Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

Author: Judith Viorst

Title: Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

Illustrator: Ray Cruz

Genre: Fiction

Subgenre: Humor

Theme: frustration, hope

Primary Characters: Alexander

Secondary characters: Paul

Awards: none

Date of publication: 1987

Publishing company: Aladdin

Summary: 

As soon as Alexander woke up, he could tell it was going to be a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. He wakes up with gum in his hair and Paul is no longer his best friend. As if the morning wasn’t bad enough, the rest of his day continues to get worse. Alexander learns that some days are just terrible, horrible, and very bad!

Use with Students:   I could have my students depict a day that had that was terrible, like Alexander's.  The students could make a book including the story, as well as, pictures to illustrate.  Also, I could have the students compare and contrast a good day with a bad one.

Big Jabe

Author: Jerdine Nolen

Title: Big Jabe

Illustrator: Kadir Nelson

Genre: Talltale
Subgenre: Historical Fiction

Theme: Freedom

Primary Characters: Addy, Jabe

Secondary characters: Mr. Plenty, Sweetie Belle

Awards: none

Date of publication: 2000

Publishing company: Harper Collins

Summary: 

Addy is fishing for Mr. Plenty's supper one day when she notices a basket in the river.  She finds a 5 or 6 year old boy in the basket who gives Addy a pear. He then calls the fish in the river to get in Addy's wagon and plants the seeds from the pear, which grow into a tree almost overnight.  The boy, Jabe, grows very quickly.  Within a few months, he is working on the plantation with the strength of as much as fifty men.  Mysterious events take place around Jabe.  Each time the plantation overseer punishes one of the slaves, a huge storm comes up in the night, and the following day the punished slave had vanished.  Only Addy suspects the truth: that Jabe, with his mythic powers, is spiriting the slaves away to freedom.

Use with Students:   After studying slavery, we will read Big Jabe.  I will have the children think of ways in which Jabe could ease the pain for the slaves.  The students could also illustrate this pictures.

Santa Cows

Author: Cooper Edens

Title: Santa Cows

Illustrator: Daniel Lane

Genre: Fiction

Subgenre: Traditional Fantasy

Theme: none

Primary Characters: none

Secondary characters: none

Awards: none

Date of publication: 1991

Publishing company: Green Tiger Press

Summary: This is pretty much the story of “Santa Clause” but instead of the traditional Santa and reindeer, the characters are cows.  This might sound a little different but I think it is a cute fresh remake of the normal “Night Before Christmas.”  The one major difference in this book is that when everyone opens their presents from the Christmas cows, they are baseball attire and equipment.  The story ends with the cows singing to the family, and then they all go outside, in the snow, and play baseball all night until the sun comes up.

Use with Students:   This would be a story I might read for fun aloud for my students, or allow them to choose from a bookshelf to read on their own, around Christmas time.  I would have to be careful as to not seem as though I were pushing a certain religion or way to celebrate Christmas.  I think this is a cute, fun book that children in my class would be excited to read.

I Speak English for my Mom

Author: Muriel Stanek

Title:  I Speak English for my Mom

Illustrator: Judith Friedman

Genre: Fiction

Subgenre: Realistic Fiction

Theme: struggle against society

Primary Characters: Lupe

Secondary characters: Lupe’s mother

Awards: none

Date of publication: 1989

Publishing company: Silver Burdett Ginn

Summary: “I Speak English for my Mom,” is a great book about the struggle of a non-English speaking mother to deal with living in America only by having her daughter translate for her.  Lupe walks daily with her mother in her errands, doctors appointments, and grocery shopping and enjoys speaking for her mother because she knows that she is a great deal of help.  Lupe kind of wants a chance to just be a kid, and she feels that she cannot because she always has to speak and translate for her mother.  The book ends with Lupe’s mother starting an English learning class, and Lupe getting a chance to be a kid and have fun with her friends.

Use in Classroom:  This is another great book to incorporate English as a second language students in my classroom.  This book also teaches words and phrases in Spanish, so this could get my students learning a different language at a young age.  This also teaches the importance of helping out a family member in need, and doing what is right.

