The Class From the Black Lagoon

Thaler, M., & Lee, J. D. (2002). The class from the Black Lagoon. New York: Scholastic.

Summary: It's another scary day at the Black Lagoon . . . for the new teacher, Mrs. Green.

There's a new class coming for the first day of school and Mrs. Green is worried. Is it true that the class is really weird and that they put their last three teachers into early retirement? Will the students really turn into horrible ghouls as soon as they get to school?

Will Mrs. Green really need her ultimate survival kit to teach the class or tame the class?

Retrieved from: Amazon.com on November 25, 2019: https://www.amazon.com/Class-Black-Lagoon-Mike-Thaler/dp/0545085446/ref=sr_1_1?crid=144PSEMXXKVW&keywords=the+class+from+the+black+lagoon&qid=1574732320&sprefix=the+class+from+the+bl%2Caps%2C166&sr=8-1

Age level appropriate for this book: Kindergarten- 3^rd Grade

Justification: The Class from the Black Lagoon is a funny book that students will love. The illustrations in this book are hilarious and will be sure to get students’ attention. This book could be used for more than just enjoyment, as it could be used with the standard RL.3.7 (Explain how the specific aspects of a text’s illustrations contribute to an effect, including but not limited to creating mood, character and setting.) Because the illustrations are so detailed, the students could describe how these impacts the text. They could determine the mood of the book based on the illustrations, and how the characters show in the book affect this. It would be fun for students to try and determine what the author is meaning by the things he says. For example, one of the pages says, “They’re all virtuosos with Velcro, and drummers with pencils. Every part of their bodies is a musical instrument. Put it all together and you have a symphony orchestra.” While this sounds like a crazy thing, the teacher could help the students understand what the author is meaning: that students are often loud and don’t like to sit still. This would be great used as a first day of school book.

Review: I would read this story to my students in the beginning of the year. I would talk to my students about how some people have expectations about certain things in life, but they end up being different from what we expected. I really enjoyed this book and the illustrations were really good.

Retrieved from Goodreads.com on November 25, 2019: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3764075-the-class-from-the-black-lagoon?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=ZvSWLhnZTY&rank=5

But No Elephants

Smath, J. (2007). But no elephants. Waverly, IA: CQ Products.4

Summary: Grandma Tildy lived all alone, until a salesman stopped by to sell her a pet. She welcomed a canary bird into her home but made it very clear that she wanted NO ELEPHANTS! This heart-warming children's book, written and illustrated by Jerry Smath, will delight parents and children from beginning to finish.

Retrieved from: Amazon.com on November 18, 2019: https://www.amazon.com/But-Elephants-Once-upon-Time/dp/1563832747/ref=sr_1_2?crid=1JZKQA0LSQ6XL&keywords=but+no+elephants&qid=1574133544&sprefix=but+no+el%2Caps%2C-1&sr=8-2

Age level appropriate for this book: Kindergarten -3rd Grade

Justification: But No Elephants is a classic book that students will love. It would be an easy book to use with the standard RL.3.3 (Describe characters in a story, including but not limited to their traits, motivations, actions or feelings, and how they affect the plot.) The teacher could have the students discuss the character traits of Grandma Tildy and the pet man. Grandma Tildy was a kind lady who wanted to help all animals, except elephants. Before completing the book, the students could predict why Grandma didn’t like elephants. This would be fun book to do an interactive read aloud with because there is a lot of predicting that could happen. The students could also predict what animal Grandma Tildy might get next. The cute illustrations in the book will keep students engaged.

Review: But No Elephants is a story about Grandma Tildy who lived alone in a little house. One day, a man came to her house and he was selling pets. He offered her a canary bird and Grandma Tildy said yes but she did not want an elephant. Over the next few days, the man kept coming back and offering her animals, until there was only an elephant left. She refused the elephant, still, so it stayed outside during the winter in the snow. Grandma Tildy and the other animals felt bad for the cold elephant, so they let him in. Eventually, the floor broke that the elephant was on because of his large size. The elephant also ate all the foot because he was so hungry. Feeling bad because the animals and Grandma Tildy would starve with no food, the elephant stood up and walked the house to a sunny and warm place. It was here where Grandma Tildy welcomed all elephants into her home.

The overall theme of But No Elephants is to not judge a book by its cover and the importance of accepetance. Also, those who you think may harm you, could be better for you in the end.

Retrieved from Goodreads.com on November 25, 2019: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1243806.But_No_Elephants

The True Story of the Three Little Pigs

Scieszka, J., & Smith, L. (2014). The true story of the 3 little pigs. New York, NY: Viking, an imprint of Penguin Group (USA).

