MN STORYTIME READING GUIDES

 
About the Reading Guides
The Minnesota Humanities Center’s Minnesota Storytime reading guides feature Minnesota children’s picture books (fiction, non-fiction, poetry, etc.). All books selected for Minnesota Storytime were created by authors and/or illustrators from Minnesota. The reading guides have been developed for use by librarians, teachers, child care providers, parents, and anyone else interested in reading and related literacy activities with children and families. The guides contain many suggestions for sharing stories in a consistent easy-to-read format.

Through its emphasis on the humanities, the Minnesota Humanities Center works to build a thoughtful and literate society. A Minnesota-based national center and clearing house for the best in the humanities, the Humanities Center: conducts professional development opportunities; creates and disseminates one-of-a-kind educational resources; partners with other organizations to offer humanities programs statewide; and operates a full-service meeting and event center. 

 
List of 68 Books/Reading Guides in the Program
To print a list of the books in the program, click here

Antler, Bear, Canoe: A Northwoods Alphabet by Betsy Bowen

Apples (Let’s Investigate) by Shawndra Shofner

The Best Pet of All by David LaRochelle, illustrated by Hanako Wakiyama

BoozHoo by Fond du Lac Headstart, photographs by Rocky Wilkinson

The Borrowed Hanukah Latkes by Linda Glaser, illustrated by Nancy Cote

Cold Little Duck Duck Duck by Lisa Westberg Peters, illustrated by Sam Williams

Countdown to Kindergarten by Alison McGhee, illustrated by Harry Bliss

Cowboy Sam and Those Confounded Secrets by Kitty Griffin & Kathy Combs, illustrated by Mike Wohnoutka

Daddy Played Music for the Cows by Maryann Weidt, illustrated by Henri Sorensen

Dhegdheer: A Scary Somali Folktale by Marian A. Hassan, illustrated by Betsy Bowen
       Book and reading guide available in Somali and English

Dia’s Story Cloth – The Hmong People’s Journey of Freedom by Dia Cha, stitched by Chue and Nhia Thao Cha

Book and reading guide available in White Hmong, Green Mong, and English

Earthshake: Poems from the Ground Up by Lisa Westberg Peters, illustrated by Cathie Felstead

Ellis Island: Doorway to Freedom by Steven Kroll, illustrated by Karen Ritz

Family by Isabell Monk, illustrated by Janice Lee Porter

Farmer’s Market: Families Working Together by Marcie R. Randon and Cheryl Walsh Bellville, photographs by Cheryl Walsh Bellville

The Fiddler of the Northern Lights by Natalie Kinsey-Warnock, illustrated by Leslie Bowman

The First Thing My Mama Told Me by Susan Marie Swanson, illustrated by Christine Davenier
Fold Me A Poem by Kristine O'Connell George, illustrated by Lauren Stringer

Get Dressed! by Gwenyth Swain

Goose Moon by Carolyn Arden, illustrated by Jim Postier

Grandad’s Prayer of the Earth by Douglas Wood, illustrated by P. J. Lynch

Hey Pancakes! by Tamson Weston, illustrated by Stephen Gammell

Horsefly by Alice Hoffman, illustrated by Steve Johnson & Lou Fancher
How Many Elephants? A Lift-the-Flap Counting Book by Selby Beeler, illustrated by Barney Saltzberg

If You Want to See a Caribou  by Phyllis Root, illustrated by Jim Meyer

If You Were Born a Kitten by Marion Dane Bauer, illustrated by JoEllen McAllister Stammen

       Matt Kania, Matt Mills & Amy Learn

It’s Fall! by Linda Glaser, illustrated by Susan Swan

The Lion’s Share/Qayb Libaax by Said Salah Ahmed, illustrated by Kelly Dupre
       Book and reading guide available in Somali and English

Little Quack by Lauren Thompson, illustrated by Derek Anderson

Love and Roast Chicken: A Trickster Tale from the Andes Mountains by Barbara Knutson

Marven of the Great North Woods by Kathryn Lasky, illustrated by Kevin Hawkes

Millions of Cats  by Wanda Gag

Miss Alaineus: A Vocabulary Disaster by Debra Frasier

Mrs. Watson Wants Your Teeth by Alison McGhee, illustrated by Harry Bliss

Mud by Mary Lyn Ray, illustrated by Lauren Stringer

Nature’s Yucky! Gross Stuff that Helps Nature Work by Lee Ann Landstrom & Karen I. Shragg,
        illustrated by Constance R. Bergum

Night Driving by John Coy, illustrated by Peter McCarty

Nightlight by Jeannine Anderson, illustrated by Nikki Johnson, art direction by Joy Dey

Old Black Fly by Jim Aylesworth, illustrated by Stephen Gammell

One-Dog Canoe by Mary Casanova, illustrated by Ard Hoyt

Our Big Home: An Earth Poem by Linda Glaser, illustrated by Elisa Kleven

Our Family Tree: An Evolution Story by Lisa Westberg Peters, illustrated by Laura Stringer

Our Journey by Lyz Jaakola, illustrated by Karen Savage-Blue

Out of the Ocean by Debra Frasier

Papa’s Latkes by Michelle Edwards, illustrated by Stacey Schuett

Prairie Train by Marsha Wilson Chall, illustrated by John Thompson

The Race of the Birkebeiners by Lise Lunge-Larsen, illustrated by Mary Azarian

Range Eternal by Louise Erdrich, illustrated by Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher

Rattletrap Car by Phyllis Root, illustrated by Jill Barton

The Raven’s Gift: A True Story from Greenland by Kelly Dupre

Roxsboxen by Alice McLerran, illustrated by Barbara Cooney

Rules of the Wind: An Unruly Book About Manners by Bridget Levin, illustrated by Amanda Shepherd

Sacagawea by Lise Erdrich, illustrated by Julie Buffalohead

Song of the Water Boatman and Other Pond Poems by Joyce Sidman, illustrated by Becky Prange

Strong to the Hoop by John Coy, illustrated by Leslie Jean-Bart

Book and reading guide available in Spanish and English

Sugar (Let’s Investigate) by Sheryl Peterson

Swing Around the Sun by Barbara Juster Esbensen, illustrated by Cheng-Khee Chee,
        Janice Lee Porter, Mary GrandPre’ and Stephen Gammell

Tell Me What We Did Today by Rick Kupchella, illustrated by Warren Hanson

        illustrated by G. Brian Karas

Tortilla Factory by Gary Paulsen, illustrated by Ruth Wright Paulsen

Book and reading guide available in Spanish and English

The Travels of Igal Shidaad by Amin Amir, illustrated by Said Salah Ahmed
                   Book and reading guide available in Somali and English
Two Old Potatoes and Me by John Coy, illustrated by Carolyn Fisher

Up North at the Cabin by Marsha Wilson Chall, illustrated by Steve Johnson

V is for Viking by Kathy-Jo Wargin, illustrated by Karen Latham & Rebecca Latham

Wiil Waal, A Somali Folktale by Kathleen Moriarty, illustrated by Amin Amir
                  Book and reading guide available in Somali and English
What Dads Can’t Do by Douglas Wood, illustrated by Doug Cushman

The Wolfhound by Kristine L. Franklin, illustrated by Kris Waldherr