Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O'Brien

Book Genre: Fantasy Fiction

Publishing Info: Aladdin, 233 pages

Awards or honors received: Newbery Medal

Summary: Mrs. Frisby, a widowed mouse, knows it is time to move her children to their spring house. One of her sons is very sick, though, and will not be able to move. She decides to ask help from the rats that live in a nearby bush. Once inside their bush, however, Mrs. Frisby realizes that these rats are far from ordinary. They dislike the fact that rats steal everything, so they have developed a plan to be self sufficient and no longer have to steal. The Rats of NIMH learned that this was possible after they escaped from a science lab, where they were taught to read and communicate. Because of their intelligence, the are able to help Mrs. Frisby come up with a plan for how to protect her house and not have to move to the spring house until her son is better.

Personal rating and reason for rating: *** Good. I think this book keeps children wanting to read and it uses their imaginations in a fun way. It can be very long at points, though, which is one downfall.

Reading level: 5.1

Interest level: 3rd grade -6th grade

Possible uses of the text in integrated units of study:

Science- The students can work as the "engineers" that help Mrs. Frisby protect her house. Students will come up with a way to move her house from its current location to the new location behind the rock where it will be safe from the tractor.

Social Studies/Geography: Students can draw and label a map of the Fitzgibbon's farm including the Frisby's current house, their spring hose, the bolder where they move, the rat's bush, etc.

Science- Students will research information about the habitats and niches of mice, then compare them to the habitats and niches of the Frisbys.

Potential Problems or Difficulties: none

Bear's New Friend by Karma Wilson and Jane Chapman

Book Genre: Fantasy Fiction

Summary: Bear's New Friend is a story about a bear who hears sounds in the forest. He searchers through the woods trying to find out who was making the sound. His friends come and join him in the search for who could be making the sound. Many animals come and help until they finally find out that it is the mole. Bear and all his friends ask mole to come and play with them in the summer sun.

Personal rating: **** Great! This is a great story that is on a first grade reading level. It has beautiful pictures that shows the characteristics of wooded animals well.

Reading level: 1.9

Interest level: K-2

Integration: This book could be used in a science units about animals to discuss what kinds of animals live in the woods. It could be used to talk about bears and where they live. The teacher can also point out that this story is not true because the animals in this story talk and walk upright. The students can have a discussion about what real animals do in the woods. The teacher can also talk about what happends during summer, because this book takes place during the summer time. The students can talk about the difference between winter and summer.
In social studies the teacher can read this book whenever a new student enters the classroom. In reading this is a great book to have your students act out with stuffed animals or with themselves to reinforce comprehension.

Potential Problems: I see no potential problems with this book.

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

Book Genre: Fantasy/fiction

Publishing Info: Houghton Mifflin Company (289 pages)

Awards: None

Summary: This book is a prelude to the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. It introduces the readers to a wide cast of characters and fictional races that include Hobbits, Elves, dwarfs, and others. They all live in Middle Earth and go on an adventure with many turns and twists. The purpose of their journey is to take back a great treasure from a dragon named Smaug who had previously stolen it from the Hobbit's ancestors.

Personal Rating: ****Great! I like adventure books. Even though it's a fairly long story, it keeps you interested throughout with suspense and wondering what is going to happen next.

Reading Level: 6.6
Interest Level: 5-6

Possible uses in reading and writing across the curriculum:
This would be a great book to include in a genre study unit on fantasy books. Not every student will like it, but given as a choice for a book club, it would be a good teaching tool. Many writing ideas come to mind within the context of this book. Students could create their own fantasy stories, write alternate endings of this book, character analysis, etc... Because the characters travel through many lands, you could integrate math and geography by designing maps of Middle Earth.

Potential Problems or difficulties: Readers need to have good decoding skills in order to read this book. The author uses many nonsense words for names of characters and settings.