Boxes for Katje

AUTHOR: Candace Fleming ILLUSTRATOR: Stacey Dresses-McQueen

PUBLISHER: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux     PUBLICATION DATE:  9/12/2003

AWARDS:  Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2003, Washington D.C. Capitol Choice Book Award Nominee

GENRE: Historical Fiction        READING LEVEL:  7 to 8 years old

BRIEF OVERVIEW: A young girl living in Holland receives packages from a girl living in the USA. They become pen pals and the entire town is affected. The book looks at the war from a different perspective than why and who is involved. Students can see themes such as suspense, different cultures, and giving to others.

INTEGRATED ACTIVITY: FINE ARTS: Have students begin collecting items to send to another country for Christmas; candy, small toys, tooth brushes, and tooth paste. Use some sort of organization such as Operation Christmas Child to send the items to other boys and girls. 

ENGLISH: Write a letter to Katje and her community telling them items you would send. Have the students tell her a little bit about themselves and their families. 

SOCIAL STUDIES/GEOGRAPHY: Discuss where Holland is on the map. Look at climate, surrounding countries, and customs. Discover how far away Holland is from the classroom using Google Maps.

REVIEWER’S NAME & AFFILIATION: Heather Ganas, Valdosta State University ECSE

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