Title: Most People

Author: Michael Leannah

Illustrator: Jennifer E. Morris

Publisher: Tilbury House Publishers Thomaston, Maine

Year: 2017

Number of pages: 32

Grade level: Preschool - 2nd Grade

Genre: Fiction

Theme: Not all people are good, but most are

Topic: Good People

ARTISTIC MEDIA: 

Drawings and paintings

LITERARY ELEMENTS:

Main Character: Good People

Setting: in a city/community

Plot: Most people are good, they smile and laugh and do good things. Not all people are good people but if you line up all of the good people, the line would reach all the way to the tallest mountain and the bad people could fit in one room.

PERSONAL RESPONSE:

Connections: Like the author mentions on the back of the book, the world can be displayed as a very scary place. If children are watching too much of the news then they can think of the world as a very dangerous place to be. I can connect to this because sometimes I can be very paranoid in public, especially growing up in an area less safe than Boise. 

Strengths: This book can change a child’s mindset to not be as scared about living. Though kids do need to be cautious of strangers, they still shouldn’t live in fear of all people being bad.

Title: Lawrence in the Fall

Author: Matthew Farina

Illustrator: Doug Salati

Publisher: Disney Hyperion

Date: 2019

Number of pages: 48

Grade Level: Pre K - Kindergarten

Genre: Fiction

Theme: Growing through fear

Topic: Finding something to show and tell

ARTISTIC MEDIA:

Drawings

LITERARY ELEMENTS:

Main Character: Lawrence

Setting: Woods and school

Plot: Lawrence was upset when his classmates knew what they were going to share for show and tell day at school but he had nothing to bring. His dad took him to the woods to find something and when he lost his father and was alone and scared, he discovered the beauty in leaves that fell from above.

PERSONAL RESPONSE:

Thoughts: I thought this book was entertaining and sent a good message to young readers. The storyline was engaging as I was rooting for Lawrence to find what he wanted to share on show and tell day.

Strengths: Many readers of this book will be able to relate to Lawrence with the struggle to figure out what to share on show and tell day. It can be hard when some students have more resources than others and can make students feel bad/insecure. This book can inspire those students to look around and discover.

Title: Will Giraffe Laugh?

Author: Hilary Leung

Illustrator: Hilary Leung

Publisher: Cartwheel Books

Date: 2019

Number of pages: 37

Grade Level: Preschool

Genre: Fiction

Theme: Grumpiness 

Topic: What will make the giraffe laugh

ARTISTIC MEDIA:

Digital

LITERARY ELEMENTS:

Main Character: Giraffe

Setting: Outside

Plot: Giraffe is grumpy and none of his friends can cheer him up. When Giraffe doesn’t laugh at any of his friends, his friends get upset and then Giraffe has to cheer them up. He tries doing everything that they did to cheer him up but it didn’t work. His friends finally laughed when Giraffe fell into a swamp and they all joined him.

PERSONAL RESPONSE:

Connections: This story reminds me of many embarrassing moments I’ve had throughout my life where my friends have found enjoyment in. Being able to laugh at ourselves is a good trait to have.

Strengths: The overall message about grumpiness and the domino effect it has is powerful in this book. Moods can be easily influenced by other people’s moods around you. If you are having a bad day it is best to not spread the negativity and this book does a good job at relaying that message.

Title: Junie B., First Grader (at last!)

Author: Barbara Park

Illustrator: Denise Brunkus

Publisher: Random House

Date: 2001

Number of pages: 76

Grade Level: 1st - 3rd Grade

Genre: Fiction/Humor, Chapter book

Theme: First grade isn’t easy

Topic: First grade can be hard at first but things get better.

ARTISTIC MEDIA:

Drawings

LITERARY ELEMENTS:

Main Character: Junie B. Jones

Setting: School, Home, and Eye doctor’s office

Plot: Junie B. struggles at the beginning of first grade to rekindle her friendships from kindergarten but throughout the book and finding out that she needed glasses, she gained new friendships that have her back even more than the original ones did. 

PERSONAL RESPONSE:

Connections: This book reminds me of the first day of every grade in elementary school. It was always scary to find out which one of your friends were going to be in your class and which ones weren’t. Elementary school is a place where we are all forced to build more relationships with other kids our age.

Strengths: This book has lots of relatable stories in it. Lots of people lose and gain friends and also lots of people struggle in school or find out they need glasses. This book’s strength is shining light on topics like “glasses” and turning them into a positive. 

CURRICULAR CONNECTIONS:

This book had artistic aspects when the teacher would have the class draw in their journals as they were practicing reading.

Title: Nancy Clancy Super Sleuth

Author: Jane O’Connor

Illustrator: Robin Preiss Glasser

Publisher: Harper Collins

Date: 2012

Number of pages: 124

Grade Level: 2nd-4th grade

Genre: Fiction/Mystery, Chapter book

Theme: Solving Mysteries

Topic: Nancy loves the Nancy Drew detective book series and wants to be a detective herself.

ARTISTIC MEDIA:

Drawings

LITERARY ELEMENTS:

Main Character: Nancy

Setting: Neighborhood/School

Plot: Nancy solves two mysteries during the book. The first mystery was figuring out what her friend was hiding from her. The second mystery was to find out who stole her teacher’s marbles he brought to show the class. Nancy and her best friend work together to solve both mysteries.

PERSONAL RESPONSE:

Connections: This book reminds me of other series like Junie B. Jones. It is a chapter book that is a lot of fun to read and in it our messages that are good to be sent to young readers.

Strengths: The biggest strength I found was that this book includes big words spread out through it and then Nancy defines the words for the readers. I think this is unique because I remember when I was first independently reading that I had to stop and find an adult when I didn’t know what a word meant. The way this was written can help independent readers finish on their own.

Title: The Teachers March!

Author: Sandra Neil Wallace and Rich Wallace

Illustrator: Charly Palmer

Publisher: Calkins Creek an Imprint of Boyd Mills & Kane

Date: 2020

Number of pages: 44

Grade Level: 3rd-5th Grade

Genre: Nonfiction

Theme: How Selma’s teachers changed history

Topic: Reverend F.D. Reese’s favorite subject to teach was freedom and he was determined to make a difference in the segregated south.

ARTISTIC MEDIA:

Painting

LITERARY ELEMENTS:

Main Character: Reverend F.D. Reese

Setting: The south, school

Plot: Reverend F.D. Reese had the idea to gather teachers from his school and church and get them to march with him to the voting building. At this time in history the south was very segregated and black people were not allowed to vote. Martin Luther King made an appearance at the church to help teachers find courage in marching knowing they had a high chance of getting arrested if they did. Luckily, their march made a difference after all. 

PERSONAL RESPONSE:

Thoughts: This book tells the true story of the heroes in Selma very well. It is interesting and informational as it educates young readers on the struggles that people used to go through in our segregated country. 

Strengths: Education on the subject of racism is so important because it has had such a huge impact on our country and the citizens in it. People of color need this information to appreciate what their family members have gone through to fight for equality and people not of color need to know how wrong racism and segregation is. This book can educate young readers and hopefully help demolish racism as a whole. 

CURRICULAR CONNECTIONS: I remember learning about this in social studies during high school.

Title: King of the Birds

Author: Elise Gravel

Publisher: Harper Collins

Date: 2020

Number of pages: 63

Grade Level: 1st-4th Grade

Genre: Graphic Novel/Fiction

Theme: Crows are the kings of birds

Topic: Crows are smart and can do a lot of things that other birds can’t but Arlo is very full of themselves.

