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Everyone wants to be in on the new trend, but not everyone can afford it. In the book Those Shoes (2012) Jeremy happens to be one that falls in this situation. He thinks about the new pair of shoes every boy is wearing and would do anything for the shoe. As he asks his grandmother about the shoes, she teaches him the valuable lesson of wanting something and needing something. In their situation, all they could afford were their needs. When thrift shopping, Jeremy spots the shoes he's been dreaming of. He makes every excuse to get his grandmother to buy them, which she was going to but then a problem arose. The shoes were way to small. Jeremy bought them for himself with the little money he had saved and though he only got to wear them for a short amount of time, he was about to make someone else's day.
This book holds great meaning behind it. It give an inside look of a child living in the face of scarcity. This book would be a valuable lesson for children in kindergarten through 2nd grade. Children at this age still struggle to see the value in products. If they want it than they feel they need it. The text is is moderately to very complex because the meaning of the text must be explored.  In addition to that, only selected parts of the text are represented in the graphics. Lastly the life experiences in this text may be uncommon to certain populations. Not all children have had to live in a world where parents could only supply their needs. An activity I would pair with Those Shoes would be on word meaning. I would follow the example of Jeremy's grandmother and have students detect the meanings of wants and needs. In addition to that, I would hand out a worksheet that had an assortment of pictures and students would have to distinguish what is considered a want and what is considered a need. (Aligned with standard: 2.FL.VA.7a Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases based on grade 2 reading and content, choosing flexibly from an array of strategies.)

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Hey Wall! (2018) by Susan Verde is the story of a blank slate. One young boy is tired of seeing a big blank wall in his neighborhood. The wall was not a representation of his community, it was boring. He wanted his community to be known and understood when people looked at that wall and, and one day, he made it happen.
Hey Wall would be a positive book used in the the kindergarten and 1st grade classrooms. Children at this age, spend a good amount of time drawing pictures of the words they are trying to write. Through that activity though, their personalities shine through. This text is slightly complex and does a great job in representing the text through the pictures. The sentences are very simple and the vocabulary is very familiar. The activity I would pair with this book would be a presentation. Since these grades are still learning to write and this book emphasizes the importance of expressing oneself through art, I would centered their presentation around a drawing. A fun piece I would add to the drawing is one random line. With this line, students will have to come up with a picture containing this line. After the entire class finishes, each student will stand up and practice their speaking skills as they discuss their picture. (Aligned with standard: K.SL.PKI.5 Add drawings or other visual displays of descriptions as desired to provide additional detail.)

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A typical nine year old in our time period plays outside, plays with friends, goes to school, and spends time with his or her family. Back in the 1960s, though, life looked a lot different. Nine year old Audrey Faye Hendricks went to jail. Yes, jail, after marching to receive equal rights. The segregation of her time period was only getting worse so when the opportunity arose for her to fight the good fight, she unquestionably volunteered. This moving nonfiction story is told by Vanessa Brantley-Newton in They Youngest Marcher (2017). Young Audrey wanted books that were not on their last foot and most of all, voice in the world.
This book would be well suited for students in 3rd to 5th grade. It is a nonfiction story about a difficult historical period. This age group will have the maturity to discuss this topic. Along with that, the text is moderately to very complex. Readers must have background knowledge of this time period and a strong lexicon. Activities around this text would be well suited for January around Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Before reading the text, students should be pre-assessed on the knowledge they have on the Civil Rights Movement. Afterwards the discussion would continue and build from details gathered from the book with emphasis on the events that occurred and the significance of the time period. (Aligned with standard: 4.RL.KID.3 Describe in depth a character, setting, or event in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in a text, such as a character’s thoughts, words, or actions.)

