Long Term Reading Challenge
TK to Second Grade
2025-2026
By reading 25 great picture books this year, South students will be recognized school wide and will also receive a special t-shirt recognizing their accomplishment.
It’s easy. For the 25 quotes listed below, each student needs to identify the book containing the quote AND the character who said the line. It is possible that some quotations are remarks or thoughts of the narrator of the story; if so, a student should just write “narrator” for the name of the character who said the line. Students have until Friday, April 17, 2026 to read all 25 books and to identify the character and the book for each quote.
Students can keep track of their answers on this sheet, filling in the title of the book and the person who says the line right under the quotations. Winners will be celebrated in May 2025 with a pizza party and movie night in the library. Enjoy the stories!
Quotations:
“And in our hands . . . it feels as warm and soft as love.”
“On second thought, come right in.”
“Some smell nice but some are stinky as old socks.”
“The Library’s next, so let’s have a look. You won’t find your everyday regular book. These books come alive when removed from the racks. They pop-up like pop-ups, but pop to the max!”
"What if you were small as a bean, could walk on the walls and ceiling, sense vibrations through your elbows, and jump five times your body length?"
“They worked. They saved. They peeked again.”
“I’m not sure I have the right tools. A broken heart is not a small thing.”
“Be patient; change doesn’t happen overnight.”
“They take a nap under a big tree.”
"He worried about hats. And shoes. And clouds. And rain. And giant birds.”
“Toi. . .let?”
“Am I . . . really ready?”
“I know I hurt your feelings.”
"All you have to do is close your eyes and think of a COW DOING BALLET."
“NOT FUNNY AT ALL.”
"Can I keep him? PLEASE??"
“Was I good? I made pancakes! Do you like pancakes? I love pancakes!”
“Good things come in small packages.”
“Heave away. Heave-HO.”
“Hey! It’s getting dark out here!”
“But mostly, they are acrobats, whizzing past other bicycles, soaring around curves, cresting hills, avoiding potholes and the black smoke of motorcycles.”
“Come back when it’s cherry season.”
"They shredded a shirt and they fought with a shoe, a long woolen scarf, and a petticoat too."
“I hope you’re wearing your battle pants.”
"Oh, hello! I was just rescuing this cat. You’re welcome."
Picture Book List:
The Bakery Dragon by Devin Elle Kurtz
Chirri & Chirra by Kaya Doi
The Elephant and the Sea by Ed Vere
Home in a Lunchbox by Cherry Mo
I’m Sorry You Got Mad by Kyle Lukoff
Knight Owl and Early Bird by Christopher Denise
Slinky Malinki, Open the Door by Lynley Dodd
The Mochi Makers by Sharon Fujimoto-Johnson
Monster Hands by Karen Kane
Noodles on a Bicycle by Kyo Maclear
The Ocean Gardener by Clara Anganuzzi
Partly Cloudy by Deborah Freedman
Small Things Mended by Casey Robinson
The Teeny Weeny Unicorn’s Great Big Wish by Shawn Harris
Vacation by Ame Dyckman
Will the Pigeon Graduate? by Mo Willems
Flowers Are Pretty ... Weird! by Rosemary Mosco
If I Built a School by Chris Van Dusen
The Bat by Elise Gravel
The Legend of Rock, Paper, Scissors by Drew Daywalt
Jumper: A Day in the Life of a Backyard Jumping Spider by Jessica Lanan
Children Make Terrible Pets by Peter Brown
Silly Billy by Anthony Brown
The Good Egg, by Jory John and Pete Oswald
Don't Think of Tigers by Alex Latimer