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"Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team, and a Dream" by H.G. Bissinger

Small town with a dedicated high school football team. One of the most popular sports fiction books to ever come out. Against all odds, the football team wins the state championship with the help and encouragement from the small town, where football was everything. I have read this book numerous times and remember wishing that I went to this High School because everything seemed so exciting and everyone was involved. It is a really fun book to read and I would recommend it to just about any single person, whether they like sports or not.
-For Ages 6+
-Themes: community, football, high school

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"The Boy Who Never Gave Up" By Anthony Curcio
This children’s book is about the famous NBA player, Stephen Curry, on his process of getting to where he is today. It begins by Steph being a younger kid who was always told he will never be as good as he thought because he was too short to play in the NBA. But, he set his mind to it, encouraged kids that “practice makes perfect” and to never doubt your abilities even if people tell you that you’re not good enough. It is a very encouraging short story for younger kids to read and set their own goals and to realize that they are better than everyone may make them out to be.
-For Ages 2-5
-Themes: perseverance, setting goals, basketball

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"She’s Got This" By Laurie Hernandez, Nina Mata (Illustrator)

Zoey, one of the best gymnasts in her class, she loved the balance beam! One day, she fell, hit the mat, and really got down on herself. But, instead of being upset and giving up, she got back up and was confident in herself and her ability. I think this children’s book is one of the cutest ones I have read up until today. The message behind this story is so sweet, telling girls and guys, to never give up on their dreams and to always get back up and do what they love.
-For Ages 2-4
-Themes: chasing your dream, never giving up, sports

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"Ball Four" By Jim Bouton

This book was an autobiography of a man by the name of Jim Bouton, who was a pitcher for the New York Yankees. He soon became one of the most influential in the spirt, but became more famous when he came out with this book. The difference between this novel and most novels, is the fact that Jim did not hold back in this book whatsoever. He spoke of the real things you hear and what it’s like being in the public eye and constantly feeling judged and critiqued by people you don’t even know. This is definitely a good read for an older age group, I feel it shows kids that there’s a lot more to a sport and becoming a famous athlete than getting paid and being famous. It is hard work and really plays a toll on your relationships and your self-worth.
-For ages 7+
-Themes: baseball, never giving up, honesty

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"Love That Dog" By Sharon Creech"
It is a cute book about a second grader named Jack who loves poetry but does not want anyone to know about it. He believes that he should not like it, even opening with the saying “I don’t want to because boys don’t write poetry. Girls do.” (Creech, Pg. 1). Once his teacher, Mrs. Stretchberry puts one of his poems on the blackboard but does not include his name because Jack did not want to be exposed. After he realized he loves writing and continued to do so. He eventually opened up about his love for poetry after his teacher put his name up, and instead of him being embarrassed he was praised by his fellow classmates. He then brings up his yellow dog that had passed away and soon realizes that poetry is a way for him to escape. Like any person, he took this death very hard and sought poetry as a way to express his pain and the memories that followed him about his dog. I definitely did find myself rereading some of the pages twice, some of them even three times and I think that’s just because this format is something I am not used to. I would definitely use this book with my students because I wasn’t realty introduced to poetry novels at a young age and I know if I was, this book would be a lot easier to follow.
-For ages 8+
-Themes: death, grief, self-expression, poetry

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"The Giver" By Lois Lowry
This book is about a child, Jonas, who loves his family and community and views it as a type of “utopia” due to the fact that he really does not know much about what goes on behind closed doors. Lowry begins the book by bringing up this idea of a loud speaker shouting information about a single-pilot jet flying through the sky. I was a little confused on what the meaning or point of that was, but soon found out that the community Jonas is a part of is “ruled” by a Committee of Elders, that is in charge of every aspect of the communities lives. I found it interesting the many rules implemented on this community, the most prominent of them being that each family could only have one male and one female child. In the first chapter, Jonas’ father, who is a Nurturer, which I later found out is one who takes care of newborns, brought up a child he had been working with (Gabriel) who was falling behind and how he wanted to bring him into the family for a little while. After he had mentioned that, Jonas’ sister Lily asked if they could keep him longer, if not forever, to which their mother had said something along the lines of no you know the rules, one boy and one girl for each family. I found this book extremely interesting for many reasons, there were so many instances where it felt like a community controlled by a higher being which in this case, it technically was. Each age group was named by their ages, so for example Lily was in the sevens and Jonas was going to participate in the Ceremony of Twelves, which apparently happens every December. Everyone who lived there was controlled in every way, shape, and form (the way they dress, who they marry, etc.)
-For Ages 9-16
-Themes: memory, family, rules and traditions

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"Froggy Plays T-ball" By Jonathan London
This children’s book is based on a frog names Froggy who wants to play t-ball. It’s his first time playing baseball and he was so excited to start, especially because his dad was the coach. He took some advice too literally from his coach/dad and messed up a few times in the process. But, once he focused in and really set his mind to it, he did amazing.This picture book was so cute for a very young age group just starting to get interested in sports and has a message of never giving up on yourself.
-For ages 2-4
-Themes: baseball, perseverance

