Final Relfection

When reflecting on my experience in Children's Lit and what I have learned I have nothing but positive thoughts. At first I struggled with finding quality literature for children because they are so many books out there. I was just grabbing books off the shelf and reading them. Now when I am looking for books that I find valuable I ask myself a few questions.

Some of these questions are:

*Does this book have the following literary elements: plot? characterization, setting, style, theme and point of view

*If they book does have the previous elements, is it written in the form of a compelling story that is appropriate for the target audience?

Other things I now consider in assessing books I pay close attention to a few other aspects:

*How can this story be used in the classroom?

*Does the story have illustrations that will engage the reader and help the reader to find meaning when reading.

Children's Lit has also introduced me to the idea of using different genres of books in my curriculum. I appreciated working on the genre project and listening to the presentations given by my classmates. I really enjoyed looking at the controversial books we were required to read and blog about as well. I felt that I really learned that children's books are more than pictures with text to entertain kids as they are going to sleep at night. They are the most important tool in classrooms.

I appreciated that were required to read both picture books and novels because although I don't plan to teach older grades, I am glad I have read a few books that I could use in my classrooms if I did.

Overall, this was an amazing class that I learned a lot from. The text set alone taught me how to incorporate a genre or topic and create an idea for curriculum around it! I really enjoyed Children's Lit and I think it is one of the most valuable classes I have taken in my undergrad so far!

How to Bake an American Pie

How to Bake an American Pie by Karma Wilson is a story about America and everything that it stands for. The book is written in a poet form with many of the sentences rhyming together. I liked the idea of this book and the illustrations were beautiful, but I think it would be difficult for young children to understand. It needs to be read very slowly and the ideas that pertain to America and the freedoms we have are not ideas that most young children have grasped yet. This story would be appropriate for older students.

City Kids

City Kids by Patricia Hubbell is a collection of poems about the things ordinary kids living in cities see and do. This collection of poems includes both the negative and positive things that happen within city boarders. The experiences kids can have in cities vary and this book captures all of them with vibrant images. I liked this simple collection of poems. I think it would be great to use to show a class diversity that exists in cities.

Hair Dance!

Hair Dance! by Dinah Johnson is a book written in a poetic form about different ways African American women and girls can wear their hair. It describes hair of every length, color, and texture. It incorporates caring for hair with caring for each other and friendships. The photographs that illustrate each page are beautiful as well. They depict girls and women who are happy and proud of their hair and their relationships with one another. I love this book. I think the author did a great job showing how the women in the images are proud of their hair and that it is a part of them! This book brings in cultural diversity to poetry through the genre of hair!

Miss Mary Mack

Miss Mary Mack by Mary Ann Hoberman is a choral book about Miss Mary Mack. At the beginning of the story there is a page that is dedicated to teaching the tune of the song/book and gives hand motions that make the story very fun to recite. The story/song uses rhyming throughout it and follows a track of events that make the story understandable. I think this is a great book for getting children excited about reading and being active while doing it. Overall, I really liked this story and thought it would be a fun book to introduced to students for free reading time!

There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Fly

There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Fly by Simms Taback is a great poet story about an old lady who first swallowed a fly, but we don't know why. She continues to swallow other things to catch the fly, but eventually she ends up swallowing a horse, and of course, she dies! because no one can swallow a horse and live. This book is clever and continuously rhymes its sentences with a great deal of repetition. The illustrations are wonderful as well. They are bright and show exactly what is happening in the text therefore a child would be able to infer some of the text not only from the repetitive language used in the story but from the illustrations. Overall, this is a fun story that I would recommend for children!

Love That Dog

Love That Dog: a novel by Sharon Creech is a very interesting book that show the year long thoughts of a boy who went from disliking poetry to appreciating poetry and gaining a passion for poetry. I thought the short thoughts of the student were interesting. The way they were written as if his thoughts were poet was a strange way to read the book. I thought that Jack's progression to liking poetry was very realistic. He did not start to like poetry right off the bat. His first entry was about how he didn't want to write poetry because he was a boy and "Girls do." (write poetry). By January he was able to see how poetry could be typed up and the display that made it look more like poetry made him feel that his writing might actually be poetry, and then by the end of the book when his inspirational poet came and talked to his class he really embraced his writing as poetry and he was proud of it.

