books for kids Archives

10 Picture Books about Firefighters

January 18, 2016 by Selena Robinson 2 Comments

My boys are seriously into firefighters right now. When they see a fire truck go by on the street, you’d think that the sky had started raining cotton candy. Even Piglet jumps up and down shouting “FIRE TRUCK, MAMA!”

We got to learn about firefighters with a firefighter unit study a couple of months back, but I wanted to read a few more kids’ books about them. Pooh is reading chapter books now, so we’ve started Flat Stanley and the Firehouse.

But Roo is still in the early reader stage, so I started searching for picture books about firefighters that he’d love. Here are 10 of them that are full of pictures and firefighting fun!

10 Picture Books about Firefighters

If you want to use these books as the basis for a unit, check out our Firefighter Unit Study!

And for more great children’s books, follow my Reading for Kids board on Pinterest!

This post is part of The Massive Guide to Homeschool Reading Lists by iHomeschool Network! Click over to read tons of awesome booklists shared by my fellow homeschooling bloggers!

Fun Kids’ Books about Farms

September 28, 2015 by Selena Robinson 2 Comments

Spring and fall are perfect times to talk about farms with kids! In the spring, new baby farm animals are born and in the fall, farmers get out in the fields to harvest their crops. So farms are pretty busy all year round!

As one of our homeschool unit studies, we’ve done a farm unit study before. During the unit, we read plenty of farm books for kids. After all, what better way to introduce farms to kids than by reading about them?

Today I’m sharing some fun kids’ books about farms that we’ve found! I hope you find some great ones to read with your family as well!

If you love these books, don’t miss our free Farm Do-A-Dot Shape Mats! They’re awesome for introducing toddlers and preschoolers to shapes!

Fun Kids’ Books about Farms

1. On the Farm by David Elliott

2. Pete the Cat: Old McDonald Had a Farm by James Dean

3. Mrs. Wishy-Washy’s Farm by Joy Cowley

4. Around the Farm: Play A Sound by The World of Eric Carle

5. Before We Eat: From Farm to Table by Pat Brisson

6. World of Farming: Jobs on a Farm by Nancy Dickmann

7. Farming by Gail Gibbons

8. Down On the Farm by Merrily Kutner

9. Big Red Barn by Margaret Wise Brown

10. Farm Vehicles: My First Sound Book by Annette Rusling

And here are 10 more to choose from!

1. Thump, Quack, Moo!: A Whacky Adventure by Doreen Cronin

2. Down by the Barn by Will Hillenbrand

3. The Farm Book (A Golden Super Shape Book) by Jan Pfloog

4. Farmyard Beat by Lindsey Craig

5. A Year at a Farm (Time Goes By) by Nicholas Harris

6. Lullaby Farm by Stephanie Shaw

7. Biscuit’s Day at the Farm by Alyssa Satin Capucilli

8. National Geographic Readers: Farm Animals (Level 1) by Joanne Mattern

9. Tractor Mac Arrives at the Farm by Billy Steers

10. The Berenstain Bears Down on the Farm by Jan and Stan Berenstain

For more farm-themed fun, check out some of our farm learning ideas!

And find more tips to make your kids into readers on my Reading for Kids board on Pinterest!

This post is part of The Massive Guide to Homeschool Reading Lists by iHomeschool Network! Click over to read tons of awesome booklists shared by my fellow homeschooling bloggers!

Our First Grade Reading List Homeschool Picks

August 28, 2015 by Selena Robinson Leave a Comment

Well, we’re down to our final reading list for the new school year and it’s time to show off our books for first grade! Roo is reading much more fluently than he was last year, but he’s still not really a leisure reader. He’ll read when I tell him to, but he’d rather play than anything else. Of course, he is six. 🙂

But I really want to encourage him to develop the habit of reading for fun, so I’ve selected stories he can read on his own and stories we’ll read together. Here are our first grade reading list homeschool picks for this year!

