Chelsie

** Chelsie's Book Selections **
1. Beastly—By: Alex Flinn
 * Young Adult Books: **

This book tells the story of a boy named Kyle Kingsbury. At a young age Kyle’s mother left him and he was left to be raised by his conceited anchorman father. His father instilled into him the values of vanity and self-confidence which led to him harboring a lot of dislike for “ugly” people. After the curse of a witch was put on him, Kyle turned into a beast—he had claws and fur and the face of an animal. The only way to break this curse was the kiss of true love—someone who could look past his ugliness and see something worth admiring on the inside.

2. The Hunger Games—By: Suzanne Collins

This is the story of a young girl living in a society that is highly communist and dictatorship. The society does not allow you to leave or voice your opinion. You are given food rations that are not enough and you are forced to work in your district’s specified “trade”. Katniss, the main character, finds herself fending for her family after her father is killed in a mining accident. Then to her dismay, she volunteers to be a part of the dreaded “hunger games” to take her sisters place. Katniss is then thrown into a disturbing journey of fighting to live and ultimately finds herself fighting an even larger battle.

3. Catching Fire//—By: Suzanne Collins//

//Catching Fire// is the sequel to the book above, //Hunger Games.// Due to Katniss’ “rebellion” in the first Hunger Games she has encountered many negative repercussions. Not only is she forced to travel throughout the districts as the winner but she is also forced to not only pretend to be in love with Peeta, but to announce her marriage to him. Eventually, Katniss Everdeen is forced to return to the Hunger Games with her co-winner of the previous match. However, being in the Hunger Games is not exactly as it was the first time. Katniss and Peeta must become alliances with other tributes and she experiences the self-sacrifice of many other tributes firsthand. In a turn of events, Katniss is rescued from the arena and taken to ominous District 13.


 * Intermediate Books: **

1. Hit the Road—By: Caroline B. Cooney

Brit has had her driver’s license for a very short time. She is then dropped off at her grandmother’s house to stay. However, her grandmother was not expecting her to be there at this time. She scrambled around trying to get rid of her and it was not working. However, she did not succeed and instead decided to hire Brit on as the driver for her road trip around the country. Brit’s Nannie was on a mission to pick up all of her best friends from college so they can attend their 65th class reunion.

2. Harry Potter and The Sorcerer’s Stone—By: JK Rowling

This story marks the beginning of Harry Potter’s journey. At the beginning of this book Harry is unaware that he is actually a famous wizard living in the world of “muggles” (non-wizard people). In a whirlwind of events he finds out that he is actually a wizard and the world that he has been living in is actually a lie. He goes to a wizarding school called Hogwarts and meets two people who become his best friends—Ron and Hermione. They take on evil and fight together against the power of Voldemort. Little do they know that this is only the beginning of many journeys they will embark on together.

3. Searching for David’s Heart—By: Cherie Bennett

This is the story about a girl named Darcy who absolutely loves her brother, David. David is Darcy’s biggest hero, however Darcy despises her brother’s girlfriend. She even refers to her a the “J-Word”. At David’s birthday party one night, Darcy and her brother have a huge fight. Later that night, David is hit by a car and killed. Darcy feels responsible for his death and encounters a long battle within herself about this. However, she is distracted by the fact that David’s heart was donated and a boy was now living with David’s heart inside of him. Darcy goes on a journey to find his heart and she not only finds his heart but a friend and the peace she needs to move past David’s death.

4. Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl—By: Anne Frank

This is the historical diary kept of a young Jewish girl during the Holocaust. In this diary, Anne tells of many tragedies and experiences that she had while hiding from the Nazis. The story begins with Anne before she ran away to hiding and tells of the many things that were normal in her life. You can see the gradual process of losing freedom as the diary tells more and more about the things that were happening. Anne tells about her life living in her dad’s old office building with other families. She tells about the different things that Anne experiences such as hunger, boredom, and overcrowding. This goes on for two years until Anne and her family’s hiding is betrayed to the Gestapo.

5. The Firefly Letters—By: Margarita Engle

Frederika Bremmer is on a mission to explore Cuba. However when she arrives she is surprised to find that she isn’t staying in the countryside like she expected. She is actually the house guest of a wealthy family in Cuba. She makes friends with the young slave girl name Cecilia and they begin to form a very strong bond. In this time it is unacceptable for women to be traveling around—but Frederika ignores this and insists on bringing Cecilia along. Soon, the young girl of the house Elena sneaks out and joins them on their traveling adventures. Though society says no, these girls begin a friendship that is deep despite the challenges there are in communicating.

**Picture Books: **
1. Monkey’s Tail, Rabbit’s Gup—By: Lois M. Turner

This book had two different stories included in it. The first story tells about a wolf who falls into a hole and is then helped out by a monkey. After the wolf is out of the hole, he catches the monkey and wants to eat him. The monkey tries to convince him to let him go but isn’t successful. Along comes a turtle who tricks the wolf into letting the monkey go. The second story tells about a Rabbit who tricks his way into winning a contest. The prize of the contest it to marry the king’s daughter. This book would be good for 3rd graders.

