When My Name Was Keoko - By Linda Sue Park

When My Name Was Keoko is a great book written by Linda Sue Park (Clarion Books 2002) about a Korean family during World War II. The Japanese had taken control and occupied Korea. They forced the Koreans to learn and speak only the Japanese language, took their belongings whenever they wanted, and had complete military control of the country. The Japanese forced the Koreans to change their names to Japanese names, which is what the title of the book is referencing. A girl named Sun-hee had to officially change her name to Keoko.

The story is told from the perspective of Sun-hee (Keoko) and her brother Tae-yal. It is a realistic historical fictional story of a family during this time of great upheaval. The Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and there was much uncertainty and fear in Korea and all over the world. Sun-hee and Tae-yal were forced to work for the military collecting materials and building structures instead of attending school. Sun-hee was a linguist and secretly learned the Korean language. Their uncle worked for a resistance group printing a newspaper out of his shop. The Japanese controlled the information getting to the Koreans and would have killed their uncle he was discovered. Uncle had to flee and they were uncertain where he was or what happened to him. Tae-yal joined the military to escape having to answer questions about his uncle and ended up almost being a kamikaze pilot.

This a young adult book (ages 10-14) and is a quality story. It puts the reader in the time and place of WWII in Korea. The characters are complex and they draw the reader into the story.

Literary Elements:
Foreshadowing - Sun-hee is listening in to her father and uncle talking about something and getting upset. She knows something is happening and so does the reader. Later we finds out that they were discussing the fact that the Japanese are forcing them to change their names.
First person - This story is told in first person, but by two different characters. This allows the reader to see what both of the characters are thinking and planning to do.
Language - Sun-hee is interested in language. She has many conversations about it and is interested in learning. She shows Tae-yal and the reader how she remembers the Japanese characters.

Mini-lesson:
This book could be tied in when learning about WWII. It is good for students to feel a connection to history and to the people that were involved. This book could create that connection by sharing the story of a family in Korea during this time. The book could provide the students with perspective and it also brings up many discussion topics: racism, bravery, linguistics, oppression, rebellion, and so on. This would be a good literary circle book. The project we did for class was to create a glogger poster. Here is my glogger poster: http://shannonhady.edu.glogster.com/when-my-name-was-keoko/. Students can create these posters with pictures and videos to give other students a feel for the time period of the book. It is a great learning tool.

From Tadpole to Frog - By Wendy Pfeffer

This is a great book written by Wendy Pfeffer and illustrated by Holy Keller (HarperCollins Publishers 1994). It is a concept picture book made for children grades k-2 with a readability lexile of ages 4-8.

The books tells the story of frog pond and the life cycle of a bullfrog. The first page introduces frog pond in the winter. It asks, "where are the frogs?" The children can see that the frogs are hiding under the bottom of the pond. They are hibernating. As the seasons change, the frogs come up, hug each other and lay eggs. We then follow along as the eggs change into tadpoles and grow. At one point, the tadpoles look a lot like leaves that have fallen and lay on top of the water. The children can try to figure out which ones are leaves and which are tadpoles. The tadpoles spend a winter in hibernation and then turn into frogs the following spring.

This book has great pictures that bring to life the story. Most children are interested in nature and animals that change and grow. This book exposes children to the life cycle of a frog and shows them how it takes place in their environment through the seasons.

Literary Elements:
Onomatopoeia - The frogs "ba ra rooom."
The story uses repetition for effect: "They do not eat. They do not move. They do not sleep."
The author asks the reader a question to involve the child, "Where are the frogs now?"

Mini-lesson:
This story teaches a great science lesson. After reading and discussing, we could do some research on frogs and maybe create an interactive way to share it. We could do something like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7l1itPMWc4. We could split into groups and work on finding some interesting information about frogs. Here is a blog about frogs: http://allaboutfrogsdotorg.blogspot.com/. Each group could share an interesting fact or information about a particular type of frog with the class.

How much is a Million? - By David M. Schwartz

This concept book was written by David M. Schwartz and illustrated by Steven Kellogg (HarperCollins 1985). The idea behind the book is to give students a concept of how large the quantity of one million, one billion, and one trillion are.

