Holiday Read-Alouds

Looking for some good read-alouds for the holiday season?  Check out one of these Christmas picture books . . . . 

And Then Comes Christmas by Tom Brenner
A story that celebrates the signs of the approaching season--from icicles clinging to roofs and houses strung with colorful lights to visiting Santa and hunting for the perfect tree.

The Night Before Christmas by Clement Clarke Moore, illustrated by Loren Long
In Loren Long's touching interpretation of "Twas the night before Christmas," readers are invited to visit the homes of four families-- each on Christmas Eve. What do these four homes share? The excitement and anticipation of the most splendid night of the year.

Is This . . . Winter? by Helen Yoon

For one spirited little puppy, winter means romping in the snow, birds to chase, fragrant evergreen trees, and joy, joy, joy! Then again, winter also means -- oddly unfriendly deer? Millions of little lights? Contorting inflatable snowmen? Wait, what? If this is all winter, too, then winter is kind of weird.

Baboushka and the Three Kings by Ruth Robbins
An old woman who was too busy to travel with the Wise Men to find the Child now searches endlessly for Him each Christmas season.



More Books --

The Animals' Santa by Jan Brett

Bunnies in a Sleigh by Philip Ardagh

Candy Corn Christmas by Jonathan Fenske

Cat's Christmas by Alison Murray

A Dance with Santa Claus by Sandra Boynton

Decorate the Tree by Amanda Jane Jones
Dino-Christmas by Lisa Wheeler

How Does Santa Go Down the Chimney? by Mac Barnett
The Latke That Couldn't Stop Screaming: A Christmas Story by Lemony Snicket

Merry Christmas, Gus by Chris Chatterton

My Christmas Wish for You by Lisa Swerling
One Wild Christmas by Nicholas Oldland

Peppermint Post by Bruce Hale

Red & Green by Lois Ehlert

Santa Baby by Jonathan Stutzman

Santa Jaws by Bridget Heos

Six Snowy Sheep by Judith Ross Enderle

Snowmen at Night by Caralyn Buehner

The Twelve Days of Christmas by Emma Randall

Walking in a Winter Wonderland by Richard B. Smith

We Disagree About This Tree by Ross Collins

What the Dinosaurs Did the Night Before Christmas by Refe Tuma

Novels in Verse for Teens

This week, we're sharing novels for teenagers in verse format.  Check out some of these great titles . . . .

The Seventh Raven by David Elliott

When Robyn and his brothers are turned into ravens through the work of a curse, their younger sister is their only hope for them to become human again. Though she's never met them, April is determined to restore her brothers' humanity. But what will become of Robyn, who has discovered a much greater affinity to the air than to the earth-bound lives of his family?

White Rose by Kip Wilson
Tells the story of Sophie Scholl, a young German college student who challenges the Nazi regime during World War II as part of the White Rose, a non-violent resistance group.

Chlorine Sky by Mahogany L. Brown

Sky is used to standing in the shadow of her best friend. Lay Li is the sun everyone orbits around. But since high school started, Lay Li has begun attracting the attention of boys, and Sky is left out in the cold. The only place Sky can find her footing is on the basketball court. With each dribble of the ball, Sky begins to find her own rhythm. Lay Li may always be the sun, but that doesn’t mean Sky can’t shine on her own.

More Books --

500 Words or Less by Juleah del Rosario

All That Shines by Ellen Hagan

Baby Teeth by Meg Grehan

Blood Water Paint by Joy McCullough

Me (Moth) by Amber McBride

Moonrise by Sarah Crossan

Not Hungry by Kate Karyus Quinn

The Snow Fell Three Graves Deep by Allan Wolf

Wicked Girls by Stephanie Hemphill

Wild Dreamers by Margarita Engle

Family Stories

Check out one of these great picture books featuring stories about families.  Here's a few of our favorites . . .

The Tiny King by Taro Miura

A tiny and lonely king learns the joys of having a family.

Templeton Gets His Wish by Greg Pizzoli

Templeton the cat makes a wish for his family to disappear, but quickly learns that being alone isn't as great as he had thought it would be.

Five Creatures by Emily Jenkins

In words and pictures, a girl describes the three humans and two cats that live in her house, and details some of the traits that they share.

Catch That Baby! by Nancy Coffelt

Everyone from Mom to Grandpa joins the chase when baby Rudy decides he does not want to get dressed after his bath.

More Books --

Alma and How She Got Her Name by Juana Martinez-Neal

Aunt Pearl by Monica Kulling

The Bear in My Family by Maya Tatsukawa

Big Family Beach Day by Nina Crews

A Family for Louie by Alexandra Thompson

A Family Is a Family Is a Family by Sara O'Leary

Family Reunion by Chad Richards

A Fine Dessert by Emily Jenkins

Forty Winks by Kelly DiPucchio

Grandpa Is Here by Tanya Rosie

Hiking Day by Anne Rockwell

How to Welcome a New Baby by Jean Reagan

I Got You: A Brother's Promise by Derrick Barnes

I'm Not a Baby by Jill McElmurry

Little Good Wolf by Janet Stevens

Mama and Papa Have a Store by Amelia Lau Carling

Milo Is Missing Something by Vern Kousky

The Nuts: Bedtime at the Nut House by Eric Litwin

Oddbird's Chosen Family by Derek Desierto

Ohana Means Family by Ilima Loomis

One Family by George Shannon

The Relatives Came by Cynthia Rylant

The Secret Society of Aunts & Uncles by Jake Gyllenhaal

The Snow Globe Family by Jane O'Connor

Summer Is For Cousins by Rajani LaRocca

Under the Table by Allan Ahlberg

Waiting for Mama by Ianna Marino

What's In Baby's Morning by Judy Hindley

The Worm Family by Tony Johnston

Best Furry Friends

Some of our best friends are furry!  Check out these chapter books about our furry animal friends . . . .

