Rachel

Rachel's Book Selections

Picture Book #1 "Captain Flinn and the Pirate Dinosaurs Missing Treasure" By Giles Andreae and Russell Ayto

This is a great story that is not only entertaining but it teaches the students that stealing is a crime! Flinn goes on a field trip to museum with his class. The museum is full of interesting dinosaur skeletons and treasure. But when the class comes to an exhibit for an old treasure, they find it has been STOLEN! Flinn and a couple of his classmates go on a wild adventure, following clues that lead them to answer the question of who stole the treasure. Now the only thing left to do is figure out a way to get the treasure back to the museum. As a teacher, this book can be used to keep both boys and girls interested in the story but it also shows crime certainly does NOT pay!

Picture Book #2 "Watch Your Step, Mr. Rabbit!" By Richard Scary

Mr. Rabbit teaches a lot of lesson during the duration of this story. Mr. Rabbit gets himself into trouble because he is not looking where he is going. He is too busy reading his news paper. He ends up getting his feet stuck to a newly paved road. The road workers try many different techniques to get Mr. Rabbit out but nothing seems to be working! Finally, they end up taking a huge excavator to scoop him out! He then ends up walking around with cement stuck to his feet. Will he ever learn his lesson that he needs to look where he is walking? This book can be a great learning tool to teach students about the rules of crossing the street. It can also be good for younger learns to help them with just simply knowing how one should walk outside. What a book for illustrations! The pictures in this book were amazing! I loved looking at all the pictures and the characters! It was one of my favorite parts!

Picture Book #3 “Bright Lights To See By” By Miriam Anne Bourne Illustrated by Marylin Hafner

This is the story of when the first electric lights were put into a hotel. Two hotel owners are sent into an even deeper rivalry because of the new electric lights at the Littlefield hotel and the gas lights at Mr. Vogel’s hotel. Once the lights are put in at the Littlefield, everything is going great! The guests are enjoying the brightness of the hotel; there is even going to be an acting group coming to the Littlefield just because they have electric lights. On the night of the play, Mr. Littlefield orders that all the lights be turned on in every single room throughout the hotel. He wants to show just how beautiful the hotel can look with its’ new electric lights. However, just as the last string is pulled on the last light, darkness fills the entire hotel. Maggie and her dad, Mr. Littlefield, along with their family quickly try to come up with a solution to save the play and save their hotel.

I really loved this story! It is a great story for children to become aware that things weren’t always as they are now. It also brings history to life in a fun way! It could easily be used to help introduce a history lesson on inventions or Thomas Edison. This book is more for advanced readers. I would say about 3rd or 4th grade.

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">//Picture Book #4// <span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">//My Family And I, Mi Familia Y Yo//

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">By Gladys Rosa-Mendoza

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Illustrated by Jackie Snider

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">This is the story of Emma. She is a multicultural child. She invites us to meet her family. She introduces us to her mom, dad, brother, sister, aunts, uncles, cousins, grandma and grandpa. One of the great things about Emma is that she can speak in both Spanish and English. Everything that is written in English in the book is also written in Spanish. It is a great book for introducing young children to Spanish and English. It also introduces them to families and the different words for different family members. Children can really relate to this book because it shows the family from a child’s prospective.

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;"> What I really liked most is that you can use this book within your classroom to help teach a number of lessons. You can use it to teach different languages and help children learn English or Spanish. You can use it to talk about different types of families. You can use it to introduce vocabulary on the different members of a family. It is a multicultural book that can be very useful for ELL students.

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Picture Book #5

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">//Nothing Much Happened Today//

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">By Mary Blount Christian

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Illustrated by Don Madden

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;"> A mother was on her way home from the store to tell her children about the police chase she had just seen. But as she got closer to home, there were millions of soap bubbles coming out her window. She asked her children why there were so many bubbles coming out of the house. They simply replied that it was from dumping too much soap into the tub when they were giving the dog a bath. The mother asked why the dog needed a bath and the children then went on to explain this very elaborate story about how the dog spilled sugar all over himself and thus needed a bath!

