Bella at Midnight by Diane Stanley

This novel was about a girl named Isabel who is a peasant in a medieval village. She happens to be the daughter of a knight in the King’s palace but she is unaware throughout her life. She is raised by adoptive parents who teach her to be respectful. The story is an alternative Cinderella with a King Arthur twist. Bella’s adoptive mother is a wet nurse for the Prince so he often comes over to visit her and he becomes friends with Bella. During the war that is going on, Bella is forced to go back to live with her father in the palace but finds that he is cruel and she is treated badly by her stepmother. Julian is captured during this war and held hostage. When he is freed he returns how to find that Bella is not in the village. She returns later from the war wounded, and Julian asks for her hand in marriage. This alternative fairy tale is great because it shows the girl as the hero in the story. Often times the male figure is shown as the hero who saves the life of the girl, but in this story Bella goes out of her way to save her childhood friend, now fiancé.

Lon Po Po by Ed Young

This Chinese version of “Little Red-Riding Hood” is about the wolf coming to the home Shang, Tao, and Paotze on a day when their mother has left to go see their grandmother. She tells them not to let anyone in the house. The children let the wolf into the house and find that he isn’t their grandmother so they think of a way to get rid of him. They tell the wolf that the nuts in their tree taste delicious so they will climb up there and pick some. The wolf cannot climb the tree so they make a plan to pull him up in a basket. After dropping him when only one of the children are pulling, and when two of the children are pulling they promise that all three of them will try the next time. After dropping him from a very high distance he falls to the ground and doesn’t respond. This version of “Little Red-Riding Hood” is similar but has many differences than the American version.
I really enjoyed this book when I was in elementary school and remember thinking that it was scary at the end when the wolf dies. I liked the illistrations throughout this book and felt like they did a good job of showing the lifestyle of the Chinese characters throughout the book.

Somebody and the Three Blairs by Marilyn Tolhurst

This story was about a family who decides to go to the park for the day and while they are gone a “somebody” who is shown as a little bear comes into their home and makes himself at home. He eats the breakfast on the table, plays with the little boys toys, and even takes a nap in his crib. When the Blair’s arrive home from the park they find their home a disaster. They finally find the bear in the little boys crib but are unable to catch him before he runs out the window. This book is an interesting alternative because when I first picked up the book I read the title as the three “bears” from habit but found on the first page the family’s last name was Blair. It is a great book to turn the story around and see that the little bear is the one breaking into the house opposed to the little girl. This book is also intended for younger audiences with a lot of the text being repetitive and several of the words being repeated throughout the book.

The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka

This version of the Three Little Pigs portrays the wolf as being a helpless old man who was only going to his neighbor’s home to get a cup of sugar to bake his grandmother a birthday cake. He had a cold and continued to sneeze every time he was at the door of his neighbor which ended up knocking down their whole house. He says that he wouldn’t want to just leave a ham dinner sitting in the debris so he eats the first and second pig. He tells that the newspapers wanted to make their story more interesting so they added that the wolf was a bad guy and had killed the first two pigs. This version of the three little pigs is great to use in a text set to see how the author turned the story around to make the bad guy into the good guy. This is a great book to show that there are always other sides to a story. In most traditional "Three little pig" stories the wolf is portrayed as the bad guy who knocked down the houses of the three little pigs in order to eat them. In this story it makes the audience think about the wolf's point of view and how the story may have been told wrong in the first place, although it is unrealistic.:)

Cinder Edna by Ellen Jackson

This story includes the traditional Cinderella but also adds another story to compare to Cinderella’s “happy ending.” Cinder Edna also lived with her two step sisters and stepmother but contrary to Cinderella, when she was done with her work she mowed lawns and fixed parrot cages to make extra money. When the ball was coming up Edna had money to buy a new gown, while Cinderella had to rely on her fairy godmother to do all the work for her. At the ball they both fall in love with a prince, but have to leave in a hurry. When their prince’s finally find them by the shoes they had left behind and the knowledge they had learned about the girls we see that Cinderella leads a boring life following her prince. Edna, on the other hand, lives happily ever after with the prince who didn’t care about his image but more about being a good husband. This teaches a great lesson showing if Cinderella wasn’t worried about just money and fame she would have lived a happier life.

The Wolf Who Cried Boy by Bob Hartman

This story was about a little wolf who was tired of eating the same “lamburgers,” “three-pig salad,” and “sloppy does” every night and was hungry for boy. His parents explained that boys never came around the woods anymore so he was going to have to make do with their supper unless he found a boy walking in the woods. The next day he told his parents he saw a boy so they both rushed out to catch him. After they came home empty handed their supper was ruined so they had to eat snack food. The little wolf liked the outcome of this so he said the same thing the next day. After his parents caught on they would not listen to him when he saw a whole boy-scout troop outside, and the little wolf learned his lesson of telling lies. This story has a great lesson to learn on its own but would be great to compare and contrast to the original version of “The Boy Who Cried Wolf.”

