Gaston

Gaston  by Kelly DiPucchio is a picture book about two puppies who do not look like the rest of their families. It starts off with Mrs. Poodle and her four puppies, Fi-Fi, Foo-Foo, Ooh-La-La and Gaston. Gaston does not look like all the rest and finds it challenging to act his sisters. He always tries his best when being taught new things, but still struggles to behave the way he should. One day Mrs. Poodle takes her puppies to the park and they run into another puppy family; Rocky, Ricky, Bruno and Antoinette. Rocky, Ricky, and Bruno are all bulldog but Antoinette is a poodle. The mothers look at their puppies all playing together and they both notice that something just is not right. They do not want to make the decision for the puppies, but on their own the puppies decide to switch families. After switching, both Gaston and Antoinette realize they do not fit in with their new families. They both decide to switch back but the families all stay friends.
This book is a fun and cute read for kids in elementary school. It deals a lot with fitting in and how even though you may think you do not belong somewhere, you need to be in the place that is most comfortable for you. Students can learn a lot from this book and notice that even if they look different they can still fit in.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid

Today I finished reading Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney. It was a very fun read and I loved how it was written as if it was a real diary. The main character, Greg, is a boy in middle school who just wants to be popular. He is the middle child of a family of all boys. Greg does a lot of things on his own but also gets into a lot of trouble. Most of the book Greg tries to find ways to get popular at school. He tries being a patrol, the class clown, and the comic strip writer for the school newspaper.

This is a great book for any middle schooler to read because it relates to students of that age group. Middle school students struggle with fitting in which this story address a lot. Although, some of the mishaps Greg gets into are not the best advice for students, they can still learn a lot
about how to just be yourself. I would recommend that parents or teachers talk to kids before reading this book to make sure they do not think that all the actions of Greg's are smart because they clearly are not. But it will help students to feel comfortable about themselves and that other kids feel the same way as they do. Lastly, its a series! If your kids enjoy the first one they will like the others as well, which will mean more reading!