Almost daily I receive an email asking for a list of books on a certain topic, or genre, or time period, or skill. Many readers of this blog first came here from Google seeking just that.
Fortunately there are some terrific sites out there that can provide teachers with basic lists of picture books, categorized in almost any way imaginable. The ten sites I've listed below will help you locate "the good stuff." Also be sure to take advantage of the expertise available through your local librarian or media center specialist.
Know of a site that should be here? Email me and let me know!
Dr. Sue LeBeau's Links to Picture Books
This nicely categorized collection of picture books provides a comfortable starting point for any teacher looking to incorporate picture books in a purposeful way. Sue has categorized them by Math, Science, Social Studies, etc. A site worth bookmarking.
Help Readers Love Reading
Here you'll find short and fun reviews of picture books. It's hard to keep up with all the new books out there, so a resource like this is your best bet. Blogger Brian Wilhorn reviews a single book every few days, and he seems to have some passion for it.
Reading Workshop
This site features a list of picture books that you can use to teach specific reading skills and strategies (foreshadowing,, predictions, setting, etc). For those looking for ideas for incorporation, and for those seeking specific titles, this site is an excellent resource.
Writing Fix: Picture Book Prompts
This site is packed with tons of resources, although for our immediate purposes I recommend the 60+ picture book inspired writing lessons (that's what I've linked to). You'll find some of your favorites here, along with complete lesson plans and ready-to-go printables for student use. All free! No registration or membership needed. Equally cool at this site, however, is the chapter book excerpts as mentor texts section, which enables you to use just a few pages, or a chapter at most, of a novel as a writing model.
Storyline Online
Famous celebrities read aloud from popular children's books! A fine and growing collection of favorite picture books.
Picture Book Database
A really terrific online tool that allows you to search picture book titles alphabetically by theme or topic.
Trade Book Matrices
Although it says at this site that these are book for adult learners, many of the titles in these downloadable Word docs are picture books. Books are grouped by topic (Westward Expansion, Civil Rights, Grandparents, Immigrants, etc.) and some teaching ideas are included for select topics.
Book Wizard from Scholastic
At this site, Scholastic provides a really valuable tool called BookALike. This allows you to enter a book title, find the exact grade-equivalent level of that book, and then browse books of similar reading difficulty and topic. What's even more useful is that you can use a "slider" to choose books of slightly greater or lesser difficulty. So if a student loved The Magic Tree House as a second grader two years ago, you can simply enter that title and then slide up two grades to locate appropriate titles for fourth grade.
Database of Award Winning Children's Literature
This database all
new posts in all blogs
.jpeg?picon=3220)
By: Keith Schoch ,
on 3/2/2010
Blog: Teach with Picture Books (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: reference, picture books, topics, genre, mentor texts, reading skills, 21st Century Skills, picture book themes, database, Add a tag
By: Keith Schoch ,
on 2/23/2010
Blog: Teach with Picture Books (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: economics, financial literacy, 21st Century Skills, global learning, teaching students about money, global economy, Add a tag
When most of us hear the word economics, we think of either our present precarious financial circumstances, or of world financial issues far beyond our own understanding, let alone the understanding of our students. But the fact is, a number of variables from economics (supply, demand, surplus, and profit) are important components of simple financial literacy which our students, comprising one of the largest consumer groups in the world, need to understand in order to function and succeed in society. If they can avoid even half of the mistakes adults have made, we'll be much better off!
Understanding Global Economies
A simple picture book such as One Hen: How One Small Loan Made a Big Difference concisely illustrates how planning, hard work, and determination can equal success. At the story's start, young Kojo and his mother just barely survive by gathering and selling firewood. When Kojo is granted a small loan, he chooses to purchase a hen. The hen not only provides eggs to eat, but additional eggs to sell, With the profits, Kojo buys more hens. What's really wonderful, and only revealed at the book's end, is that Kojo is based upon real-life Kwabena Darko, a man who literally changed the economy of his entire village through a microloan. Katie Smith Milway's patient and informative narrative is perfectly matched to Eugenie Fernandes' bright, mural-like illustrations. Kids Can Press provides a free teaching resource for One Hen, and the Heifer Village game (see below) would be an excellent extension for this book.
Similarly, Cycle of Rice, Cycle of Life: A Story of Sustainable Farming (written and illustrated with photographs by Jan Reynolds) shows how people can interact with the environment, providing for their own needs while respecting natural resources. From the water temple system to the farmers' fields, the Balinese people rely upon predictable cycles for their survival. What happens when these cycles are threatened by nature's forces or human progress? Like One Hen, this book presents just a microcosm of world economy, perfect for a class study. See the three-part video series on the sustainability of rice farming at the Lee and Low Books site.
