The Wizard of Oz

I haven't really ever seen the movie in its entirety. Only bits and pieces. I read the picture book biography of the author, L. Frank Baum, last year and was intrigued by his background. He didn't start off as an author - actually he failed at most of his business ventures. One constant that made him happy was his ability to entertain his children with his storytelling. That was all it took to create the book that inspired the movie.

The best part for me was matching up parts that remained true to the book, and parts that were added in to make the movie "better." If you read the book, you, too, will learn that Dorothy's shoes were silver, not red. That Oz is a "real" place that Dorothy spent a year living in, so it was not a dream from a knocked out girl. If you enjoy this title, then you may enjoy reading the sequels as well. I also never knew there was a series based in Oz.

Stargirl

Stargirl is a great book for older middle school readers on the brink of high school. Usually when kids get to high school they are so busy conforming (being like everybody else) they never get to just "be themselves." Stargirl is totally herself and has an amazing affect on the kids in her school. The amazing impact, though, can work both ways - making a good impression and making a bad one. Leo, our "hero" in this story takes an interest in this different girl who likes playing Happy Birthday to students on her ukulele in the cafeteria, brings her pet rat to school every day, and cheers for both teams at sporting events.

Say What?

Sukie and her brothers begin to notice something's up when their parents start behaving strangely. Normally nags who say parenty things at them all day - "Clean up your mess! No running in the house!" - they now are talking nonsense. Instead of yelling at Sukie for spilling glitter all over the carpet, Dad says "don't pick your nose!" Huh? That doesn't make sense!

The kids are trying to solve the mystery of their parents actions, then decide to give them a dose of their own medicine.

Scat

I really like Carl Hiaasen's books. He has a formula that has really worked for him. Get some passionate kids who stumble upon a mystery and make it be environmentally friendly. He is the author of Hoot and Flush, and both of those stories involve the same mix.

Scat is the story of Nick and his biology teacher who is mean and horrible and intimidates all her students. On a field trip to Black Vine Swamp, a small forest fire begins and the students had to evacuate immediately and return to school. Miss Starch, the teacher, goes back to retrieve a student's inhaler but never returns. It seems simple enough, but the tangled web in finding Miss Starch which includes the recently humiliated student who surprisingly disappeared while all this is going on.

Bad word alert: the book is peppered with 10-15 PG rated "bad words."

Among the Betrayed

This the the third book in the series The Shadow Children. Haddix has me hooked on this group of books that is about society after the food shortage has required the government to step in and change the rules. All families must have no more than two children - if a third were to be found, the penalty is death. There is a special unit called the Population Police who are hungry to find these illegals since the reward is worth millions.

Elodie, or as she is referenced in the book, Nia, is a third child. She is tucked away in a girl's school, but is betrayed by a friend, accused of a crime she did not commit, and lands herself in prison. While there, she is used as a pawn to get other third children to reveal their family information for the Population Police to make arrests.

The Gingerbread Pirates

Jim and his mom bake gingerbread cookies for Santa and design them into pirates. His favorite one is Captain Cookie, who he accessorizes with a sword (cutlass) and a toothpick peg leg. Once Jim falls asleep, Captain Cookie goes off to save his men from this aweful Santa Claus who will soon attempt to eat them.

Beacon Street Girls: Best Friends/Worst Enemies

This is the first in a series of girls for upper elementary and middle schoolers. Charlotte's dad is an author and they constantly move to places where his books are based. It's been exciting, but she gets to pick where they go next, and she picks "home," where she was born.

Making new friends isn't easy, and the pressure is on after the biggest cafeteria blunder in the history of her new school. She's going to have to come up with something if she is going to impress the girls. As the title suggests, will the girls be worst enemies, best friends, or could it be a little of both?

Mercy Watson Thinks Like a Pig

Mercy Watson is the pet pig of Mr. and Mrs. Watson. They don't seem like the smartest people on Earth and remind me of Amelia Bedelia. The neighbor ladies plant some pansies. By the time they get all the way around the house to admire their hard work, guess who has eaten most of them up? The solution? Call Animal Control (the dog catcher type people). Will the plan work?

Hachet

I had always wanted to read this adventure story, but finally had the motivation when my buddy was caught reading it. Brian, a 13-year old son of divorcing parents, is riding in a two-person plane to visit his father. While heading to northern Canada, the pilot has a heart attack and Brian has the length of time for the fuel to run out to contact help or figure out how to successfully crash land the aircraft. This story tells of the events of living (rather, surviving) in the wilderness.

