Libby’s Comments (group member since Oct 27, 2011)

Libby’s comments from the http://www.EDUG573Fall2011 group.

You Remind Me Of You : A Poetry Memoir

This is a very powerful memoir in poetry form about a girl who struggled with eating disorders. Her struggle began at 16 and led her to years in and out of treatment facilities. She learns after graduation that her old boyfriend attempted suicide and is in a coma in the hospital. They work to help heal each other and themselves.

The book is very honest and is written beautifully. It is definitely a book for more mature readers at the high school level because of some of the content. However, these are very real issues that many teenagers face today and to hear an experience from the mouth of a person who went through these problems can be very powerful. It allows students to be able to relate to someone which is many times what they need. Also, to see what she went through and where she is today can be encouraging.

A Bad Case of Stripes

Camilla is a little girl who loves lima beans but does not eat them. Everyone else at school hates them and she just wants to be accepted. On the first day of school she could not decide what to wear - she wanted to impress everyone - and ended up covered in stripes, head to toe. After the doctor cleared her Camilla was forced to go to school which only made it worse. They teased her and asked her to make her skin look like other things and her skin automatically changed. After distracting the whole school, the specialists and experts coming in and Camilla being unrecognizable, she finally gets cured by a little helping of lima beans.

Besides being a sweet, fun and silly story this is a great book to include in comprehension and social lessons. In the K-3 level you could talk about problem/solution, beginning/end, etc. You could also have the students come up with their own ending to the story. This would also be a great story to talk about why she did not want people to know she liked lima beans. Students could discuss self-worth and whether caring about what other people think about you is good or bad.

Do Unto Otters: A Book About Manners

This is a very cute book designed to teach students about manners. The rabbit has a family of otters move in next door and he realizes he does not know anything about them. So, he asks himself "how would I want otters to treat me?" Obviously this is a very similar word to others and my Kindergarteners picked up on this right away. The rabbit goes on to discuss specific things he would want otters to do around him and to him and so he should do the same.

I think this is a great beginning of the school year book for any grade. I used it to talk about how we should treat others just the same way we would want them to treat them. It was a great way to teach a simple saying in a silly way!

Have You Filled a Bucket Today: A Guide to Daily Happiness for Kids

When I first heard of the concept of "bucket filling" I was very confused. As I read more about it I realized what a great way to teach students about kind words and actions! Everyone has an invisible bucket and receiving kind words and actions from others can fill it. However, some people, for example bullies, try to fill their buckets by being bucket dippers and trying to take things from others' buckets. This will not work though because taking from others' buckets will empty's yours as well. But, if you fill others' buckets you will fill yours!

The concept is a little confusing at first but the wonderful illustrations helped even my Kindergarteners to understand the concept. Now I can ask them if they have filled a bucket yet today or if what they are doing is being a bucket filler or a bucket dipper. I have seen teachers have physical buckets in their classrooms for each student so students can fill each other’s buckets with kind words. This book would work in any age level because the concept is so easy to refer to! It is amazing to even see the student saying to each other sometimes, “that person is being a bucket dipper not a bucket filler.”

When Sophie Gets Angry -- Really, Really Angry

This book is a simple narrative that describes what this girl does when she gets angry. Sophie is playing with her sister and they fight over a toy. As they are tugging and pulling she trips over a truck and gets angrier. She throws a fit and runs outside and calms down.

A twice over award winner, this book is very good to read to a younger audience as it is a good conversation starter of what you can do when you get angry. The illustrations show the emotions of Sophie throughout the short story and how she overcomes her anger.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days

One of the many in a very popular series, Diary of a Wimpy Kid; Dog Days is about Gregory’s summer. If you have not read any of the Wimpy Kid series it is written like a journal from the main character's point of view. He also draws many pictures and diagrams in his journal which helps it to be a graphic novel. I found myself laughing a bit throughout the story but then also wondering if Gregory’s personality (greedy, lazy, selfish) might start to show with the kids who read these over and over again. However, just as I said with Captain Underpants, I have seen many students not able to put this, or any other Wimpy Kid books, down.