So Far From the Bamboo Grove by Yoko Kawashawa Watkins

This book was a great book on it's own but when paired in a text set with "A Year of Impossible Goodbyes" the story has a deeper meaning. These books both talked about the occupation of Korea by the Japanese during World War II. Each story was told from the point of view of a child from each of the countries. There were many differences between the way the eleven year old in this story viewed war compared to the way that myself and many other people in the United States view war. I have never lived in the country where there was a war being fought which makes a drastic difference. There are many times I forget that there is even a war going on since it is going on so far away from home. The little girl in this story loses family members and many belongings because of this war which is hard for anyone to handle, especially someone so young. There were many times while reading this story that I tried to put myself into her shoes and imagine how hard it would be to lose family and I thought about how important family is to me. The video we watched in class of the children talking about these two books really shows how important it is to look at both sides of a situation and realize that while you may side with the "underdog" narrator in one of the stories, there is always a different side and it may not be easy for those on that side either.

Love That Dog by Sharon Creech

I thought this book was adorable. I was laughing the whole time I was reading it! I was recommended to read this by the little girl I work on my child study with so I was excited to read it for class. I liked the book because as I was reading the book I was trying to read the book from a child's perspective like I do with most of the other books we read for class, but I was finding myself looking at the book from a teacher's perspective. The teacher was giving the little boy great encouragement throughout his journaling which shows that with the support of the teacher the little boy went from thinking that poetry was for "girls" to enjoying poetry and even being interested in a particular poet that he had read. I agreed with the little boy that this book was easier to read because it had shorter lines. It felt like it was easier to keep my thought going like the little boy said it was for him. The only problem I had with his idea was that it may be hard for him to change his writing someday when he is forced to write in full lines someday. Overall I thought that this was a great example of the relationship that builds confident writers between teachers and students!

Gingerbread Friends by Jan Brett

This book caught my eye from the cover. I know you aren't suppose to "judge a book by it's cover" but the illistrations were very detailed and reminded me of gingerbread houses I have made in the past. We see that this gingerbread man lives in a beautiful gingerbread home in the room of "Mattie" and he has lots of toys and treats but he is missing something. The gingerbread man wanted a friend because he got really sad when Mattie would go out with his friends. Another thing I liked about this book was that on each page there was a different quotation by the gingerbread baby that goes along with the traditional gingerbread story. "I'm the Gingerbread Baby, Peppy as can be, I'll be friends with you, If you'll be friends with me."

The illistrations, like the cover, were so pretty and reminded me of Christmas. They included the main image for the text, but on every page of the story there was a boarder of Christmas decorations, candy, candy canes, and other items that would be around the house around Christmas time. Every page was filled from one side to the other with images and designs that made each page feel full of holiday spirit.

This book would be great to use in an unit on Christmas or holiday themes or to use in contrasting stories of the same idea by different authors. This book is similar but different than other Gingerbread stories that I have read in the past.

Christmas Farm by Mary Lyn Ray

I love Christmas and I loved how the character "Wilma" decided that Christmas began whenever she chose the right Christmas tree and put it into her home. I always put my Christmas tree up right away after Thanksgiving and can't wait to decorate and get ready for the season. The images in this book by Barry Root were beautiful and went with the text very well. They use of paints made the landscapes in the book come alive. Wilma decided that she had grown petunias all of her life and wanted to start to grow something else. She decided to grow evergreen trees in her backyard for those people who didn't have a back hill like she did to pick a Christmas tree. Wilma has the neighbor boy help her plant the trees on her land like he had helped her grow the sunflowers and petunias in the past. This book was great to show children how long it takes for some plants to grow. Some children are only exposed to the growth of vegetables in their backyard or the flowers in their garden, but this book shows that for the evergreens to grow to the size needed to be a Christmas tree they took many seasons and several years! I also found this book interesting because the farmer in the book was a woman. Almost all books portray farmers or planters to be men and this book rids that stereotype.

