If you’re reading a book aloud to your child’s class this January, or perhaps are a parent or educator searching for a fun and/or relevant read aloud for your littles, I’ve curated a list of January read aloud books broken down by topic. Each of these topics are inspired by relevant days and themes in January.

I would love to know what your favorite January picture book read alouds are! Comment below with your favorites, or let me know if any of ours overlap!

Click here for links to all the titles, or click on individual title links below.

Winter-themed Read Alouds

I’m Going to Build a Snowman by Jashar Awan // If you have little perfectionists in class, this book shows that perfection is relative, and encourages all littles to have pride in what they do! A little boy is determined to make the best snowman ever! However, when his finished snowman turns out to be far from perfect, the boy comes to accept his snowman as being the his own best snowman yet. Sweet illustrations and visual humor.

The Love Letter by Anika Aldamuy Denise // This is the sweetest book modeling the snowball effect of kindness! Hedgehog, Bunny, and Squirrel each accidentally find a love letter. After reading the love letter, readers will witness how their own actions and words towards others around them change and become more kind. But who exactly sent the love letter? Littles will adore sweet surprise ending! Check out this MaiStoryBook CRAFT TEMPLATE for students to create their own “Love Letter” Winter Animal Craft that focuses on kind and loving words you can share with a friend and someone you love.

Out Cold by Ryan T. Higgins // If you want to evoke laughter during your read aloud, Bruce the Bear books are always hilarious, and this mini winter themed one is no exception! It’s wintertime and Bruce is feeling under-the-weather. Because he’s stuck inside, Bruce’s friends decide to bring the winter fun indoors just for him! And you can just imagine how that will end! Check out this MaiStoryBook CRAFT TEMPLATE,  for students to create a Bruce the Bear craft to share their favorite indoor and outdoor wintry things!

Logan’s Greenhouse by JaNay Brown-Wood // This is a great one for encouraging healthy eating and introducing littles to gardening. I also appreciate that it features a character in a wheel chair without making that the subject of the story. Read this story to share Logan’s search for carrots in his wheelchair-accessible greenhouse. You will help readers compare and contrast different root vegetables as Logan searches for his carrots.

Korean American Day 1/13

Danbi’s Favorite Day by Anna Kim // Danbi is the sweetest character and this book has the most whimsical illustrations! Danbi is excited to share one of her favorite Korean holidays with her friends, but when the weather threatens to ruin the festivities, she will have to get creative to save the day. This is a great one for modeling flexibility, the power of creativity, and the joy of gathering together.

Kimchi Kimchi Every Day by Erica Kim // This is a fun foodie read that also helps teach the days of the week- making it a great choice for younger grade levels. Read and share about all the different ways to eat kimchi in this rhyming read loud. The story also inspires littles to take pride in their cultural food.

Sora’s Seashells by Helena Ku Rhee // This book addresses so many themes- but the two main ones include grief from loss of a grandparent, and having pride in your name. Sora is hurt by the mean comments about her name at school. However, once she learns the significance of her name, how her parent’s named her after her late grandmother’s suggestion and how it means seashell in Korean, Sora gains a newfound pride in who she is.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day 1/15

Dream Street by Tricia Elam Walker // Inspire littles to share and believe in their own dreams with this joyful read aloud. On Dream Street- everyone dreams big! In fact, it’s the best street in the world! On Dream street, everyone is special, intergenerational love rules, and the neighborhood bursts with warmth and hope!

Martin’s Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  // If you’re looking for a book to teach littles more about the life of MLK Jr., I recommend this one! The watercolor illustrations in this biography are brilliant with rich patterns and textures, and I like how it incorporates quotes from some of Dr. MLK Jr’s most famous speeches.

Start the Year with a Growth Mindset

Unflappable by Matthew Ward // One of the best ways to start off the new year is with a growth mindset, and this new release is excellent for inspiring resiliency and persistence. Three flightless birds are determined to fly, and will try, try, and try as many different ideas and ways possible to achieve their goal! Even though they continue to fall and fall, they remain determined to get back up and try again! Littles will love the witty humor too!

The Power Of Yeti by Rebecca van Slyke // This read aloud is entertaining with it’s clever play on words and incorporation of monsters – such as Bigfoot, the Abominable Snowman, and the Yeti. It will also help dash comparisons between littles as they learn that just because they can’t do something or aren’t a certain way at the moment, doesn’t mean it’s impossible. They just aren’t there YET(I)! Encourage kids to realize they are full of potential! Check out this MaiStoryBook CRAFT TEMPLATE to accompany the read loud, and encourage students to create their own Yeti to share things that they can’t do yet.

Wibble Wobble Boom! by Mary Ann Rodman // This one is a great growth mindset read aloud for January because it’s also winter themed! Claire can’t wait to ice skate, but when her first skate lesson isn’t exactly how she dreamed it would be, and the gliding-on-ice doesn’t happen as quickly as she imagined, she realizes it will take dedication, perseverance, and hard work to learn a new skill.

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I hope you found something fun to read aloud this January! Stay tuned for February’s read aloud recs, and leave a comment if you have any read aloud topic requests for the upcoming months!

I’d love to  see and hear about your own reading adventures you are having with your little learners, so please share your story times below in the comments ~ Or Tag me on Instagram @MaiStoryBookLibrary , FaceBook , find me on TikTok, or contact me via email . I’d love to hear from you!~