Mentor Texts / Touchstone Texts for Writer’s Workshop
Book Title
Arthur Writes a
Story
Ahmed’s Secret
Author
Marc Brown
Florence Perry
Heide and Judity
Heide
John Coy
Helen Lester
Night Driving
Hooway for
Wodeny Wat
The Little Engine
Watty Piper
that Could
Alexander and the Judith Viorst
Terrible, Horrible,
No-Good, Very Bad
Day
Chrysanthemum
Kevin Henkes
Lilly’s Purple
Plastic Purse
The Art Lessons
The Wednesday
Surprise
David Goes to
School
Ira Sleeps Over
The Runaway
Bunny
Lon Po Po
Olivia
Liza Lou and the
Yeller Belly Swamp
Oliver Button is a
Sissy
This book is good for….
Sparking an Idea
(Writing my own story)
(What I want to learn this year)
(What I did over the summer)
(An embarrassing time)
(Something you did that you didn’t think
you could do)
(A bad day)
Kevin Henkes
(Don’t like your name or some other
attribute)
(Note writing)
Tomie De Paola
Eve Bunting
(Perseverance)
(Learning to read – transgenerational)
David Shannon
(Going to school)
Bernard Waber
Margaret Wise
Brown
Ed Young
Ian Falconer
Mercer Mayer
(Going to a sleepover)
(Running away from home)
Tomie De Paola
(Being teased or bullied)
(Home alone or left somewhere)
(Writing about yourself/attributes)
(Something you and/or a friend did)
Nothing Ever
Happens on 90th
Street
On My Honor
To Kill a
Mockingbird
My Dog Skip
My Antonia
Because of Winn
Dixie
The Giver
Fireflies
The Boys on the
Tracks
Three Days on a
River in a Red
Canoe
The Relatives
Came By
Grand Canyon
The Bat Poet
The Widow’s
Broom
Tar Beach
Possum Magic
Thunder Cake
Enemy Pie
The True Story of
the Three Little
Pigs
Heckety Peg
Lon Po Po
Billy Beg and His
Bull
The Bravest Ever
Roni Schotter
(Finding things in your own life / small
moments)
Marion Dane
Bauer
Harper Lee
Books that Have Strong Leads
Willie Morris
Willa Cather
Kate DiCamillo
Lois Lowry
Julie Brinkloe
Mara Leveritt
Vera B. Williams
Cynthia Rylant
Wendell Minor
Randall Jerrell
Chris Van Allsburg
Faith Ringold
Mem Fox
Patricia Polacco
Derek Munson
Jon Scieszka
Audrey Wood
Ed Young
Ellin Greene
Allan Ahlberg and
Books that Help with Beginning,
Middle, and Ending
Bear
Pumpkin Heads
Time Flies
The Gray Lady and
the Strawberry
Snatcher
Tuesday
Good Dog, Carl
The Mightiest
Heart
The Village of
Round and Square
Houses
There’s a
Nightmare in My
Closet
Where the Wild
Things Are
Paul Howard
Wendell Minor
Eric Rohmann
Molly Bang
No, David
Tell Me Again
About the Night I
Was Born
When I Was Little
Wilfred Gordon
MacDonald
Partridge
Koala Lou
Possum Magic
Silver Packages
A Christmas
Memory
When I Go
Camping With
Grandma
The Raft
One April Morning
David Shannon
Jamie Lee Curtis
David Weisner
Alexanda Day
Lynn Cullen
Ann Grifalconi
Mercer Mayer
Maurice Sendak
Jamie Lee Curtis
Mem Fox
Mem Fox
Mem Fox
Cynthia Rylant
Truman Capote
Marian Dane
Bauer
Jim LaMarche
Nancy Lamb
Books that are Memories or
Memoirs
Now One Foot,
Now the Other
Looking Back
Firetalking
Up North at the
Cabin
The Bear That
