Set #2

Bishop, N. (2007). Spiders. New York, New York: Scholastic.

In this book, basic information and facts are given about spiders. It talks about what they eat, their web, how they digest their food, and how they catch their food. He uses vocabulary words associated with spiders, and he even defines these words in the glossary in the back of the book. His photography of all the different kinds of spiders is amazing. Bishop's accuracy in the book makes it a good book to share with students, especially if you read it before you do a lesson on spiders. He takes all of the photos himself, and lists the names of each spider he takes a picture of. It is published by Scholastic giving it credibility to use in schools based on Scholastic's outstanding reputation with schools.

Garza, C. L. (1999). Magic windows. San Francisco, CA: Children's Book Press.

Magic Windows is an informational book that features cut-paper art that the narrator has been making for twenty-seven years. She has become an expert in her field. To the narrator, these are “magic windows” that expose another world. The colors, headings, and overall layout enhance the “magical windows” appearance. Not only is the book attractive in its layout, but it also gives an explanation and background along with an illustration of the cut-paper art. Each explanation is given in Spanish as well as English. The reader learns about the emotional attachment the narrator has to the cut-paper, but the reader also learns about many of the traditions and beliefs found in the culture of the Spanish people. 

 Harris, R. (1999).  It’s so amazing.  Boston, MA:  Candlewick Press.

This book goes through all the details of how a baby is made, grows inside, labor, and after the baby is born. It even explains adoption. It ends with celebrating your birth day or adoption day. This book is organized in sequential order of how a baby is made all the way to the delivery. The organization makes it easier to understand the process. The colorful design with pictures, descriptions, captions, and word blurbs throughout the book make it easy to follow along. One of the pictures illustrated is actually the actual size of a nine month child in the mom's womb. There is even an index at the back of the book to help locate certain information to be found on a certain page number. The book also proves its authenticity through all the sources listed at the end of the book. Lots of the sources are doctors giving the book credibility. I cannot see this book making it on an elementary library shelf in a school because of the mature content. However, it is a great book to suggest to parents to check out from the public library to read to their children (whatever pages they feel are appropriate) when they are expecting.

Giovanni, N. (2005). Rosa.  NY:  Holt.

This book follows the story of Rosa Parks, and her refusal to get up from her seat on the segregated bus. Rosa stood up for what she believed in- that everyone should be treated equally, and black people should not have to sit in the back of the bus and give up their seats to white people just because of their skin color. The book explains that her refusal helped other black people stand up for what was right. It lead to a non violent movement led by Martin Luther King Junior where finally segregation was considered wrong. The story was organized in sequential order of Rosa Park's refusal to give up her seat first, then other movements were inspired, and lastly segregation was deemed wrong. Correct dates are used like November 13, 1956 it was ruled that segregation on the bus was wrong. This makes the credibility of the book strong when using dates and real facts in the order that they took place. A great book to talk about when discussing the subject of segregation with students. 

Sweet, M. (2011). Balloons over Broadway: The true story of the puppeteer of Macy's parade. NY: Houghton.

Tony Sarg loves puppets. His love of puppets is turned into a job creating the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade. After much experimenting, he finds the perfect solution so everyone can see the parade. He uses huge balloons in fun shapes to rise in the sky at the parade. This tradition still lives on today. This is a great story to read before the Thanksgiving holidays, and it would be fun to encourage students to come up with an idea for a balloon at the Macy's Thanksgiving parade. Sweet does a wonderful job with the style of this book. She makes the nonfiction text a fun story to read about the life of Tony Sarg and the tradition of the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade. The writing is interesting and in a clear vocabulary kids can understand. The design of the story is unique, too, because she uses parts or clippings of older texts and pictures (like old newspaper clippings) with newer pictures that is all mixed in together. At the end, she even includes a bibliography listing her sources for accuracy in the book.

Bragg, G. (2011). How they croaked: The awful ends of the awfully famous. NY: Walker 

The title of the book explains exactly what this book is about. It explains how famous people died or croaked. To name a few, George Washington, Elizabeth I, Cleopatra, Julius Caesar, and Albert Einstein are all written about. It is organized into sections on each person. In the section, it talks about what they did with their life, and how they died. The division of each person with the table of contents at the beginning helps the reader easily find where each famous person's information is located. It would be great to use this in sections if you were talking about a certain person each day. This book has a clever design and style. The pictures created make the famous people really look like they are croaking (sure to make the kids laugh). While the information is accurate, it says the facts in a funny way that makes the reader want to keep reading to see what happens. At the end of the book, there are sources listed for the information presented, additional sources to look for more information, and an index. All which are valuable tools for a teacher to use when teaching one of these famous people.

                                      Bartoletti, S. (2005). Hitler Youth.  NY: Scholastic.

This book tells the stories of some of the youth that belonged to an organization known as Hitler Youth.  It officially formed in 1926 in Nazi Germany giving youth hope and a chance to rebel against those in authority.  The book briefly discusses some of these youth and their role supporting Hitler. The book is well-organized; it includes a table of contents, photos and maps, an epilogue, and timeline. Most importantly it cites sources which indicate its accuracy of information. Students might create a poster that represents some research on other facets of Nazi life, or perhaps, students could Skype with one of the living youth.

Set #1

Deedy, C. A. (2007). Martina the beautiful cockroach. Atlanta, Georgia: Peachtree Publishers.

