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. 

Fourth Grade Weirdo

Martha Freeman's Fourth Grade Weirdo is the perfect adolescent chapter book to read. The developing years are filled with awkward moments, peer pressure and moments when you think that the entire world is against you. As soon as Dexter, the main character, enters the fourth grade he realizes that the world is not made up of perfect math equations or spelling bees. Being the only fourth grader who carries a briefcase to class and who is relieved to hear calculus test, this world of creativeness that his fourth grade teacher Mr. Ditzwinkle is pushing him to discover is creating many bumps in the road. Dexter finds himself getting into some trouble both at home and at school while on his journey to figure out who he really is. 

Like I mentioned earlier this book covers a lot about the pressures of being a fourth grader. Whether it being a  dad demanding perfection or a "crazy" teacher who picks on a students piece of work in front of the class. Dexter lives through it all. The story emphasizes that you can;t always judge a book by its cover, because they might surprise you when you really start to get to know them. I think the end message that it's okay not to be perfect and sometimes we do make mistakes, but it is what we do following our mistakes that really count. 

The book is set in a fourth grade classroom. In middle school clicks and popularity is at its prime and could really damage a fourth grader's self-esteem if he or she is not included. I think this book would address both sides to this click issue in schools today. If "popular" students read it, they could see the outcome of their actions on their "prey" and how much words can hurt a person. On the other side, for all the "fourth grade weirdos" out there, I was one of them, it lets them know they are not alone in this terrible phase of life, and that the best thing you can do is be the best you can be. It will all work out in the end. This is how I would want my students to feel after they read a book like this one. 

Being 150 pages long, it is a book that is long enough that students will feel accomplished and proud after they finish reading it. However, the words aren't too advanced and I found myself laughing at some of the funny things that happen to poor Dexter in the fourth grade. The book also has larger print which makes it easier for students to read. 

The Day the Goose Got Loose

Along with the last book, this wasn't one of my favorites. The only reason I could see myself using this book in my classroom would be because the words rhyme. I could maybe also use it during a unit about feelings, but I think that might be stretching it a little. But the other animals and farm people do mention their feelings when they found out that the goose got loose. Maybe, if I worked in a school districts were a lot of families lived on farms, the students would relate to it then and they could possible share stories of when or if their animals ever got loose and what happened. 

But other then that I can't really see myself using this book. I don't like it because it is all over the place one minute it's talking about how the other farm animals feel about the loose goose situation and then on the next page with no transition the narrator says "my dad was annoyed". The illustration is of a man with his shirt off and throwing his arms in the air with a look of rage on his face. There are also policemen in front of him, so I got the impression they were there because he was acting crazy, which isn't really appropriate and has no correlation with the farm animals on the previous page. The ending is totally random as well. The first time I read it I thought it just ended with a little girl sleeping in her bed, but then I got to thinking, is this her dream that she's having? I still don't really know the exact answer, but the story would make a lot more sense if it were a dream because there is no order whatsoever. The illustrations are also very cluttered, there is so much to look at and it is distracting from the actual story. Which would make sense if it is a dream because dreams are often crowded with a lot of random information. 

Delilah D. at the Library

When I sat down to read this book, I was excited and thought it would be a cute, fun children's book about an experience going to the library. I also thought that the message would be one that involved making the library interesting to children so they would want to experience it for themselves. BUT! I should have known not to judge a book by its cover! I never really took a liking to this book. It is a very stereotypical book that displays the father not really having a role in his children's life, the mom as a rich snob and of course the babysitter that comes and takes the kids to the library is a skinny blond teenager wearing a belly shirt and high heels. Another thing that made me mad was that even when the characters arrived at the library, EVERYONE in the library looked the same. There was no diversity whatsoever. What kind of message is this sending to our students? That only white, rich kids can have their nanny or babysitter take them to the library where they can read and checkout books? This hidden message could really hurt and have a harmful effect on a child who isn't Caucasian in your classroom. 

