reflection

When getting this assignment at the beginning of the year I was not very excited to plaster my thoughts on books out there for the whole world to see. I was really nervous about making people angry. But as the year went on I felt much more comfortable with expressing my true thoughts and feelings about the books that I read. Also, by having to do this it made me actually sit down and read and think about all sorts of books. It has taught me about different genres of books that I now love and can't wait to put into my classroom.

It is true that sometimes I found it hard to sit down and really get into some books. Some I just did not want to write about at all because I really just did not have anything to say about them. I never realized all of the different kinds of books that there were out there and the different things that sparked my interest. It was also cool to read some of the other posts that people wrote and how their thoughts compared to mine. I liked how blogging is so easy and laid back (unlike writing it out on paper). I even got my niece and nephew interested and they started their own blogs (one on pokemon and the other on horses). If anyone out there is interested I will give you more information...ha.

I thought that it was so funny how excited I got when I had a new follower. At the beginning of all of this I was scared to death that I would say something bad about and book and the author would invite me and then hate me but I wasn't too worried about that by the end. I realized that everyone likes different kind of books. It is based on your personality and all else.

I didn't mind that all of my friends made fun of me for having my own blog because I think secretly they wished that they could do something like this in there own class and have there own.

So I haven't decided yet if I will continue on with this blog. I think that it would be a great resource for my students and myself to have to look back on when I do become a teacher. I also think that I will have my students (if old enough) create their own blogs. I think that overall it is fun to do and interesting to be able to go out and look at different things that people are saying. I never realized how many people blogged. A thing that I used to think just geeks did, I realized wasn't SO bad. So, I am glad that I took this class. It made me work a lot and do a lot of reading, but that will only help me from the future. It made me think about the books that I read and myself in the books and how others could connect as well which I think is AWESOME!

Rain by Robert Kalan

I thought that this was a great book because it was very simple and got right to the point with what it wanted you to learn. The pictures were also very simple yet when there was rain in them it was really cool.The rain would be made out of little "rain" words, like you see in the picture. The words would be as simple as "rain on the red car" and then in the picture it would show it raining on the red car.

This book wasn't like a normal book that I enjoy so I don't know why it caught my eye so much while reading it. I thought that the concept was really well done and that the pictures were amazing (even though they were not complex). I think that it would be a good book for preschool to second graders. They could look at the pictures and learn a little bit about outside and the weather.

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs by Judi Barrett

So Emily was helping me look for books for my text set. I was thinking about doing it on rain when we came across this book. She told me it was her all time favorite book and I just had to read it. She also said that it had to do with rain...kind of, so it would work.

I picked it up and was amazed by how many words were on each page...tons!!! It was even more crazy to me that it was recommended for preschool to third grade (well I guess if you read it to the younger ones). I told her this and she said just suck it up and to keep reading. Well, it was about a town where it rained their breakfast, lunch and dinner. They never had to buy anything because it all came in through some type of weather. After some time, things went bad. Everything started messing up...too much food would come or just weird things together.

I did like how they answered a lot of questions in the book that I even had. I was wondering how nothing ever got dirty but they did have a sanitation team to clean everything up. I didn't think a book like this would be so clever, but it was!

I ended up enjoying the book but probably not as much as Emily does. I thought that it was a really good book to get a child's imagination going. It is a new look at the weather. So I guess...what would you do if food fell from the sky cause I know that I would be in heaven!!

Ramona Quimby Age 8 by Beverly Cleary

I never really remembered why I loved Ramona Quimby books when I was younger until I picked this one up again to try it out. The funny thing was that I still could not put the book down when reading it. I loved Ramona's emotions during it.

It reminded me of things that really could have happened in elementary or middle school. The feeling that your teacher does not like you and that you are not cool enough is a big thing for a lot of students. So I think that this book would be great. My reading buddy, who is in 2nd grade, was also reading this book while I was and she talked about it every time we got together. She would do many encounters of text to self which was great and really helped her to learn and enjoy the book.

Ramona Quimby books also have great voice. You feel like this little girl is really telling about her problems. I love how she gets so annoyed with the kid at the babysitters because this happens to so many people. Overall I just thought that this was a really good book and I would recommend it to any age group above first or second grade. Like I said I even enjoyed it and I am 21!

The Guild Geniuses by Dan Santat

A book about 4 geniuses who say that they can solve anything and if they don't then they will give you a present is what ends up happening in this book.

This book is kind of crazy. It is about a monkey who is best friends with an actor. It is almost the human's birthday and Mr. Pip the monkey got him a present. On the day of his birthday he woke up early to find the human but realized that there were tons of presents from many people sitting there. Mr. Pip got sad and did not want to give his friend the present. Fredrick, the human, didn't know what was wrong with him so he took him to tons of vets but all of them said he was fine. So then he saw a sign for 4 geniuses that could solve anything. The geniuses tried many things to help Mr. Pip feel better, like sending him to the moon, but none of them worked.

When Fredrick came back to pick Mr. Pip up he still was not better so he got a tie as a present. After that though Mr. Pip decided to throw Fredrick a great party and gave him a moon rock and his card that he had made him. Fredrick loved it.

I think that this book could be good for classrooms. I know that there have been times when I felt bad about something that I got my friends because I felt like other things were better. But I didn't realize that they would love it because they loved me. This book can teach a lot of lessons and has some wonderful pictures. I think that it would be good for Kindergarten to second graders.

Rain Makes Applesauce by Julian Scheer

All I can say about this book is great pictures with a not so great, confusing story. If you are just looking at the pictures, they are amazing as you can tell from the Caldecott Honor on the front cover of the book. As for the story there is another story. I just didn't get the story. I don't necessarily think that you are supposed to but it just seemed pointless to me there.

A couple things that I did notice though was that on every other page it had a predictable sentence at the end and it was written in the poem form. One more thing that I did not like about the book was that it was super hard to read some of the words, or even find them. Some were really small and some were in really weird colors.

So I liked the pictures but I would recommend this book for my classroom unless I just wanted to confuse them.

