What should I read next?
Looking for something new to read? Get a picture book recommendation based on which classics you (or your class) know and love! Whether you’re into the silly monkey antics of Curious George, the sequential style of If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, or the imaginative adventure of Where the Wild Things Are, I’ve got some great picture book recommendations you should check out next!
If you like Where the Wild Things Are…
then you’ll love The Salamander Room, by Anne Mazer. When a boy finds a salamander in the woods, he imagines how his room could be transformed into a perfect salamander habitat. Fans of Where the Wild Things Are will love how a the familiar setting of a child’s room sprouts trees and becomes a completely different place.
If you like Chicka Chicka Boom Boom…
then you’ll love On Market Street by Arnold and Anita Lobel. This one is an oldie (1982) but goodie. I have no idea how it’s not more widely known because it has the most fascinating illustrations! Like Chicka Chicka, this is an A B C book with rhyme. The reader follows a boy as he travels through the market and visits merchants who are completely clad in the thing they are selling. Wait until you find out for whom the boy is buying all of this merchandise. Young children will want to read On Market Street again and again!
If you like If You Give a Mouse a Cookie…
then you’ll love No Jumping On the Bed by Tedd Arnold. Walter’s father has warned him for the million and first time not to jump on the bed. As soon as his father leaves, you can imagine exactly what Walter does. Walter finds himself in a predicament when his bed crashes right through the floor and down into the apartment below. Just like in If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, one thing leads to the next and then to the next and soon Walter has a whole entourage of characters crashing with him, down through the highrise apartment complex. Children will love how Arnold plays with repetition and the sounds in language as they read about “Walter, Miss Hattie, Mr. Matty, the TV, the spaghetti, the bed” and much more, falling through floor after floor.
If you like I Spy books…
then you’ll love Circus Ship by Chris Van Dusen. A horrible storm causes a ship of circus animals to capsize. The animals swim ashore and eventually become accepted members in the community of people that they find. When the greedy circus owner comes to reclaim the animals, the hidden picture fun begins. The animals blend in with the town and the circus owner is tricked. But can you find the animals?
If you like Curious George…
Then you’ll love Willy the Champ by Anthony Browne. Kids will relate to Willy who is too small and weak to keep up with the bigger monkeys in soccer and bike riding. He is content to don his sweater vest and walk in the park with his friend, Millie. Surprisingly, Willy’s small size helps him stand up (literally) to a bully. Both Curious George and Willy the Champ prove that playing up the quirky personality of a monkey results in a children’s book that is both intriguing and humorous. And the best news? Willy the Champ is just one book in a series so there are plenty more monkey tales to enjoy.
Happy reading!
