The Cow Who Clucked

THE COW WHO CLUCKED 

written and illustrated by Denise Fleming

The Cow Who Clucked is a story about a cow who wakes up one morning and has lost her moo. She decides to go on a search for her moo. She talks to all the animals around the farm. She goes to the dog, the cat, the squirrel and other animals but none of them have her moo, they all have their own animal sounds. The cow finally finds her moo and she has the hen's cluck. I liked this book for the most part. It was somewhat repetitive but I thought it was a cute story and I liked the illustrations. They were really unique and they looked as if they were done with chalk. I love animal books and I think they are really important to children because they allow their imagination to run wild when animals are given human characteristics. I would recommend this book for children Pre-K through 1st grade. I think if I were to read this book to my students I would not read all of the pages because it is so repetitive and it is hard to  keep younger children's attention. 

Questions, Questions

QUESTIONS, QUESTIONS 

written and illustrated by Marcus Pfister

This story is a book filled with questions all about nature. "How do seeds know how to grow, to reach up from the earth below?" "How do birds learn how to sing?" The book also is written in a way that rhymes and is in a sort of sing-song tone. It asks questions from seasons to the animals of the Earth, and everything in between. I really liked the illustrations in this book. They were extremely colorful and bright. Marcus Pfister was one of my favorite authors when I was younger. He wrote and illustrated The Rainbow Fish, which was my favorite books when I was little. In Rainbow Fish, on each page the fish had multi-colored scales but one scale on each page were a few silver shimmery scales that were almost a sequin material. I thought it was extremely interesting that in this book, Questions, Questions, that on every page part of his illustration also included a silver shimmery sequin-like material. I was assume that is probably a signature of Pfister. 

For the most part I enjoyed this book. It doesn't really follow a story it is just questions. The only thing that I was a little overwhelmed with when I was reading was that there was not one answer to any of the questions. Children, being as curious as they are are always asking "Why this..?" or "Why that?" I think it would be a little more helpful to include some answers in this book because I think this might just make them question things more. I think this would be a good book for 2nd or 3rd grade classroom to introduce a science lesson. That way some of the questions could be answered for the students. 

A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever

A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever 

written and illustrated by Marla Frazee

James and his best friend Eamon go to Eamon’s grandparents house for 'nature camp''. The boys have their own ideas about what nature camp is like. The boys mostly choose to stay indoors instead of the suggestions that Eamon’s grandfather has. Eamon's grandpa suggests going to the penguin exhibit but the boys decline. The boys go on an adventure with the grandfather but are bored and would rather go back to the house and watch T.V. By the end of the book the boys seem to appreciate nature much more. The book is humorous with even some adult humor that some children might not understand. The books shows the value of friendship and nature and the word bubbles that are included in the illustrations really add to the story. The book does portray a stereotypical family a grandmother, grandfather and grandson and being sensitive to the children's own family life is necessary. 

I really enjoyed this book because I liked the message of the story. I think that children in younger generations do not seem to play outside and do not have as many outdoor activities that they participate in that I did when I was growing up. All I ever wanted to do when I got home from school or during the summer was play outside and now children want to sit inside and watch TV and play video games. I think it's important that children learn to appreciate nature at an early age and I think this is a great book to teach that. I would recommend this book for possibly Kindergarten to 3rd grade. 

The Hello, Goodbye Window

The Hello, Goodbye Window

written by Norton Juster and illustrated by Chris Raschka

The Hello, Goodbye Window is a story about a little girl who goes to visit her grandmother and grandfather. When she arrives at the home she talks about this hello, goodbye window. When she is on the outside looking in, she sees her Nana and Poppy inside of the house. Sometimes they make funny faces at each other and sometimes they don't know she is there yet. The little girl loves spending time with her Nana and Poppy. She talks about all of the fun activities they do together during her visits there. Her and her Poppy make faces in the window together like a mirror and her and her Nana watch the stars at night. When it is time for the little girl to leave she talks about the goodbye window making her happy and sad as she waves goodbye to her grandparents. 

