There was an Old Monster! By Rebecca, Adrian, and Ed Emberley
Preschool-grade 2
This book is a modern version of the book: There was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly. It was identical to the book except for in this story it was a monster swallowing things. I really liked There was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly when I was younger, but I didn’t care for this one as much. It was a good book, but I couldn’t help but think about the original. It’s kind of like how there are a ton of versions of Cinderella but usually the original one you read is your favorite.
The illustrations were cool because it was always on a black background and so the colors that were used were neon colors. The pictures took up the entire page which I always think is more attractive when reading picture books. The print was large, and the font kind of reminded me of a Halloween writing, which matches the theme of the monster.
This story is neat because the words flow so you can sing it while you are reading it. Also written on the cover it says you can download the song off line, and it gives you a website so it is an interactive book too.
Friday, September 4, 2009
Clang! Clang! Beep! Beep! Listen to the City
Clang! Clang! Beep! Beep! Listen to the City by Robert Burleigh
Ages 3-7
I think this would be a great book to use in the classroom if you are talking about senses. It concentrates on our hearing sense by listening to the world around us. We don’t realize that we hear these things everyday, but if we made our self stop and listen we would most definitely hear a lot of the same noises from in this book. It is a very simple word book. There are about six words on each page and they rhyme to make it flow nicely.
The noise words are written in very large text next to the object that makes the noise. For example, one page says “Bridge arms lifting, Barges drifting.” Then “Clang Clang” is written over by a picture of the barge in the water. Putting sounds and their objects together I think make it easier for the reader.
The illustrations in the book took up the whole page. The pictures were all done graphically on the computer, which gives it a very modern appeal to the book. I thought there was great use of bold colors.
Ages 3-7
I think this would be a great book to use in the classroom if you are talking about senses. It concentrates on our hearing sense by listening to the world around us. We don’t realize that we hear these things everyday, but if we made our self stop and listen we would most definitely hear a lot of the same noises from in this book. It is a very simple word book. There are about six words on each page and they rhyme to make it flow nicely.
The noise words are written in very large text next to the object that makes the noise. For example, one page says “Bridge arms lifting, Barges drifting.” Then “Clang Clang” is written over by a picture of the barge in the water. Putting sounds and their objects together I think make it easier for the reader.
The illustrations in the book took up the whole page. The pictures were all done graphically on the computer, which gives it a very modern appeal to the book. I thought there was great use of bold colors.
Recycle Everyday!
Recycle Everyday! By Nancy Elizabeth Wallace
Grades K-2
This is a fantastic book for the classroom. The characters were bunnies, and they had such unique names like Minna, and Pip. The point of the book was to learn how to recycle. It was very informational and gave a multitude of easy examples that even kids could do. It also gave the definition in simple terms of recycling so kids can learn what it is and then how to do it.
This is also a great book for learning the days of the week. It says on Monday this happened and on Tuesday this happened, and each time there is a day of the week it is bolded so that it stands out.
When Minna attends school to show off her poster of how she recycles you see the whole class of bunnies and surprising to me all of the bunnies are different colors. There are black, grey, and many shades of brown ones. To have diversity with characters even though they are bunnies is a positive for a well rounded children’s book.
I really liked the pictures in this book while I was reading it and then at the end I come to find out it was all made by recycle materials such as paper bags, inside of an envelopes, and bar code labels. What a fantastic idea for a kid’s book!
In addition to all of the great ideas inside of the book, at the end there is a recycling game and activity idea for kids. This book makes an easy recycling unit for a teacher. This is an awesome book!
Grades K-2
This is a fantastic book for the classroom. The characters were bunnies, and they had such unique names like Minna, and Pip. The point of the book was to learn how to recycle. It was very informational and gave a multitude of easy examples that even kids could do. It also gave the definition in simple terms of recycling so kids can learn what it is and then how to do it.
This is also a great book for learning the days of the week. It says on Monday this happened and on Tuesday this happened, and each time there is a day of the week it is bolded so that it stands out.
