the Pied Piper's Magic
Steven Kellogg (2009)
I was first introduced to Steven Kellogg in our summer reading class's scavenger hunt in the ICPL! One of the questions was finding out which illustrators have donated a picture or two to the ICPL, and Steven Kellogg was my answer to that question. As I was searching for a book, I saw his name pop up again; but this time on a book! This book is fairy-tale about an elf who helps free children from working through the use of his magical pipe. This story was great, and the pictures are breathtaking! They are so intricate, detailed, and colorful, and really help tell the story! This book is a quality book because the illustrations help tell the story, it does not reinforce gender or cultural stereotypes, and that the story is the primary focus of the book, rather than the lesson that is being taught. I would read this book aloud to a 1-3 grade classroom, but I think children in grades 3-5 could read this on their own. It is a little lengthy, and some words are very challenging, but I think it is a very interesting read and that children would like it as well!
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Henry's Freedom Box
Henry's Freedom Box
Ellen Levine (2007)
I was introduced to Henry's Freedom Box in summer class. The book was propped up on a table and the cover immediately grabbed my attention! The illustration on the cover, and the rest of the book, are beautiful! This story is the true story of a slave who mailed himself to freedom back in the Underground Railroad time period in American History. I would use this book in a 3-5 classroom. Slavery is a heavy theme, and this story helps to accurately describe the feelings and events that slaves lived through in this time period. This book would be very beneficial in a social studies unit on the Underground Railroad. This book is a quality book to use because the story is interesting, the characters are believable, the language and illustrations are authentic, and the author has avoided contradictions with real history. Once again, I highly recommend this book to everyone!
Ellen Levine (2007)
I was introduced to Henry's Freedom Box in summer class. The book was propped up on a table and the cover immediately grabbed my attention! The illustration on the cover, and the rest of the book, are beautiful! This story is the true story of a slave who mailed himself to freedom back in the Underground Railroad time period in American History. I would use this book in a 3-5 classroom. Slavery is a heavy theme, and this story helps to accurately describe the feelings and events that slaves lived through in this time period. This book would be very beneficial in a social studies unit on the Underground Railroad. This book is a quality book to use because the story is interesting, the characters are believable, the language and illustrations are authentic, and the author has avoided contradictions with real history. Once again, I highly recommend this book to everyone!
City Hawk: The Story of Pale Male
City Hawk: The Story of Pale Male
Meghan McCarthy (2007)
City Hawk: The Story of Pale Male is the true story about a red-tailed hawk who has made his home on one of New York City's famed 5th Avenue apartment buildings! City goers are not used to seeing other forms of wildlife in New York City, because, it is a city! This story tells about how Pale Male, a red-tailed hawk with light feathers, made his home and started a nest in New York City. It also talks about how he had a gathering of bird watchers and how no one is still quite sure why he picked New York city/Central Park for his and his family's home! This book is child friendly and would be great in a K-3 classroom. Lessons that can stem from this theme are: types of birds, migration patterns, the differences between city, suburban, and rural life, and more! One great thing about this book, is at the end, still written in easy-to-read child friendly language, is more about the history of New York City's Central Park and more information about red-tailed hawks! I found this book really interesting, because I grew up in the suburbs of Chicago and really was not all that accustomed to cool forms of wildlife until coming to the University of Iowa, which is more in the countryside! This is a quality book because it has some challenging vocabulary words, pictures that follow the story, and more! The information is also presented in a logical order, and presented in an interesting way, that can leave students who are interested in this story in wanting to find out more information!
Meghan McCarthy (2007)
City Hawk: The Story of Pale Male is the true story about a red-tailed hawk who has made his home on one of New York City's famed 5th Avenue apartment buildings! City goers are not used to seeing other forms of wildlife in New York City, because, it is a city! This story tells about how Pale Male, a red-tailed hawk with light feathers, made his home and started a nest in New York City. It also talks about how he had a gathering of bird watchers and how no one is still quite sure why he picked New York city/Central Park for his and his family's home! This book is child friendly and would be great in a K-3 classroom. Lessons that can stem from this theme are: types of birds, migration patterns, the differences between city, suburban, and rural life, and more! One great thing about this book, is at the end, still written in easy-to-read child friendly language, is more about the history of New York City's Central Park and more information about red-tailed hawks! I found this book really interesting, because I grew up in the suburbs of Chicago and really was not all that accustomed to cool forms of wildlife until coming to the University of Iowa, which is more in the countryside! This is a quality book because it has some challenging vocabulary words, pictures that follow the story, and more! The information is also presented in a logical order, and presented in an interesting way, that can leave students who are interested in this story in wanting to find out more information!
