The Snowy Day

Title: The Snowy Day
Genre: Caldecott
Author: Ezra Jack Keats
Awards: Caldecott Medal (1963)
              The New York Public Library's Book of the Century (1996)
              The Library of Congress's Books that Shaped America (2012)
Age Group: 5 to 7-year-olds

Teacher Evaluation: As a teacher, I would use this in a Kindergarten or First-Grade classroom for a read aloud. I think the illustrations in the book are amazing and the writing leaves time for questioning and probing students to think about the story. I also think that the book could be relatable to students near the age of the main character.

Summary: This short story is about a boy named Peter and his adventures on a snowy day. The book begins with Peter waking up and seeing all the snow that had fallen overnight through his window. After breakfast, Peter puts on his snow clothes and goes outside to play in the snow. As Peter walks through the snow he notices that the snow makes a crunching sound and he can leave footprints in the snow. Peter changes the way he walks to make different marks in the snow. Peter finds a stick and he uses the stick to make tracks in the snow and to hit snow off a tree which falls on top of his head. Since Peter is still very young he can't go play with the big boys in their snowball fight, instead, he makes a snowman and angels in the snow, he climbed a pile of snow and slid down, and he even packed a ball of snow to keep in his pocket for tomorrow. When Peter gets home he tells his mom all about his snow adventures. Before Peter went to bed he was surprised to see that his snowball wasn't in his pocket anymore and that night he dreamt that the Sun would melt all the snow. The next morning Peter's dream wasn't right because there was still snow outside and new snow falling. The story ends with Peter asking a friend to go play in the snow with him.

Breaking Stalin's Nose

Title: Breaking Stalin's Nose
Genre: Historical Fiction
Author: Eugene Yelchin
Awards: Newbery Honor (2012)
              American Library Association Notable Books for Children (2012)
Age Group: 8 to 12-year-olds

Teacher Evaluation: This book offers one perspective on Communism, that of a young boy who grew up loving it but slowly became aware of the faults and terrors. I think this book would be best in fourth grade and higher levels because of the content. I think it would be a great book to recommend to students who enjoy reading about history because of the historical context in it. The writing is also very authentic to a 10-year-old which I think would make the reading easy to follow for students.

Summary: This book is written about a young Russian boy during the time period of Stalin's rule. The young boy Sasha has grown up longing to be a Pioneer and a Communist hero like his father. Sasha's father works for the secret security and has helped catch many spies. The story starts with Sasha writing a letter to Stalin, telling him how he loves Communism and will work hard every day to become the best Pioneer he could possibly be. The next day, Sasha would be taking place in a ceremony to become a pioneer. Sasha details what is like to live during this time, he shares a home with many others, everyone knows each other. As Sasha talks about the community-type living, his father arrives home. Everyone respects his father, Sasha says that everyone looks scared of his father but he knows it is respect. His father picks him up and takes him to their room, a neighbor trailing behind. This neighbor has a big family and lives in a small room, Sasha feels sorry that his father and he have such a luxurious living space, unlike his neighbor. Sasha's father whispers to Sasha not to speak to this neighbor and shuts the door as the neighbor tries to peek into their room. Once the two are alone, Sasha reads the letter he wrote to Stalin to his father, who promises to give it to Stalin. His father tells him that his principal has asked him to be the special guest at the Pioneer ceremony tomorrow. Sasha is very excited that his father will be there at the ceremony, his father also ties the Pioneer scarf around Sasha's neck asking him what each part of the scarf represents. That night Sasha's father says something to him that does not settle with him, he tells him that if something were to happen to him to go to his Aunt and become a Pioneer. Sasha didn't understand the meaning of this until their doorbell rings, policemen come into their room looking for Sasha's father. They tear apart Sasha's room and take his father away. Sasha is now homeless, he tries to go to Stalin's office to tell them they have made a mistake his father is a Communist hero but realizes that is not the right thing to do. Sasha goes to his aunt only to get turned away by her husband out of fear. Sasha sleeps in the basement of his aunt's apartment building with the intention of going to school tomorrow, hopefully seeing his father their because by then he believes they will figure out that everything was a mistake. The next morning Sasha goes to school, he is worried that others will know his father has been arrested. He is teased by another boy who was once his friend about his mother being an American, no one knows this about Sasha. As the story continues, the reader gets to know that Sasha is the top of his class but Sasha runs into trouble when he accidentally breaks off the nose of a statue of Stalin. The book continues with Sasha worried that the truth of him breaking off the nose will come out, he knows if it does he will be arrested for terroristic acts. Sasha gets in trouble for getting involved in a fight and not going to the principal to say he will denounce his father. At the end of the book, Sasha is given the choice of being a Pioneer still, denouncing his father, and becoming a spy. Sasha takes the opportunity but right before he's about to carry the banner to show he is still with the Communist, he turns around and runs straight to the prison his father is in to see him.