This story is a very touching one and I really enjoyed it because I too used to spend a lot of time with my grandparents, especially in the summer. My sister and I would beg our parents to stay at our grandparents for a week. When we would go and stay with them there was never a dull time. We were spoiled to say the least and we never wanted to go back home when the time came. Many times we would get to spend a few more days at our grandparents because we would cry and beg our parents. I think that this story would be great for children around Pre-K level until about 2nd grade. The story is one that revolves around a very stereotypical family (mother, father, child, grandmother and grandfather) but I really like the illustrations in this story because they are not specific to a certain race. I am guessing the illustrations were done with oil pastels. I would absolutely recommend this book and I will hopefully be able to read it in my classroom someday. I think it teaches an important lesson to children that they should cherish their time with their grandparents. 

Vamos: Un Libro en Dos Lenguas

VAMOS: Un Libro en Dos Lenguas

by Rebecca Emberley

Vamos is a great book that is translated into both English and Spanish. The book is about going to many places and going and doing many activities. The story includes going to the zoo, the aquarium, camping and going on a picnic. The book also has many extra vocabulary words included on the pages that correspond with the story so it is a great learning tool for students who are just learning Spanish or English. This would be a great book for ESL students in Kindergarten to get acquainted with the English language. This book could also be used for Kindergarten or First grade for learning Spanish. 

The illustrations in the book corresponded well with what was going on in the story and there were also pictures for each of the vocabulary words giving a visual representation for students that are more visual/hearing learners than seeing information in writing. I liked this book because of the illustrations and also because of the added vocabulary. I would recommend it for Kindergarten and First and I like that it can be used to learn English or Spanish. 

Song and Dance Man

SONG AND DANCE MAN

written by Karen Ackerman  illustrated by Stephen Gammell

Song and Dance Man is a story about a man who was once a vaudeville performer and now that he is older he likes to relive his vaudeville days with his grandchildren. Whenever this man's grandchildren come over they all go down to the basement together and the grandfather takes out his old cane and hat and begins to dance and sing to the best of his ability. Now that he is older it is harder for him to dance and his grandchildren wish that they could have seen their grandfather in his prime as a performer. 

I really enjoyed this book. It was a fun book to read but also sad because I made such a connection with this book. My grandfather, who passed away a couple years ago, was a musician for many years. He and my grandmother had a television program in the late 60's and they used to travel all around the country. When my grandfather got older he developed arthritis. His arthritis became so bad in his hands he was not longer able to play his music (saxophone and bass guitar) and it was devastating for all of us because he was no longer able to do what he loved more than anything in this world. Reading this book reminded me so much of my grandfather and how much I wished I could have seen him perform live so many years ago. 

I would recommend this book for grades Kindergarten through 2nd grade. It's a pretty easy read and the illustrations are quite interesting. I believe the illustrations are in colored pencil and as you can see by the cover of the book, the illustrator uses multiple colors in his pictures. 

Henry's Freedom Box: A True Story from the Underground Railroad

Henry's Freedom Box: A True Story from the Underground Railroad

Written by: Ellen Levine  Illustrated by: Kadir Nelson

Henry's Freedom Box is a story about a boy born and raised into slavery. Henry and his mother are both slaves and their master is on his death bed. Henry dreams of freedom after hearing stories of masters freeing their slaves when they die. But Henry's master believed Henry was a good slave and passed Henry on to his son. Henry continued to be a hard worker and fell in love with another young female slave. Henry was so infatuated he felt like singing. Singing was not allowed by slaves so Henry hummed instead. Henry marries Nancy and they have children. Nancy mentions to Henry that something he should worry about is Nancy and the children getting separated from Henry through being sold. Unfortunately, Henry's worst nightmare comes true. This story continues with Henry trying to find a way back to his wife and children and his journey to freedom. 