If you enjoy this book, you may want to check out the others involving Brian.

How Santa Got His Job

You may think you know how Santa got his job. To earn a job like his, it takes quite a bit of background skills to properly prepare yourself. He had many ups and downs along the way, but ended up with the greatest job of all.

Latkes, Latkes, Good to Eat

Sadie is taking care of her four brothers while their mom is away. She leaves to get firewood and extends a kind gesture to her and is rewarded with a magic skillet which will make all he latkes they need for every meal. Sadie promises not to share the magical words, but leave it to a brother to eavesdrop.... A great holiday story that has a moral and reminds me of Stega Nona or Stone Soup.

Jimmy's Boa and the Big Splash Birthday Bash

I love these books as one event leads into the next as another crazy day transpires with Jimmy's boa. This time the location is Jimmy's birthday party at a Seaworld type place. When the whale tries to kiss the trainer but smooches Jimmy's mom, she falls into the tank and chaos breaks out. Ultimately the entire party is in the tank with whales, sharks, and penguins! Another good cause and effect book!

Frindle

Nick is a generally good kid who is famous for launching time wasters in his classroom. It has been great entertainment for the kids, but a problem for the teachers. Most of the time, he has gotten away with it. enter 5th grade language arts teacher, Mrs. Granger.

She's probably seen and hear it all in her career. She looooooves the dictionary. When Nick attempts to delay the inevitable homework assignment by asking a question, she turns the tables and makes him do it as a research paper! While writing it he discovers that words exist because the people are in agreement that they have a certain meaning. With this small idea and noticing a pen in the road, Nick comes up with naming it a "frindle." This begins a chess game and war of the minds that includes the school, a news reporter, David Letterman, and kids all over the country.

The Invention of Hugo Cabret

What an interesting book! Hugo Cabret is twelve years old and is now an orphan. He lives and hides inside the inner walls of a train station, where his uncle had worked as the clock keeper. Once the uncle disappear, Hugo had no where to go, so he continued to do the clock work and steal to survive.

He has a few run ins with a toy shop owner who catches him stealing which results in an interesting coincidence. With the help of the toy man's goddaughter, Isabelle, Hugo is able to capture his dream.

The book seems an overwhelming 532 pages, but can be read in a couple of hours. The authors moves the storytelling along quickly by incorporating illustrations that sequence us from movement to movement and as scenes change. I loved combing the pictures to narrate the events as if I were the author. Selznick uses his illustrations to zoom in on expressions and build suspense for the reader. Also, he cleverly mixes in true parts of his story, such as Georges Melies being a real filmmaker and A Trip to the Moon was a real movie, with lots of fiction (Hugo and Isabelle are made up). I had fun reading through the credits at the end to see what was real and what was made up.

My Louisiana Sky

What a simple but beautiful story. Tiger is the daughter of very simple parents, who aren't very intelligent. All three live with her grandmother who keep an eye on hings. Life is hard for Tiger. She is athletic and has earned the respect of the boys as a teammate, which costs her the friendship of the girls. Following a softball game, she makes a decision to become more ladylike so she can fit in with the admirable girl group.

Will this work for Tiger? What will she do to change her image to others? Will she need the guidance of others? Will the girls accept her?

Sheep

Jack, a border collie, was raised on a sheep farm. As he narrates this story, we learn of how his ranch was destroyed by fire and how he ends up at the pet store. He ends up with a couple of different families, but misses his herding days. I could relate to this story since I have a border collie and he is always trying to herd birds or people!

Lady Liberty

This book is considered biographical. This struck me as odd, since I always think of "people" starring in an biography. The interesting take Rappaport does on this nonfiction piece, is she brings in the many voices, or perspectives, of the creators and citizens. It builds a well rounded story of how Lady Liberty came to our country and why she is so important to this day.

Tuesday

This book has possibly ten words in the whole story. As a Caldecott Medal winner it really doesn't have to. The setting is clear as a full moon rises about a pond, and to the surprise of the frogs, they and their lily pads take flight and head for the suburbs. The wordless story forces the students to inference what is going on, the frogs' reactions to the situation, the reactions of other animals and people, and make predictions on the effects of frogs on their special magic carpet.

The story is a fun tale, but the best part comes at the close. As the story wraps the "readers" are left with the images of pigs flying up toward the sky and opens a door for making predictions on the similarities and differences they may experience as compared to the frogs.

