The Sea

• By Maryann Dobeck
• Photographed by Robert
Reynolds
• Published by: Heinemman 2009
• 16 pgs.
• Non-Fiction

This book is about the different animals that live in the

sea. Throughout the little book, children appear showing us
their own drawing of the different animals. There are fish,
seals, turtles, sharks, crabs and whales. Together, they form
the sea. This book is in black and white, with simple and easy
sentences for beginners. Also this book shows some repetition
in the sentences.

This is a good short book for young readers with good

pictures. I like that there are pictures of different children next
to their drawings of the animals, this shows the diversion of
children in classroom. I also liked the fact that the book is in
black and white, this will improve children’s imagination and
also they can imagine what color is the water and the
animals shown in the book.

This is book is great for activities regarding science. Is

a good way to introduce different sea creatures to students
and where they live. A good lesson for this book is that to
create a whole, it is important to have key parts. The sea is
made up different animals and together they form something
great.
All about Sharks
• By Stephanie Herbek
• Illustrated by Will Sweeney
• Published by: Heinemman
2009
• 16 pgs.
• Non-Fiction

This book is about the different types of sharks

there is in the sea. It contains basic characteristics
and information about sharks. This book compares
the sizes of sharks with relatable objects kids know.
Also it has real life pictures of sharks, as well as
diagrams and arrows pointing to specific things
mentioned in the book. This book is in black and
white and has simple sentences.

This book has a variety of information about

sharks, from their forms, characteristics, sizes and how
they look like. I think is a good book for children how
are curious about animals. It shows good
descriptions along side with pictures demonstrating
them.

I could use this book when discussing science

topics, because it talks about what a shark is and
how it looks like. It is great for children to classify
depending on size, colors, type of sharks. This is also
an easy read for children and this will get them
excited about reading.
Diving
Dolphin
• By Karen Wallace
• Published by: Darling
Kindersley, 2001
• 32 pgs.
• Non Fiction

This book is all about dolphins. It is a very

descriptive book with real life pictures of dolphins in their
natural habitat. Talks about how they look like and their
different body parts, what they eat, how they breath and
communicate with one another. It has simple sentences
and very well written. At the end of the book there are
main vocabulary words.

I like this book because it gives a wide range of

information about dolphins. I like that it has real life
pictures of dolphins and it is very descriptive when talking
about interesting features a dolphin has. It is easy to
understand and learn about this animal. The sentences
are simple and great for beginners.

I would use this book in a science class, when

introducing animals that live in water. This is also a great
lesson for mammals that live in water and classification of
different animals. Because this book has vocabulary
words on the back, many create a list of unknown words
for the students and have then write the definition and a
picture for better reference.
All About
Plants
• Published by: Harcourt
School Publishers
• 12 pgs.
• Non Fiction

This book is about what are plants. What they need

to live, their main parts, the classification of different
plants and how they grow. Great real life pictures of
children learning about plants, and actual plants and
how they made up. This book also has good vocabulary
words that are useful for everyday life. It is well balanced
with sentences and pictures that great visual
representation of plants.

I like this book because it mentions everything you

need to know about plants. It covers how they make their
food and what they need to live, the parts of the plants,
how they grow and classification. Along side with the
pictures so we can show the children what it looks like. A
great illustration in when the plant is growing and there
are the stages of the plant.

A great activity I would like to with children is to grow a

bean seed, so we can see the stages a plant goes when
its growing. We would be able to see the roots and as it
get older, the steam and then the leaves. They can have
a notebook writing their observations each week until the
plant is bigger.
On Top of the
World
• By Donna Latham
• Illustrated by Diana
Kizlauskas
• Published by: Macmillan
McGraw-Hilln
• 8 pgs.
• Non Fiction

This story is about Barrow who lives in Alaska.

In this book they show the location of Alaska in a
map. There are many things to do in Alaska and
how people live up there. This book also mentions
one of the ways people get around is by
snowmobiles and what they do to have fun. There
are many beautiful things in Alaska. It is a great
place.

This book is great for beginners. The

sentences are simple and just one per page. I like
the illustrations in each page were very colorful and
big. The information about Alaska was accurate
and it covered many topics.

With this book I would use when discussing

states of the United States or places to visit. A good
activity would be to ask the students to compare
life in Alaska to life in their home towns. What things
are the same and what things are different.
Little Bat
• By Michele Spirn
• Illustrated by Will
Sweeney
• Published by:
Heinemman 2009
• 16 pgs.
• Animal

This story is about a little bat that went for a fly

with his mother. The little bat did not want to go to their
house just yet, he wanted to fly to the moon. Pretty soon
he got tired and noticed that the moon was still far
away. They went home to sleep and he had nice
dreams. This book is in black and white, with good basic
information about bats and what they do at night.

I liked this book because it followed a nice story

about the mother bat and the little bat. I liked how
descriptive the illustrations were and they matched with
the sentences. Even though they were black and white,
you could still distinguish what was going on just by
looking at the pictures.

I would use this fiction book in a lesson about

night animals, bats. This book explains what they do at
night, what they eat and that they need to wait until is
dark to go fly. I would also think there is a good
relationship with the little bat and the mother and I
would incorporate this into a lesson, love and trust.
The Tortoise
and the Hare
• By Jerry Pinkney
• Published by: 2010
• 31 pgs.
• Animal

This book is about a race between a tortoise

and a hare. There is a great sequence of events.
As the race begins, the hare was way in front of
the tortoise. Because of this, the hare decided to
take a little snack, and then he fell asleep. The
tortoise kept saying “Slow and steady wins the
race”, and he did. Everyone cheered for the
tortoise.

This is a picture book with just a couple of

sentences but the pictures are self explanatory. I
liked the dedication and perseverance of the
tortoise, he did not gave up and at the end, it paid
off. It was a lesson for the hare to not think he is the
best at everything and always do the best.

