Top 20 Read-a-Loud Countdown: #1 and #2

At my job I enjoy reading to fairly large groups of preschoolers.  Over the next few weeks I will be counting down my top 20 favorite books to read out loud to young listeners!  I have left off books that are out of print (sorry Emma Dodd's great What Pet to Get? and Julia Jarman's wonderful Big Red Tub).  I will count them two at a time.   Here are choices for #1 and #2, please scroll down the rest of the blog to see the remaining top 20.  Criteria:  the books have to work well with large groups, and invite audience participation.

1.  Where the Wild Things Are, written and illustrated by Maurice Sendak.  This quite simply is my favorite all-time favorite picture book.  It's just beautifully illustrated--note the stunning layout when the forest grows around Max and his fantasy world starts taking over the page.  Kids in storytime love to roar their terrible roars and gnash their terrible teeth.  And ooh what a rumpus we have in the storytime program--stomping feet, howling, more roaring!  The story also has such a strong emotional resonance as Max realizes he needs to leave the land of the wild things (who will eat him up, they love him so!) and return home.  It goes without saying that the world is a better place because this book exists. 

2.  The Snowy Day, written and illustrated by Ezra Jack Keats.  Another timeless classic that beautifully captures and celebrates a child's-eye view of the world, a sense of wonder.  A mix of joy, sadness (those big kids won't play with Peter!), wonderment, and melancholy (that vivid dream in which all the beloved snow melts).   I love Keats' books about Peter (A Letter to Amy and Whistle for Willie are two other favorites), but there's something about this that makes it the one I love the most.  As Peter explores the winter wonderland outside, memories of my time in the snow come rushing back to me.  Snow angels, snowballs, making your footprints look really really cool as you walk, not wanting winter to end.  The dream sequence at the end is beautifully rendered, followed by a triumphant moment that makes young readers and listeners shout "hooray!" for the resourceful hero.

Top 20 Read-a-Loud Countdown: #3 and #4

3. Freight Train, written and illustrated by Donald Crews.  This 1979 Caldecott Honor winner invites movement and excitement.  It seems simple and yet it's a beautifully conceived masterpiece (dig how the colors blur as the train zooms) that serves as a cool introduction to colors.  There is no real story per se, just the thrill of seeing the many multicolored cars (blue gondola car, purple box car, and others) in motion...going by cities and crossing trestles.  As Crews reveals each car, I have the children repeat the colors back to me or I say "this is a gondola car?  what color is it?"  When the train starts moving, I have them say chugga chugga choo choo, bounce as they cross trestles, and whisper when they are moving in darkness.  One fun thing I improvised once was after the train disappears after the "going...going...gone" moment, I have the kids yell "come back freight train!!!" and I flip the book and show the cover, which has the Freight Train grooving in full glory, to the audience and have them chant "chugga chugga choo choo" one more time! 

4.  Kitten's First Full Moon, written and illustrated by Kevin Henkes.  In this 2005 Caldecott Medal winner, a little kitten has one forgettable nocturnal journey as she tries to catch the full moon, which she believes is a little bowl of milk in the sky, just waiting for her.  Henkes' gorgeous illustrations, in grays and whites, immediately win young listeners/readers over as they grow to care for this poor unlucky kitten who can never seem to get closer to the moon.  Kids love emulating the feline's movements--jumping off the porch, banging her ear, bumping her tale, running past the field, climbing a tree, leaping into a pond (where she thinks she sees another bowl of milk!!!).  In my storytimes, this book never fails to entertain and entrance the audience.  It all comes together in a warm, cuddly ending that also makes it one effective bedtime book.  Lucky Kitten!!!

Top 20 Read-a-Loud Countdown: #5 and #6

5.  Go Away Big Green Monster, written and illustrated by Ed Emberley.  This brilliantly conceived and designed showstopper has been on my storytime heavy rotation list for years.  It's often my grand finale, one that ends things on a high note.  I wrote about this on my blog before; I simply cannot stop singing its praises.  A slightly scary green monster comes together with each flip of the page.  Squiggly ears, scraggly purple hair, and a big green face.   But then Emberley has the kids chant in unison, "YOU DON'T SCARE ME" and together we tell each part of the face to go away.  And with a flip of the page, the scraggly purple hair is gone, and so is the long bluish-greenish nose and so on.  And in a final inspirational blast of kid empowerment, the kids tell the monster to "don't come back..."until I say so."  And this perfect final line invites shouts of "read it again" and re-reads.  It's simply storytime gold.

