Pinduli

Pinduli, the hyena, comes across many neighboring animals by her watering hole. The all poke fun at her appearance and cause her to try and make changes to herself. After covering herself in dust and dirt, she is mistaken for a ghost. Capturing the spirit of a Dicken's novel, she asks these insulting animals why they picked on her. They confess that they were picked on by others and redirected their anger on her. She tells them if they sort things out with their offenders, then she will not return. It turns out they were insulted as well, and that there is definitely a chain reaction on one person doing something mean to another which leads to another.

This book could be paired with the Good Deeds book I posted a few days ago. One focuses on the power of paying it forward, the other on a negative chain reaction. Good lesson in owning up tp your mistakes and how not to take out frustrations on an unsuspecting person when you could talk it through with the problem maker.

Wemberly Worried

Good first day back to school book about worrying about everything. Shows how it is normal, how others may feel the same way, and how sooner or later, if you give yourself the smallest bit of braver, you will grow from the experience.

Letters from a Desperate Dog

There is a lot of text variety in this book. There's narrative, some graphic novel elements, and emails. Emma, the desperate dog, have a bit of a love-hate relationship with her owner. She seems to repeatedly mess up, and he seems to repeatedly say mean things and yell.

While cooling off, Emma sees an advertisement for an advice column and decides to send an email to Ask Queenie. Emma complains of mistreatment, following a formal letter structure, and Queenie offers advice. Emma decides to get a job as an actor and ships off on a traveling tour for weeks without ever informing her own. While she's performing, he is posting "Missing" signs. Will they reunite?

Good pairing with Help Me, Mr. Mutt. The similarities include dogs looking for advice from their humans, but differences include letter format (email vs letters), one dog sustaining the conversations vs many dogs writing in, involvement of the human character, and more.

Dear Mrs. LaRue: Letters from Obedience School

A dog named Ike gets shipped off to obedience school after driving his owner crazy by eating food off the table, howling, ruining her coat, and pulling her into the street! He writes her letters defending his behavior, complaining of mistreatment, and trying to convince her to bring him home. As the story progresses the readers enjoy news clips from the local paper which connect the beginning and the end together nicely.

This is a good book to read when discussing letter writing and including meaningful information in your letters.

10-Step Guide to Living with your Monster

This book serves as a model for designing meaningful lists. It shows one focused list with support of each main topic item. Use this book to list out items with each key step as the main idea, and the reasoning behind it as the supporting details.

This combines author's purpose (to record ideas), with a how-to, with main idea and supporting details in one activity. Students can pick a topic from their Authority Lists (their brainstorming list of all things they consider themselves to be an authority on - what they have expertise with, such as soccer, taking care of a hamster, making a sundae, etc) and think through the most important ideas a non-expect would need to know.

EX: 10-Step Guide to Making a Sundae. Step 1: Measure out three scoops of your favorite flavor of ice cream. Two scoops may not fill you up, and four scoops will probably lead to a stomach ache. An ice cream scooper is the best tool to use, but a regular spoon would work too.

Mean Soup

When Horace has a bad day, nothing is going to make him feel better! His mother suggests they make soup and Horace wants nothing to do with it! Midway through the process, as he watches mom add ingredients, mom starts yelling into the pot, so Horace joins her. She sticks out her tongue, so does he. He manages to get all his anger out on the soup and begins to feel better. He asks his mom what the name of this soup is, and she says "Mean Soup."

This book could be paired with either Alexander, and the No Good, Very Bad Day or Enemy Pie. Alexander for comparing bad days, and Enemy Pie for a parent helping make a food item that makes negative feelings go away. This activity is a good way to introduce paired readings in 4th grade.

Oh, How I Wish I Could Read

Sign, sign, everywhere a sign! A good choice for functional text lessons. A boy awakens and reflects on his dream where he could not read. He revisits his dream and the signs posted throughout the story that were supposed to be helping him know what to do, where to go, provide warning, etc. However, not being able to read, he made mistake upon mistake leading to injury and messes.

Thankfully, he realizes it was a dream as he rushes to his bookshelf just to double check his ability to read. The story ends as he hugs his book.

Once Upon a Banana

This wordless picture book creates a caught and effect snowball effect that travels around a city block. The only text contained is the signage posted throughout the illustrations. Make sure you begin with the inside cover since the story begins well before the first page, almost like the prequel!

