Lost Reviews

My last week at school in May was full of me rushing around. I was trying to make sure I had all assignments graded for my students. I was trying to make sure I had everything set up for my sub. I was trying to get our house ready to be tented the day I had surgery. I was trying to help my mother, who lives with us get her items ready as she and my husband would have to be out of the house for three days. My mother-in-law opened her home to my mom so we didn't have to rent a motel.  I was also trying to gather up everything I would need to take to the Therapy Rehab Center. I needed my husband to hold on to that packed bag until I was transferred from the hospital.  The last thing I was preparing was a group of reviews.  As I read and wrote the reviews on paper, I gave the books to a fellow teacher to share with her young son.  Somewhere along the line I never got the reviews posted. As I was going through my notebook, I found them and thought it would be a good idea to get them posted. Here they are, I hope you enjoy them.

Monty: The Courageous Survival of a Rescue Dog by Janet Squires
Genre:  Children's Picture Book
Source:  I received a copy to facilitate my review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

Monty is a mixed pit-bull dog. He is found out in the desert. He has been shot and is severely injured, and near death. Nicole is an animal rescuer who finds him and takes him to a vet in hopes he can be save. Once they realize he will live they try to find him a forever home. This is a true story so there are lots of pictures and very little writing. I kept wondering, what kind of person would do something like this to a dog? Then I wondered what made him so special and determined to survive. By all odds he should have died.  If you want to learn more, he has a Facebook page.

If You Were Me and Lived in Elizabethan England by Carole P. Roman

Genre: Children’s Picture Book

Source: I received a copy to facilitate my Review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

The author has given us a look at a time called Elizabethan times. This was when Elizabeth the I was queen. The author has done a great job comparing and contrasting the life of the poor to the wealthy. She also showed major differences between life in the city and the country. In the back of the book she has included a small biography of eight very important people who lived during the Elizabethan period and what they contributed. There is also a glossary included to help explain unfamiliar terms.

If You Were Me and Lived in Renaissance Italy by Carole P. Roman

Genre: Children’s Picture Book

Source: I received a copy to facilitate my Review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

In this book we learn about the period after the Middle Ages. It was a time of rebirth. The awakening of creativity. It was called the Renaissance. The author has given a lot of information about how those who had some money lied. Everything was different from the clothes they wore to the food they ate. The author included a section on the changes in art, famous artists and a glossary.

If You Were Me and Lived in Colonial America by Carole P. Roman

Genre: Children’s Picture Book

Source: I received a copy to facilitate my Review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

The research done for this book had to have been extensive. The author gives the reader some history in England that led to people moving across the ocean to what became Colonial America. We get a look at how tough life was for these people, especially the first year. You learn about the friendship with the Natives that helped them survive. The back has small biographies of several important people to the colonies.

If You Were Me and Lived in Ancient Greece by Carole P. Roman

Genre: Children’s Picture Book

Source: I received a copy to facilitate my Review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

Readers will learn about some of the most important city-states. They will also learn a bit about the different gods they believed in. They will learn about how homes were made and what they ate. I found it interesting that girls were not considered citizens. I loved the way this book was set up. As you read about a specific topic you learned about the god or goddess that best fit with that topic. There is a separate section in the back that deals with the different gods.

Mortimer: Chapter Book for Early Readers by Mary Kincaid

Genre: Children, Early Reader

Source: I received a copy to facilitate my review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

This story is written in first person. This is the story of Mortimer the mole. He learns to dig and eat worms with his family. However, Mortimer is very curious. He hears noises from above. He asks his father about them and is forbidden to go above ground. His father tells him that moles that go above ground never return. What will happen to Mortimer when his curiosity gets the best of him?

