#10 The Bracelet by Yoshiko Uchida

The Bracelet by Yoshiko Uchida took place in 1942 and a 7-year-old girl, Emi, was being taken from her home in California to a camp with her mother and sister. When she arrived at the camp she realized that the bracelet her best friend had given her was gone. As time went on she came to the conclusion that she did not need that token, she would simply carry her friend in her heart and mind at all times.

I was drawn to this book because of its descriptive and imaginative illustrations. This book is very powerful because of the dramatic message behind it. This would definitely be a good book to share with students during a unit in Social Studies. It is about a real life situation and how those type of disruptions make stronger families.

This book is very suitable to second and third grade students. Other books by Yoshiko Uchida are: The Best Bad Thing, Journey Home, Picture Bride, Jar of Dreams, Journey to Topaz, The Wise Old Woman, and many more.

#9 Mia by Laurence Yep

Mia by Laurence Yep is an American Girl book about figure skating and it was published in 2008. Mia is a 10-year-old girl who has 3 older brothers that play ice hockey. She often plays along with them and she is very good at hockey; however, she wants to give figure skating a shot. Mia starts training to become a figure skater and along the journey she learns many lessons about life. She learns how to be a good sport, the commitment of things, and the amount of hard work it takes to be a good skater.

I really wanted to read this book because I hear my students talking about the American Girl dolls and I thought it would be good to know a little about them. When I was little American Girl dolls and their books were very expensive, so I never did get the opportunity to read any of them. Stuff like this still interests me even as an adult.

This book is certainly an easy read and it would be suitable for all ages 9 and up. The following is a list of other books by Laurence Yep: When the Circus Came to Town, The Magic Paintbrush, Dragon's Gate, The Imp That Ate My Homework, and many more.

#8 Goin' Someplace Special by Patricia McKissack illustrated by Jerry Pinkney

Goin' Someplace Special by Patricia McKissack is illustrated by Jerry Pinkney. In this story a young African-American woman is going someplace special and she will need confidence to overcome the indignities of the Jim Crow laws of the 1950's. There is one place she can go and it holds the message that she loves to read. The message is chiseled in the stone across the front of the building...Public Library: All Are Welcome.

The author's simple text is very well complimented by the eye-catching illustrations by Jerry Pinkney. His beautifully expressive watercolor artwork helps to take readers back to the hurtful and unfair world of the 1950's segregated south.

Jerry Pinkney is a very honored and talented individual. He has been awarded 5 Caldecott Honor Awards, 5 Coretta Scott King Awards, and in 2006 he was given the New York Times Best Illustrated Award for Little Red Hen. Other books that have illustrated by Jerry Pinkney include: The Little Match Girl by Hans-Christian Andersen, Back Home By Gloria Pinkney, The Old African by Julius Lester, The Song of the Trees by Mildred Tayler, and many more.

#7 Sam and the Tigers by Julius Lester

Sam and the Tigers by Julius Lester and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney is a picture/story book that has wonderful illustrations. The reader could only look at the pictures and be able to tell the story exactly like it happened.

All of the characters (two people and the animals) in the story were named Sam because they lived in a city named Sam-sam-sa-mara. Sam, the little boy is getting ready to start school and he goes to different animals, who run clothing stands, to purchase his new outfit for school. Much to his mother's dislike, he chooses pink pants, a yellow shirt, a red jacket, and a green umbrella. His mother sends him to school dressed in the outfit that he picked out. On his way he was stopped by four different tigers who he gave his whole outfit to. Each tiger thought they were the finest which caused them to get into a fight. While the tigers were fighting Sam reclaimed his clothes.

I liked this book because of the expressive illustrations on the front of the book. They were so good I felt like they really spoke to me! My male students love books about animals, so I am naturally drawn to books that involve any type of animal.

Other books by Julius Lester:
Basketball Game
Let's Talk About Race
Shining
The Knee High Man & other tales
The Tales of Uncle Remus

#6 The Cat in the Hat & The Lorax by Dr. Suess

The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Suess has been read by the majority of children in today's world. The author of this book certainly has a way with word usage that draws children and adults into wanting to read more of his books.

A. A series of books that come to mind are The Magic School Bus series of books because they seem to draw student's attention much like the Dr. Suess book, The Cat in the Hat.

B. The Magic School Bus series are books based on the animated television series that is produced by Scholastic Productions, Inc. The movies are watched by all elementary students and help teach them about science. The books are also based on the movies and those are aligned to also help the students learn about science. The Magic School Bus series is filled with virtual field trips that Ms. Frizzle takes her class and the readers on. This series of books appeals to children because of the interesting material and display of content. Children know that it is not possible for a school bus to fly all over the place that Ms. Frizzle and her students travel to.


The Lorax by Dr. Suess was published in 1971. This is one of my new found favorite books by Dr. Suess because it has a moral to the story. The book does have some statements that are often considered controversial because of the environmental issues.

A. The Lorax is very educational because it teaches children the lesson that if people do not take notice and they keep cutting down trees then it will hurt our environment. It also shows that the environment and people depend on each other to survive. The Lorax does a good job of attempting to explain the effects of cutting down the trees to the characters in the book.

