Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf

Author/Illustrator: Lois Ehlert

About the Author:
http://www.mhhe.com/socscience/education/kidlit/aom/janaom.html
Lois Ehlert was born on November 9, 1934, in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin. She grew up in a home where everyone always seemed to be making something with their hands. She was always putting things together, cutting, stitching, pasting, or pounding.

Genre: Science
Grade Level: K-2
Theme: Nature

Synopsis:
This story is about leaves and trees. It talks about how trees form from seeds and the tree sprouts are collected by nursery workers. They transport them and they are taken care of year after year and are uprooted again. They are wrapped, labeled and delivered to the garden center where people can come and select trees and plant them in their yards. The end of the book talks about different parts of the trees and why/how they are important and also how to plant a tree.

Pre Reading Activity:

Activity:

Have the class collect leaves and different seeds from leaves around your school. Take them inside and help the students figure out what leaves the trees come from and what the seeds will grow into!

Post Reading Activity:

Activity:

After reading the story, plan a time where you can pick up a tree and see if you can plant it near your school and have the students help you.

Reflection:

I think this is a cute book and good to use with children of any age because it has a lot of science information to discuss with students about trees and leaves. It is a good book to use because it will engage students in wanting to learn about them.

What Do You Do, Dear?

Author/Illustrator: Sesyle Joslin/Maurice Sendak

About the Author:
http://www.amazon.com/Sesyle-Joslin/e/B000APIB7E
Sesyle Joslin is a children's literature author. She was born in Providence, RI, on August 30, 1929. She has worked as an editorial assistant and assistant editor in Philadelphia. In 1950, she married writer Al Hine and has three children.

Genre: Fiction
Grade Level: K-1
Theme: Using Manners

 

Synopsis:
This story is about different scenarios that most definitely will not happen the way they are described but it shows children different manners in a silly way. It describes people in different places such as the library and when you are in each place something happens to you that most likely would never happen in real life.  Once this happens they ask what are you to do and you respond with how you should act in that situation.  For example the first is that you are in the library reading a book and all of a sudden you are "lassoed" by someone and he says he has got you and is taking you to his ranch. The book then says "What do you do, dear? You walk through the library quietly!"  This shows students that it is important to be quiet in a library but they can see that you would never be "lassoed" by anyone in a library!

Pre Reading Activity:

Activity:

Have the class discuss some things you should do to be polite to other people and show manners.

Post Reading Activity:

Activity:

After reading the story, have the students draw a picture of how they use their manners with others and then have them bring you their picture and desribe it for you so you can write it down. Hang the students work in the hall for others to see their good manners!

Reflection:

I think this is a cute book and good to use with younger children so they can see how important it is to use manners. I think this book uses different, but funny ways to show manners for students to be able to understand. You will never be lassoed by someone in the library but it shows the manner is to be quiet when you are entering, already inside, and leaving a library!

Lunch Bunnies

Author/Illustrator: Kathryn Lasky/Marylin Hafner

About the Author:
http://www.kathrynlasky.com/KK/About.html
Kathryn Lasky was born in Indianapolis, Indiana. She has one older sister named Martha and their family was Jewish. She never enjoyed school but she went to the University of Michigan and got many A's. She married Chris Knight whom she met at her second job. After marrying Chris, her parents gave them a sailboat and they sailed across the Atlantic Ocean. When they came back she wrote her first children's book and had her first child Max. Five years later she had her daughter Meribah and she now lives in Cambridge.

Genre: Fiction
Grade Level: K-1
Theme: Helping Others

Synopsis:
This story is about a bunny who is nervous about going to school and having lunch. He practices the night before carrying his tray to the table. His older brother tries to make him nervous by saying that they make you clean up your mess and the food is all mystery goosh. Clyde worries that he will drop his tray or make a mistake. The next day he makes a friend before lunch and stands in line with her. She ends up slipping on juice and spills her Jell-O all over the floor but the rest of her food stays on the tray. Clyde helps Rosemary pick up her Jell-O and the lunch lady comes to help them and gets Rosemary a new container of Jell-O. Gloria, the lunch lady yells at the older kids who are laughing and they stop! Rosemary and Clyde become friends and they forget all their worries!

Pre Reading Activity:

Activity:

Have the class look at the cover of the book and predict what might happen.

Post Reading Activity:

Activity:

After reading the story, have the students draw a picture of how they felt the first day of school.

Reflection:

I think this is a cute book and good to use on the first day of school with young children. The teachers know how the lunchroom works and will be able to tell the students that they have nothing to worry about when they go to lunch. This book also is good because some students might be nervous on their first day of school and this book will make all their worries go away especially when they see lunch is not that bad after all!

If You Give A Mouse A Cookie

Author/Illustrator: Laura Joffe Numeroff/Felicia Bond

About the Author:
http://lauranumeroff.com/
Laura was born in Brooklyn, NY in 1953 and was the youngest of three girls. She was surrounded by art, music, and books. She enjoys using her imagination to make people laugh!

Genre: Fiction
Grade Level: K-1
Theme: Using Imagination

Synopsis:
This story is about what might happen if you give a mouse a cookie. He will ask for milk and then get carried away and need to trim his hair, sweep it up, clean the house, want to nap but will need a story, draw pictures, sign his name, hang it on the refrigerator, get thirsty, ask for milk and of course want a cookie to go with it!

Pre Reading Activity:

Activity:

Have the class look at the cover of the book and share ideas of what they would do if they had a mouse to do different things with.

Post Reading Activity:

Activity:

After reading the story, have the students write what a mouse might ask for if you brought him to school!

