It's Picture Day Today! by Megan McDonald and Katherine Tillotson

This book is about a bunch of materials; yarn, string, buttons, funny shaped glasses, feathers, you name it. They all gather together for a class picture and, like most class pictures, it is chaos. Several things are late, including the most important material...Glue! Eventually, they all get there and Glue helps everyone get ready and the picture is taken. The final page of the book folds out so it is actually 4 pages wide and it is a picture of all of the materials. However, Glue put all of them together and there are bodies and faces created from of these various materials.

I thought this book was really creative and really fun! I was reading it trying to figure out where it was going and how it would end and then when they all came to together to make faces and bodies it was almost like a surprise ending. The illustrations are from cut out paper and I think it really makes them stand out and gives them a sort of 3D effect. I think this book would be great for children because it takes simple things like buttons and yarn and turns them into characters and I think it would be great for encouraging students to "think outside the box."

Our Family Tree by Lisa Westberg Peters

This is a story about evolution and how humans came to be. It starts with the first cells and continues on through history until we transformed into humans.

I think this book was interesting and it would be a really good way to teach evolution because it puts it in a very basic way and at the end there is a time line of where humans started and where they are now. I think that this is a book that would be great for families because parents could read this to their children if they believed in evolution. However, I don't believe this book has a place in a classroom unless there is a book about creationism as well. Having this book alone would seem to be supporting one theory over another and I don't think it is the school's place to say which is correct. Also, if a student has been taught creationism at home or at church and then reads this book and asks a teacher about it I think it would be difficult to answer a lot of the students questions without crossing the thin line between church and state. However, I think that evolution and creationism are important topics and that if one theory is going to be supported in a classroom then the other should be as well. If this book were in my classroom I could not see justifying it's place there without offering a book about creationism because this would single out those students who do not believe in evolution. I think a classroom should be a place that welcomes all ideas and not just some of them.

Duck and Cover by Jackie Urbanovic

This was a book about an alligator named Harold who escapes from a zoo after he is accused of eating a little girl's pet dog. He goes to a nearby house where a woman and all of her pets live. No one wants to help Harold, except for one duck named Max. He convinces Irene, the owner of all of the animals, to let him in and try to hide him and he succeeds and convincing the other animals in the house that he is harmless. Eventually, the zoo comes looking for him and they tell him that they made a mistake, the dog he ate was just a hot dog not a pet dog, and Harold goes back to his home at the zoo.

I thought this book was fun to read. The text was a lot different from a typical book. The words were all over the page sometimes and there was no consistent text or font; if they were yelling it would be larger and usually in a different color. There were also small dialogues from some of the characters that were very small and were sometimes hard to notice if you weren't focused on looking for them. The story also used a lot of great actioin words or words for sounds that I think children would love because it would be fun for them to try to read them with expression and create the sounds that the words were representing. I think this book is great because it gets away from a lot of the routine, typical book layouts that most students and teachers are used to but it is still understandable and organized.

My Mama Sings by Jeanne Whitehouse Peterson

This book is about an African American boy and his mother. His mother has a song for everything, they are not new songs but he likes the familiarity of them. One day everything seems to go wrong and his mother doesn't have a song to sing. The little boy realizes that his mother is sad and that she doesn't feel like singing so he makes up a new song for her.

I thought this book was really sweet. Most of the book rhymed which I thought was neat because it was talking about the songs the mother would sing so I think it is great to be able to make that small connection. I also really liked that this wasn't another book about a white, middle-class family. The illustrations are amazing! The illustrator, Sandra Speidel, did a great job of making all of the pages seem almost like a dream which I think made a huge impact on how I read each page. I couldn't find what type of illustration it was in the book but it looks a lot like oil pastels or something for similar. All of the colors seem to flow together, there are no clear, precise lines. I really enjoyed this book and I think that children would enjoy it as well.

If You Give A Mouse A Cookie by Laura Joffe Numeroff

This is one of my all time favorite books! This book is about a boy who gives a mouse a cookie and then the mouse asks for a glass of milk and it goes on and on. There are a series "what if" scenarios that make up the story and in the end it comes back to "If you give a mouse a cookie..."

