Word With Wings

Words With Wings by Nikki Grimes is a verse novel about a young girl whose parents are getting divorced. The story is written in poem form, which some are long and some are short and some even rhyme. The girl in the story loves to dream and she loves words. Even just one word can take her on an amazing journey but her teachers and her parents do not like this. She is easily taken into her other world and away from the world we live in. She struggles with being in both worlds because she is criticized for day-dreaming so often.

This book can be used in many different types of classrooms, but mainly middle school or high school. The poems are so well written and students can learn a lot about poetry and about themselves from this book. Middle school or high school students would be able to connect well with the girl and understand what it is like to not always fit in. I loved this book and how quick of a read it was with such a lasting impact on the reader.

Behold The Bold Umbrellaphant

Behold The Bold Umbrellaphant by Jack Prelutsky is a book of poems where animals are made into other objects. The first poem is about an elephant who is also an umbrella. This book is full of different types of animals and objects that we see everywhere. This book is an interesting read for students of all ages and can even be used in high school English classes. This book also has very cool illustrations that look like paper glued together.

Teachers can use this book in many different types of classrooms. As I stated because high school English teachers can use this in their classrooms to teach poetry and bringing together two unlike objects. Teachers in elementary classrooms can do the same but in a much more simple way. Students will need to use their imaginations to create these ideas and they will cut out images much like the illustrations in this book. Parents can use this book at home with very young children to teach them about objects and animals.

I Didn't Do It

I Didn't Do it by Patricia MacLachlan and Emily MacLachlan Charest is a very cute book of poems about dogs. The first poem in the book is about puppies being born and it goes on from there about how puppies play but also have rules. The poems are all written very differently but also as a story all together. This book has wonderful illustrations that will grab students attention and will make them love puppies even more.

This book can be used in many ways in the classroom. First it can be used to address poetry and how poems can all be very different. It can be used to teach how poems can tell a story even if the poems are not all written the same way. A teacher can also use this book to show how artists create amazing illustrations. Students can take pictures of their favorite animals and write a poem about them and draw an illustration from the picture. Parents can also use this book at home for fun to read about dogs and their life styles.

Awful Orge Running Wild

Awful Orge Running Wild by Jack Prelutsky is a picture book full of poems. The poems are all about Awful Orge and his adventures he gets into. Each poem is written differently, some rhyme while others do not and some are long while others are short. I like this because it helps to show students that all poems can be different and rhyming does not make it a poem. The pictures in this book work very well the poems and are fun to look at and examine. Children will love the pictures and the stories that are told through poetry.

This is a very fun book for students of all ages. This is also part of a series of book about Awful Orge. This book is a great way to teach students about poetry and how it can be used in many ways. Teachers can use this in their classrooms to show the wide variety of poetry while parents can use this book at home to read for fun to their children. Orge is a very fun character that students can connect with and laugh with.

And Then It's Spring

The book and then it's spring by Julie Fogliano is a great book about planting seeds and having to wait patiently. The story is about a little boy who plants many seeds right before spring. He plants them and then he waits and wishes for rain. The rain them comes but everything around him is still brown. He waits and waits for the brown to go away but one day it does. And then it is spring.

This book is a very sweet and poem-like. The pictures help to capture the meaning behind the book and the beauty that comes with spring. This book can be used in the classroom right before spring to help students understand the process of gardening and the importance of rain and soil. This can also get students very excited for spring time. In the classroom, a teacher could have students plant seeds of their own to have their own little garden in class. They can wait for the plants to grow all together, just like the boy in the story. Parents can also use this book at home to express the importance of springtime and what it brings to crops and the world around us.

You Can't Have Too Many Friends!

