Books About The Days Of The Week
I don’t know why but we’ve been talking about what day each of my kids was born on. The whole discussion stems from this rhyme my mother-in-law shared with the kids, you may have heard it before:
Monday’s child is fair of face,
Tuesday’s child is full of grace,
Wednesday’s child is full of woe,
Thursday’s child has far to go,
Friday’s child is loving and giving,
Saturday’s child works hard for a living,
And the child that is born on the Sabbath day
Is bonny and blithe, and good and gay.
Sorry, I don’t know who the original author is. This poem has led to discussions about the different days of the week and weekdays versus weekends so we’ve been reading various books about the days of the week. I’ve outlined a few of our favorites below. And although the subjects of these stories may not be about learning the days of the week, they do help to reinforce the different days and how as families we associate different events and feelings with each day.
illustrations by Eric Carle
published by Puffin
picture book (age 3-9)
You can’t go wrong with an Eric Carle book. Today is Monday is based on a song, not written by Eric Carle, but creatively interpreted by him. Each page shows an animal eating the food item talked about in the song and like the song, each page adds a new day (and food) item. The images include the colorful animal collages that Eric Carle is famous for. At the end, you’ll also find the music and full lyrics for the original song. Kids will love the build-up of food eaten each day, similar to his Hungry, Hungry Caterpillar story.
written and illustrated by Uri Orlev
published by Monarch Books
picture book (age 4-8)
Harry hates Tuesdays. On Tuesday nights he has to get his hair washed and he hates getting his hair washed. He screams and fights and cries when his mom tries to wash his hair. His sister can’t stand the noise so one day she convinces Harry he should cut off all his hair. If he had no hair, he wouldn’t need to have it washed. But sitting at the Barber, Harry changes his mind. Maybe washing his hair isn’t so bad, especially if it means keeping his hair. This story rang so true with my son; he hates having his hair washed or at least he used to.
We have a hair wash night in our house too. But like Harry, my son soon adjusted to the routine and now I can’t get him out of the tub. The story is written so true to a family scenario, especially the big sister trying to solve the problem in her own sort of way.
written by Eve Bunting, illustrated by Donald Carrick
published by Clarion Books
picture book (age 4-9)
Every Wednesday the little girl’s Grandma would come to watch her after school. She loved spending time with her Grandma. They’d have dinner, do the dishes, read books together and maybe play a card game too. But the real reason the little girl loved Wednesday’s with her Grandma was the birthday surprise they were working on for her dad’s birthday. When the birthday arrives and the surprise is revealed, even the dad can’t hold back his tears in amazement. This book probably leans toward more of an advanced picture book due to the amount of words but my three-year-old still sat quietly listening to the entire story.
I love the way the little girl and her Grandma spend their time together; that it becomes a weekly tradition. And the birthday surprise, something the little girl worked hard on, is a wonderful surprise for the characters in the book as well as the readers themselves.
written by Phyllis Root, illustrated by Helen Craig
published by Candlewick Press
picture book (3-5)
It was Thursday and the flowers on Bonnie Bumble’s farm were thirsty but there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. When a little cloud blows by, Bonnie gets an idea. With a few loose feathers and the help of the cow, the sheep and the pig, Bonnie was able to get the little cloud to giggle and wriggle and jiggle and the rain came down. Kids will love the cute illustrations, especially when they need to turn the page to see the tower of animals.
Phyllis’s words help give the flowers and clouds personality and bring them to life. And kids will get a chuckle out of Bonnie Bumble’s idea to make the rain come. Some other fun days of the week stories with Bonnie Bumble include Meow Monday, Turnover Tuesday, Windy Wednesday, Foggy Friday and Soggy Saturday.
I love Saturday
written by Patricia Reilly Giff, illustrated by Frank Remkiewicz
published by Puffin
picture book (3-7)
Every Saturday is the same for Katie. She visits friends, helps people out, and enjoys a snack or two. Saturday is her favorite day of the week, that is until Jessica Jeanne, the TV queen arrives. Now Katie doesn’t enjoy her usual Saturday activities because Jessica Jeanne seems to end up doing them before her. But Katie soon discovers doing her favorite things with a friend is more fun than doing them on your own. Most people have rituals they enjoy following, and Katie shows that kids are no different. And like most people, they don’t appreciate it when their routine is disturbed. Every Saturday is a great story about routine and being open to what seems like an unlikely friendship.
Sunday Potatoes, Monday Potatoes
written by Vicky Sheifman, illustrated by Louise August
published by Simon & Schuster
picture book (3-5)
This story opens with a view of a countryside and with each page turn, it takes a step closer: a town, a street, a house, a family. The family was poor and all they had to eat was potatoes. The subsequent pages take you through the potatoes they eat on Monday all the way to the potatoes they eat on Sunday. The text is simple with a few words per page, on most pages. The illustrations have a very folk-art feel and fill the page with muted dark, pastel like colors.
This book is great for taking you through each day of the week without coming across as a boring Day of the Week textbook. The family starts to tire of their potato meals, until Saturday when they have Potato Pudding and there’s a nice recipe at the back of the book too.
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Cary says
I love Eric Carle books. I’ve not seen this one yet, but will have to add it to my growing collection at school. The kids will love it. His artwork is wonderful, too. I haven’t tried it yet, but keep thinking I will have the students design their own book using his style of creating pictures.
Laurie says
Our favorite day of the week book is “Cookie’s Week” by Cindy Ward and illustrated by Tomie DePaola. It’s a pattern book, so each 4-page spread has a variation of the same sentences. The story is about a mischievous cat named Cookie, who makes a giant mess each day. The biggest crowd-pleaser, of course, is “On Monday, Cookie fell in the toilet. Water was everywhere!” I used to read it to my first graders at the beginning of the year, and then they could practice reading it themselves. We’d sequence the story, matching the days of the week to the trouble Cookie got into, and we wrote our own stories, following the sentence pattern, but starring the students as the mischief-makers!
.-= Laurie´s last blog ..Isaiah Fix =-.
Molly says
Love this post, thanks so much! I’ve never heard that rhyme, my 3 year old will love it. She asks everyday what day it is, we will def. have to look for these books at the library.
.-= Molly´s last blog ..Craft with me 1, 2, 3…..Celebrating Dr. Seuss’s birthday! =-.
Teri says
I just came to comment, but I notice Laurie already said it: Don’t forget Cookie’s Week! 🙂
.-= Teri´s last blog ..More savings and a recipe! =-.
wendiwinn says
i’m going to have to find these books tomorrow – the age range is perfect for my girls – and it’ll help to read them books according to the day!
thanks for the list!
.-= wendiwinn´s last blog ..walking is good for your health. unless you get run over. the garage sale chronicles. =-.
uhairy.com says
This website was… how do you say it? Relevant!!
Finally I’ve found something that helped me. Many thanks!