Having a place to show off what they’ve read adds to the feeling of accomplishment that kids get when they finish a book.
When my oldest daughter Caroline was in the first grade, her teacher started a classroom bookworm on the wall. She used construction paper circles and each time a student finished a book, the bookworm got a new circle added to his body.
At the end of the school year the circles got sent home with the students. My daughter came home and put them on her bedroom wall, starting a bookworm at our house. Every so often, she’d add to it.
When my second daughter was in the first grade we had the same teacher and her circles came home with her too. This time our bedroom set up was now with bunk beds and Elizabeth’s circles wrapped around the room, up near the ceiling.
My youngest…same story! Same teacher, same circles, and our bookworm got longer and longer. Last year at her seventh birthday party Alex’s friends even added circles to it of books they had read. It was so cute to see the handmade circles and the little kid handwriting on them, showing off the books they’d read.
This week however, the bedroom underwent major renovations, getting a new paint job and a new floor plan. In preparation for that, we had to take down the old bookworm. My kids were heartbroken, especially Alex. I felt bad, but it couldn’t really be helped. The circles had to come down and they were old and worn out so they didn’t even come down in one piece.
Coincidentally, last month I came across some vinyl decals for walls at Walmart. They came three to a pack and they were even dry erase and came with a marker! As soon as I saw them, I knew I had to have them. I had to make a new bookworm! So I bought the circles. They were $2 for the three pack and I loved the bright colors they came in. They brightened up the kids’ playroom/office and gave anyone who wanted it, a place to show off what they’ve been reading lately.
To that end, I thought Id’ share part of a list I came across last week. You can see the list in its entirety by clicking on the link and see the book covers of each book on the list as well. It’s a list of “The 25 Books Every Kid Should Have on Their Bookshelf.” How many of them do you have on your bookshelf? Although we’ve read a lot of them, there were many we have not. Maybe they will become part of our bookworm in the future.
Top Ten: The 25 Books Every Kid Should Have on Their Bookshelf
1. The Little Prince, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
2. Where the Wild Things Are, Maurice Sendak
3. The Pushcart War, Jean Merrill
4. The Sweetest Fig, Chris Van Allsburg
5. Matilda, Roald Dahl
6. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain
7. Dealing With Dragons, Patricia C. Wrede
8. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll
9. A Wizard of Earthsea, Ursula K. Le Guin
10. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, L. Frank Baum
The Whole bag of Chips 
What a great and creative idea!!…and can I borrow buck Finn? We just finished Tom Sawyer and jaunita had given the boys the set, but now I can’t find hick Finn! Hoping it didn’t get donated, but afraid it did!!
Reading Ann Hood’s first kid book now, but hoping to read hick Finn after that!