Literature File
Hannah Cooper
Read 3251-51
Fall 2011
Table of Contents
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Picture Books
Poetry
Traditional Fantasy
Modern Fantasy
Contemporary Realistic Fiction
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Historical Fiction
Biography/Autobiography
Informational Books
Multicultural and International Books
Chapter books
Award Winners
•
•
Newbery Medal or Honor
•
– Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
– These Happy Golden Years
– The Headless Cupid
Caldecott Medal or Honor
•
– The Storm Book
– When I was Young in the Mountains
– A Story A Story
– Rumpelstiltskin
•
– The Snowy Day
– The Funny Little Woman
– The Village of the Round and Square Houses
Sibert Informational Book Medal or Honor
– What To Do About Alice?
– Brooklyn Bridge
– I Face the Wind
Coretta Scott King
– I Have a Sister, My Sister is Deaf
– Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
– Ray Charles
Georgia Book Award winners
– The Rough-Face Girl
– My Teacher Sleeps at School
– Nothing’s Fair in Fifth Grade
Author: Charlotte Zolotow
Publisher: Harper and Row
Age: 2 +
Setting: house, present
Genre: Picture book
Title: The Storm Book
Illustrator: Margaret Bloy Graham
Date: 1952
Pages: 32
Main Character: Young boy
Awards: Caldecott Honor
A young boy discovers what a storm is and what comes with it.
I like the way that this book is written. It has a
paragraph of text on a page that is surrounded by
a wide margin. Then on the next two page spread
is an beautifully done illustration with details of
what was talked about on the page before. I
believe this allows the reader to focus on one
thing at a time. The further along in the book,
there is a page or two that has a little more
writing on the page than the others. But I believe
that the author did this on purpose. She wanted
the reader to spend more time reading the
information towards the end.
Title: Clifford the Small Red Puppy
Author: Norman Bridwell
Illustrator: Norman Bridwell
Publisher: Scholastic
Date: 1972
Age: 4-8
Pages: 32
Setting: town, present
Main Character: Emily Elizabeth & Clifford
Genre: Picture
Awards: N/A
Emily Elizabeth tells the story of how she got Clifford.
I have always loved reading about
Clifford. The Clifford books are a good
next step up from beginner reader books.
The words are mostly words that a first
and second grader would know. The
pictures are very bright and cheery. They
draw you into the atmosphere of being
around Clifford the Big Red Dog.
Title: When I was Young in the Mountains
Author: Cynthia Rylant
Illustrator: Diane Goode
Publisher: E.P. Dutton
Date: 1982
Age: 4-8
Pages: 32
Setting: Mountains in the past
Main Character: Little Girl
Genre: Picture
Awards: Caldecott Honor
A little girl talks about her life living in the mountains and how
she doesn’t want to see or live anywhere else.
This book has a wonderful theme of
being content with what you have in
life. The pictures in the book have old
time country and mountain feel to
them. When you look at the pictures
you feel like you could step back into
time with the characters and get the
idea of what it was to live in the
mountains with swimming holes and
outhouses.
Title: A You’re Adorable
Author: Buddy Kaye, Fred Wise, Sidney Lippman Illustrator: Martha Alexander
Publisher: Scholastic Inc
Date: 1994
Age: 3-6
Pages: 32
Setting: Anywhere, present
Main Character: Girls and Boys
Genre: Picture
Awards: N/A
Girls and Boys explore the Alphabet together.
The Alphabet is put into a song form
that can be sung or just read with the
class. Every letter is artistically done
with a picture to represent the saying
that is being said or sung with it. It
puts an interesting and unique twist to
just learning the ABC’s. The pictures
are multicultural and can be related to
a wide range of students.
Title: Bessie Smith and the Night Riders
Author: Sue Stauffacher
Illustrator: John Holyfield
Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons
Date: 2006
Age: 4+
Pages: 32
Setting: South, past
Main Character: Bessie & Emmarene
Genre: Picture
Awards: N/A
Emmarene helps stop the Night Riders from harming a lot of
people.
The history behind the story alone, makes
this a picture book worth sharing with
upper elementary students. It is important
for children to be able to read literature
that has some fact to it and a little history.
I believe students learn better this way.
The wonderfully drawings in the book are
artfully blended acrylics that bring rich
detail to the story.
