2 X 2 Reading List
Age 2 to Grade 2

Texas Library Association sponsors the 2X2 Reading

List solely to encourage free voluntary reading.

2008Parent and Child Sharing Time Activities

Arnosky, Jim.Babies In The Bayou Ages 4-8

  • Count the animals on each page, and then count only the babies on each page.
  • Take a walk in your yard or neighborhood and see what animals you find.
  • Play a guessing game. Use the book as a starting point. What has a mask on its face? What has a shell on its back?
  • Author Web Site:
  • Texas Parks & Wildlife Department:

Ayres, Katherine. Up, Down, and Around Ages 4-8

  • Find vegetables in your kitchen. How do they grow? Up, down, or around?
  • With a grown up, make soup or salad using some of your favorite vegetables.
  • Look at the pictures on each page. What part of each plant do we eat?
  • Author Web Site:
  • Gardening with children:

Bruel, Robert O. Bob and Otto Ages 4-8

  • Make a caterpillar or butterfly cake or cookies. Decorate in many colors.
  • Make a list of things you like to do. Then make a list of things a friend likes to do. What do you like to do that is the same? Different?
  • Draw and color a butterfly and a worm.
  • Illustrator Web Site:
  • Butterfly Coloring Pages:
  • Worm Coloring Page:

Ficocelli, Elizabeth.Kid Tea Ages 2-8

  • Think of some active things you do and what color the “kid tea” could be.
  • What would a child be doing that would make the bath water pink? Orange?
  • Draw a box with a brown crayon. Divide that box into 4 parts and color them blue, red, green, yellow. Color over the whole square with a black crayon. Use a paper clip point to gently draw a bathtub shape full of bubbles. The colors will appear as you draw!
  • Author information:
  • Bubblarium: Make a simple observatory to see the amazing colors in a bath bubble.

Friend, Catherine. The Perfect Nest Ages 4-8

  • Draw three eggs: small, middle-sized, and large. Tell which belongs to the chicken, the duck and the goose.
  • What do you have in your room that you could use to build a perfect nest?
  • Pretend to make an omelet using a whisk and a spatula: break the eggs, whip them, pour them in a skillet, slide the omelet on a plate.
  • Author information:
  • Illustrator Web Site:
  • Egg sizes:

Gonzalez, Maya Christina. My Colors, My World/Mis colores, mi mundo Ages 4-8

  • Watch the western sky at sunset. What colors do you see?
  • Go for a walk and name the colors you see in your world.
  • Make a game using crayons and index cards. Use the different colors to write color words in English on one set of cards, in Spanish on another. Play a memory game. Turn the cards over, mix them up, then, take turns to turn over two cards at a time to find matching cards.
  • Author information:
  • Spanish/English coloring book:

Horacek, Petr.Butterfly Butterfly: A Book of Colors Ages 2-5

  • Name the creatures found on the endpapers.
  • How many dots are on Lucy’s dress?
  • Play hide and seek with someone.
  • Author information:
  • Children’s Butterfly site:

Jay, Allison. 1 2 3: A Child’s First Counting Book Ages 4-8

  • Find the hidden animal, person, or thing that reveals what is coming up on the next page and what was on the previous page.
  • The goose hides on many of the pages. Can you find her?
  • How do you know that the last page circles back to the first page?
  • Author Information: www2.childrensillustrators.com/illustrator.cgi/ajay
  • Let’s Discover Counting Game. Find the hidden animals, match the number displayed.

Johnson, Angela.Lily Brown’s Paintings Ages 4-8

  • Draw a picture of your family.
  • Draw a picture of your backyard and put faces on things that don’t have faces.
  • Turn to one of Lily’s drawings and tell someone why you like it.
  • Author information:
  • Illustrator Web Site:
  • Art Activities:

Kasza, Keiko.Badger’s Fancy Meal Ages 4-8

  • Use crayons to draw your favorite foods on a white paper plate.
  • Look at the book cover and name all of Badger’s foods. Which could you eat?
  • What is the only thing left in Badger’s den at the end of the story?
  • Keiko Kasza, author/illustrator
  • Learn about badgers

Katz, Susan. Oh, Theodore! Ages 4-8

  • Design a guinea pig house for Theodore. Draw a picture of what it will look like. What will you add so Theodore can have fun?
  • Do you remember when you made a friend? How did you do that?
  • Can you list 3 good things and 3 bad things about the pet you have or want?
  • Author Information:
  • Guinea Pigs Club Online Games:

Klise, Kate.Imagine Harry Ages 3-7

  • Can you imagine a friend? What is his/her name? What does he/she look like?
  • What names would you give to Little Rabbit’s animal friends?
  • Draw a picture of Little Rabbit and Harry.
  • Author and illustrator Web Site:
  • Friendship activities:

McElligott, Matthew.Bean ThirteenAges 5-8

  • Gather 13 dried beans or small stones and see how many groups of 2, 3 or more you can make. Does it ever come out even? Why?
  • Draw your own bug-like character or create one using found items in your house.
  • Count the eyes, legs, fingers, toes, and antennae on each of the bug-like characters in the story.

Bean ThirteenWeb Site:

Rylant, Cynthia.Mr. Putter and Tabby See the Stars Ages 6-8

  • Have you ever gotten a tummy ache from eating too much of a yummy food?
  • Go outside and look at the stars one night.
  • Draw a picture of what you might see on a night time walk around your neighborhood.
  • Office of Naval Research – Observing the Sky:
  • Family Fun – Cooking with Kids:

Schertle, Alice.Very Hairy Bear Ages 2-6

  • Talk about the colors you see as you turn the pages through the seasons.
  • List all the things the bear eats through the seasons. Do you like to eat any of those things, too?
  • Find animals in your world or animal pictures in books. Which are the hairiest?

Illustrator Web Site:

Brown Bear facts and fun:

Schoenherr, Ian.Pip and Squeak Ages 2-6

  • Where do Pip and Squeak live?
  • Draw a picture of a favorite gift you have received.
  • Why was the gift just right for Gus?
  • Author Web Site

Seeger, Laura Vaccaro.Dog and Bear: Two Friends, Three Stories Ages 3-7

  • Talkabout ways you help your friends.
  • Draw a picture of two fun things that you do with your friends.
  • If you could give yourself a new name, what would it be? Why?
  • Author Web Site:

Teckentrup, Britta.Big Smelly Bear Ages 2-6

  • What do you do to make bath time fun?
  • Why does Big Smelly Bear wander down to the pond late at night?
  • What are some things you do to make your friends happy?
  • Animal Planet : Animals A to Zoo – Bears:

Tourville, Amanda Doering. A Crocodile Grows Up Ages4-8

  • Name all the animals found in the pages of the story.
  • Find young animals around your home or neighborhood. Check on them occasionally to see how much they have grown.
  • What does a crocodile do best, walk on land or swim in water? Why?
  • Nile Crocodiles facts and fun:

Van Fleet, Matthew.Dog Ages 2 up

  • How many of the dogs have long ears?
  • How many have pink noses? Which have spots?
  • Which two dogs would you choose and what would you name them? Why?
  • Author Web Site:
  • Your Pet Dog: