Arthur's TV Trouble By:Marc Brown (Fiction)

Babymouse Puppy Love By: Jennifer L. Holm and Matthew Holm (Graphic Novel- Modern Fantasy)

Babymouse Puppy Love by Jennifer Holm and Matthew Holm, is a children's graphic novel. It is a story about a mouse named Babymouse who has always dreamed of having a dog, however has only been allowed by her mother to have small animals such as fish. Babymouse has also not been the most responsible mouse at taking care of animals. When her fish that she currently has dies, her mother begins scolding and asking her how many fish she has had all together. Babymouse begins to think in her head, and counts to five. After school, her mother takes her to the pet store to get another pet. She see's the dogs and automatically wants a puppy! However, her mother tells her to start with something small, like a hamster. Babymouse decides to get a hamster and name it Hammy. She buys a book about the hamster to learn more about them. However, after her mother cooks cupcakes, Babymouse is eager to get to the kitchen to eat them and leaves the cage open. She later comes back to find her hamster gone. Babymouse continues to go through the process of getting a pet, then somehow losing it. One day she is sitting outside and a stray puppy comes up to her. She tells her mom they must keep it and take care of it, and that she will promise to do all the work. Babymouse discovers how hard it is to keep up with a dog. Having to take it out, feed it and give it baths takes a lot of time. She finally gets the hang of it, and trains the dog when all of a sudden the dogs real owner see's them out on a walk. Babymouse is sad when the owner takes the dog, who she had finally thought was hers. This is a funny book! I had never read a graphic novel before, and this was a good one to start with. It incorporates daydreams and the reality of Babymouse's life in a very humorous way. I think this would be a great book to read with students to show them new and different types of books and genres. Many students have not read graphic novels, and I think this would be a funny one to show them how stories can be written in different ways.

Zathura By: Chris Van Allsburg (Modern Fantasy)

Zathura by Chris Van Allsburg, is a modern fantasy fiction book. Also the author of Jumanji, Chris Van Allsburg has the same idea in mind with the story of Zathura. Two brothers, Danny and Walter are always bickering and fighting with one another. Walter, the older brother, is tired of Danny always being in the way and breaking his things. One day while outside playing, Danny and Walter were wrestling and Walter had Danny pinned down. Danny spotted a game that said "Jumanji." He asked his older brother Walter what the game was, and Walter simply said it was game for babies like him. Danny tucked the game under his arm and took it inside with him. When their parents decide to go out one night and leave the boys at home alone, Walter is less than thrilled to be at home watching his younger brother. While Walter is busy watching TV, Danny takes out the board game and finds that there are in fact two games in the box. He pulls out the other game which is called Zathura. He rolls the dice and begins to the read the directions, when everythings starts to change. Little did they know they were in for an outer space adventure. Much like Jumanji, this board game brought outerspace to life for these two boys. Having to work together to complete the game and keep themselves safe from getting lost in outerspace, brings them closer together as brothers and teaches Walter a big lesson. He realizes how important his brother is and how much he loves him, and from then on never complains about having to spend time or play with him. I loved this story, especially the end! It was an exciting yet inspiring story. The pictures were amazing as well. It was as if you were right in the story yourself. I think this would be a great book to read with students and explain the importance of not taking things or people for granted. It has great morals behind it but is also a fun and exciting book.

The Whipping Boy by: Sid Fleischman (Chapter Book- Fiction)

Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse By: Kevin Henkes (Fiction)

Clever Beatrice By: Margaret Willey and Heather Solomon (Traditional/Folk Literature)

Clever Beatrice by Margaret Willey and Heather Solomon is a tall tale from Michigan's upper peninsula. It is a great story about a clever and sharp little girl named Beatrice. One day her mother sets a bowl of porridge in front of Beatrice and explains to her to eat slow because it's the last of it they have left. Eager to help her mother get more money, Beatrice tells her mom that she's going to get money for them. Her mother explains that there is only two ways to get money, one is to cut down trees with the lumberjacks and the other is to win a bet with the rich giant, neither a job for a little girl. Beatrice asked her mother if the giant was smart and her mother replied "when you are rich you don't have to be smart." Beatrice decided to set out to find the giant and make a bet with him. She bet him ten gold coins that she could strike a blow harder than him. The giant took her on and with his fist punched his door. The walls trembled as the giant said "your turn." Beatrice and her clever ways, pointed to a tree laying on the ground and told him that's what he could use to make a new front door after she knocked it down. The giant, not being very smart, did not like the idea of having to build a new front door. Instead of finishing out the bet, he gave Beatrice the ten gold coins. Getting tricked into doing two more bets, and being outsmarted in two more bets, Beatrice won a total of thirty gold coins from the giant. This is a great story of a young girl believing in herself and out smarting a giant with three times her strength. This would be a great story to read when introducing tall tales and fairy tales. It also has great morals behind it that could be used in lessons!