Martina, the beautiful cockroach, is ready to marry. Her grandmother gives her advice on how to find the perfect husband- do the coffee test. If they get mad about spilling the coffee on their feet, then they are not the perfect match. Martina tries several suitors, but all fail the test. Finally, she meets Perez, the mouse, who passes the test. Martina finds that Perez is her perfect match. This story is great for ELLs to listen to a story with English and Cuban language. It is good for students who are not ELLs too because it introduces another language in the story, as well. In the story, the illustrator uses a green color to represent the cockroach which implies cool and calm, but uses the red and orange for the rooster to represent the opposite of cool and calm. This makes sense because the rooster was not cool and calm when Martina tried her coffee test (spilling it on his feet). The theme in this story is not overpowering the story, but simply shows that a kind husband will not be mean or yell when accidents happen like spilling the coffee.

 

DePaola, T. (1983). The legend of the bluebonnet. New York, New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons.

The Comanche people had no rain, and drought and famine were hardest on them. The Great Spirits tell the people that a sacrifice of the most valued possession among them must be made because of all the taking from the Earth. She-Who-Is-Alone does the ultimate selfless act by sacrificing her doll (the only thing she has left from her family who died in the famine). After her giving sacrifice, she awakes to bluebonnet flowers (forgiveness) and rain for her people. This is a perfect story to read to your students when bluebonnets start popping up in the spring time. After reading it, you can have students draw a bluebonnet and write a selfless act they have done before. DePaola uses line, shape, color, and texture to unify the pictures. The composition works together to grab your eyes to the beautiful pictures in the story. The main character is a young girl who little children can relate to because she is young and has a doll. She does the ultimate selfless act by giving away her doll creating a lesson of being selfless.

Sendak, M. (1963). Where the wild things are. New York, New York: HarperCollins.

Max (in his wolf costume) gets in trouble for misbehaving, and he is sent to his room without supper. In his room, his fantasy runs wild, and he goes to the jungle where there are "wild things." He soon decides to go home, and when he goes home, supper is waiting for him. The texture created makes the characters seem real like, and Max's imaginations seem true. The pictures are big on the page making the reader feel like they are in the jungle, too. Max is a strong character in this book because he has a creative way of looking at the world, and his imagination reveals his personality, as well. The setting truly comes alive because of the illustrations. After reading this book to a class, ask the students to draw a picture of what they believe would be in their own jungle. This would bring out the personalities of the students like Max's personality was brought out in this story.

Singer, M. (2010). Mirror, mirror. New York, New York: Dutton.

Mirror, Mirror takes a creative spin on fairy tales. The mirror is used to reflect two different pictures and two different sides of the story. When you read the left side, it tells one person's view, and when you read the right side, it tells another person's view. It uses the same set of words, but reads them reversed. It uses different fairy tales like Little Red Riding Hood. On the left side, it says the story of the little girl going through the forest to her grandma's house, and that she must not dawdle. On the right side, it tells the story from the wolf's point of view, and how the little girl skipping through the wolf's hood is a sweet treat while using the same words. This is such a neat idea for a story. The illustrator uses lines to create a mirror of the pictures and words. The mirror line separates the story into two different points of view or ideas. This unique style of the play on words and pictures has the reader laughing and thinking about the story in a different way than ever before. A great activity for students would be to create their own story with words making sense if you read them going up and going down like Singer did in this story.

Wiesner, D. (2001). The Three Pigs. New York, New York: Clarion.

The story starts off like the traditional story of three little pigs, but soon the author puts a twist on the story. The pigs go off to different settings. They do not stay with the wolf instead they are with a dragon and cat and the fiddle in different stories. The story ends with everyone back in the brick house. The pigs get to explore another world and not stick to the traditional world. Children will love getting to read a different tale of the little pigs, and should be encouraged to write their own story of where the pigs might go next. At first, the pictures start off like a cartoon, but then as they leave the original story, the pigs become real-like. This type of illustration really makes the book stand out as unique. Composition really seems to unify the pictures because lines, shapes, colors, and textures play a part in making these illustrations pop. This book gives children the idea that it is okay to deviate from traditional and think outside of the box.

Smith, L. (2011). It's a book. New York, New York: Roaring Brook.

Lane Smith creates a funny story with a monkey, mouse, and donkey. The monkey has a book, and donkey asks lots of questions about this book. Can it text, does it need a password, and do you have to have a screen name are some of the questions donkey asks monkey. Monkey replies over and over that it is a book. Donkey reads it and likes the book. Monkey does not get the book back, but donkey says he will charge it back up for monkey after he is finished with it. This book story can easily be related to all children because children have grown up with technology, and they believe like donkey everything texts, tweets, and needs a screen name/password. Smith uses shapes for the rectangular chairs and the animals bodies. He makes the monkey seem like a big character while the donkey and mouse are smaller. The plot is simple, but believable that the donkey does not understand the simplicity of a book. This could lead into a great discussion of how technology has changed, and a debate if books or ebooks or better.

Klassen, J. (2012). This is not my hat. Boston, MA: Candlewick.

This short book tells a great message. A little fish steals a hat from a big fish, and thinks he can get away with stealing the hat. The little fish explains that the big fish probably won't know it is gone, or who stole it, or where he is going. The little fish is wrong, and the reader can guess from the pictures that he was probably eaten by the big fish. Children can learn to not steal from others in this story, and a great discussion can be started on why you should not steal. The shapes used make the story come alive. The large shape of the big fish and small shape of the little fish help the reader understand exactly how much bigger the big fish was than the small fish. The setting of the story is set up all through the pictures. The seaweed and bubbles help the reader understand the story takes place under the sea.