Informational Books and Biographies

Informational Books and Biographies

Author: Peggy Gifford
Title: Moxy Maxwell Does Not Love Stuart Little
Publisher: Yearling
Date: 2007

Age Level: Elementary (3-4)

Summary:
With summer coming to an end, about-to-be-fourth-grader Moxy Maxwell does a hundred different things to avoid reading her assigned summer reading book.
Strengths:
· This book was humorous and on a topic which students could relate to (not wanting to do summer reading).
· This book was written from the point of view of a child. There were not long sentences, or confusing words, but instead it was very age appropriate. I think this would help students, especially struggling readers, to get through and enjoy the book.
· Moxy learns her lesson, and by the end of the book has actually discovered that her mother was right all along and she does enjoy “Stuart Little.” This may help students to realize that their parents really do know what they are talking about, the majority of the time.
· The book includes real life photographs interspersed throughout the book, which adds to the story and are intertwined with the plot.

Concerns:
· This book shows many habits of procrastination, which may encourage students to try to be like Moxy and put off their work until the last minute.
· This book may not be considered, specifically, a biography, but was the closest thing that I could find on our Capital Choices list, from which we were required to have a book for each category.
Classroom use/Other comments:
· This book would likely be read by students individually, on their own time. It would be a great addition to the classroom library.


Author: Kathryn Lasky
Title: The Librarian who Measured the Earth
Publisher: Little, Brown, and Company
Date: 1994

Age Level: Elementary (3-4)

Summary:
Describes the life and work of Eratosthenes, the Greek geographer and astronomer who accurately measured the circumference of the earth.
Strengths:
· This book gives pronunciation guides for words that are hard to pronounce, such as Eratosthenes and Cyrene.
· This book puts a difficult concept into simple terms so that children can read and comprehend it.
· This book discusses important ancient scientific discoveries, that students may not have prior knowledge of.
· This book encourages students to ask questions, and try to figure out the answers to them, one way or another.

Concerns:
· This book discusses slavery in ancient Greece, which may be a problem in some school districts.
· The subject matter, though greatly broken down, is still rather complex for elementary students. This book would likely need supplemental information, and a great deal of teacher explanation.
Classroom use/Other comments:
· Many topics of conversation could stem from this book. For example, the reason why there were slaves back then, but are not now, or why girls were not allowed to go to school in ancient Greece.


Author: Judith St. George
Title: So you Want to be President?
Publisher: Philomel Books
Date: 2000
Age Level: Elementary (3-4)
Summary:
Presents an assortment of facts about the qualifications and characteristics of U.S. presidents, from George Washington to Bill Clinton.

Strengths:
· This book frames being president in terms of things that will make sense to students – for instance, discussing that one of the positive things about being president is that you don’t have to eat “yucky vegetables”.
· This book breaks the former presidents into interesting categories to look at, such as 6 presidents named James. These unique categories will help students remember the presidents better than if they were just told them straight out.
· This book teaches that anyone can be president, no matter how tall or wide or attractive or shy a person may be, and that we’ve had all sorts of different presidents.
Concerns:
· This book discusses President John Quincy Adams skinny-dipping, which is not really appropriate for students to read.
· This book only goes as far as Bill Clinton – when reading this book to the students, it would be necessary to discuss the more recent presidents as well.

Classroom use/Other comments:
· This book would be neat to use around President’s Day, or near the inauguration of a new president.


Author: Jim Murphy
Title: Across America on an Emigrant Train Publisher: Clarion Books
Date: 1993

Age Level: Upper (5-6)

Summary:
Combines an account of Robert Louis Stevenson’s experiences as he traveled from New York to California by train in 1879 and a description of the building and operation of railroads in nineteenth-century America.
Strengths:
· This book provides a number of great historical facts for students.
· The pictures in this book combine drawings with actual photographs, which helps make the book seem more real to students.

Concerns:
· I would not use this book to read straight through with the students. I would use pieces of it, or have them read a piece at a time, but I think it is too dull to have them read the whole thing at one time.
· Though this is meant to be an informational book, I think it contains a lot of facts jam packed into one book with not enough to keep students engaged in the story line. I think this would be a difficult book for students to read without becoming bored.

Classroom use/Other comments:
· This book, or parts of it, could be used in history class when studying immigration or railroads.


Author: Patricia Lauber
Title: The News About Dinosaurs
Publisher: Bradbury Press
Date: 1989
Age Level: Elementary (3-4)

Summary:
Discusses all of the latest scientific thinking about dinosaurs, with illustrations keyed to major topics.
Strengths:
· This book is informative, but not so overly crowded with facts so as not to appeal to younger students.
· The illustrations in this book are spectacular. They really show the expansive size of dinosaurs, even with such a small space on pages of a book to work with.
· This book not only gives names of dinosaurs, but tells how to say them, and gives interesting facts about them as well.
· This book ties facts about today’s animals to facts about the dinosaurs, and compares and contrasts the two.
Concerns:
· This book is a bit outdated. Although the information is good, I think there are other books out there that could provide more up to date information for students.
· This book may be a bit difficult, vocabulary wise for younger students.

Classroom use/Other comments:
· I would use this book to recommend to students who are particularly interested in dinosaurs. I do not think it would be a good book to simply read aloud to the whole class, but for students who show interest, this book can be informative and fun.

Blog I have Viewed

I looked at the blog Children's Literature Book Club, and responded to a post at:
http://childlitbookclub.blogspot.com/2009/01/walt-disneys-alice-in-wonderland-retold.html#links

I also looked at Planet Esme, and responded to a post at:
http://planetesme.blogspot.com/2009/01/gift-to-world.html#links

Finally, I looked at I.N.K., Interesting Nonfiction for Kids, and responded to a post at:
https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=1337206901491734394&postID=9017536561809147631&page=1

Traditional Literature

Traditional Literature

Author: Jerry Pinkney
Title: Little Red Riding Hood
Publisher: Little, Brown, and Company
Date: 2007

Age Level: Primary (K-2) or Elementary (3-4)

Summary:
A sweet little girl meets a hungry wolf in the forest while on her way to visit her grandmother.

