There's A Book For That

  The Day The Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt PreK-3 Caldecott Honor/Medal Summary: Duncan loved to color, but one day he got out his crayon box to find a series of letters from his crayons. Each of his crayons had a complaint, and Duncan needed to find a way to solve all of their problems. At the end, he does find a way to make all of his crayons happy. Evaluation: I think this is a great book to read in class. This book has a lot of humor in it, so it will keep the students' attention. I would read this book in between activities, especially if one of the activities involves coloring. 

  Copper Sun by Sharon M. Draper 4+ Coretta Scott King Award Summary: This book follows the trials and tribulations of Amari, a 15 year-old African girl. After witnessing the slaughter of both the old and young in her village, including her parents and her young brother, she is chained, by feet, hands, and neck, lined up, and herded miles on foot to the ocean by pale skinned visitors with fire sticks. She watches her fellow Africans suffer incomprehensible humiliation and death at the hands of their captors as they are shipped like animal cargo across the ocean. The life that awaits her is nothing like she could have ever imagined. Amari must adapt to life as a purchased slave on a rice plantation, a life that includes atrocities committed upon her by her white owners. She meets Polly, an indentured servant who has dreams of making it to the big house and being a fine lady of standing. Instead, Polly lives in the slave quarters with Amari and finds she’s given the chore of civilizi...

  Midnight Creatures by Helen Friel K-3 Paper engineered Summary: This book features different animals and short descriptions/information about them. When the pages open, you can look for the animals within the pop-up.  Evaluation: I think this book is super cool. I would not necessarily use this book to read in class, but it would definitely be in my reading area. This book would be great for teaching about different animals. 

 The Rough-Faced Girl by Rafe Martin and David Shannon 1-4 Multicultural  Summary: In a village, there lives an Invisible Being that no one can see except his sister. All the women in the village wish to marry him. In the village there also lives a poor man, along with his three daughters. Two of his daughters are cruel and vain. The third daughter, the Rough-Faced Girl, is kind and is able to see the beauty of the earth around her. The two hard-hearted daughters treat the Rough-Face Girl horribly. They force her to sit by the fire and feed the flames. The Rough-Faced Girl gets terrible burns on her face and hands. The two cruel sisters, order their father to give them the finest clothing and jewelry, so that they may get the attention of the Invisible Being. However, the Invisible Being's sister is able to see past the sister's vanity and dismisses them. In turn, the Invisible Being's sister is able to see the beauty and kind heart that the Rough-Face Girl has. She allows ...

  Too Many Tamales by Gary Soto and Ed Martinez K-3 Multicultural Summary: This book is about a young girl, Maria, and her cousins. Maria is fascinated by her mother’s wedding ring. Maria’s mother leaves her wedding ring sitting on the kitchen table, so Maria decides to try it on. Shortly after she puts the ring on, she and her cousins begin making tamales for a holiday party. The children finish making the tamales and go upstairs to play. This is when Maria realizes that she has lost her mother’s wedding ring. It was no longer on her finger, so she concludes that she has lost it in the masa of the tamales. All of the children decide to go down and eat all of the tamales that they had prepared for the party, in order to try and find the wedding ring. By the time the children are to the last tamale, they are stuffed and have not found the ring. When Maria decides to go tell her mother that she has lost the wedding ring, she sees the ring on her mother’s finger. The story ends with t...

  Airport by Byron Barton Nonfiction/Informational PreK-1 Summary: This is a very simple book with minimal words. This book follows almost the entire process of going somewhere on a plane (except for getting off at the destination). This book also tells about the components of a plane.  Evaluation: This book is great for teaching younger students about planes and flying, because it is simple. I would use this book to introduce flying, and even to teach the parts of a plane. This would also make for a great discussion starter (have you ever been on a plane?). 

  Be A Friend to Trees by Patricia Lauber illustrated by Holly Keller Nonfiction/Informational PreK-3 Summary: This book is about everything trees, from the parts of a tree to what trees are used for. Throughout the book, the illustrations show you different trees and labels what kind of tree they are. The book even includes some more complex concepts like photosynthesis.  Evaluation: This is a great book to introduce science concepts, such as photosynthesis and recycling. This book also contains many diagrams that show different parts of trees and processes using parts of trees. This book also includes the animals that live in trees, which makes it a great book for talking about ecosystems and different animals. 

