The Leaf Thief
Author: Alice Hemming
Illustrator: Nicole Slater
Summary: Squirrel loves counting all of the beautiful, colorful leaves in his tree until he discovers that one of his beloved leaves is missing. What a mystery! Squirrel's friend Bird helps him to discover where all of his leaves are going!
Recommended Ages: 4-7 years
Themes, Skills, & Concepts: The Leaf Thief is a fun read aloud, rich in new vocabulary. The author included factual information about the process trees go through when they shed their leaves, providing the opportunity to learn more about the leaf cycle!
Extension Activities: Pair this fun fall book with Lois Ehlert's Leaf Man to further enjoy and reinforce the cycle of falling leaves. Take a walk and gather fallen leaves. What can your child create with those leaves? For more activities, check out the link below for some free printables! Click here!
Four Feet, Two Sandals
Author: Karen Lynn Williams and Khadra Mohammed
Illustrator: Doug Chayka
Summary: Lina lives in a refugee camp in Pakistan. On the day refugee workers bring shoes to the camp, she finds one beautiful sandal that fits her perfectly. She meets Feroza, the girl who has found the other beautiful sandal. The girls decide to share the sandals and a wonderful friendship begins.
Recommended Ages: 7-10 years
Themes, Skills, & Concepts: A beautiful, moving story of making the most of what you have and sharing with a grateful heart.
Extension Activities: The attached teaching guide to Four Feet, Two Sandals will provide so many discussion opportunities for your children, as well as geographic studies. Click here!
I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie
Author: Alison Jackson
Illustrator: Judith Byron Schachner
Summary: In this classic repetitive tale, an old lady swallows a whole Thanksgiving pie, which leads to a dry mouth and a gallon of cider, which leads to swallowing a roll...and on until the very last page with a very surprising ending!
Recommended Ages: 3-6 years
Themes, Skills, & Concepts: A super fun read aloud! Kids will pick up on the rhythm of the text and read along with you. It is also fun to sing the text!
Extension Activities: Here are free printables for sequencing and retelling this funny story! For the older kids, it would be fun to try to rewrite the story using family favorites from their own Thanksgiving traditions! Click here!
The One Thing You'd Save
Author: Linda Sue Park
Illustrator: Robert Sae-Heng
Summary: Ms. Chang gives her class (the reader assumes that the class in upper elementary or middle school) an assignment. They are to pretend that there is a fire in their home. What is the one thing that they would save?
Recommended Ages: 8-12 years
Themes, Skills, & Concepts: This is a very thought provoking book about the things that are truly important to a person. Barbara Sue Park is a Newberry Medalist and this title was on the Texas Bluebonnet Award list.
Extension Activities: Before reading the book, ask your class to think about what they would save from their home if there were a fire and write it down. Have them share their choices and why. See how their choices might change as a result of the discussion. This is the perfect story to take a step back and think about what is truly important.
Balloons Over Broadway
Author: Melissa Sweet
Illustrator: Melissa Sweet
Summary: This Caldecott Honor winner biography tells the true story of Tony Sarg and how he became the Puppeteer of the annual Macy's Parade. The biography takes the reader thought Sarg's notes and scientific journey to the puppets we all know and love to watch Thanksgiving Day!
Recommended Ages: 5-8 years
Themes, Skills, & Concepts: The illustrations in the book are so important for the reader! They will, with charts, graphs and patterns, take you through Tony Sarg's design process. But they arent boring charts, graphs and patterns! Hopefully they will inspire design ideas for your engineers!
Extension Activities: The following blog is full of ideas for enriching the reading of this great biography. And of course, it would be so fun to design and build your very own balloon character. Don't forget to watch the actual Macy's Day Parade on Thanksgiving morning! Click here!
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