The Kissing Hand by Audry Penn

Book Genre: Fiction

Publisher Information: Scholastic Inc., 26 pages

Award: None

Summary: Chester is a Raccoon who is afraid to go to school. He doesn't wan to leave his his mom and his home.. His mom convinces him to go by giving him a kissing hand. She kisses the palm of his hand, and tells him he can hold her kiss in his hand all night at school. This made Chester feel better and safer while he was at school

Book Level: 2.7

Interest Level: k-2

Personal Rating: **** Great. This is a really good book. The pictures are fun and it shows awesome emotion, children can relate to feelings that Chester feels towards his mother.

Possible uses of text in integrated units of study: Great for the first day of school in early grades. Students can write a story about a time they were scared, or a time they were sad.

Possible problems or difficulties: None

A Bad case of Stripes by David Shannon

Book Genre: Fiction

Publishing Info: Scholastic Inc. 32 pages

Awards or honors received: none

Summary: This story is about Camilla, who loves lima beans, but does not ever eat them because she doesn't want her friends to make fun of her. Camilla wakes up one morning covered in stripes! Her stripes change colors with just the suggestion from friends. After many attempts to cure her, a lady finally tells her that the cure is just lima beans! Camilla learns an important lesson that she needs to be herself, no matter what other people think.

Personal rating and reason for rating: ***** Great. A great story, children love it! I love the illustrations and the lesson that camilla learns in the end. So many children need to learn to be themselves, no matter what other people say or how other people act.

Reading level: 3.5

Interest level: K-2

Possible uses of the text in integrated units of study (reading and writing across the curriculum): Can teach a science lesson about seeds using lima beans. Put the lima beans in plastic bags, and discuss what kind of things plans need to grow. In a math unit it can be used to teach patterns, as student color the girls face with different types of patterns.

Potential Problems or Difficulties: None

Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by William Steig

Book Genre: Fiction

Publishing Info: Aladdin, 32 pages

Awards or honors received: The Caldacott Medal

Summary: This is a story about a donkey named Sylvester, who loved to collect pebbles. One day he found an awesome pebble, that seemed to be a magic stone. After playing with it for a while, he saw a lion, and in order to save himself from him, he wished that he would be a rock. When he turned into a rock, he couldn't get his stone back to wish to be back into a donkey. His family was sad because they thought he had gone missing. A long time past, and his mother and father went on a picnic and his mother sat on salvester, saw the pebble and thought of him. She set the pebble down and he was able to wish himself back to himself.

Personal rating and reason for rating: ***** Great. Very good story, illustrations are beautiful and I love how the author portrays emotion with all the characters.

Reading level: 4.0

Interest level: K-4

Possible uses of the text in integrated units of study (reading and writing across the curriculum): This is another great book to discuss fantasy and reality, or fiction and non-fiction. This book would be a great way to teach emotion and feelings, either how authors and illustrators show them in different ways, or use the books to show how they can show feelings in their own writing and illustrations

Potential Problems or Difficulties: This book would be mostly just a read aloud in younger grades, but a great story and lesson.

Be careful what you wish for!

Click, Clack, Moo Cows That Type by Doreen Cronin

Book Genre: Fiction

Publishing Info: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing, 32 pages

Awards or honors received: Caldacot Honor Book

Summary: This book is a book about Farmer Brown and his typing cows. His cows has learned how to type on the typewriter, and they start writing him notes asking for things to make them more comfortable. When they didn't get the blankets they asked for, they went on strike, not giving out any milk. They asked for blankets for the hens also, and when they didn't get those blankets the hens refused to give eggs. This went on until they decided to exchange their typewriter for some blankets.


Personal rating and reason for rating: ***** Great. This book is really fun. Young children think it is hilarious, and it is a really fun story to read aloud. Many children at the end of first grade can read it themselves, and below level first graders have been read it many times they can read it from memory and gain confidence.

