Best Books

Book Buddies

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At one time, I tutored students in high school English. I started making notecards that had lists of key themes, symbols, and character traits. The students would use the notecard like a bookmark and have it with them while reading. The reminders on the card helped guide the students to mark useful quotes. Now that I am back in the classroom, I still make these notecard-bookmarks to help students focus their reading. They can be adapted for so many grade levels. Click Here to purchase Book Buddy templates.

mrs_frisby    year_of_the_boar  mockingbird

Summer Reading: Many students read a book in June but can’t remember the book in August when it is time to go back to school. Fill out a generic card while reading and use the card for review right before returning to school.

mrs. frisby bookmark sample

Elementary Grades: For younger grades, have students note details about the beginning, middle, and end of a story. Students can also list character details and identify the big problem in the story. This is a great way to practice summarizing and keeping things short!

year of the boar bookmark sample

Upper Elementary Grades: As students begin to look for deeper meaning in a story, create a card with the key ideas you want to teach in the novel.

to kill a mockingbird bookmark sample

Middle and High School: At this point, you can provide space on the card for themes, symbols, archetypes and key quotes. Customize the card with any literary details you prefer.

** The cards can be printed with blank space, and the students fill out the information as they read.  Or, depending on the needs of your students, you can create the cards with the key ideas provided.

Style-Alikes

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Sometimes kids finish a great book and start looking for another read that has a similar writing style– not a similar plot line. My 4th graders sniffed out some great “style-alikes” last year, and I came up with a few in my own reading. I’ve tried to put together a list with some of the favorites from my class this past year. The books on the list are roughly 4th through 6th grade reading level. As always, please add a title if you have a suggestion. I am always wanting to expand the library!

Epistolary Novels

Epistolary was a new word for me this year.  These are the books that are told through letters or journal entries.

  • 43 Old Cemetery Road series by Klise
  • Regarding The series by Klise
  • Letters from Camp by Klise
  • Love That Dog by Creech
  • Hate That Cat by Creech
  • The Naked Mole-Rat Letters by Amato

Scavenger Hunts

These books contain riddles or puzzles that the reader is trying to solve along with the main characters.

  • Gollywhopper Games by Feldman
  • 7th Level by Feldman
  • Floors by Carmen
  • Red Blazer Girls series by Beil
  • 13th Reality series by Dashner
  • Benjamin Pratt and the Keepers of the School series by Clements

Shift in Point of View

In each chapter or section of the book, the narrator changes, so you get different viewpoints of the same story.

  • The View from Saturday by Konigsburg
  • Because of Mr. Terupt by Buyea
  • Candymakers by Mass
  • Kane Chronicles by Riordan

Vocabulary Focus

The authors of these books insert unusual vocabulary with definitions as part of the storyline.  The authors may also create crazy words to support the story.

  • The Lemonade War and sequels by Davies
  • A Series of Unfortunate Events series by Snicket
  • How to Train Your Dragon series by Cowell
  • Almost all Roald Dahl books

Orphan (or child with one parent) Who Triumphs

The protagonist is the smart, daring, resourceful character in these books and always comes out ahead of any adults or bad guys.

  • The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Selznick
  • Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes by Auxier
  • A Little Princess by Burnett
  • The Million Dollar Putt by Gutman
  • Mandy by Edwards
  • The Mysterious Benedict Society series by Stewart
  • Almost all Roald Dahl books

Road Trip Audio Books

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My children and I will be starting our annual road trip to see family in a few weeks. We spend a little over two weeks in the car and cover many miles. My car does not have a DVD player, and I am doing my best to keep it that way. We started using audio books two summers ago, and it is holding the backseat passengers’ attention for now.  We have learned that a great read aloud at home may not be a good audio book.  It all depends on the narrator.  Here is a list of a few we loved… and some we did not.

