Free Book Companion Kits

Fall Read-Aloud Favorites and Freebies

Grab a blanket and get cozy. We’re reading through fall, one book at a time. Every Monday: a book we love, a literature lesson to do together, and a free printable kit.

Free · Prints to US Letter · No email required

Week 4 · Chrysanthemum

See The Kit

Seven Weeks of Read-Alouds

Every Monday we post a favorite book, why we love it, and a free printable kit of activities to go along with it.

Miss Nelson Is Missing!
Harry Allard & James Marshall
Posted
How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World
Marjorie Priceman
Posted
Popcorn
Frank Asch
Posted
Chrysanthemum
Kevin Henkes
This Week
Strega Nona
Tomie dePaola
Week 5
Matilda
Roald Dahl
Week 6
Sideways Stories from Wayside School
Louis Sachar
Week 7

Take the Library List With You

All seven titles on one page, with a box to tick off the ones you already own and a line for the due date on the ones you borrow. Print it once and it covers the whole season.

Get The Library List

The Library List: all seven fall read-aloud titles and authors, a call number line, and columns for checked out, own, and due date

Week 4

This Week

Chrysanthemum

Kevin Henkes

Pink and red dahlias and hydrangeas in a dark stone vase

Chrysanthemum loves her name, until she starts school and the other kids make fun of it. Will she ever love it again?

Why We Love It

A name that is absolutely perfect, a few not-so-kind classmates, and a music teacher who saves the day. It’s the sweetest reminder that what makes us different is worth celebrating.

After You Read

Wilt or Bloom?
Read kind and unkind phrases and decide if they’re “bloom” or “wilt” words.
Discover the Story of Your Name
Count the letters in your name, write it the fanciest way you can, and find out how your family chose it.
Give a Flower of Kind Words
Write someone’s name in the center. On each petal, write a kind word to describe that person. Deliver it as a surprise!

The Free Book Companion Kit

Wilt or Bloom?: six things someone might say or do, each with a blooming flower and a wilting flower to color for how the words would make you feel — The Chrysanthemum Activity Kit
Twelve pages
Get The Kit

All About My Name: the thirteen letters of Chrysanthemum in a row of boxes, rows to fill in your name and your family’s, and questions about whose name is longest and shortest — The Chrysanthemum Activity Kit
Twelve pages
Get The Kit

Week 3

Popcorn

Frank Asch

Sam Bear’s parents head out to a Halloween party, so Sam throws one of his own. Every guest brings popcorn, and the popping gets out of hand.

Why We Love It

A Halloween party, a house full of popcorn, and a bear who can’t stop popping. Kids think it’s hilarious, and so do we!

After You Read

Help Sam Through the Popcorn Maze
Help Sam make it to the party and collect popcorn along the way!
Make Up a Silly Party Guest
Roll a die to build a silly costume, like a vampire in bunny slippers riding a unicorn who loves cheddar popcorn.
Hold a Family Popcorn Taste Test
Rate four kinds of popcorn on saltiness, sweetness, butteriness and crunchiness. Then poll your family and graph the group favorite.

The Free Book Companion Kit

Popcorn Path: a maze from Sam to the party, with eight popcorn pieces to colour in along the way — The Popcorn Party Kit
Eight pages
Get The Kit

Popcorn Taste Test: butter, kettle corn, cheddar and your own pick scored one to five for salty, sweet, buttery and crunchy, with a graph for the family favorite — The Popcorn Party Kit
Eight pages
Get The Kit

Week 2

How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World

Marjorie Priceman

A homemade lattice-top apple pie with pastry leaves, held on a marble counter

The market is closed, so a young baker sails, flies and hops trains around the world to gather everything she needs for an apple pie.

Why We Love It

Crossing oceans and hauling home a cow, all for one simple apple pie? It’s delightfully over the top, and so much fun to read aloud!

While You Read

Travel the World for Ingredients
Pause at each stop in the story. Kids draw the route from home on a world map, check off each country, and name the continent.
Do Something Silly at Every Stop
Sway like wheat in Italy, unscramble pie words in France, stomp like an elephant in Sri Lanka, and more.
Hold a Family Apple Taste Test
Score four apples for sweet, sour, crunchy and juicy. Then poll the family and graph the favorite.

The Free Book Companion Kit

Around the World for Ingredients: a world map with the baker’s six stops numbered, and a table to check off each country and name its continent — The Apple Pie World Trail
Three pages
Get The Kit

While You’re There: six activities, one for each stop, including being the wheat in Italy, an egg-cellent scramble in France, and a maze to get the cow on the ship — The Apple Pie World Trail
Three pages
Get The Kit

Week 1

Miss Nelson Is Missing!

Harry Allard & James Marshall

A child drawing Miss Nelson on our MISSING poster with a colored pencil

Room 207 is the worst-behaved class in school, until sweet Miss Nelson vanishes and a scary substitute named Viola Swamp shows up.

Why We Love It

Be still, my second grade heart. This book has major core memory potential. It’s so much fun!

After You Read

Make a MISSING Poster
Have you seen this teacher? Draw her, fill in what she was last seen wearing, name the reward, and hang it on the fridge.
Compare the Two Teachers With a Venn Diagram
All about Miss Nelson in one circle, all about Viola Swamp in the other, and whatever they have in common in the middle. Learn how a Venn diagram works and find the secret hidden in the story.

The Free Book Companion Kit

A MISSING poster headed “Have you seen this teacher?”, with a box to draw her in and blanks for name, last seen, wearing, known for, and reward — The MISSING Poster
One page
Get This Sheet

Page one of the Venn diagram lesson: what a Venn diagram is, what to watch for while reading, and a worked example comparing apples and pumpkins — The Venn Diagram Lesson
Two pages
Get This Sheet

Every sheet opens as a PDF. Print it straight from your browser, or choose Save as PDF to keep a copy.

Next MondayWeek 5 of 7

Strega Nona

Tomie dePaola

Strega Nona’s magic pasta pot works perfectly, until Big Anthony gets his hands on it. Get ready for a whole lot of pasta.

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