The book begins by stating, "If one million kids climbed onto one another's shoulders, they would be taller than the tallest buildings, taller than than the highest mountains, and farther up than airplanes can fly." The illustrates show children standing on each others shoulders stacked up higher than an airplane. It tells us how long it would take to count to one million (23 days). It goes on to say how big a fish bowl would need to be to fit one million goldfish and how many pages of tiny stars it would take to fit one million stars in the book. It then uses these same concepts with one billion and one trillion.

The readability lexile is ages 4-8. I think it is a good way to show the abstract ideas of these extremely large numbers.

Mini-lesson:
We could practice writing these numbers and use flashcards with partners.

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs - By Judi Barrett and Ron Barrett

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs was written by Judi Barrett and illustrated by Ron Barrett (Athenem Books for Young Readers, New York 1978). It is a fictional picture book story with a readability lexile of ages 9-12. It would be an enjoyable book for grades K-5.

It is a story within a story. One morning, a grandpa accidentally flips a pancake onto his grandson's head. This reminds him of the town, Chewandswallow. He tells his grandson and granddaughter the story as they go to sleep. In Chewandswallow, instead of rain and snow falling from the sky, they had food falling from the sky. There weren't any supermarkets because there wasn't a need. The people would eat whatever fell from the sky that day. It worked out pretty well, until the weather got out of control. The town was being taken over by all the food that was falling from the sky. They had no other choice than to flee the town. They rode on stale bread over the ocean until they came to a new town where the weather was normal. The children fell asleep and when they awoke, the ground was covered with snow. They hurried through breakfast so they could go sledding. They saw a hill covered with snow and the yellow sun peeking up behind it and imagined that they saw mashed potatoes with a pad of butter.

This is a good story that sparks imagination. The illustrations are a bit like a graphic novel. The story is in black and white until it goes into the town of Chewandswallow. When grandpa starts telling the story, a little bit of yellow shades the children from the town as they go into the new world. At the end of the story, it is black and white again except for the yellow of the sun rising over the snow hill (or mashed potatoes).

Literary Elements:
Foreshadowing - When the sun shines on the children, we know they are going to be taken to an imaginary place.

Mini-lesson:
This book could tie in with a weather project or a creative writing project where we create our own story where something falls from the sky.

Home of the Brave - By Katherine Applegate

Home of the Brave is a realistic fictional story written by Katherine Applegate. It is for ages 9 to 12 and is 256 pages written as a poem. It is a beautiful story about a boy who arrives in Minnesota from Sudan. His life in Sudan was in a village with his parents and brother. They took care of and herded cattle. Wealth was determined by how many cattle the family owned. There was violence and his dad and brother were killed. Kek and his mother ran and survived but lost each other. Kek goes to Minnesota to live with his aunt and cousin while they hope to hear news of his mother.

The reader is shown the world through Kek's eyes. He arrived in the winter and had to adjust to all the snow and cold. It is a different world here. Kek befriends an older woman and gets a job taking care of her cow. It makes him feel close to home and like he is doing something good. He is very excited to learn at school and meets people from many different places. Kek finds out that the woman will sell the farm and that he won't be able to take care of the cow once it is sold. This devastates Kek and he tries to run away. He doesn't get far. He stops to see the cow and his cousin comes to talk with him. They both have the pain of watching family die and it is hard. Kek feels guilty for surviving and wonders why he was able to survive. At the end of the story, his mother arrives in Minnesota and it is their new home.

This story is heart-felt and touching. It really puts the reader in the place of being so new to a place that is so far away. Kek is a kind boy and has to adjust to the changes. I can only imagine how hard that would be. I believe this book helps us imagine. I think that children would enjoy reading it and that it would help them understand what some people have been through in order to be here. It is good for immigrants to read because they will be able to relate to it so well.

Kek grew through the story. He had to accept that he should not feel guilty for running away and for surviving. It was a gift that he survived. He learned to make Minnesota his new home. It is a very different place, but it can be home too.

Mini-lesson:
I think this would be a great book to discuss in small groups. The students could have a literacy circle in which they are given roles that facilitate discussion. They could learn a lot by thinking deeply about this book and from the thoughts of their fellow students.

