A Book or Two: Children's Literature Reviews

Find a perfect children’s book to share or read, and information on new, classic, and favorite children's literature, reviewed by university professors, teachers, librarians, graduate students, and teachers-to-be! Browse A Book or Two by title, genre, or topic! HAPPY READING! This is a closed site, to prevent inappropriate postings. You won't be able to add your own comments. Communication should be sent to the site organizer, Dr. Deb Marciano (dlmarciano@valdosta.edu).

Showing posts with label Writing. Show all posts

10/22/14

The Paperboy

AUTHOR/ILLUSTRATOR: Dav Pilkey
PUBLISHER: Orchard Books PUBLICATION DATE: 1996
AWARDS: Caldcott Medal
GENRE: Fiction READING LEVEL: 3rd Grade
BRIEF OVERVIEW: When the whole neighborhood is still asleep, the paperboy is in the garage, rolling papers and filling his red bag to the top. With his faithful dog at his side, the paperboy sets off to deliver papers in the neighborhood.
INTEGRATED ACTIVITY: Have students write about how they spend an average day, from waking up to going to bed. Encourage children to discuss their most and least favorite parts of the day and explain their choices. See if children can identify the most peaceful, exciting, and tiring parts of their day. Then, some children can illustrate morning activities, others afternoon/during day activities, and remaining children can illustrate activities performed at nighttime
REVIEWER’S NAME & AFFILIATION: Rhonda Herb, Valdosta State University ECSE
LABELS: Writing, night, time management, bedtime, responsibility

Flotsam

AUTHOR/ILLUSTRATOR: David Wiesner
PUBLISHER: Clarion/Houghton Mifflin PUBLICATION DATE: 2006

AWARDS: 2007 Caldcott Medal
GENRE: Fiction READING LEVEL: Wordless picture book
BRIEF OVERVIEW: A beachcombing boy finds an interesting item washed ashore while collecting beach artifacts.
INTEGRATED ACTIVITY: Write the backstory for one of the scenes in the pictures the boy has developed. Write a story about the boy on page 25. (Who is he? Was this his camera? How did it get into the ocean?)
REVIEWER’S NAME & AFFILIATION: Rhonda Herb, Valdosta State University ECSE
LABELS: Science, Writing

10/20/14

A Sweet Smell of Roses

AUTHOR: Angela Johnson

ILLUSTRATOR: Eric Velasquez

PUBLISHER: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
PUBLICATION DATE: 2005

GENRE: Historical Fiction READING LEVEL: 8 Years old

BRIEF OVERVIEW: Story about a young girl and her younger sister .The two girls sneak out of house, past their mom. The girls go on March with Martin Luther King, Jr. Freedom and justice is describes through the smell of roses all day. At the end, the girls come back home to mom to tell stories of day.

INTEGRATED ACTIVITY: Students will be asked to write their own personal opinions on a separate sheet of paper on what the story told them upon the author’s way of describing the story. Students will be asked to draw a rose, like the one from the story, and explain what the rose looked and smelled like to them as compared to the story. Based upon the story, students will be given a short biography to read individually on Martin Luther King, Jr. upon completion of the story. Students will then be put into groups, to discuss the importance of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s influence to society based upon both reads.

REVIEWER’S NAME & AFFILIATION: Brittany Welch, Valdosta State University ECSE)

LABELS: Historical Fiction, Senses, Children’s Book, Writing

Tar Beach

AUTHOR/ILLUSTRATOR: Faith Ringgold

PUBLISHER: Dragonfly Books PUBLICATION DATE: 2006

AWARDS: Caldecott Honor , Coretta Scott King Award for Illustrator, Ezra Jack Keats Book Award for New Writer

GENRE: Big Book READING LEVEL: 3^rd Grade

BRIEF OVERVIEW: The author uses 8 year old Cassie Louise Lightfoot to recall a few of her memories growing up in New York as a lower class African American as she “flies” over Tar Beach. Tar Beach is what Cassie calls the rooftop of her apartment.

INTEGRATED ACTIVITY:The students uses the Prompt, If I could fly. They will then write a story and describes what they would see and who they will encounter on their journey.

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

10/19/14

The Lion and The Mouse

AUTHOR/ILLUSTRATOR: Jerry Pinkey

PUBLISHER: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

PUBLICATION DATE: 2009

AWARDS: 2010 Caldecott Medal winner and 2009 Parents' Choice Gold Award winner

GENRE: Wordless Picture Book READING LEVEL: 4th grade

BRIEF OVERVIEW: Based of an Aesop’s Fable a mouse who is running away from being captured ends up waking up a lion. Instead of eating the mouse the lion decides to let him go. The lion walks into a trap and is saved by the mouse who bites net and releases the lion.

INTEGRATED ACTIVITY:The student reflects and writes about a time that they thought they could complete a task on their own but ended up needing the help of others.

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

The Animals Who Changed Their Colors

TITLE: The Animals Who Changed Their Colors

AUTHOR/ILLUSTRATOR: Pascale Allamand , English version by Elizabeth Watson Taylor

PUBLISHER: William Morrow& Co PUBLICATION DATE: 1979

GENRE: Fiction Picture Book READING LEVEL: Eight Year Old

BRIEF OVERVIEW: A polar bear, whale, tortoise, and crocodiles want to have the same beautiful colors as the parrot. Each of these animals discover that it made no sense to change their colors.

INTEGRATED ACTIVITY: While working in groups of four to six, students will write the physical traits of an assigned animal, that help to protect it in its environment and what may happen without these traits. For language arts, students will follow up with a creative writing about their own individuality.

REVIEWER’S NAME & AFFILIATION: (Kimberly Hansen, Valdosta State University ECSE)

LABELS: ( animals, science, writing, environment )

The Travels of Babar

AUTHOR/ILLUSTRATOR: Jean De Brunhoff: translated from the French by Merle s. Haas

PUBLISHER: Random House, Inc. PUBLICATION DATE: 1934

GENRE: Classic Fiction READING LEVEL: Third Grade

BRIEF OVERVIEW: Babar, an elephant king, has just married Celeste. The two elephants have exciting adventures on their wedding trip, as they travel around the world.

INTEGRATED ACTIVITY: Have students decorate their own hot air balloon. Students will write a paragraph on their balloon of where they would travel in their hot air balloon. The teacher can display balloons on the wall with the students’ pictures in the basket.