I chose this book because civil rights have always been something that fascinated me. I studied Political Science for a few years and many of the cases I studied were on civil rights. The Underground Railroad is something else that fascinated me ever since learning about it so many years ago. I really liked this book though it did not end the way I suspected it would. The book is somewhat disheartening and not like most of the other books that I have been reading from the Caldecott list. Many of the books I have been reading have been stories about talking animals and have not as rich in content. This book is very deep and emotion driven. I would recommend this book for students 3rd through 5th grade. This is not a book I would read to students in 1st or 2nd although this book is not graphic and does not depict any of the brutality that many slaves faced. This would be a good book when introducing the Underground Railroad and children might relate more since the story begins as Henry as a child. 

Roar of A Snore

ROAR OF A SNORE 

Written by Marsha Diane Arnold

Illustrated by Pierre Pratt

Roar of A Snore is a story about a little boy Jack who is awakes one night to a roaring snoring sound. He goes to investigate waking his dog, mother, baby sister, father and all of the barn animals. The major conflict in the story is that Jack just can't seem to find what is making the snoring sound. When Jack finally does figure out what is making that roaring snoring sound it is surprising. But the snoring does not end there. The end of the story is quite a cliffhanger. 

I chose this book because I really liked the illustrations and the repetitiveness of the word "roaring" and the rhyming words. I also liked the book for all of these reasons. I thought this word would a great book for a writing activity, which is what I had the 2nd grade students of Carroll Elementary do. I had the students partner up and discuss what they thought was making the snoring sound and why. I also particularly enjoyed this book because growing up my father would snore sometimes and it would awaken me in the middle of the night. It was quite a terrifying sound honestly. This book made me laugh thinking about my dad. 

I would definitely recommend this book for children who are learning rhyming words. I think it would be a good book for Kindergarten or 1st grade. I brought this book to the 2nd grade classroom because many of the students are ESL students and not quite at the 2nd grade reading level. 

Below is a picture of me reading Roar of A Snore to the 2nd grade class. 

Interrupting Chicken

Interrupting Chicken

by David Ezra Stein

Interrupting Chicken is a story about a little chicken who asks her chicken father to read her some well known bedtimes stories before she goes to sleep. The chicken father tells the stories of Hansel and Gretel, Little Red Riding Hood, and Chicken Little but there is one problem... The little chicken interrupts in the middle of the stories each time and creates her own ending of the stories. This is a fictional story. This book also received Honors for the 2011 Caldecott awards. 

David Ezra Stein, the author, was raised in Queens and loved doodling and daydreaming. Many of his stories revolve around themes of friendship and nature. Many of his stories also are about animals with human characteristics. 

I chose this book because the cover of the book, which I included in the picture above, was interesting and funny to me. I also thought that the title itself was intriguing. I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it for students from Kinder to 2nd grade. I liked the book because the pictures were very entertaining as long with the story. I found myself laughing hysterically throughout this book which makes me believe that young children would love it even more. I think this is a great book to teach students that interrupting is not very nice but it teaches this lesson in a way that is still humorous. 

Here is an interview with David Ezra Stein about his creative process writing and illustrating Interrupting Chicken.

Video from YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_-ul5VQEcs

The Stray Dog

The Stray Dog by Marc Simont 

The Stray Dog is realistic fiction because it was based on a true story. This story is about a family who goes out for a picnic one day and sees a stray dog. They play with the dog and name him Willy. There are two conflicts in the story. The first is when the mother and father tell the children they cannot keep the dog. The second conflict is when the dog catcher tries to pick up the stray dog. The mood of the story is sad at first but the story does have a happy ending. I chose this story because I am an animal lover and I think it's a great story to teach children to be responsible pet owners and it encourages adopting pets from shelters or strays. I really liked this book. I think the author did a great job with creating illustrations that supplemented the story and told the story without any words. I would recommend this book for younger children grades K through 3rd. This is a great book that will teach children to care for animals and to be compassionate and loving towards animals.