Book reviews by Sarena Marino

Clément, C., Jensen, P., & Robin, P. (2010). Little donkey learns to help. Reader’s Digest.

smarino9_1 — 2025-09-11 16:47:49 UTC

Little Donkey learns to help is about A donkey who goes around and tells all his friends no to helping them. He eventually needs help himself, and when all his friends aren’t willing to give him a hand, he understands why he learns that it’s best to help others, and others will help you.

This story could be used in your classroom. When you notice some students aren’t willing to help. You could read the story and then explain to them how always helping others is the best option because then others will help you.

Phonological awareness and print awareness are both used in this book. This book is ideal for pre-K through first grade.

Steinberg, D., & Joven, J. (2023). Preschool, here I come! Scholastic.

smarino9_1 — 2025-09-11 16:52:42 UTC

Preschool here I come is a story about a little kids first day of preschool. It shows how they were scared and nervous to start, but how they ended up, loving it in the end and couldn’t wait to go back.

This story could be used on the first day of preschool. It could help you explain your roles and expectations and how school works since it’s most of the children’s first time being away from home and being in a school setting.

Phonological awareness, awareness, narrative, skill, and vocabulary are all used in this book. Ideally, it would be used for just preschool.

Richards, D., & McCloskey, S. (2023). Nubby. Alfred A. Knopf.

smarino9_1 — 2025-09-11 16:55:22 UTC

Nubby is the story of someone’s stuffed friend. Nubby gets annoyed with his best friend and how he’s always clingy. Nubby eventually gets lost, and wants his friend back. He finds his way home and realizes that he took him for granted.

This story could be used to explain how we should always cherish everything we have in life because it could always be taken away. Or for a fun way of introducing stuffed animal Hospital. Which is where I hand sew up anyone’s hurt stuffed animals.

Phonological awareness, print awareness and narrative skill are all used in this book. Ideally used for pre-K through third grade.

Kvasnosky, L. M., McGee, K. H., & Ibarzábal, E. (2022). Ocean lullaby = El Arrullo del oceáno. Philomel Books.

smarino9_1 — 2025-09-11 16:59:01 UTC

Ocean lullaby follows the story of how the ocean makes a song and sings a lullaby. It goes through a bunch of different ocean characters and how they fall asleep.

This story could be used to teach about ocean animals and or read before nap time for a calm, relaxing story.

Technological awareness, awareness and vocabulary are all used in this book. Ideally, it’s for preschool and kindergarten.

Blabey, A. (2023). Pig the winner. Scholastic Australia.

smarino9_1 — 2025-09-11 17:06:03 UTC

Pig the winner is a funny story about a pug who always has to win. He goes through a series of challenges against his friends and has to win every time or he throws a fit. Eventually, he learns that he doesn’t always have to be the winner and learns to be a good sport.

this story could be used in the classroom to demonstrate how sometimes you don’t always have to win. A great learning opportunity for any kiddos in your classroom who have issues with being fair in games.

Phonological awareness and print awareness are both used in this book ideal for pre-K through first grade.

McMullan, K., & Friend, A. (2022). This is the tree we planted. Alfred A. Knopf.

smarino9_1 — 2025-09-11 17:09:14 UTC

This is a tree we planted is about a group of friends who planted a tree and all of the creatures that soon lived in the tree after. It was a repetition book and follows each creature and continues adding more.

The story could be used to teach about nature and whether also about repetition in stories.

Phonological awareness, awareness and vocabulary are all used in this book. Ideally, it’s for pre-K through first grade.

Micklos, J., & Chua, C. (2021). Raindrops to rainbow. Penguin Workshop.

smarino9_1 — 2025-09-11 17:12:08 UTC

Rainbow to rainbows is a cute story of a little girl and her mom on a rainy stormy day. She goes through the emotions of how she’s afraid of the storm and how she wishes it was just sunny outside. Once her mom explains to her that rain is just a part of life. Her mom explains to her how without rain there wouldn’t be any rainbows.

This story could be used to explain whether and if you have children in your who classroom are fearful of storms, you could read it during a storm and explain to them that even though it might be scary, there’s always a rainbow to look forward to.

