10 great books to read aloud on Read Across America Day!

Every day is a reading day at our house and I wanted to share a list of 10 of my favorite books to read aloud in honor of National Read Across America Day on March 2! These are books that are interactive, encourage children's participation, or just have a nice flow that kids can memorize and read along with you even at a very young age.

My own children are just 3 and 5 right now so this list is for the younger set, but I cannot wait until they're older because I have huge plans to read the entire Harry Potter series to them out loud. I've actually never read it myself and made the decision to not read it until I had kids so I could read it out loud to them.

Caps For Sale: An oldie but a goodie, this is a story about a peddler who gets an entire tower of hats stolen by a troop of monkeys. The kids love to stomp their feet and shake their fists on cue with the peddler as he tries to get his caps back!
	The Listening Walk: A story of a little girl who goes on a walk with her dad and listens to the sounds all around them. I love to encourage my kids to make the noises for each thing she hears - a lawnmower, jackhammer, shoes scuffing on the sidewalk.
The Crocodile and The Dentist: This is a book that requires the pictures to make any sense at all. Every page is one phrase repeated, so I like to say the first one and then have my children say the phrase the second time. The story is cute, funny, and simple enough that my 3yo can get it while my 5yo can already appreciate the irony.
	Press Here: OK, so everyone has this book already but I have to give it a mention. This is about as interactive a book as it comes and at this point ours is basically destroyed due to all the pressing, shaking, tilting, and opening and closing.
Go Away, Big Green Monster!: A big green monster slowly appears as the pages are turned. Children are encouraged to tell each of his scary features to "GO AWAY!" one by one, until the monster is gone. My children delight in saying the last line "And don't come BACK! ....until I say so."
	Little Humans: Not at all interactive, but I love to share books with actual photography because my children really love actual photos as opposed to illustrations. The photos are big and fun, and the poem is memorable enough that both of my children were able to read along with me from very young ages.
Bathtime For Little Rabbit: A very interactive board book that encourages children to help give Little Rabbit a bath. My kids love "turning on" the blow dryer, blowing the rabbit's fur dry when the blow dryer doesn't work, scrubbing his ears, and everything else about this book!
	From Head To Toe: A classic by Eric Carle, I start reading this book to my kids when they are under a year old. Each page engages a different part of their body - there is hip wriggling, shoulder shrugging, foot stomping, chest thumping, and more - and the animal theme is an easy sell.
The Not So Quiet Library: My kids had a serious love affair with this book. I don't typically love to read books out loud that have a lot of dialogue, but my kids loved this one so much that I had to put that aside and just learn to love it too. In it, a monster invades the library and a little boy and his brother (or maybe it's his Teddy Bear, I don't know...) try not to get eaten by it. Fun, silly, and my kids love playing the role of monster!
	The Icky Sticky Frog: For my kids, this book has it all. Great illustrations, a fun story that's easy to memorize and repeat, complete with an actual "sticky tongue" coming out of the front of the book so they can "catch flies" with it.