Fortune Cookie Fortunes

Fortune Cookie Fortunes

Author: Grace Lin

Illustrator: N/A

Copyright, Dragonfly Books, 2006

32 pages

Multicultural

                I chose this book because I have always loved fortune cookies. I think that fortune cookies are always fun to read when you go out to eat. This story is about a little girl who gets a fortune cookie with the rest of her family. While they go around reading their fortunes her sister wants to know if she thinks they will come true. Well she believes that the fortunes do come true. Suddenly things start to happen that go hand in hand with what the families fortunes say. So she wonders if her fortune will come true as well. Her fortune is “You will see the world differently”. Will her fortune come true, is her family’s fortune coming true? You will never know unless you read Fortune Cookie Fortunes.

                The illustrations in this book are very bold and colorful. The pictures are done in watercolor and pen and ink. The pictures also help tell the story. The pictures have fortune cookie saying printed throughout the story. There are numerous fortunes throughout the book this also helps tell the story. The text is easy to read and would be good for young readers. The text goes normal straight across. This book would be good for late Kindergarten through fourth grade. I think that older students may enjoy the book as well but it may be too young for most of them.

                Classroom connections for this book could be fun. You could have several fortunes made, the students have to pick a fortune and then write about what they think their life would be like if the fortune came true. The teacher can also do a history lesson on how the fortune cookie originated.  The teacher could tell the students why it was invented as well as why the Chinese culture views them as so important. Lastly the students can create their own fortune cookies and put fortunes that they think are important into a cookie. The students and teachers can make them together and present them to the class and share what fortune they received and then watch to see if their fortunes come true.

We March

We March

Author: Shane W. Evans

Illustrator: N/A

Copyright, Roaring Book Press, 2012

32 pages

Multicultural

                I chose this book because it can be used during black history month. This story could easily be read by even a second semester kindergartner. This story is about a little boy who is preparing to march, march for freedom. This is about when the African Americans marched together to the capitol to gain their freedom. The little boy shows how they got ready to march. How they prayed for the march, and even though they were tired they marched. They all came together for something that was important to them and made a statement for their freedom. In We March it is a very easily written way to introduce the freedom of African Americans to your students.

                The illustrations in this book were done with water colors and pen and ink. The colors of these illustrations are bright and neat. The people in the story are depicted like normal humans they do not look very cartoony. The text in the story is very simple. There is only one small sentence on each page and the text goes in a straight line. I think that makes it easier for the students to read it. The pictures go from one page to the next, and some are just on one page. This book would be appropriate for kindergarten through fourth grade. I feel that the older students might think the book is to childish for them.

                It is very easy to make classroom connections with Martin Luther and the freedom march. The students could write their own I have a dream speech. The students can write about what they dream of for the future. The students also can write how they would feel if they were the young boy in the story going on a march for their freedom. The teacher can talk about how it used to be different and not everyone had the same freedoms as someone else. The students could talk about how scared and sad the little boy could have been. Lastly the teacher could talk more about the march, and the
“I have a dream” speech. The teacher could read the speech to the children and stress on the importance that the speech had to so many people.

Polka Dot Penguin Pottery

Polka Dot Penguin Pottery

Author: Lenore Look

Illustrator: Yumi Heo

Copyright, Schwartz & Wade 2011

40 pages

 

Multicultural

 

                 I chose this story because it had the word penguin in the title. I am glad that I chose this book. This book is about a little girl who loves to write, she has her very own treehouse where she writes as well. However something is wrong, she cannot think anymore to write. Being sad her grandparents take her to the local pottery shop to paint. As soon as she walks in she is overwhelmed with excitement and joy that she cannot even speak. She walks over and picks out an Easter egg and cannot wait to paint it. Suddenly the shop is filled with friends and parties and everyone is painting. There is a robot, a fire truck and a heart shaped box. However the little girl is sad because she yet again cannot decide what to paint. Will the little girl be able to paint her egg? Will it just be white? Will she get past her writers block? Read Polka Dot Penguin Pottery and you will see.

                This book was set up in a very interesting way. The book was sideways. The book was written to be read long ways and it was very neat. I liked the different point of view that the book had being written that way. I think that it will grab the student’s attention more because it is something that they are not used to seeing. The illustrations in this book were amazing. The pictures were done in watercolor, pen and ink. I think that the pictures in this story were colorful and were appropriate for the book. The pictures were very detailed and helped tell the story. I think that without part of the pictures the story wouldn’t have been told as well. The text in this story might be hard for some students to read. The text moved all over the page, and the text font was different on the different pages and sometimes on the same page it was different. I think that this book would be good for first through sixth grade students. However first graders may need the book read to them or some assistance.

