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The Lexington Public Library Books to Read in Kindergarten is a diverse list of titles including award-winning books, notable children’s authors, and promising new works chosen by experienced Children’s Librarians at the Lexington Public Library. More...

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A Bad Case of Stripes
Image of A Bad Case of Stripes
Author: David Shannon
Publisher: Scholastic Paperbacks (2004)
Binding: Paperback, 32 pages
Item Call Number: 
E SHANN

Camilla Cream loves lima beans, but she never eats them. Why? Because the other kids in her school don't like them. And Camilla is very, very worried about what other people think of her. In fact, she’s so worried that she's about to break out in a bad case of stripes!

Questions to talk about with your child: 
Why did Camilla break out in stripes (and other patterns?)
What did you notice about the patterns that break out on Camilla? Do they have anything to do with what’s happening around her?
Look at each of the pictures. Was there anything about Camilla that stayed the same each time she changed?
What made Camilla finally turn back into herself?
Did Camilla learn anything from having a bad case of stripes?
Look at the last page. Was there anything different about the way Camilla looks?
Fun things to do together: 
David Shannon always hides a picture of his white terrier Fergus somewhere in each of his books. Look for the picture of Fergus in this book.
Camilla loves lima beans. Have lima beans for lunch or dinner one day.
Draw a picture of yourself with stripes, polka dots or some other pattern.
Check out a book about patterns, for example, Pattern Bugs by Trudi Harris or Patterns at the Museum by Tracey Steffora. Recognizing and completing simple patterns is an important kindergarten readiness skill.
Book Skills
Loves Books (Print Motivation): 
Large, colorful illustrations make this book very appealing to children of all ages.
New Words (Vocabulary): 
This book contains many words that may be unfamiliar to your child. Talk about the meaning of such words as specialists, bacteria, nutritionist or bizarre.

A Chair for My Mother
Image of A Chair for My Mother
Author: Vera B. Williams
Publisher: Greenwillow Books (1982)
Binding: Hardcover, 32 pages
Item Call Number: 
E WILLI

A child, her waitress mother, and her grandmother save dimes to buy a comfortable armchair after all their furniture is lost in a fire.

Questions to talk about with your child: 
How would you feel if you lost all your things in a fire? What do you think you would miss the most?
How do the pages with the fire look different than the rest of the pages in the book? Why do you think the author chose to illustrate the pages this way?
When the family moved into their new apartment, what did neighbors and friends do to help?
What kind of chair do the girl and her mother want to buy?
Fun things to do together: 
See how long it takes to fill a jar with coins. Guess (predict, estimate) how many coins it will take to fill the jar.
Count and sort coins into separate piles: pennies, nickels, dimes, etc. Go to the bank and get paper rolls for your coins and wrap them together.
Design a room together. Use pictures from magazines or draw pictures of the different furniture and decorations you would like to have in this room.
Help your child make a savings plan for something he or she would like to have. Work together on a simple graph to show how much must be saved each day, week, or month to be able to purchase the item.
Book Skills
New Words (Vocabulary): 
This more complex picture book story has a few words not common to picture book stories you can look up and discuss with your child: bargain, armchair, charcoal, ashes, furniture.
Tell A Story (Narrative Skills): 
The author starts with the coin jar, recalls a past event in simple flashback (the fire and the new apartment), and then goes on to tell the full story of the jar of coins. Explain this time shift to your child and help them understand a story can go backward (flashback) and forward again to explain an event.

A Splendid Friend, Indeed
Image of A Splendid Friend, Indeed (Theodor Seuss Geisel Honor Book (Awards))
Author: Suzanne Bloom
Publisher: Boyds Mills Press (2005)
Binding: Hardcover, 32 pages
Illustrator: 
Suzanne Bloom
Item Call Number: 
E BLOOM

When a studious polar bear meets an inquisitive goose, they learn to be friends.