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;"> You can use this story in your classroom to help teach children how stories go in sequence. You can also use it as a writing helper to explain how to write stories in order and sequence.

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">//#6// <span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">//The Relatives Came//

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">By Cynthia Rylant

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Illustrations by Stephen Gammell

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;"> This is the story about the relatives from Virginia. They traveled all day and all night to visit their family. It was a huge celebration when they finally reached their family. There were many hugs to go around as well as lots of food to be shared by everyone. After this, they continue to have fun through out the summer. They do lots of things together and everyone is always laughing and having fun! One good thing about the relatives coming for a visit is that they fix a lot of stuff and help in the garden! They also mostly sleep on the floor because there aren’t enough beds to go around. But no one complains because they are happy to just be with family!

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">#7

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">//Cinderella//

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">By: Charles Perrault

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Illustrated by: Errol Le Cain

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;"> Cinderella is the story about a girl whose father remarries an evil woman who treats Cinderella poorly. But Cinderella does not mind. She is so kind hearted and good natured that she does not complain. One day, the king’s son announced that he was going to be throwing a ball. This meant all the more work for Cinderella for her step sisters asked her to fix their dresses and iron their clothes. Cinderella was so kind that her step sisters often times called on her to get her opinion about a dress. Soon it was time for the ball and everyone went leaving Cinderella to cry by herself. However, she was blessed by her godmother, who preformed magic and Cinderella was able to go to the ball. The prince fell in love with her but Cinderella had to leave early because the magic war off at midnight. As she was running out, her slipper fell off and was recovered by the prince who searched everywhere for the girl who fit the slipper. As soon as Cinderella put on the slipper she was whist away and married to the prince.

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;"> This book is wonderful because it teaches students that no matter what circumstances you are living with, you can still be kind hearted and good natured. Beauty comes from the inside out and this book will teach students that. It also has the topic of forgiveness. Cinderella does not get bitter but is forgiving to her step sisters and in the end finds husbands for them to marry.

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">#8

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">//Come to the Ocean’s Edge//

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">By: Laurence Pringle

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Illustrated by: Michael Chesworth

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;"> Come to the water’s edge and explore the vastness of the ocean with this book. In the book, the reader learns about all the different kinds of animals that living in and around the ocean. Starfish, lobsters, muscles, barnacles, and crabs and just a few of the creatures you will learn about that live in the water. The reader also learns about seagulls, terns, and sanderlings and how they live by the ocean. The reader also learns about the ocean cycles and the way the waves come in with the tides. They also learn about high tides and low tides and what that does to the life living by the ocean.

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;"> This book would be great to help teaching a unit on the ocean. It has a lot of vocabulary words for you to introduce to your students as well as it is an easy read for younger students.

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">#9

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">//The Funny Little Woman//

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Retold by: Arlene Mosel

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Pictures by: Blair Lent

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;"> There once was an old woman who loved to laugh and loved to make rice dumplings. One day as she was cooking, the ground underneath her fell in and down went her and her rice dumpling. She found herself on a strange road that was lined with statues of the gods. Because the little woman loved her rice dumplings, she started to run after it shouting for her dumpling. She came to Jizo Sama and asked him about the dumpling. He said it rolled by him but she should not continue down the road because there is an evil oni at the end of it. However, the little woman ignores his warning and is soon caught by the wicked oni and taken to their place to cook for them. She stays there for months and cooks for them with a magic spoon. Soon, she misses her little house and decides to run away and take the spoon with her. The oni see her trying to escape across the river and chase her. They cant swim so they drink up all the water in the river. The little woman tries to run in the mud and gets stunk. This is a funny sight and the oni start laughing and soon the water is back in the river and little woman is free. She returns to her house and becomes a rich woman sells rice dumplings made by her magic spoon.

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;"> This would be a great book in using it in a unit on fairytales. It also comes from China so it would be a great tool for using literature in your classroom from other countries and cultures.

