Let’s talk printable books…so many uses and so many options. Let’s sort it all out. Let’s explore this early literacy resource to use with young children.
Uses of Printable Books
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First things first, you need to decide what type of printable book you are seeking. What is your purpose for using them? Printable books can serve different purposes so you want to make sure that you are matching the correct resource to your need.
Printable Books to Use for Print Awareness and Other Pre-Reading Skills
If you are looking for printable books to introduce concepts of print, letter recognition, interactive book resources, or are working on a specific topic skill, then these printable books will fit the bill. Oh, and all of these are FREE printable resources.
Gingerbread Man Printable Book
Where is Mouse? Printable Book (pairs with Mouse Paint book)
Itsy Bitsy Spider Printable Book
P is for Pumpkin Printable Book
How Many Apples? Printable Book (pairs with Ten Red Apples book)
Little Red Hen Printable Book (pairs with The Little Red Hen book)
Going to the Zoo Printable Book
Counting at the Fire Station Printable Book
Decodable Printable Books
If you are looking for printable books to teach children to read/decode, then decodable books are what you want.
Decodable books in general are not high quality literary pieces. They are purposely designed to help emerging readers navigate the complexity of decoding beginning with the most common letter sounds and moving sequentially to more complex text.
This decoding progress generally moves through difficulty levels at a steady pace and that is why printable decoding books are ideal. We generally only use them for a short period of time. So, these aren’t books you are going to find on the picture book shelves of the library.
The Measured Mom is my top recommendation for acquiring decodable printable books.—> See Anna’s free decodable book resources.
You will also find other decodable book resources on The Measured Mom’s site. I highly recommend her resources.
Book Printables to Pair With Your Favorite Books for Kids
Now, let’s move to printables to use with our favorite books. These are printable literacy resources that complement a high-quality piece of literature that help you extend the book and learning. And, I have LOTS of them for you on Growing Book by Book.
Free Printable Book Activities
There are oodles and oodles of FREE printable resources to use with favorite and popular picture books. Here are just a few to enjoy.
Eric Carle Book Activities (The Very Hungry Caterpillar, The Very Busy Spider and more)
Dragons Love Tacos Book Activities
Harold and the Purple Crayons Activities
Arnie and the Doughnut Activities
Who Took the Cookies From The Cookie Jar Activities
MORE Printable Book Activities
Book Dives
Book Dives are a great way to spend multiple days with a single picture book. Each Book Dive comes with discussion questions, a phonological awareness activity, another early literacy activity, other subject-specific ideas, and a take-home letter to send to families. There are over 12 Book Dives to choose from.—-> See the Book Dives
Printable Book Lists
Then, we have printable book lists. On Growing Book by Book, you’ll find approximately 200 book lists on topics from animals to character education to daily read alouds based on wacky holidays. And, almost every single book list on my site comes with a FREE printable book list.—-> Books for Kids Lists
You can take the lists to the library, tuck them in your lesson plan binder, or share them with other families and colleagues.
Happy printing!
*More Early Literacy Resources on Growing Book by Book*