For this month I decided to create my Top 10 based on the end of school and the start of summer. Some of you are already on summer break, but many of us are just winding down our school year. Hopefully there will be something new on this list for you to read to your kiddos during the last few weeks.
Last Day Blues by Julie Danneberg is a hilarious book about Mrs. Hartwells' students and their concern about her summer. They think that because it is the end of the school year she won't have anything to do. If only the students could see the teacher conga line as the last bus leaves the school, they would realize that Mrs Hartwell, and all the other teachers, are just like them, looking forward to some fun in the sun!
Miss Bindergarten Celebrates the Last Day of Kindergarten by Joseph Slate is a wonderful end of the year book. Your students will have so many connections to the students in the story, like helping to clean the room, getting certificates for a job well done and the end of the year celebration they have. If you don't have this book, it is a definite must have for your library.
This book
The Last Day of Kindergarten by Nancy Loewen is a super cute book about a little girl that is so sad that the school year is over. She wishes it was the first day of school all over again. She wishes for the excitement she felt when school started. She soon realizes that her kindergarten graduation and starting first grade is going to be just as exciting as the first day of kindergarten.
The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That! Spring into Summer is a fun book to introduce the change from spring to summer - as well as fall to winter. The book shows how temperature affects season changes and introduces young readers to life cycles and the changes animals make during these seasons. This book can get your kiddos excited about being outside this summer looking for signs of summer.
Summer Days and Nights by Wong Herbert Yee is about a little girl that entertains herself during a beautiful summer day. She cools off with lemonade, gets wet in a pool and goes in search of butterflies. During the summer night she hears all the summer sounds, making her fall fast asleep, dreaming of what she will do tomorrow.
My blogging friend Kathleen Wainright has written her first book
Summer in the City which is a WONDERFUL book. It shows what summer was all about in the city "back in the day". The illustrations are so vibrant and amazing, your students will get super excited for summer after reading this story.
Summer - An Alphabet Acrostic book by Steven Schmur has 26 poems - each starting with a different letter of the alphabet - that describe all the wonderful things about summer. There are poems about butterflies, picnics, watermelon, lemonade and sandy beaches. A great book to get you in the mood for all things summer!
If you liked the book
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, you will love
The Best School Year Ever by Barbara Robinson. This story still has the six Herdman children causing all sorts of trouble for the kids in school. But when the children are given an assignment to come up with compliments for each of their classmates, including the Herdmans, they find that the Herdmans might not be as bad as they behave. A fun read aloud that helps wrap us the school year on a positive note.
If you are a Natasha Wing fan, then you will not be disappointed with this book
The Night Before Summer Vacation. The story is written in perfect Clement Moore's classic style about a family trying to pack everything they need for their summer vacation. This is a very fun read aloud because of its perfect rhythm.
The Summer Solstice by Ellen Jackson is a great book to introduce your students to what the summer solstice is. It starts at the beginning when summer solstice started and why it is celebrated. The perfect book to start the summer.
Enjoy your summer!!