What to do about Alice

This is a true story of trouble maker Alice Roosevelt, the daughter of President Teddy Roosevelt. Alice can best be described as an individual. She dresses the way she wants to dress, she does what she wants to do, and she is unafraid to go against convention. These behaviors make Teddy wonder what to do about Alice!

This is a good story for character development (in that she doesn't change even into adulthood), inferencing what "the times" were like back then and how Alice challenges the norm, and is a fun biography on a character that isn't a household name.

Pale Male

Pale Male is a nickname the citizens of New York City gave a red-tailed hawk that decided to move into the area. Preferring to stay away from the other birds, Pale Male ends up settling in top of a swanky high rise. Everyone loves watching the bird and its mate, except the residents of the building. The find the feathers and mess a problem and decide to make things tough for Pale Male. That is until the citizens stand up for him.

This book was very good. Interesting to me, my class voted this to be their favorite among the Bluebonnet picture book nominees for the 2009-2010 school year. They liked it because it was based on a true story and the others were fictional.

Piper Reed: Navy Brat

Piper "gets" that she and her family must move fairly often - her dad works for the Navy and that is part of the deal. Up until now, they had always moved during the summer. This time, as they relocate from California to Pensacola, Florida, Piper has to be the new kid in the middle of the school year. With the help of her sisters and a new love for the Blue Angels naval air flight team, this new home may be just the right place for Piper!

The Trumpet of the Swan

I have not read an EB White book. I know he wrote Charlotte's Web and Stuart Little and was familiar with both stories, but had never heard of Trumpet. This book reminds me of John Philip Duck and Mr. Popper's Penguins, in that the fowl interacts with people and does non-traditional bird-like things.

This story is about a boy named Sam who discovers a swan couple laying its first eggs to begin its family. Being very knowledgeable about "all things bird," Sam simply observes, with the swans taking notice of his presence, and respectfully becomes a friend to their family. Over time, Sam helps saves the mom, and becomes a lifeline for rounding out Louis, the one baby who has no voice, and his ability to communicate with other swans, and oddly, people!

This book was written in 1970 and has lots of higher vocabulary and formal conversation, but it is a fun story to read.

Where I Live

I have only read a few verse stories in my live. I have never been a big fan of the format, but this one works for me. As individualized poems (nonrhyming, of course, which is always a challenge for me to read!!), the story progresses about a girl named Diana and her very settled and happy life. She can tell something is up, and comes to find out her dad lost his job and the family will be moving in with her grandpa, which is six hours away.

This means she has to leave behind her best friend and all things comfortable for her and sister Twink, which is devastating to her. Each single paged poem moves the reader along in Diana's feelings and events as she goes from one house to the the other. Diana will find that somethings can work out very nicely.

Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire

Zoe has the gift of storytelling and it lands her in hot water with the kids at school. Her stories seem to come off as complete lies and her classmates get mad. The biggest problem when you are known as a liar, is that when you finally do tell the truth, no one wants to believe you! Zoe learns this lesson the hard way when she is excited to share some news with her friends.

We are the Ship

The story and illustrations are amazing. This book, written by the illustrator of Henry's Freedom Box, one of my favorites, recounts the rise and fall of the negro baseball league back in the 1920s. The story is told as if you are sitting on a country porch sipping lemonade! He does an outstanding job teaching the reader without making it feel like other nonfiction books or too textbooky. It is definitely written on a higher level than most picture books. Anyone especially interested in African American history or baseball will have to make this a must read!

Fantastic Mr. Fox

Roald Dahl is known for his dark humor. Mr. Fox is bound to be hunted down by the three farmers he robs from. A smart one, he is, since he uses his sense of smell to figure out which farmer is on guard and directs his thieving efforts to another farm.

When the farmers are on to him, they decide to stake out his hole and attack him when he exits. After getting his tail shot off, Fantastic Mr. Fox is determined to protect himself and his family. This leads him, his wife, and four children on an underground chase away from shovels and bulldozers!

The Bridge to Terabithia

I loved this Newbery Medal winner! I have seen the movie, but the books always hit the details so much better and fill the gaps for me.

Leslie moves to Jess's rural town, and the bumpy start they had leads to a special friendship. Using their imaginations they "create" Terabithia, known only to themselves and tucked away in the woods, where they can be themselves and lead their kingdom. This is a safe and fun secret for them, until tragedy strikes.

