Thanksgiving Time!

Thanksgiving Mice!

By Bethany Roberts

Illustrated by Doug Cushman

This is an adorable book that would be great to use with the younger kids. It help teach them about events of Thanksgiving, and do it in a fun way with mice as the characters.

The mice decide to put on a play for their friends about Thanksgiving. They make the costumes, the sets, and practice all their lines.They call in all their friends, and tell them to take a seat for their play. They show the Pilgrims coming from England on the Mayflower and landing on Plymouth Rock.They talk about the cold, harsh winter. In Act 2, they show them meeting "friendly folks" who give them corn to sow. Once they harvest the food, they feast and dance. At the end of the play, the mice take a bow and all their friends clap and cheer.

The use of repetition and rhyming in this book would also help the young kids learn how to read. The words used in this story are not too big making it and useful tool to teach the kids about Thanksgiving and how to read.

Magic, Magic, Magic!

Strega Nona's Magic Lessons

Story and Pictures by Tomie de Paola

I remember having this book read to me when I was in elementary school. I also used it for my second read aloud assignment, and the kids loved it. The book is about a young girl who doesn't want to be a baker's daughter anymore so she goes to Strega Nona to learn magic. Big Anthony wants to learn magic too, but Strega Nona doesn't let him learn. He tries to work for the baker, but that doesn't end up working out. He dresses up as Antonia and goes to Strega Nona to learn magic. Antonia doesn't do well learning the magic, but Bambolona, the little girl, picks it up really quick. Antonia is jealous and tries to learn magic over night. She messes up really bad, and has to reveal that it's really just Big Anthony. After he learns his lesson not to mess with magic anymore, he goes back to doing his chores. 

This book couldn't be tied in with any specific lesson plans, but it is a fun book that could be used for read aloud. The kids I read it to loved it, and the read aloud time was incentive for good behavior during the day. It would also be a good book to have on a shelf in a classroom. The pictures are interesting, and the kids would love flipping through the book during free time.

Book Blog

My Mommy

By Susan Paradis

This was a very interesting book, and took me by surprise when I read it. I just assumed it would be a cute little book about a mom and a little girl when I saw the cover. Although this book was a story about the daily activities the mother and daughter do together, there were some interesting pieces to it. On every page, there was a picture of a mother animal with her baby animal. One of the pictures shows the mom helping her daughter do her hair, while a mom monkey combs through her babies hair. There were some interesting choices in animals on some of the pages. There were kangaroos, monkeys, geese, giraffes, elephants, tigers, and wolves. I was not expecting the animals on each page, but it was a fun twist to a common story. 

This book is an extremely easy read and would most likely be boring for older kids. If this book is to be used in the classroom, kindergarten would be the oldest group you could use it with. It would probably be best with pre-k in my opinion. It is a great book to remind kids of all the great things their mothers do for them.

Fun With Family

Too Far Away To Touch

By Leslea Newman

Illustrated by Catherine Stock

I really enjoyed this book, and I am not ashamed to admit that it brought a few tears to my eyes. It was a very touching book about a young girl learning how important it is to cherish family while they are still here.

Zoe is a young girl who loves when her Uncle Leonard comes over to take her on an adventure. She always loves playing tricks on him when he comes to pick her up. She wanted to inform her uncle he was loosing his marbles while she held two in her hand, but he was wearing a hat when he came over. Uncle Leonard wasn't taking Zoe to the museum or the zoo, but instead to the planetarium. After seeing the show, Zoe wished she could see real stars. She lived in New York, so the stars were almost impossible to see from her house. After the show, Uncle Leonard took Zoe to get food. She asked him to take off his hat because she wanted to play her trick. When he took it off, she realized a lot of his hair was gone. She asked if he was sick and he said that he was sick but that he was doing well that day. When Zoe and Uncle Leonard got home, he surprised her by putting glow in the dark stars on the roof of her bedroom. It was a long time before Uncle Leonard came to pick up Zoe for an adventure again. But when he did, he brought Nathan, and they all went out to sea side where they could see the stars. When Nathan went back to the car to try to find more blankets, Uncle Leonard informed Zoe that he was very sick. She asked if he was going to die and he said yes. She asked where he would be going after he died. He told her that he would be too far away to touch just like the stars.

 This book does talk about AIDS, which may not be something young kid's parents have discussed with them, so this book may be hard to use with the younger kids. However, most kids have sadly had to deal with losing someone to disease making it a very relate able book. Also, every kid has that one relative that they love to spend time with, so you could take a positive spin on the book. You could have the kids discuss what they do when they spend time with a favorite relative.

LOVED This Book!!

Bea and Mr. Jones

Story and Pictures by Amy Schwartz

Beatrice is tired of going to kindergarten and playing all of the games. Mr. Jones is tired of catching the 7:45 and laughing at all of his bosses bad jokes. At this point, Bea and Mr. Jones decide to switch places for the day. Bea gets on the train and sits with her father's business associate Harvey, and he explains that they have a busy day ahead of them. When they arrive at work, Harvey sends out a memo to the office stating that Bea will be replacing Mr. Jones for the day. When Mr. Jones arrives at kindergarten, he gives Miss Seymour a note excusing Bea from school and informing her that Mr. Jones will be participating in class for the day. Mr Jones loved all the games, and he was an excellent snack monitor because he didn't spill the milk.  He also was able to help get kids unstuck from the trees. Bsck in the office, Bea sent her secratary home for the day and loved all of the bosses jokes. She was also able to help come up with a jingle for the cracker account, and received a promotion at the end of the day. Mr. Jones and Bea decided to permanently switch places. Bea became the president of toy sales and Mr. Jones became a star student.