I think this would be a good book to use when teaching children how poetry can take many forms and can be done by using other poems as inspiration. Good writing comes from reading. As a teacher I would not have my class read this entire book, but use segments of it to teach lessons to my students if we were learning a poetry unit.

I thought this book was interesting and many of Jack's thoughts would be great for teaching while come of Jack's thoughts could be left out of the poetry curriculum.

So Far From The Bamboo Grove

So Far From The Bamboo Grove by Yoko Kawashima Watkins is a story about the struggles of Yoko Kawashima following the end of Japanese Rule in Korea. I thought this story was well written. At times I became a little bored as it seemed rather repetitive and the events were very similar to each other as the story continued, but regardless I thought it was a great way to show students what life was like for those Japanese; how dangerous and devastating things could be.

In comparison to The Year of Impossible Goodbyes I thought it was very interesting. I thought The Year of Impossible Goodbyes had more events in it that kept me interested in reading it, but both stories showed the struggles people went through. I think that if either of the stories were to be used in a curriculum setting they other story would be necessary to avoid bias in the controversy. It is obvious from both books that each side had it's own struggles and that not all Koreans, or all Japanese were involved or cared for by the Korean Communists or the Japanese Army. Overall, I enjoyed both books and I think that together they would make for a very strong lesson in the Japanese Rule in Korea and the 38th Parallel that followed.

The Year of Impossible Goodbyes

The Year of Impossible Goodbyes by Sook Nyul Choi is a wonderful book about the struggles of Koreans during the Japanese rule in Korea and the separation of the 38th parallel. This story was very emotional. It's use of testimony made the reader feel the pains that took place during this time in history. I think this would be a great book to use in a classroom to teach a historical event. It would allow the students to learn more than the facts of the events. They could use the main character to understand the emotional struggles that many Koreans went through. I like the idea of this because I think students learn and are more greatly affected by emotion that by facts. The only thing that was challenging about this book was the number of characters in it. I would suggest reading it with a character bookmark and writing down who each character is and their relationship to the main character. Overall, I really like the way this book makes the reader think.

The Greentail Mouse

The Greentail Mouse by Leo Lionni is challenging story because the mystery that happens in the story does not end up solved and it leaves the reader wondering more. The possible moral I found at the end of the story would be to not be something you are not which I think is a good message to children, but it is not clear in this book. Something I did like about this book though were the pages without text. I loved to look closely at the detail and image what is going on in them. The illustrations were simple but invoked curiosity for me.

SWIMMY

Swimmy by Leo Lionni was a cute story about a fish who is different. I thought this was a great story and could be used in a curricular setting in a classroom, specifically a social studies lesson. Swimmy is a fish who is different from the rest. At first this seems like a disadvantage, but by the end of the story Swimmy is able to help and lead all the other fish to see the open ocean as he had. The story had great sequence and the theme/morals are endless. The story can be related to leadership, individuality, independence, kindness, and adventure just to name a few. I loved the illustrations. They were unique and creative. The only thing I did not love about this book was the text. The font size was a little small and sometimes it was places awkwardly on the page making it hard to read. Other than that, this was great story with a great moral.

Oh, Look!

Oh, Look! by Patricia Polacco is a story about adventure. It has good repetition with the phrase, "can't go over it, can't go under it, can't go around it..." but I thought it lacked originality. The ending of the story was not very exciting and I finished the book wishing I had picked up a different one off the shelf. I feel like I have read this book a million times before. The illustrations were bright and entertaining. Something I really did like in this story was it's use of sound words.

