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.