Chapter Book #2 - The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle

Author: Avi
Illustrator: N/A
Genre: Fiction
Sub genre: Modern Fantasy
Theme: Pirates, sea life 

Primary and secondary characters: Charlotte Doyle

Awards: Newbery Medal
Publication Date: 1990
Publishing Company: Avon Books, INC.


This is an adventuresome book that any middle school student would enjoy. There are several lesson plans available to aid in the teaching of this book. Teachers can easily plan an adventuresome lesson around this book. The teacher could have students do a research project on real pirates and then build a pirate ship. The students could really relate to the young 13 year old Charlotte Doyle and her sense of adventure. 
The story opens in the town of Liverpool in the summer of 1832. She boards a ship called the Seahawk  along with a man named Mr. Grummage. As they are boarding the ship the young Charlotte spots a shadowy figure dart across the boat. While she's on board she meets the different crew members and gains respect for some and a carefully attitude toward others. This book is filled with adventure as Charlotte and the crew adventure across the sea. Charlotte faces many trials including being put in jail, facing a huge storm, and dealing with men who give her a hard time. This book can take any child on a venture to a place they would have otherwise never been able to go. In the end, after Charlotte returns home to her now standoffish family, she has a decision to make. Will she Continue to live in a place where everyone is so uptight or go out on another adventure with the Seahawk?

Chapter Book #1 - KneeKnock Rise

Author: Natalie Babbitt
Illustrator: Natalie Babbitt
Genre: Fiction 
Sub genre: Realistic Fiction
Theme: Strange cultural beliefs
Primary and secondary characters: Egan and his strange extended family and their cat and dog
Awards: Newbery Award and Honor Book
Publication Date: 1984
Publishing Company: Farrar, Straus and Giroux

This book has a few pictures in it, however they are not needed for the text. This chapter book would be great for elementary readers, especially students in around the 4th grade. This website offers a lesson plan great for students in grades 4-7. This book would be excellent for having students predict the outcome of each character. The teacher could have them write an essay or act out what they think will happen. This book is sure to grab students and make them want to find out the mystery of the strange people and town.
Young Egan is sent to live with some of his extended family for a short time. When he arrives in the town of Instep he can sense the presence of a strange spell. He finds out what is lurking over the villagers is the fear of the Megrimum, the mysterious something that makes its home  in the misty peak of Kneeknock Rise. Some nights shrieks can be heard from the top of the rise and anyone who dares to venture up the rise never returns. Young Egan makes it a point to discover what it is that haunting the people in the little town. Will  he be able to help the villagers and break the spell? Pick up this short chapter book and find out!

Chapter Book #4: The Hundred Dresses

Author: Eleanor Estes
Illustrator: Louis Slobodkin
Genre: Chapter Book
Sub genre: realistic fiction
Theme: lying, moral dilemmas of childhood, bullying 
Primary and secondary characters: Wanda Petronski
Awards: Newberry Honor Book
Publication Date: 2004
Publishing Company:  Sandpiper


     This book follows a poor young Polish girl name Wanda and her battle with bullying. Wanda is so poor that she cannot afford anymore than one raged blue dress. Instead of just getting the embarrassment of having no other clothes, Wanda tries to make herself sound big by telling a lie to the class. She tells them that she has 100 dress in her closet at home of all different colors and materials. After this the popular girls in the school constantly tease her about her 100 dresses until she simply cannot handle it any longer. When Wanda does not return to school for several days, some students begin to wonder where she is at. The teacher receives a note from her father that says that because of all the teasing they would have to move to a different location and she would not me attending the school anymore. A young girl named Maddie who never teased Wanda feels terrible that she did not stand up for her. She struggles with the fact that she could have made a difference in whether or not Wanda was so hurt that she had to change towns. 
This book would be great to help teach young students the importance of avoiding rude or hurtful comments. This book would engage younger readers because there are a few illustrations scattered throughout the book.
      This book is heartbreaking, yet a great read for any classroom. There is so much diversity in SES in a classroom today. Teachers and students face situations like in this book all the time and people are constantly trying to figure out ways to teach children about such diversity. This book would be perfect to have students analyze diversity in the classroom and how they as students should address it. 

