How to Host a Book Tasting in Your Classroom

With Read Across America Day coming up, it’s a great time to think about fun reading related activities to do in the classroom. Getting kids to read more and encouraging them to find new books to love is so important, and a book tasting is a fun and easy way to encourage kids to learn more about books they might not otherwise know about.

A book tasting can be done in a lot of different ways. My daughter’s class once did one where each group of kids read a “Who Was?” book and did a little report about it, so each table had biographical information about the person they learned about as well as the book they read.

You could have kids do “reports” on their favorite books, or have them choose a book from the library in a preferred genre that they haven’t read before to read and do a report on.

Or you can do genre tables and have kids (and/or the librarian if you don’t have a bunch of books in the classroom) bring in books they can then sort by genre and explore options they might not have heard of before.

Check out this post at Alyssa Teaches all about how to design a book tasting and how you can use it to teach kids how to determine if they’d like to read a book by scanning the cover, flipping through and reading a little. She also has printables you can use for your own book tasting.

[Photo: Alyssa Teaches.]

Explaining Dia de Los Muertos to kids can be difficult because most of us don’t generally talk about death or what happens when we die a lot with our kids. But Dia de los Muertos is actually a happy, not scary occasion that allows us to remember loved ones, share stories and come together as a community.

While it is mostly celebrated by people of Mexican heritage, the day has become more well known thanks to movies and other media representations. And there are some great children’s books to help explain and allow you to celebrate the holiday if you want.

Dia de Muertos by Jaque Jours, illustrated by Alejandra Ruiz (48 pages, hardcover, published 2025 by words & pictures, suggested retail price $14.99) tells the story of a family getting their ofrenda (altar for the dead) ready and how they remember people who have died through decorations, food and sharing stories.

It covers the classic decorations and rituals of Dia de los Muertos including using cempasúchil (in English we call them marigolds) and papel picado (cut paper banners), pan de muerto and la catrina, the elaborately dressed, skull faced women that are a common site at Dia de los Muertos gatherings.

The back of the book explores how the day is celebrated throughout Mexico as well as the meanings of different symbols. There’s a recipe for pan de muerto, a tutorial for making papel picado and tips for doing makeup to look like like la catrina/el catrin.

Want to try more traditional foods? The Dia de Los Muertos Cookbook is a companion to The Dia de Los Muertos Story, both of which are by Andrea Jáuregui de la Torre and illustrated by Laura González (52 pages, hardcover paper over boards, published 2026 by becker & meyer kids!, suggested retail price $19.99).

The book opens with some discussion of the meaning of Dia de los Muertos and why food is an important part of the day. The recipes included are easy enough for kids to make with minimal help, and all based on food memories from her childhood.

There are recipes for hibiscus iced tea, Mexican corn and salsa, tortillas, molletes (open faced sandwiches with beans and cheese), jicama fries and sugar skulls to name a few.

Other activities in the book include papel picado, coffee filter marigolds, making your own playlist and making an ofrenda.

Together these books give young readers insight into this holiday that might be new or confusing to them, while also giving you a chance to get in the kitchen together and make your own Dia de los Muertos memories.

Have you read?

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