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.

Big Bugs

Big Bugs

Author Seymour Simon

Illustrations Various Photographers

Chronicle Books, 2005

40 pages

Non Fiction Picture Book

           

If you are curious about big bugs than this is the perfect book for you. I chose this book because I thought that it would be interesting for the boys in the classroom. This is a book that has everything that you would want to know about the bugs that are considered to be “Big”. From the bird eating tarantula to the Atlas moth, it has them all. This book is perfect for your students who are interested in learning about creepy crawly bugs. This book is also perfect for describing and labeling insects. This is an informational book with details about insects and even shows their actual size on the page. I think that is neat because it will allow students to really see how big the insects are.

The illustrations in this book were pictures. The pictures taken of the insects were very vivid and close up. I think that this is crucial in order to really portray the parts and details of the insects. The text on the pages is normal on the side and the top. The text font is easy to read and is not a special font. The pictures on the page go across the page and take up the whole page. I think that the big pictures on the page are fun for younger students. The big pictures also give crucial details of the bugs.

                The classroom connections for this book are endless. You can have a science, writing, and art. For science you can pick a bug out of the book and focus on it for the week.  The students can break up into groups and do research on the bug. The students can find more information on the bug and then bring it back to the group. One group can do where the bug lives, what they eat, their survival skills, etc. This will allow the students to collaborate with each other and also critical think. The students also can do writing on the different parts of the bug, and their characteristics. They then can share them with the class. Lastly the students can create their own bug. The students can be given various objects and have to use what they have to make their own bugs. It will be fun to let the students use their creativity to make their own twist or spin on a certain bug. You can then display them around the classroom. 

What do you do with a tail like this?

What do you do with a tail like this?

Author and Illustrations by Steve Jenkins and Robin Page

HMH Books for Young Readers 2008

32 pages

Nonfiction Children’s book

                This book is a wonderful informational as well as critical thinking book for younger students. I chose this book because of the catchy title. In this story the readers are given a question such as “What do you do with a mouth like this?” The readers then are shown pictures of certain animal mouths, on the next page they are then shown what animal it is and what they use that certain body part for. This book is a friendly way for students to be exposed to new and different animals that they are not used to seeing. Have you ever wondered what a where a whales ears are? Or what’s cool about a horned lizard? If these interest you, you have got to read What do you do with a tail like this?

                The pictures in this story are made by using a cut and paste collage. I think that they did a good job putting the animals together. The pictures are very realistic, but in a kid friendly way. The text and pictures are spread out across the page. The text goes upside down, sideways and in circles. The pictures also go from one page to another and they even go off of the page. I think that this book would be a good book for younger children to read, once they have gotten the concept of print down. I think that otherwise it might be hard for them to understand why the print moves all over the page.

                The classroom connections with this story could be science, vocabulary, and writing. A Science connection could be having the students pick an animal that they like the most out of the story and then describing it. This builds critical thinking as well as allows them to pick something that interests them. The students can draw a picture of the animal that they have chosen, or could even just write different things that they found interesting about it. A vocabulary lesson could be very beneficial with this story. There are numerous words in this story that the students can break down, define, and use in their classroom conversations. In the back of the book there is a glossary of the animals that are discussed as well as some great vocabulary words. The students also can pick out some of the words that they have questions about and then you can have a classroom discussion. Writing also can go with this story. The students can write about two different animals in the story that are alike or different and tell things about them that supports their idea. The teacher can pick how many different things that the students need to write about depending on the grade level.

Chameleon, Chameleon

Chameleon, Chameleon

Author Joy Cowley

Illustrated by Nic Bishop

Scholastic, 2005

32 Pages

Non Fiction Children’s book

                This is a great nonfiction book for the younger students in the classroom. Boys would really enjoy this book. I choose this book because I wanted to broaden my horizon on the books that I read.  In this story there is a lonely chameleon that goes on a sort walk through the wild to try and find food. During his walk he encounters several different animals some who are harmless and some that are dangerous to the poor chameleon.  On a search for food it shows how slowly and carefully the chameleon moves from tree to tree. The chameleon finds another tree but he encounters a guest at the top of the tree. Will this guest be friendly to the chameleon or not? You won’t know unless you read Chameleon, Chameleon.