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">#10

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">//Puss in Boots//

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">By: Charles Perrault

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Pictures by: Marcia Brown

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;"> An old man died and left what he had to his three sons. The first son took the mill. The second son took the donkey. And the third son was left with the cat. He was so upset about being left the cat that he was sure he was going to die. The cat asked his mastery if he would just give him a pair of boots his size and a sack and he would change the fortune of his mastery. Soon, the cat was catching wild game and brings it to the king in the name of his master. The king was very impressed with this. One day as the king and his daughter were out driving, the cat told his mastery to get in the water and bathe. As the king came by the cat shouted that his mastery was drowning and the king stopped to help. The king also gave the master some of his best clothes. The king then invited the master to come drive with him. The cat goes about the land, telling everyone he meets to say your fields belong to his master. He also comes to the castle of an ogre and defeats him and claims the castle for his master. In the end, the master marries the princess and the cat becomes a great Lord.

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;"> This is another great story to uses for a unit on fairytales. This one is from France and can be used as a great example of literature from other lands and cultures!

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">#11

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">//If I Ran The Rain Forest//

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">By: Bonnie Worth

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Illustrated by: Aristides Ruiz

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;"> In this book, the cat in the hat is back and takes the children on a new adventure to the rainforest. The cat in the hat shows the children the four levels of the rain forest. He starts with level four at the very tip top of the trees and works his way down to the first floor which is at ground level. At each of the levels, the children learn about plants and how they grow. They are told what is unique about them. They also learn about the animals that live at each level and how they survive in the rain forest. There is a lot of vocabulary about the rain forest that will be beneficial for students to learn. At the end of the book, it talks about how we need to help save the rain forest because it is being cut down.

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;"> This book presents learning about the read forest in the fun, enjoyable way. I really appreciated the fact that it used the correct words for the plants and animals. This will be a book that I would want to use in my class to help teach the rain forest and to just have in my class for students to read. It is an I-Can-Read book which is nice because it can be read by younger readers and older readers.

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">//#12//

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">//And The Dish Ran Away With The Spoon//

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">By Janet Stevens and Susan Stevens Crummel

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Illustrated by: Janet Stevens

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;"> This is a delightful spin off the original fairytale. In the story, after the rhyme is read, the dish and spoon did actually run away together and did not come back. Cat, Dog, and Cow thus go on an adventure through fairytale land to find their long lost friends and bring them back before the story is read again. As the three friends go deeper into fairytale land, they find themselves in multiple other fairytales. They meet up with Little Boy Blue, Little Miss Muffet, and the Big Bad Wolf. When they finally found Dish and Spoon, Dish is all shattered and the friends have lost all hope of their fairytale ever being read again. Well they get Dish put back together in time for the bedtime story?

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">#13

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">//Reaching//

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">By: Judy Ann Sadler

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Illustrated by: Susan Mitchell

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;"> //Reaching// is a book about a baby’s early life and how each member is his family is doing some kind of reaching for him. Mama is reaching and lifting baby up high and swinging and singing him a lullaby. Daddy is reaching and tickles and laughs with baby. Sister is reaching and wanting to join in on the fun of kisses and tickles. Grandma is reaching and dances and rocks and hums with him. Grandpa is reaching and playing horsey with baby. Reaching now is puppy, who wants to play with baby as well. The ending of the book is about how the baby himself begins to start reaching and discovering his world. It ends on the reminder to enjoy your baby while you still have him.

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;"> This book could be a great tool to teach the students about poems and rhyme. You can also talk about babies with the students and how people interact with them and how we should be interacting with them as well.

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">#14

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">//Coco’s Candy Shop//

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">By: V. Gilbert Beers

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Illustrations by: Marlene Short

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;"> One day, Coco’s friends come into his shop and tell him to put down his work for awhile and come on a trip with them. Coco agrees and soon the group is on its way. They first come to the balloon man and ask him for some balloons. As they by balloons, readers are asked to decode the special message written on the balloons. Next, their trip takes them on a train. They then move on to meet a farmer. To get home from here, they have to take a boat ride. While on the boat, a storm hits and tosses the boat around. The group learns a lesson through this about who to trust when troubles and hard times come. They make it through the storm and celebrate by having ice cream. They are then finally on their way home. Once at Coco’s candy shop, they eat come candy and talk about their wonderful trip.