B. Yes, there are didactic children's books still published today. Most of them are published to teach the reader a lesson. The following are examples of didactic children's books: All By Myself by Aliki, Mama Always Comes Home by Karma Wilson and illustrated by Brooke Dyer, Fall Leaves Fall by Zoe Hall and illustrated by Shari Halpern. All of those books are wonderful books to have to help convey an important message that the author is conveying.

#5 Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs Book and Movie Review

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs by Judi Barrett has some great illustrations and the storyline was very unusual, but interesting to readers. The text of the book followed the unusual illustrations by being place at different locations on the page. Sometimes it was at the very top of the page and other times it was placed in columns much like a newspaper. The story was told from a little girl's point of view and the majority of the book was a tale-tell the grandfather told her and her brother, Henry, as a bedtime story. I thought the author did a great job taking the story from real life, to make believe, and then back again. When I read this book to my students I had them shut their eyes and listen as I read the book. This was to help them imagine the illustrations that were on the page and the events happening in the story.

After watching the movie I can honestly say that I was highly disappointed. I always considered Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs to be a children's book and the movie is rated PG. There were some curse words in the movie and the only real resemblance between the book and the movie is the title and that food falls from the sky in both. Flint Lockwood is the main character in the movie and he builds a machine that makes the food rain from the sky. The movie turned into a 'love' story between Flint and Sam (the weather girl) that I felt was unnecessary.

I would recommend the book for elementary students; however, I would not recommend the movie.

#5 Where the Wild Things Are Book and Movie Review

Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak was The Caldecott Medal book in 1964. The movie was just recently released on DVD on March , 2010. The book is very suitable for younger children, ages 5 and up; however, the movie is certainly not designed for that age group. I was greatly disappointed in the movie compared to the book. It was surprising to me that the author of the book would give permission for her work to be turned into a movie of this caliber. The movie was too graphic for small children and I thought it should have been more animated than so real life. The movie is rated PG and that prevents it from being shown at my school without parent permission.

The movie is approximately 100 minutes and when my nieces and I watched the movie it was very difficult to hold their attention. My oldest niece (6 years old) fell asleep, my youngest niece (3 years old) directed her attention to other things, and I certainly had a hard time watching the movie without getting bored.

The movie and the book are similar in the sense that Max does sail away to have a wild adventure with the monsters. He enjoys it for awhile, but then he leaves and does return home. Overall, I would highly recommend the book, but I would not do the same for the movie.

#5 The Polar Express Book and Movie Review

The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg was The Caldecott Medal book winner. This has always been one of my favorite books and I was so excited when they finally came out with the movie. The movie certainly did justice to the book!! At first, I was a little skeptical because most of the time children's movies are not anything like the books. The movie does go into more detail than the book, but that is to be expected.

I watched the movie in 3-D and the graphics were unbelievable. They were very detailed and it reminded me of the illustrations in the book. This movie is very suitable for elementary students.

All in all, I would have to give the book and the movie two thumbs up. They are both worth reading and watching or buying like I did.

#4 Caldecott Award vs. Newbery Award

The Caldecott Award has been given since 1938 and it is awarded in late January. This award is granted to a book that was written by a United States resident and published in the United States the previous year. The winning recipient is chosen because it is the most distinguished children's book for the previous year.

The Newbery Award has been presented since 1922 and it is awarded each year to the book that is an outstanding contribution to children's literature in the United States. The Newbery Award has to be published in English in the United States in order to receive the award.

In other words, the Newberry Award is designed for the author of the best contribution to children's literature while the Caldecott Award is made for the artist of the best children's picture book. After learning this information I don't know if one award is really better than the other. It completely depends on what type of book one chooses to write. I have always been familiar with the Caldecott Award and if I were an illustrator/author of children's literature I would most certainly want to win that award instead of the Newbery Award.

#3 Rosa by Nikki Giovanni

Rosa by Nikki Giovanni was a Coretta Scott King Award winning book and a Caldecott Honor Book. This book is a true representation of diversity.

This book is about Rosa Parks and it includes a brief look into her life and what events took place during her life to help change history. Rosa was an African-American woman who refused to move out of her seat on the bus one day as she headed home from her job as a seamstress. At that point, she was arrested for her actions on the bus. Her courageous and brave decision helped make our world what it is today.

I have always been an avid reader of any book related to the Civil Rights Movement. I shared this book with my students during the school year during our unit study of the civil rights. I think this is a very important topic for our children to understand. Freedom did not always come free for some people. The illustrations within this book are very appealing for the storyline.

#2 The Winter Room by Gary Paulsen

The Winter Room by Gary Paulsen is a Newbery Honor Book. This book is a very descriptive book about a family's life on the farm. The author describes everything so well it seems that you have been living with the family your whole life. I loved reading the book to find out what life on a farm would have been like during that period of time. The characters are very well developed and it tells about how family was more important than friends in those days, more so than today.

I like all of Gary Paulsen's work and this one just adds to list of his books that I will share with my students. He writes in a way that paints pictures in your mind so that you can actually feel what it was like to be there. The descriptive words and interesting plots he uses definitely make it hard to put this book down. In my opinion, the best part of this book is to read Uncle David's short stories.

