At the West Virginia Reading Association’s 66th Annual Conference, participants from around the state shared some of their classroom favorites:
Froggy Goes to Camp by Jonathan London
Third in the Froggy series, with lots of jumping, flipping, and onomatopoeia.
Grades PK-K
Gwen Lyons, Title 1 Reading Teacher, Wyoming County
Dr. Seuss ABC and Hop on Pop by Dr. Seuss
Classics, but still good for beginning and early readers.
PK-2nd
Amber Janicker, Ashton Elementary School, Mason County
Pigs by Robert Munsch
Feed the pigs, but don’t open the gate. Pigs are smarter than you think.
K-2nd
Diane Binder, Title 1 Reading Teacher, New River Primary School
After the Fall by Dan Santat
Humpty Dumpty is famous for falling off a wall. This is the story of when he decided to get back up.
K-3rd
Leslie Boyd, Shepherdstown Elementary School, Jefferson County
The Most Magnificent Thing by Ashley Spires
Making your most magnificent idea is anything but easy. In fact, it is frustrating. A good book for social-emotional development.
K-5th
Kandi Kaiser, Blue Ridge Elementary School, Jefferson County
The Good Egg, The Bad Seed, and others by Jory John and Pete Oswald
Being good is hard. As the other eggs in the dozen behave badly, the good egg starts to crack from the pressure.
PK-5th
Allyson Varlas, Central Elementary School, Marshall County
Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
“I’m here because of this book,” said closing keynote speaker Colby Sharp, an author and teacher. “It changed my life forever. I would get lost in that story.”
4th+
Colby Sharp, 5th grade teacher, Parma Elementary School, Michigan
The First Cat in Space Ate Pizza by Mac Barnett and Shawn Harris
Friends Barnett and Harris created an animated strip during the Covid shutdown, and the book version just published this spring can take over a classroom.
3rd-6th
Colby Sharp
Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls
First published in 1961, the story of Billy and his two hunting dogs still moves readers and listeners.
4th-6th
Linda Childers, retired 5th grade teacher, Cabell County
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
A foster child living outside Munich, Germany in 1939 steals to survive, and encounters something she cannot resist – books. She learns to read and shares her stolen treasures.
6th+
Cara Dorsey, 9th and 10th grade English Teacher, Nicholas County High School