April Read Alouds that You Need to Know About
How to Catch the Easter Bunny
These books will forever be one of my favorite series! This is a cute tale on attempts to catch the Easter Bunny that all do not work. Students also can enjoy hunting down the bunnies and all the hidden eggs while they are reading. Students can extend this activity by writing a story on how they would catch the Easter Bunny, or could even make their own traps to see if they can catch it!
The Giving Tree
This classic story is a MUST READ at many times throughout the year, but can be a really great conversation starter around earth day. This story is a tale about a selfless tree that gives everything she can to a little boy until she merely becomes a stump. Feeling bad that she has nothing left to give, she apologizes to the little boy, who at this point has turned into an old man and just needs a spot to sit. This is a GREAT conversation starter for character building, a good tool to talk about selflessness and a good way to talk about people’s strengths and what they have to give to others. This extension craft is part of my character building unit, check it out here.
The Easter Bunny’s Assistant
This is a cute tale about the Easter Bunny working with a skunk as her assistant. The skunk gets so excited about helping, that he emits an odor from his body that causes the Easter Bunny to HAVE to get rid of the skunk. At the end of the story, the Easter Bunny decides to make it better by putting a clothespin on his nose, and sharing his dyed eggs with the skunk. This is a funny read aloud, and could be perfect if you wanted to dye eggs with your class or are simply looking for a fun, engaging story.
What if Everybody Did That?
This is another book that is FANTASTIC for Earth Day conversations or conversations about building character/responsibility. This book goes through common rules that people may or may not break, and talks about how many your ONE mistake doesn’t impact the world so much, but if everyone makes those same mistakes, it wouldn’t be good. The book ends by saying that if everyone does follow the rules, imagine what the world could be like. WOW – what a powerful message.
The Lorax
This story is just an absolute Earth Day classic. The Lorax is speaking for the trees, as the main character is chopping them down for a profit. Eventually, there are no more trees, and the beautiful land turns into a sad, depressing, tree-less place. This is a great book to talk about conservation, standing up for what you believe in and the importance of taking care of our Earth.
These are just a hodgepodge of some of my favorite April favorites! There are so many possibilities in April, with the weather changing, earth day, Easter and the end of the year all coming. Drop your favorite April title below!