Love – or at least like – is in the air, and valentines are changing hands.  Valentine’s Day is a big deal in elementary school, and these books and activities will help you celebrate with your students without getting too mushy!

  This is Not a Valentine – written by Carter Higgins, illustrated by Lucy Ruth Cummins
A book for when you care about someone, but not in a romantic, sugary kind of way; for when want to show you like someone every day, not just one day a year; for when you have a true friendship and want to make sure the other person knows how you feel.

This is a great book to reinforce the idea that Valentine’s Day isn’t just for boyfriends and girlfriends but rather for all friends.  The illustrations depict an inclusive classroom, and the ideas for showing someone you care are meaningful and practical for the elementary audience.

 

  Valensteins – written and illustrated by Ethan Long
The members of the Fright Club are all wondering what Frank K. Stein is making with his scissors and pink paper.  Of course, the kids will know right away but that won’t stop them from giggling at all the wrong guesses before the valentine is revealed!

Choose this read-aloud for your younger students who want a silly story for Valentine’s Day.  This book is part of the Fright Club series, which features funny/scary stories about ghosts, werewolves, and of course Frankenstein for your readers and listeners.  You can find somefollow-up printable activities at the author’s website.

 

  Here Comes Valentine Cat – written by Deborah Underwood, illustrated by Claudia Rueda
Cat does NOT like Valentine’s Day. It’s much too mushy, and no way is he making anyone a valentine—especially not his new neighbor (Dog) who keeps throwing bones over the fence and hitting him in the head!

Your students will have fun making predictions and writing their own valentine messages from Cat to Dog when you share this book.  My introduction to this Here Comes Cat series from Underwood and Rueda was the book Here Comes Santa Cat, and I was instantly in love!  The expressions on Cat’s face in EVERY illustration are absolutely spot on, and the stories are brimming with humor.  See for yourself in this Valentine Cat read-aloud video from Brightly Storytime.

 

  Love, Ruby Valentine – written by Laurie Friedman, illustrated by Lynne Avril
Ruby works so hard preparing treats for her friends that she sleeps right through Valentine’s Day.

This book sends a lovely message about doing for others, as opposed to thinking only about what you’ll get on Valentine’s Day, and provides an important reminder that you can show appreciation for your loved ones any day of the year.  You might need a little practice with the rhythm of the rhyming text, and there’s a lot of small detail in the illustrations so it’s best to use a document camera if you’re sharing the book with a group.

Our follow-up activity when reading this book is to use origami paper to create valentines that fold up into their own envelopes.  You can find the directions at the Tinkerlab website, which includes a great step-by-step photo tutorial.

Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you’ll share your winning Valentine read-aloud books in the comments!