I would use this book to introduce children

values and dedication in whatever they set their
minds to. Also I like the idea of making dialogues
for the characters in the story and see what they
think they are saying.
I love you just
the same
• By Erica Wolf
• Published by: Henry
Holt and Company
2003
• 29 pgs.
• Animal

This book is about a mother bear and her son

waking up from a long winter to spring. The little bear is
seeing everything for the first time and he is learning from
his momma. In spring she teaches him to eat grass, but he
can’t. In summer, she teaches him to catch some fish, but
he can’t. In fall, she teaches him to dig in the dirt, but he
can’t. When winter arrives, he is very sad he could not do
anything, and his mother says “The most important thing is
that you tried your best. I still love you just the same”. Next
summer arrived and the little bear was ready to try
everything again.

This is a great story with great pictures behind it. It

has a lot of repetition after every attempt of the little bear
to do something new, the mama would always say the
same thing. This book is about patience and love for your
loved ones.

This book is a great introduction to animal life,

bears. It gives descriptions of what the bears do
throughout the year. A fun activity would be for the
children to do a chart of the different seasons and what
bears do in each one and compare them.
 Quackers
• By Liz Wong
• Published by: Alfred A.
Knopf
• 2016
• 31 pgs.
• Animal

This book is about a cat named Quacker. This cat

had lived all his life in the pond and he thought he was
a duck. Even though he didn’t look like a duck, sound
like a duck or even like the food ducks eat, he never
knew anything else. One day he found another cat, and
he showed him other cats. He finally felt at home but
after a while he started missing his other friends. So
Quacker decided he was going to be with both of his
friends.

This book embraces the difference of everyone

and accepts them as they are. Even though the cat at
the beginning felt like an outsider, he realized that he
truly liked them very much. There is a lot of repetition
and great pictures indicating what is going to happen
next

With this book, there is a great activity that

students could do, is to compare and contrast ducks
and cats. What they eat, where they live, how they look
like, feathers or fur, what sound do they make,
everything that they could think of.
The Very Smart
Pea and the
Pricess-to-be
• By Mini Grey
• Published by: Alfred
A. Knopf
• 2003
• 24 pgs.
• Fairy Tales

This story told by a pea. The Queen wanted her son

to get married and if he could not find a princess, she was
going to test every princess there is. A real princess would
know if there is a pea under 20 mattresses, he would merry
her. Many months and princesses passed, none of them
noticed anything wrong. One day the pea got tired of
sleeping at the bottom of the mattresses, he decided to help
the next girl that showed up. It was his gardener and at
night, he climed up to her ear and whispered “There is
something large and round and very uncomfortable in the
bed under you”. The next morning the queen asked her and
she got married to the prince soon after.

I really liked the narration and how the story

develops. This is a new version of the original version of the
princess and the pea. The pictures are unique and I like how
the pea was the one how helped the girl become a princess

With this book I would like to ask the students to tell

the story from the other characters point of view. The
gardener's point of view, the queen and the prince. This will
help them with their imagination and it will be way to
practice their sentences
Robin Hood
and the
Golden Arrow
• Retold by: Robert D. Souci
• Illustrated by: E. B. Lewis
• Published by: Orchard Books
• 2010
• 22 pgs.
• Fairy Tales

This book is about Robin Hood and his friends were

the heroes of Sherwood forest, they would always defend
the people from the evil sheriff. In order to capture Robin
Hood, the sheriff decided to make an archery contest.
Because everyone knew who Robin Hood was, he and his
friends went to the contest with a disguise. The
tournament finally finished and nobody knew who he was
and he won the golden arrow. Even the sheriff asked him
to work for him. They all headed back to the forest where
they celebrated their victory but something was missing;
the sheriff needed to know the real person who won the
golden arrow. Later that night, Robin Hood went to the
castle and in the arrow, he tied a note. The sheriff was
furious when he found out and Robin Hood was free.

This is a great book. It is an easy read, short and

fun. The pictures in the book are life like and you can see
that Robin Hood really cared about his friends.

With this book, is a good way to make an

introduction to how society was in ancient times. Robin
Hood is a great example of the different social classes.
This book also talks about respect and honor to a cause,
which was to stand up for what is fair and for what is right.
Town Mouse
and Country
Mouse
• By: Jan Brett
• Published by: G. P.
Putnam’s Sons
• 1994
• 29 pgs.
• Fairy Tales

This book is about a town mouse and his wife that

are tiered of their lives inside their house and they want to
go to the country side. Then, there is the country mouse
and her husband and they are tiered of their life in the
country and they want to go to a house. They decided to
trade houses and at first they were very excited but later
they were caught by surprise the different dangers. At the
end of their first day in their new homes, they decided
they wanted their old house back.

I like this book because it talks about that people

think they like something else better than what they
already have. It is a very descriptive book with good
drawings showing all the struggles the mice faced
throughout the book.

This book is great because it teaches the students

to have empathy to others. You truly don’t know what
they are going through unless you put yourself in their
shoes. This book also shows that everyone has their own
struggles and they manage to live with them day by day
in their own way.
 Arthur and
the Sword
• By: Robert Sabuda
• Published by: Atheneum books
for Young Readers
• 1995
• 27 pgs.
• Fairy Tales

This book is about a little boy named Arthur. The

story starts off when a bright light was shinning in the front
of the churchyard, then all of the sudden a marble rock
with a sword stuck in the middle appeared. The sword
had incrusted that the one who removes this sword will be
King. Every knight tried and they all failed. One day,
Arthur’s brother entered a competition to decide who will
be king, since no one could take the sword; Arthur forgot
his brother’s sword, therefore, he ran and took the only
sword he could find. He took the sword in the rock! No
one believed him and placed the sword back in its place.
Then many knight tried and again, failed. It was Arthur’s
turn and he made it. Everyone vowed down to him, he is
the new king.

I like this book because it is unique. The pictures of

this book look like cutout glass, which makes them
abstract in some pages. It has a great story line and I like
how it explained what happened in the story.

