Must Read Monday: Rhyming Books

Monday!! While it is my least favorite day of the week, it does mean I get to link up for my most favorite linky party Must Read Monday!! I'm so grateful to The Kindergarten Connection and Kindergarten Planet for hosting such an incredibly fun link up each week!!

Each week we are given a different topic to find books for. We get to showcase some of our favorite children's literature, and boy am I passionate about children'd literature!! I love books and I love talking about them!!

This week is all about Rhyming Books!! Talk about a huge selection to choose from!! One of the things I like the most about rhyming books, besides the fact that they teach such an important phonics skill, is that most rhyming books have a moral or a lesson in them and they are pretty easy to sequence too. There are so many more books to choose from than just Dr. Seuss, although his books are an amazing tool to teach about rhyming as well as nonsense words.

Here are some of my most favorite rhyming books!!

Dinosaur Roar by Henrietta Stickland is such an incredibly cute story! Not only does it follow a predictable rhyme, but it helps teach some other important concepts too! With this book you can talk about antonyms and what they are, like weak/strong and above/below. Also, once the dinosaurs sit down to lunch, you could use that to lead a discussion on cafeteria behavior. 

Not only does this book rhyme but helps you teach some great lessons too!! And what kindergartener doesn't LOVE all things dinosaur??

Pugs in a Bug by Carolyn Crimi is a little gem of a book that ended up in my library the year my special education teaching partner was obsessed with all things pug. I bought one for each of us, and have enjoyed reading this with my kinders each year!

Not only is this a super cute rhyming book, but it is also a great counting story as well. A groovy pug picks up his six friends in his new Bug and they travel all over, from city to park to beach. Along the way there are several repetitive predictable rhyming texts where students can chant in while reading, and you can also do all sorts of counting. From poodles in a convertible to greyhounds on a bus, there are pups for counting all throughout the story! My kinders love reading this is a funny voice!!

Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site by Sherri Duskey Rinker is a HUGE hit with the boys in my room! This book begins as the sun sets behind a huge construction site. One by one each of the heavy machinery trucks finishes up their work and begins to get ready for a hard earned rest. Crane Truck, Cement Mixer, Dump Truck, Bulldozer, and Excavator all spend time saying goodnight to their friends and prepare for another hard day of work. I love the illustrations in this book, and the kinders love finding the neat details that show what is going on and the rhyming text keeps them engaged! A great choice for your classroom library!!

Giraffes Can't Dance by Giles Andreas is such a sweet story. Gerald the giraffe wants nothing more in life than to dance. However, his thin legs and knobby knees make it hard to show off all his cool moves. Some of the animals in the jungle are not very nice to Gerald, and many say unkind words and are not encouraging. Gerald gets down on himself and begins to believe that he was never meant to dance. However, he gets some encouraging words from an unlikely friend and Gerald lets his dance moves take over! He dances throughout the jungle, surprising those who told him he couldn't.

Not only does this book have rhyming text, but it helps to create a discussion on how to use our words to help others and not hurt them. It is also a great discussion on the importance of being yourself, no matter what!!

llama llama mad at mama by Anna Dewdney might be my favorite book of hers. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE all of her llama llama books and all of them follow a rhyming pattern. Plus, all of them teach a lesson or provoke a discussion. In this book, llama llama and his mama have to go to the grocery store. However, llama is NOT happy about the excursion! He keeps trying to drop clues to his mama about how unhappy he is, but she is too busy shopping. Finally he throws a full-blown temper tantrum and Mama definitely notices! She realizes that she needs to make grocery shopping fun for both of them, and when llama calms down he learns that shopping with Mama isn't the worst way to spend his day!

Another book that leads to great discussions, like how we should react when our feelings get all built up inside of us. We talk about whether or not it's okay to throw a tantrum and how that works out. Many of my kinders will talk about how their parent would react in that situation, and we talk about what llama should have done. If this book ins't in your collection, you should really think about adding it!!

I'm so glad you tuned in for my rhyming book choices! I have such a great time talking about them, and I hope you learn about at least one new book each time!! Don't forget to swing back over to the Must Read Monday link up and see who else is sharing their favorite rhyming books!

If you liked reading about my Rhyming Book choices, check out my other Must Read Monday choices!!

Must Read Monday Friendship Books

Must Read Monday Math Books

Must Read Monday Cooperation Books

Must Read Monday Compassion Books

You can also still link up for Spotlight Saturday! It's a Teacher's Show and Tell link up, where you can showcase your favorite activities, products, tips, tricks, resources, ideas, and whatever else is awesome in your classroom that you want to share with us! It is so much fun learning each week about so many different amazing resources out there!! This week I Spotlighted Tweets from Kindergarten, come check it out!!