I thought this was a cute easy read that can demonstrate to children that although people (and animals) can come and go, there can always be a brighter side to it. While the book doesn’t directly address the white cat’s death, it is implied. The book takes the reader through a loving friendship between two cats and how they bonded until the white cat passes. I think this book was a way to show children how animals/people leave without having to directly mention death. The book has easy words and pictures that I think will be great for children to follow along with. 

While searching for reviews, critics loved this book and it’s illustrations. Lolly Gepson, a writer for Booklist commented on this book that, “Cooper certainly loves and understands cat behavior, as exemplified in his various poses of cats at rest and in action”. The book received a plethora of raving reviews about the author’s ability to gently demonstrate the loving life cycle of pets. 

Title: Amos McGee Misses the Bus

Publisher: Macmillian Young Listeners

Date: Nov 23, 2021

# of pages: 48

Grade level: 2-6 years

Genre: Children's fiction

Literary Elements/summary: Amos McGee was planning on having a great, fun day complete with chores, work, and an outing with his friends. Amos fell asleep at the kitchen table and was late for his job at the zoo. Amos went around to each animal explaining why he was late until Amos fell asleep again. The animals decided that Amos worked so hard for them so they tidied up the zoo and the tortose found him his favorite hat. Amos and the animals decided to catch the afternoon bus to the beach to relax!

The authors Philip and Erin Stead are married and live in Michigan with their puppy. They have written and illustrated multiple Amos McGee stories. The authors love to use a slow, messy process as they create their stories and pictures. They wanted Amos McGee to be a calming and peaceful character for kids and parents to read together. The idea for Amos McGee came from an image, not an idea. The idea came from the image of an elephant playing chess with an old man. These authors created their pictures before they came up with the storyline for the book. Children can feel a sense of calmness from this book as they look at the pictures of the animals and the slow but steadiness of Amos McGee. 

The illustrators implement different techniques as they create their pictures. It is interesting that the idea from this book came from images as opposed to a certain character or storyline. This book has great illustrations of the animals with colored pencil. The authors sketch out the drawing in regualr pencil and then color it in. The images are simple but unique and intriguing to look at. The pictures attribute to the calmness and serenity of the story and reflect Amos McGee's character. 

Publication date: May 25, 2021

Genre: Children's poetry

Grade level: Preschool-3rd

Pages: 40 

Theme: Seeing other perspectives 

Summary: This children's poetry book is full of wonder and color. A shy girl moves to a new home and spots a treefrog sitting on a green leaf. The little girl is curious about the frog and the world it lives in. The little girl wonders about the frog's life cycle and how the frog views life and the world around it. This book is about being curious about other peoples/animals perspectives and how they view life differently. This is a great poetry book for children to become more familiar about poetry, the life cycle of a frog, and how it is important to put ourselves in others' shoes. 

Grade Level: P-3rd grade

Pages: 32

Summary: Lon Po Po is a Red Riding Hood story variation from China. The story begins with a mother leaving her three children Shang, Tao, Paotze at home alone. They are greeted by their Grandmother knocking at their door and invited her inside. Unfortunately, the grandmother was actually a wolf in disguise. The children begin to get suspicious about their grandmother's voice, tail, and fur. The eldest daughter Shang decides to try and trick the wolf by bringing up the wolf to the top of a gingko tree using a basket. The children were pulling the basket holding the wolf all the way to the top until the last second where they dropped the basket and the wolf's heart broke to pieces.


The tale is a great twist and different version about Red Riding Hood. The book contains great imagery and word choice as the children try to get rid of the wolf. This tale employs a rich literary style as it is intriguing and unique. I would love to implement this book into my future classroom and curriculum. It would be interesting to find different cultural verisons of Red Riding Hood or any other fairytale and compare and contrast them with my students. This would also be a great book to use for a Reader's Theater or storytelling unit. 

Author: Annette Bay Pimentel 

Genre: Biography

Grade level: K-3

# of pages: 32

Published: Feb 6, 2018

Theme: Determination, Women's Equality

Summary: Bobbi Gibb feels as if she was meant to run. Although girls were not allowed to run or be on the track team, the day after the Boston Marathon, Bobbi began to train. Bobbi takes a trip across the country and even runs then. She applies to run in the Boston Marathon but is denied for being female. Bobbi decides to try and disguise herself and run the race anyways to prove everyone wrong. Bobbi finishes the race with tons of viewers cheering and hollering for her. Bobbi went on to inspire countless of women to run. 

Author: April Sayre

Genre: Children's Science 

Grade level: 1-5

Theme: Past, Science

Page #: 32

Published: March 29, 2005 

Summary: This is a book all about dust and the many ways it is seen in our world. This book explains that bikes sputter dust, theres dust in the sunset, cotton rubs off from our jeans, theres dust under our bed, there's dust everywhere! This book takes the audience on an adventure to many places across the world and explains how dust exists in every place. Some of the dust can come from space or it existed during the time of the dinosaurs and connects the world together!