Shadows by April Pulley Sayre

I picked up this book because of the amazing illustrations on the front cover. I have always really enjoyed art that was made with acrylics and this one was just so colorful and beautiful.

The story was about a very simple subject: shadows. It talked about all of the different ways that shadows come alive and come about. And it is even in poem form! I think that kids would enjoy this book because of the great pictures and they could connect with everything that is said in the book. Tracing shadows on the ground with chalk and then a few hours later seeing that they have moved, shadows under trees to make a cool spot, and even making shadows with parts of your body are just some of the things that they talk about.

My favorite part of this whole book was the page that read, "My friend catches my shadow's hand. Hand in shadow we walk the sand." It is just a great book and I think it would be great for Preschoolers to second grade.

Mom and Dad are Palindromes by Mark Shulman

If you are teaching your class about palindromes, then this is a GREAT BOOK! While reading it, I couldn't even believe how many there were. A toyota, racecar, deep speed, level and many more. This book is kind of set up in a way where Bob, the little boy, is just learning about palindromes in class. When the teacher points out that his name is a palindrome then that is all he can think about. All things around him are then palindromes (mom, dad, nan, anna, and so many more). He decides in the end that if he says everyone's full names that he can fix this problem of his.

I enjoyed this book because there were palindromes everywhere in the book. Even the books that were on the shelves in the book had titles that were palindromes. It is a book that could be read by any age group and a great lesson starter for learning about palindromes.

Rotten Teeth by Laura Simms

A book with crazy and outrageous pictures is what you will get if you read Rotten Teeth by Laura Simms. I first pulled this off of the Curriculum Shelf because of the name, I knew that a story about rotten teeth had to be good. And I was right, I really did enjoy it.

The story is about a little girl who doesn't think there is anything special in her house (which she is very wrong about) to take to show and tell at school. She is the only one in her class that hasn't done a show and tell yet. Finally after asking her older brother what she should take, she decides to take a bottle of rotten teeth in to show everyone. The teacher gets very upset but the class loved the idea and praises her for being such a great story teller. She goes through many different emotions in the story but in the end realizes that she is a great story teller.

The pictures in this book were very cool. There was so much detail in them and it was just interesting to see the aspect that the illustrator was drawing them from. I think that it can really show kids that they can do anything if they just try. I think that this book could be for younger grade school but there are a lot of words on each page.

Mr. Ouchy's First Day by BG Hennessy

I, as an adult, really enjoyed this book. It talks about Mr. Ouchy's first day of teaching and how nervous he is before. This could also be a really good lesson for kids in showing them that even adults get nervous about things and that it is a normal thing. I also thought that some of the things that the students said were very true and I could actually see them saying it. It was interesting how Mr. O talked about each.

It is always a good thing for a teacher to be open to new ideas and I loved that in the end of the book he really was listening to what the kids wanted to learn how to do throughout the year. Even though some were not normal things that you would teach in school, he still considered them. I always enjoyed when the mom called him to ask how everything went. This could also show the kids that everyone is a person, even though some are at different ages. Everyone has to deal with people who are older than them and people that are younger.

I know that when it is the night before my first day of teaching, that I will feel the same way that Mr. Ouchy did. Even though I know that everyone gets nervous, it calmed me down and realized that everyone has some type of fear but everyone has to do it and just hope for the best. I think that this story would be best for first grade and above. Like I said, I even enjoyed it for myself!

The Worrywarts by Pamela Duncan Edwards

So unless you are learning about W words, I found this book to be really annoying. Every word of the sentence trying to start with a W just is not a good book for me. The book was about three friends who want to explore the world but don't know exactly what that is. They talk about what they are going to take with them and what could happen to them while on their journey.

I don't even know what to say about his book, I wanted to stop reading it several times throughout but I just kept pressing on to the end to finish. I pulled it off the shelf in the first place because I thought that the picture on the front was hilarious because it was the three critters with the deer in the head lights look. But to me, this book was not very funny. I don't know, maybe it was because I am kind of tired right now but I think that reading a whole book that is based on one letter is kind of boring overall. It might help some kids with reading, but for me it did nothing.

Chowder by Peter Brown

If you have a great imagination then Chowder is for you. It is about a dog who pretty much acts like a person. All of the dogs and people in the community think that he is weird and belongs in a petting zoo because of this.

Chowder sees a billboard one day when looking through his telescope. He sees that the grocery store that they always visit now has a petting zoo and he really wants to go because everyone tells him he should be in one. He feels like maybe he can finally have some friends. He ends up loosing their kick ball in a tree and then finally figuring out how to get it down. Once he does they become friends for life.

I though that this was a cute story but really one that. I thought that you could get some lessons from it like, even if you may be a little different from the people around you that their is always somewhere that you fit in. And that it's okay to be different. But I also felt like the book was a little too far fetched. Having a dog who is the boss of the house and acts like he is a real human is adorable but not real in the way that Chowder is written about.

I probably would not have this book in my classroom unless I was having a problem with students fitting in. I think the book would work well for first to third graders but there are a lot of words on some of the pages.

Prudy's Problem and How She Solved It by Carey Armstrong-Ellis

This story starts out with a little girl who loves to collect things, EVERYTHING that is! She has so much stuff that her parents start to get irritated because they cannot move around throughout their house. This whole time though, Prudy does not think that she has any type of problem. Finally one day when bringing a gum wrapper home for her shiny things collection, she noticed that she could not get it into her room. Right when she did, BOOM, her room bursted and things flew everywhere. Finally after this she realized she had to do something. She researched and visited many places and finally realized that she should make a museum with all of her different collections. They built one and it was very popular.



I thought that this was a good book because it showed that there are always solutions to problems, even if some of them may not be plausible. I really enjoyed the pictures throughout the book. She had a two pet mice and a dog and they were in just about every picture and doing funny things in each. Also, in many of the pictures, each of the different things like the door handle, had faces drawn on them to show their expression of what was going on.

I think that many children can connect to the story because they may either have collections of their own otherwise they may have problems that they have had to solve. I would definately consider having this book in my room for that reason. It would be best for first to third graders I think.