                There can be several classroom connections to go with this book. One connection could be that the students can pick their own object that they would like to paint of their own. The teacher would have several different wooden objects available for the students that they can pick to paint. This would connect the students to the book and also give them some creative freedom. I think that this is crucial for students. Another is the students can write about their own story. It can be anything that they want, but they need to write it. This will also connect them to the character in the story but allows them to think critically. Lastly the students can share the story that they have written in front of the class. Most students love reading things that they have created to show off. Also it will help build the students confidence of reading.

Stormy's Hat

Stormy’s Hat

Author: Eric A. Kimmel

Illustrated by: Andrea U’Ren

Copyright, Farrar, Straus and Giroux 2008

32 pages

Historical Fiction

                I chose this book because the cover of the book was funny. I thought it was cute that there was a man with 4 different hats on his head. Have you ever wondered how the railroad man got his unique hat? It is a very particular hat, one that is not too heavy, the brim does not get in the way but keeps the sun out of their eyes. It has to be a hat that can withstand sparks from the train, as well as needs to be able to be cleaned, well what about if they don’t want to wear it? Well Stormy was a railroad man and that is exactly what he needed. He needed a hat, and not just regular hat, a special hat. Stormy looked all over for a hat that he thought would be perfect for him to wear. He tried a fireman’s hat, a cowboy hat, a paper maker hat, none of them worked! Stormy’s wife had the perfect solution but Stormy would not listen to her, over and over again. Finally Ida had enough and she made Stormy listen to her! Would Ida have the solution to his problem? Would she be able to make him a hat that would work for the railroad? To find out you have to read Stormy’s Hat.

                The pictures in this story were perfect for the story. They were drawn with watercolors and pen and ink. The pictures were very colorful and helped the story be portrayed. The pictures vary from one page to going across two pages. The text in this story varies from the top of the page to the bottom. Most of the text in this book is in a text box that has colors behind it. It sets off a contrast between the pictures and the text. I think that this book would be better for second grade through sixth grade. I think that first graders would enjoy the book but would not be able to read it on their own. So with teacher support it could be a first grade book as well.

                Classroom connections for this story can be an art, history and writing lesson. The students can create their own hat to wear to represent their personality. The teacher can provide the students with certain materials and basic shape of the hat and let the students create their own hat. This would give the students a sense of uniqueness and self to relate themselves to the book. The teacher also can teach a lesson on the history of the railroad hat, exploring more into the creation of it by Ida and Stormy. The students could also write about the important factors that led up to the creation of the railroad hat. Lastly the students could compare and contrast why the certain hats that Stormy tried on did not work. The students could compare one of the specific hats to the final railroad hat and what made them different and unique not only as a hat but also to the specific person the hat is connected to.

Saving Strawberry farm

Saving Strawberry Farm

Author: Deborah Hopkinson

Illustrator: Rachel Isadora

Copyright Harper Collins, 2005

32 pages

Historical Fiction

 

                I chose this book because the title intrigued me. I’m glad that I picked this book because it is a wonderful book. This story takes place in the middle of the great depression. Times were tough for a little boy named Davey and his sister Rosie. Their father had a job but had recently lost it along with many other of the men in their town. Davey thought back to how their lives had been before his dad lost his job, filled with a full refrigerator and ice box along with sweet lemonade that his mother made. It was the Fourth of July and Davey’s father said even though times were tough they still were going to celebrate their country’s independence. So Davey and his sister headed out to get some ice to make lemonade. When they arrived at the store they ran into Miss Elsie who owned the towns beautiful strawberry farm that had the sweetest juiciest strawberries. However times were hard for her to, when Davey asked if he could work on her farm next year she simply said it may not be there. Miss Elsie was going to loose her farm to the bank that night at five O’clock. However the ice man had a great idea they should all go to the auction and have a penny auction that way she could afford to buy her farm back. So Davey and Rosie go through the town and tell everyone of their plan. The auction was that night, do they save Miss Elsie’s farm? Does the bank buy it? You have got to read Saving Strawberry Farm to find out.

                The illustrations in this book were beautiful. They were drawn using colored pencils, and water colors. I think that the way that the illustrator captured the facial expressions of the children and the town people during the depression was wonderful. You could really see that they were suffering and were in a hard time. The colors were bright when they needed to be, but when it was showing the houses and towns people working for money the pictures were drawn to accompany the heartache they must have felt. The text in the book was mostly in text boxes at the bottom or sides of the page. I think that this story would be better suited for second grade through sixth grade. However a first grade teacher could read this to her students, because it may be too hard for them to read on their own.