Summary:

The big bad wolf has spent ten years in pig prison for the destruction of the three little pigs, and he has quite a story to tell that just might prove his innocence!

Alexander T. Wolf writes his own account of this infamous meeting, and insists that he was railroaded in the classic fairytale. After all, it was only an innocent sneeze (he had a bad cold), and all he wanted was to borrow a cup of sugar from one of the pigs. Why is he now the bad guy?

Smith's colorful and humorous illustrations put an interesting spin on the comical text. An engaging read for young readers. Teachers and parents will get a kick out of it too!

Retrieved from: Scholastic.com on November 25,2019: https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/books/the-true-story-of-the-3-little-pigs-by-a-wolf/

Age level appropriate for this book: Grades 1-5

Justification: Students and adults will love this book. It goes well with the reading standard RL.3.6 (Distinguish their own perspective from that of the narrator or those of the characters, and describe how various perspectives shape the content of the text). Everyone knows the story of the three little pigs, but this book is fun because it is told from the wolf’s perspective. Teachers could have students determine their own perspective about the story of the three little pigs. They could have them decide which story they believe, the pig’s story or the wolf’s story. This book is great to add to any classroom library because it is very engaging for students and they can learn a lot about different perspectives from this book.

Review:

Scieszka’s sardonic retelling (1989) of the old tale from the wolf’s point of view is given new life in this read-along. Giamatti’s soft, slightly raspy voice is a perfect, satiric match for Lane Smith’s stylized, hip illustrations. Adding an occasional chuckle at appropriate moments, Giamatti creates a full-bodied characterization of Alexander T. Wolf as he tells his side of the story, making the case that he was framed. Sound effects for the wolf’s huge sneezes excellently back up his claims that a bad cold caused the destruction of the pigs’ houses of straw and twigs. Understated music never overwhelms this fine production, which includes a hardcover book. Also available in DVD for $59.95. —Connie Rockman

Retrieved from WKU Libraries on November 25, 2019: http://web.b.ebscohost.com.libsrv.wku.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=2&sid=48673b00-b576-489a-8223-d86f67895c67%40pdc-v-sessmgr05

Why Am I a Mammal?

Pyers, G. (2006). Why am I a mammal? Oxford: Raintree.

Summary: By taking the animal's perspective, this series offers a unique take on the classification of animals and why various animals fit into a particular category. Amazing photos and detailed facts paint a clear picture about each animal class and its various characteristics.

Retrieved from Google Books on November 25, 2019: https://books.google.com/books/about/Why_Am_I_a_Mammal.html?id=nYQ2C8Tlf2gC

Age level appropriate for this book: Grades 1-4

Justification: Why Am I a Mammal? is a good non-fiction book to have in the classroom, especially for those interested in animals. This book is all about tigers, which allows students to learn more about them. It would also be great to use with the standard RI.3.7 (Identify and explain how specific visuals, including but not limited to diagrams, graphs, photographs and side bars, contribute to the meaning and clarity of a text.) This book would be a good choice for an interactive read aloud. As a class, you could determine how the diagrams and photographs in the text help you understand what the author is saying. If you took away these things, your image of the text might not be as clear. This allows students to see the importance of diagrams, graphs, and photographs.

Review:

As this book goes into detail about an Indian Tiger, it has check mark pointers throughout the story explaining what makes an animal a mammal. The book also has "Fast Facts" about different kinds of mammals that are interesting.

Retrieved from: Goodreads.com on November 25, 2019: https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/6899470-why-am-i-a-mammal

Shoe Dog

McDonald, M., & Tillotson, K. (2014). Shoe Dog. London: Simon & Schuster.

Summary:

Shoe Dog loves to chew…well, shoes! But when his choice of chewables leads to trouble, a feline friend has a purr-fect solution.

Shoe Dog likes to chew. And chew and chew. But he doesn’t chew a boring old bone. Not a squeaky old toy. Not a smelly old sock. Nope. Shoe Dogs chews…well, take a guess!
Chewing shoes poses a problem, however, and Shoe Dog needs help to solve it. Good thing there’s...Shoe Cat!
With illustrations so lively that Shoe Dog nearly scurries off the page, this is an irresistibly adorable read-aloud ideal for pet owners and animal lovers alike.