  What If You Get Lost? by Anara Guard illustrated by Dani Jones Nonfiction/Informational  PreK-3 Summary: This book has different scenarios and what do do if you get lost at different kinds of places. The book also has safety tips for each scenario. The book also includes fun ways to memorize phone numbers and rules to follow to help you stay safe.  Evaluation: I think this is a great book to share with students, because it contains information that every child should know. I would definitely share this book before having a field trip, since it includes what to do if you get lost on a field trip. I would also have my students to the phone number activity to help them remember their parents' phone numbers.

  I Am Albert Einstein by Brad Meltzer illustrated by Christopher Eliopoulos Nonfiction/Informational K-3 Summary: This book tells the story of Albert Einstein growing up and ,well, becoming the Albert Einstein we know today. It follows from him being born to us learning about him today. It provides a lot of information on Albert Einstein, but in a more narrative fashion, and ends with a quote.  Evaluation: This is a great book for teaching about Albert Einstein. I love that the books shows how he was just a regular person who did some great things. There is a lot of humor in the book, which I believe will help keep the students engaged. This is just a great book that can be used to teach about Albert Einstein, but I think it can also be used as just a read aloud. 

  Clothesline Clues to Sports People Play by Kathryn Heling and Deborah Hembrook Nonfiction/Informational PreK-2 Summary:    This book looks at different sports uniforms and equipment, and tells what sports the people might play. This book shows baseball, soccer, tennis, fencing, basketball, football, and archery. The book ends by asking what sport would the reader like to try out today.  Ev aluation: This is a great book for introducing different sports to younger students. This book also includes athletes that are male and female, showing that sports are not limited to one gender. I like that this book includes some sports that you do not always see, such as archery and fencing. 

  Ruth and the Green Book by Calvin Alexander Ramsey, Gwen Strauss, and Floyd Cooper Historical Fiction 1-4 Summary: This story is about an African American (A/A) girl named Ruth and her family taking a trip. Ruth was very excited for this trip, because they were taking their new car. Her excited was over soon, when she discovered how poorly A/A travelers were treated in some towns. A lot of hotels and gas stations refused service to African Americans because of Jim Crow Laws. Eventually, they stop at a gas station where the attendant shows her family The Green Book, this was a book that listed places that would welcome the family. Using this book and depending on the kindness of others, Ruth and her family safely make it to her Grandma's house in Alabama.  Evaluation: This is a great book for teaching history. This is especially great for teaching about segregation and Jim Crow Laws. This book offers a good look into what life was like for African Americans in the past, and h...

  Henry's Freedom Box by Ellen Levine and Kadir Nelson Historical Fiction K-4 Caldecott Honor Book Summary: This is a story about a slave boy named Henry, who finds a way to freedom. Henry was given to the son of his master as a young boy, but found a wife as he got older. Henry and his wife were lucky, since they were allowed to live together even though they had different masters. Henry and his wife, Nancy, had children together and were as happy as they could be given the situation. Until one day, his children and wife were sold at an auction, and Henry was devastated. A little while after this, Henry came up with an idea. He would put himself in a box and mail himself to somewhere without slavery. This was a risky plan, since he had to be very quiet so he did not get caught. Henry managed to get out of a day at work and has was successfully mailed to Philadelphia, and lived with some people he knew there and that is where the story ends.  Evaluation: I think this is a grea...

 Players in Pigtails by Shana Corey and Rebecca Gibbon Historical Fiction K-3 Summary: This is a story about a girl named Katie Casey. Katie is not what everyone thought a girl should be, her clothes were wrinkled, she could not knit or dance, and she did not like home economics. Katie WAS good at baseball, but her parents would rather her to play piano or paint and said what good is baseball to a girl. She tried out for the school baseball team every spring, but always got turned away before even getting a shot just because she was a girl. Finally, something happened and a women's baseball team was being formed. Scouts were sent out to find girls to play baseball, and were surprised to find a lot of girls playing baseball just as good as the boys, including Katie Casey. At their first game, the people in the stands laughed at them until they started to play. The story ends with Katie hitting a grand slam and everyone talking about how good girls were for baseball.  Evaluation...

  The Other Side by Jacqueline Woodson and illustrated by E. B. Lewis Historical Fiction K-3 Summary: This is a story about an African American girl, Clover, who lives in a town that is divided by a fence, whites on one side and people of color on the other. This summer, there was a girl who climbed the fence to look at the POC (people of color) side, sometimes Clover would stare right back. This girl wanted to play with Clover and her friends, but Clover's friends always said no. One day, Clover decided to go up to the fence where the girl was, and the girl talked to her (her name was Annie). Clover began to sit on the fence with Annie everyday. At the end, Clover's friend accept Annie as their friend, and they all sit on the fence together.  Evaluation: I love books like this, that show some of the harsh reality of America's past, but in a more light-hearted way. In my classroom, I want my students to know the history of their country, good or bad. However, I do not want ...

