Book Pairing: Bringing Home’s Love to School

Book Pairing
Written By Linda

Just like you might pair a fine wine with a gourmet meal, JOYcabulary pairs together read aloud books: usually a narrative text with an informational text, or sometimes two narrative texts around a similar topic. When we pair these together, comprehension is deepened as students make connections between the two books.

Welcome the new school year with a focus on home and love. This post highlights three thought-provoking picture books—Home and Love by Matt de la Peña and When Love is More Than Words by Jocelyn Chung—that remind educators and families how comfort, safety, and empathy help children transition back to school. Discover ways to weave care and belonging into classroom routines and spark meaningful conversations about resilience, community, and the many forms of love.

Home by Matt de la Pena

“Home is an idea more profound than the walls we build up around ourselves. It’s the family that shows its love through small gestures every day. It’s the community that sees one another through hard times. And it’s the wonder of the natural world, a refuge we share with every living thing on Earth.”

Love by Matt de la Pena

“In this heartfelt celebration of love, Newbery Medal-winning author Matt de la Peña and bestselling illustrator Loren Long depict the many ways we experience this universal bond, which carries us from the day we are born throughout the years of our childhood and beyond. ”

When Love is More Than Words by Jocelyn Chung

“There are so many ways to say “I love you” without saying a word! One little girl sees the love shown in her family by the way they nurture one another through stories, food, and spending time together. With great-grandparents, grandparents, parents, aunts, uncles, and siblings around, there are so many ways for love to shine through.”

 
 
Linda

Linda Szakmary has five decades of experience working as a classroom teacher, a district curriculum writer, a district facilitator of K-5 writing, and as a county K-8 literacy coach. She now works for Sullivan and Orange-Ulster BOCES as a content specialist. A poetry advocate and a lover of words and children’s literature, she has been a presenter at several state-wide conferences on vocabulary and writing. Currently, she is working with the staff developers of Mossflower to study intermediate vocabulary instruction within a reading workshop. Linda lives in Stone Ridge, NY where she enjoys gardening, yoga, reading, and rooting for the Yankees. You can often find her on a beach searching for sea glass.

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