Title: The Wild Robot

Author, illustrator and narrator: Peter Brown

Date: 4/5/2016

Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Grade: 1st-5th

Genre: Novel, Science Fiction

Theme: Make the best out of situations no matter how uncomfortable they might be in the beginning.

# of pages: 320

Plot/Summary: In Peter Brown's book titled, "The Wild Robot", a wild robot named Roz finds herself stranded on a wild island where she doesn't know anyone or anything and has to learn how to survive on her own in a new and scary environment. With the wild life and environment itself was scary and intimidating for Roz who knew nothing about life on a wild island, therefore it was a nerve racking journey for Roz. In the end, Roz came to know her new environment and was able to adapt and learn how to survive in such a new and different place.

Your personal responses to the story:

The message of this story is great for children as sometimes even going to school on the first day in a new classroom can bring the feelings that Roz might have had on her journey trying to adapt to a new place. The book is very interesting for children from ages 7-10 and it is a great book to improve students literacy. This book overall is a great read and gives children both an interesting and fun book to read while also giving a great message for children as well.

Noticeable comments and critics discussed in the book reviews:

Lots of people recognized how engaging this book is and how much their students love it and call it their "favorite book". The main critic I noticed through book reviews for this book was how the book would stop and start talking to the reader. Some people also said that this book lacks humor.

One activity that engages students in learning about the book award

Start off by teaching the students about the award and once finished explaining, open up the conversation for questions or comments from students about the award. Have a few books prepared that have been nominated for this award and then split students into groups to read the books and answer questions regarding why they think the book that they read was nominated for the award. Lastly, have the students share as a group to the rest of their peers about their book and why they think this is a good nominee for the award.

1. While there are many different parts of the book that have sound effects, sound effects start on page one when a character says "WHEEEE!". What you lose to the story if you take away the sound effects is their emotions. You can still understand the story but it takes the dynamic of the story away. With sound effects, you get raw emotion so without that, the story might be a little harder to comprehend on a deeper level. These sound effects continue especially on pages 16 and 17.

4. An example of foreshadowing is on pages 14-16 when the character doesn't know where they are driving to and is worried that it is the doctor. There are little hints throughout that scene that tell where they are going which is foreshadowing.

Personal Response: This book is great for students of all ages to read and be reminded that no matter the differences between yourself and others around you, you always matter. As nobody is ever the same, it is very common to feel different and its important for students, especially at a young age, to know that they matter whether they are similar to others or not. This book brings positivity and happiness to classrooms and is a great way to remind kids of this great message that you matter.

Evaluation:

Good Books Expand Awareness- This book is relatable for all students, therefore it is helpful for children to read this and be reminded that everyone is important and that everyone matters no matter your differences.

Good Books Provide an Enjoyable Read that Doesn’t Overly Teach or Memorize- This book provides a great lesson showing students that they matter, but doesn't sound like a lesson which helps students stay engaged and actually get a strong take away from reading this book.

Good Books Tell the Truth- Although the message of this book is very important for children to hear, it is also very cool that the book portrayed difference's that people might have with others. It helps students to feel included and important when they see realistic illustrations throughout a book and hear things throughout it that can relate to their lives as well.

Good Books Embody Quality- This book gives a very inviting and warm message that children will be drawn to. The illustrations throughout the book also are very exciting for students to see differences in people and to relate and feel good about themselves and their differences.

Good Books Have Integrity- This book comes together to make a satisfying whole through the language used, the message given, the illustrations, etc.

Good Books Show Originality- This book shows originality as it has a different and important story line and message to show the world in a different way.

Extra Piece of Excellence- Overall, I think that this book is extremely powerful to children and has a great message that is important for students to hear!

Author: Joanna Cole

Illustrator: Bruce Degen

Date: March 1st, 2010

Publisher:‎ Scholastic Press; First Edition

Genre: Fiction

Themes: Global warming and climate change, students learning about how they can stop global warming and what causes it

Grade Level: 2-5

# of Pages: 48

Short Summary: This book is about a small group of children with their teacher who are studying global warming and climate change. Their teacher takes them on a bus plane and teaches them about the Earth and its changes through climate change and global warming. The students learn about what causes climate change and how they can stop global warming as well.

