Chapter Book #4-- Diamond Willow

TITLE: Diamond Willow

AUTHOR: Helen Frost

  GENRE: Poetry and Rhyme

   THEME: Eskimos, friendship

  AWARDS: This book has no awards.

CHARACTERS:Willow, her family, and the dogs.

PUBLISHING DATE AND COMPANY: This book was published in 2008 by Frances Foster Books.

 SUMMARY: This is the story of a young girl who wants nothing more than to be seen as a growing girl. She is growing up, and doesn't like being treated like a baby. She wants to be liked by her friend, because right now she is crushing on a boy. This book touches on what a lot of young teen girls are going through. 

This book would be a good one for middle schoolers to read, because it will help them know they aren't alone. This book is also an easy read for middle schoolers because of the way it is written in poetry form, which is nice because they won't feel stressed out while reading this on top of any other books they may be reading for school.

Chapter Book #3 -- Junie B. Jones is a Graduation Girl

TITLE: Junie B. Jones is a Graduation Girl

  AUTHOR AND ILLUSTRATOR: Barbra Park and Denise Brunkus

  GENRE: Realistic Fiction

   THEME: Manners and growing up

  AWARDS: This book has no awards.

CHARACTERS: This book has Junie, her friends, her family, her teacher, and the principal.

PUBLISHING DATE AND COMPANY: This book was published by Random House in 2001.

 SUMMARY: This book is all about Junie B. Jones growing up, and moving on from kindergarten. She misbehaves in class, and has worries about moving onto the first grade. She gets sent to the principal for not listening to the teacher. When the teacher sends home the children's graduation cap and gowns, she tells them to not open the box because then it will get the white gown dirty. Of course, Junie B. doesn't listen, and ends up with a whole slew of things down the front of her gown. 

I would use this book when reading to a group of first or second graders, to let them know it is normal to be nervous about moving onto a new step in life. It can be hard, and it is important to listen to the adults in your life, but this book teaches them they can do it.

Chapter Book #2 -- Stinky Stern Forever

TITLE: Stinky Stern Forever

  AUTHOR: Michelle Edwards

  GENRE: Realistic Fiction

   THEME: Bullying, death, grief.

  AWARDS: This book has no awards.

CHARACTERS:Matthew Stern, Pa Lia, and Mrs. Fennessey are the main characters in this book.

PUBLISHING DATE AND COMPANY: This book was published in 2005 by Harcourt Inc.

 SUMMARY: This book is all about a little boy who the kids called 'Stinky Stern' and the experiences they had with him. Stinky Stern was a bully in the second grade, and none of the kids liked him. The day of the accident he had put glue on one of the other students snowflakes in order to ruin it. Luckily Pa Lia is a quick thinker and just used the glue to her advantage. On her way home from school, she saw a white van hit Stinky Stern, and when she didn't see him get up, she knew something wasn't right. The next day when she arrives at school she realized that nothing was the same that day as any other day. As she walked to class she noticed teachers and other students crying, she also noticed in class that her teacher had extra tissues. The class as a whole talked about their interactions with Stinky and how he made them feel. They came to the conclusion that his death hurt worse than anything he had ever done to them. 

I could use this book in my classroom to help open up the discussion about young people dying. Death is always a hard subject to discuss, especially with young children, and this would help them have a way to talk about it. I feel that as a special education teacher it is important to discuss death with your kids, because sometimes the students with more severe disabilities may not make it, and you need to be able to discuss it with your other students in the class. 

Picture Book #8 --The House in the Night -- Caldecott Medal

TITLE: The House in the Night

  AUTHOR AND ILLUSTRATOR: Susan Marie Swanson and Beth Krommes 

  GENRE: General Fiction

   THEME: This book is about bedtime and sleep.

  AWARDS: This book is the 2009 winner of the Caldecott Medal.

CHARACTERS: There aren't really any characters in this book, but it shows a little girl in the house(we know this from the doll).

PUBLISHING DATE AND COMPANY: This book was published in 2008 Houghton Mifflin Company.

 SUMMARY: This book is a very simple book, about a house and all the things in it.

This would be a good book for a young child or one who has special needs. This book is a very simple and easy read, and is very visually appealing because it is in all black and white with a few certain items in each picture highlighted in yellow. 

Picture Book #7 -- Arthur Meets the President

TITLE: Arthur Meets the President

  AUTHOR AND ILLUSTRATOR: Marc Brown

  GENRE: Comedy

   THEME: Civics and Government

  AWARDS: This book has no awards.

CHARACTERS: Arthur, D.W., Arthur's parents, Arthur's classmates, Mr. Ratburn, and the President.

PUBLISHING DATE AND COMPANY: This book was published 1991 by the Little, Brown & Company.

