Children's Books in a Montessori Classroom: Difference between revisions
No edit summary |
No edit summary |
||
Line 81: | Line 81: | ||
|- | |- | ||
|''Blackout'' || Rocco, John || Rocco, John || 158 || blackouts | |''Blackout'' || Rocco, John || Rocco, John || 158 || blackouts | ||
|- | |||
|''Blizzard'' || Rocco, John || Rocco, John || || blizzard | |||
|- | |- | ||
|''I Used to be Afraid || Seeger, Laura Vaccaro || Seeger, Laura Vaccaro || 78 || overcoming fears | |''I Used to be Afraid || Seeger, Laura Vaccaro || Seeger, Laura Vaccaro || 78 || overcoming fears |
Revision as of 20:37, 6 October 2017
Maria Montessori took a view of children's literature that was very different from most others' of her day and ours. She thought that it was best to avoid giving books to young children that had magic or other fantastical elements in the stories. She thought that children below a certain age would be confused about what things in the stories were real or not. She thought it was disrespectful to children to not provide them with an accurate portrayal of the world when they were still building their understanding of how the world worked.
There has even been recent research that backs up the idea that children prefer stories that are real.
Another useful criteria for selecting children's books comes from the 19th century British educator Charlotte Mason. She advised against books that used baby-talk, or dumbed-down stories, or that insulted the intelligence of the reader in any other ways. She referred to these books as "twaddle."
Please feel free to add books to the lists:
Circle-Time Read Aloud
These are well-written, well-illustrated books that are either realistic fiction, historical fiction, non-fiction or biographies.
It takes about one minute to read aloud 100 words of a pictures book at a slow, steady pace, with time to look at each of the pictures. Use the word count to estimate how long it will take to read a book (round up the time for shorter books, round down the time for longer ones).
Title | Author | Illustrator | Word Count | Topic |
---|---|---|---|---|
The Sun is My Favorite Star | Asch, Frank | Asch, Frank | 154 | sun |
The Story of Rosy Dock | Baker, Jeannie | Baker, Jeannie | Australia, non-native plants | |
Animals Should Definitely Not Wear Clothing | Barrett, Judi | Barrett, Ronald | 110 | anthropomorphism |
Building Our House | Bean, Jonathan | Bean, Jonathan | 923 | building a house |
Big and Small, Room for All | Bogart, Jo Ellen | Newland, Gillian | 92 | relative size |
Out of the Woods: A True Story of an Unforgettable Event | Bond, Rebecca | Bond, Rebecca | 1,035 | forest fire |
Mary Wrightly, So Politely | Bridges, Shirin Yim | Monescillo, Maria | 695 | manners, assertiveness |
Hanukkah in Alaska | Brown, Barbara | Schuett, Stacey | 862 | Hanukkah, Alaska |
From Head to Toe | Carle, Eric | Carle, Eric | 207 | animals, actions |
Will I Have a Friend? | Cohen, Miriam | Hoban, Lillian | 484 | starting school |
My Family Plays Music | Cox, Judy | Brown, Elbrite | 482 | playing music |
Tiny Creatures: The World of Microbes | Davies, Nicoloa | Sutton, Emily | 689 | microbes |
The Nutcracker Doll | DePalma, Mary Newell | DePalma, Mary Newell | 473 | being in a ballet |
Charlie Needs a Cloak | dePaola, Tomie | dePaola, Tomie | 120 | making a cloak |
Some Bugs | DiTerlizzi, Angela | Wenzel, Brendan | 95 | bugs |
Knit Together | Dominguez, Angela | Dominguez, Angela | knitting, mothers and daughters | |
Under Ground | Fleming, Denise | Fleming, Denise | 46 | underground life |
Ox-Cart Man | Hall, Donald | Cooney, Barbara | 654 | frontier living |
A House is a House for Me | Hoberman, Mary Ann | Fraser, Betty | 732 | homes |
I Like Old Clothes | Hoberman, Mary Ann | Barton, Patrice | 287 | old clothes |
Just Say Boo! | Hood, Susan | Henry, Jed | 166 | Halloween |
Weeds Find a Way | Jenson-Elliott, Cindy | Fisher, Carolyn | weeds | |
The Quilt Story | Johnston, Tony | dePaola, Tomie | 567 | a family heirloom quilt |
How Big Were Dinosaurs? | Judge, Lita | Judge, Lita | 1,016 | dinosaurs |
The Colors of Us | Katz, Karen | Katz, Karen | 423 | different skin colors |
The Snowy Day | Keats, Ezra Jack | Keats, Ezra Jack | 316 | playing in the snow |
Hot Dog! Eleanor Roosevelt Throws a Picnic | Kimmelman, Leslie | Juhasz, Victor | 1,322 | first lady |
The Philharmonic Gets Dressed | Kuskin, Karla | Simont, Marc | 1,252 | orchestra |
Bone by Bone: Comparing Animal Skeletons | Levine, Sara | Spookytooth, T.S. | 963 | vertebrates |
Uncle Peter's Amazing Chinese Wedding | Look, Lenore | Heo, Yumi | 1,448 | wedding |
Toilet: How It Works | Macaulay, David | Macaulay, David | 942 | how toilets work |
Don't Sneeze at the Wedding | Mayer, Pamela | Avilés, Martha | wedding | |
15 Things NOT to Do With a Baby | McAllister, Margaret | Sterling, Holly | 177 | babies |
Our Family Tree: An Evolution Story | Peters, Lisa Westberg | Stringer, Lauren | 626 | evolution |
Blackout | Rocco, John | Rocco, John | 158 | blackouts |
Blizzard | Rocco, John | Rocco, John | blizzard | |
I Used to be Afraid | Seeger, Laura Vaccaro | Seeger, Laura Vaccaro | 78 | overcoming fears |
Who Put the Cookies in the Cookie Jar? | Shannon, George | Paschkis, Julie | 143 | food production |
The Man with the Violin | Stinson, Kathy | Petricic | 444 | musician |
I Love My Hair | Tarpley, Natasha Anastasia | Lewis, E.B. | 469 | African-American hair |
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day | Viorst, Judith | Cruz, Ray | 741 | a bad day |
Susan B. Anthony | Wallner, Alexandra | Wallner, Alexandra | 1,610 | biography, women's rights |
A Chair for My Mother | Williams, Vera B. | Williams, Vera B. | 1,073 | saving, generosity |
Henri's Scissors | Winter, Jeanette | Winter, Jeanette | 426 | biography, artist |
The Watcher: Jane Goodall's Life with the Chimps | Winter, Jeanette | Winter, Jeanette | 972 | biography, chimpanzees |
- Kids Travel Books - website listing books about different countries
Chapter Books
These are longer well-written books that are either realistic fiction, historical fiction, non-fiction or biographies. They would need to be read over the course of several days.
Title | Author | Illustrator | Word Count | Topic |
---|---|---|---|---|
Linnea in Monet's Garden | Bjork, Christina | Anderson, Lena | 5,871 | |
A Little Princess | Burnett, Frances Hodgson | 66,181 | ||
Sarah, Plain and Tall | MacLachlan, Patricia | 8,377 | ||
Little House on the Prairie | Wilder, Laura Ingalls | 52,038 |