Caldecott Award Book 2005: Kitten's First Full Moon

Title: Kitten's First Full Moon

Author and Illustrator: Kevin Henkes




About the author: Kevin Henkes had a love of books beginning at a young age. He always dreamed of becoming an artist. In high school he combined his love of drawing with his newfound interest in writing. At nineteen years old he took his work to New York City in hope to find a publisher. He returned with a contract from Greenwillow Books. Ever since, he has been working as a children’s writer and illustrator. Henkes has written many books children books (most commonly featuring the mice characters) and a young adult novel.


Genre: Fiction


Age Levels: 3-6 years old

Synopsis: This is a story about a kitten who thinks that the moon is a big bowl of milk. The kitten is persistent to get “the bowl of milk.” The kitten tries and tries. Finally the kitten goes home to find a nice big bowl of milk.


Pre-Reading Activities: Students will do a picture walk to predict what the book may be about. The teacher will ask students if they have ever been on an adventure or have gone exploring. The teacher will discuss with students what exploring is. The teacher will ask if they have ever run into trouble on an adventure or if they were exploring and how they solved the problem.



Post-Reading Activities: Students will learn about the moon and the different phases of the moon. The teacher will provide a lesson on the phases of the moon. Each student will get Vanilla Wafers. The students will create the phases of the moon with the Wafers to portray what each phase looks like. They will place the phases in the correct order and glue the wafers to construction paper. The finished products will be displayed for all to see



My Reflection: This was such a cute book! I love how the kitten went on a silly adventure. I think this book could be a different way to introduce a lesson on the phases of the moon. Many times we use non-fiction books when working on a project. I think this would be a fun way to integrate a fiction and picture book into a lesson on science. I also like the underlying message that we should chase after our dreams!

Work Cited:

Barnes and Noble

Caldecott Award Book 2006: The Hello, Goobye Window

Title: The Hello, Goodbye Window

Author and Illustrator: wriiten by Norton Juster, illustrated by Chris Raschka





About the author: Norton Juster grew up in Brooklyn. He studied architecture at the University of Pennsylvania. He also spent a year in Liverpool, England on a Fullbright Scholarship while doing graduate work. He spent three years in the U.S. Navy and began working as an architect in New York. While in the Navy he began to write. He is famous for his first book, The Phantom Tollbooth, which has won awards, has been made into a film, and has been created into a musical. He has written many more books that have been successful in winning awards or being made into films. Juster now is retired from his architecture career but continues to write. The illustrator Chris Raschka has created many award-winning books. He enjoys poetry such as Shelley, Bishop, and Biz Markie. He is a writer, artist, and musician. He was also an art teacher. He credits Vladimir Radunsky, a picture book artist for inspiring him to illustrate children’s books.



Genre: Fiction


Age Levels: 4-8 years old

Synopsis: This children’s book is story about a little girl and her experiences at her Nanna and Poppy’s house. It is told from the little girl’s point of view. The kitchen window at their house provides many discoveries and voyages for the little girl. It is a magic gateway for her. This book displays the wonderful relationship between grandparents and grandchild.


Pre-Reading Activities: Students would discuss the importance of using your imagination. They would discuss why grandparents and other people that are close to us are so important. What do you do when you visit your grandparent's house? Do you share anything special with them? If you don't visit your grandparents, is there someone else that is important to you that you spend time with? What do you do together?



Post-Reading Activities: Who visits the little girl at the hello, goodbye window? What things do the little girl and her grandparents do with the hello, goodbye window? How does the little girl feel about staying with her grandparents? After the story, students will share with a small group something that they share with their grandparents or someone else that is special to them. They will draw a picture of what they shared and write a short description



My Reflection: I love this book! I can personally relate to this book. After school I always went to my Nana and Papa's house. I spent a lot of time with my grandparents and I am so grateful I was able to be with them so much. We share a lot of special memories. I like that this book reflects the memories a little girl has with her grandparents. I think today so many children are consumed by technology and don't allow themselves the opportunity to use their imagination. I remember being at my grandparents and never watching TV or being on the computer. I remember playing and using my imagination to have fun!


