Mentor Texts: Titles for K-6

This well-loved book by Judi and Ron Barrett shows the very youngest why animals’ clothing is perfect . . . just as it is.

Poor Duncan just wants to color. But when he opens his box of crayons, he finds only letters, all saying the same thing: We quit! The supporting details are great to get students to think and write about the why instead of just writing a list of demands.

(Middle grades) A young boy and his mother are forced to flee their apartment during a night of rioting in Los Angeles. Fires and looting force neighbors—who have always avoided one another—to come together in the face of danger and concern for their missing pets.

Although his teacher insists there are stories everywhere, Ralph cannot think of any to write.

Working up the courage to take a big, important leap is hard, but Jabari is almost absolutely ready to make a giant splash.

It was the perfect summer. That is, until Jeremy Ross moved into the house down the street and became neighborhood enemy number one. Luckily Dad had a surefire way to get rid of enemies: Enemy Pie.

In a rainbow-colored station wagon that smelled like a real car, the relatives came.