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10 Books about Monster Trucks

May 3, 2016 by Selena Robinson Leave a Comment

Do you have a child who LOVES big trucks? My boys are huge fans of monster trucks right now, which is why I decided to use big trucks to teach them about measuring last week.

But if you want to encourage them to read, why not check out some fun and educational kids’ books about monster trucks? There are plenty available, but these are super for finding out how trucks work and getting your little ones excited about reading! Trust me. We have a few of these in our home library. šŸ™‚

Kids Books about Monster Trucks

10 Books about Monster Trucks

  1. Monster Trucks! (Step Into Reading)
  2. I’m a Monster Truck! (Little Golden Book)
  3. Monster Trucks (Pull Ahead Books)
  4. Mighty Monster Machines (Blaze and the Monster Machines
  5. How Do Monster Trucks Work?
  6. Ultimate Sticker Book: Truck
  7. Hot Rod Hamster: Monster Truck Mania!
  8. My Little Book of Big Trucks: Packed Full of Cool Photos and Fascinating Facts
  9. Axel the Truck: Beach Race (I Can Read)
  10. Monster Truck Mater (Disney/Pixar Cars)

10 Kids Books about Monster Trucks

For more monster truck learning fun, check out our free Monster Truck Measurement math pack for kids!

Monster Truck Measurement for First Grade Printables

And be sure to follow my Reading for Kids board on Pinterest to find more awesome children’s book roundups!


Filed Under: Book Lists, Reading Tagged With: book lists, children's books, kids books, reading, reading for kids

Simple Harry the Dirty Dog Activity for Tots

April 12, 2016 by Selena Robinson 1 Comment

Piglet and I read the classic children’s story Harry the Dirty Dog together and she absolutely loved it.

So, we decided to share a simple art activity together that would help her connect with the events in the story.

And that’s how this super easy Harry the Dirty Dog activity came about.

Fun Harry the Dirty Dog Activity for Toddlers

This prewriting activity is simple enough to try with toddlers, tots, and preschoolers and you can prep it in just a few minutes.

Read on to get your copy of this fun toddler prewriting activity free!

And, for more fun with early education, don’t miss our list of 20 fun printable resources for preschool!

Share this fun and easy Harry the Dirty Dog prewriting activity with toddlers and preschoolers after reading the storybook together!

Harry the Dirty Dog Activity for Toddlers

This activity is extremely easy. Honestly. Plus, it’s guaranteed to get your little ones into the story!

What You’ll Need: (This post contains affiliate links. For details, see our Disclosure Policy.)

  • The book Harry the Dirty Dog
  • Crayola Dry Erase Crayons
  • A copy of our Clean the Dirty Dog Printable
  • A laminator

Harry the Dirty Dog Activity Supplies

Once you print the Clean the Dirty Dog printable, run it through the laminator.

Then get out your dry erase crayons.

Harry the Dirty Dog Activity Dry Erase Supplies

You’ll only need the black one. 

I like the Crayola Dry Erase crayons, because they come with the cleaning mitt, which you’ll also need.

Harry the Dirty Dog Activity Coloring

In the story, Harry hates taking baths, so he hides his scrubbing brush and runs away from home.

While he’s away, he gets super dirty – running through a construction site, sliding down a coal chute, and so on.

Harry the Dirty Dog PreK Activity

So our first step was to get our white dog dirtied up!

Coloring Harry the Dirty Dog Activity

I just turned Piglet loose with the crayon.

Harry the Dirty Dog Extension Activity

Boy, he really got dirty, didn’t he?

Tot Harry the Dirty Dog Activity

Making our white dog dirty was probably Piglet’s favorite part of the entire activity. 

Clean the Dirty Dog Activity

When Harry returns home, he’s so dirty that his family doesn’t recognize him.

Frightened, he digs up the scrubbing brush, runs into the house, and jumps into the bathtub.

Harry the Dirty Dog Activity for Tots and PreK

Once he’s all clean and scrubbed, the kids know that the black dog with white spots is actually Harry, their white dog with black spots.

Naturally, we had to clean Harry up too! And that’s where the dry erase mitt came in handy.

Harry the Dirty Dog Activity for Toddlers

Aw…look how clean he is!

To do this art activity with your littles, get a copy of our free Clean the Dirty Dog printable below!

>>> Clean the Dirty Dog Printable Activity <<<

Harry the Dirty Dog Activity for PreK and Tots

Want more book-related learning fun? Check out these posts!

Reading Charlotte's Web with your kids? Bring the story to life with this fun Charlotte's Web craft little ones can make!

Introduce kids to the helpers in your town with these kids' books about community helpers! Great for read-aloud time with early learners!

Hands-On Learning about Taste Buds

This post is part of the Read It, Make It Book + Craft Week linkup from Emma Owl! Get 50 ideas for arts and crafts based on children’s books!

50 Childrens Art and Craft Ideas Themed Around Books

Filed Under: Homeschooling Printables, PreK Homeschooling, Reading Tagged With: children's books, kids books, prek, prek homeschool, reading, reading for kids, tot school

50 Beautiful Spring Books for Kids to Read

April 7, 2016 by Selena Robinson 1 Comment

Spring is a wonderful time of year for sharing stories! Read some of these spring books for kids with your little ones!
50 Spring Books for Kids
These beautiful spring books for kids are wonderful read aloud selections for springtime! There are spring board books, spring picture books, and spring chapter books to choose from!

I absolutely adore spring…mostly because I detest winter. (Cold weather turns me into an actual bum.)

But once the days start to get longer and the weather starts to get warmer, I come alive! And it’s a wonderful time to explore changing seasons with our students.

This year, I want to put a greater focus on spring reading, so I put together a list of 50 spring books for kids!

50 Fun Spring Books for Kids

These spring books for kids are great for talking about the change of seasons. They’re also a nice introduction to weather, spring animals, and plants!

Want to share more spring learning with your students? Don’t miss our All About Flowers printable unit study!

Share this list of 50 spring books for kids with early readers!

50 Engaging Spring Books for Kids

This list of books about spring includes both board books and picture books. So there are appropriate selections for preschoolers and early elementary students.

Some of the non-fiction books may even be good for upper elementary students, depending on their reading level.

How to Use Books about Spring with Early Learners

When you’re ready to share one of these spring books for kids with your students, try opening by asking the class what they already know about the topic.

For example, if you’re reading the book “How Do We Know It’s Spring”, start by asking questions like:

  • How can you tell springtime is here?
  • What does the weather look like?
  • What do the trees look like?
  • Are there any animals you see around us?
50 Engaging Spring Books for Kids to Read

As your students answer, help them remember what’s been said and then compare what they already know with what they learn from the book later.

If you are working on a spring-themed unit, share a book together and then complete a craft. Here are a few spring crafts that may work well with these:

  • Coffee Filter Flower Craft
  • Toilet Roll Baby Chick Craft
  • Paper Cone Bee Craft
  • Coffee Filter Rainbow Craft

50 Beautiful Spring Books for Kids to Read

This list of beautiful spring books for kids features picture books young readers will love! Both fiction and non-fiction selections are included.

Note: This list includes affiliate links. For details, see our Disclosure Policy.

1

Planting a Rainbow by Lois Ehlert

Photo Credit: Amazon
2

Flip, Flap, Fly!: A Book for Babies Everywhere

Photo Credit: Amazon
3

A Rainbow of My Own by Don Freeman

Photo Credit: Amazon
4

Cherry Blossoms Say Spring (National Geographic Kids)

Photo Credit: Amazon
5

Storm Is Coming! by Heather Tekavec

Photo Credit: Amazon
6

The Very Busy Spider (Step into Reading)

Photo Credit: Amazon
7

Curious George Plants a Seed (CGTV Reader)

Photo Credit: Amazon
8

Kitten's Spring (Kitten: Seasons)

Photo Credit: Amazon
9

Scholastic Reader Level 3: Poppleton in Spring

Photo Credit: Amazon
10

Spring Is Here, Corduroy!

