Published by: Rayo; Bilingual edition (March 5, 2013)
Age Range: 4-8
Grade level: preschool-3rd
This is a bilingual picture book that is also a biography of Tito Puente a famous musician. Tito Puente loved hitting pots and pans as a child, but what he really wanted was to have his own band one day. He grew up in SPanish Harlem and ended up at the Grammy Awards. This book is the true story of his life. He was a young boy with a passion of music that turned him into the "King of Mambo." This is the story of his legend!
This book is great to use to teach multiculturalism or during a music unit. There is so much you can do with this book! The pictures are beautiful and it is a short easy read. The facts are true and it is an informative read. The character can be relatable because there are many young students who want to become famous musicians.
Published by: Scholastic (May 1, 2002)
Age Range: 8+
Grade level: 6-7
In this book Esperanza must learn to live a new life as a poor migrant in California after her after is killed and her nice home is destroyed in mexico. Esperanza is forced to rise above the cruel treatment of her uncles, who have ruined her life. She must learn how to adjust to becoming a migrant worker, when she has always been the daughter of a rich and powerful family in Mexico. On the eve of her thirteenth birthday, Esperanza's father is murdered. Mama refuses to move to California. But when their house burns down they don't have any other option. Mama is forced to marry Tío Luis to escape from Mexico. Mama and Esperanza leave for California in the middle of the night. They must leave their grandma, Abuelita behind because she is injured. Their new house is small and duty with a lot of people living in it. Esperanza learns the discrimination that Mexicans face in the United States. Mama gets very sick in a dust storm and is in the hospital for a little while. When Mama gets home from the hospital they plan to use their saved money to bring Abuelita home, but Migues has taken their money. Esperanza is very mad. It turns out that Miguel brought Abuelita to California! Esperanza realizes that there is hope in the new land! On her fourteenth birthday, she is grateful for all that she has!
This book teaches a lot about the cultures of both Mexico and America. It also discusses the current discrimination that is going on and the force of labor towards immigrants. This book has accurate details and facts but also portrays a plot. This makes for a wonderful read! Students may have questions after reading it though. But I love this book and would recommend it to anyone!
Published by: Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Age Range: 8-12 years
Grade Level: 3-7
This book is Andrew Clements' first novel. This book takes place in fifth grade in 1997. Nicholas "Nick" Allen is unhappy because he got the most disliked English teacher in the school. One day in class, he wants to stall for time in class, so he asks a smart mouth question to his teacher "where does each word come from?" After this, his teacher assigned them to write an essay about it for homework. Nick decides to think of a new name for his pen: "frindle." His classmates really liked his idea and soon everyone in the school was using that word, it started to gain national attention. English teacher Mrs. Granger doesn't like this word because she thinks it is disrespectful to the word "pen," which actually does have a long history. Her punishment to the students is to stay after school and write lines for saying "Frindle." This eventually became a problem because every student used the word, so every student had to stay late. And their parents got frustrated because they're the ones who drive. The principal goes to Nick's house to end the use of the word, but now it's out of Nick's hand, the word cannot be controlled! Even merchandise now has the word frindle on it! You'll have to read to see who this ends!
This book has won over 35 awards! This is a very realistic topic, many students don't get the teacher they like or are curious as to where words come from. When I was younger, I also made up my own words. I love this book, and I will have it in my classroom library. Students are curious and this book is perfect to feed their curiosity. This takes place in an elementary school, which is a realistic and relatable setting. The theme and storyline are well carried out and developed throughout the entire story. The epilogue at the even adds to the story and tells readers what happens years later.
Title: The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend
Written and Illustrated by: Dan Santat
Published by: Little Brown Books for Young Readers
# of Pages: 40
Awards Won: Caldecott Medal, Youth Media Award
This is a unique story because it is told in the perspective of an invisible friend. The story starts on an island where the imaginary friend is born. All of the baby invisible friends wait their turn until they are chosen to be an invisible friend of a real human child. Beekle keeps getting overlooked time after time, and again, so he decides to take his own journey. He goes into the big city and finally meets his match and this is where he gets his special name: Beekle. Beekle's new friend is named Alice, and she becomes his best friend ever. I do not want to give away much more of the story because it is such a wonderful read. This book is about finding one's purpose in life and having a best friend.