I would recommend this for grades 2-6 as more of a free read book. Although, it might be interesting for a read aloud to talk about the way Gregory handles some of the situations he gets in and maybe a better way to handle it.

A Wrinkle in Time

This story is for those students who love science fiction - and those who don't. I never read science fiction growing up until I read this. This is a book I couldn't put down and read over and over again. About a girl named Meg whose father is a scientist, little brother is a genius and twin brothers are trouble makers. Her father has been gone for a very long time and her mother never really says anything about it except that he will come back one day. She ends up meeting these three 'witches' (Mrs. Who, Mrs. Which and Mrs. Whatsit) who turn out to be creatures of another planet. They want her to come with them and save her father. I won't ruin the story for you, just read it! I would recommend this for grades 4-6 either for a read-aloud, individual student or a literature circle. There is so much to discuss in this book. Although it is an older story, written in 1962, it won the Newberry Medal and continues to be my favorite book of all time.

Cindy Ellen: A Wild Western Cinderella

This is a very cute parody of Cinderella based on the "wild west." Her stepsisters called her "Cinderbottom" and "Sanderalla" because she sat by the fire when she wasn't working on the ranch. Instead of a royal ball with the king, they were all invited to a two-day celebration; a rodeoand a square dance from the biggest cattle king for miles. With the help of her fairy godmother (of course) she ends up winning the rodeo then coming back the next day for the square dance. Instead of a glass slipper, her diamon spur fell off her boot when she ran away. We all know how the story ends.

I think this would be great for most grades to compare and contrast to the original story of Cinderella. Maybe to also discuss why the author decided to rewrite one of the most famous stories ever.

The Jolly Postman: Or Other People's Letters

You could do SO many cool things with this book in the classroom! This story is about a postman who delivers letters to common storybook characters (The Three Bears, a giant, Cinderella, etc.). Each time he delivers a story you can pull the letter out of the envelope on the page and read it. Each piece of mail is different though; an add for the witch, an apology letter to the three bears, a letter from the lawyer to the wolf.

This story would be great for K-8, adapted of course. You could talk about the format of a letter, the different characters and what story they come from. The students could pick one of the pieces of mail and write a response to it. It is also a great model for point of view! This is probably high on my list of 'buy this book.'

Martin's Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

I had been looking for a book about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to read to my Kindergarteners and I came across this book. This book is an amazing telling of his life from a boy to his death and everything inbetween. Almost every page has an important quote from his life, not to mention the beautiful illustrations on each page. This book could be used at any grade level because there are so many different lessons and things you could do with it.

Now We Are Six

Written in 1927, this book is by the same author as one of the most known characters of all time, Winnie the Pooh. This book is full of 'pooh-poetry' and poems about life and other things. The poems also have a great rhythm to them that I haven't seen in many poetry books today. I think this might be a great, and different way to work on some vocabulary and comprehension. It is definetely something that students today would not be used to because of the vocabulary that is used and the way the verses are set up however they may need to use some more critical thinking skills as the meanings are not always obvious.

Pablo's Tree

This is a sweet book about the love between a grandfather and his grandson. The grandfather finds out his daughter is having a boy and goes out and buys a tree for him. Every year for the boy's birthday, his grandpa decorates the tree differently and each year it is a surprise. Throughout the story the grandpa tells the story of why he planted the tree and what he decorated it with in the past.

I use this book as a simple story to read to my students during read aloud. We are able to talk about family and traditions. My students love this book!

The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane

This is such a beautiful story that I could read over and over again. It is the story of a china rabbit named Edward Tulane who is very spoiled by his owner Abilene and takes everything for granted - until one day he gets thrown overboard by a group of boys when they were on a cruise. Throughout the story Edward goes from person to person seeing the hardships people go through and learns to love others instead of himself.

