Lulu Lilly Books
For teachers, homeschoolers & librarians 🍎
Everything here is free, needs no login, and has no ads. Built for 1st, 2nd & 3rd grade readers (ages 6–9) — at school, at the library, or at the kitchen table.
💗 Heartache Hero: a free kindness (SEL) game
SEL stands for social-emotional learning — the part of the school day about kindness, feelings, and getting along. This game is a ready-made way to do it. Seven kindness scenarios per round, drawn from a large bank so no two rounds match. Works on a smartboard for a whole-class warm-up, on tablets in a station, or on one laptop for a homeschool morning basket. No accounts, no data collection, no ads.
Open the game →
🍋 Lulu's Lemonade Stand: free money-counting practice
Coin identification, counting on to a total, and making change from $1 and $5 — the money strand of 1st and 2nd grade math, set inside the lemonade stand from book one. Three levels, ten customers per round, gentle retry feedback instead of buzzers. Good for a math station, a warm-up on the smartboard, or morning basket practice. No accounts, no ads.
Open the game →
🎨 Book crafts
The craft from the end of each book, written up with supply lists and steps — easy for one kid at home or a full table of them. Ocean in a Bottle doubles as a density lesson and a calm-corner tool.
See the crafts →
Class card sets & printables
💌 Card makers for a class set
The Easy layout is one single-sided page per card, so a class set is one print job per student and no duplex printer is needed. The Deluxe layout adds an inside message and decorated back but needs double-sided printing (flip on the short edge). Good for valentine exchanges, thank-you notes to school staff, and holiday-party stations.
Open the card makers →
🖍️ Coloring pages & coloring book PDF
Character and scene line art you can print per student, plus a compiled coloring book PDF for early-finisher folders, indoor recess, sub days, and morning bins.
Get the pages →
🏅 Kindness certificate
Type a name and print. Use it as the prize for a week-long class kindness challenge, to close a Valentine's Day SEL lesson or morning meeting, or as the reward when a student finishes the Heartache Hero game.
Print a certificate →
🎁 The Adventure Starter Kit, for class use
A free printable pack: character coloring pages, a 7-day kindness challenge students can track, the Ocean-in-a-Bottle craft with a supply list, and read-aloud discussion questions with writing space. Free to print for classroom, homeschool, and library use.
Get the kit →
Using the kindness game in class
Teachers use Heartache Hero as a five-minute morning-meeting warm-up: project one scenario on the smartboard, let the class vote with thumbs, then reveal the response and talk about the near-misses. Because the scenarios are drawn at random from a bank of over 100, you can run it all year without repeating a round. It also works on tablets in a station rotation, on one laptop for a homeschool morning basket, or as a two-student partner activity. No accounts, no ads, nothing collected about students.
Classroom activity ideas
- Kindness challenge board: post the 7-day challenge from the starter kit and let students add a sticky note each time they catch someone being a Heartache Hero.
- Ocean in a Bottle as a density lesson: each student brings an empty bottle from home; compare oil and water layers, then keep the bottles as calm-corner tools.
- Character study wall: print the coloring pages, have each student color one character and write three words describing them.
- Write the next rule: students draft their own entry for Lulu's Official Rules and defend it to the class.
- Holiday card station: run the Easy card layout during a party block so every student prints, folds, and signs one card.
- Reader's theater: assign the dialogue-heavy chapters and let small groups perform a scene.
Read-aloud discussion questions
These fit any book in the series and take about ten minutes after a read-aloud, whether you have twenty kids or one.
- 1Lulu notices something nobody else notices. What did she see, and how did she see it?
- 2Was Lulu right? Was she also kind? Can you be both at the same time?
- 3Pick one illustration. What is happening in it that the words don't tell you?
- 4Lulu makes a plan and it goes wrong. What would your plan have been?
- 5Who in the story needed help and didn't ask for it?
- 6Name one thing you could do tomorrow that Lulu would notice.
Why these work for reluctant readers
Illustration density
The Great Lemonade Strike has over 50 black-and-white illustrations across 115 pages — a kid is never more than a page or two from a visual break.
Chapter length
The Great Lemonade Strike runs 8 chapters and the Leprechaun Chase 8 — short, fast-moving, and a finish-line feeling several times per sitting.
Holiday hooks
Each book hangs on a holiday kids already care about, which does a lot of the motivation work for you.
Titles for your collection
- Lulu Lilly The Great Lemonade Strike: A Labor Day Story of Bees, Bosses, and One Very Bad Batch — 115 pages · Labor Day · ages 6–9 · 1st, 2nd & 3rd grade
- Lulu Lilly: Valentine's Day Heartache Hero · Valentine's Day · ages 6–9 · 1st, 2nd & 3rd grade
- Lulu Lilly: The Great St. Patrick's Day Leprechaun Chase — 115 pages · St. Patrick's Day · ages 6–9 · 1st, 2nd & 3rd grade
- Lulu Lilly The Bunny Boss: An Easter Story of Jesus, Joy and Jellybeans — 124 pages · Easter · ages 6–9 · 1st, 2nd & 3rd grade
Teacher & homeschool FAQ
- What grade level are these books?
- Written for 1st, 2nd & 3rd grade readers, ages 6–9. Strong kindergarten readers manage them with support, and they read aloud well to a whole K-3 group.
- Do students need an account to play the kindness game?
- No. There are no logins, no ads, and no student data collected. Open the page and play.
- May I print these for my whole class?
- Yes. Every printable here — coloring pages, cards, certificates, the starter kit, and the craft instructions — is free to print for classroom, homeschool, co-op, and library use.
- What is SEL?
- Social-emotional learning: the part of the day about kindness, feelings, and getting along. Heartache Hero and the discussion questions are built for exactly that block.
- Is there any religious content?
- The series is warm and wholesome throughout. The Easter title (Bunny Boss) is openly about Jesus and Easter, and the Labor Day title closes with a short prayer. The others are faith-friendly but not religious, so you can choose what fits your setting.
- Do the books have to be read in order?
- No. Each one stands alone with the same characters and town, so you can start with whichever holiday is closest.
Want the printable lesson pack?
Discussion questions, the craft instructions, and coloring pages in one PDF. Free for classroom, homeschool, and library use.
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