Ocean Alive: Sharks by Colleen Sexton

 Ocean Alive: Sharks by Colleen Sexton

Summary: This book is all about Sharks. All you need to know about what kind of bones they have to the tiny scales covering their body. As well as how they hunt, which is by swimming fast or even hiding in the ocean floor. Also, how sharks eat, which talks a lot about different kinds of teeth that they have. The book ends with a glossary and a few resources to look up more shark facts.

Review: Sharks are always fun to talk about in a class, and students who are starting to read on their own want to read things that interest them and sharks are always a popular topic. First, second, and third graders would enjoy this mini chapter book about sharks. So, no question that I would have this book in my class library.

Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom by Carole Boston Weatherford, Illustrated by Kadir Nelson.

Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom by Carole Boston Weatherford, Illustrated by Kadir Nelson.

Summary: Harriet Tubman talked to God, she could not be a slave anymore and God told her that it was time to flee to freedom. Harriet trusted in him, always talking to him. She did not tell anybody of her plans to leave, but instead sang a song the night of her escape. She walked a long time, all the while God was guiding her way. She got help from a nice lady, but soon it was back to traveling. There a few times that she was almost caught, but she prayed to God and He answered. God kept her safe. There times she felt as if she couldn’t go any longer, her feet even started to bleed. However, again she would pray to God, and he would answer. He would say that freedom is where she is going, and he would guide her the rest of the way until she finally reached freedom. She felt like a whole new person. But, there was still something she had to do; she had to get her family. She worked hard, and even found a church that worked as a stopping place for the Underground Railroad. Here she worked learning all the tunnels, and all the safe places. Once she has learned all that she needed, she went back for her family and brought them back to family. Even though, she had her family back, she felt God calling her back to help more people reach freedom. Harriet talked to God about it because she did not thing she was the right person, but God said that He knew all that she had went through, and He has given her everything she needed. He told her to be the Moses of her people. And, so, Harriet went back, again and again, guiding people to freedom.

Review: This book tells the amazing story of Harriet Tubman and her journey to freedom, coupled with the magnificent paintings of Kadir Nelson. This would be a terrific book of for any lesson on the Underground railroad. While the books is mainly appropriate for ages 7 through 10, i believe that younger and older readers would appreciate the book. I would absolutely have this in my classroom library!

A River of Words by Jen Bryant, Illustrated by Melissa Sweet

A River of Words by Jen Bryant, Illustrated by Melissa Sweet

Summary: William Carlos Williams was just like everybody else, except he liked to walk through the woods and observe everything. He never missed a thing. He liked to rest by the Passaic River, and just listen to the water rushing by. As he got older, he had less and less time to go outside and walk through the woods and listen to the river. However, one day his teacher began talking about poetry. As William began to write his own, he felt like he was back in the woods, laying next to the river. William liked to write about his the things he saw, and because the things he saw didn’t fit with each other like what he read in other poems, William decided to try something different. William continued writing, and when time came to go to college, William decided to study medicine like his Uncle Carlos. While William was away studying medicine he met his friends, Ezra Pound and Hilda Doolittle who both studied literature, and Charles Demuth who studied painting. When he was all done with school he went back to his hometown to opened “William C. Williams, M.D.- Family Medicine”. William was busy again, helping families and delivering babies. But at night when the town went to sleep, William would write.

Review: This book on William C. Williams would be amazing to have in a lesson about poetry and famous poets. For 7 and 10 years olds, it’s important they are engaged in what they are reading, and have content that they relate to. This book allows its reader to walk through the busy life of William C. William and why he wrote the poems he did. I would without a doubt put this in my classroom.

Me… Jane by Patrick McDonnell

Me… Jane by Patrick McDonnell

Summary: Jane has a stuffed monkey named Jubilee, who she takes everywhere including outside where Jane likes to spend most of her time. Outside, Jane likes to spend time watching and learning all about the animals and things she sees. She likes to watch the birds, the spiders, and the squirrels. She also likes to hug the trees and hear their sap trickling down the trunk. And everything she saw, felt, and learned, she wrote down in her journal. Jane also liked to read Tarzan, a book where another Jane lived in Africa. This was Jane’s dream, to live in Africa with all their animals and their jungles. One day, Jane’s dream came true.

Review: This story of Jane Goodall would be great to have in any classroom. The story would be great for emerging readers and older readers, from 2 to 10, and a great introduction into talking about nature and living organisms. I would not hesitate to put this in my classroom.

