Autobiography: Here we all Are by Tomie DePaola (Chapter Book)

In this autobiography of the author, Tomie DePaola, he takes the readers into his life as his parents prepare for the arrival of the new baby sister. He also talks about getting revenge for not being able to play Peter Rabbit in the school play as well as starting tap lessons at Miss Leah’s. As the months go by he describes all of the events in his life during this time very vividly for the readers. He has even included pictures to help the readers see what he is talking about. He shares the happy and sad times during his life and it almost makes the readers want to be a part of his family. One of the events he talks about when he was in kindergarten and no matter how many times he wanted to spell his name Tomie his teachers always spelled it wrong. I can relate to that seeing that no one ever spells my name right. I could’ve told them a million times the correct way but it could never stick. Thinking of a lesson that would incorporate this book was rather difficult. However, I thought it would interesting to have the students write their own autobiography. If they used this book as a reference they could see how the author took actual events from his life and wrote about them. The students would also have to draw pictures to go with the stories.

Science Fiction: The Green Book by Jill Paton Walsh (Chapter Book)

This book is about a girl and her family who are packing to leave the Earth before it is destroyed. They are only allowed to pack certain things and everything else will be rationed out. Each person is allowed to bring just one book on this four year journey. When everyone begins to switch their books, they make fun of Pattie because her book is empty. When they arrive at their new home the water and air is okay but something tastes funny about the vegetation. Seeing that Pattie is able to name the new city she names it Shine. When they begin to settle down they realize that something is not right about the surroundings. Nothing will grow on its own except the wheat, so then they wonder where they will get food. When the wheat harvest comes in they want to keep track of how much wheat people are getting by using Patties blank book but she will not give it to them. When her dad finally takes it he realizes that she has turned it into her own dairy and has written about her new endeavor. In a classroom I would most likely do a writing activity with the students and have them write about the things they would take on the trip if they had to leave. They would also have to explain why they chose those items.

Historical Fiction: The Watsons Go to Birmingham by Christopher Paul Curtis (Chapter Book)

From the very first chapter I could tell that the Watsons are a loving and caring family. They are all sitting on the couch huddled together under a blanket trying to keep warm. The mom is convinced that they are going to freeze to death. The story is told through the eyes of ten year old Kenny Watson. Kenny thinks that everyone thinks his family is strange and that why they are called the “Weird Watsons”. Kenny is often teased but since his brother is older, he doesn’t receive as much tormenting as his brother. Kenny is becoming a “juvenile delinquent” when he continues to get in trouble and do things that they warn him not to such as play with fire, they feel he needs to visit his grandmother in Alabama in fear of losing him. So they head to Alabama during one of the most terrifying events in history. When his sister leaves to go to Sunday school, he hears a loud boom and notices how everyone runs towards the church that his sister is in. When he goes inside he picks up a shoe that he thinks looks like hers and goes back home. Even when she comes in the house and speaks to him, he thinks its her ghost. When they return home, back to Flint, Michigan his parents talk about the accident when they think no one is listening. For some reason, he feels guilty and all of these emotions run over him. However his brother is there to comfort him during this time and he’s able to get his self together. This would be a great book to talk about the bombing of the four little girls and the struggles of African Americans. The students would be able to get a closer look at the event and how it affected many people for a long time.

Realistic Fiction: Granny Torrell make Soup by Sharon Creech (Chapter Book)

This book speaks about two friends, Rosie and Bailey who do everything together. They are like siblings instead she chose him and he chose her. When Rosie and Bailey were younger, her mother informed her that Bailey couldn’t see like she could. To demonstrate exactly how he felt her mom put a tissue over her face and said this is what Bailey sees. While Rosie is telling her grandmother just how bad she hates Bailey right now, her grandmother tell s her not to and just think about all of the good things that made Rosie like him from the beginning. As they are in the kitchen cooking soup, her granny begins to tell her of all of the adventures that she went through with her childhood friend Pardo. Granny tries to educate Rosie and provide her a some wisdom seeing that she was once in her place. When Granny tells Rosie that Pardo was killed in a accident, Rosie quickly begins to learn the value of friendship and letting them know how you really feel. In a classroom, I would discuss the importance of friendships. I would have the students write to any friend that they have and apologize for anything that may have wronged them.