Title: Like Nothing At All
Author: Aileen Fisher
Illustrator: Leonard Weisgard
Publisher: Thomas Y. Crowell
Date: 1962
Age: 4-8
Pages: 40
Setting: Woods, present
Main Character: little girl
Genre: Poetry
Awards: N/A
A little girl explores the woods during the seasons.
The book is written in poetry style.
Children get to look through the little
girl’s eyes to see what she sees when she
is in the woods during each season. The
pictures in the book are done in like a
black ink and the each page is shaded in a
monochromatic green. This appears to
keep the earthy tone feeling to the
reading.
Title: A Child’s Book of Manners
Author: Fay Maschler
Illustrator: Helen Oxenbury
Publisher: Atheneum
Date: 1978
Age: 4-8
Pages: 32
Setting: Everywhere, present
Main Character: Boys and girls
Genre: Poetry
Awards: N/A
The poems talk about manners and behaviors.
The poems are cute and funny to read
aloud to children about certain behaviors
that may not be accepted . Each poem is
on a separate page, so that you read one or
two at a time or you can continue reading.
The pictures are artfully done. They
represent each poem well. Colors and
details are vivid in each picture and cause
the reader to stop and look.
Title: Smelly Jelly Smelly Fish
Author: Michael Rosen
Illustrator: Quentin Blake
Publisher: Prentice-Hall Books
Date: 1986
Age: 6-12
Pages: 24
Setting: At the beach, present
Main Character: Many People
Genre: Poetry
Awards: N/A
Poems and such about a day at the beach.
Each page of the book focuses on a
different aspect of a day at the beach and
the poetry on each page reflects that. The
pictures are scattered among the words
and are simplistic. As the book goes on
there becomes more words on each page
and the pictures become smaller.
Title: The Owl and the Pussycat
Author: Edward Lear
Illustrator: Jan Brett
Publisher: G.P Putnam’s Sons
Date: 1991
Age: 4-8
Pages: 32
Setting: Caribbean, in the past
Main Character: Owl and Pussycat
Genre: Poetry
Awards: N/A
Owl and Pussycat are dating and decide to wed.
The poetry is very simple and on each page there is more
picture to look at then there is words. The pictures have
eye popping colors that grab your attention when you
turn the page and make you want to look at everything
that is happening on each page. By looking closely at the
pictures you can see that there is more happening in the
pictures, then just illustrating the poem. Below the water
line, there is a whole another world filled with exquisite
fish. The fish change on each page, expect one little
yellow fish who appears to be looking for someone. On
the very last page the yellow fish has found his/her true
love as well.
Title: Baby Bear’s Books
Author: Jane Yolen
Illustrator: Melissa Sweet
Publisher: Harcourt
Date: 2006
Age: 2-5
Pages: 40
Setting: Baby Bear’s house, present
Main Character: Baby Bear
Genre: Poetry
Awards: N/A
Baby Bear loves to read and to have stories read to him.
The story is written with no more than
two verses to a page and with each verse
only having four lines. This helps the
young reader follow along and still leaves
plenty of room for the pictures to flow
around the text. The pictures are the main
focus of the book. They have taken the
verses that were written and turned them
into colorful pictures that children can
enjoy.
Title: The Emperor’s New Clothes
Author: Hans Christian Anderson
Illustrator: Virginia Lee Burton
Publisher: E.M. Hale
Date: 1949
Age: 5+
Pages: 48
Setting: Village, past
Main Character: The Emperor
Genre: Traditional Fantasy
Awards: N/A
The Emperor is tricked by thieves.
This story always brings a chuckle out of me
because of how silly every one is acting about
not telling the truth. To think that if someone
had said something in the beginning then it
would not have gotten that far. But on the other
hand, the Emperor did need to be humbled
from always having to have the best and
spending money on looking the best. It shows
children that there is other things in life to
value other than clothes or material things.
Title: A Story A Story
Author: Gail E. Haley
Publisher: Atheneum
Age: 4-8
Setting: Africa, past
Genre: Traditional Fantasy
Illustrator: Gail E. Haley
Date: 1970
Pages: 36
Main Character: Ananse
Awards: Caldecott Medal
Ananse wants to get the stories from the Sky God.
