This book is written in letter form, as a series of letters to a boy named Duncan from each crayon in his crayon box. Each crayon has something different to say, mostly complaining about being used too little or too much. In the end, Duncan creates a new picture using every color.
I think I would use this book as a read-aloud in my lower elementary grade classroom. I think this would be a fun way to incorporate art into the classroom.
Wonder is about a boy named August Pullman, otherwise known as Auggie. Auggie has a facial abnormality and because of this, his mom keeps him very sheltered and does not send him to school until he is in the fifth grade. When Auggie does go to school, he is bullied by most of his classmates because of the way he looks. This book shows the challenges Auggie must overcome and the relationships he forms with others.
I think this is a really good book, but I am not sure if I personally would use this book in my class since it is pretty long and might be a bit difficult for lower elementary students. I think that once a student is at a high enough reading level to read and comprehend this book, they should read it. This book shows a viewpoint that is not shown in the media very often and I believe this book shows a new perspective that is very good for students to
Olivia is about a pig named Olivia and the adventures she goes on. In the first book in this series, Olivia is completing many everyday tasks that will be familiar to the reader. It shows her relationship with her brother and her parents, as well as everyday things like getting ready. It shows the struggle of nap time and adventures like going to the beach. Olivia goes to the museum with her mother and looks at all the paintings. In the end, Olivia's mother says that even when Olivia wears her out, she loves her anyway.
I would use this book for my class. I really like how it shows everyday tasks that readers can relate to, but it also talks about relationships with family members. I would use this book in lower elementary school. It could be used to talk about relationships with others or talking about students' routines.
This book is about a hare and a bear. The hare makes a deal with the bear that they will use the bear's land, but the hare will do the work of planting and harvesting the crops. At the beginning of each season, the bear picks if he wants the top or bottom of whatever is grown. After bear picks his part, the hare picks what to plant. Each season, the hare picks crops so that the part bear chose is the part that is thrown out and the part left for the hare is what gets eaten.
I would use this book for lower to middle elementary students. This story shows how the hare is the one doing the hard work, and he is the one who profits in the end. This book could also be used with a science lesson talking about how different crops grow and what part we use from them.
This book is about a little boy named Max. Max has been disruptive so his mother sends him to his room with no dinner after calling him a "wild thing". Once in his room, Max finds his room transforming into an island full of wild things. Max becomes the king of the wild things, but eventually, things get out of hand and Max sends them to bed without their supper. This shows Max what his mother was dealing with, and he begins to feel lonely and returns home. When he gets home, he finds his supper waiting for him in his room.
I would use this in my classroom. The illustrations grow as Max goes into the imaginary world and then shrink again as he returns to reality. The illustrations really help bring the story to life. I also think this book can help teach students how to think about things from someone else's point of view. I think this book can be good for any elementary student.
Hidden Figures tells the story of three African American women who work for NASA. This story tells of the struggles these women went through and how they overcame them.
I would definitely use this book in my classroom. I think it shows a good picture of the past, and very well explains the story from a viewpoint that not a lot of books do. It would pair very well with a science lesson talking about NASA or space, or with history. I think this book could be used for really any elementary classroom.
Carry On, Mr. Bowditch is a book about Nat Bowditch. Nat is very smart, but he is forced to drop out of school and work to help support his family. Eventually, even that is not enough and Nat's family contracts him as an indentured servant. Despite his circumstances, Nat still teaches himself Latin, French, Calculus, and Triganometry. He later becomes a surveyor and an officer and travels to many different places.
I think this book would be really good for students in around 4th or 5th grade. It would pair very well with a history lesson even though it is fiction because it is set in the revolutionary war era and much of the story is very true to the time.
The Cricket in Times Square is about a cricket named Chester Cricket. Chester is from Connecticut, but he gets stuck in a picnic basket and transported to Times Square New York. He has adventures with the cat and mouse he becomes friends with. He also becomes friends with a boy named Mario. Mario's father works in Times Square at a new stand where Chester spends most of his time. Chester learns to play music and crowds come to watch him, but he becomes tired and decided to retire. He plays a farewell concert and then leaves to travel back home.
I do not know if I would use this book in my classroom. I think it is a fun book to read, but I am not sure what else it could relate to. I think this book would be better for a classroom library for students to read independently in around grades 3-5.
Dear Mr. Henshaw is written as a letter correspondence between a student named Leigh Botts, and an author named Boyd Henshaw. Leigh Botts writes Mr. Henshaw a list of questions he wants to be answered, but he is displeased by the response he gets. Mr. Henshaw gives Leigh more questions to be answered, which only frustrated Leigh. he ends up responding only because his mother finds out and makes him. Through his responses, he is forced to wrestle with the problems he has been having. He talks about his parents getting divorced, being the new kid, and his relationship with his father.
I think this is a very good book for around 3rd through 5th grade. This is not the grade I plan to teach so I do not think I would use it, however, I think this is a very good book for students to read. It shows a viewpoint that some students may not be familiar with, but it is also relatable for many students. I think this book would be a good introduction to a writing prompt of writing letters.
This book compares cats to dogs. It talks about how they communicate, their ancestors, what they eat, what they look like, how they get clean, and how they socialize. There are also actual pictures of both dogs and cats of all different shapes and sizes.
I think this is a good book to have in a classroom for lower elementary students. I think it could go well with a science lesson or with a writing assignment comparing and contrasting the two animals.
This book has two pages about each president through Obama. There are a couple of questions on each page with the answers. There are also many pictures to illustrate what the questions are talking about.
I think this would be a good resource book for a classroom. It would be good for really any elementary student either paired with a specific lesson or as a general resource book.
This book is formated with one question at the top of each page and the answer to that question on the rest of the page. It tells just about everything you could want to know about traveling in a covered wagon in the 1840s.