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It is a classic nursery rhyme we all know and love. "Humpty Dumpty." Some wonder what happened after his fall? He was broken but was there anything else to it? Dan Santat answers these mysterious questions in the comeback story After the Fall (2017). Humpty was fearful but he would not be defeated. He belonged on that wall and nothing was going to stop him from getting there again. He just needed to figure out how.
This book would be well suited for students in 1st through 3rd grade. It is best suited for this age group because they love happy endings and comeback stories. This story will give them courage to face there fears and conquer adversity. This story is slightly to moderately complex with its use of familiar vocabulary, unpredictable outcome, and themes explored. An activity that work well with this text is comparing and contrasting the original "Humpty Dumpty" nursery rhyme to After the Fall. Before reading After the Fall,  the original nursery rhyme should be read. After reading both, students will then have to compare and contrast the stories. They will need to compare the event and contrast the outcome. This can be done in a graphic organizer or a individual writing activity. 2.RL.IKI.9 Compare and contrast two or more versions of the same story by different authors or different cultures.

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Technology is everything these days. With new technologies created everyday, our world could not survive without it, but that does not mean our lives should revolve around it. In Brady Smith and Tiffani Thiessen's 2019 story Your Missing It! the unhealthy relationship many people have with technology is brought to the light. A father and son have gone to a park and while all these amazing things occur, the child's father is glued to his phone, missing out on it all.
You're Missing It! is an eye opening text for this generation. This book would be well suited for students in the grades kindergarten and first grade. They have a great amount of intelligence on technology and this book helps remind them of the wonders of the word. Because students in this grade range already have great experience with technology, it is important to remind them, in a subtle way, that overuse of technology will take away their childhood experiences. This text is slightly complex which is perfect for this age group because the with the simple sentences, excellent graphics and familiar vocabulary it will help the students understand the meaning of this text. During the read aloud, I would ask my students to give inferences on what they think the text is about. Afterwards, I would have my students retell the story, highlighting the areas of the that clarifies the message. (Aligned with standard: 1.RL.KID.2 Retell stories, including key details, and demonstrate understanding of their central message or lesson.)

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We all have a name. Some names are longer, more difficult, and more unique than others which causes difficulty in pronunciation. In Huda Essa's Teach Us Your Name (²⁰¹⁶⁾, this topic is tackled when a student's unique name is said during roll. It was said incorrectly but after being subject to this problem many times before, she just goes with it and self-criticizes her name. The name in question is Kareemalayaseenadeen. She hates her name and has no pride in it because she longs to have a "normal" name. She does not see the importance and meaning behind her name until taking a trip out of the country to see family. There she is made aware of how special her name is and is given the courage to teach others about her name
This book is a great representation of cultural differences and character development. Kareemalayaseenadeen goes from hating her name to proclaiming her name. This text would be useful in each elementary grade (kindergarten-5th grade) because our names are where our identity lies. Children in elementary school need to build pride and confidence in their names. They need not be ashamed of their names. People may get it wrong but this book helps show students to guide others, in a kind way, to saying it correctly. This book would pair well in the beginning days of a class giving the students to write about their names. In their writing response, students will explain their names, where it comes from, what it means to them, and present it to the class. This would start the year of well and clear any confusion of names. (Aligned with standard: 1.W.TTP.2 With prompting and support, write informative/explanatory texts, naming a topic, supplying some facts about the topic, and providing some sense of closure.)

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Just Read! (2019) by Lori Degman is a story of encouraging the love of reading. It follows a group of children and everything that goes along with their reading motivation. It does not matter the place, the subject, or the time, reading is all that is on their minds.
Reading is a vital part of literacy. Along with writing, it is the foundation of building knowledge in a number of subjects. Having confidence in this ability can make or break a student's motivation to learn. This book would be very beneficial in each elementary grade (kindergarten-5th grade). Because it is important to instill the love of reading into students. It can take them to new places and bring them to new ideas. Instilling this value in elementary students will set them up for success in the future. This text is slightly complex in most areas including its use of graphics showing everywhere a student has the opportunity to read and places reading can take them. Along with that, this is a common life experience for each child. They are read to by parents and teachers and eventually build the independence to participate in reading of their own. Activities that would pair well with this book is discussion of the pictures on each page and how they help represent the text. In this discussion, students will point out the setting, the characters, and the feelings this group presented in the text have towards reading. In addition to that, students can discuss a past experience they have with reading and how it transported them to a new place through the pictures and text. (Aligned with standard: 3.RL.IKI.7 Explain how illustrations in a text contribute to what is conveyed by the words. )

