Must Have Books for Every Classroom

I recently read the book Game Changer:  Book Access for All Kids by Donalyn Miller and Colby Sharp and then shared it with my faculty through a book study. Needless to say, it has us all thinking about ways to get books that students want to read and love in their hands.

One of the first things our teachers have done is to revamp their classroom libraries. They are constantly looking for new books to entice their students to read, read, read. Here are some books that EVERY classroom library must have to help our students embrace a love of reading.

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Graphic Novels

This is a no-brainer. Our students LOVE graphic novels. They are everywhere, and our kids can't get enough of them. 

Some teachers have thought they are too easy for children to read, but they actually are pretty tough A lot of thinking has to go into the reading to connect the words to the pictures and make some inferences.

Starting out with Dogman by Dav Pilkey and moving through to the Amulet series by Kazu Kibuishi will keep kids reading all day long!

Comic Books

A lot like a graphic novel, students have to connect words to pictures to figure out what is going on in the story. The biggest difference with these is they are much shorter. Kids can get through one of these pretty quickly and move on to the next one.

Plus, the popularity of the characters will keep them wanting more. My teenage son loves these because the movies he watches are based off of the comic books. Last year I gave him The Infinity War book, and when he was finished, all of his friends passed it around to read it. Yes! Teenage boys WANTED to read this book! Now he wants the rest of them.

Magazines

When we tell a student to get a book and read when they have nothing to read, they rarely want to start a new book that they know they can't finish. Magazines allow students to read short stories, articles, and snippets in a short amount of time. 

Highlights is one of my favorites! They always send teachers a way to get some free ones if students just return some slips of paper. 

Some other good ones are Sports Illustrated Kids, Ranger Rick, and Animal Tales.

Joke Books

Lately my daughter has really started to enjoy joke books. I remember that as a child, the first book that sold out at the book fair was the joke book. We read and told those jokes to each other all day long. Joke books build fluency, memory skill, and problem-solving skills. When children read those, they have to memorize them to be able to tell everyone around them their new-found jokes.

Plus, they are perfect short readings for those moments when students don't have time to read a longer book.

Series Books

Who doesn't love those characters who are familiar to us? Remember Ramona Quimby or Little House on the Prairie or Captain Underpants or Greg Heffley? These beloved characters kept us reading and reading and reading. The same is true for our young readers. Familiarity is key to helping students to continue to read and find what they love.

Informational Books

So many times we focus on students reading fiction books, but they love the informational books too. At the last conference I attended, I heard Jess Keating, the author of Pink is for Blobfish, speak about how informational texts help our students gain new ways to learn about our world. They are conversation starters for students. Think about how they can help even the most awkward students get attention and make friends with others.

And again, informational texts allow students to read in short snippets if needed. Teach them how to use an index, so they can find exactly what they want to read at any given time.

Fact Books

These were also some of my favorites as a kid. I loved to find out all about the largest sub sandwich or the longest fingernails. Someone always bought the Guiness World Record book, and we would spend our recess and lunch looking at the pictures and reading those records.

Now there are so many different versions of the record book, along with almanacs and other fact books. These little tidbits of information allow students the chance to read about what they want and then move on.

And the conversation starters! They will have so much to discuss about the facts they learn, whether it is from the present year, past year, or the year they were born.

How to Books

Do you have students who like to cook or make things? These books allow students to learn how to do something they didn't know how to do. They can figure out how to make crafts, yummy recipes, and even something from Legos.

These books make it easy to pick up something quick to read and in no particular order. And it shows what they are interested in.

Poetry Books

Another book with short selections for quick reading. These are great for students to share and read together, but they also help students build understanding of a different genre that is often overlooked. Students love sharing poetry, and it is always better read aloud. 

There are so many different types of poetry books kids can read and enjoy out there. I remember Shel Silverstein poems and how much fun they were. We read them to each other and then fought over who was going to read that huge book next. A few words on a page made it easy to read, and we could skip to the ones we wanted to read.

Short Story Collections

When time is short, a short story can be perfect for students to enjoy. And they can pick and choose the exact stories they want to read. This allows for more wide reading and helping students understand some of those all important skills needed for strong reading comprehension.

As teachers, we use short stories (fairy tales, tall tales, classic tales) to help our students understand comprehension skills they need to be successful readers. Since they typically have only one problem, short stories are easy to comprehend and understand for students of all ages. 

So, keep those chapter and picture books in your library, but add these selections to your classroom library, so all students can find something they love to read!