At the Firehouse

At the Firehouse by Anne Rockwell is a good book for learning about firehouses and how they function. This book would cater to a younger audience, possibly pre-school students. The illustrations were bright and vibrant. The text was fairly easy to read and would capture the attention of boys (or girls) who really enjoy learning about trucks or firemen. The story is basic with a simple plot. It could even been considered a more factual or informative picture book than a story book. I liked the simplicity of this book.

Officer Buckle and Gloria

Officer Buckle and Gloria by Peggy Rathman is a story about a police officer who is known for his safety tips. At first no one cares much to listen to him, but when he gets his new dog Gloria and she acts out each tips everyone is excited and enthusiastic about safety. The only catch is that when Office Buckle finds out his tips are only being taken seriously because of Gloria he stops giving them out. The story is great because it has a clear plot, a conflict and a resolution. The lesson that it teaches the reader at the end is very positive and I especially liked the active illustrations. Everything that was being said in the text was also represented in the picture on the page which is a great strategy for beginning readers. In addition to this the illustrations were bring and colorful to capture the eye of the reader. Overall, I really liked this book.

Sunny-Side Up

Sunny-Side Up by Patricia Reilly Giff is a short chapter book that is about the friendship between three children and the adventures that took place during their summer. I really liked the length of this book more than anything. I thought the chapters were great. Each chapter pertained to a different event that was taking place for the kids. There was conflict and resolution for the children. I thought each character was well developed and had personality that was relative many children that would read this story. This was done through a great deal of dialog. The book was made up of short simple sentences that would make this book and easier read. Overall, I liked this story.

This Little Piggy's Book of Manners

This Little Piggy's Book of Manners by Kathryn Madeline Allen is a story to teach children manners by showing a good example of how to use manners next to a bad example of how to use manners. This story has colorful illustrations and really neat use of text in the illustration. The pictures have a newspaper like text that is colored and camouflages into the page. The text is large and easy for beginning readers to read and the pictures are labeled as well for more practice in reading text. I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it for teaching manners to children.

Airmail to the Moon

Airmail to the Moon by Tom Birdseye is a story about a young girl who loses a tooth and goes a hunt to find her stole it. Eventually she finds her tooth in her pockets while she is throwing a fit and stomping her feet. The story has a very well developed main character that has personality. The main character uses the phrase "I'll open a can of gotcha and send her airmail to the moon!" The illustrations have a lot of detail and are beautifully sketched with color. The themes that stand out are about jumping to conclusions, and problem solving. I really enjoyed this story and would recommend it to any child, especially children who are getting excited about losing their teeth!

She'll Be Comin' Round the Mountain

She'll Be Comin' Round the Mountain by Tom Birdseye is a story rewritten from the well known song, She'll Be Comin' Round the Mountain. The story is written by use of questions in between each verse of the song that is modified for this version of She'll Be Comin' Round the Mountain. This story like many other Birdseye stories uses repetition and would be a great story for a choral reading. The story also includes cultural diversity. The grandparents names are Oma and Opa for Grandma and Grandpa which is German. The illustrations are interesting because they only show the characters. There is no scenery to show where the characters are, but the characters are drawn in action to illustrate their activity. Many themes can be drawn by the end of the story. I really enjoyed the energy the song had in this picture book.

Oh Yeah!

Oh Yeah! by Tom Birdseye is a cute story about two boys who are camping in their backyard. They are afraid of the Hairy Kid-Eating Monster and many other things, but they claim they are not. I really enjoyed the energy in this story. There is a good use of text size for children to read. The text size is enlarged for all of the things that the two boys are NOT afraid of. This text size stands out to the reader and makes it easy for the reader to change their tone of voice to make the story more dramatic. The illustrations are bright and the story is fun and is easy to relate to. The story could have a number of different themes about friendship, companionship, and imagination to name a few. I really enjoyed this story and would suggest it to anyone.

Look Out Jack! The Giant is Back!

Look Out Jack! The Giant is Back! by Tom Birdseye is a funny picture book that is a take off of the original Jack and the Beanstalk story. The Birdseye version has something that the original doesn't. The humor really engages the reader and the characters are very well developed and have personality that is very clear to the reader. There is repetition in the story that is very fun and entertaining. The use of dialog is also great. In addition to being a well written story the illustrations improve the book even further. They are very bright and detailed that show the action that is taking place in the text. I really enjoyed this version of the Jack and the Beanstalk story, and I would definitely recommend it for children.

