The Stupids Die

I was shocked when I picked up this book and saw the title of it. The Stupids Die is a book about a family who aren't portrayed as the smartest people in the world. Their cat however is portrayed as smarter than the whole family! The cat is the one who finds the fuse box and turns the lights back on when they go off. When the lights go off, Mr. Stupid makes a comment suggesting that they died. The people are silly looking and do silly things that our society would think was wrong. In the end the animals convince the Stupid family that they should sleep on the floor and the pets should have the bed.

Stupid is a word that we are trying to get out of the classrooms. By bring this book in the classroom it is just suggesting that it is okay to say the word. The book itself isn't attractive, it is older looking and it's illustrations are dated. I would not recommend this book to use in the classroom.

Happy To Be Nappy

This title speaks for its self. "Nappy" is not a politically correct word to use especially around children. Although the overall message is a good one about being true to who you are and loving yourself and your image, it still is not appropriate. If teachers read this to their students, the students will get the impression that it is okay for them to use the word as well. If they use the word outside of using this book, then they could get in a lot of trouble.

I believe a couple of years ago a radio talk show host got in a lot of trouble for calling a girls basketball team "nappy". It is a derogatory term that can harm a young child. I don't think the illustrations for this book are very flattering or attention grabbing either.

YouTube of the comment on the girls basketball team

My Two Uncles

Going along with controversial picture books is My Two Uncles by Judith Vigna. This story is about a young girl who loves spending time with her uncle and his partner. However, when it is time for her grandparents anniversary party her uncle won't come. This is because the grandfather in the story does not approve of his son being gay. Elly, the main character, has trouble grasping why her grandfather is so mad at her uncle. Her dad explains everything there is to know about being gay to her one day on the porch. In the end the grandfather does come around and go to the uncles house and meet the boyfriend after 5 years of avoidance.

This week as I am looking through books that are considered controversial in the classroom, I am starting to become aware of a what a good way to portray this topic would be in a book. I don't like how Vigna just has the dad tell little Elly flat out that her uncle is gay. I think gay is a lot of times miss used in schools today, so connecting those two ideas as the first way to introduce it wasn't the best idea. Maybe a better way to say it is, "Your uncle loves you very much. He loves Phil to, like I love mommy." Or something like that. I also think that the illustrations in this text were dull. They didn't capture my attention like I hoped they would. Also, there is a lot of text and the actual words are simple and babying the reader in a way.

This book wasn't one of my favorites.

King and King

The book King and King is a picture book that is about a prince who is urged by his mother to find a princess so that he can become the king. However, after looking and talking to many different princesses, the prince has found no one who he is attracted too. Finally a beautiful princess comes in with her brother and the prince purks up. He says "It's love at first sight!" and runs to the brother. They begin to kiss and end up marrying eachother and living happily ever after in the castle, both are kings.

The illustrations are beautiful in this book. They are large and colorful. But it could also be looked upon as a controversial aspect as well becuase the illustrations do show two men kissing. I think especially with younger kids that this kind of topic is a difficult one to teach. They get a lot of influence from home and sometimes it is hard to break those opinions. However, it does need to be addressed. I would feel comfortable reading this book infront of my students and addressing the issue. I think it brings it up in a magical way, that is kid friendly with all the colors and characters. It also shows that the characters are kings so even powerful people like them could be gay as well.

Heather Has Two Mommies

As we are reading the Misfits in class, I find it very interesting to find other picture books who have sparked debatable topics through out school districts. I found this book, Heather Has Two Mommies defiantly under this category. It is written toward a younger audience, but the text I think is very graphic and too inappropriate for the intended 5 and up reader. It starts off with a little girl explaining how she is just like everyone else, she has all the same body parts, has animals, but in Heather's case she has two moms.

I think this is an interesting topic, that needs to be addressed, but I'm not sure that this is the perfect book to do that. Part of the reason why I think it isn't a great book is because the illustrations are in all black and white and the pictures aren't really appropriate. There is one in particular of Jane, one of the moms, who is naked getting looked at by a doctor before the "sperm gets put into her vagina".