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It has been raining cats and dogs. It makes some feel blue and cause some to even feel under the weather. These expressions and many more can be found in Serge Bloch's 2008 story Butterflies in My Stomach. It is a book full of common expressions in everyday life, we have labeled idioms.
Elementary schoolers have concrete minds. In the beginning years, everything is taken literally and expressions such as "caught in a pickle" or "under the weather" can go completely over their heads. This book would be beneficial in teaching children in 2nd to 5th grade about idioms as they grow in their thinking and reasoning around events. Though just one part of figurative language, it can be one that is confusing to understand. This book is slightly to very complex for readers due to it simple vocabulary but use of figurative language. The words are understood but the expressions have a differing meaning than expected. Students may not have knowledge of each expression mentioned. This book would have a large activity around it. It would start with a pre-assessment of students and their knowledge of idioms or expressions. As we read through the text, I would describe what each expression means after asking students of their opinions of the meaning behind it. Lastly, I would hand out a worksheet that has a mix of idioms in the text and not in the text to assess whether my students absorbed the lesson.
(Aligned with standard: 4.FL.VA.7b Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings.)

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The Invisible Boy (2013) by Trudy Ludwig is a story of being seen for the first time. Brian is a timid boy which causes him to be set a part from his loud, outgoing classmates. His shy demeanor causes him to be left out of everything. He does not get invited to parties, does not have a say in the lunchroom, and does not have the opportunity to participate in games with his peers. It was not until, Justin, the new student, finally recognizes Brian. This text has a beautiful meaning behind it and can resinate in so many people.
The Invisible Boy is a work of art. This book would be perfect for children in 1st and 2nd grade as they grow in their relationships with others. In these grades, students have socialized with students their age for one to two years and may have established relationships with them. Whether or not they are like Brian, this book will help students see how much of a change can be made in a person once they are seen for the first time. This text is moderately to very complex. Though the pictures help guide the reader in what is going on in the text, the visualization of Brian reveals a deeper meaning behind this text (the illustrations of Brian goes from lacking any color to full of color once he his seen). The meaning is complex for some students but is a lesson each student needs to learn. There are a variety of activities that can go along with this text, but to emphasize the the importance of being seen, I would center my lesson around the illustrations and how they support the character development of Brian. I want my students to be able to see how Brian's visual representation changed over the course of the story. Along with that, I would break them into small groups with people they do not know very well to discuss the plot of this text. I hope by putting them in groups with people they typically do not associate with will help them build in their understanding of others who are different from them. (Aligned with standard: 2.RL.IKI.7 Use information gained from illustrations and words in a print or digital text to demonstrate understanding of its characters, setting, or plot.)

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Home is a special place. It is a physical building but it is filled with emotion and memories. In Julia Durango's The One Day House (2017), a story of young Wilson and his Gigi is told. Wilson has big dreams for his Gigi's house. He wants to transform it into a home where she can spend the rest of her days in happiness and tells everyone about it. As he speaks of the plans he has for this house, he never quite picks up on how his Gigi feels. Of course she would not mind having her house fixed up, but all she needs is Wilson's presence. He is her sunshine, her warmth, her happiness. Eventually, both are thrown in for a surprise of a lifetime once their community brings Wilson's plans to life.
The One Day House is a beautiful introduction about character traits and responses for students. The text is moderately to very complex with its use of familiar vocabulary, uncommon life experiences, and multiple levels of meaning based on characters represented. This book is well suited for students in 2nd and 3rd grade because of their growing lexicons. They have been building their mental libraries and with that, they will have a larger vocabulary to describe characteristics of characters, settings, and events in the text. Activities that would work well with this text would be centered around Wilson and Gigi's character traits and development. Students will have to come up with a list of character traits for each character (Wilson: giving, Gigi: content). In addition to that, I would pose the question to see if anyone picked up on the hidden meaning Gigi had in this entire text. While Wilson was focused on the materialistic, physical problems or the house, Gigi focused her attention on finding home in Wilson. She did not care that her house was imperfect. It was perfect because she had Wilson with her through it all.    (Aligned with standard: 2.RL.KID.3 Describe how characters in a story respond to major events and challenges. )