Age level appropriate for this book: Kindergarten- 3^rd Grade

Justification: This book is engaging and adorable for children. Shoe Dog is great for use in the classroom. It goes well with the Kentucky standard RL.3.3 (Describe characters in a story, including but not limited to their traits, motivations, actions or feelings, and how they affect the plot.) Some of the students might be able to relate to the text if they have dogs at home. In the classroom, students could describe how the dog feels versus how his owner feels about him chewing up her shoes. Shoe Dog is also full of adjectives so this would be a great book to use when practicing adjectives in the classroom. Students could choose a few sentences out of the book and switch the adjectives with other adjectives. This would help students practice using adjectives in sentences.  

Review:

An irrepressible dog can’t resist falling into the same type of mischief over and over again, until something surprising changes his pattern.

This small, wiggly pup bounces upward as a silhouetted woman enters the animal shelter. He longs for a home “warm as soup / and cozy as pie,” full of nose kisses and tummy rubs. And oh, how exciting—the woman takes him home! “That very day, / Shoe Dog chewed through / five high heels, / four flip-flops, / three sneakers, / two boots, / one wing tip.” Scolding—“ ‘BAD DOG!’ / She, Herself said”—and punishment—no petting or access to the Big Bed—see him lying forlornly in a gray-blue space, subdued. But each time new shoes arrive, he tracks down and rips into the fresh box, chomping every shoe with gusto. Consequences ratchet up mildly, but Shoe Dog never learns impulse control as such; instead, unexpectedly, he meets a shoe he’d never, ever chew. Finally he’s welcome “on the Big Bed / in the Land of Upstairs,” curling up blissfully with his new shoe-love. Tillotson uses thick black lines for Shoe Dog’s scribbly, coiled-spring body, smudging charcoal inside his shape to give him substance; scraps of pink and beige mark his pointy ears and muzzle. Motion lines show how he scampers and bounds. The visual angle varies, and shoe-box tissue paper flies through the air.

Retrieved from: Kirkusreviews.com on November 22, 2019: https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/megan-mcdonald/shoe-dog/

Once Upon a Time: Writing Your Own Fairy Tale

Loewen, N., & Lyles, C. (2009). Once upon a time: writing your own fairy tale. Minneapolis, MN: Picture Window Books.

Summary: Ready to build a fairy tale? First, you’ll need the right tools. Open this title in the Writer’s Toolbox series and discover plenty of tips and tools to get you started. Soon you’ll be writing magical adventures like a pro!

Retrieved from: Amazon.com on November 25, 2019: https://www.amazon.com/Once-Upon-Time-Writing-Writers/dp/1404853367/ref=sr_1_1?crid=13GATCBHST5PE&keywords=once+upon+a+time+writing+your+own+fairy+tale&qid=1574734342&sprefix=once+upon+a+time+wr%2Caps%2C164&sr=8-1

Age level appropriate for this book: Grades 3-4

Justification: This adorable book would be great for use with the standard RL.3.5 (Describe and provide evidence for how parts of the text contribute to the overall structure of poems, stories and dramas, including but not limited to linear, non-linear and circular structures.) After looking at poems and stories in the classroom, students could become the writers. The book gives an example of a fairytale and on each page, it describes what parts a fairytale needs such as setting, character, plot, etc. This book is a good hands-on approach to allowing your students to become the author. If writing a story would be too complex for the students, it would still be a great book to use when learning about the different parts of a story.

Review: Writers need the right tools in order to build a story. In this book, Nancy Loewen explores which tools are used in writing fairy tales. She builds a list of thirteen different tools or characteristics found in common with most fairy tales. These tools include: settings, characters, plot, dialogue, warnings, magic, greed, tricks, secrets, repetition, mistakes, problem solving, and a pleasing ending. Throughout the book, the author writes part of the story of Little Red Riding Hood and pairs each section with different tools. She then writes an explanation of how the tools are used in the fairy tale.

I thought that this book was awesome! It did a great job of not only describing the different characteristics of a fairy tale, but also showing the reader how it is used by giving examples from Little Red Riding Hood.

This would be a perfect book for a fairy tale unit. I think that this would be great to not only teach the students different characteristics of fairy tales, but also this would be a great resource to help students write their own fairy tales. This book could be used to teach students how to write fairy tales which could then become a performance task.

Retrieved from Goodreads.com on November 25, 2019: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7517850-once-upon-a-time?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=XQ0UDIrMsp&rank=1

Who Pushed Humpty Dumpty?

Levinthal, D., & Nickle, J. (2012). Who pushed Humpty Dumpty?: and other notorious nursery tale mysteries. New York: Schwartz & Wade Books.