Free 5: Modern Fantasy; The Flying Witch by Jane Yolen

In this book Baba Yaga, a wicked witch that flies through the country looking for plump little children to eat. The only thing that Baba has to eat is thin, cold soup that doesn't even have a turnip in it. One day a little girl, not really skinny but not really but in between comes wondering across the witches trail. Baba Yaga thought it was a lucky day and now she will be able to eat the child she had been wanting. The little girl asks if she could help her. It seems as though she has fell off her dad's wagon into the forest and he hasn't realized. The little girl tells the witch that he is going to town and if she could take her. The witch agrees but on their way, she goes to her house instead. Baba Yaga tells the girl that she wants to fatten her up and eat her, but the only problem is, the witch has no food. So, the little girl insists that the witch goes into town and buys turnips from her father. When she goes to town, the farmer realizes that his daughter isn't there which was a part of her plan was all along. The farmer decided to follow the witch and when he did he found his daughter. The little girl cooked the witch some turnips and they both ate. Whenever the girl would take a bite, the witch had to take one too. The turnips were so good to the witch, she forgot all about eating the girl. So, after the father saw that his daughter wasn't in any danger, they all decided to sit down and have dinner. When the farmer goes into town, he always stops by the witch's house to take her some turnips and even potatoes. This would be a good book to show students that even though some people have a bad reputation, there are able to change. Even though the witch was intentions were to eat the little girl, she still remained nice and kind and she was never eaten. It would be good to show the students that you don't have to evil to people when they intend to do something mean to you. Whenever you are kind or polite to someone, it could go a long way.

Biography: Harvesting Hope The Story of Cesar Chavez

This book talks about a great man, Cesar Chavez who was a very important person during the civil rights movement. The book begins to speak about his childhood and how he was very shy and soft spoken in school. On his first day of school he wanted to sit beside his sister, but when the teacher moved him, he flew out the door and ran home. Soon after Cesar started to go to school, there was a drought in Arizona causing his to move to California. They didn't have much money and some nights they had to stop along the road to pick up dandelions to eat. In the story, when he went to school the teacher made him a where a sign that read "I am clown, I speak Spanish. Instead of trying to help him she made him feel even worse. He was a migrant worker, so like the other migrants they were scared when outsiders came around. Cesar knew that something had to change. This is what brought about the National Farm Workers Association. Seeing that Cesar Chavez was actually a part of the Civil Rights Movement, he would be a great person to talk about to the students. I would do a skit in front of the class and label the students so that they could feel how Cesar must have felt.

Free 5: Mufaros Beautiful Daughters

Modern Fantasy: The Talking Eggs by Robert San Souci

FREE 5: The Sleeping Beauty by Trina Schart Hyman

This was the fairy tale of the Sleeping Beauty, Princess Briar Rose. Before she was born her mother could not bear a child until a frog came to her by the river and said to her that her most treasured dream would come true and that’s to have a child. When the frog’s words came true, he through a big feast and invited all of friends and relatives. He also invited all of the fairies to come and be involved in this joyous occasion. He invited them all to their castle except the oldest and meanest witch. When she found out, she stormed in and put a curse on the Princess when she turns fifteen. On that day she would fall into a deep sleep until she was kissed. On that day, the witches spell was so strong that the entire town fell into a deep sleep. For years, all of the men from surrounding towns tried to rescue the princess but couldn’t because thorn hedges had grown up around castle which made it impossible to get to her. On the hundredth year, a Prince was able to find the castle and rescue the princess with her kiss. When she awoke, the entire town awoke including the horses and flies on the walls. I would use this book with younger students and have them identify the main characters, plot, setting, and main events. I would then have them complete a flow chart or something that shows the events.

Graphic Novel: The Lion King by Bobbi J.G. Weiss

In the graphic novel, The Lion King it mostly tells the story of young Simba that worries about nothing. As the story begins, Simba is a privileged prince and son of the great and powerful leader, Mufasa. The wonderful childhood of the Simba takes a dreadful turn unexpectedly. His wicked Uncle Scar murders his father and then makes Simba believe that it is his entire fault. When Scar drives Simba away, he befriends the warthog Pumba and the meerkat, Timon in a jungle. Here he is in a jungle with no worries and his family that he has left behind is desperately in need for his help. Scar has taken over the land and there is scarce food and water for the lions. When he gets a visit from the spirit of his father and a long lost friend, Nala he is convinced to return home and claim his throne as he should’ve done a long time ago. Reading a graphic novel is much more intense than I thought. Even though the sentences are very short and some aren’t even sentences. Even though comic books aren’t anything that I am used to reading, I think it would be a great asset for students to read. If there are students in my classroom that love comic books, I could perhaps make a comic strip of important information for the students. Even students that are struggling with reading or the English language could benefit from comic strips. Seeing that the books have less text than a normal book this would help these students take their time when reading.