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A Ticket Around the World (2015) by Natalia Diaz and Melissa Owens is a nonfiction book full of exploration across the globe. One young boy is visiting thirteen friends in thirteen different countries and six of the world's continents. Each new adventure is filled with fun facts about the country being visited and the boy's experience in the country. This included landmarks, language, cuisine, and wildlife.
This text is culturally inclusive and would be beneficial in each elementary grade (kindergarten through 5th grade) not only because of the information that is gained from the text but because of the type of text. It is a narrative. Students need to be exposed to a variety of texts in their elementary years because it is the foundation of their writing career. This text is moderately to very complex in part to the unfamiliar vocabulary, uncommon life experiences, and the unknown cultural elements, but all can take something away from it. The activity I would pair with this book would be centered around writing. Because it I a story about traveling, I would give my students the prompt to write a story about a time when they traveled. In this assignment they must discuss where they went, when they went, and what they did. If they have never traveled, this will give them the chance to practice creative writing. Depending on the grade level, other aspects of writing such as transition words, their thoughts and feelings about the trip, and providing a conclusion. (Aligned with standard: 3.W.TTP.3 Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using an effective technique,such as descriptive details and clear event sequences.)

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There are five basic senses that each human possesses. They consist of tasting, touching, smelling, seeing, and hearing. In Rachel Isadora's I Hear a Pickle (2016), each of these sense are explored through a variety of experiences we face everyday. An added bonus to this text is the inclusivity of the Spanish language associated with the English terms.
I Hear a Pickle is slightly complex text with simple sentences, supporting graphics, familiar vocabulary, and common life experiences. Because of this, it provides a great segue into introducing the five senses for students in kindergarten and 1st grade. Students at this age recognize that these senses exist but do not know how important they are in our lives. It can bring up discussion on possible family members or relatives who do not possess one of these senses and explore reasoning as to why it is absent and how they adapt without it. With the use of this text, the activity used will be centered around conversation and matching. Before the book is read, I would assess my students in their knowledge of the five senses. Afterwards, I would have them identify the senses discussed and  the reactions characters had towards such senses. (The girl loved the smell of pizza but did not like the smell of the cow's waste). In the discussion, I would then pose the question of how certain foods/sounds/smells make them feel and if it was the same as the characters in the text. Lastly, I would hand out a small worksheet that will assess my students in identifying what area of the body engages in the sense.
(Aligned with standard: 1.RL.CS.4 Identify words and phrases in stories and poems that suggest feelings or appeal to the senses.)

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letter writing
We all want to belong and find our place in this world. Arfy in Troy Cummings Can I Be Your Dog? (2018) is a story of a dog trying to find his forever home. He sends letters to everyone in the neighborhood but no one will take him in. He gives each resident a compelling argument as to why he should belong with them through his letters and even offers to compromise for some. All he wants is a home. The letter carrier find a place in her heart and home for Arfy.
This book is an amazing piece of work for supporting an argument I began to love this book as I read through it but what snatched my heart was the ending. As the daughter of a postal carrier and a dog lover, I could resinate with this story. Aside from my personal opinion, this book would be great for children in kindergarten through 5th grade. Yes, the text is slightly complex with simple sentences, explicit meaning, and familiar vocabulary but the display of letters provides an excellent example of supporting an argument or opinion. An activity that would work well with each of the elementary grades would be in a writing centered activity. Depending on the grade level, the teacher would give a prompt or picture and assign students to write their opinions and support it with information they have heard from others or in other texts they have previously read. Kindergarten, will of course need more help with this activity, but opinions are found in every age group. (Aligned with standard: 5.W.TTP.1 Write opinion pieces on topics or texts, supporting a point of view with reasons and information, K.W.TTP.1 With prompting and support, use a combination of drawing, dictating, and/or writing to compose opinion pieces.)

