Valentine’s read-alouds are a wonderful way to celebrate love, kindness, and laughter in the classroom. One such book is Roses Are Pink, Your Feet Really Stink by Diane de Groat, a delightful picture book that has charmed readers for years. This humorous yet heartfelt story is the perfect read-aloud for elementary students and a great way to spark discussions about friendship, empathy, and making amends.

ABOUT THIS FUN VALENTINE’S READ-ALOUD

Gilbert, the lovable main character, is busy creating Valentine’s poems for his classmates. While most of his poems are sweet, two particular poems take a not-so-nice turn. In a moment of frustration, Gilbert writes mean-spirited rhymes about classmates he’s had disagreements with—but his decision backfires. The classmates are hurt, and Gilbert soon learns a valuable lesson about the power of words and the importance of kindness. Through Gilbert’s journey, students will laugh, empathize, and reflect on how their actions can affect others.

You can find this book on Amazon.

Your class will also enjoy watching a fun video of the story.

A VALENTINE’S READ-ALOUD THAT TEACHES EMPATHY AND KINDNESS

Gilbert’s story reminds us all—young and old—that words matter. This book provides a great opportunity to teach students about empathy, the impact of their choices, and how to apologize and make things right when they’ve hurt someone. The story’s themes of forgiveness and making amends resonate deeply, encouraging meaningful conversations. Here are some talking points for the story:

Character changes – At first, Gilbert felt happy writing Valentine’s Day poems for his classmates. However, after he wrote mean poems to Margaret and Lewis, his classmates became upset with him, making Gilbert feel sad and isolated. Realizing that his hurtful words had caused pain, Gilbert decided to make amends by writing sincere, kind-hearted poems, which restored his happiness and friendships.
Drawing conclusions and inferencing – Do you think Margaret and Lewis knew they hurt Gilbert’s feelings when they tweaked his nose and teased him about his glasses? Margaret and Lewis only said sorry to Gilbert when he said something about it. Sometimes, people think they’re joking but don’t see that their words or actions are hurtful. So, I believe Margaret and Lewis didn’t know they upset Gilbert until he mentioned it.

ROSES ARE PINK, YOUR FEET REALLY STINK BOOK COMPANION

I chose eight tier 2 vocabulary words from this humorous, yet heartfelt story for students to learn. Each word is on a card that has a kid-friendly definition, an example sentence, and a photo representing the word. These can be printed or projected from the PDF. There is also a narrated video presentation.

Valentine's read-aloud vocabulary for Roses are Pink, Your Feet Really Stink

This isn’t just any book companion—it’s an interactive adventure! As students engage with the activities, they’ll uncover mystery words, each bringing them closer to the ultimate challenge: cracking the final code word. Once they succeed, reward their detective work with a special coloring sheet that reveals the punchline to a fun joke. Opting for the digital version? Students can enter the code word on a Google Form, adding a tech-savvy twist to the fun.

Roses Are Pink, Your Feet Really Stink Activities

The activities included in this Valentine’s read-aloud book campanion include:

Cut and glue the story events in order. They’ll use a decoder to reveal the mystery word
Read a nonfiction passage about roses and underline the answers
Cut and glue vocabulary words to their synonyms. If everything is correct, the pieces make a picture
Color by code simple and compound sentences
Comprehension questions the letters of the answers make the mystery word

You can find these fun activities in my Roses Are Pink, Your Feet Really Stink book companion.