When Minna attends school to show off her poster of how she recycles you see the whole class of bunnies and surprising to me all of the bunnies are different colors. There are black, grey, and many shades of brown ones. To have diversity with characters even though they are bunnies is a positive for a well rounded children’s book.
I really liked the pictures in this book while I was reading it and then at the end I come to find out it was all made by recycle materials such as paper bags, inside of an envelopes, and bar code labels. What a fantastic idea for a kid’s book!
In addition to all of the great ideas inside of the book, at the end there is a recycling game and activity idea for kids. This book makes an easy recycling unit for a teacher. This is an awesome book!
Arthur and the Popularity Test
Series novel: Arthur and the Popularity Test #12 by Stephen Krensky
Ages 7-9
The characters in the book bring a bunch of stuff from home to school in order to make music with. Someone accidentally brings a magazine in their bag from their teenage sister. The magazine is called popular girl and two of the girls end up taking a quiz about how likable they are. The results of the girls quiz were that one draws too much attention to herself and the other not enough which means neither are likable. They end up trying to change the way they act so that they will be likable when they are teenagers. All of their friends notice these changes and are not happy with them. They like their friends the way they were before they took the quiz. This book shares a good message for kids about being yourself no matter what. Even though it may seem cool to act one way, it’s better to stay what you’re comfortable with and not change for anyone.
I really liked the descriptions in this book, it gets you involved in the story right away. It was also easy to follow along with which is needed for a beginning reader of chapter books. I think these characters were created well, they each have very distinct personalities. I think that is a necessity for books in a series. The characters in each book are the things that connect all of the books in the series together. If the characters aren’t created well so you can visually see them in the readers head then the author won’t have a successful series.
Ages 7-9
The characters in the book bring a bunch of stuff from home to school in order to make music with. Someone accidentally brings a magazine in their bag from their teenage sister. The magazine is called popular girl and two of the girls end up taking a quiz about how likable they are. The results of the girls quiz were that one draws too much attention to herself and the other not enough which means neither are likable. They end up trying to change the way they act so that they will be likable when they are teenagers. All of their friends notice these changes and are not happy with them. They like their friends the way they were before they took the quiz. This book shares a good message for kids about being yourself no matter what. Even though it may seem cool to act one way, it’s better to stay what you’re comfortable with and not change for anyone.
I really liked the descriptions in this book, it gets you involved in the story right away. It was also easy to follow along with which is needed for a beginning reader of chapter books. I think these characters were created well, they each have very distinct personalities. I think that is a necessity for books in a series. The characters in each book are the things that connect all of the books in the series together. If the characters aren’t created well so you can visually see them in the readers head then the author won’t have a successful series.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
The Fourth Floor Twins and the Fish Snitch Mystery
Chapter book:
The Fourth Floor Twins and the Fish Snitch Mystery by David A. Adler and illustrated by Irene Trivas
Ages 7-10
I found things that I liked and disliked in this chapter book. I loved that the kids in the book had huge imaginations, like most kids do. Their extravagant reasoning’s for why things were happening was amusing for me. I also liked that this book was a mystery. I think mystery books are good for kid’s minds. They make them analyze, think, and predict about what is going to happen. I think it really engages a child into the reading.
I noticed there were an awful lot of quotations by the characters. I don’t know if this is a common theme in children’s chapter books, but I felt as though I have never read a book with so many quotations. There were also a lot of characters which could be confusing for a beginning reader of chapter books. I believe this book is part of a series, so maybe if a student had read multiple books with these characters they would be able to keep them straight easier.
The kids in the book were very influenced by what they had seen in the media which is a reality of children. The kids watched a movie called Tuna Fish Snitch which was about criminals who were neighbors. After watching the movie the children assumed their neighbors were criminals, simply for the fact that they were their neighbors. They started coming up with ways that their neighbors were acting weird. Also, newspapers on door steps started to go missing which was again blamed on the neighbors. I think acting out movies and t.v. shows are something that all kids do at some point in time, so would be able to relate well to this story.
