Using strategies together is the ultimate goal for students. We want them to use these strategies naturally and independently whenever they read. Of course, the richer or more difficult or more interesting the text, the more scope there is for students to exercise their strategic reading skills. So here we offer a collection of books with enough depth to give you and your students something to talk about as they use their strategies together.

These books were 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 Practice Using Strategies Together

Ada, Alma Flor. My Name Is María Isabel. Illustrated by K. Dyble Thompson. Atheneum, 1998. 56 pages

Arnold, Caroline. Birds: Nature's Magnificent Flying Machines. Illustrated by Patricia J. Wynne. Charlesbridge, 2003. 32 pages

Ahlberg, Alan. The Cat Who Got Carried Away. Illustrated by Catherine McEwan. Candlewick, 2003. 79 pages

Bechtold, Lisze. Buster, The Very Shy Dog. Houghton Mifflin, 1999. 48 pages

Browne, Anthony. Voices in the Park. DK, 1998. 32 pages

Cole, Joanna. The Magic School Bus Explores the Senses. Illustrated by Bruce Degen. Scholastic Press, 1999. 48 pages

French, Vivian. T. Rex. Illustrated by Allison Bartlett. Candlewick, 2004. 32 pages

Gerstein, Mordicai. What Charlie Heard. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2002, 32 pages

Lester, Julius. John Henry. Illustrated by Jerry Pinkney. Dial, 1994. 40 pages

Look, Lenore. Ruby Lu, Brave and True. Illustrated by Anne Wilsdorf. Atheneum, 2004. 105 pages

Macaulay, David. Black and White. Houghton Mifflin, 1990. 32 pages

Sís, Peter. The Three Golden Keys. Doubleday, 1994. 56 pages

Sobol, Richard. Adelina's Whales. Dutton, 2003. 32 pages

Smith, Cynthia Leitich. Indian Shoes. Illustrated by Jim Madsen. HarperCollins, 2002. 66 pages

Williams, Vera B. Scooter. Greenwillow, 1993. 147 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.