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The Giving Tree                   Reading Level: K-3

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The Giving Tree                   Reading Level: K-3

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This book tells a tenderhearted story about a boy and a giving tree, and the friendship they have. Shel Silverstein, the author of this book, incorporates a hint of sadness. Furthermore, the tree continues to give all it has to a boy who does not reciprocate this action of giving. The overall story of this book is to teach children that it is better to give than to receive. I would use this book in my future classroom library prior to the holiday season to stress the importance of giving to my students, regardless of how small or big the giving is. I would rate this book a 5 out of 5 because of the overall life lesson this book provided.
Tennessee Standards:
2.FL.PWR.3.g Decode grade-level texts with purpose and understanding.

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Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day                               Reading Level: K-3rd grade

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Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day                               Reading Level: K-3rd grade

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This book, written by Judith Viorst, tells a tale of a boy named Alexander, and a series of unfortunate events he encounters throughout his day. This book contains repetition, an interesting storyline to follow, and a realistic perspective that everyone has a rough day at times. I really enjoyed reading this book as I grew up because I found that as a child, I could relate to it. As a future educator, this book contains complex vocabulary that uses a variety of adjectives. I feel that this book should receive a 5 out of 5 due to the apparent literary devices that enhance students' literacy skills.
Tennessee Standards:
2.FL.PWR.3.e Identify words with inconsistent but common spelling-sound correspondences.

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Green Eggs and Ham            Reading Level: K-2nd grade

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Green Eggs and Ham            Reading Level: K-2nd grade

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This book, written by Dr. Seuss is an outstanding book that promotes phonemic awareness and decoding words throughout the story. In this book particularly the - am coding is emphasized through rhyming and repetition. To further elaborate, words such as "ham", "I am", etc. repetitively appear throughout this story. This book is great to help learning readers to differentiate between words, and sounds. This book also contains rhyming words, giving it a poetic feel. I would rate this book a 5 out of 5 because of the phonemic awareness, rhyming and repetition.
Tennessee Standards:
1.FL.PA.2 Demonstrate understanding of spoken words, syllables, and sounds (phonemes).

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The Rainbow Fish               Reading Level: K-3rd grade

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The Rainbow Fish               Reading Level: K-3rd grade

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This book, written by Marcus Pfister, could be implemented in my future classroom through character building. This book tells a beautiful story that reveals components of giving, and friendship. In addition to the meaning behind the book, the graphics in this book are extravagant. They provide the reader with detailed illustrations that make the read more enjoyable. I would rate this book a 4 out of 5 due to the lack of complex vocabulary present.
Tennessee Standards:
K.FFL.PWR.3.d Decode regularly spelled CVC words.

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Mr. Monkey Visits a School    Reading Level: K-1st grade

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Mr. Monkey Visits a School    Reading Level: K-1st grade

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Mr. Monkey Visits a School, written  by Jeff Mack uses repetition, and graphics to tell the story of Mr. Monkey preforming a new trick he learned. I was thoroughly impressed with this book due to the presence of imagery, personification, and onomatopoeia. In addition, this book provides readers with in-depth illustrations that assist the reader in deciphering the main idea of the story. I would rate this book a 5 out of 5 due to the graphics.
Tennessee Standards:
1.FL.PWR.3.f Read words with inflectional endings.

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Olivia                      Reading Level: 1st-2nd grade

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Olivia                      Reading Level: 1st-2nd grade

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Olivia, by Ian Falconer tells the story of a pig named Olivia, and everything her life entails. I would use this book to relate to life experiences, and how one can work on their individual character development skills. Without graphics in this book, readers would not be able to identify the true meaning of the text. The images in this book are exquisite, and they captive the mind.  This book would make an excellent book for a classroom library for beginning readers. I would rate this book a 3 out of 5 for the lack of theme.
Tennessee Standards:
K.FFL.PWR.3 Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills when decoding isolated words and in connected text.

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Seven Blind Mice            Reading Level: K-3rd grade

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Seven Blind Mice            Reading Level: K-3rd grade

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Seven Blind Mice by Ed Young does a brilliant job of displaying multiple literary devices to help the readers better comprehend the book. For example, personification is present in the mice when they speak to one another. Additionally, we can see similes present when the white mouse uses “as” when making a comparison. This book also uses colors to capture the readers’ attention and draw them into the book. The black back ground in this book makes the colorful mice standout, putting the attention on them. The materials used to draw the elephants skin and the mice’s fur looks incredibly realistic and textured. By doing this, the illustrator helps the reader better visualize the main idea and point of the book. Out of all of the children’s books I have read, I dislike the storyline of this one most. However, because of the different components of style and textured illustrations, I feel that this book deserves a 4 out of 5 star rating.
Tennessee Standards:
1.FL.PWR.3.b Decode regularly spelled one-syllable words.

