Final Conclusion to Children's Literature

Before taking this course in Children's Literature, it had never really occurred to me that there are 'bad' children's books and 'good' children's books to be blunt. As a child, I only read and remembered the books I really enjoyed and now looking back, I am able to understand why those books stood out to me in my younger years. The illustrations have always been an important factor to me and even now, I love looking at the work in children's book. Through this assignment, I have reevaluated books I loved as a child and even ones that I did not particularly enjoy. This course has even helped me reevaluated children's movies and rethink their quality. It is easy to say a book is a good one for young children if it is popular and recommended to you; but I now know that is not the correct way to critique a book. Being a future Early Childhood Educator, I will need to have many different genres of books available to my students; not just books I like or enjoy reading. While that may seem like a simple task, making sure a book is appropriate and beneficial for a classroom requires evaluation of the book. Due to the blogg assignment, I know now know how much time and thought it takes to correctly evaluate children's literature.

As a young child reading a book, you do not really notice if the book is biased, politically incorrect, or scientifically correct. It is the responsibility of the teacher to make sure all of the literature being offered to students is beneficial to their education in one way or another. If a book is biased and it is put into a classroom, then that should be something that is discussed with the students. Characters that are marginalized can provide a good lesson to any age even if it not quality literature. Students should be aware of such social issues and given a wide perspective. All of the old Disney princesses were mainly Caucasian and needed to be rescued by a 'prince'. What does this say to young girls? That to be princess you must be white and since you are a girl you must depend on a man? This should not be the case. Young girls do not benefit from this lesson but since they are popular stories, many people assume they are quality children's literature. I know now this is not true by any means. I am not saying that these books should not be provided for children to read, but there should also be book that have stories that contradict that stereotyping. There are plenty of books with princesses that are not Caucasian and do not need to be rescued by a prince. By reading a classic folktale like Cinderella and two different multicultural and international variations of it, I was able to explore and analyze different ways to bring the same story into my classroom without bringing the stereotype. Adelita by Tomie dePaola is a perfect example of the classic Cinderella story told through a different culture. Young children need to be exposed instead of sheltered and by offering a large variety of text and opening it up for discussion is the perfect way to begin exposing young children to issues of social justice.

The illustrations in children's literature, what captured my attention as a young child, are an extremely important aspect. The illustrations tell half if not the majority of the story and if they are done well, the reader should be able to follow the story just by looking at the illustrations. The illustrations should bring life to the text, establish the setting of the story, and reinforce the emotions of the characters. Going into this course, I though Eric Carle was my favorite illustrator, but now there countless authors and illustrators I have come to love. While Eric Carle is still one of my top, I was overly surprised to find out that some of the information in his books was not scientifically correct. For instance, in the book Hungry Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle, he calls the chrysalis a cocoon which is what moths use, not butterflies. Going through all of the different children's books, it was interesting to see the variations in the quality of the illustrations. Some were bright and colorful while other were dull and boring. A few times, the illustrations were too over done and took away from the text while at other times, the illustrations fell short and did not support the text enough.

The quality of children's literature is something I have never given much thought to before now. To realize that there were many different books I enjoyed as a child that are not even in publication today is surprising but also makes sense. There are numerous options for children's books and simple because they are being published and sold does not mean they are worth while or even good books. By looking at books that have stood the test of time and those that will obviously fadeout, I am stumped by the fact that so many poor quality children's books are even published! I will be surprised if anyone can find a Dora the Explorer book within the next 5 years or so being sold in a bookstore. Children need a variety of genres of books brought into their environment to help enrich their literacy exposure. Even though I many not have enjoyed informational text as a young child, I now see their importance in a classroom and will make sure I have them in mine.

Rapunzel : Traditional Fantasy

The book Rapunzel by Paul Zelinsky is a classic story that many know. An older couple finds themselves expecting a child. The mother forms an overpowering craving for rapunzel which is a herb. To satisfy his wife, the father finds rapunzel for her to eat. The problem is that the rapunzel is growing in the garden of a sorceress and the father has to steal the rapunzel. One night, the father is caught by the sorceress stealing her herb. To spare his life and to allow him to have the rapunzel, the sorceress makes him promise he will give her the baby once it is born. The father agrees to save his life and the life of his wife. Once the baby is born, she is given to the sorceress and named Rapunzel after the herb. Rapunzel is cared for and raised by the sorceress until she turns 12. Once she becomes 12, the sorceress locks her in a tower with no entrance except to climb up Rapunzel's hair. This is where Rapunzel stayed, lonely and isolated with the sorceress being her only visitor. One day, the prince was out riding when he came across the tower and over heard the sorceress say "Rapunzel, Rapunzel let down your hair." He watched as the sorceress then proceeded to climb up Rapunzel's hair and into the tower. Later, the prince came back and called for Rapunzel to let down her hair. When he climbed up, they fell in love at first sight. They decide to run away so that Rapunzel can be out of the tower and they can be together.

I have always liked this story as a child and Zenlinsky really makes the story come to life with his illustrations. In 1998, he won the Caldecott Medal for this book. The main issue I have with this story is that the main character is helpless to help herself. She must depend on others to live and on the prince to escape her tower. This doesn't really send a good message to young girls and if read in a classroom, I would bring in another story where the girl is the heroin and saves herself. It is still a fun story though that children enjoy hearing and would make a good read aloud.

Zelinsky, Paul (1997). Rapunzel. New York, NY: Dutton Juvenile.

Cinderella: "Classic Folktale

This version of Cinderella sticks to the traditional story I remember from my childhood with a few different additives. What caught my eye about K.Y. Craft's book Cinderella was the illustrations. I looked through the book countless times before actually reading the text. Craft makes this story fit the princess ideal every little girl has through her incredible paintings. The style of the illustrations is based off of artwork from France during the 17th century. The color and detail was the best I have seen yet in any of the children's books I have read. The boarders are even decorated with detail and color. Each illustration told the story and more for me since I am a very visual learner.

The text of this book maybe a little difficult for children depending on what grade it is brought into. I think I would use this book as a read aloud for all grades under 2nd or 3rd. By the 2nd grade, some students maybe able to read some of the book on their own but I still think they would need assistance. Even still, I think this would be a great book to have available for children of any age to look through. They can make up their own version of Cinderella to go along with the illustrations. The text is close to being as detailed as the illustrations and made the story seem like the perfect fairytale to me. In Craft's version, Cinderella lives with her stepmother and two stepsisters after her father dies. She does all of the chores and house work and is mistreated. Cinderella finds a bird in the woods that she ends up nursing back to health. While in the woulds, this is where she first meets the Prince. The bluebird ends up turning into her fairy godmother. For the balls (there are two in this version) the fairy godmother turns the pumpkin into a carriage for Cinderella and mice into coachmen so that she may attend. It is after the second ball, Cinderella loses the glass slipper. When it is returned to her by the prince, he remembers her from their first encounter in the woods. The one thing I did not like about the text in this book was that the stepsisters were forgiven in the end. I think that is a bit to soft. Children like stories where the bad guys get punished and instead, Cinderella kind of just lets them off. While Craft herself has won numerous awards for her art work, I did not find any that were specific to this book.