Type of Literature: Global

• How are these ideas and information CONNECTED to what you already know?

  • The ideas and information connected to what I already know because I already knew that it is important to connect literature and other subjects in school as well to the students. When students are interested in what they are reading and have a connection to it, they are more likely to want to read and to continue to try.

• What new ideas did you get that EXTENDED or pushed your thinking in new directions?

  • A new idea that extended my thinking in a new direction was the windows and mirrors analogy. I think that is a great way to look at it and is a perfect way to incorporate cultures into literature as well.

• What QUESTIONS or WONDERINGS do you have? 

  • A question that I still have is how do I incorporate this into my classroom to benefit diversity and cultures in my classroom?

Title: We Believe in You

Illustrator: Molly Idle

Publisher: ‎Roaring Brook Press

Date: October 27th, 2020

# of Pages: 32

Grade Level: prek-1st. grade

Genre: Bedtime, fiction, children's literacy

Theme: The importance of believing in yourself and others

Summary: This book is full of inspiration for young children that shows that you can do anything that you put your mind to. This book has a purpose of being a positive light in a young child's life portraying that you should always believe in yourself and others as well.

Beth Ferry, the author of the book titled, "We Believe in You", is the New York Times bestselling author for a lot of her books. Beth Ferry wanted children to know how empowering and important it is to believe in yourself and those around you. She provides a very positive, welcoming, and warm feel to the book so that students might feel calm and engaged when reading it.

Title: Smile

Illustrator: Raina Telgemeier

Publisher: Scholastic/Graphix

Date: February 2010

# of Pages: 224

Grade Level: 2nd grade-5th grade

Genre: Graphic novel

Theme: The importance of loving yourself just the way that you are

Summary: This book is about a young girl who struggles with not liking the way that she looks and friendship issues. On top of facing these issues, she is going through a hard patch of life transitioning into middle school and then soon after transitioning to high school as well.

Title: The Kissing Hand

Illustrator: Ruth E Harper and Nancy M Leak

Publisher: ‎Tanglewood

Date: August 15, 2007

# of Pages: 32

Grade Level: Age 2-1st grade

Genre: Fiction

Theme: Seperation anxiety from parents

Summary: This book is about the anxiety that young children face when leaving their mothers and fathers when they start school. Chester didn't want to go to school so his mother told him about the kissing hand to make him feel better. Chester finds comfort in this and is finally able to go to school.

Title: Out of My Mind

Publisher: ‎Simon & Schuster

Date: March 9, 2010

# of Pages: 320

Grade Level: 4th grade-6th grade

Genre: Fiction

Theme: Getting through a hard situation in life

Summary: This book is about a girl who has cerebral palsy. while this is a hard condition to have, Melody is capable of so much. The book talks about her daily life with others socially, academically and emotionally.

Title: The Day You Begin

Illustrator: Rafael Lopez

Publisher: ‎Nancy Paulsen BooksDate: October 27th, 2020

# of Pages: 32

Grade Level: Kindergarten-3rd grade

Genre: Fiction

Theme: The theme of this book is to push through the hard times where you feel different from everyone else.

Summary: This book is about the importance of prioritizing living your life happily even though it can be hard feeling like you are different. The book talks about how when you start to find happiness and joy in all things in your life, you become confident and happy with who you are no matter if you are different from others or not.

Title: The Giving Tree

Illustrator: Shel Silverstein

Publisher: ‎HarperCollins

Date: October 7, 1964

# of Pages: 64

Grade Level: 2nd grade-3rd grade

Genre: Picture book, Children's book, fiction

Theme: The theme of this book is to show the relationship of an older person to a young child and the phases that their relationship goes through.