Strengths:
· This book shows multiculturalism.
· The watercolor paintings used as pictures in this book are fantastic.
· This book shows students it is a bad idea to speak to strangers, even though the stranger in this book was in the form of a wolf.
· This is a fun retelling of the folktale that many students will already have heard.
· This book shows Little Red learning a lesson, to follow directions, which is important for students to learn.

Concerns:
· This book may be frightening for the younger grades. It is very blunt, unlike some other versions of the story. For instance, when the wolf goes in to see the grandmother, he “gobbled her down whole.”
· This telling of the story has the wolf eat Little Red Riding Hood, before she is rescued by the woodsman. I think this is too graphic for children.
Classroom use/Other comments:
· This book can be used when studying traditional folk tales.
· This book can be read aloud by the teacher, or by students if they are practicing their intonation.
· This book could be acted out by students, perhaps in a reader’s theatre.


Author: Tololwa M. Mollel
Title: The Orphan Boy
Publisher: Clarion Books
Date: 1990

Age Level: Elementary (3-4)

Summary:
Though delighted that an orphan boy has come into his life, an old man becomes insatiably curious about the boy’s mysterious powers.

Strengths:
· This book demonstrates that sometimes you have to accept things, and trust people, without always asking for a reason why.
· This book teaches words that some students may not be familiar with, such as what a drought is.
· This book is set in Africa, which gives a different perspective that what many books these days do.
· This book shows that it is important to follow directions and believe what you are told, so that you do not make the mistake the old man did, and ruin a secret.

Concerns:
· This book has some religious undertones that parents may not be pleased with.
· The story ends rather abruptly, and it may be hard for students to catch what has happened.

Classroom use/Other comments:
· This book teaches students what a folk tale is. They could use this book as a starting point to write their own folk tales, perhaps about the stars and planets as in this one.


Author: Eric Kimmel
Title: The Adventures of Hershel of Ostropol
Publisher: Holiday House
Date: 1981, 1995

Age Level: Elementary (3-4)

Summary:
Stories about a clever man who lived by his wits as his pockets were always empty.
Strengths:
· This book is compiled of a number of short stories, which are each funny and show Hershel’s great ability to get around things.
· This book made me laugh out loud at parts, I think students would really enjoy it.
· Although there are many separate stories in this book, they are all about the same characters, which allows the book to flow a bit more than it would otherwise.
· The plot is exciting and fun, which makes the reader want to continue reading.
· This book shows students how to reason through and get around problems, such as not having money.

Concerns:
· This book shows Hershel lying to get away with things, and I think that is not a great lesson for students to learn.
· Other than that, however, I found this to be a great book that students would enjoy reading or having read to them, and found no other concerns.
Classroom use/Other comments:
· This book could be read aloud to students, one short story at a time, as a reward for completing work, or behaving well.
· This book could also be read individually by students, although it may be a bit long for a 3rd or 4th grade student.


Author: Paul Zelinsky
Title: Rapunzel
Publisher: Dutton Children’s Books Date: 1997

Age Level: Primary (K-2) or Elementary (3-4)

Summary:
A retelling of the German folktale in which a beautiful girl with long golden hair is kept imprisoned in a lonely tower by a sorceress.

Strengths:
· This book gives background information not told in the traditional fairy tale version of Rapunzel, which I think is very helpful in turning it into a children’s story.
· The pictures of this book are very descriptive and follow the story well.
Concerns:
· Some of the images in this book of the sorceress may be too frightening for young children.
· This book shows a very unrealistic view of life. Children may come out of hearing this book thinking that all they have to do is sing prettily in order to make a boy fall in love with them.
· This book does not show much of concept of time – one page Rapunzel is young and almost the next she is being proposed to.
· This book also gives children the idea that by crying into a blind person’s eyes, they will be able to see again.

Classroom use/Other comments:
· I do not think I would use this version of the book in my classroom. It was too explicit, and did not seem particularly appropriate for young children, despite the fact that it is a children’s book.


Author: Jane Yolen
Title: Sleeping Ugly
Publisher: Coward-McCann, Inc
Date: 1981

Age Level: Elementary (3-4)

Summary:
When beautiful Princess Miserella, Plain Jane, and a fairy fall under a sleeping spell, a prince undoes the spell in a surprising way.

Strengths:
· This book teaches students that what is in on the inside is more important than what is on the outside.
· This book teaches students the importance of being kind and having manners, and how in the end these can prove to be very important qualities to have.
· This book is a spoof of the original fairy tales, and is fun to read and different.
· The pictures that accompany the text follow the story well and are fun to look at for the reader.

Concerns:
· Plain Jane is considered to be ugly in this book. I think students are being taught that looks do not matter, but at the same time, think that they shouldn’t be taught that being ‘plain’ means being ugly.


Classroom use/Other comments:
· This book could be read by students on their own, or could be used by the teacher in a unit on fairy tales. The teacher could use this book to demonstrate differences between types of fairy tales.

Graphic Novels

Author: Jennifer L. Holm
Title: Middle School is Worse that Meatloaf
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Date: 2007
Age Level: Upper (5-6)

Summary:
This is a graphic novel telling the tales of Ginny, a 12 year old starting middle school, through notes and receipts, and other creative forms other than straight writing.
Strengths:
· This book is a great way to get students who are hesitant to read to get started. Because there are not big blocks of writing, and the pages are filled with just notes and other such items, it is more fun and easy to read.
· This book is humorous, and easy to relate to for students.
· This book shows how difficult it can be to lose a parent and have the other get remarried, which is something that students in the class may be able to relate to.