Summary:

"Five familiar fairytales get twisted into humorous noir detective stories in an extremely clever take on who pushed Humpty Dumpty and more. Early readers will have fun with this one." - Seira Wilson, Amazon Editor

Break-in at the Three Bears family home? It could only be one dame. Wicked witch gone missing from her candied cottage? Hansel and Gretel claim it was self-defense. Did Humpty Dumpty really just fall off that wall, or was he pushed? Here are five fairy-tale stories with a twist, all told from the point of view of a streetwise police officer called Binky, who just happens to be a toad in a suit and a fedora. When Snow White doesn't make it to the beauty pageant, Officer Binky is the first to find the apple core lying by her bed. When an awful giant mysteriously crashes to the ground, upsetting the whole town, Binky discovers exactly who is responsible. Author David Levinthal and illustrator John Nickle retell these classic stories in the style of a 1940s noir detective novel—for kids!

Age level appropriate for this book: Kindergarten-3^rd grade

Justification: Who Pushed Humpty Dumpty is a story about nursery rhymes from different perspectives. This book would be good for use with the Kentucky standard, RL 3.1. (Ask and answer questions, and make and support logical inferences to construct meaning from the text.) After reading the book, teachers could have their students become the detectives. They could ask their classmates questions and look for clues to determine the truth. This could be about something made up or it could be based off another book or tale. This would allow students to apply the knowledge they learned from Who Pushed Humpty Dumpty which gives them a deeper understanding of the meaning of the book. Students will love this book and there are many different activities that could go along with it.

Review:

In language reminiscent of old-time-radio detective stories, Officer Binky narrates a few of his cases, which will be very familiar to young readers.

A call from Mrs. Bear sends Binky to his first crime scene: eaten porridge, broken chair, rumpled bed. “It could only be one dame: Goldilocks! I nabbed her trying to make her getaway….They’ll feed her three meals a day where she’s going.” A missing-person report has Binky driving to the Deep Dark Woods to investigate a woodcutter and his two children. It doesn’t take long for him to determine it was self-defense. An omelet leads the diminutive frog cop to Humpty’s killer, while the crime lab helps him solve the case of the poisoning of a beautiful girl by a beauty-pageant judge. The final case is less a mystery than an investigation into the cause of an explosion/earthquake. Luckily, some golden eggs are the hard evidence Binky needs to get the lieutenant to believe what happened. The acrylic artwork suits the noir atmosphere, somber colors and tension-filled scenes alternating with humorous details that match the tongue-in-cheek text. The one quibble is that Nickle’s people are rather stiff, with oddly shaped heads and strange facial expressions. Still, there is humor to appeal to all ages here.

Levinthal’s children’s-book debut lacks the laugh-out-loud silliness that is Margie Palatini and Richard Egielski’s mashup The Web Files (2001), but this will find an audience. (Fractured fairy tales. 5-9)

Ink!

Drimmer, S. W. (2019). Ink!: 100 fun facts about octopuses, squid, and more. Washington, DC: National Geographic Kids.

Summary: Meet cuttlefish that can camouflage themselves, octopuses that outsmart their predators, and squid that patrol the deep in this cool fact-filled reader.
Learn everything you've ever wanted to know about cephalopods, from inking, to hunting, to coconut carrying. Squish along with squid, camouflage with cuttlefish, and marvel at magnificent octopuses. Packed with weird-but-true facts and tons of cool animal info, this Level 3 Reader explores the incredible world of cephalopods.
 

Retrieved from: Amazon.com on November 25, 2019: https://www.amazon.com/National-Geographic-Readers-Facts-Octopuses/dp/1426335016/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=national+geographic+ink&qid=1574734146&sr=8-1

Age level appropriate for this book: Grades 2-4

Justification: This non-fiction book is a great addition to the classroom library, especially for students interested in animals and sea creatures. This book is easy to follow, and the pictures provide a great visual of octopuses and other sea creatures. Ink! would go along well with the standard RI.3.5 (Identify and describe informational text structures, including comparison, cause/effect and problem/ solution structures, and describe the logical connection between particular sentences and paragraphs in a text and how they contribute to the overall structure.) The teacher could have students compare one sea creature to another, based on information from the text. This would require students to read for meaning rather than just reading the book for fun, which would allow them to have a deeper understanding of the text.

Review: National Geographic Fact Readers feature the same expert-vetted running text as traditional readers--with a bonus of 100 fun facts sprinkled throughout! A fact roundup at the end of each book lets kids review what they've learned. (Plus, they can impress their friends with their animal expertise!)

