The Giving Tree

Author and Illustrator: Shel Silverstein
Genre: Fantasy
Awards: Kid's Choice Award for Favorite Book
Grade Level: Kinder - 3rd grade

The Tree loved the little boy, but as the little boy grew up things started to change. The love of the Tree and little boy weakened due to the ungrateful boy always expecting something in return. The Tree gives away her apples, her branches, and her trunk just to make the boy happy. The tree has nothing but love to give her once little boy. The little boy grew up, and visited the Tree when she had nothing. The Tree and the old man accompanied each other, and were very happy.

This book would be a perfect read aloud to many young grades, Kindergarten through 3rd grade. This book would be well in an independent reading center. The readability is fairly easy to use. The Giving Tree also portrays a message about being greedy or taking advantage of someone. I perfer books that have a theme or message to convey about real life. The Giving Tree is an easy read that teachers a lesson.

The Ugly Duckling

Author and Illustrator: Adapted by Jerry Pinkney
Genre: Fantasy
Awards: Caldecott Honor
Grade Level: Kinder- 2nd grade

This version  is written by Hans Christian Anderson, but is adapted by Pinkney. The ugly duckling, born different from his brothers and sisters, was wondering and found a cottage after an encounter with mean birds and a dog. After three weeks, the ugly duckling went onto swim. Autumn came, and the ugly duckling was all alone. To keep from freezing in the snow, he swam, but one night he became stuck. Luckily a man rescued the ugly duckling, however, he was too scared so he flew away. The ugly duckling soon finds swans, and decides to follow them. The ugly duckling's realization was that he was a beautiful swan. 

I would read aloud this book in my classroom. Young students would enjoy the read aloud, however, language arts and science can be applied. A lesson plan in regards to content can be science; the students will refer back to the types of animals used in this book. A language arts activity can be over the elements of a plot, or the beginning, middle, or end mapping. The students can present their review.

How Do Dinosaurs Play with Their Frineds?

Author and Illustrator: Jane Yolen, Mark Teague

Genre: Fantasy
Awards:
Grade Level: Pre-K - 1st


When dinosaurs have a play date, dinosaurs share and use their manners. This is a board book that shows examples of how a dinosaurs should behave when playing with their friends. 


I would use this book in my classroom. It relates to some struggles young students may have such as sharing, and allowing the guest to choose first out of politeness. The theme of the book is to treat friends kindly when playing with one another. This book would be beneficial in reviewing expectations of younger students when they play with one another. A teacher-guided discussion about  what is happening in the book would be beneficiary. 

The Tale of Peter Rabbit

Author and Illustrator: Retold by Catherine Lukes and Pamela Pia, Maggie Swanson
Genre: Fantasy
Awards:
Grade Level: Pre-K - 2nd grade

The original tale is by Beatrix Potter. A rabbit name Peter decides to sneak into Mr. McGregor's garden. Peter ate a bunch of vegetables and fruits, and in the midst was almost caught by Mr. McGregor. Peter is scared now and tries to find his way back home. While trying to run from Mr. McGregor, Peter loses his jacket and shoes. The book ends with Peter being safe and sound at home. 

I would use this book in my classroom as a read aloud story. This book also provides an underlying implication of following the rules set by the teacher, and the consequences if the rules are not followed. This book could be used for students' independent reading as well as small group reading. There are many ways to integrate this book; students can discuss elements of the book. 

Creepy Carrots

Author and Illustrator: Aaron Reynolds, Peter Brown
Genre: Fantasy
Awards: Notable Children's Books, Caldecott Honor, NAPPA Gold Award Winner
Grade Level: Pre-K - 1st grade


Jasper Rabbit loved crunching on carrots that grew from the Crackenhopper Field. Jasper would eat the carrots any chance he would get. However, the carrots did not enjoy being a crunchy snack for Jasper. The carrots planned a creepy carrot agenda to scare Jasper into not eating the carrots anymore. The creepy carrots' plan worked. Jasper built a huge fence to stay far away from the creepy carrots.


As an educator, this book is really cute and relevant to young readers. Children can be scared and create these make-shift realities. This book can also be used to help overcome fears that children create.I would use this book during a Halloween or Fall lesson plan. After read-aloud, students can have the option to read the book independently. 

Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear?

Author and Illustrator: Bill Martin Jr, Eric Carle
Genre:Poetry
Awards:American Bookseller Pick of the Lists; Redbook Children's Picture Book Award; School Library Journal Best Book of the Year.
Grade Level: Prekindergarten- 1st grade


This book is simple poetry about zoo animals and their sounds. It begins with a polar bear hearing a roaring lion, the lion hearing a hippopotamus, the hippopotamus hearing a flamingo, the flamingo hearing a boa constrictor, the boa constrictor hearing an elephant, the elephant hearing a leopard, the leopard hearing a peacock, the peacock hearing a walrus, the walrus hearing a zookeeper, and the zookeeper hearing children. 

