One Crazy Summer

 


Author:Rita Williams-Garcia
Title: One Crazy Summer
Illustrator: No Illustrations
Genre: Historical Fiction
Theme: Struggles in the 60s
Primary and Secondary Characters: Delphine, Vonetta, Fern, and Cecile
Awards: Coretta Scott King Award, Newberry Honor Book, Scott O'Dell Prize
Publishing Company: HarperCollins
How you would use with your students and brief summary: This is a book about an 11 year old girl named Delphine whose mother had happened here and her sisters 7 years ago. One summer her dad and grandmother send her and her sisters to live with her mom and find out the things that made their mom leave. This book has real life struggles of things that occurred in the late 60s and it would be good to use with the students to show them what went on back then.

Junie B. Jones Is a Graduation Girl

Author: Barbara Park
Title: Junie B. Jones is a Graduation Girl
Illustrator: Denise Brunkus
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Theme: Growing Up
Primary and Secondary Characters: Junie B., Mrs, and all of her friends
Awards: None
Publishing Company: Random House
How you would use with your students and brief summary: Junie B. Jones is finally about to graduate kindergarten and go into the first grade, but because she doesn't listen to her teacher's instruction something happens to her beautiful white graduation gown and she's convinced she won't be able to graduate now. This is a great story to use for kindergarteners right towards the end of the year just to show and see how similar things are between their life and what's going on in the book.

Dear Dumb Diary: Let's Pretend This Never Happened

Author: Jamie Kelly

Title: Dear Dumb Diary: Let's Pretend This Never Happened

Illustrator: Jamie Kelly

Genre: Diary

Subgenre: Non-Fiction

Theme: the life of a middle school girl

Primary and Secondary Characters: Jamie, Stinker, Isabelle, and Angeline

Awards: None

Publishing Company: Scholastic

How you would use with your students and brief summary:  This is a diary written by a girl in middle school and the hysterical things she goes through on a daily basis. This would be just a great book to read to the class everyday because it's a complete series of books and it tells the life and trials of what they are also going through.

Charlotte's Web

 
Author: E.B. White
Title: Charlotte's Web
Illustrator:Garth Williams
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Theme: Friendship, Death, and Time Passing
Primary and Secondary Characters:Wilbur, Fern, Charlotte, and other farm animals.
Awards: Newberry Honor
Publishing Company:HarperCollins
How you would use with your students and brief summary: This is a story about a runt pig that was going to be killed after he was born but the farmer's daughter, Fern, begs to save the life of this little big, Wilbur. Wilbur becomes Fern's best friend and they go through the struggle of their lives together. This story is great for explaining to children about death or how quickly time can pass.

Tonight on the Titanic

Author: Mary Pope Osborne
Title:Tonight on the Titanic
Illustrator: Sal Murdocca
Genre: Fantasy
Theme:Adventure
Primary and Secondary Characters: Jack and Annie
Awards: A Magic Tree House book
Publishing Company:  Random House Inc.
How you would use with your students and brief summary: This a good adventure book to use with my students and it tells the story of how the magic tree house sends Jack and Annie onto the deck of Titanic that way they can locate a mysterious gift so that they can save their puppy from a magical spell.

A Porcupine Named Fluffy

Author:  Helen Lester
Title: A Porcupine Named Fluffy
Illustrator:Lynn Munsinger
Genre: Fiction
Theme: Self-Confidence
Primary and Secondary Characters: Fluffy and Hippo
Awards:  None
Publishing Company: Houghton Mifflin Company
How you would use with your students and brief summary: This is one of my favorite childhood book about a porcupine named fluffy that tries everything to make himself feel "fluffy," then he meets a rhinoceros named Hippo and he doesn't feel so bad about his name anymore. This is a good story of acceptance and self confidence in yourself as a person and that's how I would use that with my students.

