10 Read Alouds to Welcome Spring

Spring is here and I could not be more excited for warm weather, sunshine and birds chirping! Spring is one of my favorite seasons and it is a good excuse to read and teach students about the weather changes that happen with the new season and get them learning outside as much as possible! Here are 10 read alouds to welcome spring to your students:

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Goodbye Winter, Hello Spring

Grade Level: Preschool- 3rd Grade

Summary: In a simple, cheerful conversation with nature, a young boy observes how the season changes from winter to spring in Kenard Pak’s Goodbye Winter, Hello Spring.

As days stretch longer, animals creep out from their warm dens, and green begins to grow again, everyone knows―spring is on its way!

Join a boy and his dog as they explore nature and take a stroll through the countryside, greeting all the signs of the coming season. In a series of conversations with everything from the melting brook to chirping birds, they say goodbye to winter and welcome the lushness of spring.

In Like a Lion, Out Like a Lamb

Grade Level: Preschool-3rd Grade

Summary: A fresh take on a familiar saying, perfect for the first rainy days of spring.

Rattling windows with the roar of a late-winter storm, March shows up like a lion– wild and messy, muddy and wet.  In rhythmic, exuberant text, Newbery Honor-author Marion Dane Bauer conveys the changeable nature of spring weather, as the lion makes way for the lamb—with a huge sneeze!—as the trees and flowers spring into bloom.  

Full of humor and motion, Caldecott-winning illustrator Emily Arnold McCully’s soft watercolors bring the blustering lion and gentle lamb to life. From hail and wet snow to vibrant green fields full of blossoms, the illustrations grow brighter, springing into new life—and hinting and the summer to come. 

The lively text and paintings illustrate the ways in which we personify spring weather, making this book a perfect introduction to figurative language—and lots of fun to read as well.

Spring is Here: A Bear and Mole Story

Grade Level: Preschool-1st Grade

Summary: Mole can smell that spring is in the air, but Bear is still asleep after his long winter nap! 

Excitedly he taps on the window and knocks on the door– he even tries playing a trumpet to wake his friend so they can celebrate together.  But Bear keeps snoozing.  

But Mole is determined, so he milks and gathers and bakes a special springtime surprise for his friend– the perfect way to wake up! 

A perfect read-aloud, full of simple sound-words and lots of repetition, Spring is Here is ideal to share with young readers to celebrate the changing of the seasons.  Cozy mixed-media illustrations of big, fuzzy, dozing bear and his eager mole friend add detail and humor to the tale. 

Worm Weather

Grade Level: Preschool-Kindergarten

Summary:

Drip,drop,

skip and hop.

Splish, splash,

sidewalk dash!

It’s worm weather! 

Join in the rainy-day fun, as kids splash through the puddles, affecting another weather enthusiast, a nearby worm. An imaginative and playful story, readers will love seeing the worm delight in the weather just as much as the kids.

Happy Springtime!

Grade Level: Preschool-3rd Grade

Summary: When winter is at its coldest and darkest, take heart! Every day the sun shines longer, Spring is on its way!

All winter, the days grow a little bit longer,

The nights grow a little bit shorter, 

until the day becomes exactly as long as the night.

On that day we say…

HAPPY SPRINGTIME!

This bright, bouncy, and deliriously colorful picture book is an ode to the joys of spring, encouraging everyone who waits out the slow lengthening of days through the end of winter. From earmuffed crossing guards to sweater wearing dogs, from painters of flowers to planters of seeds, Happy Springtime! celebrates the burst of life following the thaw of winter.

I Am Spring

Grade Level: Preschool-1st Grade

Summary: After the cold of Winter, comes the warmth of Spring. “I Am Spring” takes young children on a journey through the many important events that occur uniquely in the beautiful growing season of Spring. When the day becomes longer than the night, and the leaves begin to sprout on the bare branches, and bugs and animals that were hiding start to reappear, get ready, because that means Spring is here! 

From sprouting seeds to buzzing bees, kids 3-5 will learn the important changes that happen during the season of rebirth. Bright and colorful pictures of busy landscapes full of life are great for keeping the attention of kids ages 5-7. A Spring book for kids with a groundhog, blooming flowers, buzzing bees, bugs, hummingbirds, baby animals, rainbows, and so much more. 

Large print and vivid illustrations make it a perfect classroom book for homeschool, preschool, kindergarten, and first grade reading aloud. Questions at the back of the book reinforce learning and provide opportunities for discussion and activities centered around the seasons of Spring, Summer, Winter, and Fall. For parents and teachers, there are many possibilities for combining reading with science and nature activities for early learning about the four seasons. “I Am Spring” is an excellent resource for homeschool, traditional, and Montessori libraries.

Flower Garden

Grade Level: Preschool- 2nd Grade

Summary: A girl and her father go to the store to buy plants, soil, and a window box for a flower garden that’s going places: from the store, to the shopping cart, on the bus ride home, and up the stairs to become a colorful birthday surprise for the little girl’s mother.

Let’s Look at Spring

Grade Level: Preschool-3rd Grade

Summary: How do we know it’s spring? The sun shines, and rain falls. Baby animals are born, and flowers bloom. This book shows young readers how to recognize the changes that happen in spring. 

When Spring Comes

Grade Level: Preschool- 3rd Grade

Summary: In this beautiful book for young children, Caldecott Medalist and Newbery Honor author Kevin Henkes uses striking imagery, repetition, and alliteration to introduce basic concepts of language and the changing of the seasons. And acclaimed artist Laura Dronzek’s gorgeous, lush paintings show the transformation from quiet, cold winter to the newborn spring.

Before spring comes, the trees are dark sticks, the grass is brown, and the ground is covered in snow. But if you wait, leaves unfold and flowers blossom, the grass turns green, and the mounds of snow shrink and shrink. Spring brings baby birds, sprouting seeds, rain and mud, and puddles. You can feel it and smell it and hear it—and you can read it!

Busy Spring: Nature Wakes Up

Grade Level: Preschool-1st Grade

Summary: After a long sleepy winter, the trees, flowers, and animals are getting ready for a busy spring. Discover all the different ways nature wakes up when spring arrives in this fresh and fun story of a family exploring their garden. 

Enjoy this long list of read alouds to welcome spring! Here is a set of Library Skills No Prep Printables with a spring/ summer theme that you can use in the library at this time of the year or when you need a quick activity for a substitute! 

What is your favorite book to read aloud during spring?

 Let me know in the comments below!

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