Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson

 

Chains 

(Atheneum Books for Young Readers-2008)

By: Laurie Halse Anderson

Grade: 5-7

Chains takes place at the beginning of the Revolutionary War. A thirteen year-old girl names Isabel is promised her freedom by her dying owner. Her owner was very compassionate towards her slaves and taught them to read and write. Miss Mary Finch, their previous owner in Rhode Island, had promised their freedom before she died, but she is instead, since there was no written proof, they were sold to a New York couple with her sister. As a result, her nephew inherited her estate and promptly sold Isabel and Ruth to the Locktons. Isabel and Ruth must do all they can do in order to get freedom, even if one of them spies on their owners for British secrets.This is a great book about determination and what it used to take to become free. The lives of these girls will hopefully make students be thankful for the lives they have.

Theme/Skills Taught: African American history, slavery, bravery, freedom/History of the Revolutionary war

About the Author: Laurie Halse Anderson says that no one who knew her as a child thought she would become a successful adult. She stuttered and needed a reading tutor growing up. In college, she avoided English because she hated the way they made her analyze books. She got her sense of story from eavesdropping on grown-ups telling stories. Initially, she worked as a journalist and completed work-for-hire writing projects to gain experience. But, after having children she grew a new love for literature. When Anderson first started writing for children, she had a day job. “I was sneaking in my writing in the morning and at night. Now that I’m a published author who’s had a lot of lucky breaks, I have a day job—designing my website, answering fan mail, speaking at schools and conferences. So I still sneak in my writing in the morning and at night.”  She feels fortunate to have had such an impact on children. If she had to predict how her life would have turned out, she would never have predicted her current success. For more information on Laurie

Pre-Reading Activities: A great way to introduce this story is to go over the title, "chains". The cover of the book gives some indication that the book is about slavery. Ask students what they already know about slavery? This is a great time to discuss "touchy" subjects to make sure the students know the facts about slavery. This could be used during a history unit to tie in real facts with this story.

Post Reading Activities:  

ELA & Social Studies: During a Revolutionary War unit, have the students create a diary of what goes on in the book, as if they are Isabel, Ruth, or Curzon (another way to summarize). This will be going on while they are reading the book and in each entry students will need to tie in something that accurately occurred in the war.  

Science: Research weather patterns and plant types in the region of New York City. Try to figure out what kind of seeds Isabel might have planted throughout the year to keep her garden going.

Math: Find the number of residents and slaves in New York City in 1776. What percentage of people were slaves? Create a graph to represent this information.

The Island of the Blue Doplins by Scott O'Dell

 

Island of the Blue Dolphins  

(Houghton Mifflin Books for Children; 10th edition-1960)

By: Scott O'Dell

Grade: 5

Once indians lived on the island, but when they left and sailed east they left one young girl behind.  This story is about an Indian girl names Karana that has to learn how to survive the obstacles that she comes across while on the island. Year after year, she watched one season pass into another and waited for a ship to take her away. But while she waited, she kept herself alive by building a shelter, making weapons, finding food, and fighting her enemies, the wild dogs. It is not only an unusual adventure of survival, but also a tale of natural beauty and personal discovery. It is a great story about making the most of what you have and not giving up. It would have been easy for a young child to be unaware how to survive if they were left alone. It is a good idea to teach students how to take care of themselves if anything may happen to them.

Theme/Skills Taught: Survival/Character Comparisons & Survival Techniques

About the Author: Scott O’Dell’s name was created as a mistake. He was born Odell Gabriel Scott, but while he was working as a newspaper reporter for the Los Angeles Daily News, an editor mistakenly wrote Scott O’Dell as his byline. The name stuck, and O’Dell legally changed it. After his newspaper days, he began writing books for adults. Beginning in the late 1950s, however, his focus shifted, and he started writing for young adults. He wrote over twenty-six young adult novels, three books for adults, and four nonfiction books. His most famous work is Island of the Blue Dolphins, which won the 1961 Newbery Medal, among other awards. More information about Scott

Pre-Reading Activities: Have students try to identify the components of courage. You might start them off by listing "resolve" and "inner strength." Ask students to help define these terms and to name other aspects of courage. Then challenge them to find examples to share with the class. They might find poems or short stories in which characters show inner strength, newspaper articles that describe people who have shown resolve, and so on. As students read, they can think about how Karana shows courage.

Post Reading Activities: Have the students create a relief map of the community (without businesses and restaurants) and have them put the ways they would be able to survive off the land on the map, like Karana was able to survive on the island. Then, the students will need to write how they were survive on the land and compare it to Karana's experience.

Ten Terrible Dinosaurs by Paul Stickland

Ten Terrible Dinosaurs
(Demco Media-2001)

By: Paul Stickland

Grade: K-2

Ten Terrible Dinosaurs is a great book about numbers. The dinosaurs count down from ten to one, which is a perfect introduction to subtraction to very young children. I also like it to teach fluency. Rhyming is a great way to teach kids how to flow when they are reading. I love reading rhyming books out loud and have them figure out the end of the rhyme. Everyone feels involved and we are having fun learning!

Skills Taught: Subtraction & Rhyming

About the Author: Paul Stickland has illustrated many popular books for children. He lives in Somerset, England with his wife and their four sons. He is the author, illustrator AND pop up designer of many very popular children's books.Creator of over 50 books, including Dinosaur Roar, Ten Terrible Dinosaurs, Dinosaurs Galore, The Christmas Bear, One Bear One Dog, A Number of Dinosaurs, Swamp Stomp,Truck Jam, Big Dig, Big Bug Little Bug and many more.He is really interested in using paper folding and pop up technology even outside his books. About Paul Stickland

Reading Activities: Before reading the book, you can go over (or count together) 1-10 to get them ready for the story. This book is relatively "simple" so I had an activity to do while reading the book: cover the number and have a student count the amount of dinosaurs. Have them complete the rhyme. That is always fun! It is great to show them the use of adjectives and how it can really bring a picture to life. Have them draw their favorite animals and describe it using as many adjectives as they can. Give them some examples to start.