                The classroom connections with this story could be a history, writing, and personal connections. The teacher can talk to the students about what the Great Depression was. Most students would not know what it was because it happened so long ago and most of the people that lived during it are not around. The teacher could do a history lesson on what happened and the students could find someone that they know or may know that was alive during the great depression and find out what it was like for them to be alive then. The students could write about the differences between now and then. For instance in the story they have an icebox and have to buy ice, and candy was less than a penny. The students can write about how different things are now. Lastly the students can write about how they would feel if they were in Davey or Rosie’s shoes. How it would be to go from having a lot of things to nothing. Some of them may have experienced that and could even write about that.

 

Heron and Turtle

Heron & Turtle

Author and Illustrator Valeri Gorbachev

Philomel 2006

40 pages

Fantasy Children’s book

                I choose this story because the differences of the two animals intrigued me. I’m glad that I picked this book. This is a story about two unlikely best friends. Turtle and Heron lived next door to each other. Turtle and Heron like to do fun activities with each other. However there are certain obstacles that make it challenging for a turtle and a heron to accomplish together. However being the best friends that they are they find a way to overcome the obstacles that are in front of them. What might you ask is the differences that they might have? Well you won’t know unless you read about the two best friends in Heron & Turtle.

                The illustrations in this picture are wonderful. They help tell the story beautifully. The text is easy to read and it follows a normal pattern across the page. The illustrations do go across the pages, and that allows the reader a larger more detailed picture of what the illustrator is trying to depict. The medium used in this book is watercolors, colored pencils, and ink. I think that student’s would be drawn to the pictures as well as how the story is laid out.

                Classroom connections for this story could be character connection. Talking about differences in people, and what a heron is. Most students probably do not know what a heron is. So the teacher could teach a mini lesson on what exactly a heron is. The students then can compare and contrast a heron to another bird that they already knew of such as a flamingo or a pigeon to show that birds are different. The story is all about differences. This is an extremely lesson to teach our students now. They need to know that even though someone is different than us does not mean that we cannot be friends or that they cannot work together to accomplish tasks. The students can write about what makes them different than others. The students have to write something that makes them unique. Once they write what makes them unique the class can put every ones differences together to make a beautiful picture of a flower, or another item. This will also teach morals and kindness to our students. Lastly the students can connect to either the turtle or heron. They then will write about why they chose that character and what makes them alike in certain ways. This also will show that even though people are different we can all be connected. 

The little red hen.

The little red hen

Author and Illustrated by Jerry Pinkney

Dial 2006

32 pages

Fantasy Children’s book

               

This is a new take on the old story The little red hen.  In this story the hen finds some seeds and asks her buddies the short brown dog, the thin grey cat, the tall black goat, and the round pink pig for advice. They tell her that it is wheat seeds and will make wheat for bread. The hen then goes through planting and caring for the wheat as well as her young babies. None of hen’s friends will help her along the way. Her friends are lazy and just want to sit around. However when it comes time for the bread to be baked and eaten who do you think shows up to help the little red hen? If you want to find out you need to read this new spin on an old tail in The little red hen.

                The illustrations in this story were a little old fashioned. I know that this is a revamp of an older story so they did not want to stray too far away from the original I feel though the illustrations could have been a little better. The animals were depicted in a correct way and looked like normal animals except that they could talk. The text in the book was mostly on the top of the page, however the text color changed depending on what character was talking. That was a nice touch I thought it gave the readers a chance to know who was speaking in two different ways. The illustrations in this story were created by pencil, colored pencil and watercolors. Jerry Pinkney has won numerous awards for his illustrations and children’s books.

                Classroom connections for this book could be about characteristics, bread making, and connecting to the characters. Students can get in groups and talk about how the hen’s friends and hen’s attitude and characteristics. The students can talk about what they would do if they were hen and their friends acted that way and vice versa. You can teach a science lesson on how to make bread and the steps that are involved in it. The teacher also if available can make homemade bread in the class with the students. This will also allow them to really connect to the work that is involved in making bread so they know how Hen was feeling. Lastly the students can connect to hen. They can write about how they would feel if they were hen, and if they would have also not let her friends eat the bread when they didn’t help the process. Or the students can write about why they think that the other animals did not want to help hen. Not only is there study related activities that can go with this story there also are morals that can be addressed.