Psychological awareness, print awareness, ad vocabulary are all used in this book ideally for grade preschool through third grade.

Parton, D., & Sheffield, H. (2009). I am a Rainbow. Penguin Young Readers.

smarino9_1 — 2025-09-11 17:18:12 UTC

I am a rainbow is A story all about feelings and how you can correlate different feelings to a certain color. At the end of the book, it talks about how everyone’s a rainbow of emotions and that it’s perfectly normal to feel the way you feel.

The story could be used to teach on emotion and or color and is a great way for students to see real life examples of how their real life emotions are.

Phonological awareness, print awareness are all used in this book. It’s ideal for preschool and kindergarten.

Horiuchi, R., & Horiuchi, R. (2022). K is for kindness. Viking.

smarino9_1 — 2025-09-11 17:20:02 UTC

K is for kindness is an alphabet story that goes through each letter in the alphabet and shows two animals of that corresponding letter giving each other a helping hand. It goes through A-to-Z and has cute illustrations.

The story could be used in the classroom to teach children their alphabet Letter sounds and about helping each other.

Letter knowledge, phonological awareness, print awareness, and vocabulary are all used. This book is ideal for preschool.

Kirk, D. (2022). The big slide. Nancy Paulsen Books

smarino9_1 — 2025-09-11 17:31:00 UTC

The big slide is a cute story about how a little dog overcomes his fear of the big slide at the playground. Him and his mom talk about it and he practices while he’s at home. He finally builds up the courage to go on the big slide with all of his friends.

This story could be used in the classroom to talk about feelings of fear and how to overcome those feelings that we get when there’s something that scares us to do.

Psychological awareness and print awareness are both used in this book. It’s ideal for pre-K through first grade.

Karas , G. B. (2014). As an Oak Tree Grows. Penguin Group.

smarino9_1 — 2025-09-13 15:25:40 UTC

As an oak tree grows follows the long story of an oak tree it goes through the timeline of the oak trees life eventually, it shows how the oak tree gets chopped down for wood, but another one gets planted

This story could be used for students to understand nature and for students to understand timelines. It also gives many opportunities to ask questions for a great interactive read aloud.

Print awareness, phonological awareness and vocabulary are all used in this book. Ideally, this book is used for first grade through Fourth grade.

Juster, N., & Nielsen, S. (2016). The hello, goodbye window. Recorded Books, Inc.

smarino9_1 — 2025-09-13 15:26:52 UTC

The hello goodbye window is a cute story about a little kid and his grandparents. The window looks into their kitchen, where they always are, and he always gets extra, hellos and goodbyes before he goes into the house and actually greets them. It goes on about his day, staying with his grandparents and all the fun he had.

This story could be used to help children understand how to narrate an event in their life and make a special twist on it. It could also be used to teach kids about metaphors in stories and what the meaning behind them are.

This book uses narrative skill, And print awareness. Ideal for first through third grade.

Urbanovic, J., Harris, J., Franco, J., & Roth, C. P. (2010). Duck Soup. Scholastic.

smarino9_1 — 2025-09-13 15:29:22 UTC

Duck soup is a funny story about a duck who wants to make his perfect soup. He goes out to the garden to get his final vegetable to add to his soup, his friends come in and start freaking out because they think he fell into his soup so they completely drain it to make sure he never fell in. He gets upset, but then he realized that he he’s lucky that he didn’t end up being duck soup.

This story could be used in two ways one to explain how sometimes always jumping to conclusions isn’t the best and two even if something bad went wrong and you didn’t get your way. Take a breath and understand that mistakes happen.

Phonological awareness, print awareness, and narrative skill are all used in this book. Ideally, it would be used for preschool through second grade.

Dillon, L., Dillon, D., Turner, C., & Kelley, A. (2005). Rap a tap tap: Here’s Bojangles, think of that. Live Oak Media.

smarino9_1 — 2025-09-13 15:30:35 UTC

Rap a tap tap here’s what Bojangles think of that is a story following one of the most famous tap dancers. It has vibrant colors and good rhythmic sentences. The book emphasizes how his dancing brings joy to all around him.