Fairy Trails - By Susan Middleton Elya

Fairy Trails was written by Susan Middleton Elya and illustrated by Mercedes McDonald. It is a fictional story about two young people that travel through a few different fairy tales on their way to their aunt's house. The story is told mostly in English and also has a few Spanish words. The words rhyme and it is pretty apparent what the meaning of the Spanish words are by the context of the story.

For example, the first page states,

"Miguel and Maria, on one summer dia,
left home to go visit their auntie - their tia."

Miguel and Maria find a gingerbread house and escape the brujita (witch) only to find a big, bad wolf. Each page contains a different fairy tale character that they run into, but promptly leave because they need to go see their aunt. They see Cinderella and the 3 bears before arriving at their aunts house. They have a nice meal, comment on their auntie's neighbor, Humpty Dumpty. They get a magic carpet ride home from Aladdin and are tucked into bed.

This book was created for children grades K to 2 and the readability is for ages 4-8. The illustrations are bright and nicely done. I think that children would enjoy the fact that they might recognize the fairy tales that the characters are walking through and decoding some of the Spanish words.

Literary Elements:
Allusion - The book refers to different fairy tales that the reader picks up on.
Personification - A wolf and an egg walk and talk in the story.
Foreshadowing - Maria and Miguel walk down a trail towards what looks like a gingerbread house.

Mini-lesson:
I think a good mini-lesson to go with this book is to show how we can find the meaning of words by the words around them. We use the context of the story to figure out the meaning of words we don't know. In this case, they are Spanish words, but we can use this skill in the same way for English words. We could also discuss the Spanish words in the book and possibly learn some new words.

All in a Day - By Cynthia Ryland and Nikki McClure

All in a Day, by Chynthia Rylant and illustrated by Nikki McClure is a picture book about enjoying the gifts that a day can bring.

The book starts out, “A day is a perfect piece of time to live a life, to plant a seed.” It shows a boy gardening, a plant sprouting, and the boy being kind by sweetly feeding a chicken. One of the pages shows another boy throwing eggs, which appears to be hurtful to the boy and the chicken. But, the boy moves on and the writing says, “You can make a wish and start again. You can find your way back home.” The boy then takes a rest with his mother in a hammock. The book goes on to talk about the promise of a new day and the love it can bring, even when it rains. At the end, it states that today is the only today and it won’t come back again.

I enjoyed this book. I like that it is all about the things we can do and appreciate in the day that we have. The illustrations were simple and good. The drawings were created with black paper an exacto knife, so the outlines are in hard and black. The entire book is black and white, with blue and yellow back grounds. This book was written for K-4 and the readability is ages 4-8. I think it is nice to remind children and adults the importance of enjoying the day: planting seeds, making wishes, watching the sun go across the sky, and finding their way home.

Mini-lesson:

The students can think about the memory of a great day that they had. What types of things happened in that day? What makes that day so special? What makes any day special? They could free write about a special day in their lives.

Math Curse - By Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith

Math Curse, written and illustrated by Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith (Viking, Penguin Books. New York 1995) is a fun, fictional story about how math is everywhere we look.

In the beginning of the book, the teacher (Mrs. Fibonacci) tells the class that they could think of almost everything as a math problem. The next day, the child starts seeing everything as math problems. She sees the time it takes to do things in the morning and the time she has to leave as a problem. The number of shirts in the closet is a problem. The quarts in a gallon of milk are a problem. The number of children already picked up compared with the ones that haven't yet, is a problem. Everything is a math problem! The child is sure the Mrs. Fibonacci put a curse on her and she can't stop seeing things in math terms.

It is an exciting, energetic book with many math problems. It is entertaining and it proves the point that math really is everywhere. The illustrations add a lot to the story. At one point, the character turns into a "raving math lunatic." The words start to go around the page and the child is writing all kinds of equations on the board until she finally escapes and the curse is over.

Sometimes math seems so abstract and far away from day to day life. This book makes math exciting and crazy and all over the place. It is a good book to read and has a good message. The book says that it is for ages 6-99. It's a longer book to read and there are actually quite a few equations in the book.

It is unclear whether the child in the story is male or female. I first assumed it was a boy, but after looking through the story again, I realized that it is ambiguous. I think that it is good that it is ambiguous because it can help the children put themselves into the story.