Summary: This book is about a tree and a young boy who have a strong bond and friendship. The boy goes from a young child to an old man and still comes back to his tree. The tree was kind in giving to him which was the root of their friendship.

Award: Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children

Publication Date: January 31, 2023

Poet: Julie Fogliano

Illustrator: Catia Chien

Genre: Children's Literature

Theme: Things will get better and we always have other people that are there for us

Short Summary: This book highlights both the good and bad in life and gives a perspective of being positive and hopeful even on your bad days. Throughout the book it talks about the different life hurdles and experiences that can turn into positives.

Grade Level: Pre-k through3rd Grade

Type of Poetry: Simple

Fun facts about Julie Fogliano:

1. Received the Ezra Jack Keats Award in 2013

2. Lives in the Hudson Valley with her husband and three children

3. She loves to watch out the window for book inspiration

I really liked this book as the theme was such a good message of perseverance. The characters in this book were so strong and I found it really heartwarming that they were able to find something that could make them happy in such a hard time of their lives.

Visual Representation Description:

I drew people behind bars and then a baseball field with an arrow between those two events. I then wrote the word "freedom" next to baseball field to show that baseball was an out for them when it comes to the things that they were going through. I was trying to show the plot of the story, starting out having a really hard time being locked up for unjust reasons and then feeling more free when they were able to play baseball.

Effectiveness:

This activity helps students to understand the book that they are doing a visual representation for better. It helps young students understand a story plot line which is a good start to being able to understand books at a young age and be able to comprehend the story.

This book portrays such a good message of what life was like during this time. It really showed how lucky some of us are to not have to go through those hard things. Ha has gone through a lot and for such a young girl, she has a lot of justifiable worry and things to be scared about on her plate. I can't even imagine always wondering where my dad is or if he is okay and seeing my mom and other family members go through the worry of that as well. I overall really enjoyed this book and I think that it was a great wake up call to show us how lucky we really are.

Poem;

I am from a family full of worry

A family that misses their father

I am from my brothers

My brothers who tease me

I am from a great relationship with my best friend TiTi

From having to say bye to my best friend

I am from not knowing my Father

From missing him for 9 years

I am from wondering if my father will ever come back

From worrying if he is okay

I am from where food is so expensive

From where making enough is hard

This poem highlights the aspects of this book where Ha's father is gone and how that affects her life. It focuses on the hard things that she had to go through emotionally and mentally.

This activity is effective for students because it helps them get to know the book on a deeper level having to dive deeper into a characters life in the book. I think that students would benefit from this activity as they are both practicing writing poems and reading the content on a deeper level to know more about a certain character.

Symbols: Hippo, birds, monkey, stork, red rose slippers, great falcon (symbol of the god Horus), 

Themes: Always be humble and kind

Cultural Values/Beliefs

Greek gods, respect of culture

Plot: Because Rhodopis has the red rose slippers, the other maids make her do all of the work and tell her that she isn’t allowed to go to the event. Rhodopis’ shoe was taken by a bird and dropped by a prince, so the prince finds the person that the shoe fits and says that that person will be his queen, which was Rhodopis.

Norms: Constant cleaning and slavery

Artifacts: Shoes, boats, instruments

Art Style: Strokey, shaded art, very colorful

Symbols: White flowers, fruit tree, birds, Pear Blossom’s braided hair, horse, magical frog, pig, rice, cow

Themes: Push through the hard times

Cultural clothing

Plot: Pear Blossom is a girl that the other maids are jealous of, so they make her do all of the work. With the tasks Pear Blossom has been given, Pear Blossom completes them with the help of magical birds.

Norms: Slavery, racism

Artifacts: String tied on Pear Blossom’s hair, 

Art style: Very colorful and bright illustrations, detailed, lots of patterns

Author/Illustrator: Paul Galdone

Date: March 21, 1983

Publisher:‎ Clarion Books

Type of literature: Fairy tale

Grade level: 2 years old-Kindergarten

Summary: This book is about a gingerbread boy that was made by an old women. The gingerbread boy that the old women made ends up running away. Everyone that comes across the gingerbread boy wants to eat him. In the end, the only thing that ends up eating the gingerbread boy is the fox who tricked him.