Our First Grade Reading List Homeschool Picks

Roo, like many young boys, loves construction, so I included a book with that theme. I also included a couple of books that are funny, since those hold his attention the best.

Several of the books below will be part of unit studies we’ll be completing as a family, so they’ll fit in nicely with some of our themes.

1. Pete the Cat: Construction Destruction

2. Ocean Babies

3. Harry the Dirty Dog

4. Ramona the Brave

5. Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

6. The Pigeon Wants a Puppy

7. The Complete Tales of Peter Rabbit

8. Aesop’s Fables for Children

9. The House at Pooh Corner

10. The Story of Ruby Bridges

11. Where the Wild Things Are

12. Curious George: Snowy Day

And those are our first grade reading list homeschool picks! Do you have any “must-read” books for first grade? Share your suggestions in the comments!

To see our other book suggestions for this year, check out our Fifth Grade Reading List and our Second Grade Reading List!

For more tips to make your kids into readers, check out my Reading for Kids board on Pinterest!

This post is part of The Massive Guide to Homeschool Reading Lists by iHomeschool Network! Click over to read tons of awesome booklists shared by my fellow homeschooling bloggers!

Our Second Grade Reading List Homeschool Picks

August 19, 2015 by Selena Robinson 2 Comments

Last week we shared our choices for Tigger’s fifth grade homeschool reading list. Today, I’m sharing our second reading list homeschool picks for Pooh!

Pooh is at a point in his reading journey when he’s definitely ready to take on some chapter books on his own. However, I still prefer to read most of our books together, so that he will slow down and really absorb the story. Sometimes he tends to rush through a book and only pick out the parts that are instantly amusing to him.

So we’ll be covering these books in-depth this year. Take a look at our choices for second grade below!

Choosing a Reading List for Second Grade

First grade was really a stepping stone that helped Pooh become a more fluent reader. And because we took a short break to try public school, he got a chance to read for his class pretty often. I really think that’s helped him step outside the box and take on more challenging books.

So I wanted him to read some books with me this year and some on his own as well. He likes mysteries and funny stories and this list features plenty of both!

Our Second Grade Reading List Homeschool Picks

1. Ramona and Her Mother

2. Oliver Twist

3. Tales of a Fourth-Grade Nothing (Yes, I realize the title character is in fourth grade. But I think Pooh will relate very well to Fudge…lol.)

4. Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Soccer Scheme

5. The Mouse and the Motorcycle

6. The Boxcar Children

7. What’s Cooking, Jenny Archer?

8. The Wind in the Willows

9. Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs

10. Flat Stanley’s Worldwide Adventures: The Intrepid Canadian Expedition

11. Freckle Juice

12. Geronimo Stilton: The Race Across America

And those are our second grade reading list homeschool selections! Unit studies for these books will be coming soon!

Catch our other reading list selections for this school year below!

For more tips to make your kids into readers, check out my Reading for Kids board on Pinterest!

This post is part of The Massive Guide to Homeschool Reading Lists by iHomeschool Network! Click over to read tons of awesome booklists shared by my fellow homeschooling bloggers!

Do you have any books you think second-graders should read? Share them in the comments!

Our Fifth Grade Reading List Homeschool Picks

August 14, 2015 by Selena Robinson 4 Comments

If you follow the Charlotte Mason method strictly, then you already know about what she called “twaddle”. Mason felt that kids should avoid books that had no educational or intellectual value. Instead, kids were to read “living books” – works that enlightened them and taught them new concepts.

Even though I love the CM method, I believe that there’s a place for “twaddle”. I’ve always been of the opinion that I want my kids to develop a love for reading. We can help them choose challenging selections later.

Eventually, however, it is definitely time to ease away from twaddle and into books that are designed to make kids think or dream. And that’s where we are with Tigger. So – here’s a look at our fifth grade reading list homeschool picks!