The book is written with African dialects
incorporated into the text. The pictures are
very bright and colorful and they fill up
the pages. Details are only given to the
most important people in the story or
those in the foreground. The colors reflect
those that you would relate to African
culture.
Title: Rumpelstiltskin
Author: Paul O. Zelinsky
Illustrator: Paul O. Zelinsky
Publisher: Dutton’s Children’s Book
Date: 1986
Age: 3-7
Pages: 40
Setting: Castle in the past Main Character: Miller’s daughter and Rumpelstiltskin
Genre: Traditional Fantasy
Awards: Caldecott Honor
Rumplestiltskin tries to trick the Miller’s daughter.
The pictures in the book are so detailed
that the words become second to the
pictures. Zelinsky is able to take the
story and turn it into a beautiful work
of art on each page. There is several
underlying morals to the story of
Rumplestiltskin that children can relate
to. They should never trust strangers
and they should always tell the truth.
Title: The Rough-Face Girl
Author: Rafe Martin
Illustrator: David Shannon
Publisher: G.P. Putnam
Date: 1992
Age: 8 +
Pages: 32
Setting: Lake Ontario, past
Main Character: Rough-Face Girl
Genre: Traditional Fantasy
Awards: GA Book
The Rough-face girl wants to marry the Invisible Being.
This is one of the more inspiring versions of
Cinderella. I have heard parts of the story before,
but after reading the entire story I feel that this
version has a moral that children can learn. The
moral that can be pulled from the story is that
everyone is beautiful, whether it is inner beauty or
outer. There is beauty to be found. And the best
and purest beauty is found inside. David
Shannon’s pictures are wonderfully detailed and
every time you go back to look at one, you find
something you didn’t see the first time.
Title: The Spider Weaver
Author: Margaret Musgrove
Illustrator: Julia Cairn
Publisher: The Blue Sky Press
Date: 2001
Age: 4+
Pages: 40
Setting: Ashanti Village, Ghana, Past
Main Character: Koragu and Ameyaw
Genre: Traditional Fantasy
Awards: N/A
The town’s weaver learned a new weaving pattern from a spider.
The pictures are dominant on each page, with
only a sentence or two of text to a page. This
makes the focus go to the pictures first, then
the words. The story is fascinating because it
gives thought to how something came to be.
While at the same time not causing harm to
the one that they are learning from. They just
take the knowledge they gained and use it.
Leaving the spider in peace. Now a days you
see a lot of destruction when people take
knowledge from something.
Title: The Country Bunny and the Little Gold Shoes
Author: Du Bose Heyward
Illustrator: Marjorie Flack
Publisher:
Date: 1939
Age: 5+
Pages: 48
Setting: Country, Present
Main Character: Little Country Bunny
Genre: Modern Fantasy
Awards: N/A
The little country bunny wants to be an Easter bunny.
The book has a message about perseverance and
not giving up even when others say that you can’t
do something. If you put your mind to it, you can
do anything you want to do. This book has always
been a favorite of mine since I was little because
of theme in the book. The illustrations are also
very colorful and detailed . This books is also a
good example for girls to look at because it shows
girls that they can be mothers and still follow their
dreams.
Title: The Berenstain Bears' New Baby
Author: Jan and Stan Berenstain
Illustrator: Jan and Stan Berenstain
Publisher: Random House
Date: 1974
Age: 4+
Pages: 32
Setting: Bear Country, present
Main Character: Brother Bear
Genre: Modern Fantasy
Awards: N/A
Brother Bear gets a little sister.
This is great book to have and share with
the first born child in the family when
expecting a new baby. Hopefully the
child can relate to Brother Bear and find
ways to deal with the situation that are
positive. The pictures are very interesting
and help tell the story. They are the kind
of pictures that if the child can not read,
then they can still look at the pictures and
get the general gist of what is going on.
Title: My Teacher Sleeps at School
Author: Leatie Weiss
Illustrator: Ellen Weiss
Publisher: Viking Kestrel
Date: 1984
Age: 3-8
Pages:
Setting: School, present
Main Character: Mrs. Marsh, Mollie
Genre: Modern Fantasy
Awards: GA Book Award
Mollie and the other students think that their teacher, Mrs. Marsh,
sleeps at school
I found this book to be a really cute story.
