May
09
Poll: Favorite Read Aloud of the 2017-2018 School Year
I’ve been thinking a lot about the books we read aloud to children, and the impact the read aloud experience has on the development of our readers. On Sunday, I had the opportunity to hang out with a bunch of former students and they all brought up books that I read aloud to them when they were in fourth grade. I talk a little more about it in the video below.
Please share the following in the comments below:
- What is one book you remember being read aloud to you when you were a child?
- What has been your favorite read aloud during the 2017-2018 school year?
I’ll randomly select one person, and send them a copy of 2018 Global Read Aloud pick Amal UnboundAmal Unbound.
Colby Sharp is a fifth grade teacher in Parma, Michigan. He is the editor of The Creativity Project, co-founder of the Nerdy Book Club, and Co-host of The Yarn Podcast.
Nerdy Book Club 
I fondly remember Charlotte’s Web being read aloud by my second-grade teacher. Wonder by R.J. Palacio is an amazing read-aloud for 2017-2018.
Two unforgettable books.
A read a loud I remember from fourth grade is “Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH” and one of the favorite read alouds for my second graders this year is “THe Wild Robot” and “The WIld Robot Escapes”.
The Wild Robot is a game changer! Such an amazing book.
Oh my gosh. I read those books myself this year and they are awesome.
I recall my second grade teacher reading Pippi Longstocking. This year’s favorite read aloud was After the Fall.
After The Fall is mind blowing.
The Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E Frankweiler- in sixth grade. I couldn’t wait each day to hear the next chapter!
I loved Mixed Up Files!
I loved having Madeline read to me. My favorite read aloud this year was Wishtree by Katherine Applegate. It was amazing to see and hear their reactions to the story.
Hooray for wishtree! I read that one aloud to my students, too. 🙂
My seventh grade English teacher read us Death Be Not Proud and allowed us to journal to begin each class. I still have my journal and I don’t remember anything else from that class.
My favorite read aloud from this year is Horrible Bear by Ame Dyckman and Zach O’Hora My first and second graders love it and request it and read it to each other all the time.
Horrible Bear is so fun to read aloud. I’m glad your readers got to have that book read aloud to them.
We have read soooo many great books this year! Right now we are reading the first in the Unicorn Rescue Society series and loving it. Too hard to choose.
I read that one aloud to my daughters. They LOVED it!
my 4th grade teacher read ‘a wrinkle in time’ aloud to us, and i have never forgotten it.
• I am a principal but love •love• love when I get to sub for our ELA Teachers and do read aloud. This year I got to read To Kill A Mockigbird to class AND to my own daughter as she was also reading it in her school. The book that I remember being read
To as a child all started with “This is the House That Jack Built” ❤️❤️ Started my love for reading then!
A read aloud I remember is A Wrinkle in Time.
I remember my third grade teacher reading James and the Giant Peach aloud, and it was magical. My favorite read aloud from this year has been A Long Walk to Water. My kids were stunned by the ending!
James!!!! I haven’t read that book is so long.
In 5th grade, read aloud was after lunch. If we were good- we got extra time for read aloud. So I made darn sure my fellow fifth graders were in a straight, quiet line in the hallway! 🤫 I loved being transported from the classrooom to Sam Gribley’s hemlock tree in the Catskill Mountains (My Side of the Mountain). There I lived off the land with Sam proving to my family that I could do it, all on my own. I felt lile that book was written for me because I dreamed of doing the same thing! I will NEVER forget that book and the joy it brought me after lunch! I am reading The Thief of Always to my fifth grade class now and THEY CANNOT GET ENOUGH. I love seeing their faces light up following Harvey on his adventure and hope they too never forget this experience. ❤️
You are a read aloud champion!
Favorite read alouds from when I was a kid: The Giver and Julie of the Wolves. My favorite read aloud of this year is The Wild Robot. My kids have been asking every day since we finished if we can read the sequel 🙂 We’re going to start it next week.
Hooray for listening to kids! They are going to love book 2.
Growing up in Guatemala and just attending up to the six grade, I do not remember having any book read out loud to me. When I started working as a teacher assistant in a first grade classroom, I would enjoy all the picture books the teacher would read to the students and that was my first experience hearing a book read out loud to me. I would have to say that the book for 2017 and 2018 that I remember for real I would be The Last Stop on Market Street read out loud by the author himself Matt de la Pena.
Our favorite read aloud this year was Fish in a Tree.
I need to read that book aloud. It is so good!
I remember my second grade teacher, Mrs. Snyder, reading A Wrinkle in Time! My fourth grade students’ favorite read alouds (must be plural!) are The Wild Robot, and currently, The Wild Robot Escapes. Magical moments shared together…just magical!
I bet your students were so excited to spend more time with Roz.
It’s hard to choose! This year, we read aloud Towers Falling, Maxi’s Secrets, The Wild Robot, and The Wild Robot Escapes. Each evoked different emotions, and that’s what it’s all about!
Great variety! How was Towers Falling as a read aloud?
“The Hundred Dresses”was one of my favs. This year my favorite read alouds were Wishtree, Wild Robot or The Last Fifth Grade Class of Emerson Elementary. So hard to choose.
You have some pretty lucky students. GREAT PICKS!
I have quite a few different favorite books that became my favorites after a teacher read them aloud to me. I own them all and re-read them as often as I can! My favorite, if I have to choose, would have to be The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis.
My favorite read aloud of the 2017/2018 school year is Baby Monkey, Private Eye by Brian Selznick. My daughter absolutely LOVED this book and it was fun introducing her to Selznick.
