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.