I love this book because it is hilarious and it's just a fun book to read. For teaching, I think this would be a great book for teaching a circular type of writing, where the beginning comes back in the end. I think this book does an excellent job of showing how that can work in a story. Also, I think children just really enjoy this book. I read this with my child study and he thought it was really funny and I liked that it was a pretty simple book so it was easy for him to read and follow.

The Giver by Lois Lowry

I, unlike most people by the time they reach college, had never read The Giver and was very anxious to see what all the excitement was about. When I read the first few chapters I was definitely interested in what the rest of the book would be about but I thought it was very strange. However, I quickly realized that the concepts weren't really that strange at all when looking at the world we live in now.

The story is about a community that has everything equal and there are no differences between anyone or anything and no one ever has to make decisions on their own. There is no color, no weather, no pain, no inconveniences, no rudeness; everything is "perfect." When Jonas, the main character, is selected to have the responsibility of Receiver of Memories he realizes that feelings and colors and all the things his community is lacking, are all things that everyone should experience. They are not just things that the Receiver should get to know about and know how to deal with.

As I said before, I thought this story was very strange when I began reading it. Now, I think this is very similar to what people in our country want to become. The idea of everyone being equal and there being no differences in any aspect of life. If everything and everyone are equal then there is no diversity and I think that, although there are many people pushing for equality, it is at the price of all of the diversity that makes our world so amazing! I also think that this book made me appreciate the little things that I seem to think for granted on an every day basis; the color of flowers, music, being able to make choices about my own life without being told what to do. I think this book is great because it is open to a variety of interpretations and I love that it can start so many vivid conversations.

Magic Pickle by Scott Morse

A little girl named JoJo has a magic pickle under her bedroom floor and it has super powers. It has been preserved their for over 50 years in a pickle jar and has come out of hybernation to find it's enemies- Phantom Carrot and Chili Chili Bang Bang. JoJo tries to look around the lab underneath her room to figure out where the pickle came from and before she knows it, it is time for school and she is at the bus stop in her pajamas. She gets teased at the bus stop by a girl named LuLu who is characterized as a girl who has rich parents, cheats on tests, wears make-up, and has a cute haircut and it is someone that JoJo and her friend do not like. JoJo tells this girl that she is secure in her originality and LuLu comes back with a comment about being normal. In the end, JoJo starts a food fight in the cafeteria against LuLu and a "popular" boy talks to her and she is happy.

First, I think this book is great because it has a lot of puns throughout the entire story that really add to the humor. However, there were a lot of things that bothered me about this particular story. When the main character is describing LuLu it is clear that there are definite stereotypes being used. LuLu has "rich parents", "wears make-up", and has a "cute haircut." To add to this, she is picking on JoJo for what she is wearing...her pajamas. I thought this was really interesting because this book just puts the stereotypes right out in the open for the reader, there is no digging involved. At one point in the conversation between the girls LuLu says she is "normal." As a teacher it is very important to realize that there are many students who could fit themselves into this situation and I don't want to promote these ideas. I did like that JoJo said she was "secure in her originality," I think that is a great way to help children start to see that it is ok to be different and there is nothing wrong with it. However, I didn't like that the book ended with JoJo getting to talk to a "popular" boy and finally feeling like she had won against LuLu. I think that this idea is showing students that the goal is to be popular and that if you are popular you'll be happy and you'll be like everyone else.

The Dangerous Snake and Reptile Club by Daniel San Souci

Three brothers go on a family vacation and one finds a snake, one finds a bunch of tadpoles, and one finds a dinosaur bone. They bring all of their findings back home to show their friends and the group of all boys decide to start a club in their clubhouse. Eventually, they charge people to walk through and see all of their "exhibits." The snake gets out one day and the boys don't find him until it scares their mother and her friends who are having lunch at home. After finding the snake they decide it would be best to let all of their reptiles go and they close down the reptile club.

This book was a really fun read and I thought it was a good story. However, there were definitely parts that teachers would need to take into consideration before using it in their classrooms. The three brothers go on a family vacation and they go with their entire family; mom, dad, sister, the brothers, and the family dog. This is important to consider because a lot of children don't have families that look like this and a lot of children don't go on big vacations like this. Also, the mother stays home all day and in the story she has friends over for lunch. Many students don't have mothers that can stay at home with them every day. There is also a family dinner scene where the family is discussing the decision to let the snake go. I have eaten family dinners occassionally but they rarely consisted of group discussions on making decisions. It is really important that teachers realize that this book can be reconstructed in many ways to fit the life of any child in the classroom, not helping the child make themselves "fit" into this story.