Sophie and Sammy's Library Sleepover by Judith Caseley

 

Sophie and Sammy's Library Sleepover 

(Greenwillow; 1st edition-1993)

By: Judith Caseley

Grade: K-2

Sophie and Sammy's Library Sleepover is a really cute book about a sister who loves to read and a brother who destroys and throws books. Their mother takes Sophie to a library sleepover, which isn't really a sleepover. The kids and the librarian dressed in their pajamas and read stories, just for fun! It was so great and Sophie loved it except she wishes her brother Sammy went with her. When she gets home, she decides to have her own library sleepover with Sammy, reading him every book she knows how to read. Sammy grows a new appreciation for reading and Sophie says she is going to be a librarian when she grows up. It is an inspiring story especially for all those young students who have not developed the enjoyment factor from reading. It can be so much fun!

Theme/Skills Taught: Appreciation for reading/Presenting


About the Author: Judith was born in a small town in New Jersey in a converted army development where all of the houses were white. Her mother compensated by decorating the bedrooms with vibrant colors. She went to Syracuse University and majored in English, but when the reading became too much she switched to art. During her four years in college, she never took a course in illustration. Ten years later she was an author and illustrator of children's books. She takes small events from her life or the lives of her children and fictionalizes them. She doesn't mention which event inspired this book but a lot of her others are inspired by her children and it is so interesting how she creatively transforms their lives into a children' book.About Judith Caseley

Pre-Reading Activities: Do an interest inventory about their feelings about reading.Then, you can go over some of the results with the class because there are bound to be students who LOVE reading and those who think they HATE it. Each of the students can relate to someone in the story, which is why it is such a great read. Our goal is to get students to grow an appreciation for reading and this book teaches just that.


Post Reading Activities: Choose a book that you love to read and write a journal entry about what you imagine as you read it. One of the emphasis in the book is creating images in your head as you read because there will not always be picture books available (or assigned). It is great to teach kids to imagine things as they read and create a picture in their head so they can relate.

Sir Cumference and the Sword in the Cone by Cindy Neuschwander

 

Sir Cumference and the Sword in the Cone 

 (Charlesbridge Pub Inc-2003)

By: Cindy Neuschwander

Illustrated by: Wayne Geehan

Grade: 6-8

Sir Cumference and the Sword in the Cone is a math adventure about Sir Cumference who has to use math skills to determine where the cone is. It is a wonderful and very informational book about math concepts. It makes learning fun, which is what reading is all about! There were a few lines where I had to read it over twice to understand what they were saying, but that is the fun of a mystery. Doing this with the students would be really fun and educational.

Theme/Skills Taught: Adventure/shapes, faces, rounding & measuring


About the Author:
Cindy Neuschwander is a native Californian, born in San Diego, CA. Cindy graduated with a BA in International Studies from Willamette University and earned an MA from Stanford University. She has taught all grades in elementary school as well as high school. In addition to her teaching, Cindy is the author of eight published picture books for children with mathematical themes. Cindy began writing books in 1994. She had used math literature with her own classes in the early 1990’s and liked the way students responded to it. She wanted to use more of these books but found there were not many available so she started writing some of her own.Cindy Neuschwander's Bio

About the Illustrator: Wayne grew up in Manchester, Conneticut, on a street with lots of kids.During his down time he used to spend hours in the library, going through stacks and finding illustrated books to take home and read. He didn't always want to be an artist but he did like to draw. In high school he knew that he would be an artist because it was either go to college or be drafted. So upon graduation he moved to Boston where he enrolled in The Art Institute of Boston, an art school that primarily taught advertising design and illustration. He found his first job (after college AND being drafted) in Boston at a company that produced jigsaw puzzles and games. For the first fifteen years he illustrated jigsaw puzzles, games, book covers, and fantasy and science fiction stories. The second fifteen years he illustrated children's books for various publishers. Wayne Geehan's Bio

Pre-Reading Activities: Before the lesson, it may be important to go over key math concepts such as radias that students will need to know in order to really understand the book. In your notebook, write about a time you had to use math outside of school. This will be important because Sir Cumference has to use math to find the cone.It is important to teach students they will use math outside the classroom: grocery story, restaurant, shopping, etc.


Post Reading Activities: This would be an introduction to a lesson on shapes, faces, rounding or measuring. This book will get the students interested and ready to learn. Or possibly, the the book as a review to see how much the students have learned and can they apply the information. Write the problems in the board or a worksheet so students can work through the mystery as you read.

With Love, Little Red Hen by Alma Flor Ada

With Love, Little Red Hen  

(Atheneum Books for Young Readers-2004)

By: Alma Flor Ada

Illustrated by: Leslie Tryon

Grade: 2-3

With Love, Little Red Hen is about a hen who moves into a new town with her seven chicks and wants to grow corn, but none of her neighbors will help. Little Red Riding Hood writes a letter to Goldilocks asking for her help. They decide to surprise Red Hen and help with harvesting the corn. Hen puts a letter on the scarecrow to invite whoever has helped to dinner. I love the end of the book because it is a picture walk left to  interpretation. This is a great book to teach kids about helping others and the struggles of getting acquainted to a new neighborhood.