It also probably answers a lot of the
younger students questions about what
their teachers do and go after everyone
leaves school for the day. The cartoon
aspect of the pictures keeps the book light
and funny through out. The colors are
bright and eye catching. The illustrator
uses the white space well in the book to
emphasize the drawings and to create a
bigger impact.
Title: What’s in a Doctor’s Bag
Author: Neil Shulman and Sibley Fleming
Illustrator: Todd Stolp
Publisher: Rx Humor Atlanta, GA
Date: 1994
Age: 4-8
Pages: 36
Setting: In a doctor’s office, present
Main Character: A little boy
Genre: Modern Fantasy
Awards:N/A
A little boy is afraid of going to the doctors.
This is a good book to help children get
familiar with all the instruments that a doctor
uses. It also uses the correct terms of what
the instruments are called, but then gives
them silly names to help the children
remember them. It is a good way to make
children not feel afraid of going to the
doctor. The pictures are very cartoony and
kidlike and they bring the instruments to life.
`
Title: The Littlest Lighthouse Keeper
Author: Heidi Howarth
Illustrator: Daniel Howarth
Publisher: QEB
Date: 2008
Age: 4-8
Pages: 24
Setting: Lighthouse, present
Main Character: Henry
Genre: Modern Fantasy
Awards: N/A
Henry has to run the lighthouse by himself one day.
The book is a really good book for
beginning readers. The font of the text is
extra large and there is only a couple of
sentences put together at a time. The
pictures are what really pulls the story
together. The details are really big, as if
looking at it from Henry’s point of view,
so the colors are very pure looking.
Title: A Pony for Linda
Author: C.W. Anderson
Publisher: Macmillsn
Age: 5-10
Setting: House, present
Genre: Contemporary Realistic
Illustrator: C.W. Anderson
Date: 1951
Pages: 56
Main Character: Linda
Awards: N/A
Linda has always loved horses and finally gets her own pony to have adventures
with.
I found the story to be very reachable to
children. It is a nice story where good
things happen to a good person. It is
simple and sweet. C.W. Anderson’s
drawings are so detailed . They are done
in a pencil medium with lots of shading
to highlight the pictures.
Title: I have a Sister, My Sister is Deaf
Author: Jeanne Whitehouse Peterson
Illustrator: Deborah Ray
Publisher: Harper Collins
Date: 1977
Age: 5 +
Pages: 32
Setting: present, all around neighborhood
Main Character: Two sisters
Genre: Contemporary Realistic
Awards :Coretta Scott King Honor
A little girl talks about living with her deaf sister.
The style of the writing in the book is very
simple. It is written in terms that children can
understand. I found that the book can be a very
good tool to relate to children that everyone likes
to do the same things, even though they may not
be able to hear or see. The pictures are done in a
black and white sketches and I believe this allows
the children more room to imagine. Plus it fits the
story line better because the little sister can not
hear so she does not know what a bird sounds
like or bell. The pictures allow you to wonder
what they would look like any color.
Title: Nothing’s Fair in Fifth Grade
Author: Barthe DeClements
Illustrator: NA
Publisher: Puffin
Date: 1981
Age: 8 +
Pages: 144
Setting: Small town, present
Main Character: Jenny and Elise
Genre: Contemporary Realistic Fiction
Awards: GA Award
Jenny and Elise find common ground on which they can finally
become friends.
This is another one of DeClements wonderful
tales of the typical grade school year. She
writes with such emotion, that it makes you
feel for the characters in the story and want to
help them out. The way the story was written I
felt like that I could see both sides of the
situations that was taking place and this is good
for children to be able to see so that they can
get as much information before choosing a
right or wrong side.
Author: Ron Hirschi
Publisher: Cobble Hill Books
Age: 4-8
Setting: On a farm in the past
Genre: Picture
Title: Harvest Song
Illustrator: Deborah Haeffele
Date: 1991
Pages: 32
Main Character: A little girl and her grandmother
Awards: N/A
The little girl spends the summer helping her grandmother on her
farm with the planting and the harvesting.
This was a really sweet story about a
girl spending the summer with her
grandmother. It reminded me of the
summers that I would spend with my
grandmother, helping her around the
house and spending time with her. The
pictures in the book are colorful and
eye-catching so that even if the child is
just flipping through the book there is a
lot of details for them to take in.