Concerns:
· This book may be a bit hard to follow for students who are not completely focused on reading it.
· This book says some things about eight graders that I do not think are entirely appropriate for elementary school students, such as the fact that one eighth grader drank a wine cooler on the bus and tried to kiss her teacher.

Classroom use/Other comments:
· This book can’t really be read aloud to students, and thus would be better suited for being read by students on their own. It would be a great addition to the classroom library because it is a different format that most books, and is fun and exciting to read.


Author: J. Torres
Title: Days Like This
Publisher: ONI Press, Inc
Date: 2003

Age Level: Upper (5-6)

Summary:
This is a comic book about 3 girls who are discovered by a woman starting her own record company, who want to make it big in the music world.

Strengths:
· This book uses dialects to show multiculturalism.
· This book is a bit dated, but can help introduce students to information about the past, and what records were.
· Realistic conflict is shown in the storyline, such as Christina’s father disagreeing with the idea of her making a record. This is something many students will be able to relate to.

Concerns:
· In this book, the African-American woman refers to the white woman as “Mrs. Anna”, but Anna calls the African-American woman simply “Lillian”. I thought that seemed discriminatory, and may cause for questions.
· There is an allusion to drinking because you are upset about something, which is not appropriate for students.
· The heavier girl is called out as being ‘fat’, whereas the other two girls get referred to as ‘skinny’.
Classroom use/Other comments:
· This book could be read individually by students, and could perhaps be acted out as a class play.


Author: Satoshi Kitamura
Title: Comic Adventures of Boots
Publisher: Farrar Straus Grioux
Date: 2002

Age Level: Elementary (3-4)

Summary:
This is a comic book of a few short stories about a mischievous cat named Boots.

Strengths:
· This book demonstrates some problem solving techniques.
· Children may appreciate that this book has nothing to do with schoolwork, but can be something they can read on their own just for fun.
· This book may be a way to get struggling readers to enjoy reading. It is simple, easy to read, and quick to get through.

Concerns:
· This book doesn’t really seem to have a point to it.
· The storyline of this book is very basic and broken up, because it is a number of short stories. This makes it kind of hard to follow, and even harder to get into it and be interested by it.
Classroom use/Other comments:
· This book could be used in a classroom library for students to read to themselves. The teacher could turn this into a reader’s theatre, or just have students take turns reading the parts of different characters aloud.


Author: Ted Naifeh
Title: Courtney Crumrin in the Twilight Kingdom
Publisher: ONI Press, Inc
Date: 2004
Age Level: Upper (5-6)

Summary:
This is a comic book about two friends who have been apart for awhile and are now learning all of the ways that they have changed since they last saw each other, but still want to look out for each other.

Strengths:
· This book shows conflict between friends who have been apart for awhile. This is something students may have gone through themselves, and thus may be able to relate to.
Concerns:
· The narrator speaks in a dialect that is difficult to read smoothly, so it is a bit difficult to read. This may be hard for struggling readers.
· The characters commonly call each other “buttface”. Although this is not a ‘bad word’ per se, it does seem to encourage name calling.
· This book shows ghosts and other unreal characteristics of people, but plays them into the storyline as if they were real. I think that may be confusing for students.
· This book may be a bit too frightening for students. It’s not outright scary, just has some creepy undertones to it.
· There are a few curse words in this book, though they are few and far between.
Classroom use/Other comments:
· This book could potentially be in a classroom library, though I don’t think I would have it in mine. Students could read it individually, but I would not recommend it to them myself.


Author: Jacqueline Preiss Weitzman and Robin Preiss Glasser
Title: You Can’t Take a Balloon Into the Metropolitan Museum
Publisher: Dial Books for Young Readers
Date: 1998

Age Level: Primary (K-2)

Summary:
In this wordless story a young girl and her grandmother view works inside The Metropolitan Museum of Art, while the balloon she has been forced to leave outside floats around New York City, causing a series of mishaps that mirror scenes in the museum’s artwork.

Strengths:
· The fact that this book does not have words can really be seen as a plus, because it tells the story in a way that even beginning or struggling readers can understand.
· I like that in the illustrations the part that they are focusing on is in color, and the background is in black and white. It really draws the reader’s eye where it’s meant to go.
· This book teaches students in a fun way about a cultural experience of visiting the Met.
· This book also teaches students about New York City itself, and musicians, mimes, and other such happenings on the streets of New York.
· Some of the illustrations include actual photographs of artwork from the Met, which helps show students what it looks like.

Concerns:
· Not all students may respond well to the wordlessness of this book. Some students may prefer a book that has words to go along with the pictures.
· There are many side stories within the overall story of visiting the museum, and this may be difficult for some students. Some may get overwhelmed and shut down and not gain any information at all.

Classroom use/Other comments:
· This book is too long to be read as a class, in my opinion, even though it doesn’t have words. I think it would be best used if read individually by students so that they can spend as much time as necessary looking at the pictures and gaining information from it.

Science Fiction/Fantasy

Author: Jane Yolen
Title: Commander Toad and the Voyage Home
Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons
Date: 1998

Age Level: Elementary (3-4)

Summary:
Commander Toad leads the lean green space machine “Star Warts” to find new worlds, but runs into trouble when he sets course for home.
Strengths:
· This book is good for readers who are need help getting hooked on reading. It is fun and exciting, but fairly simple to read.
· This book is very expressive – it incorporates sounds such as “Aaaaa-ooooo-ga” to really emphasize the story.
· The pictures in this book complement the story well, making it easier for beginning readers to follow the story, while not actually being a picture book.
· This book has some rhyming, which can be helpful to students’ phonemic awareness development.