Choosing Our Reading List Picks

This year with Tigger, I wanted to encourage her to focus on some of the classics. She likes modern books like the Ramona series and “Smile” by Reina Telgemeier. And those are great books, but for her school reading list, she needs to be challenged.

During our public school experiment last year, Tigger got tested with the LEXILE reading system. Her score was within the 10th-grade range. However, she’s not quite ready for the advanced topics covered by high school books, so classics it is! I also added a few books featuring characters of color so she can have some figures to whom she relates.

I’ve only included 12 books on our “official” list, because I want her to finish one per month. We’ll be doing unit studies for each one (stay tuned!), so that will give us time to drop anchor and really explore each work.

Our Fifth Grade Reading List Homeschool Picks

1. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

2. Charlotte’s Web

3. Anne of Green Gables

4. The Blossoming Universe of Violet Diamond

9. Kidnapped

10. The Secret Garden

11. The Mighty Miss Malone

12. Where the Red Fern Grows

And those are our fifth grade reading list homeschool picks! To get a look at our other reading lists for this school year, visit the posts below!

Get even more of our homeschooling tips by following the board Homeschooling with Look! We’re Learning! on Pinterest!

What’s on your homeschool reading list this year? Share your picks in the comments!

This post is part of The Massive Guide to Homeschool Reading Lists by iHomeschool Network! Click over to read tons of awesome booklists shared by my fellow homeschooling bloggers!

Lovely Children’s Books about Butterflies

June 2, 2015 by Selena Robinson 2 Comments

Butterflies are one of my very favorite animals. They are beautiful to look at, fun to chase, and they go through one of the most amazing transformations ever observed by scientists. In the space of a few days, caterpillars turn into butterflies – completely different animals with elegant wings. It still amazes me.

The past few weeks we’ve been exploring butterflies with the kids, as you might have noticed from our Butterfly Identification Cards and our free Butterfly Unit Study, so I wanted to share some lovely children’s books about butterflies! Check these out to add to your booklist!

If you love these selections, check out this list of fun insect activities for kids you can try!

Lovely Children’s Books about Butterflies

1. The Butterfly Tree by Victor Biton

2. The Life Cycles of Butterflies by Judy Burris

3. National Geographic Readers: Great Migrations Butterflies by Laura Marsh

4. Caterpillars, Bugs, and Butterflies: Take-Along Guides by Mel Boring

5. My, Oh My, A Butterfly! (Cat In the Hat’s Learning Library) by Tish Rabe

6. Are You a Butterfly? by Judy Allen

7. A Butterfly is Patient by Dianna Hutts Aston

8. Velma Gratch and the Way Cool Butterfly by Alan Madison

9. The Illustrated World Encyclopedia of Butterflies and Moths by Sally Morgan

10. Butterfly Colors and Counting by Jerry Pallotta

Here are ten more butterfly books for kids to try!

1. National Geographic: From Caterpillar to Butterfly by Laura Marsh

2. Pinkalicious and the Little Butterfly by Victoria Kann

3. Butterflies by Seymour Simon

4. DK Readers: Born to Be a Butterfly by Karen Wallace

5. Fancy Nancy: Bonjour, Butterfly by Jane O’Connor

6. Flutterby, Butterfly: A Slide-and-Seek Book by Emma Parrish

7. Butterfly Eyes and Other Secrets of the Meadow by Joyce Sidman

8. A Butterfly’s Life (Time for Kids) by Dona Herweck Rice

9. Explore My World: Butterflies by Marfe Ferguson Delano

10. From Caterpillar to Butterfly (Let’s Read and Find Out Science) by Deborah Heiligman

Try these other spring learning ideas!

For more tips to make your kids into readers, check out my Reading for Kids board on Pinterest!

This post is part of The Massive Guide to Homeschool Reading Lists by iHomeschool Network! Click over to read tons of awesome booklists shared by my fellow homeschooling bloggers!