Heard Crying
Zachary’s Ball
The Days Before
Now
Thundercake
Walking the Log
Christmas in the
Country
Aunt Flossie’s Hats
(and Crab Cakes
Later)
Charlotte’s Web
Heartland
When I Was Young
in the Mountains
Owl Moon
Home: A Journey
Through America
Homeplace
Tomie DePaola
Lois Lowry
Patricia Polacco
Marta Wilson Chall
Natalie KinseyWarnock and
Helen Kinsey
Matt Tavares
Margaret Wise
Brown
Patricia Polacco
Bessie Nickens
Cynthia Rylant
Elizabeth
Fitzgerald Howard
E.B. White
Diane Siebert
Cynthia Rylant
Books that Help with Setting
Jane Yolen
Thomas Locker
Cresent
Dragonwagon
The Seashore Book Charlotte Zolotow
The Ghost of Sifty, Angela Shelf
Sifty Sam
A Letter to Amy
Ezra Jack Keats
Goggles
Ezra Jack Keats
Alexander and the Judith Voirst
Terrible, Horrible,
No Good, Very Bad
Books that Start in the Moment
Day
Jamaica’s Find
A Letter to Amy
Joshua’s Night
Whispers
Knuffle Bunny
It Takes a Village
Owl Moon
A Chair for My
Mother
Shortcut
Sheila Rae’s
Peppermint Stick
Wemberly’s Ice
Cream Star
Amazing Grace
Do Like Kyla
Just a Dream
Two Bad Ants
Alexander and the
Terrible, Horrible,
No Good, Very Bad
Day
Julius, The Baby of
the World
Wemberly Worried
Our Gracie Aunt
The Kissing Hand
Wemberly Woried
Lilly’s Purple
Plastic Purse
Juanita Havill
Ezra Jack Keats
Angela Johnson
Mo Williems
Jane CowenFletcher
Jane Yolen
Vera B. Williams
Donald Crews
Books that End in the Moment
Books that Stretch a Moment
Books that are Focused on a Small
Moment
Kevin Henkes
Kevin Henkes
Mary Hoffman
Angela Johnson
Chris Van Allsburg
Chris Van Allsburg
Judith Viorst
Kevin Henkes
Kevin Henkes
Jacqueline
Woodson
Audrey Penn
Kevin Henkes
Kevin Henkes
Books Focused on Many Moments
Books Focused on Show, Don’t Tell
Books Focused on the Character
Thinking
Shortcut
The Snowy Day
We Share
Everything
Thundercake
Sheila Rae the
Brave
Lilly’s Purple
Plastic Purse
The Memory String
Our Gracie Aunt
John Henry
Gingerbread Baby
The Very Busy
Spider
Pancakes
Pancakes
Honeymakers
Froggy Gets
Dressed
Chicka Chicka
Boom Boom
Saturdays and
Teacakes
Butterfly House
The Memory String
Fly Away Home
We Had a Picnic
This Sunday Past
John Henry
An Angel for
Solomon Singer
Appalachia – The
Donald Crews
Ezra Jack Keats
Robert Munsch
Books with Onomatopoeia
Patricia Polacco
Kevin Henkes
Kevin Henkes
Eve Bunting
Jacqueline
Woodson
Julius Lester
Jan Brett
Eric Carle
Eric Carle
Gail Gibbons
Jonathan London
Bill Martin
Lester Laminack
Eve Bunting
Eve Bunting
Eve Bunting
Jacqueline
Woodson
Julius Lester
Cynthia Rylant
Cynthia Rylant
Books with Similes
Voices of Sleeping
Birds
Scarecrow
Jake’s 100th Day of
School
Whistle for Willie
Honeymakers
Gentle Giant
Octopus
Saturdays and
Teacakes
Lilly’s Purple
Plastic Purse
Bats
Chicka Chicka
Boom Boom
Butterfly House
John Henry
Hello Harvest
Moon
Waterdance
We Had a Picnic
This Sunday Past
An Angel for
Solomon Singer
Honeymakers
Owen
Come On, Rain!
Peter’s Chair
Flossie and the Fox
Earrings!