# of pages: 40

1. Does the tale reflect a narrative storytelling style?
The tale reflects a narrative storytelling style as it uses language that makes you feel like you are listening to someone tell a story.

2. Does the tale preserve the sound and “feel” of the culture or country of its origin?
It shows the country aspect of the setting and life that the people and animals lived which shows the tale preserves the sound and feel of the tales origin.

3. Do the illustrations match the tone of the text and help to capture the essence of the culture?

The illustrations in this book are simple yet so detailed as it matched to the tone of the text so well to capture the essence of the culture in the book.

4. Does the tale employ a rich literary style?
There is a lot of talking and chanting coming from the gingerbread boy causing this book to have a rich literary style.

A lesson that is clear when reading The Gingerbread Boy is to be careful what you believe and to not be gullible. When the fox offers to help out the gingerbread boy, he is actually setting up the gingerbread boy for failure as he is tricking him so that he can eat him. This lesson shows that you have to be careful who you trust and what you believe.

3. Universal themes that are presented in this book is family and helping one another out through love.

Author: Dr. Suess

Illustrator: Dr. Suess

Date: January 22, 1990

Publisher:‎ Random House

Genre: Children's Literature, Fiction

Themes: To keep pushing through no matter the ups and downs that life throws at you

Grade Level: 3+ years

# of Pages: 56

Short Summary: This book is an inspiring children's book that shows kids that there are so many things in life that you will have to pick yourself up from but to live thankfully. It shows you to be the best you can be no matter the highs and lows and you will always still make it if you try your best.

Type of Literature: Childrens

Author: Jannette Sebring Lowrey

Illustrator: Gustaf Tenggren

Date: October 1, 1942

Publisher:‎ The Golden Books

Genre: Picture book, Fiction

Themes: Always try to be on time and not be poky

Grade Level: Preschool-1st grade

# of Pages: 24

Short Summary: The Poky Little Puppy is always late to everything and one night was late to get back home so he missed desert.

Type of Literature: Childrens

Illustrator: Kim Smith

Date: 2015

Publisher: Epic

Grade: 2nd-4th

Genre: Informal Picture Book

Theme: A boy who visits 13 countries to visit a different friend in each country

Summary: This book is about a young boy who travels to 13 different countries so that he can visit friends from each country. As the boy travels from country to country, the author recognizes different foods, landmarks, and other cultural traditions. This book overall brings culture into reading for students.

Date: August 12, 1960

Publisher: Random House

Grade: K-3rd

Genre: Childrens literature

Theme: Don't judge things without trying it first.

Summary: This book is about making sure that you don't judge things or make an assumption about things before you try it. Throughout the book, there are lots of different points of rejection. This happens until he ends up loving what he once rejected!

Pennypacker, S.(2006). Clementine. Illustrated by Marla Frazee. Disney/Hyperion. Chapter Book. Realistic Fiction. Grade Level: 3+. 

Story Plot: This book is about a fun and artistic eight year old girl named Clementine who gets sent to the principal's office often. While she means well and has good intentions, her characteristics come across differently than she means them to.

Personal Response: This book can be really relatable for students who have good intentions but might not get those intentions across in the right way therefore getting in trouble. When I was a beginning reader, I had to be reading something engaging and interesting so that I would continue to practice in order to get better at my reading, which is something that I think this book does a really good job of.

Curriculum connections: Clementine really offers the opportunity for students to dig deeper into who the characters are. This book can also be used as a reading comprehension tool if you check understanding as you’re reading the book by stopping and asking your students questions.

Kinney, J. (2007). Diary of a Wimpy Kid. Illustrated by Jeff Kinney. Amulet Books. Chapter Book. Children's Literature. Grade Level: 3-7.

Story Plot: The main character of this book, Greg Heffley, feels that he will easily become one of the popular kids at school in middle school, but his friend that he is embarrassed about, Rowley Jefferson, might ruin his chances of that.

