Recommended Children's Series and Text Sets

             In this feature in Language Arts, Aeriale Johnson recommends text sets and series that “nurture joyful readers” as well as building identity, skills, intellect, and critical thinking: 

• The Juana and Lucas Series by Juana Medina: Juana and Lucas, Juana and Lucas: Big Problemas, Juana and Lucas: Muchos Changes, age 5-8 
• The Front Desk Series by Kelly Yang: Front Desk, Three Keys, Room to Dream, ages 8-12 
• The Narwhal and Jelly series by Ben Clanton: Narwhal: Unicorn of the Sea! Super Narwhal and Jelly Jolt, Narwhal Peanut Butter and Jelly, Narwhal’s Otter Friend, Happy Narwhalidays, Narwhal’s School of Awesomeness, age 5-8 
• The New Kid series by Jerry Craft: New Kid, Class Act, age 8-12 
• The 10 Reasons to Love… series by Hanako Clulow: 10 Reasons to Love a Whale, 10 Reasons to Love a Bear, 10 Reasons to Love a Penguin, 10 Reasons to Love a Lion, 10 Reasons to Love a Turtle, 10 Reasons to Love an Elephant, age 5-8 
• The Superpower Field Guide series by Rachel Poliquin, illustrated by Nicholas John Frith: Beavers, Moles, Ostriches, Eels, age 8-12 
• Minh Lê text set: Drawn Together, Green Lantern: Legacy, Let Me Finish, Lift, The Perfect Seat 
• Stacy McAnulty text set: Mars, Earth, Ocean, Sun, Moon 
• Books in Verse text set (various authors): Becoming Ali, Words with Wings, Land of the Cranes

“‘Endless Fun’: How an Instructional Framework, Series, and Text Sets Nurture Joyful Readers” by Aeriale Johnson in Language Arts, January 2022 (Vol. 99, #3, pp. 213-217)

Please Note: This summary is reprinted with permission from issue #923 of The Marshall Memo, an excellent resource for educators.