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*Picture book for preschoolers through third graders, contemporary
*Young boy as main character
*Rating: Looking Like Me is a rhythmic self-esteem-builder journey for young children by father/son duo Walter Dean and Christopher Myers.

Short, short summary: Looking Like Me is basically a list of all the things that a boy/girl can be. For example, in the beginning of the book, Jeremy says: “I looked in the mirror and what did I see? A real handsome dude looking just like me. He put out his fist. I gave it a bam!” Then along comes, Jeremy’s sister and tells him he is a little brother. She puts out her fist and he says, “I gave it a bam! Jeremy and brother, That’s who I am.” Thus the book continues as Jeremy takes the reader through every title that makes up who he is from son to writer to runner. And of course, each time, he gives the person a BAM! Looking Like Me by Walter Dean Myers is a book to read aloud to children over and over again.

So, what do I do with this book?

1. This is one of those books that would be a great activity for the beginning of the school year. Students could write at the top of a piece of paper, “I AM. . .” Then they could make a list of all the “titles” or “people” they are from family relationships to interests to everyday titles such as student or neighbor. You could also cut some letters out of magazines and build the words underneath the I AM with magazine letters instead of written letters to make the list more in the style of Christopher Myers’s illustrations.

2. Speaking of illustrations, the pictures in Looking Like Me are something to study. Each page has a photograph (at least one) under a multi-colored boy. Once you have read the book out loud to children, go back and study the pictures with them. Maybe even make a list of the photos and the words to see if there is any pattern. For example, on the page about being a runner, there’s a picture of an upside-down ketchup bottle and then a drawn illustration of a boy running. Students can even make their own illustrations in Christopher Myers’s style to go with their I AM lists.

3. Looking Like Me is an example of good word choice (one of the 6 traits of writing.) Discuss the specific words that jump out at students and why those are the perfect words to use in this story. Ask students if they think Walter Dean Myers just sat down and got these exact perfect words onto paper the first time he wrote the story. Did he have to play around with the word choice? Why does it make a better book?

Anybody who wants to share an I AM list here. . .feel free!

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photo by ahisgett www.flickr.com

Chinese New Year
February 14, 2010

*Picture book for preschoolers through second graders, contemporary, multicultural
*Young girl as main character
*A Gift is a good introduction to the Chinese New Year for young children with wonderful illustrations and a nice family message!

Short, short summary:
A Gift by Yong Chen tells the story of Amy, whose Mom is missing her relatives back home in China around the Chinese New Year. Soon a package arrives for Mom and Amy. Inside the package is a letter from Amy’s aunt (Mom’s sister) about a rock that Uncle Zhong found in his fields in China and how Uncle Ming turned it into a necklace for Amy for the Chinese New Year. At the end of A Gift, Yong Chen explains more about the Chinese New Year and the symbol of the dragon.

So, what do I do with this book?

1. In 2010, the Chinese New Year will be on February 14. (To see dates for other years, click here.) Make some Chinese New Year recipes with your class or at home with your children. In art, make dragons. Ask students to find a few facts about the Chinese New Year through their own research. You can also make a Chinese New Year information bulletin board. Invite a native from China to be a guest speaker about celebrations and customs for the Chinese New Year.

2. Amy has never met her relatives in China, but she knows all about them from her mom. You may have students in your family who have never met some of their relatives; or if you are at home with your children, you may have relatives living overseas whom your child has not met. Use A Gift by Yong Chen to start a discussion with your children or your class about these relatives. If you are a teacher, ask students to bring in a photograph of a relative they have never met–they can also bring in an old photo of a deceased relative if necessary. Ask the students to share some information about the person in the photo by interviewing their parents.

3. Ask students to draw or write (depending on their age and ability level) about a special gift they have received, what it was, and why it was special.

photo by joi www.flickr.com

First, I’d like to announce the winner of the book: Coolhead Luke and Other Stories. It is Kim W.! Congratulations, Kim, I hope you enjoy the book and all the silly poems/illustrations with your children. Now to today’s post. . .

On Friday the 13th, it’s only natural to write about a book that contains a monster-eating frog, goblin, troll, and ogre.

*Picture book for preschoolers through second graders
*A very-hungry, special frog and his owner Mrs. Collywobbles as main characters
*Rating: I absolutely love fun and silly picture books with a twist. So, believe me, Beware of Frog by William Bee will not disappoint!

Short, short summary: Mrs. Collywobbles lives near a big, dark, scary wood. Thank goodness she has her pet frog to protect her from a goblin, troll, and ogre. Although, do these scary monsters pay any attention to the “Beware of Frog” sign on Mrs. Collywobbles’ gate? Of course not! Should they pay attention to the sign? YES! Once the monsters are taken care of, Mrs. Collywobbles and her pet frog sit down to some tea, and then the real fun begins!

