Snow Dance

Author/Illustrator: Lezlie Evans/Cynthia Jabar

About the Author:

 Lezlie Evans is an author of many children's books. She lived in California and was very athletic. She is the only girl in her family and has five brothers.  She did not read a lot as a child mainly because she couldn't sit still long enough, but that changed as she got older.

http://www.lezlieevans.com/

Genre: Fiction
Grade Level: K-2

Synopsis:
Snow Dance reads like a long poem.  It talks about kids preparing and hoping for snow. The kids get all of their snow clothes on and go outside to play in the snow. They throw snowballs and play with all of their friends until it's time to come inside.  Then when they come inside they change and drink hot chocolate to relax. 

Pre Reading Activity:

Before reading ask the children what they like about the snow.  Ask them if they like to play in it or stay inside. What do they do outside?

Post Reading Activity:

After reading use construction paper and cotton balls to make a snow day picture.  Have the kids draw themselves playing in the snow then glue the cotton balls on as snow. You may even want to add some glitter to the snow to make it realistic.

Reflection:

I like this book because it is different than other books. This reads like a poem and the whole book rhymes.  This will catch the kids attention and make them want to read it or listen to it. A lot of kids also like the snow and want to tell you what they like about it. This book and the project will hold the kids attention on a snowy afternoon.

No Such Thing

Author/Illustrator: Jackie French Koller/Betsy Lewin

About the Author:

Jackie French Koller is a published American author who was born in 1948.  She had her first book published in 1986. She is very family oriented and tells you all about her family on her personal web page.

http://www.jackiefrenchkoller.com/

Genre: Fiction
Grade Level: 1-3

Synopsis:
Howard moved into a new house and he loved it. It was old but he loved all of the little things about it.  When Howard went to bed he heard noises and called his mom into the room to check for monsters.  His mom checked and didn't find anything and she told him there are no such thing as monsters. Then the little monster called his mom to check for little boys and she told him there are no such thing as boys. The boy and the monster keep hearing and seeing things but their moms always tell them to go back to bed. At the end of the night the monster and the boy finally meet face to face.  The boy said that he thought monsters ate boys and the monster thought boys eat monsters! Both Howard and the little monster from them on were able to sleep through the night.

Pre Reading Activity:

Before reading have the children look at the title and the cover to predict what they think is going to happen in this story.

Post Reading Activity:

After reading have the children write a story in a small group about something that is not real. This will get the students imaginations going.  

Reflection:

This book is good because it helps kids to laugh about something that a lot of them are afraid of. This also helps the kids to use their imaginations and make up stories on their own.

Jungle Halloween

Author/Illustrator: Maryann Cocca- Leffler

About the Author:

Maryann Cocca-Leffler grew up in Everette, Massachusetts. She is one of five children, three brothers and one sister. She is the second oldest in her family. She is the author and illustrator of many children's books.  

http://www.maryanncoccaleffler.com/Maryann_Cocca-Leffler_Author_Illustrator/Home.html

Genre: Holidays
Grade Level: K-2

Synopsis:
Jungle Halloween is about how the animals in the jungle celebrate Halloween.  The animals get ready to put on their costumes and go to the jungle party.  They eat food and listen to music. Then at the end of the night all of the animals are tired and worn out from the partying.  They then get ready for bed and to say goodnight to the jungle.

Pre Reading Activity:

Before reading talk to the students about Halloween and find out how many of the kids celebrate Halloween.  The kids should have an understanding of the holiday before they read about it.

Post Reading Activity:

After reading have the kids write a story about their own Halloween celebration.  Then have them illustrate their stories. Once they are all finished they can present them to the class.

Reflection:

I liked this book because it explains how one group celebrates a specific holiday. When the children talk about their own celebration of Halloween they will realize that even though a lot of people celebrate this holiday everyone celebrates in their  own way.

Ernie's Big Mess

Author/Illustrator: Sarah Roberts/Joe Mathieu

About the Author:

Sarah Roberts is a published American author. She has written children's books such as Ernie's Big Mess.

