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| A first grade top ten list of favorite books |
The
Top Ten list is actually a
Top Eleven this year!
Our dynamic group of first grade children displayed an admirable love of books, both fiction and nonfiction, giving us educators great reason to celebrate. I am also thrilled that
all twelve books read by the
Broadway Books First Class visitors appeared on the children's lists, even if just four of them made it to the final count. That is a testament to the power of my fledgling program and motivation to continue this work in the coming years.
Students complied individual lists from the many books we read together during the 2015 - 2016 school year and a master list was constructed using a simple tally system to track the titles. Our final catalog contained favorites from years past, some novel additions and some surprises.
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| Number One |
Naughty Mabel by Nathan Lane and Devlin Elliott came out on top as the
Number One choice this year.
We had the great privilege of listening to the book
read aloud by its coauthor Devlin Elliott. His smooth delivery - full of joy and patience - provided the perfect welcome to usher the children into Mabel's rapscallion ways. Devlin appeared to get as much enjoyment from sharing the book as the delighted children took in watching.
Naughty Mabel has that magical blend of humor and heart present in the best children's books. Fantasia wrote her opinion about the book as such, "I love
Naughty Mabel because Mabel is funny and cute! That's why I love
Naughty Mabel."
It was wonderful to distribute signed copies of the book to the students during Devlin's visit and watch them giggle while turning the pages. In the end, love saves the day.
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| Photo Credit: Kim Weild |
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| Number Two |
Young Zeus by G. Brian Faras took the
Number Two spot. This book actually
topped the list in the past and it is great to see that it also resonates with another class.
The charm may rest in the fact that we share this book towards the end of our Greek mythology study. Suddenly, all of the gods and goddesses the students know so well are introduced as children.
Young Zeus along with his brothers and sisters are underdogs who must set the world right against all odds. They struggle with authority. They are siblings who fight with one another. They are playful, headstrong and uncertain.
As seen through this lens each first grade child can relate in a way that was simply not possible before. They see themselves and their struggles mirrored in the characters. Plus, there is an epic battle with a satisfactory conclusion and what child doesn't enjoy that?
Mylo writes, "I like the book
Young Zeus because Zeus saves the day. Young Zeus is brave and nice to people and helps people."
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| Number Three |
Let's Go, Pegasus! by Jean Marzollo appears for the fourth year on the
Top Ten. What a great book!
I use it to kick off the study into Greek mythology because Medusa is such a thrilling character. In this version, she is playful and taunting while tempting Perseus to take a peek into her evil eyes.
Medusa inspires children into deliciously creative art projects and drawings. The tale of Medusa and Perseus is played out in the school yard and talked about in hushed whispers during choice time. The story ignites the imagination and this retelling by Jean Marzollo sets the stage beautifully for the 6-year-old crowd.
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| Miguel reading Let's Go, Pegasus! |
Miguel writes, "I like
Let's Go, Pegasus! because it's a cool book. Perseus tries to cut off Medusa's head and he tries to put Medusa's head in the bag!"
Dark, yes, but somehow endearing.
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| Number Four |
There is definitely a "Whew!" factor surrounding the inclusion of
Franklin Goes to the Hospital by Paulette Bourgeois and Brenda Clark.
I worked for months with
Broadway Books First Class visitor Oneika Phillips to find the right book to fit her theme of injury and healing.
It seems that our research and stubborn determination not to settle for anything less than perfection payed off.
Franklin encapsulates the message that, "Being brave means doing what you have to do, no matter how scared you feel". It wasn't lost on the children as evidenced by Adonis who writes, "I like this book because he is brave".
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| Number Five |
Interestingly,
My Father's Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett came out as the Number Five pick on last year's list as well.
This is the only true chapter book on the list. It tells the story of Elmer Elevator, a clever young boy who travels to a far away island to rescue a baby dragon from his cruel captors.
We read one chapter every day, which took two weeks to complete. At the start of each new chapter we'd ask the children to recap what took place in the previous chapter so they all had an opportunity to play with summarizing and retelling. These are both areas in need of attention in first grade.
Sadly, we did not have an opportunity to read the other two books in the series but in my optimistic heart I envision boys and girls asking mommies and daddies to provide copies and assistance with the challenging words throughout the dog days of summer.