                The illustrations in this book were photographs. The photographer Nic Bishop did a wonderful job capturing the up close essence of the chameleon and the changes he makes in his color. The pictures and text on the page varies from page to page. The text is friendly for students to read, and the pictures are bright in color. I think that this book did an excellent job of portraying how a chameleon looks as well as moves. I think that this book would appeal to students Kindergarten if it is read to them, and up to third or fourth grade. This book also has some great vocabulary words that can be tied in to a lesson.

                There are numerous classroom connections that can be made with this book. You can teach a Science lesson on Chameleons. The students can get together in groups and be given certain parts of the chameleon that they are to focus on. The different categories could be the camouflage effect they have, what they eat, how they travel, the characteristics of their skin.  The students can then come back to the class and discuss what they discovered about the chameleon. An Art/ Science connection could be you could have the students color a chameleon to blend into a certain project. The students could create a specific wildlife science and they have to hide a chameleon in the picture of where the chameleon would live based on the information that they have learned. Lastly the students can label a large chameleon chart. This will let the students discuss and discover all the different parts of the chameleon. This is great for students because it connects them visually and with text to something in real life. The possibilities that can go with Chameleon, Chameleon are endless and I think that this is definitely a book that I will add to my classroom library. 

Jack and the Beanstalk

Jack and the Beanstalk

Author E. Nesbit

Illustrator Matt Tavares

Candlewick 2006

48 pages

Children’s Traditional Literature

This is the famous story of Jack and the Beanstalk. Jack’s mother asks him to go to town and sell the family cow for money; however that’s not what Jack does. Jack sells the cow for magic beans that his mother throws out of the window thinking her son was foolish. Not long after there is a giant bean stalk outside the window that Jack climbs to find adventure. Once at the top he is greeted by the giant’s wife. Hungry Jack asks for food and she lets him in and feeds him, the giant upon arriving thinks that he smells Jack however his wife convinces him it’s not. Jack then takes some of the giants gold and climbs down the stalk to his mother and they go buy food. Once out of food Jack returns this time to get a golden egg from the hen. Pleased again his mother goes and buys food. However Jack is not completely happy with this so he returns once more, and this time it’s a doozy.

                The pictures in this story are very bold and colorful. This actual book got noticed for the incredible way that the illustrations were finally portrayed for Jack and the Bean Stalk. The text in the story varied on the page. The text went from the top to bottom, as well as the illustrations. Matt Tavares is a notable illustrator, and the take that he took on this classic story is a great one. I think that the middle elementary school children would enjoy this book even more because of how it has been “updated”. Jack and the bean stalk is such a good classic children’s book it is hard to not love it. The medium used in this book was pen and ink, as well as water colors and colored pencils.

                Classroom connections for this story can unlimited, you can do math and science lessons with the class. A math lesson could be making a “giant” shoe for a math center. You can have your students count how big the Giant’s shoe is with counting blocks using 1’s, 5’s, and 10’s. A science lesson you can plant beans with your class and watch what magic grows and they can record what they see in their science journal. Lastly you can have the students write what they would have liked the most about traveling up the giants bean stalk.

Chicken Little

Chicken Little

Author Rebecca Emberley

Illustrator Ed Emberley

Roaring Brook 2009

34 Pages

Children’s Traditional Literature

                This is a story about a little chicken who is “Oh my goodness oh my gracious worried for his life”. Chicken little is walking along minding his own business when suddenly Plop a acorn falls on his head. Thinking the sky is falling and it is the end of the word he grabs a umbrella and runs for his life. Along the way he picks up Henny Penny, Lucky Ducky, Loosey Goosey, and Turkey Lurkey. They all get ran into by each other and Chicken Little tells them the “Sky is falling we are running for our lives” and they all follow him not knowing what else to do or where there going. The eventually meet up with Foxy Loxy who has what she says is a plan to help them. Will it actually be a plan to save them or something else? You won’t know unless you read Chicken Little.