Holes

I could not put down this book. I read it thinking "Boy Book." But it really isn't. Stanley Yelnats (notice anything special about his name - answer at the end of this post) and his family have curse on them for something that happens years and years ago. With bad luck an unavoidable aspect of Stanley's life, he mistakenly gets accused of stealing sneakers and lands himself in a juvenile detention center. At Camp Green Lake, there is one giant dried up lake bed and hundreds of 5'x5' holes dug up by its delinquents. The boys think it's punishment, but there is much more going on!

Louis Sachar is known for writing humorous stories. This one leans more toward a dark humor.

(Stanley Yelnats is a letter reversal)

Library Lion

I would have thought this book was 30 years old based on the soft tones in the illustrations! Being ALMOST a full fledged librarian, this was a clear choice for me at our school book fair! A lion enters the library and breaks an important rule - being loud. He is told he may stay - since there is no rule about lions being allowed in the library - with the agreement to behave appropriately. He quickly becomes a great helper, until a crisis happens and he panics which results in a very loud roar!

The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane

This and Despereaux are my favorite books ever. Despereaux since I have good memories reading it with my kids, but Edward because of my constant hope that carries from page to page as Edward completes his physical and emotional journey. I laughed, cried, got mad, was sympathetic, and probably experienced every other feeling there is when reading a book.

Edward is an uppity porcelain rabbit doll who belongs to Abilene. When they go on an ocean voyage, he gets thrown overboard by some mischievous boys. This marks the beginning of his journey. Will he be rescued? Will he remain aloof? Will he learn what it means to truly love? I hope you get lost in it as much as I did!

The Magician's Elephant

Another Kate DiCamillo tale about finding love. Peter, being raised by a military friend of his father's, goes to a fortune teller to ask about his sister learns she is still alive. The fortune teller advises him to "follow the elephant." If he does, then he will find his sister. With an intermingling of characters, one elephant and magician cause quite a stir in the town of Baltese as the witness "real" magic as opposed to "tricks." But just how can Peter locate his sister? What connections must be made in between that help him find her?

512 Ants on Sullivan Street

Another fun math book with ants in the starring role. This time it is a story much like The House that Jack Built. The ants start stealing food and doubling their efforts. First 2 items, then 4, 8, 16, etc. Good for patterns and counting on in doubles.

Crazy Like a Fox

A book chock full of similes. Fun for playful language and simile lessons. A fox goes on a wild goose chase trying to capture a sheep as the journey exposes readers to many common similes - and some not so common. Some of the pages leave the reader hanging for a cloze activity.

Because of Winn Dixie

Opal has just moved with her preacher father to a new town. While running an errand for her dad, she meets a stray dog that manages to wreck the produce department at the grocery store. She saves the dog from a visit to the pound by announcing the dog is hers and its name is Winn Dixie.

Winn Dixie's presence allows her to meet various types of folks from town and turn from a lonely girl to being surrounding by many who love her.

Remainder of One

The queen insists that her army march in equal lines. The problem Private Joe has is that he can't even seem to get them to even up. Try and try, will he ever get the bugs the way she wants? Another fantastic visual for introducing remainders to students just learning division concepts. Division is about equal groups, but the groups could have some leftovers.

Enemy Pie

A little boy's summer is potentially ruined once Jeremy Ross moves into the neighborhood. Jeremy's unkind behavior has made him to sole name on the boy's Enemy List. Luckily, Dad has just the recipe for the situation - Enemy Pie. Together, dad and son make the pie, but the key to it working is the boy spending the day - and being nice - to his number one enemy. He agrees to the plan and finds out that he and Jeremy are having a great time. That is until dad brings out the Enemy Pie, which throws the boy into a panic.

Stellaluna

An adorable story about a baby bat that gets separated from her mother when an owl swoops down to attack them. Stellaluna falls into a tree and ultimately lands in a bird's nest with three baby owls. Mother Bird decides to take care of the baby bat on the condition she behave like a bird. This is not easy for a bat to do. As the family comes to recognize similarities and differences, they realize there are challenges ahead.

The Pumpkin Elf Mystery

The unpredictable pumpkin elf has visited Freddy and his classmates. The visitor has been known to cause a stir every October in Mrs. Wushy's first grade classroom. He may leave tricks or treats, but he always leaves clues for the kids to solve.

