Skill-Building Book Tips

Turn storytime into skill-building time.

These free, downloadable resources offer tips for building children’s life skills based on classic and diverse children’s books.

With content customized to each book, Book Tips help boost science-driven learning, fun and engagement between children and adults. These resources are available in English and Spanish and designed for three age groups, infants and toddlerspreschoolers and school-age.

Educators can also access Book Tips through a partnership with First Book, a nonprofit social enterprise that provides books and educational materials for educators serving children in need.

Books & Tips that Promote Life Skills

Focus & Self-Control

Elmo Says

Infant / Toddler
The classic game “Simon Says” meets Sesame Street in this lively board book. Favorite characters instruct children to imitate their actions—but only when they hear the words “Elmo says!”

Critical Thinking

Where’s My Teddy

Infant / Toddler
Where’s My Teddy? is a story about a little boy looking for his lost Teddy in the dark and scary woods and meeting up with a big Bear, who has his own Teddy.

Communicating

The Cow That Went Oink

Preschool
In this clever picture book, a cow who says “oink” instead of “moo” is teased until he meets a pig who says “moo” instead of “oink.” By teaching one another the proper sounds, the two misfits have the last laugh—and the biggest vocabularies! Available in Spanish.

Focus & Self-Control

A Crooked Kind of Perfect

School Age
A Crooked Kind of Perfect is the story of a girl called Zoe who dreams of performing on the piano. Challenges lead to a series of surprising adventures that lead Zoe to compete in a Performa-O-Rama competition.

Communicating

Liar & Spy

School Age
Seventh-grader Georges moves into a new apartment building in Brooklyn and meets 12-year-old Safer, a coffee-drinking spy. Georges becomes his recruit to track a mysterious man, Mr. X, dressed all in black, who lives in the apartment above Georges. From there, many exciting adventures ensue. Through misunderstanding and communication, the friendship endures.

Taking on Challenges

Horton Hears A Who!

School Age
Horton the elephant may be large, but he cares deeply about those who are not—even organisms that are too small to see. In this Dr. Seuss classic, Horton struggles to protect his tiny friends from harm. After all, “a person’s a person, no matter how small.”

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