Sofia Valdez, Future Prez
Author: Andrea Beaty
Illustrator: David Roberts
Summary: Sofia looks forward to her Abuelo walking her to school everyday. Unfortunately, he gets hurt at the dangerous land fill one day, and Sofia has to walk alone. Feeling frustrated, Sofia gets an idea and creates a plan to fix the awful landfill and build a park instead. But to change something that big would take a lot of courage, and Sofia wasn’t feeling very brave. Will Sofia find the courage she needs to make her plan work? You and your kids will be cheering her on, all the way to the end of the story!
Recommended Ages: 5 to 8 years
Themes, Skills, & Concepts: This is a great book to begin a discussion of civic duty, and what it takes to bring the community together to do something good.
Extension Activities: Take a walk in your neighborhood see what ideas you can come up with to help your community.
Dinosaur Yoga
Author: Mariam Gates
Illustrator: Matthew Rivera
Summary: Do you hear that? The dinosaurs are coming, but they are coming here to learn all about yoga! You and your kids will love the beautiful watercolor pictures, and will have fun trying out all the dinosaur yoga poses!
Recommended Ages: 4 to 8 years
Themes, Skills, & Concepts: This is a great book to use to introduce yoga poses for kids, and teach them ways to calm and center themselves. This could also be used to start a research project on different types of dinosaurs.
Extension Activities: Check out the dinosaur yoga poses glossary at the end as well as the dinosaur fact sheet.
Just Ask!
Author: Sonia Sotomayor
Illustrator: Rafael López
Summary: This is a sweet story about a group of children who openly talk about their differences and challenges they face. The reader is introduced to children who have diabetes or asthma, kids who are deaf or blind, kids who have dyslexia or autism, all the while highlighting how each child advocates for themselves. This is an important book to read to kids of all ages to help them understand that everyone has special powers that make them interesting.
Recommended Ages: 4 to 8 years
Themes, Skills, & Concepts: This is fabulous book to use to talk about differences and challenges kids face, and how to be open about them.
Extension Activities: Have your kids draw a picture of themselves and highlight how they are unique or share challenges they face.
Bigger Words for Little Geniuses
Author: Susan and James Patterson
Illustrator: Hsinping Pan
Summary: Did you know that I’m an Ailurophile… someone who loves all kids of cats and kittens! You would if you read this awesome ABC book of sophisticated words! You and your kids will have fun guessing what each word means by looking at the detailed illustrations on each page. Get ready for your vocabulary to grow!
Recommended Ages: 5 to 9 years
Themes, Skills, & Concepts: This is a great book to use to introduce the dictionary and how to use it to look up the meaning of words.
Extension Activities: Have your kids create their own A to Z Genius word book! Then illustrate it!
Parker Looks Up
Author: Parker Curry and Jessica Curry
Illustrator: Brittany Jackson
Summary: Parker Curry loves to dance and loves to go to museums. One day, when visiting the Washington, DC’s National Portrait Gallery, Parker becomes entranced by a picture of what surely is a queen. That picture gave Parker a moment that she will always treasure…a glimpse into a world of her own possibilities.
Recommended Ages: 5 to 8 years
Themes, Skills, & Concepts: This is a great book to use to talk about your kids dreams of the future.
Extension Activities: Read about the true event that the book is written about. Click here!
2 Responses to “Sofia Valdez, Future Prez”
Leave a Comment
This is awesome I just love your ides thanks for sharing!
This is great! Thanks for sharing such amazing ideas!