Picture Book #19 Write-Up

Author: Lee Bennett Hopkins

Title: Alphathoughts

Illustrator: Marie Baggetta

Genre: Poetry

Subgenre: Picture Book

Theme: Learning the alphabet through catchy poems and pictures.

Primary/Secondary Characters: the narrator telling the poems

Award(s)/Publication Year: no awards presented/2003

Publishing Company: Word Song

Brief Summary/Book Usage: This picture book tells cute and catchy poems that help students learn the alphabet. Each letter comes with a fun poem children can follow along with to help them learn each letter they come across. The poems flow well with one another and each deal with animals and having fun outside. The pictures are so fun and colorful and they definitely help convey the poems that much better. I would definitely use this book in a kindergarten setting where the children could use the pictures and poems to better learn their alphabet. Also, going over poetry maybe in 1st grade this book could come into play while refreshing their minds on their alphabet and teaching them about poems at the same time.

Picture Book #18 Write-Up

Author: Golden MacDonald

Title: The Little Island

Illustrator: Leonard Weisgard

Genre: Fantasy

Subgenre: Picture Book

Theme: The beautiful details one comes across when visiting a local island.

Primary/Secondary Characters: the narrator and the animals found throughout the book

Award(s)/Publication Year: Caldecott Medal Winner/1993

Publishing Company: Doubleday Books for Young Readers

Brief Summary/Book Usage: This picture book depicts the beauties of a local island as told through the narrator's eyes. It tells about the animals that roam the island and the plants that grow on it as well. The book explains how the animals enjoy their time on the island and how beautiful the island is to visit to those who have not been before. The beauty of the flowers add to the peaceful feel of being right next to the ocean. I would use this book in my classroom when talking to students about geography and islands in general. The pictures show very vivid scenes of an island and I believe the students would enjoy the learning about the beauty an island exhibits.

Picture Book #17 Write-Up

Author: Jan Greenberg

Title: Ballet for Martha-Making Appalachian Spring

Illustrator: Sandra Jordan and Brian Floca

Genre: Biography

Subgenre: Picture Book

Theme: The biographies of a famous composer and choreographer who collaborate to create a great ballet production.

Primary/Secondary Characters: composer Aaron Copland, choreographer Martha Graham, musicians, and ballet dancers

Award(s)/Publication Year: Mildred L. Batchelder Winner/2010

Publishing Company: Flash Point (Roaring Brook Press)-A Neal Porter Book

Brief Summary/Book Usage: This book tells the biographies of the famous composer Aaron Copland and choreographer Martha Graham who put together the great ballet production of Appalachian Spring. It depicts the rehearsals and hard work each put into making this production wonderful. A great deal of work and practice went into creating the music and moves that the production included. It is a picture book that shows tons of pictures of everything that is going on throughout their lives during the production of this ballet. Overall, all the hard work pays off and the production Appalachian Spring was a great success. I would use this book in my classroom when teaching about famous composers or choreographers or even famous ballets. I think the students would enjoy all of the pictures this book includes along with the detailed descriptions of the final production.

Chapter Book #14 Write-Up

Author: Rita Williams-Garcia

Title: One Crazy Summer

Illustrator: N/A

Genre: Juvenile Fiction 

Subgenre: Drama

Theme: The value of sisterhood and motherhood and happiness found in being together as a family over time.

Primary/Secondary Characters: Cecile the mother, the father, and the three sisters Delphine, Vonetta, and Fern

Award(s)/Publication Year: Coretta Scott King Medal Award Winner, Newbery Honor Book, Scott O'Dell Prize for Historical Fiction/2010