Concerns:
· This book is relatively easy to read, but has some difficult vocabulary, and a lot of hyphenated words, such as swamp-side, and high-rise, which may confuse students.
· Some of the references in this book, such as the name of the ship being “Star Warts”, will likely go right over students’ heads.

Classroom use/Other comments:
· This book could be used individually by students to practice reading.
· This book could also be turned into a reader’s theatre, to practice fluency, because of its large number of characters and spoken lines.

Author: Mary Pope Osborne
Title: Dinosaurs Before Dark
Publisher: Random House
Date: 1992

Age Level: Elementary (3-4)

Summary:
Eight year old Jack and his younger sister Annie find a magic tree house, which whisks them back to an ancient time zone where they see live dinosaurs.

Strengths:
· This book is exciting, but easy to read.
· The text in this book is very simple, and thus good for beginning readers.
· This book has some good facts about dinosaurs, which are incorporated into the text and students will inherently pick up on.
· This book is the first of many like it, and is a good start to a series which many young students can enjoy. Beginning readers will feel excited to be able to read a series, but the books will be on their level.

Concerns:
· The language in this book is not particularly imaginative. For example, when teaching students how to write, the teacher generally tries to get them to use synonyms for the word "said" rather than just stating "said Annie" all the time. In this book, however, "said" is used quite often.

Classroom use/Other comments:
· This book could be read aloud to students, or could be kept in the classroom library for students to read on their own. This book could be used in a unit on dinosaurs.



Author: Mo Willems
Title: There is a Bird on your Head
Publisher: Hyperion Books for Children
Date: 2007

Age Level: Primary (K-2)

Summary:
This book is about a pair of friends, an elephant and a pig, who must figure out how to deal with the fact that birds have built a nest on the elephant’s head.

Strengths:
· This book demonstrates the basic principle of reading spoken sentences, written in text bubbles, similar to comic strips.
· This book is very simple, which makes it easy for beginning readers to read on their own.
· This book is funny, and the pictures complement the story well.
· This book teaches students basic manners, such as asking for something if you want it to happen.

Concerns:
· The students should be reminded that elephants and pigs cannot actually speak, and that this story is not something that could actually happen.
· This book is not a traditional format, and thus may be difficult for beginning readers to read on their own.

Classroom use/Other comments:
· This book could be read alone by students, or could be out loud by the teacher. It could also be used for choral reading, where the whole class reads aloud with the teacher, because it is short, but expressive.



Author: Pam Conrad
Title: The Tub Grandfather
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Date: 1993

Age Level: Primary (K-2)

Summary:
When the Tub Child discovers his missing grandfather asleep under the radiator, the whole Tub family rallies to wake him up.
Strengths:
· This book is fun and imaginative, and one of my personal favorites.
· This story relates something that all relates to most children, taking a bath, and playing with toys.
· The illustrations show movement, but with just small changes in the tub people. This really captures that they are toys and cannot move much, but also still conveys that the toy has moved, or is looking a certain direction.

Concerns:
· I wonder if this book would give students a false hope that their toys may be alive as well.
· I wonder if this may cause students to contemplate where their grandfather/grandmother may be, if they have passed away. I wonder if students may take this to mean that their grandfather as well may be lying somewhere asleep under a radiator.

Classroom use/Other comments:
· I would use this book to read aloud to the class, and perhaps have the students act it out.
· This book could encourage student creativity and imagination, and students could write a story like this on their own.


Author: Lois Lowry
Title: The Giver
Publisher: Laurel Leaf Books
Date: 1993

Age Level: Upper (5-6)

Summary:
This book is about a society in which everything is strictly regulated and everyone is raised to be exactly the same as everyone else.

Strengths:
· This book could really give students an appreciation for the freedoms that they have. Because it shows a society with such tight rules and no room to speak out for yourself, it will make students realize that what they have is a blessing.
· This book seems very realistic, and thus pulls the reader in, really wanting to know what will happen next.
· The terms in this book are very appropriate. For instance, the town that they live in is called “Sameness”, and in that town, everyone is supposed to be exactly the same.

Concerns:
· This book may raise a lot of questions with students, about different types of societies. It may be hard for them to separate this fictional society from those that actually appear in America.
· This book shows a lot of pain and struggles that Jonas, the main character, must go through, as well as some insubordination to authority figures.

Classroom use/Other comments:
· This book could be used to teach students about different lifestyles. It also has a very abrupt ending, and could be used to foster students’ imagination, by asking them to write an alternate ending, or to add an extra chapter to the book.

Poetry

Author: Kobayashi Issa
Title: Today and Today
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Date: 2007

Age Level: Primary (K-2) or Elementary (3-4)

Summary:
This book is a collection of haikus that tells the story of the four seasons.

Strengths:
· This book shows students what haiku is, and how it can be used creatively to make a story.
· This book is inspirational.
· This book has beautiful pictures.
· Although the text of it seems very simple, because each page contains just a haiku, there is so much more to the story than there seems, which can help students understand how they can express so much in so few words.

Concerns:
· Younger classes may not understand the concept of the haiku, and how they all fit together to tell the story.

Classroom use/Other comments:
· This book could be used when teaching students about poetry. It will show them a practical application of a haiku, as well as how to use poetry to create stories.


Author: Woody Guthrie
Title: This Land is Your Land
Publisher: Little, Brown, and Company
Date: 1998

Age Level: Primary (K-2)

Summary:
This book is a story version of the song “This Land is Your Land”, a patriotic tribute to America.
Strengths:
· The pictures in this book are spectacular. They tell a story as much as the words do, if not more so. Some pages have alternate story lines, and tell a story about the author as well. These can be followed as well, or you can simply follow the main story line and just look at the pictures, whichever you choose. It’s a neat option to have.
· This book really turns the song into a modern version, with pictures kids can relate to, such as bright beaches and libraries.
· The refrain of the song and story, which comes up again and again in the book is fun for students, and helps younger students follow along and stay engaged.