It Takes a Village
Shortcut
Bigmama’s
Cynthia Rylant
Lester Laminack
Ezra Jack Keats
Gail Gibbons
Karen Wallace
Lester Laminack
Kevin Henkes
Books with Alliteration
Gail Gibbons
Bill Martin
Eve Bunting
Julius Lester
Ralph Fletcher
Locker
Jacqueline
Woodson
Cynthia Rylant
Gail Gibbons
Kevin Henkes
Karen Hesse
Ezra Jack Keats
Patricia McKissack
Judith Viorst
Jane CowenFletcher
Donald Crews
Donald Crews
Books with Personification
Books with Metaphor
Books with Dialogue
Books that Show Emphasis
It Takes a Village
Chester’s Way
Chrysanthemum
A Week with
Wendell
A Sweet Smell of
Roses
Don’t Let the
Pigeon Drive the
Bus
Jessica
Sheila the Brave
Coming on Home
Soon
Our Gracie Aunt
We Had a Picnic
This Sunday Past
Visiting Day
The Relatives
Came
Trevor’s WigglyWobbly Tooth
Goggles
Night at the Fair
Joshua’s Night
Whispers
It Takes a Village
Chester’s Way
Kitten’s First Full
Moon
Lilly’s Purple
Plastic Purse
Jane CowanFletcher
Kevin Henkes
Kevin Henkes
Kevin Henkes
Angela Johnson
Mo Williems
Kevin Henkes
Kevin Henkes
Jacqueline
Woodson
Jacqueline
Woodson
Jacqueline
Woodson
Jacqueline
Woodson
Cynthia Rylant
Lester Laminack
Ezra Jack Keats
Donald Crews
Angela Johnson
Jane CowanFletcher
Kevin Henkes
Kevin Henkes
Kevin Henkes
Books with Refrain
Sheila Rae the
Brave
A Week with
Wendell
Wemberly Worried
A House is a House
for Me
Do Like Kyla
Joshua by the Sea
Joshua’s Night
Whispers
A Sweet Smell of
Roses
Aaron’s Hair
Andrew’s Loose
Tooth
Get Out of Bed
Up, Up, Down
We Share
Everything
Alexander and the
Terrible, Horrible,
No Good, Very Bad
Day
Henny Penny
If You Give a
Mouse a Cookie
Miz Berlin Walks
Jessica
Two Bad Ants
The Important
Book
Tulip Sees America
Parade
Kevin Henkes
Kevin Henkes
Kevin Henkes
Mary Ann
Hoberman
Angela Johnson
Angela Johnson
Angela Johnson
Angela Johnson
Robert Munsch
Robert Munsch
Robert Munsch
Robert Munsch
Robert Munsch
Judith Viorst
H. Werner
Zimmerman
Laura Numeroff
Books with a Circular Structure
Jane Yolen
Kevin Henkes
Chris Van Allsburg
Margaret Wise
Brown
Cynthia Rylant
Donald Crews
Books with Text in List Form
A Week with
Wendell
Joshua by the Sea
The Leaving
Morning
One of Three
Jessica
Mama Zooms
Kevin Henkes
Angela Johnson
Angela Johnson
Angela Johnson
Kevin Henkes
Jane CowenFletcher
Come On, Rain!
Karen Hesse
Fireflies
Julie Brinkloe
Fly Away Home
Eve Bunting
How Many Days to Eve Bunting
America
Teammates
Peter Golenbock
Babushka’s Doll
Patricia Polacco
Tar Beach
Faith Ringold
How Now, Brown Alice Schertle
Cow?
Zathura
Chris Van Allsburg
The Sweetest Fig
Chris Van Allsburg
The Widow’s
Chris Van Allsburg
Broom
Just a Dream
Chris Van Allsburg
Two Bad Ants
Chris Van Allsburg
The Legend of the Kathy-jo Wargin
Loon
Tuesday
David Weisner
The Woods
Paul Hoppe
The Gardener
Sarah Stewart
Wemberly Worried Kevin Henkes
Joshua’s Night
Angela Johnson
Whispers
The Leaving
Angela Johnson
Books with Comparisons
Books with Inferences
Books with Ellipses
Morning
Mama Bird, Baby
Birds
One of Three
A Sweet Smell of
Roses
Knuffle Bunny
Momma, Where
Are you From?
