Check out these children’s books for point of view. Amazing books to teach point of view and perspective for elementary students!
Looking for the best children’s books for point of view? These fun books to teach point of view for elementary students are engaging for primary and upper elementary kids. Award-winning books with lesson plans and activities linked. Picture books about point of view, different perspectives, and more to read aloud for your kindergarten, first, second, third, fourth or fifth grade students. Your students will delight in these classic and brand new picture books for learning POV!
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Creepy Carrots by Aaron Reynolds
Jasper Rabbit loves carrots—especially Crackenhopper Field carrots. He eats them on the way to school, going to Little League, and walking home. Until the day the carrots start following him…or are they? From Jasper’s perspective, the carrots are terrorizing him…but from the carrots’ point of view?
Get the lesson plan and activities for Creepy Carrots HERE
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School’s First Day of School by Adam Rex
It’s the first day of school at Frederick Douglass Elementary and everyone’s just a little bit nervous, especially the school itself. What will the children do once they come? Will they like the school? Will they be nice to him? The school has a rough start, but as the day goes on, he soon recovers when he sees that he’s not the only one going through first-day jitters.
Get the lesson plan and activities for School’s First Day of School HERE
Voices in the Park by Anthony Browne
Four people enter a park, and through their eyes we see four different visions. There’s the bossy woman, the sad man, the lonely boy, and the young girl whose warmth touches those she meets. As the story moves from one voice to another, their perspectives are reflected in the shifting landscape and seasons. This is an intriguing, multi-layered, enormously entertaining book that demands to be read again and again.
They All Saw a Cat by Brendan Wenzel
The cat walked through the world, with its whiskers, ears, and paws . . . In this glorious celebration of observation, curiosity, and imagination, Brendan Wenzel shows us the many lives of one cat, and how perspective shapes what we see. When you see a cat, what do you see?
Get the lesson plan and activities for They All Saw a Cat HERE
The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt
Poor Duncan just wants to color. But when he opens his box of crayons, he finds only letters, all saying the same thing: His crayons have had enough! They quit! Blue crayon needs a break from coloring all those bodies of water. Black crayon wants to be used for more than just outlining. And Orange and Yellow are no longer speaking—each believes he is the true color of the sun. What can Duncan possibly do to appease all of the crayons and get them back to doing what they do best?
Mr. Tiger Goes Wild by Peter Brown
Are you bored with being so proper? Do you want to have more fun? Mr. Tiger knows exactly how you feel. So he decides to go wild. But does he go too far? From his point of view he doesn’t, but to everyone else in his town…yes.
Get the lesson plan and activities for Mr. Tiger Goes Wild HERE
The Great Kapok Tree by Lynne Cherry
A man exhausts himself trying to chop down a giant kapok tree. While he sleeps, the forest’s residents, including a child from the Yanomamo tribe, whisper in his ear about the importance of trees and how “all living things depend on one another” . . . and it works. An amazing story about putting yourself in someone else’s shoes set in the rainforest.
Get the lesson plan and activities for The Great Kapok Tree HERE
Wolf in the Snow by Matthew Cordell
A girl is lost in a snowstorm in the middle of winter. A wolf cub is lost, too. How will they find their way home? Each of them should fear the other, but they both look at things from each other’s perspective to help the other.
Get the lesson plan and activities for Wolf in the Snow HERE
Click Clack Moo by Doreen Cronin
Farmer Brown has a problem. His cows like to type. All day long he hears: Click, clack, MOO. Click, clack, MOO. Clickety, clack, MOO. But Farmer Brown’s problems REALLY begin when his cows start writing him notes….Seeing things from one another’s point of view can be difficult but essential for finding a compromise.
Get the lesson plan and activities for Click Clack Moo HERE
Misunderstood Shark by Ame Dyckman
Every beachgoer knows that there’s nothing more terrifying than a… SHARRRK! But this shark is just misunderstood, or is he? In a wholly original, sidesplittingly funny story, New York Times bestselling author Ame Dyckman and illustrator Scott Magoon take this perennial theme and turn it on its (hammer)head with a brand-new cheeky character. The filming of an underwater TV show goes awry when the crew gets interrupted by a… SHARRRK! Poor Shark, he wasn’t trying to scare them, he’s just misunderstood! Then he’s accused of trying to eat a fish. Will Shark ever catch a break? After all, he wasn’t going to eat the fish, he was just showing it his new tooth! Or was he? I guess it all comes down to perspective. This is also one of my favorite books about the ocean.
