8 Books for Celebrating St. Patrick’s Day

St. Patrick’s Day is March 17th, which happens to fall on a Sunday this year. Even though it is over a weekend, that doesn’t mean you can’t celebrate the holiday with your students, either the Friday before or the Monday after!

Everyone can dress in green, you could eat green foods, do a rainbow experiment, hunt for gold coins, or make leprechaun traps. There are so many activities to bring the fun of St. Patrick’s Day into your classroom! And celebrating St. Patrick’s Day in the classroom wouldn’t be complete without a read-aloud!

Here are my top picks for books for celebrating St. Patrick’s Day!

Books About St. Patrick’s Day

1. How to Catch a Leprechaun by Adam Wallace- This book is an easy introduction to a leprechaun trap building project. It is all about how a leprechaun visits the homes of other children. The chidlren are trying to catch him, so they can find his gold. Every page shows an illustration of the elaborate trap featured in each home. It, also, has rhyming text to add to the enjoyment of the book!

2. The Night Before St. Patrick’s Day by Nataha Wing- This is another option to read before trap building. This book is about a couple kids who want to catch a leprechaun. They set a bunch of traps up in their room to catch one. In the morning, they find that they’ve caught a leprechaun! However, the leprechaun outsmarts the kids in the end. This book follows the same pattern as The Night Before Christmas and has that humorous twist at the end making it an enjoyable read for students!

3. St. Patrick’s Day in the Morning by Eve Bunting- I love the illustrations in this book! Definitely something to point out when discussing this book with your students. This fiction story is about a boy named Jamie. Jamie wants to march in the St. Patrick’s Day parade, but is told he is too small to join them. Jamie sets off through town to prove his family wrong. This one is a bit longer, so I would save it for 2nd grade and up.

4. Happy St. Patrick’s Day from the Crayons by Drew Daywalt- If you are a fan of The Day the Crayons Quit, you won’t want to miss this one! This book is brand new in January of 2024! This book is about how the Green Crayon wants a break and how his friends work together to try and give him one.

5. St. Patrick’s Day by Gail Gibbons- Gail Gibbons is an excellent author of many nonfiction books. Her books are detailed and full of interesting facts! This book is a bit lengthy and I don’t recommend reading it in its entirety in one sitting. The other option is to only read the parts of the book you want to share with your students. I like that it gives a student-friendly description of why some people celebrate St. Patrick’s Day.

6. Patrick: Patron Saint of Ireland by Tomie De Paola- This book is another informational one. It shares the story of how Patrick becomes St. Patrick along with a few other legends that have been passed down about him. It is a bit lengthy, however, worth the read if you are interested in sharing about the man who became the saint with your students.

Books About Rainbows

7. What Makes a Rainbow? by Betty Ann Schwartz- This is a neat book because it has ribbons that pull through the illustrations adding a color on each page. By the end of the book, there is a full rainbow! The story begins with Little Rabbit asking Mama Rabbit, “What makes a rainbow?” On each page one of his animal friends add a new color until the complete rainbow pops out of the book on the last page!

8. Rainbows by Martha E.H. Rustad- This nonfiction book is great for providing an easy to understand explanation for how rainbows are made. I really like how it points out why it looks like a rainbow reaches the ground.

After celebrating St.Patrick’s Day in your classroom, don’t forget to stop at McDonalds on the way home for a Shamrock Shake! Those are my fav! If you and your students enjoyed the books on this list, be sure to check out my other book recommendations such as 10 of the Best Books for the End of the Year!