My First Day

AUTHOR/ILLUSTRATOR: Steve Jenkins & Robin Page

PUBLISHER: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company  

PUBLICATION DATE:  2013

GENRE: Non-Fiction, Picture Book                   READING LEVEL: 2nd grade

BRIEF OVERVIEW: My First Day reveals how 22 different animals spend their first day of life- explaining if that animal has or does not have parental help.

INTEGRATED ACTIVITY: Write a paragraph describing how you think you spent your first day of life. Tell if you have younger siblings that you may have witnessed what happened on their first day of life.

 REVIEWER’S NAME & AFFILIATION: Ashley January, Valdosta State University ECSE

A Ball For Daisy by Chris Raschka

A Ball For Daisy author and illustrator: Chris Raschka
Copyright: 2011 Reading Level: Ages 3-7 
Book Description: Daisy is a playful puppy who loves her ball. She and her owner make a trip to the park to play where she finds another dog to play with her and her ball. The ball pops and Daisy is sad. The good news is that the other dog brought a new ball for them to play with and Daisy gets to take it home.

Integrated Ideas: Students will revise the book and the story line and then explain the main idea and plot to the teacher through sign. The students will gather their reasoning for the feelings of the book’s character, Daisy the dog, based off of their visual interpretations from the author’s illustrations. After the students describe the story, they will then play an outside game with a red balloon. If the students pop the red balloon, then another student must be willing to share their blue balloon with the class. 

Reviewer's name and affiliation: Bethany A. Loggins, Valdosta State University

Back to Front and Upside Down

AUTHOR: Claire Alexander

PUBLISHER: Eerdmans Books for Young Readers                 

PUBLICATION DATE: 2012   

GENRE: Realistic Fiction                       

READING LEVEL: Pre-k - 1st grade

BRIEF OVERVIEW:It's the principal Mr. Slipper's birthday, and the class decides to write birthday cards. Stan is having trouble but is afraid to ask for help. After help from his teacher and a lot of practice, Stan's letters come out perfectly.

INTEGRATED ACTIVITY:Learning how to write is important for this age group to learn, so students must also write a birthday card to Mr. Slipper. They must make sure the letters are the write way and nice and neat like Stan’s came out to be after a lot of practice.

REVIEWER’S NAME & AFFILIATION: Jerre' Robinson - VSU Student