Fiction/ Picture Book

Title: SantaKid

Author: James Patterson



About the Author: Not making any bones about his bid for success, James Patterson once declared he wanted to be known as the king of the page-turners. While that may seem like a pretty grand ambition, Patterson is as worthy of that title as any author working today.

Age Level: 5-8

Synopsis: This story is about a little girl named Chrissie and her parents, Santa Claus and Momma Claus. When Warrier Ransom, the boss of the Exmas Express Company decides to buy Christmas and rename it Exmas, Chrissie and her family can’t believe what is happening. Everything at the North Pole begins to change and it looks like Christmas is going to be ruined. Then Chrissie remembers something she learned from her dad and becomes Santakid. She delivers presents to all of the children on Christmas Eve!

Pre-Reading Activities: The importance of having courage and having respect for words of wisdom. What are words of wisdom? Has anyone given you good advice or words of wisdom? Did you use their good advice or words of wisdom? Have you ever had to be courageous? What was the situation? Discuss with the class the importance of believing in someone or something and sticking up for your beliefs.

Post-Reading Activities: What was your favorite part of the book? What do you think it would be like if you were Santa’s child? Would you want to be Santa’s kid? Why or why not? Do you think Chrissie had a lot of courage? Do you think she followed Santa Clause’s words of wisdom? Would you have done the same thing as Chrissie or let Christmas be ruined? After the reading, the students will write a short story about a time when they were courageous in their journals. After they are finished writing they will get into small groups and each person will share their courageous story.

My Reflection: I love that this story is not a “typical” Christmas story and kind of goes against the “traditions” of Christmas. This story is almost like a twist on The Grinch Who Stole Christmas. I like that this story portrays having courage. I also like that if we believe in something, then we should stick up for our beliefs. I think that at some time in our lives we have had to be courageous and we should celebrate those moments, reflect on those moments, and use them as our own life lessons.

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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!

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Fiction/ Picture Book

Title: The Rainbow Fish

Author: Marcus Pfister



About the Author: Marcus Pfister is the author of the phenomenally successful Rainbow Fish series, as well as many other books for children. He has worked as a graphic artist, a sculptor, a painter, and a photographer as well as a children's book creator. Pfister lives with his family in Berne, Switzerland.

Age Level: preschool- 8

Synopsis: The Rainbow Fish is the most beautiful fish in the entire ocean. After the Rainbow Fish is rude to a little blue fish one day, all of the other fish started to ignore him. The Rainbow fish gives up his pride and gives away all of his beautiful scales. The Rainbow fish later discovers the value of personal beauty and friendship.

Pre-Reading Activities: What does it mean to share? What does it mean to give? What does it mean to receive? The main idea of this book is to demonstrate the importance of giving and sharing. Discuss with the class how they feel when they share, give or receive something.

Post-Reading Activities: What happened in the beginning of the story? What happened in the middle? What happened in the end? How did the Rainbow Fish feel when he wouldn’t share his scales? Who did the Rainbow Fish get advice from? What did the octopus tell the Rainbow Fish? How did he feel when he shared his scales? Would you have shared your scales if you were the Rainbow Fish? After the reading the students will complete a handout. They will cut out a fish and in the middle of it they will finish the sentence that starts, “I am happy when….”. They will then be required to color, cut, and decorate their Rainbow Fish with aluminum foil to represent its shiny scales.

My Reflection: Once again, another one of my most favorite books! I love that this book touches on sharing, acceptance, friendship, selfishness, selflessness, tolerance, judgment, and I could keep going. I also think a lot of people over look the part where the rainbow fish goes to the octopus. It shows children that they can seek others for advice and that they need people to help them make the right choices sometimes. I think that this book shows what can happen when you are selfish and how you can feel and then and vice versa. I love the themes of beauty and friendship in this book!