2 .Amelia Earhart, Adventur in the Sky—By: Francene Sabin

This book told the story of Amelia Earhart’s childhood, teenage years, and leading up to her flying adventure. The story gives many specific examples of things that Amelia did as a young child. The book talked about how Amelia was always encouraged by her parents to be involved in sports, play outside, and do the things she loved. Amelia fell in love with flying and the book tells about her heroic adventure and gives details as to what may have happened to her. The book would be a great read for 4th or 5th graders.

3. The Shortest Day, Celebrating the Winter Solstice—By: Wendy Pfeffer

This book talks about the winter solstice and what it means for many different people. The winter solstice is a time where people can celebrate the coming of longer days and time. Throughout history and throughout all different cultures this day is celebrated. The book takes a look at different cultures such as: American, Asian, Egyptian, Grecian and what these cultures have done in the past to celebrate the winter solstice. This book would be a great tool to talk about diversity and also weather/science in the classroom. It would be a good read for 3rd or 4th graders.

4. There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly—By: Simms Taback

This book tells a simple progressive story of an old lady who continues to swallow different animals. It starts with a fly and eventually progresses to bigger animals and ends with a horse. The story is told with different rhyming words and was originally a poem (the book was written based off of it). This would be a great book for 1st or 2nd graders. It is humorous and could be used for many different lessons.

5. Hot Air: The Mostly True Story of the First Hot-Air Balloon Ride—By: Marjorie Priceman

This story is based off the history surrounding the first air-balloon ride. The story begins by giving many differed historical facts surrounding the time-period that the air-balloon was invented and who/what/where and why of that story. It goes on to tell about the firs ride in the air-balloon which included different farm animals. The story then continues, but only in pictures. It tells the story of their ride through a series of different illustrations. It ends with some more information surrounding the ride and explains that the historical facts of the story is true, however the first air-balloon ride may not be so truthful. This would be a great read for 1st, 2nd or 3rd graders.

6. A Bird or Two: A Story About Henri Matisse—By: Bijou Le Tord

This book is fictional telling of Henri Matisse’s paintings and how he painted them. The book tells about the different ways he would paint and how he used his brush for certain paintings. The story starts off in Nice, France and how being in a different climate changes the colors of his paintings and colors. This opened up his eyes to new horizons and different things that he could paint and make with his art. This would be a great story to use in an Art class or even an upper elementary class because it could teach students about creativity.

7. Cookie’s Week—By: Cindy Ward

//Cookie’s Week// is a great story for early elementary students. It tells a story about a cat named Cookie who keeps getting himself into trouble. Day by day it goes through the whole week and tells about the different things that Cookie does to cause a problem. This book would be a great book to teach cause and effect or even the days of the week. It is a very easy read and could be used for kindergarteners who are learning to read. Overall, it is a short but good book that has many opportunities for lessons within it.

8. The Marvelous Mouse Man—By: Mary Ann Hoberman

This story is told in a “nursery rhyme” format. It tells the story of a town that was overrun by mice! There were mice everywhere and no one knew how to get rid of them. Soon, the town became a tourist location and people would travel from afar to see all of the mice. One day, a man came to the town and claimed that he could get rid of the mice. The town did not believe him so they asked him to prove he could get rid of the mice. So, using a special fan, he created a cheese scent that got all the mice to leave the town. All of the pets followed the mice and the town became upset because the children ran away. Soon, they devised a plan to keep all the mice in a house with the “mouse man” within the town so that all the children and pets would return.

9. The Wolf and the Seven Little Kids—By: Jacob & Wilhelm Grimm

This story is a self-proclaimed fairy tale! It tells the story of seven little goats whose mother left them at home while she went to the market. As she left she warned her children to watch out for the wolf and to not let him in. As soon a she was gone, the wolf showed up at their door and kept insisting they let him in. After attempting twice and being denied, he finally tricked the goats to let him in. Once he was in, he at six of the seven goats. Once the Mom came home she found the last goat and went to find the wolf. She then proceeded to cut-out the six goats from the wolf’s stomach and replace them with rocks—all while he was sleeping.

10. Goodnight Moon—By: Margaret Wise Brown

This was a simple book that could be used for beginning readers. It goes through a room and identifies the different objects that are in there and then proceeds to go through all these items. Item by item the book goes through and says, “Goodnight”. Each page only has a few words in it. The book identifies common words and objects that would be good for teaching young students.

11. Angelina and the Royal Wedding—By: Katharine Holabird

Angelina received a special invitation to a royal wedding. She was also asked in this invitation to be a bridesmaid for Princess Sophia. When Angelina received this invitation she was so excited that she was late for her ballet lesson! Angelina continued getting ready for the wedding by going to a dress fitting. When Angelina got to the palace she became distracted and was almost late for the wedding! She made it back just in time to see the beautiful wedding.