This story could be used to teach children about rhyming sentences and to help them understand how nice it feels to bring joy to others. Also has the opportunity to be interactive by having your students dance along with Bojangles.

Phonological awareness and print awareness are both used in this book ideal for pre-K3 second grade.

Dorros, A. (2016). Abuela. CELA : CNIB.

smarino9_1 — 2025-09-13 15:31:36 UTC

Abuela follows the story of a little girl and her Abuela, who fly around the city and discover all different things during the story. The little girl was able to ask her Abuela a bunch of questions and her Abuela answers as she explains to her what they’re looking at it. It’s a cute story And shows how grandparents impact young children’s lives.

The story can be used to teach about different cultures considering it is about a little girl in her Abuela. It can also be used to teach about creative writing and how adding a twist on your story can make it more interesting.

Print awareness, phonological awareness and vocabulary are all used in this book. Ideally, it’s for pre-K through third grade.

Williams, L., & Lloyd, M. (1986). The little old lady who was not afraid of anything. Crowell.

smarino9_1 — 2025-09-13 15:33:16 UTC

The little old lady who is not afraid of anything is a Halloween story about a little old lady who was walking through the woods. Eventually, she gets followed by all kinds of things in a repetition style. It goes through each of those objects over and over again eventually, at the end, she does get scared, but the items turned into a scarecrow and she is OK.

The story could be used as an interactive read aloud for Halloween. It could be used with learning how to rhyme and learning how to reason with your emotions.

Narrative skill, phonological awareness, and print awareness are all used in this book. Ideally, it could be used for kindergarten through second grade.

Rogan, J. (2010). The biggest snowball ever. Walker Books.

smarino9_1 — 2025-09-13 15:34:09 UTC

The biggest snowball ever is a cute holiday story about Christmas Eve. There was a big snowstorm outside, so all the children went to play in the snow. They eventually broke out in a snowball fight, and one child made a big snowball and got caught inside of it. the snowball rolled and rolled and rolled down the hill and eventually all the kids got stuck. Then the parents had to get them out and they all woke up on Christmas morning to all their toys.

This story could be used to have an interactive story time before Christmas break. It has a great opportunities for children to create their own silly stories about Christmas and snow.

Phonological awareness, print awareness and narrative scale are all used in this book ideally for preschool through second grade.

Harris, R. H., & Emberley, M. (2017). Maybe a bear ate it! Cartwheel, an imprint of Scholastic Inc.

smarino9_1 — 2025-09-13 15:37:24 UTC

Maybe a bear ate it follows a story of someone who lost their favorite nighttime book. They go through all different scenarios to try to figure out where their book went. Eventually, they realize it was under their pillow the whole time.

This story can be used to help children understand that when they lose something it’s not always where they think it could be, but they need to take time and reflect and trace their steps to find the object they’re missing rather than blame everyone else.

Phonological awareness, print awareness and vocabulary are used in this book. Ideally, it’s for preschool and kindergarten.

West, A., & Bulbul, O. (2023). Today, I feel sad: A book about managing emotions. Puppy Dogs & Ice Cream.

smarino9_1 — 2025-09-13 15:39:22 UTC

Today I feel sad is quite literally a book about managing emotions. A little girl is upset and it walks her through the steps of how to feel better but also explains that it’s absolutely 100% OK to feel sad.

This story could be used when teaching about emotions and feelings, and gives a great step-by-step instruction on how to overcome the feeling that you get.

Narrative skill, print awareness and vocabulary are all used in this book. Ideally, it would be used for a preschool and kindergarten.

West, A., & Bulbul, O. (2023a). Today, I feel angry: A book about managing emotions. Puppy Dogs & Ice Cream.

smarino9_1 — 2025-09-13 15:40:48 UTC

Today I feel angry is much like today. I feel sad. It is also a book about managing emotions. A little boy gets super angry and the book goes step-by-step on how to get over this emotion but also explains that it’s OK to be angry.

This story could be used when teaching about emotions and feelings, and gives a great step-by-step instruction on how to overcome the feeling that you get.