Henry Huggins

Title: Henry Huggins
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Author: Beverly Cleary
Awards: ALA Notable Children's Book
Age Group: 8 to 10 year-olds

Teacher Evaluation: As a teacher, I would have this book available in the class library. I think that third to fourth-grade students would enjoy reading this book. Perhaps students that have read other Beverly Cleary books would have an interest in reading this book. Since the book has many short stories within it, I could possibly read the first chapter in class to introduce it to students and have copies available for students who want to continue to read.

Summary: This book is about a young boy named Henry Huggins. The book has many short stories about Henry written as chapters. The first chapter talks about how Henry Huggins typically has a normal life. Until one day on his way home he meets a skinny dog he names Ribsy. Henry calls his mom to see if he can bring Ribsy home with him. Henry's mom tells him he can keep the dog but he must make it home with the dog on the bus. Henry struggles to get Ribsy on the bus because there are rules about having a dog on the bus. Henry can't get on the first or second bus with Ribsy. Henry finally makes it onto the third bus home by hiding Ribsy in a grocery type bag, until Ribsy breaks out of the bag and causes a scene on the bus. The bus driver pulls over with the intention of throwing Henry and Ribsy off the bus. The police pull up next to the bus asking for Henry, his mother called because she was worried he was not yet home for dinner. The first story ends with Henry getting dropped off at his house with his dad welcoming Ribsy with a bone and his mom asking what will Henry do next. The next chapter is about Henry buying guppies, but the guppies keep having babies and take over his free time. He can't go outside to play like his friends do, Ribsy gets tired of being inside and leave him to go out, and he starts running out of space to put all the guppies. This chapter ends with Henry taking his guppies back to the pet store and getting a catfish instead. The third chapter is about how Ribsy's bark overpowers the sound of an oncoming car and Henry throws a football that doesn't belong to him into the car by accident. Henry has to find a way to make enough money to buy a football to replace the one that got thrown into the moving car. Henry starts to work for his neighbor by collecting "night crawlers", huge worms that come out at night, for a penny a piece. Henry stays out late to collect as many worms as he can to reach the amount he needs to but the football. Henry's parents come out and help him so he won't take longer collecting worms, the family reaches their total and they go home. The next morning, the doorbell rings and it is the owner of the car. The car driver explains he was in a hurry so he couldn't immediately turn around and he has been busy but he has come to return the football. This chapter ends with Henry telling his dad that he's going to buy a football like the one that was returned with the money he has earned. The next chapter is about Henry being in a school play that he doesn't want to be a part of. Ribsy ends up getting Henry out of a very main role in the play by dumping green paint on him. The following chapter is about Ribsy entering a dog competition. Henry tries his best to keep Ribsy well behaved and clean but Ribsy rubs dirt on himself. Henry sees other dog owners rubbing talcum powder on the white of their dogs to make them look cleaner, so Henry rushes home to get talcum powder to do the same. Henry starts rubbing talcum powder on Ribsy only to see his talcum powder isn't white it's pink and it won't rub off. Henry rubs the pink talcum powder on all the white spots on Ribsy so he won't look funny. During the dog competition, Ribsy won't' listen to Henry but they continue to progress on in the competition. The chapter ends with Ribsy winning the award for the most unusual dog. Henry and Ribsy also get their picture in the newspaper for winning. The final chapter of the book is about Ribsy's original owner finding Ribsy's picture in the newspaper. Henry is with his friends when Ribsy's new owner finds them. He explains how Ribsy got lost, but Henry does not want to give up Ribsy. His friend comes up with the idea to let Ribsy chooses. After a long teeter-totter between the boys, Ribsy eventually chooses to stay with Henry.