I wonder how many kids have sat in classrooms experiencing Lewis’s books as a read aloud. Lucky kids!
Oh yes! I remember that being read to me too! I could never get into reading them myself though. Still something on my bucket list.
Too hard to pick just one but Restart and Refugee have been great!
I wasn’t read aloud to in school when I was younger. But lucky for me had great parents who did! Loved the Island of the Blue Dolphins!
I’m glad you had parents that read aloud to you. That makes such a big impact on young readers.
I had a great 5th grade teacher who read many great books to us, but I think my favorite was A Wrinkle in Time. This year I think my favorite read aloud was The Wild Robot Escapes. My third graders loved it (we read the The Wild Robot first) and so did I!
I will always remember the magic of The Indian in the Cupboard. I know it has its issues today, but as a third grader in 1987 it was magic. When I first got my job as a school librarian 9 years ago I tried to read it, but it wasn’t the same. It doesn’t change my experience with it though.
This year, I think my favorite read aloud was After the Fall by Dan Santat. The reactions on the students’ faces on the last page were priceless! My kindergarten read aloud favorite from this year was Red and Lulu by Matt Tavares. The gasps were audible and they cheered at the end. It is a book they ask for every week.
I wish I could do a chapter book read aloud but it would take months, and I think it looses something. I do start chapter books to introduce them to something new…I know now to be prepared with multiple copies and the holds list! 😉
My favorite read aloud as a kid wasn’t until high school. I loved Shakespeare. For the 2017-2018 school year, our favorite read aloud was Hatchet.
Hatchet is still going strong!
My first grade teacher read Charlotte’s Web and I remember her crying when Charlotte was dying. It sparked me to read that book a few years later when I could and also read The Tumpet of the Swan and Stuart Little. My favorite read aloud for my class this year was The Wild Robot. My class fell in love with Toz and we are now just finishing The Wild Robot Escapes.
A book a remember being read to me was Green Eggs and Ham. I loved it and quickly learned the entire book. My favorite read aloud for 2017-2018 is The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane. I adore this book and specifically make time for it every year.
After the Fall by Dan Santat
I remember reading “Charlotte’s Web” in first grade.
This year as a second grade class, we’ve loved “The Wild Robot” and “The Wild Robot Escapes.” My third graders are jealous since the WRE just came out in March so they haven’t read it yet! We’ve also really loved “Winn Dixie.” It was my first read of it and I really had a good time reading it– and plan to do more with it next year!
My childhood was a long time ago and I don’t remember any read alouds, but in my first year of teaching, I read The Secret Garden and attempted a British accent. I still remember the magic of sharing that space and time with my students.
My favorite read aloud this year was Scar Island by Dan Gemeinhart. It kept us on the edges of our seats all the way through.
As a child, I vividly remember listening to James and the Giant Peach. This year I loved sharing Zane and the Hurricane with my students. Both fabulous adventures with great themes.
The only read aloud I remember as a kid was the Last of the Really Great Wangdoodles. And I loved Wishtree and Wild Robot Returns for new read alouds this year. But I loved Johnny Tremain for the depth of conversations we had.
For YEARS as a kid I named Whangdoodles as my very favorite book! So fun to “meet” someone else who knows it.
In 1964 my teacher always read a chapter from a novel every day after lunch. She read a book to us that I have never forgotten, but I could not recall the name of the book. The plot centers on kids stranded in a sinking island. Your question resulted in a search through Loganberry Books of Cleveland, Ohio, website. The search results: Mindlin, Helen Mather-Smith. Dangerous Island. New York: Dodd,Mead & Co., 1956. Weekly Reader Book Club. So excited to locate (and purchase) a copy of the book on Amazon. Thank you so much for your post!!!
I’ll never forget listening to the end of A Bridge to Terabithia when I was in 6th grade.
This year my favorite read aloud was Just Like Jackie by Lindsey Stoddard. Students loved Robinson as if she were their classmate!
When I was very young my dad would read Go Dog Go to me and my sister nearly every night. We didn’t have a lot of money and neither of my parents graduated high school but they understood the importance of reading and enrolled in the book of the month club and Go Dog Go came into our lives. My sister and I can still quote many parts of that book to this very day.
This year as a librarian I read Some Kind of Courage by Dan Grmeinhart, in weekly installments to all my fourth graders. For many of them this was the first novel they heard from start to finish. We couldn’t wait to go on an adventure with Joseph every Monday. A perfect read aloud because every chapter was a cliffhanger leaving them begging not to stop each week and leaving us all a little sad to reach the conclusion. Most of them really hoped there was a sequel. It was an amazing experience for everyone.
I vividly remember being read Goodnight Moon. Later in life, it was weird how my memory still remembered how the book changed from black and white to color photos. This year I read Counting on Community in my Ed Psych class and they loved it.
Wishtree has been my favorite read aloud this year. The discussion with children and the message to welcome all is so beautiful. When I was young I remember my grandma reading a Helen Keller biography to me. It is where my love of teaching and learning began. She was my childhood hero.
My strongest memory of a read aloud was from third grade when the teacher read The Box Car Children series all year. I remember that I hated it when we had a substitute because she just wouldn’t do the voices the same and it never seemed ‘right’. This year, my favorite was Wishtree. We just discussed this as a class and the students were tied between Wonder and The Witches.
I really don’t remember being read to as a child, I just remember reading. We always had library books and I remember traveling to far away places and times in these books.
My favorite read aloud this year has been To Kill a Mockingbird. We study the Depression in Social Studies so this is a perfect novel to understand that tome period. My students always say that is their favorite novel!!!