Now What Can I
Do?
One More Time,
MOma
Ring! Yo?
Bat Loves the
Night
Cock-a-DoodleDoo!
Gentle Giant
Octopus
Sacred Places
Supermarket
All by Herself
Amber Was Brave,
Essie Was Smart
From the
Bellybutton of the
Mooon
Learning to Swim
Love That Dog
My Man Blue
The Other Side
Angela Johnson
Angela Johnson
Angela Johnson
Mo Williems
Marie Bradby
Books that are Written Entirely as
Conversation
Margaret Park
Sue Alexander
Chris Raschka
Nicola Davies
Books that Have Facts Embedded
Around the Text
Janet Stevens and
Susan Stevens
Crummel
Karen Wallace
Philemon Sturges
Kathleen Krull
Ann Whitford Paul
Vera B. Williams
Francisco Alarcon
Ann Turner
Sharon Creech
Nikki Grimes
Angela Johnson
Books that are a Collection of
Poems that Tell a Story
River
Jane Kurtz
Friendly/River Wild
Stepping Out with Nikki Grimes
Granda Mac
Cloud Dance
Thomas Locker
Everett Anderson’s
Christmas Coming
January Rides the
Wind
Ma Dear’s Aprons
Mice and Beans
Night City
Park Beat
Pieces: A Year in
Poems and Quilts
The Web Files
When the Earth
Wakes
Wemberly Worried
Jessica
Big Al and Shrimpy
Lucile Clifton
George vs. George:
The American
Revolution as Seen
from Both Sides
Goldilocks and the
Three Bears
John, Paul, George
and Ben
The Journey:
Stories of
Migration
Rosalyn Schanzer
Books that are Organized (or have
a part) that Follows Some Natural
Time Pattern
Charlotte Otten
Patricia McKissack
Pam Munoz Ryan
Monica Wellington
Jonathan London
Anna Gossnickle
Hines
Margie Palatini
Ani Rucki
Kevin Henkes
Kevin Henkes
Andrew Clement
and Yoshi Kogo
Various authors
Lane Smith
Cynthia Rylant
Books with Elapsed Time
Books with Compare/Contrast
within the Text
Officer Buckle and
Gloria
Teammates
The Yellow House:
Vincent Van Gogh
and Paul Gaugin
Side by Side
Alexander ant the
Terrible, Horrible,
No Good, Very Bad
Day
A Bad Case of
Stripes
The Big Sneeze
Kat Kong
Chicken Little
Cloudy with a
Chance of
Meatballs
The Day Jimmy’s
Boa Ate the Wash
Dogzilla
The End
Follow the
Drinking Gourd
The Giant Jam
Sandwich
If You Give a
Mouse a Cookie
If You Take a
Mouse to School
The Little Engine
that Could
Miss Nelson is
Missing
Mr. Peabody’s
Peggy Rathmann
Peter Golenbock
Susan Goldman
Rubin
Judith Viorst
David Shannon
Ruth Brown
Dav Pilkey
Steven Kellogg
Judi Barrett
Trinka Hakes
Noble
Dav Pilkey
David LaRochelle
Jeanette Winter
John Vernon Lord
Laura Numeroff
Laura Numeroff
Watty Piper
Harry Allard
Madonna
Books with Cause and Effect
Apples
The Napping
House
Nim and the War
Effort
Old Ladies Who
Liked Cats
P.J. the Spoiled
Bunny
Pierre
Recess Queen
Runaway Bunny
Stephanie’s
Ponytail
Sylvester and the
Magic Pebble
Tacky the Penguin
Angel for Soloman
Singer
Big Al
Bullfrog Pops!
Brave Irene
Charlie Anderson
Chicken Sunday
Delivering Justice
Fly Away Home
Freedom Summer
Grandfather
Twilight
Grandpa’s Teeth
The Great Kapok
Tree
Audrey and Don
Wood
Milly Lee
Carol Greene
Marilyn Sadler
Maurice Sendak
Alexis O’Neill
Margaret Wise
Brown
Robert Munsch
William Steig
Helen Lester
Cynthia Rylant
Andrew Clement
and Yoshi Kogo
Rick Walton
William Steig
Barbara
Abercrombie
Patricia Polacco
Jim Haskins
Eve Bunting
Deborah Wiles
Barbara Berger
Rod Clement
Lynne Cherry
Books with Questioning
Harvey the Foolish
Pig
Hoops
How Come?