Title: An Amish Year
Author: Richard Ammon
Publisher: Atheneum
Age: 6+
Setting: Amish Farm, Present
Genre: Contemporary Realistic Fiction
Illustrator: Pamela Patrick
Date: 2000
Pages: 36
Main Character: A girl
Awards: N/A
A girl talks about her life being Amish.
The book gives insight to a whole culture
that children in the south may not be
aware exists. I believe that it is a good
book for children to read because it allows
them to see how the Amish live. The
children can also get a look at the
similarities and the differences between
how the Amish live and how we live. The
pictures are done in pastel and bring to
life the story taking place.
Title: Anne of Green Gables
Author: L.M. Montgomery
Illustrator: N/A
Publisher: Bantam Skylark
Date: 1908
Age: 10 +
Pages: 310
Setting: Green Gables, past
Main Character: Anne
Genre: Historical Fiction
Awards: N/A
Anne moves to Green Gables to live with Matthew and Marilla.
This chapter book is a good book for the
upper elementary school girl. The antics
of Anne are something that every young
girl can find funny and in some way
relatable. Whether it is relating to Anne or
her friend Diane, they can find something
that reaches out to them. I felt connected
to Anne and I had to know the next thing
that was going to happen in the book to
know whether she was going to be in
trouble or not.
Title: Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
Author: Mildred D. Taylor
Illustrator: N/A
Publisher: Dial
Date: 1976
Age: 9+
Pages: 296
Setting: South, 1930s
Main Character: Cassie, Logan Family
Genre: Historical Fiction
Awards: Newbery Medal & Coretta Scott King
The Logan family deals with racial issues.
The is a good book to read for pre-civil
rights movement literature. It also takes
place during the Great Depression which
is another critical time period that
students need to learn about. The book is
artfully written to allow an easy flow of
reading while still staying within the
context of the time period.
Author: Betty Baker
Publisher: Macmillian
Age: 4-8
Setting: New York, 1850s
Genre: Historical Fiction
Title: My Sister Says
Illustrator: Tricia Taggart
Date: 1984
Pages: 28
Main Character: Two sisters
Awards: N/A
Two sisters go down to the harbor to meet their father’s ship.
This book is a wonderful depiction of
what the different merchant ships sailing
from America in the 1850s were going
for. The pencil drawings are a lovely
representation of what the dress and ships
looked like at the time. Children can
benefit from reading this book to begin
learning where all of America traded its
goods.
Title: Hanna’s Cold Winter
Author: Trish Marx
Illustrator: Barbara Knutson
Publisher: Carolrhoda Books Inc.
Date: 1993
Age: 4 +
Pages: 32
Setting: Budapest in the past
Main Character: Little girl
Genre: Historical Fiction
Awards: N/A
A little girl and her town help save the hippos at the zoo.
The historical content of this book is based
on the second world war in Hungry. I love
this book because of the name of the hippo
in the story and it has always been one of
my favorite books since I got it 16 years
ago. I believe the story shows children of a
time that was hard on not only on the
people, but also on the animals and makes it
relatable. The illustrations in the book are
done in watercolor and pencil.
Title: Ride Like the Wind: A Tale of the Pony Express
Author: Bernie Fuchs
Illustrator: Bernie Fuchs
Publisher: Blue Sky Press
Date: 2004
Age: 4-8
Pages: 32
Setting: Midwest 1800s
Main Character: Johnny
Genre: Historical Fiction
Awards: NA
Johnny tells the tale of delivering mail via the Pony Express.
This book is very educational in giving
students a look at what it was like for
someone to be a runner on the Pony
Express and the dangers that go with that. I
believe that even though the book is placed
at lower elementary, that the details and
the amount of words on the page that it
really qualifies for upper elementary to be
reading on their own. The pictures are
blurry at times, which leaves the reader
room to imagine some of the details.
Title: Helen Keller
Author: Margaret Davidson
Publisher: Scholastic
Age: 7+
Setting: All over, past
Genre: Biography
Illustrator: Wendy Watson
Date: 1969
Pages: 96
Main Character: Helen Keller
Awards: N/A
The story about Helen Keller’s life.
The book is written with easy to read chapters
and the font on the pages is bigger to make it
easier to read. There are a few black and white
sketches through out the book, but the main
focus is on the words. The author did a very
good job pulling together the information about
Helen and making it in an easy read chapter
book for upper elementary students. I believe
students need books like this to read and learn
about the people that have shaped our history.
