This list is from PUBYAC -- Still needs to be cleaned up and organized:

 

"One Grain of Rice" by Demi, "How the Fisherman Tricked the Genie" by Kitoba Sunami, "Actual Size" by Steve Jenkins, "Unbearable! More Bizarre Stories"

by Paul Jennings (a collection of stories but the first one LICKED is the best but make sure you have the fly swatter as a prop).

 

The Purple Kangaroo by Michael Ian Black Chicken Cheeks by Michael Ian Black Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road - various authors / illustrators Knock Knock - various authors / illustrators The Happy Hocky Family by Lane Smith Squids Will Be Squids by Jon Sceiszka The Stinky Cheese Man by Jon Scieszka Fox in Socks by Dr. Seuss Arlene Sardine by Chris Raschka

 

PICTURE BOOKS FOR OLDER KIDS

 

Bluthenthal, Diana.  Matilda the Moocher.  What do you do with a friend who always

             wants your stuff?

Brown.  What’s the Time, Grandma Wolf?  Creeping closer each time, different animals

             ask Grandma Wolf what time it is. Well, it’s dinnertime!

Cole, S. The Hen that Crowed. No roosters are allowed in town, so when one of the

             farmer’s baby chicks starts to crow, he tries all sorts of things to stop him.

Collicott. Toestomper and the Caterpillars. Mean, rude Toestomper is overrun with

             little blue caterpillars after he destroys their house.

Creech. A Fine, Fine School.  Mr. Keene loves his teachers and students so much that

             he wants school to meet all the time.

Cronin. Click Clack Moo, Cows that Type. Farmer Brown’s cows have found his old

             typewriter and are demanding electric blankets.

Deedy, Carmen. Martina, the Beautiful Cockroach. Martina the cockroach must pick a

             husband. Grandma’s advice -- pour coffee on your suitor’s shoes – has surprising

             results. 2007.

Derby, Sally. Woosh Went the Wind! A little boy tells his teacher about how the wind

             made him late for school. She’s skeptical, until.....

Dewan. Crispin, the Pig Who had it All. Spoiled Crispin gets the one gift he doesn’t

             have: an empty box.

Donaldson.  Room on the Broom. A witch finds room on her broom for a variety of

             animals, until it breaks, and a mean dragon enters the picture.

Ericsson.  The Most Beautiful Kid in the World.  A little girl and her mother differ wildly

             on what outfit she should wear for a grandmother’s visit.

Franklin. The Wolfhound.  Beautifully illustrated story about a little boy who rescues one

             of the Tsar’s wolfhounds, but has to get her back home before he is discovered.

Greenstein.  Mattie’s Hats Won’t Wear That!  Mattie loves to decorate her hats, but the

             hats finally revolt.

Grossman, B.  Donna O’Neeshuck Was Chased by some Cows. Why is everyone chasing

             poor Donna? A silly, rollicking poem.

Henkes, Kevin.  Chrysanthemum.  Chrysanthemum loves her name – until she gets to

             school and gets teased by everyone else.

 

Lily’s Purple Plastic Purse.  The only thing Lily loves more than her new purse is her teacher. Then she brings her purse to school……

 

Owen.  Little Owen just isn’t ready to give up his blanket, no matter what his parents or the neighbors try.

 

Hoberman. The Two Sillies. Two silly people help each other get a house and get rid of a

             mouse.

 

Holder, Heidi.  Carmine the Crow. Lovely illustrations. Carmine is rewarded for a good

             deed with some magic stardust, then gives too much of it away before he has a

             Chance to try it.

 

Howard. Hoodwinked. Mitzi the witch wants a pet, but she only wants creepy ones.

 

Ketteman.  Bubba the Cowboy Prince. A Goofy, western version of Cinderella.

 

Lester, Helen.  Batter Up, Wombat. Wombat joins the baseball team, even though he

             doesn’t know anything about the game, and becomes the surprise hero.

 

Melmed, Laura. Rainbabies. A lovely story about a couple who rescue some tiny babies

             in the rain and care for them until a stranger appears.

 

Munsch, Robert.  Alligator Baby.  Kristen’s parents keep bringing the wrong babies

             home after they accidentally drive to the zoo for the delivery

 

Olson, David J.  The Thunderstruck Stork. When Webster the stork collides with a

             hot air balloon and his brain is knocked out whack, he starts delivering babies

             to the wrong animal parents all over the world, with surprising results.

 

Palatini, Mooseltoe. Moose is so organized for Christmas that he has everything……

 

Phillips, J.C. Wink: the Ninja Who Wanted to be Noticed. Wink’s enthusiasm & desire

             to be noticed get him into trouble at Ninja school.

 

Rathmann, P. Officer Buckle and Gloria. Officer Buckle thinks he and his dog make a

             great team.