The Brothers Grimm: Hansel and Gretel By: Elizabeth D. Crawford (Traditional/Folk Literature)

Hansel and Gretel by Elizabeth D. Crawford, is a Folk Literature book about a brother and a sister who are abandoned by their parents. Famine has struck the town and the stepmother talks their father into leading them into the woods and leaving them there for good. Hansel and Gretel over hear the stepmothers plan and Gretel becomes very sad. Hansel promises that they will be ok and that he will save them. As they get left in the woods and can't find their way back home, they come across a house made of sweets. They begin to eat parts of the house when an old lady comes out and invites them inside to stay with her. However, they soon discover the old woman is a witch and intends to kill and eat them. The witch tells Gretel that she is going to fatten up Hansel and then cook him and eat him. Gretel is sad, but realizes its up to her to save Hansel now. Gretel tricks the witch and kills her and they are then both safe. They go into the house and gather al the witches stones and jewels. They head back on a journey to find their house and when they arrive, their father is excited to see them. They give him the riches and never have a problem with food ever again! This was a great fairy tale and I feel that students would love reading a story like this. It is very exciting with ups and downs throughout the whole story. It could be used when studying fairy tales and different versions in the classroom.

Nova's Ark By: David Kirk (Modern Fantasy/Science Fiction)

Nova's Ark is a story about a young robot, Nova, from the planet Roton. he is a robot with big dreams! Nova believed that if he tried hard enough he could be the youngest star pilot ever. He dreamed he could the one to find Zyte. Zyte was a mystic moon that was an energy source that could fuel Roton forever. Nova's mother laughed at the idea, but Nova continued to believe. When Nova takes part in a class field trip, he accidently orbits himself into space. After being lost for weeks he finally learns how to control the spaceship. When his space ship runs out of fuel and lands on a planet with a huge mountain, Nova is devastated. Little does he know the planet he is on is Zyte. This is a great story of a boy who never gives up on his dream- no matter what anyone says. This could be used in the classroom in many ways. It could be read to students to teach about never giving up on their dreams. It would also be a great read aloud during morning meetings or down time. The pictures are very colorful and fun, something I believe student's would have fun reading and following along.

Seven Blind Mice By: Ed Young (Traditional/Folk Literature)

Seven Blind Mice by Ed Young, is a Folk Literature book about seven blind mice who discover something near their pond. As each mouse goes to the pond to decide what it is at the pond, each mouse returns with a different idea about what they saw. As they begin to argue about this, the last mouse goes to check out what the object is at the pond. Instead of just looking on, the mouse climbs on the object, feels it and walks from end to end. He comes back to the other mice and explains to them that all the aspects of what they thought the object was helped in his decision about what the object really was. He discovered the the object was indeed an elephant! The white mouse, the last one to observe and discover the object, explained the moral of this is you must see things a whole and not just one part. I felt this book had a great moral background that students could definitely learn from. The pictures in this book were amazing. Each mouse was a different color, with a black background on each page. It was so bright and colorful and really fun to look at as you read along.

Meet Felicity: An American Girl By: Valerie Tripp (Historical Fiction: Chapter Book)

Meet Felicity by Valerie Tripp is a historical fiction chapter book set in 1774. Felicity Merriman is a nine year old girl who lives in Williamsburg, Virginia in a time just before the Revolutionary War. Felicity is an outgoing girl, unlike most girls in this time period. The book discusses how women must wear dresses, bake and stitch. Felicity, despite her parents wishes, would much rather wear pants and ride horses than be indoors cooking and cleaning. Felicity had a love for horses. When there was a new horse in town, Felicity was very excited until Mr. Nye was interested in buying it. Felicity knew that Mr. Nye did not treat his horses nicely and that he had a run down farm. She tried to warn her father, however he did not believe her. When Felicity and her friend Ben go walking past Mr. Nyes ranch one day, they see him mistreating the new horse. Felicity becomes determined to do something about this even if she has to do it alone. After being scolded by Mr. Nye, Felicity began visiting the horse who she named "Penny" early every morning. She would leave an apple on the fence for Penny. Penny slowly got aquainted with Felicity and Felicity began to ride and guide Penny. Felicity finally decides that she must free Penny and thats just what she does. As Penny leaves and gains her Independence, Felicity is relieved. This book is a great way to show students what life was like back in times before the Revolutionary War. It also has a good story behind it that will keep students interested. I really enjoyed its historical background, which taught me alot about how society worked, and the great story about Felicity.

