The Cosmic Collection: A Mentor Library by Amanda Boccarossa

Voice is created through the author's personality and displays emotion or enthusiasm.

amandadboccarossa — 2024-09-17 20:08:06 UTC

Ideas are the heart and soul of every piece of literature, and make up the content of the story.

amandadboccarossa — 2024-09-17 20:08:15 UTC

Presentation is how the story and writing are conveyed on the page.

amandadboccarossa — 2024-09-17 20:08:23 UTC

Conventions allow the reader to easily follow the text through means of grammar, spelling, and punctuation.

amandadboccarossa — 2024-09-17 20:08:31 UTC

Organization is how a writing piece is structured and shown in an effective way.

amandadboccarossa — 2024-09-17 20:08:40 UTC

Word Choice is used to provoke the reader's feelings and paint a picture of the story through vivid, colorful language.

amandadboccarossa — 2024-09-17 20:08:48 UTC

Sentence Fluency describes the rhythm and flow of the writing.

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Room for Everyone by Naaz Khan

amandadboccarossa — 2024-09-24 19:53:50 UTC

A young boy on a crowded bus discovers that, after some wiggles and giggles, there’s room for everyone in this lighthearted rhyming picture book set in Zanzibar. This story demonstrates word choice through vivid use of language and rhymes.

Punctuation Takes a Vacation by Rubin Puller

amandadboccarossa — 2024-11-19 21:30:40 UTC

After a lesson goes awry on the hottest, stickiest day of the year, Punctuation decides to go on vacation. Maybe if the kids have to live without punctuation for a while, they'll appreciate all the hard work commas, apostrophes, exclamation points, and question marks do!

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorist

amandadboccarossa — 2024-11-19 21:32:06 UTC

Alexander could tell it was going to be a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. He went to sleep with gum in his mouth and woke up with gum in his hair. When he got out of bed, he tripped over his skateboard and by mistake dropped his sweater in the sink while the water was running. He could tell it was going to be a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.

Our Librarian Won't Tell Us Anything! by Toni Buzzeo

amandadboccarossa — 2024-11-19 21:33:41 UTC

After Robert is told by another student not to bother asking Mrs. Skorupski for help since she never gives any answers, Robert finds the school librarian more than helpful in teaching him how to find the answers to all of his questions.

Eats, Shoots, and Leaves: Why Commas Really Do Make a Difference by Lynne Truss

amandadboccarossa — 2024-11-19 21:35:10 UTC

In Eats, Shoots & Leaves, former editor Lynne Truss, gravely concerned about our current grammatical state, boldly defends proper punctuation. She proclaims, in her delightfully urbane, witty, and very English way, that it is time to look at our commas and semicolons and see them as the wonderful and necessary things they are. Using examples from literature, history, neighborhood signage, and her own imagination, Truss shows how meaning is shaped by commas and apostrophes, and the hilarious consequences of punctuation gone awry.

Little i by Michael Hall

amandadboccarossa — 2024-11-19 21:36:52 UTC

When Little i’s dot falls off, rolls down a hill, over a cliff, and into the sea, Little i sets out on a journey to rescue it.

With a playful focus on the alphabet, spelling, and simple punctuation, this accessible young quest story about letters, self-confidence, belonging, and growing up is a great choice for the classroom, library story-hours, and bedtime.

Fireflies by Julie Brinckloe

amandadboccarossa — 2024-11-19 21:40:42 UTC

A young boy is proud of having caught a jar full of fireflies, which seems to him like owning a piece of moonlight, but as the light begins to dim he realizes he must set the insects free or they will die.

Imagine a Day by Sarah L. Thomson

amandadboccarossa — 2024-11-19 21:42:07 UTC

Imagine a day when your swing swings you higher than the highest treetops. Imagine a day when you can ride your bike up a path of falling leaves into the very tree they are falling from. Imagine a day when you release a handful of blue balloons into a cloudy, gray sky to create a postcard-perfect day. Imagine a day when the ordinary becomes the extraordinary...a day when anything is possible.

Out of the Ocean by Debra Frasier

amandadboccarossa — 2024-11-19 21:43:04 UTC

Open this book and you'll be walking along the ocean shore, looking for all kinds of special things. Some will be small enough to fit in your hand--like shells and sea glass. Others--like the sun and the sky and the waves--will be too big to carry home. But no matter what your journey holds, you'll soon learn that looking for the ocean's treasures can be as important as finding them.

