What I’m Loving at the Scholastic Book Fair

I spent yesterday morning helping with the Scholastic Book Fair at my daughter’s school. I don’t know what it is about a book fair, but Scholastic has really cornered the market on getting kids excited about buying books. I have fond memories of LOVING the book fair as a kid, and the students that I helped this week had that same enthusiasm. If I’m being honest, I was still a little giddy about getting my hands on some new books. I found some amazing new offerings that would be wonderful additions to any classroom library. I’m linking my favorites below – and I’m not being compensated in any way for sharing these, their all my personal suggestions.

The Three Little Superpigs and the Gingerbread Man – You know the story of the three little pigs, and the “you can’t catch me, I’m the gingerbread man” this book is both of them squished together and so much more. This would be an excellent read aloud, especially after reading both original stories.

Could You Ever Dive With Dolphins? – This book is full of facts about dolphins and sea life, but written and illustrated in a way that makes it feel like a story. Animal-loving kids could spend hours pouring over this one. I’m thinking about picking it up for my girl before we swim with the dolphins on our cruise this spring.

Over the River and Through the Woods – I couldn’t find this one on Scholastic’s website, so I’m linking it on Target (which actually offers the hardcover and in this case I would absolutely pick the hardcover version). This book is the classic story, but the illustrations are absolutely amazing! They’re clean and crisp, but still very traditional. This is a book that classes and families can easily love for years to come.

Lou – Here’s another that I couldn’t find on the Scholastic site, but oh my goodness this is just the cutest story. Lou is a fire hydrant who fully believes that his purpose in life is to serve as a bathroom for dogs – until there’s a fire and he realizes how important he is. What a beautiful story about our value, and how it can come as a complete surprise. It’s also really funny and is sure to get some great laughs from the whole class when read aloud.

Scooper and Dumper – We don’t always think of snow plows and salt trucks as rescue vehicles, but this story shows just how vital they are – and how exciting their work can be. It’s all wrapped up in a cute story about friends who work together.

Don’t Call Me Grumpycorn – We love the original Grumpycorn book, and this next adventure features all of the same friends who have to help Grumpycorn understand that getting help from friends is never a bad thing (again)!

Smithsonian Ocean Encyclopedia – I had a similar book as a marine-loving kid and I couldn’t put it down. This one is updated (of course), full of amazing photos, and sure to be a favorite reference book.

Simply Thankful – This beautiful board book introduces the concept of thankfulness in a way that the littlest readers can understand, through friendship. It can be really hard to find Thanksgiving books that are developmentally appropriate for toddlers and young preschoolers, but this one is perfection. I’m linking this book at Walmart because apparently it’s a little difficult to find.

Even if you can’t get yourself to a book fair anytime soon, I hope you’ll check out some of these titles!