Bear Feels Sick

 
Author: Karma Wilson
Title: Bear Feels Sick
Illustrator: Jane Chapman
Genre: Fiction
Theme: Friendship
Primary and Secondary Characters: Bear and his friends
Awards: None
Publishing Company:Scholastic Inc.
How you would use with your students and brief summary: This is a story about a bear that's feeling very sick and his friends join together to help find a way that will make him feel better. This is a great book to help show your students the importance of friendship and helping others because one day you might be the person that needs help.

The Man Who Walked Between the Tower

Author: Mordicai Gerstein
Title: The Man Who Walked Between the Tower
Illustrator: Mordicai Gerstein
Genre: Non-Fiction
Theme:  Bravery
Primary and Secondary Characters: Phillipe Petit
Awards:None
Publishing Company: Roaring Book Press
How you would use with your students and brief summary: This is kind of a nerve-wracking story about a man who walked a tight rope between the towers in 1974. This is based on a true story and would be great just to show students the story about the brave man who decided to do something crazy between the towers and would be great to use on September 11th as a memory of what the towers used to be.

Annie and the Wild Animals

Author: Jan Brett
Title: Annie and the Wild Animals
Illustrator: Jan Brett
Genre: Children's Fiction
Theme:Animal Friendship
Primary and Secondary Characters: Annie and Taffy
Awards:None
Publishing Company: Houghton Mifflin Company
How you would use with your students and brief summary: This story is about a young girl named Annie, whose pet cat goes missing during the winter and she longs for a new friend because she's lonely. To find a new friend, Annie sets out corn cakes at the edge of the forest to see what animal she can find to tame, but it turns out all the animals that come out are too wild for her to tame. Luckily, at the end of the long winter her cat Taffy comes out of the forest and following her comes 3 baby kittens and Annie knows she'll never be lonely again.

Ahoy There, Little Polar Bear

 

Author: Hans de Beer
Title: Ahoy There, Little Polar Bear
Illustrator: Hans de Beer
Genre: Children's Fiction
Theme:Adventure
Primary and Secondary Characters: Lars, Nemo, and Johnny
Awards:None
Publishing Company:North to South Books
How you would use with your students and brief summary: This is an adorable little story about a polar bear that swims to far from home one day and gets caught in a ship's net. The cat on board the ship helps the polar bear when they get to port to find someone that can take him. It's a great story to use with children to also teach the consequences of straying too far from home.

The Velveteen Rabbit

 

Author: Margery Williams
Title: The Velveteen Rabbit
Illustrator:David Jorgensen
Genre: Children's Novel
Theme: Friendship
Primary and Secondary Characters: Boy & Velveteen Rabbit
Awards: None
Publishing Company:George H. Doran
How you would use with your students and brief summary: This is a story about a Boy who receives a velveteen rabbit for Christmas and keeps it with him wherever he goes, but then he gets sick with scarlet fever and all his old toys have to be burned and he his moved to another house while his house is quarantined. As his old rabbit is about to be burned, he cries a real tear and a magic comes out and turns him into a real rabbit saving his life. This is just a great heart warming story that I believe all children should enjoy at some point in their lifetime.

The Long Winter

Author: Laura Ingalls Wilder

Title: The Long Winter

Illustrator: Garth Williams

Genre:  Historical Fiction

Subgenre: Junior Fiction

Theme: Survival

Primary and Secondary Characters: Laura, Pa , Ma, townspeople, Almanzo Wilder

Awards: Newberry Honor

Publishing Company: Harper & Row

How you would use with your students and brief summary: This is the sixth book in the Little House series and is about a harsh winter the Ingalls family and their townspeople have to withstand in 1880-1881, when blizzard after blizzard pounds their town. It is a great story to show children how hard it was to survive the winters back in the day and the things families had to go through to survive. 