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">#15

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">//Fat Ernest//

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">By:Lisl Weil

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;"> Joel is moving to a new place. It is a big housing project where lots of people live in the same building. Joel has two pets, Erwin and Fat Ernest. They live in a box in Joel’s room. Soon, Joel meets her neighbor Valerie. She likes Joel’s pets too. He also has another neighbor who is not so friendly. One day, Valerie and Joel were playing inside with his pets; it was fun until Erwin got loose. He ran out the front door right into Joel’s other neighbor. She got scared and ran down to the superintended to complain. Soon there are people coming to look in Joel’s apartment to find out where the rat problem is coming from. Joel quickly explains that what she saw was his pet gerbils and invites them into his room to see. But when they get there Fat Ernest is no longer fat. Lying next to him are too babies. Joel quickly discovers that Fat Ernest is not a boy but a girl! They all now know why he was so fat. Joel gives away one of the babies to Valerie and one to his other neighbor. They all become great neighbors through this and visit each other all the time!

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;"> #16

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">//The Great Stone Face//-A Tale by Nathaniel Hawthorne

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Retold by: Gary D. Schmidt

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Illustrated by: Bill Farnsworth

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;"> The Great Stone Face is the tale of Ethan. As a boy, Ethan always heard about the great prophesy of the stone face. The Prophesy stated that someday there will be a person born hereabout that will become the noblest person of his time. Ethan was not sure if he believed the Prophesy anymore. One day, Augustus McBride came back to the valley. He was born hereabout. Everyone stated that they thought he was the answer to the Prophesy and that he looked just like the face. However, Ethan saw passed all of the riches of the man and new this was not the man. As the years go by, Ethan grows into a great man who is respect through out his country. Man with famous names comes back to the place they were born and every time they come back, it is said about them that they look just like the stone face. Ethan again sees through all of the famous names. At the end of his life, as Ethan is sitting around with his friends, his granddaughter comes up and as she hears them talk about the Prophesy not being fulfilled in their time, she speaks up and points out the Ethan is the fulfillment of the Prophesy. Everyone now sees that it really is Ethan, but he shrugs it off and walks home with his granddaughter.

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">#17

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">//No Dogs Allowed, Jonathan//

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">By: Mary Blount Christian

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Illustrated by: Don Madden

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;"> This is the story of Jonathan and Woodrow, a dog. Jonathan finds Woodrow one day in a dark alley with a note on him. The note asks the finder of Woodrow to please be nice and take care of him. Jonathan is in love with him from the very beginning. As Jonathan takes Woodrow home, the door man stops him before he can get into the door. No dogs are allowed in the building. Jonathan thinks this is a dumb rule and tries every trick he can think of to get Woodrow in the door. Soon, the door man is busy with another person and the two trouble makers slip into the building. Woodrow turns lose and makes a huge mess. Jonathan has to now decide what he is going to do with Woodrow because we cannot keep him. What is Jonathan going to do?

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;"> #18

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">//The Gollywhopper Egg//

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">By: Anne Rockwell

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;"> A gollywhopper egg will create the most amazing bird ever! It can do what a cow, mule, and horse can do. It is very special. It can keep you warm in the winter and cool in the summer. A gollywhopper will eat clouds, rainbows, air, and words. You never have to worry about feeding it. Another great quality is that the bird will sing to you when you are lonely, makes you laugh when you are sad, and keeps you safe. The peddler in the story is trying to sell the egg to a farmer. The farmer buys it and tries every trick in the book to get the egg to hatch, yet nothing happens. So the farmer gets frustrated enough to kick the egg out the door. It hits a rooster that was in the weeds and who runs off because of the fright. The farmer thinks he has lost his bird and begs the peddler to find him another one. The gollywhopper egg was really a coconut!

