Three years ago, for the 5 year anniversary of #ClassroomBookADay, I started curating monthly recommendations to provide deeper book knowledge, support of a broader range of book creators, and create a way to have common books for participating educators to discuss. I called it #cbadSpotlight. Each month, September-May, I share four titles that I think deserve special attention and a place in your classroom read aloud rotation.
I hope you find titles you are excited about, some new to you, and ones that will support your efforts with your students this school year as you work to be inclusive and thoughtful with your #ClassroomBookADay read alouds!
Shop for your #cbadSpotlight books at bookshop.org
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January 2023 #cbadSpotlight Titles
Dragon Dancer (for Lunar New Year Jan. 22)
It is the eve of Chinese New Year. Lanterns are hung in the shopping malls of Singapore and Yao is preparing to wake the ancient sky dragon, Shen Long, from his year-long sleep. From the moment Shen Long opens his great amber eyes and unfurls his silver-blue tail, Yao will be propelled on a magical journey through the skies of Singapore to battle the bad luck of the previous year and usher in the good. Will he succeed? Will his grandfather watch over him and protect him from harm? A beautiful story of a Chinese festival and its symbolism for Chinese communities everywhere, told from the perspective of Yao, the dragon dancer.
Poignant words from award-winning Indigenous author Monique Gray Smith about all the hopes adults have for the young people in their lives.
The hopes we have for the children in our lives are endless. We want our young people to thrive and experience all that life has to offer, but we also feel protective of them. Using simple but powerful statements, Monique Gray Smith delivers a touching message about loving, nurturing and wishing the best for our children. Paired with Gabrielle Grimard’s warm and enchanting illustrations, the message in I Hope will resonate with all parents, grandparents and caregivers.
For Anjali, playing the tabla is something that comes naturally. She loves the feel of the drum beneath her fingers and getting lost in the music. But when the boys in her class give her a hard time for being better than them, she messes up on purpose.
When her teacher announces a contest where the winner will get to perform with him at his next concert, Anjali is distraught. Winning the contest would be a dream for Anjali. But it seems like the better she gets, the meaner some of the kids are.
In this follow-up to Always Anjali, Anjali realizes that she should never let anyone make her feel bad for being good at something. An important story for all children to remember to never dim their light.
High-flying history is brought to life in this suspenseful story of an unknown and daring pilot named Jack Knight, who in 1921 flew his biplane straight into a blizzard over America’s heartland and saved the US Air Mail Service in the process.
When Jack Knight takes off in his biplane from North Platte, Nebraska, in 1921, hundreds of people crowd the airstrip. Is Jack transporting a famous passenger? Is he ferrying medicine for a sick child? Nope–Jack has six sacks of mail.
For the past few years, biplanes like Jack’s have been flying the mail only during daylight hours. Flying after dark is risky and crashes are too common, so lawmakers decide to cut funding for the US Air Mail Service. Outraged officials and pilots want to prove that flying the mail is best, so they concoct a plan–a coast-to-coast race.
But when a crash, exhaustion, and a snowstorm ground three of the planes, Jack Knight becomes the race’s only hope. All he has to do is fly all night long, leaning out of the plane to see, and navigate a blizzard over land he’s never covered with an empty fuel tank. Will Jack pull it off and save the Air Mail Service?
Catch up on prior month’s #cbadSpotlight selections
If you missed any of the 2019-2022 selections, be sure to check them out!