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Alliteration, alphabet
Betty's Burgled Bakery (2017) has been bombarded. All of her perfect pastries have vigorously vanished without any cooperating clues. Will the dazzling detectives find the defendant? The astonishing answer can be found in the terrific Travis Nichols's story filled with alliteration in alphabetical order.
Betty's Burgled Bakery is a great example of letter sounds and the introduction of the part of speech known as alliteration. It is a very complex text in a variety of way due to the amount of unknown words and the unpredictability that goes along with the mystery behind the break-in, but it holds slightly complex sentence structure and a straightforward meaning. An age group this would be well suited for is those in kindergarten and 1st grade. Alliteration has a large part in this text but with the alphabetic order of the text and the numerous words with such sounds on each page, this will help these beginning readers identify and distinguish the letter sounds. As an activity, a good representation of matching letter sounds is through a beginning sound sort. I would first start with putting a picture of a pastry mentioned in the text and have my students match the letter sound to the beginning sound. I would then hand out a worksheet for my students to receive more practice in this area. In the future, they will also have a one-up on the part of speech we all know and love, alliteration. (Aligned with standard: 1.FL.PA.2. Demonstrate understanding of spoken words, syllables, and sounds (phonemes).)

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Race. It is a topic out of many people's comfort zone. It is a topic surrounded by fear, questions, and stereotypes. In Irene Latham and Charles Waters 2018 book Can I Touch Your Hair, two students are paired together for a poetry project. Irene, white, and Charles, black, live very separate lives outside of school but, through a simple school project where they became paired as the last students standing,  their whole idea of race changes.
Can I Touch Your Hair is a mature text for elementary school. Because of that, this text would be best presented into the later grades of 4th and 5th grade. In these later grades, students have grown in their maturity and this books offers a gentle segue into the topic of race. It gives them an inside look of perspectives from two sides of race, black and white. Areas of the text that would initiate a good discussion is when Charles talks about stereotypes against him and his race. Charles is picked first for basketball, broken English is expected, and hatred is shown towards him. Irene has been sheltered from this reality and because of the coincidental pairing of her and Charles, she now has a new perspective. This is is very complex to exceedingly complex. The meaning is hard to identify but as the story moves along, students may begin to pick up it up. Depending on the student, the life experiences and cultural elements of the text may either resinate with them or cause great confusion. The organization of the text is exceedingly complex for students because they must follow multiple perspectives over a span of experiences. An activity for this work, would be a Venn diagram. Because students have been introduced to the two perspectives of black and white, they can compare and contrast Irene and Charles in a number of ways. They can compare and contrast their characters and events that were read. By the end of the lesson, I would hope that they not only see the differences between the characters, but also to not make assumptions of others before getting to know them. (Aligned with standard: 5.RL.KID.3 Compare and contrast two or more characters, settings, or events in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in a text.)

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Rebecca Van Slyke's 2017 picture book, Lexie the Word Wrangler is a must have in the elementary classroom. Lexie is not your typical wrangler, she wrangles the alphabet. This book is full of construction, but not the construction we can never seem to get away from. Lexie, constructs words, phrases, and sentences with her talent of wrangling and with her help, students can word wrangle for themselves.
Lexie the Word Wrangler would be great in the lower elementary grades. As a starting place for letter sounds and sentence formation, this book helps students visualize how versatile letters can be. The complexity of this text is slightly to very complex because, though the graphics help students understand what is going on int the text, the ideas and vocabulary is uncommon and abstract. Activities associated with this could be in the zone of phonemic awareness, phonics, and sentence formation. In my case, I would have my students roll dice that had letters on each side and have them create a word or words with the dice they roll. This gives them an opportunity to see how multiple words can come from the same selection of letters and builds their lexicons. (Aligned with standard: K.FFL.PA.2 Demonstrate understanding of spoken words, syllables, and sounds (phonemes))