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">#19

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">//Seeds and More Seeds//

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">By: Millicent E. Selsam

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Pictures by: Tomi Ungeren

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;"> If you want to know what things grow and what things do not grow, read this book. If you want to know where seeds comes from, read this book. If you want to know why seeds grow, read this book. We follow a young boy’s adventure of the discovery of seeds. He starts of finding out what grows, then he discovers what seeds are. Soon, he is at the park, looking for seeds from trees and seeds that get stuck in the mud and puddles. He also discovers that if you plant a seed from a maple tree, it will grow into a maple tree.

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;"> This book would be great to use for a science unit on seeds. It would help younger students discover more knowledge about seeds. You could also develop some really nice labs from this book!

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">#20 <span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;"> A Fish Out Of Water <span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">By Helen Palmer <span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Illustrated by: P. D. Eastman <span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;"> A little boy goes to the pet store and picks out a fish for his very own! He is so excited about his fish! He names his fish Otto. Mr. Carp, the pet store owner, gives a warning that you cannot feed the fish too much otherwise something will happen and no one knows what. The little boy takes the fish home and gives him just a pinch for food. However, Otto does not look happy with such a little bit to eat. Instead of heeding the warning from Mr. Carp, the little boy gives Otto the whole box of fish food. Immediately, Otto begins to grow. He soon is out growing his fish bowl. The little boy hurries and puts Otto in a flower bowl; Otto soon out grows this new bowl. The adventure is on. The little boy tries to find Otto a new home while at the same time learns a lesson about following directions. <span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;"> This book would be a good tool to use at the beginning of the school year to talk about following directions and why they are important.

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">#21 <span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">I Want To Be Somebody New <span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">By: Robert Lopshire <span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;"> Spot is an animal that is not happy with the way he is. He can do amazing tricks at the circus but he wants to be somebody new. Spot then counts, one, two, three and turns into an elephant. At first, he enjoys being that big but soon finds out what is wrong with being really big. Again he counts, one, two, three, and this time he turns into a giraffe. But soon he finds out that big tall is not what all that fun. Spot counts one, two, three, again and now he is as small as a mouse. Again, however, Spot comes to see, that being small is not fun at all. Again he counts one, two, three, but the children stop him before its too late. They explain to him that they loved him best just the way he was. Spot finally sees the light and changes back into his old loveable self.

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">#22 <span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Inside Sesame Street <span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">By: Jim Henson <span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Illustrated by: Marsha Winborn <span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;"> Come follow Big Bird around Sesame Street. Big Bird takes the reader on a interactive journey through all the builds on Sesame Street. The first building you enter is the home of Bert and Ernie which is 123 Sesame Street. Inside the home, the reader learns lots of vocabulary words associated with homes. The next stop in the book is the fire station. The reader now gets an inside look at what it is like to live in a fire station, while also learning vocabulary words associated with the station. After visiting the Library, the reader now learns about the school. All this touring makes Big Bird thirsty; Hooper’s Store is the next stop for a soda. The final stop is at Oscar the Grouch’s trash can. This is the end because no one knows what is inside of his trash can.

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">#23 <span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Alice The Fairy <span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">By: David Shannon <span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;"> Alice is a little girl who is a temporary fairy. This means that she is in training to become a real fairy. She can do lots of tricks. She can fly really fast, but not very high yet. She can turn her daddy into a horse. The cookies that were left for her dad she turned them into being left for her. Alice can make her daddy a new crown to wear on his head. She can make leaves fall from trees and draw pictures in the water with her wand. She can make herself disappear by using her blanket, and sometimes the light. She has a magic mirror and can also turn her oatmeal into cake. There are many tricks that Alice can do but she figures that she will be a temporary fairy the rest of her life.

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">#24 <span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">The Night Before Kindergarten <span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">By: Natasha Wing <span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Illustrated by: Julie Durrell <span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;"> This book is a clever spin off of the rhyme //Twist the Night before Christmas//. It follows the start of the first day of school for some children. It starts off the night before the big day. The children make sure that everything is ready. They are filled with excitement and nerves. Soon, they are fast asleep in their beds. When morning arrives, they gather everything together, eat a good breakfast and head out to for their first day of class. The students soon become adjusted to their new environment and are enjoying their day. The parents, however, are the ones with the tears and soon they are being told that they have to leave. So with one final goodbye, the parents leave and the students are comforting their parents with a reminder that kindergarten is cool!

