Book Lists
Ways to Measure Booklist
June 22, 2011 in Baby/Toddler 0-4, Beginning Readers 5-8, Book Lists
These books contain interesting and creative ways to measure or explain everyday objects or experiences. 
The Quiet Book by Deborah Underwood, Houghton Mifflin Books for Children 2010, Ages 4-8.
Highlights the many different types of quiet that everyone experiences from “the first one awake quiet” to “right before you yell ‘surprise!’ quiet.” This is an insightful and calming book that would be great right before bedtime.
Am I Big or Little? by Margaret Park Bridges, SeaStar Books 2000, Ages 4-8.
A loving mother explains to her daughter how she is both big and little at the same time. She is “little enough to bury ride piggyback to the stairs,” but “big enough to hope all the way down.” Each comparison is accompanied with bright water colored illustrations.
A Sock Is a Pocket for Your Toes: A Pocket Book by Elizabeth Garton Scanlon, Harpercollins Publishers 2004, Ages 4-8.
This book lists unconventional pockets that offer a creative look at everyday objects. For example, “A chimney is a pocket blowing smoke, and a pocket for a giggle is a joke.”
A Second is a Hiccup: A Child’s Book of Time by Hazel Hutchins, Arthur A. Levine Books 2004, Ages 4-8.
This book relates time measurement to actions children can relate to. A minute, for example is “sixty hiccups, sixty hops. Or if you sing just one small song, chorus, verses, not too long.” Describes how long seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, and years are.
See Also:
Feelings by Aliki
How to Hug by Maryann Macdonald
Up! by Kristine O’Connell George
How Much Is a Million? by David M. Schwartz
Millions to Measure by David M. Schwartz
If You Made a Million by David M. Schwartz
-Lauren Bangerter, BYU Student, Department of English.
Older posts
Pop-Ups! Booklist
June 8, 2011 in Beginning Readers 5-8, Book Lists, Tween 9-12
The story jumps right off the page in these interesting pop-ups: Cinderella: A Pop-Up Fairy Tale by Matthew Reinhart, Little Simon 2005, Ages 4-8 The Classic tale of Cinderella and her missing glass slipper and the prince who fell in love with her is retold as never before as the characters literally jump out of …
Counting Booklist
June 1, 2011 in Beginning Readers 5-8, Book Lists, Math Smart
Help your kids learn to count with of our favorite counting books. Anno’s Counting Book by Mitsumasa Anno. HarperCollins 1986. Ages 4-8. 32p From 0-12, January to December, and so on, this wordless picture book begins with an empty field of snow then to a small town that has 12 of everything. An Invitation to …
Cumulative Poem Books
May 25, 2011 in Baby/Toddler 0-4, Beginning Readers 5-8, Book Lists
“This is the dog, that worried the cat, that killed the rat, that ate the malt that lay in the house that Jack built,” so begins one of the most famous cumulative poems in children’s literature. Cumulative poems build upon themselves and are a creative springboard for telling stories. Many authors apply this format to …
History Smart: Civil War Historical Fiction Books
May 11, 2011 in Beginning Readers 5-8, Book Lists, Teen 13+, Tween 9-12
Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis, Scholastic, 2009, Ages 9-12. Buxton is a settlement in Canada populated by free slaves who escaped on the Underground Railroad. Elijah is the first free black born in Buxton and is trying to disprove that he is ‘fragile.’ Shades of Gray by Carolyn Reeder, Aladdin, 1999, Ages 9-12. …
Read Smart: Mother’s Day Book List
May 4, 2011 in Beginning Readers 5-8, Book Lists, Teen 13+, Tween 9-12
Sometimes the best way to say I love you is with a magnificent book. Here are a couple we have discovered to be that perfect blend of tender, sweet, and fun. My Monster Mama Loves Me So by Laura Leuck, HarperCollins, 2002, Ages 0-5. Putting monsters to bed is a task that will leave you …
Fact or Fiction?
April 27, 2011 in Beginning Readers 5-8, Book Lists, Teen 13+, Tween 9-12
Throughout time people have had superstitions, outrageous stories, and unbelievable gall. This collection of books reminds of you just how crazy, creative, and/or ridiculous folks can get. I Feel Better with a Frog in My Throat: History’s Strangest Cures by Carlyn Beccia, Houghton Mifflin, 2010, Ages 4-8, 9-12. Beccia describes various strange remedies and cures …
Art Smart: Great Artists in Picture Books
April 20, 2011 in Beginning Readers 5-8, Book Lists, Tween 9-12
I Am Marc Chagall by Bimba Landmann, Eerdmans, 2006, Ages 4-8. Rising from his Russian roots, Marc Chagall lives through two World Wars to become a revolutionary new artist. The Princess and the Painter by Jane Johnson, Farrar Straus & Giroux, 1994, Ages 4-8. A glimpse into the daily life of the Infanta Margarita’s life …
Classic Survival Fiction for Youth
April 13, 2011 in Book Lists, Teen 13+, Tween 9-12
Man verses Nature is the classic conflict in these timeless titles: The Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell, Sandpiper, 2010, Ages 9-12. Left behind on an island by what is left of her tribe, Karana discovers the importance of nature, inner-strength, and human companionship. Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George, HarperTeen, …
World Smart: Disaster Preparation Books
March 30, 2011 in Beginning Readers 5-8, Book Lists, Teen 13+, Tween 9-12
Here are some great books to help children ages 5 and up understand and prepare for all kinds of natural disasters: I’ll Know What To Do: A Kid’s Guide to Natural Disasters by Bonnie S. Mark, Ph.D. and Aviva Layton, Illustrated by Michael Chesworth, Magination Press, 1997, Ages 5+. Discusses how families can prepare for …
Contact Us
You can email us at familyliteracyblog@byu.edu.
About Us
Our mission is to promote the myriad benefits of family literacy. We seek to provide reliable information, including booklists, reviews, literacy tips, and research, that will help make literacy part of everyday family life.
The Families and Literacy site is produced by Brigham Young University's Harold B. Lee Library and the David O. McKay School of Education. Statements and opinions expressed in the site are the responsibilities of authors, presenters, and reviewers and do not necessarily reflect views, constitute endorsement, or set policy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or Brigham Young University.