The imagery and detail in this story is excellent and the lessons that can be learned are endless. I would recommend this for a read-aloud to students from grades 2 and up. I don't think I could put a limit to it - my college professor read it to my class one semester and we enjoyed it so much that it became one of my all time favorite books.

Captain Underpants and the Attack of the Talking Toilets

Although a little immature and a lot silly, I have seen boys who refuse to read, not be able to put this down. The story is about two boys who seem to be very smart but are always getting into trouble. This is the third book in the series of Captain Underpants books. Captain Underpants is their really their principal although he does not know it. Previously they had turned their principal into Captain Underpants and now whenever they snap their fingers he turns back into him again. In this book they accidentally turn all the toilets in the school into man eating monsters and Captain Underpants comes out to save the day, although he is not very good at it.

Like I said, I would not use this book with a group of students however for those boys who struggle with getting into something, this might just do the trick. I would say this is for grades 2-5.

Ruth Law Thrills a Nation

This picture book tells the story of a brave woman named Ruth Law who dared to fly from Chicago to New York in one day in 1916. It describes how she prepared to fly that distance and the struggles she faced. Ruth had to land two hours before she reached New York because it was getting dark and she had no headlights. This book would be great for Kindergarten and up as a social studies lesson. It would start a great discussion about what is different now compared to back then.

Twilight

Twilight is a very popular book/series and because of this I would recommend it to young adults. Obviously there is something that is drawing them in and encouraging students to read - even students who might not have been reading before. However, I do not think it is a great "role model" book for young girls to be reading.
The main character, Bella, moves away from her mom and her new husband to live with her dad. She ends up meeting Edward, a vampire, and after a lot of drama and a depressing attitude throughout the book, Bella and Edward kind of get together but not really. You'd have to read the rest of the series to find out what actually happens. Bella is very dependent and obsessed with Edward for most of the book and she has such a negative attitude towards everything she does. I am not sure she is what I would want young readers to have as a role model. However, as I said, I couldn't put it down and if it is getting students to read it could be a double edged sword - or the start to an important conversation.

Where the Wild Things Are

I have never met a person who has not read Where the Wild Things Are. What a great representation of the imagination of childhood! Both the pictures and the story are so classic and yet every time it is read the magic is captured again and again. I would read this book to my class and talk about whether Max really went to where the wild things are or if he imagined the whole thing. Or I would just use this as a read aloud and let the students think whatever they'd like as they listen.

Dirt on My Shirt

Dirt on my Shirt is a collection of short and random poems, mostly written from the perspective of a child. The topics range from family members to noises to poems about animals. The unique thing about these poems are they are about one small moment, event or trait about a person. I think this would be a great book to use for a mentor text to work on the 'voice' trait or if you were doing a poetry unit.

The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy

This is an innocent story about four sisters and their summer. The part I loved about this story is the character development. Each sister has their own distict personality which makes their interactions with each other seem more real and sincere. In the beginning of this story the girls and their father head to what they think is a cabin but turns out to be a cabin on a large estate where there is a lot of trouble to get into.

This book would be good for a read-aloud or a literature circle from 4th to 6th grade.

The Cow That Went Oink by Bernard Most is a very cute story that makes the kids laugh and teaches them a life lesson. This story is about a cow who can't moo, he can only oink. He gets teased and laughed at because he is different. Then he meets a pig on the farm who cannot oink but can only moo. The pig also gets laughed at by the barnyard animals.

The cow and the pig decide to teach each other how to moo and oink. The author shows this in a humorous way mixing the oink and the moo to make words like 'moink' and 'oinkoo'. The animals are able to teach each other to oink and moo. The result is that they 'have the last laugh' because they say more than the other animals.

I love this book because of the lessons the students learn from it. Not only does it spark a discussion about teasing others about being different. It also sparks a discussion about teaching peers. This book shows students that some peers know things that others don't and vice versa. It lends itself to talking to primary students about differentiation in a way they can understand it.