Folk: When Mosquitos Buzz in People's Ears by Verna Aardema

The Folk tale, Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ear is another great way to introduce folk tales. This story was created by a series of events to inform the readers why mosquitoes buzz in people’s ears. A mosquito tells the Iguana a story that really makes him mad. The iguana is so upset and frustrated with the mosquito that refuses to hear anything else he has to say, therefore he blocks his ears with sticks. When the python goes to speak to the Iguana, he ignores him seeing that he doesn’t hear him or even see him. The python feels that since the Iguana normally speaks to him but doesn’t, he thinks the Iguana is planning a scheme against him. Now the python is scared and to stay safe, he decided to hide in the rabbit’s hole. The scared rabbit takes off into the jungle which sets off a chain reaction of events that results in the death of the mother’s owl, owlet and will not wake up the sun. After everyone has come forth to the King Lion, the blame is placed on the Mosquito. Ultimately, the mosquito learns her lesson about telling stories but in the end adopts a new custom which is slapping the mosquito when it gets too close to their ears. This story would be a great way to get the readers interested in making inferences. The python made an inference when he thought the Iguana was plotting against him. The python never asks the Iguana if he was mad at him, he just assumed. The students could identify the inferences that the animals made. In the book there was a little red bird that was on the every page and witnessed the entire story. The students could pretend that they were the bird, and imagine what the bird would say to the animals.

Traditional Folk: The Legend of John Henry by Terry Small

This book was a traditional folk tale of John Henry. He was a West Virginia born slave that only liked to hear the sound of a hammer hitting the steel. He was a hard working man that shaped tunnels through the West Virgina hills and mountains using a twelve pound hammer. Then one day a man with a sleeveless shirt came into town wanting to sell a drilling machine that could do the work of ten men. John Henry had moved twice due to this machine, and was tired of moving around. He was married and decided that he was going to prove to these people that this machine was not as good as everyone thought. So he challenged the machine to see who could drill the most. When they finished, John had drilled fifteen while the machine only made nine. After everything was done, John collapsed on the ground, death wondering near. It had been a while since I have been reacquainted with this tall tale. It didn’t realize that John Henry died at the end of the story, which was quite sad to me. Here is this great, strong, hard working man, wanting to do what he loved best but was in competition to a machine. I would use a book like this when teaching about tall tales and have the students pick out different events in the story that let them know that this was a tall tale. Most teachers teach about exaggeration, and this would be a great book to pick out such characteristics. Another tangent a teacher could go on would be talk about current situations of the economy. They could relate real life situations and how real people are losing their jobs due to machines.

Folk Tale: Callie Ann and Mistah Bear by Robert D. San Souci

The Folk Tale, Callie Ann and Mistah Bear is a story about a young girl and her mother who wants to marry a quality gentleman. Her widowed mother begins looking for her new beau that’s different from her neighbor, Mose who Callie feels would be a great step father. Mistah Bear hears of Callie’s mom in search of a nice man, so he decides to disguise himself by dressing up in fine clothes so she could feed him all of her sweets. Being that Callie Ann is a very smart girl, she can tell just by the way Mistah Bear mannerisms that something isn’t right. So she decided to follow him to the woods on his way home and when he rips off his clothes she witnesses a big, black bear. When Callie returns home to tell her mom what she observed, he develops a grudge against Callie Ann and will do anything to get revenge. As I said before, Callie is a very smart girl and out wits the bear in every plan to attack her. Since this book has taken place in the old times this would be great way to show students how people from this time talked and dressed. The pictures in the book are outstanding. They have so much detail that would make the reader believe that they were actually in the book. I would really like to do this during Black History Month to show the students how times has changed.