Alligator Boy by Cynthis Rylant and Diane Goode

This is about a little boy who decides he wants to be an alligator instead of a little boy and it goes through his day, at school and at home, as an alligator. As an added bonus the story also rhymes!

I could see using this book in my classroom for two main reasons. The first would be to look into rhyming and maybe even the very beginning of poetry. I think the students would find this book fun to read so it would be easy for them to sit and listen to if you were trying to work it into a lesson. Second, I would use this book just to encourage imagination. I know there were many times growing up that I didn't want to be a little girl any more, I wanted to be something completely different. I think this is a great way to show students that they can let these ideas out and have fun with them!

George and Martha by James Marshall

This book was actually a set of 5 very short stories about 2 hippos named George and Martha. I read through all of the stories to see if there were any commonalities throughout the book and found that in almost every story Martha is given a typical "female" role. In the first story she is cooking meals for George every day and eventually finds out that he doesn't like what she is cooking and she moves into talking about "feelings." This was interesting to me because girls are usually seen as expressing more emotions and feelings than boys. The idea behind the story is telling the truth and at one point Martha says, "Friends should always tell each other the truth." I think this is a cute idea but the way it was presented in this particular story seemed almost like a public service announcement or from a t.v. show similar to "Leave it to Beaver" where there is this symbol of a "perfect" world. In another story Martha is put in the same typical female role again when she takes care of George after he falls down while skating. George gets to Martha's house and she has him sit down while she takes on the nurturing role of helping him with everything and trying to comfort him. After realizing these very stereotypical roles I double checked the copyright date and found that it was published in 1972. I definitely think that at the time this book was published most people weren't concerned with stereotypes of males and females and what that could mean for children's literature so I thought it was something that definitely helped me in my view of this book.

I think this is a cute book to read but I can't see justifying it's place in a classroom library because I don't want to promote the stereotypes that are being shown in this book. I want to be able to move beyond them and find books that go against them.

Pearl and Wagner: One Funny Day by Kate McMullan

This story is about a bunny named Pearl and a mouse named Wagner who are friends from school. This particular book focuses on April Fools Day at school and all of the events that happen throughout the funny day. Wagner's day started off horribly after he overslept and is almost late. From there, his classmates and teachers play practical jokes on him that he does not find to be very funny at all. At the end of the story he becomes very sick and has to go to the nurse. When he comes back into the classroom he is covered in green spots and he tells the class he has "bug pox" which he got from being tricked into drinking bug juice. Everyone is very worried until Wagner yells, "April Fools!"

I thought this book was really cute and I loved reading it. It is classified as a level 2 easy-to-read book so it would be great for younger, beginning readers but I think older students would still love a lot of the humore in it as well. This book had male characters in traditionally "female" roles- a librarian and a cafeteria/lunch lady- and I thought that was an interesting piece to this book. However, the teacher is still a female. I really enjoyed this book and I thought the humor was great and children would really love it.

Dear Deer by Gene Barretta

This is a book all about homophones. Aunt Ant is writing a letter to her friend deer (thus the title Dear Deer). She is telling him about her move to the zoo and all of the things that she encounters there. On every page there is a set of homophones. My favorite, for example, was: "That's HIM, the HORSE who is HOARSE from humming a HYMN." Througout the story the homophones are bolded and in all capital letters just like this line so it makes it easy to distinguish them in the text. The pictures in this book were amazing; they were made by some form of using watercolors but to me they look very crisp and bright! I also thought it was neat how most of the pictures were horizontal but there were a couple that were vertical for emphasis. For example; I know the page about a giraffe was vertical to help show it's long neck. I thought it was a fun way to emphasize certain features in a picture and it was a really nice variation from the standard horizontal pages.

The classroom connection is really obvious here, I think. In a language arts setting this would be a great book for teaching and for discussing homophones. I definitely think students would love this book and it would be fun for them to make up their own funny sentences using homophones.