Craft, K. Y. (2000). Cinderella. San Francisco, CA: Chronicle Books.

Pancakes for Breakfast: Wordless Book

The book Pancakes for Breakfast by Tomie dePaola is a fun story for children to follow through. There are only two pages that have text in them and that is the page with the recipe for pancakes and the page where the old lady is eating pancakes and there is a sign behind her that reads "If at first you don't succeed. Try, try again." The pictures in this book tell the story of an older lady that wakes up in the morning and decides that she wants to make pancakes for breakfast. She gets out the recipe, figures out what she needs and finds all of the ingredients. Once she has pulled out all of the items she needs, she leaves the room for a minute of so. While she is gone, her dog knocked everything on the floor and she does not have what she needs to make the pancakes. She smells pancakes being cooked at her neighbors. So she goes over to her neighbors house and in the end, she gets to eat pancakes at her neighbors.

Even though this book did not have any text that directed the story, the illustrations made the story line clear as day. Tomie dePaola is an incredible artist and the colors and emotions he puts into his illustrations are incredible. Text is not needed to follow his story and young children are able to 'read' on their own with this book. I like the illustrations because of their quality. As a child, I paid more attention to the pictures even if i could read the text because the pictures held more meaning to me. I think this is a great book for young children to learn left to right progression of a book and prepare for more advanced books with text. I was not able to find any awards this book won.

dePaola, Tomie (1978). Pancakes for Breakfast. Orlando, FL: Harcourt Brace & Co.

The Counting Story: Counting Book

The book Counting Story by Rolando Merino was created by him and his son, Tommy. It is an electronic book that has the readers be enter active. This book introduces numbers and gives the reading something fun to connect the numbers too. For number one, there is a pink bunny to the side waving and it say, "One rabbit waves Hello." For the number two, it says, "These two rabbits hop and hop" with an animation of two pink rabbits hopping on the side. The number three has rabbits the hop out of a hole, the number four has four rabbits eating carrots, the number five has five bunnies sitting on a log, the number six has rabbits hopping and flipping, the number seven has seven bunnies swinging on a swing, the number eight has eight bunnies coming out of a hat, the number nine has nine bunnies taking a bath, the number ten has ten bunnies brushing their teeth, and the number eleven has eleven bunnies sleeping in their bed. On each page, along with the text, there is the number written and the animation of the bunnies performing the activity described in the text.
This book was a surprise find for me but I really like it. It is something that can be brought into the classroom to help young students become familiar with numbers while using technology. The animations make the book fun and interactive. A teacher can read the text to the students if they are too young to read on their own while they watch the animations of the bunnies on the side. I think it is good to bring in non traditional books to the classroom and this is perfect example. With the amount of technology in our society today, young children need to be familiar with it and how it can be used educationally and not just for entertainment. The book can be read at http://www.magickeys.com/books/count/page1.html

Merino, Rolando (1998). The Counting Story. http://www.magickeys.com/books/count/index.html.

Finding Susie: Contemporary Realistic Fiction

The book Finding Susie by Sandra Day O'Connor is a book about a little girl that really wants a pet and lives on a ranch. Living in the desert and living on a ranch, she is surrounded by animals but does not have any that she can bring into her house and call a pet. For her first pet, she finds a tortoise and names it Hercules. Sandra, the little girl, keeps Hercules for a while and decides that he is not friendly enough and not a good pet. She realizes that Hercules should be back in the wild with his family and so she and her father take him back into the desert where they found him. The next animal she finds and tries to keep as a pet is a rabbit. She names the rabbit Daisy and is able to even bring Daisy into the house at times. But soon it is clear that Daisy is too fearful to be a good pet and so she and her father took Daisy down to the bushes by the windmill and she hopped away without even a backwards look. The third pet she tries is a coyote that was caught in a trap on the ranch. They took the coyote out of the trap and brought it up to the house in a cage to allow its leg to heal. Sandra tried to turn the coyote into a pet and named him Slim Pickins. No matter how hard she tried, Slim Pickins did not want anything to do with humans and so they took Slim Pickins back into the wild and let him go. The fourth animal she tried to turn into a pet was a baby bobcat and Sandra named him Bob. Bob was good pet until he grew up and became possessive of food and scared Sandra. Two years later after Bob was fully grown, he left in the middle of the night. The last pet that Sandra gets in a dog, and she names the dog Susie. Susie turned out to be everything Sandra was looking for in a pet and she fell in love with Susie and Susie lover her back.

This book is really cute and it great for a young child when they are wanting a pet. Many times, children decide they want a certain animal, whether or not they would make good pets. By giving them examples of pet that are not the best idea, children may understand why their parents tell them no when asking for certain animals. This book is also just a fun read for a read aloud. It could open up discussion in the classroom about what pets all of the students have, what pets they would like to have, and what pets they may be getting. Young children love to talk about their animals and home life and this would give every student a chance to share to the whole class. I like this book simple because I have had many different pet through out my childhood and I think it is a good experience for children. The illustrations are very detailed and give a good picture of Susie's experience going through all of the different pets. I could not find any awards this book has won.

Pohrt, Tom (2009). Finding Susie. New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf.

Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters: "Classif" Folktale (Multicultural)

The book Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters is an African tale rewritten by John Steptoe. The story is comparable to the classic story of Cinderella. In this story, the a man named Mufaro lived in a small village with two very beautiful daughters , Manyara and Nyasha. While both daughters are equally beautiful, their personalities are completely opposite. Manyara is very self-centered and mean to Nyasha while Nyasha is very caring of all living things, kind, and sweet. She makes friends with a small garden snake and names him Nyoka. Even when Manyara is cruel to Nyasha, Nyasha only feels sorry for Manyara and does not tell their father. When the king sends out a notice that he is looking for "The Most Worthy and Beautiful Daughters in the Land . . . to appear before the King, and he will choose one to become Queen!" Both daughters will travel to see the king and see if one of them will be chosen to be his new wife. Out of greed, Manyara ran off in the middle of the night to get to the city and see the king before Nyasha in hopes of being chosen to be queen and make her sister work in the palace. One the way she runs into a small boy who is hungry and asks for food, she yells at the boy and continues on her way. Next she came upon an old woman who warned her about a grove of trees that she must be polite too. Instead of taking the old woman's advice, Manyaras yells, "How do you know my name? How dare you advise your future queen? Stand aside, you ugly old woman!" As she came to the grove of tress, instead of being polite, she mocked the trees by laughing at them. The next day, Nayasha left her village with her father to travel to see the king. When she came upon the poor boy, she gave him her food which she had brought for lunch. Next was the old woman, when she appeared and gave Nayasha the same advice, she thanked her and gave her a pouch filled with sunflower seeds. When she came to the grove of trees "their uppermost branches seemed to bow down to Nyasha as she passed beneath them." Once she reached the city and went in to see the king, sitting in the chair was Nyoka which turned out to be the king. He chose Nyasha to be is wife and Manyara ended up working as a servant for Nyasha.