                The illustrations in this book were very simple. The pictures were drawn not to look completely like an actual animal in the story. The text mainly stayed at the top of the page, and it went across the pages. The illustrations also had words like “Quack” and “Boink” to go along with them. The medium used was water colors, pen and ink. I think the bright boldness of the illustrations would catch a young reader’s eye. The pictures also go across the pages, as well as some of them are only on one page. This book could be read to preschoolers up to elementary students. I think the underlying moral that the story has is good for any age level.

                You could teach a classroom lesson on good moral behavior with this book. You could write scenario’s down and have the children in groups discuss what they would think of as good or bad. Such as blindly following your friends, picking on a kid at school, or helping a friend in need. This would allow the students to interact their thoughts with each other. Another connection could be allowing the students to write their own version of the story, as what do you think would have happened if one of the friends stopped Chicken Little and asked where they were going. This would invoke their critical thinking skills. Lastly you could have them make their own character from the story and put their own twist on it. Such as they could make Chicken Little but make him have glasses like they do.

Cat Talk

Cat Talk

Authors Patricia MacLachlan and Emilu MacLachlan Charest

Illustrator Barry Moser

Katheren Tegan Books 2013

32 pages

Children’s Poetry book

This book is about different cats and the lives that they lead when no one is watching them. Some cat sneak in windows, others creep through the night, and some even lay on wedding dresses! However some cats are quiet and some are timid, some are the boss, and some even like mice. There at cats that like to romp and play, and cats that were born in the hay. There are Grey cats, black cats, even multi colored cats. Cats love people, and people love cats, however to find the most interesting cat of all you’ll have to read Cat Talk.

                The illustrations in this book are nice, there very simple, and are colored. The medium used in this book was transparent watercolor on hand made paper from England. Actually it was interesting because it gave in great detail in the back of the book how the illustrations were made, and on what type of paper. As well as the type of font used and who made it. I liked that it was so detailed for the reader. The text in this book is easy to read. It is mostly text that flows down the page like a typical poem. However there are some poems that lead over onto another page. The illustrations are mostly on two pages, the picture just rolls right onto the other page. The pictures are big and bold and easy for the reader to understand.

                Classroom connections for this story can be fun for your students. One could be for the poem Tough Tom it’s about a cat that snuck into a house because the window was left open. The students could group together and write about different things they might find in the house if they were Tom going into a strange new house. Another connection is with the poem Alice. Alice is a cat that loves bath time and likes eating the soap bubbles! The students could draw a picture of their favorite part of bath time and then write a sentence describing what they drew. Lastly the students could do a compare and contrast of two of their favorite poems in the story and tell how those two cats and the places they lived were alike and different.

 

Toad by the Road

Toad by the Road

Author Joanne Ryder

Illustrated by Maggie Kneen

Henry Holt and Company 2007

37 pages

Children’s Poetry

This is a lovely book on a year in the life of a toad. It starts off by going through the different seasons of the year and what the toad goes through in each of them.  In the spring it talks about how toads sing songs together, calling the female toads to come so they can breed. Baby toads start off as tadpoles and even move from pond to pond.  Summer is all about staying cool and catching yummy bugs for the toads. It even says the only thing on the agenda for them is sleeping, skipping, hopping and eating. Toads enjoy the summer rain that falls on them, and even soak it in their skin. In the late summer early fall the toads shed their snug skin and feel so much better. Toads also play dead to trick people into walking away from them. In the winter time toads hibernate like bears do and wait until spring time.