"A Year of Impossible Goodbyes" by Sook Nyul Choi

This novel written by a Korean author is set during the Japanese occupation of North Korea in 1945. Written from a Korean child's viewpoint we see the struggles that this young girl and her family are put through during World War II. This book was very sad and made me as a reader appreciate everything I have in my life that I take for granted. There are many things that the little girl wishes she had or was able to do that I have and do everyday without thinking of it as a luxury. The little girl is put in a very mature position towards the end of the book when they are running to freedom and she is in charge of her younger brother. I connected to this part of the book because I am the oldest of three daughters in my family and would have done the same thing for my younger sisters if I were put in this situation. I could feel her frustration of being responsible for her younger brother and how she was passionate about making sure he was safe. Although this is a very sad book I think it is a great book to teach kids about war with. We can see the feelings and how war directly affects families and children contrasting to the political aspect we often times see in current events about war that children see in the newspapers everyday.

Anticipation Guide for "A Year of Impossible Goodbyes"- Elizabeth McIlwee, Brian Hudson, and Jessica Anderson

"A Year of Impossible Goodbyes"

*Notice when the image of the laughing Buddha appears in the story.

*Imagine the scent of pine and notice the significance of the pinetree in the story.

*Imagine the bond of a young girl taking care of her little brother during war time.

*Take note of the little things that were taken away from the Koreans by the Japanese during this war that we take for granted in our everyday lives.

*Keep this image and the importance of the hair pin as you read.

Night of the Gargoyles by Eve Bunting

I chose to read this children's book after a classmate did their author study on Eve Bunting and her books interested me. This book was a great book to use in an unit around Halloween time. The illistrations are in all black and white which make the book seem mysterious and scary. On the first page of the book there is the definition of a gargoyle. The definition says that gargoyles are "a watherspout in the form of a grotesque human or animal figure projecting from the roof or eaves of a building." This is different than than how the gargoyles are portrayed throughout the book. The gargoyles are seen as scary creatures that roam around during the night and hate the birds who sit on them and the humans who made them. They are seen moving off of their walls and are sneaking up on humans when they are not aware. Overall I think this, along with many of Eve Bunting's other books, is a great book for children.

Piggies by Audrey Wood and Don Wood

This is a another great book by Audrey Wood who I did my author study on. This is a great book to read to children around bedtime because the ending of the story talks about how the "little piggies" on each finger of the child finally go to bed. This book doesn't have much text so it is great for young children who are just learning how to read. It would be easy for children to read the text, but also great for them to look at the pictures and analyze what is going on in the illistrations. Each page adds one piggy on each finger and then in the end we see the piggies giving a good night kiss to the piggie on the same finger on the other hand. It also shows the piggies in different situations such as in the bathtub, in the cold, in a mess, etc. The piggies are dressed up in creative outfits that are funny for children to look at!

Letter to the Lake by Susan Marie Swanson ande Peter Catalonotto

I love going to the lake in the summer and have always been around the water every summer. The beginning of the book is a letter from a little girl saying how much she misses the lake and how what she remembers about it. The little girl goes on to say that she misses the summer now because it is winter and very cold. This reminds me of harsh Iowan winters and how much I look forward to the summer during these times. She notices that he mother is stressed out because her buttons are crooked and this is a great example of how observant children are. The illistrations in the book are very creative such as when the illistrator shows the little girl eating her breakfast and her mother in the background stressing out about a bill in the reflection of the toaster. Another example of this creativity is when the illistrator shows the little girl smiling at her mother in the car through in the reflection of the car window.

Making Plum Jam by John Warren Stewig and Kevin O'Malley

I connected with the book immediately when I began reading it because the little boy didn't want to go to her great aunt's house for the week. I used to have to spend a week at one of my great aunt's house in the summer and I would become so bored. Immediately when he gets to the house her aunt asks her what she learned at school that year. That is a universal question that I think every adult ask children when to begin conversation. I further connected with the book when the little boy talks about how his aunt doesn't have electricity. My family went to visit an Amish family when I was younger and I didn't understand why they didn't have lights and in place of them they used candles. I found it cute that the little boy wouldn't eat the bacon at breakfast because the big used to be his friend.
It was funny that the aunts were stealing plums from the neighbor farmer in front of their nephew. The little boy was suprised of their misbehaving! The little boy takes jars of jam back to the farmer with a thank you note that night.

The Disappearing Island by Corinne Demas

I enjoyed reading this book. The illistrations by Ted Lewin were very detailed and went along with the text very well. This book was about a real island off the shore of Cape Cod in Massachusetts, which I found out by reading the author's note at the end of the book. The book went into detail about the ocean and the boat that the little girl and her grandma ride on. This book would be great to use in a unit about the ocean or other topics concerning the coast. I liked how the illistrations were different in the story when the little girl was daydreaming. The illistrations were all in shades of orange and yellow to portray her sight from behind her eyes under the sun! This book was very helpful in explaining how the tides of the ocean work and why this particular island is slowly disappearing in the middle of the ocean.