The book You Can't Have Too Many Friends! by Mordicai Gerstein is a fun book about how you can never have too many friends. This book is about a Duck who has a great garden and he grows many jelly beans. One day the King of the land asked to borrow his jelly beans and the Duck allowed him. The Duck waits a whole year but the King never returns his jelly beans, so Duck decides to go to them himself. Along the way he runs into many friends that want to come along. He shrinks his friends down and carries them with him as he went to see the King. When he gets to the King's castle, the King refuses to help him and keeps sending the Duck away. The Duck uses his friends to help him get his jelly beans back.

This book can be used to teach children forgiveness and friendship. This would be best used for children in younger grades to help them see that friends are everywhere even if people are mean to you before. Parents can also use this book at home to teach the same thing to their children. Friendship is an important concept for all children to understand. This book does a great job of helping children realize that forgiveness is important and so are friends.

Edwina The Dinosaur Who Didn't Know She Was Extinct

The book Edwina The Dinosaur Who Didn't Know She Was Extinct by Mo Willems is about dinosaur who does not know she is extinct. She loves to be around all the people in the friendly town and no one else even knows that she is suppose to be extinct besides, Reginald Von Hoobie-Doobie. He wants everyone to know that she is not real but no one will believe him. No one will even take the time to listen to him until one day Edwina says she will listen to him.

This book is a fun book that can teach students about dinosaurs but also just about being a good friend. Teachers can use this book in the classroom to teach students that listening to someone can make them very happy. It can also teach students to be kind and willing to listen to others. This book can also be used at home for parents to read to their kids. It is a fun book and really cute with great illustrations. Mo Willems books are always fun for children.

The Duckling Gets A Cookie

The Duckling Gets A Cookie by Mo Willems is a fun book about the Pigeon and the Duckling. In this book the Duckling gets a cookie simply by asking for one, politely. The Pigeon gets very upset by this because he did not get a cookie. He begins going on a rant about how he asks for so many things but never gets them. The Duckling ends up giving the Pigeon the cookie because he wants it. Then the Duckling asks for another cookie.

This is a really cute book that can be used to teach children to ask for things politely and that they may not get everything they ask for. Parents and teachers can use this book. Teachers can also use this book for craft lessons on how to write a full circle story. This book can also be used at home for a fun read with kids. Mo Willems has other books similar to this one about the Pigeon and the Duckling.

Those Darn Squirrels!

Those Darn Squirrels! by Adam Rubin is a really sweet book about an old man who loves birds but hates to see them go every winter. He tries to find ways to have the birds stay by placing many bird feeders outside his house. The birds love the food but so did some other animals, the squirrels. The old man gets so mad because the squirrels are taking all of the birds food. He begins to create traps to keep the squirrels out but the squirrels are too smart and find ways to eat the food anyway. It begins to get cold and the birds leave to fly south for the winter. The old man begins to get very sad because his only friends are gone. But the squirrels want to help and create ways to cheer up the old man and it works!

I loved this book and I feel this book can be a fun read aloud for K-2 classrooms. This book can help teach students that friends can come from the strangest places. Parents can also use this book at home to read to their children. Children can learn about how birds fly south for the winter and also that making someone smile is worth it.

E-mergency!

E-MERGENCY! by Tom Litchenehld and Ezra Fields-Meyer is a really fun book about letters. It starts off explaining how all the letters in the alphabet live in one house and help each other to make new words. Until, one morning E was running down the stairs too fast and fell. She hurt herself very badly and had to go to the hospital. So to give E the rest she needed, everyone needed to stop using the letter in and instead they would use the letter O. The letters travelled everywhere, from Washington DC to speak to Congress and even across the world. The letters needed to make sure that no one was using the letter E so that she would get better.
I loved this book because it is really fun and helpful for students who are just learning sounds and letters. Teachers in any K-2 classroom can use this book for students who need extra help with letter and the importance that they have. Its a super fun book for kids because the letters say hilarious things using the letter they start with. Parents can use this book at home as well for children who are beginning to learn letters and sounds or even to get their child ahead of the game.

