Books for Pre-Readers
Several books are included here because they are good books to be read to pre-readers. To see the full Amazon link for each book, just click the book title.
A Gullah Alphabet
The Gullah spoken in South Carolina extends from Georgetown to Hilton Head and onto the sea islands near Charleston. The gullah used in this text is spoken on John's and Wadmalaw Islands.
Abiyoyo
Inspired by a South African folktale, the story of how a father and son vanquish the giant named Abiyoyo has long been a favorite and has been featured on PBS's Reading Rainbow.
Amazing Grace
Grace loves to hear stories, but more than that, she loves to become the characters in the stories she hears . . .
An Angel Just Like Me
As Tyler's family is decorating their Christmas tree, Tyler is looking for an angel that looks like him . . .
Baby Dance
Dance little baby, move to and fro . . .
Bark & Tim: A True Story of Friendship
Bark was a proud mutt, and he had his faults, but Tim loved him . . .
Big Mama's
In this dynamic tale of family togetherness, an African American man recalls boyhood summers spent at his grandmother's rural home in Florida.
Black Snowman
The snowman magically comes alive after Jacob and his brother unknowingly drape him in a piece of magical kente, a cloth worn by African storytellers for hundreds of years . . .
Busy Fingers
Simple rhyming text that invites participation and repetition explores the ways fingers move. "Fingers high,/fingers low./Fingers reach to touch a toe."
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom
"A told b, and b told c, 'I'll meet you at the top of the coconut tree . . .
Dance With Me
"Shake,/shake,/shake it,/baby!/Come and dance with me! . . .
Ellington Was Not a Street
"it hasn't always been this way/ellington was not a street . . . "
How Do You Wokka-Wokka?
Some days, you just gotta wokka . . .
I Love My Hair!
"Every night before I go to bed, mama combs my hair . . .
I'm Your Peanut Butter Big Brother
A new baby is coming - what will she look like?
In Daddy's Arms I am Tall
"When you follow in the path of your father, you learn to walk like him."
Jazz on a Saturday Night
"Ladies and gents, what a jam this will be—/an evening of jazz immortality!"
Keep Climbing, Girls
"The only way to make a bid / for a girl's equality / is to climb right up to the toppermost bough / of the very tallest tree."
Kitchen Dance
"Scrape! Splash! Clunk! Clang!...I hear kitchen sounds," says the curly-headed marrator as she and her little brother Tito wake up to the sounds of their parents' kitchen dance.
Let It Shine
"This Little Light of Mine," "Oh, When the Saints Go Marching In," and "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands."
Luke on the Loose
Luke notices a flock of pigeons and chases after them. The birds lead him out of Central Park through Manhattan and across the Brooklyn Bridge to a quiet rooftop.
My Big Lie
Little Bill retells the traditional "The Boy Who Cried Wolf"
Noah
Good cadence and simple vocabulary, with satisfying lists of animal names to roll off the tongue. Jonathan Green's marvelous illustrations - Noah's family members range in hue from ebony to brown to yellow, striped snakes slither over red ground, the massive ark glides on a dappled ocean while great sea creatures rise from the waves.
Not Norman: A Goldfish Story
"I wanted a pet who could run and catch. Or one who could climb trees and chase strings. A soft, furry pet to sleep on my bed at night. Not Norman."
Pet Show!
First published in 1972, captures small town simplicity amidst an urban landscape, as an African-American boy struggles with the decision of which pet to enter in the neighborhood contest.
Please, Baby, Please
"Go back to bed,/ baby, please, baby, please./ Not on your head,/ baby baby baby, please!"
Roy Makes A Car
Roy Tyle's abilities are widely known. "Why, he can grease an axle faster than you can say 'carburetor....'" When he claims that he can make an accident-proof automobile, a gambler challenges him.