The Misfits

The Misfits by James Howe is about a group of friends who don't fit in. It shows in a very realistic story the social struggles students go through during their middle school years. I think each of the characters in the story is very well developed and I like the awkwardness and differences to each character. I also like that one of the main characters in the story is a gay boy. I think being gay in middle school is a very difficult thing to address, but shows the reader the support systems that are available to gay students. The group of friends has just realized in the story that they are the minority even though none of them are of different races. They are the dweebs and nerds that are hated on and made to feel unaccepted socially. I think this would be a great story to read to teach students about diversity and respect at such a hard time in their life. I am really enjoying the misfits so far.

How Babies are Made

How Babies are Made by Andrew Schepp is a story about reproduction. I strongly disliked this story. It starts off with the reproduction of plants and moves on to animals and then humans as if the author is easing a child into the idea of human reproduction. The illustrations are cartoons, but still very graphic, showing animals in sexual positions, but when it comes to humans, they place the man and woman under the covers leaving the reader curious and giving them nothing to imagine. It is pushing appropriateness and is done very poorly. I would never suggest or use this book with children.

Uncle What-is-it is Coming to Visit

Uncle What-is-it is Coming to Visit by Michael Wilhoite is a book about two children who are awaiting the arrival of their gay uncle. They have never been introduced to the word gay and have no idea what it means. When they are walking one day, they get caught up and end up asking two bullies what gay means. They learn from these two bullies the most exaggerated versions of gay men (with fruit hats, and leather pants), only to find out their uncle is very normal in their eyes. He is someone they really look up to, and learn to accept and understand that it's okay for gay men to also enjoy wearing extravagant clothing. It is surprising in the story how the words "fag" and "queer" are used as insults in the text which could be the introduction of those words to young children. I wish at the end of the story they had address the inappropriateness of those words because they wrapped up the story very well otherwise. Overall, I liked this story and the illustrations were colorful and fun.

Hair in Funny Places

Hair in Funny Places by Babette Cole is a book that teaches readers about puberty. I disliked this book. There was way too much information being thrown at the young audience. I agree that children should be able to have reading material to help them learn about puberty, but I would not recommend this book. It thoroughly described every aspect of both genders puberty patterns, but in a very nonchalant manner. I think that books, especially in targeted at such a young audience, should be directed to one gender or the other. I did not like the way this book described or depicted the writing in the illustrations.

In Our Mothers' House

In Our Mothers' House by Patricia Polacco is a story about two children who live with their lesbian mothers. They are both adopted and the child who narrates the story sees nothing wrong with having two mothers. The conflict in the story is a neighbor who will not allow her children to associate with the family. I like books that challenge children's thinking. I both like and dislike this book for the same reason. The story is very nonchalant. Everything, except for this one neighbor is perfect, the children don't think twice about how their mother's are not like traditional parents which is a great thing, but also I don't think it is very realistic. I would image that the child would have more conflict than this book lets on. Despite that, I like that the gay mother's stress respect and caring to everyone in society and don't concentrate on gay people specifically, but society as a whole. Overall, I liked this book.

Smoky Night

Smoky Night by Eve Bunting is a thought provoking book about society and how we treat one another. The first thing I noticed when reading this book was the illustrations. They are an interesting collage of images that depict the story being told. I liked that the story was realistic. It described the violence that can sometimes be hidden from children. It was a real life situation with a beautiful outcome. The violence, although horrible, brought together a community that was initially split by races. I really liked this book and I think that children could handle it. I think it would challenge their minds and make them think about the world, race, and how we treat one another.