This book introduces poetry with simplicity; it is not overwhelming. It is repetitive and easy to read. I would have this book in my classroom. This book could be used as a class read aloud and independent reading. I would use this book as a way to introduce different types of animals or in a lesson plan about zoo animals. 

Children's Classic Poetry

Author and Illustrator: 28 Authors some include Lewis Carroll, Thomas Hardy, Wilfred Owen, Walt Whitman, and Ebenezer Jones.
Genre: Poetry
Awards:
Grade Level: Kinder - 2nd grade.

This book is a collection of classic poetry within six subtopics. The six subtopics are birds and beasts, wind and weather, mystery and magic, love and bunny, laughter and tears, and people and places. Some of the poems are Mary's Lamb, Jabberwocky, from The Little Mermaid, and I Eat my Peas with Honey. There are a total of 28 authors whose poems are in this poetry book. The illustrator is unlisted, yet the illustrations are beautiful and compliment the poem. There are cultural poems, humorous poems, and narrative poems.

The cover is appealing to the eye as well as the illustrations. I would use this in my classroom and read aloud the poems to my students. Depending on the unit and lesson, I would choose a poem and correlate it with an activity after a read aloud, discussion, or role play. This collection of poetry books has many topics that would be beneficial to discuss with the students.

Cricket Songs

Author/Translator: Harry Behn
Genre: Poetry
Awards:
Grade Level: 2nd - 5th Grade 

This book is a translation of many Japanese haiku, some written by the translator, Harry Behn, along with other authors. Haiku is a poem with three lines, the first and third line with 5 syllables, and the second line with 7 syllables. Although the haiku does not perfectly flow, they are correlated in sequence all relating to nature. 

These Japanese haiku are simple and to the point. I would not use this book in my classroom, however an educator can use this poetry book to introduce haiku, study haiku, and analyze. Students can analyze Japanese haiku, and understand the perspective of the authors. Students can also create their own types of haiku relating to a certain theme. 

The World of Christopher Robin

Author and Illustrator: A.A Milne, E.B Shepard

Genre: Poetry

Awards:

Grade Level: Kinder - 5th

The World of Christopher Robin opens up with an author's note. Milne briefly provides insight of the process and understanding of his poetry. This book is the collection of When We Were Very Young, The World Of Christopher Robin, and Now We Are Six. This book tells of the story of Christopher Robin and his friends as well as funny shenanigans with poems such as; The Four Friends, Growing Up, Busy, Us Two, and The End. 

I would potentially use this book in my classroom to start the day off with a short reading. This book could be applied to many grades; the application would differ. For Kindergarten, an educator could read a poem every morning to introduce creativity or a topic. It would also be beneficial to do read-aloud poetry. For older grades, an educator could have students choose a poem to analyze the format, the type, and meaning of the poem. 

It Doesn't Always Have To Rhyme

Author and Illustrator: Eve Merriam, Malcom Spooner

Genre:Poetry

Awards:
Grades: 2nd-6th

This poetry book consist of different types of poems written by Eve Merriam. This poetry book begins with the poem, Inside a poem.This poem coneys the message of unconventional poems; it does not have to rhyme, or be structured. This poem also touches on the imagination of what poetry could bring. The poems, Onomatopoeia and Onomatopoeia II, are free verse poems. They have the exact same text except Onomatopoeia II is not in the typical stanza; the words are scattered down the page. 

This book would be beneficial to an educator teaching a unit plan on poetry. Although all of these poems are written by the same author, there is a variety of poetry forms. An educator could use this poetry book to provide examples of different types of poetry. I would not personally use this book as I hope to teach Pre-K or Kindergarten. 

The War That Saved My Life

Author: Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

Genre and Theme: Historical Fiction, Forced Journeys of Transformation

Awards: The Scnieder Family Book Award, The Wall Street Journal's Best Children's Book, Publishers Weekly Best Books, The Horn Book Fanfare Book, Kirkus Reviews Best Books, Miami Herald's Best Books, and Newbery Honor Book

The War That Saved My Life is a book that takes place during World War II. Ada is a young girl who was born with a clubfoot which became developmentally worse as she grew up. Jamie, her younger brother, her abusive mother , and their flat was all she knew; Ada decided to sneak out with Jamie to evacuate. Ada's and Jamie's lives go through major transformations after meeting Susan. Susan's care for Ada and Jamie, the evacuees, left such an impression that when their mother came to retrieve them, it was a heart-wrenching altercation. Fortunately, the love between Susan, Ada, and Jamie saved them all. 

This historical fiction book would be great for grades 3rd - 8th grade, however anyone age will enjoy this read. I would not use this in my classroom due to the content and appropriateness. An educator could use this book to introduce and provide insight on what life might have been like during World War II. It provides a different perspective of the war, and a young girl overcoming struggles.