Work Cited:

Barnes and Noble

Caldecott Award Book 2007: Flotsam

Title: Flotsam

Author and Illustrator: David Wiesner




About the author: The author, David Wiesner has created a book for children to explore and use their own imaginations. He finds interest in visual storytelling, which dates back to his high school days. He was inspired by silent movies and wordless comic books. He has won many Caldecott Medals. Along with writing and illustrating his own picture books, he is also an illustrator for other children’s authors.


Genre: Fiction

Age Levels: 5-8 years old

Synopsis: This is a wordless picture book. It is the story of a boy who goes to the beach. He is prepared to find any “flotsam- something that floats.” When he finds a camera, he develops the film. He finds many surprises and secrets.


Pre-Reading Activities: This would be a great book to use for predicting a story. Students would do an in-depth picture walk. I would have students view every page and make predictions on what the story would be about. Since there are no words they would have a great opportunity to predict what the story could be about.



Post-Reading Activities: I think a great activity would be to create words to go with the pictures for each page. This would be a great opportunity for a writing activity. I would put students in groups or pairs. Then I would ask them to create a story for the pictures. I think this would be so interesting to see how each group of students story comes out. I feel like the stories would be so different! I think that the students would enjoy viewing each other's stories and noticing the similarities and differences.



My Reflection: I thought this book was so interesting. I liked that it had no words! You have to be creative and really pay attention to the details of the pictures to figure out the story. I also think that you have to have an imagination and be creative in order to "read" this book! I also think that this book would be great for students with learning disabilities. This book would give those students the chance to "read" a book with out struggling to read words. They can view the pictures and get a sense of the story rather than focusing so much on reading and losing the meaning of the story because they are so focused on sounding out words and decoding.


Work Cited:

Barnes and Noble

Caldecott Award Book 2008: The Invention of Hugo Cabret

Title: The Invention of Hugo Cabret

Author and Illustrator: Brian Selznick




About the author: Brian Selznick has won many awards for his illustrations. He became interested in art at an early age when he made dinosaur sculptures out of tinfoil at his grandmother’s house. In school Brian’s classmates wanted to see his wonderful drawings. He went to The Rhode Island School of Design. He decided after school that he wanted to illustrate children’s books.


Genre: Fiction/ Novel

Age Levels: 9-12 years old

Synopsis: “Orphan, clock keeper, and thief, Hugo lives in the walls of a busy Paris train station, where his survival depends on secrets and anonymity. But when his world suddenly interlocks with an eccentric, bookish girl and a bitter old man who runs a toy booth in the station, Hugo's undercover life, and his most precious secret, are put in jeopardy. A cryptic drawing, a treasured notebook, a stolen key, a mechanical man, and a hidden message from Hugo's dead father form the backbone of this intricate, tender, and spellbinding mystery.”


Pre-Reading Activities: Since there could be some tricky vocabulary in this book, I would expose my students to the vocabulary they could potentially have difficulty with. This would allow opportunity for students to review how to use a dictionary. Each vocabulary word would be placed on an index card and each student would receive an index card. I would also have index cards with the definition of the words and each student would receive a definition card. Students would be required to find the definition that matches their term. This activity gets students moving and provides active engagement and team work.



Post-Reading Activities: Since the book takes place in France in 1930, I would have students conduct a research project. Students would be required to research facts about France in the 1930's. This would build background knowledge before reading the text. Students could also work in groups to create their research project. The could create any presentation they chose (poster, power point, diorama, etc). Students could also learn more about automatons, draw their own automaton and describe what it's functions would be. A great project would be to actually have students build their automaton. Since the book discusses movies a lot, students could get into groups and write their own movies. They could act them out and record them, then play them back to the class. This would be a great project to incorporate writing, story elements (plot, setting, characters, etc.),



My Reflection: I really liked this book. The illustrations are amazing and beautiful. I liked this book because there are so many opportunities to provide rich and engaging lessons for students. I like that the artwork progresses just like your watching a movie. It is almost like a silent film, so the pictures tell the story and the plot.