The Houdini Box by Brian Selznick

The Houdini Box by Brian Selznick

Summary: When victor was ten he loved magic and he especially loved Harry Houdini, who could escape from anything and anywhere. Victor tired to do all his tricks, and it drove his mother crazy because she was always finding him locked in things and trying to hold his break underwater in the tub. His mom tried to calm him died, but nothing worked. On their way to visit his Aunt Harriet, Victor spotted him. Harry Houdini was just feet away, so Victor went after him. Victor ask question on how to do all his tricks. Houdini was very nice about it, he even took Victor's name and address from his suitcase so that he can write him a letter to answer all his questions. Wen his letter finally arrived, all it said was to meet him at his house on a certain day, but Victor couldn’t way that long, so Victore went to Houdini’s house right then. When Houdini’s wife answered the door and Victor showed her the letter she began to cry, but told him to wait. When she came back, Houdini was not with her, she only  had a box for him. Then Victor heard her say that Houdini was dead. Later that day, when Victor tired to open the box, he saw the initials E.W. and thought that this was not Houdini’s box after all. So he buried the box away and decided that he was no longer going to do magic or think about Houdini again. And then, Victor grew up. He had a wife ana son named Harry. One day Victor and his son were playing with a baseball when Harry it the baseball so hard it flew somewhere in o the graveyard they were in. When he found the ball, it was right in front Harry Houdini’s grave. On his tombstone he saw Houdini’s real name. It was the initials E.W. It really was Houdini’ box! Victor and his son raced home, and without telling his wife or his son, he found the old box and opened it. That night, he escaped from a locked box in under 20 seconds.  

Review: This is fun book I think most 3rd through 8th graders. Magic is always such an interesting topic. And it’s important that students find things in history and in books that they like to read about. I would use this in a history lesson about how sometimes famous people don’t use their real names. I would definitely put this in my classroom.

The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes, Illustrated by Louis Slobodkin

The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes, Illustrated by Louis Slobodkin

Summary: Wanda was not at school and nobody noticed for many days. One day Peggy and Maddie looked for her and realized that she was gone, and had not been for a while now. Then, later on that same day,  Mrs. Mason announced that Wanda had won the girl’s drawing award. Wanda had submitted 100 drawings of beautiful dresses. Peggie and Maddie would always poke fun at wanda because she had a funny name and was from Boggins Heights, which is where the poor live. Wanda wore the same dress to school every day, a pale blue one. One day Cecile came to school with a new crimson dress, everybody was amazed by it, that’s when Wanda mentioned that she had one hundred dresses in her closet. However, the other girls did not believe her and then created a game called “How many dresses?” where they would ask how many things Wanda had of certain things like hats and shoes. Maddie knew this game was wrong, but she never said anything, and she felt guilty about it. After Wanda was announced winner, Mrs. Mason read a letter from Wanda’s dad saying that they had moved away to the big city, because his children were being treated badly at the school, and they hoped the big city would be better. Maddie, felt really guilty about what they had done. She wanted to say something, but was afraid that she would be teased, too. Later on, Peggy expressed some remorse and suggested that they go to Wanda’s house and talk to her. However, they were too late, they had already gone, so they decided write her letter instead. Although they meant it to be an apology letter, they just wrote a friendly one instead. They waited a long time to hear back, until finally, around Christmas time they did. Mrs. Mason read it to the class and in it Wanda said that her new Teacher was not as good as Mrs. Mason, that she had new dresses, and that she wanted Peggy and Maddie to have two of her drawings. Peggy took this letter as Wanda’s forgiveness, but Maddie still felt guilty because Wanda was always so nice to them. Later on that day , Maddie realized in the drawings, the girls wearing the dresses looked just like her and Peggy.

Review: This book is a wonderful book to read to the ages first graders and up, about bullying, speaking up, and accepting others. This can be a hard conversation for students, so a fun activity may be to have students write in a reflection journal about the time they dealt with a similar situation. During a discussion on this book with students, it would be a great to have the students talk about and grasp each character's emotions. I would love to put this in my classroom.

Outside Over There by Maurice Sendak

Outside Over There by Maurice Sendak

Summary: When Ida’s parents were away she looked after her baby sister. One afternoon, while Ida played her wonder horn, she didn’t notice goblins take her baby sister through another window and replace her with an ice replica of her. When Ida realized what happen she knew the goblins stole her sister to make her a goblin bride, so she went after her. Only, she made a mistake by climbing back out the window backwards causing her to go flying through the sky, until she heard her father singing a song from the sea about how to turn back around and to save her sister. So Ida turned around and all of a sudden she was the goblin wedding, only they looked just like babies and just like her sister. So Ida played a song on her horn and made then dance, and then she made them dance right into the river. After the goblins were gone, she scooped iu her sister and brought her home. There waiting for them was their mother, who had a letter from their father that said he’ll be home soon, and that Ida should watch her baby sister and mother. And so that is what Ida did.

Review: This is a fun story, however there is alway the problem of censorship (the babies in the book are naked) and it is something I would check on before having this book in my classroom. Especially if I was going to put it in a grade 3, 4, or 5 classroom, because the students would definitely notice. The story however is fun and a great lesson on paying attention because you will miss something important.