Doctor Ted by Andrea Beaty

While reading Doctor Ted I kind of felt bad for the little kid. He was just trying to do something nice for everyone and be imaginative and all of the grown ups kept yelling at him. Not until the end did they finally realize that it was okay that he was pretending to be a doctor, even though they already had one. If you just read the first few pages of the book, it could be very depressing for a little kid. It kind of sends the message not to play pretend.

I think the book talked well about how some kids imaginations can work though. It started with Ted waking up and bumping his knee. He needed to find a doctor but could not so he decided to become one. His mother, teacher, and principal did not like this and just told him to eat his lunch or get back to work which I thought was unfair. It wasn't until the end where the teacher got hurt and needed a doctor and Ted came to the rescue.

I thought overall it was an iffy book for me. I thought the ending plot was okay and that the pictures were nothing very special. I would maybe consider having it my classroom for free read for kids from Kindergarten to 2nd grade.

So Far From the Bamboo Grove by Yoko Kawashima Watkin

So Far From the Bamboo Grove was my second book read out of this and Year of Impossible Goodbyes. I think that because of this I did not take to this book as much. After reading about the war from the Koreans point of view, I didn't feel very sorry for the Japanese in this book. I know that this was rude of me but it was true.

I also felt like when I was reading Year of Impossible Goodbyes, that except for the beginning, I felt like the rest went through my head like a movie. But this book I found myself not really wondering or caring what happened next. So I don't know if it was a good or a bad thing that I read these two books together.

The book was about a little girl and her family and were trying to escape from Korea and go back to Japan to try to escape from hardships. Before they left they left a note for their brother so that he would know where they went to because he was off at the factory making things for the war. Throughout the story they were spotted by a couple of soldiers but something always happened that ended up saving (one example is that a bomb dropped right when a couple walked up to them with guns.) The mom and two daughters made it to Seoul, where they were headed and did not see their honorable brother there. The went on to Japan then after standing in line and putting up signs for the brother that they were going there. Right when they got to Japan, the mother decided to send the children to school. I couldn't believe this. I know that education is important but geesh I think that she should realize what they just went through.

The Little One hated school because all of the kids made fun of her. The mother left to search for the grandparents and soon died after she returned. This turned the two sisters' lives upside down even more. They dug through trash cans for food, sold things they made door to door, and shined shoes for some extra money. Throughout the journey many kind people came into their lives to help them and finally in the end the brother found them from the signs they had put up (how predictable).

So I'm sorry that my summary of this story was so bland. It just felt like to me that it was almost too hard to believe. There were a few good parts throughtout the story but over all I just really couldn't get into what I was written. After reading the Year of Goodbyes it just made me not believe this story as much and therefore I didn't want to read it as badly (I know that sounds horrible but it's how I felt).

A Picture Book of Lewis and Clark by David Adler

So again, this was a book that I used for social studies when talking about the exploration that Lewis and Clark went on through the Louisiana Purchase. This book worked really well for my activity because of the fact that it gave tons of facts but it wasn't all that interesting to me.

It mainly told about Meriwether Lewis and William Clark before they went on this journey for the most part. It told about what they were like and that didn't really interest me. I would have to say that unless I plan on doing a unit with my students on Lewis and Clark, I will probably not ever pick up this book again.

So if you want about book with a lot of facts on Lewis and Clark, this is the book for you, but if you are looking for a good book to just sit and read, I wouldn't recommend it.

You Forgot Your Skirt, Amelia Bloomer by Shana Corey

So, I am not going to lie. The main reason that I even picked up this book was for a social studies project that I had to do. I thought that it looked really interesting though and we were talking about women's rights. I am not that into non-fiction books but this book was not totally that.

It was about a girl who did not having to wear tight dresses all of the time and she thought that they made her look really silly. She decided that she wanted to be different, which many people did not think was a good idea. She met a girl one day though that looked very comfortable in a bloomer outfit (dress like top with pant like bottoms in this case) and she decided that she wanted to be comfortable too and wear something like that. So, she got to work on her sewing machine. No one could believe what she was wearing when it was finally done but many women from other cities had seen it and wanted to know exactly how to make them. She received tons of mail! Soon after that everyone was making their own bloomer outfits and everyone was comfortable.

The reason that I didn't mind this book so much was that it wasn't straight facts. It actually put some plot and story line along with the facts. It made it easy to learn something about history but not be bored to death while doing it and I liked that a lot. I think that it worked really well for the social studies activities because it showed what some women did to change history.

Soap! Soap! Don't Forget the Soap! by Tom Birdseye

Have you ever known one of those really forgetful kids or maybe been one yourself? Well if so, this is the book for you! Once again, by looking at the front cover of this book, your first impression may be hick but that doesn't make the book bad.

This book starts out with the narrator explaining to you that Plug Honeycutt is so forgetful that he sometimes forgets his own name. The only person that really believes in him is his own mother. One day they are out of soap at home so Plug's mother sends him to the store to get some. And along with some money she gives him a song to recite, "Soap! Soap! Don't forget the soap!" Well obviously the book just doesn't end there. Plug goes through many different adventures throughout where he forgets and then is reminded by people yelling at him about what he has to get. Finally he makes it to the store and buys the soap and then runs straight home to get it to his mother.

I thought that this was an interesting book but it really gives a good lesson to people who can be a bit careless. At the end of this story, after getting yelled at several times, Plug knows that he will never forget anything that his mother says again. I think that I enjoyed this book because I have had times like Plug where I can be really forgetful and I think that many kids can make some kind of a connection to the story. It also has so good pictures and I think that kids would enjoy reading about all of the adventures Plug goes through. (Also, isn't Plug a sweet name? haha)

Oh Yeah! by Tom Birdseye

I read a bunch of Tom Birdseye books for an author study that I did on him and this was another that I had read. Unlike Air Mail to the Moon though, this one did not really spark anything with me. It actually kind of annoyed me. I can't really pinpoint a reason why but I think that it was because it was SOOO repetitive. I know that with younger grades a repetitive book is great because the kids can get into it more. But with this book, for me, it just went too far.