Publishing Company: Harper Collins Publishers

Brief Summary/Book Usage: This book is about a mother named Cecile whole abandons her three girls Delphine, Vonetta, and Fern with their father when they are all still very young. As the oldest of the three, Delphine turns 11, their father feels during the upcoming summer it is time that the girls leave to meet their mother and spend time with her to maybe get to know her. The girls really do not want to go, but their father says it is for the best for them to get know their mother. When the girls meet their mother, Cecile, she hardly pays them any mind and seems bothered with them being there in the first place. One day to get the girls out of her hair she sends them downtown to a center where they learn about the Black Panther's Movement. The girls learned about the movement and throughout the summer meet some new friends and even contribute to the movement. Delphine, the oldest, serves as a mother figure to her two younger sisters. She makes sure they are taken care of and does the things she feels a mother would do, even though they never really had one. Throughout the summer, despite their mother's behavior, their mother gets to know them and the girls start to open up to her. Overall, this book depicts the struggles these girls deal with after their mother leaving them and then going to visit her and her not being the person they expected at all. They all grow due to these struggles and the value of sisterhood and motherhood is apparent. I would use this book in the classroom when discussing family issues, such as a parent leaving when a child is at a young age. Helping these children see that they are not only in that type of situation may make them feel better about dealing with the pain and hurt they feel. I believe this book is a great book to help students relate to real world problems they are dealing with or have dealt with in the past.

Chapter Book #13 Write-Up

Author: Jacqueline Woodson

Title: Peace, Locomotion

Illustrator: N/A

Genre: Juvenile Fiction

Subgenre: Family-Orientated 

Theme: The everyday struggles people face and overcome in their lives to achieve overall happiness.

Primary/Secondary Characters: Lonnie, Lili, his foster family, his teachers in school, and his friends

Award(s)/Publication Year: no awards presented/2009

Publishing Company: Puffin Books

Brief Summary/Book Usage: Lonnie and his younger sister Lili's parents died in a house fire and they are both now living in different foster homes with different families. Lonnie is an aspiring poet and author so he feels it is his duty to write letters to his sister Lili that he can give her once they reunite to describe the time that has passed since they have been separated. Lonnie's older foster brother has just returned from the Iraq War and is now missing a leg. Between the struggles Lonnie faces in school and missing his sister, to the issues his foster family faces due to taking care of the returning brother, they all look to peace and happiness to overcome the rough patches in their lives. I would use this book in my classroom when discussing family issues some of the students in the class may be dealing with or have dealt with in the past. This book can definitely relate to students in their own real world issues.

Chapter Book #12 Write-Up

Author: Carla Killough McClafferty
Title: Something Out of Nothing: Marie Curie and Radium

Illustrator: N/A

Genre: Biography

Subgenre: Informational

Theme: The life of Marie Curie and her accomplishments in science and discovering the element Radium.

Primary/Secondary Characters: Manya Sklodoska, better known as Marie Curie

Award(s)/Publication Year: Robert F. Sibert Winner/2006 

Publishing Company: Farrar Giroux Books

Brief Summary/Book Usage: This book is the biography of a woman named Manya Sklodowska, who is better known today as Marie Curie. The book depicts her work and accomplishments throughout her life, such as her discovery of the element Radium. She later received the Nobel Prize for the work she did on the discovery of this element. I would use this book in my classroom when discussing science or different elements and later introduce Marie Curie as the woman who discovered Radium. Also, when discussing the Nobel Prize, the students could learn about her and her contributing accomplishments to science and the world we live in today.

Chapter Book #11 Write-Up

Author: Sharon Creech

Title: Walk Two Moons

Illustrator: N/A

Genre: Juvenile Fiction

Subgenre: Drama

Theme: The story of a mother and her struggles she deals with as a mother and wive.

Primary/Secondary Characters: Sal, her parents, her grandparents, Phoebe, and Ben

Award(s)/Publication Year: Newbery Medal Winner/1994

Publishing Company: Harper Collins Publishers

Brief Summary/Book Usage: This book is narrated by a 13-year-old girl named Salamanca Tree Hiddle, or Sal for short. Sal's mother has recently left her father, and Sal's grandparents are taking her on a cross-country car trip to Lewiston, Idaho to see her. Sal loves nature and was very close to her mother before she left. On the trip, Sal entertains her grandparents by telling a story about her imaginative new friend in Euclid, Ohio, Phoebe Winterbottom, whose mother suddenly disappeared and left their family, and about Ben Finney with whom Sal begins a relationship. Over the course of the book, as Sal's story unfolds and their car travels north, she reveals more details about Phoebe's story, and why her story reminds Salamanca of her own. She has a very vivid imagination and dealing with her mother leaving is easier for her by created her stories. I would use this book in my classroom when teaching the students about family issues, such as a parent leaving and see what input they would have to include.

