Picture Books For a Five-Senses Unit

There are plenty of serviceable non-fiction books for elementary school age children that explain the five senses. These will give scientific information about the human body, but teachers hoping to engage their students in further discussion will want some great stories as well. Some of the most effective stories are ones about the absence of one of the senses. For example, books about blindness will help children understand sight. Books about deafness will enrich a conversation about hearing. Below are some of the books I would share with elementary school age children.

Blindness:
Knots on a Counting Rope by Bill Martin
Seven Blind Mice by Ed Young
Apartment 3 by Ezra jack Keats
Do You Remember Blue? and Other Questions Kids Ask About Blindness by Sally Alexander
Mom Can't See Me by Sally Alexander

Deafness

I Have a Sister, My Sister is Deaf by Jeanne Peterson
Handtalk by Remy Charlip
Silent Lotus by Jeanne Lee
Dad, Jackie and Me by Myron Uhlberg
Moses Goes to School by Isaac Millman (and the other Moses books)
A Place For Grace by Jean Okimoto

Senses:

My Five Senses by Aliki
You Can't Taste With A Pickle in Your Ear by Harriet Ziefert

Ears:

Ears Are For Hearing by Paul Showers
What Can Rabbit Hear? by Lucy Cousins

Eyes:

Arthur's Eyes by Marc Brown
Glasses...who needs 'em? by Lane Smith
Look at Your Eyes by Paul Showers

Noses:

Nosy Rosie by Holly Keller
The Smelly Book by Babette Cole
Stinky Smelly Feet: A Love Story by Margie Palatini

Touch:

My Hands by Aliki

Taste:

The Boy Who Ate Around by Henrik Drescher
I Will Never, Not Ever, Eat a Tomato by Lauren Child
Bread and Jam For Frances by Russell Hoban