Questions to talk about with your child: 
The polar bear has to be very patient with goose's questions. When was a time you had to be patient? Was it hard to wait?
How would the story be different if the polar bear wasn't patient and lost his temper? How do you think the goose would feel?
Who is your best friend and why?
Do you know what makes a friend?
Can you be friends with someone who is different than you?
Fun things to do together: 
Look at the many colors in Bloom's illustrations. Ask what colors the different objects are. See if your child can locate these colors in his/her room or clothing.
Pack a snack and blanket. Enjoy a picnic outside with your child.
Play "Goose, Goose, Bear" instead of "Duck, Duck, Goose"
Draw a picture of you and your best friend doing something together that you both like.
Have a "Blue / White" color walk. Point out all the different blue and white objects that you can find.
Book Skills
Loves Books (Print Motivation): 
The polar bear's enjoyment of reading, writing, thinking, etc.
Tell A Story (Narrative Skills): 
The simplicity of the drawings allow a child to tell the story without reading.

Alexander and the Terrible, No good, Very Bad Day
Image of Alexander And The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
Author: Judith Viorst
Publisher: Atheneum (1972)
Binding: Hardcover, 32 pages
Item Call Number: 
E VIORS

Recounts the events of a day when everything goes wrong for Alexander.

Questions to talk about with your child: 
What are some of things that happen to Alexander? If these things happened to you, would you be happy or sad? Why?
Have you ever had a “terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day”? What happened? How did you feel?
How can you tell from the pictures if Alexander is happy or unhappy?
Why does Alexander say he wants to go to Australia?
Fun things to do together: 
After reading the book, have your child “retell” the story using the pictures only. Talk about whether the story is different or close to the story the words tell.
Have your child draw a picture of a “terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day”. Discuss what things might happen that would make your child feel badly. Talk about things your child could do to feel better.
Find Australia on a map and compare its location to where you live and how a person might travel to get there. Locate the equator on a world map and talk about how the seasons are different below and above it. Discuss seasons and what happens in each of them.
Go the library and find information on the different animals that live in Australia. Make a kangaroo, koala or sheep craft from the many craft websites on-line.
Book Skills
New Words (Vocabulary): 
This story offers great examples of different adjectives with the same meaning and is a great vocabulary builder with words like scrunched, almond, cavity, and scolded.
Tell A Story (Narrative Skills): 
The logical, straight-forward sequence of events can easily be retold to practice narrative skills.

Anansi and the Moss Covered Rock
Image of Anansi and the Moss-Covered Rock
Author: Eric A. Kimmel
Publisher: Holiday House (1990)
Binding: Paperback, 32 pages
Illustrator: 
Janet Stevens
Item Call Number: 
E KIMME

Anansi the Spider uses a strange moss-covered rock in the forest to trick all the other animals until Little Bush Deer decides he needs to learn a lesson.

Questions to talk about with your child: 
How did Anansi trick his friends and why did he want to?
How do you think his friends felt when they realized they had been tricked?
Who tricked Anansi and how did they do it?
Do you think Anansi learned his lesson?
Fun things to do together: 
Go the grocery store and pick out some of the foods that are in the book- yams, bananas, melons. Compare and contrast weight, texture and color.
Check out some African music from the library.
Find the continent of Africa on a globe or map. Look for Ghana, Kenya and South Africa since they are home to many of the animals in the story.
Book Skills
Loves Books (Print Motivation): 
The bright illustrations and very funny story will encourage several readings.
Tell A Story (Narrative Skills): 
This West African folk tale lends itself perfectly to a captivating story.

Bark, George
Image of Bark, George
Manufacturer: Scholastic Inc.
Part Number:
Price:
Illustrator: 
Jules Feiffer
Item Call Number: 
E FEIFF

A mother dog tries to teach her pup how to bark, and is surprised at why he wasn't learning.

Questions to talk about with your child: 
What was your favorite part of the story?
What do animals do when they go to the veterinarian?
What are the animal noises made in this book?
What is the order of the animals pulled from George?
Do you think George swallowed a human at the end of the book?
Fun things to do together: 
Take an empty box and pretend that it is George. Pull the animals in the book out of the box when telling the story.
Set up a pretend vet's office with band aids, clipboards, Doctor kits, and stuffed animals.
Visit a pet store or a vet's office.
Book Skills
Tell A Story (Narrative Skills): 
The simple storyline makes this book easy to retell with stuffed animals.
Make Sounds (Phonological Awareness) : 
Children will love making the animal sounds with the story.

