First Homeschool Year Book List (PK-K)

Our first year of homeschooling, in case you are just popping in for the first time, was in 2001-2002. My children were 2.5, and 5.5 when we started. This list comprises the books which I read to them that year as they were learning to read. I jotted down the titles in my school planner and for a few of them, I forgot to write down the author's name. I apologize in advance for this. This list is also not in any specific order, other than the order we read the books. We savored many books in the library, and thus they never made it home in our rolling back-pack. We read many books at relatives houses, and we read books from our home collection that probably never had their names recorded in this list (I see a mysterious shortage of Dr. Seuss - one of my all-time favorites). We had a very bad flood that laid waste to my children's bookshelf the summer before we started homeschooling. That following September, a nice school teacher who happened to be in our Bible class at church donated a box of books to us. For the most part, we just thrived on library books that year, though.

You can check out my little Amazon book store up at the top of this blog by clicking the bookstore link, or clicking the text in this sentence! Many of our favorites are there and sorted by category. If you purchase them through our referral, my kids might eventually get a free book for their library. It's a win-win situation! You get great books, we get a few pennies for telling you about them.

Our favorite books are listed in bold below.

Ones we disliked have a frown - :( - symbol next to them. I honestly can't remember why we disliked them in every case.

Books
Bewildered for Three Days - Andrew Glass
The Big Orange Splot - Daniel Pinkwater
Bob Books
Coming Out of the Shoe Shop - Eileen Spinelli
The Braggy King of Babylon - our library
My Grandpa and the Sea - Katherine Orr
Katie and the Sunflowers - James Mayhew
Cat Heaven - Cynthia Rylant
Earthquake - Milly Lee :(
The Lion King - Friends in Need - ?
The Cut-ups Cut Loose :(
Flamingos - Caroline Arnold
Horacio's Birthday - Eleanore Clymer
Spirit - Stallion of the Cimarron
If You Lived with the Hopi
God's Little Story Book About Jesus
North American Indian - Eyewitness Books
Anasazi - Leonard Everett Fisher
Little Runner of the Longhouse - Betty Baker
If You Lived with the Indians of the Northwest Coast - Anne Kamma
The Armadillo from Amarillo - Lynne Cherry
David the Shepherd Boy
The Foot Book - Dr. Seuss
The Magic School Bus Discovers the Senses
Little Engine that Could
Little Red Riding Hood
Zoom City - Thacher Hurd
Ears are for Hearing - Paul Showers
Magic School Bus Explores the Five Senses - Joanna Cole & Bruce Degen
Nobody Listens to Andrew - Elizabeth Guilfoile
Fox in Socks - Dr. Seuss
Duck Song
The Art of Streamliners
Bugs Bunny - Space Carrot - Little Golden Book
If You Listen - Mark Simont
Don't Wake Mama - Eileen Christelow
Many Moons - James Thurber
Look at your Eyes - Paul Showers
Little Crow - Caroline McDermott
Moon Mouse (Article in Backyard Magazine by Adelaide Holl)
The Hunter - Paul Geraghty
Road Signs: A Har-y Race with a Tortoise - Margery Cuyler
On My Island - Marie Louise Gay
ABC Animal Riddles - Susan Joyce
Hound and Bear - Dick Gackenbach
Who Says a Dog Goes Bow-Wow? - Hank De Zutter
Crickwing - Janell Cannon
Mop's Backyard Concert - Martine Schaap & Alex de Wolf
Miss Violet's Shining Day - Jane Breskin Zalben
Olivia - Ian Falconer
Winter Days in the Big Woods - Laura Ingalls Wilder