Reading level: 2.3

Interest level: k-3

Possible uses of the text in integrated units of study (reading and writing across the curriculum): This is a great book to intoduce or reinforce the difference between fiction and non-fiction. It includes many things that animals wouldn't do, and would not need. For a social studies lesson, students can come up with many things in their own words that they think is unfair, and they could write a letter to someone asking to change it.

Potential Problems or Difficulties: None

(P.S I thought this was a really nice website, with great activities http://www.teachingheart.net/clickclackmoo.html )

The Popcorn Book by Tomie de Paola

Book Genre: Informational Fiction

Publishing Info: Scholastic Inc, 32 pages

Awards or honors received: None

Summary: This book is about two little boys who want to pop some popcorn. They were curious about popcorn so they decide to look it up. The author uses word bubbles and these two little boy character to explain facts about popcorn and teaches readers about the history. After reading a lot about popcorn, and learning lot of different facts, the boys decide that the best thing about popcorn is eating it!

Personal rating and reason for rating: **** Good. Very informational, only a read aloud for younger grades, but would be an awesome picture books for 3rd and 4th grade also

Reading level: 4.3

Interest level: 1-5

Possible uses of the text in integrated units of study (reading and writing across the curriculum): For younger children, this story can be used to show all of the cool things you can find out about something when you are curious. Looking words up in the dictionary, encyclopedia or even on the internet can be great ways to look up words and topics you are unfamiliar about. For older grades, this is also a good book to talk about popcorn, which is a very interesting food with an fun history.

Potential Problems or Difficulties: Students need to know how to read the book and follow the speech bubbles to understand the order of the dialogue.

Did You See Chip? by Wong Herbert Yee

Book Genre: Fiction

Publishing Info: Scholastic Inc, 24 pages

Awards or honors received: None

Summary: Kim is a little girl who is lonely because she has no friends in her new city. Her dog runs away and as her and her dad chase down her dog, Chip, she meets all kinds of new friends who help her find her dog.

Personal rating and reason for rating: **** Good. A fun story, children love it and it is fun to have them read on their own in second grade.

Reading level: 1.2

Interest level: k-2Possible uses of the text in integrated units of study (reading and writing across the curriculum): This book is a fun book to use as a readers theater. A lot of characters and dialogue. This is also a good book to use to read as a read aloud or shared reading while teaching students to write using quotation marks. One good activity would be for students to choose a scene, and draw their own pictures using speech bubbles instead of quotation marks to show what the characters are saying.

Potential Problems or Difficulties: I don’t see any problems or difficulties.

Fire Fighters by Norma Simon

Book Genre: Informational Fiction

Publishing Info: Scholastic Inc, 32 pages

Awards or honors received: None

Summary: Using Dalmation dogs as characters to act as firefighers, this book describes to the reader what happens from when the fire bell rings to getting to the fire and helping the people. Then the author explain how firefighters try to see how the fire started, and how the firefighters put away their equipment and go back to wait for the fire bell to ring again

Personal rating and reason for rating: **** Great. This book is awesome. Besides the illustrations being unrealistic, all of the information about firefighters is completely fact. It is a great way for young children to learn about the job of firefighters.

Reading level: 2.0

Interest level: k-2

Possible uses of the text in integrated units of study (reading and writing across the curriculum): Using this book as an informational read aloud during fire safty week would be a good idea. Also before a field trip to the fire department. Also would be a good read aloud for young children during a community helpers social studies lesson. It does an awesome job explaining the job of a fire fighter.

Potential Problems or Difficulties: I didn't see any

Moon Boy by Barbara Brenner

Book Genre: Fiction

Publishing Info: Byron Preiss, 32 pages

Awards or honors received: None

Summary: This is a book about a little boy and the fantasy that he had one night when he couldn't sleep about a boy that came from the moon. When he couldn't sleep he played with this moon boy and let him keep him company. When the moon boy was set free the boy was able to fall asleep.