This was such a cute book, and would be great to use in a classroom. I used it for my read aloud, and the kids absolutely loved it. They all wanted to tell me what their parents did at their jobs and share their experiences when they went with their parents to work. There are many open ended questions you could use with this book that would get kids thinking and sharing their ideas. I also really liked the illustrations. The whole book is in black and white, but the pictures still helped get the story line across.

I was looking online for a picture to add to the blog when I came across a great lesson plan you could use with younger kids. Here is the link to the lesson plan:

http://www.bcpss.org/bbcswebdav/institution/CURRICULUM/Early%20Learning/School%20Year%202011-2012/Kindergarten%20Literacy%20Curriculum/Kindergarten%20Unit%203/Kindergarten%20Unit%203%20Reading/Read%20Aloud%20Templates/Unit%203-%20Bea%20and%20Mr.%20Jones.pdf

Fall Is In The Air!!

Pumpkins

By: Jacqueline Farmer

Illustrated by: Phyllis Limbacher Tildes

This book was adorable, and would be perfect to use in younger classrooms. The book talks about several different kinds of pumpkins and how they are most often used. It shares how other cultures use pumpkins on holidays and in every day life. The book talks about how pumpkins are grown and how many farmers grow in a year. My favorite part of this book was the two stories on why pumpkins are used on Halloween. It then goes into how to carve a pumpkin with the help of an adult and the different foods you can make with the insides of a pumpkin. It gives several different pumpkin recipes in the back, and the translation of pumpkin in many different languages.

PUMKIN

Italy - zucca (ZOOK-ka)

Japan -  kabocha (kah-boh-cha)

Mexico - calabaza (kah-lah-BAH-sa)

Russia - tykva (TEEK-va)

China - nangua (NAHN-gwah)

Germany - Kurbis (KYEER-bis)

Turkey - balkabagi (BAHL-kah-bah)

France - citrouille (sit-ROO-yuh)

Iran - kadu tanbal (KA-doo TAN-bal)

The Netherlands - pompoen (pom-PEHN)

Sweden - pumpa (POOM-pa)

Brazil - abobora (ah-BOH-boo-rah)

I really enjoyed reading through this book, and it would be great  to use to teach history of other cultures or cook food with pumpkins. I think young kids would really be able to get into this book if you make it interactive.

How to carve a pumpkin video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7MJcTY2kfw

My Man Blue Book Talk

My Man Blue

By: Nikki Grimes

Pictures by: Jerome Lagarrigue

This book was much more intense than I expected it to be. I picked it out based on the cover thinking it would be about how you can find someone who is like your family, but isn't blood related. That is what this book is about, but the lessons taught to the little boy by the man were a lot more intense than I thought they would be.

Damon, the little boy, and his mother move to a new place in town. She introduces Damon to her friend Blue. Damon explains to Blue that he is the man of the family and he shouldn't come around his family, all while looking him up and down. Blue explains to Damon that he lost his son to the streets, and he know that Damon's dad left their family. Damon tells Blue that he won't fill the loss of his son, but Blue says they will just be friends. Blue teaches Damon to overcome his fears by climbing a tree higher than he has ever climbed a tree, and reassures him that he will be there to catch him if he falls. Blue explains to Damon that even if he can't participate in games, he can still enjoy certain things. Blue gives Damon a hotdog to help him feel better. Damon's ball goes into the street, and right before he jumps into traffic to get the ball, Blue grabs him and pulls him back. Damon admits that, "At times I think Blue's actually some gold-toothed angel, guarding me". Damon is getting bullied at school by a little girl, but Blue explains to Damon that he is never allowed to hit a girl. Blue does fun stuff with Damon too, like playing one-on-one with him at the basketball courts. Damon cooks dinner so it's ready for his mom when she gets home from work. People make fun of him for it, but Blue explains that he needs to take care of his mom. Blue trains Damon so he knows how to defend himself. A boy at Damon's school got shot. Blue tells Damon that hate and fear hold the gun and fire it. Damon doesn't want fear or hate in his life. The last page was one of my favorites. It read, "One day I'll be like Blue. Not fierce in black leather or built like a heavyweight boxing machine But like that other Blue I've seen the one who says he cares and shows it. The one who flashes gold every time he smiles."

Like I said before, this book was much more intense than I thought it would be. As a young kid I grew up with different lessons. However, there are kids who grew up with lessons similar to Damon's. There are some kids who only grow up with one parent and find someone outside their family to teach them lessons. Blue was not Damon's dad, but he stepped up in the position and helped keep Damon away from the streets. 

I wouldn't use this book with the younger kids because of some of the things discussed. It would be a great book to use with the fifth graders because they are more mature and able to handle some of the topics brought up in the book.