Literary Elements:

Hyperbole - You can think of everything as a math problem.

Foreshadowing - It says, "then the problems really begin," indicating that the math problems are going to get worse.

Mini-lesson:
We can explore the math concepts around us. Where is math in our everyday lives? We could create our own math problems from our own lives and share with small groups.

Floatsam - By David Wiesner

Flotsam is another wonderful book created by David Wiesner (Clarion Books New York. 2006). It does not have any words and the pictures tell the wonderful story.

A boy finds an old camera on the beach. He brings it around to see if the camera belongs to anyone, but no one knows where it came from. He brings the film from the camera in to be developed. After waiting a long time, he gets the most amazing photographs. They were taken underwater and show the different worlds in the ocean. A mechanical fish swims by. An octopus reads a story to young octopi. Shells are like condos with mini people living in them. The pictures are so creative and interesting. The last picture is of a girl holding a photograph of another child holding a photograph of another child holding a photograph, and so on. He uses his microscope to see all the children holding photographs of the other children until he can see the original image. It is a boy on the beach a very long time ago. After scratching his head wondering what to do, he takes a picture of himself holding the photograph and tosses the underwater camera into the ocean. The camera travels through the different worlds of the ocean and is carried by sea life until it reaches the shore and the hands of a girl on a beach far away. This story is full of imagination. The camera shows what we cannot see in the ocean. The photographs of the children are like a conversation they are having through time and passing it on to the next child.

The reading level was set at ages 4-8. I think that this book has a great way of sharing a story with children.

Mini-lesson:
We could do some investigating on what is at the bottom of the ocean. We could start a research project, watch a video of a deep sea scuba diver, and write our own story of life out in the sea where there aren't any people. We could discover new worlds and share them with small groups.

Sector 7 - By David Wiesner

Sector 7 was created and illustrated by David Wiesner (Clarion Books New York. 1999). This book has no words, but tells a wonderful story. A class field trip brings a group of students to the Empire State building. They go to the viewing deck, but the sky is full of clouds and that is all they can see. A boy with a red hat starts to interact with one of the clouds. The clouds clear away and the sky becomes blue. The cloud takes the boy with him to sector 7, where clouds are made. The blueprints for the clouds are always the same, puffy shape. The boy draws some new clouds that look like interesting fish and an octopus. The clouds love it, but the the people that work there are not so happy. The boy is forced to leave and go back to the Empire State Building. The teacher calls the students because it is time to go. When they get to street level, people are pointing at the amazing clouds that the boy created.

This is what they see:
Amazon.com says the reading level is ages 4-8. There are no words, but the children need to be able to understand the concepts of what is happening in the story. It is a beautiful story. Somehow words would just take away from it. It is peaceful and full of imagination. I enjoyed it very much.

A mini-lesson after looking at this book would be to discuss clouds, the types of clouds, and how clouds are created. We could go outside and see if we can use our imaginations to see a cool shape in the clouds. We could do an art project where we create our own clouds.

Madam President - By Lane Smith

Madam President, written and illustrated by Lane Smith (Hyperion Books for Children New York. 2008) is a fictional day in the life of a young girl pretending to be the President of the United States. It is fun and humorous book. Katy spends the day kissing babies, vetoing, giving a press conference, and spreading peace and diplomacy everywhere she goes. She leaves people holding mini American flags after she solves their problem. During her press conference, she says, "That's top secret. No comment. I'll get back to you on that. I won't dignify that with an answer." She goes on and on. It is funny because sometimes it seems like our leaders do say those types of things over and over. Katy goes home and has to deal with a disaster: her room. She cleans her room because she must lead by example.

The illustrations add a lot to the book. The fact that everyone has a tiny flag after she leaves is super funny. After she kisses the baby, the surprised and possibly a little confused baby looks out from the stroller with a flag.

One of the pages has large words about how the President is, "the most important person in the whole world!" Then in small writing at the bottom, it states, "And the most humble."

Children grades K to 3 would enjoy this book. The readability lexile is ages 4 to 8. In the book, Katy names some of her cabinet members. She names her piggy bank the Secretary of the Treasury and her potato head the Secretary of Agriculture. A logical mini-lesson to follow this book would be to discuss our political system. The concept of a veto could be introduced. We could discuss the branches of government and then create some of our own cabinet members like Katy does.