ARTISTIC MEDIA:

Digital

LITERARY ELEMENTS:

Main Character: Arlo

Setting: Big city/Beach

Plot: Arlo is bragging about his talents to whoever will listen until. This is when he meets Pips who puts Arlo in his place when he is bragging and also challenges his talents by making Arlo do them. They discover shiny objects and collect them together while they pick up litter from the humans.

PERSONAL RESPONSE:

Thoughts: This book was interesting because there was lots of information about crows throughout it but overall there wasn’t a huge message that I discovered. The biggest take away I had from reading this book was that bragging is not a good trait. Pips makes that very clear to Arlo often throughout the book. 

Title: I Can Be Heard, Brave Activists who Stood up for their Beliefs

Author: Shalini Vallepur

Publisher: Enslow

Date: 2021

Number of pages: 32

Grade Level: 4th-6th Grade

Genre: Biography/Nonfiction

Theme: Activists who have stood up for what they believe in.

Topic: We all have a voice and can be heard.

ARTISTIC MEDIA:

Digital

LITERARY ELEMENTS:

Main Character: Many activists

Setting: Many countries all over the world

Plot: From oldest to youngest, this book shows a glimpse of what a few activists have accomplished in their lifetimes. All of them had in common that they fought for what they believed in and some died doing so.

PERSONAL RESPONSE:

Connections: This book brought me back to social studies in school when we learned about a few names that were a part of the book as well. Each of the humans highlighted in this book have made changes in the world that better it all around.

Strengths: The main highlight of this book is that it not only tells the stories of successful activists but it also teaches its readers how to have a voice. On one of the pages it has tips on how to give a speech and on another it teaches its readers how to make a blog like Malala Yousafzai did.

Title: Batman The Killing Joke

Author: Alan Moore

Illustrator: Brian Bolland

Publisher: DC Comics

Date: 2008

Number of pages: 64

Grade Level: 7th-12th grade

Genre: Graphic Novel/Fantasy Fiction

Theme: The joker’s take on sane v crazy.

Topic: The joker kills people as he explains to Batman that it is normal to be crazy.

ARTISTIC MEDIA:

Drawings/Digital

LITERARY ELEMENTS:

Main Character: The Joker

Setting: Gotham

Plot: James Gordon is taken by the joker after the Joker shots his daughter in hopes to turn Gordon crazy and insane. The Joker buys out an amusement park to keep Gordon locked up in and Batman comes later to save the day after fighting with the Joker and trying to convince the Joker that he is the only crazy one.

PERSONAL RESPONSE:

Connections: This book reminded me a lot of the batman movies because of all the characters the comic had in it. I enjoyed reading it because I love the movies and this told a separate side story of more bad things the Joker did and showed more of the relationship between Batman and the Joker. Overall, I think that middle to highschoolers would enjoy this book and find it interesting and entertaining because it's a lot closer to watching a movie than a normal book is.

Title: Meet Miss Fancy

Author: Irene Latham

Illustrator: John Holyfield

Publisher: Penguin Young Readers Group

Date: 2019

Number of pages: 32

Grade Level: K-2nd

Genre: Fiction

Theme: Segregation

Topic: A young man who loves elephants but the trouble of segregation gets in the way

ARTISTIC MEDIA:

paintings

LITERARY ELEMENTS:

Main Character: Frank

Setting: Alabama, park and house

Plot: The book starts with a description of how much Frank loves elephants. He finds out that if raises enough money then Miss Fancy, an elephant that travels, might move to Avondale Park which is close to Frank’s house. He raises the money and then goes to Avondale park to meet Miss Fancy but there is a sign outside of the park saying that colored people can’t enter. Frank, being a young person of color was very upset and tries multiple ways of getting into the park but always gets shut down. Eventually he helped the elephant escape and led her to his house so he could finally meet her. 

PERSONAL RESPONSE:

Thoughts: I thought this story did a good job of showing the real life issues of segregation back in the day. I think that for our young readers now, they need to be taught about the history of this country so that they can be contributors in change for the good. 

Title: Mike and the Magic Cookies

Author: Jon Buller and Susan Schade

Illustrator: Jon Buller

Publisher: Grosset & Dunlap

Date: 1992

Number of pages: 48

Grade Level: 2nd-3rd Grade

Genre: Fiction

Theme: Magic Cookies

Topic: Animal cookies turned a family into the animal cookie that they ate.

ARTISTIC MEDIA:

Drawings

LITERARY ELEMENTS:

Main Character: Mike Tracy

Setting: Tracy’s family backyard, woods, and bakery

Plot: This book is about a family who has a BBQ and tells their son to go get them some things to eat from the store. The child gets lost on his way and enters a new bakery where he receives animal cookies. When his family eats them, they all turn into animals and he has to save the day by getting the bakery wizard to make human cookies and turn his family back into humans.

PERSONAL RESPONSE:

Thoughts: I think this book is very fun and entertaining to read, especially for second and third graders. This book is engaging and tells a silly story that is memorable. The only message that I could pull out of this book is don’t always trust strangers. In the book, Mike trusted the bakery owner and that turned out to be a bad decision that was luckily fixed through his bravery. 

Title: Magic Tree House, Afternoon on the Amazon

Author: Mary Pope Osborne

Illustrator: Sal Murdocca

Publisher: Scholastic Inc

Date: 1995

Number of pages: 67

Grade Level: 1st-3rd Grade

Genre: Fiction, Chapter Book

Theme: Traveling through a magic tree house

Topic: Two kids traveling to the rainforest and riding on the Amazon River

ARTISTIC MEDIA:

Drawings

LITERARY ELEMENTS:

Main Character: Jack and Annie

Setting: Pennsylvania, Rainforest 

Plot: This book is about a brother and sister who travel to places in their magical treehouse. In this book, number 6, the tree house takes them to a rainforest and the amazon river. They go through many events in the forest and meet tons of different species to find a special something which ends up being a red fruit. Their mouse friend safely leads them back to the tree house where they travel back to Pennsylvania where they live.

PERSONAL RESPONSE:

Connections: I remember reading these books as a kid and really enjoying them. I especially loved shows that were a part of a series like the magic tree house is. This book uses so much imagination which is very fun to read about and encourages young readers to use their imagination throughout their life.

Strengths: A strength of this book is that it teaches you about rainforests as you read about Jack and Annie and things they discover. This is a fun opportunity for readers to not only enjoy a good book but also learn facts about the rainforest and the amazon river too. It also sends a good message at the end of the book that we should leave the rainforests alone and not disrupt the world inside rainforests.

Title: The Story of Ferdinand

Author: Munro Leaf

Illustrator: Robert Lawson

Publisher: Puffin Books, Penguin Group

Date: 1977

Number of pages: 71

Grade Level: 2nd-5th Grade

Genre: Fiction, Classic

Theme: Aggression v calmness

Topic: Ferdinand is a non aggressive bull surrounded by aggressive bulls that spend their days fighting each other while Ferdinand smells the flowers. 