The Giver

The Giver by Lois Lowry was a book that I enjoyed reading. I remember it from my childhood. The story about boy, Jonas, who lives in a society created with rules that are strictly followed shows the strangeness of the world. It is interesting how the society they live in defines childhood, adulthood, and being elderly. This story captured my interest for sure, but it has plenty of controversy in it and I'm not sure I see a place for it in a school's curriculum. I enjoyed the book greatly and I love the ending with Jonas and Gabe making it to a place where there is music playing and Christmas trees are lit up. The last line of the story is also great. The idea that because of what Jonas did he was able to bring memories, color, and feeling to the people he had realized he loved back home. Great book!

Home Lovely

Home Lovely by Lynne Rae Perkins is a story about a mother and daughter who have to move into a less than positive situation according to the daughter, but in all the negative that is the situation, the main character, Tiffany, makes the situation positive by planting plants and putting her energy into growing them. The plants end up being a vegetable garden and involves a very nice mailman who teaches Tiffany about plants. This book could be easily incorporated into a lesson about planting and change. I like how large the illustrations are. Whatever is being talked about on the page is shown very well visually.

Catching the Moon

Catching the Moon by Crystal Hubbard is based off a true story. This story both empowers women of color. Marcenia, the main character of the story wants more than anything to be a female professional baseball player, and never gives up on her dream. The story is a good length, and the illustrations are very visual. They show the action of the characters and the illustrator uses strong bold colors. I like that each page only uses about 5 or 6 colors. It really makes the images stand out! I loved how inspirational this book is. I liked the afterword on the last page describing the characters life after the ending of this story with really quotes from Marcenia.

Seven Brave Women

Seven Brave Women by Betsy Hearne is a really cool book about seven women related to the narrator of the story. The story is told by a young girl; she describes her great great great grandmothers down to herself. The story empowers women and would be a great book to use if students were starting research on their families. A teacher could use the book to concentrate on females in the girls families, males in the boys families, or you could easily research and be proud of both gender members of the students families. The book was also set up as a chapter book as a picture book. Each page was a new chapter which I liked because it represented the chapters of the narrators ancestors.

Gather Up, Gather In

Gather Up, Gather In by M.C. Helldorfer was a book about the four seasons. The book starts in autumn and moves through the seasons. I didn't like this book at all. The transitions from each season were strange, and I didn't like the language of the story. I did not even want to finish the story, that is how much I disliked this book. In addition, the illustrations were boring.

Hen Hears Gossip

Hen Hears Gossips by Megan McDonald is a story that reminded me of the game telephone. The story starts with a Hen who ease dropped on a conversation and started spreading rumors to the other animals on the farm. The gossip situation is resolved by the end of the story. I thought this book could be used in a classroom to teach a lesson about tattling or spreading rumors and how sometimes you hear things that aren't true. I wasn't a huge fan of the illustrations. This book is for very young readers and I thought the illustrations were a little to abstract for such young readers.

The Eternal Smile

The Eternal Smile by Gene Luen Yang and Derek Kirk Kim is a collection of three stories. In each of the stories the main characters deal with fantasy verse reality. They each have entirely different characters which makes the book interesting. I liked that the stories were short and easy to read despite that it appears to be a long collection of stories. It is an easy read for older children. It has content that may be inappropriate for young readers. What I liked best about the book was the difference between the illustrations between the three stories. I especially enjoyed the illustrations of the final story "Urgent Request". They are very simple and easy to look at and display the storyline well. Every student may not love all three stories, I certainly did not, but I enjoyed the book.

Shoes

Shoes by Elizabeth Winthrop is a simple picture book illustrating children using different types of shoes. There is only one or less than a full sentence on each page, making this an easy story for a very young student to read on their own. I liked that some of the words in the story would challenge a young reader, but would not be to difficult for them to get through on their own. The illustrations are simple and active on each page. This is definitely a book I would want on a bookshelf in my classroom.

Where the River Begins

Where the River Begins by Thomas Locker is a picture book about two children who go with their Grandfather to find where the river that passes by their house begins. The most attractive aspect of this book to me was its beautiful landscape illustrations. Each page had a gorgeous picture that displayed a different time of day or weather. The theme was about companionship and the how simple bonding can be. It doesn't take anything more than a long walk with someone you care about. I would use this book in my classroom if I wanted to have my students make text-to-self connections about someone they share companionship with.