Although, I don't think that this is a good book to help teach this topic, I do believe it should be discussed. I feel like it is almost guaranteed that teachers will at least have a couple students who have two moms or two dads in their classrooms. It is important to do an activity that shows all the different kinds of families and that it is okay to be different.

Children of Lesbian and Gay Parents

Chimps Don't Wear Glasses

I LOVED this book! It starts out with things that animals don't do. For example, "Chimps don't wear glasses, and zebras don't cook and you wont see a kangaroo reading a book." The text rhymes and the pictures of the animals are large, silly and colorful. However, after going on for a little about what animals don't do, the book interacts with the readers and asks them to close their own eyes and draw what they see. 

I think this is a wonderful way to start the imagination process for young children. Getting what they have in their head down on paper is sometimes hard for youngsters and this book gives children the opportunity to take time and try it out. Then at the end of the book the author writes a question to readers about what they see because it is their dreams. Dreams can be a tricky thing to grasp because there is a definite line between reality and fantasy. I can see myself reading this book to a preschool or lower level education group and doing a fun art/paint activity and have the students draw their dreams that have had and then have them tell the class about it. 

Fancy Nancy

This is a wonderful story about a little girl who thinks she needs to be glamorous and fabulous all the time. She dresses up in her fanciest clothes and heels and walks around pretending she is something rich and fabulous. However, in the end she realizes she can be fabulous and herself in just her bath robe. With her parents help she can be just that. This book is just what girls need at this crucial developing stage in their lives. The confidence to be who they are and be fabulous in their own skin, not having to dress up all the time and wearing make-up. 

Especially in today's society it is important for girls and boys to be who they are without conforming to the everyday messages of appearance given to young students. I personally remember being convinced by peers and media on how I dressed and acted when I was younger. These days this is getting children in trouble and is not okay. Fancy Nancy lets children know that it is okay to be confident in your own skin. 

The illustrations in this book are big and beautiful! They have the power to catch children's attention and keep it with sparkles and bright colors. However, this book has one downfall. It is mainly focused on girls and their issues with conforming to the portrayed female appearance in the media. But what about the boys?  

The Gas We Pass

This is a great, funny book to cover the topic of gas. When starting school it is important to teacher children when it is appropriate and when it is not appropriate to do certain things like pass gas. The Gas We Pass is a factual book that not only makes light of the situation it has a good balance of facts, diagrams and certain situations that children might find them selves in. 

I could see myself using this  book during a health unit or digestive unit. Like I mentioned earlier the book has education information about the actual process of how we as humans develop gas and what happens after we pass gas. A lot of times children feel like they are the only ones who do this, however, this book ensures them that along with other humans animals pass gas as well. Sometimes it is reassuring to hear that you are not the only one who lets one pop out. Although this book may create giggles throughout the class when you read it, it is worth the distractions, the pictures although they may be funny, they speak the truth. 

Punk Wig

It is almost guaranteed that within a teachers first couple years of teaching he or she will encounter a student who will be going through or have a close family member who is sick with cancer. Being so young it is had to grasp all the hard concepts of cancer and what it actually means to have cancer. Lori Ries the author of Punk Wig does a fantastic job putting these hard to understand, scary concepts in ways that young children can comprehend. Most of the time when cancer is brought up, it is usually accompanied with a sad, downer mood. However, Punk Wig portrays different aspects of cancer as light-hearted and as fun as possible. It is a way to ease learning about this hard topic for children. 

Most parents and even teachers don't know how to teach and bring up these hard topics, they may feel like it will hurt the child to know the actual facts, so they just don't even go there. They think it is protecting the child, when in reality it is only hurting them in the long run. It is important children grow up knowing the truth about things that are going to happen to them in their life. The sooner they learn how to deal with it, the better off they will be. So I will definitely have this book in my classroom library for children to read. Especially if a child or a family member of a student in my class is fighting cancer then I will read it to the whole class, depending on the situation. But I believe that if everyone knows what is going on and that it doesn't have to be a scary topic it will create a lot less stress over the classroom atmosphere. 

