I am the Dog / I am the Cat

What a great, creative book. Written as a reader's theater between a cat and a cat as they state there own opinions of a similar topic. For instance, the subject of a stranger is used. The dog barks bravely to frighten them while the cat is indifferent and just longing for a lap to sit upon. As the book progresses they turn their opinions onto each other.

As I read this book I thought of it as a fun literary integration with animal research. Two students could independently research animals for a science/research project, then compare and contrast their creatures in a similar fashion. It could make a cute class book.

Miss Alaineus

Peepered with alliteration and multimeaning words, Miss Alaineus follows the vocabulary disaster of a fifth grade girl, Sage. When absent one day, she calls a friend to get the week's vocabulary words. She misunderstands the final word, miscellaneous, which leads to her own misinterpretation of the word and a bit of humiliation. The drawings are unique, the story is cute, and the reading level is high for a picture book (5.3). Good for literary device lesson on alliteration, context clues as she determine's what Miss alaineus means, and using personal experiences to write a story.

The Best Story

A writing contest at the library leads one little girl on a quest for "the best story." She seeks advice from everyone, but the tales are never quite right. Finally, she listens to her mother's advice and learns to write from her own heart.

A good "beginning of the school year" book in kicking off good writing habits or for those who can't ever think of anything to write about.