
Next week, we’ll be celebrating Read Across America Day. For years, Read Across America Day has included a celebration of Dr. Seuss’s birthday. Teachers and students all love the rhythmic patterns in Dr. Seuss’s books for teaching students to rhyme. Dr. Seuss’s books have really helped children with rhyming, and these playful rhythms are appealing to young kiddos.
In this post, I’d like to highlight similar authors you might consider highlighting in your k/1 classroom as an alternative to Seuss. There are new authors publishing books all the time, and even though it’s good to visit classic titles, we also need to look at what’s new in order to make the best decisions for our students.
AUTHORS OF BOOKS THAT RHYME
Deborah Diesen
The first series in my list are the Pout Pout Fish books by Deborah Diesen. I just love them. They have playful rhythm and the vocabulary!! They are rich with tier 2 words and feature themes that are really good for kids. There are about ten titles to choose from, so you have lots of options. You can work on character building right along with rhyme and vocabulary too. Check out this read aloud video from Auntie Lee of the first in the series.
Nancy Shaw

A favorite series from my children’s early years are the Sheep series by Nancy Shaw. They too are patterned with rhyming phrases with fun illustrations. There are several in the series including Sheep in a Jeep, Sheep in a Shop, Sheep Go to Sleep, Sheep Out to Eat, Sheep on a Ship, and Sheep On a Hike. My own children enjoyed these, and I used them in kindergarten and first grade. They work well for rhyme, but also reinforce spelling patterns for long and short vowels.
I love Dr. Seuss. I don't think you have to dig up a history on a person to enjoy their work. Their is plenty of dirt on some of our most famous people: President Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Abraham Lincoln. That doesn't mean we can't celebrate the good they've done in their lives. I also don't think we need to publicize it when we find the dirt. What purpose did you serve by telling everyone what you found out about Seuss. I didn't know those things and could have gone the rest of my life without knowing. What was your purpose? Kind of sad.
I guess I look to School Library Journal and the NEA who sponsor Read Across America as places for guidance in the literacy department. Both are encouraging a move to diversity in literature which I 100% agree is needed. I specifically said that I'm not advocating banning them or doing away with Seuss's books, but from the articles I've read recently, I would use them sparingly and add in these other great options too. Until reading these articles, I really loved them too. However, I can't love them anymore knowing about how his work hurt(or may hurt) people of color.
And if you love his work, use his work. Everyone has to make decisions for themselves and for their students. Young children enjoy the bright colors and rhyme. I am not telling anyone what to do. Each teacher must decide for themselves whether to honor his work and whether to use his books. I simply wanted to share other rhyming options.