Genre: Fiction/Life Skills
Grade Level: K-2

Synopsis:
Bert and Ernie are best friends that live together. Ernie is very messy but Bert is very neat.  When Ernie leaves a big mess on the floor and then walks away from it Bert gets really angry and yells at Ernie to clean up.  One day Bert said that he wished he lived alone sometimes.  Ernie decided it was time for him to pack up and leave because Bert wasn’t happy with him anymore.  Ernie stopped by a few of his friends beds but none of them seemed to work out.  Big Bird’s was full of sticks and Grover’s was too small.  Finally Ernie laid down by Oscar’s trash can, when Bert came walking down the street to find Ernie.  The two friends were able to make up and Bert agreed to help Ernie learn to clean up after himself.

Pre Reading Activity:

Before reading have the children discuss in a small group what they think will happen with Ernie’s big mess.

Post Reading Activity:

After reading have the students write what they would have done if they were Bert or Ernie.  Would they change anything or do something differently?  Also, ask the what is the right thing to do?

Reflection:

I think this book would be good to have in a classroom because it relates to children’s everyday lives.  Most parents are constantly asking their kids to clean up their room because it is so messy.  This may teach them the lesson that sometimes being too messy is not good. Also, being mean to people who are messy isn’t nice either.

Mine! A Sesame Street Book About Sharing

Author/Illustrator: Linda Hayward/Norman Gorbaty

About the Author:

Linda Hayward is the author of a lot of Sesame Street books. She has also written the Sesame Street Dictionary.  She had her first book published 30 years ago and before that she was an elementary school teacher.

Genre: Life Skills
Grade Level: K-1

Synopsis:
Little Ernie and little Bert will not share with each other.  Every time one of them has a toy they keep it away from the other and say “mine!” But when they want to play with the red wagon alone it’s no fun.  Then little Ernie and little Bert begin to play with their toy phones and realize that they can play together. Ernie pulls Bert and then Bert pulls Ernie and they have such a fun time playing together.

Pre Reading Activity:

Before reading have the children play with each other and observe the way different students act.  Then ask the students what it means to share with their friends.

Post Reading Activity:

After reading ask the students what would have happened if Ernie and Bert shared from the beginning.  Also have them tell you a time when they shared with a friend or a sibling.

Reflection:

This book is great to have at home or in school for young kids because sharing is a big issue at the young ages. Kids like to keep their toys all to themselves and it can hurt the feelings of classmates and siblings.  Teachers and parents should team up and teach this lesson to children because of how important it is to their social growth.

Uncle Sam's Kids When Duty Calls

Author/Illustrator: Angela Sportelli-Rehak

About the Author:

Angela Sportelli-Rehak is the mother of three and the wife of a Lieutenant Colonel. She is an author of books for and about military families.  She has written the entire Uncle Sam's Kids series.

Genre: Non-Fiction
Grade Level: K-3

Synopsis:
This book is about  a boy named Nick who it in the Uncle Sam Kid’s Club.  His troop, 109, will be competing with other troops to win a tour of the USS Liberty Bell, which is a large aircraft carrier.  Nick goes home to tell his parents about the competition because he is very excited.  Nick’s dad tells him that day that he is being deployed on the USS Liberty Bell for six months.  Nick and his two sisters are sad but their dad tells them everything will be alright and he will be home soon. Nick and his troop decide to make a Care Sackpack for the troops and they won the contest!  The day comes for Nick’s tour and his dad’s deployment and Nick is very excited but still sad.  The troop got to take a tour of the entire ship and saw the mess hall, the sleeping areas and the control panels. When it was time for the ship to depart Nick and his family said goodbye to his dad and he assured them it would go by quickly.  After their father had been gone for a while the kids began to miss him a lot, so they decided to make him his own care sack pack to remind him of his family.  They got a letter back from their dad telling them how much he missed them and that he would be home soon. Finally came the day for their dad to come home the kids made a big sign and held it up as he got off of the ship. They were happy to have their family back together again.