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In Chris Butterworth's 2015 nonfiction book Where Did My Clothes Come From?, the story behind our clothes is unveiled. The production of cotton, silk, wool, synthetic/artificial fibers, fleece, and rubber are are discussed with brilliant pictures showing how it is all done. It takes the reader to new places such as farms, forests, factories, and science labs where the beginnings of our fabric is located.
Where Did My Clothes Come From? is a book of discovery. Because of that, this book would be very useful for children in the age range of 1st to 3rd grade. This text is slightly to very complex with text features including the use of graphics to directly support the texts, the discussion of uncommon life experiences people have in making clothes, subject specific vocabulary, and the explicit meaning of the production of clothing. Activities that would go well with this book is discussing how the graphics impact the knowledge of clothing production. Because the pictures provide such great support on how it is done, students can either converse or write what they have learned by this read aloud selection. ( 1.RL.IKI.7 Either orally or in writing when appropriate, use illustrations and words in a text to describe its characters, setting, or events, 3.RL.IKI.7 Explain how illustrations in a text contribute to what is conveyed by the words.)

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All Are Welcome is a 2018 fictional book by Alexandra Penfold and Suzanne Kaufman introducing students to the idea of acceptance and inclusion. This book follows a group of children in a school filled with diversity. No matter the race, religion, or background, each child is celebrated. No child is left out, which is exactly how it should be.
All Are Welcome would be a very useful book in the kindergarten classroom due to the new transition into the school system. They will encounter a large variety of people who come from different backgrounds and may not fully understand the differences among each other. This book gives this age group a great introduction into the fundamental skills of kindness and acceptance that I hope to instill into my future students. The text is slightly complex which is perfect for their beginning practice of literature. The sentences are very simple with a consistent use of end-rhyme, the meaning is clear from the start, and the phrase "All are welcome here," is restated after every new experience. Activities that would pair well with this book would be a conversation about what diversity is and how it is represented in this book. This gives students the opportunity to discuss situations they have encountered in their own lives and ask questions about the topic of diversity. (Aligned with standard: K.SL.PKI.4 Describe familiar people, places, things, and events, and, with prompting and support, provide additional detail.)

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I Pledge Allegiance is a 2014 fictional book by Pat Mora and Libby Martinez adapted to true events in their lives. In the book, Libby's great-aunt Lobo has been working towards becoming a citizen for years as she considers the United States  her home. She was born in Mexico, but once her father decided it was no longer safe, he moved the family to the United States. The United States was Lobo's new home and she was proud to live there.  This book does a great job breaking down the origin of the Pledge of Allegiance and what it stands for.
I Pledge Allegiance is a great book for children in the grades kindergarten to 2nd grade due to the graphics representing the text, familiar vocabulary, and the explicit meaning of the text. The Pledge of Allegiance is a staple in the school system and this population of students are just beginning to learn the words to it. This book helps this young age group understand the meaning of it and why we participate in the practice of saying it each morning. Activities for this work should be centered around conversation. It can be in small groups or in large group. In these groups, I would ask students a variety of questions centered around the text and have them basically retell the story. (Aligned with standard: 2.RI.KID.1 Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and how to demonstrate understanding of key details in a text.)

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The Biggest Story is a 2019 fictional book written by Sarah Coyle and Dan Taylor that explores the imagination of young Errol. His mother is too busy to tell one of her amazing stories which results in  Errol having to think of one on his own.  He has trouble coming up with a story at first, but he eventually builds the biggest story with a variety of mammals, insects, and reptiles.
The Biggest Story is a great text for children in the grades kindergarten to 2nd grade. This text is slightly to moderately complex due to its use of graphics representing the text, the everyday life experience that children have with imagination, and the unpredictability of where Errol will take his story next.  It promotes creativity in storytelling and writing and can give students confidence in their writing ability. Because of this, it would be good to incorporate this text to this age group because of the reading and writing skills they are gaining in these grades. The fundamental skills they are learning can be put to use in a fun and creative way. An activity I would pair with this book would be centered around writing. I would want to build my students' writing confidence by giving them a picture or prompt to write about. It would give them the freedom to bring their own ideas to the table and build their writing ability. I would also have my students share their stories to the class as a reading exercise. (Aligned with standards: 2.W.RW.10 With guidance and support from adults, engage routinely in writing activities to promote writing fluency.)