Chapter Book #8 - Diary of a Wimpy Kid

Author: Jeff Kinney

Illustrator: 

Genre: Fiction

Sub genre: Realistic

Theme: Diaries, bullying, friendship

Primary and secondary characters: Greg Heffley

Awards:

Publication Date: 2007

Publishing Company:  Amulet Books.

     For the past several years I never knew what all the hype over this book was about, however now I can see how easy any middle school student can relate to this book. Greg Heffley writes events that happen to him during middle school in his diary. He also draws illustrations of the events that are sure to keep any student's attention. Rowley, his best friend begins to become popular and Greg thinks he will be able to tag along. This book will show students a unique and hilarious friendship that will be sure to have them laughing and wanting to read more. 

     This book would be perfect for an English class. The students could begin by making their own diaries our of paper and other items. During the week and for several weeks after the book is read, the students could write in their diaries everything funny, interesting, or troubling that goes on in their lives. Because the main character is a boy who keeps a diary, it would be the perfect time to get boys to see that keeping a diary or journal can really be a good thing! The teacher could even show them examples of well known diaries from real people such as Anne Frank. 

Chapter Book #7 - Matilda

Author: Roald Dahl

Illustrator: Quentin Blake

Genre: Fiction

Sub genre: Picture Book

Theme: Reading, parents, school

Primary and secondary characters: The bats

Awards:

Publication Date: 1998

Publishing Company:  Puffin Books

     As a child one of my favorite movies was Matilda. So when I found this book I just had to look into it and recall the moments of my childhood I spent laughing and enjoying the movie. Of course, like any book and movie, the movie is a little different from the book. However they are both as charming and enjoyable to children. Matilda is a four year old who lives in a house with some of the most terrible, unloving parents a child could have. He parents even consider her "nothing more than a scab." When she enrolls in a primary school she has a principal who is just as bad. Even through all the craziness in her life Matilda is able to find happiness and joy in the books she finds at the public library and the sweet Miss Honey.
     I think this would be an excellent book to be read aloud in a classroom. The students would have fun reading it and using their imaginations. After each chapter they could break into groups to discuss the book or they could keep a journal about their feelings on each chapter. It would also be good to take a tour of a public library while this book is being read.

Chapter Book #6 - Ruby Holler

Author: Sharon Creech

Illustrator: 

Genre: Fiction

Sub genre: Chapter Book

Theme: orphans, family, love

Primary and secondary characters: The bats

Awards: Carnegie Medal

Publication Date: 20052008

Publishing Company:  Houghton Mifflin Company

     "You are now entering Ruby Holler, the one and only Ruby Holler! Your lives are never going to be the same--" And that is exactly what happened to the trouble twin orphans Dallas and Florida. They grew up thinking that there could never be such a thing as a loving home because they were always being tossed from family to family. One day an eccentric young couple who lives in Ruby Holler invites the twins for a stay where their lives are changed forever. This book shows that it really is possibly to find love. 

     This book would be good for students around the age of 13, since that is what age the twins are in the book. If I used this book in a classroom setting, I would have the students write an essay over what they would do in the twin's situation and how they would handle things. I think that this book would need to be saved until a more serious time in the classroom could be reached. 

Chapter Book #5 - The Invention of Hugo Cabret

Author: Brian Selznick

Illustrator: same

Genre: Fiction

Sub genre:  Chapter Book

Theme: Mystery

Primary and secondary characters: Hugo, Isabella and her godfather

Awards: Caldecott Medal

Publication Date: 2007

Publishing Company:  Scholastic Press

     This book is one of a kind! It is hard for me to even describe it in a blog post! This book is unique in that it is listed as a chapter book because it has obvious chapters, yet it is filled with intriguing illustrations that help to tell the story. Hugo is a young orphan who lives his life in secrecy. He secretly takes care of a clock and is stealing parts to try to repair a project his father was working on before he died to see if it contains a message from his father. When he meets Isabella and her godfather his life is turned around. Read the book to figure out if he ever completes his father's project and if he still tries to hide from everything. 

     Like many of the other books, this book could be used in a variety of different ways in the classroom. How I would probably use it would be in an English class. I would have the students construct their own novel that was modeled after this one. I would also have them write an essay deconstructing Hugo and the other characters in this book. 