Sol a Sol
Sol a Sol
Lori Marie Carlson (1998)
I first discovered Sol a Sol in my summer reading class. This book is full of simple poems in Spanish on page, and on the page next to it, translated to English! I minored in Spanish, and I was intrigued immediately by the Spanish title on the book, and the bright, colorful illustrations! I immensely enjoyed the fact that this poem book is for both Spanish and English speakers. From experience in my 3rd grade practicum classroom, I know that children who may not be so cultured or educated in another language, are really intrigued by reading or listening to another language! This book would be great to use in 2-4 grade classrooms in poetry and multi-cultural lessons. These poems are all able to elicit images of sights, touches, smells, and tastes, stir emotions, and are able to be understood in Spanish and English. Because of the Spanish-English translations, this poem book really broadens students' vocabulary as well! I also really, really, recommend this book to teachers to use in a unit about poetry and/or diversity.
Lori Marie Carlson (1998)
I first discovered Sol a Sol in my summer reading class. This book is full of simple poems in Spanish on page, and on the page next to it, translated to English! I minored in Spanish, and I was intrigued immediately by the Spanish title on the book, and the bright, colorful illustrations! I immensely enjoyed the fact that this poem book is for both Spanish and English speakers. From experience in my 3rd grade practicum classroom, I know that children who may not be so cultured or educated in another language, are really intrigued by reading or listening to another language! This book would be great to use in 2-4 grade classrooms in poetry and multi-cultural lessons. These poems are all able to elicit images of sights, touches, smells, and tastes, stir emotions, and are able to be understood in Spanish and English. Because of the Spanish-English translations, this poem book really broadens students' vocabulary as well! I also really, really, recommend this book to teachers to use in a unit about poetry and/or diversity.
Me I Am
Me I Am
Jack Prelutsky (2007)
Me I Am is book long poem, penned from famed author Jack Prelutsky! I was introduced to his work in our summer class and was interested in reading more of his works! I picked up Me I Am, and loved it immediately! My friend saw me reading it and told me that every day her 2nd grade practicum students would read part of this poem to start of the day! This poem is all about how awesome it is to be the only you! I really loved the message this poem conveyed, especially because it encourages students to get excited about how the world is waiting for and encouraging them to be unique and to do something outstanding! It relays a positive self-image message, and while I would use this book in K-3 classrooms, I will definitely post part of this poem on a poster in my classroom no matter what age/grade! Another great thing about this book is that, while it repeats the same couple of verses, every time the poem starts over, it shows a different illustration of a different child! This is great in reinforcing that it is okay to be different and that everyone has different talents and interests! This would be great to use in K-3, because it has a strong rhythm when reading it aloud, and almost sounds like lyrics/a song when read aloud as well. Students can also understand this poem and it stirs the emotions of greatness; all of which are criteria for being a quality piece of poetry literature in the classroom! I highly recommend this poem and for people to share/pass it along to others!
Jack Prelutsky (2007)
Me I Am is book long poem, penned from famed author Jack Prelutsky! I was introduced to his work in our summer class and was interested in reading more of his works! I picked up Me I Am, and loved it immediately! My friend saw me reading it and told me that every day her 2nd grade practicum students would read part of this poem to start of the day! This poem is all about how awesome it is to be the only you! I really loved the message this poem conveyed, especially because it encourages students to get excited about how the world is waiting for and encouraging them to be unique and to do something outstanding! It relays a positive self-image message, and while I would use this book in K-3 classrooms, I will definitely post part of this poem on a poster in my classroom no matter what age/grade! Another great thing about this book is that, while it repeats the same couple of verses, every time the poem starts over, it shows a different illustration of a different child! This is great in reinforcing that it is okay to be different and that everyone has different talents and interests! This would be great to use in K-3, because it has a strong rhythm when reading it aloud, and almost sounds like lyrics/a song when read aloud as well. Students can also understand this poem and it stirs the emotions of greatness; all of which are criteria for being a quality piece of poetry literature in the classroom! I highly recommend this poem and for people to share/pass it along to others!
Me I Am !
I am the only Me I Am
Who qualifies as me,
no Me I Am has been before,
and none will ever be
No other Me I Am can feel
the feelings I’ve within,
no other Me I Am can fit
precisely in my skin
There is no other Me I Am
who thinks the thoughts I do,
the world contains one Me I Am
this earth shall ever see,
that Me I Am I always am
is no one else but Me!
Who qualifies as me,
no Me I Am has been before,
and none will ever be
No other Me I Am can feel
the feelings I’ve within,
no other Me I Am can fit
precisely in my skin
There is no other Me I Am
who thinks the thoughts I do,
the world contains one Me I Am
this earth shall ever see,
that Me I Am I always am
is no one else but Me!
by Jack Prelutsky
Koala Lou
Koala Lou
Mem Fox (1986)
I was introduced to Koala Lou in class. This story is about a koala, named Koala Lou, who enters the Olympics in order to get her mother's attention again. Her mom has many other koala babies and Koala Lou feels like her mother does not love her anymore. This story also includes very cute and bright illustrations that follow along and help set the story; I really enjoyed the illustrations! This story includes many topics that lessons could be stemmed around, such as learning about animals (lots of animals are listed in this book), what a person would need to do in order to compete at the Olympics, learning about how to live with new family members/siblings, and more! I think this book would be good to use in a 1-2 grade classroom. It introduces a little bit more challenging of vocabulary, which is good if I want to expand my students' knowledge! I think this is a good piece of literature because the vocabulary is new, but not too hard to understand, and that the pictures follow along the story! Students can be encouraged to try to read it independently first, then reading it aloud with others, if problems arise. One cool website I want to share with my blog readers is this site:http://www.pampetty.com/koalalou.htm. This website has tons of lesson plans that teachers could use when reading this book in class. Check it out!