Ira Says Goodbye

Title: Ira Says Goodbye
Genre: N/A
Author: Bernard Waber
Awards: N/A
Age Group: 6 to 8-years-old

Teacher Evaluation: As a teacher, I think this book would be great to read before a writing activity. I think this story would be easily incorporated into a first-grade classroom. The book could be a stem for writing a short story about who the student's best friend is and maybe what they're favorite thing to do with their best friend is. I would also have a few volunteers share their story with the class and model one for them.

Summary: This book is about a boy named Ira and his best friend Reggie. Reggie is moving away to a different city. Ira takes the news about his best friend moving away very hard. He doesn't know how things will be without his best friend. The story details all the things that Ira and his best friend Reggie did together. One day, Reggie comes over and starts taking his things out of their tree house and plans on taking his pet turtle. Ira doesn't like that it feels like Reggie is already gone because of all his things getting taken out. Ira also tries to tell Reggie that by taking his turtle away, he's going to kill Ira's turtle because turtle best friends can't be separated. Ira is shocked when Reggie seems excited about moving. Reggie tells him all the wonderful things about the place he's moving to. Because Reggie seems to be okay with moving away, Ira gets irritated and gets mad at Reggie. When it is time for Reggie and his family to leave, Ira says goodbye to everyone but Reggie. Reggie's mom asks him if he's going to say goodbye to Ira when he starts to break down. Reggie's parents share that Reggie has been taking moving away really hard. Ira is surprised to hear that Reggie actually was not okay with moving away. Ira tells Reggie to take their pet best friend turtles with him. After Reggie leaves, Ira gets a phone call from Reggie inviting him to his new house so they can hang out. Ira gets so excited that he goes upstairs to pack days in advance.

Big Sister and Little Sister

Title: Big Sister and Little Sister
Genre: Realistic Fictions
Author: Charlotte Zolotow
Awards: N/A
Age Group: 5 to 8-years-old

Teacher Evaluation: I think this would be a great read-aloud book. Students in a Kindergarten to First-grade classroom could find this book relatable and easy to follow. If I wanted to extend on this story I could have my students make a picture story about their family or a specific family member. The drawing could be the way they take care of the person or how the person cares for them. Then the students would write a small story under, which I would help them with after they share with the class.

Summary: This is a short story about two sisters. The big sister cares for the younger sister in many ways. The story shows the various ways that the older sister cares for the younger one. She makes sure the younger sister stays on the sidewalk, holds her hand when they cross the street, teachers her the right way to do things, and comforts her when she cries. One day, the younger sister realizes all the big sister does for her and doesn't want her to always tell her what to do anymore. The little sister sneaks out to find a quiet place, with no one telling her what to do. The story ends with the older sister crying near the younger one in a tall field so the older sister can't see the younger one. She's crying because she can't find the little sister and the little sister comes out and comforts her. The little sister and big sister realize that both of them can help each other. The story ends with the girls walking back home with the realization that the big sister isn't the only one who can take care of the other.

Tight Times

Title: Tight Times
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Author: Barbara Shook Hazen
Awards: N/A
Age Group: 5 to 8-year-olds

Teacher Evaluation: As a teacher, I would use this book in a guided reading activity for Kindergarten. This book has various components and events for pausing and reflecting with students. It is a great book to check comprehension of the story by stopping and asking the students what is happening in the story. I also think it is a great story about how even in tough times there's always a sort of light that can bring happiness and good times back.

Summary: This is a short story about a family going through financial troubles. The story is told through the perspective of the child in the family. At the beginning of the story, the reader learns that all the child wants is a dog. His father had promised he could get a dog when he is bigger, which he is now. The child's father explains that the family is going through tight times which means they can't get a dog right now. The story continues with the father explaining to the child, using examples of his everyday life, what tight times mean. Towards the end of the story, the father comes home upset because he lost his job. When the mother gets home, she asks the narrator to step outside. While the narrator is sitting outside he finds a kitten, He goes inside to get the kitten milk but make noise and his parents come out to see what happened. His parents see the kitten in his hands and he explains to them how he found the kitten. The parents then start to cry and hug the child and kitten, telling the boy he can keep the kitten but no more asking about a dog. The story ends with the boy naming the kitten "dog" and hoping she likes to eat a "tight times" food which is lima beans.