Strider by Beverly Clearly

This book is about a boy who is going to be a freshman in high school. It goes through the typical "awkwardness" of trying to fit in in school. To add to his adjusting, his parents just got a divorce. He has a friend that lives up the road from him and they find an abandoned dog when they are walking along the beach. They decide that they are going to keep him and that because they both found him they will have joint custody over him. Leigh, the main character, can't take full custody of Strider because he and his mom live in a small apartment and the land lady won't allow dogs. He also knows that once school starts he won't have time to take care of the dog because he will have school and his job. He runs everyday with Strider and when he starts school he is asked to join the track team. Strider kind of helped him survive starting high school.

I loved this book! It kept me interested throughout the entire time I was reading it and I felt like I was there with Leigh experiencing everything with him. I think Beverly Clearly does a really fantastic job of describing the scenes and describing the situations the characters are in; when the joint custody doesn't work out as planned Leigh takes Strider to Barry's house and leaves him there to let him keep him I got really into the story and actually got a little emotional reading it. I also really enjoyed that the book took on a different perspective than just a white, middle class male who has two parents living with him and lives in a big beautiful house. Leigh's parents are divorced, he lives with his mom, and he rarely sees his dad until towards the end of the book. His friend, Barry's parents are also divorced and they live in completely different states so it talks about how Barry leaves for months at a time to go see his mom. I think this offers two different points of view on the same subject which is really good for students because, obviously, no one goes through everything in the same way. Also, Leigh and his mom live in a really small apartment and Leigh has to work to help his mom out. Although he doesn't see his mom much they enjoy the little time they do have with each other and Leigh is never ashamed of what he has; he is very proud of his mother. I thought this was great too because it shows that even if your life isn't like the "normal" life that everyone likes to imagine, you can still be very happy and very proud of your life. I would definitely love to have this book in my classroom because it gives the students another view point and allows them to relate in different ways.

The Arrival by Shaun Tan

This book is both a wordless book and a graphic novel. I thought this was interesting because it really put an emphasis on GRAPHIC novel. I looked through the book several times and I still don't feel that I fully understand what was going on but I also think that some of it is open to interpretation. The book was about a man who left his family and went to another country (or at least a place that he did not speak the same language). From there I started to get confused because there were "creatures" that were not real and they seemed to be pets of people living in this new place. When I saw them I found myself wanting words to explain to me what they were. Once he is in this new place there are all kinds of new things around him; animals, vehicles, buildings, that you wouldn't normally see in the real world. I took these to be his disorientation to the new place. When someone travels to a new country they are not familiar with the customs and could feel like some things are completely "out of this world" that they have never seen before. After realizing this I really liked the book because it kind of gave a glimpse of what it would be like to immigrate to a new country and not know how or what was going to happen and trying to adapt to the new environment.

I didn't understand a lot of this book and I definitely got a little frustrated when I looked through it the first couple of times and couldn't figure out what exactly was going on. However, after I realized that I could interpret things in different ways I really enjoyed going through it and trying to decide what certain characters or objects meant to me in regards to the story. The pictures in the story are gorgeous, the seem very life-like to me and I really enjoyed them. They are in black and white so it gives a different feel to the book than if it had been in color. If this book was in a classroom I could see it in an upper grade just as far as understanding. However, if it were used in a younger setting I could see the children really enjoying looking through the pictures and creating their own stories to go along with them; without any words it is completely open to interpretation and I think they would really love that.

Oops by Arthur Geisert

This is another wordless book and it took me a couple times through to figure out what was going on. For this book the reader really has to concentrate on the pictures, I kind of felt like I was going through a "Where is Waldo" book and looking for things that were out of place in the picture. It all starts with a glass of spilled milk at the breakfast table and how that trickles down through a hole in the floor, through the pipes, onto a paint tray that hits a saw, and so on until the whole house comes down.

I thought this book was really fun to read and look through just because it was a challenge to find what was happening in the picture and how that was going to affect on the next picture. I had to read through the book at least three times before I noticed the glass of spilled milk on the second page that started the entire process. It really helped me get focused and when I went to another wordless book I noticed I was looking over every detail in a picture before I went on. This book puts a fun twist on the saying "Don't cry over spilled milk."

The Other Side by Istvan Banyai

This is a wordless book and it is a book about perspectives. Throughout the book you see a picture and then when you turn the page you see the otherside. By the end of the book you are back where you started but you are in a different position or different perspective. It reminded me of the wordless book "Flotsam" except that all of the pictures don't connect to one another.

