Friday, August 10, 2018

My List of Picture Books for the 2018 #pb10for10 Event


Thank you Cathy Mere and Mandy Robek for hosting this Annual Picture Book 10 for 10 Event (#pb10for10)! 

I love picture books so I always look forward to this event to see new titles that I haven't read or heard of yet! Below is a list of some picture books I enjoyed reading & sharing with students and teachers this year.  

 After the Fall by Dan Santat is a great book to read aloud for growth mindset for students of all ages.  In fact, a first grade teacher and a 6th grade teacher both read it aloud to their class this past school year and both classrooms loved it! Students at different grade levels can get different messages out of it and have great conversations around them! 

 There Might be Lobsters by Carolyn Crimi is a surprising story about a fear of the water.  Usually it is the human character who has the fear, but this book has a twist and it is her pet dog, Suki, who is afraid of the water because there might be lobsters in it! It is a great read aloud about overcoming fears and worries and how others can help you through it! 

What Do You Do With a Chance? by Kobi Yamada is the third book in the "What Do You Do With..." series and I love all of them! This one is a great read aloud to talk about how it takes courage to take chances in life and that amazing things can happen when you take a chance.  This book will lead to powerful conversations just like What Do You Do With a Problem? and What Do You Do With a an Idea? 


 Jabari Jumps by Gaia Cornwall is a perfect read aloud for so many reasons! It is a great mentor text for writing small moments in writing workshop since it stretches out the moment when Jabari is trying to gain the courage to dive. It is also perfect for teaching/modeling how to use the "Somebody, Wants, But, So, Then" to summarize the story, identifying lessons learned, character impact, character change, and more! This is one of my favorite picture books! 

 The Bad Seed by Jory John is a hysterical book about a bad seed that has a bad attitude and bad manners at the beginning of the story. The seed changes positively throughout the book and shows the reader that change is always possible.  This is a fun book to read aloud to students of all ages. 

 A Bike Like Sergio's by Maribeth Boelts 
Maribeth Boelts is the author of Those Shoes, which is one of my favorite picture books so as soon as I saw she wrote a new book, I had to buy it and read it! This book reminds me of Those Shoes so it would be great to read aloud both of them to compare/contrast the books.  This book would be a great read aloud during a character unit or social issues book club unit.  It is also a great book to use when teaching "Somebody, Wants, But, So" to summarize, identifying character motivation, character change, character impact, turning points, and lessons learned. 

 The Thing Lou Couldn't Do by Ashley Spires 
Ashley Spires also wrote The Most Magnificent Thing, which is one of my favorite picture books for teaching about growth mindset so as soon as I saw she wrote this, I had to buy it! This book is another perfect read aloud for teaching and discussing growth mindset with your students.  I love that this book uses the phrase "not yet" in this book since that is such an important phrase for having a growth mindset.  This book is a great read aloud for all grades, including primary.  

 The Rabbit Listened by Cori Doerrfeld is a cute book about the power of listening and that sometimes when we are going through a tough time, all we need is someone to be there to listen to us.  In this book, there are a bunch of animals that try to talk to the child or give advice, but it is the rabbit who just listens and it is just what the child needed.  This is an important book to remind us that sometimes our students and colleagues may just need someone to be there to listen.  

 The Word Collector by Peter Reynolds - I love all of Peter Reynolds' books so was excited to see this newer one.  This is a great book to read aloud and share with students to spread excitement for learning new words! 


 Saturday is Swimming Day by Hyewon Yum reminds me so much of Jabari Jumps. It is about a little girl who is afraid of swimming lessons on Saturdays and seems to always have a stomachache on Saturdays. Her swimming instructor continues to encourage her each Saturday and little by little the girl begins to gain confidence and faces her fears.  I look forward to sharing this book with students and teachers in the fall.  

Happy Reading! :)