Bear Snores On
Image of Bear Snores On
Author: Karma Wilson
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry (2002)
Binding: Hardcover, 40 pages

On a cold winter night, many animals gather to party in the cave of a sleeping bear who awakens and protests he has missed the food and the fun.

Questions to talk about with your child: 
Why does Bear sleep all winter? What is hibernation?
What other animals hibernate?
What is a lair? What do you think the inside of a cave would be like?
What foods would you like to eat after sleeping all winter?
Why do all of the animals run out of the cave when Bear wakes up? What sounds does he make? Would you be afraid?
Fun things to do together: 
Put two chairs together and drape a blanket over them to create your own lair for playing and napping.
Use magazines to cut out pictures of favorite foods. Glue them to paper plates and serve them to stuffed animals.
Sing The Bear Went Over the Mountain and act out Going on a Bear Hunt.
Cook together. Make stew, pop some popcorn, and brew tea.
To emphasize the story’s rhyming text and play with the sounds of the words, make flash cards for all the rhyming words in the story. Mix them up and try to match them. Think of more words that rhyme with those in the story and make more cards for those.
Book Skills
Tell A Story (Narrative Skills): 
The story has a straightforward plot progression with multiple simple plot developments which make it perfect for retelling to practice describing events in order from beginning to end.
Make Sounds (Phonological Awareness) : 
This story has rhyming text that offers children the opportunity to hear and play with the smaller sounds of words. Children enjoy rhymes because they have a sing-song, rhythmic quality that makes them fun to read.

Bedtime for Frances
Image of Bedtime for Frances
Author: Russell Hoban
Publisher: HarperFestival (1995)
Binding: Library Binding, 32 pages
Illustrator: 
Russell Hoban
Item Call Number: 
E HOBAN

Frances has trouble going to sleep because of frightening sounds and objects that may be going to get her

Questions to talk about with your child: 
What time is Frances's bedtime?
Does Frances want to go to bed?
What does Frances think is in her room? Is it real?
What snack does Frances get to eat?
What is the wind's job?
Does Frances finally go to sleep?
Fun things to do together: 
Talk about bedtime routines in your house and create a routine for a stuffed animal or doll.
Use animals or dolls to recreate the song "10 in the Bed".
Sing the song "Twinkle, Twinkle".
Throw a blanket on a chair and what do you see? A giant? A lion?
Draw simple pajamas for a set of paper dolls.
Book Skills
Loves Books (Print Motivation): 
A story that many children relate to and are anxious to find out the outcome encouraging them to read.
New Words (Vocabulary): 
The short concise sentences relate the thoughts and actions so clearly and keep the story moving
Tell A Story (Narrative Skills): 
The short concise sentences relate the thoughts and actions so clearly and keep the story moving.

Bill Grogan’s Goat
Image of Bill Grogan's Goat
Author: Mary Ann Hoberman
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers (2002)
Binding: Hardcover, 32 pages
Item Call Number: 
E HOBER

Presents the familiar rhyme about a pesky goat that gets in trouble for eating shirts off the clothesline.

Questions to talk about with your child: 
What do you think of Bill Grogan? Was tying his goat to a railroad track a good thing or a bad thing to do?
The train in the story is a passenger train. Who are the passengers?
Notice the different patterns on each of the three red shirts. Can you find those patterns anywhere else in the story?
What happens at dinner? What happens when you make a mess?
What does the goat end up doing? Why?
Fun things to do together: 
This book was adapted from a folk song. Listen to a recording of the original “Bill Grogan’s Goat.”
This is a traditional “echo song.” Have your child repeat each line after you.
Find a book about goats to learn more about what they really eat.
Wash some shirts and hang them up to dry outside instead of putting them in the clothes dryer.
Find the pairs of rhyming words throughout the book.
Book Skills
Loves Books (Print Motivation): 
The silly story and pictures along with the rhyming text will make this an enjoyable story. Singing the book will add to the enjoyment.
Make Sounds (Phonological Awareness) : 
The rhyme scheme of the song makes it fun to read aloud and encourages children to play with the ending sounds of words.

