Book Reviews

Alphabet Soup

By: Kate Banks

Pictures by: Peter Sis

• Published: 1988
• ISBN: 0-679-86723-6
• Reading Level: Read Aloud
• Topic: A young boy having an adventure with his soup
• The Storyline: A boy dips his spoon into his soup and pulls out words. Whatever words he spells brings that thing to life. (Ex: B-E-A-R would create a bear!) The boy goes through a great adventure with his friend Bear and uses the power of his alphabet soup for help.
• What I like about this book: I really enjoyed the idea of the boy showing his imagination and how he uses spelling to help him through all of his challenges.
• How I can incorporate this book: I feel that this book would be a great example for spelling help, a game could be made out of it, there are a lot of art projects could be created using this book, and I thought of a few personal writings that my students could use.
  • I personally could not think of any way that this book could be used across content except for maybe detailing the animals that the book mentions.

 CINDER-ELLY

By: Frances Minters

Illustrated By: G. Brain Karas

• Published in 1994
• ISBN #: 0-670-84417-9
• Book Level: Read Aloud/ K-3
• The book is about a young girl who lives in NYC. She is the youngest sister and her siblings are really mean to her.
• Since Elly is the youngest she has to wait on her sisters hand and foot and do all of their chores. She gets so upset with the whole situation. Her and her sisters win tickets to a basketball game and her family does not have the money to buy clothes for all three of the children so her mother lets her sisters go because they are older. Cinder-Elly decides to watch the game from her house when she met her godmother. Her godmother dresses her in nice clothes, gives her glass sneakers, and changes her trash can into a bike. She tells Elly to be home by 10 pm because that is when the spell dies and everything goes back to normal. She jumps on the bike and heads to the game. She meets Prince Charming the best basketball player at their school. He invites her to pizza after the game but she doesn’t have time! She runs outside and at 10 pm she clothes and her bike are gone. She runs home and doesn’t realize that she lost her glass sneaker. Prince ends up finding Elly and her foot fits the sneaker perfectly and they live a happy life. Her godmother scolds her older sisters and they apologize for being so mean to Cinder-Elly.
• I really liked this “Cinderella Story.” This was a modern twist on the older fairy tale. I really enjoyed that it was something that children from this era could relate to. It was a basketball game, pizza, and a school boy instead of the traditional ballroom, glass slippers, and true love.
• How I could incorporate this book: I feel that I could use the setting to talk about big cities and the characteristics that differ from where we live. Also, this book, like many children’s books, offers many writing prompts and art projects.

GOLDILOCKS and THE THREE BEARS

Retold and Illustrated by:

James Marshall

• Published: 1988
• ISBN #: 0-14-056366-0
• Grade Level: Second or Third Grade
• Topic: Tells Goldilock’s adventure as she rummage through the Bear’s house while they are out for a ride on their bicycle.
• The Storyline: Goldilocks is supposed to be going and buying muffins but she is a naughty little girl and takes a short cut that her mother tells her to stay away from. She comes to the Bear’s house and she enters without being invited while they are out and about. She eats their food, breaks the chairs, and sleeps in their beds. When the bears return they find Goldilocks asleep in Baby Bear’s bed. Before they can confront her she is up and out the window.
• Why I like this book: I really enjoyed this version of the book because it is the actual version I was told when I was a child.
• How this bok can be used: I think that this book can teach some new vocabulary. It also offers a great moral. Also this book leaves an open ending where I would have my students write “what happens next!”