This book has a great lesson in it for children about manners and respect. It is also a good book for diversity since many book have mainly Caucasians as the main characters. The illustrations in this book add a big part to the book. They are colorful and very detailed. The reader is able to see the emotions in the faces of the characters and follow the emotion throughout the book. It would be a great book for read aloud in the earlier grades and a good additive to the library section in grades 1-3rd. I really like the story in this book because of the morals it promotes. Students are encouraged to be polite and nice to everyone and this book provides an example of a character who is very caring to anyone and everyone, even her sister who is cruel to her at times, and is rewarded in the end. This book has received a number of awards including:

• Caldecott Honor Book
• Reading Rainbow Book
• ALA Notable Children’s Book
• Coretta Scott King Award (Illustrator)
• Boston Globe–Horn Book Award
• Horn Book Fanfare

Steptoe, John (1987). Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters: An African Tale. New York, NY: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books.

Big Fat Hen: One-Poem Book

The poem book big fat hen by Keith Baker is a spin-off of an old nursery rhyme that incorporates counting and illustrations of big colorful hens, baby chicks, and bugs. The words and numbers are in a big bold text but it is the illustrations by Baker that really grab the attention of the reader. On the first page, the only text is "1, 2. . ." and the rest of both pages is taken up by a by a big hen chasing a dragon fly and two eggs. The coloring is very bright and holds the readers eye. The second page reads "buckle my shoe" and is accompanied by a big teal shoe and two baby chicks buckling it up. The rest of the book follows the nursery rhyme
"1.2.....
buckle my shoe
3, 4.....
shut the door
5, 6...
pick up sticks
7, 8...
lay them straight
9, 10...
a big fat hen
and her friends
1, 2, 3,
4, 5, 6,
all their eggs...
and all their chicks!"

All of the pictures also have bugs in them that the hens and chicks are eating. The illustrations are my favorite part of this book, I also think they are a very important part of the book. The rhyme is good to use for rhyming and counting. Students can read the book or sing it. The fact that the numbers are not written in word format but at 1, 2, 3 and so forth is very beneficial for young students. This book can be used for poetry, math, counting, and literacy. It has won the New York Times Best Illustrated Book award and it is obvious why when looking at the illustrations.

Baker, Keith (1994). big fat hen. New York, NY: Harcourt Brace & Company.

Busy Farm : Engineered Book

The Busy Farm Book by Fisher Price for Little People provides coordinating animal sounds to go along with the text. The main character is Farmer Jed and the book follows is day on the farm. On the right hand side of the book is a menu with buttons with animal pictures on them. While going through the story, the reader is suppose to hit the buttons for the different animals Jed encounters to hear the sounds they make. The reader is asked what sound that animal makes before the hit the button. It is slightly amusing to hit the buttons and have the animal sounds produced, but it does nothing beneficial for the book.

The illustrations of this book are very plain and unattractive when in comparison to other forms of children's books illustrations I have reviewed. The text is of poor quality as well. While this is a book for very young children, The only two things I see this book being beneficial for is working on left to right progression by turn the pages and fine motor development by pushing the buttons and turning the pages. This would be a good introduction of literacy for infants and toddlers, but even in those circumstances, I would not consider this a good book. Even though it does work on animal sounds and recognition, there are many other activities that can be done to teach the same thing and that are more interactive that this book.

Fisher Price Busy Farm (2000).

Rain Forests: Informational Book

The book Rain Forests by Nancy Smiler Levinson and illustrated by Diane Dawson Hearn, is full of fact based information over the animals, bugs, tress, and even the people of the rain forest. The illustrations in the book all of the names of the animals, insects, and even the plants next to them. This is beneficial because the students can see the names of the different wildlife and have an image to connect it with right away. The text on the pages is large and very simple. The book begins with a basic description of rain forests in general and a map of all of the rain forests in the world. The book then breaks the over all topic of rain forests down to specific ones. The first one is the tropical rain forest and the pictures on each page are from different location and the locations are given. The first pictures of wild life are from the Peruvian Amazon, the second is the Brazilian Amazon, and the third is Costa Rica. The book even shows the different animals that live in the different levels of the rain forest from the ground floor to the tops of the tress. One page is of the animals that come out at night in the tropical rain forest. The other type of rain forest is the temperate rain forest which are found in the pacific northwest. There are only two pages on the temperate rain forest before the book moves to the indigenous people that live in the different areas of the rain forest. It also briefly touches on the fact that the rain forests are slowly disappearing and how there are many people working to try and save the rain forests. The last two pages compare and contrast the tropical and temperate rain forests.

This book has many different educational values. It can be read and explored during circle time and be a resource during different activities. The compare and contrast pages can be used to work on a venn diagram with the class; the students are given the information and they can work together to figure out where it belongs in a venn diagram. The students can work on geopraphy with this book and work with maps to locate the different places rain forests exist. The animals given can be reasurched and the class can come up with a list of indangered animals that live in the rain forests. Recycling can be introduced and the class can learn about what they can do to help the rain forest and the enviornment. There are many more things that can be done in a classroom based and supported by this book. A whole theme can be created about rain forests that they class can focus on for a week or so. I did not find any awards for this book but there are lesson plan ideas online based off of this book. I liked this book becuase there are so many different ways it can be used in a classroom. It provides good images for the students to enjoy and the information prvided is really good. I have trouble finding informational books that children will enjoy reading and working with, but I think this book is something that provides interesting information in an enjoyable manner.
At http://vodpod.com/watch/2258927-rain-forests-by-nancy-smiler-levinson there is a video that a class can watch to make the book a bit more interactive.

Levinson, Nancy (2008). Rain Forests. New Your, NY: Holiday House.

