1. Children’s Literature for Building Comprehension Only a glimpse at all the books that can be used for comprehension! Matthew Spite Jamie Edwards Lindsay DeFeo
2. “The Greedy Triangle” by Marilyn Burns Burns, M. (2008) The greedy triangle. New York: Scholastic Inc. This books takes us to a place where a triangle keeps asking the local shape shifter to add more lines and angles until it doesn't know which side is up because he is unhappy with his shape. This book is great for students learning about shapes and geometry. This book is also great for making inferences, predicting and drawing conclusions.
3. “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” by Eric Carle Carle, E. (2007). The very hungry caterpillar. Philomel Books. This book is about a caterpillar developing into a butterfly. Students can make predictions and draw conclusions about this book. This is also a great way to integrate science into literacy. Students will love the interactive images and ideas of Eric Carle.
4. “The Great Kapok Tree” by Lynne Cherry Cherry, L. (1990). The great kapok tree. Houghton Mifflin Hartcourt. This book takes you on a journey through a Brazilian rainforest where the many different animals that live in a great kapok tree try to convince a man with an ax of the importance of not cutting down their home. This book is great for previewing, predicting, making inferences and using a KWL Chart!
5. “Is There Really a Human Race” by Jamie Lee Curtis Curtis, J. (2006). Is there really a human race? Joanna Cotler Books. This picture book is made for younger children but has concepts for children of all ages. The book features a look at how fast we move through live and how we should appreciate our surroundings including other people and the environment. For comprehension, this book is fabulous for previewing, predicting and questioning. Students can predict what will happen because of the title and ask questions as to why people act the way that they do!
6. “Rosie’s Walk” by Pat Hutchins Hutchins, P. (2005). Rosie’s walk. Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Rosie the hen that is taking a pleasant walk around the farm, but the walk isn't very fun for the fox who is trying to follow the difficult course Rosie is unknowingly leading him through. This book is great for building sequencing skills. Students can create a timeline based on the series of events that Rosie and the fox go through.
7. “The View from Saturday” E.L. Konigsburg Konigsburg, E.L. (1997). The view from Saturday. New York: Scholastic Four children are joined together by Mrs. Olinski to form a team, "The Souls," to compete in the academic bowl. We meet them as they answer questions in the final round. We gain an insight of the bond between people. This book is most definitely for older students but can be read to younger students. This book is great for summarization. Students can decipher between important information and give a general overview of the story.
8. “Dreamcatcher” by Audrey Osofsky Osofsky, A. (1999). Dreamcatcher. Scholastic Inc. This book takes us into a place where a young boy is dreaming and a dream catcher protects him from bad dreams. This books is for young students and will help them make inferences. The book is set up where students can draw conclusions from each page!
9. “The Ink Drinker” by Eric Sanvoisin Sanvoisin, E. (2002). The ink drinker. Random House Children’s Books. The book takes us into a setting where a boy is stuck in his father's bookstore over a holiday vacation and he hates to read. He spies on customers and for the young narrator of this story, the adventure begins as soon as he spots a strange-looking man sucking the ink out of stories! He follows him to see what happens! This book is mainly for older students (4th grade on) and shows students the importance of reading in lifelong learning. Students can relate to the main character and realize that reading is so much more than just words on a page.
10. “The Lorax” by Dr. Seuss Seuss, D. (1971). The lorax. Random House Inc. Dr. Seuss, again, takes us to a magical place where all the Truffala Trees are being destroyed. Although this books is about ending the destroying of the environment, students can indefinitely make inferences, draw conclusions, and act upon their ideas. Students can use this book to promote their views on saving the environment .
11. “The Seashore Book” by Charlotte Zolotow Zolotow, C. (1994). The seashore book. New York: HarperTrophy A mother's words helps her son imagine the seashore, even though he's never seen the ocean. This books fosters visualization skills in students. They could make music for the book and draw pictures of what they feel and see.