Rebekah

Oh, the thinks you can think! Written by: Dr. Seuss Oh, the thinks you can think makes children think about silly things if only you try. Nonsense words and phrases that rhyme that we can think. Some silly thinks you can think and wonder about is “how much water can fifty-five elephants drink?” The story ends with thinking left and thinking right, low and high, and the possibility of things you can think only if you try. This is a good book that can be used by teachers when wanting the students to think about things. It can be used to teach students about directions, color, light and dark, counting, days of the week, day and night. As the teacher reads the book she could have the student of the day/week help identify the number of something. This book can be good to get the students to talk about silly things as well as learn their left from their right or dark and light.
 * Picture Book #1**

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see? Written by: Bill Martin, Jr. Pictures by: Eric Carle Brown Bear, Brown Bear is a great story for children to repeat words and to learn colors. The animals are asked what they see and they reply with seeing another animal. Each animal sees another animal until one animal says that a mother is looking right back. So the mother is asked the same question, what does she see? She sees children looking at her, the children are asked the question, but they respond with all of the animals that were in the story. This is a great story for children to learn their colors and learn the basic animals. Teachers can use this to teach the children to ask questions about what others see.
 * Picture Book #2 **

Picture Book #3 The very little boy Written by Phyllis Krasilovsky Pictures By Ninon MacKnight Smith This is a story about one boy that was smaller than everything. He was too small to do a lot of things that he wanted to do. He couldn't even get into the cookie jar that was on top of the counter. Then he grew bigger and bigger and could do things that he always wanted to do. This is a good story to tell students who think they can't do things because they are so small. It is also good for a lesson about growing up.

Picture Book #4 Anansi and the moss-covered rock Written by Eric A. Kimmel Pictures by Janet Stevens Anansi was a lazy spider that found this moss-covered rock. She thought "isn't this a strange moss-covered rock!" and fell over. Once Anansi woke up he decided to take this to his advantage and play this silly trick on the other animals. Once the other animals fell over, Anansi took the food that the animals had worked hard for. Little bush deer had been watching the entire time. She decided to teach Anansi a lesson. She played the trick back on Anansi. When Anansi fell over the little bush deer took the animals to Anansi's house to take back all of the food. Anansi was left with nothing. This is a good story to teach children not to do tricks because you will not get anything good out of them. People will catch on and they will be in trouble.

Picture Book #5 Marven of the Great North Woods Written by Kathryn Lasky Pictures by Kevin Hawkes Marven's parents want him to be sent away because of the influenza that took away his great aunt. Marven didn't know French which is the language they speak where he is going. Marven was dropped off at Bemidji, Minnesota. Marven's job was to wake up all of the lumberjacks that slept late. Marven had to then record the number of cords the lumberjack cut down. He had to come up with a system to record them. Marven learned his new system so well he got done early. Marven learned French and became good friends with the lumberjacks Marven went home towards the end of the winter. This is a good story to teach students about working hard and working can have it benefits.

Picture Book #6 If I had my way Written by Norma Klein Pictures by Ray Cruz Ellie can't seem to do anything right. Her mom is always correcting her or asking her to behave. She just wants her way, just once. One night when her parents were going out on a date, she dreamed that she had her way. The first thing she did was got rid of her baby brother and had the postman bring one that she liked. Her parents were acting like kids and in a childish way. Ellie was the adult and in control in the dream. Ellie dreamed of everything that would happen if she had her way. This is a good story to have the children think about what they would do if they were mommy or daddy. Would they do things differently around the house? What would they do instead?

Picture Book #7 Testing Miss Malarkey By Judy Finchler Pictures by Kevin O’Malley Testing Miss Malarkey is a story about a student’s point of view of testing. The school is about to have a huge test, and the teachers are in panic mode. The students don’t know what is going on. Miss Malarkey says that the test isn’t that big of a deal and yet she doesn’t let her students go outside for recess instead they are playing a phonics game. Even the parents are testing their kids in preparation for the test. Students are eating healthier because the cafeteria feeds them fish instead of potato chips. On testing day, the halls are blocked off by the janitors to ensure silence in the halls. Teachers are really strict about what to do during test time. After the test is over the kids have a party to celebrate the end of testing. Students think that the testing wasn’t that big of a deal after all. They ended up being the highest scoring school in the county. This is a good book to read to the students as an introductory to the tests that they may take in the classroom.