Theme/Skills Taught:Helping others/letter writing

About the Author: Alma's grandmother taught her to read before she was three by writing the names of plants and flowers with a stick on the ground. She loved to read outdoors and especially in the trees! Her grandmother, uncle and father also loved to tell her stories, which is a great contributor to her story-telling abilities. One of the bedtime stories she made up for her nieces actually became a book. About Alma Flor Ada

About the Illustrator: Leslie began drawing almost as soon as she learned to walk. She would use the charcoal, colored pencils and ink from her father's art supply room next door! She wrote and illustrated her first full story when she was in 5th grade. This is a great point to discuss with your students. It is never too young to be successful. However, she did become a dancer first. The places she has lived and her husband, relatives and friends continue to encourage and inspire her. Leslie Tryon's Bio

Pre-Reading Activities: Go over the structure of writing a letter. Has anyone ever written a letter before? What might you have to write a letter for?

-Discuss what it would be like for a kid to move to a new school? You could use this in the beginning of the year to talk about helping others get acquainted.

Post Reading Activities: Have them write a letter to the teacher or to their parents about something they need help with, whether it is academic or not. Have them use the same structure (it may take a few rough drafts).

Sea Shapes by Suse MacDonald

Sea Shapes 

 (Sandpiper; 1st Voyager Books ed edition-1998)

By: Suse MacDonald

Grade:PreK-1

Sea Shapes is a great introductory book to shapes (including shapes that are not typical). It is a great book for younger kids to learn about shapes paired with their interest in the ocean and sea animals. It is a great book for art too because on the left side of each page it has pictures. For example, on the triangle page, the first picture will be a triangle and the second will be triangles in the sharks mouth to represent teeth. The back of the book also has sea facts about different creatures of the sea.

Theme/Skills taught: Shapes, Art, Counting

About the Author: As a child Suse loved to draw and imagine. When she began college she knew art would be a focus in her life. She loved doing art but where would she fit in the art world? After college, she got a job in a large New York studio illustrating science text books where she became fascinated by the commercial side of art. Five years later Suse and her husband Stuart moved to Vermont to operate a construction company but after ten years she decided to return to illustration. She attended two Boston art schools: the New England School of Art and Design and the Art Institute. As her studies progressed she became more and more attracted to children's books and started to get ideas. Her first book Alphabatics, jump started Suse's career. Since 1986 Suse has written and or illustrated nineteen books. Suse Macdonald's Bio

Pre-Reading Activities: What shapes do you think you can find in the ocean? Students will brainstorm and attempt to recall shapes they know.

Post Reading Activities: Have them draw an object using only shapes they learned about in the book. It would be interesting to see where their imagination will take them! Have them count the amount of shapes (ex. triangles)they find on a specific page.

Jamela's Dress by Niki Daly

Jamela's Dress 

(Farrar, Straus and Giroux-2004)

By: Niki Daly

Grade: K-2

Jamela's Dress is the first of a series of picture books about a young African girl, Jamela. In this story, Jamela volunteers to watch her mother's dress material dry, but instead lets her imagination take over. She took the material, wrapped it around her like a dress and went to town singing "Kwela, Jamela African Queen". The material got so ruined and her mother was not very happy. But this story does have a happy ending. I loved how Jamela wasn't afraid to use her imagination, I just wouldn't want my students thinking it was okay to be that irresponsible.

Theme/Skills Taught: Imagination & Adventure/Foreshadowing, geography & problem solving

About the Author: Niki Daly is a South African author-illustrator whose picture books celebrate the imaginative powers of children and their magnificent everyday lives. He is able to view the world from a child's perspective, mostly reflective of multicultural modern South Africa. Indeed, many of Daly's solo efforts, as well as his illustrations for other authors, represent strongly African themes. Daly first became involved in drawing by using pencil stubs handed down from an uncle who painted watercolor pictures. Born in South Africa, Daly traveled to London at the age of twenty-four in order to pursue a career in singing and songwriting. However, economic difficulties ended his music career after two years, and Daly found work as a commercial artist, which eventually led to illustration for children's books. Daly's themes and motifs continue to surprise. His picture books range from the sublime to the silly, and in between they subtly challenge social prejudices without being didactic. Niki Daly's Bio

Pre-Reading Activities: As you are reading, teach foreshadowing skills. This is done by pausing as you read to ask questions such as: What do you think is going to happen when she goes to town? How do you think her mother will react? This teaches kids to use what they already know to predict the next scene.

Post Reading Activities: The story has a happy ending. What if the photographer did not get paid for the picture and Jamela wasn't able to buy more fabric? Discussing this with the students may help with their problem solving skills. Describe a time when you "messed up" and what did you do to fix the problem? This can be done aloud or in a notebook.

-You could tie this into a Social Studies lesson to show them where South Africa is and "research" location, dress, foods, etc.

Soul Looks Back in Wonder by Tom Feelings

Soul Looks Back in Wonder

(Puffin -1999)

By: Tom Feelings

Grade: 4-6

Soul Looks Back in Wonder is a collection of poems by 13 different poets that celebrates the African heritage of strength and endurance, beauty and love, knowledge and creativity. The art really helps paint a picture in our minds and really helps us to feel true emotions for these people. It is a great book to use to talk about diversity and embracing differences.