Title: Ray Charles
Author: Sharon Bell Mathis
Illustrator: George Ford
Publisher: Thomas Y. Crowell
Date: 1973
Age: 8 +
Pages: 40
Setting: All over USA, past
Main Character: Ray
Genre: Biography/Autography
Awards: Coretta Scott King Award
Ray Charles talks about how he got started in music.
Ray Charles is an inspirational man and
all children should know who he was. By
reading about him, children can see that
anything is possible and they can doing
that they set their minds to. Most of the
pictures in the book are done in black and
white. A few of the pages have yellow
highlights in parts of the pictures.
Title: Great Tales from Long Ago: Daniel Boone
Author: Jan Gleiter and Kathleen Thompson
Illustrator: Leslie Tryon
Publisher: Torstar Books
Date: 1985
Age: 8-12
Pages: 32
Setting: Kentucky Woods, past
Main Character: Daniel Boone
Genre: Biography
Awards: N/A
Daniel Boon is exploring the wild woods of Kentucky.
This book is a good book picture about
Daniel Boone for middle elementary
students to read. There is a small
paragraph on each page layout. Even
though the words are written in a small
paragraph graph, there is really no large
vocabulary words used, except for names
of the people in the story. The pictures fill
up both pages with wonderful colors and
details describing the wilderness that
Daniel Boone was exploring.
Title: The Story of Ruby Bridges
Author: Robert Coles
Illustrator: George Ford
Publisher: Scholastic
Date: 1995
Age: 5-9
Pages: 32
Setting: New Orleans, Frantz School, past
Main Character: Ruby
Genre: Biography
Awards: N/A
Ruby is the first African American student in a desegregated
school.
This is very powerful story for children to read or
listen to. It gives them insight to what it was like half
a century ago in the United States. Ruby is a very
strong person that hopefully students can relate to or
can find a way to relate to . Even in tough situations,
she is was happy and excited to be learning and she
forgave those who fought against her getting an
education. This shows children that they should be
excited to learn, because we have come a long way
for everyone to get an education.
Title: What To Do About Alice?: How Alice Roosevelt Broke the Rules, Charmed
the World, and Drove Her Father Teddy Crazy!
Author: Barbara Kerley
Illustrator: Edwin Fotheringham
Publisher: Scholastic
Date: 2008
Age: 7+
Pages: 48
Setting: Everywhere, past
Main Character: Alice
Genre: Biography
Awards: Sibert
Alice finds way to push the limits where ever she goes.
I loved this book when I read it. It shows
that everyone is not perfect and the
presidents deal with similar things at
home that we deal with every day in our
lives. Children can enjoy the antics of
Alice depicted in the colorful pictures that
helps bring the story to life.
Title: Flash: The Life Story of a Firefly
Author: Louise Dyer Harris & Norman Dyer Harris Illustrator: Henry B. Kane
Publisher: Little, Brown and Co.
Date: 1966
Age: 8+
Pages: 64
Setting: Meadow, present
Main Character: Flash
Genre: Informational
Awards: N/A
Flash tells how fireflies come to be.
This book can be considered an
informational book, even though it is
taken from the firefly’s point-of-view. It
depicts the life cycle of the firefly in the
book. The book is broken into small
chapters with small clips of art on every
page. The drawings are just enough to
help highlight the book with out
distracting from the words.
Title: Eclipse: Darkness in Daytime
Author: Franklyn M. Branley
Illustrator: Donald Crews
Publisher: Thomas Y. Crowell
Date: 1973
Age: 7+
Pages: 32
Setting: Present
Main Character: N/A
Genre: Informational
Awards: N/A
The book explains what happens during a solar eclipse.
This is a very informational book for children to learn
about solar eclipses. There is a lot of useful information
with some vocabulary words that children have
probably not heard before. The book does a good job
defining the terms with out breaking the rhythm of the
words. There is one date in the book that is now out
dated, but even so I believe that children can still gain
information and use is as a historical reference as well
for the date of the solar eclipse that has already
happened.