Just Me and My Little Sister - Mercer Mayer
My Book of the Seasons - Stephanie Calmenson (Golden Books)
WATCH: Reader Rabbit Sing-a-Song Adventures
A Cow, A Bee, A Cookie & Me - Meredith Hooper
Orchestranimals - Vlasta Van Kampen & Irene C. Eugen
Meanwhile - Jules Feiffer
The Big Red Apple - Kate Whiting Patch
Donkey Donkey - Roger Duvoisin
A Picture Book of Helen Keller - David A. Adler
Outside the Window - Anna Egan Smucker
C is for City - Nikki Grimes
How Birds Fly - Russell Freedman
A First Look at Bird's Nests - Millicent E. Selsam & Joyce Hunt
A First Look at Owls, Eagles & Other Hunters of the Sky - "
Obedience - Jane Buerger
The Ornery Morning - Patricia Brennan Demuth
Miss Nelson is Missing - Harry Allard
Gleam and Glow - Eve Bunting
The Glory Garden: A Story about Obedience from the Book of Genesis - T.F. Marsh
The Tale of Peter Rabbit - Beatrix Potter
Go West Swamp Monsters - Mary Blount Christian
Pooh's Grand Adventure - Justine Korman (Little Golden Book)
The Scarecrow's Hat - Ken Brown
The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins - Dr. Seuss
Dorothy & Mikey - Keiko Kasza
The Sand Castle - MP Robertson
Farmer Brown Shears His Sheep: A Yarn About Wool - Teri Sloat
Earthquakes and Volcanoes (New Discovery Books/Booth)
Henry the Green Engine - Rev. W. Awdry (Railway Series)
Tell the Truth Tyler - Je Dee McDonnaughhay
First He Made the Sun - Harriet Liefert
Star Light, Star Bright - Odyssey
Joshua & the Big Blue Crabs - Mark Childress
All Things Bright and Beautiful - Cecil Frances Alexander
A Firefly Named Torchy - Bernard Waber
The Storey of Jonah - Alice Joyce Davidson (Alice in BibleLand Series)
God Made the Ocean - Heno Head, Jr. (Simple Science for Kids)
Car - Funfax
From Egg to Robin - Susan Canizares
Baby Animals - Disney Discovery
WATCH: The Magic School Bus Blows It's Top (video about Volcanoes)
Volcano - Brian Knapp
What is a Volcano? - A Just Ask Book (Weekly Reader)
Magic School Bus: Inside the Earth
Thanksgiving Day
Mr. Lincoln's Whiskers - Karen Winnick
Why We Have Thanksgiving - Margaret Hillert
Thanksgiving Beast Feast - Karen Gray Ruelle
Oh, What a Thanksgiving
The Know-Nothings Talk Turkey - Michael Sobel Spirn
Gracias - The Thanksgiving Turkey - Joy Cowley
The Story of Thanksgiving - Nancy J. Skarmeas
The First Thanksgiving - Garnet Jackson
Juniors Colors - Phil Vicher
Silly Goose & Dizzy Duck Hunt for a Rainbow - Sally Grindley
Arthur's Thanksgiving - Mark Brown
Thanksgiving Treat - Catherine Stock
Rivka's First Thanksgiving - Elsa Okon Rael
The Cat in the Manger - Michael Foreman
Throw a Kiss Harry - Mary Chalmers
Kermit and the New Bicycle - Michaela Muntean
The Little Red Caboose - Marian Potter
Little Golden ABC Book - Cornelius DeWitt
Six Snowy Sheep - Judith Ross Enderle
Let's Look at the Seasons: Wintertime - Ann Schweninger
Can it Rain Cats and Dogs?
Little Critter's Christmas Book - Mercer Meyer
It's Really Christmas - Lillian Hoban
Little Bear's Christmas
They Followed a Bright Star - Ulises Wensell
Zoo Babies -
Morris's Disappearing Christmas Bag - Rosemary Wells
Justin Time For Christmas - Louise Borden
Nicholi - Cooper Edens
An Angel Just Like Me - Mary Hoffman
A Dragon Christmas - Loreen Leedy (Things to Make and Do)
DK's Guide to Savage Earth - Trevor Day
An American Christmas - Tomie De Paola
The Peddler's Gift - Maxine Rose Schur
Rotten Ralph's Rotten Christmas - Jack Gantos
A Christmas Star Called Hannah - Vivian French
Little One's Bible
Berenstain Bears & Too Much Teasing - Stan and Jan Berenstain
