Read Aloud Books for April 21

The Matzah Man is an excellent adaptation of the classic story, The Gingerbread Man, for the Jewish holiday of Passover. The story incorporates many of the details of the Passover celebration, so this is an excellent multi-level book to work with a variety of ages. My classes were also able to make a connection with another book we read aloud, "A Fly Went By" since both books employ the device of a cumulative chase. This book also has a very catchy refrain, that is repeated often throughout the book. The children loved to shout out these words as they read along with me:

Hot from the oven, I jumped and I ran,

You can't catch me, I'm The Matzah Man!

The Easter Egg is a book written and illustrated by Jan Brett (best known for her book, The Mitten). It is a beautiful book with lovely, detailed pictures. The story is about Hoppi the rabbit who wants to win the egg decorating contest and he goes around looking at what the other rabbits are doing. The winner of the contest gets to help the Easter bunny deliver his eggs. I like to use the story to emphasize with children all the creative ideas. There are painted eggs, wooden eggs and robot eggs! Also, every illustration has pussy willows framing the page and this is an excellent link to our discussion and investigation of actual pussy willow branches in the classroom.