 SUMMARY: This book is about Arthur who writes an essay to try and be able to read to the president. His class gets the assignment to write a paper on how they can improve our country. Arthur wrote his paper about how he could make America better, and out of all the papers in his class, his was chosen. Everyone in the school was shocked when they found out that Arthur won the contest. Arthur becomes very nervous about having to give his speech to the president and all of America through the televised event. D.W (Arthur's sister) gives him the idea to put note cards in his pocket with his paper on it, because then he can read off his note cards and not be embarrassed about not remembering his speech. All of the students in Arthur's class get to go with him to Washington D.C. and they get excited about not having any homework while they are gone. Then their teacher Mr. Ratburn tells them that they are going to have to write a paper about everything they see in Washington D.C. Then comes the time for Arthur to give the president his speech and he ends up loosing his note cards. The president arrives in a helicopter and all of Arthur's note cards go flying. Then he gets really nervous, especially when he hears all of his classmates and the president laughing at him. That is when he realizes they aren't laughing at him but at his sister D.W. for trying to help him.

I would use this book in my classroom to show a couple of different things. This book is good to teach students that they can have great rewards come to them if they work hard (like Arthur getting to give a speech to the president and a nationally televised audience). It is also good to show the kids that when you think you are going to be embarrassed sometimes your friends and family will help you out (like D.W. did).

Picture Book #6 -- I Have A Sister My Sister is Deaf --

TITLE: I Have A Sister My Sister Is Deaf
AUTHOR AND ILLUSTRATOR: This book was written by Jeanne Whitehouse Peterson, and the pictures were done by Deborah Ray.
GENRE: General Fiction
THEME: Disabilities and acceptance
AWARDS: This book is a Corretta Scott King award winner, as well as a book that was part of the Reading Rainbow.
CHARACTERS: The older sibling and the sister who is deaf.
PUBLISHING DATE AND COMPANY: This book was published in 1977 through the HarperCollins Publisher.
SUMMARY: This book is a very simple one. It is written in first person, by the older sibling and tells of what it is like to have a sister with a disability. This book is written in very simple language, and is in all black and white pictures. It is very easy to understand, and even with out color it is simple to see what the narrator is feeling. It is important to teach children what it is like to be different, and teach them understanding of others.


I would use this book in my classroom to help explain to children who may not have a disability, or know someone with a disability what it is like. This book is simple and shows what it is like for the sister who is deaf to be in our world, she cannot hear things but she makes up for that with being able to see things that others may not see. This book also shows the advances in technology that we now have, because at one point in the book it says my sister will never be able to know when the phone is ringing, but now we have systems that lightup, or have a hammer that hits the floor and they know from the vibrations that the phone is ringing.

Picture book #5 -- Owen -- Caldecott Honor Book

TITLE: Owen
AUTHOR AND ILLUSTRATOR: Kevin Henkes
GENRE: Humor
THEME: New Experiences
AWARDS: This book is a Caldecott Honor Book.
CHARACTERS: Owen, his parents, and the neighbor
PUBLISHING DATE AND COMPANY: This book was published in 1993 by the William Morrow & Company, Inc.
SUMMARY: This book is about growing up and learning that you can't always keep what you had as a young child with. This can be hard for some children. In the book, Owen loves to take his fuzzy blanket everywhere with him. He spills alot on it, so it makes it hard for his parents to be willing to give it back after they wash it because of how dirty he gets it. The nosey neighbor tries to give her two cents worth about how to get rid of the blanket. First she suggests the blanket fairy, which is very similar to the tooth fairy. Then there is the vinigar trick, all Owen's parents had to do was dip the corner of the blanket he liked to suck on in vinager and bam, he wouldn't use it. Well, the neighbor was wrong about that too. Eventually the parents even tried saying no, but that didn't work either. In the end the mother decided that by just cutting the blanket up in to hankercheifs it would get the job done.


I don't think that I would read this to my class, when I read the description on the library's website I thought this would be a good book about growing up and going to school. While the book is about that, it focuses too much on the blanket for my tastes.

Picture book #4 -- Little Penguin's Tale

TITLE: Little Penguin's Tale
AUTHOR AND ILLUSTRATOR: Audrey Wood
GENRE: Animal Adventures
THEME: Extended Family
AWARDS: None
CHARACTERS: Little Penguin, Grannanny Penguin
PUBLISHING DATE AND COMPANY: This book was published by Scholastic in 1989.
SUMMARY: This book is narrated by a grandmother penguin talking to all the little penguins. She tells a story about how the little penguin goes off wandering away from home, and that he could get lost. He doesn't get lost, but does find some dancing birds, and is surprised by them because he had never seen anything like it before, so he danced with them. Then he went and did some crazy acting with a walrus. Then on his way back home he gets eaten by a whale; or at least that is what the grandma penguin tells the little penguins at first. But then she said that he really did make it home safe, just without all of his tail feathers because the whale ate some of them.

This book would be good to read in a younger elementary school classroom, because it teaches about listening to your elders. It also teaches that just because something looks fun, the adults may be telling you not to do it for a reason (like you may end up loosing some of your tail feathers).