Stories for All Seasons

Spring

The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle
Flower Garden by Eve Bunting
It's Spring! by Else Holmelund Minarik
Mrs. McNosh Hangs Up Her Wash by Sarah Weeks (Other good "spring cleaning" theme books include Alpha and the Dirty Baby by Brock Cole, The Man Who Didn't Wash His Dishes by Phyllis Krasilovsky and Amelia Bedelia by Peggy Parish)
Thunder Bunny by Rodney Alan Greenblatt
The Boy Who Didn't Believe in Spring by Lucille Clifton
Jennie's Hat by Ezra Jack Keats
What's This? by Caroline Mockford
A Match Between the Winds by Shirley Climo
The Big Fat Worm by Nancy Van Laan
Red Rubber Boot Day by Mary Lyn Ray
The Best Nest by P.D. Eastman
The Talking Eggs by Robert San Souci
Also, to help April showers bring May flowers,go to
Stories for a Rainy Day Or for a rabbit storytime go to, Reading for Rabbits
Or to create an "It's Not Easy Being Green" storytime (fun around St. Patrick's Day), check out these hoppy books!

Summer

The Great White Man-Eating Shark by Margaret Mahy
Hats Off for the Fourth of July! by Harriet Ziefert
Lottie's New Beach Towel by Petra Mathers
Louie's Goose by H.M. Ehrlich
Isaac the Ice Cream Truck by Scott Santoro
Heat Wave at Mud Flat by James Stevenson
Super Saturday Sand Castle by Stuart J. Murphy
How Will We Get to the Beach? A Guessing Game Story by Brigitte Luciani
The Summer Snowman by Gene Zion
My Life with the Wave by Catherine Cowan and Mark Buehner, based on the story by Octavio Paz
Summer: An Alphabet Acrostic by Steven Schnur
Toasting Marshmallows: Camping Poems by Kristine O'Connell George
Beach Day by Karen Rosa
One Hot Summer Day by Nina Crews
The Umbrella Party by Janet Lunn
Lemonade for Sale by Stuart J. Murphy
Maisy Goes Swimming by Lucy Cousins
Froggy Learns to Swim by Jonathan London
The Very Lonely Firefly by Eric Carle
The Fabulous Firework Family by James Flora
Night at the Fair by Donald Crews
Wan Hu is in the Stars by Jennifer Armstrong
Summer with Elisa by Johanna Hurwitz (short chapter book)
Letters from Camp: A Mystery by Kate Klise (for older, independent readers)

Fall

Fall is Not Easy by Marty Kelley
Teaching Hint: In this book, a tree tries to change color, and ends up looking like a rainbow, a hamburger, a smiley face and more! Children will love drawing their own trees in the midst of changes!
The Little Scarecrow Boy by Margaret Wise Brown
Teaching hint: It's fun to make paper plate masks of Scarecrow Boy's increasingly ferocious faces to use while telling the story! Adapts well to a puppet show format, too.
Tops and Bottoms by Janet Stevens
Autumn Leaves by Ken Robbins (non-fiction fit for read-aloud!)
Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf by Lois Ehlert
Look What I Did With a Leaf! by Morteza E. Sohi (great craft ideas!)
Pumpkin Light by David Ray
Plumply, Dumply Pumpkin by Mary Serfozo Pumpkin Soup by Helen Cooper
Leaf by leaf: Autumn Poems selected by Barbara Rogasky (lovely for older listeners)
Jeb Scarecrow's Pumpkin Patch by Jana Dillon
Fall Leaves Fall! by Zoe Hall
I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie by Alison Jackson
Thanksgiving: Stories and Poems edited by Caroline Feller Bauer
'Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving by Dav Pilkey
Molly's Pilgrim by Barbara Cohen
Heetunka's Harvest by Jennifer Berry Jones
Oliver Finds His Way by Phyllis Root