ARTISTIC MEDIA:

Drawings

LITERARY ELEMENTS:

Main Character: Ferdinand

Setting: Pasture, Spain

Plot: While Ferdinand spends his days smelling the flowers, the other bulls fight each other to prove themselves as the strongest bull in the pasture. When men come to choose the strongest bull to bring to the bull fight, Ferdinand gets picked because the men see how he reacts to a bee sting. When Ferdinand is taken to the fight, he sits down and smells the flowers while groups of men try to poke at him. He peacefully stayed there so they took him back to his pasture so he could sit and smell the flowers again.

PERSONAL RESPONSE:

Thoughts: This book is a classic story and shows its readers that there are more than one way to handle a situation. Ferdinand handled being taken to a fight much differently than the other bulls would have. This also shows how animals are different and have a variety of personalities. 

Title: The Day You Begin

Author: Jacqueline Woodsen

Illustrator: Rafael Lopez

Publisher: Nancy Paulsen Books

Number of pages: 32

Grade Level: 4th-5th Grade

Genre: Fiction

Theme: Embracing who you are

Topic: Entering the first day of any new thing can be scary, but you are not alone

ARTISTIC MEDIA:

Drawings, Paintings

LITERARY ELEMENTS:

Main Character: Angelina

Setting: School

Plot: Angelina is new and nervous about school but finds out that she is not the only new and afraid person there. Another character is an immigrant and new to the school, he bravely shares his story. Eventually Angelina is treated like not the new girl anymore.

PERSONAL RESPONSE:

Connections: I loved this book because it can relate to everyone. It really can be uncomfortable to be somewhere new for the first time where you don’t know anyone and you don’t know how you’ll be treated. The bravery through this book is a great example for young readers and it can help them know that they are not alone.

Title: Martin & Anne, The Kindred Spirits of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Anne Frank

Author: Nancy Churnin

Illustrator: Yevgenia Nayberg

Publisher: Creston Books 

Date: 2020

Number of pages: 32 

Grade Level: 3rd-5th and up

Genre: Biography

Theme: Kindness can heal the world

Topic: MLK and Anne Frank on opposite sides of the world with the same dream.

ARTISTIC MEDIA:

Drawings, Paintings

LITERARY ELEMENTS:

Main Character: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, and Anne Frank

Setting: United States and Germany

Plot: This book covers brief descriptions of the good that Anne Frank and MLK brought to the world. How they wanted the same thing and stood up for people of their kind when they were treated badly. Both of them are historical figures today.

PERSONAL RESPONSE:

Thoughts: This book and the story it tells is very powerful and is a great way of explaining to young readers such major events in world history that have changed the way the world is today. 

Strengths: Young readers can learn many lessons from this book. One being that they too can stand up for what they believe in and that they have a voice. Another noteworthy takeaway is that kindness goes a long way and love is stronger than hate.

CURRICULAR CONNECTIONS:

Social Studies

Title: 28 days: Moments in Black History that changed the world

Author: Smith, Charles

Illustrator: Shane Evans

Publisher: Roaring Brook

Date: 2015

Number of pages: 56

Grade Level: 4th-8th Grade

Genre: Non-fiction, Biography

Theme: Black History

Topic: 28 days that black men and women stood up for what they believed in and changed history.

ARTISTIC MEDIA:

Digital

LITERARY ELEMENTS:

Setting: These leaders came from all over

Plot: This book is split up where each page talked about a different day when leaders made history. The book covers many major historical events like Martin Luther King’s speech, Plessy v Ferguson, Rosa Parks, and many more. 

PERSONAL RESPONSE:

Thoughts/Strengths: This book can be used as a tool to educate people on how far the world has come but also inspire its readers to stand up for what they believe in as well because the world is nowhere near perfect. I like this book specifically because it can teach young black readers to be proud of the leaders that fought for the rights they have today but at the same time it can educate other cultures to be kind and treat everyone around you equally.

CURRICULAR CONNECTIONS:

Social Studies

Title: El Deafo

Author: Cece Bell

Illustrator: Cece Bell and color by David Laskey

Publisher: Amulet Books

Date: 2014

Number of pages: 248

Grade Level: 3-8 

Genre: Graphic Novel

Theme: Its okay to be “different”

Topic: Cece finds superpowers in her insecurity 

ARTISTIC MEDIA:

Drawings

LITERARY ELEMENTS:

Main Character: Cece

Setting: School, home, neighborhood

Plot: Cece is a young girl who gets very sick and ends up becoming deaf because of her sickness. She gets hearing aids from the doctor and when she starts school she is very self conscious of her device. She is lonely at first and then slowly starts to make friends. Not all of her friends were true friends. One of them bossed her around and another spoke at her really loud and slow which didn’t make Cece feel good. Eventually she finds powers in her insecurities and lots of her classmates even become jealous of her cool gadget. Even her crush thinks it’s cool. 

PERSONAL RESPONSE:

Connections: This book reminds me of the first day of school each year in elementary. Back in the years when your friends were mainly the ones that you were in the same class with and every year you hoped that you had a good group of friends that shared your same teacher.

Thoughts: This book can not only teach students about the deaf community but it also shows you how to treat people in general. Just because Cece had wires that went up to her ears does not mean it’s right to stare at her. I think that many young children can relate to insecurities like Cece’s, especially in early public school when you have to get glasses or braces and you aren’t sure how your friends will react.

Title: I Am Every Good Thing

Author: Derrick Barnes

Illustrator: Gordon C. James

Publisher: Penguin Random House

Date: 2020

Number of pages: 32

Grade Level: K-5th grade

Genre: Children’s fiction/poetry

Theme: African American people are good

ARTISTIC MEDIA:

paintings

LITERARY ELEMENTS:

Setting: community(not specified)

Plot: This book is about an African American boy who knows his worth. Through each page the book describes good things that the boy is. Anything from a favorite cousin to a skateboarder is added within these pages.

PERSONAL RESPONSE:

Thoughts: I thought it was interesting to learn why the book was created. The author wrote this book in response to an ad that upset him. The ad was from H&M where they had a black boy modeling a sweatshirt that read “coolest monkey in the jungle”. The term “monkey” being on an ad like that made Derrick want to create a book like this one where it responds back to that in a way that shows all of the amazing things that black people are

Strengths: I think this book has so much potential to create many connections within young readers. Especially students of African descent because they can read the book and know that they too are special no matter what others say.

Title: Days With Frog and Toad

Author: Arnold Lobel

Publisher: Harper Collins 

Date: 1979

Number of pages: 64

Grade Level: 1st-3rd Grade

Genre: Children’s Fiction/Chapter book

Theme: Friendship

Topic: What Frog and Toad do together 

ARTISTIC MEDIA:

Drawings

LITERARY ELEMENTS:

Main Character: Frog and Toad

Setting: Outside, Toad & Frogs homes

Plot: This book covers 5 days of what Frog and Toad do together. The first day, Frog helps Toad get motivated to clean his house. The second day, they fly kites together. The third day, they tell ghost stories. The fourth day is Toad's birthday and Frog gets Toad a hat. The last day Frog wants to be alone because he appreciates his life and his friendship with Toad and wants to soak it all in. 

PERSONAL RESPONSE:

Thoughts: I thought this book was very cute because it shows an example of a good friendship. It can teach young readers to support your friend when support is needed but also let them have their alone time when they want some. Everyone is different and this book has deep lessons about friendship and how it should be.

Strengths: A strength of this book is that it has mini lessons each day. For example, my favorite lesson was the first day because it teaches its readers to not procrastinate because by getting things done, you have free time later where you can spend the time doing what you want to do.