Display Comments Add a Comment
By: Keith Schoch ,
on 11/22/2009
Blog: Teach with Picture Books (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: picture books, nonfiction, science, book giveaway, Houghton Mifflin, classroom library, Walker and Company, Pamela S. Turner, content area, 21st Century Skills, Stenhouse, teaching with picture books, Add a tag
Viewing: Blog Posts Tagged with: 21st Century Skills, Most Recent at Top [Help]
Results 1 - 3 of 3
By: Keith Schoch ,
on 3/2/2010
Blog: Teach with Picture Books (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: reference, picture books, topics, genre, mentor texts, reading skills, 21st Century Skills, picture book themes, database, Add a tag
3 Comments on Ten Not-to-Be-Missed Picture Book Reference Sites, last added: 3/5/2010
Display Comments
Add a Comment
By: Keith Schoch ,
on 2/23/2010
Blog: Teach with Picture Books (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: economics, financial literacy, 21st Century Skills, global learning, teaching students about money, global economy, Add a tag
Understanding Global Economies
A simple picture book such as One Hen: How One Small Loan Made a Big Difference concisely illustrates how planning, hard work, and determination can equal success. At the story's start, young Kojo and his mother just barely survive by gathering and selling firewood. When Kojo is granted a small loan, he chooses to purchase a hen. The hen not only provides eggs to eat, but additional eggs to sell, With the profits, Kojo buys more hens. What's really wonderful, and only revealed at the book's end, is that Kojo is based upon real-life Kwabena Darko, a man who literally changed the economy of his entire village through a microloan. Katie Smith Milway's patient and informative narrative is perfectly matched to Eugenie Fernandes' bright, mural-like illustrations. Kids Can Press provides a free teaching resource for One Hen, and the Heifer Village game (see below) would be an excellent extension for this book.
Display Comments Add a Comment
By: Keith Schoch ,
on 11/22/2009
Blog: Teach with Picture Books (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: picture books, nonfiction, science, book giveaway, Houghton Mifflin, classroom library, Walker and Company, Pamela S. Turner, content area, 21st Century Skills, Stenhouse, teaching with picture books, Add a tag
When I picked up A Place for Wonder: Reading and Writing Nonfiction in the Primary Grades
, I really intended to just skim it over. After all, I now teach only sixth grade (this book is aimed at teachers of lower elementary grades) and I teach only reading and language arts (whereas this book, at first glance, seemed to be pretty much about science). Well, I read the introduction, and about two hours later discovered that I had read the whole thing from cover to cover. Not just read it, but thoroughly enjoyed it, and couldn’t wait to pass it on to a teacher of those grade levels so that they could put its ideas into action in their classroom.
First, know this: Georgia Heard and Jennifer McDonough don’t write in the world of the hypotheticals. Every idea they share for helping children make nonfiction discoveries comes from their real-life experiences with kindergartners and first graders. Every lesson plan has been implemented in “real time,” and it shows through the anecdotal stories, the authentic and very funny student dialogues, and their suggestions for practitioners based upon their experiences.
This isn’t another book of themes or centers; this is an easy-to-implement series of lessons which will assist any teacher, in any school environment, in opening the eyes of curiosity. And while some will argue that children are naturally curious, I would point out that schools have a way of stifling that curiosity. Not purposely, not systemically, but simply through neglect. A Place for Wonder shows how to take that natural curiosity and channel it toward authentic and purposeful explorations of nonfiction topics. What particularly impressed me was the plans for children to write their own nonfiction books, complete with table of contents and glossary!
My wife is a kindergarten teacher so she’s already laid claim to my copy. Looks like I’ll be getting another for my daughter’s teacher. It’s that good! I recommend you check it out online at Stenhouse, and get a copy for yourself
, I really intended to just skim it over. After all, I now teach only sixth grade (this book is aimed at teachers of lower elementary grades) and I teach only reading and language arts (whereas this book, at first glance, seemed to be pretty much about science). Well, I read the introduction, and about two hours later discovered that I had read the whole thing from cover to cover. Not just read it, but thoroughly enjoyed it, and couldn’t wait to pass it on to a teacher of those grade levels so that they could put its ideas into action in their classroom.First, know this: Georgia Heard and Jennifer McDonough don’t write in the world of the hypotheticals. Every idea they share for helping children make nonfiction discoveries comes from their real-life experiences with kindergartners and first graders. Every lesson plan has been implemented in “real time,” and it shows through the anecdotal stories, the authentic and very funny student dialogues, and their suggestions for practitioners based upon their experiences.
This isn’t another book of themes or centers; this is an easy-to-implement series of lessons which will assist any teacher, in any school environment, in opening the eyes of curiosity. And while some will argue that children are naturally curious, I would point out that schools have a way of stifling that curiosity. Not purposely, not systemically, but simply through neglect. A Place for Wonder
shows how to take that natural curiosity and channel it toward authentic and purposeful explorations of nonfiction topics. What particularly impressed me was the plans for children to write their own nonfiction books, complete with table of contents and glossary!My wife is a kindergarten teacher so she’s already laid claim to my copy. Looks like I’ll be getting another for my daughter’s teacher. It’s that good! I recommend you check it out online at Stenhouse, and get a copy for yourself
0 Comments on Nurturing a Sense of Wonder with Nonfiction Books as of 1/1/1900
Add a Comment
Great list, thanks for sharing!
Keith,
Thanks for the compliment on Help Readers Love Reading and for the mention on your site. It's truly appreciated ... although I might take offense at that last statement. You wrote "he 'seems' to have some passion for it."
Seems? Man, I better start working harder! I thought my passion for children's books was more evident.
Nah, just kidding. Thanks again. I'll be sure to visit Teach With Picture Books often in the future.
Brian
This is a *really* great list - thanks so much for compiling. I have a list of resources for finding fiction books by subject/theme (not restricted to picture books, though including them):
http://www.playingbythebook.net/how-to-find-great-books-for-kids-by-subject-theme/
In particular I like the literature database at the Helping Books/Helping Families Program and also the Miami University database that you also list.