Magic School Bus at the Water Works by Joanna Cole

amandadboccarossa — 2024-11-19 21:44:04 UTC

The classic title that started the award-winning series! Join Ms. Frizzle and her students as they follow the trail of water, from its sky-high source to the school bathroom sink on this wet and wild fieldtrip. After parking the school bus on a cloud and shrinking to raindrop size, Ms. Frizzle's class gets to see the waterworks from the water's point of view.Don't miss the all-new Magic School Bus: Rides Again book series and the animated show streaming on Netflix now!

Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak

amandadboccarossa — 2024-11-19 21:45:02 UTC

This iconic story has inspired a movie, an opera, and the imagination of generations. When Max dresses in his wolf suit and causes havoc in the house, his mother sends him to bed. From there, Max sets sail to an island inhabited by the Wild Things, who name him king and share a wild rumpus with him. But then from far away across the world, Max smells good things to eat...

The Important Thing About Margaret Wise Brown by Mac Barnett

amandadboccarossa — 2024-11-19 21:47:36 UTC

In forty-two inspired pages, this biography artfully plays with form and language to vivdly bring to life one of greatest children’s book creators who ever lived: Margaret Wise Brown.

Milo Imagines the World by Matt de la Pena

amandadboccarossa — 2024-11-19 21:48:41 UTC

Milo is on a long subway ride with his older sister. To pass the time, he studies the faces around him and makes pictures of their lives. There's the whiskered man with the crossword puzzle; Milo imagines him playing solitaire in a cluttered apartment full of pets. There's the wedding-dressed woman with a little dog peeking out of her handbag; Milo imagines her in a grand cathedral ceremony. And then there's the boy in the suit with the bright white sneakers; Milo imagines him arriving home to a castle with a drawbridge and a butler. But when the boy in the suit gets off on the same stop as Milo--walking the same path, going to the exact same place--Milo realizes that you can't really know anyone just by looking at them.

Click Clack Moo by Doreen Cronin

amandadboccarossa — 2024-11-19 21:49:45 UTC

long he hears:

Click, clack, moo.
Click, clack, moo.
Click, clack, moo.

But Farmer Brown’s problems REALLY begin when his cows start leaving him notes! Come join the fun as a bunch of literate cows turn Farmer Brown’s farm upside-down!

The Red Book by Barbara Lehman

amandadboccarossa — 2024-11-19 21:50:58 UTC

A red book is lying in the snow in the city. When you open it, you find a new kind of adventure. You will be taken across oceans and continents when you just flip the page. But this book-in-a-book holds even more secrets to discover.

Lehman’s simple story line and surprising illustrations create an unexpectedly enchanting story about friendship, connectedness, and how stories can bring us together . . . and even bring us inside their pages.

Ira Sleeps Over by Bernard Waber

amandadboccarossa — 2024-11-19 21:52:00 UTC

Ira is thrilled about his first sleepover at his friend Reggie's house, until his sister makes him question taking his favorite teddy bear! Will Reggie laugh at his teddy bear? Can Ira sleep without it? A hilarious back-and-forth ensues in this classic picture book about staying true to yourself. A perfect read-aloud for every young reader with their own bedtime friends.

One Tiny Turtle by Nicola Davies

amandadboccarossa — 2024-11-20 00:20:49 UTC

Far, far out at sea lives one of the world's most mysterious creatures, the loggerhead turtle. For thirty years she swims the oceans, wandering thousands of miles as she searches for food. Then, one summer night, she lands on a beach to lay her eggs — the very same beach where she herself was born. Nicola Davies's lyrical text offers fascinating information about the journey of the tiny, endangered loggerhead, while charming paintings by Jane Chapman vividly illustrate one turtle's odyssey.

A Chair for My Mother by Vera B. Williams

amandadboccarossa — 2024-11-20 00:22:06 UTC

Vera Williams tells of a young girl who, along with her waitress mother, saves coins in a big jar in hopes that they can someday buy a new chair for their apartment, the kind of chair her mother deserves after being on her feet all day in the Blue Tile Diner. Into the jar also goes the money Grandma saves whenever she gets a bargain at the market.

There hasn't been a comfortable place to sit in the apartment since a fire in their previous apartment burned everything to "charcoal and ashes." Friends and neighbors brought furniture to their new apartment downstairs, but no one brought anything big or soft or comfortable. Finally the jar is full, the coins are rolled, and in the book's crowning moment, mother, daughter, and Grandma search four different furniture stores, and after carefully trying several chairs, like Goldilocks, they find the chair they've been dreaming of at last.

