Each chapter has a few picture books that match its research step, and most of them are easy to find at a public library. I put together the full list of 15 in Professor Hoot's Library Guide. Read one aloud, then color that chapter's pages and ask your child how the story connects to what the Squad is doing.
One or two per chapter
- Chapter 1, observing and asking: Ada Twist, Scientist by Andrea Beaty, or What Do You Do with a Problem? by Kobi Yamada.
- Chapter 2, learning from books: Biblioburro by Jeanette Winter, or The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore by William Joyce, which pairs well with the tree library on page 11.
- Chapter 3, predicting: If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Numeroff. It's a chain of "if... then" predictions, like the machine on page 28.
- Chapter 4, building and testing: Rosie Revere, Engineer by Andrea Beaty, or The Most Magnificent Thing by Ashley Spires.
- Chapter 5, counting and graphing: The Great Graph Contest by Loreen Leedy, or Tiger Math by Ann Whitehead Nagda.
- Chapter 6, sharing: The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds, or Show and Tell by Robert Munsch.
How to use them
- Read the book first.
- Color a few pages from the matching chapter.
- Ask: "What did the character in the book do that the Squad does too?"
That question is the Chapter 2 idea in action: finding out what others have said and building on it.
Library trip tips
- You don't need all of them. Start with one book per chapter.
- Put titles on hold before you go so the trip stays short.
- Let your child write the titles in the Source Tracker section of their data journal. It's an early habit of keeping track of sources.
- Reading together is best at this age. It's the same mentor-and-learner relationship Professor Hoot has with the Squad.
For older or advanced readers, the guide also suggests the young reader editions of The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind and Hidden Figures.