Non-fiction/ Picture Book

Title: The Hershey’s Kiss Addition Book

Author: Jerry Pallotta



About the Author: Back in 1985, Jerry Pallotta (whose full name is Gerard Larry Pallotta) was an insurance salesman, looking for creative ways to teach his children their ABCs. He wondered why most of the alphabet books he was reading to them sounded very similar, “A is for apple,” and “Z is for zebra.” During his childhood he had spent many summers at the beach in Scituate, Massachusetts (a fishing town), which helped nurture his love for the ocean — lobsters, seaweed, and boats were always a part of his life. Was there a way to combine his passion for the underwater world and teach children the alphabet? At the age of 32, his imaginative ideas led to him to write and publish his very first book, The Ocean Alphabet Book. He originally sold 5,000 copies to the New England Aquarium, where it became a best-seller. He has since created more than 20 alphabet books, including: The Airplane Alphabet Book, The Bird Alphabet Book, The Butterfly Alphabet Book, The Flower Alphabet Book, The Furry Animal Alphabet Book, The Icky Bug Alphabet Book, and The Vegetable Alphabet Book — to name a few! Soon Pallotta expanded from just writing alphabet books and tried his hand at mathematics books. Popular favorites include The Crayon Counting Book, The Icky Bug Counting Book, and for those who have a sweet tooth, Hershey's Milk Chocolate Fractions Book, Hershey's Kisses Addition Book, Reeses Pieces: Counting by Fives, and Twizzlers Percentages Book. Pallotta was born on March 26, 1953, in Boston, Massachusetts . He has four brothers, two sisters, and 72 first cousins! He attended Georgetown University, in Washington, D.C. where he majored in business, and met his wife. He currently lives in Massachusetts and is married with four children.
Scholastic

Age Level: 3-6

Synopsis: This is a book that introduces children to the world of basic math. The book illustrates a plus sign, a minus sign, an equal sign, and uses Hershey’s Kisses as a counting unit used throughout the book. In the book clowns carry, drag, throw and juggle Hershey’s Kisses to illustrate each addition equation. The book is mostly single digits, but the book adds single digits to the number ten.

Pre-Reading Activities: The concept of basic addition. What signs do we use in addition? What does “sum” mean? What is the symbol called that is used to add numbers? Discuss with the process of addition with the class.

Post-Reading Activities: What was your favorite part of the story? What is something you learned from the book? What is the difference between adding and subtracting? After the reading, the students will do a math activity in pairs. They will receive a math worksheet. The students will use a math work mat and candy to complete their worksheet with a partner.

My Reflection: I love being able to integrate any type of literature into content areas! I love to use this book when introducing addition. What child doesn’t love Hershey Kisses?! I think this is a great book to allow for the opportunity to use Hershey Kisses as a math manipulative. Students will be engaged in the lesson and will want to work just so they can eat the candy in the end! I think this provides students with a hands-on, interactive, and fun way to learn math just by using this book as the introduction to teaching basic addition. I love that there is also a Hershey Kisses Subtraction book!

Barnes and Noble
Amazon

Literature Book Club #4- Non-fiction

Title: The Boy Who Invented TV: The Story of Philo Farnsworth

Author: Kathleen Krull (illustrated by Greg Couch)




About the Author: Krull attended Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin. After graduating she began her career in children’s publishing. She was a children’s book editor. She wrote mysteries prior to writing her own books for young people. She enjoys exploring subjects that she is passionate about. One fun fact about Kathleen Krull is that she was fired from her part-time job at a library when she was fifteen because she was reading too much instead of working!

Age Level: 5-8

Synopsis: An inspiring true story of a boy genius. Plowing a potato field in 1920, a 14-year-old farm boy from Idaho saw in the parallel rows of overturned earth a way to “make pictures fly through the air.” This boy was not a magician; he was a scientific genius and just eight years later he made his brainstorm in the potato field a reality by transmitting the world’s first television image. This fascinating picture-book biography of Philo Farnsworth covers his early interest in machines and electricity, leading up to how he put it all together in one of the greatest inventions of the 20th century. The author’s afterword discusses the lawsuit Farnsworth waged and won against RCA when his high school science teacher testified that Philo’s invention of television was years before RCA’s.

Theme(s): biography, inventors, television America in the 20th century, history

How it can be used in the elementary classroom: This book could be used when studying biographies. It could also be used for a research project. This would be a great book to explore America in the 20th century and the history of America. It would be a great book to research how television was invented. This would be a great book to integrate into a unit about American Inventors.

Barnes and Noble

Literature Book Club #4- Non-Fiction

Title: The Road to Oz: Twists, Turns, Bumps, and Triumphs in the Life of L. Frank. Baum

Author: Kathleen Krull (illustrated by Kevin Hawkes)





About the Author: Krull attended Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin. After graduating she began her career in children’s publishing. She was a children’s book editor. She wrote mysteries prior to writing her own books for young people. She enjoys exploring subjects that she is passionate about. One fun fact about Kathleen Krull is that she was fired from her part-time job at a library when she was fifteen because she was reading too much instead of working!

Age Level: 8-12

Synopsis: Kathleen Krull’s lively text traces the life of L. Frank Baum from his dreamy privileged childhood in mid-19th-century upstate New York through the many detours on his road to Oz. A failure as an actor, a breeder of prize chickens, a merchant in a wild west town, among other occupations, he finally made a success doing exactly what he had always loved to do: tell stories for children. Along the way, we see the antecedents of the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, green glasses, and other characters and attributes of the famous fantasy land. This is the first biography of L. Frank Baum that children can enjoy.

Theme(s): biography, The Wizard of OZ, entrepreneurship, L. Frank Baum, American- 20th century

How it can be used in the elementary classroom: This book could be used when studying biographies. It could also be used for a research project. This is a great book because most children can connect with The Wizard of Oz. However, they can learn about the author’s life. This is a great book that portrays entrepreneurship and America in the 20th century.

Barnes and Noble