Infants

I have infants in my center and we have books out that they will chew on and drool on. More often than not they are in our laps and highly engrossed a good story with us. They books that show objects and listen as we point and name them. We read thes over and over.

• Who Says I Love You? 
• Babies and Doggies Book by John and Molly
• First 100 Christmas 
• First 100 Trucks
• First 100 Animals
• Numbers, Colors, Shapes
• Global Baby Girls
• Global Babies
• Colores Colors

• La Caterina by Patty Rodriguez and Ariana Stein
• Spooky 
• Belly Button Book by Sandra Boynton
• Doggies by Sandra Boynton
• Barnyard Dance! by Sandra Boynton
• Happy Hippo, Angry Duck by Sandra Boynton

 

General Everyday Books

I have so many books, I bring out some that do not have to do with a center just so we can read. The children love any book I read to them.The time taken to share a story is a valuable bonding moment with a teacher and student. Here are some favorites.

• One Cool Friend by Toni Buzzeo
• Please, Mr. Panda by Steve Antony
• Do Like Kyla by Angela Johnson
• The Good Egg by Jory John
• The Bad Seed by Jory John

• Listening With My Heart by Gabi Barcia
• The World Needs More Purple People by Kristen Bell and Benjamin Hart
• Yes Day! by Amy Krouse Rosenthal
• Olympig! by Victoria Jamieson
• Dream Big Little Pig! by Kristi Yamaguchi

• Hair Love byMatthew A. Cherry
• Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
• Maple by Lori Nichols
• Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes
• You Are Enough by Margaret O'Hair

 

Winter

Snowballs and sleigh rides. Children love snow and the cold it brings. Teaching about how snow is formed and investigating snowflakes to see that no two are ever alike is fascinating. The excitement of building a snowman for the first time and drinking hot chocolate after a day playing in the snow. Winter is peaceful and beautiful.

• When Winter Comes by Nancy Van Laan
• Winter Wonderland by Jill Esbaum
• The Hat by Jan Brett
• Snowflakes by Martha E. H. Rustad
• White Snow Bright Snow by Alvin Tresselt

• The Biggest, Best Snowman by Margery Cuyler
• Snowmen All Year by Caralyn Buehner
• Sneezy the Snowman by Maureen Wright
• All You Need for a Snowman by Alice Schertle
• Splat the Cat and the Snowy Day Surprise by Rob Scotton

 

Weather

Rain, wind, snow, and sunshine. So many different ways the weather can be each day. The children love to choose the job of weather reporter each day and tell us how the weather is for the day. Making the weather into a whole weekly theme teaches children about all the weather that can occur each season and each day.

• What Will the Weather Be Like Today? by Paul Rogers
• Forecasting Weather by Terri Sievert
• What's the Weather? 
• I Spy Lightning in the Sky by Jean Marzollo
• Split! Splat! by Amy Gibson

• Storm is Coming! by Heather Tekavec
• Rain, Rain Go Away! by Vivianna Garfoli
• Whoosh Went the Wind by Sally Derby
• Cloudette by Tom Lichtenheld
• Rain Song by Lezlie Evans

 

Valentines Day

Each year my preschoolers make a Valentines box at home and bring it with Valentines to exchange. Learning about love and caring for those around us is a good way to help children learn respect and caring for others.

• Love Monster by Rachel Bright
• Crankenstein Valentine by Samantha Berger
• How Do Dinosaurs Say I Love You? by Jan Yolen
• Love, Splat by Rob Scotton
• Who Will Be My Valentine This Year? by Jerry Pallotta

 

Transportation

Riding bikes, driving cars, and flyng in planes. So many forms of transportation. You can ride a horse, float on a boat, submerge in a submarine, or glider in a hot air balloon. Teaching children about all the forms of transportation, and if they are on land, air, or the sea makes this theme adventurous. 