This book is fun and clever. I like that the character is a young girl and that she is so bright and full of energy.

No, David! - By David Shannon

No, David! was written and illustrated by David Shannon (The Blue Sky Press New York. 1998). It was inspired by a book that David had wrote when he was five years old. The only words he knew how to write were 'no' and 'David.' He used this concept to write this book and as inspiration for the character of David.

The pages of this book are full of David doing something he shouldn't be doing. He tracks mud into the house, causes the bath to overflow, plays with his food, and so on. His mother is telling him to stop doing what he is doing. He plays ball in the house after his told not to and breaks a vase. He is sent to the corner and is sad about it. At the end of the story, David's mom shows him that she loves him. She gives him a big hug and says, "Yes, David...I love you!"

The illustrations are great in this book. The feeling of the little boy are very apparent on his face. Young children would recognize that he is being naughty and that he feels bad about it later. He is looking for forgiveness and love from his mom with his big eyes and he gets it. Some of the illustrations are humorous. David runs down the street naked and when he has food in his mouth, there are entire chicken legs and carrots in there. When he picks his nose, the picture is extremely close and it is pretty funny.

The reading level is from baby to pre-school. It is a book with a nice message: You will still be unconditionally loved. A good mini-lesson would be to make a book of "Yes, (child's name)!" The children could create a book full of the good things they do that they should be proud of.

India ABCs - By Marcie Aboff

India ABC's, written by Marcie Aboff and illustrated by Frances Moore (Picture Window Books, Minneapolis, MN 2006) is a concept book introducing the culture of India. The reading lexile is ages 4-8.

Each page is beautifully illustrated and shows the children something about the culture of India. It starts out, "A is for Art, B is for British India, C is for Cricket, D is for Diwali..." Each topic is explained in detail. I think that children would be interested in this book because the pictures tell a story about a far away place. It introduces clothing, food, spirituality, and leaders of India. I enjoyed reading this book.

I feel that it is important to honor the diversity in the classroom and that this would be a good book to have on the shelf.

Mini-lesson:
The students could do a group or individual project in which they chose one page of the book to do some further research on. We could find ways to bring it to life by eating parantha (flat bread) and learning about about a Diwali celebration.

The Invention of Hugo Cabret - By Brian Selznick

The Invention of Hugo Cabret was written and illustrated by Brian Selznick (Scholastic Press 2007). It is "A Novel in Words and Pictures" and it was a joy to read.

Hugo Cabret's father was a clock-maker and taught Hugo the trade. His father was killed in a fire so Hugo was sent to live with his uncle. His uncle lived inside the train station in Paris and took care of the clock maintenance of the station. His uncle spent his money and time on drinking and gambling and soon disappeared. Not knowing where else to go, Hugo stayed at the train station, stealing food when necessary and continuing to maintain the clocks.

Before his death, Hugo's father had found an automaton and had set about fixing it. After his death in the fire, Hugo found the automaton in the wreckage. Hugo brought it to the train station to fix it. He stole toys that he used for parts from a toy shop at the station. His goal was to fix the automaton. The automaton was built to write something and Hugo felt that his writing would be some sort of message from his father. While stealing a toy, the shop keeper noticed him and took his notebook that has his father's instructions about the automaton. Hugo set about getting it back and in the process made a friend, the shop keeper's daughter Isabelle.

Hugo and Isabelle end up getting the automaton working and discovering that the girl's care taker is Georges Milies, the famous movie maker. This changes the lives of everyone and Hugo ends up living with the Milies family.

This story is really made great by the images. Here is an example of one of the pages:
The readability lexile of this book is ages 9-12 and I think that children these ages would really enjoy this book. The story is one in which the characters change and grow. Imagination, creativity, magic, and good win in this story. The pictures add so much to the story, bringing it to life for the reader. I feel that I would have absolutely loved this story as a child. I loved it as an adult. It is a genuinely good story and has impact.

The London Eye Mystery - By Siobhan Dowb

The London Eye Mystery, written by Siobhan Dowd (David Fickling Books, New York, 2007), is a fictional story with a readability lexile for ages 9-12.