Witch Poems: Themed Poetry Book

This book is a collection of witch poems that have been put together by Daisy Wallace. Some of them do not even have an author. There are 18 poems total in the book and they range in length and level of vocabulary. There is a poem by William Shakespeare, The making of a Charm and even a few from e.e. cummings. While the poems are all about witches, they differ in topics that range from playful to scary. One of the funny poems is by Myra Cohn Livingston, Lazy Witch
Lazy Witch
What's Wrong with you?
Get up and sir your magic brew.
Here's candlelight to chase the gloom.
Jump up and mount your flying broom
And muster up your charms and spells
And wicked grins and piercing yells.
It's Halloween! There's work to do!
Lazy Witch,
What's wrong with you?

The poems make children laugh and put witches in a different light for them; such as the poem Witch Goes Shopping by Liliam Moore. It is a goofy poem about a witch that goes to a regular grocery store looking for "six bats' wings, worm in brine, ear of toads eight or nine, slugs and bugs, snake skins dried, buzzard innards pickled, fried" and becomes frustrated because she can not find any of those things. This would be silly to children because they know that such things would not be found in a grocery store.

This would be a great seasonal book to bring out to work on poetry with the class. The poems are fun, depending on the age group, a few maybe considered on the scary side but those can be skipped. Many different activities can be done in the classroom with poems and if they can be intertwined into the current theme or a relevant holiday such as Halloween in this case, the students will find the poems more engaging. Especially if the poems are fun and goofy. It is hard to get young children interested in serious poems that they can not really relate too. Poems in this book can be read aloud and discussed, the students can draw pictures of what they see while you read them the pictures, some of them can be used to explore rhyme and different aspects of poetry. I could not find any awards this book has won but some of the different authors have been acknowledged for their works, just not the ones in this book. I liked the poems in this book because they are goofy and even so the vocabulary in some of them is too advanced for early childhood education, they can still get the gist of the poems.

Wallace, D. & Schart Hyman, T. (1976). Witch Poems. New York, NY: Holiday House.

The Miracle of the Myrrh: Controversial Book

The story of the birth of Jesus is well known through out the world. This book "The Miracle of the Myrrh" by Marci Alborghetti is an extended version of what happened to the three gifts that the Wise Men had given to Jesus on the night of his birth. In the beginning of this story, a grandpa is telling the children the story to his grandchildren. After Jesus had been born, Mary and Jesus could tell that the little drummer boy would be a great big brother for Jesus so they made him apart of their family and named him Simon. Jesus and Simon grew up together and one day Simon married a woman named Salome and they had a son whom they named Mendel. Mendel was born crippled and unable to use his legs. Jesus even made him a little cart that he could wheel himself around in as well as others. Mendel was very close with Jesus's mother Mary and would often go to her home to help with chores and anything else she might need. One day during a visit, Mary told Simon and Mendel that she would be leaving soon and that she had a gift for Mendel. She gave him three sakes, one green, one blue, and one red; the three gifts from the Wise Men. Mary told Mendel that is was God's will that he take the gifts and use them. When they arrived back home, Mendel's mother wanted to use the gold for her own selfish needs and Mendel denied her. She became upset and called him an ungrateful son. The next day Mary was gone and while many different rumors went around about what happened, Mendel knew where she really was. They also heard the news that a neighbor Matthius had lost his heard of sheep to the gaurds and needed money. So Mendel and his father Simon took the gift of gold from the three gifts of the Wise Men and gave it to Matthius. The next day the high priest kicked Ana, a good friend of Mary's out of the temple. Without Mary, there was no one left to care of Ana and so Mendel took another one of the gifts to her, the gift of the frankincense. Upon receiving the gift, Ana's eyes filled with hope and she rose to praise God once more. Mendel had a problem, he did not know what to do with the last gift of Myrrh and so he went to Mary's old hut to pray. Before he left her hut that evening, Mendel accidentally dropped the Myrrh and some of it got on to his legs. Suddenly he felt tingling in his legs, he felt his legs. Mendel jumped up and ran home singing praise to God and even his mother cried praise for the miracle of the Myrrh.
This is them first time I have ever heard a book that talks about the three gifts of the Wise Men and what happened to them. While it is a nice story, I do not think it will be really accepted by the Catholic community or any other religion simple because there is no support for it in the Bible or any other scripture. Many might not see this as an acceptable book to read to children because they might take it as fact and not just as a fictional book. I do think it would be something interesting to bring into the classroom to start a discussion and maybe open up young children to different beliefs around Christmas time.
Alborghetti, Marci (2000). The Miracle of the Myrrh. Delray Beach, Fl: Winslow Press.

The Yellow Star: Historical Fiction

The book "The Yellow Star: The Legend of King Christian X of Denmark" is written by Carmen Agra Deedy and takes place during World War Two. The book begins by telling the reader that in the year of 1940, there were only Danes in Denmark. All different kinds of Danes that shared the same love for their King Christian. Every single morning King Christian would ride through the streets of Copenhagen, Denmark's capital alone and without a bodyguard. He did not need a bodyguard for he was loved by every woman, man, and child in his country and they would be his defense. Soon the Nazi's come into the story and placed the Nazi flag on top of the palace. They also brought food shortages, curfews, and fear. So King Christian sent a Danish soldier to remove the flag and when questioned about the missing flag by a Nazi officer, King Christian told him that he had a soldier remove it. In response to the Nazi officer saying there would be another flag flying the next morning, King Christian said he would send another soldier, when the Nazi officer told him that that soldier would be shoot, King Christian informed the officer that the soldier would be him; the Nazi flag stayed off the place. The next test that came to King Christian was the news that all Jews would have to wear a yellow star. Everyone knew about the bad things happening to all of the Jews and were fearful of what would happen and curious to see how their king would react.So King Christian had his tailor come in and sew something on his outfits and waited till the morning to give his people his response to the demand. The next morning, all the people of Copenhagen watched as their king rode through their streets without a bodyguard and a yellow star sewn onto his chest.
I think this book is a great way to introduce the idea of resistance for knowing what is right as well as starting a discussion on World War II. The idea of what happened during a war and relating it to the lives and experiences can be very difficult. While this book is fiction, there was a beloved king of Denmark that did ride through the streets of Copenhagen without any escorts, the king did support the Jewish resistance, and no Jew in Denmark had to wear a yellow star. This book inspires hope and that is one thing I really like about it. It gives a nice twist to a very dark past that many young students would not be able to grasp. What they can relate to is standing up to someone even if it was really scary. I think this is a great book for opening discussion and to show students the difference between historical fiction and historical books. At the end of the story, all of the facts that are really known about the king of Denmark are listed and it is stated that no one knows if this actually occurred or not.