Little Penguin's Tale

Author: Audrey Wood

Title: Little Penguin's Tale

Illustrator: Audrey Wood

Genre: Fiction

Theme: Obeying others

Primary and Secondary Characters: Little Penguin and Grand Nanny Penguin

Awards: None

Publishing Company: Scholastic

How you would use with your students and brief summary: This story is about a young penguin that doesn't listen to the warning of his Grand Nanny's stories and doesn't have a very happy ending, or does he? This story would be great to use with students to help show them that it's a good idea to always listen to your elders because they have a good reason for telling you not to do something.

Alice and Greta

 

Author: Steven J. Simmons

Title: Alice and Greta

Illustrator: Cyd Moore

Genre: Fiction

Subgenre:

Theme: Karma

Primary and Secondary Characters: Alice, Greta, nearby children

Awards: None

Publishing Company: Charlesbridge Company

How you would use with your students and brief summary: This story is about two witches, a nice witch named Alice and a mean one named Greta. Greta is always trying to spoil the fun little kids are having and Alice comes to save the day by helping restore the children's fun. This would be a great book to show children how they should always treat others how they want to be treated because if you treat others badly it could come back to you.

Owen

 

Author:  Kevin Henkes

Title: Owen

Illustrator: Kevin Henkes

Genre: Fiction

Theme: Growing up

Primary and Secondary Characters: Owen, Owen's parents, and Mrs. Tweezers.

Awards: Caldecott Honor Book

Publishing Company: Greenwillow Books

How you would use with your students and brief summary:  This is a story about a mouse named Owen who had a favorite blanket called Fuzzy that went with him wherever he went. Owen's parents were trying to get him to stop carrying it everywhere so he wouldn't want to take it to kindergarten with him. So, instead they find an easier solution that will help them all. This would be a great book to use with kindergarteners first coming in to school to help get them to not be so attached to something they hold dear to their heart. 

Comet's Nine Lives

 

Author: Jan Brett

Title: Comet's Nine Lives

Illustrator: Jan Brett

Genre: Fiction

Subgenre:

Theme: Finding home

Primary and Secondary Characters: Comet

Awards: None

Publishing Company: The Putnam and Grossett Group

How you would use with your students and brief summary: This is a story about Comet, a cat that was born on Nantucket that never thought much about his nine lives until he lost is first one in a flower garden one day, then his lives start dwindling fast as he searches for a place to call home. This is just a fun fiction book that some cat lovers might enjoy reading for fun in class.

I Am Too Absolutely Small for School

 

Author: Lauren Child

Title: I Am Too Absolutely Small for School

Illustrator: Lauren Child

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Subgenre:

Theme: Getting ready for school

Primary and Secondary Characters: Charlie and Lola

Awards: N/A

Publishing Company: Candlewick Press

How you would use with your students and brief summary:  This story is about Lola, a young child that is no where near ready to go to kindergarten yet and her brother convincing her to go.  This would be a great story to read on the first day of class to your kindergarten students since many of them are nervous and scared about their first day of school.

The Legend of the Indian Paintbrush

 


Author: Tomie dePaola

Title: The Legend of the Indian Paintbrush

Illustrator: Tomie dePaola

Genre: Folktale

Subgenre:

Theme: We all have a special talent.

Primary and Secondary Characters: Little Gopher

Awards: N/A

Publishing Company: G.P Putnam & Son's

How you would use with your students and brief summary:  This story retells the legend of the Indian and the Paintbrush, which is about Little Gopher who is a painter and likes to make and decorate toys is not big enough to be a warrior so instead he starts painting images on animal skin about what the warriors do and visions of the shaman. He then finds an all white buckskin and wants to paint the sunset and one day he goes up to the hill and finds paintbrushes with each color of the sunset sticking out of the ground. This would be a great story that would show students that maybe you're not as big as the athletic students in the class, but that doesn't mean you do not possess a special talent.