6.  An Eric Carle double feature:  Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?, written by Bill Martin, Jr. and illustrated by Eric Carle; and The Very Hungry Caterpillar, written and illustrated by Eric Carle.  No preschool storytime list of course should be without a book illustrated by Eric Carle.  For this list, I want to make sure a LOT of authors and illustrators are represented so I was trying to limit each talent to one title.  However, with Carle this proved difficult.  These two perennial classics are both surefire winners, so why not include both?  Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? of course is a seemingly simple charmer in which readers ask an animal "what do you see?"  They see another animal looking "at me" and with a flip of the page we see the animal in question.  So a brown bear says a yellow duck is looking at it, and with a flip of page, we see this yellow dark, large on the page, against an uncluttered background.  And so it goes until we reach a great meta moment when the goldfish says "I see a teacher (or mother in some editions) looking at me".  This grown-up then says "I see beautiful children looking at me" and with a turn of the page, we have a bunch of kids looking back at the kids looking at the book.  In a moment that always gets a gasp of "wow", when the kids are asked "what do you see?" we get a final page with ALL of the animals and the teacher (mother).  The book is simply a marvel, one that encourages animal sounds.  I always have the kids count to 3 before I turn to page.  It's like one big game of peek-a-boo...but with blue horses and purple cats.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar is also deservedly famous in the preschool world.  A little caterpillar pops out of an egg and starts searching for food.  And boy does he eat and eat and eat.  The story works on so many levels:  as a counting book, an introduction to foods and nutrition, and a look at how caterpillars become butterflies. The book has a nice sense of humor--what he eats on Saturday is absolutely hilarious (a pickle, a lollipop AND a slice of salami???  and a whole bunch of other things???).  Kids also love the ending when they see that the title character emerge as a brand new, beautiful butterfly!

Top 20 Read-a-Loud Countdown: #7 and #8

7.  Caps for Sale, written and illustrated by Esphyr Slobodkina.  This classic 1938 easy reader still enchants the little ones.  I frequently use the Big Book version, which can be cumbersome and yet makes a strong favorable impression, but there was a nice edition recently released (ISBN:  9780201091472) that is larger than the smallish original edition without being ginormous.  Anyway, this clever play on the whole "monkey see, monkey do" idea has a peddler in an uproar after he discovers a bunch of monkeys have stolen his merchandise (a bunch of caps) while he slept.  Kids love imitating the peddler as he shakes one finger and then both fists at the playful creatures who respond with "tsz, tsz, tsz".  The old-fashioned illustrations (the peddler looks like a distant cousin of Charles Chaplin's Little Tramp character) still delight.  And the whimsical nature of the tale prompts giggles.  It's simply timeless.

8.  My Friend Rabbit, written and illustrated by Eric Rohmann.  I fell in love with this book, winner of the 2003 Caldecott Medal, the very first moment I saw it.  I  wrote about it on this blog a while back.  Rohmann's charming woodcuts take readers/listeners on a nonsensical comical trip as a rabbit accidentally throws mouse's plane high up in a tree where they cannot retrieve it.  So the titular character comes up with a plan that involves making a tower of several animals (including a sleeping hippo!) in order to reach the lost airplane.  The expressions of the animal's faces are hilarious.  I notice something new each and every time I revisit this book.  And children love the absurdity of it all (the rabbit pulling in an elephant several times his size).  A clever, beautifully rendered treat.

Top 20 Read-a-Loud Countdown: #9 and #10

9.  Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!, written and illustrated by Mo Willems.  And this is where the Mo Mania began.  It seems so simple and yet it's so brilliantly funny:  a bus driver trusting that readers will honor his request that we won't let the pigeon make off with his cherished vehicle.  Soon we find ourselves bombarded with requests, promises, deals, and pleas from the feathered creature.  Willems leaves out the word "NO!" and yet we gladly shout this word at the bird again and again, causing it to finally lose control and scream "LET ME DRIVE THE BUS!!!", feathers flying.  (I ask that the children join in on this thunderous outburst, which they gladly do.)  After the bus driver reappears, and we applaud ourselves on a job well done, and the poor pigeon looks utterly dejected, a surprise comes bursting onto the next page.  What's funny is when I ask children "are you going to let the pigeon drive the humongous truck" that appears, many of them shout "YES!".

