Magritte's Marvelous Hat

AUTHOR/ILLUSTRATOR: D.B. Johnson

PUBLISHER: Simon & Schuster     
PUBLICATION DATE: 2012
GENRE: Fiction READING LEVEL: 1^st Grade
BRIEF OVERVIEW: A painter buys a hat that floats above his head. The hat helps him paint better, but one day flies away. Eventually, however, the painter tricks the hat into returning.
INTEGRATED ACTIVITY: The children will bring a favorite hat to school and wear it while painting. (Ask: Did it help you paint better?)
REVIEWER’S NAME & AFFILIATION: Serena Martin, Valdosta State University ECSE
LABELS: Art, Reading, Dogs, Hats

Alphabet City

AUTHOR/ILLUSTRATOR: Stephen T. Johnson

PUBLISHER: Penguin Group (USA) Incorporated    PUBLICATION DATE:  1995

AWARDS: A 1996 Caldecott Honor Book
ALA Notable Award
A New York Times Best Illustrated Book of the Year
A 1996 Children’s Book of Distinction by Hungry Mind Review
A 1996 Children’s Books Mean Business ABA-CBC
A New York Public Library’s 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing
Gold and Silver Medals from the Society of Illustrators, New York, NY
Horn Book Magazine Starred Review and a Horn Book Fanfare Award
Parenting Magazine’s Reading Magic Award
Parents Magazine’s Best Books of 1995 and a Parents Pick of the Year
Publishers Weekly Starred Review
School Library Journal Starred Review
Children’s Book of the Year and marked for Outstanding Merit by The Bank Street Child Study Children’s Book Committee
Wisconsin Library Association’s Outstanding Achievement in Children’s Literature
Featured in it entirety on ABC’s Good Morning America with Charlie Gibson and Joan Lunden

GENRE: Nonfiction PB     READING LEVEL:  age 5

BRIEF OVERVIEW: Through the use of water colors, the author uses objects of the urban setting to demonstrate that the alphabet or letters are not only seen in books but as well as our surroundings. Johnson’s photo-realistic images give a tour through the city, finding letters in places that no one usually pays attention to. So pay close attention to the illustrations, otherwise you might miss the “P” on the rails.

INTEGRATED ACTIVITY: Throughout the day (including at home, the bus ride, hall ways, and school) look around and try to recognize a letter and sketch in journal and demonstrate drawing to classmates the next class day. Once they have their image, students will get to paint their image using watercolors. This way they become more aware of their surroundings in their environment.

REVIEWER’S NAME & AFFILIATION: (Nancy Guerrero, Valdosta State University ECSE)

LABELS: city life, nonfiction, wordless picture book, art

The Librarian of Basra

AUTHOR/ILLUSTRATOR: Jeanette Winter
PUBLISHER: Harcourt Books PUBLICATION DATE: 2005
GENRE: Non-Fiction READING LEVEL: 3rd Grade
BRIEF OVERVIEW: This is a true story about the heroic efforts of a woman who is passionate about saving her town’s precious books during war.
    INTEGRATED ACTIVITY: Design and decorate book covers to     demonstrate the importance of reading, taking care of books, and sharing kindness.
REVIEWER’S NAME & AFFILIATION: Rhonda Herb, Valdosta State University ECSE
LABELS: Reading, War, Heros, Books, Social Studies, Art

Arthur's Christmas Cookies

AUTHOR/ILLUSTRATOR: Lilian Hoban/ Lilian Hoban

PUBLISHER:    Harper and Row     PUBLICATION DATE:  1972

GENRE: Fiction Picture Book           READING LEVEL: 2nd - 3rd 

BRIEF OVERVIEW: Arthur wants to make Christmas cookies for Mother and Father. His sister, Violet, lets him use her Bake-E-Z oven. Wilma and Norman come over to watch -- and talk, and fight and push! The dough falls on the floor, and, finally, when the cookies are done, there is something very wrong with them.

INTEGRATED ACTIVITY: Use this book to reinforce the importance of sharing and working together. Use play dough to make play dough cookies, requiring that the children share the supplies.

REVIEWER’S NAME & AFFILIATION: (James Carnegie,  Valdosta State University ECSE)

LABELS: Sharing, Classic, Art

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.

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

LABELS: ( classic fiction, writing, adventure, art )

The Day The Crayons Quit

AUTHOR/ILLUSTRATOR: Drew Daywalt / Oliver Jeffers

PUBLISHER:  Penguin Young Readers Group PUBLICATION DATE: 2013

GENRE: Concept Book READING LEVEL:  6 YR.

BRIEF OVERVIEW:

INTEGRATED ACTIVITY:

REVIEWER’S NAME & AFFILIATION: (Maya Newsome, Valdosta State University ECSE)

LABELS: crayons, art, quitting, coloring 

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