Personal rating and reason for rating: *** Good. This book is very strange to me, but my children seem to love it. It is a good read aloud early in the year for first graders, and later in the year they can read it themselves.

Reading level: 1.7

Interest level: k-3

Possible uses of the text in integrated units of study (reading and writing across the curriculum): This is a great book to show how authors discribe childrens imaginations. Using it in a writing lesson to show the skill, before asking the children to write about an imaginative prompt, like a dream or a daydream they have had.

Potential Problems or Difficulties: This book is just a little strange, and it is not too clear if the boy is dreaming this or daydreaming. But my first graders seemed to love it!

More Spaghetti, I Say by Rita Gelman

Book Genre: Fiction

Publishing Info: Scholastic Inc, 32 pages

Awards or honors received: None

Summary: This is a funny book about a monkey named Minnie who really likes to eat spaghetti. She is too busy to play with Freddy.

Personal rating and reason for rating: **** Good. This is a good story for young readers who are ready to read on their own. It is a catchy book with rhyming words, and many young students think it is very funny.

Reading level: 1.2

Interest level: k-2

Possible uses of the text in integrated units of study (reading and writing across the curriculum): This is a good story to work with young readers on predicting text based on rhyming words.

Potential Problems or Difficulties: I do not see any problems or difficulties with this text.

A Big Fat Enormous Lie by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat

Book Genre: Fiction

Publishing Info: Scholastic Inc, 32 pages

Awards or honors received: None

Summary: This book is about a child who told a lie to his father about eating a jar of cookies. The child feels very bad about this lie. The lie is represented in the photographs by a large green monster, the boy continues to tell the lie to go away, but no matter how hard he tries the lie stays with him. The child finally tells him mom and dad about the lie, and the monster (or lie) gets smaller and smaller until it is no longer with him. The child feels better now.

Personal rating and reason for rating: **** Good. A good story with a good lesson.

Reading level: 1.7

Interest level: k-2

Possible uses of the text in integrated units of study (reading and writing across the curriculum): Use while teaching about the importance of telling the truth. Also, can be used to teach about the importance of looking at pictures while reading a story. Reading this story without paying attention to the pictures would not give the same amount of comprehension.

Potential Problems or Difficulties: Young may have trouble understanding what the monster in the picture represents something that the boy feels inside.

Stellaluna by Janell Cannon

Book Genre: Fiction

Publishing Info: Scholastic Inc, 46 pages

Awards or honors received: None

Summary: Stellaluna is about a baby bat, named Stellaluna. Stellaluna’s mother was attacked by an owl, and the baby bat is knocked out of her arms and fell into a birds nest. The mother bird began to take care of the bird like he is her own, even though they both know he is very different.

Personal rating and reason for rating: **** Good. A very good story, great read aloud. Children generally enjoy seeing how peaceful bats can really be.

Reading level: 3.5

Interest level: k-3

Possible uses of the text in integrated units of study (reading and writing across the curriculum): Would be great to use this book around Halloween, to go along with a nocturnal animal unit. Also great bat or bird science lesson, and have children make a Venn diagram and compare bats from birds.

Potential Problems or Difficulties: I don’t see any problems or difficulties.

The Luckiest Leprechaun by Justine Korman

Book Genre: Fiction

Publishing Info: Scholastic Inc, 32 pages

Awards or honors received: None

Summary: This is a St. Patrick’s day book, about a leprechaun who makes shoes and has hidden gold. A dog named lucky comes around, and the leprechaun doesn’t like it at first, but learns to sort of like the dog. The leprechaun’s gold goes missing and he blames the dog, who really was the one who took it to protect it.

Personal rating and reason for rating: *** Good. A really good tale, that teaches a good value of friendship. Good read aloud in first grade!