Never Kiss an Alligator

Author: Colleen Stanley Bare

Title: Never Kiss an Alligator

Photographer: Colleen Stanley Bare

Genre: Nonfiction

Subgenre: none

Theme: Informational

Primary Characters: none

Secondary characters: none

Awards:  none

Date of publication: 1989

Publishing company: Silver Burdett Ginn

Summary:  This is an informational book with everything you ever wanted to know about alligators.  This book includes everything from the Spanish word for alligator and the origin of that word, but also in what part of the world you are most likely to find these animals.  It also gives you a clear image of the differences between crocodiles and alligators, which was something I learned new myself while reading this book.  This book has no illustrations, but photos.  We talked in class about how sometimes paintings or drawings do not do justice to a certain topic, this being one of them.  These pictures are incredible.

Use in Classroom:  I would use this particular book in my classroom to teach about alligators, and the difference between crocodiles and alligators.  While this might not be one of the standards set by the state of content I must cover in class, I feel this is a great way to make an informational book fun.

V is for Volunteer

Author: Michael Shoulders

Title: V is for Volunteer 

Illustrator: Bruce Langton

Genre: Nonfiction

Subgenre: none

Theme: informational

Primary Characters: none

Secondary characters: none

Awards: none

Date of publication: 2001

Publishing company: Sleeping Bear Press

Summary:  This is an informational book all about the state of Tennessee.  It goes through the alphabet telling interesting things and facts about Tennessee for each letter.  This book covers everything from our state flower to Grand Ole Opry.  This Book is also a poetry book.  On each page, there is a little poem with the next letter of the alphabet, a poem to go along with that, and in the side notes of the page is a deeper explanation of what was stated about that letter.

Use with students:  I do not plan on leaving Tennessee, so this book is a wonderful book to get my students excited about Tennessee, and learning facts about Tennessee in a fun way.  It will help teach the alphabet, important things about Tennessee, and I can use the additional information given to further explain to my students exactly what makes Tennessee so unique.

The Hundred Dresses

Author: Eleanor Estes

Title: The Hundred Dresses

Illustrator: Louis Slobodkin

Genre: Fiction

Subgenre: Realistic Fiction

Theme: struggle against person/ society

Primary Characters: Wanda Petronski

Secondary characters: Peggy and Maddie

Awards: Newberry Honor book

Date of publication: 1944; renewed in 1971

Publishing company: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc 

Summary:  This is a story of a girl named Wanda Petronski and her battle against the bullies Peggy and Maddie in her elementary school classroom.  The girls constantly tease her about her “one hundred dresses” she has at home.  When the girls make fun of her, this is what Wanda resorts to talking about.  Peggy feels bad most of the time and just watches as Maddie primarily bullies Wanda. Wanda, her brother, and her father get tired of Wanda being bullied that they decide to move away. There was a contest in the classroom on who could draw the best.  Before Wanda moved, she turned in one hundred beautiful drawings of her “one hundred dresses,” she won the contest and the metal was mailed to her.  Peggy and Maddie felt bad for all the pain they had caused Wanda so they sent her an apology letter.  I few weeks later their teacher got a letter in the mail from Wanda thanking the class for her winnings and telling them about her new home.  She forgave Peggy and Maddie and said that they could each keep one of her drawings.  The story comes to a close when the two girls are together and realize that the girls in the pictures who are wearing the beautiful dresses are themselves.

Use with students: In my classroom I could use this story to help teach my students about bullying and how it is important to treat others nice, even if they are not like you.  I could also ask my students to draw their favorite dress or outfit, and this makes them use their creativity putting a perspective of Wanda in the story.

The Tale of Rabbit and Coyote

Author: Tony Johnston

Title: The Tale of Rabbit and Coyote

Illustrator: Tomie dePaola

Genre: Fiction

Subgenre: Modern Fantacy

Theme: struggle against nature

Primary Characters: Rabbit

Secondary characters: Coyote

Awards: none

Date of publication: 1994

Publishing company: Silver Burdett Ginn

Summary: This is a cute picture book about Coyote chasing Rabbit through a series of obstacles.  Coyote wants to eat Rabbit but Rabbit is clever and always makes Coyote fall for his tricks, and is able to be free from Coyote eating him. It never states in the story, but I think this story is set in Mexico because in the pictures, there are Spanish sayings to match the English words in the text.