So, what do I do with this book?

1. Adjectives are everywhere in this book; so if you are talking about adjectives with your children or teaching them to your students, this is a great book to use. You could also use this book with a word choice lesson if you are teaching the six traits of writing.

2. This is a FUN, FUN, FUN read-aloud book for teachers to their classes or parents to their children. Have fun with the different monsters’ voices and rhymes. Children can do the “gobbles” with the frog!

3. Do children know the story of The Frog Prince? Compare and contrast what happens at the end of Beware of the Frog with The Frog Prince or The Princess and the Frog. Comparing and contrasting with a Venn Diagram is always an easy shared writing activity.

Have you read Beware of the Frog? Share your feelings and experiences here!

photo by Theresa Thompson www.flickr.com

*Picture book for preschoolers through first graders
*Young boy as main character
*Rating: Friday My Radio Flyer Flew is a simple, sweet story with absolutely amazing, amazing illustrations. Your young readers will LOVE it!

Short, short summary: A young boy finds his dad’s Radio Flyer red wagon in the garage. His dad takes him for a ride in the wagon, and a boy notices a plane. He gets an idea that he can make his wagon fly, but the week isn’t working out so great. Rain and several failed attempts bring him to Friday. And by the title, you can tell that somehow on Friday My Radio Flyer Flew. By the way, I am in love with Zachary Pullen’s illustrations!

So, what do I do with this book?

1. Let students tell you if they think the boy is actually flying on Friday or if he and his dad are pretending to fly. Ask students to support their answers with clues from the illustrations.

2. This is a good time to talk with students about safety! On Thursday, the boy takes several tumbles in his Radio Flyer. Is it a good idea to build a ramp and try to make the wagon fly without adult supervision? I hate to dampen the spirit of adventure and all, but you can work in some safety education here–especially wearing a helmet with bicycles, skateboards, and roller blades.

3. Since there are so few words in Friday My Radio Flyer Flew, after a few readings, students could read some or all with you–especially when you get to Friday. Here’s the text: “Finally on Friday. . .I focused. . .and my Radio Flyer. . .flew. . .and flew. . .and flew!” With each “flew,” students could read louder!

I am telling you–you have to check out this book and its illustrations, especially if you are a Radio Flyer lover. Are you a Radio Flyer lover?

*Middle-grade/tween book, contemporary and realistic
*Middle-school boy as main character
*Rating: While listening to the audio book, I laughed out loud in several parts and said, “Oh no!” in others. Jeff Kinney knows how to write for this age group and the parents who are peeking in.

Short, short summary:Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney is the first book in a series of four books about our hero, “a wimpy kid,” Greg Heffley. His diary, which his mother is making him write in, takes readers through a school year in Greg’s life, and all the many realistic, and completely hysterical, problems that a student in middle school can have. Like trying out for The Wizard of Oz school play, being cast as a tree, and deciding not to sing the special song written for you titled, “We Three Trees” to the tune of “We Three Kings.” Or How about creating a haunted house, charging the neighborhood kids, and filling a pool with ketchup for a lake of blood? Surely, no one’s parents will mind . . . Diary of a Wimpy Kid also deals with problems kids have like being good friends, siblings, and homework/tests. I’d recommend this book to anyone!

So, what do I do with this book?

1. If you home school or your children love Diary of a Wimpy Kid, you can actually buy them this book to get them to practice writing and writing about emotions, etc. Let your kids make their own Diary of a Wimpy Kid:

2. In this first book, Greg has a lot of trouble with his best friend, Rowley. They don’t talk to each other for over a month because of something that Greg does. Ask students to write or discuss Greg’s actions toward Rowley. How would they feel if their best friend did what Greg did? How else could Rowley and Greg solve the issues between them? What does Greg expect from a best friend? Does he give the same in return? This should be a lively discussion, and you will see if you have any “Greg Heffleys” in your room.

3. In Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Rowley and Greg try to make some comic strips for the school newspaper, which is harder than it seems. Ask students to work together or independently (whichever they prefer) and make a comic to share with the class. You could also study some comic sections from the newspaper and talk about the difference between comic strips and political cartoons.

Which one of the four Wimpy Kid books are your or your children’s favorite?

Yes, you read that right. . .you can win your very own hard cover copy of Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins (the sequel to The Hunger Games) by leaving a comment below. I’m not even going to make you do anything special in your comment if you don’t want to–you can just say “pick me” or you can tell me why you liked The Hunger Games or if you are a writer, tell me what you are working on or another good series you have read. Bascially, just leave me a comment, so you can be entered into the random drawing, which will be held on Monday, October 12 around noon CST. (Leave your comment before then). Okay, let’s get onto talking about Catching Fire!

