The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg


My favorite believe story, which is why I did it for 17 years in Kindergarten.  A true story of the magic of children and the holiday.  

It's December already! As the snow starts to come (at least here in Utah) it's a great time to curl up with a book under a warm blanket.

If you missed my previous posts you can still check out my September Book Recommendations and my October Book Recommendations.

Of course there are always lots of great books in the book orders - these just happen to be my VERY favorites and ones I HIGHLY suggest to parents and teacher friends! Here are some ideas for November...

The Book With No Pictures kept us laughing all last year! Be careful when someone asks you to read it - they're certainly trying to trick you into reading some pretty silly words. The book makes a great gift and will be sure to cause an eruption of giggles with every reading.

You can find lots of books in the November catalogs by one of The Book Catcher's favorite authors, Oliver Jeffers. I shared about ​The Day The Crayons Quit and The Day the Crayons Came Home in our September Recommendations post. This month you can get three great titles by Oliver: The Great Paper Caper and they are offering Stuck and The Way Back Home​ as a pack. Our first and second graders have loved reading Stuck as they laugh at Floyd's problem solving tactics they learn a valuable lesson to not keep doing the same thing over and over again, especially if it's not working!

Katherine Applegate is the author of the Newberry award winning book, The One and Only Ivan, a favorite of the Book Catchers. Her follow up book, Crenshaw, is a wonderful novel about family, friendship and resilience. I loved this book and I know many of my friends who are in third or fourth grade will love it too. It would be great for a family read aloud for students in second or first grade. 

"Jackson and his family have fallen on hard times. There's no more money for rent. And not much for food, either. His parents, his little sister, and their dog may have to live in their minivan. Again. Crenshaw is a cat. He's large, he's outspoken, and he's imaginary. He has come back into Jackson's life to help him. But is an imaginary friend enough to save this family from losing everything?"

Imogene awakens one morning to find she has grown antlers. What's a girl to do? Hang donuts on them, of course! This book was gifted to me by my first grade teacher and that same copy is in my library in my classroom now (albeit, a bit tattered).

Two things kids love -- gingerbread men and pirates! 

If you're looking to add another poetry book to your collection this is the perfect one. Wacky illustrations and funny poems about pet robots, hungry monsters and much more. 

Remember that adding Scholastic books to your home library supports your child's classroom and allows their teacher to add even more books to their classroom library. With winter break coming it's a great time to add more reading into your routine!

Happy Reading,