughter. When she grows up in the third book, I can hardly contain my tears. Mo Willems is just that good! :)


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My Grade Ones LOVE the Elephant and Piggie books, not only because they're funny and love hearing them read aloud, but because THEY can read them too. What a great series to create independent readers.

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To top it off, Mo Willems also writes all the pigeon books too! I’m sure I can go without saying anything, because who hasn’t read one of these? They’re just so engaging!


So, there is it, my favourite authors I just couldn’t live without, nor could my students. My 10 for 10... even though if you were counting books, you'd see that there was definitely more than 10 - but less than 10 authors. So, technically it's not "cheating", right? :)  

What are your “must have” picture books?

9 comments:

  1. All of these titles fly off the shelves in my library. Thanks for putting these all in one list! I included a few PB series in my post, too--it's fun to see kids fall in love with a character and come back to the library for more. :-)

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  2. Great authors and great series all! As a lit coach, I read all of these books to myself and to kids! Best moments of my job.

    You might want to start thinking about #nf10for10 that runs in February.

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  3. Jenni,
    You and I like a lot of the same titles (and authors/illustrators) or maybe put students steer us toward them. So glad you were able to participate.

    Cathy

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  4. That's a great list, Jenni! Those are favorites in my room too. I need to revisit Library Mouse for the beginning of the year, I think.

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  5. Wonderful selection and PERFECT for this age group. I think Elephant and Piggie are favourites of students of every age! I am also a huge fan of Melanie Watt - big kid appeal!

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  6. Jenni,
    I like your approach of listing authors! Many of your favorites are mine as well! (Especially Pete the Cat stories, Daniel Kirk and Mo Willems!) I noticed both you and Cathy had Exclamation Mark-I need to check that out again! Thanks for sharing!

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  7. Sorry to reiterate, but great choices Jenni. I enjoyed the format of your list. I struggled with which particular book for certain authors.Nice way to handle that.

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  8. I can't seem to reply to each person's comment directly, so I'll say it here: Thanks so much for your thoughts! :)

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  9. Some new titles in your post for me. I'm off to request Scaredy Squirrel and How to Catch a Star. I love reading each person's list. I agree with you - this is tough challenge.

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