Pre Reading Activity:

Before reading this book you should talk about the military with your class and ask them what they already know. Some may know more than others but all of the students should be aware of what the men and women in the military do for our country.

Post Reading Activity:

After reading you could have your students write a letter to someone that is deployed thanking them for everything they do.

You can also have your students think of different ways to show that they care for the people in our armed forces, such as the care sack pack.

Reflection:

This book was extremely touching and I think should be in every classroom. A lot of students do not understand or know anything about the military but they should know how much they do for our country.  This book also made it very easy to understand what was going on and I believe it can be read as early as kindergarten.

Don't Eat the Teacher

Author/Illustrator: Nick Ward

About the Author:

Nick Ward is the author and illustrator of many children's books. Ward had his first book published in 1979. He also write under the pseudonym of Charlie Small, who is the main character in one of his series. 

Genre: Fiction
Grade Level: 1-3

Synopsis:
Don’t Eat the Teacher is about a young shark named Sammy who is starting a new school.  When Sammy gets excited he bites things.  The morning he is going to start school he gets so excited that he bites the table and his mom says don’t do that at school and be good.  When Sammy got to school all of the new things they did excited Sammy and he kept biting everything, the books, the paintings, and he almost even bit the teacher! The teacher was very understanding of Sammy’s problem though and always told him it was alright. Sammy vowed to try harder the next day and when his mom asked him what he learned that day he said a lot!

Pre Reading Activity:

Before reading explain to the students what habits are and that everyone has a habit whether it is good or not so good.  Have the children list what some of their habits are.

Post Reading Activity:

After reading have the children write about one of their habits that they want to get rid of.  Have them write why it is a bad habit and how they will try to change that habit into a good one.

Reflection:

This book has a very good moral to the story.  It is about so much more than not biting things but it is about a child that cannot get rid of a bad habit.  Everyone has a habit that they may want to get rid of or change but this books points out how extremely hard it is. I also think its shows a lot when the teacher is very understand every time he does bite something and tries to help instead of getting angry.

Good Morning Monday

Author/Illustrator: Sheila Keenan/Paul Meisel

About the Author:

Sheila Keenan has her Masters in English from the University of Massachusetts. She has published both fiction and non fiction books. She lives in New York and New Jersey and is currently working on a few new book ideas.

Genre: Fiction
Grade Level: K-3

Synopsis:
Good Morning Monday is a very simple and short book. It describes all of the hustle on a Monday morning of people on the subway and rushing into elevators. At the end all of the people are finally at work and ready to start their Monday with a good morning!

Pre Reading Activity:

Before reading ask the students what they do on a Monday morning to get ready for the week.

Post Reading Activity:

After reading have the students make a list of the things they do in the morning to get ready for school. They can decorate this list and hang it in their house so they remember every morning.

Reflection:

I think this is a nice book to ready at the beginning of the week because it give the students an idea of what they should do to get ready in the morning. 

The Case of the Lost Temper

Author/Illustrator: Doug Peterson/John Trent and Greg Hardin

About the Author:

Doug Peterson has been an author since 1977.  He has written over 50 books and over 40 in the Veggie Tales series.  Peterson has also been a science writer for the University of Illinois.

Genre: Fiction/Character Education
Grade Level: K-3

Synopsis:
The Case of the Lost Temper is from the Veggie Tales series.  Bob and Larry are on a mission to find the Masked Door Slammer that has been running around town.  As they sit outside the house of Mrs. Carrot where the slamming is taking place Larry puts on a chicken costume as his disguise. Bob gets angry because people will notice him.  Larry also orders pizza, rides a skateboard etc, and Bob continues to be angry.  He is so angry that he yells at Larry and Larry tells him that he should not get angry because it wastes time.  Finally they heard the door slamming and they ran to Mrs. Carrots, it was only the wind slamming her doors! The case was closed and Bob and Larry made up. The end of the book stated this quote from Proverbs “A foolish person lets his anger run wild. But a wise person keeps himself under control.”