Concerns:
· I had no concerns about this book. It was appropriate, well written, beautifully illustrated, and engaging for students, especially in the younger grades.
Classroom use/Other comments:
· This book could be used for a choral reading or group sing. The teacher could also read portions of the book and have the class join in on the chorus. It really enhances class participation.


Author: Sharon Creech
Title: Love That Dog
Publisher: Joanna Cotler Books
Date: 2001

Age Level: Upper (5-6)

Summary:
A young student, who comes to love poetry through a personal understanding of what different famous poems mean to him, surprises himself by writing his own inspired poem.

Strengths:
· This book is written in the form of a journal and easy for students to read and relate to.
· This book shows students that it’s okay not to understand what some poems mean, and that others may have difficulty with poetry also. It also shows, however, that if you persevere, you may find that you actually enjoy the area in which you are struggling.
· This book goes through this student’s stages of realizing his love for poetry, and can be inspiring for the students.
· This book does a great job of incorporating poetry into a storyline, and is about subject matter that students will find relevant to their lives.


Concerns:
· This book is not written in a traditional format, which may be confusing for some students.
· This book talks about the death of a dog in rather graphic terms, which may be upsetting to some students.
Classroom use/Other comments:
· This book could be used in a poetry unit, to be read by the students, or even for the teacher to read aloud, a piece at a time. The class could then follow the storyline, writing their own poems, and perhaps even writing letters to their favorite authors as well.


Author: Illustrated by Javaka Steptoe
Title: In Daddy’s Arms I am Tall
Publisher: Lee and Low Books, Inc
Date: 1997

Age Level: Elementary (3-4)
Summary:
A collection of poems celebrating African American fathers by Angela Johnson, E. Ethelbert Miller, Carol Boston Weatherford, and others.
Strengths:
· I loved that the illustrations in this book were non-traditional. Rather than being simple drawings, they seem to have many layers and look to be created out of different items. This really adds to the book.
· The poems in this book are ones that, for the most part, although they are written predominately for African Americans, can be related to by everyone. I particularly like the poem called “Tickle Tickle”.
· These poems are ones that could be used in the younger grades, and just read for pleasure, or could be used with older grades, and analyzed and looked at in a deeper way.

Concerns:
· Some of the poems do not have correct grammatical form, for instance not using capitalization. It would need to be explained to the students that this is a form some poets like to use, but that this is not usual, and that for most writing they still have to follow traditional procedures.
· Some of the language in this book is not traditional English. While I think this can be useful, for students who speak with this particular dialect to recognize that others speak the way they do, I also think it is important to emphasize the meaning of using Standard English to the students.
Classroom use/Other comments:
· This book could be read to the class either straight through as a book, or one poem at a time.
· This book could also be used to teach students about non-traditional ways of illustrating books, and could be a starting point for an arts lesson.



Author: Dennis Lee
Title: Alligator Pie
Publisher: Macmillan of Canada
Date: 1974

Age Level: Primary (K-2)

Summary:
This book contains funny rhyming poetry for children, beginning with the much loved “Alligator Pie”.

Strengths:
· The poems in this book are great for helping students to learn about rhyming.
· The poems are upbeat and fun to learn.
· Though these poems are whimsical and don’t make much sense, they are easy to fall in love with, and the cadence and rhythm of the poems make them fun to read.
· For beginning readers, this book can help demonstrate that reading can indeed be a fun experience.

Concerns:
· These poems don’t concern real life problems, they are just silly and for fun.
· Despite this, I believe that there is a place for a book like this in the classroom. I think this book could be used, in part or in whole, to encourage students to get their work done. If they finish their work, they can hear another fun poem from this book.

Classroom use/Other comments:
· These poems could be read aloud to students, or students could perform them on their own. They could be used in a choral reading to help students develop reading fluency.

Realistic Fiction 1/28/09

Realistic Fiction

Author: Robert McCloskey
Title: Make Way For Ducklings
Publisher: The Viking Press
Date: 1969

Age Level: Primary (K-2)

Summary:
A father and mother duck decide to start a family in the middle of a big city. They make friends with a policeman, and when the eight eggs hatch into ducklings, the duck family is able to walk across town and through the streets. The policemen stop traffic, causing everyone to make way for the ducklings, as they walk across town to their new home.

Strengths:
· The names of the ducklings all rhyme (Jack, Kack, Lack, etc), which helps promote phonemic awareness.
· This is a fun book that students can have fun listening to or reading on their own.
· The pictures in this book, although they are all brown and white, are fun to look at and very expressive.
· This book promotes family life, even in the form of ducks, which is important for students of this age to see.

Concerns:
· I wonder how students would react to the ducks’ talking in this book. I wonder if they would get confused and begin thinking ducks were capable of speech.
Classroom use/Other comments:
· This book could be read to the students, or could be a book students could read to themselves when a little older and practicing their individual reading skills.


Author: Bernard Waber
Title: Ira Sleeps Over
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Company
Date: 1972

Age Level: Primary (K-2)

Summary:
This is a book about a young boy named Ira, who is about to go on his first sleepover. He is deciding whether or not to take his teddy bear with him, with whom he has never slept before. His sister convinces him that he should not, because his friend Reggie will make fun of him. When it is time for bed, however, Ira discovers Reggie sleeps with a teddy bear as well. Ira then goes home to get his teddy bear, realizing there is no need to be embarrassed.

Strengths:
· This book teaches children that it is okay to have a teddy bear or a blanket to sleep with, and that they should not be embarrassed by it.
· This book goes through the process of a first sleepover, so children who have not been on a sleepover before, may learn what it is like.

Concerns:
· Some parents may not want their children to be encouraged to sleep with stuffed animals, and thus may not like their children to hear this book.
· This book demonstrates sibling rivalry. I wonder if the children might consider sibling rivalry to be acceptable after reading about it in this book.

