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Reading Rockets offers a wealth of reading strategies, lessons, and activities designed to help young children learn how to read and read better. Our reading resources assist parents, teachers, and other educators in helping struggling readers build fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension skills.
 

Featured books by

Jerry Pinkney

A talented artist, Jerry Pinkney illustrations for children's books are highly acclaimed. Pinkney is the recipient of numerous prestigious awards including several Caldecott Honors and numerous Coretta Scott King Awards. He makes watercolor, an unforgiving medium, appear effortless as details emerge in each of his books. From portraits of people to retellings of traditional tales to looks at other worlds, Jerry Pinkney's distinctive style and lush retellings continue to delight readers of all ages.

Aesop's Fables
Aesop's Fables
Age Level: 6-9
Reading Level: Independent Reader

Almost 100 fables attributed to Aesop have been selected and illustrated in this oversized collection. Familiar and less familiar tales are included, and most are distinguished by illustrations that give these old fables a fresh face. This large collection is an introduction to these classic stories.

Little Red Hen
Little Red Hen
Age Level: 3-6
Reading Level: Pre-Reader

When an industrious red hen finds seeds, the other animals refuse to help her plant them. But when the little red hen finally bakes the bread from the wheat she has grown, the others are all eager to eat it! Luminous, realistic, highly-detailed watercolors breathe freshness into this traditional tale.

Little Red Riding Hood
Little Red Riding Hood
Age Level: 3-6
Reading Level: Beginning Reader

When the girl in the red cape goes to visit her grandmother who lives on the other side of the snow-filled forest, she is approached by a sly wolf who then precedes her to her destination. While the story is well known, this version is distinguished by opulent illustrations that depict a brown-skinned child.

Noah's Ark
Noah's Ark
Age Level: 3-6
Reading Level: Beginning Reader

The illustrator retells the familiar Bible story about how Noah placed animals two-by-two on an ark in preparation for 40 days and 40 nights of rain. The story begins and ends on richly detailed, evocative endpapers with stunningly beautiful watercolor and pencil illustrations depicting the action on pages in between.

The Lion & the Mouse
The Lion & the Mouse
Age Level: 3-6
Reading Level: Beginning Reader

The well-known fable about how the smallest creature — a mouse — saves the majestic lion is a tale of kindness returned. Here it is effectively recast as a wordless story in a new setting. Stunning illustrations are expressive and emotive, evoking Africa's Serengeti while retaining the tale's power.

Books illustrated by Jerry Pinkney

Books illustrated by Jerry Pinkney

Rikki-Tikki-Tavi
Rikki-Tikki-Tavi
By: Rudyard Kipling
Illustrated by: Jerry Pinkney
Age Level: 6-9
Reading Level: Independent Reader

Slightly adapted and newly illustrated, this thrilling, older tale is presented for a new generation of readers. When a mongoose washes up on the doorstep of an English family living in India, they name him Rikki-Tikki-Tavi. It is Rikki-Tikki who saves them (and other animals) from the vicious cobras who seek to do harm to them all.

Sweethearts of Rhythm
Sweethearts of Rhythm
By: Marilyn Nelson
Illustrated by: Jerry Pinkney
Age Level: 9-12
Reading Level: Independent Reader

A series of poems introduces the members and instruments of an all-female band, the Sweethearts, who played to record audiences in the segregated south from the 1930s to 1940s. Movement filled illustrations combine with the free verse for an unforgettable portrait of musicians and their times.

The All I'll Ever Want Christmas Doll
The All I'll Ever Want Christmas Doll
By: Patricia McKissack
Illustrated by: Jerry Pinkney
Age Level: 6-9
Reading Level: Independent Reader

Nella and her family live in a small town during the Depression so "Santy" Claus doesn't come very often. This year, however, he brings a special doll - and Nella, the middle child, learns that playing with her sisters is more fun than with the doll alone. Richly detailed illustrations add definition to time and place as well as to the characters.

The Moon Over Star
The Moon Over Star
By: Dianna Aston
Illustrated by: Jerry Pinkney
Age Level: 6-9
Reading Level: Independent Reader

Mae is 8-years old in 1969 when Neil Armstrong and the crew of the Apollo 11 land on the moon. She and her grandfather watch this historic event on television to the delight of both - all the while buttressing the child's dreams. Illustrations evoke the time, place, and awe of the child and the event.

The Talking Eggs
The Talking Eggs
By: Robert San Souci
Illustrated by: Jerry Pinkney
Age Level: 3-6
Reading Level: Beginning Reader

Language and image together evoke the southern setting for this retelling of a Creole folktale in which a much maligned daughter is rewarded for her kindness to an old witch woman. Her sister, however, suffers a very different fate when she shows her real personality.

The Ugly Duckling
The Ugly Duckling
By: Hans Andersen
Illustrated by: Jerry Pinkney
Age Level: 3-6
Reading Level: Beginning Reader

Hans Christian Andersen's classic tale is retold and illustrated in this handsome book. This time, the ugly duckling's adventures are retold in greater detail and are further enhanced by the luminous, meticulous watercolors for which Pinkney won a Caldecott honor.

Undersea Animals: A Dramatic Dimensional Visit to Strange Underwater Realms
Undersea Animals: A Dramatic Dimensional Visit to Strange Underwater Realms
By: Jane Buxton
Illustrated by: Jerry Pinkney
Age Level: 3-6
Reading Level: Beginning Reader

Though not for the youngest hands, stunning colors and amazing pop-ups are used to introduce sea life — kelp, fish, coral and other creatures — from unique perspectives. This attractive book is sure to engage readers of all ages.

Interested in wonderful interviews with tween and teen authors? Hop on over to our sister site, AdLit.org, and browse the library.

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