by Red, Yellow, Green, and Blue
Illustrated by Karen E. Pellaton
Published by Charlesbridge 2001
Reading Level 1-2
30 Pages
Genre: Non-Fiction
Summary:
Through out this book we learn from our favorite colored M&M's the history of how they came about. We begin with what chocolate comes from. The Cacao tree, where little pods are grown and then split open and dried. In the old days the used to just eat the beans as the were, crunched up. But as the world was able to advance a machine was created by a dutch man that would separate the bean and the cocoa butter. These two ingredients make most chocolate products. White chocolate actually only has cocoa butter in the recipe, there is no actual cocoa. The timeline of this book is laid out so it goes from 250 BC to today. How it has evolved from a bitter sludge to a sweet drink and solid snack. It was obvious that the point of the book was the M&M's themselves because all the colors in the book were earthy and muted while the M&M's that were brought up and those that bordered text where very bright and tend to draw the eye.
My Reaction:
I knew a lot of the things I read about but it was a very fun way to learn and the illustrations were a great reflection of the text. Showing past cultures and from dress to daily living. I thought it was well written and showed great research, through text and illustrations
Potential Problems:
None
Recommendations:
I think this book would be great for any student who was interested in being an inventor, cook, or even historian. Even kids that just enjoy this M&M's may like to know where they come from. I know kids that love to know random facts just so they have things to share in family discussion and such. This would be a great book for kids that just want to learn.
Monday, February 14, 2011
Watch Out! Big Bro's Coming!
by Jez Alborough
Published by Candlewich Press 1998
Reading Level 2-1
14 Pages
Genre: Picture Book
Summary:
As we open the book, we find color exploding on every page. Deep Reds and greens show the colors of the jungle. There is a lot of picture and little text. Mouse comes run up to frog yelling that big bro is coming and he is this big, holding out his arms. So he and the frog run together, running into all kinds of animals and each time the animals join them in running away. As the go through the book each animal says that big bro is bigger and bigger and they all jump into hiding places. As they wait the tremble. Big Bro comes running out of the jungle. He is a mouse! But a very big mouse! So all the animals laugh until the realize how tough he is. He takes his brother and they head off back into the jungle.
My Reaction:
This is a fun read-out-loud book. I really enjoyed how it was like telephone. Each animal made big bro seem bigger and bigger! It was quite fun to see the development.
Possible Problems:
None
Recommendations:
I would recommend this for a read-aloud-book at home. It is good for participation while reading.
Published by Candlewich Press 1998
Reading Level 2-1
14 Pages
Genre: Picture Book
Summary:
As we open the book, we find color exploding on every page. Deep Reds and greens show the colors of the jungle. There is a lot of picture and little text. Mouse comes run up to frog yelling that big bro is coming and he is this big, holding out his arms. So he and the frog run together, running into all kinds of animals and each time the animals join them in running away. As the go through the book each animal says that big bro is bigger and bigger and they all jump into hiding places. As they wait the tremble. Big Bro comes running out of the jungle. He is a mouse! But a very big mouse! So all the animals laugh until the realize how tough he is. He takes his brother and they head off back into the jungle.
My Reaction:
This is a fun read-out-loud book. I really enjoyed how it was like telephone. Each animal made big bro seem bigger and bigger! It was quite fun to see the development.
Possible Problems:
None
Recommendations:
I would recommend this for a read-aloud-book at home. It is good for participation while reading.
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Bella & Bean
by Rebecca Kai Dotlich and illustrations by Aileen Leijten
Published by Atheneum Books for YOung Readers/Simon &schuster Children's Publishing
Reading Level: 1-2
31 Pages
Genre: Picture Book
Summary:
Bella and Bean are best friends(mice). Bella is a poet and she loves to write. So one day she is writing and Bean comes over and tries to get her to come play. Bella says she is busy writing, so Bean goes away. But all Bella can think of is Bean. So she writes poems about Bean. Bean comes back a couple times throughout the day but Bella continues to write poems. Which all turn out to be about Bean. So that night Bella call Bean to come over and they lay on the grass under the stars and write a poem about their friendship. The illustrations are beautiful. Though the mice are a little silly looking, it is so fun. The plants in just seem to come to life. They have beautiful soft colors that represent the text very well.
Reaction:
This was such a fun book. I picked it out because my nick-name has always been Belle and my little brother's is Bean. So i thought this related to our lives perfectly! I loved it, it was a sweet story about friendship.
Potential Problems:
None
Recommendations:
I think this is a fantastic book for little girls. The pink colors are beautiful and girly. But the friendship between these two girls is a wonderful example.
Published by Atheneum Books for YOung Readers/Simon &schuster Children's Publishing
Reading Level: 1-2
31 Pages
Genre: Picture Book
Summary:
Bella and Bean are best friends(mice). Bella is a poet and she loves to write. So one day she is writing and Bean comes over and tries to get her to come play. Bella says she is busy writing, so Bean goes away. But all Bella can think of is Bean. So she writes poems about Bean. Bean comes back a couple times throughout the day but Bella continues to write poems. Which all turn out to be about Bean. So that night Bella call Bean to come over and they lay on the grass under the stars and write a poem about their friendship. The illustrations are beautiful. Though the mice are a little silly looking, it is so fun. The plants in just seem to come to life. They have beautiful soft colors that represent the text very well.
