The Class Trip from the Black Lagoon by Mike Thaler

The Class Trip from the Black Lagoon by Mike Thaler

Thaler, M. (2002). The Class Trip from the Black Lagoon. New York, NY: Scholastic Inc.

Modern Fantasy; Chapter Book

         This book is absolutely humorous! The main character is trying to figure out what is going to happen on a class field trip, and goes out on a limb describing the most farfetched ideas. These ideas stretch from falling out of a plane being graded on your landing, getting eaten by a lion, and aliens or monster-type creatures as the bus driver and teacher. In the end, the character was dreaming all these fantasy ideas, and wakes up to attend the actual field trip that is quite normal.
        Students love the fact that they get to go on field trips, however, many have their own formed ideas about what is going to happen based off experience or what someone else has told them. Some may be frightened, some excited, and some not knowing what to expect. This book would be a great way to introduce the thought of going on a class field trip for the first time. It would help those frightened children relax, helping them get excited about the trip as well. Students can share what they think will occur on the trip, while I give my expectations for them on the trip. I could open up a discussion about what kind of educational field trips they would like to go on that relate to what they have been learning in class. I think this book opens up a great conversation about field trips, yet in a fun and humorous manner. 

Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom by Carole Boston Weatherford

Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom by Carole Boston Weatherford

Weatherford, C.B. (2006). Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom. New York, NY: Hyperion Books for Children.

Multicultural Literature; Nonfiction Biography or Historical Fiction; Caldecott Honor Award; Coretta Scott King Award
          Harriet Tubman was the true Moses during the slavery days in America, leading her people to freedom in the northern part of the country.  Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom tells Harriet's heroic adventure of the Underground Railroad through a spiritual themed story. Throughout the book it is said that God is speaking to Harriet as she makes her decisions and takes her dangerous actions to help set her people free. The inside of the book even gives a short biography about Harriet and her brave achievements. It worries me a little to read this book in a public classroom with the strong religious references throughout the book, however it is fine to do so as long as the religious references and preferences are not pushed upon the children for them to believe. I would mainly focus on the reference to history with talk about slavery, the Underground Railroad, and abolitionists. I would also like to bring in the culture of African Americans, talking about the hymns that were sung by the slaves, the connection of those hymns to the secret codes of escaping, and how they are sung in African American churches in today's world. This book would connect nicely to the book about Abraham Lincoln (When Abraham Talked to the Trees) with his issue of the Emancipation Proclamation, and the talk about Civil Rights later in the unit, involving segregation and discrimination represented in the book The Golden Cadillac. I would not only stop at talking about Harriet Tubman, but also other famous slaves such as Nat Turner and Frederick Douglass.

Cinderlily: The Floral Fairy Tale by David Ellwand & Christine Tagg

Cinderlily: The Floral Fairy Tale by David Ellwand & Christine Tagg

Ellwand, D. & Tagg, C. (2003). Cinderlily: The Floral Fairy Tale. Cambridge, MA: Candlewick Press.

Traditional Literature

                    This is such a cute verison of the Cinderella story. It is written as a play with differnt types of flowers playing the roles of the various Cinderella story characters. The lily is Cinderella, or Cinderlily, who in the end has the matching petal that was left after she rushed from dancing with the prince flower. The story models the orignial Cinderella story, only with the use of flowers as charaters and in the form of a play. Students would love to come up with their own version of the Cinderella story, using whatever characters they can think of. This gives students a chance to work on their creative writing skills and become familiar with the styles of traditional literature. 

The Lotus Seed by Sherry Garland

The Lotus Seed by Sherry Garland

Garland, S. (1993). The Lotus Seed. Orlando, FL: Harcourt Inc.