The Bunyan's by Audrey Wood

This story begins with an author’s note explaining the background behind the story of Paul Bunyan. Audrey continues by saying that this is the true story and that Paul was married with two children. Carrie, his wife, and he were both giants decided to get married and share Paul’s wishbone after Carrie had lost hers. This story is great for learning American geography because of the analogies using American landscape. It also gives a unrealistic way of how certain landscapes came to be, but could spark interest in children for how they really did come to be! This is one book not illustrated by Don Wood, but instead by David Shannon. His illustrations work well with the story Audrey has written. Many of the images show how large the characters are by showing them in relation to wagons and houses that are very small. One illustration also shows bears crawling in “Teeny's” hair after a silo of syrup has spilled in it preceding an illustration of her showering in Niagara Falls!

King Bidgood's in the Bathtub by Audrey Wood

This is another book that is illustrated Don Wood. This book is great for showing children what a King’s palace would look like and how they would dress. The illustrations are very detailed and make the pages come alive. The king will not get out of the bathtub so each of the characters in the book try to get him out by telling him there are important things going on in the community which he needs to attend to. He tells them that their problems will have to come to him because he is not getting out of the bathtub today. They battle, eat, fish, and dance in the tub while none of them are able to get him out of the tub. Finally the page shows he knows how to get the King out of the tub by pulling the plug. If you re-read this book you notice that the page has been in all the illustrations and has shown his annoyance that the king will not get out of the tub! The illustrations could spark conversation with children that would last for a long time!

The Napping House By Audrey Wood

This book is illustrated by Audrey's husband, Don Wood. The story begins with the exterior of this “Napping House” and we see that it is raining. Right away the reader gets the motivation for taking a nap on such a dreary day! We see that everyone in this house is napping in their cozy beds. This is a book that begins to repeat the last sentence as the story moves along. For example, “and on that granny there is a child, a dreaming child, on a snoring granny, on a cozy bed, in a napping house, where everyone is sleeping.” This is a great book to use with children who are just beginning to read. They begin to pick up on the repetition and it makes them feel confident about their reading! The story moves along and we see a cat, dog and a flea appear on the bed until the flea bites the cat and alarms everyone until they get off of the bed. As each disappears we see the sun coming out in the window behind the bed. On the last page we see the exterior of the house with a rainbow behind it with the sunshine!

Audrey Wood

Audrey Wood is one author that I read a lot when I was younger. She is my mom's favorite author so we owned almost all of her books growing up, but when I have talked to other classmates about Audrey Wood they have been unfamiliar with most of her books. I chose to do my author study on her because I think she has a lot of great books that may not be familiar to many people. Even the books that are "older" still look appealing to children! There are many lessons that can be taught with some of Wood's books.

http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/contributor.jsp?id=3732

http://www.audreywood.com

Reflection

I have really enjoyed this class so far. I haven't been given the a reason to go to the library and search for children's books in a long time, probably since I was in elementary school. It has brought back many childhood memories going going back and re-reading books I read as a child. I have also used a lot of the books I have read for this class with my child study student for Block A. Class always seems to fly by and I enjoy the discussions we have each week. Also, the required books you have chosen to read have been enjoyable. I had already read The Giver, but the Misfits was one that I never read as a child! Overall I really enjoy this class!

Whitewash by Gail Dawson

This book would be great for teaching children about race and discrimination. It shows what effect these topics have on children and how they should deal with these feelings. After Helene-Angel's face is painted white she still feels the paint that had been on her face. The gang that had done this to her and beat up her brother were showing horrible signs of discrimination that no child should go through. When Helene-Angel finally comes out of her room after a week of not eating or coming out of her room, she decides that she has the "right to be there too." This is a good attitude to have after she had been bullied so badly.

Rose Blanche by Christopher Gallaz and Roberto Innocenti

This was also a great book to use to bring up conversations about the war. It was a hard book to read as are many books about the Hollocaust. Questions about how the girl is holding a Nazi flag in parts of the book but also shown giving the children at the concentration camps food is hard to comprehend. I didn't learn about the Hollocaust until I was in eighth grade and I remember when I learned about it being shocked that this had happened in our history. I think that this book is a good one to use to tell some of the history of World War II but not so overwhelming for children at young ages. I am not against teaching children about the Hollocaust in younger grades, but some of the books and movies I read and watched throughout high school and college may be too much for children in elementary schools.

Hiroshima, No Pika by Toshi Maruki

This book would be great to use with a literature study on war. This book which explained the bombing of Hiroshima by the United States in the point of view of a family living in Hiroshima was rough to read. The book showed many images of people losing their lives and getting injuries that would stay with them for the rest of their lives. As I read this book it was hard to read as an American. Our country did this to the characters in this book but I sympathsized with the characters telling their story. This would be a great book to relate to the war going on today in Iraq and would bring up many conversations about the subject of war.

