Title: Hello, Snow!
Author: Hope Vestergaard
Publisher: Phoenix Color Corporation
Copyright Date: 2004
Number of Pages: 32
Grade Level: Preschool- 1st Grade
Genre: Picture book
Summary: This picture book is a great
way to excite children about snow. It begins with a little girl looking out the window and seeing lots and lots of snow! She decides that she wants to go play and gets completely ready by putting on her snow plants, gloves, mittens, and hat. She wakes up her dad and they go to the big hill and have fun sledding down it until at one point she crashes and gets back up again. Soon it is time to leave and have hot cocoa that her mother made.
Reaction: Great book to read and become enthused with snow and to learn different ways you can enjoy playing in it. This book is very uplifting and the text is enlivening.
Recommendation: I would recommend Hello, Snow! To all children that love the winter time. Also this would be a wonderful book to read to younger students in a classroom setting. The text is easy to read and there is not a large amount, so young children can learn this book and most likely read it all alone.
Potential Problems/Conflicts: If children have had a scary experience with sledding, this might bring up that experience, but other than that this book is great.
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Title: Valentine’s DayAuthor: Miriam Nerlove
Publisher: Albert Whitman & Company
Copyright Date: 1992
Number of Pages: 11 pages
Grade Level: Preschool- Third Grade
Genre: Informational, Picture book
Summary: Valentine’s Day is about a young girl who learns in Kindergarten all about a priest long ago named Valentine, he was a man with many friends because he was so kind. Lots of children wrote him notes and letters and that was when the holiday became known as Valentine’s Day. At school they celebrate with cards, streamers, balloons, pink cupcakes, and cold red punch. When school was over, the little girl’s father came and picked her up; she gave a card she made to her mom, dad, and brother. In return she was given some candy hearts and overall the message that comes across is how Valentine’s Day is a day to tell others that you love them.
Reaction: This children’s book was really cute and informative. I knew a little about how it became known as Valentine’s Day but this book reminded me in a simple way the importance of it.
Recommendation: I would recommend this to any elementary teacher that would like to introduce in an uncomplicated some background of Valentine’s Day and how to celebrate it. I would read this book to my students on Valentine’s.
Potential Problems/Conflicts: Overall I don’t think there are any problems or conflicts.
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Title: Holes
Author: Louis Sachar
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Copyright Date: 1998
Number of Pages: 241
Grade Level: Grade 5-12
Genre: Adventure, Novel
Awards: Newbery Medal, National Book Award for Young People’s Literature, Boston Globe-Horn Book Award
Summary: The story starts out when a troubled Stanley Yelnats is accused of stealing a pair of shoes that were donated by basketball great Clyde “Sweetfeet” Livingston to a celebrity auction. Stanley must attend court, and the judge doesn’t believe that Stanley Stanley blames the conviction of his sentence to attend Camp Green Lake Stanley Stanley must attend Camp Green Lake Texas Stanley Stanley
Reaction: I really enjoy the book Holes, I feel that the mystery is great and throughout the reading you are using your mind trying to figure out what the warden is looking for. There are many themes that are seen throughout the story, some which are benefits of friendship, the power of fate to determine events, destructive nature of cruelty, and the importance of history in our everyday lives. This book can really build the readers character. Recommendation: This is an adventure packed story with flashbacks and twists. This novel portrays how the life of an ordinary boy mysteriously turns around and he must learn how to adapt to a new environment and make new friends and lose some on the way. I would recommend this novel to boys and girls between the ages of ten and fifteen that are looking for an action packed novel.
Potential Problems/ Conflicts: Some portions of the story drag on, and at times the flashbacks can be confusing and extremely harder to follow for some. Some feel that this story is boring also. There are some repetitions seen in the novel.
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Title: The Eleventh Hour
Author: Graeme Base
Publisher: Harry N. Abrams
Copyright Date: 1989
Number of Pages: 32
Grade Level: Grade 4-12
Genre: Mystery
Summary: Horace the Elephant is the main character of this story and it starts with him holding a party for his eleventh birthday, in which he invites his ten best friends who are all types of animals. They play eleven games and share a feast that Horace has prepared. When they are ready to eat at 11:00, they realize that some one has already eaten all their food. They accuse each other until they finally are left puzzled as to who could have stolen all the food. The book contains clues and tips through out all the illustrations and it is up to the reader to solve the mystery of analyzing the pictures on each page and the words of the story. In the end, most believe it was the mouse who stole all the food.
Reaction: I enjoyed this mystery book because it was written in rhyme and contains large and full on pages of illustrations packed with details. You have to make your own observations and decipher hidden messages and codes on the pages. This mystery book completely makes you think. The last pages are sealed together, and you as a reader are encouraged to solve the puzzles your self, but then you can open the seal at your own time. Very interactive and I loved it.
Recommendations: I believe this book would be most affective to children ages 9-12. For people that love mysteries this book is for you. This book has so many possibilities for use in a classroom. As teachers this book would be great to use during a mystery unit, but also you can teach about Roman Centurions since there are many Roman symbols and clues. There are references to math, history, games, literature, and crime solving. Really this book gives endless possibilities for all teachers and also for readers.
Potential Problems/Conflicts: The overall thing that I believe can be a problem with this mystery is that some kids and even adults will become aggravated and overwhelmed with so much illustration and also with trying to decipher the clues.