The book was about two little boys who are friends and they are camping out in a tent with their two stuffed animals. The two boys keep telling each other than they aren't afraid to do different things and then the other boy would say, "Oh Yeah!" (Doesn't surprise ya, right, since it is the name of the story.) Well that part is fine. But then they get into this like war and they keep repeating everything that the other one says.

A lot of different things do happen to them. They think they see a big, hair, child eating monster (which happens to just be the dog) and they end up leaving their two stuffed animals outside and then having to go back out and look for them to save them.

I don't know? The first time that I read the book I didn't mind it but as I have read it a few times it just isn't a book that I would enjoy reading again. Like I said though, it would be a good book for younger grades because it is so repetitive and you could even do some sort of order game with it.

Air Mail to the Moon by Tom Birdseye

If you're looking for a good book with some old fashioned names, talk about the tooth fairy, and a little girl who thinks her tooth gets stolen, then Air Mail to the Moon by Tom Birdseye would be a great book for you. When first looking at the front cover to this book, I couldn't help but laugh. A little girl with a big grin and a big hole in her mouth just didn't look all that normal to me for a book. As I began reading through it though I realized that it was a hilarious book.

It starts out with a little girl who has a loose tooth. Her parents tell her not to go around and tell everyone that she is going to lose it though, just in case it takes a long time. She does good at this for a while but then she just has to come out and say it. Later on her tooth finally falls out and when it does her family tells her to put it underneath her pillow so the tooth fairy can come and give her money. So she goes to bed and the next morning she wakes up and neither her tooth or any money is under her pillow. Someone stole her tooth!! She goes and confronts all of her family for stealing her tooth and then they get talking about wacky things that the tooth fairy does with the teeth.

At the end of the story the little girl gets really mad after telling everyone, “I’m gonna open up a can of gotcha and send ‘em airmail to the moon,” and she digs her hands down into her pockets....and what could she find??

So this book really showed me not to judge a book by its cover. The pictures were really good, even though a little hickish, and they showed the story perfectly. It's a great book and I would really recommend it if you want a book that will make you laugh.

Year of Impossible Goodbyes by Sook Nyul Choi

This book gave me a lot of mixed emotions. For about the first 3 chapters I hated it and did not know how I could possibly read the whole thing. After that though it became much more interesting and I really found myself getting into the book and rooting for Nuna and her family to get through the war and have freedom.

I don't know why the first few chapters bothered me so much. It may be because it was more of a before hand view and not so much about what was actually going on. I also thought that the book was going to be a lot different from the beginning so I was expecting more to be going on right from the beginning. Once they started to talk about the war and what the soldiers were actually doing to the Koreans and how the lived their lives in fear everyday of doing something wrong or getting sent away, the book became much easier to read and I actually could not put it down.

It amazed me how brave this little girl and her brother were. I could not imagine having to keep my home life a secret and not being able to tell anyone anything in fear of what may happen. I also thought that she was very brave when she went to school. The part about her sitting on the floor in the back of the room and having to go to the bathroom but being afraid to ask just devistated me. And then her having to see all of the little puddles underneath the little girls desks and then them being called on to go up to the board but them being really embarrased to, I just couldn't even imagine a thing like this happening.

There were so many parts to this book that just made me really think about how good I do have it. Having little kids go to "school" to make weapons to kill a group of people that they don't even dislike and brainwashing them into believing something totally different from what they had. I also thought about the sock girls and them being taken away. I knew the whole time what was going on but I really wish they would have talked about that more because I do think that it is a big deal. And the fact that now the Japanese are saying that it was all voluntary was crap.

I was so happy for Nuna and Inchun in the end. They had worked so hard and made it so far that they really did deserve to for once feel free. Them being so young but so brave really made you think that the things that we think are bad in life really aren't always as bad as we take them to be. You just have to look around at what other people are going through because you might just see that you have it pretty good.

Children's Lit. Reflection

At first when beginning this class I thought that it was going to be A LOT of work. I was afraid that I wouldn't have time to read as much as I was expected to. I found that this was not true at all though! I have actually really enjoyed all of the readings and it has given me a great opportunity to get into the library and pick up some great children's books (which I haven't done in a really long time).

When I first found out that we had to blog about all of our books I was really confused. I had heard of blogging before but didn't know that you could do it about stuff like this. I still am a little iffy about it at times just because I know that my writing is out in the open for everyone who wants to to look at it and that sort of scares me. But on the other hand I do enjoy it. I feel like it gives me more freedom in what I say than what it would if I was writing it on paper. I also feel like it much more laid back and it doesn't take long at all to just log on and type up your thoughts. It is something that I can see myself doing in my own classroom in the future.

Overall, I think that the class is going really well. I am getting a lot of great information from it and learning even more that I do love to read. I like the group activities and getting all of the different insights and I also loved the poem activity that we did. I have never felt that comfortable about reading poems but I think that what we did in class changed that. I think it is something that I could use in a class to help the students get out of their shells with it. I just think that the class is going really good and I hope that this continues.

The Misfits 1&2 by James Howe

At first when I began reading The Misfits I did not know how much I would like the story. But as soon as I began to read it I couldn't help but to think where I had heard the story before. Had I read the book before? I didn't think so. Was there some kind of movie made about it? I still don't know. I am still stumped as to why this book rings such a bell in my head.

After reading the story though, I really ended up enjoying the book. I thought that James Howe is a brilliant author and knows exactly how to bring people back into junior high. I did think that some of the characters were a little too much but some kids, especially in junior high, are like that.

I didn't like the fact that this book was hated so much by some people just because of the fact that there is homosexuality in it. Even though they are kids doesn't mean that they don't need to learn it sometime. If you shelter a kid their whole life then when they get out into the real world they aren't going to know what to do. I thought it brought the topic out in a good way without putting too much obvious emphasis on it. I really liked the characters and could see myself being friends with most of them (I did find Addie to be very annoying though.)

