Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell

So whether the name of the island came from the reason that dolphins swim all around it or because it is in the shape of a dolphin lying on its side, Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell is a wonderful story. It is such a great story that it earned itself the John Newberry Medal.

I first encounted this story when I was in 6th grade and it was one of the first books that I remember reading and really enjoying. I thought of the story again in a class and thought that I would pick it up once again from the Curriculum Lab. Even though it was not my own copy, it brought back memories of our old and warn out book that we once had in our classroom.

The story begins with a 12 year old girl, Karana, who lives on the island with her tribe. Some bad people come to her island and end up killing her father and many other tribe members. Later a group of white men trying to save them comes but Karana ends up leaving the boat to go back because her little brother was left. Soon after, her brother dies from a pack of wild dogs and she ends up having to live on the island alone waiting for the ship to come back. Many moons go by and no ship comes. Karana makes friends with many animals on the island and also gets some other visiters throughout the book.

It was really nice to go back and revisit this story and once I started reading it I couldn't believe all the things that I had forgotten about it. It's a great read for kids in upper elementary and a great read aloud story also. It really makes you treasure all of the family and friends that you have.

The Gulps by Rosemary Wells

When looking at the colorful cover of The Gulps by Rosemary Wells, I see a bunch of fat bunny rabbits eating a bunch of junk food but what I didn't notice was the smaller rabbit in the bottom corner eating a carrot until after I had read the story.

I actually decided to pick up this story because it was illustrated by Marc Brown and I had always loved the Arthur books when I was younger.

The story is about a family that lives off of junk food. The youngest Gulp tries to tell the rest of the family that they need to rethink their eating habits but it does not work until the family's car breaks down because it cannot handle their weight. They go through a lot of fun activities and finally realize that the green stuff isn't so gross after all.

I would recommend this story for Preschool to first graders because it shows them that just eating junk food isn't good for you. And if they don't eat healthy, they won't be able to do all of the fun stuff that they want because they will be tired and lazy. The story has amazing pictures and a great story also that I think kids, teachers and parents will love.

Oliver and Amanda by Jean Van Leeuwen

Oliver and Amanda; Amanda Pig, First Grader by Jean Van Leeuwen is a great story for kids just starting a new grade or school for the first time.

I had always loved stories about animals who could talk when I was little. So when I saw this book on the shelf that was covered in little, colorful pigs I thought that it would be a great one to read.

The story starts with a little pig, Amanda, who is starting her first day of first grade and her friend, Oliver, is scared that they won't be able to find their room, that the big kids will be mean to them at recess, and that their teacher will be mean. Amanda runs into some obstacles but she always seems to get through them and she even ends up learning how to read.

I would recommend this book to Kindergarten to first grade because it is a good one to show children that school can be fun and even if some scary things come about that you can easily overcome them. It actually talks about real life situations that you will encounter at school, like getting a ball taken away and getting lost in a new place but all of it just encourages Amanda to keep going and make school the best that it can be.

Matilda Who Told Such Dreadful Lies... by Hilaire Belloc

When finding Matilda Who told Such Dreadful Lies... by Hilaire Belloc, I thought that it was about just plain old Matilda, a movie which I loved when I was little. I was quite wrong though. When pulling the book from the Curriculum Lab shelf I was amazed to see a mysterious and scary little girl on the cover. This alone made me wonder what the book was going to be about.

Matilda was a little girl who enjoyed getting into a lot of mischif. She called the police one day while her Aunt was out and said that there was a fire. The firemen came and tried to put out the fire in which was not there. After that everyone thought that she was a liar and later when there really was a fire no one believed her and left her house to burn.

The moral of the story, not to cry wolf, is a good thing for young children to learn but I didn't really like the story overall. The pictures were very gloomy and if I was a young kid they might have freaked me out a little bit. I would have much rather read a story about the real Matilda.

Goldilocks and the Three Martians by Stu Smith

I found Goldilocks and the Three Martians by Stu Smith in the Curriculum Lab. I decided to pick it up because Goldilocks was one of my favorite stories when I was little but this one was a little different because it was about martians instead of bears. I also thought that the illustrations on the front cover were creative and it made me wonder what would happen in the book.

The story turned out to be a lot like Goldilocks and the Three Bears except for the fact that Goldilocks decided to build a spaceship and go looking for a different planet because she did not like all of the chores that her mom was giving her. She realized that she did not like any of the other planets because they were too big, too hot, etc... Then she landed on Mars, where she found the martian's house, and she got into a lot more trouble than she had expected.

I thought that the story was a really good one because it can show you that even if you think your life is horrible, that you could always be somewhere worse. Goldilocks found this out the hard way and I believe that kids will enjoy the story while thinking that maybe doing some extra work every now and then isn't so bad.

So if anyone enjoyed Goldilocks and the Three Bears either now or when you were younger, I would really encourage you to pick up this book!

Scaredy Squirrel by Melanie Watt

I had first encountered Scaredy Squirrel by Melanie Watt in my Oral Interpretations class last semester. One of the girls in the class brought it in to read for one of her presentation and I thought that it was really cute.

Don't be fooled when you look at the cover thought. This squirrel is much more than meets the eye. Scaredy Squirrel starts off with an introduction of what he is afraid of which some of them are things that you would never think of. These include: tarantulas, green Martians, sharks and killer bees to name a few. It goes through his many routines of eating nuts and looking at his view because he is too scared to leave his tree. One day a swarm of "killer bees" comes and knocks his emergency kit out the window. He falls out of the window after it and soon relizes something fascinating about himself. After this he adds a little extra to his daily routine.

I think that this is a great story for kids and I can actually relate to it also. When I was little, I was very scared to go to new places or do new things, a lot like Scaredy Squirrel. I would do anything to stay in my comfort zone. As I explored more things, I realized that the outside world wasn't so bad. I think that this is a good story for kids to read too because it shows them that even if something goes wrong, it can bring about something very good and it shows this in a humorous way.

It is a fast and easy read and I think that the book would be best for Kindergarten to third graders. The pictures are also very creative and make the book even more interesting to read.