I really liked this book because it made me pay attention to detail and I was constantly wondering what was going to happen next. I could definitely see using this in a classroom for multiple lessons; it would help show perspectives and the idea that there are two sides to every story. I also think this is a good beginning to read book because it makes the reader start asking, "what is going to happen next," which is a very important part of reading.

Babymouse: The Musical by Jennifer L. Holm and Mattew Holm

This is a graphic novel, from a series, about a young mouse named Babymouse and her experience at school and in particular, her experience with the school musical. Babymouse really enjoys musicals so the book is set up similar to a musical; each chapter is an Act and around the middle of the book there is an "intermission" page. There were a lot of references to popular musicals throughout the story and it was when Babymouse was imagining situations happening to her. For example; she was thinking about her math homework and talking to her friends about math as if she were in a scene from "Grease." She really loves musicals so when her school has auditions for the school musical she wants to try out but she's not very graceful. Eventually, she decides to try out and she gets the understudy for the lead role. On the opening night she gets to go on in the middle because the main character gets a hairball (Felicia Furrypaws-a cat). Babymouse is really nervous but does a great job until the very end of the play when she goes the wrong direction and falls off the stage and causes everything to collapse.

This is a really cute series that I think children would really enjoy. I definitely think it is relatable and it is really funny; I was laughing out loud reading some it. I enjoyed that there were comparisons to other musicals throughout the story because I thought it really brought a lot to it and made it even more fun to read. I also really liked the characters; her "enemy" is a cat and one of her friends that she meets is a hedgehog. It really comes at children in a different way than if the characters were all just humans and I think it makes it more fun to read.

Hyperactive by Scott Christian Sava

This is a graphic novel about a young boy who goes to school and throughout the day is experiencing weird things; in gym class they are playing dodgeball and everything begins to slow down for him. Before he knows it he has hit everyone on the other team and he is the only one left standing. He finds out from his friend that everything wasn't slowing down, it was him that was speeding up. He goes home and tells his parents and they take him to the doctor and he finds out that his metabolism is in overdrive and that's what is causing things to go really fast for him. Later, he gets kidnapped because someone wants to steal his DNA but he gets out of it by using his super strength from his overactive metabolism.

This book was really fun to read and the graphics were amazing! The pages were very glossy and they made the colors stand out a lot. I thought it was kind of an interesting twist on graphic novels because I typically think of them as super hero comics. The boy in the story is somewhat of a super hero but it's not what you would usually expect since it is a young boy so I think it makes it really relatable to children. I picked this book because of the title "Hyperactive" because I was curious to see what it would be about. There is a lot being said about students being hyperactive and having hyperactive disorders so I was interested to see what was going to be discussed. The book didn't discuss hyperactivity really other than saying that it was the reason for making him go so fast but I did find that two main characters are boys. I thought this was interesting because when talking about schools there is always a stereotype that boys are distracted and can't focus and boys are usually the students who are diagnosed with disorders like ADHD. I would be concerned that this book would be promoting that thought and that stereotype so I would be cautious about having in my classroom. However, I also think that it is cool how the book makes it into an advantage (being super hero-like) instead of a disadvantage as it is often perceived so I think there are good points and bad points about using this book in a classroom.

Araminta Spookie: My Haunted House by Angie Sage

This children's novel is about a young girl name Araminta who lives in a haunted house with her aunt and uncle. She has been searching for ghosts the entire time she has lived in the house and can never find any. Then, after struggling with the boiler, her aunt decides she is going to sell the house. Araminta is furious! She begins devising plans to get rid of all of the possible buyers. In her planning she finds a key that opens up secret passages and secret doors throughout the house and eventually finds a ghost that helps her ambush potential buyers. However, a family comes to look at the house and no matter what awful things she does to them, they love the house even more. Finally, she tells her aunt that she doesn't want to leave the house and that she will help with the boiler and whatever else she needs as long as they can stay.



This book was really fun to read. It had amazing detail and I could see exactly what was happening and what the characters were doing throughout the story. I thought it was different from the "normal" books about a girl leaving her home and moving away and it gave the reader another world of fantasy. It reminded me of a younger version of Harry Potter which could definitely help in a classroom because

There's An Alligator Under My Bed by Mercer Mayer

Mercer Mayer is one of my favorite children's authors and he doesn't disappoint in this book either! I read this book when I was younger but it was a lot of fun going back and reading it again now. The book, for those who haven't read it, is about a little boy who believes there is an alligator living under his bed. He is determined to get it out so that he can get some sleep so he makes a trail of food from his bed to the garage hoping the alligator will come out. Sure enough, it does! Then, he leaves a note for his dad letting him know that there is an alligator in the garage and that he should be careful when he goes to get his car in the morning.



