Tuesday

Title: Tuesday

Author: David Wiesner

Illustrator: David Wiesner

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Company

http://www.hmhbooks.com/wiesner/

Publication Date: 1991

Genre: Wordless Picture Book

Audience: All ages

Awards: Caldecott Medal; ALA, Notable Children's Book; American Bookseller - Pick of the Lists; Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, Blue Ribbon; Kentucky Blue Ribbon Award; Library of Congress, Best Books for Children; New York Public Library, 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing; Parenting Magazine, Ten Best Books of the Year; Publishers Weekly, Best Books of the Year; School Library Journal, Best Books of the Year; & Young Hoosier Picture Book Award.

Overview: This book shows the story of a rather intriguing Tuesday when some frogs decided to go for a fly around town, leaving the townsfolk absolutely baffled.

Activities: An activity that a teacher could do with some younger students is to have them pick any animal and draw that animal & what it would do if it went out flying for a night (ex. if fish could fly, what would they do & where would they go).

Reviewer's Name: Alexi Lemper

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

Title: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

Author: Lyman Frank Baum

Illustrator: W.W. Denslow

Publisher: George M. Hill Company

Publication Date: 1900

Genre: Fantasy

Audience: Gr. 6-8 (Young Adult)

Overview: This chapter book tells the well known story of Dorothy Gale. After she and her dog, Toto, are caught in a cyclone, they land themselves in a strange yet wonderful world called Oz. Upon their arrival, their house lands on the Wicked Witch of the East, killing her and freeing Munchkin Land. After a run in with the dreaded Wicked Witch of the West, Glinda the Good comes to her rescue and tells her to go to the Emerald City to ask the legendary Wizard of Oz to help her get home. Along the way, Dorothy and Toto meet up with a lovable Scarecrow, the sweet Tin Woodsman, and the not so ferocious Cowardly Lion, and embark on the adventure of a lifetime.

Activity: There are several writing related activities that can be done with a story like this. For instance, a teacher could have his or her students write what they think Oz looks like or what they think each of the main characters look like (Dorothy, Toto, Glinda, The Wicked Witch of the West, Scarecrow, Tin Woodsman, Cowardly Lion, and all the different personas of the infamous Wizard of Oz). The teacher could also work with an art teacher to create a "What do you think Oz would look like" art project using different drawing techniques or different mediums.

Reviewer’s Name: Alexi Lemper

Velma Gratch and the Way Cool Butterfly

Title: Velma Gratch & the Way Cool Butterfly
Author: Alan Madison
Illustrator: Kevin Hawkes
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade Books http://www.randomhouse.com/kids/about/imprints.html
Publication Date: 2007
Genre: Science and Nature
Audience: Gr. 3-5
Overview: This story about a young girl who is the youngest of three sisters tells about her journey to find something she is passionate about and her fascination with a butterfly that does not leave her shoulder for an extended period of time. The story deals with family relationships because Velma is upset that she has not found her niche in life that she wants to be known for like her sisters have. It also teaches a good science lesson about butterflies because it uses terms such as "metamorphosis" and "migration." In the end, Velma achieves what she unintentionally sent out to do, become recognized for a particular interest, which is butterflies.
Activity: I think this would be a great book to introduce a science lesson to the class, as a hook. You could use this book for a CSR activity by having small groups read the story and discuss their background knowledge (prior to reading), discuss their clicks and clunks as they read, and review any new learned information and ask questions about what they read.
Reviewer's Name: Moira Schafle

The Lion and the Mouse

Title: The Lion and the Mouse
Illustrator: Jerry Pinkney
Publisher: Hatchett Book Group, Inc. http://www.hachettebookgroup.com/
Publication Date: 2009
Genre: Wordless Picture Book
Audience: All
Awards: The Caldecott Medal
Overview: This infamous Aesop fable tells the tale of the growing friendship between two unlikely characters, a proud lion and a cunning mouse. The mouse finds himself in a compromising situation as he tries to escape from predators and seeks safety on the back of a lion. The lion is initially stunned by the mouse's bravery and automatically attempts to scare him off, which turns out to be harder than he had thought. However, after the mouse and the lion go their separate ways, the lion finds himself in his own compromising situation when he trying to be captured by humans, and the mouse comes to his rescue to help him escape out of the net by chewing through it. At the end, the lion's family joins together with the mouse's family in harmony and they work together to protect each other from all sorts of different predators.
Activity: I think a good activity for this book would be to have the students create their own story or words to the illustrations to help improve their creative development and draw inferences and assumptions based solely on pictures.
Reviewers Name: Moira Schafle

The Twelve Princesses

Title: The Twelve Princesses

Author: Gordon Fitchett

Publisher: Phyllis Fogelman Books

http:/www.penguinputnam.com

Publication Date: 2000

Genre: Fairy Tale

Audience: Grades 3- Grade 5

Overview: The king and queen have a problem with their Twelve Princesses. They all go to bed in a locked room and when they wake up in the morning all their shoes are worn out, with holes in them and broken heels and no one knows how it happened. The king made it known that if anyone could discover what happened that made the princesses shoes worn out, he could marry whichever princess he liked best and would become king. But if he did not succeed after three days and three nights he would be put to death. Read to find out if the king and queen ever figured out where the princesses went at night.

Activity: One of the activities that the teacher can do is to pause the story while reading and have the students either write or draw their prediction of why the princesses shoes are all worn out when they wake up in the morning from their locked room.

Reviewer's Name: Jennifer Senkevich

When My Parents Forgot How to Be Friends

Title: When My Parents Forgot How to Be Friends
Author: Jennifer Moore-Mallinos
Illustrator: Marta Fabrega
Publisher: Barron's Educational Series, Inc.
http://barronseduc.com/
Publication Date: 2005
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Audience: Gr 3-5
Overview: The purpose of this book is to acknowledge some of the concerns and anxieties children have during their parent's divorce, and help children realize that their parents still love and support them. The character in this book is a little girl who expresses her fears and concerns as she realizes her parents are not friends anymore. The character's parents in the story make sure the little girl knows that she is still loved, that it is not her fault, and they are still a family. Even though the little girl experiences changes, she realizes they are not bad at all, and her parents still support and love her.
Activity: This book would be appropriate for any child going through their parents splitting up. It is important for the child to be able to express their feelings towards the situation, and I think this book is a great way to start. This book could also be useful for parents dealing with their divorce to let their children know they still love and support them. This book could also be used to express to students that not every home situation is the same, that sometimes parents live together and apart.
Reviewer's Name: Rachel Bartee

The Red Book

Title: The Red Book
Author/Illustrator: Barbara Lehman
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Company
http://www.hmhco.com/
Publication Date: 2004
Genre: Wordless Picture Book
Audience: PreK-5th
Awards: Caldecott Honor Book
Overview: This book is full of illustrations that tell a story about a magical red book that falls into the hands of a little girl. The book allows the girl to experience adventures and other parts of the world that she has never seen before. The book eventually leads the girl to meeting a new friend in a different place. The story ends but the journey continues.
Activity: Because this book contains no words, I was thinking this book could be used to teach students about the different meanings of certain elements in pictures (shapes, colors, location, shading, lines, style, etc). By the students learning different meanings of these elements, they can learn to approach the meaning and detail of the story in a unique way. This will further increase the students comprehension of the story. Another activity to go along with this could be the students creating their own picture of the story, along with a written response explaining their illustration and the meaning behind the elements they included.
Reviewer's Name: Rachel Bartee