*Young adult book, science fiction
*Teenage girl as main character
*Rating: Catching Fire is as good as The Hunger Games. When I read the last page, I couldn’t believe I would have to wait a year to find out what will happen in the third book! UGH!

Short, short summary: Peeta and Katniss must go on their Victory Tour throughout the twelve districts since they both survived and won the Hunger Games. People in the all-powerful Capital are absolutely in love with the pair, who for the first time outwitted the Gamemakers and infuriated the government officials, including creepy President Snow. While on their Victory Tour, Katniss and Peeta both realize that many people in the districts seem ready to rebel and fight against the Capital and their cruel Hunger Games. But then more and more of the horrid Peacekeepers begin showing up and squashing people’s hope with cruel punishments. Hope is especially squashed when a terrifying announcement is made about this year’s Hunger Games, which happen to be the 75th anniversary. Every 25 years–it’s the quell, and something “special” happens in the Hunger Games to make sure and really dampen the spirits of the twelve districts’ citizens. What will the 75th games mean for Katniss and Peeta? How is Katniss doing with her struggling emotions between Gale and Peeta? Is Haymitch still drinking himself silly? How did Prim and Katniss’s mother survive during the Hunger Games? All of these questions and more are answered in Catching Fire, and Suzanne Collins will leave you wanting even more!

So, what do I do with this book?

1. In the beginning of the story, Katniss devises a plan to run away and take her family and loved ones with her. Before they read what she decides to do, ask your students to write in their reading response journals about the pros and cons of her idea. Then ask them to choose a side, and write arguments for that side only. Then hold a debate in your classroom, and ask students to debate about what Katniss should do and why. If you are reading this book as an individual or as part of a homeschool class, you can do the journal activity and write a persuasive paper about what Katniss should do.

2. Katniss is confused by the way many of the tributes are acting in the arena during the Hunger Games. Ask students to predict what they think is going on and why people are acting the way they are acting. Make sure students base their predictions on clues from the book. When they make a prediction, ask them to support it by quoting sections of the text that support their ideas.

3. Let your students or your teens have fun with Catching Fire! Give them this prompt: Be a designer or speech writer for Katniss and Peeta. If you were part of Katniss’s and Peeta’s design team, what sort of costume would you design for them when they go on their Victory Tour? If you had to write a speech for them, what would you have them say? Write a speech or draw/design a costume for the District Twelve victors.

Don’t forget to leave your comment below on anything you want to enter the contest for a chance to win this book for you, your favorite teen, or your favorite classroom/library.

The book for the book giveaway was purchased by me through Amazon.com.

*Picture book for preschoolers through first graders
*Families of all sorts are the main characters
*Rating: All Kinds of Families! is a sweet picture book full of interesting ideas about families. No matter what a child’s family looks like, they should feel like they belong with this book by Mary Ann Hoberman.

Short, short summary: All Kinds of Families! is a rhyming picture book with a repeating chorus that pops up throughout the book. Its main goal is to show children that there are all kinds of families–people belong to families but so do letters and numbers and even spoons and forks. It is also a great book for talking about family roles such as parents, siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. The concept of family tree is introduced briefly. Marc Boutavant’s illustrations are detailed and cute, and children could spend hours looking at them.

So, what do I do with this book?

1. This is the perfect book for a preschool, kindergarten, or homeschool class. Read the entire book through one time and just let children enjoy it. Then read a section at a time because there is so much information on each page about families–in the text and in the illustrations. Allow students to ask questions about the family groups that Mary Ann Hoberman mentions. Discuss the characteristics of a family throughout the reading of the book. This is a great book to use with a young primary grade social studies curriculum.

2. An obvious activity is to have students draw or write about their own families. You can also start a family wall or family bulletin board. Instead of “Star of the Week,” you can have “Family of the Week.” Allow students to bring in pictures of anyone in the family–grandma, grandpa, dogs, cats, sisters, cousins, etc. You can work with students to label pictures. With parents’ help, you could also ask students to make a simple family tree at home and display these in the classroom.

3. Using the examples in the book as models, what are some things in your classroom you could lump together to create families? What about pattern blocks (math manipulatives of any kind), reading books, art supplies, recess equipment, and so on? Create tags on sentence strips for these families with your students and hang them around the room. You can be creative with your tags such as: “Mr. and Mrs. Playground Balls and their five children” or “The Eraser Family” or “The Pencils Clan” and so on.

by optimal tweezers www.flickr.com

*Picture book for preschoolers through 2nd graders
*The Vowel Family (mom, dad, and kids) as main characters
*Rating: Children will get caught up in the Vowel Family’s problems and wonder how to fix them right along with Pm Smth and Sm Vwl!