The Fourth Floor Twins and the Fish Snitch Mystery by David A. Adler and illustrated by Irene Trivas
Ages 7-10
I found things that I liked and disliked in this chapter book. I loved that the kids in the book had huge imaginations, like most kids do. Their extravagant reasoning’s for why things were happening was amusing for me. I also liked that this book was a mystery. I think mystery books are good for kid’s minds. They make them analyze, think, and predict about what is going to happen. I think it really engages a child into the reading.
I noticed there were an awful lot of quotations by the characters. I don’t know if this is a common theme in children’s chapter books, but I felt as though I have never read a book with so many quotations. There were also a lot of characters which could be confusing for a beginning reader of chapter books. I believe this book is part of a series, so maybe if a student had read multiple books with these characters they would be able to keep them straight easier.
The kids in the book were very influenced by what they had seen in the media which is a reality of children. The kids watched a movie called Tuna Fish Snitch which was about criminals who were neighbors. After watching the movie the children assumed their neighbors were criminals, simply for the fact that they were their neighbors. They started coming up with ways that their neighbors were acting weird. Also, newspapers on door steps started to go missing which was again blamed on the neighbors. I think acting out movies and t.v. shows are something that all kids do at some point in time, so would be able to relate well to this story.
Ten Rosy Roses
Ten Rosy Roses by Eve Meriam and illustrations by Julia Gorton
I really enjoyed this book. The words rhymed which makes the reading flow easier for beginning readers. The diversity in this book was noticeable. There were kids with all different hair colors, skin tones, and dress. The pictures took up the entire page which I think made the book more interesting, however the pictures were very simple, there was not a lot of detail.
This book is great for learning numbers one through ten. I liked that there was a visual count of roses on each page. This encourages interaction with the book because kids can count along if they choose to.
The story started off with ten roses and on each page a child takes one rose. By the end when there are no more roses there is a picture of all of the students giving a bouquet of ten roses to their teacher. I think this is a thoughtful story that gives off the positive message of giving and diversity.
I really enjoyed this book. The words rhymed which makes the reading flow easier for beginning readers. The diversity in this book was noticeable. There were kids with all different hair colors, skin tones, and dress. The pictures took up the entire page which I think made the book more interesting, however the pictures were very simple, there was not a lot of detail.
This book is great for learning numbers one through ten. I liked that there was a visual count of roses on each page. This encourages interaction with the book because kids can count along if they choose to.
The story started off with ten roses and on each page a child takes one rose. By the end when there are no more roses there is a picture of all of the students giving a bouquet of ten roses to their teacher. I think this is a thoughtful story that gives off the positive message of giving and diversity.
Whatever
Whatever by William Bee
All ages
The book Whatever was not a very appealing book to me. I think it gives off the wrong message to children and the pages are very plain. Most of the pages are completely white with a simple picture. The sentences are short and there are only about five words maximum on each page.
The child in the book is named Billy, and Billy’s dad is trying to make Billy happy. He shows Billy a multitude of things and all Billy replies with is “Whatever.” I don’t think this is a good phrase to teach young kids. This is especially rude because he is saying this multiple times to his father. Towards the end of the book Billy’s dad tries to scare him with a hungry tiger and Billy again says, “Whatever.” The tiger then eats Billy, starts walking away, and the dad simply says “Whatever.” This to me gives off the impression that families don’t care for each other.
All ages
The book Whatever was not a very appealing book to me. I think it gives off the wrong message to children and the pages are very plain. Most of the pages are completely white with a simple picture. The sentences are short and there are only about five words maximum on each page.
The child in the book is named Billy, and Billy’s dad is trying to make Billy happy. He shows Billy a multitude of things and all Billy replies with is “Whatever.” I don’t think this is a good phrase to teach young kids. This is especially rude because he is saying this multiple times to his father. Towards the end of the book Billy’s dad tries to scare him with a hungry tiger and Billy again says, “Whatever.” The tiger then eats Billy, starts walking away, and the dad simply says “Whatever.” This to me gives off the impression that families don’t care for each other.
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