#20 If I Ran the Rainforest

Title: If I Ran the Rainforest

Author: Bonnie Worth

Illustrator: Aristides Ruiz

Publishing Company: Random House

Copyright Date: 2003

# of Pages: 38 

Genre/Category: Fantasy

 

            I chose this book because this book had cat in the hat on the front and I have never read it before. The Cat in the Hat takes us on a tour of the four floors of the rain forest. He tells us of the different kinds of plants and animals that we find in the rainforest. He also tells us how things in the rainforest must interact to survive.

 

            The illustrations in this book are very rich in detail. There are so many different colors. Many of the pages are double page spread.  The pictures look like they may have been done digitally by computer or by pastels. It was very hard to tell, because of the extent of the drawings. The pictures would be very interesting to just look at and see all the different things in the rainforest.

 

            This book is good for children of all ages. There are many ways that I would use this book in a classroom. One way I would use this book is when talking about the different floors of the rainforest. This provides a good description on what we would find on each floor. The book is also good for building vocabulary about things in the rainforest. I would also use this book when talking about rhymes. This book has not won any awards.

#19 Magic Lemonade

Title: Magic Lemonade

Author: Joyce Dunbar

Illustrator: Jan McCafferty

Publishing Company: Crabtree Publishing Company

Copyright Date: 2002

# of Pages: 48

 

Genre/Category: Fantasy

 

 

I chose this book simply because it looked interesting. Zoe has a very good imagination. She pretends she is a queen, while her friends think she is nothing but a bossy boots. When Zoe offers her friend lemonade, she finally convinces them that she is a queen. After they have a feast with food and lemonade, she then admits that she is not a queen, she is a magician.

 

            The illustrations in this book look to have been done with watercolors or paint. The colors are very bright and stand out. They use bubbles to represent what the characters are thinking about in their head. The pictures take up most of the page and many of them are double page spread.

 

          This book would be appropriate for children in second and third grade. One way I would use this book in the classroom is by teaching kids about using their imagination.  I would share with them that it can be good to pretend. I would also use this book teach children that it is not good to be bossy and selfish. Another way I would use this in class is by helping children to increase their vocabulary comprehension. This book has not won any awards.

# 18 The Magic Rabbit

Title: The Magic Rabbit

Author: Annette Le Blanc Cate

Illustrator: Annette Le Blanc Cate

Publishing Company: Candlewick Press

Copyright Date: 2007

# of Pages: 27

Genre/Category: Fantasy

 

 

            I chose this book because it was about magic and I really like magic. When a magician’s rabbit gets lost he must try to find his master. He searches through the park, down an alley, and along the sidewalk.  The bunny soon begins to feel scared and alone. He soon starts to cry. After searching and searching he soon is reunited with his master.

 

            The illustrations in this book are all black any white. The only color in the book is the things that have to do with magic such as stars. The illustrations were done with pen and ink and watercolor. They are very detailed and children could almost tell the story by looking at the pictures.

 

            This book would be good for second, third, or fourth grade. There are several ways that I would use this book in a classroom.  One way is I would talk to children about what to do if they ever got lost. Another way is I would have children to write about a time when they got lost or were scared. I would also have children to read this to help strength their vocabulary comprehension. This book has not received any awards.

# 17 The Boy Who Cried Wolf

Title: The Boy Who Cried Wolf

Author: Eric Blair

Illustrator: Dianne Silverman

Publishing Company: Picture Window Books

Copyright Date: 2004

# of Pages: 23

 

Genre/Category: Traditional Literature

 

 

 

 

            I chose this book because it was one of my favorite books as a child. After a boy gets tired of watching his sheep, he decides to play a trick on the farmers. He screams that a wolf is attacking his sheep. The farmers then stop what they are doing to go chase the wolf away. After doing this several times and finding out there is no wolf, when a wolf really does attack the farmers do not believe him.

            The illustrations in this book were created digitally using a computer. They are very colorful and vivid. They tell exactly what events are happening in the story. The illustrations in the book are whole page illustrations with the words only at the top of the page.

 

            This book would be great to use with first, second, or third graders. This book can be used in the classroom in many ways. One way I would use it is to teach children how important it is to always be honest. I would also show them what can happen if you do not tell the truth. Another way I would use this book is to allow children to make connections with the book. If they had been in a similar situation, I would ask them to write or tell what happened. This book has not won any awards.

#16 Hansel and Gretel

Title: Hansel and Gretel

Author: Penny Dolan

Illustrator: Graham Philpot

Publishing Company: Watts Publishing Group

Copyright Date: 2005

# of Pages: 31

Genre/Category: Traditional Literature

 

 

 

            This book is about a boy and a girl who get lost in the woods. While in the woods, they find a house that is made of gingerbread. The children are asked to come into the house and find out it is owned by a witch. Hansel and Gretel must try to find a way to get away.

            Many of the illustrations in the book appear to have been done with watercolors. Throughout the book, the pictures have light and dark spots throughout the picture. The colors in the book are very colorful and would draw the attention of younger children. The spatial form of most of the pictures is a square shape. Most of the text in the book is formal text.

            This book would be great for first and second grade children. There are several ways that this book can be used in the classroom. On way it could be used it to tell children to not talk to strangers and never go in someone house they do not know. Another way is to teach children to learn directions. If Hansel and Gretel had kept up with which direction they were going, they would not have gotten lost. Also it can be used to teach children to think about situations they are in and be calm and not to panic. This book has not won any awards.