Title: If Bees Disappeared

Author: Lily Williams

Publisher: Roaring Brook Press New York

Date: 2021

Number of pages: 40

Grade Level: 2nd-4th Grade

Genre: Children’s non-fiction literature/informational

Theme: Saving bees

Topic: The domino effect that would happen if Bees were no longer around

ARTISTIC MEDIA:

Paintings

LITERARY ELEMENTS:

Main Character: Bees

Setting: Kent, United Kingdom rolling hills

Plot: This book passes on a lot of information regarding the domino effect that would occur if Bees did not exist anymore. Bees affect the flowers, fruits, birds, crops, and so much more. The whole world could change with the loss of an insect so small. Everything has its place in keeping our world the way it is, no matter how small.

PERSONAL RESPONSE:

Connections: A connection I made is personally, especially in Elementary school, I hated bees with a passion. That was when I got my first bee sting and so I didn’t really see a positive side to them at all. I think this book has the potential to teach its readers that we need to appreciate every person, animal, and insect in the world and do what we can to keep them safe so that nothing goes extinct because the domino effect can be huge.

Strengths: A strength of this book is overall how educational it is but also has beautiful illustrations and entertains the reader. I also like the fact that it has definitions in the back of the book for the harder words that are throughout the book.

CURRICULAR CONNECTIONS:

Science/Biology

Title: Planting Stories The Life of Librarian and Storyteller Pura Belpre

Author: Anika Aldamuy Denise

Illustrator: Paola Escobar

Publisher: Harper Collins Publisher

Date: 2019

Number of pages: 40

Grade Level: 1st-3rd Grade

Genre: Biography

Theme: Puerto Rican Library sharing new stories

Topic: Spreading culture

ARTISTIC MEDIA:

Drawings

LITERARY ELEMENTS:

Main Character: Pura Teresa Belpre

Setting: New York, Manhattan

Plot: This book seeds back to the first Puerto Rican Librarian in New York. She came over and started sharing stories that she remembered from back in her home land but were nowhere to be seen in the libraries in New York. She wanted to plant her seed and share the culture and stories through storytelling. She leaves New York when she gets married and comes back years later to find that the seed she planted (the stories she told) had blossomed and it was like she never left. There were other workers in the libraries telling her stories and she even published a book. 

PERSONAL RESPONSE:

Thoughts: I think this book is really special because it incorporates culture in a beautiful way. There are even words that are not in English in the book which I think is rare and fun for its readers to figure out. The illustrations are beautiful and bring the biography to life. Overall I love the message of the book and how it teaches its readers to embrace and share their cultures so that old stories and traditions never die and are heard.

CURRICULAR CONNECTIONS:

Social Studies

Title: Judy Moody In a Monday Mood

Author: Megan McDonald

Illustrator: Peter H. Reynolds

Publisher: Candlewick Press

Date: 2021

Number of pages: 133

Grade Level: 1st-3rd Grade

Genre: Children’s Fiction/ Chapter book

Theme: Monday blues

Topic: Everyday is a holiday

ARTISTIC MEDIA:

Drawings

LITERARY ELEMENTS:

Main Character: Judy Moody

Setting: School, neighborhood, Judy’s house

Plot: This book is about Judy’s terrible mood that it is a monday and how there is nothing good about mondays. Then her teacher celebrates national bubble wrap day and she ends up having a great monday. Then her and her brother work together to celebrate a different holiday each day to make the most of it. She then realizes that it can be stressful to think of a holiday for each day and the following Monday she wants to just have a normal day.

PERSONAL RESPONSE:

Connections: I read Judy Moody books a lot as a kid and it was one of my favorite series so when I found this book at the Boise Library, I was so excited for it to be one I read for this class. I love how it’s purley an entertaining book and can really make young readers enjoy reading a good story. It is nothing too serious and always puts me in a good mood after reading it. 

Title: Your Mama

Author: NoNieqa Ramos

Illustrator: Jacqueline Alcántara

Publisher: Harper Collins 

Date: 2021

Number of pages: 32

Grade Level: Preschool - 3rd Grade

Genre: Poetry

Theme: All the things your mom are

ARTISTIC MEDIA:

Paintings

LITERARY ELEMENTS:

Main Character: The mom

Setting: Around the community where they live

Plot: This book tells the story of a brave, strong, beautiful and successful mother that would do anything for her kids. It shows its readers that their mothers care for them in a way that they might never understand and will do everything for them. It talks about her clothes, her friends, how she protects and saves her kids and all of the rest of her superpowers as a mother.

PERSONAL RESPONSE:

Connections: I thought this book was really empowering. I imagine reading to my future children and think about how special that would be since it does talk about how much a mother would do for their child. 

Strengths: This book is beautifully illustrated and well written which I think is really engaging for young readers and I believe that the title itself can draw a lot of young readers in and have them wanting to read the book. 

Title: The Crossover

Author: Kwane Alexander 

Illustrator: Dawud Anyabwile

Publisher: Clarion Books

Date: 2019

Number of pages: 224

Grade Level: 5th-7th Grade

Genre: Fiction Novel/ Poetry

Theme: Basketball family

Topic: The shared passion of basketball

LITERARY ELEMENTS:

Main Character: Josh

Setting: Junior High School and a small town

Plot: This book is about a basketball family consisting of twins and a mother and father. The twins are very passionate about basketball following in their fathers footsteps. JB gets a girlfriend and that upsets his twin Josh in the book. Then their father starts getting sick and has a heart attack and dies during the boy’s championship game.

PERSONAL RESPONSE:

Thoughts: This book was full of family, competitiveness and love. This book brought an attitude of reflection over me when the boy’s dad died so young. It makes you realize that you never know what could happen and that each day is a blessing. I love how much the boys practiced their passion in the book, being basketball. Even though JB got distracted with having a new girlfriend, the passion never left. There was so much fight and pride that the twins carried throughout the book and it really made me root for them as I was reading about the championship game.

CURRICULAR CONNECTIONS:

Language arts because it defines many words throughout the book

Title: The Mitten

Author: Jim Aylesworth

Illustrator: Barbara McClintock

Publisher: Scholastic

Date: 2009

Number of pages: 32

Grade Level: K-3rd Grade

Genre: Old Ukrainian Folktale

Theme: Keeping warm

Topic: How many animals can fit in the mitten

ARTISTIC MEDIA:

drawings/paintings

LITERARY ELEMENTS:

Main Character: The boy who loves to play

Setting: Outside in the Winter

Plot: A boy who loves to play goes outside in the winter dressed warm and loses his red mitten. Slowly animals find the mitten and want to get into it to keep their feet warm. So many animals end up joining the mitten that it bursts open and the animals explode out of it. Later the boy finds his mitten all in tiny pieces of string and luckily is made a new one. 

PERSONAL RESPONSE:

Thoughts: This book was a very quick, easy and fun read. Personally I do not remember it from my childhood but I think that a lot of people would. This tale is a fun, memorable read that engages its readers with suspense in the most delicate way. 