Crow Boy by: Taro Yashima (Multicultural Literature)

Crow Boy by Taro Yashima is a multicultural children's book set in a Japanese village school. This story is about a tiny boy that all the students call "Chibi," which translates to "tiny boy." All the students in the school make fun of Chibi and isolate him from the rest of the class. Although Chibi has no friends, he makes his way to school every morning, rain or shine, from his house far away in the mountains. Chibi does this for five long years, never complaining. During his sixth grade year, Chibi enters the talent show. All the students are shocked to see him. Chibi's performance is an immitation of crow voices. When the crowd is amazed, the teacher explains on his long journey to school everyday he listens to the crows. The crowd begins to cry and gives him the name "crow boy." This book is a very inspiring story about a boy who is isolated all through school, yet never gives up or misses a single day. This story could be used in the classroom in many different ways. It's morals about bullying and having courage could be great lessons for student's. It also includes many Japanese cultural words and symbols. I enjoyed this great book and its inspiring message.

The Sea of Monsters Percy Jackson and the Olympians By: Rick Riordan (student blog)

Percy's life has been a great adventure with his two friends Grover and Anna Beth. Percy has been living with his mom then going to camp half-blood for the summer. Camp half-blood is a camp that teaches half-bloods to fight and survive out in the mortal world. Camp half-blood has a shield protecting it so the monsters cannot get in. This book is about the shield getting poisoned so now the monsters can get into the camp and destroy it. Now it is up to Percy Anna Beth and Grover to save the camp and heal the poisoned shield. The only way they can heal the shield is by finding the Golden Fleece. The Golden Fleece heals anything it is put on. So if the Golden Fleece is put on the shield protecting the camp it will heal it and the camp will be saved. First Percy must retrieve the Golden Fleece first.

Happy New Year By: Emily Kelley (Nonfiction)

Happy New Year by Emily Kelley is a nonfiction book about the different cultures and customs that countries celebrate on New Years. It discusses customs in countries such as Ecuador, Iran, Japan, Vietnam, China, Sierra Leone and many others. It informs students about the different dates that these countries celebrate new years and even the different names they are called in each country. Many of the customs are discussed as well, such as traditions of the different cultures on this holiday. There is also a section at the end with New Years jokes and games. A glossary is also included in the back of the book for many of the difficult and unfamiliar words and terms used throughout the text. I think this would be a great book to use in the classroom especially when discussing holidays and different cultures. It is a great resource for students because it is very informative and includes a glossary at the end as well as activities and games that students could play.

Manfish, A Story of Jacques Cousteau By: Jennifer Berne (Biography)

Manfish, A story of Jacques Cousteau by Jennifer Berne is a biography about Jacques Cousteau. I really enjoyed this biography because it was told like a childrens story instead of a more formal biography. Jacques Cousteau is one of the worlds most famous oceanographers and explorers of the sea. This story starts out by describing Cousteau as a child and his love for the water. He often dreamed as a child that he could swim and breath underwater. He was fascinated by machines and cameras as well. As a child he was always creating, experimenting and playing. As Jacques grew up and finished school he joined the French Navy and sailed all around the world. Everywhere Cousteau went he would film his surroundings. His love for water and the ocean grew stronger and Cousteau and some of his friends began diving. He soon became frusterated that he could only stay down for one breath and began thinking of ways to stay under water longer. This led to his invention that he called the "aqualung." He was finally able to breath underwater! He was now ready to explore the oceans and he purchased a boat named Calypso. Jacques and a crew set out to explore the oceans, and film everything they encountered. Many of his films were played in movie theaters and television. This was the first time many people had seen and been able to learn about the ocean. Jacques soon realized after many explorations of the sea how polluted the oceans were. He began to make movies about this pollution and how humans were destroying the water. Cousteau spoke to presidents, kings and queens of all dfferent countries to help save and preserve the oceans. He also spoke to children about how to help conserve the waters and hoped to that people everywhere would continue to help. I think this would be a great book for students to learn about the ocean and explorers. It's also a very inspiring book on how to help preserve our oceans and our world. There are many lessons that can be learned from this book!