 

 

 

 

 

 

#15 The Emperor's New Clothes

Title: The Emperor’s New Clothes

Author: Karen Wallace

Illustrator: Francois Hall

Publishing Company: Watts Publishing Group

Copyright Date: 2005

# of Pages: 31 

Genre/Category: Traditional Literature

 

            I chose this book because I remember reading it as a young kid and I have not seen it since. It was on of my favorite books as a child. An emperor who loved fancy clothes had two men to make him the finest clothes he had ever seen. While the two men pretended to make his clothes to wear in the procession, he pretended to see them. In reality he has to go threw the procession without any clothes on.

            The illustrations in this book look to have been done with watercolors. They are very colorful. The book contains double page spread illustrations. According to the illustrations, the story looks to have a Chinese setting. The Font in this book appears to be large compared to other books that I have read.

            I think the book would be good for younger elementary children. This book would be good to use in the classroom. It can be use to teach children that they can not always trust strangers. I would also work on sequence of events by having children retell what happened in the book. This book also has a good bit of vocabulary that children might not understand. I would also use the book to help build vocabulary comprehension. This book has not received any awards.

 

# 14 Christmas Is Coming

Title: Christmas is Coming
Author: Charles & Debra Ghigna

Illustrator: Mary O’Keefe Young

Publishing Company: Charlesbridge Publishing

Copyright Date: 2000

# of Pages: 30

 

Genre/Category: Poetry

 

 

 

            I chose this book because it contains poems about Christmas and that is my favorite holiday. The poems in this book are all about things families do on and around the Christmas holiday. It talks about different traditions such as decorating the tree, hanging stockings, and Santa Claus. It also has poems about what happens after the holiday is over such as taking down the decorations and storing them away in the attic until it is time to use them again.

            The illustrations in this book are very colorful. They are made using watercolors. They are also made on special watercolor paper. The pictures are very eye-catching. The light colors represent happy feelings that are shared around Christmas time.

 

            The book is appropriate for all ages. This book would be great to use in the classroom around Christmas time. It could be used help kids to learn about a traditional Christmas in the United States. I would also use this book to give children the opportunity to write or tell about what they do on Christmas. With older elementary kids, I would have them compare and contrast the Christmas holiday in the United States to Christmas in other parts of the world. This book has not won any awards.

#13 I'm Glad I'm Me

Title: I’m Glad I’m Me
Author: Jack Prelutsky

Illustrator: Nancy Meyers
Publishing Company: Scholastic
Copyright Date: 2006
# of Pages: 32

Genre/Category: Poetry

 

 

 

            I chose this book because of the title. I really like for people to act like themselves and not like someone they are not. This is a book that contains twenty-one poems. The poems in the book are all about things that a kid can do such as whistling, somersaults, and what they want to be when they grow up.  Children can do many things. It also talks about the child being themselves and being happy about that.  

            There are not very many illustrations in this book. Most of them are just very small simple picture in one corner of the page. There is a good bit of white or blank space on each page. The pictures look to have been hand drawn with pencil. They are all black and white except the ones on the front and back cover.

 

            This book is appropriate for young children of all ages. One way to use this book in a classroom is to encourage kids to use their imaginations. The poems talk about different things kids can become and do in their life. Also this book can be used when talking about rhyming words. Children could also be encouraged to write their own poem. This book has not won any awards.

#12 Three Little Kittens

Title: Three Little Kittens

Author: Jerry Pinkney

Illustrator: Not Available

Publishing Company: Penguin Group

Copyright Date: 2010
# of Pages: 32

Genre/Category: Poetry

            I chose this book because it reminded me of another book that I had read by this author that I really liked. The book is about three kittens that get new mittens. They put on their new mittens and go out to play. While playing outside, the kittens lose their new mittens and their mother will not allow them to have any pie until they find their new mittens. The book ends right where it begin. The kittens put on their mittens and go out to play.

           

            The illustrations in this book are very bright and vivid. The pictures are full page pictures and are very big in detail.  Most of the illustrations in the book are double page spread. The illustrations are done using graphite, color pencil, and watercolors.

            This book would be good to use with younger children ages Pre-Kindergarten to second grade. The book can be good to use to teach a good many lessons.  One lesson it would be good to use with is when talking about rhymes. The book uses a good many rhymes like kittens and mittens. This book is also a nursery rhyme, so I would us it when discussing what nursery rhymes are and the different genres of books.  I would also use it to tell children how important it is to keep up with things and not to lose them. This author has won an award, but not with this book.

# 11 If I Ran the School

Title: If I Ran the School

Author: Bruce Lansky (poems selected by)

Illustrator: Stephen Carpenter & Mike Gordon

Publishing Company: Scholastic

Copyright Date: 2005

# of Pages: 31

 

Genre/Category: Poetry

 

 

 

            The main reason I chose this book is because of the front page illustrations.   It showed the student up front teaching the class while the teachers are setting in the student desk. This book is made up of twenty-four funny school poems. The poems are all about things that can happen to kids while at school like ripping their pants, eating school lunches, and getting F’s.

 

            The illustrations in this book are very different than they are in other books. The pictures on the front and back page are in color, but the rest of the book is black and white.  Most of the pictures are just small thing that you would see in a classroom. The illustrations were hand drawn using pencil. They are very basic drawings and are not very good eye catchers.

 

            This book would be appropriate for young children of different ages. The first few poems in this book are very short and easy to read, but the last few are more difficult and longer. This book would be good to get children interested in poetry before teaching a poetry lesson. It can be good to let children know that there are different kinds of poems. Some can be funny and then some can be sweet and express love. This book could also be used at the beginning of the day. I would read students a funny poem at the beginning of the school day to help them get their day started in a fun way. This book could also be used as a motivator to get children to read poems. This book has not received any awards.