Title: Shh! We’re Writing the Constitution
Author: Jean Fritz
Illustrator: Tomie dePaola
Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons
Date: 1987
Age: 7+
Pages: 64
Setting: 1780s, USA
Main Character: Constitution Writers
Genre: Informational
Awards: N/A
Describes how the Constitution was written
This would be a wonderful book for 4th
and 5th graders to use when studying
about the Constitution. There is a lot of
text in the book, but considering the
subject matter, the size of the book is very
reasonable for the age group. There are
cartoon like drawings on every page to
help break up the reading as well. I think
that giving the background information in
a story like fashion makes it more fun for
the students to read.
Title: I am Water
Author: Jean Marzollo
Publisher: Scholastic
Age: 4-8
Setting: Present, anywhere/everywhere
Genre: Informational
Illustrator: Judith Moffatt
Date: 1996
Pages: 32
Main Character: Water
Awards: N/A
Explains all the uses and different forms of water.
I am Water is a really easy read with only
a few words to each page. Every sentence
starts with “I am” so there is repetition
that children can begin to pick up on very
quickly. The pictures are very big and
bold with colorful splashes of color. Each
picture relates to the form of water that is
being talked about on the page. The book
also features a variety of cultures
throughout.
Title: Brooklyn Bridge
Author: Lynn Curlee
Illustrator: Lynn Curlee
Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Date: 2001
Age: 9-12
Pages: 40
Setting: Past late 1800s, New York
Main Character: John Roebling
Genre: Informational
Awards: Sibert
A book about the history of building the Brooklyn Bridge.
This book is written about the history of
the building of the Brooklyn Bridge and
all the hard work that went into it. The
pictures are detailed with diagrams of the
different parts that were used at different
times of building the bridge. The book is
very informative and yet still has a touch
of dramatics to it when it talks about the
dangers that the people working on the
bridge went through.
Title: I Face the Wind
Author: Vicki Cobb
Publisher: Harper Collins
Age: 4-8
Setting: Present, anywhere
Genre: Informational
Illustrator: Julia Gorton
Date: 2003
Pages: 40
Main Character: Little Girl
Awards: Sibert
What wind is and how to understand it.
This book is written to be an interactive
book for children. Before the children
start, there is a short list of supplies that
should be gathered to make the book
interactive. Through out the whole book
there are places for the children to stop
and think about questions and explore the
effects of wind. This gets children
thinking about science without putting it
in a school science book and it can also be
done at home.
Author: Ezra Jack Keats
Publisher: Scholastic
Age: 4 +
Setting: Outside, present
Genre: Multicultural
Title: The Snowy Day
Illustrator: Ezra Jack Keats
Date: 1962
Pages: 40
Main Character: Peter
Awards: Caldecott Medal
Peter goes outside to play in the snow.
Over the semester this has become one of
my new favorite children’s books. The
plot is very simple and it is an easy book
for children to read. The pictures are done
with wonderful detail for paper cut and
paste. There is so many shades in the
snow, that it is unbelievable that Ezra Jack
Keats was able to accomplish that with
paper.
Author: Arlene Mosel
Publisher: Puffin
Age: 4-8
Setting: Japan, past
Genre: Multicultural
Title: The Funny Little Woman
Illustrator: Blair Lent
Date: 1972
Pages: 40
Main Character: little woman
Awards: Caldecott Medal
The Funny Little Woman chases her dumpling.
I think children would enjoy this book
because of the wonderful contrast in the
colors. The Funny Little Women stands
out on the pages which draws your eye
right to her. Children are easily drawn into
the story and they are going to want to
know what happens next to the Funny
Little Woman.
Title: The Village of the Round and Square Houses
Author: Ann Grifalconi
Illustrator: Ann Grifalconi
Publisher: Little Brown
Date: 1986
Age: 4-8
Pages: 32
Setting: Past, African village
Main Character: A little girl and grandmother
Genre: Multicultural
Awards: Caldecott Honor
A little girl is telling of how the ways of her people came to be.
This book was very insightful to a
different way of life that children would
not be accustomed to he in America. The
pictures were beautifully done and took
you to the village beside the Naki. The
colors are artfully blended, using
charcoals and pastels, and turn the words
into a beautiful picture.
Title: Whoever You Are
Author: Mem Fox
Illustrator: Leslie Staub
Publisher: Harcourt
Date: 1997
Age: 3+
Pages: 32
Setting: Everywhere, present
Main Character: Many people
Genre: Multicultural
Awards: N/A
Whoever you are, no matter where you are, everyone is the same
in some way.