Mem Fox (1986)
I was introduced to Koala Lou in class. This story is about a koala, named Koala Lou, who enters the Olympics in order to get her mother's attention again. Her mom has many other koala babies and Koala Lou feels like her mother does not love her anymore. This story also includes very cute and bright illustrations that follow along and help set the story; I really enjoyed the illustrations! This story includes many topics that lessons could be stemmed around, such as learning about animals (lots of animals are listed in this book), what a person would need to do in order to compete at the Olympics, learning about how to live with new family members/siblings, and more! I think this book would be good to use in a 1-2 grade classroom. It introduces a little bit more challenging of vocabulary, which is good if I want to expand my students' knowledge! I think this is a good piece of literature because the vocabulary is new, but not too hard to understand, and that the pictures follow along the story! Students can be encouraged to try to read it independently first, then reading it aloud with others, if problems arise. One cool website I want to share with my blog readers is this site:http://www.pampetty.com/koalalou.htm. This website has tons of lesson plans that teachers could use when reading this book in class. Check it out!
Flotsam
Flotsam
David Wiesner (2006)
Flotsam is another wordless picture book, and may be my favorite one yet! I was introduced to this book in our summer reading class. This book, in my opinion, chronicles the history of an underwater camera! The illustrations are absolutely beautiful! I looked through this book three times, and in each and every picture I found something different than before! The illustrations are of photographs with-in photographs, and zooms into a different picture every time! I really enjoyed this book and it can be used in so many ways! I would have this book in my classroom, and lessons about writing and creating a story, drawing your own zoomed in pictures, introductory lessons about science/the ocean, etc, can be stemmed from this book! This is a quality piece of literature because the pictures are in sequential order, the "story" makes sense, and it contains very interesting content for the reader! I really think this book can be used in grades K-8. I highly recommend this book!
David Wiesner (2006)
Flotsam is another wordless picture book, and may be my favorite one yet! I was introduced to this book in our summer reading class. This book, in my opinion, chronicles the history of an underwater camera! The illustrations are absolutely beautiful! I looked through this book three times, and in each and every picture I found something different than before! The illustrations are of photographs with-in photographs, and zooms into a different picture every time! I really enjoyed this book and it can be used in so many ways! I would have this book in my classroom, and lessons about writing and creating a story, drawing your own zoomed in pictures, introductory lessons about science/the ocean, etc, can be stemmed from this book! This is a quality piece of literature because the pictures are in sequential order, the "story" makes sense, and it contains very interesting content for the reader! I really think this book can be used in grades K-8. I highly recommend this book!
King & King & Family
King & King & Family
Linda de Haan and Stern Nijland (2004)
Another book I read in class that could be considered controversial is the book King & King & Family. This book follows two kings who are recently married on what appears to be their honeymoon. This book could be considered controversial because it touches upon the theme of homosexuality. The problem I took issue with in this book, is that it did refrain from stereotyping. Quality books should not emphasize stereotyping, but this book did quite that. If America is going to move pass the "issue" it has with people identifying themselves as homosexual, literature, especially children's literature, should not include it. In this book the author creates one king who exhibits more manly characteristics, while the other king exhibits more feminine characteristics. In real life, that is not how all homosexual couples are at all, and I think this book should not represent homosexuality in this manner. I think the author does it do be humorous, but I do not think it is funny. If this book did not stereotype, I would have it in my classroom. Homosexuality is a real thing, and should not be dismissed. Others may argue, but one thing I really liked about this book were the illustrations. They covered the whole page and were big and colorful; I actually really enjoyed looking at them.
Linda de Haan and Stern Nijland (2004)
Another book I read in class that could be considered controversial is the book King & King & Family. This book follows two kings who are recently married on what appears to be their honeymoon. This book could be considered controversial because it touches upon the theme of homosexuality. The problem I took issue with in this book, is that it did refrain from stereotyping. Quality books should not emphasize stereotyping, but this book did quite that. If America is going to move pass the "issue" it has with people identifying themselves as homosexual, literature, especially children's literature, should not include it. In this book the author creates one king who exhibits more manly characteristics, while the other king exhibits more feminine characteristics. In real life, that is not how all homosexual couples are at all, and I think this book should not represent homosexuality in this manner. I think the author does it do be humorous, but I do not think it is funny. If this book did not stereotype, I would have it in my classroom. Homosexuality is a real thing, and should not be dismissed. Others may argue, but one thing I really liked about this book were the illustrations. They covered the whole page and were big and colorful; I actually really enjoyed looking at them.