This is a great book to show the students many

values; honesty, when Arthur said where he got the sword
from; courage, because even though no one believed
him, he still proved them wrong. It is a great example that
being true to yourself and working hard really pays off.
If you were a kid
during The American
Revolution
• By Wil Mara
• Illustrated by Kelly Kennedy
• Published by: Children’s
Press, 2017
• 32 pgs.
• Historical

This is a story about Samuel and Molly, two cousins

living in the 1770’s. Their fathers were in trouble with the
British soldiers and they were trying to help them. Molly
and Samuel were very brave and created a distraction
to get their fathers out of trouble. After they were safe,
they needed to run away to another state, away from
the British soldiers.

This is a great book with great illustrations. Along

side with the story, in every page there were interesting
facts from the 1770, what people would do, different
artifacts used back in those years and more. With this
story, it shows the bravery of kids and how their lives were
affected by the American Revolution.

With this book I would like to have my students make a

timeline of the main events that happened form 1768-
1783. In the back of the book the give important events
that happened during those times. Another good idea, is
to make notebook with different artifacts they used back
then and compare them to what we use now.
Aaron and
Alexander
• By Don Brown
• Illustrated by Don
Brown
• Published by: Roaring
Brook Press, 2015
• 28 pgs.
• Historical

This book is about the lives of Aaron Burr and Alexander

Hamilton. Since they were little, they both had a very difficult
lives, they became great students, both very smart and soon
they joined the militia. After that they both decided to get
involve in politics and they were always in opposite sides. They
became “enemies”. One day they decided to make a duel to
see who was the better man. Alexander missed his shot. After
that, the world was never the same and Aaron moved to
Europe.

This is a very interesting book. It compares the lives of

these two great Americans and how because of the war, they
could never agree on anything. They were both very smart
and thought they were doing what it was best for their people.
This book shows that if you want something, you can
accomplish what you set your mind to. For example,
Alexander came from almost nothing and ended up being
right hand of George Washington.

I would use this book as one of the most important

parts of the American Revolution. To show how America was
divided and their different points of view. Throughout the story,
the lives of Aaron and Alexander are being compared so I
would like to make 2 different timelines of their lives and what
they both accomplished with their lives. Also it is important to
know what they contributed during those hard times in
America.
Mr. Lincoln’s
Boys
• By Don Brown
• Illustrated by Don Brown
• Published by: Roaring
Brook Press, 2015
• 28 pgs.
• Historical

This story is about the lives of President Lincoln’s

children. He has two little boys living in the White House at
the time of the Civil War. It was hard for the kids to have a
normal childhood, but Lincoln wanted them to enjoy their
lives. The boys would play around the house and pranking
the staff, while their father was in important meetings with
generals. Many people thought they were misbehaving but
the president would always respond “Let the children have a
good time”.

This book has great pictures capturing the 1860’s

lives. It has great sentences that explains what they were
going through in those hard times. It has a good balance of
historical facts and the playfulness the children bring to
everyones lives. It is important to remember it was hard for
children to live in times of war and keeping their spirits young
was important.

I would use this book in class as part of a Civil War

class. It covers a little bit of the conflict between the north
and the south and how the president is busy with many
meetings and generals coming in and out the house. A
good activity would be for older students to write a in a
chart what they already know about the civil war and what
they would like to know. This way we have a base of what
the students might be interested in.
When you wish
upon a star
• By Leigh Harline, Ned
Washington
• Published by: original 1940
• 23 pgs.
• Fantasy

this is a story about a star that is born. Every time a

star is born, they have a lot of power to make a wish to
every kid. It doesn’t matter where they live, as long as
their wish comes from their hearts it will come true. Many
kids from all over the world wish upon a star and they start
to follow her trough a journey. This book also comes with a
sound track of the song “when you wish upon a star”

I like this book because the main focus of it was

that everyone could make a wish. There is no
discrimination from where they come from and what their
wish is going to be. There are many colorful drawings and
repetition throughout the book. The last page of the book
there are drwings of what children wished to become
doctors, pilots, ballerinas, ect.

I would use this book as an introduction for an

activity of what they want to become when they grow
up. What are their dreams and what they can do to move
towards their dreams. They could draw and write a letter
to their future self. I love the idea of writing a letter and
saving it for future years.
 The Princess
and the Pig
• By: Jonathan Emmett and
Polly Bernatere
• Published by: Walker &
Company
• 2011
• 29 pgs.
• Fantasy

This story stats off with a very poor farmer who finds a
little piglet and because no one wanted to buy it, he decided
to keep her. Then there was a very rich queen who just had a
daughter, princess Priscilla. One day, the queen dropped the
princess over the balcony and the baby landed on the
farmer’s cart, this made the piglet jump into the air and
landed on the princess bed. When the queen saw the new
“princess”, she fainted and thought a bad fairy made a spell
on her. In the other hand, the farmer and his wife thought a
good fairy made their wish come true. The years went on and
the princess grew up happily in the farmers house, while the
pig was treated like a princess making a mess out of
everything she touched. One day, the farmer overheard that
the “princess” has a spell and that she became a pig while
she was a baby. The next day the whole family went and
talked to the Queen and King about the mix up, but they
didn’t believed them. At the end, the farmer’s family lived
happily ever after as a family and the Queen made a prince
marry the “princess”.

This is a great story, is funny, its original and also it talks

about honesty and family love. It is very clear how the two
families were different and where would the princess be more
happy growing up.

With this book, a good activity for the students would

be to talk about honesty and how it pays off.
 The Little
Moon Princess
• By: YJ Lee
• Published by: Harper
• 2010
• 30 pgs.
• Fantasy

This story stats with a sparrow who saw a very

bright, sparkling light and he decided to go see
what it was. There was a little girl in the middle of all
of these. There were flowers with jewels in the
middle, which made them sparkle all the time. She
was very happy in her moon but she was scared of
the darkness that surrounds her. Then the sparrow
had an idea, why wouldn’t she threw the jewels
into the dark to make it bright. That way she would
not be afraid anymore. The jewels flew away
illuminating every single part of the darkness. She
will never be afraid.

This a very nice, cute story. There are very

interesting drawings and I thought it was a unique
way to explain how the stars were originated.