Personal Response: My favorite part of the book was when Greg lied to his dad about what he was doing in the summer. I noticed that Greg has a tendency to be dishonest and do stuff in his favor, but in the long run he always ends up getting caught or something inconvenient always happens. A connection that I made was how relatable it was when Greg went into middle school not wanting to be made fun of for being weird and wanted to be popular.

Curriculum connections: This book could easily be used to explore the theme and what the students learned from the book. This book offers a lot when it comes to life lessons and I think that would be a great application for a classroom.

Date: November 13, 1963

Publisher: Harper & Row

Grade: K-3

Genre: Children's picture book

Theme: This book is all about imagination and embracing imagination as a child.

Summary: This book is about a boy, Max, who feels extra sad when he is misunderstood which he feels is often. Max escapes home and ends up on an island where he meets someone similar to him.

Date: 1992

Publisher: NordSüd Verlag

Grade: K-2nd

Genre: Childrens book

Theme: How happy you can be to see others happy when you share.

Summary: This book is about a fish who has very unique and iridescent scales. He slowly becomes lonely and realizes that his pretty scales aren't going to gain him friends, but sharing and being kind will.

Illustrator: Mary Gher

Date: January 1, 1977

Publisher: Penguin Random House

Grade: 2-3

Genre: Mystery Fiction

Theme: The independence and what children are capable of, including working together

Summary: The Alden family spend their entire summer on Grandfather's Island. While they have someone there to help with anything that they need, they explore more because it isn't just about what they can see and there is a lot more to the island than they know about.

Carle, E. (1969). The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Illustrated by Eric Carle. World Publishing Company (US) Hamish Hamilton (UK). Picture Book. Children's Literature. Grade Level: K-1. 

Story Plot: This story is about a hungry caterpillar that eats lots of different things, everything that he can eat before becoming a butterfly

Personal Response: My favorite thing about this book is that it can be so universal for lots of themes which helps teachers use it in their classroom. Something that I noticed about this book is how happy it is and how fun it is for children to read. I connect to this book in a different way than normal because I just remember how happy this book made me when I was little and how much fun I had reading it.

Curriculum connections: This book could be used for students to identify rhyming words. Younger kids can also use this book to associate words with objects and foods which is sort of already established at Kindergarten, but it would be really useful and beneficial for multilingual learners.

Date: 1998

Publisher:Blue Sky Press, a division of Scholastic Press.

Grade: 2nd

Genre: Children's fiction

Theme: Be yourself no matter what other people are saying about you!

Summary: This book is about a young girl who didn't want to eat lima beans after her friends had been making fun of her. When she stopped eating lima beans, she starts getting stripes all over her. She stopped being herself and the stripes started spreading.

Date: 1998

Publisher: Scholastic Inc.

Grade: Pre-K-2nd

Genre: Children's Fiction

Theme: You are loved no matter what you do to disobey.

Summary: This book is about a boy named David that struggles with disobeying. He hears "No, David!" a lot throughout the day. But at the end of the book, they tell David that they love him so much no matter what he does to disobey or not listen.

Park, B. (2003). Junie B. Jones Toothless Wonder. Illustrated by Denise Brunkus. Random House Books for Young Readers. Chapter Book. Children's Literature. Grade Level: 2-3.

Story Plot: Junie B. Jones is very excited about her loose tooth, when someone tells her about toothless Uncle Lou which scares her.

Personal Response: My favorite thing about this book is the excitement that June B. Jones had about being the first person in first grade to lose her tooth. Something that I noticed about this book is how much someone or something can alter the way that you view things. I connect to this book because when I was younger I would get really excited about things like that as well at school and tell all of my friends about it.

Curriculum connections: This book could be used for comprehension practice. The teacher could stop at certain parts of the book and check comprehension to make sure that students are understanding what is going on in the book.