The Important Book by Margaret Wise Brown

amandadboccarossa — 2024-11-20 00:23:18 UTC

For the important thing about The Important Book is that the book resonates long after it's closed. What's most important about many familiar things—like rain and wind, apples and daisies—is suggested in rhythmic words and vivid pictures. "A perfect book. The text establishes a word game which tiny children will accept with glee," said Kirkus.

Twenty One Steps by Jeff Gottesfeld

amandadboccarossa — 2024-11-20 00:24:21 UTC

Keeping vigil at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, in Arlington National Cemetery, are the sentinel guards, whose every step, every turn, honors and remembers America’s fallen. They protect fellow soldiers who have paid the ultimate sacrifice, making sure they are never alone. To stand there—with absolute precision, in every type of weather, at every moment of the day, one in a line uninterrupted since midnight July 2, 1937—is the ultimate privilege and the most difficult post to earn in the army. Everything these men and women do is in service to the Unknowns. Their standard is perfection.

The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka

amandadboccarossa — 2024-11-20 00:25:38 UTC

In this hysterical and clever fracture fairy tale picture book that twists point of view and perspective, young readers will finally hear the other side of the story of “The Three Little Pigs.”

Yesterday I Had the Blues by Jeron Ashford Frame

amandadboccarossa — 2024-11-20 00:27:10 UTC

Ever had the blues? Yesterday one boy had them bad--not just the ordinary blues, the "deep down in my shoes" blues, the "go away Mr. Sun quit smilin' at me" blues. But today he's traded in those blues for greens, the "runnin' my hands along the hedges" greens, the kind of greens that make him want to be Somebody.

With text that begs to be read aloud, and bold, colorful paintings, this book will have readers big and small pondering the spectrum of moods and how they can change from day to day.

Train to Somewhere by Eve Bunting

amandadboccarossa — 2024-11-20 00:28:11 UTC

Marianne, heading west with fourteen other children on an Orphan Train, is sure her mother will show up at one of the stations along the way. When her mother left Marianne at the orphanage, hadn't she promised she'd come for her after making a new life in the West? Stop after stop goes by, and there's no sign of her mother in the crowds that come to look over the children. No one shows any interest in adopting shy, plain Marianne, either. But that's all right: She has to be free for her mother to claim her. Then the train pulls into its final stop, a town called Somewhere . . .

The Other Side by Jacqueline Woodson

amandadboccarossa — 2024-11-20 00:29:18 UTC

Clover's mom says it isn't safe to cross the fence that segregates their African-American side of town from the white side where Anna lives. But the two girls strike up a friendship, and get around the grown-ups' rules by sitting on top of the fence together.

The Paper Bag Princess by Robert Munsch

amandadboccarossa — 2024-11-20 00:30:15 UTC

When the fiercest dragon in the whole world smashes Princess Elizabeth’s castle, burns all her clothes, and captures her fiancé, Prince Ronald, Elizabeth takes matters into her own hands. With her wits alone and nothing but a paper bag to wear, the princess challenges the dragon to show his strength in the hopes of saving the prince. But is it worth all that trouble?

Charlotte's Web by E.B. White

amandadboccarossa — 2024-11-20 00:31:02 UTC

Some Pig. Humble. Radiant. These are the words in Charlotte's Web, high up in Zuckerman's barn. Charlotte's spiderweb tells of her feelings for a little pig named Wilbur, who simply wants a friend. They also express the love of a girl named Fern, who saved Wilbur's life when he was born the runt of his litter.

E. B. White's Newbery Honor Book is a tender novel of friendship, love, life, and death that will continue to be enjoyed by generations to come. It contains illustrations by Garth Williams, the acclaimed illustrator of E. B. White's Stuart Little and Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House series, among many other books.

This is Not a Picture Book! by Sergio Ruzzier

amandadboccarossa — 2024-11-20 00:32:57 UTC

In this quirky yet sweet picture book about the joy and power of reading, Duck learns that even books without pictures can be fun. While he and his friend Bug may struggle at first to decipher their book, they stick with it, and before long they discover that not only can they read it, but it deserves a place on the shelf with all their favorite picture books. Author-artist Sergio Ruzzier has created a fanciful tribute to books of all kinds. It includes both words AND pictures. And because this is the fixed-format version, it looks almost identical to the print edition!

Things That Are Most in the World by Judi Barrett

amandadboccarossa — 2024-11-20 00:34:07 UTC

Want to know what are the quietest, silliest, smelliest, wiggliest things in the world? Look no further for imaginative answers to these and other questions about superlatives. An ice-skating snake and a dragon eating pepperoni pizza are just two of the amazing “mosts” to ponder in this book that will stretch the imagination and send readers young and old into fits of laughter.