This book could be use as an introduction of

the stars and moon. The students could participate
and share their ideas of why the stars exist and how
they were originated.
 Princess Bess
Gets Dressed
• By: Margery Cuyler
• Illustrated by: Heather
Maione
• Published by: Simon and
Schuster Books for Young
Readers
• 2009
• 29 pgs.
• Fantasy

This story is about a day in a princess life. Princess Bess

has a very busy schedule and there are many dresses that
she needs for every special occasion. There are clothes for
every activity and she really doesn’t like to be changing at
least 7 times a day. That is a lot of dress changing. But at the
end of the day, she is a princess and at night she gets to
wear her favorite of them all, underwear.

This is good book with many interesting illustrations.

They were very descriptive with every unique outfit the
princess had on and the activity of the day she needed to
do.

A good activity for the students to do after reading

this book is to stop and think about how their schedule is
during the day. They would have to write down everything
they need to do in one day, starting when they wake up and
write down the time for every activity. This will help them to
stay organize and to separate the day in activities that need
to be completed.
Dora and the
Winter Games
• By Martha T. Ottersley
• Illustrated by Susan Hall
• Published by: Random
House Children’s, 2013
• 28 pgs.
• Sports

This book is about Dora going to support her

friends in the winter games. As the competiton starts,
there is a problem ahead at the bridge. Dora and boots
are going to fix the bridge before any of their friends get
hurt. They started skiing, skating- jumping, and sledding.
When they get to the bridge, it is missing some pieces,
and it their job to find the missing pieces. At the end of
the day, Dora’s friends decided she is the winner of the
winter games.

This is a very dynamic book. It is colorful and the

pictures are almost self explanatory. In this book the
sentences are simple and along with the readings, the
pictures describe what is going to happen. There are
also shapes and matching activities.

With this book, a good activity for students is write

down any winter sport they know and make a list.
Another activity from the book is marching the missing
shapes of the bridge. A matching game would be fun or
finding a missing piece of a puzzle.
It’s a big world
Little Pig!
• By Kristi Yamaguchi
• Illustrated by Tim Bowers
• Published by:
Sourcebooks
Jabberwocky, 2012
• 30 pgs.
• Sports

This book is about a little pig whose dream was to

be the best ice skater in the world. She got an invitation to
world competitions and because she had the support of
her family and friends, she decided to go. When she got
to Paris, she didn’t know anyone and was very nervous.
Thorough out the day, she started making friends from all
over the world. She met people form China, Italy, Japan
and Australia. At the end, she had a lot of fun with her
new friends and learned new words in their languages.

This is a great book with a good meaning. I like that

she was able to be nice to everyone and still did her best
at the competition. It also says mentions that it important
to overcome fears in order to grow as a person.

I would use this book for an all around the world

activity. I would make the kids write down the different
languages discussed in the book and next to it draw each
flag and an interesting fact about the country. I think is
very important to have more cultural knowledge about
other countries and this will help with the diversity in the
classrooms.
Dino-Football
• By Lisa Wheeler
• Illustrated by Barry Golt
• Published by: Learners Publishing
Group Inc , 2012
• 30 pgs.
• Sports

This book is about the Mega Bowl Sunday, the

Greenblade Snackers vs. the Redscales. This is game of
the year and everyone is at the game. Different dinosaurs,
different sizes and colors. Everyone is there cheering for
their team. There was a Dino-Half time show that they’ve
all been waiting for and it was a success. The game is
tight, there are many passes, many points in each team
and it is down to the last quarter, the Snackers win the
game!

This is very interactive and fun book to read. The

illustration is great, all the dinosaurs are doing something
different, or have a different expression in their faces.
There are many dinosaurs names and football
terminology, which is great for a kid who loves football or
wants to learn about the basics of football. There is a lot of
repetition of the names of the teams, so by the end, they
will know the name of the teams.

I would use this book with a fun activity to make

the children engaged with the book. Like if they were
hearing and watching a real football game. Because the
story is told by each quarter, the children could be
keeping score of the teams and at the end, they could
tell me who won the game. This way, they need to be
paying attention to the story.
Dino-Swimming
• By Lisa Wheeler
• Illustrated by Barry Golt
• Published by: Learners
Publishing Group Inc ,
2015
• 30 pgs.
• Sports

This book is about a swimming meet between the

Land-Sharks and the Algae Eaters. During the book, there are
different competitions and different dinosaurs qualify for their
team. Many different dinosaurs sizes and colors participate.
There is many cheers for both teams. After many competitions
the winners of the Dino-swimming meet are the Land-Sharks.

This book is very dynamic, with many things going on

at once. The pictures are so detailed that goes along what
the sentences are saying. There are a lot of different type of
swims described in the book like, butterfly, backstroke,
breaststroke, and freestyle. There were also diving
competition and many rules were stated for swimmers not to
be disqualified.

I would use this book to teach my students different

type of sports and introduce them to as many as I can to
promote healthy living. It would be fun to get the students
moving and active, to demonstrate the types of swims there
are and having the students do them with me; just moving
their arms in the air. Another idea, would be to make a list of
the rules involve in swimming meets.
Freckle Juice
• By Judy Blume
• Illustrated by Sonia O.
Lisker
• Published by:Yearling
Books, 1971
• 48 pgs.
• Adventure

This is a story about Andrew, who wanted to have

freckles like his classmate Nicky. Sharon, a girl from his
class, gave him a secret family recipe to get freckles.
It was freckle juice and she sold him the recipe.
Andrew went through a lot of trouble to make the
secret recipe. Would the recipe work on Andrew and
he would finally get what he has always wanted?

I like this short book because it is a great way

for beginner readers to start. This book talks about
accepting yourself as how you are. If you try to
change yourself, it might not work out the way you
expected. The teacher plays a great role in this story
because she was the one at the end of the book who
talked to Andrew about accepting yourself. It is a
perfect example of the great role teachers play in
the life of their students

A good activity for my children would be to

make them write down their favorite recipe. This will
help them with writing and expressing directions in the
correct way. Also they need to make step by step
instructions and separating the ingredients from the
procedure.
 Otis and the
Puppy
• By: Loren Long
• Published by: Philomel Books
• 2013
• 36 pgs.
• Adventure

This book is about a tractor, Otis that lived in a farm

and worked really hard helping the farmer. He had many
friends in the farm and really enjoy to play hide and seek.
One day, the farmer brought home a little puppy and
soon they became very good friends. The puppy got lost
while playing hide and seek and everyone looked for him
until dark, but still couldn’t find him. Otis was really
concerned for the puppy that went alone to find him. He
entered the dark, scary forest where there was many
animals, insects, then suddenly, he found him. They made
their way back to the farm safe.

