#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!!