Why the Sun and the Moon Live in the Sky By: Elphinstone Dayrell (Multicultural or International Literature)

Why the Sun and the Moon Live in the Sky by Elphinstone Dayrell is an old African folktale. It is a story about how the sun and the moon came to be in the sky. I really enjoyed reading this book and can remember as a child reading similar stories about how mountains came to be. In this book the sun and moon are married and are good friends with the water. The sun always goes to visit the water, but the water can never come to visit the sun because they do not have a house big enough. The sun proceeds to build a bigger house. The water then comes to visit but there is so much of the water that it just keeps filling up the house and the sun and the move keep moving higher and higher. They move on to the roof of the house and the water just keeps filling it up until eventually the sun and the moon are left in the sky. This book is a great way to incorporate multicultural literature into the classroom. Students can get different ideas about what stories were told in different cultures, in this case Africa. They can use these to compare them to ones we see here in America as well as other cultures. This book was also a winner of the Caldecott. The pictures are great and very different from most other books I have seen. They really capture the African folktale culture!

Granny Torrelli Makes Soup By: Sharon Creech (Chapter Book: Realistic Fiction)

Granny Torrelli Makes Soup is a realistic fiction chapter book by Sharon Creech. I absolutely loved this book! It was such easy reading, I did not want to put it down. It is about a relationship between girl named Rosie and her grandmother. Her grandmother often babysits Rosie while her parents are out or away. Rosie has a best friend named Bailey, a boy next door, who is blind. Bailey and Rosie have grown up together and been best friends ever since she can remember. However, Rosie soon finds that growing up isn't always easy. Now twelve years old, she is discovering it's not always easy dealing with the situations of growing up. Her and Bailey get in one of their first fights and she turns to Granny Torelli for advice. Granny helps Rosie discover whats really important about life, love and friendships while cooking many delicious meals. I think that this book could be a great book for young students to read in the classroom, especially in the upper grades. This is the time students are beginning to deal with the issues of getting older and this book really helps put into perspective how to deal with these sorts of issues. Students could also really relate to the issues discussed in this book. I think it would be a great book to use for book talks or journaling about. Many students have grandparents, or some sort of person they turn to for advice and it would be a great topic to discuss among each other.

Germs Make Me Sick! By: Melvin Berger, Illustrated by: Marylin Hafner (NonFiction)

Germs Make Me Sick! By Melvin Berger is a great book on germs- bacteria and viruses. One thing I really enjoyed about this book was the illustrations. Marylin Hafner did a great job at illustrating what was being said in the text in a fun, understandable way. The illustrations show in a kid-friendly way the way in which germs look and how they attack the body and make you sick. This book is a great informative text on how bacteria and viruses can cause illnesses. It discusses what germs look like, how you catch them and what your body does to fight them off. I enjoyed how Berger described what different germs look like, saying that some bacteria for example look lik round balls or straight rods and how some viruses look like loaves of bread or tadpoles. This relates the shapes and looks of these germs to things that children are familiar with which in turn makes it easier for them to comprehend. I also really liked how Berger included that not all germs are bad germs. I think its important for children to know that there are good germs out there as well so they do not perceive any misconceptions. Another great aspect of this book is that the last page includes a list of things that children can do to keep good health and stay away from bad germs. I think this is an important topic that should be discussed all throughout elementary school with students so they can understand germs and illnessess and learn how to live a healthy lifestyle in preventing them.

A Rainy Day By: Sandra Markle (NonFiction)

A Rainy Day by Sandra Markle is a great childrens book discussing rain and what happens on a rainy day. This book is about a girl who sets out to explore a rainy day. It starts out explaining what happens before it rains, such as gray clouds appearing and wind picking up. It discusses which animals come out or stay out during the rain and which ones return to safer dry places. It also discusses what happens to everyday things that we see outside such as the pavement getting darker and cars and leaves looking shiny. This book does a good job at describing how rain forms in clouds in a simple, easy to understand manner. It also discusses what hapepns after it rains, for example the sun comes out and the rain runs off into rivers, streams and lakes or is evaporated back into the air. It describes how the process will then start all over again. I think this would be a great illustrative book to show to students when discussing science topics such as the water cycle or rain and how it is formed. It gives students a simpler way of comprehending information as well as give them pictures to help understand what happens when its raining outside. I think it is important for simple books such as these to be used in helping students understand bigger topics, in this case the water cycle.