I liked this book because it embraces the friendship

of the tractor and the puppy. The tractor was very
concerned for his friend and could not sleep until he was
safe. The pictures in the book were nice, cute and
descriptive.

This books highlights the value of friendship and

also it is a good way to introduce the animals in a farm
and the equipment used in a farm. Children could identify
from the book what kind of animals live in a farm and the
ways the tractor helps the farmer.
 The Secret
Shortcut

• By: Mark Teague

• Published by: Scholastic Inc.
• 1996
• 32 pgs.
• Adventure

This story is about two best friends, Wendell and Floyd,

they were always late to class and every time they were late,
their teacher asked for the reason. One day there was a
spaceship they needed to escape from, the next day there were
pirates, then there was a frog plague. The teacher didn’t believe
any of those and told them they could not be late again. The
next morning, they decided they needed to leave extra early
and take a secret shortcut to get to school. The shortcut turned
into a jungle, full of animals and crazy adventures. They got lost in
the shortcut and it was almost time for the bell to rang. They fell
into the mud and ran to school. They made it in time but they
were all dirty; they teacher didn’t even wanted to ask. At least
they are in time and tomorrow is a new day for another shortcut.

I really like this story, it shows the imagination of children

and how important is to have fun, if it is just walking to school. It
used good pictures and it followed a nice story line.

For an activity using his book, I would make the students

create their own path or secret shortcut, going through crazy
adventures and see what they come up with. The objective is to
use their imagination.
Green Eggs and
Ham
• By Dr. Seuss
• Published by: Random
House Children's Books,
1960
• 62 pgs.
• Adventure

This book is about Sam-I-am trying to convince him

to eat green eggs and ham. They go on an adventure
trying to make him try the delicious green egg and ham.
They through tree, trains, rain, water, mouse, goats, foxes,
and many more. But still he would not eat them. He gets
really frustrated that he would definitely wont like them
under any circumstance. At the end, he gets really tired
of Sam-I-am and decided to try them just if he would
leave him alone. To everyone surprised, he liked the green
eggs and ham!

This is a great book, with a lot of repetition, and a

good sequence of events. The illustrations follows the story
very good and all the characters are there in the scene.
This story shows determination from Sam-I-am, not giving
up on his friend to try something new. Also, it is good to try
new things because you might love it.

A good activity with this book would be for the

children to draw and label the events of the book, what
happened first, the places they went and who was there.
This will give the a sense of sequence.
 Spiderman
Night of the
Vulture
• By: Frank J. Berrios
• Illustrated by: Francesco
Legramadi and Silvano
Scolari
• Published by: A Golden Book
• 2017
• 23 pgs.
• Science Fiction

This book starts off with an entery in the Robotic

Factory, so Spiderman goes to check it out. In the crime
scene, he finds a green feather as a clue. This clue leads him
to the Stark tower where he finds his friend Iron Man.
Together the two of them start to look for the intruder. A bird
suddenly flies in a takes top secret files from Mr. Stark. Then
Vulture appears the scene and Iron Man and Spider man go
after him all through the city. They fight and at the end
Vulture is captured thanks to the abilities of the spider web
and Iron Man’s strength.

I like this book because it is great way to make

students want to read, since there are many movies about
superheroes. The illustrations were very good and went very
nice with the text in every page.

I would use this story to introduce the importance of

team work and try to help our friends when they are
struggling. This book teaches us that it is better to have ask for
help when you know you cant do it alone or if the outcome
will be better if there are more people involved.
 Enchanted
Lions
• By: David T. Greenberg
• Illustrated by: Kristina Swarner
• Published by: Button
Children’s Books
• 2009
• 29 pgs.
• Science Fiction

This story is about a girl and her enchanted lion.

Enchanted Lions come out of the sea at night, but one night
the lion decided to go to Rose’s room to take her in an
adventure. They start to fly away into space where they see
Pegasus, suns, galaxies, unicorns and many more things. As
they were flying in space, they came across a black hole
that was starting to pull them in, then Rose grabbed a rope
and saves them. After that they made it come safely and
Rose is going to have a good night sleep.

This is good book full with different characters and a

great imagination. The pictures in the book were really nice,
and it was easy to imagine everything that was happening
because of the details in the story.

With this book, the students could research what a

black hole is and why was it so dangerous for the Enchanted
Lion and Rose. This would be a good introduction for a
Science Topic.
 The Three
little Aliens
and the Big
Bad Robot
• By: Margaret McNamara
• Illustrated by: Mark Fearing
• Published by: Schwartz &
Wade books
• 2011
• 30 pgs.
• Science Fiction

This book is about three siblings that needed to find a

new home because their momma told them they don’t fit
anymore in their house. The only think that momma told them
is that needed to stay always together. As their journey
began, the sister, Bork, got distracted and stayed in the red
planet. Then the next brother, Gork, stayed in the planet that
had big swirling rings. The last brother, Nkixwcyz, found the
perfect blue planet where he made a house with the best
materials. All of the sudden, the Big Bad Robot found Bork
and Gork, so they ran and hid with the other brother. When
the robot was not able to destroy the house, he decided he
wanted to enter and got stuck and blew up in million pieces.

This is a good story with a similar theme of the 3 little

pigs and the wolf. It has an emphasis in family values. I
enjoyed the new story and the illustrations were unique and
fun. This will catch the eye of the children.

