Are you searching for Valentine’s Day read alouds for your students? Those that will be meaningful and include a specific theme? Through the years, I’ve held on to old Valentine’s Day read aloud favorites and added new ones. Some make my students laugh, motivate them in some way, or are heart-warming and celebrate empathy and caring. Others are fun and engage my students in predicting the outcome to a story mystery.
8 Valentine’s Day Read Alouds
I’ve shared below some of my favorite Valentine’s Day read alouds that I’ve found to be fun, engaging, and meaningful.
❤️Penguin in Love by Salina Yoon
If you’re a fan of Salina Yoon’s books like I am, you’ve met the character Penguin. In this story, Penguin starts out on an adventure to look for love. Subsequently, he finds a mitten and tries to find its owner. Penguin finds love with the help of friends. The themes of love, friendship, and kindness in this sweet book make for a perfect read aloud book for Valentine’s Day.
❤️Valentine’s Day Jitters by Julie Danneberg
Sarah Jane Hartwell is back and plans a Valentine’s Day party for her students in this funny book about the things that go wrong with a well-planned Valentine’s Day party in the classroom. If you’re a teacher, I’m sure you can relate! My favorite classroom activity in the book was “pin the smile on the teacher.” Highly recommend this fun book!
❤️Roses Are Pink, Your Feet Really Stink by Diane deGroat
The title alone will entice your students to read this book to find out why Gilbert, the opossum, wrote this rhyme. Gilbert needs to write 15 valentine cards to classmates. The dilemma comes when he has to write cards to Lewis and Margaret who have not treated him kindly. In addition, reading this book can prompt a discussion about apologies, forgiveness, and kindness.
❤️The Night Before Valentine’s Day by Natasha Wing
The Night Before Valentine’s Day by Natasha Wing is the perfect book to read to your class in anticipation of Valentine’s Day. Your students will relate to the activities in the book and all the excitement as they get ready for the holiday in the classroom. I think your students will especially enjoy predicting what is in the Valentine’s Day present that the principal brings to the classroom at the end of the story.
❤️Bagel in Love by Natasha Wing
The main character, Bagel, looks for a dance contest partner. No one likes his dance moves and nobody wanted to be his partner until he meets cupcake. It has a sweet message of persistence, passion, and love. Your students will love the puns in the story. Such a cute story!
❤️Arthur’s Valentine by Marc Brown
I read this book to my first grade students each year. They loved it! A secret admirer gives the main character, Arthur, valentine cards. It’s a mystery to Arthur. Later, Arthur meets his secret admirer at the end of the story when a funny event happens. My students would try to guess who Arthur’s secret admirer could be throughout the book. They loved Arthur’s plan as he meets his secret admirer. (Overall, lots of giggles as I read the story to the class!)
❤️Somebody Loves You, Mr. Hatch by Eileen Spinelli
This book is filled with themes of kindness, love, and friendship. In the book, Mr. Hatch receives an anonymous gift. It’s a box of chocolates with the message, “Somebody loves you.” The gift changes his attitude and prompts him to do kind things for others. Then, the story evolves into his neighbors returning kindness to him. A beautiful story!
❤️The Valentine Bears by Eve Bunting
I was so excited to find this book, The Valentine Bears, written by one of my favorite authors, Eve Bunting, and one of my favorite illustrators, Jan Brett. Mr. and Mrs. Bear awake from hibernation to celebrate Valentine’s Day. Overall, it’s a tale of love and how we show others we care. Can easily lead to a discussion of animals that do and don’t hibernate.
Hopefully you have found some new ideas for Valentine’s Day read aloud books in the classroom.
Valentine’s Day Read Alouds Response Templates
Lastly, if you’d like to build on comprehension skills with these read aloud books, check out these Valentine’s Day reading response templates. They’re perfect for any Valentine’s Day read aloud fiction book. The templates can be found in Reading Response Templates for Valentine’s Day Books. It’s a FREE resource!
I hope that you and your students enjoy the Valentine’s Day read alouds! Happy Valentine’s Day!❤️
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