Looking for the best children’s books about the Iditarod? These children’s books about sled dogs will be engaging for your students! Picture books about the Iditarod Race with lesson plans and activities aligned to the Common Core linked for your Kindergarten, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th or 5th grade students. Children’s books about famous sled dogs, races, and more for your elementary school students. Your students will delight in these classic and brand new books!
If you’re a member of the Picture Book Brain Trust Community, you already have access to EVERY lesson plan and activity for these books! Just click on the Lesson Plans button in the menu!
Togo by Robert Blake
Heard of Balto? Probably. Heard of Togo? Probably not, but Togo is the name you should know. Togo wasn’t meant to be a sled dog. He was too feisty and independent to make a good team member, let alone a leader. But Togo is determined, and when his trainer, Leonhard Seppala, gives him a chance, he soon becomes one of the fastest sled dogs in history! His skills are put to the ultimate test, though, when Seppala and his team are called on to make the now-famous run across the frozen Arctic to deliver the serum that will save Alaska from a life-threatening outbreak of diphtheria.
Get the lesson plan and activities for Togo HERE
Akiak by Robert Blake
What happens when you can’t control your life? How do you take control of your fate? When she hurts her paw on the fourth day of the race, Akiak can no longer compete in the Iditarod—the famed dogsledding race through 1,151 miles of Alaskan terrain. Her musher has no choice but to leave her behind. The rules say once a dog is dropped from the race, it may not rejoin the team. But ten-year-old lead dog Akiak doesn’t know the rules, and nothing will stop her from catching up to her team. Akiak has never won the race before. Will she be able to help her team win this time? A great book to read in winter or to talk abou the Iditarod race in March.
Get the lesson plan and activities for Akiak HERE
You can get a FREE lesson and activities for Akiak HERE:
Storm Run by Libby Riddles
In 1985, Libby Riddles made history by becoming the first woman to win the 1,100-mile Iditarod Sled Dog Race. This brand-new edition of Riddles’s timeless adventure story is complete with updated narrative details, sidebars on all aspects of the race, photographs, and all-new illustrations by beloved illustrator Shannon Cartwright. An inspiration to children and adults everywhere, this is a compelling first-hand account of the arctic storms, freezing temperatures, loyal sled dogs, and utter determination that defined Riddles’s Iditarod victory.
Get the lesson plan and activities for Storm Run HERE
Alaska’s Dog Heroes by Shelley Gill
In Alaska, dogs really are a person’s best friend. These true canine stories from the last frontier describe remarkable acts of intelligence, stamina, loyalty, and heroism by Balto, Togo, Tekla, Stickeen, and more of Alaska’s famous dogs.
Follow these dogs as they traverse the mountains in winter with deliveries of life-saving medicine to remote villages, fight off attacking bears, and find lost children. Alaskan canines perform amazing deeds that exhibit intelligence, stamina, loyalty, and heroism—plus they offer friendly and furry companionship to their owners.
If You Were a Kid at the Iditarod by Josh Gregory
Join Maggie and Alex, two young relatives of an Iditarod musher, as they get an insider’s view of the race. Each March, the world’s top sled dog teams gather in Alaska for the sport’s biggest event: the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. In this incredible race, mushers race their dog teams across more than 900 miles (1,448 kilometers) of rough Alaskan terrain. Readers (Ages 7-9) will learn about the Iditarod’s history, rules, strategies, and much more.
Kiana’s Iditarod by Shelley Gill
Kiana is no ordinary dog. Born and bred to race, she leads her team of huskies on a journey unlike any other. The Iditarod – known traditionally as Alaska’s ‘Last Great Race’ – spans 1,049 icy miles from Anchorage to Nome. From the treacherous terrain to the bitter, blowing winds, the trail is full of obstacles Kiana and her team must overcome in order to reach the finish line. Along the way, they encounter packs of wild wolves, a mighty moose, and other dog-sled teams fighting for first place. Can Kiana summon the strength of her team and lead them to victory? Author Shelley Gill brings her firsthand experience as the fifth woman to complete the Iditarod race to this crackling adventure story, while Shannon Cartwright’s vibrant color illustrations bring Kiana and her team’s extraordinary efforts to life for young readers.
Dogteam by Gary Paulsen
On a moonlit winter night, a team of dogs pulls a sled, taking the narrator and readers on a wondrous ride through the snow, into and out of the woods. It is a ride you’ll wish would never end.
Through this exquisite prose poem, Gary Paulsen shares the joy, the beauty, and the grandeur of the outdoors. With his joyous text and Ruth Wright Paulsen’s exuberant and expressive illustrations, Dogteam is a celebration of nature, a dance that invites everyone to join in.
Best Children’s Books About the Iditarod Sled Dog Race
What are some of your favorite children’s books about the Iditarod Sled Dog Race, the Last Great Race? Are there any must read picture books about the Iditarod Race that I left out? Let me know in the comments, and I’ll add it!
REMEMBER: You can get a FREE lesson and activities for Akiak HERE:
If you’re a member of the Picture Book Brain Trust Community, you already have access to EVERY lesson plan and activity for these books! Just click on the Lesson Plans button in the menu!
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