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Adult Fiction <span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">The Emerald Atlas <span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">By John Stephens <span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;"> Kate, Michael, and Emma awake one morning to find their parents gone. They are left to live on their own. Katie is the oldest and the only one with memories of their parents. The night their parents left them Katie recalls her mother asking Katie to promise to take care of her brother and sister and keep them safe. Katie promises. The next ten years of the children’s lives are spent in and out of orphanages until one day they are taken to a mysterious orphanage. The only thing is that they are the only children in the whole mansion. As Katie, Michael, and Emma discover their new home, they find themselves on a journey to not only of discovery but also of liberation from an evil Countess, 15 years in the past. Can the three children save their home and discover who they are destined to be?

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Adult Fiction <span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">//All The World’s A Stage, A Novel in Five Acts// <span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">By: Gretchen Woelfle <span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Illustrated by: Thomas Cox <span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Kit Buckles is an orphan boy who finds himself living on the streets in London. As the book opens, Kit is a cut purse and is stealing purses in the theater. However, he is cut and instead of being turned over to the police, the stage company forces Kit to pay off his doubt by working as a stage boy. Kit goes through a series of trials as he tries to discover his calling in life, will it be the stage and performing in front of thousands of people? Or will he be content to live out his days as a back stage hand? Or will the calling that has been within his family for generation to be a carpenter ring true in his blood as well? <span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">This book is great for it gave me an insight into the world of the Shakespearian plays. It would be a great book to help students learn about England during this time and it also gives insight into the life of William Shakespeare.

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Adult Fiction <span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">//Lily Renee, Escape Artist// <span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">By: Trina Robbins <span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Illustrated by: Anne Timmons and Mo Oh <span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Lily Renee was a Jew living in Vienna, Austria prior to World War II. Her family there was very wealthy and they never lacked anything. However, after the Nazis took over, Lily’s life would never be the same. Things started to grow worse and worse in Vienna until one day while Lily was waiting in line to get papers stamped; the Nazis forced everyone inside of the synagogue and made them wait for hours. A little while later, the Nazis started up riots against the Jews in Vienna and caused huge devastation. Lily’s parents decide to send her off to London through the Kindertransport, which was an agreement between Germany and London to transfer Jewish children out of the country. We then follow Lily on her amazing journey to becoming one of the great pioneers for the comic book. <span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Lily’s story is a great piece of history that shows you how important one person’s story is to understanding the past. This would be a great tool for talking about WWII and all the horrors that went on during this time. It also gives us a look into why so many people, even to this day, come to America for a fresh start. I loved this book!

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Intermediate Book #1 <span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">//A Brother for the Orphelines// <span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">By: Natalie Savage Carlson <span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Pictures by: Garth Williams <span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;"> This is the story about the girl orphans or orphelines who find a baby that is left on their porch. Assuming the baby is a girl, for they live in an all girl orphanage, they take her in. After everyone gets acquainted and set on keeping her, they come to discover that she is not a girl but a boy. Now, they have to decide what to with him. They decide to keep him at first, or at least until he gets old enough, then they will take him to the boy’s orphanage. The rest of the story is about how the girls grow to love their brother and in the end, through a series of events, the girls get to keep their baby brother as well as gain more brothers as the girl’s and boy’s orphanages are combining and going to live in a mansion in the country.

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Intermediate Book #2 <span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">//The Secret of the Attic// <span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">By: Sheri Cooper Sinykin <span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;"> On the day before Christmas, the four girls, Heather, Alison, Keisha, and Megan, find a golden key in the snow. The key belongs to the new neighbor’s attic. Once inside of the attic, the girls find all kinds of wonderful things that meet the need of every one of them. However, there is one special trunk in the attic that is filled with clothing from all over the world that draws there attention. Soon, they are trying on dresses, shoes, and hats. There also seems to be dresses in the trunk that were designed just for them. Once the dresses are on, the girls step in front of the mirror to admire themselves and poof, they disappear. When opening their eyes, the girls find themselves in an unknown place. Will the girls find adventure and experience everything they are meant to experience? Can they find there way home; and why does everyone seem to know their names?