To Build a Fire by Jack London and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe are my two read aloud favorites from my childhood. This year my favorite read aloud was Life in the Ocean: The Story of Oceanographer Sylvia Earle by Clare Nivola and Sea Otter Heroes: The Predators that Saved an Ecosystem by Patricia Newman. Both changed the way my students and I live on this beautiful fragile planet.
I remember reading Crash by Jerry Spinelli when I was in fifth grade. Currently my favorite read alouds are Journey, Quest and Return by Aaron Becker. Our favorite chapter book read aloud was Rain, Reign by Ann M Martin.
As a kid: Hatchet
This year: Boxes for Katje
My favorite read-aloud in school was Freckle Juice by Judy Blume! I still have my copy! My students have enjoyed hearing Frogkisser this year!!
I have read both The Wild Robot and The Wild Robot Escapes this year and they are my co-favorites. My favorite part has been the ongoing debate between two of my students if Roz has feelings or not. As for being read to, one of my fondest memories is my dad reading Babar the Elephant and trying to find Zephyr the Monkey on every page.
My favorite read aloud this year would be Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds. I read JUST enough to create interest and small tiffs over who would get to read it. I can still recall my 4th-grade teacher reading The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe to our class after lunch. i sent her a Facebook message just yesterday to thank her for that gift!
I remember Black Beauty-the picture book version. I can see it when I close my eyes. It was a yellow book with a beautiful black horse on the front. This year, Wishtree has been my favorite. Such a wonderful story!
My favorite read aloud was From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. I was ready to jump on a bus and go to New York. However, getting there from Wyoming would have been quite a trip! This year, I’ve had so many amazing read alouds but my favorite has been Refugee by Alan Gratz. We learned so much about people and ourselves and still use it as a reference.
As a child, I remember Charlotte’s web being read aloud to me. I was in awe…whisked away to a magical place where animals talked and you could understand them, the pure friendship, I still love this one today. I read it every year to my second graders. This year, my favorite read aloud with my students had to be Wonder! We did this as a whole school read aloud and it was amazing. The conversations that followed after reading this book will be with me forever.
2017-18 read aloud: Refugee by Alan Gratz
We were introduced to Watership Down in fifth grade. As I recall in took most of the school year to get though but oh what an amazing adventure. I still remember the anticipation and conversation it created even after 30 years.
My 5th & 6th grade teacher read The Adventures of Tom Sawyer to us. My favorite readaloud for this year was Restart by Gordon Korman. Bawled my eyes out at the end…some of the kids said, “good acting” but it was for REAL! 🙂
I teach fifth grade and Wonder by R. J. Palacio is always my students’ and my favorite. I start the year with it, and end it with Auggie and Me.
My favorite book a teacher read to me growing up was The Mysterious Disappearance of Leon (I Mean Noel) by Ellen Raskin. The teacher started crying she was laughing so hard.
My favorite read aloud of this year is hands down The Wild Robot Escapes. We preordered it as a class which was a lot of fun. The anticipation of the release date was amazing. While I read it to the kids, you could hear a pin drop. Some of them even held their breath at parts. It was an experience i will never forget.
The only book I was ever read aloud in school was in 6th grade (still in elementary school) and it was The True Confessions of Charolette Doyle by Avi. I was not able to read higher level texts independently and it changed my life. In class my students and I are finishing up the year with Wishtree.
My favorite book read aloud to me as a kid was The Polar Express. I still love it and now my daughter regularly wants me to read it, no matter what time of year it is!
My favorite read aloud from this year was Angel Girl by Laurie B. Friedman. I love read picture books aloud to my 7th graders and they really loved this Holocaust story with a happy ending!
*reading picture books
My 5th grade teacher read us Tuck Everlasting. This year, I read Restart for the first time to my 5th graders, and they loved it!
My favorite read aloud as a child was Charlotte’s Web. I was captivated! We were all into the story and begged our teacher to read more!
I remember only one series in all my schooling – the Wilder series. My love of reading was found in a library. However, in my class – this year’s favorites were Wild Robot and Harry Potter and the Chamber Of Secrets (kids think they know about Harry because of the movies, but I love to reintroduce them through Rowling’s words).
My favorite book read aloud to me was “There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly.” My kindergarten teacher added such animation when she read it, 30 years later it still remains my favorite. This year we have loved reading Patricia Polacco’s Tucky Jo and Little Heart.
I think Charlotte’s Web was my favorite read aloud as a child. This year I read Wish by Barbara O’Connor to my 4th grade students…they loved it!
I loved having The Westing Game read to me in class! This year I loved reading Absolutely, Almost to my 5th graders.
The Phantom Tollbooth had such an impact on me that I painted the map from the endpages to fill a bedroom wall!
Among favorites of students this year were Dan Gemeinhart’s The Honest Truth and Some Kind of Courage.
I read The Tequila Worm this year by Viola Canales and my students LOVED it! They all said the had never read a book like it. My favorite read aloud from childhood was probably in 1992 when my mom read The Giver to me. It had just come out and now when I read it to my students I still see the same pictures in my head that I did when I was 9.
Two favorite read alouds as a student: The Boxcar Children in second grade has stuck with me for some reason after all these years. Even more memorably, when I was in college, one of my Education professors read The Witch of Blackbird Pond to us to model the power of a class read aloud. THAT was amazing as few of my teachers had done read alouds. For my class this year I have a hard time choosing between Wonder by RJ Palacio and Rump by Liesl Shurtliff.
I most remember being read the Wayside School books in third grade – we each chose one of the characters to represent us and I was Maurecia. My favorite read-aloud this year has been Blue Sky, White Stars – it really sparked some amazing discussion among my students.