My Dad Has HIV by Earl Alexander, Sheila Rudin, & Pam Sejkora

This book was educational about the HIV disease for Lindsey who is telling the story, but also for the parents who are unaware that she is so concerned about her father having the disease. This book was great for letting the reader know the information about the disease. Some people may believe that children shouldn't be learning about this subject between the ages of four and eight which this book is recommended for, but they may be overlooking the needs of some children. Lindsey was afraid that no one would want to be friends with her anymore so it was important to educate Lindsey's friends as well.

Nappy Hair by Carolivia Herron

This book could cause controversy for many reasons. When the brother tells Brenda that she should be ashamed of her nappy hair. She corrects him and tells him that she is proud of her nappy hair. The book continues with a conversation with God explaining that he is going to give the "brown little girl" the nappiest hair in the world. Slavery is brought up in the book telling how her parents were sold for only a nickle and a dime. Later in the book they are explaining how Brenda looked when she was born with many adjetives and one of the ones they used to describe her hair was "screwed up." This suprised me because the book is mostly about how Brenda loves her hair, but her family admits that her hair is 'screwed up.'
This book had great illistrations, and would be good for teaching children to accept themselves for who they are. The girl in this story admits that she is happy with her appearance even when her family acts as if she isn't perfect.

The Giver by Lois Lowry

After reading this book for the second time I found it interesting that I had read this book in 5th grade. The book seems like it would be hard for children to read at that age and I wasn't sure if I remembered much from reading it the first time. The book is great to be read if the children are ready for this level of a book though. There are a lot of traditions and committees to keep track of while reading the book. The book is very interesting to think about. The fact that these people do not have feelings is interesting. It would be nice to go through your life without having to feel sadness or anger, but it would be such a shame to go through your life not being able to feel love and happiness! I love to think about membories of my past so I would not like to live in this community that is set up so strictly!

Goodnight Max By: Rosemary Wells

This was a great book to be read to children at bed time. It is a cardboard book which is great for little kids to turn the pages. The illistrations on the pages were great for keeping the interest of young children throughout the book. On several of the pages there was something that came off of the page that could be felt or moved by the reader such as the blanket on Max for example. One thing that I didn't like about the book was the amount of text on the pages. Many times cardboard books are great for very young readers, but this book seems like it would be difficult for some young readers.

Seeds! Seeds! Seeds! by: Nancy Elizabeth Wallace

This book was great for teaching a lesson on seeds and how plants grow. There are several pages that show the seeds that the little boy recieved in his package from his grandpa. The seeds are from many different plants and vegetables. It is interesting to look at the difference in the appearance of the seeds. I liked the illistrations in this book. The illistrations look like they are construction paper cut out into the characters in the book which is interesting. I also like the page where the illistrator showed how the plant's roots grew throughout the season and eventually into a plant. The book also gives ideas for how to use the seeds from the plants in arts and crafts.

I Miss You Every Day By: Simms Taback

The first thing I liked about this book was the envelope on the first page that has a picture inside. The picture can be taken out of the envelope to look at which is interesting for the reader. I liked the fact that this book never tells you who the little girl is missing so that the reader can interpret the story however they want. This book would be a great discussion starter for children to talk about people they miss every day and what they do when they miss them. The illistrations are great in this book. I liked the cover of this book. The title of the book is in bubble letters that are all different colors and it drew my attention right away.

What's Wrong with Timmy? By: Maria Shriver

I chose to read this book because I have read her book What's Heaven? My mom had bought the book after my grandmother died and her books were very helpful in explaining the concept of death. This particular book is great for teaching children about mental disorders in children. It is a great book for parents or teachers to read with children to bring up questions and discussion about the disorder. Many children are not comfortable talking about such topics but may wonder in their minds what is wrong with people who have these disorders and it is important to answer this questions. The illistrations by Sandra Spiedel are excellent. They are paintings and bring the story to life. The story was very sad, but I would recommend it to anyone who is trying to have a discussion about disorders.

Mr. Putter and Tabby Stir the Soup By: Cynthia Rylant

I really liked how this book was divided into chapters. Many children feel like when they progress in their reading they need to read chapter books which seem harder. This book was simple and short like many picture books but may seem like more of a challenge for readers. I also thought the story was very funny. It kept my interest. There are many other books by this author for children to read if they enjoy this particular book. I also liked the illistrations by Arthur Howard. They were helpful to show children what was going on in the story on each of the pages.