• The Pigeon Loves Things That Go! by Mo Willems
• Sail Away by Donald Crews
• The Little Engine That Could by Watty Piper
• Things That Go by National Geographic Kids
• The Space Shuttle by Jeffrey Zuehlke

• The Old Truck by Jarrett and Jerome Pumphrey
• Hot Rod Hamster Monster Truck Mania by Cynthia Lord
• Froggy Rides a Bike by Jonathan London
• Freight Train by Donald Crews
• Red Light, Green Light by Margaret Wise Brown

Thanksgiving

Teaching children the true meaning of Thanksgiving has become a tremendous responsibility. We need to be sensitive to Indigenous people and how they are portrayed in the story of Thanksgiving. Teaching children the importance of giving thanks and being appreciative of all they have is a better way to tell the story. 

• Thanksgiving Rules by Laurie Friedman
• A Plump and Perky Turkey by Teresa Bateman
• Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving by Dav Pilkey
• A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving by Charles M. Schultz
• Run, Turkey, Run! by Diane Mayr

• Thanks for Thanksgiving by Julie Markes
• Who Will Carve the Turkey This Thanksgiving? by Jerry Pallotta
• Turkey Trouble by Wendi Silvano
• The Very Stuffed Turkey by Katherine Kenah
• Thanksgiving is for Giving Thanks by Margaret Sutherland

Super Heroes

Most children love super heroes. But when we tell them they can be a super hero in their family they are amazed. Spiderman, Wonder Woman, and all the others are great. Being a super hero for your parents or siblings is even better. Doing good deeds and helping others is the best way to be a hero.

• Ladybug Girl and Bumble Bee Boy by Davis Somar and Jacky Davis
• Ten Rules of Being a Superhero by Deb Pilutti
• Help! I Need My Superheroes! by Webber Books
• Little Thor is Mad by Victoria Watson Nguyen
• Family is a Superpower by Michael Dahl

 

Summer

Building sand Castles, swimming in the pool, and climbing trees. All children love to learn about summer and talk about the vacations they will have with their families. The smells of summer are amazing; fresh cut grass, the salty sea, and popcorn and cotton candy from the carnival.

• And Then Comes Summer by Tom Brenner
• When a Dragon Moves In by Jodi Moore
• Just One More by Jennifer Hansen Rolli
• Pete the Cat Pete at the Beach by James Dean
• The Watermelon Seed by Greg Pizzoli

 

Spring

New life and new plants. The green all around and the smell of growing grass and flowers. Baby animals at home and on the farm. Spring is a season that opens up the possibility of new life and new adventures. 

• Bear Wants More by Karma Wilson
• Animals in the Spring by Martha E. H. Rustad
• I Spy an Egg in a Nest by Jean Marzollo
• Splish, Splash, Spring by Jan Carr
• In Like a Lion, Out Like a Lamb by Marion Dane Bauer

Shapes

How many sides does a circle have? A preschool child could tell you. What shape is a Christmas tree? Let's make shapes with our bodies and create shape monsters. Shapes are all around us and everything on earth has a shape.  

• City Shapes by Diana Murray
• Shapes Around Me by Anita Loughrey
• Shapes That Roll by Karen Segal
• The Shape of Me and Other Stuff by Dr. Seuss
• Shapes! by National Geographic Kids

• Patterns by Parenting Magazine
• Patterns! by National Geographic Kids
• Same and Different by National Geographic Kids
• Bees, Snails, & Peacock Tails by Betsy Franco and Steve Jenkins
• Swirl By Swirl by Joyce Sidman

Outer Space

Can you name the planets in order? My class can after we learn the planet song. There is one or two students who gravitate to space each year and for the rest of the year give us all the extra facts they have learned on their own. Space fascinates children and adults alike. These books help that theme to grow. 

