Many children are already familiar with the "old lady" books. There are so many now! I am going to focus on one that delivers its own version of the original classic, There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly, by Lucille Colandro. The story uses rhyming text and hilarious illustrations to engage the reader. The main character, the old lady, swallows an entire menagerie of animals with each one being bigger than the last. Kids will enjoy the fun, colorful pictures and repetition. 

This book would be the perfect book for a lesson on rhyming words or sequencing. Have students cut and paste pictures from the story in sequential order or create a list of rhyming words following a class discussion of the rhyming words found in the story. 

Recommended for Ages: 5-8

Lexile Level: AD280L 

Maurice Sendak's, Where the Wild Things Are is truly a timeless classic. I enjoyed it over and over as a child and my kids enjoy it just the same. The story follows a mischievous little boy named Max who gets sent to his room without any supper. Upon being sent to his room a forest begins to grow...and grow...and grow. Max's imagination takes him on a journey to a faraway place to where the wild things are. And although the wild things gnash their terrible teeth and roar their terrible roars, Max is unafraid and tames them with his magic, becoming king of the wild things. After his adventurous travels Max begins to feel hungry and tired and decides to return home, where his dinner is waiting for him, still warm. 

The beautifully detailed illustrations are just as intriguing as the story. Where the Wild Things Are is an enchanting read, and one that many children will be able to make connections with (whether it be imagining faraway lands and monsters, getting sent to your room, or acting like a wild thing). There are some wonderful activities to accompany this book and some of my favorites include:

• STEM Challenge: Design your own wild thing, foil boat, or paper bag tree
• Writing prompt: "I feel wild when..."
• Act out the action words found in the book (roar, march, jump, gnash, etc.)

Lexile Level: AD740L

Recommended for Ages: 4-8

The Red Book, by Barbara Lehman, allows readers to experience the power of story through illustration alone, as it is a book without words. It's a magical story of a little girl who discovers a red book in a snow pile on her way to school. While at school, her curiosity gets the best of her. The girl opens the book and finds herself looking at a boy who is looking at a book with her in it! (WHAT?!) The children realize at the same time that they are seeing into each other's lives (I can already imagine the most interesting class discussion). The girl decides to set off in search of her new friend by purchasing a big bunch of balloons. As she floats up towards the sky she drops her book, causing both the boy in the story and the reader to ponder if she will make it to her new friend. The little boy can no longer see her in his book and looks very sad, although that moment is brief, because before he knows it, the girl lands right beside him! In the end, we see the red book that the girl dropped being picked up by someone else and we realize the journey is not over. 

This book has the ability to transport readers to a faraway place and really activate their imagination. The story can be told from so many different perspectives, and I would be interested to hear of the ways children would interpret it. I would use this book in a writing lesson and have students either write a brief summary reflecting their interpretation of the story or write a prediction about what they think will happen next (younger readers could use drawings to illustrate their predictions).

Guided Reading Level: A

Lexile Level: NP

Recommended for Ages: 4-7

A little boy shares a chocolate chip cookie with an adorable mouse, unaware of the endless requests that will follow. The cookie leads the mouse to ask for a glass of milk, which leads him to ask for a straw, which leads him to ask for a napkin, and so on and so forth. The detailed illustrations in Laura Numeroff's If You Give a Mouse a Cookie bring the story to life and allow children to determine what is happening even if they are unable to read the words. The story is fun to watch unfold and children will certainly find humor in the silly requests being made by the mouse. 

This book would be a great way to teach cause and effect. There are several examples found throughout the text, from beginning to end. It would also be the perfect story to practice sequencing. Students could use pictures to illustrate the sequential order of the events in the story. 

Lexile Level: AD410L

 A bear has lost his hat. It's small and red and pointy and he wants it back. In search of his hat, he begins to question each animal he encounters. "Have you seen my hat?", the bear continues to ask. The bear thinks that he will never get his hat back, until he realizes that he has seen it somewhere. Jon Klassen's, I Want My Hat Back, is simple, hilarious, and engaging. This is one of my son's favorite books, a story that we have read over and over again. During my Kindergarten observations, the teacher read this book to her students using different voices to depict each character, and the students LOVED it. The story makes students feel as if they are in on one big joke, and they truly get a kick out of it.  

I would use I Want My Hat Back to teach about inferences with my students. What clues from the story can we use to figure out what the text has not told us? 

Lexile Level: 230L