The Very Lonely Firefly

AUTHOR/ILLUSTRATOR: Eric Carle
PUBLISHER: Philomel Books PUBLICATION DATE: 1995
GENRE: Fiction PB READING LEVEL: 3-5 years
BRIEF OVERVIEW: In this book a firefly was born, but it could not find any more fireflies. He kept seeing lights but it would never be fireflies. He searched and searched until finally he found a whole group of fireflies.
INTEGRATED ACTIVITY: Give students different sizes of circles including 3 big and 10 small circles. Then give them 2 big hearts. Instruct the students to glue the parts together and make a firefly. They will also draw eyes and a mouth on the dragonfly.
REVIEWER’S NAME & AFFILIATION: Hayley Morris, Valdosta State University ECSE
LABELS: Insects, Family, Fiction

A New Year's Reunion

AUTHOR/ILLUSTRATOR: Yu Li-Qiong /Zhu Cheng-Liang
PUBLISHER: Hsin Yi Pulbications PUBLICATION DATE: 2008
AWARDS: New York Times Best Illustrated Children’s Book 2011
GENRE: Fiction READING LEVEL: 2nd grade
BRIEF OVERVIEW: Maomao’s father works far away and only comes home for Chinese New Year.
INTEGRATED ACTIVITY: Explain that the dragon dance scares away the evil spirits and ushers in a happy new year.
Make dragon masks and make up a dragon dance.
REVIEWER’S NAME & AFFILIATION: Rhonda Herb, Valdosta State University ECSE
LABELS: China, Family, Fine Arts, Social Studies

My Apron

TITLE:  My Apron  

AUTHOR/ILLUSTRATOR: Eric Carle 

PUBLISHER: Philomel            PUBLICATION DATE:  July 18, 1995

GENRE: Realistic Fiction          READING LEVEL:  2^nd grade

BRIEF OVERVIEW: A young boy visits his aunt and uncle. He winds up liking his uncle's apron and the idea of working in his shop. He wants a white apron just like his uncles work uniform. His aunt makes him the apron. And he spends the day working along side his uncle who is a plasterer. 

INTEGRATED ACTIVITY: FINE ARTS: Have your students bring in a piece of clothing or item that represents a parent, aunt, uncle, or grandparent's profession. They will then act out these different professions and create conversations  centered around these items. Can also be used alongside a show and tell day.  

ENGLISH: Have the students write down three to five things that they know their parents do within their profession. Create a story about what they want to be when they grow up. 

MATH: Cut out aprons from paper bags. Have students decorate them with shapes. Count the shapes, name the shapes, and have the students design their very own apron.

REVIEWER’S NAME & AFFILIATION: (Heather Ganas, Valdosta State University ECSE)

LABELS: shapes, relationships, family

Mommy, Do You Love Me

ILLUSTRATION JPEG: 

TITLE:  Mommy, Do You Love Me?

AUTHOR/ILLUSTRATOR: Jeanne Willis/Jan Fearnley

PUBLISHER: Candlewick              PUBLICATION DATE: 2008

GENRE: Picture Book                     READING LEVEL:  1^st grade

BRIEF OVERVIEW: Little Chick continuously asks his mother if she loves him after making silly faces, playing in the mud, and even after destroying a rose she gave him. His mother yells at him for being loud too loud and he thinks that she doesn’t love him anymore.

INTEGRATED ACTIVITY: The children come up with a list of things they love about their parents. The children make I Love You cards to their parents based on the reason they came up with.

REVIEWER’S NAME & AFFILIATION: (Kia Hill, Valdosta State University ECSE)

I'm a Big Brother

ILLUSTRATION JPEG: 

TITLE:  I’m a Big Brother

AUTHOR/ILLUSTRATOR: Joanna Cole/Maxie Chambliss

PUBLISHER: HarperCollins PublishersPUBLICATION DATE: 2004

GENRE: Informational  READING LEVEL: 1^st  Grade

BRIEF OVERVIEW: The little boy is now a big brother. He informs the readers of what he does to help out with the new baby.

INTEGRATED ACTIVITY: The children use their number skills find out how many children in the class has siblings.After coming up with the number they find out the number of sisters or brothers the class has as a whole. The data is used to make a bar graph. REVIEWER’S NAME & AFFILIATION: (Kia Hill, Valdosta State University ECSE)

LABELS: (only use 3-5 from the list that apply to your book).

Fancy Nancy

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TITLE:  Fancy Nancy

AUTHOR/ILLUSTRATOR: Jane O’Connor/ Robin Preiss Glasser

PUBLISHER: HarperCollins Publishers  PUBLICATION DATE: 2006

GENRE:Picture Book  READING LEVEL: 2^nd Grade

BRIEF OVERVIEW: Nancy isn’t your ordinary girl, she’s FANCY. She teaches her family how to be fancy and they enjoy a fun night out while being fancy.

INTEGRATED ACTIVITY: The children will be presented with their names in block letters to be traced. The children will then decorate their names to be “FANCY”

REVIEWER’S NAME & AFFILIATION: (Kia Hill, Valdosta State University ECSE)

Were Going on a Bear Hunt

Publisher: Walter Books Ltd
Publication Date: September 7, 2009
Genre: Children's Fiction
Reading Level: 2nd grade
Overview: A brave family goes on an adventure through different landscapes to find a bear. They face obstacles in each of the different places and figure out how to overcome them. After they find the bear, they refuse to go on a bear hunt again.
Integrated Idea: Put students in groups and ask them to act out their favorite adventure from the book.
Affiliation: Bree Wells Valdosta State University ECSE

We Had a Picnic This Sunday Past

AUTHOR: Jacqueline Woodson

ILLUSTRATOR: Diane Greenseid

PUBLISHER: Hyperion Book CH

PUBLICATION DATE: 2007

GENRE: Fiction

READING LEVEL: Ages 5-8

BRIEF OVERVIEW: This book tells about an African American girl, Teeka’s, family picnic. It is told from her point of view and tells all about each family member that comes and about the different types of foods everyone brings.