I Want a Hug

 






Author: John A. Rowe

Title: I Want a Hug

Illustrator: John A. Rowe

Genre: Traditional Literature

Subgenre:

Theme: Persistence

Primary and Secondary Characters: Elvis the Hedgehog

Awards: N/A

Publishing Company: Penguin Group

How you would use with your students and brief summary: Little Elvis Hedgehog so badly wants a hug, but everyone he meets says that he is way too prickly. Rejection after rejection hurts his feelings, until he finds someone who is willing to take a chance. This book is just a sweet book that will melt your heart and would just be a great story for young children to read during their free time or in reading circles.

Fluffy and Baron

 

Author: Laura Rankin

Title: Fluffy and Baron

Illustrator: Laura Rankin

Genre: Modern Literature

Subgenre:

Theme: Friendship

Primary and Secondary Characters : Baron and Fluffy

Awards: N/A

Publishing Company: Penguin Group

How you would use with your students and brief summary: This story chronicles the friendship between and duck, Fluffy and a dog, Baron as the duck ages from duckling to an adult. This is a great story to use with children about how friendships can last, even when things can happen to separate you and your friend.

A Dragon in a Wagon

Author: Jane Belk Moncure

Title: A Dragon in a Wagon

Illustrator: Linda Hohag

Genre: Traditional Literature

Subgenre:

Theme: Reading Help

Primary and Secondary Characters: Megan and a Dragon

Awards: N/A

Publishing Company: The Child's World

How you would use with your students and brief summary:  This story is about the many different ways to travel, so this would go great when teaching a lesson to your students about cars, planes, and other modes of transportation

Arthur's Reading Race

 
Author: Marc Brown

Title: Arthur's Reading Race

Illustrator: Marc Brown

Genre: Traditional Literature

Subgenre:

Theme: Reading

Primary and Secondary Characters: Arthur and D.W.

Awards: N/A

Publishing Company: Random House, Inc.

How you would use with your students and brief summary: This story is about Arthur teaching his little sister to read after he finished learning to read in class that day. In order for his little sister, D.W., to get an ice cream he says she has to read 10 words. This would just be a fun story to inspire the older siblings of your classroom  to teach their younger brothers and sisters how to read.

Snowmen at Night

Author: Caralyn Buehner

Title: Snowmen at Night

Illustrator: Mark Buehner

Genre: Poetry

Subgenre:

Theme: Imagination

Primary and Secondary Characters: Young boy and snowmen

Awards: N/A

Publishing Company: Penguin Group

How you would use with your students and brief summary: This book is about a young boy and what he believes snowmen are doing at night because in the morning his snowman is very droopy and much smaller than he was before. This would be a great story to use on a snowy day and has as a group project you can use it to explore their imagination and ask what things do they think snowmen do at night and they can draw it out and hang it up around the classroom.

The Giver

 


Author: Lois Lowry

Title: The Giver

Illustrator: Cliff Nielsen

Genre: Science Fiction

Subgenre:

Theme: Rules, Order, Choices, and Importance of Memories

Primary and Secondary Characters: Jonas, The Giver, Gabriel, Asher, Jonas' father, Jonas' mother, and Fiona.

Awards: Newberry Medal, William Allen White Award, and a Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor Book

Publishing Company: Bantam Books

How you would use with your students and brief summary: This story is set in the future where there is no pain and strife and everything is decided for you and "the giver" is able to break some of the rules. This is a longer novel and it would be great for students to maybe complete their first book report on.

No Such Thing as Dragons

Author: Philip Reeve

Title: No Such Thing as Dragons

Illustrator: N/A

Genre: Modern Fantasy

Subgenre:

Theme: Heroism, Bravery, and Self-Esteem

Primary and Secondary Characters: Ansel and Brock

Awards: N/a

Publishing Company: Scholastic Inc

How you would use with your students and brief summary: The story starts when Ansel, a mute boy, is sold by his by his father to a heroic dragon slayer, named Brock. They both set out to find and kill the mythical beast of a dragon, but Ansel is convinced there is no such thing as dragons and Brock is just a crook. This would be a great book to get more boys involved in reading since the main character is a young boy.