Theme/Skills Taught: Strength and endurance, beauty and love, knowledge and creativity/

About the Author: A native of Brooklyn, New York, Feelings attended the school of Visual Arts for two years and then joined the Air Force in 1953, working in London as a staff artist for the Graphics Division of the Third Air Force. From 1959 until 1964 he worked as a freelance artist, his primary subjects drawn from the Black people of his community. In 1961, he went south to draw the people of Black rural communities: some of these drawings were published in Look magazine as part of a feature entitled "The Negro in the U.S." In 1964, Feelings traveled to Ghana, where he spent two years. In 1966, he returned to the United States to concentrate on illustrating books with African and African-American themes. Feelings lived in Guyana, South America, working as a teacher and consultant for the Ministry of Education, and training young artists in textbook illustration. Feelings received numerous awards for his illustrations. His life experiences and people he has met helped him to become the successful writer and illustrator that he was. About TomFeelings

Pre-Reading Activities: Read the Intro and pose a discussion: What do you think are some rites of passage in this culture? What does it mean to be hostile? How can someone be creative? By discussing the different culture, it will get students ready to read about groups of people who may or may not be similar to them.

Post Reading Activities: This book can be coupled with lessons on slavery and what it took for these individuals to stand up for themselves. Have the students create their own poem that shows their stance on a topic. Give them ideas or themes to start from.

One Leaf Rides the Wind by Celeste Davidson Mannis

One Leaf Rides the Wind

(Puffin-2005)

By: Celeste Davidson Mannis

Pictures by: Susan Kathleen Hartung

Grade: 1-3

One Leaf Rides the Wind is a counting book about the Japanese garden, which also introduces haikus. It is a simple but fun adventure of a small Japanese girl who is traveling through the Japanese garden. This book leaves an educator with many possible ways to tie it into their curriculum (counting, poetry, etc.). The best part for me was the small captions under the haiku that give historical background of the Japanese culture. I love this book because it is different from a lot of books I have read and I assume different from books my students have read. It provides background into a different culture as well as a different style of writing.

Theme/Skills Taught: Adventure/Haikus & Counting

About the Author: Celeste Davidson Mannis, the award winning author of several books for children, is convinced she has the best job in the world. "Writing for children is one of my greatest joys. Children are wonderfully open to new ideas. My goal is to explore aspects of our world - its people, cultures, history, and natural wonders - in a way that fuels their amazing intelligence and curiosity. Knowledge is power, and it's my fondest wish that through my books I can help provide children with a sense of their own potential and unique place in the greater world community." This book was great because it didn't just teach one thing. It had a lot of "teachable moments". Celeste Davidson Mannis' Bio

About the Illustrator: Susan started drawing as soon as she could hold a crayon. She said she drew all the time on anything. Practice makes perfect I guess because after she started focusing her ideas on paper she was ready for a career in the arts. She attended the School of Visual Arts in NYC and decided she wanted to draw for children's books since there was more room for creativity. After college she worked at numerous part time jobs in advertising, design, and photography – at the same time doing various illustration jobs and trying to break into children's books. Eight years after graduating from SVA, Susan was finally able to make illustration a full time career. Susan has done a great deal of work for the educational market, as well as for advertising, design, and magazines. Susan's Bio

Pre-Reading Activities: What is a Haiku? What is the significance of the Japanese Garden? (both can be found in the back of a book for an introduction to this book.

Post Reading Activities: Have students write their own haiku. Give them the rules of a haiku and give plenty of examples. For students who may struggle, give them a theme to write about to get them started. Or, another possible differentiation is to have children copy a poem and create their own illustration.

Maples in the Mist by Minfong Ho

Maples in the Mist

(Lothrop, Lee and Shepard Books -1996)

Translated by: Minfong Ho

Illustrated by: Jean & Mou-sien Tseng

Grade: 2-5



Maples in the Mist is a group of children's poems written during the Tang Dynasty, when the people were prosperous. During this time, some of the best poetry was written. The poems in this book represent poems of that time that were traditionally taught to children. All the poems are written by different poets and have been translated to English. I loved seeing the different styles of different artists. This book is a great multicultural book to use in the class because you can teach poetry along with background from a different culture.

Theme/Skills taught: Life in China/Embracing different cultures and different languages (written)

About the Translator: Minfong Ho explains that these were some of the poems she learned growing up that stirred her curiosity and increased her pride for her culture. She was hoping through translating them into English, other children would grow to love them as well. This is really the goal of using multicultural literature in the classroom: to share the benefits of different cultures. About Minfong

About the Illustrators: These siblings now live in Glen Cove, NY but grew up with similar poems as small children. They have illustrated these poems in hopes that readers of all cultures will find the beauty that they feel each time they read them (back of book)

Pre-Reading Activities: Give history of the Tang Dyntasy and show the students China on a map.This can be integrated into Social Studies/Geography using world maps and showing students how to locate different areas on a map.

Post Reading Activities: Have the students take the title of a poem and write it based on their life experiences. For example, one is titled "Mountain Road". Have them write a poem about a mountain road they drove on. Also, since every page has Chinese symbols, you can try to have them write their name in Chinese. It would be a great way to embrace different cultures.

Listen to the Wind: The Story of Dr. Greg and Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson & Susan L. Roth

Listen to the Wind: The Story of Dr. Greg and Three Cups of Tea

(Dial-2009)

By: Greg Mortenson & Susan L. Roth

Collages by: Susan L. Roth

Grade: 2-4

Listen to the Wind: The Story of Dr. Greg and Three Cups of Tea is a wonderful true story about the children of Korphe. Greg Mortenson is a real person who helped change the lives of these children forever. The children of Korphe didn't have a school until Dr. Greg Mortenson came to their village and returned later to help the villagers build their own school. Dr. Greg has now built over 130 schools in rural regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan. He is a true example of a global citizen, someone who believes education is right for all children. This is a truly inspirational story and can help to promote cultural awareness and appreciation for the things we take for granted, like school. Although some of the events told in the story may not be true, it is a great story and displays great moral values.

