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.