That One Spooky Night

That One Spooky Night by Dan Bar-el is a graphic novel about Halloween. It is a very fun read for any age and the pictures are fantastic. This book contains multiple different stories about one Halloween night that went a little crazy for different people. The stories are funny and keep the reader very engaged. The reader not only has to read the words but they must look at the pictures because some of the pictures have no words. This book is very unique because it contains many stories about one spooky night, or Halloween.
This book can be used in the classroom around Halloween time. A teacher could use this book for a unit on graphic novels and could have the students create their own "One Spooky Night" story. The teacher can make this a writing assignment and have the students actually publish their own story to add to the book. Parents can use this book to read to their children before bedtime around Halloween. Parents could also use this book to show their children a different type of book.

Seedfolks

Seedfolks by Paul Fleischman is an amazing book about immigration and planting. The book changes perspectives in every chapter and no character is every repeated. All of the characters have one thing in common, they live in a neighborhood in Cleveland where someone has started to grow a garden. All of the characters have different reasons for connected with the garden and some participate in the growing and some just sit and watch. I thought this book was so interesting and it was a fun read. It helps to put immigration on the minds of the reader and it makes the reader think about how everyone has a different story and life.

This book would be best used in high school or middle school settings. Younger readers would not connect with the book as well as older readers would. This book is a great read and a quick one. Students would love it because it could be made into sort of a play. Each student could be a character and read their chapter. This activity would be great because it would help to make the character's real in the minds of the readers. This book could also be used at home to help children understand that everyone is different and comes from some place different.

Angels

Angels by Eloise Greenfield is a book of poems. These poems all relate back to one common idea: angels. The poems are all soft and short but the comfort you as you read them. In someway, every reader can connect with the poems. The illustrations help to draw a clearer picture for the reader but the words create a strong story.
This book of poems is a great one that should be used carefully in the classroom. Some poems do relate to God and should not be used in public schools. This book can be used in classrooms that are allowed to discuss God. I loved the poems in this book because they are loving and really put you in the place of the person in the poem. These can used in the classroom as poems to reflect upon and how the reader feels after hearing the poem or what it makes them think about. This book would be great for any age students and the teacher can read them one poem at a time. This book could also be used at home by parents to read their child a nice poem before bedtime.

Mary McLeod Bethune

Mary McLeod Bethune by Eloise Greenfield is a fun read about a very interesting woman. Every since Mary was a young girl she had always had a passion for reading. She wanted to make the world a better place through her reading. She became a teacher when she got older and later founded a school. Once the school got bigger she added a hospital.
I loved this book and I think this is a great one to read to young children in elementary school. This book teaches children to work hard no matter what and to remember they can always become something if they work hard enough. Mary grew up in a very poor family but worked very hard to get scholarships to go to schools and further her education. This book could also be used at home for children to learn to work hard and stay in school. I loved this book because Mary worked so hard to get where she was and it is truly an inspiring story.

The Great Migration: Journey to the North

The Great Migration: Journey to the North by Eloise Greenfield is an interesting read about a family moving North during a hard time for African Americans. During the Great Migration in the south, African Americans were forced to be segregated from white people even though they were free people. Many African Americans felt the need to get out of the south and move to North to live a real free life. This book is loosely based on Eloise Greenfield's life because it is about a family moving from North Carolina to Washington, DC, which is exactly what her family did. This book gave different perspectives about the move from different characters points of view. I loved this because it helped to show what each member of the family was thinking as they were moving to a new place.

This book is a great book to explain what happened during segregation in the South. It helps give the reader a perspective of what it would have been like to grow up during this time or even be an adult. This book could be used in any classroom that is learning about this time period. It could also be used at home to explain to children why everyone needs to be treated equally but also to teach children about American's rough past. The pictures in this book help to tell the story and they are beautifully done. There is a lot behind some of the pictures but to see it the reader will need to look very closely. This book might best be used for older elementary school children who understand slavery and what it was like to be a minority during this time.