The Un-Wedding
The Un-Wedding
Babette Cole (1997)
The Un-Wedding is another book that we read in class that could be considered controversial. This story's plot is about two siblings who ask their parents to have an un-wedding. After being fed up with their parents' constant bickering, they decide that not only their parents', but their own lives as well, would be so much happier if they were not married and living together anymore. I think people think this could be a controversial book because of the theme of the proper term "divorce"--especially because of the kids asking their parents to get a divorce! I can see that adults do not want children to get the wrong idea that every time their parents fight, it means that they do not love each other or that it makes it automatic grounds for divorce, but I think this book does a great job at bringing up the heavy theme of divorce. This book is humorous, which helps the lighten up what divorce is. One thing I liked about this book is that it centers around how much happier the kids are after not having to listen to and deal with their parents' pettiness. In this book, the kids wanted the divorce, but I understand how this book could not be useful with kids who do not want their parents to divorce. I would not necessarily leave this book out in our classroom library, but if one of my students was having a hard time with a divorce, I would first ask the parents if it was okay for their child to read, then I would offer the book to the child.
Babette Cole (1997)
The Un-Wedding is another book that we read in class that could be considered controversial. This story's plot is about two siblings who ask their parents to have an un-wedding. After being fed up with their parents' constant bickering, they decide that not only their parents', but their own lives as well, would be so much happier if they were not married and living together anymore. I think people think this could be a controversial book because of the theme of the proper term "divorce"--especially because of the kids asking their parents to get a divorce! I can see that adults do not want children to get the wrong idea that every time their parents fight, it means that they do not love each other or that it makes it automatic grounds for divorce, but I think this book does a great job at bringing up the heavy theme of divorce. This book is humorous, which helps the lighten up what divorce is. One thing I liked about this book is that it centers around how much happier the kids are after not having to listen to and deal with their parents' pettiness. In this book, the kids wanted the divorce, but I understand how this book could not be useful with kids who do not want their parents to divorce. I would not necessarily leave this book out in our classroom library, but if one of my students was having a hard time with a divorce, I would first ask the parents if it was okay for their child to read, then I would offer the book to the child.
Nappy Hair
Nappy Hair
Carolivia Herron (1997)
This book is one of the books we read in our class that could be considered controversial. Now, a person should never judge a book by its cover, but the first thing that a person sees when selecting a book is its title. The term "nappy" to describe an African-American's hair could be considered as derogatory, so it is no wonder that the potential reader may question if this book is okay to read or not after first-sight with the book! I think that this book could be considered offensive, only because the word "nappy" is used frequently through out. The book is about an old man telling the story of a little girl, Brenda, and how she was born and lived with nappy hair. The reader gets the sense that it is not okay to have "nappy" hair because she is the only one who has it. It sends out a negative message, which I did not think was appropriate at all. The book only has one page--the last, saying something along the lines that it is okay to have that hair. I just found the last page to be surprising, because I feel like the statement was made out of nowhere, especially as there was no indication or build-up in the story that it is okay to have "nappy" hair. Overall, I will not use this book in my future classrooms. Had the book put out more positive messages about how everyone's hair is different, it is okay to be different, etc, then it could possibly be used as a learning tool in the classroom. I do not recommend this book.
Carolivia Herron (1997)
This book is one of the books we read in our class that could be considered controversial. Now, a person should never judge a book by its cover, but the first thing that a person sees when selecting a book is its title. The term "nappy" to describe an African-American's hair could be considered as derogatory, so it is no wonder that the potential reader may question if this book is okay to read or not after first-sight with the book! I think that this book could be considered offensive, only because the word "nappy" is used frequently through out. The book is about an old man telling the story of a little girl, Brenda, and how she was born and lived with nappy hair. The reader gets the sense that it is not okay to have "nappy" hair because she is the only one who has it. It sends out a negative message, which I did not think was appropriate at all. The book only has one page--the last, saying something along the lines that it is okay to have that hair. I just found the last page to be surprising, because I feel like the statement was made out of nowhere, especially as there was no indication or build-up in the story that it is okay to have "nappy" hair. Overall, I will not use this book in my future classrooms. Had the book put out more positive messages about how everyone's hair is different, it is okay to be different, etc, then it could possibly be used as a learning tool in the classroom. I do not recommend this book.
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Twelve Hats for Lena
Twelve Hats for Lena
Karen Katz (2002)
The book Twelve Hats for Lena really caught my eye as I was perusing the books in the ICPL. It has big pages with big text and big pictures! This book is about a little girl who makes a hat for each month! On these hats, she makes things that signify and represent that month like flowers for May or pumpkins for October. If I ever teach K-1, I will DEFINITELY use this book! This book would help aid in the learning of the months so much! This book is also something I can refer back to at the beginning of every new month! I think students would be excited to keep coming back to Lena and her hats! Besides learning about the months, this book would help students be creative if they were to either make their own hats about the particular month or draw their pictures! Besides art and reading lessons, this book could also help in math by our class making a bar graph about the types of activities or weather we find during those months. I really recommend this book to anyone wanting to teach K-1!