Title: Geronimo Stilton, Secret Agrent

Author: Elisabetta Dami

Illustrator: Cleo Bianca and Christian Aliprandi

Publisher: Scholastic

Date: 2008

Number of pages: 128

Grade Level: 4-6

Genre: Fiction, chapter book

Theme: A friend is a treasure 

Topic: Geronimo realizes he does need the help of his friend to find the missing envelope

ARTISTIC MEDIA:

Drawings

LITERARY ELEMENTS:

Main Character: Geronimo Stilton

Setting: New Mouse City

Plot: The book starts off with a mysterious mouse following Geronimo around from work to home. When they finally confront eachother, Geronimo realizes it’s an old friend of his who is now a secret agent. The friend offers Geronimo protection and to be his body guard but Geronimo politely declines. Then Geronimo finds himself in trouble through a quest to find a top priority envelope that had flown out his window and gotten lost. Through alligators, embarrassment and tiredness, Geronimo realizes he needed the help from his friend after all. 

PERSONAL RESPONSE:

Connections: Geronimo Stilton books were some of my very favorite books to read growing up. I remember being so intrigued by the text of the book and how animated the author made the text. Using different fonts and colors to exaggerate certain words kept me thoroughly entertained reading it as a child as well as reading it again right now.

Strengths: I think this book does have a lot about it that can capture readers attention, with the pictures, maps and fun fonts it makes the overall book a really fun read. It also had moments of teaching. For example, in this particular book it taught it’s readers about recycling and what materials do in which bins.

Title: Stolen Words

Author: Melanie Florence

Illustrator: Gabrielle Grimard

Publisher: Second Story Press

Date: 2017

Number of pages: 24

Grade Level: 1-3rd grade

Theme: Losing Language and identity

Topic: Grandfather’s language, Cree, was taken away from him

ARTISTIC MEDIA:

Drawings, Paintings

LITERARY ELEMENTS:

Main Character: a little girl

Setting: house and school

Plot: Told the sad story of a grandfather that lost his language when he was taken by Americans who were trying to Americanize him and others they took as well. He no longer could speak his language Cree and had to learn English. His granddaughter in the book asks him many questions wondering why he lost his Cree words and it was very sweet when she brought him a small book from her school library that had his home language in it.

PERSONAL RESPONSE:

Thoughts: I thought this book was really sweet. The book has a lot of value because it tells the sad story in history of what happened to the grandfather’s culture. Learning what ancestors have gone through to get the world to where it is today is important in my eyes for young readers to learn. It also shows kindness as you see the young girl's actions throughout the book. Whipping away her grandfather’s tears, bringing him a book, and truly listening to him and asking questions is something we should all do with our grandparents. 

CURRICULAR CONNECTIONS:

History

Title: True or False? Birds

Author: Multiple

Illustrator: Multiple

Publisher: World Book

Date: 2020

Number of pages: 96

Grade Level: 2-5th Grade

Genre: Nonfiction, Informational

Theme: Bird Facts

Topic: What’s true and false about birds

ARTISTIC MEDIA:

Pictures

LITERARY ELEMENTS:

Main Character: Birds

Plot: This book asks true or false questions about birds and then answers them giving a little bit more information and background on each matter. The book teaches things like how all birds build nests but also gives cool facts like “One bald eagle nest was estimated to weigh over 2 tons (1.8 metric tons)!”.

PERSONAL RESPONSE:

Strengths: This book creates such a fun way for students to learn all about birds as it asks true or false questions to get the reader thinking on their own before being informed. I think these type of books are really important to be offered at Elementary schools so that students have the access to knowledge that they could be interested in learning about. 

CURRICULAR CONNECTIONS:

Science

Title: Run For Your Life

Author: Lola M. Schaefer 

Illustrator: Paul Meisel 

Publisher: Holiday House/ New York 

Date: 5/30/16

Number of pages: 32

Grade Level: 1-4th Grade

Theme: A day in the Savanna 

Topic: how the animals live day to day

ARTISTIC MEDIA:

paintings

LITERARY ELEMENTS:

Setting: African Savanna

Plot: It starts off talking about how the animals search for food and how some eat meat and some eat plants. Then it breaks down each animal explaining how they move and live each day in the Savanna. 

PERSONAL RESPONSE:

Thoughts: Great book with beautiful illustrations that captured my attention. The book was informative but at the same time it was a story in its own way. I think that Elementary schoolers would really enjoy this book because many elementary school students enjoy animals at that age. 

Title: Kiki’s Delivery Service

Author: Eiko Kadono

Illustrator: Akiko Hayashi

Publisher: Fukuinkan Shoten

Date: 2003 (in English)

Number of pages: 259

Grade Level: 5th-6th Grade

Genre: Fantasy Fiction

Theme: Coming of age as a witch

Topic: Moving towns to share her powers with new people

ARTISTIC MEDIA:

Drawings

LITERARY ELEMENTS:

Main Character: Kiki

Plot: The book starts off with Kiki and Jiji (her cat) living at home with Kiki’s parents. Her mother is a witch as well as Kiki and it is about to be the time in Kiki’s life when she moves to a different town where she can help others by using her magic. Kiki’s power is flying, just like her mom and so she goes to a different town and starts a delivery service. She delivers people's birthday presents, love poems, and even helps save the clock tower for the town's traditional celebration on new years where they kick off the year running. 

PERSONAL RESPONSE:

Thoughts: I thought the book was unique in the way that I have not read many books about witches and the reason that the author wrote it was quite sweet. The author found a picture that he daughter drew of a witch flying through the sky on a broom with a black cat. The author took it from there and created a whole story about Kiki and Jiji (her cat). Kiki comes of age to move to a different city where she can share her powers to help others in a different community where there aren’t other witches. I loved her job idea of starting a delivery service because she could get from place to place so much faster than others since she has the ability to fly. It was a great way to slowly turn the people of her new city around into having an open mind about witches.

Title: Junie B. Jones Has a Peep in Her Pocket

Author: Barbara Park

Illustrator: Denise Brunkus

Publisher: Random House

Date: 2000

Number of pages: 82

Grade Level: 1st-3rd Grade

Genre: Fiction

Theme: Afraid of farm animals

Topic: Junie B Jones is frightened by rosters and ponies and faces her fears on a field trip to a local farm

ARTISTIC MEDIA:

Drawings

LITERARY ELEMENTS:

Main Character: Junie B. Jones

Setting: Farm, school, and home

Plot: This book starts off with Junie B and her classmates being told that summer break is coming and next school year they will be in first grade. Junie’s teacher “Mrs.” tells them that there is going to be an end of the year field trip to a farm. Junie starts off afraid of ponies but when her mother helps her get over that fear a little, she starts worrying more about rosters and is terrified to go on the field trip. She fakes being sick but it does not work and she arrives at the farm. The farmer in charge gave her a special position for the field trip to get Junie off the bus and willing to attend. She faces her fears and discovers that farm animals are not bad after all.

PERSONAL RESPONSE:

Connections: I loved Junie B. Jones books as a child so I decided to read a second one for our reading record assignment. I still think they are such fun reads and enjoy it very much. 

Thoughts: I think that this book would be a great book to have available in elementary schools because it teaches children that some fears are silly and we need to push ourselves to get over them because it makes life a little bit easier losing a fear.