Breaking Up By Aimee Friedman

This book is a great book for older kids who are entering middle school and junior high. It kept my interest throughout and I could see it being great for some girls who do not like to read books that are traditional novels. This graphic novel could relate to the lives of many students as they grow from being in elementary school and move into middle and high school. There were some parts that may be a little risque for children in elementary school so I don't think that I would recommend the book for younger children. The book is recommended for kids aged 15 and up. I think that would be a good age for the book. The pictures in the book are great, and dialogue goes well with the images. The black and white images make the images sharp and detailed.

Melissa Parkington's Beautiful, Beautiful Hair By Pat Brisson

This book also taught a good lesson to me as a reader and I think it could teach a good lesson to many children who read it. The book is about a girl who only gets compliments on her hair, and it bothers her because she wants to be complimented on something she is good at or does instead of something physical. Melissa tries many new things to be talented at but has a hard time finding something that she really enjoys. By the end of the book she has decided to be the nicest person in the world. As she gets complimented on being nice throughout the book she decides to donate her hair to someone who is unable to grow hair on their own. I liked this book because I have donated my hair to these organizations before to help children with cancer.

Angelina's Island By Jeanette Winter

This book also had very unique illistrations. The characters are portrayed as black characters with detailed decorations in their hair and on their heads. The jewelry on the characters were also accented on the pages. This book was a good comparison of New York City and Jamaica as a little girl wishes that she could go back to her home island of Jamaica. The information about Jamaica and New York are very informational for students who are unfamiliar with either of these areas. The ending was somewhat confusing and children may have to re-read the book to understand what was going on. The characters are in a parade or festival celebrating Jamaica in the end, but if you only read the text you would have assumed that she was back in Jamaica. This is a great book for comparing the illistrations with the text, and how either of them can change the meaning of the story without the other.

Jamaica and the Substitute Teacher By Juanita Havill

I originally chose this book to use with my child study student because she loves the country Jamaica. When I read this book I found out that this girls name was Jamaica. This was interesting to me because that is not a common name in the United States. This showed great diversity that could be used in teaching students. I loved the illistrations in this book. The paintings looked so realistic that I almost thought some of the illistrations were photographs. I found it sad how excited the students were that they were going to have a substitute teacher. I hope that my class doesn't get excited when I'm gone from class someday! This book taught a great lesson by the end. The little girl Jamaica cheats on her spelling test because she wants to make the substitute teacher proud of her, but she feels guilty about getting a perfect score that she doesn't turn her test in. In the end she admits to what she had done and the substitute teachers says that she was very proud of her for being honest and that she would have been proud of her if she would have missed only one in the first place!

Arthur's Family Vacation By Marc Brown

This is one of my favorite series from when I was in elementary school. The storyline and the characters are interesting to many children. The family of Arthur is similar to many families where there are children who fight with each other about everything. I love the illistrations in these books. There is also realistic dialogue among the characters in these books. In this book the father reminds the children to use the bathroom before they leave on their trip. This reminded me of all the vacations I took as a child when my parents would remind me of these same things. One thing I didn't think would be good for young readers was that there is a lot of text on some of the pages. The big paragraphs may be uninviting to readers who are trying to move up in the level of books.

Belinda Begins Ballet By Amy Young

This book caught my attention sitting on the shelf because of the attractive dust jacket. The jacket is pink and has sparkles in the text of the title. The book was funny as the young girl trys out to be a clown for the talent show. After she decides she would rather be a dancer we see her practicing after school everyday. The illistrations throughout the book are amazing. There was one page that was showing a girl dancing on a stage in the auditorium and the lights that are on her make the page stand out! As I was reading I was hoping that the young girl would change her mind and do a ballet routine in the talent show instead of the clown act and in the end she does do this. The ending taught a good lesson about following your goals and interests!

Say Goodnight, Gracie by Julie Reece Deaver

This was a great book that realted to me personally. The book has many great lessons that can be learned for young readers, but also lessons that can be carried throughout one's life. Many readers can relate to the relationship of Jimmy and Gracie. Their mothers were friends in high school and stayed friends through pregnancy. The two kids grow up together until Jimmy is killed by a drunk driver.
This is a good lesson for children to learn at a young age. Neither of these two ever thought this could happen. It is good for children to see how fast things can happen if they aren't smart!
This was a fast read and I can see how it would keep the attention of young readers.