 

Rylant, Cynthia.  The Old Woman Who Named Things.  She’s outlived all her friends, so

             an old woman names her belongings, knowing they will never leave her. Then a

             puppy shows up, determined to be adopted.

 

Scieszka, Jon. The True Story of the Three Little Pigs.  The wolf’s side of the story.

 

Seymour.  I Love My Buzzard. A boy’s collection of pets is more than his mother can

             stand.

 

Sierra, Judy. The Dancing Pig. Can a pig save two girls from a witch? Fun tale from Bali.

 

Trivizas, E.  The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig. A fun twist on the classic tale.

 

Van Allsburg, Chris. Probuditi. Calvin and his friend imitate a famous hypnotist by

             hypnotizing Calvin’s little sister, with unexpected results.

 

Wallace. City Pig. She has everything: cell phone, job, fancy shoes – so why isn’t this pig

             happy?

 

Wilson, Karma. Sakes Alive! A Cattle Drive! Two cows steal the farmer’s truck in this

             silly rhyming book, leading the police on a merry chase through town.

 

Wilson, Karma. Moose Tracks! A silly rhyming mystery in which the house owner tries

             to figure out how moose tracks got all over his house.

 

Zelinsky.  Rumpelstiltskin. A beautifully illustrated version of the fairy tale.

 

Kindergarten Read-a-Louds, just title and/or author

Recommended:

Rhyming Dust Bunnies by Jan Thomas

Mo Willems

Wide Mouthed Frog / Faulkner

The Doorbell Rang / Hutchins (we have felt plates and cookies on the

feltboard to use with the story)

Put Me In The Zoo / Lopshire

The King the Mice and the Cheese / Gurney

Baby Beebee Bird / Massie

Karma Wilson's Bear books

Silly Sally / Wood

A Fish Out of Water / Palmer

Round Robin / Kent

Caterpillar and the Polliwog / Kent

Froggy Gets Dressed / London

One Duck Stuck by Root

Fortunately by Remy Charlip

Munsch books

Patricia Polacco

Margie Palatini (Lousy Rotten Stinkin' Grapes, Sweet Tooth)

Dav Pilkey's books

Lane Smith's Happy Hocky family

Scieszka's books

Superdog: heart of a hero

Kevin O'malley's books (Once Upon a cool motorcycle dude)

Hoffman's Grace books

Kimmel's Anansi stories

Non-fiction picture books

The Best Book to Read by Debbie Bertram

The Shelf Elf by Jackie Hopkins

Winston the Book Wolf by Marni McGee

A Book by Mordicai Gerstein

My Little Sister Ate One Hare by Bill Grossman.

Bark George Jules Feiffer

Stephanie's Ponytail (Munsch)

Aaaarrgghh! Spider (Monks)

Epossumondas (Salley)

Never Tease a Weasel by Jean Conder Soule,

Miss Suzy by Miriam Young

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin

Porkenstein by Kathryn Lasky

Clifford, Curious George, and Amelia Bedelia.

Minerva series of picture books

The Mitten (Aylesworth and Brett)

Somebody Loves You Mr. Hatch

Higher, Higher by Leslie Patricelli

Duck, Rabbit by Amy Rosenthal

Birds by Kevin Henkes

All God's Critters by Bill Staines

The Curious Garden by Peter Brown

Moonshot by Brian Floca

Princess Hyacinth by Florence Perry Heide

Mary Louise loses her manners by Diane Cuneo ; illustrated by Jack E. Davis

Ivan the Terrier by Peter Catanlano (spelling)

Almost anything by William Steig

A Bad case of Stripes by Shannon

The Library by Stewart

Story of Little Babaji by Bannerman

 

Tree of Birds by Susan Meddaugh

 

Birdfeeder Banquet by Michael Martchenko

 

Two Frogs by Christopher Wormell – this may appear like a very simple

picture book but it has a twist at the end which younger children won’t

get, I use it for kids up to Grade 3

 

Discovery Kinder Books Read

Put on hold: Children Make Terrible Pets

Waking Beauty (liked)

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible… (ok)

I know an old teacher… (liked)

Parts by Arnold (ok)

Scaredy Squirrel (had already read it)

Frog Prince (ok)

Perfect Nest (liked)

Gunniwolf (liked)

Book Eating Boy (ok)

Falling for Rapunzel (ok-didn’t get the rhymes)

Ivan the Terrier (liked)

 

Small Friends Kinders Read

Gunniwolf (liked)

Falling for Rapunzel (liked)

Squeaky Door (really liked)

The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything (liked, but had read before)

 

Some classics I've read to 2nd grade classes: Strega Nona, Tikki Tikki

Tembo, and Alexander and the...Day

My new favorite book for K-2: Purple Kangaroo. LOVE it!

 

Have you read any chapter books, like Stories Julian Tells where each

chapter is generally a stand-alone story?  Maybe something like the

Sideways School stories?

