Andiematis

   Summary of Book: Boston Jane is a series of three books written by Jennifer Holm. The first book follows 16 year old Boston Jane who is heading to the wild to marry her beloved William in Shoalwater Bay from comfy Philadelphia where she lived with her Papa who was a doctor. On her trek over, Janes maid ends up dying and Jane meets the mysterious sailor Jehu who looks out for her. When Jane makes it to Shoalwater Bay, she learns that her fiance has left and she now has to wait until he comes back to marry him. While she waits, she battles fleas, befriends a chiefs wife, fights a smallpox outbreak, and falls in love with a different man. When her fiance does finally return, Jane is shocked to find he has already married another woman. Jane is shocked and asks why he did not wait, to which William simply states "you weren't here." After hearing this, Jane decides to leave and head home. However, the day she is to leave she receives a letter telling her that her father has...

  Summary of Book: Berenstein Bears: Get Jealous is written by Stan and Jan Bearenstein. In this story, Brother Bear has a birthday and gets a new bike which un turn makes Sister Bear very jealous. His bike goes much faster than her own little trike. Mother Bear talks to Sister Bear and says it seems she has been caught by the Green eyed Monster and that she should not worry about not having the bike because she still has growing to do before she can ride a two wheeled bike. Sister Bear goes to bed still very jealous and has a dream where a Green eyed Monster that looks just like her but is green visits her and tells her to ride the bike to prove that she is big enough and ready. Sister Bear gets on the bike and can't control it and ends up crashing. She wakes up with a start and is so upset and admits she was wrong and is not ready to ride a two wheeled bike. She apologizes to her family and says that the next time the Green eyed monster arrives, she will be ready.  Why you w...

   Summary of Book:  Peter's Chair by Ezra Jack Keats follows the story of a little boy and his adjustment through getting a younger sister and having all of his old baby things transformed for the baby. He feels jealous, misplaced, and hurt. He ends up running away.. To the front of the house with his dog and some things, including his old baby chair. He tries to sit in the chair and realizes that he is to big for it. He decides to come back home and at dinner he asks his father if they can paint the chair pink for Susie, and so they do.   Why you would/would not use this book in your classroom? I would use this book in my classroom because with realistic fiction, it always has that relatable element to it. So this book would be great to read in a classroom in case students are struggling with getting a new sibling or have one they struggle with  Appropriate age group for this book: 4-8 Ideas for unit of study to include this book or how you might use t hi...

  Summary of Book: Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day is written by Judith Viorst and Illustrated by Ray Cruz. The story starts with Alexander getting out of bed and stating that it is going to be a terrible, horrible, no good very bad day. The gum that was in his mouth the night before ends up in his hair, and he steps out of bed and trips over a skateboard. From there Alexander continues to have a bad day at school, with his friends, and at home. He says he will just have to move to Australia. At the end of the day everything is still not going right, but his mom tells him some days are just like that. Even in Australia Why you would/would not use this book in your classroom? I would use this book in my classroom because a lot of kids can relate to having very bad days and they could learn from the lesson and example Alexander portrays in this story.  Appropriate age group for this book: 4-8 Ideas for unit of study to include this book or how you mig...

   Summary of Book:  Pete the Cat: A Pet for Pete is written and pictured by James Dean. In this story we see Pete the Cat getting a fish named Goldie. He loves Goldie so much that he paints a picture of him and then gives it to his mom because she says it looks so nice. Then everybody in Pete's family wants a painting. Then Pete goes to school and shows his classmates his painting and they all want a painting from Pete of Goldie. So he goes home and does it and runs out of paint. Then he tells his mom that everybody from the town wants a painting from him and that he can't do it because he has other things to do that take up his time but he doesn't want to let them down. So his mom comes up with the idea that he paints a big picture of Goldie and then they put it on the roof of their car and drive around town so they can share the picture with everybody, and that's what they do.  Why you would/would not use this book in your classroom? I would use this in my classro...

   Summary of Book: Biscuit Takes a Walk is written by Alyssa Capucilli and has pictures by Pat Schories. The story follows Biscuit and the little girl taking a walk to Grandpas house. Along the way he will pull away from the little girl and run away to chase a squirrel or to dig. The little girl continuously grabs him and tells him to come back, that they are going on a walk, and then one time Biscuit gets away and runs into a store and runs right up to grandpa. The story ends with the grandpa, little girl, and biscuit walking together.  Why you would/would not use this book in your classroom? I would use this book in my classroom because they are cute books about a little girl and her relationship and adventures with her dog, Biscuit.  Appropriate age group for this book: 4-9 Ideas for unit of study to include this book or how you might use t his book in the classroom: An idea for this book in my classroom would be to have an activity where the students analyze the...