Reaction:
This was such a fun book. I picked it out because my nick-name has always been Belle and my little brother's is Bean. So i thought this related to our lives perfectly! I loved it, it was a sweet story about friendship.
Potential Problems:
None
Recommendations:
I think this is a fantastic book for little girls. The pink colors are beautiful and girly. But the friendship between these two girls is a wonderful example.
The Chicken of the Family
by Mary Amato and illustrated by Delphine Durand
Published by G.P. Putnam's Sons 2008
Reading Level 1-2 grade
32 Pages
Genre: Picture Book
Summary:
Henrietta has two terrible sisters, the convince her that she is a chicken and she can't help but feel upset. So she travels down the road to the chicken farm just down from their house. So Henrietta follows around the chickens believing she is one of them. As she is playing with the chickens her sisters bike up to the farm. They had been looking for her all day and were upset because there mom and dad were sad because she ran away. But she wouldn't believe she was not a chicken. Well they get fed up and get ready to leave and the younger of the two sisters says she is scared that their parents will be mad if they don't come back with Henrietta. So her sister calls her a chicken. So she crawls in the pen with Henrietta and says maybe I am. The End.
Reaction:
This was such a fun book. I used to feel like the chicken in my families some times and this was a fun way to illustrate it! I will read this one to my kids.
Potential Problems:
None
Recommendations:
I think any kid who is having a hard time with their siblings would enjoy this book. It makes it seem not so bad to be a chicken!
Published by G.P. Putnam's Sons 2008
Reading Level 1-2 grade
32 Pages
Genre: Picture Book
Summary:
Henrietta has two terrible sisters, the convince her that she is a chicken and she can't help but feel upset. So she travels down the road to the chicken farm just down from their house. So Henrietta follows around the chickens believing she is one of them. As she is playing with the chickens her sisters bike up to the farm. They had been looking for her all day and were upset because there mom and dad were sad because she ran away. But she wouldn't believe she was not a chicken. Well they get fed up and get ready to leave and the younger of the two sisters says she is scared that their parents will be mad if they don't come back with Henrietta. So her sister calls her a chicken. So she crawls in the pen with Henrietta and says maybe I am. The End.
Reaction:
This was such a fun book. I used to feel like the chicken in my families some times and this was a fun way to illustrate it! I will read this one to my kids.
Potential Problems:
None
Recommendations:
I think any kid who is having a hard time with their siblings would enjoy this book. It makes it seem not so bad to be a chicken!
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
by J K Rowling
published by Scholastic Press 1997
Reading Level: 4-6 (and everyone else!)
309 Pages
Genre: Fantasy
Summary:
Harry is left on the door step of his aunt and uncles house when he was an infant. They tried to take care of him in the least interactive way as possible. His aunt always hated his mother so she made it very hard on Harry. However when his eleventh birthday rolls around he learns he is a wizard and begins attending Hogwarts. The school of Witch Craft and Wizardry. Harry finally feels like he fits in. Soon enough he learns that his parents and he are famous. His parents were killed by the most powerful dark wizard there was in existence. But Harry lived through it. The wizard Voldemort had not been seen since. Some believed him to be dead. As Harry goes through school he learns all kinds of things about himself and his family. He learns all about the new world of wizard he had never even heard of. At one point he learn about a magic item called the sorcerer's stone which can keep anyone who uses it youthful and healthy for as long as the posses it. Mean while he is noticing that one of his professors acts very strangely around him and he doesn't know why. One day while he and his friend Ron and Hermionie are lost in the castle the stumble upon a corridor which is forbidden. However they get trapped inside when one of the castles tattletale creatures comes round the corner. They find themselves in a maze of traps where they nearly don't make it. However, Harry is alone when he reaches the end. He finds that his professor is there and soon after that Voldemort is using his body to come back to power. Voldemort thinks if he can get the Sorcerer's stone he will be restored, but when Harry touches him the professor is killed and
Voldemort flees. The maze being what was protecting the stone is given to his headmaster for safe keeping and Harry goes home for the summer to return next year.
My Reaction:
I have always loved the Harry Potter Series and I was glad to get to read it again for a class. I have always believed it has such wonderful writing and wonderful detail that relapses in each book. I will always love the character building in the book and I learn something new about each character every time I read these books over.
Potential Problems:
This book does have magic and some parents are not okay with that. Also it has some murder and some language in the text.
Recommendations:
I think this is a series that could hook just about any hesitant reader. It has all the good pieces of a strong plot that the reader feeds on. I think this doesn't need to be in the schools because it is already so wide spread we don't need it to be required, but it could still be useful.
published by Scholastic Press 1997
Reading Level: 4-6 (and everyone else!)