Kann, V. and Kann, E. (2006). Pinkalicious. Illustrated by Victoria Kann. HarperCollins Publishers. Picture Book. Children's Literature. Grade Level: Pre-K-1. 

Story Plot: Pinkalicious and her mother make pink cupcakes because pink is her favorite color. She ends up eating a few and turning pink.

Personal Response: My favorite part of this book was when Pinkalicious ate more cupcakes even though her mom told her not to. I always thought when I was little that that part of the book was so funny. Something that I noticed about this book is the lesson of listening to your parents even when you don’t want to. I connect to this book because when I was younger I had moments where I didn’t listen to my parents and it would be obvious, just like it was when Pinkalicious didn’t listen to her mom.

Curriculum connections: This book could be used for a read aloud. After the read aloud, the teacher could have students complete a thinking map about the book to check comprehension and understanding.

Date: March 12, 1957

Publisher: Random House, Houghton Mifflin

Grade: 1st

Genre: Children's Literature

Theme: The theme of this book is mainly trust and listening.

Summary: This book is about two siblings who run into a cat in a hat. The Cat in The Hat comes across siblings and tells them that he is going to teach them some tricks.

Date: April 3, 1993

Publisher: Harcourt, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, The Living Books Company

Grade: 2 years old-10 years old

Genre: Children's literature

Theme: Find similarities with others when it starts to feel like you have more differences than stuff in common.

Summary: This book is about a bat named Stellaluna. She gets adopted by a bird family after being separated from her mother, making her feel left out and different. Stellaluna soon finds her mother and can behave like a bat again.

Date: 1955

Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers

Grade: Pre-K-3rd

Genre: Children's literature

Theme: Be resilient

Summary: Harold carries a purple crayon with him wherever he goes. The book takes us through a world that Harold loves and he uses his purple crayon to help with different obstacles along the way.

Date: 1970

Publisher: Harper & Row

Grade: K-2

Genre: Children's literature

Theme: The book portrays a great friendship that students can use as an example for their friendships

Summary: This book is about two friends who are very different than each other. Their differences enhance their friendship and help them get through different things along the way.

Date: February 1, 2000

Publisher: Puffin Books

Grade: Pre-K-1

Genre: Children's literature - comedy

Theme: Everyone has their own special way of doing things.

Summary: On Max & Ruby's Grandma's birthday, they decided to both make her a cake. Max made her a mud cake and then went to help Ruby with her cake for Grandma. When Max was helping Ruby, he was spilling everything and making a mess, but it's the thought that counts.

Illustrator: Robin James

Date: 1974

Publisher: Serendipity Books

Grade: K-3rd

Genre: Children's literature

Theme: Everyone has a purpose.

Summary: This book is about a sea creature who finds herself serving as guardian of all seas. She realizes that this is a big responsibility and she has lots of work to do under her title.

Illustrator: Mark Pett

Date: October 4, 2011

Grade: K-3rd

Genre: Children's Literature

Theme: Have a positive attitude about everything, even mistakes.

Summary: Beatrice and Carl are very different siblings. Beatrice never seems to make mistakes, and Carl is the opposite. Beatrice one day makes a mistakes and chooses to brush it off her shoulder like it never happened.

Illustrator: Clement Hurd

Date: September 3, 1947

Publisher: Harper & Brothers

Grade: K-3rd

Genre: Children's Literature

Theme: This book brings happiness to bed time.

Summary: This book shows a bunny going around saying goodnight to different people and things. This book is calming for kids before they go to bed.

Illustrator: Eric Carle

Date: 1976

Publisher: Henry Holt and Company, Inc.

Grade: 2 years old-Kindergarten

Genre: Children's book

Theme: Learning

Summary: This book walks through the life of animals seeing what Brown Bear sees but also what his friends see.

Date: June 12, 1960

Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers

Grade: Preschool-1st

Genre: Fiction

Theme: Always stay positive.

Summary: When a bird laid an egg and left the egg to go find food, the egg hatches. The baby bird couldn't find its mom and asked "Are you my mother?".