How Many Days to
America?
Letter to the Lake
Monarch Butterfly
Night Noises
The Old Woman
Who Named
Things
Pink and Say
The Potato Man
The Sick Day
Smoky Night
Tar Beach
Uncle Jed’s
Barbershop
The Wall
Wednesday
Surprise
Why is the Sky
Blue?
Alice the Fairy
All the Places to
Love
Barn Dance
A Camping Spree
with Mr. Magee
Fireflies
Gregory the
Terrible Eater
Dick Gackenback
Robert Burleigh
Kathy Wollard
Eve Bunting
Susan Marie
Swanson
Gail Gibbons
Mem Fox
Cynthia Rylant
Patricia Polacco
Megan McDonald
Patricia
MacLachlan
Eve Bunting
Faith Ringold
Margaree King
Mitchell
Eve Bunting
Eve Bunting
Sally Grindley
David Shannon
Patricia
MacLachlan
Bill Martin Jr.
Chris Van Dusen
Judith Brinkloe
Mitchell Sharmat
Books with Visualization
Hamburger
Heaven
Hello Oceam
The House on
Maple Street
Miss Rumphius
Napping House
Night in the
Country
Owl Moon
Roxaboxen
When Grampa
Kissed His Elbow
Tell Me a Story
Mama
The Treasure
Treasures of the
Heart
Why Mosquitoes
Buzz in People’s
Ears
The Stories Julian
Tells
Pancakes for
Breakfast
A Boy, a Dog and a
Frog
Gumfounded
The Day My
Peanut Butter Lost
It’s Stick
What REALLY
Happened to
Humpty?
Cat Can’t Write
Wong Herbert Lee
Pam Munoz Ryan
Bonnie Pryor
Barbara Cooney
Audrey Penn
Cynthia Rylant
Jane Yolen
Barbara Cooney
Cynthia DeFelice
Angela Johnson
Ure Shulevitz
Alice Ann Miller
Vema Aredema
Ann Cameron
Tomie DePaola
Mercer Mayer
Sherry Garr
Elena and Joe Lee
Jeanie Franz
Ransom
Rozanne Williams
Lanczak
Books for Ideas
Eating the
Alphabet
Chicka Chicka
Boom Boom
The War Between
the Vowels and the
Consonants
The Alphabet
Keeper
Alphabet Mystery
Max’s Words
Mommy’s Office
Daddy Goes to
Work
I See a Sign
Signs at the Store
How Far Will a
Rubber Band
Stretch?
Arms, Elbows,
Hands and Fingers
Bubble Gum,
Bubble Gum
Max’s Dragon
Mouse Makes
Words
The Perfect PopUp Punctuation
Book
Punctuation
A Monster
Sandwich
How Many Snails?
The Farm Concert
Lois Ehlert
Bill Martin Jr
Pricilla Turner
Mary Murphy
Audrey Wood
Kate Banks
Barbara Shook
Hazen
Jabari Asim
Klove
Hill
Mike Thaler
Lola Schaefer
Lisa Wheeler
Kate Banks
Katheryn Heling
Kate Petty
Ann Heinrichs
Joy Cowley
Paul Giganti
Joy Cowley
Books for Conventions
Mrs. Wishy Washy
Yo! Yes?