309 Pages
Genre: Fantasy
Summary:
Harry is left on the door step of his aunt and uncles house when he was an infant. They tried to take care of him in the least interactive way as possible. His aunt always hated his mother so she made it very hard on Harry. However when his eleventh birthday rolls around he learns he is a wizard and begins attending Hogwarts. The school of Witch Craft and Wizardry. Harry finally feels like he fits in. Soon enough he learns that his parents and he are famous. His parents were killed by the most powerful dark wizard there was in existence. But Harry lived through it. The wizard Voldemort had not been seen since. Some believed him to be dead. As Harry goes through school he learns all kinds of things about himself and his family. He learns all about the new world of wizard he had never even heard of. At one point he learn about a magic item called the sorcerer's stone which can keep anyone who uses it youthful and healthy for as long as the posses it. Mean while he is noticing that one of his professors acts very strangely around him and he doesn't know why. One day while he and his friend Ron and Hermionie are lost in the castle the stumble upon a corridor which is forbidden. However they get trapped inside when one of the castles tattletale creatures comes round the corner. They find themselves in a maze of traps where they nearly don't make it. However, Harry is alone when he reaches the end. He finds that his professor is there and soon after that Voldemort is using his body to come back to power. Voldemort thinks if he can get the Sorcerer's stone he will be restored, but when Harry touches him the professor is killed and
Voldemort flees. The maze being what was protecting the stone is given to his headmaster for safe keeping and Harry goes home for the summer to return next year.
My Reaction:
I have always loved the Harry Potter Series and I was glad to get to read it again for a class. I have always believed it has such wonderful writing and wonderful detail that relapses in each book. I will always love the character building in the book and I learn something new about each character every time I read these books over.
Potential Problems:
This book does have magic and some parents are not okay with that. Also it has some murder and some language in the text.
Recommendations:
I think this is a series that could hook just about any hesitant reader. It has all the good pieces of a strong plot that the reader feeds on. I think this doesn't need to be in the schools because it is already so wide spread we don't need it to be required, but it could still be useful.
Bark George
by Jules Feiffer
Published by Michael di Capua Books Harper Collins 1991
32 Pages
Genre: Picture Book
Summary:
George cannot bark. His mom tries and tries but he can only make other animal sounds. So she takes him to the vet where the vet pulls out a cat, a duck, a pig and a cow. Finally George can bark. On their way home George goes to bark and says, "Hello!" The pastel colors in this book are really fun. They are not to bright bu there is still plenty of color. This book would be really great for color identification in kindergarten and such. This would be a good book for very little ones, good for repetition and word identification as well.
Reaction:
I have always loved this book. It's so fun and twists reality a little bit. However it's a fun was to let it be possible.
Potential Problems:
None
Recommend:
I would recommend this as a great read-aloud book! The colors and text are simple enough to work on recognition and it just has a great story line!
Published by Michael di Capua Books Harper Collins 1991
32 Pages
Genre: Picture Book
Summary:
George cannot bark. His mom tries and tries but he can only make other animal sounds. So she takes him to the vet where the vet pulls out a cat, a duck, a pig and a cow. Finally George can bark. On their way home George goes to bark and says, "Hello!" The pastel colors in this book are really fun. They are not to bright bu there is still plenty of color. This book would be really great for color identification in kindergarten and such. This would be a good book for very little ones, good for repetition and word identification as well.
Reaction:
I have always loved this book. It's so fun and twists reality a little bit. However it's a fun was to let it be possible.
Potential Problems:
None
Recommend:
I would recommend this as a great read-aloud book! The colors and text are simple enough to work on recognition and it just has a great story line!
New Year's Day
by David F. Marx
Published by Grolier Publishing 2000
Reading level 2-
32 Pages
Genre: Non-Fiction
Summary:
This book shows lot of things about celebrating the new year. The pictures show us how different counties celebrate and sometimes not even on the first of January. The reader reads all about New York and why people gather there to do on new years eve. The colors are as exciting as the new year with lots of reads and brightly colors floats and skies. The picture complement the text as we learn about how people celebrate with football and family games. It closes by reminding us that we get to celebrate it every year.
Reaction:
This was written for a very young child so it was not anything I didn't know already but it was still fun.
Potential Problems:
None
Recommendations:
I would use this in class while teaching about celebrations. It's great to show how it is different for everyone all around the world.
Published by Grolier Publishing 2000
Reading level 2-
32 Pages
Genre: Non-Fiction
Summary:
This book shows lot of things about celebrating the new year. The pictures show us how different counties celebrate and sometimes not even on the first of January. The reader reads all about New York and why people gather there to do on new years eve. The colors are as exciting as the new year with lots of reads and brightly colors floats and skies. The picture complement the text as we learn about how people celebrate with football and family games. It closes by reminding us that we get to celebrate it every year.
Reaction:
This was written for a very young child so it was not anything I didn't know already but it was still fun.
Potential Problems:
None
Recommendations:
I would use this in class while teaching about celebrations. It's great to show how it is different for everyone all around the world.
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