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Where the Wild Things Are                    Reading Level: K-3

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Where the Wild Things Are                    Reading Level: K-3

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Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak is a book that demonstrates creativity exquisitely. Where the Wild Things Are showed creativity through Max’s crazy imagination while still teaching the young reader an important lesson about the concept of creativity. This book used the main character, Max, to set an example for other readers by teaching them to learn how to use imagination through creative thinking. By doing this, this will be beneficial to children’s educational learning in their future school years. For example, children can use creativity in studying techniques, educational games, classroom activities, and creative writing. The images in this book demonstrate “wild things” with sharp teeth, furry hair, and tall, strong bodies which further encourages children’s imagination. Additionally, the author uses personification when describing the “wild things” by giving these creatures the human characteristic of talking. As a result of all of these components, I feel that this book deserves a 4 out of 5 star rating.
Tennessee Standards:
1.FL.PWR.3.e Decode two-syllable words following basic patterns by breaking the words into
syllables.

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The Very Hungry Caterpillar             Reading Level: K-1st grade

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The Very Hungry Caterpillar             Reading Level: K-1st grade

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The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle is a book that teaches readers a variety of things. For example, this book teaches basic things such as eating healthy, and counting. Furthermore, this book teaches children how to count by visualizing how much the caterpillar ate each day. This book also teaches readers how to eat healthy by showing the caterpillar eating fruits, and then feeling sick after eating unhealthy, carb-infested food. For older readers, this book teaches them about the process of metamorphosis. The drawings in this book also contribute to the readers’ learning. Through the illustrations in this book, we see components of style. For example, personification is evident when the the caterpillar has a face in this book, and also suffers from a stomachache. The pictures in this book are very textured and vibrantly colored. These bright colors help the readers better see the transformation of metamorphosis which promotes universal learning. I feel that this book deserves a 4 out of 5 star rating for the variety of educational components.
Tennessee Standards:
1.FL.PWR.3.h Read grade-level decodable text with purpose and understanding.

Science Standards:
2.LS.1 Use simple graphical representations to show that species have unique and diverse life cycles.

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Frog and Toad Together           Reading Level: K-2nd grade

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Frog and Toad Together           Reading Level: K-2nd grade

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Frog and Toad Together by Arnold Lobel was one of my favorite children’s books growing up, so it was a real treat to get to go back and read this book again. I recall as a child absolutely loving the fact that a frog and a toad could talk to one another, so I could let my imagination wander. As an adult reading this, I now understand that this characteristic of the book that I was so fond of is known as personification. This book is also a great reading tool for children because it introduces them to new vocabulary such as “willpower”. The illustrations in this book are detailed, yet dull colors are consistent. I feel that this book makes a great read for children because it not only allows them to use their imagination to its fullest extent, but it also gives a valid example of what a true friendship looks like. Overall, I would rate this book a 5 out of 5 due to the literary devices present.
Tennessee Standards:
K.FFL.PWR.3.c Read common high-frequency words by sight.

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Alphabet City             Reading Level: PreK-2nd grade

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Alphabet City             Reading Level: PreK-2nd grade

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Alphabet City by Stephen Johnson is a beautifully illustrated book that incorporates many creative techniques to teach children the alphabet. I feel that this book is a perfect example of creativity due to the fact that it incorporates the letters of the alphabet into our every day world. For example, the letter “E” was shown in this book through an illustration of a street light. In addition to the creativity depicted in this book, you can also find realism. Realism is evident in this book due to the fact that the illustrations look so realistic, but after a more thorough examination, you can see that they are actually simply drawings that use water color pastels. I personally think that this book is intended for kindergarteners in order to associate nouns with specific letters in the alphabet. I would use this book to give my child a fun, creative way to start learning the alphabet. I feel that the fun shapes in this book are very captivating, and it would instantly catch children’s eyes drawing their attention to each individual letter presented. Overall, I would rate this book a 4 out of 5 due to the creativity, realism and beautifully illustrated watercolor pictures.
Tennessee Standards:
K.FFL.PWR.3.a Demonstrate knowledge of one-to-one letter sound correspondence by producing the most frequent sound for each consonant.

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