Scarecrow

This is a wonderful picture book about the life of a scarecrow. The writer, Cynthia Rylant does a great job writing from the perspective of an actual scarecrow. The text has great detail about the setting and the features of this particular scarecrow. Lauren Stringer, the illustrator, does a wonderful job with the pictures and setting the tone and scene of where this scarecrow lives.

I would use this book in my classroom during a writing lesson. Along with characters and plot, almost all stories need to have a setting. It is one of the parts of a story that makes it truly special and unique to that particular piece. I want my future students to be like scarecrows in their writing, looking around and doing a great job describing what they see through the button eyes.

Love That Dog

This novel is nothing like any other novel I have read. One of the main reasons why it is so different is because of the format the words are written in. Each page has words set up like it would be a poem, not a novel. The most words that are on a line is about five. There is lots of space in between different "stanza's" as well. Another reason this novel is different is because unlike any other novel I have read, this print is in blue. At first this caught me off guard a little, but then it just added to the overall feeling of who has the power in writing. It is not written in stone that every single novel has to be printed in black ink, so why not take risks? The print is larger, which makes this a perfect read for beginning readers of longer books. The larger print along with less text on the page can really help slower readers boost their confidence. Like Jack the main character in the story says, "you can read a lot of short poems in not that much time". Since this book is written like poems it makes the reading go fast and has the power to help struggling readers keep up.

The overall message of this novel is a good one. I remember being terrified of writing poems, not knowing what to write about, what words rhymed with other words and how long the entire piece should be. This book lets readers know that they have the ultimate power in writing their poems and usually have the freedom and power to create it however they would like. No limits.

I could definitely see myself using this book as a whole class read before a unit on poetry because it is a good way to set the tone for beginning poetry writers. I really think that Sharon Creech, the author did an excellent job capturing the feelings of students taking on poetry. Many readers can relate to how Jack feels.

Hope Was Here

The novel, Hope Was Here, is a great chapter book that will inspire students to find who their true identity is. Especially during the adolescent years, finding oneself can be very hard and this story demonstrates that. It Life doesn't always deal everyone a great hand of cards, but no matter what people need to make the best out of their life. Tulip finds this out as she grows through the book. In the beginning Tulip changes her name to Hope, she figures that it would make everything okay in her life. She soon discovers that a name, no matter how positive it is, doesn't always ensure a perfect life. Ever since Hope's mother abandoned her as a baby, Hope follows her Aunt Addie around the country, longing for a permanent home and always looking for the father she doesn't know. However, she and her aunt go where the jobs and the money are. This is another issue that can spark conversation in classrooms, especially if there is a new student in class, or someone about to move. Hope says good-bye by leaving her usual calling card, "Hope Was Here" written in half-inch tall letters on one of the boards. Hope struggles as she tries to grow up and remember that, although she has a lot to overcome, she also has a lot for which to be thankful. 

I don't think this would be a good book to read with the whole class, but I do believe it would be a good addition to a classroom library. This book is intended for older audiences that can understand all the emotions and hardships that Hope makes it through during the story. A lot of different discussions can be branched off from this book if you let students give their opinion about what is going on. I really enjoyed reading this chapter book and think that it will leave readers feeling hopeful that things will get better. 

Island of the Blue Dolphins

I can remember reading Island of the Blue Dolphins when I was an adolescent and now as I revisit it when I am a lot older I really have a much stronger view on this book and understand it a lot more. First of all, this is a true story, which I didn't know I was younger. This story deals with tragedy, fear, forgiveness, survival and trust. All of these themes are important for growing adolescents to have a strong grasp on and fully understand. Karana, the main character is about the same age as the target audience for this book, so a lot of readers can relate to how she feels and the sacrifices she makes for her family and friends. The strength that this young girl has throughout the many chapters of the book is a good example for readers to follow. It has a great message of hope and even in the worst of times, there will always be "dolphins" as a symbol of positive change. 

Being a chapter book it is an accomplishment for readers to finish and discuss the overall meaning of this book. I think it has the power to reach out and connect to many readers because there are so many different general themes that are exploited during the book. The font is larger and the text isn't too complicated which makes it even more approachable for younger readers. 

