As a lover of children’s literature, I believe that NO age is too old to enjoy and appreciate children’s books, even, or especially, picture books.
(My previous post: Falling in Love …with Children’s Literature)
I originally expected to teach primary students when I became a reading specialist, but I was placed in an intermediate level building, teaching fifth and sixth grade struggling readers. By that time, my love affair with children’s literature was in the bewitching period, so I began to enthusiastically share the picture books I was encountering as I visited my favorite children’s bookstore on Saturday mornings.
Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening (by Robert Frost, illustrated by Susan Jeffers, was the first book I shared with my students, and Hiawatha, illustrated, again, by Susan Jeffers, was the second. I suppose they were a fallback to my previous life as an English teacher, but I loved these picture books, and so did my struggling, high-poverty students. With children, loving books can be contagious, if you show enough love!
When I heard that the famous Met pitcher Tug McGraw had written Lumpy, a book about a baseball that wants to make it to the World Series, I read his book aloud in April every year. I wrote him a letter, and he sent me 10 copies of Lumpy! On every opening day of baseball season, my kids enjoyed the story, even if not actually classified as “great lit.”
I also wrote a previous post about the sixth grade school bully who, surprisingly, chose listening to folk tales as a classroom reward. You can read that story here:
Here is a partial list of my favorite (mostly picture) books that I read aloud often to struggling readers in intermediate (4-6) levels, even though many were intended for younger readers. Many picture books are great literature, speaking to those themes that touch the feelings, needs, and inner souls of children. Try one today with older students, and you will discover what I mean.
Brother Eagle, Sister Sky (illustrated by Susan Jeffers)
The Butterfly Seeds (by Mary Watson)
The Headless Horseman Rides Tonight (Poems by Jack Prelutsky)
Hiawatha (Illustrated by Susan Jeffers)
Lumpy (by Tug McGraw)
Midnight Farm (by Carly Simon, illustrated by David Delamare)
The New Adventures of Mother Goose (by Bruce Lansky)
Paul Revere’s Ride (Longfellow, illustrated by Ted Rand)
Quick As a Cricket (by Audrey Wood)
Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening (by Robert Frost, Illustrated by Susan Jeffers
Halloween:
The Ghost-Eye Tree (by Bill Martin, Jr & John Archambault)
Rattle Bone Rock (by Sylvia Andrews)
Saturday Night at the Dinosaur Stomp (by Carol Diggory Shields)
Scary Poems for Rotten Kids (by Sean O Huigin)
The Thirteen Days of Halloween (by Carol Greene)
Thanksgiving:
Gobble. Gobble, Giggle (riddles by Katy Hall & Lisa Eisenberg)
Tricky Turkey Tongue Twisters (by Quinlin B. Lee)
Christmas:
Jingle Jokes (by Katy Hall & Lisa Eisenberg)
The Night Before Christmas (illustrated by Ted Rand)
The Night Tree (by Eve Bunting)
Valentine’s Day:
Olive You (Knock-knock jokes by Katy Hall & Lisa Eisenberg)
Easter/Spring:
The Dumb Bunnies (by Sue Denim)
Earth Song (by Sally Rogers)
Easter Yolks (Riddles by Katy Hall & Lisa Eisenberg)
Make Way for Dumb Bunnies (by Sue Denim)
The Night Before Easter (by Natasha Wing)
Memorial Day:
This Land is Your Land (by Woody Guthrie, Illustrated by Kathy Jakobsen)
I have used everyone of these books with middle school students many, many times. When you show your love of books, children respond.
How lucky I was to spend my career with children, reading and sharing books I thoroughly enjoyed myself!
© Reading Spotlight 2026