Chapter Book #3: The Giver

Author: Lois Lowry
Illustrator: N/A
Genre: Chapter Book
Sub genre: Modern Fantasy/ science fiction
Theme: Unusual society, government, responsibility
Primary and secondary characters: Jonas and The Giver
Awards: Newbery Medal
Publication Date: 1993
Publishing Company: Houghton Mifflin


This is a chapter book that would be best for older readers that are capable of deep thinking. This book really causes a person to think about the society they live in and what it would be like to have the perfect society. A young boy named Jonas has just that, a perfect society with no pain, no worries, no choices, and the list goes on. Everyone in the community is controlled by what is more or less their government. They government chooses what jobs the people will receive, at what ages the children are to receive certain privileges, and everything else about their lives. The people even have to take pills to keep them from having feelings for someone so that the rulers can match people up. In addition, to make everyone even more the same, everyone is colorblind. Jonas was a typical boy in this society, not knowing what it was really like to feel pain and love, until he was given the job the be the new Giver. Jonas had to go visit The Giver often in order to receive information of the life the community came from. Jonas is soon able to see color, feel emotions, and recall all the horrible events in the past. Jonas is required to keep this information to himself and not to pass through the communities boundaries so that all the memories will only be with him. By the end of the book Jonas knows he has to do something to make the people realize everything they are missing by living in such a 'perfect' society. Will Jonas choose to protect the people from the pain or let everyone experience life? Everyone has to read the book to find out!

A teacher could really use this book to help children evaluate the possibility of being able to live in a 'perfect' society. A teacher could pose questions such as, "Do you think that this is really a perfect society? Why or why not?" "What would you have done in Jonas' situation as the new Giver?". This book is sure to get everyone thinking. 

Picture Book #8: No, No, Charlie Rascal!

Author: Lorna Kent

Illustrator: Lorna Kent

Genre: Picture Book

Sub genre: realistic fiction

Theme: Cats, pets

Primary and secondary characters: Charlie Rascal and the two children who own him

Awards: 0

Publication Date: 1988

Publishing Company:  Penguin Group

      This book explored a day in the life of a mischievous cat named Charlie Rascal. Charlie Rascal causes everyone to continue getting onto him for various things such as stealing a pie or hopping into a bath with the kids. People in the book are constantly having to shout, "no, no, Charlie Rascal!" Sadly this book is no longer in print and is very hard to find. Every other page has a peep hole so the children can take a guess at why various people had to shout at the silly cat making it a fun interactive story. The illustrator uses various forms to express his idea of the cat through lines and colors. This book is full of fun and color and any child, or even adult, would enjoy its humor.
     This book could be used to help students learn how to anticipate things coming in a story. The way the book is written a teacher could easily have students discuss what trouble they think Charlie will get into next. The teacher could then have the students state their case and why they think that it will happen. This would help with the students' reasoning skills. 

Picture Book #7: Brown Rabbit's Shape Book

Author: Alan Baker

Illustrator: Alan Baker

Genre: Picture Book

Sub genre: Fantasy

Theme: Shapes

Primary and secondary characters: Brown Rabbit

Awards: 0

Publication Date: 1994

Publishing Company:  Kingfisher Books

     This book can help teach young children shapes in a fun way. This story follows a brown rabbit as he explores the items found in a big box that arrived at his place. The box is filled with balloons of all shapes and sizes. Brown Rabbit observes all of the shapes as he blows up the many balloons. Rabbit eventually runs out of balloons but makes use of what is left of the gift box. Children will love the illustrations in this book because nobody can resist a cute brown rabbit that is so beautifully illustrated. The illustrator chooses not to add any unnecessary designs or background colors which keeps the focus on the shapes of the balloons. This little rabbit and his fun adventure with shapes makes this book a must have for any children's book collection.
     I would definitely use this book in a lesson over shapes. I would use the book to hook the students and want to make them learn about shapes. Instead of book work and just having kids draw the shapes, I would send them on a scavenger hunt to find all of the shapes mentions in the book. The students would only be allowed to look in the classroom for the items. They would then have to create a box like brown rabbit received int he mail and but all of their items in the box and give it to another group so that they can name all the shapes in that groups box. 

Picture Book #6: Mama Zooms

Author: Jane Cowen-Fletcher

Illustrator: Jane Cowen-Fletcher

Genre: Picture Book

Sub genre: realistic fiction

Theme: Disabilities in the family

Primary and secondary characters: A little boy and his mom who is in a wheelchair

Awards: N/A

Publication Date: 1993

Publishing Company:  Scholastic INC.

     This book follows a little boy and his adventuresome mama. His mama is unlike most moms though, she is in a wheelchair. The little boy does not see the difference in his mama and the mother chooses not to limit the fun she has with her little boy because of her disability. She zooms her son all around pretending to be a ship while her son is a captain or a racehorse while he is a jockey. With each new adventure there is a colorful illustration that accompanies it bringing out the true meaning of the words. This book could be used in any classroom setting and would help teach the students that it is okay to have a parent who is not exactly like the rest of the parents. The little boy and him zooming mama will steel any heart by the end of the book.
      With inclusion programs becoming more and more popular in schools, students in general education need to be more aware and comfortable with the various disabilities. Books like this one are perfect for introducing those disabilities. After this book is read a teacher could have a "disability station" set up in the room with different challenges someone with a disability may have. There could be a station where the students have to go through a course in a wheelchair or with a cast on their leg. There could be another station where they have to complete a problem with a lot of distractions that someone with a disability like autism might face.