Classroom use/Other comments:
· This book can be read to the class for fun, or can be read by students on their own. Perhaps if students begin discussing sleepovers, this would be a fun book to recommend or to read to them.


Author: Ellen Raskin
Title: The Westing Game
Publisher: Dutton Children’s Books
Date: 1978

Age Level: Upper (5-6)
Summary:
The mysterious death of an eccentric millionaire brings together an unlikely assortment of heirs who must uncover the circumstances of his death before they can claim their inheritance.

Strengths:
· This book forces students to use reasoning skills to try to figure out who the murderer is.
· This book has a brilliant plot that all comes together at the end. It really enforces the idea of paying close attention while reading, so that you don’t miss anything important.
· The plot of this book is exciting enough to pull students through reading it. There are so many cliffhangers throughout the book, that even students who generally don’t like to read will get caught up in the plot and want to keep reading in order to find out what happens.

Concerns:
· Some parts of this book are a little bit hard to follow. It jumps quickly through the weeks and months, and if you aren’t paying close attention, it would be easy to get confused.
· This book shows some stereotyping, especially of Asians. I feel that it would be necessary to discuss with the students the importance of accepting everyone as individuals.

Classroom use/Other comments:
· This book could be used as a mystery. Students could be told to read only certain sections at a time, then make predictions about what they think will happen or who they think the murderer is. When they have finished the book, they can go back through all of their predictions, and see how accurate they were.



Author: Eleanor Estes
Title: The Hundred Dresses
Publisher: Harcourt Brace & Company
Date: 1972

Age Level: Elementary (3-4)

Summary:
In winning a medal she is no longer there to receive, a little Polish girl teaches her classmates a lesson.

Strengths:
· This book shows students how painful it can be to be teased, and how important it is to do the right thing and not be a bully.
· This book, though it is a chapter book, has sketches alongside some of the pages that help demonstrate what is happening in the book.
· Students can see from this book what the consequences of their mean actions may be, and hopefully will learn to be nice to their fellow students.
· This book shows how important it is to have an imagination, and that using your imagination can help you get through the toughest of times.

Concerns:
· Some students may be able to relate to Wanda, the Polish girl who gets made fun of, better than others. They may feel singled out, or embarrassed to hear a story that relates so much to their own life.
Classroom use/Other comments:
· This book could easily be read aloud to students, or could be read by students themselves. Though it is a chapter book, it has small pages with large print, and some of the pages are broken up by sketches.
· This book could be used in the classroom if they are having problems with bullies and the teacher wants to demonstrate how painful being the one who is being bullied can be.


Author: Andrew Clements
Title: No Talking
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Date: 2007

Age Level: Upper (5-6)

Summary:
The noisy fifth-grade boys of Laketon Elementary School challenge the equally loud fifth-grade girls to a “no talking” contest.

Strengths:
· This book demonstrates to students how important it can be to think before speaking.
· This book shows students how important it is for everyone to get along, and not divide boys versus girls.
· This book is written in a way that is easy to follow for elementary students. It is somewhat simplistic, but perfect for fifth and sixth graders.
· The challenge given in this book of no talking seems like an unlikely one, but the author goes through each of the steps well enough that it is clear to see how it was able to work.
· The students show a great deal of maturation from the beginning to the end of the book.

Concerns:
· This book shows that the principal has no control over this particular group of fifth-graders. I wonder if students would get into their minds that if they could be as unruly as the bunch in the book, the teachers wouldn’t be able to control them either.

Classroom use/Other comments:
· This book could be used in a literature class, and could even be used to challenge the students themselves to spend a certain period of time not speaking, just seeing what it is like to observe the world around them.

Picture Books 1/26/09

Picture Books:

Author: Ann Turner
Title: Katie’s Trunk
Publisher: Macmillan Publishing Company
Date: 1992
Age Level: Elementary (3-4)

Summary:
This is a book about a girl named Katie, whose family sympathizes with the English in the Revolutionary War. It shows what it is like to be a child during that time period, and Katie’s family has to hide in the woods when the ‘rebels’ come to raid their house. Katie is so angry that these people, who used to be family friends, are invading their house, simple because they are ‘Tories’. She runs back to her house and hides in a trunk, where she is almost found, but spared by a man whom she used to know. Katie realizes, at the end of this book, that there are still good people out there, even though a war is going on.
Strengths:
· The book is written in such a way that you feel you really get to know what it would be like to live in the time of the Revolutionary War.
· Although the subject matter, of the war, is difficult to approach, the author makes it appropriate for younger children, and does not even use the word war in the book.
· Uses terms such as ‘rebel’ and ‘Tory’, which could be incorporated into a history lesson to teach students more about the Revolutionary War.
· Ends on a positive note, giving the students the impression that there is good in everyone.

Concerns:
· The book talks about Katie praying to God. Would this be a problem for reading the book in school?
· The story line seemed a little bit hard to follow, such as the reason for Katie’s anger, and why she ran from her parents the way that she did. I wonder if young students may not catch some of the finer details of the story.

Classroom use/Other comments:
· This book could be used in the classroom in a history class. It is a well-written story, and thus could be read aloud to the students, but likely would be closely paired with history, because of its context in relation to the Revolutionary War.
· Although this book is a picture book, and the format seems like it could be used in a first or second grade classroom, I would recommend it for a third or fourth grade class, based on the subject matter.


Author: Gloria Houston
Title: My Great-Aunt Arizona
Publisher: Harper Collins Publishers Date: 1992

Age Level: Elementary (3-4)
Summary: An Appalachian girl, Arizona, grows up to become a teacher who influences generations of schoolchildren.

