Read to Them is thrilled to announce a new arrival in our suite of Picture Book Companions! Schools can now purchase Peter Brown’s The Wild Robot on the Island to share with their youngest readers.
Picture Book Companions are meant to expand the reach of your One School, One Book program to your pre-school and Kindergarten students. These picture books and their accompanying materials allow you to choose a more challenging title for your school, while still including your youngest learners. Each of our picture books corresponds directly to its full-length novel, condensing the story to a length and complexity that is appropriate for young readers. That’s what makes the picture books on our list true companions!
Framed for young readers and featuring Brown’s stunning full-color illustrations, The Wild Robot on the Island follows Roz, Brightbill, and their other animal friends we know and love from Brown’s chapter book series, The Wild Robot and The Wild Robot Escapes.
When Roz washes up on a remote island, she knows she doesn’t belong. She’s meant to help humans – but there’s not a single human around! Roz quickly realizes that to live on an island, she must learn from its animal inhabitants by adapting to her surroundings. To Roz’s surprise, these strange animals soon become a family worth fighting for.
When you order copies of our picture book titles, you receive:
- A Letter Home to Families explaining how the picture book supports your school-wide reading program
- A customized Book Packet for the picture book aimed at your youngest learners
- A Family Fun Pack to help families engage in reading aloud at home.
There’s so much you can do with a picture book companion. Darbydale Elementary in Ohio, for instance, held a Family Literacy Night focusing on The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate and its accompanying picture book title, Ivan: A Gorilla’s True Story. Families were invited to participate in book-related activities, resulting in “the most engaging program we have used in quite a while.” Further, the Reading Specialist from Darbydale Elementary noted that parents claimed their K-2 children were “incredibly engaged at home” over the course of their reading event.
As your older students dive into their title, your school librarian or reading specialist could hold a read aloud of the picture book. In art class, students could try their hand at replicating illustrations from the picture book or even creating their own illustration, like an alternate cover design. Students of all grades could come together to create a mural that incorporates elements of both books in your school’s entryway. The potential is endless!
You can buy one copy for each classroom – or you can order one copy for each of your youngest students and send them home for families to enjoy. Either way, Picture Book Companions are a wonderful addition to a school-wide reading event.
To view our full list of Picture Book Companions, click here.
How would you use a Picture Book Companion to enhance your One School, One Book program? Let us know in the comments below. Happy reading!