Theme/Skills Taught: Helping others/Teamwork & Appreciation (social skills)

About the Author: After High School, Mortenson joined the US Army as a medic and attended college with a football scholarship. He traveled to Pakistan in order to climb the world's second highest mountain, K2 , took a wrong turn and ended up in the village of Korphe. He was exhausted after the hiking (and rescue of the fifth climber) and they cared for him. After noticing the children attending school outside, he took it as his mission to build them a school. His story is amazing and those children were lucky this man was the man that "stumbled" upon their village. About Greg Mortenson

About the Artist: Susan L. Roth does not pain, she collages. The illustrations in this book are very unique and very captivating. She only cuts or rips. She refusing to use pens, pencils or oils. She is very talented and unique in her style. She agrees that the process can be a mess, but she hardly ever throws away the "scraps". She finds ways to use them in her next works. About Susan L. Roth

Pre-Reading Activities: Show the students a map of where this book takes place. Heroes come from ordinary people who want to make a difference. Talk about heroes you know. Talk about other countries and how some countries don't have school buildings and they learn outside. Discuss "free education" with your students. Most children don't know how lucky they are to be able to go to school for free. Explain that in other countries, children only dream about going to a real school.

Post Reading Activities:
-Make a list of things you need to start a school
-Write a letter to Dr. Greg explaining what you think about what he did
-Use glossary in the back of the book to discuss new vocabulary
-Explain the importance of helping other countries and people. This is a great multicultural book to discuss language barriers and the differences between different cultures.

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry

(Puffin-1996)

By: Mildred D. Taylor

Grade: 6-9

*1977 Newbery Award Winner*

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry is set in Mississippi during the Great Depression. It is the story of one family's struggle to maintain independence and pride. It is told in first-person narrative of a girl, Cassie Logan who is in a constant struggle for physical survival. The story is both inspiring and terrifying. The story is told in the span of a year-with ups and downs. I don't want to give away too much because you should definitely read it!

Theme/Skills Taught: Fear, Distrust, Values, Not understanding one's culture/Problem & Soltions, Making Inferences, Drawing Conclusions

About the Author: Mildred D. Taylor was born in Jackson, Mississippi where life was difficult for their family due to racial segregation. Their family moved to the North to hopefully gain more opportunities. They continued to visit family in the South and through her father's love for the South and all the storytelling, Mildred became the writer she was. From these stories, Taylor learned about her great-grandfather, the son of a white plantation owner in Alabama and a slave woman. In the late 1800s, this young man ran away from Alabama to buy land and settle in Mississippi; the land he purchased more than 100 years ago is still owned by the Taylor family. All of these stories and her experiences influenced her writing. About Mildred Taylor

Pre-Reading Activities: Think about what it's like to be part of a large family, what it's like to start school, and how people who are different are treated. This story involves a number of characters in a dramatic novel in which the conflict between black and white Americans is described. Look at the front cover of the book. Read the title and ask: Who do you think these characters are? What can you tell about them just from their clothes and the way they are behaving? What questions do you have about the story from looking at the cover? See more activities

Post Reading Activities: Discuss problem/solution. In the middle of the book the author uses flashbacks: use flowcharts to keep track of the major events in the story so students don't get confused.

Chibi: A True Story from Japan by Barbara Brenner and Julia Takaya

Chibi: A True Story from Japan

(Sandpiper-1999)

By: Barbara Brenner & Julia Takaya

Illustrated by: June Otani

Grade: Primary & Intermediate

Chibi: A True Story from Japan  is set in modern day Japan. It is about a duck family who lives in downtown Tokyo. The people in the city grow a liking for the smallest duck (who hatched one day after his brothers and sisters). Mr. Sato is a news reporter who comes every day to take picture and report on the adventures of the duck, specifically Chibi. It is such a cute story because children can relate and the setting in Tokyo is very similar to a city setting here so they can compare/contrast. This is a great book for multicultural literature because you can teach students that similar things happen in other parts of the world.

Theme/Skills Taught: Acceptance/Similarities & Differences between different areas

About the Authors: Barbara Brenner is an author of both fiction and nature books and is an active member of Bank Street College of Education. She went to Seton Hall College while she worked as a copy editor. Working as an artist's editor helped to prepare her for her literary life. She has written a lot of other books including On the Frontier with Mr. Audubon which won a "Best of the Best" award. As her two sons grew older, a lot of her books were based on their interests and careers. She is still writing and lives in Hawley, PA. More about Barbara Brenner

Julia Takaya is a teacher and a writer. This book is actually based on an experience Julia had when she saw the brave mama duck attempting to raise her brood in the hubbub of the city.

About the Illustrator: June Otani has illustrated several books for children including Oh Snow! by Monica Mayper. She is also a printmaker whose work has been exhibited at galleries throughout the New York area. She lives in Hastings-on-Hudson, NY (from book)

Pre-Reading Activities: What do you think Tokyo, Japan is like? Based on the front cover, what do you think the book is about? Give your students a background of the authors, especially Julia Takaya and explain that this is a true story.

Post Reading Activities: Compare and contrast Tokyo with a city nearby. Is it really that different? Look at the pictures and see if you notice anything familiar?