10.  Froggy Gets Dressed, written by Jonathan London, illustrated by Frank Remkiewicz.  Full disclosure:  this was the very first book I read for my very first storytime as a professional librarian.  So it really does have sentimental value for me.  Many Froggy books have followed but this one will always be the best (although Froggy Goes to Bed is a close second).  I usually like to give kids "jobs" to do during storytime, words to shout out, sound effects to make, and actions to follow.  And this charming story in which Froggy, who sees snow and becomes too excited to hibernate, offers many interactive opportunities.  Kids love shouting "FROGGY" just like his mom, imitating the sounds of the various clothes Froggy puts on ("zwit" for his scarf, "zut zut zut" for his shirt buttons), and flopping back and forth as Froggy walks in the snow.  They love to giggle when Froggy keeps forgetting to put on clothes (his pants!  his coat!), and end up in comedy heaven when we learn that he has forgotten the most important article of clothing at all.  If I need a surefire winner, this one still delivers the goods.

Top 20 Read-a-Loud Countdown: #11 and #12

11.  The Great Gracie Chase:  Stop That Dog!, written by Cynthia Rylant, illustrated by Mark Teague.  This exuberant romp stars Gracie Rose, a little dog who loves a quiet home, who leads an entire town on a massive chase.  Rylant's innovative text explodes with energy as Gracie, a dog who is good every day of her life (except for one!  the day the house painters came!), causes chaos.  Mark Teague's vibrant illustrations offer wonderful POV shots of the incident.  It all leads to a wonderful ending that feels just right.  Kids yell "again! again!" as soon as you read the final page.

 12.  Five Little Monkeys Play Hide-and-Seek, written and illustrated by Eileen Christelow.  This fun addition to Christelow's Five Little Monkeys series works as an effective counting book.  The tricky quintet pull little pranks on their very patient babysitter Lulu who plays increasingly complicated games of hide and seek with them.  Christelow's bouncy prose does a great job repeating key words, allowing children to anticipate the rhymes (they love shouting them out).  Her illustrations are joyous and funny (kids love spotting where the monkeys are hiding--the one hiding with a garbage can on her head gets the biggest guffaw).  It all leads to an ending that truly does surprise young listeners.

Top 20 Read-a-Loud Countdown: #13 and #14

13.  Demolition, written by Sally Sutton, illustrated by Brian Lovelock.  This companion to this team's great Roadwork makes for one rowdy read.  Thwack!  Whop!  Bam!  Big machines knock a building down, and kids love emulating the sounds of these resourceful construction vehicles.  Sutton's thrilling staccato prose captures the demolition process in a bouncy manner, and Lovelock's illustrations jump off the page.  It's fun to ask kids "why is the building being knocked down?" and "what are they going to build next?"  Young listeners/readers feel happy with the book's ending, which offers a most pleasant surprise.

14.  The Mightiest, written and illustrated by Keiko Kasza.  A while back when I first started this blog, I dedicated a whole entry to the comical genius of Keiko Kasza.  She has truly mastered the art of the plot twist, and The Mightiest offers at least three great plot twists.  A lion, an elephant, and bear discover a crown in the woods on a rock that says "For the Mightiest."  Of course the trio argues about who the mightiest truly is, leading them to a contest that has them each trying to see who can scare an approaching elderly woman the most.  Kids love making the animal sounds, and those reading the story will savor the opportunity of taking on different character voices.  Twist after twist after goofy twist keep young listeners/readers guessing what is going to happen next.

Top 20 Read-a-Loud Countdown: #15 and #16

15,  It's a Tiger!, written by David LaRochelle, illustrated by Jeremy Tankard.  I have raved about this action-packed, rollicking, raucous book before on this blog.  I recently read this to 4 different Kindergarten classes and the students loved LaRochelle's interactive prose and Tankard's eye-grabbing illustrations.  The meta story uses "you" very effectively as it puts young readers/listeners in the shoes of a young boy trying to outrun a tiger.  Kids loving spotting the striped creature before the protagonist does.  Packed with sound effects, the meta tale also has a brilliant ending that brings everything back full circle on its very last page, with a hint of a new adventure ready to begin.

16.  Bark, George, written and illustrated by Jules Feiffer.  A charmingly silly book that makes kids giggle like wild.  Against a simple backdrop, a mother pooch tries to teach the titular character how to bark.  But George lets out various animal sounds--a meow, a quack, an oink, a mooooooo--causing her to feel a great deal of alarm and worry.  A trip to vet reveals a most unusual problem that builds in zaniness.  Just when you think it's all over and George is cured and all is well, Feiffer introduces a surprise ending that truly jolts and surprises.  Hilarious fun.