This book was written through the perspective of a young man, Ted, who is autistic. He encounters a mystery and is able to figure out what has happened because of his ability to think about things differently. Ted's cousin, Salim, comes to visit before he is supposed to move to New York. Salim goes in the London Eye and never comes out. The family grows very worried and fear for Salim's safety. Ted and his sister, Kat, come up with theories of what could have happened, and then do some investigating.

This is a well-told story. It was interesting to see through the eyes of someone with autism. The way people treat him sometimes is frustrating. He is told that his brain works differently and he tries to act the way he is told to act. He is told to control his body as to not draw attention and to watch facial expressions to see if the person he is talking to is bored. However, he is honored and respected as a smart person. He looks at things very analytical and literal.

Literary Elements:
Foreshadowing - In the beginning of the story, it is said that it is a story about how because Ted's brain works differently, he was able to solve a mystery.
Idiom - There were many idioms in this book: it was raining cats and dogs.
Metaphor - Ted's father described his aunt as a hurricane.

Mini-lesson:
Do a found poetry exercise where the students pick out lines from the book that convey a particular character, setting, feeling, etc. They are creating something new and their own from the writing and it will help them become better writers, as well as be more engaged in the story.

Here is my found poetry:

The London Eye Mystery Found Poetry – Ted’s Brain

It’s this thing in my brain.

They don’t like me because I only talk big.

I don’t like being in my brain.

But I laughed too because I wanted to be his friend.

I folded my arms across my chest to stop my hand flapping and shaking itself out, which is a habit Mr. Shepherd says I must lose.

When people are bored, Mr. Shepherd says the muscles in their face don’t do anything and they stare without really looking and he says I should always check to see if this is how people are looking when I talk to them.

She laughed and I joined in because it showed I knew what she meant even if I wasn’t sure what was funny.

My hand flapped and I forgot about trying to stop it.

I hate touching people.

Recognizing the five basic emotions is one thing.

Knowing how they mix together is another thing.

I often don’t sleep at night.

My brain is filled with all the strange facts about the world.

The hug was short because she knows I do not like hugs of any kind.

According to the doctors who diagnosed me, people with my kind of syndrome can’t.

I got excited then, because I am good at looking at things differently.

I’m a dyslexic geographer.

I put my hand in my jacket pocket to stop it from shaking itself out.

I’m wiser. You said.

You said you needed my brains.

Our minds had met.

This is my way of describing what it’s like when people have really bad arguments and it is the worst place to be in all the world.

I decided to check out the weather in the garden.

My brain felt like it was overheated, going into meltdown.

Kicking the shed is a good way of emptying your head.

It’s like jumping on a trampoline.

I shut my eyes and imagined a vast, silent void.

Then I knew.

I wondered why no one could hear me when it was so quiet.

Time had a sound too.

I’d never heard it before.

Then I realized.

Since it’s gone there’s a different view.

I choose the lines in the book where Ted shared how he felt about himself and his autism. These particular lines grabbed me and gave me a little insight on what it would be like to have autism. This was a great book to read and I would highly recommend it. I think that children would enjoy this book and it would show them another way to see things.

Animal Snackers - By Betsy Lewin

Animal Snackers, written and illustrated by Betsy Lewin (Henry Holt and Company 1980) is a concept book about what animals eat. It is a good book for pre-school to grade 3 and the readability lexile is ages 4-8.

Each page of this book is about a different animal and what that animal eats. The text rhymes and is fun to read. The page on Koalas says: "Koalas decorate the trees, munching eucalyptus leaves. This isn't just their favorite treat - It is the only things they eat." It is a good book because it is fun and teaches the children about different animals.

The watercolor paintings by Betsy Lewin are pleasing and add the visuals to the story so that the children can know what these animals look like.

Mini-lesson:
A lesson on rhymes could follow a book like this. We could look at the the rhyming words in the story and think of some other words that rhyme with those words. We could even think of our own rhyming poem about an animal of our choice.

Uptown - By Bryan Collier

Uptown, written and illustrated by Bryan Collier (Henry Holt and Company, New York, 2000) is a great book. A boy shows the reader his home in Harlem and the amazing things that are in it. The readability lexile is ages 4-8.