The only book that was ever read aloud to me was The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe. I was in 5th grade. I didn’t know how to listen to it because no one had ever read to me before, so the first half of the book was spent trying to figure out how to listen to a story read to me. (I was a struggling reader. Any surprises there? All my stories came from basal readers. No wonder I didn’t want to read!)
My favorite book I read aloud this year was Greetings from Witness Protection. It was also my students favorite. Since I never heard stories, I make it a point to read aloud to my class as much as possible.
You were randomly selected as the winner of a copy of Amal Unbound. Please email the address you want me to send your book: colbysharp@gmail.com
Teaching high school seniors this year, reading Wonder was so much better than I expected. Then met kids at the movies. I LOVE my job.
As a kid, who didn’t love Amelia Bedelia? Pretty sure no one who read it to me got to the end without me asking 1000 questions and laughing to whole way through.
Happy Hump Day!
As a student, my favorite read aloud was Tales of s Fourth Grade Nothing. How could you not empathize with Peter Hatcher??
This year in my library, my students were mesmerized by After the Fall. You know a book is extra-special when students gasp aloud and spontaneously burst into applause at the end. The illustrations, the story… magic
I don’t remember that many read-alouds from when I was a kid… except Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing.
My students this year loved WONDER and the first Harry Potter book, as well as The Wild Robot and also THE BFG.
I’m sad to say I don’t think my teachers read out loud to us when I was in school. Maybe why I love doing it as a fifth grade teacher! Favorite read aloud with my students is Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key!
My sixth grade teacher read And Then There None by Agatha Christi to us and then we got to watch the black and white movie and eat popcorn. She was an amazing reader! Some Kind of Courage was my 6th grade students’ favorite read aloud this year.
My favorite read aloud as a kid was Sounder and current read aloud would have to be Wishtree.
As a student, Charlotte’s Web was a memorable second-grade read aloud. My favorite read aloud from this year-hands down-has been The Wild Robot.
The read aloud I most vividly remember from my childhood is The Secret Garden. This year I enjoyed reading aloud Save Me a Seat by Gita Varadarajan and Sarah Weeks with my classes.
I loved reading Freak the Mighty by Rodman Philbrick to 6th grade students. I cried at the end year after year. I also loved Harris and Me by Gary Paulsen. It was just edgy enough for 5th and 6th graders and every chapter was hilarious. I’m a reading coach now and don’t get to spend enough time with just one room to read aloud chapter books and I really miss it!
I’m reading The Case of the Deadly Desperados by Caroline Lawrence to my Reno, Nevada Fourth graders. It is full of Nevada history, mining, and adventure. My kids are loving it. Read Aloud is my favorite part of the day.
I also loved my fourth grade read alouds. Every single one of them. I think A Wrinkle in Time was my favorite back then.
Our third grade teacher make “Pippi Longstocking” come alive for us as she read aloud. It has always been a favorite and sparked my imagination! I was given a picture book by Scott Magoon. “Breathe” is a story that Regie Routman read to a group of our Iowa teachers when getting ready for our state reading conference. Regie asked us all to sit back and relax and just “breathe” and to remember what is most important as we help our students become readers and writers. She autographed the book and presented it to me (I had been her Iowa liaison for this Q&A session.)
A read-aloud I’ve enjoyed sharing with students this year is “Memoirs of a Hamster” by Devin Scillian. When I’ve visited some of our K-2 classes this year to cover for their teacher for a short while, this story captivates the students, and keeps them attentive. They enjoy hearing about the cat’s tricks. And I enjoy using my flair for drama to convey the character’s emotions.
Nancy, when I’ve read Pippi to kids, I have always been shocked and delighted by how much they (still!) love it.
A book I remember being read aloud to me in school was “Number the Stars” and “Snow Treasure.” My favorite, and my students’ favorite read alouds this year have been “Freak the Mighty” and “Wishtree.”
My favorite read aloud this year was “The Lightning Girl” by Stacy McAnulty. I read this aloud to all of our 3rd, 4th and 5th grade students and each day they did not want it to end!
I remember “Little House on the Prairie” read aloud in 4th grade and I read all of the series after that!
I vividly remember Number the Stars in sixth grade (this was after a garbage fifth grade year of NO READ ALOUDS). I still remember thinking that that was the perfect book at the perfect time.
Our favorite book has been The Wild Robot. My kids are wheeling and dealing at recess to see who gets the sequel next.
With a one room school which contains kindergarten through seventh grade kids, I think deeply about the books which we read aloud. We just finished Sink or Swim by Steve Watkins. It is about 12 year old who joins the navy during WWII and reflects real people who did such a thing. It was totally engrossing to all of my kids! Amazingly, Refugee by Alan Gratz is tying with Sink or Swim. For myself, Hatchet opened the door to a whole new perspective on books way back when!
I remember two books being read aloud to me, “Charlotte’s Web” and “Where the Red Fern Grows”. I teach at the high school level and haven’t done many read aloud, but after reading “A Novel Approach” and “Passionate Readers” I am seriously considering looking for some picture books that will not only work as a great read aloud but also can be used for mentor texts.
I remember my third grade teacher reading us “Charlotte’s Web” and crying when Charlotte died. It was the first time I saw the deep and emotional impact a book can have on someone.
My favorite read aloud this year was “The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane”. My fourth graders did not want it to end and they are still asking me if there is a sequel.
I loved having Charlotte’s Web read to me. My favorite read alouds right now are picture books because they are so easy to teach with. Gaston, Pout Pout Fish, and Little Blue Truck were some of my middle schoolers favorites during our theme exploration!