Deedy, Carmen Agra (2000). The Yellow Star: The Legend of King Christian X of Denmark. Atlanta, GA: Peachtree Publishers, Ltd.

Brown Bear Brown Bear : Participation Book

Written by Bill Martin Jr. "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see?" is a great book to use for participation in a classroom. The repetitive clauses are easily picked up by students and can be repeated while reading the book. It starts off with a big brown bear that is asked what he sees, the brown bear sees a red bird looking at him. The red bird is asked what he sees, "Red Bird, Red Bird, What do you see? I see a Yellow Duck looking at me." Next is a Blue Horse that sees a green frog looking at him. Every time a new animal is seen by a previous one, the same question is asked and responded to in the same manner. After the Green Frog is a Purple Cat, the Purple Cat sees a White Dog looking at him. The white dog sees a black sheep looking at him. The black sheep sees a goldfish looking at him and the goldfish sees a teacher looking at him. The teacher sees children looking at her. The children see a brown bear, a red bird, a yellow duck, a blue horse, a green frog, a purple cat, a white dog, a black sheep, a goldfish, and a teacher looking at them. After reading the book once or twice depending on the age group, the students and pick up the repetition quickly and they can begin predicting what animal will come next depending on their memory of the order and at the end of the book the students can list all the animals that have been in the book.
I like this simple book because it helps with recognition of some animals and it is fun with the different colors. I am not sure where a blue horse or a purple cat can been seen. The students enjoy being able to go along with the reader once they have the repetition down. There are other books by Bill Martin Jr. with the same repetition and different animals that the teacher can move on two after "Brown Bear, Brown Bear" that the student's can read along with. There is a lot of activities that can be done with this book. You can have color sheets of all the animals for the class to color to help with color recognition and identification of the different animals. The students can even learn the animal sounds make the noises while reading the book.

Martin, Bill Jr. (1983). Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see? Livonia, MI:Henry Holt & Company.

Nana Upstairs and Nana Downstairs: Biography

Tomie dePaola uses life experiences for the stories in a lot of his books and a prime example is "Nana Upstairs and Nana Downstairs." This book is about his grandmother and his great-grandmother and his visits to them and how he dealt with his great-grandmothers death. Every Sunday his family would go visit both his grandmothers, his great-grandmother lived up stairs in his grandmother's house. His grandmother was always at the kitchen while his great-grandmother was always upstairs in bed for she was 94 years old. That is how he came up with the their names of Nana Downstairs and Nana Upstairs. Every Sunday, he would say hi to his grandmother and grandfather and then run upstairs to see his great-grandmother. He would always get candy mints upstairs while seeing his great-grandmother. One day, Nana Upstairs came down and had to be tied into her chair to ensure that she would not fall out, Tomie insisted that he be tied to the chair as well, this became a routine for them. Once they were untied from their chairs, it was time for everyone to take a nap and after their naps, Nana Downstairs would brush out the hair of Nana Upstairs and then brush her own. One day, hos older brother came upstairs and say her hair down and said that she looked like a witch and Tomie insisted that she was beautiful. They would also go for ice cream with his grandfather and dad, and sometimes their Uncle Charles. There was a day that they even took a picture of Nana Upstairs and Nana Downstairs with Tomie in the middle. Then one day, Tomie's mother told him that Nana Upstairs died and that meant she would not be there anymore. Tomie was very upset and did not like seeing the empty bed upstairs. One night Tomie say a falling stair and his mother told him that it was a kiss from Nana Upstairs. Years later when Tomie was grown up and Nana Downstairs passed away, he say another shooting stair and knew that they were both Nana Upstairs now.
While it is kind of a sad story, it could help a child deal with a death in their family and help them relate to how sad Tomie was when he Great-Grandmother passed away. Death can be very difficult for young children to understand and accept. This book could help them remember good times with those who have passed and make their own way of remembering them and saying goodbye like Tomie's shooting star. I do not think that this could really be a book to read to the whole class but maybe something sent home for parents to read to their children or just a free time choice. Like always, Tomie dePaola's illustrations are colorful and detailed perfectly so that the reader can read the emotion on the character's faces.
dePaola, Tomie (1973). Nana Upstairs & Nana Downstairs. New York, NY: G. P. Putnam's Sons.

Adelita : "Classic" Folktale / International

Tomie dePaola's book "Adelita: A Mexican Cinderella Story" is not only written by Tomie, but is also illustrated by him. Each page has Spanish vocabulary along with its English translation. The story begins a long time ago in a small Mexican village. A merchant, Francisco, and his young wife Adela found out that they were going to have a baby. An older lady who had been with the family for a long time named Esperanza came back to help them with the new baby once she was born. After their daughter was born, his wife Adela became very ill and passed away. Francisco named is baby girl Adelita in memory of her mother, Adela. It did not take long for Francisco to replace is sorrow with his love for his daughter and as Adelita got older, she became just as beautiful as her mother. Eventually, Francisco decided to remarry a woman named Senora Micaela de la Fortuna, a widow with two daughters named Valentina and Dulce. While Adelita was excited, Esperanza was nervous and unsure about the new woman and her two daughters. Things were fine for a while until Francisco died suddenly from an illness and everything changed. Adelita had to give up her beautiful bedroom to move to the attic and she no longer had any new dresses, but had to wear hand-me-downs instead. Valentina and Dulce were not kind to Adelita anymore and did not hide the fact that they disliked her. Because she was already spending all of her time with Esperanza, Adelita began helping with meals. One day, Dona Micaela came to the kitchen and told Esperanza that she no longer had the money to keep her around and kicked her out even though Esperanza offered to work for free and Adelita offered to share her room and bed if only Esperanza could stay. Adelita was left to prepare all of the meals and all of the house work. Then came the anouncement that there would be a party at the ranch of el Senor and la Senora Gordillo to celebrate their son coming home, Javier. Both Valentina and Dulce wanted to be the new wife of Javier and were very excited. When Adelita requested to go to the party, Dona Micaela denied her for she would be an embarrassment. After they left for the party, leaving Adelita behind,Esperanza came to her rescue. Using and old dress and shawl of Adelita's mother, Esperanza helped her get ready and took her to the party. Once Adelita arrived at the party, everyone was stunned by her beauty. To hide her identity, Adelita told them that her name was Cinderella. Javier instantly fell in love with her and when he told her this, Adelita became frightened and ran away. The next day, Javier declared that her would stop at every house in the town until he found his Cinderella. To make sure he knew what house to stop at, Adelita hung the shawl out the window for him to see. Upon entering the house, Dona Micaela told Javier that there was no one else there and that is when Adelita walked down the stairs in her mothers dress. Javier asked Adelita to marry him and Dona Micaela gave them permission. Dona Micaela and her two daughters were invited to the wedding because of her kind heart and Adelita and Javier lived happily ever after.
I liked the fun twist off of the original Cinderella and how Tomie used Spanish vocabulary. Many different lessons can follow reading this book to a class. It is even good to bring in some of the Spanish vocabulary because it gives them contest to associate the words with. You could even compare it to other Cinderella stories throughout the week and give a lesson on fairy tales and their "true" or historic versions. It is a good story that all children, especially young girls love and always enjoy hearing. The illustrations are very beautiful and colorful. You can read the expression on the faces of each character. The boarders on each page are just as colorful as the pictures of the characters and have a Hispanic style to them.
dePaolo, Tomie (2001). Adelita. New York, NY: G. P. Putnam's Sons.