Each page of the book starts, "Uptown is..." and explains something about the area. The writing is simple, but says so much. For example, one spread is dedicated to The Apollo Theater. It says, "Uptown is a stage. The apollo Theater has showcased the greatest entertainers in the world. I hope we can get good seats."

The pictures add so much to the book. Collier is a fantastic and unique artist that painted and created collages for the story. One spread is about brownstones. It says, "Uptown is a row of brownstones. I like the way they come together when you look at them down the block. They look like they're made of chocolate." The picture is a Hershey's chocolate bar behind the doors and windows. It helps the children understand what a brownstone is and to use their imagination to see things differently.

Some of the sentences have movement. The words, "Uptown is a caterpillar" are squiggly like a caterpillar could be.

Students in New York would enjoy this book because these places would look and feel familiar to them. I think that students outside of New York would be interested because the book does such a good job of showing and describing the places. It really captures the feeling of the places that make the home of the boy in the story. He is sharing his home with the readers and I get a strong feeling of self-reflection and pride.

Mini-lesson:
It is important for students to be reflective about where they live and the world they can see. We could do an activity where we share our home with people that don't live here. The students could each come up with a page in our story: "Minneapolis is... " We could describe what we see and reflect on some similarities and differences from other places. If possible, we could share our story with children in another city or state and they could share their story.

Luke on the Loose - By Harry Bliss

Luke on the Loose, written and illustrated by Harry Bliss (RAW Junior, LLC New York 2009) is a fictional comic book that would be enjoyable for children pre-school to grade 2. The readability lexile is ages 4-8.

Luke's father is having "boring dad talk" with a man in the park and Luke decides to break free. He chases pidgins and reeks havoc all over town. Where ever he follows the pigeons, people scream and think a tornado has just been through. Luke's father calls his mother and the police to let them know that Luke is missing. Everyone is worried and trying to find him. Meanwhile, Luke is having the time of his life running around town chasing pidgins. The people he runs by comment that they are surprised that all that commotion is coming from "just a kid." Eventually they find him on the roof where he followed the pidgins and is going to take a nap. The next day, he tries to run again, but is held back by a child leash.

The pictures make the whole story. A young child could look at the pictures and know what is going on without being able to read the words. It is a story that children could relate to. Luke is an energetic kid and doesn't want to stand around and listen to boring dad talk. He wants to run and be larger than life. It is a good story.

There is a lot of onomatopoeia as Luke runs through town. Taxis screech to a halt, the pidgins flap their wings as they fly away, and the fire truck siren goes weeeeeee to find Luke.

Literary Elements:
Personification: The pidgins made comments about Luke running.
Hyperbole: The news stations and police were scrambling around because Luke was "on the loose." They acted like it was a complete emergency.
Onomatopoeia - He swooshed down the street.

Mini-lesson:
The children could relate this text to themselves by thinking of a time where they had to listen to "boring dad talk" or something like that. They could reflect on their patience and how they handled having to wait. The children could make their own comic strip of either what they did or what they wanted to do.

Robins: Songbirds of Spring - By Mia Posada

This book, written and illustrated by Mia Posada (Corolrholda Books, Inc. Minneapolis, 2004) is a great science concept book about Robins. It is great to read to younger children and has a readability lexile of ages 9-12.

The book tells the story of robins, how they build a next, their blue eggs, caring for the young, and migrating south. It is a great story for children in Minnesota because they can see robins with their red breasts in the springtime. The writing rhymes and is written in a somewhat sing-song rhythm. Because of that, it is a great story to read aloud to children. I read it to the pre-k and k students at my work and they were enthralled. We discussed the blue eggs and the babies getting bigger. We predicted what would happen to the babies. The children were so interested.

The pictures add a lot to the story because they give the children a visual of what the writing is about. Thy can see the careful nests being made and the bright blue eggs. Some of the words are different colors, which adds to the story as well. The word "mud" was brown and the the word "berry" was red. I asked one of the students which word was mud and she pointed right to it. She said she knew it because it was brown.

Mini-lesson:
The children could write a story and/or draw pictures of robins at different stages. We could do a small research project on robins or a different bird that we are interested in. This will reinforce the knowledge they just learned from the book.