Strengths:
· Repetition, which is helpful for students who are beginning to learn to read.
· Set close to home, in the Blue Ridge Mountains, which may be of interest to students.
· Tells of all the things there were to do in the Blue Ridge Mountains at the time Arizona was growing up – dancing to fiddle music, making maple syrup, etc.
· Gives a great description of what school used to be like, when it was in a one room schoolhouse. This could be fun to discuss with the children, as they compare and contrast their schooling with Arizona’s.
· Wonderful illustrations.
Concerns:
· There is some vocabulary that students might not know, that would need to be clarified. For example, many elementary school students these days won’t know the term ‘petticoats’.
· This book is more of a timeline of Arizona’s life. I wonder if students would have the patience to sit through it, when it is more history based, and less fun. This is why I recommend it for the slightly older grades.

Classroom use/Other comments:
· This book could be used to depict what it was like living in a different time period.
· This book could be used to show students how important teachers are, and what an impact they can have on students’ lives.


Author: Dave Pilkey
Title: The Paperboy
Publisher: Orchard Books
Date: 1996

Age Level: Primary (K-2)

Summary: A paperboy and his dog enjoy the quiet of the early morning as they go about their rounds.

Strengths:
· This book shows the responsibility and importance of having a job, and how you can make it a fun experience.
· This book has paintings for illustrations, which really draws the eye to look at them closely.

Concerns:
· This book does not have much practical application to school, it is more of a ‘just for fun’ book.
· This book shows a young boy out on a paper route, with only his dog for a companion. I wonder how many students’ parents would allow them to go around their neighborhood alone in the dark, as times have changed some since the book was written. This may not be as believable as it might once have been for children.

Classroom use/Other comments
· This book could be read aloud to the class as a fun book, or could be used in the classroom library as a book students could read on their own.


Author: Maurice Sendak
Title: Where the Wild Things Are
Publisher: Harper Collins Publishers
Date: 1963

Age Level: Primary (K-2)

Summary: This is a book about a boy, Max, who is sent to bed without supper, and travels from his bedroom to a place 'where the wild things are'. He creates mischief for a time, but realizes he wants to go home, where he smells good things to eat. When he returns home, he finds his mother has left his supper in his room for him to eat.

Strengths:
· This book emphasizes the importance of having a vivid imagination.
· This book introduces fun new vocabulary words such as gnashed and rumpus.
· The illustrations are captivating, and there are even some double-page spreads of just pictures without words. These pages are just as exciting as the ones with words, and really draw the reader in.
· This book has an exciting storyline, and would be very fun for children to read or have read to them.
· Although this book discusses monsters, the pictures portray them in ways that they are not scary for young children to look at.
· This book shows that if you are naughty, you will have to serve a punishment for it, such as being sent to your room without supper. If you change your behavior, however, you may be rewarded, as Max was when he was given his supper at the end of the book.

Concerns:
· This book has quite a bit of fantasy in it. I wonder if children would be able to separate what is real from what is made up, and if they would begin to believe that monsters are real by reading this book.

Classroom use/Other comments
· This would be a great book to read aloud to students while they look at the pictures, in the primary grades.
· This is also a book that students could use in upper elementary school to practice reading with proper intonation and giving voices to characters.



Author: Mo Willems
Title: Knuffle Bunny Too
Publisher: Hyperion Books for Children
Date: 2007

Age Level: PreK or Primary (K-2)

Summary:
This is a book of a preschool child who goes to her first day of school, bringing along her beloved one of a kind Knuffle Bunny, only to find one of her friends has the same one. When the bunnies get switched, the girls and their fathers must meet in the middle of the night to switch them back, before the girls are able to sleep.

Strengths:
· The pictures in this book are fantastic. They are a combination of photographs and drawings. The backgrounds of the pictures are black and white photos, with color drawings of the characters on top. It really draws the reader in, and makes the book seem more realistic.
· I like that some of the things that are said in the book are shown in text bubbles, while the rest of the text is written straight out. It adds personality to the book.
· I like that the text size varies for some words.
· The print size is large, so that young children can follow along with it as the teacher is reading to them.
· The pictures follow the story very well, but also expand on the text.

Concerns:
· I did not have any concerns about this book, I thought it was fun, well written, with great pictures.

Classroom use/Other comments:
· This would be a fun book to read on the first day of school, either for preK or kindergarteners, since it is set on the first day of school.

Annotated Bibliography 1/21/09

Historical Fiction:

Author: Ellen Levine
Title: Henry’s Freedom Box
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Date: 2007

Age Level: Elementary (3-4)

Summary:
In this book, Henry is a slave, who is sold from his family at a young age. He meets a woman, marries, her, and they have children. He thinks he couldn’t be happier, but then one day his wife and children are sold, and there is nothing he can do to stop it. Henry decides to mail himself to freedom, with the help of a kind doctor who disagrees with slavery. He boxes himself up, and is shipped to Pennsylvania, where he is free at last.

Strengths:
· This book has a good balance between showing the despair that slaves had to go through when their family was sold, and the joys they could have in life, whether by getting married, or by finally obtaining freedom.
· This book ends on a happy note, when Henry is finally free.
· It is very interesting to think about what it would be like to send yourself somewhere in the mail, and to be so desperate to escape that you would resort to that. This could be an interesting conversation to have with the students.

Concerns:
· This book shows a lot of pain experienced by Henry and his family. I wonder if the students would react poorly to seeing that pain.
· Henry is shown as intentionally hurting himself in order to get off work so he could ship himself to Philadelphia. It would need to be discussed with the class that this is not an acceptable thing to do, and that Henry was very desperate when he did so.

Classroom use/Other comments:
· This book can be used when studying the Civil War, and slavery.
· This book can also be used as a starting point for a project where students use their imaginations. If Henry could be clever enough to think to mail himself to Philadelphia, what are some ways that students could think of, that slaves might have been able to get themselves to freedom?
· I thought this was a fabulous book, very well written, and it really shows what it was like to be a slave, without going into too much detail. It is appropriate for younger grades, although I would still reserve it for 3rd grade and up, because of the subject matter.