Title: A Bad Case of Stripes

Author: David Shannon

Illustrator: David Shannon

Publisher: Scholastic

Date: 1998

Number of pages: 33

Grade Level: 2nd-3rd Grade

Genre: Fiction

Theme: Be yourself

Topic: Camilla Cream gets stripes all over and then more

ARTISTIC MEDIA:

Paintings

LITERARY ELEMENTS:

Main Character: Camilla Cream

Setting: School and home

Plot: Camilla Cream loves lima beans but won’t admit it because she is afraid of judgment. She wakes up one morning and her body is covered in rainbow stripes. The doctors don’t know what to do so she attends school the next day and her symptoms get worse and worse and she changes to whatever her classmates say. Eventually she even turns into her own bedroom. When Camilla is very sad about all of her old friends not wanting to be around her anymore, an old lady knocks on the door and feeds her lima beans. Immediately Camilla is back to normal and learns to be herself and not worry about what others think.

PERSONAL RESPONSE:

Connections: I read this book a lot as a child and I loved the illustrations so much. I think that especially in this book, the pictures are as important as the words themselves.

Strengths: The message the book sends is a great message for young readers. Oftentimes we all want people to like us and care what they think of us but we shouldn’t and instead we should all be unapologetically ourselves.

Title: 20,000 Baseball Cards Under the Sea

Author: Jon Buller

Illustrator: Susan Schade

Publisher: Random House

Date: 1991

Number of pages: 48

Grade Level: 2nd-3rd Grade

Genre: Fiction

Theme: Collecting baseball cards

ARTISTIC MEDIA:

Drawings

LITERARY ELEMENTS:

Setting: Beach, under the sea

Plot: The main character in the story collects baseball cards and a few other collectable items. His friend, Kenneth is a collector as well but he mainly collects junk and makes things from it. The main boy goes to Kenneth’s place and Kenneth complains about how much he has to pay in taxes. After their talk, Kenneth takes the boy in his submarine that he made out of collectables and takes him under the sea to his cave where mermaids put things that they find. The boy takes a look around and finds a chest full of baseball cards. The first one he picks up, he knows, is priced at 5 grand. Him and Kenneth decide to split the profits and Kenneth pays his taxes while the boy buys a car.

PERSONAL RESPONSE:

Connections: I remember reading these books as kids and I loved the illustrations of them. They bring the book to life.

Title: New Kid

Author: Jerry Craft

Illustrator: Jim Callahan

Publisher: Harper Collins

Date: 2019

Number of pages: 256

Grade Level: 4th-6th

Genre: Fiction - Graphic Novel

Theme: New kid in school

Topic: School does not have much diversity

ARTISTIC MEDIA:

Drawings, Paintings

LITERARY ELEMENTS:

Main Character: Jordan Banks

Setting: New York City, school, home

Plot: This book is about Jordan Banks who changes schools to one where his mom thinks he will receive more opportunities at. Liam showed Jordan around the school and was a friend through the whole book. Jordan also became friends with Drew who owns one of the few other black students at the school and he was new as well. They shared similar feelings about not fitting in and people calling them by names that were not theirs. In fact, the names they were being called were of other black students which made the boys feel as though they were not being seen as their own individuals but only a part of the black community. In the end Jordan has Liam and Drew as his true friends and finds ways to build relationships with others along the way making it a happy ending.

PERSONAL RESPONSE:

Thoughts: I think this book is really interesting and sends a wonderful message. We should never judge a book by its cover and we should treat everyone the same. The color of someone’s skin does not mean they are different from us beyond that. I think that in Elementary school this book would be great for students to have access to because there are often so many new students and the overall message is powerful for young readers to hear.

Title: Disney’s Cinderella

Author: Ron Dias

Illustrator: Bill Lorencz

Publisher: Golden/ Disney

Date: 2005

Number of pages: 24

Grade Level: 1st grade

Genre: Folktale/Fairytale

Theme: Dreams come true

Topic: A maid to a princess

ARTISTIC MEDIA:

Drawings/paintings

LITERARY ELEMENTS:

Main Character: Cinderella

Setting: Ball, House

Plot: Cinderella lives with her stepmother and stepsisters who treat her very horribly as they make her clean throughout most of the book. When it’s time for the ball, Cinderella isn’t allowed to go but she runs into a fairy godmother who makes her a dress and gets her everything she needs to go. She meets the prince at the ball and has to leave in a hurry. When she leaves, she loses a glass slipper and the prince spends the next few days looking for the girl who’s foot fits. Then Cinderella does and she leaves with the prince.

PERSONAL RESPONSE:

Connections: I’ve read this book as a child and I feel as though most people know the story of this book. Disney has many famous stories and this is one of theirs. 

Thoughts:I like the story of the book and I think it gives a lot of hope. The switch from struggling so much and being mistreated to becoming a princess is a story worth sharing.

Title: The Egyptian Cinderella

Author: Shirley Climo

Illustrator: Ruth Heller

Publisher: Harper Collins

Date: 1992

Number of pages: 32

Grade Level: 1st-3rd Grade

Genre: Traditional/Fairytale

Theme: Rewards are around the corner

ARTISTIC MEDIA:

Drawings/Paintings

LITERARY ELEMENTS:

Plot: The book is about a girl who gets captured by pirates and sold to become a slave in Egypt. The other girls in the story pick on her because she looks different than everyone else with her blonde hair and green eyes. Her master gives her slippers when he hears her doing music and she loses one of the slippers which lands in the hands of the prince. He looks for her and finds her eventually.

PERSONAL RESPONSE:

Thoughts: I like the overall idea of recreating the Cinderella story into different cultures with different twists and turns but at the same time, I prefer the original story because it involves magic and the kind of things that young readers get excited about reading in their fairy tales.

Title: Do Sharks Bark?

Author: Salina Yoon

Publisher: Sterlings Children’s books

Date: 2020 

Number of pages: 18

Grade Level: Preschool

Genre: Lift the flap book (pop up book)

Theme: What animals do

ARTISTIC MEDIA:

Digital

LITERARY ELEMENTS:

Main Character: Shark

Setting: The sea

Plot: Every animal in the book has its own page where the author rhymes about what the animal says or does. There are sharks, whales, seals, dolphins, seagulls, polar bears, crabs, and hippos. In the last page it shows all the animals together making the sound that each of them makes.

PERSONAL RESPONSE:

Connections: This book reminds me of the books I read to my niece and nephew back home. It is definitely for a younger audience and teaches children about animals that live in or near the ocean. 

Thoughts: I think this book could be very beneficial for young children that do not know much about animals yet. It could work well in a lesson about animals as well.

Title: Nina, A Story of Nina Simone

Author: Traci N. Todd

Illustrator: Christian Robinson

Publisher: G.P. Putman’s Sons

Date: 2021

Number of pages: 56

Grade Level: 2nd-6th Grade

Genre: Biography

Theme: Nina fights for black rights

Topic: Fighting through her music

ARTISTIC MEDIA:

Paintings

LITERARY ELEMENTS:

Main Character: Nina Simone (aka Eunice Kathleen Waymon)

Setting: North Carolina and Philadelphia

Plot: This book is about the life of Eunice Kathleen Waymon, a young black girl who was raised around music. Holy music with her mother and jazz music with her father. She was incredible with the piano and had a spectacular voice as well. While growing up, on many occasions her anger was growing because of the discrimination in America about black people. When she grew older, she changed her name, became famous and used her voice to sing about the realistic problems in the world in hopes for change.

PERSONAL RESPONSE:

Thoughts: I think this book is beautifully written and illustrated. It spreads awareness of the problems in the world and tells a story of a brave woman who stood up for her people. Personally, I did not know the story of Nina Simone so I think this book is very valuable. 

Strengths: This book has the value to inform many young readers of what the world used to be like and teaches them to stand up for what they believe in.