Roller Girl

Title: Roller Girl
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Author: Victoria Jamieson
Awards: John Newbery Honor Book (2016)
Age Group: 8 to 12-year-olds

Teacher Evaluation: As a teacher, I would use this graphic novel preferably in a fifth-grade classroom. The novel is a coming-of-age story about a young girl entering middle school which I think would be highly relatable to students in this grade. I think the overall message of the book about finding who you are, growing up, and change would be perfect for a reflective journal activity. I also think it is important though to find an alternative because some students might not find this interesting, especially boys in this age group. Therefore, the book could also be a suggested book in the classroom library that students could grab for a reading assignment or enjoyment.

Summary: This graphic novel is about a young girl named Astrid. Astrid is about to enter middle school when many things start to change for her. The story begins with Astrid and her best friend Nicole going to a roller derby match with Astrid's mom. The girls have been best friends for a very long time but at the match, it is clear that there is a significant difference between the girls. Astrid seems to be very eager about the sport while Nicole shows more worry about injuries and curiosity about the boys there. The girls learn about a roller derby camp, Astrid really wants to join. Nicole doesn't want to join the roller derby camp and instead joins dance camp. Astrid gets really upset at the fact Nicole wants to join dance camp because a girl who is mean to Astrid goes there and Nicole is nice to her. The two girls go their separate ways but Astrid can't bring herself to tell her mom about their falling out. Astrid starts roller derby camp and quickly realizes that it is not as much fun as she thought without a friend. The first few days of camp are hard for Astrid, because she doesn't have friends and because she has not told her mom that she is not friends with Nicole anymore and doesn't have a ride home. As the story progresses, Astrid makes a friend at the camp named Zoey. Zoey and Astrid become close friends, they stay after camp and practice together, Zoey dyes Astrid's hair, and they volunteer to help a coach pass out papers for their bout. When the girls go to pass out papers advertising the bout, Nicole is there with the girl that was mean to Astrid and two boys. The girls and the group's interaction with each other are brief but Astrid can't help but follow them. Astrid and Zoey only to hear them talking about Astrid. Astrid's feelings get hurt by what the girls say and she confronts them. After confronting the girls, Astrid becomes more focused on training for the bout. Astrid and Zoey start to separate when Zoey is picked instead of Astrid to be the jammer. Astrid's day at camp once again gets harder because Zoey will not speak to her. One day, Astrid comes home to a very upset mother. Her mother ran into Nicole's mother shopping and found out the truth about Nicole not being at camp with Astrid. Astrid and her mother talk about what's been happening in Astrid's life. Astrid's mom makes her go apologize to Nicole and her mother for lying. When Astrid apologizes to Nicole she tells her she's going to go to the ballet recital for her dance camp to support her. After leaving Nicole's house, Astrid feels happy but sad still because she notices that she and Zoey have stopped talking because she became obsessed with practicing and not giving time to things Zoey wanted to do. Astrid attempts to make up with Zoey but it doesn't work as planned so instead Astrid comes up with a plan. She asks a roller derby star to make a poster for Zoey and she stays up all night making special cutouts of Zoey's favorite Broadway star. The next day at the bout, Zoey notices all the people holding the cutouts and how the roller derby star was cheering her on and thanks, Astrid. The story ends with Nicole coming to the bout and asking Astrid to go to dinner after but Astrid chooses instead to be with Zoey and her other friends. The roller derby star also compliments Astrid on how she played and to keep it up.

The War That Saved My Life

Title: The War That Saved My Life
Genre: Historical Fiction
Author: Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
Awards: Newbery Honor Book (2016)
              The Schneider Family Book Award (2016)
Age Group: 9 to 12-year-olds

Teacher Evaluation: As a teacher, I would definitely incorporate this book into a fourth to a sixth-grade classroom. I believe that the historical connections within the book could be related to possible social studies units throughout the school year. I also think that while the book may not be directly relatable to students, there are certain aspects of the book that is relatable. The book has many important messages throughout the book about love, bravery, family, and acceptance that I believe is important for children to read about.

