If you’re looking for a new book to read with your students, I highly recommend Charlie & Frog, a book by Karen Kane that was published in 2018.
It’s a feel-good story about a young boy who finally finds friends who want him around and a young girl whose determined spirit is helpful throughout the story’s plot. It’s also a fun mystery that will have your students always wanting to read more.
Since several of the characters in the story are Deaf, Kane describes how they use American Sign Language to communicate. Your students are likely to remember a few words in ASL after they finish this book. The illustrations at the beginning of most chapters show how to make the sign for a word or phrase. Kane does an outstanding job during the story of describing how the characters make signs to communicate.
The story is about a young boy (Charlie) and girl (Frog) who work together to solve a mystery in a small town. Charlie, who can hear, works hard to learn ASL so he can communicate with several of his new friends. He makes lots of new friends during his adventure while learning the importance of communicating in different ways and being there for the people you care about.
Charlie & Frog is another awesome book from the 2021-22 Florida Sunshine book list for grades 3-5. This annual list of 15 newer books always give me great ideas for new books to check out. There’s a list of books for grades 6-8 too.
I’ve created resources to help you teach Charlie & Frog with your students. My quizzes are great for quick comprehension checks. I’ve also written prompts that work well for writing assignments and/or discussion starters. Everything is in a Google Form as well. It’s available in my TpT store for $4.95.
I can’t wait to keep reading more books for kids this summer! I hope you have some time to read some good books too, but if not, feel free to keep an eye on my blog for more book recommendations.