February Read Aloud Books

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February; the shortest month of the year, yet it always seems the most eventful! Between, celebrating Black History Month, Valentine's Day and Groundhog Day, there is so much to talk about with our students and so many books to help us!

Here are the top 5 books on our list for February that you can use in your classroom. Keep on reading to find some helpful activities or lesson ideas that can go along with these books as well and a freebie to use for Valentine's day!

Shaking Things Up by Susan Hood is a book of poetry showcasing 14 revolutionary young women who impacted history. I love this book for its feminism theme and to bring light to the incredible impact young black women have had in history. I love using this book in our poetry unit to discuss theme, rhyming words, tone and rhythm in writing. Use this book to have deep and meaningful conversations, while still learning about poems and history. I like to also connect this to a writing activity, where students can choose one young woman from the book and write from their point of view.

Henry's Freedom Box by Ellen Levine is a true story about a young male slave who dreams about freedom, until one day he decides to mail himself to the North to live out his dream. Students are always fascinated by true stories, making this read aloud one that students will be interested in and remember for a long time. Slavery is a hard topic to tackle in the classroom, especially with younger students, but this story is a great conversation-starter and dives into the topic in a way that students of many ages can understand. I like to tie this into a social studies lesson and have students do their own research about the topic to teach the rest of the class.

Love Is by Diane Adams is a read aloud that follows the story of a young girl caring for a young duckling until it is old enough to be returned to the pond. A rhyming book that teaches young children about the importance of love and caring for one another; the imprint that others leave in our lives. I like to use this book to connect to the health curriculum when we are learning about emotions and relationships. Just like Shaking Things Up, this book can also be helpful when teaching a poetry writing unit by analyzing the poetry in this read aloud.

Hug Machine by Scott Campbell follows the funny and cute story of a young boy who names himself the "hug machine" as he brings an affectionate approach to life. When teaching about social-emotional learning this book allows for good discussion. I also love that the character in this read aloud is a boy, to help young males see themselves represented showing emotion and affection; a characteristic that is predominantly represented by females. It is important to also use this book as a learning moment to talk about consent and giving affection to those who agree to it, even a simple hug.

Groundhog's Day Off by Robb Pearlman is a funny and entertaining picture book to discuss Groundhog Day and its meaning and importance. This book can be accompanied by many activities and learning opportunities. I would use this as a segway to talk about science topics such as habitats and animals, hibernation, and seasons. You can also accompany this with researching groundhogs or a writing activity about making predictions and inferring.

These read aloud books for the month of February are just a small list of books you can use. I'd be happy to hear what your favourite books are for this time of year!

Click the images below to view a comprehension bundle and virtual library available for purchase that can be useful when reading these books to your students.

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