The illustrations in this book are colorful and depict the life of a toad. The text jumps all over the page, and sometimes is even on top of the illustrations themselves. The medium used in this story was water colors, pen and ink. On top of the poem text on the page there is little sentences on the bottom of each page giving facts about the toads, and their lives to the reader. This helps because It allows the reader to be told information but still in a fun way. There also is bolded words, italicized words, as well as words in all capital letters. I think this may be difficult for a new reader who is just learning how print is supposed to look.

You could have wonderful science connections with this story. You can have the students make a life cycle chart of the toad and the seasons that go along with it. This will help the students really understand what the toads life is like. The students also could draw/ make their own toad out of art supplies. This can get the students thinking about the unique features that toads have. Lastly the students can write their own poem of what they would like about being a toad.

 

 

 

 

My Parent's think I'm Sleeping

My Parent’s think I’m Sleeping

Poems by Jack Prelutsky

Pictures by Yossi Abolafia

Harper Collins Publisher 2007

48 Pages

Children’s Poetry book

This story is full of 44 different poems, there is a new poem on almost each page.  This story is about a young boy who has a wild imagination and is trying to fall asleep.  He starts off by saying his parents think he’s asleep and that he keeps a flash light to explore all the happenings in his bedroom. He travels to a creek; he listens to the alley cats singing along throughout the night. He thinks about the clouds that he saw this afternoon and how calm they looked, and how now they look like their trying to eat him. He dreams of chocolate cake and how he wishes he could eat it, but he’s afraid his dad has already eaten it. The little boy travels to wild imaginative places and tries to go to sleep along the way but just cant seem to. Find out if his parents discover that he’s wide awake, or if he finally falls asleep in My Parent’s think I’m Sleeping.

The illustrations in this book would greatly appeal to younger readers especially little boys. The pictures are very colorful, as well as are full of detail and eye catching. The text is not normal on the pages it goes from top to bottom, different sides of the page, it is based on where the pictures are. The medium used in the story was pen and ink, as well as colored pencils, and water colors. The pictures in the story move all over the page, they go from the top to bottom, as well as from side to side, some pictures overlap onto the next page.  The pictures go along with the poems and are used as a visual aid to help students follow along with the story.

Classroom connections with this story could be used in different ways. One connection you could use could be an English lesson including poetry. The students can write a poem on what they would do if they couldn’t sleep and were laying in their rooms imagining before they fall asleep. This could help their critical, and imaginative thinking. Another connection could be having the students take the story and find all of the rhyming words in the story and then make their own poem using only those words. This would be a great experience for the students to know that writing can be fun, and sometimes you can make funny poems that do not go together. The last connection you can have is an art lesson.  You can have the students into groups and they can make a poster of their favorite picture parts of the stories, and make it like a collage. Once the collages and poems are done you can hang them on the wall in the classroom.

One Cool Friend

One Cool Friend

Written by Tony Buzzeo

Illustrated by David Small

Dial, 2012

32 pages

Children’s/ Picture Book

                                                                                                                                                                                   

                I chose this story because I love penguins, so it automatically appealed to me.  This story follows a little boy named Elliot on his adventure to the aquarium with his father.  Elliot is a rather proper child who likes to wear a tux, his father is more laid back and a very colorful character. When Elliot goes to the aquarium he skips past every other exhibit and heads straight toward the penguins. Elliot goes to ask his father for some money to buy a penguin and when his father hands him a twenty he is not expecting what Elliot has in mind. Elliot then goes to back to the penguin exhibit, opens his back pack and picks out the tiniest penguin to take home with him. Once they get back home there is tons of surprises that Elliot’s new penguin has in store for him and his father. To find out exactly you definitely need to read One Cool Friend.

                The illustrations in this book are wonderful. The pictures are simple black and white and some color thrown in throughout the story. Elliot is portrayed as proper and simple. Elliot’s father is more colorful and has a free spirit look about him. I feel that the illustrations are perfect for children by the simple yet detailed way they are drawn. The mediums used in this book are pen and ink, watercolors, and colored pencils. The pictures in this story are one page, and two page illustrations. The text is varied from the top, bottom and middle of the page, as well as some text is encircled in a bubble.