Reflection:

I think this is a cute book because you can let students predict what will happen and they can use their imagination to come up with many different things. This book also lets students enjoy the silly story and use their imagination to think of different things a mouse would do.

Your Skin and Mine

Author/Illustrator: Paul Showers/Kathleen Kuchera

About the Author:
http://www.amazon.com/Paul-Showers/e/B000AP5F3M/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0
Paul Showers wrote twenty books for the Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science series, including favorites such as What Happens to a Hamburger? and Where Does the Garbage Go? Mr. Showers worked on the Detroit Free Press, the New York Herald Tribune, and for thirty years, the Sunday New York Times.

Genre: Non-fiction
Grade Level: K-2
Theme: Understanding differences/Health

Synopsis:
This story is about different children and their skin. It talks about how some children have different colored skin and how their skin is different. It talks about hair follicles, fingerprints, hair, sweat, epidermis/dermis, cuts, sunburns, melanin and keeping clean.

Pre Reading Activity:

Activity:

Have the class look at different Crayola color selections, see what color their skin actually is and have them write it down.

Post Reading Activity:

Activity:

After reading the story, have the students draw and write ways they can protect their skin. Have the younger students (K/1) tell you what they drew so you can write it down for them.

Reflection:

I think this is a good book to use in a younger classroom because it shows students how to take care of their skin, what happens when you get cuts and bruises, and why it is important to make sure you take care of your skin.

The Giving Tree

Author/ Illustrator: Shel Silverstein

About the Author:

http://shelsilverstein.com/indexSite.html

Shel Silverstein grew up in Chicago and started writing when he was twelve years old. He did not set out to draw and write for children. He would have rather spent time playing baseball but he was not good at it so he decided to draw and write. He did not have any other poet to look to for inspiration so he developed his own style. He was a GI in Japan and Korea in the 1950s and served in the Korean War. While he was in the military, he worked as a cartoonist for "Pacific Stars and Stripes." In 1963, he was convinced to begin writing for children. Where the Sidewalk Ends, Light In the Attic, Runny Babbit, and The Giving Tree are a few of his popular pieces.


Genre: Fiction
Grade Level: 1-4
Theme: Sharing and Giving

Synopsis:

This story is about a tree who loved a little boy. This boy would always visit the tree, eat her apples, swing from her branches, or slide down her trunk and this made the tree very happy.

However, as the boy grew older, he wanted more from the tree each time and the tree gave him what he wanted. The tree would always give the boy what she could because she wanted him happy. When the boy was happy, she was happy. The last time he came to see her, she was sad because she had nothing left to give him. However, the boy said he didn’t need much now.  He just needed a place to rest, so the tree gave him a place to rest.

Pre Reading Activity:

Activity:

Have the class each write a few sentences about what they would want a giving tree to give to them if they had one. Have them describe what their giving tree would look like and draw a picture to go with it.

Post Reading Activity:

Activity:

After reading the story, have the students brainstorm and think of people who have given them something or have done something for them. Have the students write a thank you letter to someone who has given them something or helped them in some way.

 

Reflection:
The Giving Tree is a wonderful story. Sometimes people do not realize what someone or something gives them unless it is material things. The Giving Tree gives all of herself to the little boy, and he takes it without ever saying thank you. I think in real life this happens many times, someone gives so much of themselves or even so much of what they have and it often goes un-noticed.  I beleive this topic is relevant in today's world even though it was published in 1964.  It shows that people still take things for granted and do not think about saying two words that can make all the difference!

Curious George Visits the Library

Author/Illustrator: Margret & H.A. Rey/Style of H.A. Rey by Martha Weston

About the Author:
http://www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com/features/cgsite/history.shtml
Hans Augusto (September 16, 1898) and Margret (May 16, 1906) were both born in Hamburg, Germany. They met when Margret was a young girl and reunited in Rio de Janeiro in 1935. They married in Brazil on August 16, 1935 and moved to Paris after their honeymoon. H.A. published his first chilren's book there called Raffy and the Nine Monkeys (Cecily G. and the Nine Monkeys in the British and American editions). This marked the beginning of Curious George! They began working on the manuscript for Curious George but the publication was stopped in the late 1930s and early 1940s because Hitler and the Nazi party were trying to take over Paris. H.A. made bicycles for the two of them and they took only warm coats, a bit of food, and five manuscripts one of which was Curious George. The Nazi's arrived in Paris hours later but the Rey's were long gone! Curious George was published in 1941! Both have passed away but Curious George lives on in the Curious George Foundation.

Genre: Fiction, Language Arts
Grade Level: K-1
Theme: Library Visits

Synopsis:
This story is about Curious George visiting the library for the first time. He sees all the books he likes and wants the librarian to read the one about the dinosaurs. Unfortunately George gets impatient and just takes the book and walks away with it. Soon he is searching through shelves collecting books that he wants to take home and read. He finds a cart to put them on and thinks he can roll the cart home until he crashes into the section of encyclopedias. He helps put the extra books back, then receives a library card of his own, checks out his selected books and enjoys them at home with his friend, the man with the yellow hat.

Pre Reading Activity:

Activity:

Have the class look at the cover and ask them what they think might happen in the story. Then ask if they have been to a library and know any rules of the library.

Post Reading Activity:

Activity:

After reading the story, have the class draw pictures of what they should do in a library. Contact the local public library and schedule a time to go with the class and see if they can hang the pictures they drew in the children's section of the library.

Reflection:

I think this is a cute book to use in a classroom because it allows students to see what they should do in a library and what steps they need to take in order to take out library books. It is important for children to visit a library at a young age to be familiar with the rules and how to check out books as well as having a library card. I got a library card when I was six years old and still have it today. I use the library quite often and I feel like kids should go there at least once a week to check out books to read.