After reading this story, they could maybe do a report or research of some sort on the actual true story behind Scott O'Dell's story. I think it would be interesting for a reader to compare and contrast the two and share what they found. That is why this would be a great chapter book to assign when teachers want to have students explore, research and do more then just read the book.

A Box of Friends

I have personally never moved in my life, but can't imagine all the emotions that would come with it. In the story, A Box of Friends, by Pam Munoz Ryan, Annie the main character, finds herself in a new town, alone and not feeling like she belongs. Her grandmother is the one who introduces her to her own box of friends and helps Annie make her own. Throughout the story, Annie collects things that remind her of people in her life that are important to her. That way, no matter how far away her actual friends may be, she always has a piece of them with her in her box. At the end of the story, Annie is invited to a girl's birthday party who lives down the street. She realizes that it might not be so bad moving. 

I think this would be a great book to read to a class because although it is fiction, it is very realistic. Many students may have already moved or be in the process of moving and could really relate to the way Annie feels through out the story. After the book has been read to the class, it could be a great activity for everyone to make their own box of friends or "happy" box. This is something that can stay with them and have meaning to them even after the year is over and the class is done. I remember I made a "happy" box in junior high that I still have and visit when I am feeling sad or want to be in a better mood. I think doing activities like that while reading a book like A box of Friends can be a lot more beneficial for students in the long run. 

I can see myself reading this book to my class especially if I know that one or more of my student have been through what Annie is going through in the story. It would be a great opportunity for them to share their personal experience as well. 

Papa and Me

The illustrations in this book are GREAT!!!!! The bright color, motion and expression of characters leave readers intrigued and wanting more of Rudy Gutierrez's illustrations. There is so much detail that can be missed the first time readers read through, I found myself going back and examining all the pictures about three times before I put the book down. 

The actual text of the book did not capture my attention as much as the illustrations did. Although it is a great book about diversity because Spanish is written in to the story, there is no real story line, just about a boy and his dad going to see his grandparents. I think this would be good in a bilingual classroom, where half the time students speak English and the other half they speak Spanish. It might also be a good book to open in a Spanish class no matter what the age level. I think it is interesting when high level classes open the year or semester with children's books about the subject that will be taught. It makes it more friendly and open to students who are taking the course. Or this book might be a good one to read during a unit on family, or diversity, like I mentioned earlier. However, I feel like there are better story lines out there to cover topics such as those. 

Catching the Sun

Being the youngest of three, I didn't really relate to this realistic contemporary fiction book, Catching the Sun by Coleen M. Paratore. My older brothers always complain about when I was born, they didn't really want me at first because I took up a lot of our mom's attention. But for many of my future students this will be a major transition in their lives. Having a new little baby coming into the family can be hard at first for the other older sibling. Catching the Sun, is about a boy who has this tradition of going to Cape Cod over the summer for his birthday and waking up very early before the sun comes up and "catching" it with his mother. The way the story is written, readers can feel how special this tradition is to the son and mom. Although it will be different the next year with the new baby, Dylan and his mom will still share the special tradition of catching  the sun. 

Like I mentioned earlier, a lot of elementary students are going to be going through this transition in their lives and this book has the power to get them talking about how they feel about the situation. I think this would be a good book to read because it is the perfect length and really gets to the point of the issue. After the class reads this book, I can picture having a discussion about students who have gone through this process before and also those who have special traditions with their mom or dad like Dylan did. 

The illustrations are wonderful too! They are done by Peter Catalanotto and really capture the different colors of the sun coming up over the sea in the morning. Also, the people in the story are beautiful as well, they are big and filled with emotion. 

The Kissing Hand

I would be lying if I told you that I had no issue whatsoever going to kindergarten and leaving my mom. As a matter of fact, I had an issue leaving my mom to go to school pretty much until last year. It is a big transition in a child's life from being home all day to going to school. To help calm my nerves, my mom would read me The Kissing Hand, by Audrey Penn. This book is about a little raccoon who is leaving his mom to go to school but has second thoughts and doesn't want to go. His mom shares a secret with him and kisses his palm and tells him that if he is sad during the school day, he can just put his palm to his cheek and it will be like she is there with him. I have personally always loved this book, the illustrations are wonderful and add great things to this story. I also believe that this story doesn't only benefit the child when going to school, but also the parent. 