Chapter Book #10 Write-Up

Author: Emily Neville

Title: It's Like This, Cat

Illustrator: Emil Weiss

Genre: Juvenile Fiction

Subgenre: Drama

Theme: Finding happiness in the smaller things of life.

Primary/Secondary Characters: Dave, his parents, Cat, Kate, Tom, and Mary

Award(s)/Publication Year: Newbery Medal Winner/1963

Publishing Company: Harper and Row Publishers, Inc.

Brief Summary/Book Usage: The main character is Dave Mitchell, a 14-year-old who is growing up in New York City with his parents. His mother is asthmatic, her attacks worsened by the stress she feels when Dave and his father have their frequent  heated arguments. Dave's refuge after a fight with his father is with Kate, an elderly neighbor whose apartment is filled with the stray cats she loves. Dave adopts one of the cats, which he names "Cat", and takes it home. Cat brings both joy and adventure into Dave's life. There is never a dull moment when Dave is spending time with he beloved Cat. Cat's presence brings Dave into contact with several new people, including Tom, a troubled college-aged boy, and Mary, his first girlfriend. While this book examines Tom's growing maturity, the book also provides glimpses of several of New York's neighborhoods and attractions, from the Fulton Fish Market to the Bronx Zoo and Coney Island. I would use this book in the classroom when learning about different pets students may have. Also, while learning about different places of the United States, I could use this book to show off the many attractions New York City has to offer.

Chapter Book #9 Write-Up

Author: Will James

Title: Smoky the Cowhorse

Illustrator: N/A

Genre: Juvenile Fiction

Subgenre: Drama

Theme: Being able to trust after you have been hurt time after time.

Primary/Secondary Characters: Smoky and Clint

Award(s)/Publication Year: Newbery Medal Winner/1993

Publishing Company: Aladdin Paperbacks

Brief Summary/Book Usage: The story details the life of a horse in the western United States from his birth to his eventual death. It takes place after the 1910s, during which the West dies away and there are cars. Smoky is born in the wild, but is captured and trained by a cowboy named Clint. Clint is taken by Smoky's intelligence and spirit, and uses him as his personal steed. Under his guidance, Smoky soon becomes known as the best cowhorse around. Unfortunately, Smoky is among a number of horses stolen by a horse thief. When Smoky refuses to allow the thief to ride him, being loyal only to Clint, he is beaten over and over again in punishment. Developing an intense hatred for humans from this treatment, Smoky eventually attacks and kills the thief. When Smoky is eventually captured by local authorities, his now violent and aggressive demeanor prompts his use as a bucking bronco at a rodeo. Under the stage name of "The Cougar", Smoky becomes the most famous rodeo attraction in the South West, and people come from miles away to attempt to ride him. Years of performing at the rodeo eventually take their toll on his body and spirit, and he is left a shell of his former self. As he is no longer of any use as a rodeo horse, he is renamed "Cloudy" and used as a riding horse, and then later sold to an abusive man who starves him. It is during this time that Clint is finally reunited with Smoky. While in town on business, Clint spots and recognizes the horse. After having Smoky's current owner arrested for his acts of cruelty, Clint reclaims him and takes him home with him. Although Clint initially despairs at the condition Smoky is now in, his careful treatment of the horse eventually begins to show results. In the end, Smoky has completely recovered his former health and personality. I would use this book in the classroom while discussing the West in the early 1900s. I could also use this book to teach the children in my class about trust issues, loyalty, and overall animal cruelty issues they may need to be aware about.