Retrieved from Goodreads on November 25, 2019: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43418219-national-geographic-readers

The Story of Ruby Bridges

Coles, R. (2012). The story of Ruby Bridges.

Summary: Celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first African American child to integrate a New Orleans school with this paperback reissue!
The year is 1960, and six-year-old Ruby Bridges and her family have recently moved from Mississippi to New Orleans in search of a better life. When a judge orders Ruby to attend first grade at William Frantz Elementary, an all-white school, Ruby must face angry mobs of parents who refuse to send their children to school with her. Told with Robert Coles' powerful narrative and dramatically illustrated by George Ford, Ruby's story of courage, faith, and hope is now available in this special 50th anniversary edition with an updated afterword!

Retrieved from: Amazon.com on November 25, 2019: https://www.amazon.com/Story-Ruby-Bridges-Special-Anniversary/dp/0439472261/ref=sr_1_1?crid=UPJPSYQX4TX7&keywords=the+story+of+ruby+bridges&qid=1574733217&sprefix=the+story+of+rub%2Caps%2C160&sr=8-1

Age level appropriate for this book: Kindergarten- 3^rd Grade

Justification: This book gives students an opportunity to learn not only about Ruby Bridges, but also about the history of segregation. It pairs nicely with the standard RI.3.2 (Identify and cite relevant implicit and explicit information from a summary to determine the central idea of a text.) The students could look at the book from two perspectives: learning about Ruby and learning about information. The students could determine what the main idea and key details would be of each, which would allow them to read biographies in two different ways. Knowing how to do this allows students to have a deeper understanding of the text and how to comprehend it in a beneficial way.

Review: The story of Ruby Bridges is a lovingly illustrated true story of Ruby Bridges. As a young 6 year old girl, growing up in the South during the days of the Civil Rights movement, Ruby was selected by the courts and ordered to attend the all white school of Franz Elementary School. Every morning became a variation of a frightening, degrading experience, with hordes of angry people lining the sidewalks, jeering, shouting insults and worse. How she handles this is what makes this book special, because she was a special girl. The illustrations add a special charm and perspective for both adults and children.

Retrieved from Goodreads.com on November 25, 2019: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/14403.The_Story_of_Ruby_Bridges?from_search=true&qid=eehBMs8o0C&rank=1

Lincoln and Kennedy: A Pair to Compare

Barretta, G. (2016). Lincoln and Kennedy: a pair to compare. New York: Christy Ottaviano Books, Henry Holt and Company.

Summary: President Abraham Lincoln grew up in a one-room log cabin. President John F. Kennedy was raised in the lap of luxury. One was a Republican and one a Democrat. They lived and served a hundred years apart.

Yet they had a number of things in common. Some were coincidental: having seven letters in their last names. Some were monumental: Lincoln's support for the abolitionist movement and Kennedy's support for the civil rights movement. They both lost a son while in office. And, of course, both were assassinated.

In this illuminating book, Gene Barretta offers an insightful portrait of two of our country's most famous presidents.

Retrieved from: Amazon.com on November 25, 2019: https://www.amazon.com/Lincoln-Kennedy-Compare-Gene-Barretta/dp/080509945X/ref=sr_1_1?crid=28OYVLY90DO0B&keywords=lincoln+and+kennedy+a+pair+to+compare&qid=1574732914&sprefix=lincoln+and+ken%2Caps%2C279&sr=8-1

Age level appropriate for this book: Grades 1-3

Justification: This book gives students a great opportunity to learn about two presidents at the same time. Because it is a book all about comparing, it would go great with the standard RI.3.5 (Identify and describe informational text structures, including comparison, cause/effect and problem/ solution structures, and describe the logical connection between particular sentences and paragraphs in a text and how they contribute to the overall structure.) Each page of this book has comparisons about Lincoln and Kennedy. Students could create a compare/contrast chart about this book, determining things that Lincoln and Kennedy have in common and their differences. This is a great book to use when learning about comparing/contrasting, and to learn about two of our past presidents.

Review: Gr. 3-5. Gene Barretta's dual biography of Presidents Lincoln and Kennedy provides a side-by-side comparison of the two leaders during similar moments throughout their lives. The stories are arranged roughly in chronological order, although specific dates are infrequently used. A timeline in the back-matter would have been useful, although the provided quotes, trivia, glossary, and sources are appreciated. The watercolor illustrations are bright, comedic, and visually appealing. While this title alone may not be enough for a biographical report, it could be used as a supplemental title to provide additional context.

Retrieved from Goodreads.com on November 25, 2019: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25774412-lincoln-and-kennedy