This book also displays libraries as places with a lot of strict rules that are not always kid friendly, which in reality is totally wrong. As I read and saw what was going on in the illustrations I found myself cringing many times. The first thing I noticed was the babysitter just left the two little kids and was shown in the back on a computer with hearts on the screen (probably meaning she was talking to a boyfriend or doing something inappropriate when she was suppose to be working.) The librarian working would always be the one saying "no, we don't do that in our library" to Delilah whenever she wanted to do something that her pretend land could do. 

I would not read this book to my class because although I believe it is important to have an imagination like Delilah did, that isn't how a library should be portrayed in a children's book. 

Journey To Freedom

In classes that I have been taking in the College of Education at University of Iowa, one of the messages my classmates and I are taught is open up our future classrooms to diversity. This isn't always the easiest thing to do especially when you teach in a school district like the one I grew up in, about 98% of the students were Caucasian. I think part of being an American has to do with all the struggles we have over come in our history. Children in schools should have the opportunity to learn about these struggles and be proud of how this great nation came to be.

The book Journey to Freedom would be a great book to share with your class when discussing the topic of the underground railroad and slavery. The reason why I would choose this book compared to any other book that has to do with the underground railroad is because Joshua, the main character is eight years old. The story is told through his point-of-view and students can relate to the character in many ways. I especially like the page when Joshua first sees and describes snow. During one of the most dangerous journey's in this child's life, he and his family are able to enjoy the first time of seeing snow, they don't even care that it will delay and make their journey to freedom even harder. However, Joshua doesn't only describe happy things such as the first snow, he also makes a point of describing the hunger that has taken over his body. He knows that his parents are hungry too, but thankful that they are sacrificing their own food for their children's. 

I do believe this book also has some downfalls to it. I think the most important that I am going to focus on is its length. I realize that there is a lot of interesting information that needs to be told in this book, but there is no way that a kindergarten or first grade class will be able to sit through that entire book. It must be read to an older class that has then attention span to sit and stay focused for that long. 

Throughout the story there are many educational facts that are added in to make this book even more appealing for teachers to read to their students. There is so much history from this time period that it can become confusing to students. In the back of the book there is also a message from the author, Courtni C., Wright. It is just more facts that were not added in the book that are very important about this event. I think this little section in the back could be also read in the beginning before the story to set the tone and prepare students for what the story is about. 

I Love It When You Smile!

I think the old saying, "smiling is contagious" is true. A little, simple gesture such as seeing a familiar face smile at me has the power to change my dumpy day into a delightful one. Sam McBratney one of my favorite children's book authors, wrote this book, "I Love It When You Smile", to cheer readers up even on their grumpiest of days. Charles Fuge, the illustrator does a great job and the combination of the way the story is written and the bright pictures make this a book that I can see myself reading aloud to my students when my classroom is infected with the Monday morning blues. 

One of the reasons I believe children will love this book is because the pages switch from horizontal to vertical to show motion and height of the two main kangaroo characters. Also, no matter what the reader's background is, everyone can relate to this book because everyone has had a bad day and is not always in the mood to smile. Although this book doesn't really have a solid, strong, educational message, I sill think  it is good to have these little, light stories mixed into the curriculum. 

On each page of the book there is so much to look at, for example, I didn't even notice the first time I read it that Roo has his friends: a duck, mouse and bee follow him throughout the whole story. Having animals, especially kangaroos, play the main characters make the story what it is. If the Sam McBratney had humans be the main characters, it wouldn't have the same light-hearted effect on readers as it does now. It also has the power to let children know humans aren't the only ones who have bad days. It is okay not to always be in a good mood, but when you smile, it makes not only your day better, but also people around you better as well. 

By using such detailed illustrations and adding different activities that kangaroos like to do, readers can learn a lot about kangaroos and the environment they live in. 

At the end of this book I do have to confess... I smiled:).