Summary: This book is about Ada, a young girl living in London during World War 2. At the beginning of the book, the reader learns that something is wrong with Ada's right foot. Since Ada's right foot is twisted, her mom doesn't allow her to go to school or outside like her younger brother Jamie. Ada's mother is described as a very abusive mother, never showing Ada love throughout the beginning and even locking her in a cupboard as punishment. Shortly after the book begins, Jamie, Ada's younger brother asks his mother if he's going to be sent away like the other kids because of the war. This gives Ada the idea to escape since her mother mentioned that she was not allowed to go, Ada comes up with the idea to leave very early in the morning with Jamie. Jamie and Ada make it out of London and to a train station where families were taking in evacuee children. Jamie and Ada didn't get picked so the lady in charge said she knew just the person for them. The lady took the children to Miss Smith's house, Miss Smith seemed reluctant to take the children but did. Ada and Jamie were taken care of by Miss Smith she would feed them, bathe them, get them new clothes, and she even took Ada to the doctor to get crutches. At the doctor, Ada learned that her foot was called a clubfoot and it is typically fixed after birth but could still now be fixed with surgery. Ada felt more free with Miss Smith who allowed her to go outside with the pony and do other things. Ada made friends there and throughout the book begins to relax more about differences she has with the people there. Although her life is drastically different, it is hard for Ada to let go the emotional and mental hurt that her mother caused with her abuse. As the war drags on and gets closer to where they live Miss Smith is urged to let the children go but she cannot bring herself to. Miss Smith keeps Jamie and Ada with her and they have a bomb shelter built so when the sirens go off they have somewhere safe to go. Although near the end of the book, when the sirens do go off, Ada has a panic attack because the shelter smells the same as the cupboards her mom would make her go in. Miss Smith comforts Ada by wrapping her in covers after Ada becomes more able to go in the shelter because Miss Smith buys different things to hang in it to change to smell. Following nights in the shelter, one August day Ada took her pony out on a ride when she spotted a man coming ashore. The news had been saying to report suspicious activity so Ada rode to the police shelter to alert them. The man that Ada reported was a German spy. Jamie thought that Ada was a hero now and so did Miss Smith she was very proud of everything Ada had done to help. The book ends in September with Ada happily riding her pony home only to see her mother waiting for her. Her mother is quick to start verbally attacking both Ada and Miss Smith. Ada's mom forces the children to go back home with her because the government wanted her to pay Miss Smith to keep them. When the children return home it is back to how it was in the beginning only now Ada stands up for herself. She tells her mom they could go back to Miss Smith and she wouldn't have to pay anything, her mom is willing to do this because she admits she never wanted Ada or her brother. The children both plan to go back to Miss Smith in the morning when bombs start to strike. The children make it into a shelter and the next morning when they come out they see Miss Smith and run to her. Miss Smith came to come get them before the bombs started to strike. All three then return to the train station to go back home, only to see Miss Smith's home was hit directly by a German bomb. Miss Smith tells the children how they have saved her life and for the first time Ada feels joy being with Miss Smith, Jamie, and everyone there who cares for her.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Title: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Genre: Fantasy
Author: Roald Dahl
Awards: New England  Round Table of Children's Librarians Award (1972)
              Surrey School Award (1973)
              Millennium Children's Book Award and Blue Peter Book Award (2000)
Age Group: 8 to 10-years old

Teacher Evaluation: As a teacher, I would use this in a third grade or second-grade classroom. I think the story offers plenty of descriptive words that would help children expand on their vocabulary. The only thing I would be wary of is some made up words and language in the book could confuse some students. The book also has some choice words that I think the teacher needs to prepare for by finding a replacement word or perhaps skipping over it.