Like I said, I thought that the book was really good and I would definately have it in my classroom in the future. It is a book that shows a lot of different aspects of a life and just sucks you right back into junior high school...which I guess isn't always amazing!

Hair in Funny Places by Babette Cole

So as I read more and more controversial books I realized that Babette Cole really likes to read them. Some of them I have thought to be inappropriate and others not. This one I was on the fence at some points.

When hearing about this book in class I thought that it was cute and funny and a great way to talk about puberty and changing bodies. As I looked at it myself I felt a little different about it. The whole time I felt like it was showing child porn and I felt just gross for even looking at the pictures. I know that they were real photographs, I just felt like it was really weird at times.

Like I said earlier, I still feel like it is a really good topic for kids to know about and that everyone goes through it. I just felt like some of the pictures went a little over what they should have. Especially, this is supposed to be for 1st grade and older. I don't know if I would ever want my first grader to look at this. I don't know how I would change the book at all and maybe if I had to make a book like that, I would have to do it in the same way. But when reading it I just felt really weird about the pictures and I don't think that many parents would want this book to be in their child's school library.

I Never Knew Your Name by Sherry Garland

This is another one of those stories that I was sort of confused about. It is a controversial book too but I was not totally sure why. It is about a little boy who watches his neighbor while he is waiting for his dad to come and pick him up (which he never does). When knowing that you are reading a controversial book I feel like you are always looking for that part of it so in this one I kept trying to guess what it was. At first I didn't know if it was because the dad never came or even that they were maybe trying to show that the little boy was having homosexual thoughts about his neighbor...I did not know. As the story continued I think that I figured it out though.

As the story continued the boy would see his neighbor shooting hoops and having a crush on his older sister but then getting rejected. One night the boy really wanted to go fishing and saw his neighbor and was going to go ask him if he wanted to also but he never did. Later that night they heard a lot of ambulances next door and later found out that the neighbor boy had died. It does not say how he dies in the book but I am guessing, since it is controversial, that it was suicide? In this sense I can see why parents wouldn't want their children to read it but I think that since it doesn't come out and say anything that the book is fine.

It is recommended for grades four and above and I think that I would have it in my classroom if I taught upper elementary.

Mommy Laid an Egg by Babette Cole

One of the main things that I can say about this book is weird! At first I felt like this book was very cute but very unrealistic. The parents thought it was time that their children knew where babies came from. But instead of telling them how it actually happens, they make up things like, a dinosaur brings them or mommy laid an egg and many others like that.

Now where it gets weird is when the kids decide that their parents are not telling the truth so they decide to show their parents how it happens. From this point on I could definately see why the book was considered controversial and I myself will NEVER EVER let my kids see it. I think that they show the whole "where babies come from" in a horrible light.

There is a page where the text says, "Here are some ways....mommies and daddies fit together." Then it continues to show different ways that parents have sex. (So pretty much sex positions). So my question is...is why do little kids have to know sex positions? Is that really necessary? And this book was considered to be for all ages!! I couldn't believe it!

I think that this is an excellent idea for what a book can be about. I just think that it is totally the wrong way of going about it. I think that kids can learn about sex without having to see graphic pictures of a mom on top of a dad. So, I would never have this book in my room and when I have kids they will NOT be reading it!

The Un-Wedding by Babette Cole

This book was amazing!! I loved how the two little kids made up this clever little plan because they realized that their parents were not happy anymore. Now this one I can see why some people may feel that it is controversial but I don't feel like it is at all. I think that since divorce is becoming such a normal thing now a days that this book is a great one to explain to kids that sometimes parents don't love each other anymore but that it isn't the children's fault and they can still be happy.

The story starts out with Mr. and Mrs. Ogglebut and they could not stand each other. They never could agree on anything. There two children, Paula and Demetrius, noticed this and at first thought it was all there fault. They put up a sign at school about kids that had parents who were having troubles. They realized that there were many others and that it was not the kids fault at all. So they decided that they would have an un-wedding with an un-ceremony, an un-cake, and then at the end for a present they knocked down the house and built two instead that were right next to each other. The two children now had two homes and got two of everything and ended up being very happy.

I know that this book kind of sugar coats the whole divorce idea, but I feel like it's a good book for Kindergarten to Sixth grade. It also has great colorful pictures and some of them even have other things going on. I would love to have this book in any of my classrooms!

Happy to Be Nappy by Bell Hooks and Chris Raschka

When I began reading this book, I think that I was looking for something MORE being that it is considered a controversial book. The whole time I was reading it I was trying to figure out why it was so controversial.

The only thing that the book talked about was different things that you could do with "nappy" hair and how it is beautiful. I didn't know if it was looked at as controversial because it talked about African American hair alone and some people may not think that that is necessary...I don't know, I am COMPLETELY STUMPED!!

I thought a funny thing was that the other day while I was with my 2nd grade reading buddy, who is African American, told me that my hair looked nappy because it was crunched and had a lot of hair spray in it. I did not take offense to it or anything and I do not think that she meant it as a good or a bad thing. I just think it's interesting

Back to the book though. I did not really enjoy it. I thought that it was really hard to read the writing because it was all in cursive. If I had trouble reading the cursive, I do not know how little kids would be able to read it. I also thought that the pictures were kind of bland and did not completely go with what the text was saying even though it was supposed to. So overall, I am confused with why it is a controversial book but I do not think I would have it in my classroom because I do not find it all that interesting and it's hard to read.

Love that Dog by Sharon Creech

Love That Dog, a great title for a wonderful book. I really enjoyed this book because it was such an easy read and it introduced a somewhat hard topic for most, poetry. There were so many good parts of this book. I loved how at the beginning the little boy said that he didn't want to write poetry because it was a "girl's" thing but by the end he wasn't afraid to put his name on his poems.

