Armadilly Chili

A Texas take on Henny Penny where an armadillo spends the day gathering ingredients for her chili while the other dance, skate, and whatnot. In the end, they all beg for some chili, to which she turns them down. When she discovers one missing key ingredient, they may be a change of heart. Filled with all kinds of onomatopoeia - sound words - from beginning to end.

Love that Dog

This book is written in free verse and tells the story of a school aged boy who doesn't get free verse poetry. It is written as a one sided exchange between him and his teacher as she challenges him to understand some notable poems by famous poets. She slowly builds up his courage to share some of the poetry he has written with his class, although with the promise it remain nameless.

He ends up writing in free verse about a dog he acquired at the shelter. After the story's conclusion each of the referenced poems are shared with the reader.

Sun Up, Sun Down

This is a pretty staightforward Gail Gibbons book about the Sun and its purpose/function for us on Earth. It follows a young girl as she goes about her day and notices all the things the Sun does for us.

How Chipmunk Got His Stripes

Brown squirrel overhears Bear singing about how he is so big and so strong that he can do anything. He asks, "Can you really do anything?" to which Bear answers, "Yes, I can."

Brown squirrel challenges him to stop the sun from coming up the next day. Together they watch the sun go down in the west and wait all night with some of the other animals. As dawn arrives, the sun does come up and brown squirrel boasts about it.

This upsets Bear who pounces on him. Thinking quickly, Brown Squirrel tricks Bear into releasing him so the squirrel can properly apologize for being impolite. Once free, he takes off for his burrow but not before getting claw marks from head to tail.

Sally Ann Thunder Ann Whirlwind Crockett

Her name is quite a mouthful, but fitting considering the moment she was born she could talk and walk. She raced her brothers up a mountain and made it back down before they barely moved. This strong, fast, fearless woman eventually became Davey Crockett's wife.

Unlike many tall tale stories that start off with the anticipated exaggerations then fizzle out, Steven Kellogg's book pretty much keeps it coming beginning to end.

Yeh-Shen: A Cinderella Story from China

Yeh-Shen is slightly different from the other Cinderella tales. The fairy godmother role has been replaced by the bones of her former "best fish" after her evil stepmother caught, killed, and ate him!!

Of course, she looses her golden slipper. Rather than the prince going home to home to locate its owner, he displays the shoe in a pavilion for maidens to come and try it on. Yeh-Shen, having lost the magic of the fish bones when she lost the shoe, now sneaks back in the night to capture her lost slipper only to be followed by the prince. The pair of shoes awakens the magic and she marries the prince.

Yeh-Shen is supposedly based on ancient Chinese manuscripts written 1000 years before the original was written. The illustrations are based on Chinese water color artistry.

James Marshall's Cinderella

This version stays pretty true to the "original." Hard working Cinderella spends her days tending to her awful stepfamily. A FGM appears and works her magic to turn a pumpkin and some creatures into a coach and it's servants. She arrives at the ball, wins the heart of the prince, loses a slipper at midnight and is located the next day in a wild search.

Adelita

This Mexican version of Cinderella has many similarities and differences to a "true" Cinderella story. The role of the fairy godmother is played by a human, no shoe is lost, there is no magic, and Adelita uses her wits to lead the prince to her by hanging her robozo from the window so he can find her. In the end, it wraps with her inviting the horrid stepmother and stepsisters to live with her happily ever after. I'm not so sure I would be as nice! It led to a great classroom conversation on not holding grudges and sharing lifes pleasures.