Karen Katz (2002)
The book Twelve Hats for Lena really caught my eye as I was perusing the books in the ICPL. It has big pages with big text and big pictures! This book is about a little girl who makes a hat for each month! On these hats, she makes things that signify and represent that month like flowers for May or pumpkins for October. If I ever teach K-1, I will DEFINITELY use this book! This book would help aid in the learning of the months so much! This book is also something I can refer back to at the beginning of every new month! I think students would be excited to keep coming back to Lena and her hats! Besides learning about the months, this book would help students be creative if they were to either make their own hats about the particular month or draw their pictures! Besides art and reading lessons, this book could also help in math by our class making a bar graph about the types of activities or weather we find during those months. I really recommend this book to anyone wanting to teach K-1!
In the Leaves
In the Leaves
Huy Voun Lee (2005)
In the Leaves is a story about a Chinese boy teaching his friends Mandarin Chinese through symbols! It is a unique read as the reader, along with the friends in the book, learn how symbols in Chinese represent words, rather than letters spelling words. This book teaches 10 new symbols to the reader: pig, family, mouth, harmony, rice, grain, fire, autumn, field, and sprout. The story teller teaches his friends how these items are important in the Chinese culture, and how some symbols are based off one-another. Besides having the symbols in the book to represent the words, there is a pronunciation guide in the back. I really liked this story, because it was told through a little boy's perspective to his friends about why farming in the fall is important to the Chinese culture, while also expanding on the ideas of the importance of family, friends, and food. This book is also great for differentiation for students: lots of visuals and little text to help get the points across to those who may have a difficult time reading words. I would use this in a K-6 classroom Some lessons that could be used from this book are multi-cultural/diversity lessons, art lessons, etc. I really recommend this book, as well!
Huy Voun Lee (2005)
In the Leaves is a story about a Chinese boy teaching his friends Mandarin Chinese through symbols! It is a unique read as the reader, along with the friends in the book, learn how symbols in Chinese represent words, rather than letters spelling words. This book teaches 10 new symbols to the reader: pig, family, mouth, harmony, rice, grain, fire, autumn, field, and sprout. The story teller teaches his friends how these items are important in the Chinese culture, and how some symbols are based off one-another. Besides having the symbols in the book to represent the words, there is a pronunciation guide in the back. I really liked this story, because it was told through a little boy's perspective to his friends about why farming in the fall is important to the Chinese culture, while also expanding on the ideas of the importance of family, friends, and food. This book is also great for differentiation for students: lots of visuals and little text to help get the points across to those who may have a difficult time reading words. I would use this in a K-6 classroom Some lessons that could be used from this book are multi-cultural/diversity lessons, art lessons, etc. I really recommend this book, as well!
Bones: Skeletons and How They Work
Bones: Skeletons and How They Work
Steve Jenkins (2010)
I first learned about the author Steve Jenkins during a class presentation about authors, and I was really excited to have found this book in the ICPL! Knowing about Steve Jenkins's background of science knowledge and illustration capabilities, I knew I had to check this out! (I, too, am from a science background.) This book is chalk full of amazing facts and pictures about/of bones! These bones range from anywhere from a human's bones or even a lemur's bones! This book is a little voacbulary heavy, with hard words, so I would probably have this in a 4-6 grade classroom, but it would not be totally out of line to include it or read it out loud in 1-3 classroom. This book could inspire science lessons about the human body and bones. I really recommend this book! Make sure to take a special look at the pictures. Some bones are even drawn to scale, which makes this book very relevant to a student's life. It also has prompting questions, that make a student think, such as, "Which bone am I?" and they have to guess! It is really quite neat!
Steve Jenkins (2010)
I first learned about the author Steve Jenkins during a class presentation about authors, and I was really excited to have found this book in the ICPL! Knowing about Steve Jenkins's background of science knowledge and illustration capabilities, I knew I had to check this out! (I, too, am from a science background.) This book is chalk full of amazing facts and pictures about/of bones! These bones range from anywhere from a human's bones or even a lemur's bones! This book is a little voacbulary heavy, with hard words, so I would probably have this in a 4-6 grade classroom, but it would not be totally out of line to include it or read it out loud in 1-3 classroom. This book could inspire science lessons about the human body and bones. I really recommend this book! Make sure to take a special look at the pictures. Some bones are even drawn to scale, which makes this book very relevant to a student's life. It also has prompting questions, that make a student think, such as, "Which bone am I?" and they have to guess! It is really quite neat!
The Unforgettable Season: The Story of Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams and the Record Setting Summer of '41
The Unforgettable Season: The Story of Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams and the Record Setting Summer of '41
Phil Bildner (2011)
I came across this book as I was researching books for a class presentation about books that are in the informational/non-fiction genre. This book chronicles the 1941 baseball seasons of Joe DiMaggio and Ted Williams. The stories of their seasons are told well in a kid-friendly way, and the pictures are really great as well. I think reading about biographies and informational text in a story kind of way makes it easier for students to learn from and read along with. I surprised myself that I enjoyed this, because this type of book would normally not catch my interest, mostly due to the fact that I do not care about reading about sports...Finding this book made me realize though that I will need to provide books in my classroom that will interest all types of readers. From experience in my third classroom, my students, the boys especially, would have loved to have read this book! I think it will be important to realzie what types of writing my students are interested in, and be able to bring those into my personal library, or our school's library. This book could help model how to learn the difference between non-fiction/fiction in a lesson or a write-your-own biography lesson, but the most important thing I realized about this book is something for me to learn about: providing an array of different varieties of books in my classroom. That way, students will be surrounded by literature and encourage them to continue reading!
