Sarah's comments (member since Jan 29, 2009)

Sarah's comments from the Spring 09 LLED, Altoona group.

I gave the Best Moral Award to, "The Only Boy In Ballet Class" by Denise Gruska, which was nominated by Carol Mitchell. This story has a perfect moral for all children grades K-6th. Here is a copy of my letter.

Dear Denise Gruska,

I am currently a Junior at Penn State Altoona majoring in Elementary Education. For my class, our teacher asked us each to select our own award to create. The topic I chose was the best moral in a children's book. After my award was announced to the class it was their job to nominate books that they believe have an outstanding moral and could be used in an elementary setting. After receiving twelve stories, I read them all and "The Only Boy In Ballet Class" won without a second thought. Your story shows that gender does not matter when it comes to hobbies and how in the end everyone can come together. This not only teaches children about teasing, but is also very much geared towards adults. The Uncle constantly reminds the mother and boy how he should be playing football and ballet was not for boys. You created such a strong character in this story and a moral every kid should be familiar with. I am so happy I got the chance to read this story and you are a wonderful author.

Congratulations on winning The Best Moral Award!

Sincerely,
Sarah Daley

I nominate this book by Natasha Anastasia Tarpley because it shows the diverse culture of an African American girl and her hair. Her mother combs her hair everyday to get the tangles out but no matter how gently she does it, it still hurts. Throughout the story the young girl learns to love her hair because she can wear it any way she would like. "I Love My Hair!" teaches children, especially girls, to love themselves how they were born. Perfect for children ages 4-8. Can be used as a read aloud or even an independent read. Natasha Anastasia Tarpley is an African American herself.

This book filled with poetry is about African Americans and misleadingly is not an alphabet book. He simply uses each letter to organize all 25 poems and one African American spiritual. These poetry book is for all children but mainly for kindergarten thru third grade. Each piece also includes an illustration that helps the students see the true meaning behind each poem. Each page has a line or phrase from an African American poet which has a strong meaning behind it. The line/phrase is on the top of the page, illustration in the middle, and the author of the line/phrase on the bottom.

I nominate "Doctor De Soto" by William Steig because it is a book about a dentist who is a mouse and all of his patients are other animals who walk and talk as people would. They live in houses, wear clothes, and sleep in beds. The pictures are simply but colorful and portray what the text says. This story includes creative thinking and decision making. In this book, the dentist does not like to work on animals, such as cats, because his wife and him are afraid they will be eaten. A fox with a toothache comes along and they decide to let him up since he is in soooooooo much pain. Children can plan what they would do and/or what the mice are going to do if the fox tries to eat them. Great for ages 5-8 and can be used as a read aloud or independent reading.

I nominate "The Rainbow Fish" because at first, the Rainbow fish is stubborn and refuses to share its shiny scales with any of the other fish in the ocean. The Rainbow fish soon realizes that nobody else wants to be its friend because the Rainbow fish does not share. After the Rainbow fish realizes that sharing is the right thing to do, the Rainbow fish shares the sparkly scales with everyone else in the ocean. The fish went through a rough time at first with getting along, but once the Rainbow fish shared its scales, everyone was happy and ended up being the best of friends. The picture in this book are very colorful and supports the text well. This book is perfect for the I love you award because it shows how friendships begin. I am positive children can understand and share stories related to the text. Great for a read aloud or independent read for children ages 4-8.

I nominate "I Going to be a Big Brother" by Brenda Bercun because it is the perfect book for a young boy who is going to be a first time big brother. This winner of the iParenting Media Book Awards Best of 2007 is about Sam's mother who becomes pregnant. He must learn about preparing for the new baby's arrival and what it truly means to be a big brother. Perfect for children ages 4-8 and is a great tool for both the child and parent. This book comes with a musical CD to have your older and younger sibling dancing around along with colorful pictures to follow the text.

I nominated this book by Alastair Reid because it includes numerous made up words that are fun and exciting to elementary aged children(9-12 year olds). This book has a collection of old and new words, including those to be said in singing moods, and words for times of day. Also, shows children a different and fun way to count to ten. This is great for a read aloud or as a family word play.

I nominated "Jack and the Beanstalk" by E. Nesbit because it includes a giant which is clearly a fictional creature and a beanstalk that grows up into the sky to his castle. This picked this version of the book because the pictures seem almost lifelike compared to other copies. "Jack and the Beanstalk" is perfect for kindergarten to fourth grade. Fluent readers can use this as an independent read while four year olds would be for a read aloud.

I nominated "Where the Sidewalk Ends" by Shel Silverstein because it is filled with numerous exciting and funny poems perfect for kindergarten through third grade. A lot of these poems have rhymes and funny different words. He introduces characters such as, Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout who never took the garbage out and Dirty Dan the worlds dirtiest man. He also includes funny, creative drawings throughout the whole book. This is a book that will stick with children for a long time.

I nominate "The Giving Tree" because the tree does so many nice things for the man through out her whole life. If the boy wanted shade, somewhere to climb, money, or just a place to sit she gave him just that. She gives everything to him and never once complained. She went from a huge, beautiful tree, to just a stomp to sit on. This story has a great moral for students from kindergarten to second grade. It is perfect for a read aloud or even an independent read.

Michael Recycle

I nominate this book by Ellie Bethel because it is about a young boy who encourages and teaches people to recycle using his superhero powers. It does not go into a deep informational setting but just an easy basic understanding about recycling and how it will help our planet. This book would be for children ages 4-8. For the younger children it is a great read aloud and for the older, an independent read. It uses fun, colorful pictures to bring the text to life.

I nominate this cookbook by Mollie Katzen. "Pretend Soup" lets young children put on the chef's hat with the help of a grown-up. These recipes are for children age 3-8 and directions are in comic form that goes from beginning to eat! Including these pictures help even toddlers become the chef. Also, a great way to help make meals for dinner with mom and/or dad. Green pasta is a big hit in this book and most children don't even know its made with pesto.

Our Mom Has Cancer

I nominate this book by Abigail Ackermann because it helps young children who has a family member dealing with cancer. It is based on a true story about the two girls who wrote the book. It shows how their lives were affected by their mother having cancer. I feel that this book will be great for children because, after reading it, they will feel that they are not alone and that somebody out there knows what they are going through. "Our Mom Has Cancer" is a 9-12 year old read.

This award is given to the best moral in a children's book. It must reach children from kindergarten all the way to sixth grade. It can be any genre that has an outstanding moral that children can learn from.

Harvey and Goudvis state,"We look for responses that illustrate insight into characters' problems, actions, and motives or that demonstrate that kids understood ways to meaningfully connect to books." Children must be able to make a clear understanding of the moral through illustrations and words. (Strategies That Work)

Nominations must be posted by March 5th.

Have fun!!!