 

Any Robert Munsch stories

 

Once Upon a Motorcycle Dude by O'Malley (he has a new one that is a sequal

that is also very good)

 

Knock Knock jokes for 3rd graders!

 

Any Steve Jenkins books

 

Have you ever done any of the older folklore-type picture books?  I'm

thinking of Molly Whuppie (the one I used was by Walter de la Mare with

illustrations by Cain) or Tailypo by Joanne Galdone.  Or The Fool of the

World and the Flying Ship - the Arthur Ransome version is gorgeous with art

by Uri Shulevitz.

 

The book that eats people by John Perry, Mac Barnett's picturebooks (be

prepared for hysterical laughter), anything by Sarah Campbell or Nic Bishop.

 

"Once upon a cool motorcycle dude" and the sequel "Once upon a royal

superbaby" both my O'Malley

 

"Two bobbies: a true story of hurricane Katrina, friendship and survival" by Larson

"I ain't gonna paint no more" by Beaumont

"The great fuzz frenzy" by Stevens

"Take me out of the bathtub and other silly dilly songs" by Catrow (but you

do have to sing these to be really funny)

"I wanna iguana" by Orloff

"Dear Mrs Larue: Letters from obedience school" by Teague

any of the "SkippyJon Jones" by Schachner

Also, Mo Willems, "Don't let the pigeon drive the bus"

 

A book that works well with ALL ages (even 6th graders) is Once Upon a Cool

Motorcycle Dude by Kevin O'Malley.  It doesn't take 15 min. to read, but

you can pair it with another book to fill the time.

 

Some favorites that the 3rd graders here have are A Bad Of Stripes by David

Shannon, Cinderella’s Rat by Susan Meddaugh, and Library Lion by Michelle

Knudsen.

 

Henry's Freedom Box

Skunk Dog

Bad Case of Stripes

The Beckoning Cat

Four Feet, Two Sandals

An Outlaw for Thanksgiving

 

I have these classes separately so don't read the same to both.  I read a

couple chapters to introduce series, like Dragon Slayer Academy, Hank the

Cowdog, etc.

 

I have had good luck with that age group with "The Wolves in the Walls" by

Neil Gaiman and any of the Anansi books by Kimmel. Hope this helps!

 

I almost forgot, if your kids liked Nubs, be sure to read The Two Bobbies

(Larsen), Owen and Mzee (Hatkoff)and Hero Cat (Spinelli).  You may find

some other "remarkable pet" books.

 

I suggest longer, picture book folk and fairy tales; fairy or folk tales

from an anthology of tales; "scary" stories from scary story anthologies

(such as "Short & Shivery" or "Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark" or "Ask

the Bones", etc.)

 

 

I often read to K -  4th graders, and with the 3rd & 4th graders, I’ll

usually read a chapter from a book – which will last about the time you

mentioned, and promote the book for them to continue reading.  Some of the

usual (and bestJ) choices are:  The hard-boiled egg chapter in Ramona

Quimby, Age 8; the Dribble chapter in Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing; any

chapter from Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle (but the Radish Cure is the fav); chapters

1 – 5 of the Chocolate Touch; the first chapter of Soup – the first in

Peck’s Soup books (although there are occasional references to God since he

breaks a window in a church – deal with that as you choose); chapter 1 of

The Bad Luck Chair; and as much as you can get through of Moxy Maxwell Does

Not Love Stuart Little (I love Moxy Maxwell!).

I usually take one picture book also, so I can stop the longer book if

they’re not with me and go to the shorter book.  Like you, I love Shark Vs

Train!  Others I’ve used include: Meanwhile . . .by Feifer, Undone Fairy

Tale by Lendler, The Great Fuzz Frenzy by Stevens, Jacques and Spock by

Slater, The Dancing Skeleton by DeFelice,  What Are You so Grumpy About by

Lichtenheld, Nanta’s Lion by MacDonald, the Waterhole by Base, Slow Loris

by Deacon, Righty & Lefty by Vail, Duck, Duck Moose by Horowitz, Panda

Kindergarten by Ryder, and Velcome by O’Malley,

 

Here are some of my favorites to read to 3rd and 4th graders:

 

Henry and the Kite Dragon by Bruce Edward Hall

The Hungry Coat by Demi

Enemy Pie by Derek Munson

The Rough-Face Girl by Rafe Martin

 

Definitely "The Secret Knowledge of Grown Ups"

 

For humor, your kids would probably like Once Upon a Royal Motorcycle Dude

or Once Upon a Royal Superbaby by O'Malley. They are at just the right age

to appreciate the humor and be able to follow the two viewpoints.

 

And the books by Mark Teague: Dear Mrs. LaRue, Letters from Obedience

School; Detective LaRue; or LaRue for Mayor

 

We've been visiting our local afterschool groups and all the kids looooove

MISS NELSON IS MISSING by Harry Allard.  Most of them have heard it before,

but they love hearing it again (and commenting throughout that Miss Nelson

is just dressing up in a costume!).