• First Encyclopedia of Space 
• Gravity by Jason Chin
• Stars by Mary Lyn Ray and Marla Frazee
• Stars! Stars! Stars! by Nancy Elizabeth Wallace
• Pete the Cat Out of This World by James Dean

• My Book of Space
• ABC Universe by American Museum of Natural History
• How to Catch a star by Oliver Jeffers
• If You Were the Moon by Laura Purdie Salas
• The Way Back Home by Oliver Jeffers

Numbers

Counting by 10's and counting to 20. Learning how to make patterns and sort different sizes. With numbers you can learn how to count any item you find, including how many steps it takes to get to the playground. 28.

• Pugs in a Bug by Carolyn Crimi
• 10 Little Hermit Crabs by Lee Fox and Shane McG
• Numbers by Parenting Magazine
• Ocean Counting by Janet Lawler
• One Hundred Shoes by  Charles Ghigna

• Feast for 10 by Cathryn Falwell
• Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons by James Dean
• Chicka Chicka 123 by Bill Martin Jr
• Let's Count Goats! by Mem Fox
• One Big Pair of Underwear by Laura Gehl

 

Multicultural Children

I love to teach the diversity of the world around us. And this theme has so many books and recipes and songs. I believe the children like it as well. We watch videos on different places and dances and music. And we try new foods.

• What We Wear by Maya Ajmera, Elise Hofer Derstine, and Cynthia Pon
• Hello World! by Manya Stojic
• Yum Yum Dim Sum by Amy Wilson Sanger
• I Am Enough by Grace Byers
• Festival of Colors by Kabir Sehgal and Surishtha Sehgal

• Water Princess by Susan Verde
• Role Models Who Look Like Me by Jasmine Cho
• Eyes That Kiss in the Corners by Joanna Ho
• Where Are You From? by Jaime Kim
• Bilal Cooks Daal by Aisha Saeed

 

Healthy Bodies

How many bones do we have? What is the best way to exercise? Learning how to take care of our bodies and reading fun books is the way to go. My preschool class always loves the yoga time, and trying new healthy foods.

• The Pigeon Needs a Bath! by Mo Willems
• Two Eyes, a Nose, and a Mouth by Roberta Groble Intrater
• Parts by Tedd Arnold
• Germs Are Not for Sharing by Elizabeth Verdick
• ABC's of Yoga for Kids by Teresa Anne Power

 

Hannukah and Kwanzaa

Another group of themes that are placed into a week when they happen to fall on the calendar. It is good to share different holidays and celebrations with children. Learning about others around us and how they celebrate isa good way to include diversity and acceptance into their schooling.

• Seven Candles for Kwanzaa by Andrea Davis Oinkney
• My First Kwanzaa by Karen Katz
• Mrs. Greenburg's Messy Hannukah by Linda Glaser
• On the First Night of Chanukah by Cecily Kaeser
• My Two Holidays by Danielle Novack

 

Halloween

Ghosts, goblins, fairy's, witches, and super heroes. All the great ways to dress up and scare people when you trick or treat. I will tell the children the true beginnings of Halloween and they are always fascinated by trying to scare away ghosts and getting baked goods while trick or treating. I love Halloween and the stories that come with it.

• Ghosts in the House! by Kazuno Kohara
• At the Old Haunted House by Helen Ketteman
• Skeleton Meets the Mummy by Steve Metzger
• Pete Cat and Five Little Pumpkins by James Dean
• My First Halloween by Tomie dePaola

• The Good, the Bad, and the Spooky by Jory John and Pete Oswald
• Froggy's Halloween by Jonathan London
• Click, Clack, Boo! by Doreen Cronin
• The Berenstain Bears and the Haunted House by Jan and Mike Berenstain
• Who Will Haunt My House on Halloween by Jerry Pallotta

Growing Things

Planting seeds, watching them grow, and taking them home. What a great theme. Soil, sun, and water. This theme is messy and fun and enriching all the time. Children love to dig in the dirt and plant a seed, then watching it grow makes them feel accomplished.

