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.