I would use this story to talk about how people need

to listen to the recommendation of their parents and that
they need to defend each other.
 The King of
Space
• By: Jonny Duddle
• Printed by: Donggvan
Guangdon, China
• 2013
• 34 pgs.
• Science Fiction

This book is about Rex, a little boy who lives in a small

moon called Gamma Quadrant. He has a very vivid
imagination and when in school they asked him what he
wanted to do when he is older, he answered to be the King
of the Universe. Everyone laughed and then he created a
Robot that destroyed all of the other robots in class. Rex
convince his friend to help him out with another robot to
conquer a city and later he crowns himself as the King.
Because he wanted to be taken seriously, he kidnaps the
princess Kooki. After this, Rex’s house is surrounded by the
Galactic Alliance and he does not know what to do. To the
rescue, comes mom and tells them that Rex does not want
to play anymore and that they should take the princess and
go home. It was an exciting day Rex, but he has plans for
tomorrow.

This is a great book with great imagination and

creativity. From the different characters in the story and the
made up words. I like that there were thinking bubbles and
speaking bubbles like in the comics.

A good activity for the children is to create their own

comic book and practice the dialogues of the characters
with the thinking bubbles and the speaking ones.
 Creepy
Carrots!
• By: Aaron Reynolds
• Illustrated by: Peter Brown
• Published by: Simon & Shuster
books for young readers
• 2012
• 34 pgs.
• Spooky, Scary, Mystery

This story is about Jasper Rabbit who loved carrots so

much he would eat them at all times, every day. One day,
the carrots started following him everywhere he went. He
thought he was hallucinating and that it was all in his head.
He could not sleep because they where there, then he
would call his parents and nothing was there. The next
morning he had an idea, he would create a fence around
the carrots. Now with the fence, they would not be able to
get out. Jasper was finally at peace and the carrots’ plan
worked!

This is a very interesting book and very creative. It is all

black and white and only the carrots were orange. It had
repetitions and comparisons throughout the story which will
keep the students interested and engaged.

A good activity for this book would be to compare

and contrast things with the same color, shape, just like the
rabbit did in the book when he was seeing carrots instead of
regular objects.
 The Dark
• By: Lemony Snicket
• Illustrated by: John Klassen
• Published by: Little, Brown
and Company
• 2013
• 36 pgs.
• Spooky, Scary, Mystery

This book is about Laszco who is afraid of the

dark. He says the dark is hiding everywhere and at
night, it doesn’t hide anymore. Everyday Laszco
would visit the dark, open the basement door, so it
wouldn’t come at night to his room. But one night it
did, the dark spoke to him and asked him to go to the
basement. Once he was in the basement, the dark
told him to open the last drawer. There were light
bulbs for his night stand in his room; now he wont be
scared of the dark anymore.

This is a great story, with really good story line.

The book has great illustrations that goes perfectly
with the text. I liked that the things that he was afraid
helped him with his fear.

A good activity for this book would be to ask

the students to write, draw or make a list of the things
that they are scared of.
 A Ghost named
Fred
• By: Nathaniel Benchley
• Illustrated by: Ben Shecter
• Published by: Harper Collins
• 1968
• 62 pgs.
• Spooky, Scary, Mystery

This book is about a kid named George. He does not

have many friends and he usually doesn't play with anyone
because they think he is odd. One day we wonders off and
gets lost. It starts to rain and there was only one huge house
close by. He entered the house and it appears to be empty;
he walks around the house trying to look for someone, but
there is no one there. Then he hears something talking to him,
it is ghost named Fred. George asked Fred what he was
doing in the house. He said that he was guarding a treasure
in the house but he forgot where it was. They both started
looking for it and asking the animals in the house. At the end,
when George was leaving, he opened an umbrella and the
treasure fell out. Fred wanted to thank George and gave him
a coin as a souvenir.

This is a fun story with simple sentences and

easy to read. The book is really colorful with good and simple
pictures. The ghost was really nice and friendly.

A good activity for this book would be to make a

scavenger hunt for the students. Since they went looking for
the treasure all over the house, the students would be really
interested in completing one.
 Monster Baby
• By: Dian Curtis Regan
• Illustrated by: Doug Cushman
• Published by: Clarionj Books
• 2009
• 29 pgs.
• Spooky, Scary, Mystery

This book is about a baby that Mr. Oliver found in his

doorstep. But this is no ordinary baby, it is a monster baby.
Mrs. Oliver always wanted a baby and she was very excited
when this baby came along. She didn’t care it was a monter,
she loved him anyways. Soon after they found the baby,
they were his foster parents and they found out he was super
smart. He finished all of his education in one month and he
was growing at a very fast pace. The other kids were a little
scared of him because of his size, but after they got to know
him, he just wanted to play and help with whatever he
could. One day, the new neighbors came and Olly knew he
was going to like the new girl, she was a big monster too.

This book is very interesting and very unique. It was

very entertaining and I like the idea that the monster was
very smart since the beginning. The illustrations were very
nice and with a lot of colors.

I would use this book to help other students and

introduce foster care to others. The new family loved the
baby even though they were not their real parents.
 Luke Kuechly
• By: Matt Doeden
• Published by: Lerner
Publications
• 2017
• 32 pgs.
• Biography/Autobiography

This book is about the life of Luke Kuechly, a

football star. The beginning of the book, they talk about
how his life is right now and how he got to the top. The
book talks about how much he practiced and how
much hard work it takes to become great in something.
He would always be really focused on his goal and
worked towards it. During his years in college, the was
nominated for the NFL but still kept studying his degree.
Luke Kuechly stood out since the beginning and they
knew to keep an eye on him, because he was going to
be important.

This is a great book, has a lot of information. I like

that it has real life pictures and quotes he said in
interviews.

I like this book for students because he is a role

model for children. He stayed focus all throughout his
young years and he knew what he was working for. He
promotes integrity and hard work.
 The Noisy
Paint Box
• By: Barb Rosenstock
• Illustrated by: Mary Grandpre
• Published by: Alfred A. Knopf
• 2014
• 30 pgs.
• Biography/Autobiography

This book is about the life of Kadinsky. It all starts with

Vasya Kadinsky when he was a little boy in Russia. He was
always doing what he was supposed to do, always being the
perfect son, playing piano, doing math like he was supposed
to. He was not happy, until one day, his aunt gave him a
paint box. He started to hear music as he mixed the colors in
the little paint box and knew he loved it. He painted the
sound of the colors. As he grew up, he became a lawyer, but
he was still not happy. One day he decided to quit and start
to paint again, but the teachers were not happy with his
paintings, they were really square. Vasya loved to paint
feelings, he created abstract art.

