I Like (actually LOVE) Kids Books Linky!

So excited to be linking up with Primary Polka Dots for this...

One of the best things about being a teacher is getting to share great books with kids! For this linky I will be sharing my favorite picture books- to see a list of my favorite chapter book read alouds you can check out this blog post of mine- The Importance of Read Aloud. 

My favorites in children's literature are always changing- but here are my CURRENT faves!

I love, love, love the book Duke the Dairy Delight Dog. It might have something to do with my love of all things dog, but this book has it all! 

Great characters- Darla is a hoot to read aloud and Duke is the hero you root for! 

Action- there are lots of action scenes in the diner!

Humor- the action scenes in the diner are hilarious!

Heartwarming- the ending is the best!

Plus the illustrations are great!

I have written about this book is a previous blog post- Book Talk Tuesday: Duke the Dairy Delight Dog. This book provides the inspiration for a character project we do in my class after our RW unit on character. Here is a peek at my "Darla"...

So, my favorite author is LISA CAMPBELL ERNST- the author of Duke the Dairy Delight Dog and many, many other wonderful books. I discovered her books several years ago and fell in love with them, and then after some research realized that she was a local Kansas City author- which was so cool for my students. 

Miss Penny and Mr. Grubbs and Squirrel Park are definitely on the "favorite book runners-up" list! 

Goldilocks Returns and Little Red Riding Hood: A Newfangled Prairie Tale are both books I use in my classroom during my Fairy Tale unit. 

If you haven't ever read one of her books, I would encourage you to check one out!

This one is a little harder for me... there are several I really like. But I would say that right now my favorite would be J. Otto Seibold. I love the style that he uses. You probably know his illustrations in Olive the Other Reindeer. 

Here are a few books he has illustrated... 

J. Otto Seibold is also the author of one of my new favorite Halloween books... Vunce Upon a Time!

And here is a book that I love to use to teach how a character grows and changes during the course of a story. This is a book I would use to introduce the concept, as there are very evident changes in Mr. Hatch, and he changes more than once over the course of the story. It also happens to be a very sweet book that really touches your heart. 

There is also a Storyline Online reading of this book by Hector Elizondo that you can watch. 

For more information about this lesson (including anchor charts)- you can visit my blog post Somebody Loves You, Mr. Hatch. 

I have created an activity that you can use with this book if you like- you can find it here!

Hope you find some new books to love this school year! And another big thanks to Primary Polka Dots for this fun opportunity to link up!