Lexile Level: AD360L

This picture book by Margaret Wise Brown uses rhyme as a bunny says goodnight to several objects surrounding him. The rhyming element and the detailed illustration make this book a perfect book for teachers to read aloud to kindergarten students. This book would be wonderful for a shared reading exercise in which students and the teacher read in unison while the teacher models fluency. The teacher could use the illustrations to teach students to read pictures as well as text while they are in the early stages of literacy. Students could also read this during small group guided reading as the teacher assesses their growing fluency. This book is calm, happy and comforting which makes it perfect for young students. 

Lexile Level: AD460L

This classic picture book is loved by many because of its detailed and engaging illustrations. Eric Carle tells the story of a caterpillar with a huge appetite. The caterpillar eats a large number of different foods before making a cocoon from which he comes out of as a butterfly. Teachers can introduce this book through a picture walk before reading it aloud, allowing students to make predictions. This can help them to learn to read pictures as well as text. This is a perfect book for kindergarten students to explore in pairs or independently after it has been read to them in order to develop their print awareness. Beginning readers can work together in pairs to decode words using their developing phonological awareness. There are animated video versions available of this book that teachers may want to play to encourage their students' interest. 

Lexile Level: AD410L

If You Give A Mouse A Cookie by Felicia Bond is a playful picture book that tells the story of a boy and a needy mouse. The story begins when the mouse asks the boy for a cookie. The boy provides the mouse with what he wants which leads to the mouse asking for a series of other items which keeps the boy very busy. Teachers of kindergarten students could use this book as a picture walk before reading to help students learn to read pictures and to develop print awareness. Teachers could also use this book to teach cause and effect as this is a central concept in the story. Kindergarten students who cannot yet create written responses could practice sequencing skills by sorting pictures from the story in the order in which they happened. During read alouds, students can make predictions as the teacher reads. Because of  this book's detailed illustration and the repetitive writing, this will likely be a popular book with students and would be an ideal addition to a classroom library. This is a perfect book for kindergarten students to explore on their own after it has been introduced to them to develop their print awareness and decoding abilities. 

Lexile Level: AD470L

This picture book by Doreen Cronin tells the story of Farmer Brown and his very opinionated farm animals. Farmer Brown's cows have many complaints about their living conditions and use a typewriter to send letters detailing their issues. This inspires the chickens to do the same and results in Farmer Brown having to write letters to his animals in order for them to do their jobs. This book can be used with early elementary students as a read aloud. The author's use of repetitive phrases would be great to build the students' phonemic awareness. The book also would be perfect to introduce persuasive writing to students. Students could connect to the text and could respond by writing letters to someone, such as their parents or their principle, to get something they want or need. 

Lexile Level: 530L

The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein is a powerful children's book that can be enjoyed by people of all ages. The book tells the story of a tree that gives everything it can to a boy and finds joy through the act of giving. This would be a wonderful book to read aloud in an elementary classroom because of its message about giving. Students could easily relate the story to their lives and would be able to use their connection to the text to inform their writing responses. This would be a great book to use during a literature circle exercise in which each student could have a role that involved analyzing the book in some way and having discussions about the text.