Picture Book #16 - Grouchy Ladybug

Author: Eric Carle

Illustrator: same

Genre: Fiction

Sub genre: Picture Book

Theme: reading, ladybugs, moods, being mad, being happy

Primary and secondary characters: the grouchy and happy ladybugs

Awards:

Publication Date: 1996

Publishing Company:  Harper Collins

     Eric Carle did a magnificent job with this book. His illustrations are absolutely beautiful and tell the story of the grouchy ladybug in a perfect way. At the beginning of the book the grouchy ladybug begins to try to find someone to take out his anger on. He begins by asking another ladybug but decides that that ladybug isn't big enough. He keeps asking creatures until he finally decides that not even a whale is big enough for him to fight. Will the ladybug ever find someone to fight or will he become happy?

      This book could be used in a variety of different ways in a classroom. This cite has so many different good ideas and downloads that I just had to share it! I would personally either use this book in an art lesson, or a lesson on ladybugs. For the art lesson, I would have the kids construct illustrations like the ones in the book out of tissue paper and a glue/water mixture. I would also use this book if I was going over different bugs in a lesson and wanted to focus on ladybugs. 

Picture Book #15 - Amanda Bean's Amazing Dream

Author: Cindy Neuschwandar

Illustrator: Liza Woodruff

Genre: Fiction

Sub genre: Picture Book

Theme: math, multiplication

Primary and secondary characters: Amanda Bean aka Bean Counter

Awards:

Publication Date: 1998

Publishing Company:  Scholastic

     Amanda Bean is really good at math and she loves to count, her friends even nicknamed her Bean Counter. However, she gets completely confused over a new concept she learns at school one day, multiplication. Amanda does not understand so she continues to count things one by one like she always had done. One night she has a terrible dream that there are too many things for her to count! She realizes she must learn to multiply. The colorful illustrations and creative story will be sure to keep students attention.
     I actually found this book while I was working on my unit plan for one of my education classes. This book would be perfect in an interdiction lesson to multiplication. The back of the book has a lot of good activities and resources for teachers to use to teach students multiplication. The teacher could use a think-pair-share method when students are figuring out the multiplication problems.

Picture Book #14 - Six Dinner Sid

Author: Inga Moore

Illustrator: same

Genre: Fiction

Sub genre: Picture Book

Theme: reading, storytelling, bats, libraries

Primary and secondary characters: The bats

Awards:

Publication Date: 20052008

Publishing Company:  Houghton Mifflin Company

     Anyone who loves cats will love this book, even if they do not they will think Sid is one funny cat by the end of the story. Sid lives in six houses, has six different names, and eats six different dinners every night. How does he get away with this any students might wonder. The people where he lives do not ever talk to each other, therefor they have no clue that they along with five other people own the cat. Sid's sneakiness is eventually found out when he becomes sick and goes to the vet six times. 

     This book could be used in a variety of different lessons. The first way would be to use it to teach kids new vocabulary. With new words such as suspicious, mischief, swanky, and smooched a teacher could create an entire vocabulary test off of the book. A teacher could also use this book for a math lesson and learning the six's multiplication tables. The students could solve a variety of different problems to figure out how many dinners Sid would get per day, week, ect. 

suspicious, mischief, swanky, smooched

Picture Book # 13 - Bats in the Library

Author: Brian Lies
Illustrator: same
Genre: Fiction
Sub genre: Picture Book
Theme: reading, storytelling, bats, libraries
Primary and secondary characters: The bats
Awards:
Publication Date: 20052008
Publishing Company:  Houghton Mifflin Company

     Bats in the library and reading! This book is sure to have kids laughing and wanting to read too. The book begins with bats enjoying the nice cool night until they spot that the library window has been left open by the librarian. The bats race in and zoom around the library having fun with the projector, the copier, and the water fountains. After some crazy fun they all gather around for story time where the bats imagine themselves being in the roles of the characters as one of the bats reads. They have so much fun that they do not want to leave!
     This book would be perfect for young readers who find reading boring. I could see myself reading this book to my students at the beginning of the year before we really got into our reading program. It would also be a great book to read before learning about bats in a science lesson. Ifonline.org had a really detailed lesson plan that would be perfect for a classroom setting.

