Required Reading- Books 31-40

Carle, E. (1990). Pancakes, pancakes! New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young 

     Readers.

Breakfast, please! In this Carle piece, Jack wanted a pancake for breakfast and his mother replied that she was too busy and needed help in order to prepare his requested meal.   Jack needed to harvest the wheat, take it to the miller so he could grind it into flour, gather eggs from the chickens, milk the cow, churn the butter, and collect firewood.  After he went to the cellar for some jam, the pancake was finally ready to be eaten for Jack’s breakfast.  

Carle is known for his vibrant collage illustrations and Pancakes, Pancakes! is no exception to his wonderful work.  This educational book is created for ages 5-9 and is ideal for teaching the order of procedure to students.  A theme that can be taken away from the story is that hard work is rewarded in the end. 

If you like this book you might also like, The Greedy Python by Richard Buckley.

Chin, J. (2014). Gravity. New York: Roaring Brook Press.

What if gravity didn't exist?  If you keep reading, you’ll find out what happens to small objects
when gravity is taken away, even up to the size of the Sun!  Everything on Earth and in space has
gravity, which is what makes objects fall to Earth.  The size of the object depends on how much
gravity is being pulled upon it.

Gravity is a brilliant book that makes a complex subject easily understandable for young readers ages 5-9.  The striking watercolor illustrations and the choice of objects depicted within will make it resonate among young children.   This is a great book to introduce the concept of gravity to young children.  The last page of the book takes the information into more detail after you have read the story, which is beneficial for a classroom assignment. 

If you enjoy this book you might also like, Handle with Care: An Unusual Butterfly Journey by Loree Griffin Burns.

Grimes, N., & Collier, B. (2006). Welcome, Precious. New York: Orchard Books, an imprint 

     of Scholastic, Inc.

In this lovely piece, a mother and father welcome a new baby into their family.  They welcome the baby to some of the most beautiful things in life, like rainbows, chocolate fudge, the outdoors, daddy hugs, and grandma kisses.  You can feel the love and protection the parents have towards their baby and how they want what’s best for their Precious. 

Welcome, Precious is created for ages 4 and up that is the product of literary award winners Nikki Grimes and Bryan Collier.  It celebrates the love and life of a new family and their baby.  It could be a great read aloud for a young child that’s expecting a sibling and has rich illustrations to go along with it. 

If you enjoy this book you might also like, Full, Full, Full of Love by Trish Cooke.

Hamilton, V., & Ransome, J. (2003). Bruh Rabbit and the tar baby girl. New York: Blue Sky 

     Press.

Ever want your food but you're too lazy to prepare it? Well in this story, Bruh rabbit is lazy when it comes to planting his own food.  Instead, he mooches off of Bruh Wolf’s garden of corn and peanuts.  Bruh Wolf suspects something and creates a scarecrow to deflect the animal eating his crops.  It doesn’t work, so Wolf devises a plan to make a sticky tar baby to catch the thief.  That night Bruh Rabbit gets stuck in the tar and can’t get out.  He’s domed when Bruh Wolf wakes up and finds him.  Can Bruh Rabbit out-wit Bruh Wolf when daylean comes?  Or will he be the wolf’s breakfast?

Bruh Rabbit and the Tar Baby Girl won the Notable Children’s Book Award in 2004 that’s arranged for ages 5-9.  It’s a clever classic southern tale that can be found in many versions.  Ransome’s detailed, beautiful paintings also match the story very well.  More about the origins of the tale can be found in the back pages of the book. 

If you enjoy this book you might also like, The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams Bianco.

Keats, E. J. (1962). The snowy day. New York: The Viking Press.

Let it snow in this cute story about a boy named Peter. One morning, Peter wakes up and looks out his window to discover snow as far as he could see.  Peter experiences multiple adventures on his snow day and unexpectedly learns a little science lesson.  After a long day of playing in the snow, he comes home only to worry about the dream he had of the snow melting away.  He wakes up from the dream and discover more snow had fallen.  Peter decides to bring his friend along for his next snowy adventure.

The Snowy Day is the winner of the 1963 Caldecott medal and is geared for ages 5-9.  Horn Book magazine even said it’s “the very first full-color picture book to feature a small black hero”, which was an important book for its time. 

If you enjoy this book you might also like, White Snow, Bright Snow by Alvin Tresselt.