Aron writes, "I like the part when the alligators got in order then all the animals got together" and Gabby writes, "I love
My Father's Dragon because it has a happy ending".
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| Number Six |
The Night Gardener by The Fan Brothers is such a gorgeous book I want to frame each and every illustration.
To top it off, it was
read to us by Broadway royalty
Alison Fraser!
It is a story about creating something extraordinary out of the ordinary. The lasting message pertains to beauty and innovation and how those ripples change lives forever.
Zuni writes, "I like
The Night Gardener because I like how it is designed and I like that this tree is an owl. I like the part when the boy saw the tree."
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| Zuni's art inspired by the cover of The Night Gardener |
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| Number Seven |
Creepy Carrots! by Aaron Reynolds and Peter Brown makes its
Top Ten debut this year and along with
Naughty Mabel,
Franklin Goes to the Hospital and
The Night Gardener it was also a featured
Broadway Books First Class book selection read by
Gregory Jbara.
This book is cleverly illustrated in a film noir fashion with the orange carrots standing out against a black and white landscape. It tells the hair-raising (or hare-raising) tale of Jasper Rabbit as he grapples with his paranoia. Are the carrots out to get him or is it simply his imagination?
The small details in the outstanding illustrations are both humorous and scary. It is the perfect book to read to young children at Halloween but it really works at any time.
We created some of our own creepy carrots using construction paper and googly eyes. Adorable!
Samara writes, "I like the book
Creepy Carrots because the carrots are funny. They have funny faces. I like when Jasper the rabbit eats a lot of carrots in the carrot field."
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| Jasper Rabbit and the Creepy Carrots |
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| Number Eight |
Todd Parr is a perennial favorite.
Otto has a Birthday Party is a book we read at every birthday celebration. Only when we read it we substitute the birthday boy or girl's name for Otto's.
These classroom traditions help build continuity and community.
Phillip writes, "I like this book because it is funny and it is fun and he is cute".
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| Number Nine |
The last three books are all surprises. I did not expect to see any of them on the
Top Ten (or T
op Eleven in this case) but yet, here they are!
The Stupids Take Off by Harry Allard and James Marshall derives its humor from the fact that the family's last name is Stupid. Therefore, they live in the Stupid house, ride a Stupid plane, etc. The name is also extremely fitting as they have an
unusual (i.e.
stupid) take on things with plenty of low-humor sight gags.
In first grade children love to tell on each other for using inappropriate language (e.g. "Komden just said the "S" word!") The "S" word in their minds is
stupid, not the word your adult mind might expect. So, to see it repeated again and again in a book is very taboo and very, very thrilling for a child.
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| Number Ten |
One Stormy Night by the prolific writer Joy Cowley truly came out of nowhere. Ms. Cowley has a million titles out there that aren't really high quality literature. Her books are generally short and serve a purpose, which is to engage emergent and beginning readers in the act of reading.
Still, we used this simple book as a mentor text in one of our writing units to show how an author makes use of features such as bold print, sound words and repetition.
There is an element of suspense that students found entertaining. It reminds me of that scary story that was popular when I was a boy wherein the monster slowly creeps closer and closer to your bedroom (i.e. Johnny, I'm on the first step! Johnny, I'm on the second step! etc.).
It looks as though this gem will remain in our lesson plans next year.
Ricky writes, "I like
One Stormy Night because it has animals and rain. I like rain because rain helps plants and flowers".
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| Number Eleven |
Completing the list is another unlikely choice -
Dick and Jane and Vampires by Laura Marcesani.
It is a strange little book that inserts vampires into the traditional Dick and Jane stories of the 1930s.
This compilation of collected stories are only about a page or two long each so we would read it in-between lessons or just before the children lined up for lunch.
It is more proof that children are wildly humorous and up for a bit of fright. Mikayla writes, "I love
Dick and Jane and Vampires because I like how they run away".
I will never tire of them.
Finally,
George O'Connor and his
Olympians Series deserves a mention. The graphic novels appeared on every list but because there are so many titles, one specific title did not gain enough votes to put it into the top.
Thank you to all the children's book authors and illustrators who make teaching and learning so much fun. Hats off to you all!