The Moon Over Star by Dianna Hutts Aston

This was a great book to teach children about the journey to the moon. It shows that this was a huge accomplishment for mankind and how it affected the lives of everyone. I liked how the author decided to repeat the year almost every other page so that the date would be locked in the reader's mind after finishing the book.
I liked how the book showed both sides of the opinions of the American people. The granddaughter was so excited about landing on the moon, while her grandfather thought that it was a waste of time. He didn't think that we should spend the money on this. It shows how there are differing opinions even in the homes of members of the same family.
The illistrations were very detailed and helped the text show what was going on in the story.

Gold Fever by Verla Kay

This was an excellent book to teach children about the gold rush in a fun way. The story is told through rhymes in the form of a poem. The illistrations made the text come alive! There were detailed illistrations of all the things the men seeking gold were doing and seeing throughout their journey. By looking at the illistrations the reader can learn so much more about the time period and the experience of the gold rush without even reading the text! I really liked how there was never any white on any of the pages. Even the extra space on each page had a "antique" look making the book look old.

Somewhere in Africa by Ingrid Mennen and Niki Daly

This was a great book to teach young children and even older readers, such as myself, about Africa. The book goes through all the generalizations of what Africa is like. The illistrations and text show the "Safari" aspect of Africa, but the young boy as a narrator shows that he has never even seen this part of Africa and he lives there. He shows that he lives in a developed city where there are many similarities with other developed countries around the world.
I liked the illistrations especially on the dust jacket of the book. It is a picture of the city where the boy lives.
One part of the story I didn't like was the text. There was never anything unique with the text which made it a little boring by the end of the book. The text was all the same font, and black in color throughout.

Bach's Big Adventure by Sallie Ketcham

I liked how this book began with an introduction of who Johann Sebastian Bach was. It gave the background knowledge of his life and what accomplishments he had. It is a long paragraph for some children to read, but if a teacher wanted to use this book as a read aloud in the classroom it would be a great introduction to get the children thinking about the book.
I loved how the text was creatively placed throughout the pages. Some pages had boarders around the text while some of the pages had bigger or different fonts.
I also really liked the illustrations throughout the book. Some pages had full page illustrations while other pages had illustrations around the text. My favorite page was the one with the illustration of the map of Europe. It gives the children a good sense of the setting of the story.
The story also has a good ending. Bach eventually finds that he is not the best organist in the world, but he accepts this and decides if he is patient someday he may be.

Boom Town by Sonia Levitin

This was a good informational book to teach children about the Gold Rush. It may be a hard concept for young children to understand that the West coast wasn't developed at the same time that the rest of the United States was developed and this book does a good job of relaying that message to readers. I like the illistrations that went along with the book and also the historical note at the end of the book. The book goes through the stages of how each part of the community came to be in the town and how each part plays a huge part in making a community run smoothly.
One thing I didn't like about this book was the text on each of the pages. There was a lot of text and it may have been overwhelming for the five to nine year olds that are recommended to read this book. Other than having a lot of words on each page I think that the age level recommended for this book would be perfect.

The Girl Who Danced with Dolphins By Frank DeSaix

I found this book very peculier. When the grandfather and the granddaughter are out on the ocean he lets her get into the water and swim around. Maybe it is the lifeguard in me talking, but by looking at the pictures the water looks deep and he is letting her go off by herself. Also when the shark comes along I didn't think that the grandfather was very worried about her safety. The book is recommended for children ages 5-8 but there were some difficult words for children that young.
I liked how Adrianne's dream was full of images. It was very detailed and as a reader we could see what she was dreaming about. The illistrations were very detailed as well and went along well with the text.

Heckedy Peg By Audrey Wood

Audrey Wood has always been one of my favorite authors, and the illistrations done by Don Wood have also been a favorite of mine. This book teaches children a great lesson of listening to what you are told by your parents. The children are told not to open the door for anyone and not to touch fire, but when the witch bribes them with gold they immediately forget what their mother had told them. The children are all named after the days of the week which I found odd. My favorite part of the story was the end when the mother pretends to cut off her feet. I can see young children thinking this was really funny because they know the truth about her feet when the mother is tricking the witch.
I liked how the story came together in the end when the mother named each of her children by what they had asked for from the market. The food that each child had been turned into matched perfectly with what they had asked for.

Jessica By Kevin Henkes

I thought the book Jessica was very creative although there were some things I did not like about the book. I liked the illustrations and the side quotations from Ruthie on each page. I liked how the advice Ruthie would give to Jessica would be common phrases you would hear a parent telling their children. Jessica was sort of like a little sister figure to Ruthie since she didn’t have any siblings. I also liked how when there was something wrong or spilled around the house, Ruthie would blame Jessica but right away mention that Jessica was sorry for doing it.

One thing I didn’t like about the book was that her parents would tell her that her imaginary friend wasn’t real. I think that it is good for kids to have imaginary friends when they are growing up especially in this book since she didn’t have any pets or siblings. They could have suggested that she make other friends when she went to school, but I didn’t like how they told her that Jessica wasn’t real.