School Stories
David Goes to School by David Shannon
The Day the Teacher Went Bananas by James Howe
The Teeny-Tiny Teacher by Stephanie Calmenson
Rotten Teeth by Laura Simms
Teaching hint: follow with some good old-fashioned show and tell!
School Bus by Donald Crews
The Miss Bindergarten series by Joseph Slate
When Will I Read? by Miriam Cohen
Morris the Moose Goes to School by Bernard Wiseman (Outstanding, inexpensive video version available from Library Video Company, 1-800-843-3620)
Moses Goes to School by Issac Milmann (Sign "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" in with Moses at his school for the deaf!)
Minerva Louise at School by Janet Morgan Stoeke
Pippi Goes to School by Astrid Lindgren
Ms. MacDonald Had a Classs by Jan Ormerod
We Share Everything! by Robert Munsch
Spider School by Francesca Simon
Mary Had a Little Lamb by Sarah Josepha Hale, illustrated by Salley Mavor
Teach Us, Amelia Bedelia by Peggy Parish
The Teacher from the Black Lagoon by Mike Thaler (Librarian, Principal, School Nurse and Gym Teacher also available!)
The Fungus That Ate My School by Arthur Dorros
Lunch Bunnies and Show and Tell Bunnies by Kathryn Lasky
A Pocketful of Cricket by Rebecca Caudill
Vera's First Day of School by Vera Rosenberry
Bertie's Picture Day by Pat Brisson
Crow Boy by Taro Yashima
Yoko by Rosemary Wells
There's a Zoo in Room 22 by Judy Sierra (A to Z class pet poems!) Hooway for Wodney Wat by Helen Lester
Mrs. Toggles Zipper, Mrs. Toggle and the Dinosaur and Mrs. Toggle's Beautiful Blue Shoe, all by Robin Pulver
The Feet in the Gym by Teri Daniels
The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn (great for preschoolers)
Jessica by Kevin Henkes (also great for preschoolers)
Ruby the Copycat by Peggy Rathmann
Miss Nelson is Missing by Harry Allard
Teaching hint: stop after page 24 and have the children write and illustrate what they imagine happened to poor Miss Nelson!
Miss Alaineus: A Vocabulary Disaster by Debra Frasier
Best Enemies and Best Enemies Again by Kathleen Leverich (short chapter read-aloud)
Frindle by Andrew Clements (short chapter read-aloud; he has lots of school stories!)
The Year of Miss Agnes by Kirkpatrick Hill (lovely short chapter read-aloud)
Acka Backa Boo: Playground Games from Around the World by Opal Dunn (non-fiction)
Hopscotch, Hangman and Ha Ha Ha by Jack Maguire (non-fiction, more playground games...can't have enough!)

HAUNTED HOUSE CONTEST IS A GREAT LIBRARY PROMOTION!

In October, the school library is everyone's favorite haunt, thanks to the extremely popular Haunted House contest. I ask students to make their own haunted houses out of cardboard boxes and bring them to the library during the weeks preceding Halloween! The children come up with some pretty creepy creations, and the library grows spookier and spookier every day! Then, all the children who enter get invited to a SPOOKY STORYTELLING PARTY, where I fill a jack-o-lantern with dry ice and water so it smokes like witches' brew, share some of these stories and then announce the the grand prize winners who get beautiful scary story books! Candy for everyone! This event might be the most popular of all; the first year, I had 16 entries, and this past year, I had 75 haunted houses in the library!

**Not TOO Scary Halloween Stories**

The Ghost's Dinner by Jacques Duquennoy
Attack of the Fifty Foot Teacher by Lisa Passen
Monster Mama by Liz Rosenberg
There's a Nightmare in My Closet by Mercer Mayer
Do Not Open! by Brinton Turkle
Little Monsters by Jan Pienkowski
The Teeny Tiny Teacher by Stephanie Calmenson
Scary Party by Sue Hendra
Wizzil by William Steig
Halloween Hoots and Howls by Joan Horton
Go Away, Big Green Monster by Ed Emberly
Velcome by Kevin O'Malley
Sheep Trick or Treat by Nancy Shaw
Brooms are for Flying by Michael Rex
How Scary! by Bernard Lodge
Pumpkin Eye by Denise Fleming
In A Dark, Dark Room and Ghosts! collected by Alvin Schwartz
Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak (have a "wild rumpus" march during the double-page spreads!)
Hoodwinked by Arthur Howard
Haunted House by Jan Pienkowski
The Horrible Spookhouse by Kicki Stridh
Woo! The Not-So-Scary Ghost by Ana Martin Larranaga
Stellaluna by Jannell Cannon (especially fun when prefaced with pictures from Extremely Weird Bats by Sarah Lovett)
The Devil and Mother Crump by Valerie Scho Carey
The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything by Linda Williams
Old Devil Wind by Bill Martin Jr. (great for choral speaking!)
Boo! Stories to Make You Jump edited by Laura Cecil
"What Was I Scared Of?" from The Sneetches by Dr. Seuss (be ready with a pair of pale green pants to pull out at the climactic moment!)
"The Baddest Witch in the World" from Ramona the Pest by Beverly Cleary
Ghosts and Goose Bumps by Bobbie Katz
The Something by Natalie Babbitt
Francis the Scaredy Cat by Ed Boxall
Skeleton Hiccups by Margery Cuyler
Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson
Halloweena by Miriam Glassman
Some Things Are Scary by Florence Parry Heide
Brave Horace by Holly Keller
Laura Numeroff's 10-Step Guide to Living With Your Monster by Laura Numeroff
Halloween Hats by Elizabeth Winthrop
My Monster Mama Loves Me So by Laura Leuck
Everything I Know About Monsters by Tom Lichtenheld
Porkenstein by Kathryn Lasky
This Book is Haunted by Joanne Rocklin
In a Dark, Dark Wood by David Carter

