Kylie Jean, Anything Queen

Eight year old Kylie Jean is a rock star for Texas girls! Each story has her striving to be the queen (Spelling Queen, Drama Queen, Singing Queen, etc) though her ultimate goal is to become a beauty queen.

This is a great series for 2nd and 3rd graders. It's not so word heavy that younger readers transitioning out of early chapter books couldn't handle it. The content isn't "too old" either.

Shark vs. Train

Perfect book for kinder problem solvers!  The books opens in a realistic setting where two kids make their toy train and shark battle. As they run off, the two foes are left alone and the author puts them in various competitions to see who will win.

When used as a read aloud, I handed each student a set of cards: one with a shark and one with a train. Without showing the pages, I read and asked them to raise the appropriate card when they decided who would win the battle. After they voted, I showed them what the author and illustrator had.

The inital scenerios are obvious (diving, train tracks), so your audience builds confidence. But as the book continues, the kids get to defend their answers. There were full on discussions as to who would be the best trick or treater (the shark because he's scary but the train because he moves faster and can carry more in the cars!!!). These kinder brains were debating and discussing and presenting. They were excellent listeners as their peers built an argument! A fun, fun, fun experience!

To use with technology, possibly Activotes or a CPS system would make this more engaging.