I think this book is great for children. I loved it when I was younger and I think that students today would still enjoy it. It is a very fun and imaginative story and it could help get children using their imaginations to create stories of their own. I also love the illustrations, Mercer Mayer is one of my favorite illustrators as well and I think the illustrations are great in this book! Also, at the end the main character leaves a note for his father and in the illustration you can see pictures, "invented" spellings, and corrections in the note. From a teaching point of view I think this could help students with the writing process and help them understand that it doesn't have to be perfect and that it doesn't have to be writing at all. There are many things that can come from this book and I think it is great for teachers and students because it's just fun to read!

Dinner at Alberta's by Russell Hoban

This story was about a crocodile name Arthur who does not have good table manners. His parents and his sister try to correct him at dinner but he just won't listen. Every time they correct him he ends up getting discouraged and leaves the table to go play his guitar very loudly. His sister, Emma brings her friend Alberta to dinner one night and Arthur watches her through the whole dinner. He begins to copy her manners at the table; when she breaks a piece of bread off to butter it Arthur does too. Then, Alberta invites Arthur and Emma over to her house for dinner. Immediately, Arthur's family begins working with him on his manners and how to act. When goes to dinner he does very well and behaves just as his family has taught him. Alberta's family is very pleased with him and tells Alberta's brother to learn from Arthur.



This book was really sweet and a good way to discuss table manners. I could see it being very helpful for children when they are beginning to understand manners and behaviors. I thought the book was somewhat stereotypical and I would have some concerns about having it and reading it in my classroom. There was a line in the book that said "boys are trouble" and throughout the entire book Arthur is getting in trouble for anything and everything while his sister is not. He is being told to watch his sister and listen to her so he can learn how to behave. In a classroom, it is important to get rid of stereotypes as much as possible and I definitely think this is one of the most common stereotypes that teachers see. Not all boys are going to be trouble and not all girls are going to be perfect angels so it is important not to promote these ideas to students.

My Lucky Day by Keiko Kasza

This is the second book I've read from Keiko and I loved it just as much as the first. This story is about a fox and a pig. The fox is preparing to go out to hunt for his dinner when a little pig knocks on his door; he thinks it is his lucky day. Through a series of requests or "suggestions" as the pig puts it, he has the fox bathing him, feeding him, and massaging him. By the time all of this is finished the fox is exhausted and is too tired to eat the pig. The pig walks out of the foxes house feeling as though it is HIS lucky day.

I thought this story was really entertaining and I definitely think children would love it. I really enjoyed the twist at the end and how it turned out to be the pig's lucky day instead of the fox. I was interested through the entire story and I could see students loving this book because it has a lot of humor that children can relate to.

I Wonder Why by Lois Rock

This was a poem that asked a lot of questions about life and things around us in the world. For example, one page in the book reads; "And why is grass green and the flowers so bright? And how do seeds know they should grow to the light?" This book is a great way to get children to use their imaginations and think about what is around them and how they can use these things to write. Also, I usually do not like reading poetry but I really enjoyed this book and I think that can help teachers present poetry to students who may be reluctant. I thought it was really interesting and I would definitely have it in my classroom.

Amanda's Perfect Hair by Linda Milstein

This is a really cute story about a little girl named Amanda who has CRAZY hair. Everywhere she goes people are always making comments about her hair and she doesn't feel that they are really noticing her. Her teachers always tell her how beautiful her hair is, her friends tell her how much fun it is to style her hair in new ways, and her brother and sister always pester her about it. Eventually she gets tired of people noticing her hair before they notice her and she decides that she will cut it all off. When she comes out of the bathroom she has cut her hair extremely short and at first everyone is shocked. Then they realize how much they love it and tell her that it looks great.

I thought this was a good story because it was really fun and I think children would like it a lot. I think it also shows that you can be yourself and do what you want to do and people will still like you and respect you for it. I definitely think it can provide a lesson for children but it is also just a fun story to read.