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7. Mind Stretching Picture Books © 2001 Nancy Polette 

These titles were especially chosen for use in an integrated K-3 curriculum to stimulate intellectual curiosity, increase vocabulary, and foster both critical and productive thinking.

  1. Birdseye, Tom. Look Out Jack! The Giant is Back! Illustrated by Will Hillenbrand. Holiday House, 2001. Gr. K-3. Readers will enjoy the tall tale exaggerations and be inspired to try some of their own.
  2. Bradbury, Ray. Switch on the Night. (Science) Dutton, 2000.  Excellent introduction to point of view. How would a rabbit view tall grass? How would a boy with a lawn mower view tall grass? How many others can you think of?
  3. Brown, Ruth. Toad. Dutton, 1997. (Science/Lang Arts) 
    Outstanding descriptive language. 
  4. Bunting, Eve. Terrible Things. HarperCollins, 1980. (Social Studies) An allegory on the Holocaust. What is injustice? What act of kindness can you do today?
  5. Capucilli, Alysa. Inside A House That Is Haunted. Scholastic, 1998. (Lang Arts) 
    A great rebus model.
    Capucilli, Alyssa Satin. Inside A Zoo In the City. Illustrated by Ted Arnold. Scholastic, 2000.
  6. Clements, Andrew. Workshop. Clarion, 1999 Science/Lang. Arts 
    "Saw is a biter. Tooth after tooth, saw rips away by bits. Saw turns boards to dust." 
    Outstanding personification..
  7. Clifford, Eth. Flatfoot Fox and the Case of the Missing Eye
    Great for inductive reasoning. 
  8. Cronin, Doreen. Click, Clack Moo Cows that Type. Simon & Schuster. 2001. (Social Studies). Farmer Brown's cows organize and strike to have their demands met.
  9. Cutler, Jane. The Cello of Mr. O. Dutton, 1999. Old Mr. O brings courage to a town under siege.
  10. Edwards, Pamela. Dinorella. Hyperion, 1997 
    An alliterative approach to a stone age Cinderella
  11. Edwards, Pamela. The Boston Tea Party. Putnam, 2001. Retold using the "House that Jack Built" pattern.
  12. Flor, Ada. Gathering the Sun. An alphabet in Spanish and English.
  13. Hassett, John & Ann. Cat Up A Tree. Houghton, 1998 
    Excellent introduction to community helpers.
  14. Henkes, Kevin. Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse. Greenwillow 1995. 
    Use the career pattern: I wish I were? Where? Doing what? How?
  15. Jackson, Shirley. 9 Magic Wishes. Farrar, 2001. K-3. If a magician gave you nine wishes, what would you wish for?
  16. Kay, Verla & McCurdy, Michael. Iron Horses and Covered Wagons, Bumpy Trails. Putnam, 2000 (Social Studies) Rhyming accounts of traveling west in a covered wagon and of the building of the transcontinental railroad.
  17. Krensky, Stephen. Shooting for the Moon, Farrar. 2001. The amazing life and times of Annie Oakley, Gr. 2-4.
  18. Lester, Helen. Hooway for Wodney Wat. Houghton-Mifflin, 1999. (Language Arts)
    A speech problem doesn't stop Rodney from becoming a hero!
  19. Lee, Milly. Earthquake. Farrar, 2001. Gr. 3-6. In 1906 in San Francisco, the earth shook. Buildings fell. Fires flared and hundreds fled their homes ad did Milly Lee's mother. A true account.
  20. Levitin, Sonia. Boom Town. Scholastic, 1998 (Social Studies)
    How can you make pies without pie pans? Rank order facilities a new town needs most to least. 
  21. Lindenbaum, Pija. Bridget and the Gray Wolves. R&S Books, 2001. Gr K-3. When Bridget meets a pack of wolves in the dark woods she takes charge and teaches them games like "Catch the Pinecone" and "Climb the Trees." But all the wolves want to do is lurk behind the trees and snarl.
  22. Martin, Rafe. The Storytelling Princess. Gr. 2-4. Putnam, 2001. A prince refuses to consider any girl as his bride unless she can tell him a story whose ending he has never heard.
  23. Minor, Wendell. Pumpkin Heads. Blue Sky Press, 2000. A wide variety of unusual jack-o-lanterns. 
  24. Polette, Nancy. Little Old Woman and the Hungry Cat. Greenwillow, 1991.
    Teach skills naturally from the literature.
  25. Polette, Nancy. Point of View Fairy Tales. Pieces of Learning, 2001. Gr 2-6. Fairy tale play from another point of view.
  26. Rathman, Peggy. Officer Buckle and Gloria. 
    Let children finish safety tips from the book.
  27. Rylant, Cynthia. The Bird House. Scholastic, 1998. (Science, Lang. Arts) 
    Look for the holes in the story.  
  28. Schnur, Steven. Summer. Clarion, 2001. An alphabet acrostic of summer delights.
  29. Schwartz, David. If You Hopped Like A Frog. Scholastic, 1999.(Science/Math) 
    "If you hopped like a frog you could jump from home plate to first base in one mighty leap!
  30. Shannon, George. Tomorrow's Alphabet. Greenwillow, 1998 
    Practice in reverse thinking! 
  31. St. George, Judith. So You Want to Be the President. Philomel, 2000. (Social Studies) Wonderful comparing of various presidents.
  32. Stojic, Manya. Rain. Dutton, 2000. (Social Studies/ Science) African animals predict and react to rain with the five senses.
  33. Walton, Rick. The Bear Came Over to My House. Putnam, 2001. Gr. K-2. The bear came over to my house to see what he could see. And what do you think he saw? ME!
  34. Walton, Rick. That's My Dog. Putnam, 2001. K-2. Sentence expansion beginning with "A big red dog" and adding a word at at time to achieve" "He's my big, red, happy, muddy, smart, bouncy, slobbery, sneaky, stinky dog!"
  35. Weigelt, Udo. Who Stole the Gold? Illus. by Julia Gukova. North-South Books, 2000.
  36. Wyeth, Sharon. Something Beautiful. Doubleday, 1998. (Social Studies)
    A little girl looks for beauty in everyday sights