Absolutely Lucy by Ilene Cooper

Bobby is a shy boy until he gets a beagle puppy named Lucy, who helps him to make new friends.

The World According to Humphrey by Betty G. Birney

Humphrey, a pet hamster at Longfellow School, learns that he has an important role to play in helping his classmates and teacher.

Bunnicula by Deborah Howe

Though scoffed at by Harold the dog, Chester the cat tries to warn his human family that their foundling baby bunny must be a vampire.



More Books --

A Boy Called Bat by Elana K. Arnold

Chancey of the Maury River by Gigi Amateau

The Great Pet Heist by Emily Ecton

The Incredibly Dead Pets of Rex Dexter by Aaron Reynolds

Jigsaw Pony by Jessie Haas

Just Gus by McCall Hoyle

Mr. Popper's Penguins by Richard Atwater

My Kingdom of Darkness by Susan Tan

Petlandia by Peter Hannon

Quack by Anna Humphrey

The Simple Art of Flying by Cory Leonardo

Wait . . . That's a Book?

So many books have been turned into movies over the years.  Often, the movies become more popular than the books.  Try reading one of these books that were turned into popular movies.  Here's a few of our favorites . . . .

The Wild Robot by Peter Brown

Roz the robot discovers that she is alone on a remote, wild island with no memory of where she is from or why she is there, and her only hope of survival is to try to learn about her new environment from the island's hostile inhabitants.

The Witches by Roald Dahl

A young boy and his Norwegian grandmother, who is an expert on witches, together foil a witches' plot to destroy the world's children by turning them into mice.

Coraline by Neil Gaiman

When Coraline steps through a door to find another house strangely similar to her own (only better), things seem marvelous. But there's another mother there, and another father, and they want her to stay and be their little girl. They want to change her and never let her go. Coraline will have to fight with all her wit and courage if she is to save herself and return to her ordinary life.

More Books --

The Adventures of Captain Underpants by Dav Pilkey

Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery

Charlotte's Web by E.B. White

City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau

Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney

Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine

Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh

The Iron Giant by Ted Hughes

Matilda by Roald Dahl

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum

Spine Chilling Tales for Teens

Get in the mood for Halloween with these Spine Chilling Tales for teens.  Here's a few of our favorites . . .

On the Day I Died by Candace Fleming

In a lonely Illinois cemetery one cold October night, teen ghosts recount the stories of their deaths in different time periods, from 1870 to the present, to sixteen-year-old Mike, who unknowingly picked up a phantom hitchhiker.

Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake

For three years, seventeen-year-old Cas Lowood has carried on his father's work of dispatching the murderous dead, traveling with his kitchen-witch mother and their spirit-sniffing cat, but everything changes when he meets Anna, a girl unlike any ghost he has faced before.

Last Halloween, v.1: Children by Abby Howard

In a gothic adventure at the end of the world, a ten-year-old girl and a motley crew of ghouls must stop an invading horde of monsters on a fateful Halloween night.

More Books --

The Bone Houses by Emily Lloyd-Jones

Dead Upon a Time by Elizabeth Paulson

The Fade by Demitria Lunetta

Find Him Where You Left Him Dead by Kristen Simmons

The Girl from the Well by Rin Chupeco

Horrid by Katrina Leno

Horror Hotel by Victoria Fulton

The House of Dead Maids by Clare B. Dunkle

House of Hollow by Krystal Sutherland

She Is a Haunting by Trang Thanh Tran

Slice of Cherry by Dia Reeves

The Voice Upstairs by Laura E. Weymouth

Creepy Cryptids and Other Mysteries

Kids love to read about cryptids and other unsolved mysteries.  So this week, we're sharing some informational books on various cryptids and other creepy mysteries. 

Area 51, Lizard People, and More Conspiracy Theories About the Unexplained by Jose Cruz

Did an alien spacecraft crash near Roswell, New Mexico, in 1947? Is the U.S. government hiding alien secrets at Area 51? Could lizard people be in positions of power around the world? Get details about different conspiracy theories to find out why people believe them and what experts say. 

Inside the Bermuda Triangle by Megan Harder

Disappearances and other strange phenomena in the Bermuda Triangle have long inspired speculation and theories. Theorists chalk it up to everything from bad weather to time warps. Explore this mysterious history.

The Magnificent Book of Monsters by Diana Ferguson

From the man-eating Manticore and the dastardly demon Beelzebub to the corpse-munching Aztec goddess Coatlicue and the southern African tokoloshe, monsters from across the globe and many different cultures are brought to life in this large-format volume bursting with detailed full-color images and fascinating facts.

More Books:

Behind the Legend: The Loch Ness Monster by Erin Peabody

Chasing the Chupacabra by Anna Anderhagen

Crop Circles by Kyla Steinkraus

Encountering Chupacabra and Other Cryptids by Megan Cooley Peterson

Mysterious Disappearances by Louise Spilsbury

Mythical Monsters by Jen Breach

Sea Serpents by Thomas Kingsley Troupe

Vampires by Xina M. Uhl

What Do We Know About Yeti? by Ben Hubbard

The Young Investigator's Guide to Ancient Aliens by The History Channel