Biscuit
Image of Biscuit (My First I Can Read)
Author: Alyssa Satin Capucilli
Publisher: HarperCollins (1996)
Binding: Library Binding, 32 pages
Item Call Number: 
EASY READER CAPUC

A little yellow dog wants ever one more thing before he'll go to sleep.

Questions to talk about with your child: 
Why do you think that Biscuit keeps asking for things like snacks, drinks, and extra hugs?
Why does Biscuit go upstairs at the end of the book?
What does Biscuit do when he gets upstairs in the little girl’s room?
Do you sometimes ask for drinks and “one more hug” at bedtime? If so, why?
Fun things to do together: 
Set up bedtime routine cards for your child. Have a card for pajamas, teeth brushing, story, hug, tuck-in time, etc. These can help your child know what to expect at bedtime.
Make coupons for “10 more minutes at bedtime” or “ 1 more hug at bedtime.”
Role play to act out the story with your child. Take turns acting out the parts of Biscuit and the child.
Using your child’s day as a model, work together drawing pictures or making a list of things that Biscuit is likely to do from waking up to going to sleep at night.
Book Skills
Tell A Story (Narrative Skills): 
This story is simple and easy to re-tell or act out.
Use Books (Print Awareness): 
This story has many repetitive sight words that will help to build reading confidence.

Book! Book! Book!
Image of Book! Book! Book!
Author: Deborah Bruss
Publisher: Arthur A. Levine Books (2001)
Binding: Hardcover, 40 pages
Illustrator: 
Tiphanie Beeke
Item Call Number: 
E BRUSS

When the children go back to school, the animals on the farm are bored, so they go into the library in town trying to find something to do.

Questions to talk about with your child: 
What was your favorite part of the story?
Which of the animals is your favorite one?
What animal sounds can you make?
What kind of book would you ask for from the librarian?
Have you ever seen a cow in the library? A horse? A duck?
Fun things to do together: 
Sing "Old MacDonald had a Farm"
Take your favorite stuffed animal to the library and see if the librarian can talk to them.
Check out some books on cows, chickens, frogs, horse, and pigs.
Make lunch bag puppets of the animals and re-enact the story.
Draw or make a barn and some animals to go in it.
Book Skills
Tell A Story (Narrative Skills): 
This book is ideal for working with patterning and sequencing of a story.
Make Sounds (Phonological Awareness) : 
Children will love making the animals sounds in this book.

Caps For Sale
Image of Caps for Sale Board Book: A Tale of a Peddler, Some Monkeys and Their Monkey Business (Reading Rainbow Books)
Author: Esphyr Slobodkina
Publisher: HarperFestival (2008)
Binding: Board book, 32 pages
Illustrator: 
Esphyr Slobodkina
Item Call Number: 
E SLOBO

A band of mischievous monkeys steals every one of a peddler's caps while he takes a nap under a tree.

Questions to talk about with your child: 
What was the man selling? What were the colors of all his hats?
Can you count the hats he wore on his head?
How did he feel when he lost the hats?
What did the monkeys do in the story? What did you think of the monkeys?
How did he get his hats back?
Why didn't the man sell any hats?
Fun things to do together: 
Make a hat from newspaper or other material. http://www.dltk-kids.com/crafts/columbus/newspaper_sailors_hats.htm
Act out the story with the child acting as both the peddler and the monkey.
Balance several soft things on your head and see how far you can go.
Cut out twenty circles of different colors from construction paper and move the circles around to see how many patterns you can create.
Count the circles and sort them by color.
Book Skills
Loves Books (Print Motivation): 
The playful monkeys and colorful illustrations draw the child in. Repetitive phrases encourage the child to say the words along with the reader for a more interactive, fun experience and help build confidence for budding readers.
Tell A Story (Narrative Skills): 
The simple story leads the reader to a satisfying conclusion. Repetitive phrases throughout the story structure aid children in understanding and retelling the story.