Ramona the Pest is one of my favorites! I think my first grade teacher read it aloud.
My favorite read aloud this year was Ivan: The Remarkable True Story of the Shopping Mall Gorilla!
I love that your teacher read you Ramona. Smart teacher!
I don’t remember a read aloud from my childhood but I love to read to my students. This Year my favorite read aloud was Restart By Gordan Korman! my 5th and 6th graders loved this book!
Mr Strong by Roger Hargreaves. I laughed.
Wolf Hollow by Lauren Volk. I cried.
I remember my mom reading Swiss Family Robinson to my sister and I. It remains a favorite 40 years later!
I have never read it. I need to change that.
My heart is deeply connected to “Just for You” by Mercer Mayer. My mom shared that book with me when I was kid.
The students were deeply engaged when I read aloud “The Youngest Marcher: The Story of Audrey Faye Hendricks, A Civil Rights Activist” to fifth graders. Students were surprised to learn that nine-year-old Ms. Hendricks went to juvenile detention for a week to protest segregation laws.
Trumpet of the Swan – my absolute most favorite from my third grade teacher, Mrs. Lennox! Home of the Brave by Katherine Applegate has been my favorite read aloud this year!
Our favorite read aloud this year…what a difficult question to answer. My class voted The Wild Robot as the narrow favorite over One and Only Ivan. But we had some heated discussions before voting and many other titles came into the mix as well. The book I remember from my childhood is Wrinkle in Time. My fourth grade teacher read it aloud to us (just a few years after it was published mind you), and I’ve shared it for many years with my classes.
I very clearly remember being read Charlotte’s Web in second grade. (My Little Library has Wilber and Charlotte painted on it! Must of had an impact.) This year my class would say that The War That Saved My Life was their favorite read aloud. We launched our year with this book, and it resonates with them still as they make connections with it and still talk about Ada.
The summer I turned nine I had the measles. I was already an avid reader, so lying in a darkened room without books was pure torture. Somehow, even with three younger children, my mother made the time to read to me, and it was Little House in the Big Woods. Of course, I went on to read the whole series.
AMAZING! Thank you for sharing that. Your mom rocks!
Maniac Magee by Spinelli is my favorite for 4th grade discussions.
I can vividly remember being read aloud Fantastic Mr. Fox by Roald Dahl in third grade. It’s what made me fall in love with his books. The read aloud that has been my favorite this year has been Oliver Jeffers book, The Incredible Book Eating Boy.
When I was in 6th Grade my teacher read Indian in the Cupboard and did all the different voices of the characters. He is my inspiration for reading aloud. My favorite read aloud this year in 6th grade was A Long Way Down.
My favorite read aloud in school was “Where the Red Fern Grows” in fourth grade, every day after lunch. Right now, I am reading my favorite read aloud with my 7th Graders, “Orbiting Jupiter”.
I remember my mom reading us Island of the Blue Dolphins. It was the first (but certainly not the last!) time a book brought me to tears. Right now I’m reading Ghost Boys (Jewell Parker Rhodes) aloud to my sixth grade classes. They’re riveted.
I do not remember teachers reading aloud to us. I have read aloud every year for my 17 years of teaching – a favorite is Watson’s Go to Birmingham, 1963 or Wonder or Out of My Mind or Malcolm At Midnight or…I have a lot of favorites! 🙂
Didn’t intend to comment, but reading these made me remember having Matilda read aloud in Elementary. I would tell my friends every day during lunch what had happened that day. It was truly a transformative experience!
That makes me so happy! Thank you for sharing.
I have been reading “A Horn for Louis” about Louis Armstrong’s childhood. I read it to all from Kindergarten to 6th grade and then follow with some youtube videos of his performances. The kids and I both love it! So much learning happening in such a few words…
(Just love reading other people’s recollections, and reminiscing!)
Favourite read aloud was Charlotte’s Web. I grew up to be an author-illustrator and still can’t get enough of anthropomorphized animals.
I’m only reading out loud for my own pleasure lately (no little ones), and just bought “Duck, Death and the Tulip” (2011) which I read out loud, in the car, to my self, alone… just beautiful.
I remember in fifth grade getting choices of 3 books that we had to rank by our interest. I was so excited to read Harriet the Spy!
Currently in my classroom, our favorite picture books read aloud are: Each Kindness, The Invisible Boy and The Legend of Rock Paper Scissors!
When I was in 5th or 6th grade, I remember having “The Wheel on the School” read to me and I loved it! The favorite read aloud of my 3rd graders this year was “Because of Winn-Dixie” followed closely by “The Tale of Despereaux” – this class fell in love with Kate diCamillo’s writing!
Memory from my childhood: Mrs. Piggle Wiggle. The school librarian read those aloud to us from 2nd grade to 4th grade.
My favorite from this school year …. that’s hard, but I’m going to say Losers Club by Andrew Clements.
The read aloud that has stayed with me the longest was Among the Hidden by Margaret Peterson Haddix. In fact, I’ve recently started reading the entire series because I didn’t know it existed as a child!
This year my second graders and I loved reading Lulu and the Brontosaurus by Judith Viorst.
Sadly, I have no memories of teachers reading aloud to me. Granted I’m about to turn 50 so maybe it wasn’t the thing to do back then. However, Ms. Dameron did teach us how to do The Hustle. 🙂 I work mainly with the presschool set, and by far, the favorite it After the Fall.
Thank you for promoting read alouds!!!
As a child, I remember my teacher reading Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls to the class.
This year I read aloud “Ms. Bixby’s Last Day” by John Anderson and the students were enthralled!