Multicultural: Lights for Gita by Rachna Gilmore

This book is about a little girl named Gita and her family celebrating a Hindu tradition called Diwali. As she walks home from school with her fireworks in her bag she hopes that it doesn't rain. From the pictures I could tell that it was cold outside and it might snow. This would be good book to have students practice inference with. The teacher could ask the students what holiday her family is going to celebrate or what season it is outside. Before the author says what they are celebrating I thought she was waiting for the Fourth of July. The book has both English and Chinese translations which I thought was very neat. When I first glanced through the book, I figured it was about a Chinese family, but clearly it wasn't. I like how the author tries to share this culture with kinds of races and not just Americans. The purpose of the festival is to fill the darkness with light, but they normally celebrate by lighting fireworks and listening to her grandmother tell tails about their past. When all of Gita's friends call to inform her that they will not make it due to the weather, she quickly saddens. Gita wishes that she was back with her grandmother and enjoying the nice weather. Her mother, which she calls "Mum" insists that she continues to celebrate Diwali and carry on to light the candles and diyas. The entire house lights up and as soon as she finishes the lights flicker off. As she sits by the window and watches the icy rain, she notices a car driving down the road slowing down right in front of her building. When she goes to door, it is one of friends, Amy. To her surprise, Amy wasn't the only thing in her sight. Her entire yard is lit up due to the diyas that was lit in her home. Her heart lit up as she saw the light on the ice. This was a great book and I wouldn't hesitate to use it in my classroom.

Multicultural: My Dadima Wears a Sari by Kashmira Sheth

In this book, the author tells a beautiful story about two American sisters, Neha and Rupa and their Indian grandmother who wears a sari as a part of their culture. The sisters are curious to know why their grandmother dresses so differently from the way that they dress. They wanted to know if she ever gets tired of the sari and why she doesn't just put on a dress or skirt like them. Dadima replies that she has always worn a sari and has never really thought about wearing anything other than that. She also mentions all of the wonderful things a sari could serve as such as a umbrella when it begins to rain, a fan when it is warm outside and even a pouch to hold seashells when they are at the beach. Their Dadima informs the girls how important her sari's are to her and how each of them have a special meaning. Each sari that she owns tells a different story from her past such as when she got married and when she came from India on a plane. After they have learned all of these new and exciting things about what a sari is their dadima decides to make them their own. This is a great story for students to read especially if they wear clothes that are different from others. It shows the readers how to embrace their culture and not be ashamed of where they come from. Even though Dadima was not originally born in America and she's in a new surrounding hasn't persuaded her to conform to the people around her. Students could learn a lot from this book especially foreign students that are trying to accommodate a new life in the U.S. They will see that you don't have to be like everyone else in order to be who they are.

Multicultural: Growing up with Tamales by Gwendolyn Zepeda

Growing up with Tamales is a great book for students to read of all races. The book actually has the same paragraph written twice but the first is in English and the second in Spanish. I think having both languages would really benefit students who speak Spanish; I feel that they could relate more to the author. When I read books, I like to read stories about my culture because some of things that they mention, a person wouldn't understand unless they were the same culture as me. The author speaks about a young girl, Ana who is six and her sister Lidia which is eight, and a Christmas tradition in their family which is making Tamales. When they cook the tamales, depending on their age they can only do so much. Seeing that Lidia is the oldest, she gets to help in the kitchen more than Ana. Ana can't wait until she is her sister's age so that she can do more in the kitchen when they make tamales. So as she sits in the kitchen and daydreams, she thinks of all the things she could do when she gets older. When she turns eight she will do what her sister is doing now, but a lot more. Then she wonders, well what her sister will be doing when she gets older. So she continues to day dream until her sister turns eighteen. During the years, she names the things she will be learning such as when she gets sixteen, they will be able to drive to the store and buy the ingredients for the tamales. Then, she doesn't know what her sister will be doing because there are so many things she could do. Will she go off to school, move into her own home and make her own tamales? Nobody knows just yet. However, Ana knows what she wants to do and that's have her own tamales factory and deliver them to people all over the world. This book shows the readers that as they get grow and get older, how the responsibilities that they have grow as well. When I read this story, I was able to go back to my childhood and remember all of the things that I had to watch my older sister do that I couldn't. I remember wishing that I was her age so I could help my family with things that I was too young for. In the story she mentions that when she turns fourteen, she will be able to hold her cousin baby and I can recall when I was too young to hold my nieces. This is a great book for students to read and learn about the responsibilities of their elders.

