Must Have Book List for Teaching Comprehension Strategies

This weekend I put together my student teacher's gift basket of great books for teaching comprehension. I soon realized there were so many books I wanted to get her, but I simply couldn't afford to buy her all my favorites.  (Especially since my list of favorites keeps growing and growing.)  I decided I would do the next best thing - give her a list of my favorites and I thought I would share with you.

All of these books I have used in my classroom with great success.  They are 100% tested and approved... by me.  I have categorized them by the comprehension strategy that I use them for most often. However, as you know, good books can be used to teach any strategy.

Metacognition - Tracking Thinking

Wordless Picture Books:

Time Flies - Eric Rohmann

Trainstop & Rainstorm- Barbara Lehman

Pancakes for Breakfast & The Knight and the Dragon- Tomie dePaola

Flotsam, Tuesday, & Freefall - David Wiesner

 

Metacognition Picture Books:
Henry Freedom Box - Ellen Levine and Kadir Nelson
Wilma Unlimited - Kathleen Krull
How Many Days to America? - Eve Bunting
Mighty Jackie: The Strike-Out Queen - Melissa Moss
Roberto Clemente: Pride of the Pittsburgh Pirates - Jonah Winter
America's Champion Swimmer: Gertrude Ederle - David Alder
Every Living Thing - Cynthia Rylant
Gleam and Glow - Eve Bunting
Snowflake Bentley - Jacqueline Briggs Martin

Connections (T-S, T-T, T-W)

Oliver Button is a Sissy - Tomie dePaola 

Amazing Grace - Mary Hoffman

The Relatives Came - Cynthia Rylant

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No-Good, Very Bad Day - Judith Voirst

My Rotten Redheaded Older Brother - Patricia Polacco

The Wall - Eve Bunting

Harvesting Hope: The Story of Cesar Chavez - Kathleen Krull

Martin's Big Words - Doreen Rappaport

My Brother Martin - Christine King Farris

Teammates - Peter Golenbock

Asking Questions

Fly Away Home - Eve Bunting

The Royal Bee - Frances and Ginger Park

The Keeping Quilt - Patricia Polacco

Charlie Anderson - Barbara Abercrombie

Brave Irene - William Steig

Amelia's Road - Linda Allman

Baseball Saved Us - Ken Mochizuki

Cheyenne Again - Eve Bunting

The Mysteries of Harris Burdick - Chris Van Allsburg

Making Mental Images

A Chair For My Mother - Vera B. Williams

The Salamander Room - Anne Mazer

The Seashore Book - Charlotte Zolotow

Fireflies - Julie Brinckloe

Charlotte's Web - E.B. White

The Lightning Thief - Rick Riordan

Inferring/Predicting

Tight Times - Barbara Shook Hazen

A Day's Work - Eve Bunting

Two Bad Ants - Chris Van Allsberg

Fables - Arnold Lobel

Anansi and the Moss Covered Rock - Eric Kimmel

The Stranger - Chris Van Allsberg

Owen - Kevin Henkes

Synthesis

The Other Side - Jacqueline Woodson

Freedom Summer - Deborah Wiles

Follow the Drinking Gourd - Jeanette Winter

Miss Rumphius - Barbara Cooney

The Man Who Walked Between the Towers - Mordicai Gerstein

Fly High!: The Story of Bessie Coleman - Louise Borden

Many of these books have already been mentioned on my blog and will probably be mentioned again, but I hope you discover some new titles.  If you have a  favorite that I should check out, please comment and share below.  I'm always looking for new titles and there may be some that I have just plum forgotten about.

For a printable version of my list, click here.
  

Happy reading!!