A Bad Case of Stripes

Camilla Cream worries about what others think. Despite loving lima beans, she refuses to eat them since the other kids don't. She comes down with a bout of stripes, which gets worse by changing into polka dots, checkerboards, and more. The doctor, the specialists and the experts cannot fix but. Luckily, a kind old woman shows up and knows just what Camilla needs.

The Library

I was able to meet Sarah Stewart and David Small last spring when they were in Allen. I became an instant fan. The Library is a story about a woman who loved books more than anything in the world. She couldn't help but read them, buy then, and surround herself with them until the day there wasn't any room left for just one more story!

100 Hungry Ants

100 hungry ants head off to a picnic. Getting there in one single line isn't fast enough. so their leader decides to make two lines of fifty. It's definitely better than one line, but is there another solution. And so the division options go. A great introduction to "equal groups taken apart." Working with students with this Thinking Pattern the visual can be extended by an ant row manipulative found online.

Amanda Bean's Amazing Dream

Amanda loves to count. She counts everything! Her teacher tries to show her how multiplying will allow her to count things faster, but Amanda isn't sold on the subject! That is, until she has an amazing dream that convinces her otherwise. Perfect for connecting addition to multiplication as well as introducing arrays.

The Absent Author

This was my first A-Z Mysteries book and I thought it was really good. The reading levels are right around the low threes and is a fun way to step into mysteries along with the Cam Jansen series. In this story, Dink and his friends plan to attend a book signing at the Book Nook. They are disappointed, but then concerned, when the guest of honor doesn't show up. He refers to a letter the author had sent him earlier stating only a kidnapping would stop her from visiting their town. The gang is determined to find out what happened.

For the Love of Autumn

An aspiring teacher earns a job in a school up in Washington state. She and her kitty relocate and love their life by the sea. Her students often ask her about being married and who her perfect mate would be. One stormy night, Autumn returns hurt but runs away leaving her owner a mess. She tries everything to find her. The rest of the story has several fun surprises that leave the reader quite happy. Great for making predictions.

Miss Daisy is Crazy

Miss Daisy is a crazy teacher. She doesn't know math, she can't spell or read, and seems to keep the kids wondering how on Earth she could really be a teacher. What AJ and his second grade friends don't realize, is that by teaching her, they are learning themselves. Great series for beginning chapter book readers or kids who hate reading.

The Borrowers

I tried it. I really did. I thought I'd love it. I hoped the kids would, but it was torture to read. The character's names, the English terms, and the flow of the words made it an unreadable read aloud for me. I'm glad the class voted to dump the book.

Pecos Bill

Some tall tales start off with a bang and fizzle out on the tall taleness of the story. I like Kellogg's version as it offers kids the challenge of sectioning off the kernels of truth within the story, but focusing on elements that quality it as a tall tale. Events like being pulled off his stagecoach by a giant trout, being raised by coyotes, wrestling out every drop of poison from a rattler then using it a s a lasso, lassoing a tornado, and more keep the kids more engaged than many tall tales out there.

Things that Comes in 2s, 3s, and 4s

A great introduction to multiples that should be read prior to rolling out multiplication. Goes with a great Marilyn Burns lesson in one of her multiplication teacher books. Students could create lists of their own depicting real life items that come in certain groups and begin to build questions based off of that information.

My Rows and Piles of Coins

I love this book. There are so many great lessons packed into it: math, character, selflessness, and budgeting. A young Tasmanian boy works for his mom at the market. She pays him for his hard work and tells him to go spend his money. He decides to save it so he can buy a bike to help his family. The coins are always stacked in 5s so students can practice skip counting. Those in 3rd grade on up can work on problem solving strategies as the calculate the arrays and piles of coins.

Money Madness

A great book that covers the origins of money, beginning with bartering and moving towards other forms of "cash" such as rocks and salt!! Great economics lesson. You could also incorporate cause and effect lessons as to the limitations that ultimately led to coins and bills.

The Luck of the Loch Ness Monster

As an official picky eater and lover of oatmeal, I found this book flat. This Bluebonnet nominee for the 2010 calendar year is fine, but not one to search for. The story's main character, Katherina-Elizabeth disliked the oatmeal her family ordered for her while on a transoceanic trip. The tiny worm who ate that oatmeal managed to grow and grow from the oatmeal and other meals purged by children all over. He finally settles into Loch Ness as the rumored "Nessie."

The author does close with a note to the reader explaining this was a story she had heard as a child and other nuggets concerning its creation.