Elementary (Pre K – Grade 2)

Recommended Holiday Reading List which parents and educators can use to
encourage students to continue reading during the holiday season. There are
a variety of interesting books available to spark the interest, imagination and
most of all the love of reading for children of all ages
Elementary (Pre K – Grade 2)
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A New Coat for Anna - Harriet Ziefert
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever - Barbara Robinson
A Child’s Christmas in Wales - Dylan Thomas
FluffyÕs Thanksgiving - Kate McMullan
How the Grinch Stole Christmas! - Dr. Seuss
Inside Out Grandma ~ A Hanukkah Story - Joan Rothenberg
The Polar Express - Chris Van Allsburg
Feliz Navidad: Two Stories Celebrating Christmas - Jose Feliciano
Biscuit Celebrates Hanukkah - Ayssa Satin Capucilli
Christmas IsÉ - Gail Gibbons
Las Posadas: An Hispanic Christmas Celebration - Diane Hoyt-Goldsmith
Thanksgiving on Thursday - Mary Pope Osborne
A Kwanzaa Celebration Pop-up Book - Nancy Williams
D Is for Dreidel: A Hanukkah Alphabet Book - Tanya Lee Stone
A Charlie Brown Christmas: The Making of a Tradition - Lee Mendelson
Christmas Alphabet 10th Anniversary Edition [pop-up book] - Robert Sabuda
Darinka’s Nutcracker Ballet - Rachel Nickerson Luna
Feliz Navidad: Two Stories Celebrating Christmas - Jose Feliciano, David Diaz (illus.)
Festival of Lights: The Story of Hanukkah - Maida Silverman, Carolyn Ewing (illus.)
Lanterns and Firecrackers: A Chinese New Year Story - Jonny Zucker, Jan Barger Cohen
The Legend of the Poinsettia - Tomie dePaola
The Little Drummer Boy - Ezra Jack Keats (illus.)
New Year’s Day [True Books series] - Dana Meachen Rau
The Night Before Christmas - Clement C. Moore, Mary Engelbreit (illus.)
Olive, the Other Reindeer - J. Otto Seibold
Seven Spools of Thread: A Kwanzaa Story - Angela Shelf Medearis, Daniel Minter (illus.)
Who’s That Knocking on Christmas Eve? [based on Norwegian folktale] - Jan Brett (illus.)
K Is For Kwanzaa - Juwanda Ford
Elementary (Grades 3 – 5)
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Hurray For Three KingsÕ Day! - Lori Marie Carlson
Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins - Eric A. Kimmel
Light the Lights! A Story about Celebrating Hanukkah and Christmas - Margaret Moorman
The Velveteen Rabbit - Margery Williams
Gift of the Magi - O. Henry
Ramadan - Suhaib Hamaid Ghazi
The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree: An Appalachian Story - Gloria Houston
Seven Spools of Thread: A Kwanzaa Story - Angela Shelf Medearis
Christmas Around the World - Mary Lankford
Seven Candles for Kwanzaa - Andrea Davis Pinkney
By the Hanukkah Light - Sheldon Oberman
Latkes, Latkes, Good to Eat - Naomi Howland
Seven Days of Kwanzaa - Angela Shelf Medearis
Remember to read
with or to your
children for 15
minutes every day.
THE READING CORNER
INFORMATION AND READING
STRATEGIES
FROM THE DESK OF MRS. BOYER
Grades K-2
Something to Ponder
Children who have been read to for 30 minutes a day from birth through age five receive over 900 hours of brain
food.
Children who have been read to for 30 minutes a week from birth through age five receive 130 hours of brain
food….which is great….but a 770 hour deficit when compared to the first group.
Children who are read to less than 30 minutes weekly enter kindergarten with less than 60 hours of the same
brain food. They are familiar with fewer nursery rhymes, fairy tales, stories, etc. Even the most gifted teacher
cannot bridge the gap that exists between the cognitively undernourished and the young minds, which have been
saturated with literacy. (Iowa Literacy Link Volume 1 Number 8, April 2007)
The good news is that reading to your child is powerful, no matter what age they are. Experts recommend that
parents read to their children through high school. It is never too late to read to your child, no matter what age
they are. So grab the comics, the newspaper, or a really great novel, curl up on the couch…and read!
Grades 3-5
After our amazing “Vocabulary Parade” here is a great
strategy to work on at home:
Tune into Interesting Words
When children learn to tune in to interesting words, they build word awareness and the understanding of words.
This leaves them with “thinking power” in their brain to comprehend and make meaning of what is read. Have you
ever heard a new word, looked it up, and then repeated it often to remember it? Students who tune in to
interesting words expand their vocabulary by focusing on these new words and their meaning. By looking for
words that are interesting and unique, children not only increase their vocabulary, but they also enhance their
comprehension. A child must have multiple exposures to a word in order for it to become a part of his/her
vocabulary.
How can you help your child with this strategy at home?
1. Ask your child to tell you about his/her word collector at school. The word collector is a form that allows your
child to keep track of interesting words found in books he/she is reading. Create a word collector at home to hang
on the refrigerator or to keep in a special place.
2. When your child is reading or you are reading to your child, ask your child to find three interesting words. Have
your child write these words down and talk about the meaning of these words. See if anyone in your family is
able to use the words in a sentence. Add these words to your family word collector.
3. Encourage your child to find interesting words when watching TV or in daily conversation. When tuning in to an
interesting word, help your child understand the word and then add it to the family word collector.
4. As always, modeling is a wonderful way to spark interest in children. When you are reading a magazine,
newspaper, or book, tune into an interesting word and discuss it with your child. Explain that even adult readers
tune into interesting words to better understand text.