CURRICULAR CONNECTIONS:

History

Title: Wemberly Worried

Author: Kevin Henkes

Illustrator: Kevin Henkes

Publisher: GreenWillow Books

Date: 2000

Number of pages: 32

Grade Level: 1st Grade

Genre: Fiction

Theme: Worrying 

ARTISTIC MEDIA:

Drawings/Paintings

LITERARY ELEMENTS:

Main Character: Wemberly

Setting: school, home

Plot: This book is about Wemberly who is a worrier. She worries about everything and her family tries to calm her down. She worries about people not coming to her party and then when people show, she finds something else to worry about. At the end of the book she is very worried about starting school. She worries more than she ever has but quickly finds a friend that is just like her. She comes back to school the next day with no worries.

PERSONAL RESPONSE:

Connections: I used to read this book all the time as a kid. It was a staple in my collection of books growing up. I loved how it was a simple read when I was first learning and for me it was something I could relate to.

Thoughts: I think that a lot of students worry about their first days of school or a new grade and any book that sends the message of it going well and everything being okay is beneficial for young readers.

Title: Flat Stanley’s Worldwide Adventures 7, The Flying Chinese Wonders

Author: Josh Greenhut

Illustrator: Macky Pamintuan

Publisher: HarperCollins 

Date: 2011

Number of pages: 90

Grade Level: 2nd-5th Grade

Genre: Fiction, Chapter book

Theme: Being different doesn’t mean you can't do things

ARTISTIC MEDIA:

Drawings

LITERARY ELEMENTS:

Main Character: Stanley Lambchop

Setting: China

Plot: This book is about Flat Stanley using his body to hold up a light for a stage at a performance, he ends up injuring one of the stars and wants to take his place in the next performance in China. He trains by learning to use chopsticks, climbing mountains, etc. and then right before the performance he is hurt by a panda bear and has a huge hole in his stomach. He got the idea from his brother to use duct tape on the injury so that he could still perform. Stanley performs and is a star.

PERSONAL RESPONSE:

Connections: I used to read flat stanley books as a kid but I had never read one of the worldwide adventure books. This series was a different take than I remember from the original books but I enjoyed reading it.

Thoughts: I think this book is a fun read for children and can teach them that there is nothing wrong with being different.

Title: My Papi has a motorcycle

Author: Isabel Quintero

Illustrator: Zeke Pena

Publisher: Penguin Random House

Date: 2019

Number of pages: 40

Grade Level: 2nd

Genre: Fiction

Theme: memories

ARTISTIC MEDIA:

Drawings and Paintings

LITERARY ELEMENTS:

Main Character: Daisy Ramona

Setting: neighborhood, community

Plot: Daisy and her papi ride around the neighborhood after he gets home from work. Even after he has had the longest day at work, he always has time for her. They ride around and Daisy realizes that not every business will stay around forever and that things in the neighborhood will change. At the end of the book she accepts that and compares it to her relationship with her father and how that will never change.

PERSONAL RESPONSE:

Connections: I thought this book was really sweet and reminded me of memories I have with my father when I was growing up. I also really enjoyed that the author used Spanish words in the book as well because I think that young readers would find that interesting and want to learn what the words mean.

Title: Goddess Girls Aphrodite the Beauty 

Author: Joan Holub 

Illustrator: Suzanne Williams

Publisher: Aladdin

Date: 2010

Number of pages: 176

Grade Level: 4-6

Genre: Fiction

Theme: Greek Gods

Topic: Connection between beauty and relationships

ARTISTIC MEDIA:

Only front cover page, digital

LITERARY ELEMENTS:

Main Character: Aphrodite

Setting: Mount Olympus Academy

Plot: This book is about Aphrodite who is known for her beauty and gets all the attention from godboys but only has a crush on Ares. She helps her friend Athena who gets no attention from boys by giving her a makeover. This causes for Athena to steal all the godboys attention away from Aphrodite, including Ares. Aphrodite realizes that she is jealous and goes off to help a mortal find love as she does best. In the mix of all this, a sweet skinny boy from her academy tries to get her to become his girlfriend and she is too ashamed to be with him. She realizes in the end how important her friendships are, how Ares is not a nice guy and how the godboy trying to date her is a really nice guy. She learns many lessons throughout the book.

PERSONAL RESPONSE:

Connections: I read a different book from this series when I was growing up and I really enjoyed it which is why I chose to read this book for our assignment. I like the way these books are written because there are many hidden lessons in the book and through some activities or diving deeper into individual characters, I think a young reader could learn those lessons easily. 

Thoughts: Overall I really enjoyed reading this book because it was entertaining and had lots of characters. The storyline was engaging and the happy ending was what I wished for while reading.

CURRICULAR CONNECTIONS:

Social Studies

Title: The Proudest Blue

Author: Ibtihaj Muhammad

Illustrator: Hatem Aly

Publisher: Little, Brown and Company

Date: 2019

Number of pages: 40

Grade Level: 1st-3rd Grade

Genre: Fiction, Children's Literature

Theme: Hijab and Family

ARTISTIC MEDIA:

Drawings, Paintings

LITERARY ELEMENTS:

Main Character: Faizah and Asiya

Setting: school, neighborhood

Plot: It’s Faizah and Asiya’s first day of school for the year while it is also Asiya’s first-day hijab. Mother warns Asiya that some people will not understand her hijab and reminds her to forget all of the hateful words that are spoken to her because those words belong to those who said them and them only. Her sister Faizah has not yet had her first-day hijab but supports her sister all the way through hers. Faizah checks up on her sister at school and compliments her hijab as it is the color of the ocean and the sky. They are proud of who they are and they support each other through the story.

PERSONAL RESPONSE:

Connections: I personally really enjoyed this book, it was short but shared such a strong story that is relatable to many. Not only does it relate to others who wear a hijab but hidden in the lines of the book it is saying that to be different is not a bad thing. It also portrays the bullies as the mean characters as they should be seen. The family love and support throughout this book is beautiful and it overall sends a great message for young readers who are experiencing a similar situation.

Title: Chandra’s Magic Light

Author: Theresa Heine

Illustrator: Judith Gueyfier

Publisher: Barefoot Books

Date: 2014

Number of pages: 36

Grade Level: 1st-3rd Grade

Genre: Fiction

Theme: Family

Topic: Solar Energy

ARTISTIC MEDIA:

Drawings, Paintings

LITERARY ELEMENTS:

Main Character: Chandra and Deena

Setting: Nepal

Plot: Chandra and Deena go to a market to grab some things to help their little sibling, Akash, get over their cough. When they are there, they see a man selling solar energy lamps and so they run back to their home to tell their mom and dad that they need to get one of the lamps because what they were using before made Akash’s cough worse. Mom and dad dont have the money to buy one so Chandra and Deene gather flowers and sell them at the market to raise the money for the lamp. They raise enough money and bring it home at the end of the book.

PERSONAL RESPONSE:

Thoughts: This book told a little story of what it may be like for other kids in Nepal growing up where they go fetch water each morning with their buckets at hand and have to walk very far to a market pulling out change to pay. These experiences are nothing like the ones many of us live in the US so to have stories for young readers to gain knowledge about how different other parts of the world are is a great message for them to understand. I really enjoyed reading this book.

Title: What Are Little Girls Made Of?