• The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle
• Olivia Plants a Garden by Ready to Read
• A Grand Old Tree by Mary Newell DePalma
• My Book of Life Cycles 
• Growing Vegetable Soup by Lois Elhert

 

Groundhog Day and St. Patricks Day

These themes are just placed into the weeks they fall. Joining the main theme for the week with a fun story on the holiday that really is not a holiday. Children love to see if the groundhog will see his shadow. Or if the leprechaun came and left some gold coins. 

• Wake Me in Spring by James Peller
• Who Will See Their Shadows This Year? by Jerry Pallotta
• Groundhog Day by Betsy Lewin
• The Leprechaun's Gold by Pamela Duncan Edwards
• Ten Lucky Leprechauns by Kathryn Heling and Deborah Hembrook

Feelings

This theme is huge. There are so many feelings that preschool children have and to finally have a word behind what they are feeling is amazing to them. Each child learns a new meaning behind their feelings during this theme and they gravitate to that word.

• You're a Crab! byJenny Whitehead
• When Sophie Gets Angry-Really, Really Angry... by Molly Bang
• The Way I Feel by Janan Cain
• The Grouchy Ladybug by Eric Carle
• Big Sarah's Little Boots by Paulette Bourgeois

• I Was So Mad by Mercer Mayer
• Bear Feels Scared by Karma Wilson
• The Grumpy Morning by Darcia Labrosse
• Happy Go Ducky by Jackie Urbanovic
• Clifford and the Grouchy Neighbors by Norman Bridwell

 

Fall or Autumn

Leaves changing colors and crunching under your feet. Animals gathering food for winter. The children love this theme and all the pumpkins, leaves, and sweater recess they can get.

• Every Autumn Comes the Bear by Jim Arnosky
• Fall Leaves Fall by Zoe Hall
• Pick a Circle, Gather Squares by Felicia Sanzari Chernesky
• Pumpkin Pumpkin by Jeanne Titherington
• Froggy Picks a Pumpkin by Jonathan London

• Colors of Fall by Laura Purdie Salas
• Awesome Autumn by Bruce Goldstone
• Leaves by David Ezra Stein
• We're Going on a Leaf Hunt by Steve Metzger
• Leaves Change Color by Melvin and Gilda Berger

 

Easter

Easter is always focused on the Easter Bunny and spring and new life. We decorate eggs and go on an egg hunt. The books for Easter have such vibrant colors and illustrations.

• The Legend of the Easter Egg by Lori Walburg
• The Golden Egg Book by Margaret Wise Brown
• Duck's Easter Egg Hunt by Dawn Richards and Heidi D'Hamers
• Here Comes T-Rex Cottontail by Lois G. Grambling
• The Easter Bunny's Assisstant by Jan Thomas

 

Dr. Seuss

Dr. Seuss is a theme we do at the beginning of March near his birthday. Nonsense words like zizzer-zazzer-zuzz, ooblick, and gluppity-glup. Children like to hear the stories he created and his illustrations to go with them. They all love the rhymes especially in Green Eggs and Ham. They even like his books written under Theo LeSieg.

• And to Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street
• Hop on Pop
• The Lorax
• Green Eggs and Ham
• The Cat in the Hat

• If I Ran the Circus
• Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You?
• Oh, the Places You'll Go!
• The Foot Book
• Ten Apples on Top!

 

Dinosaurs!

"We are the dinosaurs!" Are you a carnivore or an herbivore? Children can learn amazingly long words like pterodactyl and brachiosaurus. But most want to play with the T-Rex or tyrannosaurus rex. Ask any child who can talk and they know at least 5 dinosaur names and point them out in a book. Dinoasuars have fascinated us for years and will continue for years to come.

