The Monster Who Ate My Peas

AUTHOR:  Danny Schnitzlein
ILLUSTRATOR:  Matt Faulkner
PUBLISHER: Peachtree Publishers        
PUBLICATION DATE:  2010
GENRE: Fiction Picture Book    
READING LEVEL:  2nd Grade
BRIEF OVERVIEW:  A boy trades different prized possessions to a monster who agrees to eat his peas.  When faced with the decision of whether to let the monster eat his peas for his dog or to eat the peas himself, he decides that eating his peas to keep his dog is his best option.
INTEGRATED ACTIVITY:  Have students write a short story telling what food they would have the monster eat for them and what prized objects they would trade.
REVIEWER’S NAME & AFFILIATION: (Desiree Robison-Juan,Valdosta State University ECSE)
LABELS: Compromise, Fantasy, Food , Monsters, Rhyming.

The Elves & the Shoemaker

TITLE: The Elves & the Shoemaker

AUTHOR: Jacob Grimm ILLUSTRATOR: Jim Lamarche

PUBLISHER: Chronicle Books                 PUBLICATION DATE:  2003

GENRE: Traditional Books (Euro.)         READING LEVEL: Grade 1-3

BRIEF OVERVIEW: A poor shoemaker and his wife are visited by two elves during the night. The elves make many beautiful shoes for the shoemaker to sell and become rich.  The shoemaker and his wife return the favor by making clothes for the elves.

INTEGRATED ACTIVITY: After the read-aloud students will tell a partner about a time they did something nice for someone without expecting something in return.  Students will then write about their experience.

REVIEWER’S NAME & AFFILIATION: Curtis Watson, Valdosta State University ECSE

LABELS: Helping, Fantasy.