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Realistic Fiction/ Picture Book

Title: The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Author: Eric Carle



About the Author: Children learn about the natural world in Eric Carle's original, charming books, which include classics such as The Very Hungry Caterpillar and Papa, Please Get the Moon for Me. Carle's vivid tissue-paper illustrations and innovations in book design have made him an author whose longevity and continued popularity are testaments to his beloved status among young readers and parents.

Age Level: preschool- 8

Synopsis: This story is about a newborn caterpillar. On every page the caterpillar finds something new to eat. As the pages turn, the caterpillar is going through the many stages before it turns into a butterfly. The caterpillar becomes bigger, fatter, and turns into a lovely butterfly.

Pre-Reading Activities: This book presents the lifecycle of a butterfly and caterpillars eat. This is a simple story that emphasizes numbers an days of the week. Eric Carle takes the concept of metamorphosis and presents it in a way that young children can understand. Carle brings humor to the development of the caterpillar, which is one of the first science concepts a child learns. Have you ever seen a caterpillar? Have you ever seen a butterfly? Have you ever caught a caterpillar and kept it to watch it go through the process of turning into a butterfly? Discuss with the class the lifecycle process of a butterfly.

Post-Reading Activities: What was your favorite part of the story? Do caterpillars really eat the things the caterpillar in the book did? What was the name of the small house the caterpillar built around himself? How long did he stay in the cocoon? What happened when he came out of his cocoon? After the reading, the students will begin a class project. There will be caterpillars in the classroom and the class will watch their process of turning into butterflies. They will keep a journal of the process the caterpillars go through. The students will be required to write a description and include drawings. For the younger students, they will have a teacher constructed work sheet. The worksheet will have the lifecycle of the caterpillar to a butterfly and the students will have to label each phase.

My Reflection: I love all of Eric Carle’s books. I especially love the illustrations! This is a great book to teach students about the life cycle of a caterpillar to a butterfly. While it is fiction, I consider this book realistic fiction. Obviously the caterpillar wouldn’t really eat all of the food shown in the book. I think Eric Carle came up with a creative way to show the life cycle and at the same time kept the concept on the level of elementary school aged children.

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Fiction/ Picture Book/ Stories in Rhyme-Poetry

Title: Madeline’s Rescue

Author: Ludwig Bemelmans


About the Author: Ludwig Bemelmans was a painter, illustrator, and writer for both children and adults. The Madeline books are among the most honored children's books of all time. Mr. Bemelmans died in 1962 after completing his sixth story about Madeline, Madeline's Christmas.

Age Level: 3-8

Synopsis: When Madeline falls into the river and nearly drowns, a courageous dog comes to her rescue. She names the dog Genevieve and it is now Madeline’s pet that all of the other girls envy. Genevieve goes everywhere with Madeline. Miss Clavel finds it a problem that all twelve girls are fighting over one dog.

Pre-Reading Activities: Doing good deeds can be very rewarding. Discuss with the class how important it is to help others. Discuss the importance of going out of your way to make a difference in someone’s life. Have you ever had someone do something nice for you? Have you ever done something nice for someone else? Have you helped someone in need?

Post-Reading Activities: What was your favorite part of the story? Did you think a dog would have been the one to rescue Madeline from the river? If you could give Miss Clavel advice, how would you solve the problem that there is only one dog for twelve girls? Did you think Genevieve would have puppies? After the reading, students will write a story in their journal describing a time when they helped someone in need.

My Reflection: I love all of the Madeline stories! I used to read them all when I was little! I like this story because it comical yet it has a serious side to it also. It shows that both characters (Madeline and Genevieve) are heroic. This book shows that it can be very rewarding to lend a helping hand to someone else. It shoes that doing good deeds and making a difference in someone’s life is something that we should do as much as possible in our own lives.