Books about owls and crows can be found in "Books for the Birds" by scrolling down in Wild Kingdom!

Talking Turkey

Please pass that book, along with the stuffing. Start a Thanksgiving tradition by choosing a title both grown-ups and children can enjoy, and take turns around the table reading aloud. The collections of prayers and poetry are multi-cultural, with something for any guest at your table.
Thank You, Sarah: The Woman Who Saved Thanksgiving by Laurie Halse Anderson
Turk and Runt by Lisa Wheeler
A Plump and Perky Turkey by Teresa Bateman(great for vegetarians) Thanksgiving: Stories and Poems by Caroline Feller Bauer
Book of Giving: Poems of Thanks, Praise and Celebration by Kay Chorao
Milly and the Macy's Parade by Shana Corey
May There Always be Sunshine by Jim Gill (after reading, everyone can finish the sentence, "May there always be…" in their own way.)
My Book of Thanks by B.G. Hennesy (slightly sectarian)
I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie by Alison Jackson
Nickommoh : A Thanksgiving Celebration by Jackie French Koller
In Every Tiny Grain of Sand: A Childąs Book of Prayers and Praise collected by Reeve Lindbergh
'Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving by Dav Pilkey
Giving Thanks : A Native American Good Morning Message by Jake Swamp

For titles that celebrate Native American heritage, look under "All American" in "Trip Around the World!

Special Fall Celebration:

JOHNNY APPLESEED'S BIRTHDAY, SEPTEMBER 26

September 26 is my favorite American's birthday: JOHN CHAPMAN! Better known as Johnny Appleseed! I love reading The Story of Johnny Appleseed by Aliki or Folks Call Me Appleseed John by Andrew Glass outside under a tree whenever possible on this day. Also available are Johnny Appleseed by Steven Kellogg (more of a tall-tale version) and the lovely poem in picture book format by Reeve Lindberg, "Johnny Appleseed. Follow along with any of the following:
Rain Makes Applesauce by Julian Scheer
How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World by Marjorie Priceman
What's So Terrible About Swallowing an Appleseed? by Harriet Lerner and Susan Goldhor
Albert's Field Trip by Leslie Tryon
The Apple Pie Tree by Zoe Hall
Apple Batter by Deborah Turney Zagwyn
Apples, Apples, Apples by Nancy Elizabeth Wallace
Ten Red Apples by Pat Hutchins
and a playing of the "William Tell Overture" by Rossini followed by a reading of William Tell by Margaret Early. For a good female "Johnny Appleseed," try Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney. For teacher background knowledge, read The Real Johnny Appleseed by Laurie Lawlor, The Life and Times of the Apple by Charles Micucci and The Amazing Apple Book by Paulette Bourgeois. It would be easy to tie a Johnny Appleseed tribute storytime into a whole "Apple Afternoon" fundraiser! Here's some more ideas:

Sell taffy apples and apple juice boxes! Sell apple seeds in kid-designed seed packets!

Apple pie eating contest! (Hint: Who can eat the most pie in one minute, or who can eat a whole piece of pie first...I don't think grade school children should be encouraged to actually gobble down an entire pie.)

Bob for apples!

An apple-in-the-bucket toss!

Play "hot apple" instead of "hot potato!"

Make apple prints! These make nice cards for teachers. In my classes, we printed out apples on parchment and made our "Johnny Appleseed's Birthday Resolution," writing out what small thing we would try to do consistently that would make our country a better place. Apple print bookmarks are nice, too!

Make pink tissue paper apple blossoms.

Make paper apple wreaths by cutting out the middle of large paper plates and decorating the circumference of the plate with apple cut outs and glitter.

Make simple bee puppets out of construction paper, with pipe cleaner antennae and popsicle sticks as handles. Bees looove apples! For bee stories and other buggy books, click here.

Also, for more inspiration be sure to visit Appleseed Alley, the Johnny Appleseed website!!