  New Shoes by Susan Lynn Meyer and Eric Velasquez Historical Fiction K-4 Summary: This is a story that takes place around the 1950s and it centers around a young African American girl named Ella Mae. In Ella Mae's family, they do not have a lot of money, so they have to use her cousin's old shoes. However, this time, her cousin's shoes do not fit her. This excites Ella Mae, because she has never had new shoes that she got to pick out. Her excitement is soon foiled once at the shoe store, when she has to wait for help and is not allowed to try on shoes, because she has darker skin. At the end, Ella Mae and her cousin open up a shoe store of their own, where everyone can try on any shoes they want and buy them for just 10 cents and an old pair of shoes. Evaluation: I think this is a great book to teach many things. I think this book would be a great story to teach about the history of America, and to not make it so gloomy that everyone is sad at the end. This book shows some...

  I Am Enough by Grace Byers Audio Book PreK-4 Summary: This is a book that I would describe as very motivational. It goes on stating different things and describing herself as these things and being there for a purpose. It talks about looking differently from others and still being enough. The book ends with simply saying, "I am enough."  Evaluation:  This is a great audio book, I believe you can also get this as a physical book too, but I found it while looking on Audible. I loved this book, despite it being a little less than 5 minutes, I thought about it for a lot longer. This would be a great book to read in class to teach the students that they are enough and about accepting differences. I wish there was a bit more to the audio book as far as how it sounded, it was a little monotone. But I love that you also have the option of a physical book, so you can make it your own. 

  The Name Jar by Yangsook Choi Realistic Fiction 1-4 Summary: This is a story about a young girl named Unhei, whose family just moved to America from Korea. This story follows her as she struggles to adjust to like in a new country, especially when the people there cannot say her name. She worries the American kids will not like her and tries to pick a new name to no avail. The next day at school, there is a jar sitting at her desk filled with names the others picked out. They told her she could choose one or all of them if she liked and they would add more to it. One of the other students discovers Unhei's name at the store and the next school day, the jar was gone. There was one slip of paper on her desk that said Unhei. Unhei then decided to introduce herself to the class and wrote Unhei on the board in both English and Korean, and helped the students and teacher say it correctly.  Evaluation: This is another book that is great for teaching self love. In a classroom, you n...

  I Like Myself by Karen Beaumont illustrated by David Catrow Realistic Fiction PreK-4 Summary: This is a wonderful book about a girl who likes herself. It starts with her naming all the parts she likes, everything, and then transitions to her saying that even if she had blank she would still like herself. It ends with her saying she likes herself because she is herself. Evaluation:  I think this is an amazing book, for a lot of reasons. First of all, I think that we need to start teaching self love to children at a younger age. I think that if we start teaching them self love before they really get into the bulling stage, they will be better off. This is a great book to do just that, but it also is a great book for teaching rhyme. I am so glad I found this book, because, even at 20, I think it helped me love myself a little bit more. 

  Let It Rain by Maryann Cocca-Leffler Realistic Fiction PreK-1 Summary: This is a very simple book to read, with few words on the pages. The story starts in spring and the family is planting in their garden. Then it rains, making things all muddy, but when the sun comes out its sunny and there is a rainbow. They build a treehouse, then have to go to school. It ends at the last day of school< "Summer is coming! Let it shine!"  Evaluation: I think this is a great book for teaching younger students about rhyme and about the seasons. This book is mostly about the spring season and things that you can do in the spring, so it would be great for teaching students about spring. The book also features a lot of rhyme, so it would be great for teaching rhyme too. 

  The Night Before Mother's Day by Natasha Wing and illustrated by Amy Wummer Realistic Fiction  PreK-2 Summary: This is a book that follows the rhythm of The Night Before Christmas. The story starts with the children and dad trying to get the mom out of the house. Once they get her out they start making cards and cake. The next day, they wake up and surprise their mom with the cards they made and coupons and brunch. It ends with the mom saying she wished everyday was Mother's Day. Evaluation: This is a great book for teaching rhyme, but also for around Mother's Day. This would be a great book to read aloud before making crafts to give to their mothers.