Favorite September Read Aloud Books for Kindergarten - FREEBIES
I have my favorite September Read Aloud Books ready for you!
I took your email suggestions into consideration with some of these books, so I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.
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I have even created FREE book companion activities you can print right on this blog post.
This time of year is incredibly exciting, stressful and busy.
To make it easy for you, I create a homepage for everything I teach in September!
Math, phonemic awareness, phonics, report cards, literacy centers, calendar, morning meeting, and so much more!
Let’s get started with our September read-aloud books!
To make it easy for you, I have linked all FREE book companion activities in one file at the end of this blog post.
Llama Llama Red Pajama by Anna Dewdney
Through rhyme and an adorable story, Llama Llama learns a valuable lesson about patience.
It’s bedtime, and Baby Llama has been given bedtime hugs and kisses, but he’s thirsty. While waiting for his mother to bring him a drink, his worst fears start buzzing through his head.
Use this sweet story to teach students to be patient and trust that adults will always care for them.
If you have kids of your own, read this to your little ones to reassure them they are safe. My son loves this story, and it helped him sleep at night when he started having nightmares. I could hear him reciting it to himself sometimes.
I even created a fun rhyming freebie for you to use with your students.
If you don’t own the book, you can show this video!
The mind is a powerful tool! This bad seed has a bad attitude and bad behavior. One day, he decides that he doesn’t want to be that way anymore; he wants to be happy. Through a funny yet touching story, we learn how powerful our brains can be. This story is a great one to show students how influential positive change can be in your life.
Use this story to brainstorm ways you can put a positive spin on all sorts of scenarios in your life.
When a little boy asks for a pet, he’s expecting one that can run and play ball with him, not a fish. His disappointment is seen on the beautifully illustrated pages, but a lesson is learned.
This story teaches kids to find the good in every situation. Sure, Norman wasn’t the pet the little boy wanted, but there’s a lot of good that can come from having a fish. This is another excellent story to use when discussing positivity and a growth mindset.
If you don’t have your own copy of this story, this read-aloud is lovely to listen to.
Bear Sees Colors by Karma Wilson
This playful text is a fun way to introduce and learn about colors in the classroom. Bear and his friends are out and about when they notice colors all around them. In this book, they see blue, red, yellow, green, and brown, but there are so many other colors to find.
Read the story and then explore all of the colors in the room. Let kids go on a color hunt around the room and collect objects that make a rainbow. I’ve made a recording sheet your kids can use!
Try playing this story for your kids and pause after each color. Call on students to find colors in the text and around the room.
I model how to find a few objects before letting them go off independently.
They get so excited to share what they have found when we are finished!
Bad Apple: A Tale of Friendship by Edward Hemingway
Want a sweet story about an unexpected friendship? This story is perfect for fall and a new school year.
Mac the apple and Will the worm are unlikely friends. Their friendship bothers some of the other apples, and Mac is sad. Instead of worrying about what others think, Mac decides he’d rather be a bad apple with Will than a sad apple without.
When you are finished reading, complete the Kindness Chart and cut and paste activity!
This is a fantastic story to use at the beginning of the year to encourage friendships and kindness!
Johnny Appleseed by Jodie Shepherd
Curious about the story of Johnny Appleseed and how he spread generosity and apple seeds across the globe? Read this charming story with your students while you learn about all things apples.
Discuss how they can spread kindness in their community and classroom just like Johnny did. Hopefully, this book inspires the budding Johnny Appleseed in every reader!
Ten Apples Up on Top by Dr. Seuss
We all know this classic, but have you used it for counting and graphing before? This is a fabulous story to read to your class while learning to count to 10.
Grab this story to read before a counting math lesson or an activity with apples. The kids will love the silly story and illustrations, and there are so many things you can do with it afterward.
Use the printable apples to measure and record objects in the classroom!
September is the perfect time of year to learn about the parts of an apple, how apples grow, and what you can make out of apples. This beautiful story illustrates how apples are grown, what’s inside, and how people use them. The author even included important reproductive parts of the apple so it can be used during a science lesson.
Read this story with your class, and then let them label the parts of an apple using this freebie.
You will also love my All About Apples Unit, packed with fun activities to learn about apples!
Discussing careers is an extremely fun activity to do with young learners. I love hearing what kids want to be when they grow up. Read Career Day with your class and have a discussion about different jobs they can take when they get older.
While this book doesn’t cover every job out there, it’s a great conversation starter. Use this time to research jobs that are out there that students may not even realize. You may learn a thing or two yourself!
A Color of His Own by Leo Lionni
A sweet little chameleon is figuring out his colors. Elephants are gray, and flamingos are pink, but what color are chameleons?
He’s sad he doesn’t have a color of his own until he makes a discovery one day. He realizes all of the different colors that are around him and have fun camouflaging himself against the leaves.
What a great story to teach students to be themselves in the face of adversity. Be proud of who you are and let all of your colors shine through.
Save your teacher voice, and use this adorable video to read for you.
Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons by James Dean
Pete the Cat is back with four groovy buttons on his shirt! When a button pops off, does Pete worry? Goodness, no! I just love Pete’s positive mentality as he goes about his day. There’s even a super fun song that you can play for your students to sing along to.
This book is a fantastic story to read aloud when working with numbers and figuring out ONE LESS. Whether you tackle that task now or later in the year, hang on to this fun story.
Use the pocket chart pieces and the button activity after reading this incredible story.
Goodbye Summer, Hello Autumn by Kenard Pak
As the seasons change, grab a few books to discuss the weather and changes kids will see outside.
Goodbye Summer, Hello Autumn shows a young girl walking through the town, admiring the beautiful sights offered by the incoming fall weather. The birds are flying south, the leaves are changing colors, and a cool breeze brings a slight chill to the air.
Summer is ending and Autumn is on its way.
Learn about fall, winter, and spring with my Thematic Units!
When Grandma Gives you a Lemon Tree by Jamie L. B. Deenihan
I’m sure you’ve heard the famous saying, “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade”.
This witty story follows the narrator's instructions as a little girl learns about her new gift: a lemon tree. This story is complete with a recipe for delicious lemonade as well.
Teach your students the value of patience, hard work, nature, and community with this colorfully illustrated read-aloud.
If you don’t have a copy of the book yourself, try this video instead.
Night in the Country by Cynthia Rylant
Night in The Country is a story like no other. It’s full of beautifully written sentences illustrating what the countryside looks like when the sun goes down. I love using this story to show kids how to describe the setting. The book offers tons of vivid details as a great model for learning kiddos.
It is also a fantastic book to use when discussing the senses. Point out how the moon glows, how the animals sound, the smells, and how the night air gets chillier. Have the kids close their eyes as you read and try to envision the story unfolding in front of them.
After reading the story, let students record some of the things they hear at night using this freebie.
Glues on Strike by Jennifer Jones
This insanely hilarious book caught my eye recently, and I couldn’t resist. As teachers, we know that gluesticks can be pretty troublesome when in little hands. The caps are lost, the glue is smashed, and sometimes kids eat the glue. Every year we try to get ahead of it with glue rules and sayings like, “Dot, dot, not a lot”, but without fail, the gluesticks disappear like crazy.
This silly story is a fun way to teach students how to treat their glue sticks. Read the book out loud and discuss ways to be responsible with our materials in the classroom. Kids will love it!
Not to mention, Jennifer Jones has a whole series about classroom supplies, be sure to check it out.
The Invisible Boy by Trudy Ludwig
Not all heroes wear capes, and sometimes it just takes one small act of kindness to turn someone’s day around. Showing empathy is something that kids can do every day to spread kindness in the world.
When a new kid comes to class, a quiet boy befriends him, and they help each other grow. The little boy in this story shows the reader that bravery doesn’t have to be a monumental act; it can be something so tiny!
Some kids don’t know what personal space is, and neither do the animals in this cute story. A little yellow bird just wants some peace and quiet on a rock, but it seems like the whole swamp intends to join him.
At first, he is okay with the animals joining him, but as more join, he becomes increasingly annoyed.
Read the story for a surprise ending your kids will enjoy over and over again. Use it to teach personal space and respect when around others!
Fletcher and The Falling Leaves by Julia Rawlinson
I love the beautiful illustrations and the lyrical text in this fall read-aloud. As the weather cools down near you, read this story to give students examples of descriptive words. This book is full of them!
The little fox in the story is worried that something is wrong with his favorite tree when the leaves start to fall, but he learns something spectacular.
This is another fantastic read-aloud for learning about changing seasons and weather.
The Black Rabbit by Philippa Leathers
Rabbit has a scary problem, there’s a giant black rabbit chasing him, and nothing he does will get rid of it.
He tries dodging behind trees and bushes but can’t seem to lose the black rabbit until he runs into the deep, dark wood. He may have lost the scary rabbit, but now he’s come face to face with a fox!
Will rabbit escape, and who do you think might end up helping him? This is a fun story to ask predictive questions about before turning the page. Ask students if they have ever been afraid of their shadow and explain how shadows work. It could turn into quite a fun science experiment.
The Little Scarecrow Boy by Margaret Wise Brown
This sweet story celebrates the tradition of passing knowledge down from one generation to the next.
The little scarecrow wants to scare the crows as his father does, but he just isn’t scary enough yet. Through dedication and trial and error, he finds a way.
I love that the scarecrow continues to try even after failing. It’s a beautiful story of perseverance and reaching one’s potential. Just like the little scarecrow boy, don’t ever give up.
Did you know that you can set up an Amazon Class Wish List? Parents and donors can help you purchase supplies!
Hover over Accounts & Lists at the top right of your browser on Amazon. Click create a wish list and get started!
It is so quick and easy to create a wishlist, and so many parents will happily support building your classroom library!
This is not my video, but I thought it may be helpful for you!
Ready to print all of these free book companion activities for back to school?!
I hope you love these as much as we do!
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