When I was looking around the web for a project in one of my other classes, I noticed that there were so many different art projects that go along with this book as well as songs. This would be a great unit to cover in the beginning of the year when that transition is fresh and new. I could see myself using this book towards the beginning of the year, in my future classroom. 

Llama Llama Mad at Mama

Every child get angry. It is important that at a young age children learn how to deal with and manage their anger in an appropriate way. The best way to do this is through experience, but also showing them positive examples of times characters or people worked through their anger. Anna Dewdney author and illustrator of Llama Llama Mad at Mama does a great job expressing the anger a little llama has and how he works through it. In the end he works it out with his mama and ends up having fun at the store, where he didn't want to go in the first place. 

Throughout this entire book the story on each page rhymes. I think this makes the book even more enjoyable for children. The font for the rhyming words are bold or in different colors so it is easy for younger children to point them out. The illustrations are honestly what drew me into this book. They are large and beautiful! I really like how Dewdney picked llamas as the main characters of this book. Since llamas aren't very common animals, it is an opportunity for children to learn about them, also llama rhymes with a lot of other words, so it was a good choice there too. 

I would definitely see this book in my classroom library. Like I mentioned earlier, children need to learn about emotions and how to deal with them, and I think this book is a great way to teach them how to deal with anger. Anger can be a tricky one to tackle, because usually when children are angry, they loose all control, but little llama models the proper way to pick up after yourself and apologize after you have a little angry fit. 

Junie B. First Grader (at last)

Barbara Park writes yet another great chapter book that all first graders should read. For young readers finishing their first chapter book can be quite thrilling. I remember I used to read the Junie B. Jones series when I was younger and felt very accomplished when I finished one. They have legit chapters, but yet they're written in simple words, the font is larger and there are also pictures to go along with what the text is saying. Going into the first grade is a big transition in every child's life and I think Park does a good job capturing the position of an actual first grader and over coming all the issues and peer pressure that comes along with the role. She also covers realistic topics such as getting glasses and being embarrassed to wear them in front of friends. Also, the whole new teacher thing can be stressful on a 6 year old and having readers know that they aren't alone when they feel that way can be a very positive thing for them. 

I also believe this is a great book because it emphasizes the importance of writing in notebooks. I think that using literacy and writing skills is one of the most important things in a child's early education. I will have this book along with some of the other chapter books in this series in my classroom library in the future. 

Stormy's Hat: Just Right for a Railroad Man

This is a story of a journey that one engineer takes to find the perfect hat for his job. Stormy is a hard working man who loves his job. His wife is a thoughtful person who cares deeply about her husband. So when he presents her with his problem of not finding a hat to properly suit his job, she starts thinking. However, being a manly man, he doesn't listen to her and won't let her worry about the issue. He tries using other professions hats, but none of them seem to work. So after he has tried everything his wife is the one who designs the perfect hat. This is a realistic contemporary fiction book with great illustrations. The pictures are colorful and take up the entire page. They show motion and could tell the story without text if necessary.  

In the back of the book there is even a little blurb about the real George stormy. I think this would be a great book to read to students because although it is about finding a hat, it has more of a message of individuality. Be who you are, don't try and be someone who you aren't because you will only get hurt in the end. The only thing I didn't like about this book was the fact that they went and saw all these jobs and hats but all the people looked exactly the same. There is no diversity at all. Along with the way women are portrayed in this book and the lack of diversity, I can't help but question is this the kind of message I want to be sending to my class? 