Shipwreck Saturday
Little Bill takes a sailboat that he has painstakingly built to a nearby lake to see if it will float. However, the vessel is wrecked by the strong wake made by a passing rowboat. He runs home in tears only to be called back by his friends who have used the remaining pieces to make a kite that they are flying high in the sky.
Shortcut
The escapade turns to full blown alarm when the train whistle sounds, sending the youngsters scrambling to safety at the last minute. A roller coaster ride of emotion in just a few paragraphs, highlighted with effective onomotopeia, "Whoo-whoo, klackity, klackity, klack!"
Sing to the Sun
`Sing to the sun/ It will listen/And warm your words/ Your joy will rise/ Like the sun/ and glow/ Within you.'' Thus begins a collection of original poems that captures the beauty of nature along with human emotion and circumstance.
Summer Sun Risin'
Short verses comment on farm activities and the relative position of the sun.
Tar Beach
Picnicking on the roof of her family's Harlem apartment building--a "tar beach" to which they bring fried chicken and roasted peanuts, watermelon and beer, and, not least, friends and laughter--Cassie pictures herself soaring above New York City.
The Big Storm
Little Bill encourages children to value their family and friends.
The Blacker the Berry
Read-aloud-sized spreads offer luminous artwork that complements the verses in which children speak of their various hues.
The Dream Keeper
Langston Hughes' classic poetry collection, originally published for young people in 1932, is reissued here in a handsome new edition. It includes seven additional poems, a fine introduction by Lee Bennett Hopkins, and a personal afterword by Augusta Baker.
The Hat That Wore Clara B.
It is Mother's Sunday, "when the older ladies dressed in crisp white suits and wore clean white gloves…and hats. Big, bold, beautifully colored hats."
The Secret Olivia Told Me
Olivia has a secret - a BIG secret.
The Snowy Day
A 1963 Caldecott Medal winner, the simple tale of a boy waking up to discover that snow has fallen during the night. Illustrations with cut-outs, watercolors, and collage are strikingly beautiful in their understated color and composition.
The Worst Day of My Life
Little Bill must spend a Saturday all dressed up in a suit and tie while his parents host a party.
Those Shoes
All Jeremy wants is a pair of those shoes, the ones everyone at school seems to be wearing.
Uncle Jed's Barber Shop
Both touching and inspirational, this book is ideal for story hours featuring favorite relatives, and it could start children saving for their own dreams.
Visiting Day
Both text and artwork keep the destination a mystery, wisely focusing instead on the excitement of the upcoming reunion.
What a Morning
In this picture book, the Christmas story is told in spirituals: "Mary Had a Baby," "My Lord, What a Morning!" and "Go Tell It on the Mountain" among them, until the baby is born, and "Behold That Star!" closes the tale. Bryan's illustrations tie into the African-American theme, showing a black Holy family and multiracial wise men and shepherds.
Why the Sky is Far Away
This pourquoi tale, first told 500 years ago by the Bini tribe of Nigeria, has a topical message that is accessible to children without being heavy-handed. The symbolic qualities of the story are strengthened by deceptively simple composition and the weight of the flat, stylized figures, done in dense, pure black. An eye-catching choice for folklore or picture book collections.
Who's Got Game?
Toni Morrison retells the Ant and the Grasshopper and others.
Who's That Baby?
In 16 songs, Creech celebrates a newborn's world from the infant's point of view. For example, in Football Baby: My daddy thinks/I am a football./I think that/he is mistaken./I hope that/someone will tell him/that I am a baby./his little sweet baby./…I am not/a little pigskin.
Whose Knees Are These?
Knees like these/don't grow on trees. Ten little lovelies/all in a row./ Whose toes are those?/ Do you know?
Whose Toes Are Those?
Children are invited to explore their toes by playing "This Little Piggy."
Yay! A Snow Day!
Little Bill gets a snow day.
Young Cornrows Calling Out The Moon
This lively poem celebrates the author's South Philly neighborhood, where kids outside on summer evenings play double Dutch, freeze tag, and kickball and run for the ice-cream truck.