Photo Credit: Amazon
11

It's Spring by Linda Glaser

Photo Credit: Amazon
12

Kite Day: A Bear and Mole Story

Photo Credit: Amazon
13

And Then It's Spring by Julie Fogliano

Photo Credit: Amazon
14

In Like a Lion Out Like a Lamb by Marion Dane Bauer

Photo Credit: Amazon
15

Everything Spring (Picture the Seasons)

Photo Credit: Amazon
16

Spring Stinks: A Little Bruce Book (Mother Bruce Series)

Photo Credit: Amazon
17

Plants in Spring (All about Spring)

Photo Credit: Amazon
18

National Geographic Readers: Seed to Plant

Photo Credit: Amazon
19

The Tiny Seed/Ready-to-Read Level 2 (The World of Eric Carle)

Photo Credit: Amazon
20

Mouse's First Spring (Classic Board Books)

Photo Credit: Amazon
21

Let It Rain by Maryann Cocca-Leffler

Photo Credit: Amazon
22

It's Spring! by Samantha Berger

Photo Credit: Amazon
23

Weather in Spring (All about Spring)

Photo Credit: Amazon
24

When Spring Comes by Kevin Henkes

Photo Credit: Amazon
25

Little Blue Truck's Springtime by Alice Schertle

Photo Credit: Amazon
26

Spring: A Pop-up Book (Seasons Pop-up)

Photo Credit: Amazon
27

How Do You Know It's Spring? (Rookie Read-About Science: Seasons)

Photo Credit: Amazon
28

Bear Wants More (The Bear Books) by Karma Wilson

Photo Credit: Amazon
29

Goodbye Winter, Hello Spring by Kenard Oak

Photo Credit: Amazon
30

Worm Weather (Penguin Core Concepts) by Jean Taft

Photo Credit: Amazon
31

Fletcher and the Springtime Blossoms by Julia Rawlinson

Photo Credit: Amazon
32

Lola Plants a Garden (Lola Reads) by Anna McQuinn

Photo Credit: Amazon
33

Spencer Knows Spring: A Charming Children's Book about Spring by Tiffany Obeng

Photo Credit: Amazon
34

A Little Book About Spring (Leo Lionni's Friends)

Photo Credit: Amazon
35

Spring in the Forest (Lift-a-flap Surprise)

Photo Credit: Amazon
36

Pete the Cat and the Cool Caterpillar (I Can Read Level 1)

Photo Credit: Amazon
37

What Can You See in Spring? (Seasons) by Sian Smith

Photo Credit: Amazon
38

Spring According to Humphrey by Betty G. Birney

Photo Credit: Amazon
39

The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle

Photo Credit: Amazon
40

Happy Springtime! by Kate McMullan

Photo Credit: Amazon
41

Llama Llama Very Busy Springtime by Anna Dewdney

Photo Credit: Amazon
42

Spring is Here! by Heidi Pross Gray

Photo Credit: Amazon
43

All About Weather: A First Weather Book for Kids

Photo Credit: Amazon
44

A Windy Day in Spring (Springtime Weather Wonders)

Photo Credit: Amazon
45

Snow Rabbit, Spring Rabbit: A Book of Changing Seasons

Photo Credit: Amazon
46

The Thing About Spring by Daniel Kirk

Photo Credit: Amazon
47

Spring Walk (Seasonal Walks) by Virginia Snow

Photo Credit: Amazon
48

Finding Spring by Carin Berger

Photo Credit: Amazon
49

Curious George: The Perfect Carrot (CGTV Reader)

Photo Credit: Amazon
50

Spring is Here: A Bear and Mole Story by Will Hillenbrand

Photo Credit: Amazon

Did you love this list of spring books for kids?