Get the lesson plan and activities for Misunderstood Shark HERE
Friends Stick Together by Hannah Harrison
Rupert is a rhinoceros of refined sensibilities. Levi, the new tickbird in class, is not. He burps the alphabet, tells corny jokes, and does really embarrassing air guitar solos. Worse, he lands right on Rupert and is determined to be Rupert’s symbiotic best pal! Rupert wants him gone. But when Levi finally does bug off, Rupert finds the peace and quiet a little boring. It turns out, Rupert could really use a friend like Levi. One of my favorite books for point of view especially for the primary grades.
Get the lesson plan and activities for Friends Stick Together HERE
Chester’s Way by Kevin Henkes
Chester and Wilson had their own way of doing things, and they did everything together. When they cut their sandwiches, it was always diagonally. When they rode their bikes, they always used hand signals. If Chester was hungry, Wilson was too. They were two of a kind, and that’s the way it was – until indomitable Lilly, who had her own way of doing things, moved into the neighborhood.
Get the lesson plan and activities for Chester’s Way HERE
Lost and Found by Oliver Jeffers
What is a boy to do when a lost penguin shows up at his door? Find out where it comes from, of course, and return it. But the journey to the South Pole is long and difficult in the boy’s rowboat. There are storms to brave and deep, dark nights.To pass the time, the boy tells the penguin stories. Finally, they arrive. Yet instead of being happy, both are sad. That’s when the boy realizes: The penguin hadn’t been lost, it had merely been lonely.
Get the lesson plan and activities for Lost and Found HERE
This Moose Belongs To Me by Oliver Jeffers
Wilfred is a boy with rules. He lives a very orderly life. It’s fortunate, then, that he has a pet who abides by rules, such as not making noise while Wilfred educates him on his record collection. There is, however, one rule that Wilfred’s pet has difficulty following: Going whichever way Wilfred wants to go. Perhaps this is because Wilfred’s pet doesn’t quite realize that he belongs to anyone. A moose can be obstinate in such ways. Fortunately, the two manage to work out a compromise. Let’s just say it involves apples.
Get the lesson plan and activities for This Moose Belongs To Me HERE
Drawn Together by Minh Le
When a young boy visits his grandfather, their lack of a common language leads to confusion, frustration, and silence. But as they sit down to draw together, something magical happens-with a shared love of art and storytelling, the two form a bond that goes beyond words. An amazing read for Grandparents Day and/or Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month.
Get the lesson plan and activities for Drawn Together HERE
Mr Peabody’s Apples by Madonna
A boy learns a lesson about the destructive power of gossip.
Get the lesson plan and activities for Mr Peabody’s Apples HERE
The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein
“Once there was a tree . . . and she loved a little boy.” So begins a story of unforgettable perception, beautifully written and illustrated by the gifted and versatile Shel Silverstein. Every day the boy would come to the tree to eat her apples, swing from her branches, or slide down her trunk . . . and the tree was happy. But as the boy grew older, he began to want more from the tree, and the tree gave and gave.
Get the lesson plan and activities for The Giving Tree HERE
A Stone Sat Still by Brendan Wenzel
A Stone Sat Still tells the story of a seemingly ordinary rock—but to the animals that use it, it is a resting place, a kitchen, a safe haven…even an entire world. This is a gorgeous exploration of perspective, perception, and the passage of time, with an underlying environmental message that is timely and poignant.
Encounter by Jane Yolen
When Christopher Columbus landed on the island of San Salvador in 1492, what he discovered were the Taino Indians. Told from a young Taino boy’s point of view, this is a story of how the boy tried to warn his people against welcoming the strangers, who seemed more interested in golden ornaments than friendship. Years later the boy, now an old man, looks back at the destruction of his people and their culture by the colonizers. A really perfect book for Indigenous Peoples Day!
Get the lesson plan and activities for Encounter HERE
Best Books For Point of View
What are some of your favorite books for point of view? Are there any must read books for point of view that I left out? Let me know in the comments, and I’ll add it!
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