Stacey's Extraordinary Words (Stacey Abram)

 

First read-aloud story of the year! I wanted to have a story that is about a love of reading and words and this was the perfect fit.

Goodreads says:

The debut picture book from iconic voting rights advocate and #1 New York Times bestselling author Stacey Abrams is an inspiring tale of determination, based on her own childhood.

Stacey is a little girl who loves words more than anything. She loves reading them, sounding them out, and finding comfort in them when things are hard.

But when her teacher chooses her to compete in the local spelling bee, she isn't as excited as she thought she'd be. What if she messes up? Or worse, if she can't bring herself to speak up, like sometimes happens when facing bullies at school?

Stacey will learn that win or lose . . . her words are powerful, and sometimes perseverance is the most important word of all.

Russell And The Lost Treasure (Rob Scotton)

 

The illustrations in these books are adorable. Love them! 

This is the second book in the series and apparently a third is coming. This is the same author that wrote Splat the Cat. I'm sure there are many more great books to come from him!

I love Brandy Lodchetta's ideas on Goodreads:

This book is so rich in vocabulary that it could be used for several different activities across every learning center in the classroom. Personally, I would print some of the vocabulary words and place them in a word ring, or on a word wall to apply later in different situations that may come up. This would also be great for discussing positional words like over, under, beside, etc. Lastly, I would use this to create a "treasure hunt" in my classroom. The children could create their own treasure finders like Russell's and follow clues to a hidden treasure.


Goodreads says:

Russell the sheep is determined to find the Lost Treasure of Frogsbottom. Equipped with his Super-Duper Treasure Seeker, Russell searches high and low, up and down, and in and out. Nothing! Finally, Russell finds an old chest! Could it be? Discover how Russell finds the most valuable treasure of all.

Hungry Lion or A Dwindling Assortment of Animals (Lucy Ruth Cummins)

I wonder what kind of person writes a crazy book like this??

At first we thought the lion was eating all the animals. Then he wasn't. They were sneaking off to give him a surprise party. But wait. Then he did eat them! (We think) But wait!! Then something bigger and nastier came along!

We read this one really quick at the end of the day. Everyone chuckled and talked about it as they got ready for home. It's a twisted sense of humor that loves this kind of stuff.

We loved it!

April 24, 2023: Re-read this again. Had a great vocabulary discussion about what dwindling means. Again, we loved the twist at the end! 

Goodreads summary:

Once upon a time there was a very hungry lion and some adorable little animals...

What do you think happened next?