Author: Michael Bedard
Title: Emily
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Date: 1992

Age Level: Primary (K-2) or Elementary (3-4)

Summary:
In this book, a young girl moves to a house next door to a woman who never left her house, one who is revealed at the end of the book to be Emily Dickinson. Emily asked the girl’s mother to come play piano for her, and the girl was able to go along. During this time, she was able to discover the meaning of poetry, and to exchange gifts with Emily herself.

Strengths:
· This book gives a good definition to poetry, which can often be a term that is difficult to explain to young children.
· Very descriptive writing, easy to create a picture in your mind of what is happening.
· This book tells a lot about Emily Dickinson, but in the form of a story. It is exciting for the reader, and not dry as sometimes biographies can be.
· This book shows acceptance for those who are different than we are – although Emily chose not to leave her house, the young girl was able to find ways to relate to her, in areas such as a love for gardening.

Concerns:
· I did not find any concerns about this book. It is well written and informative, but fun to read and enjoyable.

Classroom use/Other comments:
· This book could be used when studying poetry, and learning how to write poems.
· This book could be used either in a primary or elementary level classroom. It may be a bit long to use in some primary classrooms, but there is nothing in the subject matter that would prevent a teacher with a class whose attention span was long enough from reading it to them.




Author: Mary Ann Rodman
Title: Yankee Girl
Publisher: Farrar Straus Giroux, New York
Date: 2004

Age Level: Upper (5-6)

Summary:
Alice was a 6th grader whose father was an FBI agent in 1964. He was moved from Chicago to Mississippi, where the integrating of schools had just begun. Alice goes to school with people much more prejudiced than she had ever been. There was one black girl who was part of the integration process, Valerie, who was in Alice’s class. Alice had to learn how to balance her desire to be friends with Valerie with her desire to be popular. The other students made it clear that Alice could not have both. This book follows her struggles to find how to do ‘the right thing’ as her parents had raised her, while still trying to fit in with the other sixth graders.

Strengths:
· This book shows very real struggles for middle school students, both in learning to accept everyone, even if they’re different, and in learning not to give in to peer pressure.
· This book shows students how complicated of a process integrating schools truly was.
· Alice can be a great example for students, because even though she had trouble doing what she knew was the right thing throughout the book, she ultimately made good decisions, and it is important for students to see that if they persevere, they can do the right thing also.
· This book handles a delicate topic in a very appropriate manner for school children.

Concerns:
· This book uses the term “nigger”. Even though it is clearly portrayed in the book as an inappropriate term, would this book be able to be read in a classroom?

Classroom use/Other comments:
· This book can be used in a classroom when studying the civil rights movement, and when discussing the integration of schools. This would be a good book to read leading up to the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.
· This book was skillfully written, handled difficult topics well, and had a gripping plot. Many students would relate to the characters in one way or another, and thus be more interested in continuing the book.


Author: Richard Peck
Title: On the Wings of Heroes
Publisher: The Penguin Group
Date: 2007

Age Level: Upper (5-6)

Summary:
This book is about a fifth grade boy living in the time of WWII. When his older brother leaves to fight in the war, Davy and his best friend throw themselves into the war effort, collecting scrap metal and paper, anything the government is asking for. Davy learns a lot about what it means to be at war, and slowly begins learning about his father’s experience fighting in WWI, which he previously had not spoken about. When Davy’s brother goes missing in action, their family has to bond together and stay strong, waiting hopefully for good news that will allow them to be a whole family again.

Strengths:
· This book leaves a lot of room for the teacher to add her own lessons to teach children about WWII. For instance, it discusses hanging stars in windows, but students have to use the context to guess what those stars meant. This could be a lesson for the class, when learning about WWII.
· This book shows many childhood conflicts, such as bullying. For instance, Davy and his friend had been collecting paper for the war effort, and were carefully bringing it back to their houses when older boys, whom they had previously looked up to, stole it all from them. The book shows how upset the boys were, and can be a good model to remind students why bullying is a bad thing.
· This book gives a very good sense of what it was like to live in the 1940s, not just from the perspective of the war, but also what the schools and neighborhoods were like back then.
· This book really makes students appreciate the things they have, especially in school. Davy’s teacher at the beginning of the book, doesn’t know much about math and has one of the students teach most of those lessons. Students can look at their teacher and realize how lucky they are to have someone well educated to teach them.

Concerns:
· This book has some vocabulary that would need to be taught to the children. These are words from the time of the war, such as girdle.

Classroom use/Other comments:
· This would be a fabulous book to use in a unit about WWII. It’s informative and interesting, but also fun to read.


Author: Karen Cushman
Title: The Midwife’s Apprentice
Publisher: Clarion Books
Date: 1995

Age Level: Upper (5-6)

Summary:
In medieval England, a nameless, homeless girl is taken in by a sharp-tempered midwife and, in spite of obstacles and hardship, eventually gains the three things she most wants: a full belly, a contented heart, and a place in this world.

Strengths:
· This book, in terms of being used in a classroom, did not seem to have any strengths.

Concerns:
· This book discusses the midwife and the baker “hugging and kissing, and him with a wife and thirteen children”, which is not appropriate for young children to be reading. If this book were to be read to the children, this part would need to be edited out.
· This book also talks about boys being drunk, which again is not appropriate for children of this age.
· This book discusses the devil.
· No respect is shown to the midwife’s apprentice, even though she is just a girl. She is homeless and unloved, and the midwife takes her in from the cold, but is rude and unhelpful beyond that.

Classroom use/Other comments:
· This book overall does not seem appropriate for schoolchildren, of any age. I would not use this book in my classroom.