Becoming Butterflies - By Anne Rockwell

Becoming Butterflies is a story written by Anne Rockwell and illustrated by Megan Halsey (Walker and Company New York 2002). It is a realistic fictional story about a class that is watching caterpillars become butterflies and then setting them free. The readability lexile is ages 9-12, but this a great story to read to a pre-k to 2nd grade classroom.

A classroom watches the phases that a butterfly goes through to become a butterfly. The students react to the different phases, sometimes thinking it is icky, sometimes worried about what is happening. The teacher often says, "Wait and see." The author describes how to care for the insects during the different phases and the illustrations show us what it should look like. At the end of the story, the butterfly comes and the children are excited. They release the butterflies to be free and show that butterflies go to Mexico in the winter. There is a picture of where Mexico is on a map and the butterflies grouped together in Mexico. The children write a letter to a classroom in Mexico where the butterflies are, and receive a response from the Mexican students.

The illustrations are important to the story because it shows the students what these phases look like. The story is made up of mostly dialogue and the illustrations add a lot to the story.

Mini-lesson:
If a classroom were going to witness this life cycle, this would be a good way to introduce the subject. This book could be brought out and used as the students witnessed the different phases. We could discuss the reaction of the students in the story and see if we agreed with the students. We could see if ours looked like the one in the story.

The Hunger Games - By Suzanne Collins

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (Scholastic, Inc. 2008) is a fictional story where the capital rules the people and children are sent into the wilderness to kill or be killed. It is a young adult book with a readability lexile of grade 7 and up.

The country is divided by districts and the people in the districts are very restricted. They only know what the government wants them to know about what is happening outside of their district. Every year, the capital (government) hosts a mandatory game. Two children (ages 12 to 18) of each of the 12 districts are chosen at random to fight in the hunger games. There is only one winner of the game and the only way to win is to survive while all other people are killed. The games are shown on television like a reality television show and all the people are forced to watch the entire event. Before the show, the contestants are dressed up, given advice about how to look worthy of winning, and paraded around the city. No one is allowed to act upset with or say anything negative, against the capital.

The hero in the story is Katniss, a spunky girl that is a good hunter and and fiercely protective over her younger sister. The other person chosen from her district (12) is a young man that has loved Katniss for a long time. His love for her is real, and she is forced to act like she feels the love also for the audience. It seems as though it turns real through the story, but isn't exactly settled by the end of the book.

The capital sets traps and sends danger if they get bored with the story. They control the weather and the elements. If a tribute (contestant) is shown to be worthy, he/she may be given a present from their sponsors or their district.

It is a story of survival that seems like a combination of 1984 (George Orwell), The Running Man (Stephen King), Surviving the Game (movie), and the reality television show, Survivor. It is a good read and brings up many moral questions. Is this a good book for children to be reading? Even though it brings to life this negative utopia that can provoke deep thought and morality, I don't know that children would fully understand the message being conveyed. The children in the story don't question killing each other. At one point, the male protagonist in the story says he wants to show the capital that he isn't a tool in their terrible game and that people shouldn't be treated this way. It was a short conversation and not brought up again. Katniss doesn't go out of her way to kill the others, but she does kill. I imagine that young people reading the story view it as an exciting love story. It could provoke some interesting discussions of politics and morality.

It is a good story that is very popular with young adults. It is a hard book to put down. The author does a wonderful job of taking the readers into the characters' world. It was a survival, love story. The way that Katniss grew was that she started to realize her love for the male characters. They were trapped in a pretty terrible world, but she may now have a chance to make things better. We will have to find out in the next book.

Literary Elements:
Foreshadowing - Talk of the event and the chances that Katniss or her sister be chosen was a clue to the events that followed.
Allusion - The story alluded to the gladiator games, as well as the television show, survivor.


Mini-lesson:
I'm not sure that this would be a good book to choose to assign to the students. There are other books out there that I would choose over this one. However, if it was assigned, I would want to have the students explore the political aspect of the book. The students could write the rules and values of the government in the story compared with the rules and values of our country. In groups, they could make a compare and contrast list, a poster, paper, imovie: whatever medium they wanted to use to represent and discuss the differences.