Any book that you are reading is a good book to ask questions about. Books on a topic with which students are unfamiliar, books that have complex plot or character elements that leave students puzzled, or wordless picture books might be good choices to start with. Want more guidance than that? Here is a list of suggested books to choose from as you introduce the strategy of questioning.

These are outstanding trade books chosen for us by the Cooperative Children's Book Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The list includes engaging titles that meet a range of reading and listening abilities. You may also print the complete list with suggested books for all strategies: Reading to Understand: Children's Books to Use with Comprehension Strategies. Then find multimedia, online resources about these books and authors using the Into the Book List at TeachingBooks.net.

Children's Books to Help You Teach the Questioning Strategy

Browne, Anthony. Into the Forest. Candlewick Press, 2004. 28 pages

Davies, Nicola. Big Blue Whale. Illustrated by Nick Maland. Candlewick, 1997. 27 pages

Erdrich, Louise. Grandmother's Pigeon. Illustrated by Jim LaMarche. Hyperion, 1996. 32 pages

Geisert, Arthur. River Town. Houghton Mifflin, 1999. 32 pages

Gillette, J. Lynette. Dinosaur Ghosts: The Mystery of Coelophysis. Illustrated by Douglas Henderson. Dial, 1997. 32 pages

Griffith, Helen V. Grandaddy and Janetta Together: The Three Stories in One Book. Illustrated by James Stevenson. Greenwillow Books / HarperCollins, 2002. 80 pages

Hearne, Betsy. Who's in the Hall? A Mystery in Four Chapters. Illustrated by Christy Hale. Greenwillow, 2000. 32 pages

Lehman, Barbara. The Red Book. Houghton Mifflin, 2004. 32 pages

Macaulay, David. Shortcut. Houghton Mifflin, 1995. 32 pages

Myers, Christopher. Wings. Scholastic Press, 2000. 40 pages

Wiesner, David. The Three Pigs. Clarion, 2001. 40 pages

Woodson, Jacqueline. The Other Side. Illustrated by E.B. Lewis. Putnam, 2001. 32 pages

Reiser, Lynn. Two Mice in Three Fables. Greenwillow, 1995. 32 pages

Compiled by Megan Schliesman
Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC)
School of Education, University of Wisconsin-Madison

For another list of books for strategy instruction and practice, see Strategies that Work.