SCHNITZEL IS LOST

By: Hans Wilhelm

• Publication: 1991
• ISBN #: 0-671-73306-0
• Grade Level: 2^nd or 3^rd
• Topic: Schnitzel and his friend Pretzel run out of their yard to explore and Schnitzel ends up lost and alone.
• The Storyline: Schnitzel and his best friend Pretzel are in their backyard when they realize that the gate is open. They decide to explore and leave the backyard. This is not something that they had done before. They quickly run into a big pile of leaves and begin playing in them, having a blast. Schnitzel decides to chase the leaves as they blow in the wind. He runs and runs and when he stops he realizes that he doesn’t know where he is at and that Pretzel is no where to be found. Schnitzel becomes scared because no one seems to help him. He walks and walks and gets chased by a huge dog. To escape, he follows people into a narrow door which he soon finds that it is a bus. He is really frightened now so he decides to get off of the bus as soon as he can. When the doors of the bus open Schnitzel jumps out and lands in a big pile of leaves. He realizes that these are the same leaves that he played in earlier and that he is right out his backyard. He runs home and Pretzel meets him at the door. Schnitzel tells Pretzel all about his adventure right before they fall fast asleep.
• Why I liked this book: I liked this book because of the characteristics of Schnitzel. He is a very outgoing dog. He seemed so carefree. I enjoyed the easy to read pages and the storyline was cute.
• How I can connect this book: I would use the leaves to talk about the different seasons and also I could use this book to talk to my students about the proper things to do when you think you may be lost.

 

TYRONE

                   THE BIG BAD BULLY                    

BY: Hans Wilhelm

• Published: 1993
• ISBN#: 87-562-5837-2
• Grade Level: Read Aloud (3^rd Independently)
• Topic: This book covers the terrible issue of bullying
• Storyline: Tyrone was a mean bully. He was always being mean to someone, especially Boland. Boland was so scared of Tyrone and his dirty tricks that he dreaded going to school. Tyrone messed with Boland on a daily basis. Well one day Tyrone didn’t show up to school and Boland was extremely happy but the second day that Tyrone didn’t show up Boland was asked to take him his math books. Boland was very scared and ha to go alone because all of his friends were scared of Tyrone too. When he arrived at Tyrone’s house he heard yelling and fighting. Tyrone was in the cellar because his mean uncle locked him in. Boland climbed through the window and unlocked the door for Tyrone so that he could escape. Tyrone’s uncle caught them and Boland stood up for Tyrone and they escaped. Tyrone asked to stay with Boland and was allowed to. Boland’s mother doctored Tyrone up and made him feel so good that he was back to his old self very soon!
• Why I like this book: I feel that bullying is an issue that needs to be heavily talked about in a classroom and I feel that this book would help me reinforce the point that bullying is mean and ugly and it doesn’t make you any stronger to pick on someone.
• Connections that I can make: I feel that this book would be a great teaching tool when we talked about bullying. I feel that it could teach many students a good lesson about bullies. Also, this book could open the door to a classroom discussion on bullies that may be in our school.

Ben Over Night

By: Sarah Ellis

Illustrated by: Kim LaFave

Published: 2005

ISBN: 1-55041-807-6

Grade Level: Read Aloud- 1^st or 2^nd

Topic: Being afraid of staying the night at a friend’s house

Storyline: Ben loves to play at his best friend’s house, but when its time for a sleepover all Ben can think about is going home. Ben’s brother and sister try some creative solutions to help their younger brother get over his fear of staying all night with his friend.

What I liked: I really enjoyed all of the descriptive text within this book, the imagination of this child was really cute, and most of all the illustrations were quite catchy.

How I can connect this book: I think that this book deals a lot with fear. Also imagination can be brought up with this book. Another topic I could use this book with would be friendship!

The Great Turkey Race

By: Steve Metzger

Illustrated by: Jim Paillot

Published: 2006

ISBN: 0-439-85930-1

Grade Level: Read Aloud, 2^nd or 3^rd

Topic: Thanksgiving/ choosing a “special” turkey for Thanksgiving dinner

The Storyline: Farmer Joe has to pick a special chicken to have for Thanksgiving dinner. The turkeys catch drift of this and decide to have a field day to see who Farmer Joe should pick! The turkeys soon found out that the special Thanksgiving turkey would be cooked and they completed the last field day event which was jumping over the tallest thing. Each turkey jumped the farm fence and ran and ran and ran. Farmer Joe had vegetable stew for Thanksgiving Dinner.