Narrative skill, print awareness and vocabulary are all used in this book. Ideally, it would be used for a preschool and kindergarten.

Cleary, B. P., & Prosmitsky, J. (2000). Hairy, scary, ordinary what is an adjective? by Brian P. Cleary ; illusrated by Jenya Prosmitsky. Carolrhoda Books.

smarino9_1 — 2025-09-13 15:42:50 UTC

Harry scary ordinary is a book about adjectives and how they give meaning To objects by describing what they are, it goes through and explains how adjectives work and gives multiple examples of what an adjective is. It follows along a bunch of silly little monsters and all the adjectives they can think of.

The story could be used in your classroom to help. The students understand what an adjective is and what you’re looking for when they’re trying to write in adjective it gives them the opportunity to ask questions about what certain words mean and how you can bring objects to life by being descriptive.

Phonological awareness, print awareness and vocabulary are all used in this book. Ideally, this book would be used for first through fourth grade.

Allen, P. (2017). Mr McGee and the Perfect Nest. Penguin Random House Australia.

smarino9_1 — 2025-09-13 15:43:52 UTC

Mr. McGee in the perfect nest is a silly story about a bird trying to discover its perfect nest. The story goes through and explains how the nests are too big or small or how they’re too long or too short eventually, the bird finds its perfect nest which happens to be Mr. McGee‘s umbrella. The bird picks up Mr. McGee and his umbrella and sits right on top of him.

This story could be used to teach opposites and descriptive words. It gives the students a good laugh while following along and also has many opportunities to ask questions for an interactive story.

Phonological awareness and print awareness are both used in this book. Ideally, this book is for pre-K through second grade.

Filipek, N., & Smith, J. (2010). Early words. Spicebox.

smarino9_1 — 2025-09-13 15:44:41 UTC

Early words is a story about a little girl and her family. The book has multiple pictures and the words for that specific picture it asks questions like what could Dad use to fry the eggs for breakfast and encourage your students to point out the right word.

The story could be used for students to better understand the world around them. I would use this book in small group so that way we could have better conversations on what specific items can be used for what.

Print awareness and vocabulary are both used in this book. Ideally, it’s for preschool and kindergarten.

Filipek , N., & Smith, J. (2006). Counting. The Book-studio.

smarino9_1 — 2025-09-13 15:48:53 UTC

Counting is a story about a little boy who goes to outer space during the book. It asks a series of questions for each illustration for example how many green aliens do you see?

The story could be used specifically in small group. I would use it for my kids who might have trouble with math early on and use it as an interactive story gives opportunities for students to ask one on one questions and have a group discussion on what the book is asking.

Print awareness and vocabulary are both used in this book. Ideally used for preschool.

Filipek, N., & Smith, J. (2010b). Shapes and colors. Spicebox.

smarino9_1 — 2025-09-13 15:49:44 UTC

Shapes and colors is about a little boy’s birthday party. The book goes through a series of questions asking what shape and color items are, for example, example what color is the cake and what shape is the birthday hat?

The story can be used for the better understanding of shapes and colors. I would use it in small groups so we could have group discussions.

Vocabulary and print awareness are both used in this book. Ideally, it’s for preschool and kindergarten.

Filipek, N., & Smith, J. (2010b). Opposite. Spicebox.

smarino9_1 — 2025-09-13 15:51:01 UTC

Opposites is about a boy and a girl who love to do the opposite of everything. The book asks a series of questions. For example, the boy likes low. What does the girl like?

This story could be used to teach about opposites and give students an opportunity to express what they believe. The opposite of a specific word is. I would use this book personally in small groups so that way you get a better group discussion

Print awareness and vocabulary are both used in this book. Ideally, it’s for preschool in and kindergarten.

Filipek, N., & Smith, J. (2008). Time. The Book-source .

smarino9_1 — 2025-09-13 15:53:35 UTC

Time is about a little girl going throughout her day on each page there is a clock. The book asks for the reader to tell what time it is on each page. It also gives an idea of what a schedule would look like.