Ben's Trumpet

Ben's Trumpet by Rachel Isadora is a story about a child who dreams of being a jazz musician. The story encompasses a theme about accomplishing, or striving to accomplish ones dreams. The character in the story, Ben, has a fantastic imagination that could show students the power of their imaginiations in their own lives. The illustrations are all black and white, but each page is different from the one before which is very interesting. I found the book to have a good lesson, and was very interesting because it is different from the typical picture book. I liked the artistic theme in it, both about the music and the books artwork.

The Relatives Came

The Relatives Came by Cynthia Rylant is a book about relationships among extended family members. I enjoyed the illustrations of this book immensely. I thought they were witty and entertaining. This is a great picture book for students to make connections due through schema's. The story is the perfect length. It is long enough, but not to long where the reader or listeners would lose interest in the story. I would use this book to work on schema's in my classroom.

Voices in the Park

Voices in the Park by Anthony Browne is a really neat book. It is the same story told form four different perspectives. The characters telling the story are a mother and son, and then a father and daughter. The story showed how different people can live in society and how they have different personalities and outlooks on the same situation. The illustrations display the characters as gorillas, but they encompass human characteristics which is interesting. I liked this specifically because it made the story different in the sense that it wasn't typical human beings telling a story about humanity. I would definitely use this story in my classroom.

Number the Stars

Number the Starts by Lois Lowry is great short novel for students to read. It is a fiction piece, but does a great job in describing what the holocaust was like. Certain subjects in school can be quite boring. Although the holocaust is not often considered boring, I think it is important to make learning enjoyable. Students love to read stories. If they can develop a better understanding of an event because there is a character developed for them, more power to the teacher. The book has it's sad moments, but ends on happily. Although not everyone who lived through the holocaust had such endings, the teacher can explain that as well. I think this book paired with a story such as Anne Frank would be two great readings to do in a classroom. I love stories that tell the truth about life. This book definitely does this.

The Man Who Lived in a Hollow Tree

The Man Who Lived in a Hollow Tree by Anne Shelby is a story that is one that involves the imagination. In the sleeve of the book, it says the book is based off of an old folk tale. It is a cute story that describes a humble man who gives back to the earth whenever he takes; meaning everytime he cuts down a tree, he plants two more. This man grows to live over a hundred years. He has a family and his legacy lives on. I liked the folk tale feeling of this book. It reminds me of the Old Lady that Lived in a Shoe. Folk tales are imporant for children to read. I think that the illustrations in this book could have been done better. That is my only argument with this book.

My Very Big Little World

I did not like the picture book My Very Big Little World by Peter H. Reynolds. The story was very choppy. It went from one thing to another without transitions. My largest problem is that is difficult to understand who the narrator of the story is without looking back. I had to reread the story three times before I realized who was narrating. The story starts off by saying, "My name is Sugarloaf.." and then two pages later it says, "Sugarlump is my baby sister.." which makes the story confusing because I assumed Sugarloaf and Sugarlump were the same person. I would not recommend this book.

Down the Road

Down the Road by Alice Schertle is a story about a daughter, Hettie, who has never been away from home alone. One day her parents decided she is old enough to travel all the way to the grocery store alone to grab some fresh eggs for breakfast. The story takes Hettie through a meadow, over a stream, and through town. In the end Hettie breaks the eggs on the walk home trying to picks apples to go along with the eggs she's bringing home. She is embarrassed when her parents find her hiding the the apple tree. Instead of getting upset, her parents are understanding and the three of them walk home and have an apple pie the next morning for breakfast instead of eggs. I liked the story because Hettie was a character any child could easily relate to. She was excited about her new responsibility, but had fun at the same time. In the end she learned not to fret over the little things. I loved the illustrations in this book. They reminded me of art that I would love to see at a museum. They were beautiful paintings of a young girl in simply beautiful place.

Who's in a Family?