Short, short summary: Pam Smith (Pm Smth) and Sam Vowel (Sm Vwl) get married, but obviously there’s a problem–just look at how their names are spelled. Pm and Sm have trouble communicating and understanding each other with no vowels, but luckily they have some children. First comes A and E–Allen and Ellen, and life gets a little easier, but there’s still a lot of words that have vowels other than A and E. So, they have some more children: Iris, Otto, and Ursula. Now their family is almost complete! But what about that tricky Y–sometimes Y is a vowel. Thankfully, Aunt Cyndy enters the picture, and now the vowel family can understand everything they say to each other!

So, what do I do with this book?

1. One of the easiest and most fun activities is for children to insert the vowels into the words without vowels throughout the book. Can they decipher what the Vowel Family is saying to each other in Sally Walker’s book? You can do this as a shared writing activity for younger students. For older students, you can challenge them to decipher words individually or in pairs.

2. Make vowel word lists to hang around your room. At the top of each list, put the Vowel family child who represents that letter. Then with your class, make a list of words that start with that letter. To make more of a challenge, you can think of words in certain subjects that you are currently studying. For example if you are studying plants in science, then students should think of words that start with vowels and are plants (fruits and vegetables can be included). Hang these lists in your room, near your word wall.

3. You can play a challenging word game with your students to familarize with them vowels. Ask students to think of as many words as they can that use only one vowel. For example, the students think of words that only use “a” and no other vowel. (and, hat, mat, had, as,) Depending on the age of your students, they can work in pairs or independently.

Students will learn the vowels better with fun activities than with just rote memorization.

I am so happy to announce that Donna Volkenannt won a prize from Tilbury House for leaving a comment on my blog about the elephant books last Thursday. She is going to receive an autographed copy of Just for Elephants from Tilbury House, and she can’t wait to share it with her grandchildren!

Tilbury House also announced. . .”We had so many great responses that we’ve decided to add a sort of bonus prize, an extra donation to the [Elephant] Sanctuary on behalf of everyone who participated in the [blog] tour. For the 100 or so people who posted comments, tweeted, or hosted a stop, we will be sponsoring 100 lbs of peanut butter, a favorite snack of “the girls” at the Sanctuary. :)” ~from Sarah at Tilbury House.

AWESOME! Remember you can help the elephants by buying elephant books from Tilbury House before December 31.

*Tween (or young adult) fantasy
*Peter Pan and Molly as main characters
*Rating: The last book in the trilogy of the sequel to Peter Pan. I am still enjoying it on audio book, and I think Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson did an exceptional job with this one!

Short, short summary: Book three is more action-packed than ever. At the end of book 2, Peter and Molly saved the starstuff from falling into the hands of Lord Ombra, the shadow-stealing creature. But in book 3, he’s back, and he has a plan to end all plans. He is determined to use Peter Pan to find enough starstuff to destroy the entire world. In the meantime, Molly and George figure out who Peter and his parents actually are, and they rush to Paris to tell her father, who is on a mission for the Starcatchers. Molly’s father is on his way to Mollusk Island to find Peter and protect him from danger. However, before Lord Aster, Molly, and George get to him, Peter Pan and the Lost Boys are kidnapped by Captain Hook and some of his pirates during a raid on Mollusk Island by some terrible savages called Scorpions. During this pirate kidnapping, Lord Ombra captures the boys and Captain Hook with the help of an evil ruler on Rundoon. And this is only the first half of the book. Read the third book and find out how Peter’s story ends before Peter Pan actually begins.

So, what do I do with this book?

1. Peter and the Secret of Rundoon has several subplots that all come together and meet as one giant plot at the end of the story. Your students can sketch out each subplot and then connect them together. In reading response journals, students can write how Ridley Pearson and Dave Barry weave the plots together and how subplots enrich stories. When writing their own stories, they can try including subplots and creating more complex stories of their own. To work on summarizing skills, students can summarize each subplot in book 3.

2. Many problems in this story are solved with starstuff. How do students feel about the characters’ problems being solved with magic? Start a class discussion about the role magic plays in the story, and whether or not they like that characters have the help of magic or if they wish characters solved their problems without the starstuff. You can most likely have a debate in your classroom as there will be opinions on both sides.

3. Ask students to write down everything they know about Peter Pan. (For fun, you could also watch the Disney movie.) Then students or your children should write down how Ridley Pearson and Dave Barry explain these original Peter Pan events in their book, Peter and the Secret of Rundoon or any of the other 2 books in the prequel. For example, how do they explain that Peter can fly or that Captain Hook is his enemy?

Have you read any of the books in this trilogy? Let us know what you think!