The subliminal comedy of the book is that if everyone followed the directions on the signs, many of the situations probably would not have happened in the first place. If the monkey followed the "Do Not Litter" sign, the banana peel would have made it in the garbage can. Had the bikers parked in a legal space, they would not have slipped on the banana. These scenarios continue as you progress through the book.

Chrysanthemum

This is such a great book. Chrysanthemum's parents arrive at the perfect name for their new baby. They think it is a perfect as she is. Chrysanthemum loves her name too, until she goes to school. There she begins to wilter as other poke fun at it. Will she grow to appreciate it?

This story has good lessons on kindness, but it also transitions well into a graphing lesson! How fun for younger students to see how their name stacks up to Chrysanthemum's or their classmates. Who has the longest name? Who's is the shortest? How many have the same length?

Cowlick

I wouldn't go so far as to call this a traditional folktale, but it kind of works like one a modern day silly one. Two boys go to sleep and are visited by a cow who creeps into their room and licks their hairline leaving a cowlick for them in the morning.

Another fun comparison for older students could be comparing attributes of this book with the animals in the Click, Clack, Moo series. Similarities include the animals entering the humans home and taking charge. Both are quick reads and the older kids enjoy listening to young kid books.

The Great Kapok Tree

In the rainforest, a man enters to chop down the great kapok tree. He becomes tied and sleeps. While resting, one by one the many animals that rely on the tree for shelter or food pay him a visit explaining why he should leave their tree alone. He awakens to see them all staring at him and he makes a choice.

Ella Sarah Gets Dressed

Ella Sarah has a very definite picture of what she envisions wearing for the day, but every member of her family finds a way to tell her it's not a good choice. She ignores their suggestions and dresses herself in her special outfit which was completely in sync with her plans for the day, a tea party with friends.

Good story about PreK Independence and making choices.

Our Librarian Won't Tell Us Anything

To Carmen, a 4th grader, the school librarian never tells her anything. When Robert, the new student arrives, Carmen shares her frustration as they both head to the library. What Robert soon slearns, is that the librarian isn't "telling" them anything, she's teaching how to do it independently. The whole, "teach a man to fish" thing resonates through the story as the kids work on a science research project about predators and prey.

The Cricket in Times Square

Chester Cricket mistakenly climbs into a picnic basket after visitors lunch in his meadow in Connecticut. He arrives in Times Square Subway Station and stays below the radar until he chirps out his magnificent music. This attract Mario, son of the Bellinis who own the station's newspaper stand. He begs his parents to keep the cricket as a pet, and they agree as long as the cricket stays at the stand at night.

Chester makes friends with Tucker, a mouse, and Harry, a cat. They cause a little trouble, enjoy roaming the empty station, and encourage Chester to share his talent with others.

We're Going on a Book Hunt

A terrific book on picking the right book for young readers. Also included is the treatment of books and library procedures. The author does a great job of taking this super boring stuff and making it into a sing song, move around activity as the kids chant to the tune of We're Going on a Bear Hunt.

Alpha Betti

I will use this book for 3rd and 4th grade library lessons on alphabetization, but it can be enjoyed by anyone who grasps there is an ABC order to things.

Betti is a pretty disorganized little girl, but when she takes ownership of this important life skill, she can't wait to practice everywhere!

Happy School Year

A picture book that covers all the ways kids wake up and take on the first day of school. Shows all kids that, no matter how they feel, their range of feelings is perfectly normal.

This book categorizes many sitautions. For instance, when arriving to campus, there are kids who rush to friends, cling to parents, or hold back tears. The situations could be good graphing opportunities for an audience participation activity. There are lots of topics to graph, so I would recommend reading the book and revisiting that scenes you felt applied to the class the best.

Which Puppy?

All the puppies in the world heard the news that President Obama promised his girls a puppy. To decide who gets to be picked, they hold competitions and a contest. When an elder states the puppy must look a certain way, three animals meet the criteria and head to Washington only to find the girls had chosen another. Defeated, they start to lead, but are invited back by the girls to play with the new puppy.

Ordinary Mary's Extraordinary Deed

Mary thinks she is very ordinary. While walking home from school, she comes across blueberries. She picks them and secretly leaves them on a neighbors porch. The neighbore makes blueberry muffins and secretly leaves them for five people. Those five people do nice things for five other people. This creates a web of kindness that repeats and repeats.