I vividly remember the scene from Bunnicula in which the dog eats a sourball and can’t handle it. I can still picture the pucker!
As for me, my favorite read-aloud this year has actually been A.A. Milne’s Winnie-The-Pooh. My fifth graders couldn’t believe how clever the book is, and we have giggled our way through many of Pooh’s hijinks. I always like when the kids discover a book that doesn’t get the credit it deserves.
I don’t remember any teachers reading to me, but I loved reading out loud to my friends! Anything by Roald Dahl was a winner. As a librarian I don’t get to read entire novels to my students, but I did recommend Wish Tree by Applegate to a 3rd grade teacher this year and her students shared how much they loved it 🙂 Hoping to convince a 5th grade teacher to read Ghost Boys out loud to a class next year.
My most memorable read aloud was Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. My fourth grade teacher read it aloud to us as it was released and it was such a magical experience! This year, my favorite read aloud was Shoe Time with a first grade class who absolutely adores anything Elephant and Piggie. When I got a copy for the library, I waited to surprise them with it and they loved it!
My 6th grade teacher read us Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes. I was totally mesmerized. Still love it to this day.
My favorite from this year is Wishtree, hands down.
One I remember: Mrs Fuller reading Tales of a 4th Grade Nothing to us in 4th grade.
Most memorable from this school year: The Watsons Go to Birmingham, 1963. There were many laughs and some tears shared between my students and me.
My favorite read aloud from school as a child was Bridge to Terabithia. My fifth grade teacher had us draw what we visualized as she read and escaping to Terabithia I still remembering escaping to Terabithia with Leslie and Jesse. My favorite read aloud of this year has been The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane. I think I liked it so much because it is sad. Kids need sad books. My students and I finished it yesterday and we all feel this gaping hole now.
Bridge to Terabithia in 6th grade.
Wonder to my class.
I remember being read Agatha Christie’s book, “And Then There Were None” lin middle school. I had an amazing language arts teacher.
My favorite read aloud to my K-2 striving readers is “Baby Monkey, Private Eye.” I love their surprise and their giggles!
One read-aloud that I remember from elementary school was Follow My Leader. It had such a profound impact on me about how to treat others. This year in 5th grade, we have enjoyed so many good books, but two favorites would have to be Long Walk to Water and Out of My Mind. While reading Out of My Mind, a parent commented to me that her son never talked about books, ever, and he could not stop talking about that book. He went home every day and talked about what we read that day. He even talked his mom into reading it, too! After reading Long Walk to Water, my kids organized a school-wide fundraiser project to raise money for Water for South Sudan. That book was truly a life-changing book for them.
In second grade, our Principal came in once a week to read Charlotte’s Web. That was fantastic. My favorite read aloud this year was Refugee by Alan Gratz
I remember most the books my fifth grade teacher year read to our class. That school year she read aloud “The Wind in the Willows,” “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland,” “Johnny Tremain,” and (my favorite) “Incident at Hawk’s Hill.” Those books have made a lasting impression on me. It was also the first year that I saw myself as a “strong” reader. I remember fifth grade with fond memories.
The past year was the first one in a new position for me. Previously, I had spent seventeen years as the children’s director in a public library and read-aloud on a weekly basis. This past year I began as director of the same public library and have less opportunity to read aloud. However, my favorite read-aloud for this past year is “The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey” that I read to a group of senior citizens in an assisted living facility. We are never too old to have books read aloud to us!
It’s sad to say that I don’t recall one book being read aloud to me while in school. This year the fifth graders liked Hello, Universe. The fourth graders were tied in their favorite book I read aloud: Nine, Ten: A September 11th Story and Ghost.
My childhood read aloud that I remember most was, “There’s a Boy in the Girl’s Bathroom,” by Louis Sachar.
One of the many hats I wear at school is Teacher Librarian, so for a picture book read aloud it was, “Most People,” by Michael Leannah. I’ve recommended, “Ms. Bixby’s Last Day,” by John David Anderson for a chapter book read aloud for older students.
A favorite read aloud from my childhood would have to be Tales of the Fourth Grade Nothing. One of my favorite read alouds this year was The Honest Truth.
That is quite the pair!
My grandmother read Little House on the Prairie with me on weekend sleepovers. I’ve always enjoyed Jan Brett’s Gingerbread Baby to share with students; really anything Jan Brett!
I have two favorite read alouds from my childhood. First, I loved it when my mom read We Like Kindergarten. It was a Little Golden Book. She changed the names of the characters to my classmates and me. She always let me pick my classmates. The Book was different every time!
My favorite school read aloud was Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH. My fifth grade teacher always had a book for us, but this was my favorite.
Stunned to see how much my junior high students enjoyed “Booked” by Kwame Alexander as a read aloud this year. Going to try Jason Reynolds’ “Ghost” next.
I remember reading My Father’s Dragon in third grade. Now, I always start the year reading that book aloud to my fourth graders. My favorite read aloud this year was A Night Divided. I love all of the great conversations my students and I can have with that book. Also, it leaves them on the edge of their seats!
I loved listening to From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. This year our whole school read The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane. Our students still talk about it.
One book I remember from when I was in school was Sharon Creech’s Walk Two Moons. My favorite read aboud this year was All the Broken Pieces. 🙂
I remember my 3rd grade teacher reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone. I also fondly remember my parents reading aloud to me at home. The Giving Tree was read and talked about a lot!
This year my fifth grade class and I love reading aloud! We loved reading After The Fall, Wonder, Home of the Brave, and The Honest Truth.
