Growing a Reader: Kids' Books, Tips and More

Can Cat and Bird Be Friends? By Coll Muir. (Ages 4-8). 

Cats eat birds, that is just the way it has always been. In this story Bird asks Cat, "Can't I be your friend instead?" Both Cat and Bird try to figure out what would make each of them a good friend. Bird finds Cat a box, Cat helps Bird look for twigs, and so on. They soon realize that they are only finding things they other would like. To truly be friends they need to find something they can do together! Can they find something that they both like so they can do it together?

Dragons from Mars Go to School by Deborah Aronson and Illustrated by Colin Jack. (Ages 4-8). 

Nathaniel is excited to have his friends, Molly and Fred, join him on his first day of school. Molly and Fred were a little hesitant because, well, they're dragons! Molly is scared that the kids might think that they were weird. Or worse, Molly worries that the kids will be frightened by herself and Fred. When they get to the school the doorways are a little to small, the chairs are too small and all the kids laugh at them. Molly stands up for herself and tells the kids all the cool things dragons can do! Realizing their error the children apologize to Molly and Fred. This is a fun read aloud book, with rhyming text and a great moral to the story.

My Teacher is a Robot by Jeffery Brown. (Ages 3-7). 

Fred insists that school is boring. He also believes that Mr. Bailey, his teacher, is a robot who is trying to turn all students into robots as well. During the say Mr. Bailey takes all his students (including Fred) on an imaginative journey. They create mud monsters, explore Japan, and even go to a space station! At the end of the day Mr. Bailey everyone has to do a creative writing assignment. Fred is has a chance to write about everything he did today while using his imagination. But at the end of the day Fred still says school is boring, even though the reader (and Fred) know otherwise.