This is an amazing book, very colorful and descriptive

with everything that was happening throughout his life. The
pictures of the book reflected the emotions he was feeling
and was very detailed.

This book will be a great introduction to abstract art

and also to introduce a very famous painter.
 Flying Solo
How Ruth Elder
Soared into
America’s Heart
• By: Julie Cummins
• Illustrated by: Malene P.
Laugesen
• Published by: Roaring Brook
Press
• 2013
• 27 pgs.
• Biography/Autobiography

This book is about the life of Ruth Elder. She was

determined to be the first women to fly across the Atlantic. In Oct
11, 1927 she started her journey to Paris, but she had an accident
after flying 36 hrs and her copilot and her were saved by a boat.
She was not done flying and she wanted to try it again. After this
she became very famous, but she never lost the courage and
drive to fly airplanes. In Aug 18, 1929 Ruth and other 19 women
entered a flying race where Amelia Earhart showed up. Amelia
beat her to cross the Atlantic. Ruth finished in 5th place but she
was the most determined pilot ever.

This is a great book with many useful and interesting

information about her life and how she became to be one of the
most famous pilots. This shows the women power and the
determination which is very inspiring .

I would use this book in a History class to talk about the

evolution of gender equality and how the planes started to
develop. This is a great book to talk about powerful women in
America.
 Odd Boy Out
Young Albert
Einstein
• By: Don Brown
• Published by: Houghton Mifflin
Company
• 2004
• 28 pgs.
• Biography/Autobiography

This book is about the life of Albert Einstein, one of the

greatest minds of all times. He was born march 14, 1879 in
Munich. Ever since he was born, his family thought there was
something wrong with him, was either his big head, that he didn’t
talk, or his temper. Growing up, he did not have many friends
and he was bullied because he was jewish. In school, he was
great at math, but he didn’t care that much about the other
subjects. All of his teachers told him that because of his grades,
he was never going to succeed in life. In high school, his family
moved to Italy, but he had to stay for the military and to finish
school. This affected him very much and soon he moved to Italy
to be with his family. He entered a Polytechnic and aspire to be
a scientists. He got married and became a father, but his bright
mind never stops.

This book was very interesting and had good

information about his life. The pictures went along very good
with the text and they were very detailed in the face
expressions.

I would use this book as an introduction to famous

and important people. For the children to talk about him and
research more about his accomplishments throughout his
lifetime.
 Are you a
Horse?
• By: Andy Rash
• Published by: Arthur A. Levine
Books
• 2009
• 30 pgs.
• Western

This book is about Roy trying to find a horse. He got

a saddle for his birthday and a note that says find a
horse. The problem is that Roy doesn't know what a horse
is. The journey begins and he started to ask anything and
everyone if they were a horse. He asked a red wagon, a
cactus, a snake, a crab, a chameleon, an owl, a pig, a
sloth, a lion, a zebra, and just when he was about to give
up, he found his horse!

This is a great funny story, where he takes you in jus

journey trying to find a horse and asking many different
animals. It is composed with simple sentences and it is
easy to read.

A good activity for this book would be to write

down all the animals Roy talked to and write their basic
characteristics and compare them to the ones a horse
has. This will be a great introduction for a Biology class,
science, to classify animals.
 Blaze and the
Gray Spotted
Pony
• By: L.W. Anderson
• Published by: Aladdin
Paperbacks
• 1997
• 46 pgs.
• Western

This book is about a boy who loves horses so much

he always asks for one on his birthday. Tommy’s ultimate
wish is to have a live horse of his own. The neighbor, Billy
has a horse and he lets Tommy ride him sometimes, he
also thought him the proper ways to take care of a horse.
One day, Tommy say a new gray pony with spots all over
his body, and he fell in love with that pony. Since his
birthday was coming soon, Tommy’s father and Billy
looked all over for that gray spotted pony. Finally Blaze,
Billy’s horse, found that pony. On his birthday, Tommy got
what he had always wished for, a pony.

This is a good book, easy to read and had a good

story line. This book is in black and white so it is fun to
imagine the colors in your head.

A good activity that students might like to do is to

draw their dream pet, or something that thy wished they
could get for their birthday.
 Pirates vs.
Cowboys
• By: Aaron Reynolds
• Illustrated by: David Barneda
• Published by: Alfred A. Knopf
• 2013
• 32 pgs.
• Western

This book is about a showdown that was about to

happen in the Old Cheyenne. Burnt Beard, was the most famous
pirate there is and he was looking for a treasure that passed
through the Old Cheyenne. Black Bob Mckraw, was the cowboy
ruler of the Old Cheyenne and he didn’t like intruders and worst if
they were pirates. They tried talking but a cowboy and a pirate
talk differently and they could not understand each other. The
fight was about to begging, when all of the sudden Pegleg
Highnoon came in the scene. He is the only pirate/cowboy there
is and everyone respected him very much. He told them that
both of them needed to take bath and when they come back
they can talk. Just like that they all went to take a bath and after
they became friends thanks to him.

This is a very unique story between pirates and cowboys. I

thought it was nice to have the different animals being from the
different sides and at the end, they were able to get along. I like
when they are able to resolve a conflict.

This is nice story to use for children and teach them that
even though at first you might have an initial thought about a
person, that doesn’t mean that is how they really are. It is
important to take the time to get to know everyone and find
something in common with them.
 Dark Emperor
and other
Poems of the
Night
• By: Joyce Sidman
• Illustrated by: Rick Allen
• Published by: Houghton Miffin
Books for Children
• 2010
• 32 pgs.
• Poems

This book talks about 12 different poems and also it

has a glossary. Each poem is about a different animal
that goes out at night and how they do. Some of the
poems have rhymes and others are free style. In each
poem, there is a pictures that represents the animal or
insect that the poem is about. In the glossary, there are
20 words that appear in the poems and are in bold font.
This way it is easier to identify them.