Forest Night Forest Bright by Jennifer Ward

Forest Night Forest Bright

(Dawn Pubns-2005)

By: Jennifer Ward

Illustrated by: Jamichael Henterly

Grade: 2-4

*2009 Giverny Award Winner*

Forest Night Forest Bright is about the different animals who are awake during the day (the first half of the book) and awake at night (the second half of the book). It is written so creatively because you can FLIP THIS BOOK and read about the daytime in the forest then the nighttime. I loved the use of poetry, especially to teach some more higher level vocabulary for elementary students and who doesn't love a rhyme? It is informational as well as interesting.

Theme/Skill Taught: Forest life/Nocturnal vs. Diurnal

About the Author: Jennifer Ward began writing as a child. She spent a lot of time outdoors exploring in nature and wrote stories about what she saw. She wrote for herself and her parents. Growing up, she continued to be amazed by nature and became a teacher. Eventually she decided to write full time for children and is currently the author of several popular children's books. Jennifer Ward's Bio

About the Illustrator: Jamichael Henterly never set out to be a book illustrator. He was in the Army, an infantry medic, a firefighter and a Forest Service fire lookout. His dream was to become a scientist, but loved to draw. He says he stumbled upon the opportunity to illustrate and took it. In order to be a great artist, he researches a lot because he wants to capture the true beauty of nature, which he does in this book. About Jamichael Henterly

Pre-Reading activities: Discuss different forest animals. Are they all awake during the day? What are different ways animals move and act. Have them give a few examples. Then you can show how use of descriptive words really changes the picture you make in your head as you read.

Post Reading Activities: Using the book (or research), students can create a chart showing the nocturnal animals vs. diurnal. This will introduce them to new vocabulary terms as well as get them familiar with different life styles of different animals who live in the same habitat. Also a fun activity would be to draw the animal next to the descriptive word that describes their behavior. For example, take "Strut and wobble...turkeys gobble", draw a turkey and write strut or wobble and have them define it. This will broaden their vocabulary as well.

A Tree for Emmy by Mary Ann Rodman

A Tree for Emmy

(Peachtree Publishers-2009)

By: Mary Ann Rodman

Illustrated by: Tatjana Mai-Wyss

Grade: 1-2

*Giverny Award Winner 2011*

A Tree for Emmy is about a young girl, Emmy, who loved all trees but especially the mimosa tree in her Gramma's pasture. She loved it so much that she wanted it for her birthday, but stores didn't sell them. She went to visit her Gramma's tree and found a baby mimosa growing right next to it. This is a great story about the innocence of a child and the joy a tree can bring them.

Theme/Skill Taught: Perseverance/Life of a tree


About the Author: She was born in Washington, DC in 1954 and grew up living in Chicago and Jackson, Missisippi. She received a BA in theater arts from Lenoir-Rhyne College in Hickory, NC, a master's degree in library and information science from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, and an MFA in writing for children from Vermont College. She has held a variety of jobs ranging from community theater director to church youth coordinator but has been primarily a children's librarian. She received a number of awards for her books including the Georgia Book of Excellence Award, special recognition in Kentucky, Rhode Island, Kansas and Nebraska, the Mark Twain Award in Missouri. the Chicago Public Library's "Best of the Best" list and was named a Notable Book by the american Library Association.Mary Ann Rodman's Bio

About the Illustrator: Tatjana Mai-Wyss was born in Switzerland. Growing up with her nose in a book, she always wanted to be the one to draw the pictures. Today Tatjana lives in sunny South Carolina where she can work out on the screen porch year round and listen to the birds. Most often she uses watercolor and gouache, adding detail and texture with collage and colored pencils. Her black and white work is usually done the old fashioned way, in India ink with a dip pen. Lately she has had a good time experimenting with paper cuts.Tatjana Mai-Wyss' Bio

Pre-Reading Activities:  Can discuss with the kids about different family members and what they like about going to different houses (food they cook, toys they can play with). This would be a great journal entry or discussion before the book.
Post Reading Activities: I would read this book during science lessons and learning about seed and how seeds can be planted and grow into a tree. After reading the book, we can plant a seed, water it and watch it grow.

The Prince of Butterflies by Bruce Coville

The Prince of Butterflies
(Sandpiper-2007)

By: Bruce Coville

Illustrated by: John Clapp

Grade: 1-3

*Giverny Award Winner 2008*

The Prince of Butterflies is about a young boy named John who "befriends" a large group of monarch butterflies. They seem to have lost their way on their path home and they need John's help to find their way again. He tried envisioning green meadows and when he imagined the right one they fluttered with excitement, but he didn't know how to get there. The butterflies helped him to fly through the air to the butterflies' path. Once he got there he was panicked that he wouldn't be able to make it home. He did make it home, but the butterflies would need his help twice more in the coming springs and he would always lead them to safety. I won't ruin the ending but it is such a touching story! I loved reading it and I think students would love it too because the boy is able to fly (and how many students have probably wanted to fly at some point in their lives?).