Reading level: 3.8

Interest level: k-3Possible uses of the text in integrated units of study (reading and writing across the curriculum): Using the book around St. Patrick’s day is a great idea. Can be used to teach trust and friendship.

Potential Problems or Difficulties: I don’t see any problems or difficulties.

The Letters are Lost by Lisa Campbell Ernst

Book Genre: Fiction

Publishing Info: Scholastic Inc, 32 pages

Awards or honors received: None

Summary: This book is an alphabet book. The introduction tells the story of the letters disappearing, and invites the reader to help find them. The book goes through the alphabet, and shows where we found each letter. A was in an airplane, F was swimming with the fish and L landed in leaves. It continues through the whole alphabet, until at last all the letters are together. It asks the reader to guess where the letters might go if they dissapear again.

Personal rating and reason for rating: *** Good. This book is a fun alphabet book, it is an awesome read aloud, and good for higher readers who can use picture clues to help find each word.

Reading level: 1.7

Interest level: Pre K-1

Possible uses of the text in integrated units of study (reading and writing across the curriculum): I will use this book next year at the very beginning of first grade while we are reviewing the letters. It is a fun book to allow children to explore, and find things on each page that begin with that letter.

Potential Problems or Difficulties: I don’t see any problems or difficulties.

The Leaving Morning by Angela Johnson

Book Genre: Realistic Fiction

Publishing Info: Scholastic Inc, 32 pages

Awards or honors received: None

Summary: A family is moving away. The book describes in detail the feelings and emotions the children had while saying goodbye to everyone they know, and pack up the moving truck.

Personal rating and reason for rating: *** Good. This book is an awesome read aloud.

Reading level: 2.9

Interest level: K-3 (lower grades)

Possible uses of the text in integrated units of study (reading and writing across the curriculum): This would be a good book to read before a writing lesson on adding detail, feeling or emotions.

Potential Problems or Difficulties: I don’t see any problems or difficulties.

Me on the Map by Joan Sweeney

Book Genre: Non-fiction

Publishing Info: Scholastic Inc, 32 pages

Awards or honors received: None

Summary: A young girl describes her place on this world. She starts in her room, showing a picture of her room and then a map she drew of her room. Then she describes her house, showing a picture and a map. She continues in the same pattern with her street, town, state, country, and then finally Earth. Once we are looking at the earth, she zooms back in, finding her place on each map until we are looking at her room, her very own special place on the map.

Personal rating and reason for rating: **** Great! This book is an awesome way to introduce maps, and to explain how each map is related to one another.

Reading level: 1.8

Interest level: K-2

Possible uses of the text in integrated units of study (reading and writing across the curriculum): In social studies, this book would be great to use as an introduction to maps. Have students draw pictures and maps of their room, house or street, and find their very own place on each map.

Potential Problems or Difficulties: This book might not be developmentally appropriate for younger or immature kindergarteners, and even some early first graders. It is a bit abstract and some of the children cannot think or understand the map concept.

Learning Logs

• Small content journals
• Student created, with notebook paper stapled between tag board (or laminated construction paper?!)
• Use one small journal for each unit
  
• Students can use journals to include notes on topic, drawings, vocabulary words, free writes, quickwrites and summaries.
  
• Teachers can read and reply in the journal
• End of unit, students can reflect on own learning.
  

My Goldfish by Pamela Walker

Book Genre: Non-fiction

Publishing Info: Children’s Press, 24 pages

Awards or honors received: None

Summary: A girl goes to a pet store and buys a new pet goldfish. She names her goldfish Goldie. The book talks a little bit about fish, and then tells how the little girl will take care of her new pet.

Personal rating and reason for rating: *** Good. This book is a really good book for young readers to read at the independent or instructional level. It uses big print and easy to use, and is on the interest level of many young readers.

Reading level: 1.2

Interest level: Pre K-1 (lower grades)

Possible uses of the text in integrated units of study (reading and writing across the curriculum): In social studies, this book would be good to use when talking about responsibility. In science the book would help out a unit on fish, or different types of animals.