Pre Reading Activity:

Before reading ask the students if they know what it means for someone to lose their temper. Also ask them what might happen if someone does lose their temper.

Post Reading Activity:

After reading have the students write in a journal what the quote at the end of the books means to them and what people should do to achieve that.  “A foolish person lets his anger run wild. But a wise person keeps himself under control.”

Reflection:

I enjoyed this book because it teaches an important life lesson.  Kids very easily lose their tempers especially at school so this book is a great beginning of the year book. This will help set the tone for how to deal with anger before the students gets completely comfortable yelling and screaming at eachother.

The Shark Who Was Afraid of Everything

Author/Illustrator: Brian James/Bruce McNally

About the Author:

Brian James was born in 1976 outside of Philadelphia.  In 1994he moved to New York City.  He has written and published both books and poems.

Genre: Fiction
Grade Level: K-3

Synopsis:
This story is about Sharkie the shark who is always afraid.  He is afraid of everything from the dark to snails.  Sharkie thought the other sharks were right and that he was no good because he’s a scared shark so he took off and Lily the little fish followed right behind him. The two new friends had fun playing together until they realized they were lost.  Lily was scared but Sharkie helped get them back home.  Once the returned everyone was so happy they began to call Sharkie the bravest shark!

Pre Reading Activity:

Before reading it would be good to have a conversation with your students about fears.  They need to know that everyone is afraid of something and that some of their friends might be afraid of the same things that they are.

Post Reading Activity:

After reading have the students come up with ways together to overcome their fears.  Whether it be facing them or ignoring them or any ways that they can come up with.

Reflection:

I enjoyed this book because it talks about something real for the children.  Children are sometimes ashamed to say that they are afraid of something because they might get laughed at.  Once they know that other kids might be afraid too they will feel more comfortable being themselves in the classroom.

My Five Senses

Author/Illustrator: Margaret Miller

About the Author:

Margaret Miller is an American author. Not only has she written children's books but she is known for her photography. All of the pictures she has used in this book are of kids that she knows.

Genre: Life Skills
Grade Level: K-1

Synopsis:
This book is about our five senses. It goes into detail about different things that we can do with each of our senses. This book has pictures to go a long with each page also to show what our senses can help us do.

Pre Reading Activity:

Before reading ask your children to see, smell, taste, touch and hear something.  Then ask them if they know what helps them to do all of those things.

Post Reading Activity:

After reading have the students write something that each of their five senses helps them do. This exercise must include their own ideas and not ones they found in the book.

Reflection:

This book makes learning the five senses very simple. Because it uses words that very young children will understand.  It also has real photographs that will help the children relate to the book.  

Franklin is Bossy

Author/Illustrator: Paulette Bourgeois/Brenda Clark

About the Author:

Paulette Bourgeois was born on July 20, 1951.  She is best known for creating Franklin the Turtle. The Franklin books have been translated into over 38 different languages and have also been made into a television show.

Genre: Fiction
Grade Level: 1-3

Synopsis:

Franklin likes to play with his friends, especially his best friend Bear.  Franklin always got to pick the games and his friends are sick of it. They decide not to play with Franklin anymore.  Franklin could not understand why he had no friends so he went home and played by himself.  Franklin talked with his dad who taught him that he needs to be nice and play fair with all of his friends so they want to play with him.  The next day Franklin went to apologize to all of his friends and invite them to play with him.  They accepted his apology and for once Franklin did not make all of the rules.

Pre Reading Activity:

Have the students brainstorm about what this book will be about based on the title and the cover.

Post Reading Activity:

Ask the children what Franklin did to make his friends mad at him.

Reflection:

I enjoyed this book because it teaches the students a valuable lesson on not bossing around other people.  This will help the students realize that they do not want to lose their friends so they will treat them the way they want to be treated.