Everybody Liked:

  • Magic Treehouse (any in the series) read by the author, Mary Pope Osborne.
  • The Boxcar Children read by Phyllis Newman.
  • Little House in the Big Woods (or any Little House book) read by Cherry Jones.
  • Frindle read by John Fleming.
  • Tales of a 4th Grade Nothing read by the author, Judy Blume.
  • The BFG read by Natasha Richardson.
  • The Cricket in Times Square read by Tony Shalhoub.
  • Lunch Money read by John H. Mayer. added 7/2012
  • Hotel for Dogs read by Katherine Kellgren. added 7/2012
  • Abby Cornelia’s One & Only Magical Power read by the author, David Pogue. added 7/2012

My Children Liked; I Did Not:

  • Junie B. Jones read by Lana Quintal. (My children thought these were hysterical.  But, what comes across as silly when read at bedtime in our house seemed so obnoxious through the voice of Lana Quintal.  I wanted to spank Junie B!)
  • The Secret of the Old Mill read by Bill Irwin. (This is a Hardy Boys mystery. The reader was too slow for me, but my children loved the sound effects.) added 7/2012

Nobody Liked:

  • A Series of Unfortunate Events read by the author, Lemony Snicket.  (This was probably a bad choice on my part.  Not only was the author’s voice very nasal, the book is much darker read aloud, and the content was too old for my children’s ages.)

I need new selections for our upcoming trip.  Any thoughts?  I am looking for titles that will be appropriate and enjoyable for a 7-year old, a 5-year old, and a 40-year old.

Author Letters

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There is nothing like getting personal author letters to peak interest in a book.  Many of my students wrote to various favorite book authors and received replies this year.  Overall, we had about a 50% success rate and learned a few things along the way. (To download the lesson plan for free, visit my Teachers Pay Teachers store.)

author letters

Newer authors have websites with an e-mail address and are more likely to send a personal reply.  We e-mailed Annie Barrows, Jewell Parker Rhodes, Kate Klimo, Jody Feldman, Jonathan Auxier, Tracy Barrett, Erica Kirov, and a few others.  In most cases, we received replies within three days.  The replies were unique and specifically responded to the letter written by the students.  Some authors even gave new book suggestions, which built excitement among the students to pick up an unfamiliar book.

author letters

Other authors provide a snail mail address on their website. These replies take longer– sometimes up to three months, so be patient. Kate Klise wrote us back twice and each letter contained different content.

Mega authors like J.K. Rowling are overloaded with letters and are less likely to reply to fanmail. But Rowling and other popular authors like Sharon Creech will send a generic reply if you include a self-addressed stamped envelope with your letter.

If you can’t find contact information on the author website, locate a mailing address for the author’s publishing company.  Mail a letter to the author c/o the publisher.  Publishers will forward all mail to the author.  We mailed a letter to John Christopher via his publisher.  We did not realize that the author had passed away, and his daughter actually replied to our letter several months later!

No matter how you try to contact an author, it will encourage a child to reach for that next book and establish a personal connection with a writer. To read more tips for contacting book authors, check out THIS POST by author Annabelle Fisher.

Read-Alikes

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Have you ever read a book that was so good you hoped it would never end?  Students are always asking for book suggestions that are “just like” a great book they finished last night, last week, or last month.  Here are some popular book titles with alternate book names that might almost be as good as the original. (If you have a great read-alike, please add a comment!)

If you love Harry Potter, TRY:

  • Knightly Academy by Haberdasher
  • The Magic Thief series by Prineas
  • Nathaniel Fludd, Beastologist by LaFevers
  • Books of Elsewhere series by West

If you love The Lightning Thief, TRY:

  • Magickeepers series by Kirov
  • Kane Chronicles by Riordan
  • The Grimm Legacy by Shulman

If you love Wrinkle in Time, TRY:

  • When You Reach Me by Stead
  • 13th Reality series by Dashner
  • The Magic Half by Barrows

If you love Little House on the Prairie, TRY:

  • Caddie Woodlawn by Brink
  • Understood Betsy by Fisher
  • Sarah, Plain and Tall by MacLachlan
  • The Bread Winner by Whitmore

If you love Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, TRY:

  • Candymakers by Mass
  • The Candy Shop War by Mull
  • Gollywhopper Games by Feldman
  • Floors by Carmen

If you love My Side of the Mountain, TRY:

  • Island of the Blue Dolphins by O’Dell
  • Hatchet by Paulsen
  • Far North by Hobbs

If you love From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, TRY:

  • Wonderstruck by Selznick
  • Red Blazer Girls by Beil
  • Sherlock Files series by Barrett

If you love The Hunger Games, TRY:

  • The Giver by Lowry (and all companion books)
  • The White Mountains trilogy by Christopher
  • Museum of Thieves by Tanner

If you love The Lord of the Rings, TRY:

  • The Ranger’s Apprentice series by Flanagan
  • The False Prince by Nielsen
  • The Thief by Turner