Read to Tiger

AUTHOR:  S. J. Fore

ILLUSTRATOR:  R. W. Alley

PUBLISHER: Penguin Group (USA) Incorporated              PUBLICATION DATE: 2010

GENRE: Fiction Picture Book    READING LEVEL:  K

BRIEF OVERVIEW:  While Max is trying to settle down and read, Tiger is doing various things to try and get attention.

INTEGRATED ACTIVITY:  Have students draw a picture of their favorite place to read.

REVIEWER’S NAME & AFFILIATION:  (Desiree Robison-Juan,Valdosta State University ECSE)

LABELS:  animals, determination, reading

Stuck by Oliver Jeffers

author and illustrated by Oliver Jeffers
Copyright: 2011 Reading Level: PreK-3rd grade
Book Description: A book about a boy who gets his kite stuck in a tree. He continues to throw objects into the tree to retrieve the previous object thrown, because strangely enough, each and every object seems to get stuck in the tree. Surely there must be at least one object he can throw up in the tree to get the objects unstuck. Integrated Idea: Think about the different sizes of the items that Floyd throws in the tree. How long / tall / heavy is each one? How could you measure them? What units of measurement would we need to use? Could you make a list showing the measurements of each item and use these to make a graph? 

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

Lucky Beans

 Author: Becky Birtha Illustrator: Nicole Tadgell Publication Date: 2010 Genre: Historical Fiction Reading Level: Age 7-9 Brief Overview: Set in 1930’s during the Great Depression, Marshall hates beans because he has to eat them everyday but when he gets the chance to win a bean counting contest to win his mother a new sewing machine, he uses a strategy he learned in arithmetic to try and win. Integrated Idea: Have students use estimation skills in their own classroom contest of counting a jar of beans. Reviewer's Name and Affiliation: Ashley Offenberg, Teacher Candidate Valdosta State University

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