Dinosaur Time

Author/Illustrator: Peggy Parish/Arnold Lobel

About the Author:

Peggy Parish was born on July 14, 1927

Genre: Non-Fiction
Grade Level: 1-3

Synopsis:This is a great beginning reader about dinosaurs. It explains how to pronounce the names of each dinosaur and gives basic information about them. It's great for kids who want to read about Dinosaurs when most books on the topic are going to be way too difficult for them to read on their own. 

Pre Reading Activity:

Make a KWL chart to see what the students know and want to know about dinosaurs.

Post Reading Activity:

Finish the chart to see what the students have learned when reading this book.

Reflection:

I was very happy with this book because there are not many informational books at such a low level for kids.  This book allows students to know more about an interesting topic. This will also get children more interested in reading because they can read about what they like.

The Case of the Missing Mother

Author/Illustrator: James Howe/William Cleaver

About the Author:

James Howe was born on August 2, 1946 in Oneida, New York.  He is the author of more than 80 children and young adult books.  

Genre: Fiction
Grade Level: 1-3

Synopsis:
All of the muppets were getting ready for their Mother's Day tribute concert.  Animal began to act weird and no one knew why.  Finally when Animal disappeared the muppets went looking and found a letter that said his mother had moved, only the address was ripped off.  They went on a journey to help find his mom.  After searching for a while they heard drumming in the background. They got closer to the sound and it was Animal's mother! Animal was extremely happy to be reunited with his mother and she was able to play in the tribute concert.

Pre Reading Activity:

Ask the students if they have ever lost something. How did they feel? Did anyone help them look for it?

Post Reading Activity:

Have the children write about how they think Animal felt to find his mother.

Reflection:

This book was interesting and it can relate to kids.  The way Animal acted when he lost his mother was the way any child who couldn't find their mother would act.  It also shows great friendship when all of the muppets tried to help Animal.

Just For You

Author/Illustrator: Joy Berry/John Costanza

About the Author:

Mercer Mayer was born in Arkansas in 1943.  He has published over 300 books since 1966.  Most of his books are something that happened to him when he was younger. 

Genre: Fiction
Grade Level: K-2

Synopsis:
This is a book about little critter and he is trying to do nice things for his mother.  Unfortunately nothing he tries seems to be working out the way he wanted.  But he eventually tells his mom that all he wanted was to surprise her, which is what he did.

Pre Reading Activity:

Ask the children if they have ever done something nice for someone they live with. If they say yes have them share with each other what they have done and for who.  This will show them that everyone tries to do nice things for some one.

Post Reading Activity:

Have the students draw a picture of themselves doing something nice for some one.  Then make their homework for them to bring it home to that person.

Reflection:

I enjoyed this book because it shows a child doing something nice for their parent.  A lot of children don't always appreciate their parents and say mean things to them.  This book shows that you should always try to be helpful and treat mom and dad with respect.

Let's Talk About Being Rude

Author/Illustrator: Joy Berry/John Costanza

About the Author:

John Costanza was born on August 14, 1943 in Dover, New York. He has worked in the comic book industry and even worked for Marvel Comics.

Genre: Character Education
Grade Level: K-2

Synopsis:
This book is about being rude.  It discusses different ways that people can be rude. For example taking all of the food for yourself or demanding to always be first.  It also gives examples of how not to be rude, such as treating others as you want to be treated.  

Pre Reading Activity:

Have the children get together and come up with a definition for the word rude.  Write them on the board and keep them up while you are reading this book to see if the children are right or if they would change their definition. 

Post Reading Activity:

Get a big piece of chart paper and have the students make a list for the classroom of ways to not be rude.  Take into consideration all of the students ideas because they are more likely to follow them if they are the ones who came up with the  ideas.

Reflection:

I believe this book is great to use in a classroom because it teaches young kids valuable lessons.  This book will help the students learn how to treat each other and people outside of the classroom.