I enjoyed reading all of his poems that he read and all of the ones that he made up, some that I thought were very interesting and ones that I would never have even been able to come up with. I especially enjoyed the "Sky" poem about his dog and how he was concerned that it may make some people sad. He kept thinking that he wasn't writing poems because they didn't rhyme and they didn't look like poems. His uncle even justifies this later when telling him that he wasn't really writing poems because they weren't long enough and the fact that they didn't rhyme. I loved this part because then the little boy began to write full page texts which both him and I felt were really hard to comprehend. I loved how he talked about punctuation because I think a lot of kids feel hesitant about that. I know I did when I was younger and still do at times now.

I also thought that it was so cute that he wanted Mr. Walter Dean Myers to come to the class so badly and was really crushed when he thought that it might take a long time for him to get back to them. The letters that he wrote them were so funny to read but so real at the same time.

I just thought there were so many good stories in this short book and I liked how it had all of the poems that he read in class at the end. It really helped everything be brought together. And when reading the excerpt from her new book Hate That Cat, I cannot wait to read that one also. I will definately have these stories in my classroom if I teach third grade and above and bring them out when talking about poetry.

Dear Mr. Blueberry by Simon James

This book sat out on one of the tables in the Curriculum Lab and when I saw it and looked inside I knew that I had to read it because was a little girl, Emily, writing back and forth to someone named Mr. Blueberry. Later I found out that Mr. Blueberry was her teacher.

Her first letter starts out with her telling her teacher that she loves whales and that she thinks she saw one in her pond that night. He writes back telling her that that cannot be true because whales are too big to live in a pond and they have to have salt water. Emily does not want to listen to him about the fact the a whale may be too big to fit so she just takes his advice and puts salt in the pond each night. She thinks that the whale looks very happy because of this. They continue to write back and forth and Mr. Blueberry continues to try to burst Emily's bubble in telling her that there is no way that a whale could be living in her pond. She is not having any of this and continues to tell him about seeing him every night until one night after she receives a letter from Mr. Blueberry saying that whales are migratory, the whale leaves. He tells Emily that she can go to the ocean to see whales. Emily goes to the beach and sees her whale, who she named Arthur and they finally get to say good bye to each other.

I don't really know the exact reason why I enjoyed this book so much. I don't know if it's because of the great imagination of Emily or if it is because in the end it all ended up to be true (at least to her.) I didn't necessarily like that Mr. Blueberry kept telling her that what she was seeing was not impossible but I thought it also added a little something the story.

I think that this would be a good story though to show kids that even if someone tells them that they are not able to do something, have something, or see something that they really can. I think for some kids that is really important for them to know. I think this would be a good book for a younger age group, probably Preschool to First grade.

The Topsy-Turvies by Francesca Simon

Just seeing four people on the front cover standing outside their house in pajamas made me wonder what this book could possibly be about. And besides that having half of the title being upside down too. This book was exactly what the front cover makes you expect. It is about a family that does everything COMPLETELY SDRAWKCAB (backwards).

This family wakes up at midnight, eats with their feet in their bedroom, takes baths outside of the bathtub, and the kids teach the parents in "school". All parts of their life continue to be the same until their neighbor comes over to ask them to watch little Lucy for the day.They find her dress and her house to be very odd and try to help out by rearranging it in a way that they thought was best (so totally backwards). As they were eating with their feet, this time in the kitchen, a burglar came in through the window. They thought it was just someone visiting, so to welcome him they began to throw food at him. The burglar ran straight out of the house and their neighbor saw this and thanked them for scaring off the man from robbing her.

I thought that this book was okay but that it didn't have a good enough plot to hold me in. It was cute to show people that people may have different lifestyles but I thought that it was so out there that it was just totally unbelievable (obviously, I guess). Kids may see it differently as I did but it would probably not be one that I would hand out to my students. I thought it was cute at parts and the pictures were good but I just was not hooked. It would probably be best for Preschool to First grade though.

For Sale: One Brother by P. Stren

This book by Patti Stren is amazing and I only wish that I could find a picture (to see a picture) of it to put on here so that you could all know what I am talking about. Every page is filled with a collage of different posters and ideas that Molly, a little girl has. Her first poster is an attempt to show us who she is not. She does not enjoy ballet or the things that she has to wear for it because it is "not her". Next, she makes a poster to sell her little brother because she thinks that only childs smile much more. She hangs it up in the laundry room of her apartment building because she had once seen a sign there for someone who was selling two lamps and a chest of drawers. She thought that this would be a great way to get rid of David and his pet worm, Spike.

When Molly's mom sees what she has done she is furious and makes Molly spend every free minute that she has with David for the next week. Obviously, David gets on her nerves during the whole next week and by the last day she finally cracks, telling him that she doesn't want him as a brother. She doesn't realize until the next morning when he is not there bugging her that something may be wrong. So she makes a "Lost Brother" sign and was just about to go put it up when she found David, who had slept in the closet. He was crying because he didn't think that Molly wanted him as a brother anymore. The last page is of Molly tucking David in to bed with all of his favorite toys and saying, "Night , little buddy. You still drive me bonkers. But you're definitely NOT for sale anymore!"

This was one of the best books that I have ever read. Not only was the plot fantastic and really had good meaning to them that every kid with a sibling can relate to and many other topics that can bring up text to self connections. The pictures were amazing also. Having a whole other story just in the pictures was tremendous. You could choose to read as much or as little on the posters as you wanted but it was all very interesting! This is one book that I definitely want to have in my classroom when I teach. It is a great story about relationships and how to build them and it also shows kids how you can write stories in different ways (even with pictures). I think that this book would be excellent for First to Third graders and maybe even older.

The Day Leo Said I HATE YOU! by Robie H. Harris

The title alone made me pull this book from the shelf. Such a crazy topic and the two different faces of the little boy, Leo, on the front cover. I first wondered what made him get so angry to say those three words. After reading the first few pages I knew exactly what would make this kid explode, his mom saying no to EVERYTHING!! "No rolling tomotoes across the floor!" and "No dropping string beans in the fishbowl!" she said. These were definately good reasons to be saying NO but to a little kid they may not be.

