I like KIDS' BOOKS & I can not LIE {LINKY PARTY}

Oh. my. word. Becky, look at her library.

Yes. it's true. Teachers obsess and drool over trade books.

Several years ago for Christmas, I just asked for Amazon gift cards to order the rest of the Chris Van Allsburg books so I could complete my collection. Yes. This is my life.

After sharing a Periscope the other night with this same title, I thought it would be fun to create a linky that features everyone's "favorites" when it comes to the children's literature that we use day in and day out.

Brace yourself for this awesomeness. And for the fact that you could be a couple hundred bucks shorter after reading everyone's link ups. Hey - you gotta buy whatcha gotta buy!

It's almost impossible to narrow down my favorite children's book of all time. 

I thought long and hard about this, but I've finally narrowed it down. 

When I think about books from my childhood, this one book stands out. I remember my mom reading me Ira Sleeps Over by Bernard Waber. 

                     

I don't know why I loved this book so much, other than I loved the simple illustrations. Also, I loved how fun it looked when Ira and Reggie (his friend's house he went to sleep over at) would play and work on their stamp collection.

I've read this book several times to my class. It's great for making text connections with themselves. Also, it's great for discussing point of view and perspective. We see how Ira's sister makes fun of him because he heads to Reggie's house to sleep, but is scared to take his teddy bear because Ira's sister said Reggie will make fun of him. I love the mom and dad's perspective, being protective of Ira's innocence and encouraging him to be himself, and not worry what Reggie thinks. Poor little Ira has such internal conflict over whether or not to show Reggie his teddy bear that he sleeps with as he tells the story from his point of view. In the end, Ira decides to sleep with his bear and to his surprise, Reggie too has a special teddy bear he sleeps with. 

         

       

There is nothing by Chris VanAllsburg that I don't love. He. is. da. man.

Not only does he write extremely creative and thought provoking books, he illustrates them as well.

If you are looking for children's literature that inspires true rigor in your lessons, look no farther than Chris Van Allsburg. I use his books nonstop in mini lessons and in small group.

Here are skills that I teach using a few of his books:

• The Stranger - Making Inferences & Drawing Conclusions
• The Polar Express - Figurative Language & Plot
• The Wreck of the Zephyr - Drawing Conclusions & Making Predictions
• Two Bad Ants  - Point of View/Perspective
• Zathura & Jumanji - Compare and Contrast Story Elements
• The Mysteries of Harris Burdick - Great for story starters in a writing center

Ok. I'm not going to lie. Chris Van Allsburg is my all-time-favorite illustrator, but since I've referenced him far too many times in this blog post already, I thought I'd break it up with a little Ezra Jack Keats action. (Also, it was starting to get a little creepy.)

I do love all of Ezra Jack Keats' books. They are so cute and the kids love them. But nothing beats his illustrations. The colors are so vibrant and the illustrations of the children are so cute, you just want to put them in your pocket and call it a day. I mean, do you see that little snow angel from The Snowy Day? I mean. There are no words with that little orange outfit on. I kinda wish they made one in my size, but the cuteness factor would be out the window...sooo....

Here are a few of my favorite Ezra Jack Keats' books that the illustrations are to die for:

 

 

Point of view is one of those skills that kids have a hard time wrapping their little brains around. However, if you have the perfect mentor text when you introduce this skill, your kids will get it immediately.

I love, love, love using The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka to introduce point of view. It's great because it tells the story that we know and love of the three little pigs, but from the Wolf's viewpoint. He gives reasons and examples of why he is so innocent. He gives reasons for why things happened the way they happened with the pigs. 

The illustrations are phenomenial and the story is just too cute. 

The kids totally get the idea of point of view using this book because they are so familiar with the turmoil and horror the pigs faced in "reality" that they are able to see the twists and lies that the Wolf presents to the reader. 

I've created a mini-unit using this book that I've used several times in class. It's my number one, best seller on TpT. Check it out...you may find it handy to use when teaching point of view this school year! {Click on the images to head to the product in my store!}

Link up with your favorite KIDS' BOOKS! I can't wait to see what you have to say!