Throughout this book the pictures are bright, lively, and realistic. The pictures are breathtaking. Brigh colors are used and they can be viewed from a distance away. It won the Caldecott Medal for a great reason! This is such a fun story to read with children of any age. I would recommend this book for students that are beginning readers or early elementary age.
Classroom Activities With This Book Include:
Have students make their own imaginary rock friend
Title: You Are (Not) Small
Author: Anna Kang
Illustrator: Christopher Weyant
# of Pages: 32 Pages
Awards Won: 2015 Theodor Seuss Geisel Award
This book is adorable for young readers and has a wonderful message. Two characters cannot decide who is small and who is big until guests show up to settle their dispute. This is a smile book, however it helps children understand perspective. Size all depends on who or what you're standing next to. The images throughout this book use a simple style but also realistic style that is appealing to young children. The written language throughout the story uses sight words and basic vocabulary great for beginning readers.
Classroom Lesson Activities Could Include:
Minilesson on perspective
Read Aloud Book
Have students choose a character and draw a picture that makes them either big or small
Teach about the award and who Theodor Seuss Geisel is
Title: The Day The Crayons Quit
Author: Drew Daywalt
Illustrated by: Oliver Jeffers
# of Pages: 40
Awards Won: E.B. White Read Aloud Award for Picture books
This book is one of my absolute favorites! One day, Drew wants to color, however, his crayons QUIT! He finds a stack of letters and to read what the crayons had to say you must read the book. This book won the E.B. White Read Aloud Award for Picture Books. This is a perfect read aloud book to share in the classroom. The images are large enough to be seen from a distance and the story keeps listeners and readers drawn to the story throughout the book. There are moments of pure laughter throughout the book that make children excited and wanting to read this book!
The illustrator of this book Oliver Jeffers is an amazing artist! Throughout the book, he created pictures that appear to be illustrated by children using crayons, and they bring the story to life using his distinct style. He uses a variety of media to create his images and for this particular book, he used crayons. Check out this video of Oliver Jeffers!
If you are interested in reading this book, here is the book trailer for you to watch!
Possible Classroom Activities Include:
Practice Letter Writing
Learn About Colors
Have students each take a colored crayon from the crayon box and write a letter as that color to Drew or even their self
Make your own classroom book with each student being their own color and writing letters to the teacher and her class from the perspective of the crayons
Title: Brown Girl Dreaming
Author: Jacqueline Woodson
# of Pages: 336
Published by: Nancy Paulsen Books, First Edition
Awards Won: Newberry Medal, National Book Award Winner
This book is about a true story about author Jacqueline Woodson. She was raised in both South Carolina and New York. Throughout the book she writes about what it was like to grow up as an African American in the 1960's and 1970's and in the era of the Civil Rights Movement. She uses poetry to write this unique story. Throughout reading the story her voice clearly shows through and you truly get to know her. When she was a child she struggled with reading, however she learned to love stories and inspired her to become a writer herself.
This story uses unique voice and the poetry style of writing which truly makes it a wonderful book to read. I would recommend this book for any child interested in learning about the Civil Rights era, a struggling reader, or someone who has a passion for writing.
Some Classroom Activities Could Include:
Using this book for literature focus unit or literature circles
Title: The One and Only Ivan
Author: Katherine Applegate
Illustrated by: Patricia Castelao
# of pages: 320 (This is about a second to third grade book, there are pictures and larger print)
Published by: Harper Collins 1st Edition
Award won: Newberry Medal 2013 and a New York Times Best Seller
Loosely
based off of a true story, The One and
Only Ivan takes place at the Exit 8 Big Top Mall and Video Arcade. Locked
up in small domains, or cages, Ivan and Stella have not had interaction with
other animals of their individual species for years. Humans come and go every
day staring at them, through the class, yet little attention is paid to the
treatment of the animals. Ivan is a silverback gorilla who is misunderstood by
humans. He is a very smart and is an artist.
Stella is an elephant that lives at
the circus with Ivan. Throughout their time at the Circus at Exit 8 they have
become best friends. There is one other member of the clan named Bob, who is a
stray dog. Bob does not have a home, however he often sleeps in Ivan’s domain
on top of Ivan’s stomach. Bob was Ivan’s first close friend at the circus;
together they shared each other’s warmth, company, and friendship. When Stella
begins to grow old and the circus starts suffering financially, owner Mack
decides to bring in a new animal, hoping to attract more crowds. A baby
elephant named Ruby becomes the newest member of the family.