I do not think I would use this book in my classroom because it is meant for older students. This book would be good for around 6th grade and it really talks a lot about history and would go well with a history lesson from this time period.
This book talks about sea otters, but also about a man named Brent who studies sea otters as well as how they affect the environment and how other things impact their environment. This book primarily talks about what Brent discovered during his studies. It has a lot of pictures and even some map drawings which I feel add a lot to the book.
I think this would be an interesting book to have in my classroom but I am not sure if I would use it in my lesson because it is pretty broad and not really a topic specifically taught in elementary school. I do think it would be a very interesting book for individual students.
This book is all about the water cycle. It talks about the different forms water can take and how we see it. It takes about the order of the cycle as well as explaining how and why things happen. It has a lot of pictures to illustrate the different forms. I also really like that it has a glossary in the back of the book that explains some of the scientific words.
I would definitely use this book in my classroom. I really like how it illustrates the different forms as well as explains how they are formed. This book would pair very well with a science lesson on the water cycle. I think this book would work for any elementary class that was talking about the water cycle.
This book is about a girl named Kit who is growing up during the great depression. Kit loves to type on her typewriter and often creates a "newspaper" for her family to read to know what is going on. Due to the Great Depression, Kit's father loses his job and the family ends up having to take in borders.
I think I would use this book in my classroom. I think it is a very interesting viewpoint that I haven't really read many books about. I think these books go really well with history lessons since there are books in this series from a lot of different time periods. I think this book is good for students in grades 3-6.
Henry's Freedom Box tells the story of Henry Brown, who begins the book as a slave. Henry marries a girl who is owned by someone else and when money gets tight, Henry's wife and children are sold. After seeing his wife and children sold, Henry is determined to escape the grasp of slavery and decided to mail himself away. He mails himself to Philadelphia and begins his new life there.
I think I would use this book in my classroom. I feel like it is a good book for students around the 2nd-4th grade. I think this would pair very well with a history lesson.
This book is the first in the series about a girl named Rebecca and her family. Rebecca's family is from Russia but Rebecca is a first-generation American who lives in New York City. Rebecca's family is Jewish which is very evident by many of the events and traditions highlighted in these books. In the first book, Rebecca is desperate to grow up and be more like her older sisters.
I do not think I would use this book in my classroom for a group reading but I do think these books are very good for children to read during independent reading. While I would encourage any student to read these books, as they are called American Girl Doll Books, I have often seen them appeal much more to girls than to boys so I feel like if I wanted to read a book on this subject with the class I could find a different book that has a greater appeal to more of my students.
This story is a fictional diary from the viewpoint of Mary Driscoll. It follows her from Ireland to America and then shows the hardships she went through once arriving. She has to work in a factory under terrible conditions and longs for her family she left back in Ireland.
I am not sure if I would use this book in my classroom because it is definitely more appropriate for around 5th or 6th grade, I do think this is a very good book for young readers. It has a lot of historical accuracies built into the story. It also depicts hardship that while readers today may not relate to them specifically, it shows hardships that are often not depicted in other youth historical fiction books. This specific book talks a lot about living in Ireland during the 1840s. This would pair well with a history class, or with a writing assignment if students were having to keep their own sort of a diary.
This story is about a boy named Peter and his experience when he gets a new baby sister. Peter struggles with all of his belongings from when he was a baby has been painted pink for his new sister. He decides to run away from home with the one thing that isn't pink yet, his blue chair. In the end, he learns that he can no longer use his baby things and helps paint his chair pink for his sister.
I think I would use this book in my classroom. I really like how it talks about growing up and getting a new addition to one's family. This book would be a good read aloud for any elementary student.
This book is about of group of students who begin to call a pen a frindle. The teachers do not agree with this and instill punishments for anyone using the new "made-up" word. The students argue that this is not fair because technically every word in the dictionary is made up by someone. In the end, they end up getting their new word added to the dictionary and the teacher who was the most against it reveals she was only against it to stip up awareness of what was happening.
I probably would not use this in my classroom because it is for a much higher grade level than I plan on teaching. If I did use it in a higher grade, I would use it to talk about word origin and language.
Clementine is a creative young girl, who's creativity often gets her in trouble. In book 1 of this series, Clementine finds a creative way to fix her friend, Margret's hair after getting glue in it in art class. Clementine attempts to just cut off the tips where the glue is, but by the time she is done, she has cut off almost all of Margret's hair. She then tries to 'draw' hair on with a marker.
I am not sure if I would use this book in my classroom. I personally loved the books to read, however, I am not sure how helpful they would be in the classroom. While I do love the creativity Clementine displays, she often acts without really thinking. While I don't think I would use this specifically, I think it would be a fun book for independent reading for around grades 3-5.
This book is written and illustrated by Kevin Henkes. This book follows the story of a student named Lily who has just received a new purple plastic purse. This purse consumes Lily while she is at school and causes her to ask quite inconsiderately towards her teacher and classmates. Lily learns the lesson of how to be respectful to her teacher and how she should behave in the classroom.
I would use this book in my classroom. It shows readers what it means to be respectful and also models apologizing. I think it would be a fun read-aloud for lower elementary school students.
This book tells the story of Ramona and how she navigates changes in her home when her father loses his job. Ramona struggles to fit in and her thinking outside the box causes many adults to be frustrated by her thinking. I really like this book because it shows how Ramona learned how to retain her creativity and personality but learns how to think before she acts and pay attention to how it might affect others.
I am not sure if I would use this audiobook in my classroom. I personally found it very hard to listen too and it seemed rather monotone. If I am wanting my students to listen to a book being read, I want them to hear it will the stress on words and I want them to learn how to be enthusiastic readers.