We begin every year reading Hatchet. The kids all have a copy and read along. Gossamer; Knuckleheads; Thunder Cave; Streams to the River, River to the Sea; and The Last if the Really Great Whangdoodles read to my fourth and fifth graders. Read Echo to my sixth grade Language Arts class and they LOVED it, even though it took until Christmas.
I’m currently reading A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness to my 7th graders. It is amazing and transports us between real life and fantasy with each chapter we read. I hope I can get through the ending without falling to pieces!
My favorite read aloud from my childhood was The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein. My favorite read aloud to my seventh graders this year was Love That Dog and A Long Walk to Water.
I loved Sideways Stories from Wayside School when I was a kid! My favorite read aloud this year has been Wonder! There are SO MANY teachable moments in this book! Love, love, LOVE it! Even though I totally cried my eyes out when I read the scene where Daisy died. But, I wasn’t alone. Most of my kids were in tears too.
My first grade teacher read “How to Eat Fried Worms” to us and gave us gummy worms for each chapter!
Oh! But my favorite books to read aloud are a toss up between The Giver and Freak the Mighty. I LOVE reading Loretta’s voice!
One of my favorite read alouds that’s was read to me was probably Stone Fox. My teacher had an incredible knack for stopping at just the right time. I’ve read some pretty incredible read alouds this year, but at the top of the list would have to be Rebound by Kwame Alexander. The man is truly a master! (I know my students would agree.)
I remember my mom reading us Island of the Blue Dolphins. It was the first (but certainly not the last!) time a book brought me to tears. Right now I’m reading Ghost Boys (Jewell Parker Rhodes) aloud to my sixth grade classes. They’re riveted.
I remember my high school English teacher reading us The Velveteen Rabbit. I had always loved books, but that was the moment I fell in love with picture books and knew I wanted to teach. Our favorite book this year has been Because of Mr. Terupt.
In third grade my teacher read James and the Giant Peach.
I recently finished Save Me A Seat and think it’d make a phenomenal read aloud.
My kindergarten teacher way back in the Dark Ages read us Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy. I can still picture the room with the sunlight spilling in the large windows as sat and listened.
My favorite read aloud this year to my girls’ classes is Walking with Miss Millie by Tamara Bundy
Read aloud is my favorite time of the day. I am currently reading The Wild Robot to my class and they are loving it. Another favorite this year was Wonder.
As a child, I remember my third grade teacher reading Banner in the Sky to us.
I’m currently reading Good Dog by D. Gemeinhart to my 4th graders. I couldn’t agree with you more about the importance of read aloud. It’s without a doubt my favorite thing about being a teacher.
I remember being read Rabbit Hill by a classroom teacher. My school librarian would read Bill Peet books to us. All of us clapped and cheered when she would read another one. I have a few favorite read alouds from this year. One of them where you could hear a pin drop in the room was Tucky Jo and Little Heart by Patricia Polacco. We were all choked up. Some pairings of the original and new release that were popular this year were Mother Bruce with Hotel Bruce and Creepy Carrots with Creepy Pair of Underwear. They are never in the library.
All the Little Golden Books were my favorites. Whenever I would go grocery shopping with my Mom, she would buy me one and we would read it as soon as we got home. ❤️I loved reading and sharing Out of Wonder this year.
My favorite read aloud as a child was actually Beowulf in upper elementary. The teacher read it with serious amounts of enthusiasm.
This year I have enjoyed sharing the beginning of The Wild Robot with third grade. I think the most magical read aloud experience for me was reading A Different Pond with many of my classes.
Charlotte’s Web – my teacher cried-we all cried in 5 th grade
This year After the Fall- big emotional impact on all my First and Second Grade students- I am a Reading Recovery-Intervention teacher. Read aloud is very important for my students.
I’m not sure I remember any books that were read to me in my childhood. =(
But hands down, my favorite read-aloud to READ to younger children is Toys Go Out by Emily Jenkins. It is resplendent with opportunities to do voices. Similarly, I love reading The Hitch-Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy to older kids.
One of my favorite read aloud is Faithful Elephants. (A True Story of Animals, People and War) by Yukio Tsuchiya. It is a powerful read aloud. When you are finished don’t be surprised to be able to hear a pin drop.
My mother read aloud the Trixie Belden books to me (showing my age) at bedtime each night before I cpuld read.
My favorite this year has been The Crossover. The boys in our book club are loving it and I am loving their reaponse to it.
2017-18. After the Fall by Dan Santant was the best!
1. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
2. Wonder
I have two very memorable books and they were both read to me by my third grade teacher, Ribsy by Beverly Cleary and Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White. My favorite read aloud this year…. Wild Robot by Peter Brown.
Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus. I had 8th grade boys checking out the book after I read it during March is Reading month read alouds!! Fantastic first chapters that really hook readers with a funny narrator.
My favorite read-aloud memory is pretty nuts: it was freshman year honors English class, and our teacher would have us put our heads down on our desks for the last ten minutes of class and she’d read us stories from Stephen King’s SKELETON CREW. That break in the day meant a lot to me. My favorite read-aloud that I read to my kids this year was a tie between Peter Brown’s WILD ROBOT and Frank Cotrell Boyce’s SPUTNIK’S GUIDE TO LIFE ON EARTH.
My favorite read alouds were any Dr. Seuss books with my parents. Sadly, I don’t remember any read alouds from my teachers. My favorite this year to read aloud has been Ghost Boys.
As a child, The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton. As a teacher, Charlotte’s Web is always #1. My favorite for the current school year is The Wild Robot.