Summary: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is about a young boy, Charlie Bucket, from a poor family. Charlie's family consists of his two parents and four grandparents. The family is poor and struggles to have enough food for everyone. Charlie is a sweet young boy who doesn't take any extra food his family tries to give him. Charlie often bonds with his grandparents by hearing them tells stories, in the book CHarlie's Grandpa Joe tells him amazing stories about Willy Wonka. Willy Wonka is the owner of the great big chocolate factories that Charlie can see from his home. Wonka's chocolate bars are sold all around the world. Grandpa Joe tells Charlie how Willy Wonka had to shut down his amazing factory because spies were being hired by other candy companies to steal his ideas. Later on, the factory reopened but the gates never did, nobody knows who is working for Mr. Wonka but sometimes people saw small shadows come from the windows of the factory. Soon after the story about Mr. WOnka, there was a story in the paper that Mr. Wonka was opening the gates to his factory to the 5 lucky people who found a golden ticket in one of his chocolate bars. The family wasn't wealthy enough to buy a chocolate bar often like many other people, the only time they would buy one was for Charlie's birthday which was coming up. Charlie's birthday arrived shortly after the two first golden tickets were found. The first ticket was found by a rather obese young boy named Augustus and the second ticket was found by a girl named Veruca who was very spoiled. On Charlie's birthday, he received his Wonka chocolate bar but no golden ticket. Soon after the next two tickets were found by a television-obsessed young boy named Mike and a girl who enjoys chewing gum named Violet.  With only one ticket left to find, one-day Grandpa Joe called Charlie over to him and gave him a secret silver coin no one knew he had. Grandpa Joe told Charlie to go buy another chocolate bar so they could give it another go. Charlie returned back to Grandpa Joe after buying the Wonka bar only to see that is didn't have a golden ticket. Days went on and the winter got harsher for the family. The family began to starve more after Charlie's father lost his job. Charlie began to feel weak due to his hunger so while other children played he moved slowly to preserve energy. While doing so, Charlie saw a dollar on the floor. Charlie use the dollar to buy him chocolate bars and the rest he was going to take home, only his second candy bar had the golden ticket. Charlie was one of the five that would go into Wonka's factory and receive a lifetime supply of chocolate and candy. Grandpa Joe accompanied Charlie to the factory trip, as the trip around the factory progressed one by one each child began to disappear. The children wouldn't listen to Mr. Wonka's warnings and would find themselves in terrible positions. The Oompa Loompas (the unique workers at the factory) would escort the parents of each of the children to where they could find and help their child. Charlie is the last child on the tour when Mr. Wonka reveals to him that he will be leaving his factory to Charlie and his family. The book ends with Mr. Wonka going to Charlie's home and telling his family their new home is at the factory.

Zita The Spacegirl

Title: Zita The Spacegirl Book One: Far From Home
Genre: Science Fiction
Author: Ben Hatke
Awards: The Amelia Bloomer Book List Award (2012)
Age Group: 9 to 12-year-olds

Teacher Evaluation: I would use this book in class to show my students that not all books have the same format, for instance, this science fiction book is a graphic novel. I think it would help students realize there are several different types of books to chose from if certain students prefer more picture-based readings a book like this is a good fit. Due to the vocabulary in the book and broken language used by certain characters, I think this book would be best for fourth-grade students and up.

Summary: Zita the Spacegirl, is about a young girl named Zita who gets zapped far from Earth. Zita and her friend Joseph are zapped far from Earth into another world/planet that is about to get hit by an asteroid. Zita and her friend Joseph are immediately separated when they arrive because Joseph gets taken away by a robot with tentacles. Zita desperately searches for help to find a way to find Joseph and get back home. Zita makes friends with a Piper, who plans on rebuilding the device that zapped Zita and Joseph to that planet so they can all escape before the asteroid hits. Piper and his friend Mouse come up with a plan so everyone can escape and Joseph can be rescued from the robot that took him. Piper will stay at his home to fix the device and Mouse will help Zita make her way to the castle where the robot that took Joseph lives. While on their way to the castle, Zita makes new friends with other robots that are willing to help her save Joseph. As the group approaches the castle, Piper appears to help them fight hunter-like robots. After defeating the hunter-like robots, the group proceeds to the castle when the guards catch them. The guards capture Zita and Piper and expose the Piper had made a deal with them. Feeling betrayed, Zita ignores Piper in the cell they are placed in. Piper then tricks a guard by playing a song on his flute and making the guard fall asleep. He tells Zita to use a tube he tosses at her which creates a door for them to go through to get out. Piper and Zita get out and reunite with their friends. The friends come together to take down the guards blocking the way to Joseph. The book ends with one of the friends Zita made saving the planet from the asteroid using the device that would get her and Joseph home. Piper is able to use the remains of the machine to help one of them get back home, Zita decides Joseph is the one who should return home and she will take a long way home with Piper and her new friends.

