Rhyming Books for Toddlers-Kindergartners
Christelow, Eileen. Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed. Clarion, 1989. This counting rhyme shows five little monkeys getting ready for bed and getting sidetracked by some serious bed-jumping.
Cole, Joanna, and Calmenson, Stephanie. Eentsy, Weensty Spider: Fingerplays and Action Rhymes. Morrow, 1991. This book, illustrated using children of diverse cultural backgrounds, includes fingerplays and action rhymes that have been chanted, sung, and loved by generations.
Dyer, Jane. Animal Crackers: A Delectable Collection of Pictures, Poems and Lullabies for the Very Young. Little, Brown, 1996. This picture book contains a collection of Mother Goose classics, modern poems, lullabies, and simple stories, many of which celebrate special times in a child’s first years.
Martin, Bill, Jr., and Archambault, John. Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. Simon & Schuster, 1989. The rhythmical story of letters of the alphabet climbing and falling from a coconut tree.
“Predictable” Books for Toddlers-First-Graders
Aardema, Verna. Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain. Dutton, 1993. Told in verse, this is the story of how Ki-pat, a herder, makes it rain on the dry Kapiti Plain.
Hutchins, Pat. Rosie’s Walk. Macmillan, 1968. Rosie the hen goes for a walk and manages to avoid many attempts on her life by a predatory fox. Also available in Spanish.
Lowell, Susan. The Three Little Javelinas. Northland Pub., 1993. This southwestern tale, based on “The Three Little Pigs” and illustrated with Native American and Latino characters, is about three little javelinas as they try to outsmart the coyote who had hoped to eat them with red chili sauce.
Martin, Bill, Jr. Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See? Holt, 1996. What children see is a surprising cast of animals!
McNaughton, Colin. Suddenly! Harcourt Brace, 1995. Time after time, Preston the Pig outwits a hungry wolf that is trying to catch and eat him.
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