Phil Bildner (2011)
I came across this book as I was researching books for a class presentation about books that are in the informational/non-fiction genre. This book chronicles the 1941 baseball seasons of Joe DiMaggio and Ted Williams. The stories of their seasons are told well in a kid-friendly way, and the pictures are really great as well. I think reading about biographies and informational text in a story kind of way makes it easier for students to learn from and read along with. I surprised myself that I enjoyed this, because this type of book would normally not catch my interest, mostly due to the fact that I do not care about reading about sports...Finding this book made me realize though that I will need to provide books in my classroom that will interest all types of readers. From experience in my third classroom, my students, the boys especially, would have loved to have read this book! I think it will be important to realzie what types of writing my students are interested in, and be able to bring those into my personal library, or our school's library. This book could help model how to learn the difference between non-fiction/fiction in a lesson or a write-your-own biography lesson, but the most important thing I realized about this book is something for me to learn about: providing an array of different varieties of books in my classroom. That way, students will be surrounded by literature and encourage them to continue reading!
Ms. Frizzle's Adventures: Medieval Castle
Ms. Frizzle's Adventures: Medieval Castle
Joanna Cole and Bruce Degen (2002)
Many people have heard of The Magic School Bus, a cartoon that is shown to help teach many important life/science concepts to younger students in simpler terms. I used to be an avid watcher, so I found it very surprising that the creators of TMSB also create books! Naturally, I had to check it out, and how very happy I was that I did! I came across this book as I was searching for informational/non-fictional types of texts for an in-class presentation about genre. In this particular book Ms. Frizzle, the adventurous red-headed teacher, somehow finds herself and another character's (Craig) self in the medieval time period. They go on an adventure through different types of settings in the medieval period, like the countryside, city, castle, etc, and live like how the people who reside there do! This book is really cool because while there is an actual story line, the pictures are in a cartoon style that also tell another part of the story! There is so much information EVERYWHERE in this book! The pictures/texts are so fun to read and look at. This book has a lot more harder vocabulary words and historical concepts, so I think it would be more wise to have this in classrooms aged 4-6. This book is interesting because it is not some boring text book, but rather an easier to read picture book. I could have this in my classroom as a reference guide. We could also use this book during history lessons about the medieval time period. Other things I could have them do is have students make their own family shield, like how the book jacket has shields, write postcards or letters from the viewpoints of if they were people in medieval times, etc.
Joanna Cole and Bruce Degen (2002)
Many people have heard of The Magic School Bus, a cartoon that is shown to help teach many important life/science concepts to younger students in simpler terms. I used to be an avid watcher, so I found it very surprising that the creators of TMSB also create books! Naturally, I had to check it out, and how very happy I was that I did! I came across this book as I was searching for informational/non-fictional types of texts for an in-class presentation about genre. In this particular book Ms. Frizzle, the adventurous red-headed teacher, somehow finds herself and another character's (Craig) self in the medieval time period. They go on an adventure through different types of settings in the medieval period, like the countryside, city, castle, etc, and live like how the people who reside there do! This book is really cool because while there is an actual story line, the pictures are in a cartoon style that also tell another part of the story! There is so much information EVERYWHERE in this book! The pictures/texts are so fun to read and look at. This book has a lot more harder vocabulary words and historical concepts, so I think it would be more wise to have this in classrooms aged 4-6. This book is interesting because it is not some boring text book, but rather an easier to read picture book. I could have this in my classroom as a reference guide. We could also use this book during history lessons about the medieval time period. Other things I could have them do is have students make their own family shield, like how the book jacket has shields, write postcards or letters from the viewpoints of if they were people in medieval times, etc.
Olivia
Olivia
Ian Falconer (2000)
Caldecott Award Winner
Another hilarious book I recommend to readers is Olivia. This picture book tells the story of a day in the life of a rambunctious pig named Olivia. It starts with a background of Olivia and her family, including pets, and then goes on to detail what she likes to do on sunny days and what she likes to do on rainy days. It also chronicles Olivia's morning, afternoon, and evening rituals involving getting ready, napping, reading, and getting read for bed! This book is also a Caldecott Award winning book! The pictures are mostly in black, white, and grey, but have certain splashes of red, orange, and brown to emphasize particular points in the pictures! Something I found unique about the author, Ian Falconer, is that he used to design sets and costumes for: New York City Ballet, San Fransisco Opera, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, and more! this book is intended for readers in grades K-3. Along with the reading of this book, I could incorporate this into the classroom by having students journal about what they do in their days, write a story about someone's or something's daily life, things that they like to do, create bar graphs about what students do during their days, etc. This book was a lot of fun to read and I recommend it!