2095

Title: 2095
Genre: Science Fiction
Author: Jon Scieszka
Awards: N/A
Age Group: 8 to 11-year-olds

Teacher Evaluation: As a teacher, I don't think I would incorporate this book into the classroom through a lesson. Although, I think I would definitely have this book in the classroom library for third to fifth-grade students to chose to read on their own. This book is part of a collection, The Time Warp Trio by Jon Scieszka and although the book was easy to understand without the other books from the collection I think students would enjoy this book more if they read independently.

Summary: This book is from a collection known as The Time Warp Trio. It's a story about 3 best friends in the year 1995 that travel 100 years into the future. The book details of how the trio uses a book to time travel. While on a field trip to a history museum, the boys get bored and end up using the book to travel into the future. While in the future the boys are chased by the new museum director. The boys try to escape the museum director, and eventually, do escape her with the help of their great-granddaughters. The granddaughters tell them how they knew where they were going to be because of a note they wrote on their museum assignment from 1995. The story continues with the three boys trying to find a way home. Ultimately, the only way to get home is for the three boys to find their time-traveling book. Their great-granddaughters help the boys find the book in the museum where they use it to travel back to 1995. The boys' journey ends when their teacher yells at them to get out of an exhibit, resulting in them getting an extra museum assignment. The boys then remember to write the note to their future great-granddaughters.

Goldilocks and The Three Bears

Title: Goldilocks and the Three Bears
Genre: Traditional Literature
Author: Janet Stevens
Awards: N/A
Age Group: 4 to 6-years-old

Teacher Evaluation: As a teacher, I would use this book in a kindergarten or first-grade classroom. I think children would benefit from hearing this book as a read aloud due to the use of sizes and opposites throughout the text. I also believe that children could possibly get the message of wandering off alone and the dangers of doing so. Students could also do an activity using their family or favorite animals to tell the story using various opposites and sizes.

Summary: The story begins by introducing the reader to a family of 3 bears. Papa, Mama, and Baby Bear all are three different sizes. Papa Bear is the biggest, Mama Bear is the middle, and Baby Bear is the smallest bear. Due to their size, they all have different sized things. Each bear has their own size bowl, chair, and bed. One day, the bears couldn't eat their breakfast right away because it was too hot so they decided to take a walk in the forest until it cooled down. While the bears were out, a girl named Goldilocks came across their cottage and smelled their breakfast. Goldilocks didn't see anyone in the cottage so she decided to go inside. Goldilocks made her way through each of the bear's breakfast until she found the one that was just right for her. After she finished eating she decides to go sit down for a bit, so again she tries each chair until she finds the one that is just right. Goldilocks begins rocking back and forth in the chair, then it breaks. Feeling sore, Goldilocks goes upstairs and tries each bed until she finds the right one to fall asleep in. The three bears return to their cottage to notice someone has been eating their breakfast, sitting in their chairs - Baby Bears chair was broken, and that someone was sleeping in their beds. Baby Bear then realizes that someone is still sleeping in his bed, Goldilocks. Goldilocks wakes up to the three bears standing over her then she jumps up and runs away, saying she will never wander the woods alone again.

This Old Man

Title: This Old Man
Genre: Poetry
Author: Carol Jones (Illustrated By)
Awards: N/A
Age Group: 3 to 6-year olds

Teacher Evaluation: I would definitely use this in a early childhood to kindergarten classrooms. This illustrated version of the nursery rhyme This Old Man will aid children in counting and phonological awareness. I think this book could be read for several purposes as a stated it could help with counting and phonological awareness. I would first read the book just for the students to hear the way the book goes and then read it a second time inviting students to sing along.

Summary: This nursery rhyme is about an old man playing the nick nack. The song goes on with the count the old man playing going all the way up to ten. The song rhymes each count with the object the old man plays on. The song ends when the old man reaches 10 counts and play on a hen.

Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening

Title: Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening
Genre: Poetry
Author: Robert Frost
Awards: N/A
Age Group: 6 to 9-years old

Teacher Evaluation: I would use this in a second-grade classroom. I think the language and illustrations would be great for this grade level. The book will also help students with recognizing different rhyme schemes.