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Fiction/Picture Book

Title: Mirette On the High Wire

Author: Emily Arnold McCully



About the Author: Emily Arnold McCully was born left handed in Illinois and was transplanted to Long Island, where she grew up. A tree climber, bike rider, fort builder and ball player, she also devoted hours every day to reading and drawing. She majored in art history at college and acted and wrote for the theater. She lived in Europe for a year researching her Master's thesis, also in art history. Back in New York, she took to the streets with a portfolio of sample illustrations. Early assignments were for book jackets, magazine stories and pharmaceutical ads. A poster displayed in subway cars caught the attention of a children's book editor and a new career was launched. After illustrating other peoples' texts for several years and publishing two adult novels (A Craving and life Drawing) McCully began writing her own picture books. She has been awarded the Caldecott Medal, Christopher Award, Jane Addams Award, O'Henry Award and many others. She has two sons and lives in New York and Columbia County, N.Y., where she maintains a large garden.

Age Level: 4-8

Synopsis: Mirette lives in a boarding house surrounded by actors, dancers, jugglers, and mimes. Mirette then discovers a stranger on air, a tightrope walker named Monsieur Bellini. Mirette becomes Bellini’s student and learns to tightrope walk. But then she discovers that Bellini is overcome with fear on the tightrope which caused Mirette to feel fear herself.

Pre-Reading Activities: Determination is a key concept in this book. It teaches readers that they can do anything they set their mind to. Sometimes in order to do so you have to test yourself to get over your fear(s). Have you ever done something you thought you could never do? Has anyone helped you get over something you feared? What is your biggest fear that you would like to get over? Discuss with the class,that we can get over our fears often with the help of others.

Post-Reading Activities: What was your favorite part of the book? What was Bellini afraid of? Did you think Mirette was going to walk the tightrope? Did you think that Bellini would walk the tightrope in front of the crowd? Students will write about a fear that they have overcome and share it with the class.

My Reflection: I love that a girl is the hero in this story and saves the day! I think that this story can show how to demonstrate team work and helping others. The book also has a great historical context. This book is a great model of portraying determination, ambition, and compassion. This book encourages overcoming a fear. It is a very inspiring book!

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Fiction/Picture Book/ Folklore

Title: Joseph Had a Little Overcoat

Author: Simms Taback




About the Author: Simms Taback grew up in the Bronx and graduated from Cooper Union. He has worked as an art director and a graphic designer, and has taught at the School of Visual Arts and Syracause University. He has illustrated many children's books, including I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly (Viking), Spacy Riddles, Snakey Riddles, Buggy Riddles, and Fishy Riddles (all written by Katy Hall and lIsa Eisenberg, Dial). His work has won many awards, including the Caldecott Honor Award Medal for I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly and a New York Times Best Illustrated Children's Book. A father of three and grandfather of three, Mr. Taback lives with his wife in Willow, New York. Amazon

Age Level: 4-8

Synopsis: Joseph is the main character in the book, who has an overcoat that he really likes. The overcoat soon becomes old and worn, but instead of throwing the coat away he makes the overcoat into many different things. Finally the piece of overcoat becomes so small that the only thing that can be made from it is a button. Soon the button falls off and it is lost and Joseph is left with nothing.

Pre-Reading Activities: This story allows the reader to understand that you can always make something out of nothing. Sometimes people use things over and over again. People take old clothing or other things and can make them into something new. Have you ever taken something old and turned it into something new? What did you make? Did you keep what you made or did you give it to someone else? Discuss with the class how we can recycle old things to make new things.

Post-Reading Activities: What was your favorite part of the story? What kinds of clothes does Joseph make from the overcoat? If you were Joseph would you have done the same thing or would you have thrown the overcoat away? After reading the story, the students would gather something old from their homes and bring it in the next day to turn into something new. A letter would be sent to parents to let them know of the activity and
to help their child.

My Reflection: This story takes after a Yiddish Folk Song from 1977. This is an excellent story to portray that you can make a treasure out of anything. It shows that we can recycle something and make it into something new. I like the moral of the story at the end, that you can make something out of nothing!