                I think any age group would enjoy this book, especially Second graders who might have had a field trip to an aquarium or more of a chance to have been there before. You can use this in your classroom in a Science lesson by talking to students about how certain animals are from the Artic and why they have to live there. This can be used by showing pictures of the animals, as well as how they live. You can use this in a writing activity by having the students write about what they love about the aquarium, and what animal exhibit they would be attracted to. Students also can do an art lesson on drawing a picture of them and their best friend doing an activity that they both love to do together.

This book was a 2013 Caldecott Honor book.

Wemberly Worried

 

Wemberly Worried

Written and illustrated by Kevin Henekes

Greenwillow Books, 2000

32 pages

Children’s/ Picture book

I choose this book because Mrs. Jones read it to us the first day of class. I instantly fell in love with it and the way that she is so scared and worried about everything. Little Wimberley worries about everything, from her spots, to her school and to being liked by her classmates.  When she worries her father tells her that every time she worries her father worries. Wemberly worries her little mind rampid about school and how she doesn’t want to go even though her father takes her by the school and shows her it’s not that bad. When Wemberly gets to school the teacher introduces her to a little girl who to is shy and is worried about starting school. The day she has at school and the way she ends it is a shock to everyone.

The illustration in this book is very simple and uses basic pictures, and drawings. I feel that this illustration was done using pen and ink, and watercolor. The way that Wemberly looks sad and yet has bright colors on her and her clothes is a contrast to each other. The text in this story was all over the pages. Some text was on the top and bottom. Some text went from the top, middle, side, and all over the same page. I feel that this could be hard for a student who is just learning to read and goes left to right.  Wemberly’s grandmother is also seen in the backgrounds of the pictures in shirts that say “go with the flow” and “Don’t worry” which is the opposite of how Wemberly feels.

 

This story would be perfect to read to any grade level. I feel this because everyone knows what it is like to worry about things. The students can bring in their own little stuffed animals or blankets that helped them when they were young and tell the class all about them. A Language arts lesson would be that the students can write about what they were nervous and worried about on their first days of school, and how they relate to Wemberly.  Also a social studies activity on communities, since your school is a part of the community.

 

 

Let's Do Nothing

Let’s do nothing

Written and Illustrated by Tony Fucile

Candlewick Press, 2009

40 pages

Children’s/ Picture book

I chose this book because of the title, how many time do we get to just sit and do nothing? Actually its quite harder than you would think, Frankie and his friend Sal figure that out the hard way. They start of being bored because they have done everything two little boys can think of doing. They have painted pictures, baked cookies, and ready every comic imaginable. Sal figures out that they need to try to do nothing.. easier said than done. Frankie has a hard time doing nothing; he tries shooing pigeons away when he’s a stone statue, and a dog going to the bathroom on him when he is a big tree. Even Godzilla comes to see him when he is the empire state building. As Frankie is struggling the boys come across a brilliant discovery that changes their whole view of thinking.

                The illustration in the book is very vivid and colorful. The pages are full of pretty backgrounds and two very nosy, busy boys.  The boys are drawn like cartoon characters, yet still have human characteristics. The text in this book was all over the page, as well as it was small and larger print. The mediums used in this illustration are ink, colored pencil, and acrylic on watercolor paper. I feel that he did a wonderful job of portraying the interest that young boys have, and how many questions they have and how their imaginations run wild.

                This story can be read to Kindergarten through sixth graders, everyone needs to be reminded that you can/ can’t do nothing. You can teach your students about self control, by making them sit still like the boys do in the story. They can pretend that they are a tree or statue and what type of natural things they would encounter. Your students can compare and contrast why they think that Sal can sit and do nothing, while Frankie is having great difficulties sitting and doing nothing.  Also a science lesson on the forces of motion, and how no matter what our bodies are always doing something.