Letters From A Desperate Dog

For all those dog lovers out there this is one that will make you smile. Eileen Christelow writes a graphic novel about the ups and downs of being a dog...from a dogs point-of-view. It is a good way to help show students that there are other ways of looking at a situation. Emma is a dog who doesn't always get along with her owner. In fact they disagree so much that she actually runs away for a little and becomes an actress. However, like in many other stories, distance makes the heart grow fonder and Emma and her owner George realize life is better when they are together, even though they may fight. Christelow uses word bubbles to show the different characters speaking to each other. She also uses picture boxes to display different times of the day and scene changes. Since some of the story looks at two places at one time, it was a good idea to show the differences in picture books. Throughout the story Emma finds herself on the computer writing to a dog show. These little blurbs are what I think make the book so interesting and fun. They have special e-mail addresses that they use to send in information to the host to ask advise on what to do with their owner. Usually in real life it is the other way around, but in this book we get to experience life through a dogs eyes.  

If You Give A Mouse A Cookie

I love all the "If You Give Books" by Laura Joffe Numeroff. They really let children's imaginations run wild. When I was student teaching, I read this book to the class for a couple reasons. The first being I like how it comes full circle. It starts with a little boy who gives a mouse a cookie and ends with a the mouse wanting another cookie. The illustrations by Felicia Bond are extraordinary.  My favorite picture is of the mouse when he is coloring and the size of the crayon he is using compared to him is just so funny! Bond uses a lot of different techniques to show motion with the characters and also color to keep children interested in the pictures. I think the illustrations are so detailed that if there was no text on the pages, the story through illustrations would be very similar. The last reason why I like this book is because you can make an excellent writing activity to go with it. Since this story is themed around the "what if you gave a mouse a cookie" idea, you can have students think of their own "what ifs" and have them expand like Numeroff did. 

Although this book doesn't have as much education value as some other books, it can be a great tool to get your students imagination cranking! 

The Giving Tree

Although this book is fairly simple in illustrations and text, its message is one that can stay with a reader forever. I think especially in today's society it is easy for people to look around and see what other people have and want that and literally forget about all the things that they have. The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein is a book that lets readers know that in the end it doesn't matter if you have a boat or a huge house, all that matters is that you have a good friend to lean on when you need them. Elementary school is a time in children's lives where they have the power to start making lifetime friends. It is important to let them know that friendship is a lot more valuable then anything you could possibly buy. Silverstein does a great job in showing this through the lifelong friendship of a boy and a tree. 

I am truly impressed with how little detail this book has, but how great the message is that it leaves with readers. The reader never finds out the boys name through out the whole book. This amazes me because usually the name of a main character in a book is important, but not in this book, it focuses on the relationship. I think Silverstein did enough describing the boy through the things he demanded out of the tree. 

Usually students think that other kids, living people and sometimes pets are their only options for friends. They often forget that nature and especially trees are living things and they can be just as good of a friend as a real person. I would read this to my class no matter what the age of the students are because I think its message is that powerful. 

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Like I mentioned earlier in one of my posts Eric Carle is one of my favorite children's book authors. They way he combines nature and color into a story is wonderful. One of his more known books is The Very Hungry Caterpillar. One of the reasons why I like this book so much is because it is very interactive. While a teacher reads this book to students, students can be engaged and participate by counting along, commenting on the size of the caterpillar or naming all the foods he eats on his journey. With holes in the pages to show that the caterpillar has eaten through the food is really so cleaver. On one side you see an apple or whatever the food is with a whole and on the other you actually see the caterpillar leaving the whole. Although there isn't that much detail in the pictures, there is so much color and simple things like having the sun and moon smiling, or the big beautiful butterfly at the end that capture readers. The thing that I found interesting was that there are only 12 pages in this book including the pages that were cut off or smaller with the wholes through them. This would make this a good book to show younger kids because they may not have as good of an attention span as older kids do. So picking shorter books like this one would be a positive thing. 

I could definitely see myself reading this book to a kindergarten or first grade classroom in many different situations. The first obvious situation would be if I were teaching a science lesson on how butterflies developed. I remember when I was in first grade we got to go out and catch caterpillars and watch them develop in our classroom until they turned into butterflies. My teacher read us this book and I remember loving it because of all the colors. Another time you could incorporate this book into a lesson would be if you were teaching the days of the week. Carle does a great job referring to each day in a separate situation. I have always thought of this book as a classic children's book and after reading again when I am older, I still agree with that statement.