Theme/Skills Taught: New Paths in life/science lessons about butterflies (Monarchs)

About the Author: Bruce was born in Syracuse, New York, on May 16, 1950. Except for one year that he spent at Duke University in North Carolina, he lived in and around central New York until September of 1990, when he moved to New York City, where he lived for two years. Now he is back in Syracuse. The first time he can remember thinking that he would like to be a writer came in sixth grade, when his teacher, Mrs. Crandall, gave them an extended period of time to write a long story. He loved doing it. He started working seriously at becoming a writer when he was seventeen. He was not able to sell right away and had other jobs that included toymaker, gravedigger and salesman. Eventually he became an elementary teacher. He got married at nineteen to an artist and began trying to create books together. They did two books together! From the timehe was young, he had a dream of becoming a writer. Now that dream has come true, and he is able to make my living doing something that he really loves. Bruce Coville's Bio

About the Illustrator: John Clapp was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. Originally, what sparked his interest in art was comic strips, comic books, and cartooning in general. Just prior to college he "discovered" the field of illustration, and ended up majoring in illustration at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. Several years later, he received a Master's Degree in Illustration from Syracuse University. After getting his Bachelors Degree, he moved back to the Bay Area, and started freelancing as an illustrator, working for every conceivable type of client. Eventually, he began to find most of his work in the publishing world; first doing book jackets, and eventually, writing and illustrating children's books, which is what he still does to this day. Four months after graduating from Art Center, he was hired to teach Figure Drawing and Perspective at The Academy of Art in San Francisco. A year later, he was hired at San Jose State University to teach in their illustration department (now the Animation/Illustration Department) and I've been teaching there ever since. To date, he's published five books for children. John Clapp's Bio

Pre-Reading Activities: Show stages of a butterflies life. This will be after you review the stages of a butterfly.This can be done before or after a lesson on the life-cycle of a butterfly. Have students create a power point with pictures of each of the stages.


Post Reading Activities: This book can be in introduction into the monarch migration (Science) or an introduction/recap of the life-cycle of a butterfly.

The Giver by Lois Lowry

The Giver
(Houghton Mifflin Harcourt-1993)

By: Lois Lowry

Grade: 6-8

*Newbery Medal 1994*

The Giver is about a young boy names Jonas. His world is essentially perfect. Everything in his world is controlled. There are no choices. When an individual turns twelve, they are assigned a role in society (their job). When Jonas turns twelve, he is assigned to receive training from The Giver. The Giver is the only one who holds the memories of true pain and true pleasure. Once he begins training, he will receive all of this information, along with a lot of truth that he didn't know existed and that he must never talk about. What will Jonas do with the new information? I love this book! I have read it in middle school and high school for different classes. The Gossamer is also a great book written by Lois Lowry. I recommend both books for middle school students. They will be able to relate and there is a lot of information that will promote discussion and debate.

Theme/Skills Taught: Utopia Society, rules & values, family/

About the Author: Lois was born the middle child. She was very solitary and lived in the world of books and her imagination. She lived all over the world because her father was a career military officer. She was born in Hawaii, moved to New York, then Carlisle Pennsylvania, to Tokyo, back to New York for high school and to college at Brown University in Rhode Island while her family was living in Washington, D.C. She married at 19 to a Naval officer which continued her travels.  Her five children grew up in Maine where she returned to college (University of Southern Maine), got her degree and went to grad school and began writing professionally. Her books have varied in content and style. Yet it seems that all of them deal, essentially, with the same general theme: the importance of human connections.Lois Lowry's Bio

Pre-Reading Activities: Make a survey/list of ideas or activities. Have students agree/disagree whether they would make a perfect society. Have them add 5 of their own. For example "no murder". Most students would agree that having no murder in a society would make it closer to perfect. Music, for example, may present more differences amongst students. Make sure you include ideas and themes from the story.

Post Reading Activities: Each chapter presents new information for class activities and discussions.

-There is a lot of new vocabulary (and they refer to things differently than we do). Have students use context clues in the first four chapters to define the following: Nurturer, Nurturing Center, Naming, Elder, Receiver, Assignment, Comfort Object, Newchild, Bike Port, Speaker, Rehabilitation Center, House of the Old, Volunteer Hours, Birthmother, and Celebration of Release.

-Create a perfect society. Describe: Your system of laws, rules, and punishments; Your system of how people are educated; Your system for finding and choosing leaders, and how the government runs;Your social system & how people raise families, and find enjoyment. Feel free to add any other plans you can think of.

-In The Giver, they have a specific life schedule (each individual does the same thing at the same age). For example, children get their assignments when they turn twelve. Have students brainstorm and write down what happens at ages 1-12 and what happens after they receive their assignments.

Silly Street by Jeff Foxworthy

Silly Street

(Harper Collins-2009)

By: Jeff Foxworthy

Illustrated by: Steve Bjorkman

Grade: 3-4

Silly Street is a fantastic, humorous story that is presented as a poem about a community. It is wonderful to get the kids thinking about all of the places that make up communities, and Silly Street is the perfect book to introduce during ELA or Social Studies. This book is very simple and "silly" so it catches students' interests. Kids will love to read the poems and look at the illustrations. Some may wish they lived on Silly Street.

Theme/Skills Taught: Community/Fluency

About the Author: Jeff Foxworthy is a comedian and an author, born in Atlanta, Georgia. Foxworthy, with roots deep in the South, counts himself as a typical "redneck." Riding the popularity of the country music wave during the 1990s, Foxworthy has parlayed his southern brand of humor into his own huge popularity. With a television situation comedy, several sound recordings, and many books, Foxworthy has become virtually a household word. Foxworthy planned to follow in his father's footsteps by majoring in computer technology at Georgia Tech and working at IBM. Yet he discovered that he gained more enjoyment from making co-workers laugh than working with computers. He eventually quit his job to devote his life to being a comedian. He became famous as an opening act for country music superstars Garth Brooks and Emmylou Harris. Each of his books sold over a million copies. His first recording, You Might Be a Redneck If..., went double platinum, breaking Eddie Murphy's previous record for a comedy recording made in the 1980s. In 1995, Foxworthy starred in the situation comedy The Jeff Foxworthy Show, roughly based on his comedy routines. In 1996, NBC picked up the series, which had lagged on ABC. Jeff Foxworthy's Bio Jeff is hilarious and also is the host of "Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?" where he includes some of his humor!