Stella, Ivan, Ruby, and Bob together
keep each other company. At nights they talk and comfort each other to sleep by
telling stories and jokes. Near the end of Stella’s life, Ivan makes a promise
to her saying he always take care of Ruby and to do his best to gain a better
life for the both of them. After Stella’s death, this promise is heavy on
Ivan’s heart. He decides to use his art to try and get a message across to the
humans.
Owner Mack would often give Ivan art
supplies, however it was never enough. George works at the Exit 8 Big Top Mall
and Video Arcade cleaning and doing maintenance work at night. His wife is ill,
however their family desperately needed money to live off of. George brings his
daughter Julia along with him to work. While she is there, she does her
homework, however, she often rushes through it so she can spend time with the
animals or drawing. Julia and Ivan have a special connection because she is an
artist too. Julia is one of the few people who can actually understand what
Ivan’s paintings are supposed to be. The night when Julia gave Ivan her extra
finger-paints everything changed.
Ivan was on a mission to fulfill his
promise to Stella. He noticed that humans paid so much attention to the large
bulletin board outside on the freeway, and he wanted to make his own. He
remembered Stella describing to him how wonderful it would be to live in a zoo
rather than a circus. In a zoo they would have enough food and room to play and
be free. Ivan’s goal was to get Ruby out of the circus, and into a zoo. With
financial struggles, Mack’s demands increased. Mack ordered for more artwork
from Ivan to make more money. Ivan would paint for Mack in the day and for
Stella at night.A main theme in the
book is that humans waste their words, it was very hard for Ivan to learn how
to use, spell, and even understand the meaning of words, but he knew he needed
to words in order to communicate with humans.
After countless hours of work, Ivan
shared his hidden masterpiece with Julia. George and Julia spent all night
putting it together and trying to determine it’s meaning. It was a large puzzle
the size of a billboard capturing a picture of Ruby in a zoo; the picture also
had the word “home” written on it. George and Julia shared this with the public
causing people to become upset and protestors to fight for the fair treatment
of circus animals. Things were about to change.
This book is an emotional
rollercoaster that touched on many difficult topics including animal cruelty,
illness, death, grieving, family heritage, financial suffrage, friendships, and
saying goodbye to someone you love. In the end, the Exit 8 Big Top Mall and
Video Arcade was closed down and both Ivan and Ruby were moved to the zoo.
George was able to get a job at the same zoo where Ruby and Ivan were. George
and Julia adopted Bob. Now they all are living in an environment where they are
properly taken care.
Watch the book trailer below:
There are so many possible classroom activities for this amazing book! Here are some ideas for lessons:
Teach about mountain gorillas
Do a unit on art and different artists…especially Picasso because that becomes one of Ivan's nick names.
Teach students about fair treatment of animals
Lessons can be taught on similes and metaphors, because they are used often throughout the book.
Some Classroom Project Ideas Include:
Get a stuffed gorilla, and have each student take him home for one day to be a zoo keeper. They have to introduce Ivan the gorilla to their own domain and habitat and then share their expanse with the class and write about it in their writer's notebook
Have students make a family tree, this allows them to look back at who their ancestors are and where they came from.
Students could make a bookmark at the beginning of the unit. They could decorate the bookmark according to the theme of the book, draw pictures of the characters or setting, and use it in their writer's notebook to keep track of what page they're on. They can add to it throughout the unit
Character Characteristics Images: instead of using a venn diagram, pass out clipart of each animal that is a character in the story and have students gradually add characteristics and words or phrases or images inside that character that makes them unique from other characters. Then hand out a picture of a circus tent, and in this picture students will write what all of these characters have in common
Teach students who Jane Goodall is and ask students if they would either like to donate/raise money to adopt a chimp on her website, we could name it after our class. Another option is to have students write letters to Jane Goodall asking her their questions.
Perform art throughout the unit that resembles that of ivan's and other mentioned illustrators
Have students illustrate a story board
Just for Fun: Here is a picture of the real Ivan the gorilla!
