Quality Storytents : Board Books to use with Preschoolers and Their Families
by Community Literacy Facilitators: Cheryl Brown Wendell Dryden 2013
Board Books to use with Preschoolers and their Families
The following is a list of board books we regularly use in Quality Storytents and other family literacy programs to scaffold and support parents and preschool children. While there are many other books available in board book format, equally appropriate for preschoolers and their families, these are the books we have found most useful in our specific family and community literacy work. We choose these books to read aloud with or to children for a variety of reasons, ranging from the quality of the illustrations to the appeal of the story or song. One special reason we value many of these books is that they are effective tools for supporting a family where one or both parents may have difficulty with reading. We believe we need to do more than merely encourage parents to borrow books. We need to work hard to ensure they have success reading at home. We know that family storybook reading is a powerful motivator for adult literacy learning, as well as one way families can build their own culture of literacy and ongoing literacy success. In our work, we have adapted the guided reading system set out in Fountas and Pinnell's 1996 book Guided reading: Good first teaching for all children (Fountas & Pinnell, 1996). Where possible, our book list follows their letter-based or Guided Reading Level (GRL) scale, where an “A” counts as the easiest level and a “Z” the most difficult. This scale allows us to offer books of similar difficulty. For example, if we know that a parent or child has had success reading Brown Bear, Brown Bear (GRL: C), we can give that family the opportunity to borrow other “C” level books. In this way, we can provide books that are in a reader’s instructional range (not too hard, not too easy). We listen for parent comments, or ask brief, non-invasive questions, to gauge their satisfaction with each book, and, in turn, offer other levelled books that allow them to build on success. We have chosen to list these books by author.
Fountas & Pinnell (1996). Guided Reading: Good first teaching for all children. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. Brown, C. & Dryden, W. (2006). Quality Storytents: A resource for Family, Early Childhood and Community Literacy Workers. Available online at: http://en.copian.ca/library/learning/storytnt/cover.htm
Eric Carle
1, 2, 3, to the Zoo
GRL: A The Very Hungry Caterpillar
GRL: J
The Very Busy Spider
GRL: I From Head to Toe
GRL: D Have you Seen My Cat?
GRL: B Today is Monday
GRL: E Do You Want to be My Friend?
GRL: A
What’s for Lunch?
GRL: C Bill Martin Jr.
Brown Bear Brown Bear What do you See?
GRL: C Chicka Chicka Boom Boom
GRL: J/K Donald Crews
Truck (wordless)
GRL: n/a School Bus
GRL: D Freight Train
GRL: C/D
Ten Black Dots
GRL: F Byron Barton
Machines at Work
GRL: E Trucks
GRL: n/a I want to be an Astronaut
GRL: n/a Dinosaurs Dinosaurs
GRL: G Ezra Jack Keats
The Snowy Day
GRL: I/J
Whistle for Willie
GRL: K/L Peter’s Chair
GRL: J One Red Sun
GRL: J Sandra Boynton
Blue Hat Green Hat
GRL: B The Going to Bed Book
GRL: n/a Doggies
GRL: n/a
Oh My Oh My Oh Dinosaurs
GRL: n/a One, Two Three!
GRL: n/a Raffi
The Wheels on the Bus
GRL: E Down by the Bay
GRL: F Five Little Ducks
GRL: F
Margaret Wise Brown
Goodnight Moon
GRL: H The Runaway Bunny
GRL: I Goodnight Moon ABC
GRL: n/a Leslie Patricelli
Yummy Yucky
GRL: n/a Big Little
GRL: n/a Quiet Loud
GRL: n/a
Tubby
GRL: n/a Michael Rosen
Going on a Bear Hunt
GRL: I Author?
More More More Said the Baby
GRL: H Eileen Christelow
Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed
GRL: E Alex Lunch
Animal Alphabet
GRL: n/a Janet and Allan Ahlberg
Each Peach Pear Plum
GRL: G
See the Rabbit
GRL: n/a Sally Sutton
Road Work
GRL: K Eric Hill
Where’s Spot?
GRL: E Mary Ann Hoberman
Miss Mary Mack
GRL: F I know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly
GRL: G Lady with the Alligator Purse
GRL: F
Ellen Stoll Walsh
Mouse Paint
GRL: D Mouse Count
GRL: F Alan Baker
White Rabbit’s Colour Book
GRL: I Barbara Reid
Sing a Song of Mother Goose
GRL: n/a Sue Williams
I Went Walking
GRL: C Rod Campbell
Dear Zoo
GRL: F
Dennis Lee
Alligator Pie
GRL: P Willaby Wallaby Woo
GRL: n/a Paul Strickland
Dinosaur Roar!
GRL: H Penny Dale
Ten in the Bed
GRL: F Samantha Berger
Big and Little
GRL: A Rosemary Wells
Old MacDonald
GRL: n/a
Itsy Bitsy Spider
GRL: n/a Brice Degan
Jamberry
GRL: J Christopher Wormell
Teeth, Tails and Tentacles
GRL: H Jez Alborough
Hug
GRL: A Peggy Rathman
Goodnight Gorilla
GRL: D Emily Gravett
Orange Pear Apple Bear
GRL: n/a