Children’s Books 3 complete children’s stories and 23 previews of our children books by Francois Bissonnette

I AM BACK!
I apologize for not being around for a while. As the school year was coming to an end I had to take some time off. I left school three weeks before it was over. This was very tough as I had wonderful sixth grade students this year. On May 23rd I had both of my knees completely replaced. That was followed by 3 and a half weeks in a nursing rehab facility. I underwent therapy three times a day. Finally I was allowed home. I do home therapy four days a week and go to my doctor for therapy three days a week. Unfortunately, I had a setback. The day I left the hospital and went to the rehab facility the nursing staff found a pressure wound on the back of my left leg. They have been treating it ever since. Then one week after getting home I was working out on my recumbent bike, I was having trouble getting my right foot to sit properly in the pedal stirrup and banged my right knee and incision on the display screen. I ripped a scab off of my incision. This is where the setback comes in. Now the wound doctor had another wound to take care of. Unfortunately, the wound on my knee has gotten deeper and larger. It is possible it may compromise my implant.  After debriding, taking a culture and x-rays I am playing the waiting game. If all comes back negative they may use a wound vacuum to heal the wound. The only problem with that process is that it may mean I can't go back to school the first week.

Now, I've gotten to a point where I've been able to read and begin to write reviews again. It has been a long time.  Here is my first review.

Genre: Children's Picture Book

Source: I received a copy to facilitate my review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

Francois Bissonnette has long been one of my favorite authors. In this book we get excerpts and previews of his many stories.

Wanoo the Sorcerer: Naloo's version. Naloo visits her friend Wanoo. The last time she had seen him he was trying to learn magic. He told her that after training with the Enchanter Tarzi, he learned he could become a great magician if he persevered.

The City of Cats. One day in the city of cats a new family moves in. The new family was a mother dog and her pups. Muffy the kitten became friends with the pup named Goldy. Muffy's mom learns of the friendship and forbids it because they were different. In this book we learn that sometimes being different is the best thing.

Alicia and the Wolf is a wonderfully twisted version of the Red Riding hood Story. In this version Red Riding hood is being followed by a robber and a white wolf saves her.  It was a short but delightful story.

There are so many previews in this e-book. Once you read it you will see why his stories are some of my favorites. His fairy tales are so wonderful I use them in my classroom when I teach a unit on traditional stories.  I do hope you will check this author out.

Story Prompts that Work by Carly Berg

Genre: Writing

Source: I received a copy to facilitate my review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

This is a book of 52 writing prompts that can be used in a variety of ways. Some of them can be used for any age, while some are for the more mature audience.  I am going to talk about a couple of my favorites and how I, as a teacher, will use them with my students.

Prompt #3 – Unreliable Narrator  will work well in my classroom. We talk about unreliable narrators when we read a story about a dog who has been sold and really does not understand the true reason why he has been purchased. The situation of an unreliable narrator can make for a very humorous story as the students find out. I feel that I can help them better understand this by having them write a story with an unreliable narrator.

Prompt #6 – Choose a Story #1, #36, and #49  Is a great idea.  You have a first line, then choose a line from Setting, Main Character, and Situation.  The ones listed here may be a bit much for my middle school students but this is a wonderful idea and a wonderful way for me to come up with some writing prompts for them.

Prompt #18 – Twisted Fairy Tale #1 and #46  is something I do with the last unit I teach each year. We talk about fairy tales, fables, myths, legends and other traditional stories. They are required to take the story and tell it from another point of view, change the setting and time period. So they may take the story for Red Riding Hood and tell it from the Wolf’s perspective. It could be set in New York City in present time.

Prompt #19 – Objects  is one I will twist a little. Instead of going around the house and grabbing six objects that will become a list of words in a story. I would take objects and put them in a bag and have students pick from the bag to get their list of words.  This would be especially fun if we are studying a specific genre, for example ‘mysteries’ and they have to write a mystery story using those objects in their story.

Prompt #24 – A Picture is one I use every year. I find a variety of pictures and put them on my board and students may choose one or more to write about.

There are a lot of fun writing prompts here that can be done straight from the book, or you can put your own twist on them. One thing I really liked was that the author wrote example stories so you could get a better idea of what she was talking about. I can foresee this as creating hours and hours of fun writing.