Picture Book #8 A Splendid Friend, Indeed By: Suzanne Bloom This polar bear likes to read, write and think. Along comes this goose who likes to talk, talk, and well, talk. Goose asks Bear what he is doing and says he likes everything that Bear is doing but Goose never does any of them but talk. Goose starts to think but then gets hungry so he goes to make a snack. He comes back with a note saying that the bear is his friend. The bear and the goose become friends. This is a good story about becoming friends and knowing what two people have in common with each other.

Picture Book #9 The Shoemaker and the Elves By: The Brothers Grimm Pictures by Adrienne Adams There was a shoemaker who had nothing left but just enough leather to make one more pair of shoes. He cut out the leather and laid them on the table, ready for the next morning. When he came into the workshop the next morning the shoes were finished. One night the shoemaker and his wife stayed up to see who was doing the shoes for the shoemaker and making him so rich. Right at midnight there were two elves how came in and worked on the shoes. These elves did not have clothes. So the shoemaker and his wife made clothes and shoes for the elves. The next morning the elves came to work and found no work but clothes for them. They never came back, but the shoemaker was happy because he was successful in everything he did. This is a good story for teaching about helping others.

Picture Book #10 Circles of Hope By Keren Lynn Williams Pictures by Linda Saport A little boy wanted to give a gift to his little sister. Facile didn’t know what gift to give. He then decided to plant a seed and have a tree grow. Time after time his tree didn’t grow. Then he put rocks around the tree to protect it from animals eating the plant. The tree started to grow and it grew so strong that the goats couldn’t eat it. There were several trees growing around Haiti and it provided hope for all of Haiti. This is a good story to have a lesson about hope and perseverance in doing something nice for others.

Picture Book #11 Georgia’s Bones By Jen Bryant Pictures by Bethanne Andersen Georgia loved shapes and to look at nature and things. She saw art out of flowers and other weird objects. When she looked at buildings and saw so many shapes. She would study them then recreate them in her drawing. She had an opportunity to go to another place where her friend lives. She jumped at the idea and went. She found bones; she cleaned them and made them shine. This is a great book to share as an introduction to an art class. The teacher could do a perspective of objects and have the students draw them and see how they are different from each persons view.

Picture Book #12 I did it, I’m sorry By Caralyn Buehner Pictures by Mark Buehner This story book has several scenarios for children to interact with the book. Each scenario has clues in the picture that will help guide the students towards the correct answer. The book asks the kids which or what the right answer is. When the students answer the questions it can give the teacher some idea as to what the parents teach the kids in the home. Each answer is set up to teach honesty, thoughtfulness and trustworthiness. The way this book is set up can help the teacher teach honesty, thoughtfulness, and trustworthiness.

Picture Book #13 A chick called Saturday By Joyce Dunbar Pictures by Brita Granstrom Mother hen had seven chicks and named them after the days of the week. They hatched in that order, and the last one Saturday asked a lot of questions. Saturday asked a lot of questions about what the other animals were and what they do and if he could do them. Mother hen always said no you can’t. But Saturday just wanted to know what he could do. Then he saw a rooster who had bright colors and sat high on the fence post. He then knew his place in life. This is a good story to teach children to be who they are and to try other things before just settling on one thing. This could be a good story for kids who don’t know what they want to be when they grow up, only the teacher could suggest some occupations.

Picture Book #14 The paper dragon By Margueritery W. Davoi Pictures by Rober Sabuda A humble painter confronts a fierce dragon to protect his village. The humble painter uses paint, paper, and brushes to comlete three different tasks for the dragon. The humble painter warms the dragons heart with the third task, and the dragon is so touched he shrinks down to the size of a paper dragon. From that day on, the humble painter put a dragon in the corner of his drawings as a reminder of what happened that day. Courage is a big theme in this book. Another big theme is self-confidence in what you do could affect others.

Picture Book #15 My Life with the wave By Catherine Cowan Pictures by Mark Buehner A boy takes a wave home after visiting the beach. The wave goes through the normal water cycles. The water rages when there is a storm outside and is calm when it is nice outside. The boys’ mom decides it is time to leave it for the winter. When they come back from vacation. When they come back, the water is frozen. The boy helps his dad take it back to the shore. This is a good story for kids who want a pet. They may seem nice one minute then mean the next.

