Junie B. Jones Has a Monster Under Her Bed.

AUTHOR: Barbara Parks

Illustrator: Denise Brunkus

 

PUBLISHER:  Random House Books for Young Readers      

 

PUBLICATION DATE:  1997

 

GENRE: Fiction     

                         

READING LEVEL: 1st grade - 4th grade

BRIEF OVERVIEW: After hearing her classmate, Paulie Allen Puffer, talk about the monsters that hide under everyone's bed, Junie B. starts to wonder... Do I have a monster under my bed? Once she discovers the evidence, monster drool, on her pillow she has trouble sleeping at night. However, after talking with her mother, they come up with a clever idea on how to scare those silly monsters away.

INTEGRATED ACTIVITY: Have the students write about their biggest childhood fear and how they overcame them. (Improve descriptive writing skills.)

REVIEWER’S NAME & AFFILIATION: Hannah Banbury, Valdosta State University ECSE

LABELS: bedtime, transitions, courage, female character, funny

Unspoken

                            

AUTHOR/ILLUSTRATOR: Henry Cole

PUBLISHER:  Scholastic Press   

PUBLICATION DATE: 2012

AWARDS: Sixth annual Horace Mann Upstanders Book Award Winner

GENRE: Wordless Picture book    

READING LEVEL:  Ages 5-7

BRIEF OVERVIEW: A young girls courage is tested when she discovers runaway slaves in her parents barn. She is forced to make a choice to tell or keep their secret.

INTEGRATED ACTIVITY: After reading the story, students will sequence the events in the book by pictures with their small groups.

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

Brothers in Hope: The Story of the Lost Boys of Sudan

AUTHOR/ILLUSTRATOR: Mary Williams/R. Gregory Christie
 PUBLISHER: Lee and Low Books            PUBLICATION DATE: April 7, 2005
GENRE: Historical Fiction       READING LEVEL: 3rd- 5th
BRIEF OVERVIEW:

After an attack during the Civil War destroys his village and his family a young boy discovers other orphaned boys. Over their journey they have many hardships. The boy grows up & becomes leader of their camp.

INTEGRATED ACTIVITY:

Make time lines of the events that happen in the story.

REVIEWER’S NAME & AFFILIATION: Kara Norris, Valdosta State University

Henry's Freedom Box

Author: Ellen Levine              Illustrator: Kadir Nelson
Copyright: 2007       Genre: Cultural fiction      Reading Level: 4-8 yrs
Book Description: This is the story of a boy who experienced most of his life in slavery. He eventually finds a clever way to escape and begins his life of freedom. They call it his birthday of freedom. I think this story is inspiring and I like how Henry never lost his courage.
  Integrated Activity: (4th grade) After reading the story students will be make a box out of construction paper. We will write words on slips of paper that describe Henry (from the story). On the back of each word paper slip students will write a sentence about the word (how it describes Henry or why it is inspiring to them). These will be our class Freedom boxes to remind us of the struggles that other people experience and to give us words of encouragement when we need it.
  Reviewers name/affiliation: Emma McGee-VSU