Saint George and The Dragon: Traditional Fantasy

The book "Saint George and The Dragon" is a golden legend adapted from Edmund Spenser's "Faerie Queene" retold by Margaret Hodges. The story starts off back in the days of giants, monsters, and fairy folk in England. There is a knight covered in armor and an old silver shield with a red cross on it. The shield is covered with dents from battles past by its previous owners. The knight carrying the shield now has yet to see a battle. He has been sent on a mission by the Queen of Fairies to prove his own against a dragon. He is riding with with a princess who is seated on a little white donkey, her name is Una. The dragon was destroying her land and many of her people have left their homes while others locked themselves in the safety of the castle. Una had left on her own to find a knight to kill the dragon and save her land and her travels took her fair away till she found the Red Cross Knight. The trip back to Una's land was a straight one but not the easiest to follow and so they had to travel side by side as to not stray from the path. At one point, they stopped at a hermits to rest. It was there that the Red Cross Knight was not born of fairy folk but instead of humans. When he was born, the fairies stole him away and hid him in a farmer's field. The farmer named him George and the hermit told him he was born "to be England's friend and patron saint, Saint George of Merry England" (12). Finally, they made it to Una's land they were warmly welcomed, but before they could make it to the castle, the dragon attacked the Red Cross Night. The knight fought valiantly with the dragon to almost no use. Knocked off his horse, the Red Cross Knight landed in an ancient spring the renewed his strength and he was to continue his fight. Again, the knight and the dragon fought an epic battle, the dragon had never fought anyone with such strength and determination. When the knight has used up all of his strength, he fell under and apple tree. From the tree fell a healing dew and there the knight slept till morning to find all of his wounds healed. The next battle was a quick one that ended with the dragon dead. There was a celebration and everyone in the town was very thankful for the knight saving their land. The King and Queen gave gifts of gold and ivory which the knight gave to the poor. For killing the dragon, the knight received Una as a wife and happily they lived till the times that the Fairy Queen called on his services.
I did not like this book at all. I did not think the story flowed well and I do not see and it would effectively hold a young child's attention or interest to make it through the book. Random things were explained at odd times through the book which did not fit or make sense. The illustrations are great though. They are very colorful and have a lot of detail that are appealing to the eye. I think the originally story might be better but I have not read it. This book has won The Caldecoth Medal award.
Hodges, Margaret (1984). Saint George and The Dragon. Canada: Little, Brown & Company Limited.

Dr. Seuss's ABC: ABC Book

Dr. Seuss's "ABC" book is definitely a tongue twister to read aloud. It shows examples of all the letters in capitals and lower case and has at least three words to go along with the letters. Some of the words are made up while others are actual words. I think it is one of the better ABC books because of how each example is. After each letter is introduced, the reader is asked what begins with this letter. This could be an opportunity for the teacher or parent to ask a child if they know any words that do begin with this letter. It helps the child make connections to letters and to help identify them in other examples of literature. Some of the examples given are; "Barber baby bubbles and a bumblebee" (Seuss, 8), "Kick a kettle. Kite and a king's kerchoo" (Seuss, 27), "The quick Queen of Quincy and her quacking quacker-oo" (Seuss, 40), and "Silly Sammy Slick sipped six sodas and got sick sick sick" (Seuss, 45). The last page is of course Z. So often, Z is only associated with zebra due to the slim pickings of words that start with Z in the English language. Dr. Seuss on the other hand, ends it in a very unique way. "Big Z little z, What begins with Z? I do. I am a Zizzer-Zazzer-Zuzz as you can plainly see" (Seuss, 61-63).
I really enjoy reading this book and it is such a fun and different twist on ABC's that I have found young children to enjoy it as well. Having so many unique examples keeps the book interesting form page to page. As an author, he has won the Pulitzer Prize in 1984 and three Academy Awards. The pictures are just as fun as the literacy. The crazy creatures he has created to go along with their equally interesting names are fun visually. I think this is a great way to introduce the ABC's as well as review them and to use as a reference during in class activities.
Seuss, Dr. (1991). Dr. Seuss's ABC. New York, NY: Random House, Inc.

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs : Predicatable book

"Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs ls" by Judi Barrett is a fun and imaginative book. The book start off with a family having breakfast; a grandpa, a mom, and a sun and daughter. It is a Saturday morning which means it is pancake morning for this family. The two kids are debating who will eat the most pancakes and while Grandpa is flipping a pancake, one gets away and lands on the boys head. Everyone laughs about it and then all of the pancakes are eaten. That night, Grandpa tells a bedtime story about a small town far far away called Chewsandswallows. Like other towns, it has a Main Street, houses, a schoolhouse, a church, pets, and people. The difference is that there are no food stores because all the food needed comes from the sky. Three times a day, there would be meals that come in like weather. It will rain soup and juice and snow mashed potatoes and peas. There would even be storms of hamburgers. The weather channel would let the town people know what they will be eating the next day. Everyone in the town carries around their plates, cups, glasses, forks, spoons, knives, and napkins everywhere they go to catch the next meal. Some of the leftovers would be put in their refrigerators for snacks in between meals. What they would eat would change everyday. One day for lunch, hot dogs already in their buns came down followed by a light mustard rain and soda to finish off the meal. The Sanitation Department's job was to collect all the left over food. The left over food would be used to feed all the dogs and cats, then some of it went into the ocean for the fish, turtles, and whales. The rest of the food would go back into the ground to enrich the soil. Then suddenly, the weather turned bad. There was a day of nothing but Gorgonzola cheese, the next day was only overcooked broccoli, and the next was brusselsprouts and peanut butter with mayonnaise. As days went on, the food continued to get bigger and came in a larger quantity. Then one day, huge pancakes blew in that covered houses and the school had to be closed because they could not remove the giant pancake that had landed on it! Everyone in the town was becoming fearful of the pending food storms and what would happen. Eventually the Sanitation Department had to quit because the job became too build and everyone feared their lives and could not go outside most of the time. Finally, the town people decided they had to leave their beloved town to save their lives. So the used giant pieces of stale bread to make boats and packed all their necessities, and off they went. They finally came to a small coastal town where they set up their new lives. No one ever went back to Chewsandswallow to find out what happened to their town. They people had to get use to buying their food at stores and preparing it for themselves. That was the end of Grandpas story and the next day, the snow on the ground looked like mashed potatoes to the two children.
While this book is very entertaining and fun for students, there is not a point or lesson along with it. It does encourage imagination though, something that I do not think teachers spend enough time on. Imagination is very active in young children and needs to be fostered. This would be a fun book to read to a class and maybe have an activity to go along with, but I can not think of any lessons that can be intertwined that would be beneficial for students. It would probably be better for parents to work on reading this book with their children at home since they do enjoy the story so much.
Barrett, Judi (1978). Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Division.

