I started in the blog world it was to find ideas for new
read aloud books. I was getting ready to
teach second grade. The plan was to loop
with the cohort to third grade. There
are fabulous books out there to read to both second and third grade classes,
but I wanted something new. Fast-forward
a lot of years, and I read the perfect read aloud for a first and second grade
class. Luckily, I got to enjoy The Year of Billy Miller by Kevin Henkes at home and share it with
my nephew’s first grade teacher. First
and second graders are really cute, and I love seeing them in the hallways; and
thank goodness I will have them later.
Billy Miller is a second grader that has a rough end of the
summer. He is very excited to be a
second grader. Billy is a kind kid that
works hard to do the right thing. His
mother is a high school teacher, and his dad is a stay at home parent that
happens to be an artist. Billy’s little
sister is very creative and expressive.
As the year progresses Billy finds that growing up is not always
easy. At times even sleeping through the
night can be challenging.
I was excited to find a book that had no talking animals, dead
dogs, runaway parents, etc. After
reading this book I want Billy in my third grade class. Mr. Henkes wrote a realistic book about
growing up without being preachy or filled with sad events. This is a great read aloud for younger
grades.
