One of the things that I specialize in here at Growing Book by Book is whole-group read-alouds. It can be very different reading to a group of students versus one or two kiddos who are sitting on either side of the book with you. Today, I’ve gathered some knock them out of the park books for kids to read aloud to your group.
How Do I Select a Book to Read to a Group?
There are definitely some books that work better for a whole group read-aloud experience vs a one-on-one experience. I like to use my bread acronym when choosing a piece of fiction to read to a group of children.
Make sure your selection has the following components.
- Bold and Bright Pictures- Can everyone sitting in the back row see the illustrations clearly? Let’s not use a Where’s Waldo? book with a whole group!
- Rhythm and Rhyme- You have to keep attention. Make sure to practice reading the book aloud before you read it to the kids. Books with rhythm and rhyme help with engagement.
- Engaging- Know your crowd and pick books you think will be engaging.
- Amount of Time- Reading three chapters to a group of 2 year-olds will not work. Know the age of the kiddos and pick a book that will match the attention span of your audience.
- Dialogue- Dialogue allows you to do character voices which equals engagement.
Learn more about selecting fiction and nonfiction books in this post.—> How To PIck a Book to Read to a Class
My 5 Go-To Read-Aloud Hits for Whole Group Read-Alouds
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Now, whether you are a teacher or librarian reading to a group of students or a mystery reader headed into the classroom, these books will be your kryptonite.
This list is centered around silly, fun, and entertaining books that will capture the interest of a whole group especially if you haven’t developed a reading rapport with a particular group of children. This is by no means the only type of books I would read aloud with students over the course of time. For that, I have over 200 book lists centered around many topics and themes from multicultural books to social and emotional learning books.—>See All the Book Lists of Kids
Here are your quick win books!
Potato Pants by Laurie Keller is another funny one. Potato is so excited to get to the store and buy the stripey-ness pair of pants, but his plan is foiled when he sees Eggplant enter the store. Will Potato get his pants? (Recommended read-aloud for kindergarten and up)
Grab The Very Impatient Caterpillar by Ross Burach. Waiting can be hard and that’s the case for one very impatient caterpillar who really wants to know what is coming next. After finding things to occupy his time and learning to have patience, he is greatly rewarded. The kids will love the personality of this impatient caterpillar. (Recommended read-aloud for preschool and up)
Try The Leaf Thief by Alice Hemming. Squirrel is confused. There were so many leaves on the trees and now some are missing. Well, of course, they must have been stolen. Could a leaf thief be on the lamb? (Recommended read-aloud for preschool and up)
Bathe the Cat by Alice B. McGinty is laugh-out-loud fun. The family cat turns household chores into a mixed-up laugh-out-loud potential disaster. Can the family get the house ready before Grandma Marge arrives? And, will the cat actually get a bath?
There’s so much to love about this book. First, the text and illustrations play off each other seamlessly. Second, I love the diversity in the family structure. Third, family love exudes off the pages. Fourth, the extension activities to do with this book are endless. Finally, this is a book that begs to be read over and over again. (Recommended read-aloud for kindergarten and up)
The Rhyming Dust Bunnies by Jan Thomas is pure silly rhyming fun. I’ve said it before but, this book turned my children into rhyming geniuses. Plus, you have to make a set of rhyming dust bunny puppets to go along with the story. (Recommended read-aloud for preschool)
More Read-Aloud Hits
And, this is just a start. Here are even more book lists to read aloud to groups.
Story Time Books to Get Kids Moving and Grooving
Happy Reading!