Goodnight Moon: Bieginner Reader

"Goodnight Moon" by Margaret Wise Brown is a great book for parents to read with their children at bedtime. The main character is a young bunny already tucked in bed in his room. The room is green and has a bright red carpet. Some of the things in the room are listed, like a telephone, a red balloon, two pictures, kittens and mittens, a toyhouse, a mouse, a comb and a brush, a bowl of mush, and a old lady. The old lady would say hush to help the little boy fall asleep. Once everything in the room was described, the little boy began saying goodnight to everything in the room. First to the moon , and then to the picture of the cow jumping over the moon. As well as the red balloon and the picture of the bears and the chairs, the kittens and the mittens, the clocks and the goodnight socks, the little house and the mouse, the comb and the brush, the mush and the old lady saying hush, the starts and the air, and the noises everywhere. With that, the little boy rabbit fell asleep happy and content.
I am not sure that this book is good for the classroom, but it is great for parents to read to their children when they are going to bed. This use to be one of my favorite books when I was a little kid because it made me feel like I could tell anything that scared me in my room goodnight and it would not be scary anymore. It is a very easy read for young children and the vocabulary is applicable to child's everyday interactions. Many young children find it hard to fall asleep with the shadows in their room, and like me, they can use this book to tell everything goodnight that scares them.
Brown, Margaret Wise (1975). Goodnight Moon. New York, NY: Happercollins.

A Pocket for Corduroy: Picture Story Book

"A Pocket for Corduroy" by Don Freeman is a sequel to his original book "Corduroy." In this book, the story of Corduroy's life with his new friend and owner, Lisa, continues. It begins one day in the summer with a trip to the laundromat with Lisa's mother. At this point, Lisa takes Corduroy everywhere with her, so of course he came along as well. While Lisa went to help her mother with laundry, she told Corduroy to stay seated in a chair and wait for her. Corduroy overheard Lisa's mother telling her to make sure her pockets were empty so that her belongings would not get ruined. Realizing he did not have a pocket, Corduroy jumped off the chair to go find something to use to make a pocket for himself. On his search, he found a large bag that was filled with wet laundry. Thinking it was a cave, Corduroy climbed in. When it came time for the laundromat to close and Lisa and her mother to leave, Corduroy was no where to be found. Lisa's mother told her that they would have come back tomorrow to find him. After they had left, an artist, who's bag of laundry Corduroy had crawled into. Seeing how wet Corduroy was, the artist decided that the least he could do was dry his outfit for him. Once his clothes were dry, the artist redressed Corduroy and by this time the, the laundromat was closing and the artist left. Once the lights were out, started to look for material to make a pocket again. He ran across some laundry soap and knocked it over, Corduroy thought it was snow as he slid down with the soap. He fell down into an empty laundry basket and went to bed. The next day, as soon as the laundromat opened, Lisa was there to find Corduroy. As soon as she found Corduroy, she asked him why he did not wait for her. Corduroy told Lisa that he had wanted a pocket and went looking for one. So as soon as they got home, Lisa made a pocket for him.
I think this is a fun book for students because they already know the characters and they get to continue Corduroy's story. Also, the idea that if Corduroy had simply asked Lisa for a pocket, then he would have not gotten left at the laundromat. The problem I have with the book it that Corduroy did not listen to directions and had a fun time at the laundromat until he fell into the basket. That is not that great of an example for students to follow. Although it does show students that if they let others know what they want or need, they can get help. I do not know if this book has won any awards or not but it has been around for a long time and I think it will always be a classic book for young children to read.
Freeman, Don (1978). A Pocket for Corduroy. New York, NY: Puffin Books.

The Velveteen Rabbit: Modern Fantasy

The book,'The Velveteen Rabbit' by Margery Williams is about a stuffed toy rabbit and his transformation into a real bunny. In the beginning of the book, the velveteen rabbit is a in perfect condition and is the best present in the little boy's stocking at Christmas. After Christmas morning, the rabbit is forgotten about for a while because of all of the other presents. The rabbit was put in the toy room where he felt inferior to all of the mechanical toys and the only friend he really had was the very old skin horse. It is the skin horse who was loved by the little boys uncle, that told the rabbit about nursery magic and how toys can become real if they are loved enough. The skin horse explains how the boys uncle made him real along time ago and the rabbit began to wish he were real too. One night, when the boys nurse could not find his china dog that he slept with every night, she gave him the velveteen rabbit instead. After that night, the rabbit was always by the little boys side. The more the little boy loved the rabbit and played with him, the more the rabbit became worn, slowly falling apart. In the spring time, the little boy would take the rabbit into the garden with him and build comfy places for the rabbit to sit. One night, the little boy forgot the rabbit out in the garden and the nurse had to go find him before the boy would fall asleep. When the called the rabbit a toy, the little boy protested that the rabbit was real. The rabbit was so happy that everyday was wonderful because he was real. During the summer, the boy took the rabbit out into the woods where the rabbit saw real live rabbits for the first time. The wild rabbits wanted the velveteen rabbit to play with them, but once they realized the velveteen rabbit did not have hind legs, they told him that he was not real. The velveteen rabbit was upset once they left because he knew he was real but he did not understand why he did not have hind legs like them. A while later, the little boy became sick with scarlet fever and the rabbit never left his side. When the little boy was finally better, he went to the ocean and everything that he had played with while he was sick was to be burned; including the velveteen rabbit. The night before being burned, the rabbit wiggled his was out of the sake that was left in the garden. While remembering all of his happy times, one tear fell from his eye and hit the ground. From that tear grew a beautiful flower and from the flower came the most beautiful fairy. She picked the velveteen rabbit up and took him into the woods where she made him real to everyone, not just the little boy. When spring came back, the rabbit saw the little boy playing in the woods and for a moment, stood there while the little boy stared at him, never realizing it was his old bunny.
This is one of my favorite books from my childhood. I had so many stuffed animals that I loved until they fell apart and I always imagined that they turned into real animals once they were too worn for me to play with. Young children can become very attached to their toys and can easily relate to the love the little boy had for the velveteen rabbit. The book has been awarded the IRA/CBC Children's Choice Award. The story encourages the use of imagination for all ages I think. While it is an easy read, I think it might be a little too difficult for kindergartners to read alone. It would be a great take home read for first graders to read with their parents and a good read aloud for a teacher of a younger grade. There is a wide rang of vocabulary used and some pages are filled with nothing else other than words. This book could have many uses in a classroom and is also a great bed time story.
Williams, Margery (1983). The Velveteen Rabbit. New York, NY:Square Fish Henry Holt and Company, Inc.