Picture Book # 12 - Ella Takes the Cake

Author: Carmeela and Steven D'Amico
Illustrator: same
Genre: Fiction
Sub genre: realistic fiction
Theme: Being a helper
Primary and secondary characters: Ella
Awards:
Publication Date: 2005
Publishing Company:  Arthur A. Levine Books

     Little Ella is a kid elephant who only wants to help out in more ways than just sweeping her mom's bakery. One day her mother finally gives her the important job of delivering a cake to Captain Kernel's lighthouse. Ella was supposed to hurry in order to get there on time but she runs into a few sticky situations on her way to the lighthouse. Because Ella is so helpful she cannot get out of any of the situations without at least helping a little bit. Will Ella make it on time and show that she is helpful?
     I could see this book being used when the teacher is disusing helping and being a good, productive student at the beginning of the school year. The students could possibly write a journal entry on how they help out and how they can help out in the future. Younger students could draw pictures of themselves helping like they were Ella.
 

Picture book #11 - Handel Who Knew what He Liked

Author: M. T. Anderson

Illustrator: Kevin Hawks

Genre: Fiction

Sub genre: Bibliography

Theme: Music history

Primary and secondary characters: Handel

Awards:

Publication Date: 2001

Publishing Company:  Candlewick Press

     Sometimes it can be hard to effectively teach a child about notable people in the arts without putting them to sleep, but this book by M.T. Anderson will be sure to keep their attention as well as give everyone a few good laughs. Because the book has a lot of words and details it would be best for readers around age 9 to 11, even older children would enjoy and learn a lot from this book. Not only does the book lay out a detailed view of Handel's life, it also describes various musical terms that aid in understanding. The illustrations add so much character to the book depicting happiness, depression, and energy. 

     My favorite page in the book is one of the first ones where young Handel is sneaking a clavichord to his room because his father did not want him to become a musician. This page and the few that follow it describe Handel and his beginning in the music career. The rest of the book goes through the various events in his life that led up to him being a famous musician. The last few pages describe how he is still being remembered today. 

     This book would be excellent in a unit over music. It gives a simple rundown of one of the most famous composers along with musical vocabulary. After this book a teacher could have students compose their own "mini" opera and perform it for various groups in the school.  

Picture Book #10 - WOLF!

Author: Becky Bloom
Illustrator: Pascal Biet
Genre: Fiction
Sub genre: Fantasy
Theme: Learning to read
Primary and secondary characters: Wolf, pig, cow, and duck
Awards:
Publication Date: 1999
Publishing Company: Orchard Books

Becky Bloom tells a story of a wolf like no other story students will have ever heard. This wolf might even encourage students to pick up a book and learn to read themselves, or learn to read better! Before the story even begins a beautiful double spread illustration is on the first page showing a grumpy, hungry wolf. A teacher could asked students what they think the wolf is going to do during the story. Once the story begins there are so many beautiful illustrations that add so much humor to the book, even the teacher will be laughing at some of the silly happenings.
The students will follow Wolf on his journey to learn to not only read but become a great story teller. He begins by trying to eat a few farm animals that are reading books, but when they do not pay him any attention because they are too involved with their stories, he decides to see what all the hype is about. He goes to school, that's right, a wolf in school. Pretty scary if you ask me! When he shows the farm animals his new skills they aren't impressed at all. So he keeps working and working and working and working. Will Wolf ever be a good story teller and reader?
This book will show students that if they keep working they can achieve great things! If a teacher has a student who struggles with reading then this would be a good book to assign to them. They can compare and contrast them self to Wolf.

Picture Book #9 - If I had Dragon

Author: Tom and Amanda Ellery
Illustrator: Same
Genre: Fiction
Sub genre: Realism
Theme: Little brothers
Primary and secondary characters: Morton and his little brother
Awards:
Publication Date: 2006
Publishing Company: Lectorum Publications, Inc.

     This is a charming book where one little boy finds out just how special it is to have a little brother. Morton is sick and tired of having to play with his baby brother when he cannot really do anything. Morton imagines all the things he wishes he had instead of a brother. He thinks about all the fun he could have with a dragon, but realizes some funny problems he would run into if he had one.
     This book is written in both Spanish and English, therefor it would be great for ELL students or in a Spanish class. The book is for children from ages 3-7 and would make an excellent teaching tool.