Appleseed artwork by Hailey Nelson, 2nd grade.

Winter

Snowflake Bentley by Jacqueline Briggs Martin
The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats
When It Starts to Snow by Phillis Gershator
Geraldine's Big Snow by Holly Keller
Snow! by Uri Shulevitz
Snowball by Nina Crews
Grandmother Winter by Phyllis Root
Something is Going to Happen by Charlotte Zolotow
The Biggest, Best Snowman by Margery Cuyler
Stan, the Hot Dog Man by Ethel and Leonard Kessler (great storm story!)
Antarctic Antics: A Book of Penguin Poems by Judy Sierra
A Little Bit of Winter by Paul Stewart (tie-in with hibernation!)
Trouble with Trolls by Jan Brett
The Mitten by Jan Brett (Check out Jan's web site! It's full of teaching ideas for using her books.)
Brave Irene by William Steig
Stella: Queen of the Snow by Marie-Louise Gay
The Snowman by Raymond Briggs (look for the award-winning video!)
While the Bear Sleeps: Winter Tales and Traditions retold by Caitlin Matthews
If You Take a Mouse to the Movies by Laura Numeroff
Froggy Gets Dressed by Jonathan London
The Mousehole Cat by Antonia Barber
Is That You, Winter? by Stephen Gammell
In the Snow by Huy Voun Lee
When Winter Comes by Nancy Van Laan
Snow Day by Lynn Plourde
While The Bear Sleeps: Winter Tales and Traditions by Caitlin Matthews
The First Snow by David Christiana
and fun to incorporate into a wintery storytime is the real life hocus-pocus found in Janice Van Cleave's 203 Icy, Freezing, Frosty, Cool and Wild Experiments!

December Holidays

Peter Claus and the Naughty List by Lawrence David
Antonella and her Santa Claus by Barbara Augustin
What's Cooking, Jamela? by Niki Daly
The Little Reindeer by Michael Foreman
The Reindeer Christmas by Moe Price
The Oldest Elf by James Stevenson
Dream Snow by Eric Carle
The Christmas Cobwebs by Odds Bodkins
Olive, the Other Reindeer by J. Otto Seibold
Santa's Book of Names by David McPhail
Harold at the North Pole by Crockett Johnson
Christmas for Ten by Cathryn Falwell
Truffle's Christmas by Anna Currey
Albert and the Angels by Leslie Norris
Auntie Claus by Elisa Kleven
Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree by Robert Barry
Welcome Comfort by Patricia Polacco
The Story of Holly and Ivy by Rumer Godden

Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins by Eric Kimmel
The Jar of Fools: Eight Hannukah Stories from Chelm by Eric Kimmel
When Mindy Saved Hanukkah by Eric A. Kimmel
In The Month of Kislev: A Story for Hanukkah by Nina Jaffe
Chanukah Lights Everywhere by Michael J. Rosen
I'll Be Home for Christmas by Holly Hobbie
How Santa Got His Job and How Santa Lost His Job, both by Stephen Krensky
Hannah's Bookmobile Christmas by Sally Derby
The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg
The Black Snowman by Phil Mendez
Seven Candles for Kwanzaa by Andrea Davis Pinkney
The Little Match Girlby Hans Christian Anderson, illustrated by Rachel Isadora or by Jerry Pinkney (both lovely editions)

Special Winter Celebration:

THE HUNDREDTH DAY OF SCHOOL

The Hundreth Day of School is a holiday that was invented by primary teacher Lynn Taylor, and is now celebrated in schools nationwide! This special day usually falls in late January/early February! Great ideas abound in the picture book Miss Bindergarten Celebrates the Hundredth Day of Kindergarten by Joseph Slate, such as drawing yourself when you are 100 years old, making a 100-bead necklace and a recipe for "100 Day Hash!" Other recommended books for the 100th day are The Wolf's Chicken Stew by Keiko Kasza, One Hundred Hungry Ants by Elinor J. Pinczes and Emily's First 100 Days of School by Rosemary Wells.

Seasons in General

Circle of Seasons by Gerda Muller
Chicken Soup with Rice by Maurice Sendak
To Every Thing There Is a Season by Leo and Diane Dillon
Four Stories for Four Seasons by Tomie DePaola
Snowy, Flowy, Blowy by Nancy Tafuri
Frederick by Leo Lionni
Lenny and Mel: Holidazed by Erik Kraft
A Bear for All Seasons by Diane Marcial Fuchs

Artwork by Sonam Tantuwaya, 2nd grade

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