Work Cited:

Barnes and Noble

Caldecott Award Book 2009: The House in the Night

Title: The House in the Night

Author and Illustrator: written by Susan Marie Swanson, illustrated by Beth Krommes





About the author: The author is an award-winning poet of many children’s books. She grew up in a small town near the Chicago area. She enjoyed visiting the public library and bookstore. Her first poem was featured in her town’s newspaper when she was ten years old. She teaches young children and has won many awards. The illustrator has been featured in many award-winning books. When going to her grandmother’s house as a child, she fell in love with the outdoors since her grandmother’s house was surrounded by meadows. She received her degree in painting from Syracuse University and her MAT in art education at the University of Massachusetts. She also attended school in London. She has worked as a public school art teacher, a manager of a fine handcraft shop, and an art director for a computer magazine. She now works as a full-time freelance illustrator and has focused on illustrating children’s books for the last ten years.


Genre: Fiction

Age Levels: 3-6 years old

Synopsis: This is a bedtime book for children. The pictures illustrate the origins of light that make a house a home. The book names nighttime things for children to feel comforted by.


Pre-Reading Activities: I think it would be very beneficial to begin with only looking at the illustrations. Students will look at the pictures in the book and do a picture walk. They will notice important pictures in the book (the girl, the key, the dog, the bird, etc). They will also view the contrast that the illustrations provide.



Post-Reading Activities: Students will discuss how this book portrays a story within a story. They will discuss what makes a house a home. Students will illustrate a picture of their home and write what makes their house a home to them and what are they comforted by in their house.



My Reflection: I liked this book but I didn't love it. The illustrations are so beautiful! I like that the author chose to use simple, repetitive words in the book, which would be very beneficial to students. I love that the book is full of tiny details. It would really ask students to pay attention to small details and be aware of the illustrations. I think that this book would allow students to make their own connections and allows a lot of room for discussion.


Work Cited:

Barnes and Noble

Caldecott Award Book 2010: The Lion & the Mouse

Title: The Lion and the Mouse

Author and Illustrator: by Jerry Pinkney




About the author: Jerry Pinkney tells the story through pictures that feature the African landscape. Pinkney studied at the Philadelphia College of Art. He began illustrating children’s books in 1964. He has won five Caldecott Honor Medals and in 2010 he won a Caldecott Medal. He has also won many other awards. He also has many art exhibits and venues. His art is featured in many museums and magazines.


Genre: Fiction/ Fable

Grade Levels: infant- preschool aged children

Synopsis: A wordless picture book adapted from Aesop’s fable. A lion lets a mouse live and the mouse later saves the lion’s life.


Pre-Reading Activities:

*How can a wordless book tell a story?
*How does the artist help you connect the story line?
*Does the artist include any words in his illustrations?
*Discuss inference/infer- connect to: how does the illustrator give you clues in the pictures to help you understand the story? (When I see the illustration _______ I think_______ because________)


Post-Reading Activities:

*Create words to the story as a whole group or independently.
*Have students illustrate their own wordless picture book (assessment: were students able to create a wordless picture book that consisted of the events of a story, included characters, setting, problem, solution, etc.)
*Students create an illustration. They switch pictures with their classmates and then write a story based on the illustration they recieved. Students will pair with the original artist and share the story they chose to write about the picture.(assessment: students were able to draw a picture, switch with a partner, create a story line, share the story with their partner)
*Getting to know each other/diversity- we are all different in many ways but we can still all get along, we all have different strengths to contribute. How are the lion and mouse different? What are their strengths?


My Reflection:

I think that The Lion and the Mouse is a classic story. It is the story of how even though we are different we can still all get along together and share our differences. It also shows how we all are unique and all have different strengths and weaknesses. I think this book could be used at the beginning of the year in get to know you activities. It would also be perfect to use for introducing the parts of a story. Students could also create their own words to go along with the story. This is an assessment in itself as the teacher would be able to assess if the student understood the story's illustrations. This book could also be used to talk about setting as the illustrations portray an African Landscape. This book could also be used as an introductory to an animal unit. I think this book is wonderful as you can take it in many different directions when planning lessons for your classroom.

Work Cited:

Barnes and Noble