Click Clack Moo
Image of Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type
Author: Doreen Cronin
Publisher: Scholastic (2005)
Binding: Paperback, 32 pages
Illustrator: 
Doreen Cronin
Item Call Number: 
E CRONI

When Farmer Brown's cows find a typewriter in the barn they start making demands, and go on strike when the farmer refuses to give them what they want.

Questions to talk about with your child: 
Why do the cows and the hens ask Farmer Brown for blankets?
What do the cows do when Farmer Brown refuses to help them?
What deal do the cows make with Farmer Brown to get the blankets?
When the ducks get the typewriter, what do the ducks want from Farmer Brown?
What is a "neutral" party?
Fun things to do together: 
Show your child a keyboard and help them type a simple note to Farmer Brown asking for something they want; Print it out for them to see.
As you read, ask your child to "read" the Click, clack refrains with you and be very enthusiastic about the sounds the animals make.
Point to the "Click, clack" refrains as you read them to emphasize the text and give the child a cue as to when to say them with you.
See if you can find a manual typewriter, then you can experiment with the clicking noises.
Sing "Old MacDonald Had a Farm"
Play a game of "Duck, Duck, Goose"
Book Skills
Tell A Story (Narrative Skills): 
The story structure, the actions of the animals, and the reactions of the farmer make this story a good choice for practicing description of events and retelling a story in sequence.
Use Books (Print Awareness): 
The print is black, large and bold, often against bright white space or in boxed areas resembling typed letters, making the words stand out on the page. The font makes the words easy to point to as you read aloud, capturing the child's attention and encouraging them to follow along.

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
Image of Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs
Author: Judi Barrett
Publisher: Scholastic (1976)
Binding: Paperback, 32 pages
Item Call Number: 
E BARRE

Life is delicious in the town of Chewandswallow where it rains soup and juice, snows mashed potatoes, and blows storms of hamburgers--until the weather takes a turn for the worse.

Questions to talk about with your child: 
What foods do you like to eat?
What food would you like to “rain down” on you?
Why did the people of Chewandswallow leave?
Looking at the pictures, can you see a difference between the pictures that go with the story Grandpa tells about Chewandswallow and the pictures of Grandpa and the children together?
Can you think of some other things that look like or remind you of food?
Fun things to do together: 
Make a necklace or bracelet from different colored macaroni. Lay out a pattern for your child to follow and have them finish the pattern accordingly until the necklace is finished.
Use cookie cutters and have fun with food by cutting out shapes from sandwiches or pancakes.
Do some experiments with different foods, including bread, to find out whether they will sink or float? Make a picture chart and decide together beforehand whether they will sink or float. Discuss the reasons why the hypothesis was right or wrong.
Book Skills
Tell A Story (Narrative Skills): 
Identify the “story within the story.” Read the story several times. Encourage narrative skill practice by having your child describe the different meals and the effects of them, in order, that fell from the sky.
Use Books (Print Awareness): 
The text is placed inside colored boxes on each page, apart from the illustrations, which sets off the text and makes the words very visible.

Corduroy
Image of Corduroy (40th Anniversary Edition)
Author: Don Freeman
Publisher: Viking Juvenile (2008)
Binding: Hardcover, 40 pages
Illustrator: 
Don Freeman
Item Call Number: 
E FREE

A toy bear in a department store wants a number of things, but when a little girl finally buys him he finds what he has always wanted most of all

Questions to talk about with your child: 
What is your favorite part of the story?
Do you think it would be fun to run around a store at night when no one is there?
Do you have a favorite bear?
Do you like to ride the escalator in big stores?
Fun things to do together: 
Set up your stuffed bears and other animals and have a Teddy Bear Picnic.
Learn (or pretend) to sew a button on like Lisa does for Corduroy.
Hide your teddy bear under the covers (but keep the ears out!) and see if someone else can find him.
Act out the nursery rhyme "Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear".
Book Skills
Loves Books (Print Motivation): 
The soft and gentle story about finding a home and a friend will encourage children to talk about their own stuffed animal friends.
New Words (Vocabulary): 
This book has some challenging words in the story such as "escalator", "watchman", and "toy department".