What a Family! By Rachel Isadora

I thought this book was an excellent book to use while talking about family trees or a child’s heritage. The similarities that the children found among the family members in their family were impressive. I liked how the similarities went through so many generations and in the end even linked to the family dog. The illustrations in the book were also beautiful. The details made the pages come alive, and made the descriptions of each family member stand out on each page. It would be neat to use this book to create family trees or even drawings of similarities among family members in the each child’s family.

Can You Dance, Dalila? By Virginia Kroll

I really enjoyed this book. The illistrations were great and went along with the text really well. I liked how the girl, Dalila, didn't give up here curiosity and love for dancing as she went through all the types that she saw. She kept trying new types of dance until she finally found the one that she enjoyed and was good at in the end. She was very creative when she would try the new types of dances that she was introduced to. After the Irish dance she went home and put on a green dress to try to do the "jig." Another example was when she went home after the country dance and put on her snow boots to do the line dance. Another thing I liked about this book was the imagery used through similes and metaphors throughout the book.

Little House on the Prarie By Laura Ingalls Wilder

Little House on the Prarie books are great for teaching children about the United States before it was discovered and developed. This is the second book of the series and it is a great book to either read aloud in the classroom or for children to read on their own. There are also some great lessons to learn throughout the book as the Wilder family befriend the indians and also work together as a family to get through hard times. The pictures in the book help to paint a picture of the setting throughout the story.

Runaway Ralph By Beverly Cleary

I thought that this book was good for upper elementary aged children. Overall I really enjoyed the book. It moved quickly which would help keep a child's attention as they are reading. After Ralph runs away because his brothers are trying to steal his motorcycle I thought that it could relate to several children. After he runs away to Happy Acres Camp he decides that home wasn't that bad, but is unable to find his way back home. This is a good lesson for children that not getting along with their family or siblings isn't all that bad. Another reason I liked the book was the comedy. The book made me laugh several times, and that I'm sure children would also think it is funny!

When I Get Bigger By Mercer Mayer

The first thing I thought about when I read this book was how I would look for the mouse on every page of the Mercer Mayer books while growing up. I didn't remember reading this one as a child but it made me laugh. The things he mentions doing when he gets older such as "ordering something out of a catalog" aren't things I remember looking forward to as a child. Children have big imaginations so I'm sure there are some children who do look forward to things like this! My favorite page was when he says he will be able to stay up late enough to see the end of a movie and in the picture he can hardly keep his eyes open! The illistations are great in this book and are realistic to a home atmosphere.

Guess How Much I Love You By Sam McBratney

This was another book that I'm sure would be great to read at bedtime. The story was cute and reminded me of conversations I had with my parents when I was younger. I liked how the Big Hare would always find a way to show that he loved the Little Hare a little more, and the Little Hare would still find a way to do the same. The illistations in this book were also very creative. This would be a great book for children who have a good grasp on reading and are looking to read somewhat more challenging books. The book is a little longer than some other children's books and there isn't as much repetition with the words used.

Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star By Iza Trapani

Overall I thought this book was great! The illistrations that went along with the text were beautiful! The pictures looked real and the stars almost jumped off of the pages. My favorite illistration was the one where the little girl is hanging off of the rings around the sun! This is a great book to read either at bedtime with children or while doing a unit on either stars or the solar system. Another thing I enjoyed about this book was the rhyming that was used on each page. It made the story flow well and was very soothing.
One thing I didn't like about the book was some of the font was hard to read on the pages with dark sky as the background. The background on these pages was dark blue and the font was in silver making it hard to read without turning it into the light.

More Spaghetti, I Say! By Rita Golden Gelman

This is a great children's book for first time readers. The words were repeated several times throughout the story and the pictures were a good aid for words that may have been difficult for some children to sound out. I liked the turning point at the end when Minnie decides she is too full to eat anymore spaghetti and Freddy decides that he doesn't want to play anymore but instead eat the spaghetti. I also like the part when Minnie was eating her spaghetti with all kinds of foods including ice cream and marshmallow stuff. I can see kids thinking that was really funny!

The Foot Book by Dr. Seuss

I enjoy almost all of Dr. Seuss books! This was one of my childhood favorites because it was easy for me to read when I was first learning how. The copy that I owned had flaps that you lifted to read some of the lines and there would be more pictures underneath of them which I enjoyed. Along with most of Dr. Seuss's books I like the rhyming and the pictures that go along with the text! The characters are also very unique and catch the eye of the reader.

First day of class

This is my first blog!