Why I liked this book: The storyline of this book was really entertaining. There were a lot of details and events happening. I think children would really enjoy reenacting this book.

Content Connections: This book could be used to discuss Thanksgiving across the world. Many people celebrate differently and many people have tasty dinners. This book could definitely fall into a European culture Thanksgiving.

Fun Dog, Sun Dog

By: Deborah Heiligman

Illustrated by: Tim Bowers

Published: 2007

ISBN: 0-439-89196-5

Grade Level: K or 1st

Topic: Dog/Human relationship

The Storyline: In this book Tinka is described with jingly poetry. She goes through many adventures with her young owner. They run, slide, go to the beach, play in the sand, get messy, go to the fair, go to the park, get sprayed by a skunk, take a bath, get groomed, and most importantly are there for each other.

What I like about this book: I really love how this book is wrote. I love all of the rhyming words and the description of their activities. The pictures throughout the book are great and it really shows the idea of animal companionship. 

Content Connections: This book could be used in a rhyming lesson. It offers a lot of great description words that rhyme. Students would be able to connect with this book and write their own animal poetry. I think this would open many doors for children to begin writing their own poetry.

Santa’s Stuck

By: Rhonda Gowler Greene

Illustrated by: Henry Cole

Published: 2004

ISBN: 0-439-83150-4

Grade Level: Read Aloud or 3rd - 4th

Topic: Santa Claus/Christmas

The Storyline: Santa enters a house and delivers the kid’s gifts and begins to enjoy the delicious Christmas snack that the children left for him. He eats, eats, and eats until a button pops off of his suit. Once he has finished all of the treats he tries to leave. There is one problem Santa gets stuck in the chimney. Then the reindeer, dog, and cat and her kittens try to push and pull Santa out of the chimney. Then the tiny mouse uses his brain and uses a toy bulldozer to push Santa out of the chimney.

Why I liked this book: This book has a really cute storyline and I enjoyed who it was written and illustrated. The pictures are amazing and I love the little clues that they leave you with on each page.

Content Connections: I would use this book in the holiday season just for kids to see the great illustrations and to let them enjoy this humorous story. More than likely I would use a text talk lesson plan with this book. I would like for the students not only to enjoy the story but to look at the way it is written and illustrated.

Where to Litte Wombat

Written and Illustrated by: Charles Fuge

Grade Level: Read Aloud

ISBN: 1-4027-3698-3

Published: 2006

Topic: Wombat wanted to live somewhere more exciting

Storyline: Wombat decides he wants to live somewhere more exciting than his borrow. He goes out to visit all of hs friends and asks to live with them. They all welcome Wombat into their homes but nothing seems to work out. Wombt then returns home to find that his burrow is the perfect place for him.

What I like about this book: The pictures in this book are very colorful and I really like how some pages are horizontal while the others are vertical. This book also introduces the moral, the grass isn’t always greener on the other side.

Content Connections: I would have my students choose an animal from this book to research. They would then create this animal and their home and present their findings to the class.

 

Alice the Fairy

Written and Illustrated by: David Shannon

Published: 2004

Grade Level: Read Aloud

ISBN: 0-439-79165-0

Topic: Alice tells us all the tricks that she is capable of doing because she is a temporary fairy.

Storyline: Alice introduces herself to us in the beginning of this book. Then she shows us all of her magic tricks from using her magic wand, to turning her dad into a horse, to being able to disappear. She is a very creative little girl who enjoys her life as a temporary fairy. She can’t do some things though because she is not a permaneny fairy. She states that she will stay a temporary fairy all of her life.

Why I liked this book: I really enjoyed this book because of the authors creative writing. The writting is even illustrated to be made like a child’s handwriting. I loved the imagination that is used throughout the book and the illustrations tie it all together.

Activity: I would have my children create their own story about what they would do if they had magical powers. I would also have them illustrate it and put them together for a class book.