12. Toot and Puddle—By: Holly Hobbie

Toot and Puddle were the best of friends. They lived together and were very happy. However, Toot really enjoyed travelling but Puddle did not like leaving his town. Toot decided to take a huge trip and travel around the world—but Puddle did not want to come with. So while Toot was travelling around and going on great adventures, Puddle stayed home and embarked on his own adventures. After awhile, they both began to miss each other very much. Toot decided it was time to come home, and one he did, both Toot and Puddle were happy to be together again.

13. Hurray for Three Kings’ Day!—By: Lori Marie Carlson

This book is a story about a young girl and how her family celebrated the Latin American holiday called, “Three Kings’ Day”. This holiday is similar to the American celebration of Christmas, however it is celebrated during a different month. In the story a young girl participates in the traditional processional through the town, similar to a parade. She goes from house to house looking for the “small boy” or Jesus. The girl gets tired at some points in the parade and her older brothers tease her for this. The story ends with her and her family spending the day opening presents and eating a meal together in which they continue to celebrate “Three Kings’ Day”.

14. You Can Be a Friend—By: Lauren and Tony Dungy

This picture book is the story about a young girl Jade. Across the street a new family moved in, and Jade begins to be friends with their daughter Hannah. Hannah is in a wheel chair and Jade begins to see what life in a wheel chair is like for Hannah. As they continue being friends Jade begins to realize how much she likes Hannah and how glad she is that they are friends. After awhile, Jade realizes that she is planning on having her birthday at the water park—where Hannah would not be able to attend. After much thought, Jade decides to have her part at the zoo, because she knows Hannah could come.

15. While You Are Sleeping—By: Alexis Deacon

The plot of this story is about the stuffed animals that sit by your bed. These stuffed animals have a secret life that no one knows about. Once you are asleep they begin doing many things. They keep you asleep, help you sleep comfortably, check under your bed for monsters, scare your bad dreams away etc. These bedside toys have a whole mission that they accomplish and this book tells all about it. They even claim to be the reason that you don’t wake up on Christmas Eve—keeping you from seeing Santa Claus!

16. Beware of Tigers—By: Dave Horowitz

The illustrations and short sentences in this book tell the story of three birds who are sitting on a curb. They are then warned that a tiger is coming and they begin to be very alarmed. The tiger came and talked them into giving him a chance to prove he is nice, but he eventually attempts to eat them. They are chased and chased and they finally get rid of him. They learned that they cannot trust a tiger! At the end they find their crocodile friends and he helps them chase the tiger!

17. Maisy Goes to the Hospital—By: Lucy Cousins

Maisy was jumping on her trampoline one day and she bounced really high and hurt her leg. She then needed to go to the hospital. At the hospital she met Doctor Duck. Doctor Duck did his best to take care of Maisy. Maisy was given a cast and stayed in a nice comfy bed. Maisy was getting lonely one night, but then she met a friend. They were able to share toys. The next day Maisy’s friends came and visited her. Finally, Maisy was able to go home and Nurse Comfort showed her how to walk using crutches.

18. Chester Raccoon and the Acorn Full of Memories—By: Audrey Penn

Chester’s friend Skiddill had an accident and died. He will no longer be around and Chester is very upset about this. Chester is given the idea to make some memories of Skiddill—this idea comes from Mrs. Raccoon. Chester and his friends gather together and decide what to do to remember their friend Skiddill. Skiddill planted acorns before he died and they began growing into beautiful trees. This would be a way to remember Skiddill. Chester decided to keep an acorn at his house so that he could have it there and always remember Skiddill by it.

19. And to Think That I Saw it on Mulberry Street—By: Dr. Seuss

This children’s book is full of rhymes and silly pictures. The book is considered a classic of the great author Dr. Seuss. The story is told about a boy who is walking home from school. On his walk he happens to see a bunch of different things. The boy has dreamed up all of these exciting things that he saw on his walk in order to tell his Dad this story. However at the end of the book he simply decides to tell his Dad what he really saw. This book would be great for elementary aged students and could be used within many curriculums or units.

20. The Cat in the Hat—By: Dr. Seuss

//The Cat in the Hat// tells the story about two siblings who were left home by their mom on a rainy day. They were very bored and did not know what they would do. All of a sudden, a cat in a hat shows up at their door. This cat does many things such as balancing things and other tricks. He provides them entertainment but also causes their house to be extremely dirty. Because of this the children are worried that when their Mom gets home she will know what happened. However, at the last minute the cat is able to clean up the house! This is a great children’s book that would provide simple entertainment for elementary aged kids.

21. Oh the Thinks You Can Think—By: Dr. Seuss

The book //Oh the Thinks You Can Think// is unique because it is wrote without a plot, main characters, or setting. It is basically a book that encourages kids to imagine all that they can imagine. The book involves goofy illustrations as well as made-up animals and words in general. It is a simple read and would be great for elementary students as well as beginning readers who are not in school yet. It also has much potential to be used in a unit or a curriculum of some sort.