Corduroy: Modern Fanasy

The book "Corduroy" by Don Freeman is about a bear for sale in a mall waiting to be taken home one day. One day, he is seen by a little girl shopping with her mom. The little girl's name is Lisa and she wants to buy Corduroy and take him home that day. When she asks her mom, her mom tells her that they have spent too much money that day and that he is missing a button anyways. Corduroy had no idea that he was missing a button so later that night after everyone had left, he decides to climb off the shelf and find himself a new button. Everything in the mall is new to him and he really likes all of his new experiences. The escalator that takes him up a floor is a mountain, the furniture section is a place, and finally on a bed he finds buttons. The problem is that the buttons are all sewn down tight and he can not get the button off. He pulls and pulls until it popped off and he went flying backwards. While in the air, he knocks over a lamp and makes a lot of noise. The security guard heard the crash and went to go find out who made the noise. To his surprise, he found Corduroy. So the security guard took him back down to the toy store and set Corduroy back on the shelf for the night. In the morning, Corduroy woke up to see the little girl Lisa smiling at him, she took him home right then and there. Once at his new home, Lisa had a little bed for him and even sew a new button on for him.
"Corduroy" is a classic book yet I am not aware of any awards it has won. There are good words to use for vocabulary with the class and it can lead to discussion about new experiences students have had or want to have. It would be great to read to the class as a read aloud and have following activities to follow it. The class could bring in their favorite stuffed animal for show and tell or they could do a write up about their favorite stuffed animal and how they got it. Lisa, the little girl in the story is African American which was unusual for the time the book was published. This can help bring diversity into the classroom literature which can be difficult. There is a squeal to "Corduroy" written by Don Freeman which is "A Pocket for Corduroy." It can be fun to have a short series to read to the class and they go together very well. You could even have the students take the second book home to read with their parents.
Freeman, Don (1968). Corduroy. New York, NY: Puffin Books.

A Pocket Full of Kisses: Concept Book

The book 'A Pocket Full of Kisses' by Audrey Penn is a squeal to her other book 'The Kissing Hand.' In 'A Pocket Full of Kisses,' the young raccoon and his mother from the first book are joined by a new little brother. Chester, the older son, wants to give Ronny, his new little brother, back. He is having trouble adjusting to having a little brother. He explains to his mother how he liked having Ronny as a younger brother at first but now tends to annoy Chester like most little brothers and sisters do. Everything that use to be just Chester's is now being shared with Ronny. His mother tries to explain how his little brother just wants to be like Chester because he is his older brother and to help make him feel a bit better, she gives him a Kissing Hand. A Kissing Hand is where Chester's mother opens up his hand and gives him a kiss in the middle of his palm to hold on to. This helps Chester and he smiles so big that he even blushes. Later on, Chester sees his mom give Ronny a Kissing Hand and he is very upset because the Kissing Hand was his and he did not want to share that with his little brother. At first, Chester does not think that his mother loves him anymore. So his mother explains how now they both have their own Kissing Hand that neither will share. This makes Chester worry that she will run out of Kissing Hands. His mother tells Chester that if you love someone, then your Kissing Hands will never ever run out. She even gives Chester something extra special for being a big brother, an extra Kissing Hand for his pocket just in case he needs extra later on.
While I do like this book, I think that the first book 'The Kissing Hand' needs to be read first for a young child to understand the meaning of the Kissing Hand and why it is so important to Chester. I'm not sure I would read this book to a class but I would have it as an option for free reading time. For a student with a new little brother or sister on the way or in the house, this would be a good book to help them understand that no matter what, their parents will always love them just the same. I can be hard for a young child to know there place in the family when a new member is added and this can be a difficult time for them. It is important for a teacher to know what is happening at home for them to help the student adjust at school.
Penn, Audrey (2004). A Pocket Full of Kisses. New York, NY: Scholastic.

Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf: Informational Book

The book "Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf" by Louis Ehlert is a great picture book for children with interactive activities at the end. She brings a personal experience from her childhood, or so I assume it is, to help her explain her joy of nature. The book starts off with a picture of the actual first spring leaf of her sugar maple tree before she begins the story of how the tree came to be. To portray the idea of how old trees can be, she tells the read that the tree was born long before her and started off as a seed; hidden from the squirrels and covered with snow until spring. Once spring came, it's roots took ground and the tree started to grow. She then tells how nursery workers came into the woods to collect tree sprouts to take back to the nursery so that they could grow even more. Until they are uprooted again, wrapped up and taken to the garden center. That she where she picked out her tree and took it back home where her dad planted it. Going through each season, she tells the reader what changes she likes to see and then ends at fall with all the different colors being her favorite. The last couple of pages have descriptions of different parts of the tree, the right time to pick out a tree and how to plant it. One the last page are directions on how to make a bird treat to hang on trees.
The book has many different words that can be used as new vocabulary for students such as; maple tree, twirled, whirled, squirrels, sprouted, unfolded, etc. It is an easy read for students to listen to, but might be too difficult for them to read on their own depending on their grade. I think it would be a great book for the fall to help the students relate to the changing color of the leaves and differences to notice from season to season. I really liked the pictures she used. They are a mixture of real things like tree leaves and branches along with paper cut-outs. It gives the pages the appearance of texture that you want to touch. The definitions and details about the different parts of the tree at the end of the story would be great to help build the book into a lesson plan. The directions on how to make the bird treat seem very simple and would be a very fun activity for the students to do and take home or hang on the trees at school. I did like the book but I think that I would find other book to use if I were to make a lesson plan on the topic that will put variety into the reading. I really liked the pictures and I have not seen another children's book that does the art like her.