April marks the birthday of Hans Christian Anderson a Danish author who is known for fairy tales like: The Ugly Duckling, Princess and the Pea, and The little Mermaid; in his honor, International Children’s Book Day is celebrated every April to call attention to all children’s books and to motivate children to read.
When I was younger, my friends and I loved reading because books would take us on amazing adventures; Time magazine published a list of the 100 best children’s books and it took me back to those days. So, in honor of International Children’s Book Day and , here are a few titles from Time’s list that may just make your students fall madly in love with reading all over again!
- Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
The book illustrates Max, a rascally boy who armed with his wolf suit goes to where the wild things are to tame them and crowns himself king.
- Olivia by Ian Falconer
Author Ian Falconer based these books off his niece’s life. The books’ illustrations are minimal with a splash of red that showcases different famous artists.
- Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans, John Bemelmans Marciano
Madeline is a seven-year-old French girl who attends boarding school where she and her friends embark on a wide range of escapades.
- The Story of Ferdinand by Murno Leaf with illustrations by Robert Lawson
The story of Ferdinand, a gregarious and friendly bull, who would rather smell flowers than combat in bull fights.
- Oh, the Places You’ll Go by Dr. Seuss
Can any of us think of a sweeter and rhymeier way to explain the ups and downs of life and the places that you will find along the way?
- The Day the Crayons Quit by Oliver Jeffers, Drew Daywalt
This fun story revolves around a boy who just wants to color and his crayons who are fed up with being used all the time.
- A Bear Called Paddington by Michael Bond
A polite bear that travels from Peru to London’s Paddington railway station, discovering the extraordinary in ordinary things.
- Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren
A big serving of laughs and playful mischief all around, this title features a girl who doesn’t want to grow up and her best friends are her horse, her monkey, and her neighborhood friends.
- We’re Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen
This title broke the world record for the largest reading lesson—with 1,438 children present at a Guinness World Record event and over 30,000 children streaming the lesson live. It will take your students on an imaginary bear search across England, with five kids and a loyal dog.
- The Berenstain Bears by Stan and Jan Berenstain
The series of The Berenstain Bears feature a family of grizzly bears that learns a safety or moral lesson in each book.
And while discussing children’s books and reading, I’d be remiss if I didn’t bring up the correlation between hearing and reading! And, yes, I mean hearing for all students in any and all classes. As I’ve shared with you on other occasions, children’s capacity to distinguish individual speech sounds is a foundational requirement for developing young skillful readers. It’s hard to be aware of phonemes if you’re not consistently and clearly hearing them.
Because FrontRow classroom audio systems increase speech clarity and phonemic awareness, they can significantly enhance the effectiveness of reading and spelling instruction. If you’d like to learn more about how FrontRow’s technology can help turn your students into even better readers, please get in touch with us—we’re happy to help.
International Children’s Book month is the perfect occasion for children to begin a book that will take them to amazing new worlds!
Resources
http://time.com/100-best-childrens-books/