Picture book #16 The scarlet stockings spy By Trinkaltanks Noble Pictures by Rober Papp A young girl helps her brother fight battle by being a spy. She hangs her stocking on a clothes line hanging over the street. The way the stockings are held means different things. This way of hanging this is just between she and her brother. When she notices something, she hangs the stockings a certain way and he knows what is happening. One night her brother never came. Instead a man that knew her brother came. He handed over to her the clothes her brother wore. Her brother died while in battle. She decides to make a flag in his honor.

Picture Book #17 You can’t take a balloon into the museum of fine arts By Jacqueline Preiss Weltzman Pictures by Robin Preiss Glasser A non-word book about a balloon that travels. The grandma that holds the balloon doesn’t notice that the balloon becomes loose until it is too late. The grandma chases the balloon around the town. As the reader, you see everything that is going on. While the grandma is chasing the balloon there are pictures that are the same as the picture the rest of the family is seeing in the museum. Using your imagination outside of the museum can be just as exciting as being on the inside.

Picture Book #18 Harriett the homeless raccoon By Mary Haverfield Harriett realized that it was time to leave her home. It was too crowded with all of her siblings running around the house. She needed a quiet place to be. So harreitt went to find a new home. She found nice places, but they were occupied. Harriett never finds a home in the story. As a fun activity, the class could come up an ending for the book. This is a good book because this explains the real life of a raccoon through the story. At the very end it explains what we need to know about raccoons incase the students have any questions about raccoons.

Picture Book #19 Benjie on his own By Joan M Laxau Pictures by Don Bolognese Benjie’s grandma normally picks him up from school. But today she never came. He decided that he could walk himself home. As he went he didn’t realize how many turns there were. Once he finally got home, his grandma was sick. He called the ambulance for her. But he needed help. So he prayed and called out for help. About five minutes later a ton of people showed up to help him. This story is a good lesson on bravery. Some students could give scenarios when they were an example of showing bravery.

Picture Book #20 The Very Hungry Caterpillar By Eric Carle A caterpillar is really hungry so he eats through several foods. One day he eats 1 apple, the next day 2 pears, the third day through 3 plums, on the fourth day through 4 strawberries, and on the fifth day he ate through 5 oranges. But he was still hungry, so on the sixth day he eats through several foods that are not healthy. He was no longer hungry, he actually had a stomach ache. The not-so-hungry caterpillar is now a very big caterpillar. He makes a cocoon and stays inside for a long time. Then he came out and was a beautiful butterfly. This is a good book for a lot of things. This could be one to use for teaching healthy foods, or for counting, or for a science book of a life of a caterpillar. There are so many ways to use this book, just use your imagination!

Picture Book #21 I didn’t know that some bugs glow in the dark By Claire Llewellyn Pictures by Myke Taylor, Rob Shone, and Jo Moore This book explores so many different kinds of bugs and what they are and what they do. This book is very informational. There are fun projects for the kids to try and also some true/false questions to test the knowledge of the student reading the book. Each page is full of facts and pictures. The pages are different as well. Some show the different parts of a bug and others show the different stages a bug goes through in its life. This book also has a little game called “Search and Find” by asking if the students can find so many of a certain bug. This is a good book to have in an elementary school science classroom. The teacher could just read one page when they are going through that chapter or that topic in the classroom.

Intermediate Book #1 The House of Dies Drear By Virginia Hamilton Thomas Small and his family move to Virginia. Mr. Small (Thomas’ father) buys this big house knowing what could happen if they live in it. This house is the house of Dies Drear and was used to help the slaves escape to Canada. These are the secrets hidden behind walls that can move. Thomas’ curiosity gets the best of him and gets spooked while exploring one of many caves connected to the house. Mr. Pluto found out that Thomas was Mr. Small’s son and apologizes after scaring Thomas. Mysteriously four triangles appear one night on the doorknobs of the bedrooms. Mr. Small and Thomas try to figure it out, and come up with the Greek cross. Mr. Small and Thomas follow Mr. Pluto to where he lives to find out if he is the one who placed the four triangles on the doorknobs. They come to find out that it was not Mr. Pluto at all, and it was the Darrows. Mr. Small, Thomas, Mr. Pluto and his son plan a trick on the Darrows to get back at them. The plan works.

Intermediate Book #2 The Call of the Wild By Jack London Buck (the dog) was sold to several owners and had to obey each one. They all treated him differently. Some would beat him and others would pamper him. He was sold to one man who trained him to be a sledge dog. Buck and the other dogs were trained in the frozen Yukon. Buck gets into fights, fights starvation, ignores beatings, and eventually rises to the top. He escaped the brutal beatings of the owner and becomes one of the most feared dogs of the north. Buck is then freed from his “master” and becomes a leader of a wolf pack.