• How Big Were Dinosaurs? by Lita Judge
• Dinosaur Roar by Paul and Henrietta Stickland
• Dinosaur Bones by Aliki
• Dinosaur Bones by Bob Barner
• Dinosaur Pet by Marc Sedaka

• Dinosaurs On My Street by David West
• Edwina the Dinosaur Who Didn't Know She Was Extinct by Mo Willems
• Danny and the Dinosaur by Syd Hoff
• Everything Dinosaurs by Blake Hoena
• Crunch Munch Dinosaur Lunch by Paul Bright

Community Helpers

What does your dad do for a job? What does your mom do for a job? What do you want to do for a job when you grow up? I ask all of these questions at the beginning of the week for our community helpers theme. So many jobs and so many choices. How can they choose when they want to be a fireman, teacher, doctor, vet, and dancer. Why not be them all!

• Doctors by Marlene Targ Brill
• Teachers by Melanie Mitchell
• SanitationWorkers by Janet Piehl
• Firefighters by Alison Behnke
• Librarians by Judith Jango-Cohen

• Dream You'll Be by Joseph T. Garcia
• Dog Heroes by Karl Meyer
• It's Milking Time by Phyllis Alsdurf
• The ABC's of What I Can Be? by Caitlin McDonagh
• Star Wars Heroes

 

Colors

Red, yellow, and blue. The concept of creating colors from other colors is the best experiment ever when teaching children about colors. They all have a favorite color or two or three or more. And sharing what colors are the best is fun. Why is the sky blue? Why is the grass green? Why are sunflowers yellow?

• The Mixed-Up Chameleon by Eric Carle
• Planting a Rainbow by Lois Elhert
• All the Colors of the Earth by Sheila Hamanaka
• Little Blue and Little Yellow by Leo Lionni
• Chalk by Bill Thomson

• Star Wars Colors 
• Mix It Up by Hervé Tullet
• Pete the Cat, I Love My White Shoes by Eric Litwin
• White Rabbits Color Book by Alan Baker
• More Than Peach by Bellen Woodard

 

Classic Tales

This theme is all about classic fairy tales and nursery rhymes. It is always a treat when you hear a child repeat a nursery rhyme. They are not very popular anymore and they are so simple and easy to learn. They love to repeat them and act them out, especially Jack jumping over the candlestick.

• Favorite Nursery Rhymes from Mother Goose illustrated by Scott Gustafson
• The Classic Tale of Peter Rabbit and Other Cherished Stories by Beatrix Potter
• One Day by Rebecca Kai Dotlich
• The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka
• Ferdinand by Munro Leaf

• Little Red Hot by Eric A. Kimmel
• Goldie and the Three Hares by Margie Palatini
• Mary Had a Little Llama, María Tenía Una Llamita by Angela Dominguez
• The Three Ninja Pigs by Corey Rosen Schwartz
• Prairie Chicken Little by Jackie Mims Hopkins

 

Christmas

We have a theme on Christmas and focus on the traditions and excitement of the holiday. All on the secular not the religious aspect. The children love to be good for our elf Jingle as she reports to Santa each night. And they love to decorate and listen to stories of Christmas.

• It's Christmas, David! by David Shannon
• Pete the Cat Saves Christmas by Eric Litwin
• Who's That Knocking on Christmas Eve? by Jan Brett
• Dinosaur Christmas by Jerry Pallotta
• Jingle Bells by Iza Trapani

• Olive the Other Reindeer by J. Otto Seibold and Vivian Walsh
• The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg
• The 12 Trucks of Christmas by Chrissy Bozik
• Who Will Guide My Sleigh Tonight? by Jerry Pallotta 
• The Wild Christmas Reindeer by Jan Brett

 

Bugs

Bugs or insects! This is always a favorite. They are fascinated with bugs at this age. Either they want to catch them all or run screaming from them. I love to watch as they learn that a spider is not an insect but an arachnid.  

• The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
• Diary of a Spider by Doreen Cronin
• Some Bugs by Angela DiTerlizzi
• If Bees Disappeared by Lily Williams
• Millions of Monarchs by Connie and Peter Roop

• Colors of Insects by Laura Purdie Salas
• I Love Bugs! by Emma Dodd
• Not a Buzz to Be Found by Linda Glaser
• Bugs by DK
• Butterflies by Marfé Ferguson Delano