INTEGRATED ACTIVITY: Have students sit in a circle and share something that their family does together every year.

REVIEWER’S NAME & AFFILIATION: Courtney Taylor, Valdosta State University ECSE

ALEXANDER WHO USED TO BE RICH LAST SUNDAY

AUTHOR/ILLUSTRATOR: Judith Viorst/ Ray Cruz

PUBLISHER: Silver Burdett  

PUBLICATION DATE:  1978

GENRE: Fiction    

READING LEVEL:  2^nd Grade

BRIEF OVERVIEW: Alexander doesn’t spend his money wisely buy buying things he doesn’t need, swearing, kicking and making bets. All he’s left with is bus tokens while his brothers are rich.

INTEGRATED ACTIVITY: There will be a “market” in the classroom. Students will each receive a certain amount of money and students have to purchase from the market and tell what they spent and how much they have left.

REVIEWER’S NAME & AFFILIATION: (Andrea Joyner, Valdosta State University ECSE)

LABELS: Family, Fiction, Comedy

Henry’s Freedom Box: A True Story From the Underground

AUTHOR/ILLUSTRATOR: Ellen Levine/ Kadir Nelson

PUBLISHER: Schoolastic Press 

PUBLICATION DATE:  2007

AWARDS:  Caldecott Medal

GENRE: Non-fiction       

READING LEVEL: 2^nd grade

BRIEF OVERVIEW: Henry was a slave who was sold and separated from his mother as a child. All of a sudden His wife Nancy & their children were sold. Henry wanted to be free so with help he shipped himself to freedom in a box.

INTEGRATED ACTIVITY: Students can recreate Henry’s freedom box through drawings etc. They can describe a place where they would go to be “free” and why they want to go there.

REVIEWER’S NAME & AFFILIATION: Andrea Joyner, Valdosta State University ECSE)

LABELS: Non-Fiction, African-American, Family

Paddington

Publisher: Harper Collins Publisher
Publication Date: October 2, 1998
Genre: Children's Fiction
Reading Level: 6 years old
Overview: A bear named Paddington sets out for an adventure. He discovered Mr. and Mrs. Brown and they welcomed him into their family. Paddington tells the family about his adventures. Then, he begins living with them and becomes part of the family.
Integrated Idea: Students will draw and color their own Paddington bear and make up their own story for their bear!
Affiliation: Bree Wells Valdosta State University ECSE

Where the Red Fern Grows

TITLE: Where the Red Fern Grows

AUTHOR: Wilson Rawls

PUBLISHER: Yearling; Reprint Edition
PUBLICATION DATE: September 1, 1996

GENRE: Classic Fiction          READING LEVEL: Ages 8-12

BRIEF OVERVIEW: A boy works hard to buy his two redbone hounds so that he can live out his dream of becoming a great coon hunter.
INTEGRATED IDEA: Students will write about the significance of the title Where the Red Fern Grows in correlation to the story.
REVIEWER’S NAME & AFFILIATION: Brittney Watts, Valdosta State University ECSE

Grandma's Hurrying Child

AUTHOR/ILLUSTRATOR: Jane Yolen/Kay Chorao

PUBLISHER: HMH Books for Young Readers  

PUBLICATION DATE: 04/ 01/2005 

GENRE: Fiction Picture Book      READING LEVEL:  First Grade

BRIEF OVERVIEW: A grandmother tells her granddaughter about the day she was born and how she hurried to meet her.

INTEGRATED ACTIVITY: Children will go home and interview a guardian about the day they were born and tell about it the next day.

REVIEWER’S NAME & AFFILIATION: Kasey Casey,  Valdosta State University ECSE

LABELS: family, emotions, life

I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Dreidel

AUTHOR: Caryn Yacowitz

ILLUSTRATOR: David Slonim

PUBLISHER: Arthur A. Levine Books          

PUBLICATION DATE:  August 26, 2014)      

GENRE: Picture Book                    

READING LEVEL:  Ages 4-8

BRIEF OVERVIEW: When Bubbe's family comes to visit her for the holidays, she begins preparing for them a large supper. The dinner looks delicious! Until one dish goes a bit wrong. After the first bite Bubbe begins having some very weird cravings. After her feasting goes hangwire, will it in fact be fatal?

INTEGRATED ACTIVITY: Introduce individual food items from book, and where in the world they are harvested. Students will then do Think-Pair-Share with their partner, and tell about their favorite food.

REVIEWER’S NAME & AFFILIATION: (Mary McKenzie, Valdosta State University ECSE)

Bedhead

TITLE:  Bedhead

AUTHOR: Margie Palatini

ILLUSTRATOR: Jack E. Davis

PUBLISHER: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers              

PUBLICATION DATE: 2000

GENRE: Realistic Fiction                      

READING LEVEL:  Ages 9+

BRIEF OVERVIEW: Oliver wakes up on picture day with a TERRIBLE hairdo. His family helps him fix the mess-up through many different means and measures in order for him to go to school. Students will love the creative sound words included in this text. 

INTEGRATED ACTIVITY: Have students create their own "Bedhead" by using paper plates, markers, eyes, construction paper, and glue. Grade 2. 

REVIEWER’S NAME & AFFILIATION: (Kelsey Rice, Valdosta State University ECSE)