I like this book because it is a different way to see

the animals and what they do or go through during the
night. I like the pictures and know not realistic they are, it
is a fun way to draw them and add the colors and the
shades. It is a darker look, because they are night
animals.

A good activity to apply with this book is for the

students to make a list of the vocab words and make a
drawing of what they are. This way they have a better
understanding of new words.
 Slickety Quick
Poems about
Sharks
• By: Skila Brown
• Illustrated by: Bob Kolar
• Published by: Candace Press
• 2016
• 29 pgs.
• Poems

This book talks about 14 different types of sharks,

each with their own poem. They are funny poems, with a
picture of the shark and the letters or the format of the
poems are in fun different and unique ways. Also, with
the poem of the shark, there are interesting facts about
them. There is a lot of creativity to organize these poems
and the pictures are very colorful and attract the
students.

I really liked this book. The poems are easy to read,

they have rhymes and other they just free style. There are
repetitions and made up words, onomatopoeias are
there as well.

A good activity for this book would be for the

student to choose their favorite shark from the book and
make more research about it. Another activity would be
to classify the different type of sharks there are and find
what they have in common or not. This will be for a
science class.
 Behold the
Bold
Umbrellaphant
• By: Jack Prelutsky
• Illustrated by: Carin Berger
• Published by: Greenwillow
Books
• 2006
• 30 pgs.
• Poems

This book talks about 17 different poems. Each

poem is about an animal but that is made up of different
objects. For example the Umbrellaphant, there is an
umbrella instead of a trunk. There are 17 common
objects in those animals and each poem talks about it.
There are some rhymes and a nice way to play with
phonics of the words.

This is a very fun book. I though it was very

interesting to see what animal was made up of what
object. Sometimes there is nothing in common but
somehow the author made it work and actually look like
the animal. This is considered abstract illustration, which it
unique and fun.

A good activity for the children to do after reading

this book is to find the objects and what animal they
made it and maybe create their own animal using
common objects like in the book. Use their creativity and
imagination.
Here’s to you,
Rachel Robinson
• By Judy Blume
• Published by: Random
House Children's Books,
1993
• 208 pgs.
• Middle Grade

Rachel Robinson is a 13-year-old girl straight A

student, great friend, daughter and sister who is going
through some changes in her life. She must deal with
her problematic brother returning from boarding
school. He started messing with her friends and her
older sister. All of this is going on while trying to have
everything under control at school with her
extracurricular activities. She wants her life to be back
to normal, just living with her sister, but that is not going
to happen. She needs to learn how to live with her
brother for the rest of her school year.

This is a good book talking about how family

deals with conflict and trying to help every children
when they need to. I can see Rachel’s perspective,
she feels that she has to do everything perfect all the
time, while dealing with new problems every day.

A good activity for my students would be to

write a part of the story in the perspective of Rachel’s
brother. This way we can implement empathy and see
how does he feels after all the changes he went
through.
Blubber
• By Judy Blume
• Published by: Simon &
Schuster Children's
Publishing, 1974
• 208 pgs.
• Middle Grade

This book is about Jill Brenner is a 5th grader

trying to fit in the cool girl’s clique, so when the
opportunity shows she will take it. One day at class,
Linda gave a presentation on whales in front of the
class, because of her weight, they all started making
fun of her. After this, things started to get out of
control. Jill and Linda will come head to head during
this book and doing things Jill knows she shouldn’t
have. This book addresses bullying and what kids are
capable of.

This is a great book, yet it gives very specific

examples of what the girls would do to Linda. Blubber
makes you think about what other people feel when
they are being bullied and the importance for bullying
to stop. This affects many children everyday and there
has to be a way to stop acknowledge it.

A good activity for this book is to find another

character in the book and write about why do you
think they bullyied, or why do you think they didn’t say
anything about it. Have a class discussing bullying with
the students and make sure they understand how it
affects people.
Iggie’s House
• By Judy Blume
• Published by: Simon &
Schuster Children's
Publishing, 1970
• 176 pgs.
• Middle Grade

Winnie’s best friend is Iggie and she is moving.

They practically lived at each other houses, so when
the new family moved in, Winnie was anxious and
excited to meet them. The Garbers were the new
family but apparently, they will not be welcomed in
the new neighborhood. Winnie is trying to make them
feel welcomed and already became friends with the
new kids but being the first black family in an all-white
neighborhood is not going to be easy.

I really enjoyed this book because I could see

real friendships form, despite what others might think. I
really like the attitude of Winnie through out the story
defending her friends. The story was very well written
and the author developed great characters.

I would use this book to introduce discrimination

in the 1970s and how we have progressed from those
times. Racial discriminations is something that
occasionally is seen today and with this book is a
great way to address it. A good activity would be to
discuss and researched what were the rights of whites
and blacks in the 1960s-1970s. This will give them an
idea of how crazy the world was during those times.
Cool Zone with
The Pain and The
Great One
• By Judy Blume
• Published by: Random
House Children's Books,
2008
• 128 pgs.
• Middle Grade

This is a chapter book and tells stories from two siblings

and their adventures in school. The reason why is called the
“Cool Zone”, is because the “S and h”, of School, fell of so
they pass through the Cool Zone to get to school. In all of the
stories there is a sense that they can’t stand each other but at
the end, they will always love each other. They are the stories
from The Pain, which is Jacob a 1st grader, and The Great
One, which is Abigail a 3rd grader. They each tell their points
of view of different events that happen to them.

I like this book, which is 1 of five other books. This one

in particular because anyone that has a sibling would relate
to it. The stories that happened to them, there are typical 1st
and 3rd graders. Funny stories about animals, older kids,
grades, family, lost tooth, a little bit of everything.

With this book it would be interesting to see students

create their own stories about siblings. Up to three different
stories, just like the book, it is divided into different stories. They
can make the dialogues and pictures of their mini books and
this will help with writing sentences.