After Leo continued to be told no over and over again, he told his mom he was going to his room because he did not think he could be told no in his own room. When he got up there he began drawing a mean picture of his mom with crayon on his WALL. His mom came in and did not like what she saw. After telling him no one more time, those three horrible words came out of his mouth. Right after the fact little Leo wanted to shove them right back in. His mom got very sad and they talked about how those words hurt his mom. He said that she had said that she hated broccoli the night before and thought that was the same. They talked a lot about it at the end and he realized that even though she did say no to him every now and then that she was his mom and he loved her very much.

This book reminded me a lot of me when I was a kid. I can remember a very distinct time when I let out those three awful words and could not forgive myself for saying them after. I thought that I was a horrible person. But after I talked about it with my mom we both realized that I did not mean what I said at all. I was just very mad at the time and said something that I shouldn't have.

I thought this book was great to talk about this subject because I think that it is good for little kids to know about. It also has amazing illustrations with a lot of bright colors and it really captures all of the emotion of both Leo and his mother. I would definately put this in my classroom if I was teaching Preschool to First grade. It's a great book that portrays those "other" three words in a light that little kids may not realize.

Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans

Who could forget the twelve little girls in two straight lines? Definately not me. Madeline has been a favorite of mine since I was a very little girl and when I found a series of these books in the Curriculum Lab it brightened up my day. Right from the very beginning of the book, "In an old house in Paris that was covered with vines lived twelve little girls in two straight lines. In two straight lines they broke their bread and brushed their teeth and went to bed," I knew that I would enjoy this book because it reminded me so much of the TV series that I once watched.

There is many different books in the series by Ludwig Bemelmans. But in this one Madeline has to get her appendix out. And all of the other little girls and Miss Clavel, their care taker, went to visit her in the hospital. The girls were surprised to see many different flowers and plants and big toys. After going back home that night Miss Clavel woke up to something else that was not right in the house but this time it was not just one little girl crying but all eleven. When Miss Clavel asked what the matter was, they replied, "Boohoo, we want to have our appendix out, too!"

This is a very cute story. The pictures are very simple. The words are very simple. But they both seem to have a lot to them. With a lot of pages in the book there are different Paris scenes drawn out in the book. In the back, it tells you what each of them are. That could be very useful to little kids so that they can learn a little something about a different country while reading a great little story.

This book could work good for many different grades because I think that some kids may remember the TV show. And if they do not I think that it would be fun to show an episode that they can relate it to what they are reading. I think that the book would be best for Kindergarten to Third graders. It's a great story and if you loved the television show like I did then you will LOVE these books!

"I'm not scared!" by Jonathan Allen

The title of this story is the reason why I had to pick it off of the shelf. That and I couldn't exactly tell what kind of bird was on the front cover and I wanted to find out. It didn't take me long to confirm my thought that it was an owl on the front, his name being Baby Owl. His little friend that he is holding is Owly and they decide to go for a stroll through the woods one night.

After walking for a little bit he meets up with many different animals. But even though he may jump a little, Baby Owl continues to say, "I'm not scared!" He doesn't think that he should be able to be scared because he is an owl and owls stay up all night long. Baby Owl gets mad when all of the animals that he meets up with tell him that he should be at home and in bed. He says that it isn't him that is afraid to be out in the woods but that it is Owly. Finally, Baby Owl's dad comes along and tells him that it's okay that Owly is scared and then takes him to bed.

I think that even though the illustrations are very simple in this book, that they show a lot to what is going on in the story which is good. The dark colors for the night time feeling are beautiful and the different expressions on Baby Owls face really brings him to life.

This book would be a really good book for really young kids going to Kindergarten or so. It's a great story to show that it is okay to be scared every now and again and that everyone is. Baby Owl blames his fears on Owly and that is okay too because it is a way that he is calming himself.

Mind Your Manners, B.B. Wolf by Judy Sierra

Everyone remembers the story of the Big Bad Wolf with Little Red Riding Hood and the wolf that blows those poor little pigs' houses down. But this time B.B. Wolf is trying to learn some manners so that he can go to a Storybook Tea that he is invited to. His friend the crocodile does whatever he can to try to teach B.B. Wolf good manners.

Croc and B.B. Wolf make up little songs to remember all of the things that he learns. One of them is, "Sip your tea and never slurp, say excuse me if you burp. Smale and have a lot of fun, but don't go biting anyone!" B.B. Wolf finally gets to his party where many other story book characters are at. After drinking a lot of tea, B.B. realizes that he has to burp but he forgets the phrase that he has to use. So after hurrying to find it in an etiquitte book, he is able to say it before he burps. He is seen as a very polite person. He even refuses to eat the gingerbread cookies because he could never eat a Gingerbread Boy.

As he is leaving he mentions that sometime he will come back and tell the librarian what really happened in the other books that he is in. But on his way home, as he pops a gingerbread cookie into his mouth, you realize he isn't as nice as he says.

I thought that this book was really clever and that the pictures were also very good. If you look in the background of the illustrations you see that there are things from other fairy tale stories as well. I think that kids will appreciate to see the "Big Bad Wolf" in a different light for once. It would be great for Kindergarten to Second grades and I think that it could get children into wanting to learn about etiquette.

Planet Was by Amy Boesky

If you love books that rhyme and a boy's imagination and courage that would blow your mind then you will love Planet Was. Planet Was talks about a town where the rules are: "Never change!" and "Never new!"

In a town that never changes things probably get boring and that is exactly what the King's son felt like. When going to his dad about maybe changing a few things, he received a strong "NO". Everything was the same here. The houses all looked the same and were the same color, Eds had boys named Eds and Frans had girls named Fran. Nothing ever changed until one day during nap time. The king's son decided that he needed something different in his life so he marched up to his room and designed it how he wanted it, DIFFERENT! When everyone woke up, the king noticed that his son was no where to be found and ran up to his room finding this incredible sight. And that is exactly what he thought of it, that it was incredible.

This is a good story because I know when I was younger I didn't like a lot of change and I think that a lot of people are like that. But if you show kids that change can be good then they might be more accepting of it. This is a good book to have for Kindergarten to Second grades.