10 Children’s Books about Flowers

March 24, 2015 by Selena Robinson 1 Comment

It’s officially spring! And it’s a great time to read about spring flowers with kids! Today, I’m sharing 10 children’s books about flowers that are perfect for this time of year. 🙂

If you enjoy this list of books, check out some of our other spring learning ideas! We’ve got spring crafts for kids, spring books for kids, and a list of 50 free spring printables you can use for homeschooling!

10 Children’s Books about Flowers

1. The Flower Alphabet Book by Jerry Pallotta and Leslie Evans

2. Flowers are Calling by Rita Gray and Kenard Pak

3. The Reason for a Flower: A Book about Flowers, Pollen, and Seeds by Ruth Heller

4. Zinnia’s Flower Garden by Monica Wellington

5. Garden Flowers Coloring Book by Stefen Bernath

6. Fran’s Flower by Lisa Bruce and Rosalind Beardshaw

7. Flowers and Showers: A Spring Counting Book by Rebecca F. Davis

8. The Life Cycle of a Flower by Molly Aloian and Bobbie Kalman

9. How Flowers Grow by Emma Helbrough et. al.

10. Xochitl and the Flowers by Jorge Argueta and Carl Angel

Love these selections? Don’t miss our other book lists!

For more tips to make your kids into readers, check out my Reading for Kids board on Pinterest!

This post is part of The Massive Guide to Homeschool Reading Lists by iHomeschool Network! Click over to read tons of awesome booklists shared by my fellow homeschooling bloggers!

Beautiful Children’s Books about Bees

March 3, 2015 by Selena Robinson Leave a Comment

If you liked our Busy Bee Scissor Practice sheets last week, we hope you’ll love even more learning about pollinators with these children’s books about bees!

I’m so, so excited for spring (can you tell?) and I’m ready to read, learn, and explore bees with the kids, especially since they seem to be obsessed with the hedges in our front yard. 🙂

I started out with a list of 10, but I’ve added even more kids’ books about bees below! Check out these beautiful storybooks and picture books with the children this year and then try these fun spring crafts for kids as well!

Children’s Books about Bees

To introduce your kids to our helpful friends in the bee world, try these children’s books about bees!

1. Are You a Bee? by Judy Allen and Tudor Humphries

2. Flight of a Honey Bee by Raymond Huber and Brian Lovelock

3. What If There Were No Bees? A Book about the Grassland Ecosystem by Suzanne Slade and Carol Schwartz

4. Bee & Me by Elle J. McGuinness

5. The Hive Detectives: Chronicle of a Honey Bee Catastrophe by Loree Griffin Burns and Ellen Harasimowicz

6. The Very Greedy Bee by Steve Smallman and Jack Tickle

7. In the Trees Honey Bees by Lori Mortensen and Cris Arbo

8. The Buzz on Bees: Why Are They Disappearing? by Shelley Rotner and Anne Woodhull

9. These Bees Count! by Alison Formento and Sarah Snow

10. Buzzbee’s School Day by Penguin Random House Company

And now – even more books about bees for kids!

11. When the Bees Fly Home by Andrea Cheng

12. You Wouldn’t Want to Live Without Bees by Professor Alex Woolf

13. Thomas and the Buzzy Bees (Thomas & Friends) by Christy Webster

14. National Geographic: Bees by Laura Marsh

15. The Bees (Down In the Garden) by DC Swain

16. Bee Dance by Rick Chrustowski

17. Little Honeybee by Katie Haworth

18. Bee: A Peek-Through Picture Book by Britta Teckentrup

19. A Season to Bee by Carlos Aponte

20. The Life and Times of the Honeybee by Charles Micucci

Don’t miss these other learning ideas!

For more tips to make your kids into readers, check out my Reading for Kids board on Pinterest!

This post is part of The Massive Guide to Homeschool Reading Lists by iHomeschool Network! Click over to read tons of awesome booklists shared by my fellow homeschooling bloggers!