Intermediate Book #3 The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn By Mark Twain The story starts out by Huck having to paint the fence. He comes up with this great plan. Once he figures out his plan, and puts the plan in action before long the fence is done. Huck becomes friends with Tom Sawyer. They go on adventures together. One of the adventures lead them to a grave site where they over hear three men talking. The boys witness a murder and then listen to a cover-up story. They know they should tell, but they swear not to tell anyone. They become self-cautious about them keeping the swear and think other people know about the event. They decide to be detectives and follow these men to find this “treasure” that they talk about. They go on several more adventures, and eventually finding the treasure. Huck and Tom end up being rich boys because of the treasure.

Intermediate Book #4 Stuart Little By E.B White Mr. and Mrs. Little had a second son that resembled a mouse. Stuart was very small. He was barely two inches tall. Stuart learns to make adjustments because of his size. The family cat leaves Stuart alone but is not going to help Stuart with any difficulties he may have. Stuart makes a new friend with a bird, Margalo. Margalo hears about a plot to eat her, so she flies away before the cats can catch her and eat her. Stuart doesn’t know what happened to his friend so he searches for Margalo. Stuart goes through several adventures in continuing to find his friend.

Intermediate Book #5 Charlotte’s Web By E.B. White A girl named Fern saves a runt pig from her father wanting to kill the pig. Fern can keep the pig as long as she raises the pig. So Fern spends most of her free time with the pig that she names Wilbur. A large spider named Charlotte befriends Wilbur and helps him deal with the fact of life that he will someday be bacon on someone’s plate. Charlotte helps Wilbur become a famous pig by spinning phrases on the corners of the barn to help him not become bacon on someone’s plate. Through all of this Charlotte gives her life for her friend Wilbur when they go to the State fair. She lays eggs while at the fair, so the only noble thing Wilbur could do is to take the eggs back to the farm to be raised where their mother was.

Intermediate Book #6 Fourth Grade Wizards By: Barthe DeClements After her mother dies, Marianne becomes a daydreamer and begins to fall behind in her schoolwork. The school has a system that if students pay attention in class and their homework is in on time then they will become a class wizard. Marianne tries to do well in school, but is bothered by the “popular” kids in the class which gets her down again. She and her father move to another apartment that does not have memories of her mother everywhere so they can start to move on with their lives. By the end of the book she becomes a wizard because she got everything together in time to be elected for class wizard.

Young Adult #1 What Cannot Wait By: Ashley Hope Perez Marisa works really hard at calculus. Her teacher really thinks that she should go to the University of Texas in Austin to study being an engineer. Marisa is just agreeing with her teacher to she would stop hounding her about applying. That is just one thing that is taken care of for the week. Now she has to watch her niece while her sister works and her brother-in-law drugs himself up again. After she watches her niece, she goes to work so she can give her dad half of her income. When the half that she gives her dad goes down he gets mad and says that she needs to work more so they can pay the gas bills. Marisa blows up at her dad and they end up fighting. She runs to her boyfriend’s house and tries to find comfort in his arms, but she does something that ruins it. So Marisa runs to her sisters for the night. A series of events happen and Marisa gets accepted into the University of Texas in Austin. She decides to go to the University so she can have a life her own.

Young Adult #2 F in Exams By: Richard Benson This book is made up of all of the wrong answers on test questions. The subjects include: English, Math, Science, Technology, and History. The answers are quite hilarious. I would recommend this book to any one that wants to become a teacher or who is already a teacher. You could “read” this book when you get frustrated with your students while grading papers. A teacher could also use this to show students what not to say when answering a question. This would also be a good teaching tool for the student to identify what are good test answers and how to answer a test question properly. This will allow the teacher to know how students view answering test questions.

Young Adult #3 Mad Love By: Suzanne Selfors Alice takes over her mother’s writing career because her mom is in the hospital for a mental illness. Alice goes as far as forging her mother’s signature and going to a book interview to fill in for her mother. When people ask where her mother is she says “my mom is oversees researching for her next book” which is not true. At this book interview/convention a boy called “cupid” wants her, Alice, to write his story. Alice refuses to write the book because she is not the writer her mother is. Only a few people know about her mother’s illness and she is not going to tell anyone about it. She rushes back home so she can see “paper boy” skate by her place. Does Alice write the story “cupid” wants her to write for him?