Gingerbread Baby - Jan Brett
Do You Want to be My Friend? - Eric Carle
The Sleepy Men - Margaret Wise Brown
Berenstain Bears Count their Blessings - Jan and Stan Berenstain
Emma & Mommy Talk to God - Marianne Williamson
Red Light, Green Light, Mama & Me - Cari Best
When I Die, Will I Get Better? - Joeri Piet Breebaart
One Giant Leap - Don Brown (Story of Neil Armstrong)
WATCH: Imax: Destiny in Space (Nasa's Hubble Telescope)
Miss Viola & Uncle Ed Lee - Alice Faye Duncan
Tidy Titch - Pat Hutchins
Aunt Minnie McGranahan - Mary Skillings Prigger
Pigsty - Mark Teague
Messy Bessey's Closet - Patricia & Fredrick McKissack
This Mess - Pam Conrad
The Perfectly Orderly House - Ellen Kindt McKenzie
WATCH: The Story of Jesus for Children
Beware the Bears - Alan MacDonald
WATCH: Imax: Blue Planet
Magic School Bus Sees Stars
Magic School Bus Out of This World
Me and My Puppy
Never Trust a Squirrel! - Patrick Cooper
Good Night, Baby Bear - Frank Ash
My First Animal Book - DK
The Three Little Javelinas - Susan Lowell
Animal Lore and Legend: Rabbit - DL Birchfield
Eyewitness Books: FISH - Steve Parker
The Happy Little Whale - Jane Werner Watson & Kenneth Norris
Look to the North: A Wolf Pup Diary - by Lucia Washburn
Animal Antics - Nora Gaydos (short vowel beginning readers)
Time to Sleep - Denise Flemming
I Want To Go Home - Ellen Weiss (Muppet Kids)
Numbears - Kathleen Hague
Tell the Time with Teddy - Gill Davies (Brimax)
Adam, Adam, What do You See? - Bill Martin Jr.
God Helps Me Grow
All About the Human Body
My Happy Week - Yvonne Patterson
Kites - Bettina Ling
The Wonder of Easter - Precious Moments Golden Book
The World God Made - Alyce Bergey
Things in My House - Joe Kaufman
Things - Phoebe & Tris Dunn
My Little Golden Book of Poems - Rebecca Heller
Science with Air - Helen Edom & Mona Butterfield
WATCH: "Melody Time" Disney Movie
Let's Look at the Seasons: Springtime - Ann Schweninger
Sharing Time Troubles - Grace Maccarone
Volunteer of the Year - Mark Brown
Garden - Leap Frog
Mother Goose Rhymes - Disney
Alvin & The Chipmonks: Alvin's Daydreams - M. Teitelbaum
Detective Mickey Mouse - Disney (Golden Books)
The Pied Piper - retold by Alan Benjamin
Jacob's Gift - Max Lucado
Postman Pig & His Busy Neighbors - Richard Scarry
Mike Mulligan & His Steam Shovel - Virginia L. Burton
I'm a Big Brother - Joanna Cole
David the Shepherd - Marian Bennet (Happy Day)
The Rescuers - Disney
The Legend of the Bluebonnet - Tomie De Paola
The Edible Pyramid: Good Eating Every Day - Loreen Leedy
I Care, Do You? - Kathy Downs
Pete, Feet & Fish to Eat - Phil A. Smouse
Dinosaurs to the Rescue: Protecting the Planet - Marc Brown
Germs Make Me Sick - Melvin Berger
Let's Talk About Going to the Dentist - Marianne Johnston
Where the Wild things Are - Maurice Sendak
The Very Hungry Caterpillar - Eric Carle
Walt Disney's Fox & The Hound
Cook-A-Doodle-Doo - Janet Stevens
North American Indians - Marie & Douglas Gorsline
Armadillo Rodeo - Jan Brett
The Legend of the Indian Paintbrush - Tomie de Paola
Ocean Creatures - Sharon Shi
The Rough Faced Girl - Rafe Martin
Knots on a Counting Rope - Bill Martin Jr. & John Archambault
Indians Who Lived in Texas - Betsy Warren
WATCH: Hiawatha & Minnie Ha Ha movie (did not like this)
Falling Up - Shel Silverstein
Indian Two Feet and His Horse - Margaret Friskey
If You Lived with the Iroquois - Ellen Levine
If You Lived with the Soiux Indians - Ann McGovern
Dandelion - Don Freeman
Fish Head - Jean Fritz
Little Toot - Hardie Gramatky