Anklet for a Princess By: Lila Mehta Adapted by: Meredith Brucker (Multicultural or International Literature)

Anklet for a Princess by Lila Mehta is another version of the modern day fairytale Cinderella. This book is a Cinderella story from India. Cinduri lived with only her stepmother and her stepmothers daughter Lata. Her stepmother only loved her daughter Lata and forced Cinduri to do all the work to maintain their farm. Cinduris parents had died from an epidemic that swept through their village years ago. One day while gathering water, Cinduri was crying thinking about her parents and how much she missed them. Suddenly, right in front of her eyes arose a snake with a red jewel on his head. He asked Cinduri why she was dressed in such dirty and ugly rags, being such a beautiful girl. Cinduri explained to him that her stepmother made her do all the work. He was shocked by this and by the fact that she was not given much to eat. He gave her a big plate filled with many East Indian foods, and told her that anytime she needed help, or food to come to the lake and sing a certain song and he would appear. After many days of this occuring, Cinduris step mother noticed that she seemed much happier and was eating more. She had her Lata follow Cinduri to the lake to see what was happening. Lata returned and told her mother of the snake. Cinduri then rushed home telling of the news that the Prince would be at the ninth day of the Navaratri Festivial. When Cinduri asked if she could go, her stepmother said there was to much work to be done. Cinduri set out to the lake and sang her song and her Godfather snake appeared. He dressed her in the most wonderful cloth of gold threads and gave her beautiful anklets to wear to the ball, but she had to be back by midnight. Cinduri arrived at the festival and the Prince danced with her, but when midnigh came she had to leave. However, one of her anklets fell off as she left. The Prince set out to let every woman in the village try on the anklet and the one whose ankle it fit he would marry. The stepmother and daughter Lata set out to try it on but told Cinduri that she may not. After everyone had tried on the anklet, and the Prince had no luck, he then spotted Cinduri. He let her try on the anklet and sure enough it fit her ankle. All of a sudden she went from rags to beautiful cloths and the Prince and Cinduri were married. They lived in a big palace with a lake for the Godfather snake to live in. The stepmother and daughter Lata ran away and lived as beggars for the rest of their lives. I enjoyed reading this version of Cinderella. I found it to be very similar to the European version that we are most used to. I think this would be a great way to incorporate diversity of cultures into the classroom.

The Rough-Face Girl By: Rafe Martin (Multicultural or International Literature)

The Rough-Face Girl by Rafe Martin is one of the many versions of the modern day Cinderella. It is an Algonquin Indian folklore tale of the Cinderella story. Set in a village off the shores of Lake Ontario, there was a huge wigwam that housed the wonderful, rich and powerful invisible being. Every woman in this village wanted to marry the invisible being, however no one could do so unless they had "seen" him before. The invisible beings sister guarded the wigwam and would ask many questions to woman who came to marry him. No one was ever able to get passed his sister and her stern looks. In this village lived a very poor man who had three daughters. Two of the daughters were very cruel and always made their sister sit by the fire to feed the flames. The flames would burn and scar her face. Her hair would also get burnt by the flames. The two older sister laughed at her and called her "Rough-Face Girl." The two older sisters one day decided they would go marry the invisible being and asked their father for necklaces and and new dresses. They went to the invisible beings wigwam however they were not successful for they had not been able to "see" the invisible being. One day the Rough-Face Girl went to her father asking for new dresses and necklaces for she had seen the invisble beings face. Her father had none of this left however, and she had to go dressed as she was. Everyone in the village laughed at her on her way to the wigwam, but she stood strong and went anyways. When she arrived she had indeed seen his face and was introduced to the invisible being. All of a sudden her scarred hands and face were healed and her hair was not burnt but long and beautiful. She married the invisible being and they never parted. I really enjoyed reading this story! Out of the many versions of Cinderella I have read I have enjoyed this one the most. I think this would be a great way to introduce different cultures through literature into the classroom.

Missing May by: Cynthia Rylant (Chapter Book: Realistic Fiction)

Missing May by Cynthia Rylant is a fiction chapter book about a young girl named Summer who learns to cope with the death of her dear aunt, and mother figure, May. When Summer was young both of her parents died and she went to live with her Aunt May and Uncle Ob in West Virginia. Six years after making a loving home together, May passes away unexpectedly, leaving behind a grieving Ob and Summer. Summer worries that something terrible is going to happen to Ob because he is so grief stricken over the loss of May. Cletus Underwood, a boy in Summers class, sets out to help Ob and Summer communicate and find Mays spirit so that they may some how come to peace with her death. Cletus, Ob and Summer set out on a series of events to find Mays spirit. They know that if they could only find some sign from May that they could both go on living a happy life. I really enjoyed reading this book and feel that it could be used in many ways in the classroom. Although it has an older audience subject, it is a very heart warming story and it could be a great book in discussing the loss of loved ones, the grieving process and coping with these kinds of issues. It's also a great book to use when doing book talks as there are many underlying themes available throughout the story that children can discuss together.