As I read this book my mathminded brain was calculating the whole way. I was designed a diagram that branched out over and over. What a fun math integration for the kids! The funny part was, the author had done this already when I turned the final page. Save that one for after the math activity and the students will be surprised that Ordinary Mary, just by secretly giving a bowl of blueberries, indirectly started achain over events that led to over six BILLION acts of kindness.

Tiny on the Farm

An oversized dog, Tiny, and his owner Eliot are visiting Unlce John on his farm. They learn Uncle John's cat had kittens, but they can't be found. Eliot and Tiny go looking for them.

Tiny is pretty much the size of Clifford, so a Venn activity could be used to compare and contrast the adventures of the two gigantic pooches. Clifford's Good Deeds would be an option.

If You Were a Penguin

A rhyming book with lots of penguin facts. The last pages feature Penguin Fun Facts and a listing of ten different types of penguins.

This book could easily be paired with a pure fiction book, such as Tacky the Penguin, to see if author Helen Lester slips in penguin tidbits into Tacky's antics. For a research/Web 2.0 activity, you could do a fun fact search and post findings to a Wallwisher (http://www.wallwisher.com/) for penguins.

The Bus Ride

This historical fiction book is set in the 1950s right at the time civil rights and the Rosa Parks bus event was taking place. For Sara, she could not understand why African Americans had to sit in the back of the bus. When her mother got off a few stops prior to Sara, Sara becomes brave and decides to explore what is so special about the front end. This causes upset to the passengers and the driver, who stops the bus and gets a policeman! Sara refuses to get off the bus and is carried to the station where her mom must get her. The newspaper folks make her a hero to all!

There is a foreword by Rosa Parks to touch on her experience and the ways of the time.

The Subway Mouse

Nib is a subway mouse who loves to hears stories from the older mice. They speak of Tunnel's End, which is a roofless world with mouse eating monsters. He decides to leave anyway and meets Lola, and they begin an adventure. Ultimately they arrive outside and make a home for their family. It isn't perfectly safe, but they love it.

This book could be paired with Country Mouse/City Mouse for a compare and contrast lesson. It can be used to discuss communities and advantages or disadvantages of city or country living.

Zoomer

I loved this book. Four paws up! Zoomer is a playful dog. While dad's in charge, he tries to get Zoomer and his twin brothers ready for school. The trouble is, all Zoomer wants to do is work through his very busy schedule of things to do. Hew wants to break the bubble blowing record, build a sand castle, and fly a rocket, which he completes with amazing talent.

Just when dad has had it and wonders why Zoomer is being so difficult, Zoomer logically explains why.

Just a Dream

Chris Van Allsburg always impresses me! I love how he works in science fictiony ideas into his stories. In Just a Dream he takes Walter, the littering protagonist, who laughs at his neighbor for choosing a tree for a birthday gift. He goes inside to watch his favorite show about this cool futuristic society where people fly tiny airplanes and have robots. Soon he falls asleep and is swept away in a dream that takes him to the future, where there is litter, smog, pollution, and all the other consequences that come with reckless behavior.

This is a great book to pull during an environmental or resources science unit or for Earth Day.

Iris and Walter and the Substitute Teacher

Miss Cheery, Iris and Walter's teacher, is out sick. The class gets its first substitute ever...and it's Iris's grandpa! The principal suggests Iris be his special helper which makes Iris thrilled. When Grandpa is back a second day, things are not as fun for Iris. He picks other children to help which makes her mad. They close the day with ice cream to celebrate getting through it.

Good lesson in sharing or fairness. Good discussion on why Iris felt the way she did and how her character changed during the book. What made her happy? Sad? Frustrated? Did Grandpa change? Good discussion on chapter titles since each title can generate predictions from the students.

Iris and Walter: The Sleepover

Iris is looking forward to her sleepover at Walter's. She talks about all the exciting activities with her classmates, but one friend admits he got so homesick he had to leave his sleepover. Iris worries this may happen to her. She goes to the sleepover, does everything she talked about, but in th middle of the night asks to go hope.

An early chapter book that captures a real life worry of younger kids and how there is always a next time when they will feel comfortable staying the night.

Slippers at School

Slippers the lovable puppy knows something is up when everyone in the family is too busy to pay him extra attention. He slips into Laura's backpack and goes to school with her. While in the classroom, he slips out and ventures around the campus. Every time someone sees his, they point it out to those around them, but Slippers takes off.