  Summary of book: Agatha's Feather Bed is a story by Curmen Agra Deedy and the pictures are by Laura Seeley. The story starts with Agatha explaining all of the material in her shop to a little boy and she tells him that everything comes from something. From there, Agatha goes into her room and heads to bed. She had just gotten a new feather bed that she saved for and as soon as she went to bed she fell asleep within seconds. She wakes up later to tapping on her door and finds several naked ducks and they are mad. They want her to fix what has happened to them. So Agatha tells them to come back in three days and she will have a solution for them. When the ducks return, they find coats have been made for them from Agathas hair. They are so pleased and they all agree that everything has to come from somewhere.  Why you would/would not use this book in your classroom? I would use this book in my classroom because it was super cute. It also teaches that anything can be used to ach...

  Summary of Book: The Fourth Little Pig, written by Teresa Celsi and illustrated by Doug Cushman. This story starts with the traditional overview of the three little pigs until they get into the house made of bricks. The three brothers are in their quaking in fear and refusing to leave the house. All of a sudden, their fourth sibling, their sister, arrives and knocks on the door and tells them to come out. The three brothers refuse and say they are to afraid and a wolf will get them. She says that they will miss out on buying fudge and building canoes because of their fear. They still refuse to come out and and so the sister pig gets so mad she huffs and puffs and blows down their house. They realize that they had stayed hidden and afraid for nothing and thank their sister. They leave the house, buy fudge, build a canoe and go exploring and adventuring while their sister traveled alone.  Why you would/would not use this book in your classroom? I would use this book because it...

   Summary of book: The Dark was written by Robert Munsch and illustrated by Sami Suomalainen. The story follows a little girl that lets a small dark thing out of her cookie jar one morning. Jule  Ann names it "the Dark." The Dark thing starts to eat shadows and the more shadows it eats, the bigger it gets and the shadows disappear. Eventually the shadow gets so big that it is bigger than Jule Anns house. Finally, she finds the shadow of a chair and breaks off pieces to lure the Dark into the same cookie jar that it had come out of. The Dark gets into the jar and Jule Ann ties up and tapes the jar shut and with her friends she throw's it away. At the end of the story, all the shadows took a full week to come back.  Why you would/would not use this book in your classroom? I would use this book in a kindergarten classroom to discuss being brave and also, if I worked in a private Christian school it could be a good tie into the idea that as Christians, we have the light...

   Summary of Book: The war that Saved my Life was written by, Kimberly Bradley . The genre is historical fiction. The story follows Ada Smith as she and her younger brother are evacuated out of London during World War II. Ada is 10 years old, abused by her Mam, and has a club foot which her mother uses against her and refuses to let her go to school or leave their flat or anything. Ada escapes the flat one day with Jamie and gets on the train with the other children that are leaving London to go to surrounding country houses. They are placed with Susan Smith who professes she is not able to look after them. However, the children begin to flourish under her care and are well taken after. Ada learns how to ride a horse called Buttercup, learns how to read from a new friend, discovers a Nazi spy, and learns that she doesn't always have to be the protector of her  brother. After some time, the kids mom returns and wants her children back so she no longer has to pay for them ...

   Summary of book: Imogene's Antlers was written and illustrated by David Small. In this story, Imogene wakes up one morning and finds she has grown antlers. Her mom faints from shock and then the family starts to come up with reasons why this has happened to her. Meanwhile, Imogene starts to help out in different ways around the house with her antlers being good to hold towels to dry and for feeding the birds outside. Her mom decides they need to cover the antlers and so they have a hat designed for her and then her mom faints again! At the end of her long eventful day, Imogene heads to bed and then when she wakes up the next morning the antlers are gone. She goes and shows her family and they are so happy until she shows them peacock feathers! Why you would/would not use this book in your classroom? I would use this story in my classroom because it is a silly book that I think my students would enjoy reading and having read to them.  Appropriate age group for this book...