Don't Let the Peas Touch! by Deborah Blumenthal

This hilarious little story with great use of color and imagery really hit the spot for me. It reminded me of so many kids that I know and it kind of teaches you how to deal with problems.

Sophie and Annie are sisters, Sophie being younger, and when it is Annie's week to cook in the house, Sophie can not see anything right with what she is doing. She doesn't like that her milk is together with her cereal or that her peas are touching her other food on the plate. The whole family gets very irritated with Sophie and they do not know what to do. Annie, instead of getting annoyed and giving up, really thinks and comes up with a great solution to Sophie's problem which helps them both out.

This is a cute story because even after Sophie criticizes everything that Annie tries to do for her, Annie ends up finding a solution and making everything better in the end. I think this book could really teach kids about learning to try new things and to never quit trying even if something stands in your way. I also think that it is a great book for adults because it tries to give suggestions in situations where you may think that nothing can be accomplished. I think that this book is great for First to Third grade. The book also has two different stories dealing with the same two sisters that are also very good.

D.W., Go To Your Room by Marc Brown

As I have stated before, I absolutely love Marc Brown's work. Arthur and D.W. books have been my favorite since I was a little girl. I chose this book off of the shelf in the Curriculum Lab because D.W. has quite an attitude to her, much like myself when I was little, and I thought that this book showcased this well.

I loved the pictures in the story. They brought all the emotion that the characters were feeling right out of the pages. And the words that D.W. expressed made you think that you were actually listening to a 6 year old talk.

The story is about D.W. getting in trouble for not sharing her toys with her little sister, Kate. And when she continues to disobey her mom with this she is sent to her room. After trying to wrap her head around why she is in trouble and after trying to get out of it a couple of times, she just gets mad. A little later D.W.'s mom brings Kate up for D.W. to watch, which she is not happy about. But after a while she realizes that she isn't so bad.

I think that this is a great book for Preschool to Second graders because it can show that don't always judge a book by its cover and things may be more fun than you perceive. I also remembered this episode from the Arthur series and many other kids may also.

How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell

Just the title of this book hooks you into wondering why anyone would fry a worm, let alone want to eat the worm. I was first introduced to this book in elementary school and thought that it was the greatest book ever written. While looking for different books in the Curriculum Lab, I came acrossed it and knew that I had to read it.

The book, How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell, is about four boys who make a bet of $50 that one of them has to eat 15 worms, one each day for 15 days. And when eating them he can cook them or put anything on them that he wants. When the signs come across that he may actually accomplish this task, the other boys do anything that they can to make him think that these worms might be killing him.

It's a great book and a very fast and easy read. I don't know if it's because I was so hooked reading it again because of the first time but I just couldn't put it down. It would be a great book for the classroom for fourth to sixth graders and could really help children with dealing with conflict.

The Arrival by Shaun Tan

What could this funny little creature be on the front cover of this book? That was the thing that captured my attention right away. And as I flipped through the pictures I found many other wild beings throughout.

The beginning of the story was very simple. You see a man packing his bags and having to leave his wife and little girl to go off to somewhere new. After this I started to get confused. All kinds of big creatures started showing up and other things that I have never even imagined before. After going through the whole book I couldn't put together what the story was actually tryiing to tell me. I had to go and look up a summary of it online and after doing that I went back to the book and it made a little more sense.

The book is about a man who leaves his family and is an immigrant in a new land. The creatures represent the dark things that he goes through while being so far away from his family. He also meets a new friend along the way though.

I don't know if I needed to step outside the box a little more to figure out what this book was telling me or if I just needed more background knowledge. But because this was a wordless book it made it very difficult for me to read. I would say this book would be good for junior high children and older as long as they are able to really use their imaginations. So if you want a book with terrific pictures that pretty much just come out of the page then pick up The Arrival by Shaun Tan.

Hogwash by Arthur Geisert

I picked up this book because of the crazy drawing on the front cover. What could this water contraption be used for and would those pigs up in the building be using it. My first guess was right. By the name of the book, Hogwash, I could tell that this thing on the front cover would be used to clean a bunch of pigs.

The simple but essential illustrations made the story really come to life. And since there are no words in this book it is up to you to fill in the blanks of the story with your imagination.

The story begins when a bunch of piglets go out and get all muddy and full of pain. The piglets' mom had to figure out some way to get all of them clean so she came up with a machine that resembled a big car wash. In no time at all, all of the piglets were soaped up, cleaned and hung to dry.

This book would be great for Kindergarten to second grade. It can show them that even if they have a big task at hand, like washing tons of piglets, they can get it done if they put their mind to it.

Where Is the Cake? by T.T. Khing

While first looking at the cover of this book, I thought to myself, what are those two little animals behind the tree going to do. It didn't take long to find out that they are going to cause a lot of trouble around the neighborhood.

In, Where Is the Cake? by T.T. Khing you find that two sneaky little animals steal a cake from a couple of dogs. The dogs chase them throughout the forest finding that many other people along the way are having problems of their own. By the end of the story something is wrong with every situation.

This is a cute story and good for children in primary grades because you really have to look at the pictures and pay attention to what is going on. There is many different little scenes going on but all in the same picture and since this is a wordless book you only have the pictures to go off of. Does the pig end up falling off the cliff? And do the two dogs ever get that cake back? I guess you will just have to look to find out.

Rainstorm by Barbara Lehman

A book that is filled with different worlds and many new friends all without saying a single word is how I would describe Rainstorm by Barbara Lehman. This is a great book that tells about a little boy who is all alone on a rainy night and ends up finding a whole new world because of it.

The story begins with a little boy who is playing with his ball and when chases it and ends up finding a secret key underneath the chair. He tries to open anything that he possibly could in the house but finds that a chest is the special thing. Inside the chest is a ladder and the little boy follows it. He finds a new world that has many new people. He makes sure that he gets home by supper time but he doesn't ever hesitate to go back whenever he can.

This is a good book for preschool to second graders to look at. While looking at it they can take their imaginations away to any place that they wish. There is a great story to it even though there is no reading to go along with it and the pictures are great too.