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Title: The Wanderings of Odysseus
Author: Rosemary Sutcliff
Publisher: Delacorte Books
Copyright Date: 1995
Number of Pages: 120
Reading Level: Grades 5- 8
Genre: Traditional
Summary: This is a retelling of The Illiad, which is a story of the Odyssey presented in a easier and enjoyable format. The main character is Odysseus and he has a great desire to return home to his wife and must go through many temptations and challenges. He is portrayed as a hero-god, but has a touch of sadness in himself. By the end of the book the siege of Troy
The suitors are slayed and Odysseus causes many deaths. The goddess of Athena intervenes and persuades all to give up the vendetta and this is when Ithaca
Reaction: I enjoyed this book because the storytelling techniques are very engaging, especially with good language and rhythm that make the story flow. I thought that the battle scenes were appropriate and the adventure its self was enjoyable. The ending was a happy one, so that is always a plus.
Recommendations: I would recommend that teachers have their students starting in the fifth grade begin to read this book while they study Greek mythology. I was not aware of any Greek mythologies like this and did not read The Odyssey or any others until it was required in my first year of college. Becoming knowledgeable of this time would definitely help students while they are younger.
Potential Problems/Conflicts: Some scenes have a bit more details, but overall this book tells of the mythologies that have been told over and over again.
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Title: Am I a Color Too?
Author: Heidi Cole & Nancy Vogl
Publisher: Illumination Arts
Copyright Date: 2005
Number of Pages: 32
Age Level: Ages 4-9
Genre: Informative, picture book
Summary: The book starts out with a young boy named Tyler who is of mixed race and has questions of the skin color as a label and a form of identity. He realizes that people of all colors can sing, dance, dream, feel, and love and he even declares, “I am a human being, not a color, not a word. I have my hopes and dreams, and a voice that will be heard”. This is such a good way to inform children of different races and that everyone has the same ability and can accomplish whatever they want in their lives.
Reaction: I was surprised as I read more into the reason this book was written. The authors are mother and daughter and this story was inspired by Heidi Cole’s son Tyler’s experiences growing up as an interracial child. The illustrations are absolutely gorgeous and bring together a unity and equality of life. This is such a heartwarming picture book.
Recommendation: I believe this book is a must read for any child, it is very motivational and the expressions of different races are great. This book is very informative while being inspiring.
Potential Problems/Conflicts: I don’t feel that this book has any prejudice as it just shows how people can be different color and still be the same, but some may feel differently about these situations.
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Title: Hey, Pancakes!Author: Tamson Weston
Publisher: Silver Whistle Harcourt
Copyright Date: 2003
Number of Pages: 30
Age Level: Kindergarten- Grade 2
Genre: Picture Book
Summary: Hey, Pancakes is a fun book, it starts out with two little boys going downstairs one morning and discovering that their sister is making breakfast. The boys decide to pitch in a make a messy stack of pancakes! After they are through with eating a delicious stack of pancakes, they hurry and clean up and go out to play.
Reaction: I picked up this book because I thought the title was really cute and it made me want to read it to see what exactly it says about pancakes. This picture book was cute and enjoyable and I think that it would be great to read with very young children.
Recommendation: I would recommend this book to children under the age of seven. The text is easy to read and the illustrations are messy but entertaining. I think young boys would get a kick out of it.
Potential Problems/Conflicts: Hopefully this book would not allow children to get any crazy ideas about making and eating pancakes!
Title: Crocs!
Author: David T. Greenberg
Publisher: Little, Brown
Copyright Date: 2008
Number of Pages: 32
Age Level: Grades 2-4
Genre: Picture Book
Summary: Crocs are all over scary movies, fenced-in zoos, and even in nightmares. But one day some crocs moved in with a little boy. A boy in need of a vacation heads to a tropical island expecting some relaxation, but there is a gang of crocodiles that come to him soon enough. In this book, some of the crocodiles are disgustingly funny and drink Tabasco
Reaction: I’m actually not a huge fan of this book because some parts were kind of disturbing, such as crocs with studs in their tongues, and crocs that wear baggy pants. I’m not sure that any of this is teaching children good things. That’s just my opinion though.
Recommendation: Fans of snakes, bugs, and other crazy animals would delight in this creepy book. Young boys would enjoy this much more than girls would.
Potential Problems/ Conflicts: Some of the sayings were not great teachings, or at least I wouldn’t really want my children to think in that way.
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Title: Panda Bear, Panda Bear, What Do You See?
Author: Bill Martin Jr/ Eric Carle
Publisher: Henry Holt and Company
Copyright Date: 2003
Number of Pages:
Age Level:
Genre: Picture Book
Summary: This is a wonderful book that rhymes and tells animals’ answers to the question, “What do you see?” There is a panda bear that sees a bald eagle. A water buffalo walks the fields and views another animal. A spider monkey even surprises the readers. Throughout the book the singsong text is set forth in rhyme and each animal’s name is repeated twice to help the reader remember. The last two pages have pictures of the animals along with their names.
Reaction: This is a beautiful book that shares some of the endangered animal species on the planet and this brings it to the reader’s attention. The illustrations are very decorative and resemble the true animal and the colors that they are.
Recommendation: I really think all children will enjoy this book. They can go back to the last two pages and may use the animals to count and say the colors, and they can go back and locate the animals in the story. This book is a great tool to introduce conservation to children. This is a fantastic picture book with talking animals.
Potential Problems/ Conflicts: If you have very young children that are scared of animals, this book might not be that great for them, but overall it is a wonderful book.
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