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Chapter Book for Intermediate Readers #3 <span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">//Triplet Trouble and the Pizza Party// <span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">By Debbie Dadey and Marcia Thornton Jones <span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Illustrated by John Speirs <span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;"> Alex, Adam, and Ashley are triplets in Mr. Parker’s class and they are always getting into trouble. There is never an ordinary day when the three of them are around. Mr. Parker has been having problems with the class behaving since it is getting near Christmas. He decided to have a pizza party for the class but they can only receive the party by filling up a jar with Christmas ornaments. This is a great idea and everyone is excited until Alex shows up with jingle bells tried to her hair and all over her clothes! She cannot remain silent and the class ends up losing ornaments instead of gaining them. The next day however, Alex is sick and the class does so well that they fill up the whole jar. The next day is the party and Alex is there enjoying the pizza. Her classmates are angry because Alex did not help her classmates win the party; they feel that it is unfair for her to eat the pizza that she did not earn. Alex, feeling very gloomy, suddenly has a brilliant idea! She is going to earn the class a pizza party by herself! Will Alex succeed in earning the party? Read the book to find out! <span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;"> I would recommend this book for 4th -6th graders. It is an easy Chapter book with fairly simple words. You could also have very advanced 3rd graders try reading it. However, it is perfect for 4th and 5th graders.

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Intermediate Book #4 <span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">//Meet Kirsten// <span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">By: Janet Shaw <span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Illustrated by: Renee Graef <span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;"> This is the story of the Larson family, a Dutch immigrant family traveling to America. Kirsten is the only girl in her family. They are traveling to their uncle’s house in Minnesota. As the family travels to their uncle’s farm, they encounter many hardships. The first hardships they encounter are the storms out at sea. Kirsten’s mother was ill the whole trip over. The next hardship Kirsten faced was when she got lost in the big city of New York. Kirsten’s best friend dies on the boat ride to Minnesota, and once the family lands in Minnesota, they do not have enough money to transport their trunks on a cart so they have to leave them and walk all day long to their uncle’s house. But once there, the family realizes that all the hardship were worth it because they were alive in America!

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Intermediate Book #5 <span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Cam Jansen and the School Play Mystery <span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">By David A. Adler <span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Illustrated by Susanns Natti <span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Intermediate Grades

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Cam Jansen and her classmates are putting on a play to raise money for Ride and Read, a program that takes elderly people to the library so they have a chance to read. Their play is about President Lincoln and his rise to the office. On the evening of the play, Cam is in charge of making sure everything is running smoothly at the front of the house. After everyone has paid and sat down, Cam’s job is to start counting the money but when she opened the box, the money was gone. Can Cam and her photographic memory find the thief and save the day? <span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">This book is great for intermediate readers because kids can relate to the story because it focuses on the students and their roles. I would use this book in my classroom to talk about honestly and how crime does not pay. It would also be good to have students start thinking about maybe raising money for charity. This book is great because of the value it contributes to morals!

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Intermediate Book #6

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">By: Unknown

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;"> This is the story of Charlotte Doyle, a thirteen year old girl who is left by her parents to travel on across the Atlantic Ocean to meet up with her family in America. Charlotte is put on a shipping vessel and is owned by her father’s company. She is not fully keen on the idea but goes along with it knowing that there will be other passengers on board. But once they set sail, Charlotte soon finds out that she is the only passenger and the only female on board. As the trip progresses, the captain grows worse and worse by the day, treating the crew terribly and not caring a thing about Charlotte. After The miss treatment of a crew member, Charlotte decides to become one of the crew members and take up her fair share of work. However, after a big storm, Charlotte is accused of killing the first mate. What is going to happen to Charlotte? Who really killed the first mate?