If you’re looking for more ways to talk about the season with your students, check out some of these spring learning ideas!

All About Flowers Early Elementary Unit
Get ready to welcome warmer weather with these fun spring crafts for kids to make!
These spring science ideas are wonderful for teaching science to the kids this year!

Filed Under: Book Lists, Reading Tagged With: book lists, books, books for kids, reading, reading for kids, reading list, spring, spring activities for kids, spring books, spring for kids

The Best Picture Books for Three Year Olds

February 1, 2016 by Selena Robinson 3 Comments

Piglet turned three last winter. And, while she’s always been part of our family storytime, she’s really started to take an interest in storybooks lately. She constantly asks “Can you read this to me?” It melts my heart every time.

Naturally, she loves picture books. So I started looking for the best picture books for three year olds that I could share with her. So far, these are her absolute favorites! And, since many of these were classics when I was a kid, they were my favorites back in the day too.

By the way, these are all books that I’ve actuallyĀ read. Trust me, they’re pretty great.

The Best Picture Books for Three-Year-Olds

Image c/o: vadimphoto1@gmail.com via depositphotos

The Best Picture Books for Three-Year-Olds:

  1. The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
  2. The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein
  3. The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss
  4. If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Joffe Numeroff
  5. Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin, Jr and John Archambault
  6. The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats
  7. Richard Scarry’s Busy, Busy Town
  8. Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale by Mo Willems
  9. Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes by Eric Litwin and James Dean
  10. Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown
  11. Lola at the Library by Anna McQuinn
  12. The Little Red Caboose (Little Golden Book)
  13. Are You My Mother? by P.D. Eastman
  14. Llama Llama Mad at Mama by Anna Dewdney
  15. Mr. Happy by Roger Hargreaves

15 of the Best Picture Books for Three-Year-Olds

Did I miss any of your favorite picture books for three-year-olds? Share your family’s favorites in the comments!

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

And catch some of our other book lists for kids below!

10 Kids Books about Monster Trucks

10 Kids’ Books about Monster Trucks

10 Children's Books about Butterflies

10 Children’s Books about Butterflies

10 Picture Books about Bugs

10 Awesome Picture Books about Bugs


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!

ReadingLists


Filed Under: Book Lists, Reading Tagged With: booklists, books for kids, books for preschoolers, books for three year olds, kids books, picture books, preschool books, reading, reading for kids

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. šŸ™‚

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!

First Grade Reading List Homeschool Picks

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!

Homeschool First Grade Reading List

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

Fifth Grade Reading List Homeschool Picks Our Homeschool 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!

ReadingLists

Filed Under: Book Lists, Reading Tagged With: booklists, books for kids, first grade, homeschool reading list, reading, reading for kids, reading list

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 secondĀ 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!

Our Homeschool Second Grade Reading List

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!

Our Second Grade Reading List

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

Fifth Grade Reading List Homeschool Picks First Grade Reading List Homeschool Picks

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!

ReadingLists

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

Filed Under: Book Lists, Reading Tagged With: booklists, books for kids, reading, reading for kids, second grade

Our Fifth Grade Reading List Homeschool Picks

August 14, 2015 by Selena Robinson 4 Comments

If you follow the Charlotte Mason methodĀ 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 kidsĀ think or dream. And that’s where we are with Tigger. So – here’s a look at our fifth grade reading list homeschool picks!

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 likeĀ 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 haveĀ someĀ figuresĀ 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

5. Treasure Island

6. Black Beauty

7. Harriet the Spy

8. Little Women

9. Kidnapped

10. The Secret Garden

11. The Mighty Miss Malone

12.Ā Where the Red Fern Grows

Fifth Grade Homeschool Reading List

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!

First Grade Reading List Homeschool Picks Our Homeschool Second Grade Reading List

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!

ReadingLists


Filed Under: Book Lists, Reading Tagged With: booklists, books for kids, fifth grade, homeschool reading list, reading, reading for kids, reading list

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