Lin, G. (2010). Ling & Ting : Not exactly the same! New York: Little, Brown.

Have you ever met a set of twins who aren't quite exactly the same? Ling and Ting are identical twins and may look the same, but they like different things.  They react to situations differently and want everyone to remember that they are not exactly the same.  One day Ling and Ting get a haircut.  Ling sets perfectly still while getting her bangs trimmed and Ting can’t sit still.  Ting then sneezes and the barber messes up her bangs.  Ting likes magic and Ling can’t remember the card she chose.  One sister makes smooth dumplings while the other doesn’t.  One sister can use chopsticks and the other decides to use a fork.  Ling and Ting go about their day proving they like different things and are their own individual person.

This piece won the Geisel Honor in 2011, the Kirkus Best Children’s Book in 2010 along with making many other top reading lists and is geared for ages 6-9.  It’s a great book to teach about individuality and how two sisters seek to prove that they are not exactly the same, even though they are twins. 

If you enjoy this book you might also like, Rabbit and Robot: The Sleepover by Cece Bell.

Myers, W. D., & Harper, L. (2011). Looking for the easy life. New York: HarperCollins.

In this cute story, five little monkeys discover that living easy isn't always good. Five little monkeys on Monkey Island were tired of bending weird ways just get a banana to eat.  They were looking for the Easy Life.  They thought Oswego Pete would do a better job at being Chief Monkey than Uh-Huh Pete.  So they voted Pete out and followed Oswego on a chase to the Easy Life.  After encountering lions, sharks, and hippos, and the unfortunate Oswego getting his tail bitten off...the monkeys decided living on their original land of Monkey Island wasn’t so bad after all.  The monkeys figured out a little hard work isn’t always bad and living easy isn’t always good.

Surprisingly Looking for the Easy Life did not win any awards and is considered unpopular by this New York Times Best-Selling author, Walter Dean Myers.  This book is intended for ages 4-8.  There is a good moral to the story but reviewers withdrew from the language of the book and insinuations given by some of the characters.

If you enjoy this book you might also like, Monster by Walter Dean Myers.

Ringgold, F. (2015). Harlem renaissance party. New York: HarperCollins Publishers.

In this book, Lonnie gets the chance to fly with his Uncle Bates to Harlem to meet Langston Hughes.  Along the way, they meet famous artists, musicians, and athletes who were influential in the 1920’s.  After experiencing walking with giants, Lonnie now understands the importance of the Harlem Renaissance.  Lonnie learns to become proud of his culture and where he came from.  He even sets out to become a famous poetry writer himself.

Faith Ringgold is a Caldecott Honor artist who takes you on the journey through Harlem back in the 1920’s.  Her bold illustrations capture the essence of the Harlem Renaissance and charm young readers while teaching them about an important part of history. 

This book is made for ages 6 and up.  If you enjoy this book you might also like, Last Stop On Market Street by Matt de la Peña.

Santat, D. (2017). After the fall : How Humpty Dumpty got back up again. New York: 

     Roaring Brook Press.

The book recounts the aftermath of events that occur after Humpty's epic fall. Once he healed
from the fall, he walked past the same wall every day wishing to be at the top of it again with
the birds.  His fear controlled him so much that he would never climb up.  One day he had a great
idea to build a paper airplane in the shape of a bird to bide the time not spent with them up top...until
his creation flew over the wall.  Will Humpty Dumpty climb the wall to save his creation on the other
side?  Or will he leave behind the airplane he worked so hard on?  

After the Fall made its way to many Best Book lists such as NPR, Horn Book Fanfare, and Kirkus Reviews Best Picture Book and is created for ages 5-9.  It is a must read for all young children and teaches about courage to face any fear.  Santat’s illustrations are similar to those of his Adventures of Beekle book. 

If you enjoy this book you might also like, The Rooster Who Would Not Be Quiet! by Carmen Agra Deedy.

Yang, K. (2018). Front Desk. Levine Books.

Most kids don't dream of working until they're older. Well, this isn't quite the case when you meet the main character of this story. Mia Tang is the daughter of two immigrant motel workers. while her parents busy themselves with keeping the motel clean, she works at the front desk intercepting calls and taking care of office duties.

Readers also discover that her parents go above and beyond by helping to hide immigrants in preparation for a better life.

Can Mia follow her dreams of becoming a writer when language barriers among other obstacles are present?

If you like this book, check out Yang's other title called Parachutes.