Summary of book: The Pig in a Wig was written y Alan MacDonald and illustrated by Paul Hess.    Peggoty the pig begins the story thinking she is absolutely beautiful with no flaws. Then some mean lambs tell her she is ugly because she is bald. Peggoty becomes sad and starts to ask animals around the barnyard if hair really makes you that beautiful and from the horse to the chicken, they all say hair makes the difference and without it you are ugly. Then Peggoty gets a wonderful idea and makes herself a wig to wear. She shows it off proudly until the lambs again make fun of her and then heartbroken she runs until she gets to the farmers house. There she hears a human baby crying and the mother soothing her by saying she is an angel and not to cry. Peggoty is amazed since the baby is pink and bald just like her! So she goes and tells the rest of the farm animals and from that day on, she has no problems with her self image.    Why you would/would not use this book in y...

   Summary of Book: The New Kid on the Block is a compilation of themed anthologies written by Jack Prelutsky and drawn by James Stevenson. The stories are all meant to be written from a child's perspective on life. For example, the poem "Homework! Oh Homework!" is about a child that hates homework and wants it to go away, which is pretty accurate for most students. Another one is from an older brothers perspective on his younger sister being a sissy and how she is afraid of things. This book could be considered themed poetic collection.  Why you would/would not use this book in your classroom? I would not use this book in my class as I don't like the wording and visuals that the poems create. I don't think they are appropriate and some of them are not kind. For example, the poem about "My Brother's Head should be replaced" does not incite a child to think kindly of their younger sibling.  Appropriate age group for this book: 3-7 Ideas for unit of st...

  Summary of Book: Creatures of Earth, Sea, and Sky, written by Georgia Heard and drawn by Jennifer Dewey. This book includes several short poems in themed poetic collections about animals ranging from baboons to fish to raccoons. The poems are the animals describing themselves. Some are in third person and others in first. Some are poems for two voices, such as the "Frog Serenade." The rhythm of each story is different with the meaning of the poems ranging from discussing the endangerment of animals to more cheerful themed poems. Why you would/would not use this book in your classroom? I would use this book because the poems give great information on different animals and what they each do. It would be great for ESL students.  Appropriate age group for this book: 4-8 Ideas for unit of study to include this book or how you might use t his book in the classroom: From the poems in this book, it could be used as a way to develop students sense of imagery relating to words. A tea...

  Summary of Book:  Care Bears Book of Poems original title is Bedtime Bear's Book of Bedtime Poems. It was selected by Bobbi Katz and illustrated by Dora Leder with the poems being themed anthologies. This book of poetry includes classic poems of the past such as, The Man in the Moon, and newer poems like A Visitor. The poems in this story include several that are lullabies, nursery rhymes, and prayers. Why you would/would not use this book in your classroom? I do not think I would use this specific poetry book as it is geared more towards a story book that would be told at bedtime instead of during a quiet time of learning in class.  Appropriate age group for this book: 3-7 Ideas for unit of study to include this book or how you might use t his book in the classroom: This book could be used in a unit on time and order of events. It could be read to illustrate the time of going to bed. Or to discuss the differences between a lyrical poem and a nursery rhyme. 

  Summary of Book: Three Blind Mice, written by John W. Ivimey and illustrated by Paul Galdone is a well known nursery rhyme. This story follows the rhythmic pattern of third descending C, B, A. This story is about three blind who set out on the road as it was dull a home. First they come upon an inn and are turned away. Then they get to a farmers house and the farmer gives them food to eat and they are so happy they danced, until the farmers wife came and then, "Three poor mice, three poor  mice, soon changed their tone, soon changed their tone." And the famers wife got the cat to eat them. The mice tried to run away, but the farmers wife cut off their tails before they escaped. The three mice end up at a doctor who gave them a cure all mend which restored their tails and eyesight. After that, the mice settled down, learned trades and lived happily ever after.  Why you would/would not use this book in your classroom? I think I would use this book in my classroom because ...

  Summary of Book: Written by Carol Hosking and illustrated by Trevor Pye, Once Upon a Rhyme includes several different nursery rhymes including, Hickory Dickory Dock, Mary Had a Little Lamb, and Ring Around O' Roses. In this book of rhymes, the author explains the reasoning behind these nursery rhymes and why they were created. For instance, Mary had a Little Lamb was created because of a little girl named Mary who looked after a sick lamb on her families farm and then the lamb became devoted to her. Why you would/would not use this book in your classroom? I would use this in my classroom as it is a great way to get children to think about meanings behind words and things they hear and really don't process much deeper than it sounding nice.  Appropriate age group for this book: 4-18 Ideas for unit of study to include this book or how you might use t his book in the classroom: For this book, I would use it in a unit where I am teaching students how to interpret literature and ...