Use with students: This would be a great tool for students I may encounter that are English as a second language students. This is a cute book to get my students using their imagination, and learning about the Mexican culture as well.  This book can also help teach my students that do speak English as their language learn phrases in Spanish.  It also makes my classroom diverse friendly. 

Shiloh

Author: Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

Title: Shiloh

Illustrator: Eliza Green

Genre: Fiction

Subgenre: Realistic

Theme: struggle against man

Primary Characters: Marty Preston

Secondary characters: Judd Travers

Awards: John Newberry Medal

Date of publication: 1991

Publishing company: Atheneum Books for Young Readers

Summary: This classic book, still one of my favorites, is such a good read to sit cozy by the fire and read.  It seems every time I read it, I find something new I never noticed before.  This is a story of an eleven-year old boy named Marty Preston and his love for Shiloh, a dog he stumbled across one day that fell in love with him.  This story gets tricky when Marty realizes that his new best friend Shiloh belongs to a mean man named Judd Travers who mistreats all his dogs.  As the story goes along, Marty is put to the challenge several times to stand up to Judd Travers and fight for the life of the dog he loves.

Use with students:  If I were teaching upper elementary or middle school aged children, this would be a wonderful chapter book for us to read together as a class.  I would check the students for comprehension along the way and also get their input of the story and what they might do if they were in Marty’s situation.  At the end of this unit, we could end by watching the movie in class and comparing how they two were different. 

Sarah, Plain and Tall

Author: Patricia MacLachlan
Title: Sarah, Plain and Tall
Illustrator: None
Genre: Fiction
Sub genre: Historical
Theme:  love, loss, abandonment
Primary Characters: Sarah
Secondary Characters: Caleb, Anna, the farmer
Awards: Newbery Medal
Date of Publication: 2001
Publishing Company: Houghton Mifflin
Summary: Caleb and Anna's mother died while giving birth to Caleb, so Caleb has never met his mother.  Their father, Papa, tells the children he has received word from an ad he had placed in the paper for a mother for the children.  Papa tells Caleb and Anna about Sarah from Maine.  She arrives by train, bringing each child a gift from her home, the sea, which she misses very much.  Sarah quickly becomes part of the family.  They share many memories together.  Sarah shows interest in wanting to learn to drive the wagon in order to get into town.  This worries everyone because they think she will catch a train home if she makes it into town.  Papa and the children worry all day if Sarah will return.  She finally returns in the late afternoon, assuring them that even though she misses home, she would indeed miss them more.
Use with students:  This book should be used with late third graders or to fourth graders.  There are many ways that this book can be implimented into the classroom.  First, the students could write summaries on each chapter once they have read it.  Also, this book could lead to a friendly letter, like the characters in the story wrote.

Hey, Al

Author: Author Yorinks
Title: Hey, Al
Illustrator: Richard Egielski
Genre: Action
Sub genre: Comedy
Theme: Be thankful
Primary Characters: Al
Secondary Characters: Eddie, the bird
Awards: Caldecott winner
Date of Publication: 1989
Publishing Company: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Summary: Al, a janitor, and his dog, Eddie, live in a single on the West Side.  Eddie was unhappy with the "dump" they lived in.  One morning, a large bird offered to take them to a care free world.  The bird soon transported Al and Eddie to an island in the sky, but Al and Eddie found out that the grass is not always greener on the other side. They return home with a new attitude.
Use with students: Students could write an alternate ending to the book.

Owl Moon

Author: Jane Yolen
Title: Owl Moon
Illustrator: John Schoenherr
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Sub genre: Nature
Theme: Getting there is more fun than the end result
Primary and secondary characters: The little girl (narrator) and her father ("Pa")
Awards: Caldecott Medal
Date of Publication: 1987
Publishing Company: Scholastic Inc.
Summary:  A little girl finally gets a chance to go "owling" with her father just like her brothers had done before her.  The little girl narrates the silent course they take through the woods and snow searching for an owl.  Her father continues to make the sound of an owl until one appears.  Once they see an owl, they return home silently.
Use with students: This book can be used to teach literary devices, such as: metaphors, similies, etc, to "spice up" children's creative writing.