This story could be used for students to understand the concept of time in clocks. It gives the reader the opportunity to see what a daily schedule looks like and how to read what time it is on a non-digital clock.

Print awareness and vocabulary are both used in this book. Ideally, it would be used for first and second grade.

Rawlinson, J., & Beeke, T. (2022). Fletcher and the falling leaves. Graffeg.

smarino9_1 — 2025-09-14 22:46:21 UTC

Fletcher in the fallen leaves is a story about a fox and his favorite tree. The story starts out in summer and the weather changing to fall. Fletcher worries about his favorite tree and tries to catch all his leaves. Eventually he learned so this is just the way the weather works, and that change can be a good thing.

This story could be used to explain the transition of summer to fall for young minds. It could also be used for a science experiment on leaves and nature happening outside.

Phonological awareness, print awareness and vocabulary are all used in this book. Ideally used for preschool through first grade.

Perry, L. M., & Jackson, B. (2016). Skin like mine. Kids Like Mine.

smarino9_1 — 2025-09-14 22:48:23 UTC

Skin like mine is a sweet story about a little girl who has dark skin. She goes and explains to people how her skin reminds her of different things in life that she finds beautiful and calming.

This story is a great way to explain diversity and skin colors in a beautiful way rather than just stating that skin colors are different. The Class could have open discussions and decide what their skin color reminds them of.

Phonological awareness, print awareness, and narrative skill are all used in this book. Ideally could be used for preschool through third grade.

Bell, K., Hart, B., & Wiseman, D. (2020). The World Needs More Purple People. Random House.

smarino9_1 — 2025-09-14 23:01:30 UTC

The world needs more purple people is a story about a little girl who believes she is purple, not meaning her skin color, but more her thought process and how she views the world she talks about how being a purple person means you are strong, creative, curious, and smart.

This story could be used To encourage students to be more strong, creative, curious and smart. You and your students could talk about what it means to be those things and what it means to be a purple person. Then you could have an activity where they draw themselves as a purple person.

Phonological awareness, print awareness and vocabulary are used in this book. Ideally used for preschool through second grade.

Higgins, R. T. (2021). We don’t eat our classmates! Scholastic, Inc.

smarino9_1 — 2025-09-14 23:04:21 UTC

We don’t eat our classmates is a silly story about a T-Rex going to school with a bunch of humans. The problem is the T. Rex thinks humans are delicious. However, she is taught that you’re not allowed to eat your classmates.

This story could be used, especially if you have biters in your class. It helps explain why you want to bite someone and why you shouldn’t bite someone in ways to distract yourself if you feel like biting anyone.

Phonological awareness and print awareness are used in this book. Ideally used for preschool through first grade.

Reagan, J., & Glick, M. (2018). How to catch santa. Scholastic Inc.

smarino9_1 — 2025-09-14 23:13:05 UTC

How to catch Santa is a directional book on how to catch the famous Santa Claus. The kids go through a bunch of different ways explaining how they could catch Santa so they could meet him on Christmas Day.

This story could be used for a fun narrative writing on ways you believe you could catch Santa Claus. The class could have open discussions and even share ideas and use them in the classroom as a stem activity.

Phonological awareness, print awareness and narrative skill are all used in this book. Ideally could be used for preschool through second grade.

Silvano, W., Phillips, C., Franco, J., & Roth, C. P. (2010). Turkey trouble. Scholastic.

smarino9_1 — 2025-09-14 23:15:08 UTC

Turkey trouble is a silly Thanksgiving story about a turkey who lives on a farm and tries to disguise himself from being the main course on Thanksgiving. He goes through and disguises himself in many ways.

This story could be used as a fun read aloud during the holiday and to introduce the disguise a turkey project most students do in elementary school.

Phonological awareness, awareness and narrative skills are all used in this book. Ideally, it could be used for pre-K through second grade.

Gardner, L. (2023). If I were the Easter Bunny. HarperCollins Children’s Books, 2023.

smarino9_1 — 2025-09-14 23:18:39 UTC

If I were the Easter bunny is a cute Easter story about what you would do. If you were the Easter bunny he does many things, but finishes off with saving the very last Easter egg for himself.