No Fighting, No Biting by Elise minRik , illus by Sendak was a childhood favorite
This year favorite. The good for nothing button
I remember Sylvester and Magic Pebble being read to my class in 1988. I was terrified for Sylvester and wondered what it would be like if I was separated from my parents, and there was so much fear! I read that book to my class 3 years ago and this time around as a parent, I was moved to tiny tears thinking about what I would do and feel if my own children went missing. Again I was traumatized by this beautiful book. And my students loved it too!
This year we read On My Honor by Marion Dane Bauer in my 5th grade class. The kids wanted to keep going and going through each chapter. It was a new read for me as well. I loved hearing the kids’ perspectives on the characters. And I kept thinking throughout the book, no child should have to deal with something so big. I wish the (character’s) parents knew. Obviously I got a little carried away with it too. I’ll be reading it again September!
One book I remember being read aloud to me when I was younger is “Charlotte’s Web.” I loved Fern and Wilbur and Charlotte. I cried when we were finished.
My favorite read aloud with my 9th graders this year was “To Kill a Mockkngbird.” We had rich discussions with every chapter we read together.
Tales of the Fourth Grade Nothing was the greatest read aloud book- ever! My 2nd grade teacher gave Fudge the BEST voice!
This year, I’d have to say Wishtree and Wild Robot are a tie. There’s so much to talk about with both books! And kids LOVE them!!
Thank you for that! I’ve been hoping to give my kids’ teachers (first and second grade next year, eek!) some books for their classroom library. ❤
I was lucky to have been read to a lot as a child by my elementary school teachers, starting from kindergarten’s Clifford to third grade’s “How to Eat Fried Worms.” My favorite was Super Fudge though. It was read to us in third grade. In my classroom, we are currently reading the amazing Kate DiCamillo’s, “The Tiger Rising.” We are going through the emotional journey as has brought a many great conversations.
This year we read A Long Walk To Water. Linda Sue Park is a great author and it is a relatively short read, but very deep. My favorite read aloud when I was young was Peter Rabbit, lived those stories.
Secret garden in 6th grade – sister Elizabeth read it to us- I have no clue what it was about- I just loved her voice. I – 5 th grade teacher (19 th year…) still love readin mick hearte was here by Barbara park- best read aloud ever
I remember my fifth grade teacher reading Sign of the Beaver. My favorite read aloud was Wish. I truly love reading to my kids. It is my favorite part of the day!
Growing up, I don’t remember any read-aloud in school. But in my early childhood years, I remember my mom reading aloud to me, and I loved anything by Dr. Seuss or P.D. Eastman.
Best read-aloud this year: All-American Boys with a group of high school seniors. I think it was life-changing for a few of them, who went on to independently read The Hate You Give.
My 5th grade teacher read Mark Twain books to us everyday. I had my mom buy me the entire set.
I remember being read The Great Gilly Hopkins- it was a dear favorite. This year our upper elementary favorite is probably a tie between Kate DiCamillo’s Tiger Rising or Maze of Bones: book 1 of the 39 clues series!
My 3rd grade teacher read Where the Red Fern Grows. I read my kindergarten students so many but they absolutely love Sam and Dave Dig a Hole.
Thank you all for sharing this walk down memory lane (I am retired after 38 years as a school librarian and read-aloud advocate!) I remember my mother reading Winnie the Pooh stories and poems (the originals by A.A. Milne) and 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins by Seuss. My earliest recollection in school was my third grade teacher reading us Charlotte’s Web. These days my dogs (certified therapy pets) and I listen to children read but I always bring along a few in my bag “just in case!” Thanks for many new ideas.
Sadly enough, I don’t remember any books that were read to me as a child.
My students favorite book this year was Restart but Gordon Korman.
My fourth grade teacher read Where the Red Fern Grows. I remember her stopping and dabbing her eyes with Kleenex as we cried along with her.
I don’t remember read aloud from when I was younger. My favorites this year are: The Invention of Hugo Cabret, Wonderstruck, The One and Only Ivan, The Doll People, & The Wild Robot. Can’t choose. I wonder what my kids would choose?
I remember my mom reading HAROLD AND THE PURPLE CRAYON to me and my brother. A dear friend gave me a copy at my baby shower and my kids now love the story (though were quite disappointed when their wall-drawings didn’t come to life)!
We also read LITTLE HOOT a few million times, and just to mess with my kids, I start every book with, “Once upon a branch…”
Refugee. Amazing book.
Mr. Schorling read Mrs Frisby and the Rats of NIMH to my 5th grade class in the 1979-80 school year. This year A Night Divided and Long Way Down were hits with my middle school students.
My third grade teacher read all Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder and ended with Caddie Woodlawn. My kids loved Fig Pudding, The Wild Robot, The One and Only Ivan and How to Steal a Dog! Our favorite time of the day❤️
I remember reading Bridge to Terebithia with my dad and him crying with me. I’ll never forget that moment. My favorite read aloud this year was Amina’s Voice with my book club. An amazing story for our middle grade students and beyond!
I remember my third grade teacher reading Robinson Crusoe aloud to us. My favorite read aloud this year was a tie between Hello, Universe by Erin Entrada Kelly and Save Me A Seat by Sarah Weeks and Gita Varadarajan. So much rich discussion!
My students loved The Wild Robot!! I remember The Little House on the Prairie series from my childhood.
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I loved hearing Paddle to the Sea when I was little. My favorite read aloud was Refugee!
I don’t remember being read to as a child of first generation immigrants but I’d read to myself every night, especially the Harry Potter books
We are reading A Long Walk to Water in my fifth grade classroom. I was worried that weren’t going to handle some of the content, but they have surpassed my expectations and I just proud of the young people they are becoming from having heard it.
My favorite read aloud from my youth was Matilda!