Overall, I would highly recommend this book for elementary age students. It certainly was an easy read for me because it was set in the 1930's which made it interesting to read about ways life was back then.

#2 Show Way by Jacqueline Woodson

Show Way by Jacqueline Woodson was Newbery Honor Book in 2006. This book got it's title from a quilt that Soonie's great-grandmother quilted when she was a small child. She quilted the quilt because she was sold to a plantation and all she had with her was a needle and some fabric. Each piece of the quilt had a special meaning to her. Some of the pieces had secret meanings and some of the meanings were known. The quilt was essentially a map to freedom for her.

Soonie's mother educated her on the meaning of her great-grandmother's quilt. Soonie became very interested and her mother then taught her how to quilt. I was extremely drawn to this book because my grandmother loved to quilt and when I was little I would sit with her while she worked on a piece. I still have several quilts that she made and they are all very special to me for many different reasons.

This book is a must read for everyone!!! The story has such a powerful meaning that it is relative to all readers.

#1 First the Egg by Laura Vaccaro Seeger

First the Egg by Laura Vaccaro Seggar was a Caldecott Honor Book in 2008. The illustrations within this book are canvas paintings that have boon turned into book drawings. That creates a very interesting backdrop for the book. The author designed this book around transformations; from egg to chicken, seed to flower, caterpillar to butterfly.

I found this book very intriguing because of the title and illustrations. Although this a book for small children (preschool/kindergarten) reading levels, it could also be used within an art class. The cut outs on the pages gives the reader insight of what is to come next.

#1 Zen Shorts by Jon J. Muth

Zen Shorts by Jon J. Muth is a Caldecott Honor Book of 2006. After reading this book myself I decided to share it with a group of children. All of them thought the book was very enjoyable, but the older children seemed to understand the meaning of the book better than the others. This book has such a powerful meaning and that is difficult for an author to do when there are four stories tied into one book.

At the beginning of the book there are three siblings; Michael, Kari, and Addy. They all find a panda bear in the backyard holding a red umbrella. At various times each child goes and visits the bear and while they are there, Stillwater (the panda bear), tells them three stories. Each story represents a different Zen principle and holds a special place in Stillwater's heart.

I chose this book because of the illustrations on the front of the book. It was very appealing to a book that I would pick up for my nieces or my classroom students. After sharing this book with so many others and the great reviews I have heard I would certainly recommend reading this book!!

#1 The Three Pigs by David Weisner

The Three Pigs by David Wiesner was the winner of the Caldecott Medal in 2002. The title of this book is an original and that draws a reader's attention to the book. The illustration on the cover is outstanding and that certainly makes the reader want to know more.

As I started reading this book it began just like I remembered it as a child, then all of a sudden pigs-more realistic ones-started appearing outside the funny-paper panels of the story with the wolf. They start walking on the panels and folding them up into paper airplanes. The pigs then start crash landing into other stories. After visiting several other stories, the pigs and their new friends decide it's time to unfold all of those original story panels and return home.

The Three Pigs is a book you can stand back from and observe as a whole, as a complete work of art. Then you can move in closer and observe the art involved within. This book opened me up to a broader way of looking at art and literature, but I don't think it would do the same in a classroom. I found it very difficult to follow along with the story and I think that elementary students would find it difficult as well.

#1 What Do You Do With a Tail Like This? by Steve Jenkins & Robin Page

What Do You Do With a Tail Like This? was a Caldecott Honor Award Winning Book in 2004. Within this book the reader is shown a group of five similar body parts-noses, ears, tails, feet and mouths-and asked to guess which animal each belongs to. In Language class, we were discussions predictions and the various methods to make a prediction about something. At the beginning of the lesson some students found it difficult to make predictions, so at that moment I introduced this book. After reading the book to 22 second graders it was interesting to hear their predictions of each animal.

The authors, Steve Jenkins and Robin Page, did a phenomenal job with the illustrations of the animals. The answers are on the following page with a picture of the whole animal and a brief description of how each animal uses that body part in a slightly different way. I thought it was very creative that they used the last four pages of the book for additional notes on each animal.

This is definitely a book that I have always noticed in the bookstore and wondered what it was about. A colleague had the book in her classroom library and I asked to borrow the book so I could solve the mystery. After reading the book I absolutely knew this was a book designed for all children; male or female. I thoroughly enjoyed the book so much that I decided to buy a copy of the book for my classroom.

#1 The House in the Night by Susan Marie Swanson

The House in the Night by Susan Marie Swanson was a Caldecott Medal Award Winning Book in 2009. This particular book includes only three colors; black, white, and gold/yellow. After reading the book it appears to be written in a poem format. There are only a few words per page within this book. It starts with the following sentence, "Here is a key to the house." The story then proceeds to talk about the house, the sun, the moon, a bird's song, and much more.

I liked the way the book started off with the exchange of the key to the house and then as the book ends the house is brought into the book again. I was naturally drawn to this book because it is a Caldecott Award Winning book, but the illustrations were breath taking.