This story could be used to celebrate Easter in your classroom and to have a class discussion about what you would do if you were the Easter bunny.

Phonological awareness, print awareness and narrative skill are used in this book Ideal for preschool and kindergarten.

Bond, F. (2020). The day it rained hearts. Laura Geringer Books.

smarino9_1 — 2025-09-14 23:22:08 UTC

The day it rained hearts is a valentine story about a little girl who finds a bunch of hearts. She collects the hearts and makes valentines for her friends. She is creative and personalize, each valentine.

This story could be used around Valentine’s Day. It could be the story you read before you introduce an activity of making Valentine’s for everyone in the classroom.

Phonological awareness, print awareness and narrative skill are used in this book ideal for preschool through second grade.

Earhardt, A., & Barnes, K. (2022). I’m so glad you were born: Celebrating who you are. Zonderkidz.

smarino9_1 — 2025-09-14 23:27:02 UTC

I am so glad you were born as a birthday book. It goes through a series of reasons why someone is glad you were born. It even has a trophy for why you are so great. It celebrates who you are as a person and makes your birthday special.

This book could be used in read during someone’s birthday to show how special that person is. And how much you truly care about them along with other birthday classroom traditions.

Phonological awareness, print awareness and narrative skill are used in this book idea ideal for preschool through third grade.

Fliess, S., & Randall, E. (2017a). How to trap a Leprechaun. Scholastic Inc.

smarino9_1 — 2025-09-14 23:30:12 UTC

How to trap a leprechaun is a funny story about a bunch of classmates, trying to catch their leprechaun to get gold and infinite wishes. Unfortunately, none of their traps work in a leprechaun gets away for you while making funny messes.

This story could be used to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day and to introduce the tradition of the leprechaun, coming to your classroom and messing it up. Students could use stem work and try to make leprechaun traps in a team and see who’s works the best.

Phonological awareness, print awareness and narrative skill are all used in this book ideal for preschool through third grade.

Ferry, B. (2023). Stick and stone. Clarion Books.

smarino9_1 — 2025-09-14 23:34:15 UTC

Stick and stone is a story about friendship. Stone is alone and eventually finds his friends stick then they go on adventures together get lost and eventually find their way back together.

This story could be used to explain how friendships work in early years. And show how friends are supposed to be there for you no matter what.

Phonological awareness, print awareness and narrative skill are all used in this book ideal for kindergarten and preschool.

O’Neill, A., Huliska-Beith, L., Island, D. C., Welsh, D., & Abravanel, W. (2006). The recess queen. Spoken Arts.

smarino9_1 — 2025-09-15 00:10:06 UTC

The recess queen is a story about a little girl who always got her way. She had to do everything first on the playground before anyone else until a new kid came along. The new kid didn’t put up with her. She did what she wanted because she knew that the playground belonged to all not just one.

This story could be used to explain how it’s not to be mean. It could also be used to explain any recess rules you have during the first week of school.

Phonological awareness, print awareness and narrative skill are used in this book ideal for preschool through first grade.

Mackintosh D., . (2011). Marshall Armstrong is new to our school. New York: Abrams Books for Young Readers

smarino9_1 — 2025-09-15 00:17:54 UTC

Marshall Armstrong is new to our school as a story about a little boy who is the new kid at a school. The story talks about the differences between him and the other kids. It also talks about the fierce he had being the new student.

This story could be used when a new student is arriving or has already arrived or just as a sweet story to read.

Phonological awareness, print awareness and vocabulary are used in this book ideal for preschool through second grade.

Penfold, A., & Kaufman, S. (2022). All are welcome. Alfred A. Knopf.

smarino9_1 — 2025-09-15 00:19:52 UTC

All are welcome is a story about the differences between people, but always being welcome. It talks about how you’re welcome even if you play different, live far away, and listen to different music. All around it’s a cute book about diversity.

The story could be used on the first week of school. It is a cute way to let children know that it doesn’t matter the differences all are safe and valued in my classroom.

Phonological awareness And print awareness are used in this book ideal for preschool through third grade.