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Fiction/Picture Book

Title: Where the Wild Things Are

Author: Maurice Sendak




About the Author: For more than forty years, the books Maurice Sendak has written and illustrated have nurtured children and adults alike and have challenged established ideas about what children's literature is and should be. Winner of the 1964 Caldecott Medal for Where the Wild Things Are, in 1970 Sendak became the first American illustrator to receive the international Hans Christian Andersen Award, given in recognition of his entire body of work. In 1983, he received the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award from the American Library Association, also given for his entire body of work.

Age Level: 4-8

Synopsis: Max is a wild child who gets sent to bed without supper after threatening to eat his mom. When he is in his room he begins to use his imagination and a forest grows. Max boards a boat and imagines himself sailing away to the land of the wild things. The monsters roared when he arrived but Max wasn’t scared. Max tames the monsters with a magic trick, they became frightened calling him the most wild thing of all and made him king of all the wild things. Max returns to his room to find his dinner, still hot!

Pre-Reading Activities: Discuss with the class the importance of using your imagination. Discuss why we use our imagination. Who uses their imagination every day? Do you travel to all different kinds of places? What do you think of Max’s imagination? Have you ever had an imagination just like Max’s?

Post-Reading Activities: What was your favorite part of the story? Has your mother ever sent you to bed without dinner because you were misbehaving? If you were max would you have been scared of the wild things? After reading the story, students will receive a blank stapled booklet. The students will create their own version of the story and illustrate it. They will use their imagination to create a unique story.

My Reflection: This book is such an inspiration for using your imagination, yet it provides a nice balance of children’s needs for imaginative thinking but has a sense of limits. This book allows children to close their eyes and create an imaginary place to travel to. They decide what it looks like, who or what lives there, and what they will do. Children can relate to Max and his thoughts. This book allows children to relate to people not understanding them or even the fact that they might not understand themselves yet. It shows that when children are upset about something or have a problem they can disappear with their imaginations and think about things on their own.

Amazon

Picture Book

Title: Corduroy

Author: Don Freeman




About the Author: Freeman was introduced to the world of Childrens' Literature, when William Saroyan asked him to illustrate several books. Soon after, he began to write and illustrate his own books, a career he settled into comfortably and happily. Through his writing, he was able to create his own theater: "I love the flow of turning the pages, the suspense of what's next. Ideas just come at me and after me. It's all so natural. I work all the time, long into the night, and it's such a pleasure. I don't know when the time ends. I've never been happier in my life!” Amazon

Age Level: preschool-6

Synopsis: This is a story about a bear named Corduroy who lives in a big department store. A little girl wants to buy him, but her mother refuses because he is missing a button on his overalls. Corduroy goes on a journey through the store in hopes of finding a button. The next day the little girl comes back and buys Corduroy. He finally find a home and gets a button for his overalls.

Pre-Reading Activities: Corduroy explores both the possibilities of toys coming to life, and what it’s like to be locked in a department store after everyone has gone home for the night. This book also demonstrates to children that they should never give up hope. Have you ever been to a store and your mom or dad wouldn’t let you get anything? How did you feel in this situation? Why do you think Corduroy wanted to find a button for his overalls so badly? Discuss with the class how both of the characters showed perseverance. Ask the students to share a time when they showed perseverance like Corduroy and the little girl.

Post-Reading Activities: What was your favorite part of the book? Did you think anyone would ever buy Corduroy? Was Corduroy really on a mountain? Was Corduroy actually in a palace? What happened at the end of the story?After the reading the students will pick three of their favorite parts of the book and write about it. They will also draw a picture to go along with their writing sample.

My Reflection: I love this story! It is another childhood classic. This story is about having hope. It is about not only receiving love but giving love. This story is also about not being accepted or loved at first but finding people that truly love and care about you. This book also touches on, that not being perfect is okay and that we need to appreciate the different values in others!

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