International Literature; Historical Fiction; Reading Rainbow Book

             The Lotus Seed begins in the country of Vietnam during the war, and ends up in America. The family in the book are forced to move from Vietnam to America, in order to escape the dangers of the war. They endure hardships and the boat over, and in this new strange place when trying to adjust. The grandmother, who was younger at the time of the migration, takes the seeds from a lotus flower in Vietnam with her on her journey to remember her home land. One of her grandchildren decides to plan this seed in the front yard of their home in America, troubling the grandmother because she then had nothing to remember Vietnam. However, the seeds begin to sprout, and eventually a lotus flower has bloomed. The grandmother is overjoyed, taking the seeds from the new lotus plant and handing them to her grandchildren. She tells them to pass the seeds down, generation to generation, with each child planting a lotus flower to collect seeds for the next. All of this to help them remember their family history and culture back in Vietnam, to have a piece of it.
              With the percentage of immigrants in the United States rising every year, it is highly likely I will have students in my classroom who are either immigrants to America, or who parents are. I think that reading this book would make them feel a bit more comfortable about talking to me about how to cope with being in a new country. Also, with discussion, students who are native to this country may think of ways to make the non-native students feel welcomed. This not only applies to students from other countries, but also students from other states, counties, and schools, if they are new to the school they will feel some type of anxiety. I would also read this book during a unit on the Vietnam War in social studies, adding a touching story to the lesson that may be full of facts and details. 

When Abraham Talked to the Trees by Elizabeth Van Steenwyk

When Abraham Talked to the Trees by Elizabeth Van Steenwyk

Van Steenwyk, E. (2000). When Abraham Talked to the Trees. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Books.

Nonfiction Biography

          This book revisits the life of the renowned Abraham Lincoln as an adolscent, growing into the persona to become the 16th president of the United States of America. In the book, young Abraham was very nervous when it came to speaking out, however he had so many inspiring things to say. When he did build up the courage speak on them, he became so comfortable that he wouldn't stop, even when no one was listening anymore. Abrham conintued to voice his opinion on the imporatance of the subject, even though he was merely talking to the trees that were the only things left around him. Even though no one wanted to listen to him as an adolscent, Abraham grew to become the presient of this country, becoming one of the most important people for folks to pay attention to when speaking.
           Not only does this book open up a discussion about the wonders of the 16th president and his accomplishments, but it also speaks inspiration to students. It gets them thinking about how influential they can be, even at a young age. How they can start now to prepare to be an important person to this country and this world later in life. I would read this book during a social studies unit that includes Abraham Lincoln, just to provide a perspective about Lincoln, other than of him being president. Children always learn about his great accomplishments and dealings as the president, including his issue of the Emancipation Proclamation and involvement in the 13th Amendment abolishing slavery, however, they rarely see him as a young adolescent growing into that role. This book would provide that opportunity in my classroom. 

Abraham Lincoln Voki 

Stay Away from Simon! By Carol Carrick

Stay Away from Simon! By Carol Carrick

Carrick, C. (1985). Stay Away from Simon! New York, NY: Clarion Books- Houghton Mifflin Company.

Realistic Fiction; International Literature; Disabilities; Chapter Book
          This book about Lucy and others' fear towards Simon is set in New England. Simon is a man who is mentally challenged, and with this story set back in time, the awareness of this disability is low. All the children are afraid of Simon, thinking his abnormal tendencies relate to him possibly hurting them. A snow storm approaches the town one day and the students must leave school early. Lucy and her brother are walking home when they notice Simon following them. Afraid that Simon would hurt them, Lucy decides to take them off the normal path and track through the woods to lose him. Lucy and her brother end up lost and fight hard against the snow storm, almost losing the battle. However, Simon comes along and carries them to safety, where their father finds them. Lucy doesn't realize that if it wasn't for Simon rescuing them, they would have possibly died, until after talking with her father and understanding Simon's condition and true persona. In the end she goes to thank him and tries to make a connection to him.
       Kids may see people with a disability as abnormal or weird, and may treat them different based off their conditions. I think this book would be a great introduction for talking about the awareness of our differences and treating everyone equally. We could talk about the diversity of our class, our school, and our neighborhoods, giving ideas for how to make ourselves and others aware of the issue of treating people different because of their disability. Hopefully students would walk away feeling as if they would embrace the differences shown between them and their peers. 