Title: Clifford’s Best School Day

By: Quinan B. Lee

Illustrated by: Steve Haefele

Grade Level: 1st Grade or Read Aloud

ISBN: 0-545-02844-2

Topic: Showing off your talents and being rewarded for your acomplishments

Storyline: Emily Elizabeth is very talented and Clifford, her dog, wants to be talented too. So he decides to show Emily Elizabeth all his special talents but he seems to get into trouble by digging a huge hole in the neighbors yard and popping Emily Elizabeth’s basketball. But one of his talents is being big and great. Emily Elizabeth took Clifford to school for the big and great artshow and he won first place.

Activity: For an activity  I would have my students write about one of their talents and we would tell about them as a whole class. I would also participate.

Stop Picking on Me

By: Pat Thomas

Illustrated by: Lesley Harker

ISBN: 0-7641-1461-1

Grade Level: 2^nd or 3^rd—Read Aloud

Published: 2000

Topic: Types of bullying (physical and verbal), how it affects people and why people choose to be bullies.

Storyline: This book is very informative about the issue of bullying. It covers both physical and verbal bullying and how this affects the people who are involved. This book also covers why people may be bullies. Also this book encourages people who are being bullied or who have been bullied to reach out to someone who they trust to help them solve this problem.

Why I liked this book: I really like this book because bullying is a problem in schools. Many children choose not to tell if they are being bullied and there are times when bullying really affects children. This books help children see that being bullied is wrong and shows them that they need to speak up for themselves and that they need not to let themselves or friends be hurt by bullies.

Content connections: I would use this book to do a role play with my students. They will see the different types of bullying and learn how to solve the situations. I hope that this book would create a trustworthy environment in my classroom so that if bullying is going on with my students then they will come to me.

When Sophie Gets Angry–Really, Really Angry…

Written and Illustrated By: Molly Bang

ISBN: 0-439-59845-1

Grade Level: K-2nd –Read Aloud

Published: 1999

Topic: This story is about children dealing with anger in positive ways.

Storyline: In this book Sophie tells about all the things that make her angry…really, really angry. Sophie’s temper flares when her sister demands a turn playing with a favorite stuffed gorilla. Matters worsen when Sophie’s mother passes judgment (“It is her turn now, Sophie”) and Sophie trips over a toy truck in the resulting tug-of-war. Infernal shades of orange, yellow and red liken Sophie to a shuddering volcano; a gray cat with jagged fur wisely gets out of her way. With the “PABAM!” of a slammed door, the girl races outside. “She runs and runs and runs until she can’t run anymore. Then, for a little while, she cries.” Gradually, a calmer Sophie begins noticing birds and ferns. When she returns home, relaxed again, her sister has abandoned the gorilla in favor of a tabletop puzzle.

Why I liked this book: I really like this book because it tells children about anger and how to deal with it in positive ways. I really like how the book ends too because the children will see that with their news ways of dealing with anger everything will settle and no one will be angry or hurt.

Activity: For this book I would let my students write about a time that they were really angry and how that dealt with it. Then we would read the book and they would express how they would deal with their anger better back then and how they will deal with their anger in the future.

 

Fall Leaves Fall!

By: Zoe Hall

Illustrated by: Shari Halpern

Grade Level: Read Aloud

ISBN: 0-439-32173-5

Published: 2000

Topic: The fall season and all the fun things to do with leaves.

Storyline: Two silblings talk about leaves and their favorite things to do with them. Leaves are for watching, catching, stomping, kicking, and collecting, and big piles of freshly raked leaves are perfect for jumping into. After collecting leaves from their favorite trees, the children label some and make silly pictures with others.

Why I liked this book: I really liked this book because it would really tie into a great science lesson. This book has great pictures and many opportunities for students to learn.

Activity: For this book I would have students collect leaves from outside and we would label them. We would also complete the activity that is included in the back of the book which teaches children how leaves grow through the year. Also I would want children to write about their they have learned about leaves throught this book and their experiences.