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"Diary of a Worm" By Doreen Cronin
This book was mostly pictures with maybe a sentence or two under it, so it is definitely easy to read for kids. The plot is exactly as the title reads, it's simply a diary of a worms day. It had pictures of the worms accomplishments, such as his report card, family vacations, and pictures with his best friend which is a spider. It then goes on to list dates and specific advice the got on those given dates, so it was pretty cute. The meaning of this story has a lot to do with protecting the Earth but also has some funny parts to it about a worms life.
-For ages 3-7
-Themes: Animals, diaries, sounds

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"Sherm the Germ" By Dr. John Hutton, Maria Montag
Sherm the Germ is also a new book to me. When I first saw it I was intrigued as to what it could possibly be about, obviously a germ but the main storyline to it. After reading this short story, the main point the author is trying to get across is how a kid gets sick. A baby is playing in the beginning of the story and then gets sick. It was honestly a really cute book with tons of rhyming involved making it really easy to read for a younger audience. The ending is basically how to overcome a sickness and it was written by a pediatrician so it was well written but very cute.
-For ages 2-6
-Themes: Health, hygiene, animals

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"The Rainbow Fish" by Marcus Pfister
This picture book, if I am being honest, is a new book to me. I don't know why but I have never read it before which is shocking because I'm pretty sure everyone else in this class has. The storyline is quite basic, as most children stories are, that this beautiful fish known as Rainbow Fish, has all different colors of scales some being shiny. One day a smaller "uglier" fish asks Rainbow Fish if he could have one of his scales and Rainbow Fish did not let him and because of this all the other fishes found him mean and unapproachable. After feeling very lonely and sad, Rainbow Fish seeks guidance from the "wise octopus" that most fish go to for advice. The octopus advises Rainbow Fish to share his scales with all other fish even saying that even if you're not the most beautiful fish anymore, you'll finally be happy having friends to share it with. Honestly, I think this is one of the most important children's books to read because the underlying meaning of it is so inspirational- it’s not about how pretty you are or the clothes you have, but the people you surround yourself with and how those friends make you feel.
-For ages 3-10
-Themes: selfishness, sharing your belongings, friendships

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"Rikki-Tikki-Tavi" By Rudyard Kipling
This novel is somewhat similar to me. I remember loving the name of the book, but by no means to I remember the summary or meaning behind it. After reading it now, it didn't really bring back any memories to me as to the plot, but it is quite an interesting book. The main character is none other than Rikki-Tikki-Tavi who is a mongoose and is turned into a pet. The family bought him to have him help protect them from other more dangerous animals. The story actually has some sad parts to it, when the so-called "enemies" Nag and Nagainia, who are cobras, are angry that Rikki-Tikki-Tavi and his friends have invaded their space. The ending is somewhat sad but also victorious for Rikki in the sense that Nag was trying to kill Rikki's family, but Nag ended up being the one killed.
-For ages 7-12
-Themes: Courage, overcoming fears, friendships

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"Eating the Alphabet, Fruits and Vegetables from A to Z" By Lois Ehlert
This is a really cute children's book that has mostly pictures with few words one each page. But, I do consider it an information text because for younger students who may not know the alphabet, it gives them plenty of examples of different fruits and vehgetables from each letter A through Z
-For very young ages (1-4)
-Themes: Health

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"My Monster Mama Loves Me So" by Laura Leuck
This Children's Book was about a little monster who has hhis mom by his side. He brings up several instances where his mom helps him and cheers him on in whatever way possible. I think this is a perfect book to read during Mother's Day or Father's Day because it really brings up this idea on how much our parents do for us.
-For ages 3-6 (younger students)
-Themes: Monsters, family, rhyming

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"The Very Hungry Caterpillar" By Eric Carle
The premise of this story is quite simple, the caterpillar is always hungry. He eats one apple and it is not sufficient, the goes on to eat three plums and so on and so forth. The story ends with the caterpillar finally being satisfied and making himself a cocoon eventually turning into a beautiful butterfly.
-For all ages
-Themes: transformation, growing up

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"George" By Alex Gino
The moral of this story is about a boy who identifies as a girl. George struggles with herself and opening up about how she really feels. When the 4th grade class is to perform a play of Charolette's Web to the younger grades, George realizes she doesn't want to be Wilber, but Charlotte. Kelly, George's best friend, supports her in every way possible and encourages her to try out for whatever role she feels comfortable in.
-For middle school ages (10-14)
-Themes: LGBTQ, transformation, sexuality

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"Diary of a Wimpy Kid" By Jeff Kinney
The moral of this story is to tell a story of a boy by the name of Greg who really does not enjoy school. In order for him to get through school in a way that is somewhat enjoyable for him, the devises several so called "schemes" to make his days as a middle schooler a little bit easier.
-For ages 7-14, stronger read, less pictures
-Themes: the good and bad when it comes to friendships, prosperity, social status'