Every year, our elementary school celebrates reading by selecting one book for all children, families and school community members to read across a few weeks during the school year. The goal is to pull together our entire community around a piece of good literature. We create all sorts of energy and excitement around the book, produce skits, create interactive bulletin boards, and develop a variety of ways that children and families can respond to the text. It’s really a lot of fun and a great way to showcase the idea that books build communities.
Here’s the challenge: Selecting a book that will work for children in grades K-5. And it’s that time of the year again. Time to select our One Book. The trouble is finding a book that is interesting and appropriate for a kindergartener and, at the same time, interesting and engaging for a fifth grader. We have read some classics like Trumpet of the Swan and The Cricket at Times Square. We’ve read some more contemporary literature like Gooseberry Park and The Tale of Despereaux. These books have worked well, although we’ve had a few complaints on either end of the spectrum (a little intense for K students and not too interesting for fifth graders).
We’re brainstorming some new ideas – Maybe we should consider nonfiction, poetry, a graphic novel, or even multiple titles around a theme. Maybe asking everyone to read one book flies in the face of our beliefs around choice. Maybe she should offer a few choices and let children select what they are interested in. So far, nothing is really tickling our fancy.
If you have any ideas, we’d love to hear them! Please leave a comment if you think of something!