Summary: The poem is about a man who stops to watch the snow fill up the woods. The poem gives a description of the snowy woods. How deep, dark, and peaceful the woods are. The pictures are excellent illustrations of how the snow changed the woods. It describes how the man's horse thinks the man has made a mistake because they stopped in the middle of nowhere, far from everything.  The poem ends with the man talking about keeping promises he made and how he has to ride for miles before he gets to sleep.

The Itsy Bitsy Spider

Title: The Itsy Bitsy Spider
Genre: Poetry
Author: Meredith Johnson (pictured by)
Awards: N/A
Age Group: 3 to 5-years old

Teacher Evaluation: I would use this book in an early childhood to kindergarten classrooms because of the illustrations, rhythm, and repetition. This book could help students become more oral due to the repetition. The rhymes will help with phonological awareness and vocabulary of the young children. It is also very engaging since it allows for students to fill in parts of the nursery rhyme.

Summary: In this classic nursery rhyme, a spider is climbing up a waterspout as it begins to rain. The rain causes the spider to get washed away when the sun comes back out. the nursery rhyme then ends with the spider going back up the water spout.

The Little Ant

Title: The Little Ant
Genre: Traditional Literature
Author: Shirleyann Costigan
Awards: N/A
Age Group: 5 to 7-year olds

Teacher Evaluation: I would use this folktale from New Mexico in class because there is a chance I could be teaching in a dual-language class. There are not many Spanish words used in the story besides one, but it could help build on vocabulary for dual language students. The beginning of the book also shows students how these stories were originally passed on orally by generations.

Summary: The story of the little ant is about a small ant that gets stuck far from home due to a small rain shower. The ant tries to get the sun to come up to dry the rain, but the sun cannot because the cloud is blocking the sun. The little ant tries to get the cloud to move but the cloud explains it needs the wind to push it out the way. The wind doesn't want to help the little ant, so she comes up with a clever plan to get the wind to help. The little ant sings a lullaby to put the wind to sleep then tickles its nose with a feather. The wind sneezes pushing the cloud out the way of the sun and the little ant can finally get back home.

I'm Still Here In the Bathtub

Title: I'm Still Here in the Bathtub

Genre: Poetry

Author: Alan Katz

Awards: 2007 Young Hoosier Book Award (nominee)

Age Group: 4 to 7-year olds

Teacher Evaluation: As a teacher, I would use this book of poems in order to develop early childhood students' phonological awareness. The rhymes in the book will help students develop their phonological awareness as well as the sing-songy type language used. Since the book offers multiple texts, I would certainly choose some of the texts over others depending on what I feel will relate to my class or be more interesting to my students. This book could also be used as a "brain break" because the texts included could have dances added to them, therefore students are able to get their "wiggles" out.

Summary: This book consists of 14 different texts written in the tune of popular nursery rhymes. Although the range of topics in the book is wide, they all take classic nursery rhyme tunes and make them more relatable to children. My favorite one in the book is called "I-T-C-H-Y" which is about uncomfortable clothing but in the tune of "B-I-N-G-O". I like this one because I think it would be relatable to students and also it would be familiar to them because of the tune so hopefully, they would be able to chime in and repeat the poem. 

Johnny Appleseed

Title: Johnny Appleseed
Genre: Traditional Literature
Author: Steven Kellogg
Awards: N/A
Age Group: 6 to 8-year olds

Teacher Evaluation: I would use this in a second-grade classroom because I believe the story is a good example of a tall tale. I believe the exaggeration told about Johnny Appleseed's story will give students something to remember tall tales by.

Summary: The story of Johnny Appleseed is a folktale, but fits under the subcategory of a tall tale. The story starts by giving a background of John Chapman (Johnny Appleseed) and where he came from. John loved to be in the forest and the story talks about how he carried apple seeds in his pouch as he traveled the Pennsylvania forest. The story details how people began calling John, Johnny Appleseed because of how he began clearing out space to plant his apple trees for incoming pioneers. Johnny continued to plant apple trees and care for them until he became 70 years old and it got hard. Throughout the story, there are major exaggerations of what supposedly happened to Johnny Appleseed such as, a rattlesnake not being able to break through his skin, him keeping a wolf as a pet, and even seeing him after he had passed away. There are also some historical points in the story talking about wars at the time.