Potential Problems or Difficulties: Even though this book is a lower reading level, and children in first grade could read independently, the book could be challenging for young readers. The text does not follow a pattern, like many easy readers, and the pictures do not help the reader decode too many words.

Henry's Freedom Box by Kadir Nelson

Book Genre: Non-fiction

Publishing Info: Scholastic Inc., 40 pages

Awards or honors received: Caldecott Honor Book

Summary: This book is a true story, about a boy named Henry, who was a slave. Henry’s life as a slave is described in the beginning of the book, about his marriage and his children who were sold as slaves. He made a brave decision to put himself in a box and mail himself to Philadelphia, so he could be free. His journal across the country is described as he was thrown around in a box.

He was delieved and the box was open and he was in Philadelphia, and he was free!
Personal rating and reason for rating: **** Great! – This book is an awesome story about bravery and freedom. The author portrays feelings and emotions. He does his best to let the reader really understand what it was like to be in slavery, and the true dedication and emotion that was associated with freedom.

Reading level: 3.0

Interest level: 1-4Possible uses of the text in integrated units of study (reading and writing across the curriculum): This book is a great story to use in a social studies unit on slavery. Also could be used for black history month.

Potential Problems or Difficulties: Just very deep, and a lot of emotion for younger grades and ages.

All You Need for a Snowman by Alice Schertle

Book Genre: Fiction

Publishing Info: Scholastic Inc., 32 pages

Awards or honors received: None

Summary: This book is a fiction picture book, about a group of friends building a snowman. The author describes the process of making a snowman in a sing-song fashion. “All you need to build a snowman” is snowflakes. The author humorously adds more and more objects that you would need once you packed the snow into three balls and stacked on top of one another. On top of the biggest ball you need a hat, some bottle cap eyes, a carrot nose, walnuts buttons, a belt and boots, broom, mittens, fanny pack and something to read. The story ends with snowflakes falling again, and the friends building another snowman.

Personal rating and reason for rating: *** Good – This book is pretty good. It is simple enough for first graders to read towards the end of first grade or most second graders, but it works well as a seasonal read aloud for prekindergarten or kindergarten.

Reading level: 2.3

Interest level: PreK-2 (Lower Grades)

Possible uses of the text in integrated units of study (reading and writing across the curriculum): Perfect for a winter unit. It could also be used as an introduction for a writing lesson on adding detailed instruction for an activity or event. Potential

Problems or Difficulties: Seems appropriate for all ages, I do not see any potential problems or difficulties.

Diary of a Worm by Doreen Cronin

Book Genre: Fiction

Publishing Info: Harper Collins, 40 pages

Awards or honors received: None

Summary: This book is a worm’s journal. Writing in first person, the worm writes journal entries telling each days adventures. Each day, the worm teaches the readers about many lessons he has learned, like how worms can’t walk upside down, and how dangerous the game of hopscotch is to a worm. The worm continues with funny stories, telling readers about the positive and negative sides of being a worm, and making readers aware about how important the life of a worm is to the earth we live on.

Personal rating and reason for rating: ** Okay – This book was alright. I have always heard good reviews, but when I picked it up to read it I was a little disappointed with the lack of facts and details about worms. I would have enjoyed it more if it had a real problem and solution, rather than just a list of funny things the worm did. It is an alright story, my first graders thought parts of it was funny.

Reading level: 2.8

Interest level: PreK-2 (Lower Grades)

Possible uses of the text in integrated units of study (reading and writing across the curriculum): This story could be used as a literature introduction to a unit on worms. It does give some fun facts about worms, which can be humorous and get kids thinking about the importance of worms, and the type of things real worms do every day.

Potential Problems or Difficulties: Small children may not understand that it is written as a diary, and not as a fluent story. The dates of the worms diary are not consecutive enough to see fluency from one day to the next.