Historical Fiction: Show Way

This is a one of best books by Jacqueline Woodson. This book is actually about the authors life and traditions that were passed down to her, that can be traced all the way back to her great-great-great grandmother. The title, "Show Way" actually symbolizes how the women before her use to make quilts and show secret passages to escape to their freedom. It tells the tale of the struggles her family has endured to get to the place they are today. This books shows the reader how her grandmother was a slave and how they continued to pass the legacy of sewing down to the daughters so that they could help each other and other slaves to freedom. During this time, they were always being traded and sold off to other plantations, and no one could read or write. They had to do something to communicate without giving their plans away and the risk of being caught. The quilts had secret messages sewn into them and the only thing the slaves had to do was follow the path on the quits. The illustrations in this book are amazing. Some of the pictures are collages of different pictures and artifacts from the time period she is referring to on that particular page. Some artifacts are even actual items, such as a needle and thread. This book would be a great resource for students who are seeking futher information about African American history and the stuggles of African ancestors. I would also recommend this book to inspring artists seeing that this book offer great ideas.

Free 5: Folk Literature: The Three Little Pigs by Steven Kellog

This three little pigs is nothing like the traditional three little pigs that I read when I was a little girl. This book actually has a mother pig named Serafina Sow and has three piglets to raise Prudence, Percy and Petey. Unlike the traditional Three Little Pigs, it actually shows a mother who wants to better her family. Perhaps when reading this book to students, the teacher could discuss the topic of families. In the story the pigs go to school and graduate to become productive members of their town. Serafina has a dream that she wants to start a family business of making waffles. When her piglets graduated from school, she retires to the Gulf of Pasta and leaves the business to her pigs. While continuing to run the wafflery, the pigs decide to separate and each move into their own homes. Of course one pig builds his house out of straw, the second pig builds his house from logs and the third builds his house from bricks. Everything is good until the hungry, big, bad wolf comes to town in search of food, but he is not looking to eat any waffles. He wants the pleasantly plump pigs and they know it. Just when the wolf plunges at them, they each flee towards their newly built homes. When he sees the wolf coming towards his house, he sends a paper airplane to the sheriff's office with the note, "HELP, SAVE ME" written on the front of it. With a burst of deep breath, the bad wolf blows the straw house over. The note reaches the sheriff but his tub falls from the sky and hits the sheriff in the head. Now the little pig has reached his brother's log cabin where the wolf noticed them both. When the wolf blows this time, he blows the pigs right in front of the other pig's brick house. As we all know, the wolf is not able to blow this house down, therefore the pigs begin to throw pumpkins, watermelons, and cantaloupes at the wolf's head. In most interpretations of the three little pigs the wolf gives up, but not in this book. He then goes and gets a trash bag and blows it up attempting to get into the house through the chimney. At this time, the pigs see the wolf and lights up the fireplace and wait for the wolf to begin to cook. The pigs don't really cook the wolf, they just covered him in maple syrup and butter until he surrenders. In the end of the book, the pigs marry their childhood sweet hearts and open waffleries around the world, which was their mother's dream all along.

Modern Fantasy: Fanny's Dream by Caralyn Buehner

Fanny's Dream is a great picture book for the lower elementary grades. The illustrations really catch what the author is trying to say and makes her thoughts more noticable. The moral of this book is very good as well, however I think only students in the upper elementary grades would be able to capture the meaning. This book was about a young girl named Fanny who dreamed of being married to a prince who is really the mayor's son. Although, she is not considered to be among the prettiest females of her town, her heart is bigger than anything. The night of her town's ball, she waits outside for her fairy godmother to come in and turn her into this beautiful princess but her fairy godmother never shows up. When she thinks she hears her coming it turns out to be just a normal guy named Heber from town who really likes Fanny, but she continues to ignore him. While they both wait outside for her godmother, Hebert expresses to Fanny that he wants a wife and feels that she will be perfect wife and he could be her perfect husband. Seeing that by this time, she was tired of waiting on her godmother and decided to take Heber up on his offer. So they marry and Herber promises to wait on her for at least once a day as if she was princess. Life passes Fanny and Herber by and they have children and continue to go on day by day. Then one night, here comes her fairy god mother, wanting to change Fanny into the princess she has longed waited for. To her godmothers' surprise, she doesnt want to go to the ball and returns to the house to her husband and children. After reading this book, it made me appreciate my life and the people in it. Every girl grows up hoping to marry the rich, charming guy but in all reality that's not what life is about. This books teaches children that they should be happy with the things they have, and sometimes it's better to just wait on life and let it happen on its on. As you may have seen, this book strongly mimics the cinderella story, but has a little twist on the happily ever after. Fanny had her prince charming all along, and eventually realized it when her godmother wanted to come and change all of what she and her husband worked so hard to achieve. I think this was a great book for students to read, young or old.