Punctuation Takes
a Vacation
Safari Punctuation
The Puncs: An
Intro to the Story
of Punctuation
Punctuation Pals
Peter Period
Quincy Question
Mark
Emma
Exclamation Point
Alan Apostrophe
Christopher
Comma
Big David, Little
David
Big Pig and Little
Pig
Names
Days
Months
Places
States
Cities
Words are Like
Faces
Hello Ocean
Joy Cowley
Chris Raschka
Robin Pulver
Mario Risso
Barbara Cooper
Dr. Hope
Barbara Cooper
Barbara Cooper
Barbara Cooper
Barbara Cooper
Barbara Cooper
S.E. Hinton
David McPhail
Pam
Scheunemann
Pam
Scheunemann
Pam
Scheunemann
Pam
Scheunemann
Pam
Scheunemann
Pam
Scheunemann
Edith Baer
Pam Munoz Ryan
Books for Word Choice
Yesterday I Had
the Blues
Itty Bitty
Spaghetti and
Meatballs for All
Muriel’s Red
Sweater
Rain Stomper
Fireflies
Abuela
Smoky Night
The Chocolate Chip
Cookie Contest
Owl Moon
Dog Day
Miss Rumphius
Moon Rope
Fancy Nancy
My Little Sister Ate
One Hare
Alexander and the
Terrible, Horrible,
No Good, Very Bad
Day
Tough Cookie
A Drop of Water
I Ain’t Gonna Paint
No More!
Song and Dance
Man
Raising Dragons
Brave Irene
Deep in the
Swamp
Cloud Dance
Jeron Ashford
Frame
Cece Bell
Marilyn Bums
Dara Dokas
Addie Boswell
Julie Brinkloe
Arthur Dorro
Eve Bunting
Barbara Douglass
Jane Yolen
Sara Hayes
Barbara Coony
Lois Ehlert
Jane O’Connor
Bill Grossman
Judith Viorst
David Wisniewski
Walter Wick
Karen Beaumont
Karen Ackerman
Jordine Nolen
William Steig
Donna Bateman
Thomas Locker
Books for Sentence Fluency
The Magic Hat
Tanka Tanka
Skunk
Red Light, Green
Light
Toad Makes a
Road
Road Builders
No Room to Swing
a Cat
A Crowded Ride in
the Countryside
The Kid with Too
Many Pets
Too Many
Chickens
I Love to Finger
Paint
Man on the Moon
Astronauts
The Very Hungry
Caterpillar
In the Small, Small
Pond
Bad Kitty
Cactus Hotel
The Jacket I Wear
in the Snow
Mud Puddle
The Three Bears
Song and Dance
Man
Casey at the Bat
Grandpa’s Teeth
Mem Fox
Steve Webb
Gail Gibbons
Phill Roxbee
B.G. Hennessey
Ralph Steadman
Frank. B. Edwards
Harland Williams
Paulette Bourgeois
Lipsey Edwards
Anastasia Suen
Tami Deedrick
Eric Carle
Denise Fleming
Nick Bruel
Brenda Z.
Guiberson
Shirley Neitzel
Robert Munsch
Paul Galdone
Karen Ackerman
Ernest Lawrence
Thayer
Rod Clement
Books for Organization
Summer Beat
The Very Quiet
Cricket
I Love You Forever
The Paper Bag
Princess
The Stranger
Oh, David
No, David
Too Many Toys
Good Boy Fergus!
Peter and the Wolf
The Tale of Tubby
the Tuba
Today I Feel Silly
and other Moods
that Make my Day
Mood Swings
Wemberly Worried
Harry the Dirty
Dog
The Way I Feel
Lots of Feelings
All About Frogs
I am the Dog, I am
the Cat
Dirty Laundry Pile
Arctic Lights, Arctic
Nights
Alvie Eats Soup
I Wanna Iguana
Alice the Fairy
The True Story of
Betsy Franco
Eric Carle
Robert Munsch
Robert Munsch
Chris VanAllsburg
David Shannon
David Shannon
David Shannon
David Shannon
Sergey Prokofiev
Manhattan
Transfer
Jamie Lee Curtis
Jim Borgman
Kevin Henkes
Gene Zion
Janan Kain
Shelley Rottner
Jim Amosky
Donald Hall
Paul Janeczko
Debbie Miller
Ross Collins
Karen Kaufman
Orloff
David Shannon
Jon Sciezka
Books for Voice
the Three Little
Pigs
The Big Orange
Splot
The Paper Bag
Princess
Daniel Manus
Pinkwater
Robert Munsch