About the Illustrator: The first of four children, Steve has been drawing, painting and spilling ink on shirts, carpets and chairs ever since. Although he had originally planned to be a high school English teacher, he took a detour and has been an illustrator for over twenty five years now. Besides the advertising, editorial illustration, and over seventy children's books to date, he creates greeting cards with his brother Carl. Over the years more than 100 million of our cards have been sold through Recycled Paper Greetings. While the illustration keeps him busy, the English teacher part of him still creeps out. He enjoys doing school visits and occasional teaching, using my drawing as he speaks, for churches and youth camps. He lives with his wife in Irvine, California, and has three children, a dog, cat and a desert tortoise who is always looking for a way to sneak out of the yard. Steve Bjorkman's Bio

Pre-Reading Activities: What makes up a community? Jot down a word web on the board to show all the places and people who are involved in a community.

Post Reading Activities:  

Drawing-Make a map and include all the shops/stores on Silly Street.This will test their comprehension and "searching for answers in text" skills.

Writing-Make up a place (store, bank, etc.) and create a poem to go along with it. Students can use these poems as an example but also introduce them to different types of poems.

Never, EVER Shout in a Zoo by Karma Wilson

Never, EVER Shout in a Zoo
(Little, Brown Books for Young Readers-2004)

By: Karma Wilson

Illustrated by: Doug Cushman

Grade: PreK-1

Never, EVER Shout in a Zoo is about a little girl that drops her ice cream cone at the zoo and starts to cry despite the narrator's warning, "Never, EVER shout in a zoo...because if you do...anything might happen." From that point it is shown what each of the animals will do (escaping, playing jokes, etc.). In the end the warning is repeated again and now the little girl is careful not to shout again. This is a great cause and effect story. It also can be used to teach rules and why we have them.

Theme/Skills Taught: Consequences/Cause and Effect

About the Author: Karma Wilson grew up an only child of a single mother in the wilds of North Idaho. There was no cable TV.  TV reception was limited to 3 channels, of which one came in with some clarity. Karma did the only sensible thing a lonely little girl could do…she read or played outdoors. By the age 11 she was devouring about a novel a day. Karma never considered writing as a profession because her mother was a professional writer which made it seem like boring and mundane work.Then a tax refund changed everything. With the money the family decided to invest in a computer and Karma started writing for children. She wanted to put a few more good books on the library shelves and pay off that computer! Countless rejections and three years later Karma was finally accepted by book agent Steven Malk (who had already rejected her once, which she never lets him forget). Her first book, Bear Snores On, was released in 2002. The computer was paid for! Since then Karma has had more than 30 books accepted for publication. Karma writes humorous, rhythmic picture books for the very young and books that share her faith in a fun, understandable way with the youngest readers.  Karma Wilson's Bio Her amazing story should inspire everyone! If you put your mind to something, you can do great things! She is proof of that.

About the Illustrator: Doug Cushman was born in Springfield, Ohio and moved to Connecticut with his family when he was 13 years old. While in high school he created comic books lampooning his teachers, selling them to his classmates for a nickel a piece. Since 1978, he has illustrated and/or written over 120 books for children and collected a number of honors including a Reuben Award for Book Illustration from the National Cartoonists Society, New York Times Children's Books Best Sellers, the New York Public Library's Best 100 Books of 2000, and a 2009 California Young Readers medal. He enjoys painting, playing guitar (very ill) and cooking (and eating!) as he spends his time in Paris, France and traveling around Europe and the USA. Doug Cushman's Bio

Pre-Reading Activities: Go over some classroom rules about shouting and why we have certain rules. What do they think the consequences are for breaking these rules? This would be a great book to use in the beginning of the school year to go over school rules and discuss possible consequences for bad behaviors.

Post Reading Activities:  

-Read aloud to the whole class- after every few pages the teacher can stop to talk to the students about what happened (If you scare the bear...he will charge...though the bars of his cage..."). 

-Give students a writing/drawing prompt about why you should never shout in a zoo. Make a poster about a school rule. It is always a good idea to display childrens' work and this would be a great activity to hang in the hall outside the classroom.

The Mixed-Up Chameleon by Eric Carle

 

The Mixed-Up Chameleon

(HarperCollins-1988)

By: Eric Carle

Grade: K-2

The Mixed-Up Chameleon is about a chameleon that changes colors (like chameleon's do) and is very bored until one day he goes to the zoo. He wished he could be like the other animals and each page he adds another animal part. For example, on the second day he says, "I wish I could be handsome like a flamingo" and he gets wings and feet. By the end he is all mixed-up and cannot catch the fly. Then, he just wishes he was himself so he could catch the fly. It is a great book about self-acceptance and realizing the great qualities we all have!

Theme/Skills Taught: Self-acceptance/ Listening, Writing, Editing and Publishing

About the Author: Eric was born in the U.S. and was raised in Germany. His background is in graphic design but since the late 1960's he illustrated Bill Martin Jr's Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?  His illustrations are collages made with his own hand-painted tissue papers, a technique many children have replicated and enjoyed in their classrooms and at home. With his wife Barbara, he is also the co-founder of The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, MA. About Eric Carle

Pre-Reading Activities: What is a chameleon? If you could change colors, what color would you be and why?

Post Reading Activities: Have the students compose a journal entry based on the book's repeating refrain, "I wish I could ____________ like a _______" (i.e. I wish I could fly like a bird). Students will then edit their journal entries and when satisfied, they will transfer their work to the computer, illustrate and publish their work. After reading the story, as a class we could create an art piece using his hand-painted tissue paper technique.