 

I've also had success with:

IF I BUILT A CAR by Chris Van Dusen

TWO BAD ANTS by Chris Van Allsburg (one of my very favorites)

ACTUAL SIZE by Steve Jenkins

HOW MUCH IS A MILLION by Charles Schwartz

VELCOME by Kevin O'Malley (we read just a couple of the stories)

STORIES TO SOLVE by George Shannon (and others - I'd read one or two of

these stories per visit - there is a riddle in each story that the kids

have to solve).

 

And I don't know if you do seasonal/holiday books, but they've been loving

 

'TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE THANKSGIVING by Dav Pilkey

 

and we're planning on

 

MERRY UN-CHRISTMAS by Mike Reiss for our next round.

 

I've also had success with reading trivia questions from a Scholastic

Trivia Challenge book and using books from the WHICH CAME FIRST series

(published by Bearport).  For WHICH CAME FIRST, I bring along one of the

books and each spread has a question, like "Which came first, basketball or

baseball?"  I have them raise their hand if they think basketball, then

raise their hand if they think baseball, then go to the next page where it

has the answer.  It's a fun stretcher to mix things up a bit!

 

Hope this helps!

 

Try "Love and Roast Chicken".  Tell them you think they will enjoy a love

story for a change.  Barbara Knutson.

"Sam and the Tigers"  by Julius Lester

The Cheese by Margie Palatini  Or any of her other books.

Anansi stories

Beware of story book wolves and Who's afraid of the big bad book?  By

Lauren Child

Too many Frogs by Sandy Asher

 

I've been taking THE BOY OF A THOUSAND FACES by David Selznick to

those age groups at one of our schools for the last couple of years.  It's

a really good Halloween-style story & could probably be used even now,

just past Halloween.  I love it when I get the kids to yell out "THE BEAST!".

I went to the same Afterschool Program grade last week as I did when

I read this to them 2 weeks before Halloween, & many of them remembered

it & alluded to it.

 

I love 12 TERRIBLE THINGS.  It's not a long book, but the illustrations are

wonderful.  HTH!

 

Once Upon a Cool Motorcycle Dude by Kevin O'Malley

Humpty Dumpty Explodes by kevin O'Malley

The Three Little Wolves and the Big, Bad Pig by Eugenios Trivizas

Mr. and Mrs. Pig's Evening Out by Mary Rayner

Two of Everything by Lily Toy Hong

I'd Really Like to Eat a Child by Sylviane Donnio

Stories to Solve by George Shannon (pick a few--the kids love to guess)

Patricia Polacco books

Margie Palatini books

 

My current faves are chapters from:

We Can't All Be Rattlesnakes

Trolls Go Home

Three Good Deeds

Jack Plank Tells Tales

 

I have actually started keeping a list of read-alouds for older children.

Here are a few titles that have been a hit with my groups -

 

Once Upon a Cool Motorcycle Dude by O'Malley

King Midas and the Golden Touch - any version

Let's Do Nothing by Fucile

Billy Twitters and his Blue Whale Problem – Barnett

The Hungry Ghosts – Lester

Seven Sneezes – Cabral

Ace Lacewing, Bug Detective – Biedrzycki

The Sandman – Fletcher

Imogene’s Last Stand – Fleming

Skunkdog – Jenkins

Uncle Bigfoot – O’Connor

 

If you are going on a regular basis, could you do a chapter book and read a

chapter every visit?  Maybe do a quick recap at the beginning of each visit

to refresh their memories.

--

Hello Little Ant by Phillip and Hannah Hoose - this is a fun one to read to

older children and then ask them to vote on whether or not they think the

ant should live or go free at the end (you could vote by secret ballot).

 

Some other fun books to try are:

365 Penguins by Jean-Luc Fromental

Help Me, Mr. Mutt: Expert Answers for Dogs with People Problems by Janet

Stevens (love this one!)

Dear Mrs. LaRue: Letters from Obedience School by Mark Teague

Any books in the Elephant and Piggie readers series by Mo Willems just for

the fun cartoon, comic value

The Three Questions by Jon J. Muth - a thought provoking story that could

inspire some good discussion

 

Here are a few of my favorites...

 

Rumpelstiltskin’s Daughter                            Diane Stanley

Harvey Potter’s Balloon Farm                        Jerdine Nolen

Sweet Dream Pie                                         Audrey Wood

Falling for Rapunzel                                     Leah Wilcox

Pop!  The Invention of Bubble Gum                 Meghan McCarthy

Saving Sweetness                                         Diane Stanley

Raising Sweetness                                        Diane Stanley

Almost anything by Patricia Polacco or Chris Van Allsburg.