Who's in a Family? by Robert Skutch is a book that shows many examples of how families can be made up. These examples include differences in gender, race, and even includes animal families. It is an easy book to read that any student could relate to. In the back of the book there is a blank template that a classroom teacher could create and hand out to their students. The students can then fill in, color, draw, describe their own families and what makes them unique. I liked this book as a way to get to know your students better. This book could invoke a lot of conversation in the classroom which would only benefit myself as a future teacher because it would allow me to view my students home lives as they view them.

Grace for President

Grace for President by Kelly DiPucchio is a story about an elementary school student, Grace, who after learning there had been no female presidents in the past decided to change that. She ran for school president against a popular and talented boy. In the end she won the presidency. I liked this book a lot because it teaches the reader the importance of hard work and motivation. While Thomas, the boy Grace ran against, went about his daily life, Grace campaigned and made changes to the school. When the students cast their votes for president the outcome was not because of gender, but because Grace was the best candidate for the job which is a great message to send kids. Students are capable to anything and this book can show them that they can reach as high as they want. They can even be the President of the United States of America someday.

Junie B. Jones Loves Handsome Warren

Junie B. Jones Loves Handsome Warren by Barbara Park is a cute short novel that belongs to the Junie B. Jones series of books. The story is short, only seventy pages, and the font is fairly large which makes it easy to read. The book is also split into seven chapters which allows a student time to read chapter by chapter and takes breaks along the way. Junie B. Jones is an adorable character who is developed very well. She is kooky, but she is a great example of what all kids should be like. Junie B. Jones embraces life and everything about who she is. In the last chapter she teaches both she and Warren a lesson about friendship; that you can have friends everywhere, you just need to be you. I loved this book, and would definitely be interested in reading more from this series.

Where the Wild Things Are

Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak is a fantastic book that through fantasy shows the reader the importance of home. The story begins with Maz being sent to his room for behaving too wildly. Once he is in his room, through his own fantasy, he is able to experience what wild things really are. He travels to meet other wild things are becomes their king. Eventually Max sends the wild things he meets off to bed without supper, just as he had been at the beginning of the story, and he heads back home to his bedroom. When he arrives home his supper is waiting for him in his room and the last line of the story is, "...and it was still hot." This is a great story that teaches children the wonders of imagination, but brings them back to the importance of reality and family. I think this is a great book to have children reading in the classroom.

Nothing To Do

Nothing To Do by Douglas Wood is a book full of things to be done when there is "nothing to do". It describes things that can be done during an season, at all times during the day. There are simple activities that can be done in the backyard of a child's home, and there are activities that involve travel. The illustrations in this book are beautiful as well. They have such detail. The only difficulty is that some are quite small and each page deserves time to be looked at which can be difficult in a classroom setting. I would suggest this book to be read the day before a non-attendance day at school. It would give the students the chance to brainstorm ideas of things they can do on their day that has no demands. It would be fantastic to discuss the activities each student took part in on their day off. I thought this was a great book to be used for fun a creativity in the classroom.

Guess Where You're Going, Guess What You'll Do

Guess Where You're Going, Guess What You'll Do by A. F. Bauman is a story that describes the great things kids can do without coming out and saying them. For instance, the first page of the book tells the reader to find their warmest clothes, and their winter hat and gloves. After every such description the statement "Guess where you're going. Guess what you'll do." is said. When the page is flipped, a wordless illustration of the scene described covers the pages. This book goes on to describe multiple scenarios. This book would be great to use as an on going project in a kindergarten classroom. Students could make their own books and describe what they would do in relation to what the books asks them. The illustrations are colorful and the book is simple.

Tom Goes to Kindergarten

Tom Goes to Kindergarten by Margaret Wild and David Legge is a cute story about a panda bear named Tom who can't wait to go to kindergarten. Then suddenly, on his first day, he doesn't want his family to leave him there. He is delighted when his teacher allows his family to stay with him for his first day of school. They spend the day playing which the entire family enjoys! When Tom arrives to his second day of kindergarten his parents are the ones who do not want to leave Tom behind, but they must. Tom's parents go back to their daily lives and wait for Tom to get home so that they can all play together, like on that first day of school.