Playful words sprinkled throughout as one cafeteria worker says they see a dog, and the other thinks they are talking about the hot dogs they are making for lunch.

When Laura gets home she learns Slippers has been missing all day but when she calls his name, guess who miraculously appears?

My Best Friend is as Sharp as a Pencil

Fun fine arts integration as a child tries to explain to her grandmother the people they go to school with. For instance, the art teacher illustration is made from an artist palette for the head, and other art items to build the face. The best friend, who is smart (shown on cover), has a pencil for a mouth and a microscope for a nose.

This book would be fun to infer why the child chose the items they did (when it is not explained), or to discuss items to build the physique of someone they know or have research for a biography.

PROBUNDITI!

For Calvin's birthday, he gets two tickets to see Lomax, the famous magician and hypnotist. As he and his friends enjoy the show, they decide to design their own device to lure his annoying and needy sister into a hypnotic state.

They turn her into a dog and can't remember the words to bring her back! Unable to take her on the bus, they put her in a wagon and head back to town to find Lomax for some help. Finally returning home, they meet up with mom on the driveway who throws a fit.

Ben's Dream

There is not a lot of text in this Van Allsburg story, but it is clever. When the threat of rain cancels the ball game, Ben decides he will go home and study for his landmarks test. The rain lulled him to sleep where he dreams about all the landmarks, only they are all half way under water. They are all flooded!

He is awakened by his friend Margaret who has come back to get that game going. She tells him about her strange dream of floating past all those landmarks. Then there is a surprise twist I do not want to spoil. But it made me go back.

Extra! Extra! Fairy Tale News from the Hidden Forest

This is the fourth book in the Hidden Forest series. It, too, includes a writing form, but this time a newspaper. Including different parts of a newspaper, such as the breaking news, op/ed, advertising, sports (where the turtle races the hare!), and international news, the book continues to include the popular fairy tale characters as columnists, workers, or news makers.

Fun for fractured fairy tales, writing lessons for different forms of text, fact vs. opinion, and identifying author's purpose through the many articles and advertisements throughout.

I Love Saturdays y domingos

A sweet story about a girl who spends her Saturdays with her European American grandparents, and her domingos (Sundays) with her Mexican American grandparents. Although the specific ways they spend their time is different, many of the words are the same so children learning Spanish can easily interpret the meaning. For example, the child references the fish in her grandfathers aquarium to the pez at the ocean with her abuelito.

The Day I Swapped Dad for a Goldfish

Wishing her could have his friend's goldfish, a boy agrees to trade his dad who seems to do nothing but read the paper. The deal works out well until Mom returns. She wants Dad back. The brother and sister pair go back with the goldfish to their friends, only to learn he made another trade. And so on and so on until everything is back to normal.

I like the author's note at the end where Neil Gaiman explains his inspiration. Apparently his son was angry with him and wished he had a goldfish instead. Gaiman also explains that the idea came to him, but it took a revisit two years later to complete the story. It shows writers that ideas come from experience, or embellishments of real life events (what if he was traded for a goldfish??), and that good ideas might need to sit for a while before they are explored further. It builds a good case for a concept map, brainstorming, or authority list of things to write about so when writer's block pops up, there is something to dig into.

Yours Truly, Goldilocks

Similar to the movie Shrek, all the famous fairy tale characters live near one another and are welcoming the three pigs to the neighborhood. Told through a series of letters, the friendlier characters set up the party as the wolf plots to cause trouble.

Two key teaching opportunities exist: inferencing and letter writing. There are several opportunities to infer meaning from the letters. Based on their officials names in the story, which fairy tales do these characters connect to? What text evidence supports these inferences. The letters contain a "dialog." Questions are asked and answered, then new information is added to contribute to the conversation.

This book is the follow up to Dear Peter Rabbit, but you do not have to read the prequel to appreciate the sequel.

Click, Clack, Quackity Quack

A short story about the goings on of the farm with alliteration pairings. Again, Cronin is successful in storytelling using a fun twist: This time doubling up the initial sounds.

Duck gets a hold of the cows note and the predicting can be fun as the students guess the next events based on the alphabetizing.

Click, Clack, Splish, Splash

Duck and the animals on the farm (from the Click, Clack, Moo story) are up to no good once again at the expense of the farmer. This counting book starts the tale with one napping farmer up to ten leading the farm animals to a picnic and a nap themselves. Even the goldfish join them!