Max's Words by Kate Banks

amandadboccarossa — 2024-11-20 00:35:08 UTC

Max's brothers have grand collections that everyone makes a big fuss over. Benjamin collects stamps and Karl collects coins, and neither one will share with their little brother. So Max decides to start a collection of his own. He's going to collect words. He starts with small words that he cuts out of newspapers and magazines, but soon his collection has spilled out into the hall.

These Hands by Hope Lynne Price

amandadboccarossa — 2024-11-20 00:36:15 UTC

These hands create. These hands can build. These hands can reach. Can stretch. Can teach.

Begging to be read aloud, this engaging, poetic board book is a wonderful tribute to the grace and power of hands, and is the perfect fit for our littlest readers.

Video games can be used to learn in the classroom too! These games each teach different aspects of writing. All are geared toward older elementary-aged students and above.

amandadboccarossa — 2024-11-20 00:47:24 UTC

Journey (For Ages 10+)

amandadboccarossa — 2024-11-20 00:50:04 UTC

Explore the ancient, mysterious world of Journey as you soar above ruins and glide across sands to discover its secrets.

Heaven's Vault (For Ages 10+)

amandadboccarossa — 2024-11-20 00:53:30 UTC

An archaeologist uncovers a lost history in an ancient space Nebula. Award-winning narrative adventure game with hieroglyphic language puzzles, from the creators of 80 DAYS.

Epistory - Typing Chronicles (For Ages 8+)

amandadboccarossa — 2024-11-20 00:54:29 UTC

Epistory immerses you in an atmospheric action/adventure game where you play a girl riding a giant fox who fights an insectile corruption from an origami world. As you progress and explore this world, the story literally unfolds and the mysteries of the magic power of the words are revealed.

Alphabet Under Construction by Denise Fleming

amandadboccarossa — 2024-11-20 01:15:45 UTC

Mouse is hard at work constructing each letter of the alphabet. He dyes the D, erases the E, and folds the F. Mouse works his way right through to Z, constructing an alphabet that surpasses even the wildest artistic imagination.

Do Not Open This Book by Michaela Muntean

amandadboccarossa — 2024-11-20 01:18:02 UTC

"Excuse me, but who do you think you are, opening this book when the cover clearly says, DO NOT OPEN THIS BOOK? The reason you weren't supposed to open this book is because it is not yet written!...You think it's easy to put words together? Hah! Now go away--I need time to think."So begins Pig's valiant attempt to pen his masterpiece. But he is constantly interrupted by the reader who is seduced at every turn into foiling his efforts ("please go away" "please do not turn the page")--until at last we reach the final page & discover that together, Pig & the reader have indeed created a book.

I Will Never Not Ever Eat a Tomato by Lauren Child

amandadboccarossa — 2024-11-20 01:19:11 UTC

Lola is a fussy eater. A very fussy eater. She won’t eat her carrots (until her brother Charlie reveals that they’re orange twiglets from Jupiter). She won’t eat her mashed potatoes (until Charlie explains that they’re cloud fluff from the pointiest peak of Mount Fuji). There are many things Lola won’t eat, including — and especially —tomatoes. Or will she? Two endearing siblings star in a witty story about the triumph of imagination over proclivity.

Giant Pandas by Gail Gibbons

amandadboccarossa — 2024-11-20 01:20:34 UTC

Giant pandas: they are indigenous to China and are adored the world over. But they are more than a bundle of fluff and squeaks. Giant pandas are energetic climbers and swimmers. In one year, they may eat around 10,000 pounds of bamboo. And people in China have worked together to create protected areas for giant pandas to live peacefully.

Discover a detailed introduction to giant pandas - including baby panda development - in this beautifully illustrated nonfiction picture book. Gail Gibbons adds another book to her widespread collection of nonfiction for young readers of all levels, and introduces the topic of conservation in the process.

Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale by Mo Willems

amandadboccarossa — 2024-11-20 01:21:36 UTC

Trixie, Daddy, and Knuffle Bunny take a trip to the neighborhood Laundromat. But the exciting adventure takes a dramatic turn when Trixie realizes somebunny was left behind?
Using a combination of muted black-and-white photographs and expressive illustrations, this stunning book tells a brilliantly true-to-life tale about what happens when Daddy's in charge and things go terribly, hilariously wrong.