This story was not what I thought it would be. I thought it would be a great book to read to a class of kindergartners on their first day of school, but when Tom's parents were allowed to stay for the entire first day I changed my mind. It is great that the story showed the reader how much fun kindergarten can be, but I did not like that it did not teach independence to Tom on his first day of school. This was a cute book, but shouldn't be read in a classroom setting.

Your Own Best Secret Place

Your Own Best Secret Place by Byrd Baylor and Peter Parnall is an interesting book. Its story is told in a awkward manner for young children to read. It is written in the form of poetry, but it does not read in that manner. I would image that this story would be challenging for young children to read on their own. The illustrations are also odd. They are made up of sketched pictures with mostly dull colors that. The characters displayed in the illustrations are always left uncolored. The story could be used to set up a project for students to describe their own secret places. Otherwise this story did not interest me.

Umbrella Summer

Umbrella Summer by Lisa Graff is a tear jerk-er about a girl named Annie. Annie's brother died leaving her worried all the time. She worries about everything from safely riding her bike to deadly diseases. Throughout the story Annie experiences a number a different changes in her life; the insertion of a new neighbor that she befriends being one of them. I loved the message this story told: the community could help Annie save herself, from herself. In the end Annie learns that worrying all the time is unnecessary and she learns to live her life with less worries! This book is a semi-long read, but definitely a great one.

BIG, SMALL, SHORT, TALL

Big, Small, Short, Tall by Loreen Leedy is a book that uses images of circus characters to teach antonyms to children. On side by side pages, each page of the book has one word on it. The words are antonyms of each other for example big and small. The images below show what each word means in relation to the other word. It is a very simple book with basic words, but could be very beneficial in a young classroom. The pictures are goofy and catch the eye of the reader or listener easily. This would be a great book to use in a classroom to begin teaching antonyms.

Who Is Your Favorite Monster, Mama?

Who Is Your Favorite Monster, Mama? by Barbara Hazen is a story about family. Harry the monster has two siblings and throughout the story is very frustrated with his mother for giving him less attention than his older sibling and his younger sibling. He goes throws a number of temper tantrums to realize at the end of the story that his mother loves each of her children equally because they are each individuals she is proud of. This story’s message at the end is good, but the way it is written made me dislike the story. The writing seemed chopping and changed pace without transitions.

Beach Play

Beach Play by Marsha Hayles is a picture book that describes all the possible activities one could do while at the beach. The book rhymes completely which is clever, but also makes it difficult to understand because there are no complete sentences; the book is made up of incomplete thoughts. In addition, the words are angled, diagonal, and different sizes making it difficult to read. The words also do not pop out of the page. Something good this book does offer is a large selection of verbs for students to pick out as either they read it, or it is read to them. This book has very colorful illustrations with ample detail that catches the eye of the reader.

Bella & Bean

Bella & Bean by Rebecca Kai Dotlich is an adorable picture book about best friends. The story starts off with Bella blowing off Bean because she is writing poetry. By the end of the story Bella realizes she misses Bean and they start writing poetry together. This book is great because is an example of a realistic friendship with well developed characters. It also does a great job of teaching young children how simple writing poetry can be. This book has great illustrations, and it is on the lengthier side meaning a teacher would most likely need to read this book her the students rather than the students being able to read it on their own. Overall, this is a great book to use in a classroom setting.

Ten Days and Nine Nights: An Adoption Story

Ten Days and Nine Nights: An Adoption Story by Yumi
Heo is about a girl whose family is adopting a baby. The girl counts the days and nights down until the moment her baby sister arrives home with her mother. On each day she states something that is being done to prepare for the baby’s arrival. This book is very simple for the youngest elementary school students. It has great illustrations and large print that makes it easy to read. This would be a good book to use if a student in the classroom were experiencing a future adoption in their family, or if the students are learning about adoption in general.

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