This book made me feel like I could
connect to anyone across the world
because inside, we are all the same. We all
experience the same feelings of happiness
and sadness even though we may not look
the same. The pictures are dazzling. Each
page is framed in the exact same way,
keeping with the theme of the book.
Title: Sparrow Girl
Author: Sara Pennypacker
Publisher: Disney
Age: 5-9
Setting: Past, Chinese village
Genre: Multicultural
Illustrator: Yoko Tanaka
Date: 2009
Pages: 40
Main Character: Ming-Li
Awards: N/A
Ming-Li is trying to save the sparrows from the villagers.
This book is based on the true Sparrow
War in China and the effects of messing
with the ecological system. The pictures
are done in an oriental fashion with the
colors and the brushstrokes. The use of
white space on the pages really draws you
into the pictures and the sadness that
Ming-Li is feeling for losing the sparrows
and her pet pigeon.
Title: These Happy Golden Years
Author: Laura Ingalls Wilder
Illustrator: Garth Williams
Publisher: Harper Trophy
Date: 1943
Age: 9-12
Pages: 289
Setting: Prairie town, past
Main Character: Laura and family
Genre: Chapter
Awards: Newbery Honor
Laura starts teaching school and getting courted at the same time
by Almanzo Wilder.
This book is written wonderfully. It
depicts what life was like living in a
prairie town as an upcoming school
teacher and what schools were like for
students and teachers alike. You get an
exhilarating feeling when Laura is
learning how to drive Branuam. You feel
like you have been taken into the story
and you have become a part of their lives.
Title: The Headless Cupid
Author: Zilpha Keatley Synder
Illustrator: N/A
Publisher: Atheneum
Date: 1971
Age: 9-12
Pages: 203
Setting: David’s house, present
Main Character: David
Genre: Chapter
Awards: Newbery Honor
David and his siblings think the house is haunted by a ghost.
This book is a nice chapter book for the
students who like a good book with a bit
of mystery to it and for a book to keep
you on the edge of your seat. The end of
each chapter keeps you wanting to read
more. The book is page turner. The book
also keeps you guessing to the very end
and actually leaves you wondering after
you finish reading. It is very well written
and you can tell why it got a Newbery
Honor.
Title: The Fourth Grade Wizards
Author: Bathe DeClements
Illustrator: N/A
Publisher: Scholastic
Date: 1988
Age: 9-12
Pages: 122
Setting: Present, in a town/classroom
Main Character: Marianne
Genre: Chapter
Awards: N/A
Marianne goes through the trials and tribulations of the 4th grade
after the death of her mother.
This book can be related to students who
have lost a parent or loved one. I cried
when Marianne couldn’t find her new
puppy Kipluck because that sense of loss
and loneliness is relatable . The book
overall is a pretty easy read, there were no
words that would have been difficult to a
4th grader to read.
Author: Judy Blume
Publisher: Scholastic
Age:
Setting: Maine, Present
Genre: Chapter
Title: Fudge-A-Mania
Illustrator: N/A
Date: 1990
Pages: 146
Main Character: Fudge and Peter
Awards: N/A
Peter and Fudge are taking a summer trip with their family to
Maine.
This is a wonderful chapter book for both girls
and boys to read. It relates well to the trials of
being an older sibling, dealing with people you
may not like, and the beginning of that awkward
transition from elementary school to middle
school. This includes all the changes that go with
that, including discovering that first crush and
how to deal with it. Or not being able to impress
someone while out on the field.
Title: The Mystery of the Three Keys
Author: Irene Schultz
Illustrator: Tom Sperling & Adam Weiskin
Publisher: Wright Group
Date: 2000
Age: 7-11
Pages: 128
Setting: present, Bluff Lake Main Character: Sammy, Bill, Kathy, Dave, Ms. T
Genre: Chapter
Awards : N/A
They work on solving a mystery about three keys found in a coat.
I found the book to be a very easy read. Though it
was not as exciting as reading a Nancy Drew,
though for the age level it is written for, it still
has that mystery. The book is written in a big font
which is easier for children to read and focus on.
The story is also written in a true conversational
way. When one of the kids listed ingredients to
make sandwiches, the text moved to a list format
that was like a bulleted list instead of just listing
them with commas in-between them.