That Day When We All Read

We all know that this is a very special day in pretty much every school across the country. Kids are reading, being read to, making books, getting books as gifts, having guest readers, having door decorating contests, eating green eggs, cutting out red and white paper hats, and dressing in mismatched clothes for Wacky Wednesday. This day is like the reading mecca of the whole school year and it is all in the name of the good Dr.

I'm sure kids and teachers have loads of fun with all of the activities and sharing all those silly, silly books.

But I have a confession to make. A teacher confession.

I am not fond of the good Dr.
I don't care for his books.
I mean I really don't like the books and I find them kind of...well...annoying.

There. I said it.
And I feel much better knowing the truth is out there :)

But what's a teacher to do when the whole school is losing their seusstastic minds and she starts twitching every time someone makes a trisyllabic rhyme?

Don't worry! There are plenty of other wildly silly and ridiculously entertaining books to share with your students that will fill their need for nonsense and help them learn to LOVE reading!

Here are a few of my favorites that I like to share with my kids and they have always been a big a hit!

Robert Munsch

This is one of my all time favorite silly authors. His tells all of his stories to groups of children before they are written down and they are just perfect for reading aloud. His style is a very kid friendly, 'stream of consciousness' type of writing that takes the story in the most unpredictable places.

He reads all his books aloud on is website and they are all AMAZING! I cannot do his stories justice so I love to let him read the stories and I just show the pictures:)

You MUST read the 'About' section on his website. He has had quite an interesting journey!

Melanie Watt

Another favorite silly book series is Scaredy Squirrel. Scaredy is an everyman character who is afraid of everything and then some. Kids love Scaredy, his irrational fears of things like green Martians and poison ivy and tarantulas, and his crazy coping strategies like carrying a can of sardines to distract sharks.

Kids can relate to Scaredy's fears of attempting new things and entering strange, new social situations like making friends or having a birthday party, or being afraid of bad dreams or visiting new places. Watt throws a silly twist on Scaredy's fears so kids can laugh at the absurdity of his situation all the while feeling the kinship of a shared experience.

An added bonus is the books are great mentor texts for writing. We label pictures, make lists, schedules, and step by step instructions. The illustrations in the book are wonderful catalysts for writing! I have compiled a bit of a sample of my Scaredy Squirrel pack so you can learn to love Scaredy as much as I do:) Click on the picture to grab the free pack.

Melanie has also written several other hysterical, silly stories - click HERE for the list!

Jon Scieszka

I don't even know where to begin with this guy. His brand of crazy is all over the map. He writes some seriously twisted fairy tales and fables, books about math and science, and just some general silliness. The books are beyond fun, kids LOVE them, and many of them have incredible instructional value.

For example:
Baloney, Henry P. - context clues
The True Story of the Three Little Pigs - point of view, character traits, story structure, compare and contrast
Science Verse - poetry, and lots of quick little poems that are fun to introduce new science units of study
Math Curse - word problems!

But I think the best thing of all is his Guys Read website. It is a web based reading program to encourage boys to become life long readers. Your school can form your own Guys Read chapter and register with the Guys Read web site.