The Golden Cadillac by Mildred D. Taylor

The Golden Cadillac by Mildred D. Taylor

Taylor, M.D. (1987). The Golden Cadillac. New York, NY: Dial Books.

Multicultural Literature; Historical Fiction
           The Golden Cadillac is an amazing book that illustrates the segregation and discrimination that took place in the South back in late 1800's and early to mid 1900's. 'Lois, the young girl and main character in the book, is excited when her father comes home with a brand new gold Cadillac, even though her mother was very upset about it. The family lived up north in the state of Ohio, and her father was very proud of his decision with purchasing the vehicle. The family took a trip down South to visit family members in the new gold Cadillac. Back in those days, a black person driving a brand new Cadillac down South was almost unheard of. With the discrimination so challenging there, the family was stopped and questioned based on the fact that it was a black man driving the nice car in the South. The father ultimately decided to get rid of the car when the family returned back to Ohio, not wanting to cause any problems that would disconnect their family.
          This book has many underlying concepts including discrimination, segregation threw the Jim Crow Laws, and Civil Rights. I've seen fifth graders reading this book and questioning the negative actions that took place throughout. I would love to have my students read this book and discuss what happened and analyze why those things happened. I would also want them to look at the types of discrimination happening back in those times and the targeted groups, comparing it to the types of discrimination and targeted groups of this day and age. I believe students can and will have a deep and meaningful discussion centered around this book and the issues highlighted in this book.

Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters: an African Tale by John Steptoe

Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters: an African Tale by John Steptoe

Steptoe, J. (1987). Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters: an African Tale. New York, NY: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books.

International Literature; Folk Literature; Caldecott Honor Award

                      This African folk tale involves the story of two sisters who are both in the running for becoming the wife of a prince. Nyasha was the sweet daughter, always kind and considerate, while Manyara is selfish and mean. Mufaro, their father, has no idea how evil Manyara can be towards her sister. In order to be chosen as the prince's wife, Manyara tricked her sister and set off for the palace late at night to beat her sister there. In the end, the prince told Manyara that she is very evil and does not deserve to be his wife, ultimately choosing Nyasha as his wife and Manyara as the palace servant. The moral of the story is for people to be kind and considerate and good things will happen for you, and if you are mean you will not prosper. This story is the African version of the well-known traditional story of Cinderella, set in South Africa. I would love to get my students to create their own folk tale first based off their own family culture at home, then one with a cultural theme of another country or region they are unfamiliar with. This would give students a chance to become familiar with the outline of folk tales and literature, the culture of their peers, and the culture of other regions and countries around the world. 

The Spiderwick Chronicles: Care and Feeding of Sprites by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black

The Spiderwick Chronicles: Care and Feeding of Sprites by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black

Black, H. & DiTerlizzi, T. (2006). The Spiderwick Chronicles: Care and Feeding of Sprites. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster.

Modern Fantasy

                     Different plants require special treatment and different kinds of dogs require unique treatment, so to no surprise different sprites require unique care as well. In this humorous book from the Spiderwick Chronicles, you learn about the care and feeding of sprites, which are different types of animals that are both insect and plants mixed together. It includes interesting and amusing information about the caring of different sprites and their varying characteristics. Each picture of different sprites contains a key and labels for each creature. Each section covers different techniques such as things they eat, what they like to play with, how tricky they can be, where to buy one from, and how to house them. It gives the anatomy of the sprites and tips on what to look out for.  
                     Students would get a kick out of reading this book, especially if they are considering getting a pet. I believe parents would also appreciate their child reading this book  if they are asking to get a pet. It makes them think about all the aspects of what goes into taking care of a pet. I would have my students relate this book to having to care for a pet, stating the different types of care for several animals. I would allow students to speak about any pets they may have at home and how they take care of them. I would definitely want to read this book and discuss the concept if considering getting a class pet whether its a fish, hamster, or guinea pig. A fun activity I would implement is having each student create their own sprite with conditions on how to care for them individually. I would then have them "care" for their sprites for about a week or two, giving them a sense of responsibility. Kids would love this!

