Chase away winter break boredom with our selection of engaging read-alouds, perfect for sharing with a group or solo. Novel Effect’s team of educators has curated ten books to read over winter break. These titles keep young readers in your life occupied between holiday highs and lows.
Not only will these titles keep kids entertained, but they offer opportunities to work on growth mindset and improve reading engagement. Bonus — several have activity packets designed by educators, guaranteeing hours of structured exploration. With books for preschoolers to upper elementary school students, your kids’ reading list is covered this winter break!
When you’ve been bad for as long as you can remember, is it even possible to be good? In Jory John’s The Bad Seed, readers learn about how our past experiences can have have an impact on our present selves. It’s up to us to change and grow. A favorite since its first day on the app, this soundscape is filled rock n’ roll and rap-inspired music even the grownups reading aloud will love.
Rule #1 of Reading: When you read a book, you have to read every word! Whimsical and silly from the start, The Book With No Pictures is sure to get giggles out of your little listeners. It’s matching soundscape adds even more engagement with goofy sound effects that go along with the mayhem inside this picture-less book!
For your littlest of little ones, Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? is a board book favorite! Engage all of your child’s sense when reading along with the Novel Effect soundscape. You’ll not only see the color of the animals in this book but hear them as well!
The Cool Bean shows kids that a little bit of kindness can go a really long way! Bluesy wails on the saxophone and excited little bean voices will have your kids enthralled with this soundscape from page 1.
There’s nothing quite like taco night–dragons think so too! But when spicy salsa gets involved you might find yourself in a bit of a…fiery situation. Dragons Love Tacos is a laugh for the whole family! With our soundscape’s voiceovers and accordion music (which dragons love too) it’s bursting with even more fun!
Giraffes Can’t Dance is about how Gerald the Giraffe finally finds his groove with the help of an unexpected friend. From the waltz to the Scottish reel, this Novel Effect soundscape will have kids doing the bedtime boogie as they drift to sleep.
In another Jory John favorite, being good all the time isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. The Good Egg helps teach kiddos that it’s ok to put ourselves first when the pressure’s of life are getting to be too much. This soundscape is a scramble of cheery instrumentals and sweet egg voices!
Have you ever woken up to a slumped over snowman? A wintery classic, Snowmen at Night explains what happens to our chilly snowmen friends at night while we’re fast asleep. Filled with the sounds of a moonlight park adventure, this soundscape adds just the right touch to this heartwarming story–making it the perfect book to read over winter break.
Some days it can be extremely difficult to look on the sweet side of life. With The Sour Grape you can help teach perspective while being entertained by this silly sour grape. Our soundscape uses techno-inspired music when the grape is sour and acoustic guitar when he’s sweet to help your kiddos identify the different emotions in the book!
The Very Hungry Caterpillar is another fantastic title for the littler readers in your life. Using a combination of melodic background music and punchier percussion for the different foods, this soundscape is the perfect pairing for this timeless classic.
Creating memories with your kiddos while they are home for the holidays has never been simpler thanks to Novel Effect. Check out our holiday collections for some festive fun all of the children in your life will enjoy:
Download the Novel Effect app to bring stories to life with music and sound that respond to your voice.
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