Author: Jeanne Willis

Illustrator: Isabelle Follath

Publisher: Nosy Crow

Date: 2020

Number of pages: 32

Grade Level: 2nd-5th Grade

Genre: Nursery Rhymes

Theme: Young Feminists

ARTISTIC MEDIA:

Drawings

LITERARY ELEMENTS:

Main Character: None

Setting: Outside/Inside/All over

Plot: This book has a bunch of nursery rhymes that are intended to empower young feminists. From Jack and Jill went up the hill, to Little Bo-Peep, all with a twist including feminism. In each rhyme, there is a story about a girl, helping, fixing, leading the different rhymes along. 

PERSONAL RESPONSE:

Connections: I liked that some of the nursery rhymes were familiar to me because it was fun to see the authors twist on them.

Thoughts: Something I did notice was that in all the rhymes, and in the pictures as well, the men/boys in the story looked incapable, defeated, fearful, and many other negative ways. Personally I think to fight correctly for feminism we shouldn’t be putting men down and making them look incapable because the whole point is to stop men from making us look that way. I think the right way to embody feminism is to show we are equal and fight for that, not that we as woman are better then men.

CURRICULAR CONNECTIONS:

Social Studies

Title: Frank and Bean

Author: Jamie Michalak

Illustrator: Bob Kolar

Publisher: Candlewick Press

Date: 2019

Number of pages: 48

Grade Level: K-2nd Grade

Genre: Fiction

Theme: Quiet vs Loud

Topic: Opposite personalities find a common ground

ARTISTIC MEDIA:

Digital

LITERARY ELEMENTS:

Main Character: Frank

Setting: Woods

Plot: This story is about Frank who sleeps in a tent all by himself in the woods only surrounded by owls, frogs and crickets. He’s a quiet one and has no friends but he enjoys the quiet. Beans shows up one day in his loud car with all of his loud musical instruments and Frank is immediately bothered by the loudness and him and bean struggle to get along. Then Bean tells Frank he needs words to go with his music to create a song and Frank reads him one of his poems out of his secret notebook. The two start in a band together.

PERSONAL RESPONSE:

Thoughts: I thought this book was really cute as it showed that people who have completely different interests and beliefs can find common ground and get along well if there is just some effort and time given. 

Strengths: I think that in elementary classrooms, students struggle more to get along with one another because of their lack of experience getting to know strangers. This book can be a good read for students who struggle to get along with others.

Title: Blue Sky White Stars

Author: Sarvinder Naberhaus

Illustrator: Kadir Nelson

Publisher: Dial Books for Young Readers

Date: 2017

Number of pages: 40

Grade Level: 1st-3rd Grade

Genre: Fiction

Theme: America

Topic: The meaning of the American flag

ARTISTIC MEDIA:

Paintings/Drawings

LITERARY ELEMENTS:

Setting: All around the United States of America

Plot: This book is about The United States of America and the American Flag. It tells readers why the colors in the flag are the way they are by illustrations. It shows that the flag is sewn together as we are together as one nation. All of us and all of the diversity, we stand together woven together for freedom. 

PERSONAL RESPONSE:

Thoughts: Though this book has few words, the illustrations speak a million words. I think that doing a read aloud with this book in a classroom could be really powerful because the teacher could stop on each page and initiate a class discussion on what the words truly mean in relation to our country. 

Strengths: Students could learn a lot and be empowered to be an American citizen after reading and interpreting this book.

CURRICULAR CONNECTIONS:

United States History

Title: Opening the Road, Victor Hugo Green and His Green Book

Author: Keila V. Dawson

Illustrator: Alleanna Harris

Publisher: Beaming Books

Date: 2021

Number of pages: 40

Grade Level: 1st-3rd Grade

Genre: Biography

Theme: Racial inequality

Topic: The Green Book

ARTISTIC MEDIA:

Drawings/Paintings

LITERARY ELEMENTS:

Main Character: Victor Hugo Green

Setting: New York

Plot: Victor Hugo Green traveled with his family to a different state and the journey was long where they had no access to bathrooms, food or medicine because no one near the south would allow black people to come inside. He was frustrated by this and decided to create a book specifically for Nigro travelers and fill it with safe places for them to sleep, eat and use the restroom while on the road. The book sold off the shelves quickly and he kept adding to the green book after many requests to add safe places in other states. After laws were passed and segregation was illegal, the green book was not needed anymore which was Victor’s dream all along.

PERSONAL RESPONSE:

Thoughts: This book was a very informative and interesting read. I like how it explained segregation and how bad it was in the South many years ago. Young readers need to know about these times in history so that they do not repeat themselves. The book that Mr. Green wrote was helpful to so many families and he should be remembered.

CURRICULAR CONNECTIONS:

United States History

Title: Girl Running

Author: Annette Bay Pimentel

Illustrator: Micha Archer

Publisher: Nancy Paulsen Press

Date: 2018

Number of pages: 32

Genre: Non-Fiction Biography

Theme: Running Boston Marathon 

Topic: Women’s Rights

ARTISTIC MEDIA:

Drawings, Paintings

LITERARY ELEMENTS:

Main Character: Bobbi 

Setting: Boston

Plot: This story is about a young girl who falls in love with running. No weather conditions stop her from getting outside and running as far as she can. One day she applies to run at the Boston Marathon and sadly she gets turned down only because of her gender. She shows up anyway and starts to run with all the men. She does a great job even though her feet are covered with blisters. They still refuse to give her a medal but she proved a point in running anyways.

PERSONAL RESPONSE:

Connections: I think this book shows young readers that anything is possible if you put your mind to it and that you should always follow your dreams. Rules can be changed and some need to be changed for the better. 

CURRICULAR CONNECTIONS:

History

Title: Drowned City, Hurricane Katrina and New Orleans

Author: Don Brown

Illustrator: Don Brown

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Date: 2015

Number of pages: 96

Grade Level: 4-12th grade

Genre: Nonfiction

Theme: Hurricane Katrina

Topic: Devastation 

ARTISTIC MEDIA:

Drawings, Paintings

LITERARY ELEMENTS:

Setting: New Orleans

Plot: This true story about Hurricane Katrina was very informative about the chronological order of events that occurred before the storm hit, throughout the storm, as well as after New Orleans finally dried up from the flood.

PERSONAL RESPONSE:

Thoughts: I personally learned a lot through reading the book because there were details given throughout it that surprised me. An example that surprised me is the theft that occurred during the flood. Some stole for essentials and others saw it as an opportunity to get their hands on pricey items for personal gain. 

CURRICULAR CONNECTIONS:

History

Title: The Bear’s Life

Author: Ian McAllister

Illustrator: Nicholas Read

Publisher: Orca Book Publishers

Date: 2017

Number of pages: 32

Genre: Nonfiction

Theme: How bears live

ARTISTIC MEDIA:

Photographs

LITERARY ELEMENTS:

Main Character: Bears

Setting: The great bear rainforest

Plot: This book is all about bears and how they live, eat, fish, and multiply. It talks about the clams they eat and how some black bears can produce white bears. White bears are considered better fishers because they blend into the sky better. It also talks about how the crows promised the bears a peaceful life full of fishing. 

PERSONAL RESPONSE:

Thoughts: I personally thought this book was really informational especially to young readers that do not know much about bears yet. This book can really help them learn about the simple parts of what bears do and how they live.

CURRICULAR CONNECTIONS:

Science