Attack of the Evil Elvises by Dan Greenburg

Attack of the Evil Elvises by Dan Greenburg

Greenburg, D. (2007). Attack of the Evil Elvises. New York, NY: Random House, Inc.

Science Fiction; Chapter Book

          This is an extremely cute story that gives kids background information about a historical entertainer in a humorous manner. In this book there are three good aliens who go on a trip to Las Vegas with their human friend. Once there they see a lot of Elvis impersonators. Their human friend describes that there is an Elvis Convention every year in Las Vegas in honor of the historical entertainer, Elvis Pressley. However, the aliens are not pleased with this answer, believing that the many Elvises are really bad aliens trying to take over planet Earth. The good aliens go through an incredible adventure, filled with humor, in order to save the world from the bad Elvis aliens.

The aliens that are on planet Earth are confused by many things, asking questions and making comments that many young children would say and ask about situations. To older students who are aware of these things, this story would be humorous, in the sense that the aliens are foreign to the planet. One strategy children work on in reading is using context clues to figure out the meaning of words they do not recognize. In this novel, there are several made up words that the aliens use, only to be figured out by the context of the sentences. For an example, the following sentences contain words made up:

“A leopard is just a big ketzenlongo….Their human shapes would begin to melt in less than an arp. They had less than twenty mynts to go.”

The word “ketzenlongo” means cat in the aliens’ language, and “arp” means hour while “mynts” means minutes, based off the context clues in the sentence. Students can use their context clues skill and strategy to figure out words like the ones the aliens were using. This would be a more fun and engaging way to get them unto using this strategy. 

Alien Voki 

Zora and Me by Victoria Bond & T.R. Simon

Zora and Me by Victoria Bond & T.R. Simon

Bond, V. & Simon, T.R. (2010). Zora and Me. Somerville, MA: Candlewick Press.

Historical Fiction; Multicultural Literature; Chapter Book

Zora and Me was written by Bond and Simon based off the stories and life of Zora Neale Hurston, author of the well-known novel Their Eyes Were Watching God. The story is narrated by Zora’s best friend Carrie, and tells the adventures of the children with the young Zora’s very imaginative and detailed stories. The novel reveals the enriched culture of the small town of Eatonville, Florida, home to the renowned author and “gators”. In the novel, Zora tells this elaborate story about a townsmen being part gator and part man, sticking with her story whether people believed her or not. Through her investigation, Zora reveals the secrets and mysteries behind the killing of a town visitor, finding the truth behind her imaginative story. In the end, her story was not entirely true; however her ability to have such an extraordinary imagination gave her the chance to endure great adventures.

This book would be great to introduce when students are learning to write stories or to encourage them to have an imagination. School and the media often forces children, especially at an older age, to give up their imagination and think more logically about situations. Having an imagination is the fun part to exploring different aspects of the world. Studies have shown that having a great imagination leads to greater creative thinking skills as students get older, helping them become innovative thinkers. This book could help encourage students to have an imagination when exploring and use their creative writing skills.

Yesterday I Had the Blues by Jeron Ashford Frame

Yesterday I Had the Blues by Jeron Ashford Frame

Frame, J.A. (2003). Yesterday I Had the Blues. Berkeley, CA: Tricycle Press.

Realistic Fiction; Poetry; Multicultural Literature; Ezra Jack Keats Book Award

Everybody has a bad day every once in a while, including children. In this book, the little boy describes the days that he is having, along with the days of his family members. The color blue is often associated with being sad and down. Well in this book, people use other colors to describe how they feel. For instance, his father has the grays meaning he’s upset and frustrated; his sister has the pinks meaning she’s crazy; his grandmother has the yellows meaning she’s happy and cheerful, and his mother has the reds meaning she’s mad. The book is written in a poetic style and everyone has a different color to represent how they are feeling, depending upon how they’re day is going. Students can read this book and think of a color that represents how their day is going. They can then write a poem to go along with how they are feeling. If your class is learning about different kinds of poems, such as haiku or acrostic, then you can incorporate this book into the lesson.