Ian Falconer (2000)
Caldecott Award Winner
Another hilarious book I recommend to readers is Olivia. This picture book tells the story of a day in the life of a rambunctious pig named Olivia. It starts with a background of Olivia and her family, including pets, and then goes on to detail what she likes to do on sunny days and what she likes to do on rainy days. It also chronicles Olivia's morning, afternoon, and evening rituals involving getting ready, napping, reading, and getting read for bed! This book is also a Caldecott Award winning book! The pictures are mostly in black, white, and grey, but have certain splashes of red, orange, and brown to emphasize particular points in the pictures! Something I found unique about the author, Ian Falconer, is that he used to design sets and costumes for: New York City Ballet, San Fransisco Opera, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, and more! this book is intended for readers in grades K-3. Along with the reading of this book, I could incorporate this into the classroom by having students journal about what they do in their days, write a story about someone's or something's daily life, things that they like to do, create bar graphs about what students do during their days, etc. This book was a lot of fun to read and I recommend it!
Knuffle Bunny
Knuffle Bunny
Mo Willems (2004)
Caldecott Award Winner
I chose to read Knuffle Bunny, because while I was in practicum during spring semester, my third graders were obsessed with it! Whenever we went to the library, fights would break out over who got to check it out first! I decided to see what all the fuss was about it, and after further review, I think I understand why my students were so keen on getting this book. This book is about a girl named Trixie whose favorite stuffed animal is a bunny (appropriately) named Knuffle Bunny. She and her father go to the laundry mat to drop off dirty laundry, and some how Knuffle Bunny ends up in the wash. Trixie and her father are about 2 blocks away from home when Trixie realizes Knuffle Bunny is missing! Trixie cannot talk yet, so she shouts out random funny words in order to describe to her father why she is upset! He doesn't get it though, and this causes Trixie to become uncontrollably upset! They make it back to their apartment, and Trixie's mother immediately asks where Knuffle Bunny is, and they all run back to the laundry mat! I actually laughed a lot while reading along due to the text/dialog that is used to tell the story! The pictures/illustrations in this book accompany the hilarious text. The backgrounf the pictures are real like photographs on places in downtown Manhattan, while the characters are hand drawn! I do not think this book could provide any real lesson. I could potentially do a lesson about comparing and contrasting different stages of life with students or have them write about their favorite toy and why. I think I would encourage young students to read it, just so they are constantly reading and for fun!
Mo Willems (2004)
Caldecott Award Winner
I chose to read Knuffle Bunny, because while I was in practicum during spring semester, my third graders were obsessed with it! Whenever we went to the library, fights would break out over who got to check it out first! I decided to see what all the fuss was about it, and after further review, I think I understand why my students were so keen on getting this book. This book is about a girl named Trixie whose favorite stuffed animal is a bunny (appropriately) named Knuffle Bunny. She and her father go to the laundry mat to drop off dirty laundry, and some how Knuffle Bunny ends up in the wash. Trixie and her father are about 2 blocks away from home when Trixie realizes Knuffle Bunny is missing! Trixie cannot talk yet, so she shouts out random funny words in order to describe to her father why she is upset! He doesn't get it though, and this causes Trixie to become uncontrollably upset! They make it back to their apartment, and Trixie's mother immediately asks where Knuffle Bunny is, and they all run back to the laundry mat! I actually laughed a lot while reading along due to the text/dialog that is used to tell the story! The pictures/illustrations in this book accompany the hilarious text. The backgrounf the pictures are real like photographs on places in downtown Manhattan, while the characters are hand drawn! I do not think this book could provide any real lesson. I could potentially do a lesson about comparing and contrasting different stages of life with students or have them write about their favorite toy and why. I think I would encourage young students to read it, just so they are constantly reading and for fun!
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
An Ocean World
An Ocean World
Peter Sis (1992)
An Ocean World is quite unique. When someone thinks of a picture book, one assumes that there is text and pictures! In this unique book, there is no text at all, except on the title page and cover! The rest of the book is a compilation of beautiful illustrations that, one may possibly assume, chronicles a whale's life in the ocean! These pictures leave a lot up to the reader's imagination! That being said, this book would be perfect to use in K-6 grades with many different activities and lessons. The main thing I would use this book would be for students to create a story centered around these pictures. I think any grade level could use this as a writing prompt, and teachers could vary the lesson based on different criteria needed for lesson like, details, dialog, personification, etc. To bring art into this, students could use this book as a model to draw their own picture book! One other lesson that this book could be used in, is a science lesson! It could be an introductory lesson to a unit about the environment/ocean, a lesson about habitat loss/how pollution affects habitats, and much more! I really enjoyed this book because of the freedom of imagination it allows the reader to have, and that the pictures are very captivating to observe, analyze, and look at!
