Spring is such a fantastic time to teach! Although things are busy in your classroom, the themes and seasonal tie-ins to your classroom are so much fun. We haven’t seen the sun in ages and we’re sick of the cold. Let’s celebrate spring with some spring-themed read-alouds. Each of the spring read-alouds suggested below come with an affiliate link to Amazon for easy shopping! Also, if you have any favorite texts that you think need to be on this list, let me know!
#1- Suggested Read Aloud
Worm Weather by Jean Taft
Things I love about this book: onomatopoeia, poetic frame, kid-friendly illustrations, rhyming
This is a simply told story that gives fantastic onomatopoeia to show different ways we can see and feel the spring season. The author includes things that we can hear and see during the spring, such as boots stomping, rain falling, and thunder crashing. Then, by the end of the day, the characters have a warm dry day with a beautiful rainbow where the worms still come out to play.
#2- Spring Read Aloud
Spring After Spring by Stephanie Roth Sisson
Things I love about this book: graphic novel-style illustrations, strong biography,
The story begins with a very curious young girl named Rachel. This shows Rachel’s journey and how being very curious at a young age can lead to big steps later on in life. The story beings with Rachel’s fascination with the patterns of different animals. When Rachel goes off to college, she learns more about animals in the ocean. Then, we follow along with her journey of how she became a famous author and environmental warrior.
#3- Suggested Read Aloud
What Can You See In Spring? by Sian Smith
Things I love about this book: text features, nonfiction, bright images
This nonfiction text would be great to include in your small group time because of the easy language and simple sentence structure. Each page shows what kids can see in spring with a simple sentence and a detailed photograph. The book shows bright images of things that kids may see in the Spring, such as spring animals, weather patterns, and flowers.
#4- Spring Read Aloud
Goodbye Winter, Hello Spring by Kenard Pak
Things I love about this book: gorgeous illustrations, poetic lines, strong images to represent each season
As a boy and his dog walk through the forest and around their neighborhood, the winter season is shown and discussed very descriptively. Finally, towards the end of the book, we get to look at the winter sign out and new leaves starting. We are introduced to animals and sunshine.
#5- Suggested Read Aloud
We are the Gardeners by Joanna Gaines
Things I love about this book: Fixer Upper (duh!), illustrations and colors, strong message of hard work
The story is the journey that Joanna and Chip have for their farm. They talked about how difficult it is to start a farm and a garden. They discuss how they started small with one little fern and how the family helped. When they’re fern. They learned more information about plants and how to grow them by reading and studying. As they successfully grew plants they added more and more to their house which eventually led to their Garden. The story shows how a family including small children can work together to grow something wonderfully and sustaining.
#6- Suggested Read Aloud
Spring is Here by Will Hillenbrand
Things I love about this book: book in a series, animals used to tell story, dialogue
This cute story begins with Mole waking up after a long hibernation. After he finally decides that it is indeed spring, Mole thinks that he needs to wake up Bear. He has quite a bit of trouble getting Bear to wake up, so he decides to gather eggs, milk a cow, churn some butter, and bake some muffins. And this fantastic idea was exactly what Bear needed to wake up from his hibernation!
#7- Suggested Read Aloud
Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney
Things I love about this book: illustrations, powerful message
This story is one of my all-time favorites for spring (I think because it was read to me a lot growing up)! It tells the story of Alice Rumphius who wanted to see the world. Once she has decided that she’s seen enough of the world, she settles in to a home by the sea. She plants blue and purple flowers called lupines, but since she was sick she couldn’t plant any more flowers. She was surprised the following year to find the lupines were back again because of the wind and birds to help. This gave her an idea to wander around fields, scattering seeds as she goes.
#8- Suggested Read Aloud
Bunny’s Book Club by Annie Silvestro
Things I love about this book: anything book club themed!!, illustrations, fun story, positive library discussion
The story begins by describing Bunny’s love for books and how listening to a girl read books can grow his imagination. When he couldn’t hear stories read aloud anymore once summer ended, Bunny decided he needed to do something! He snuck into the library through the book return and started reading books at night. As his friends learned about these books, they started to join in. When the librarian catches all the animals in the library, she gives them each a library card! Adorable.
#9- Suggested Read Aloud
Everything Spring by Emaline Lauren
Things I love about this book: nonfiction, clear images
This nonfiction text has clear, bright colored photographs that show new spring arrivals. We see plants and trees growing. We see new animals being born. The text is short and sweet, but is great for primary readers needing to visually see what spring is with simple sentences to explain!
More Spring Reading Activities Ideas…
If you’re looking for other springtime reading activities to use in your classroom, I offer more resources in my TPT store. Links are below!
- Fiction Spring Comprehension– Enjoy a collection of fictional spring-themed stories with follow-up comprehension activities.
- Differentiated Spring Passages– There are three levels for each nonfiction and fiction text with spring themes!
- Spring Flip Book- This flip book starts with a passage about the spring season, and then gives three follow-up activities.
- Spring Readers Theater– 13 different scripts to enjoy!
Thanks for reading this blog post all about Spring time reading suggestions. Good luck implementing these read alouds and reading activities in your classroom!