Peter Sis (1992)
An Ocean World is quite unique. When someone thinks of a picture book, one assumes that there is text and pictures! In this unique book, there is no text at all, except on the title page and cover! The rest of the book is a compilation of beautiful illustrations that, one may possibly assume, chronicles a whale's life in the ocean! These pictures leave a lot up to the reader's imagination! That being said, this book would be perfect to use in K-6 grades with many different activities and lessons. The main thing I would use this book would be for students to create a story centered around these pictures. I think any grade level could use this as a writing prompt, and teachers could vary the lesson based on different criteria needed for lesson like, details, dialog, personification, etc. To bring art into this, students could use this book as a model to draw their own picture book! One other lesson that this book could be used in, is a science lesson! It could be an introductory lesson to a unit about the environment/ocean, a lesson about habitat loss/how pollution affects habitats, and much more! I really enjoyed this book because of the freedom of imagination it allows the reader to have, and that the pictures are very captivating to observe, analyze, and look at!
How Do Dinosaurs Go to School?
How Do Dinosaurs Go to School?
Jane Yolen (2007)
Get ready for a lot of fun while reading How Do Dinosaurs Go to School? ! In this vibrantly illustrated book, questions about dinosaurs' habits and manners while they get ready for and are at school are called into question. Questions such as, "Do dinosaurs bully other kids?" "Do dinosaurs talk when others are talking?" etc. This book uses humor to help describe and demonstrate the do's and don'ts of how to act in school settings. Besides the humor that is used to address serious questions, this book is full of fantastic illustrations. There is a different dinosaur on each brightly colored page! My favorite part of this book was how after if asking if the dinosaurs would behave poorly throughout the school day in the first part of the book, the second part of the book is used to describe the correct and polite manners in which dinosaurs would act if they actually went to school! This book is geared toward younger elementary, and I would use it in K-2 grades. We would use this book as a way to learn expectations and rules. It would be able to be integrated into the beginning of the year lessons and throughout the year, if students need to be reminded of how to act in the school and community settings. One activity we could use this book for, is to help our class come up with our own list of expectations and rules. This would help create a community in our classroom and help the students take ownership of their classroom. This will create an environment that will help students learn more and better in.
Jane Yolen (2007)
Get ready for a lot of fun while reading How Do Dinosaurs Go to School? ! In this vibrantly illustrated book, questions about dinosaurs' habits and manners while they get ready for and are at school are called into question. Questions such as, "Do dinosaurs bully other kids?" "Do dinosaurs talk when others are talking?" etc. This book uses humor to help describe and demonstrate the do's and don'ts of how to act in school settings. Besides the humor that is used to address serious questions, this book is full of fantastic illustrations. There is a different dinosaur on each brightly colored page! My favorite part of this book was how after if asking if the dinosaurs would behave poorly throughout the school day in the first part of the book, the second part of the book is used to describe the correct and polite manners in which dinosaurs would act if they actually went to school! This book is geared toward younger elementary, and I would use it in K-2 grades. We would use this book as a way to learn expectations and rules. It would be able to be integrated into the beginning of the year lessons and throughout the year, if students need to be reminded of how to act in the school and community settings. One activity we could use this book for, is to help our class come up with our own list of expectations and rules. This would help create a community in our classroom and help the students take ownership of their classroom. This will create an environment that will help students learn more and better in.
Into the Forest
Into the Forest (2004)
Anthony Browne
This story is about a little boy who is asked by his mother to bring cake to his sick grandmother. There are two paths he can take to her house: through the forest or around it. The boy's mother tells him not to take the forest path, but in true child-like style, he rebels and takes a very twisted trip through the forest. Along his travels, the reader and the boy come across many familiar fairy-tale characters, hidden in the back drops of the forest! Some of these characters come out from behind the trees, and try to steal his cake, but the boy resists! He also has the sneaking suspicion that someone...or something...is following him (reminiscent of "Little Red Riding Hood)!! A unique thing about this book is that the majority of the illustrations are in black and white, while certain figures in the illustrations are in color! I really liked this story because it was telling its own story, while using little elements of many different fairy-tales to help tell its own! I really liked the illustrations as well. I would use this book in my classroom as a writing activity. Some writing prompts include: Write your own fairy-tale, What is scary in this book?, Make your own map of a path to and from yours and your grandma's house, etc.
Anthony Browne
This story is about a little boy who is asked by his mother to bring cake to his sick grandmother. There are two paths he can take to her house: through the forest or around it. The boy's mother tells him not to take the forest path, but in true child-like style, he rebels and takes a very twisted trip through the forest. Along his travels, the reader and the boy come across many familiar fairy-tale characters, hidden in the back drops of the forest! Some of these characters come out from behind the trees, and try to steal his cake, but the boy resists! He also has the sneaking suspicion that someone...or something...is following him (reminiscent of "Little Red Riding Hood)!! A unique thing about this book is that the majority of the illustrations are in black and white, while certain figures in the illustrations are in color! I really liked this story because it was telling its own story, while using little elements of many different fairy-tales to help tell its own! I really liked the illustrations as well. I would use this book in my classroom as a writing activity. Some writing prompts include: Write your own fairy-tale, What is scary in this book?, Make your own map of a path to and from yours and your grandma's house, etc.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)