Seven Wonderful Books

Beluga Tales by Nanna Elliana 
This is a cute book about a mommy beluga whale and her baby beluga whale. The mommy tells her baby all the things that she will do for her baby because she loves him. This would be a wonderful bedtime story to read to your child each night. This is a way to affirm to your child how much you love them and the ways you love them.

Will You give Me Your Toy? By Abigail Faure
Max the fox wants to have friends. Unfortunately, he has taken all of his toys and all his friends toys and won’t share with them. When he is done playing with all of their toys by himself he goes to play with them. They don’t want to play with him. He tells his parents the other kids won’t play with him and his dad explains why by telling him a story of his own childhood. Great way to teach children about sharing and being a friend.

Sunny’s Heart by Na’ama Gal
Sunny is a young boy who can feel emotions because his heart is so big. In this book his mom and dad teach him the importance of understand your feelings and not bottling them in. This is a great book to read to children when they are trying to figure out what to do when they feel certain emotions.

I Won’t Cut My Hair by Daniel Georges
When Sally is complemented on her beautiful purple hair she decides to let it grow. She is never going to cut it. Unfortunately for Sally, having such long hair brings along some problems. It is always dirty from dragging in the dirt. She has trouble with her cat wanting to lay on it all the time. She has trouble keeping it washed and dried. This is a book about change and how sometimes change is exactly what we need.

The Poem that Will Not End by Joan Bransfield Graham
This is the story of a young boy who can’t stop writing poetry. He writes it on shirts, in the shower, at recess, on the playground. He writes until the day his teacher asks him to write a poem about Spring. Then his mind goes blank. This book ends by talking about the different types of poems and voice. This would be great to use in any classroom as a mentor text.

My Sister is a Monster by Agnes Green
I loved this story. This is a book that should be read to every child who is about to become a brother or sister for the first time. This is told from the perspective of a young boy who has just met is baby sister. All she does is fusses and makes messes so he calls her a monster. His wise grandmother tells him what to do to discover how to defeat this monster. Before long he has learned she is a kid just like him and loves her so very much.

The Refuge by Sandra le Guen
This is the story of a young girl named Jeanette who meets a new girl at school named Iliana. Jeanette tells her parents the things she has learned about Iliana as their friendship grows. Iliana had left a war torn country. Her mom told her the stars and sky have no border. There is so much to be learned by young children here. They learn how much they can have in common with those who don’t speak the same language. They learn that their lives may be different but still have a lot of commonalities. This is a delightful book.

Six Books by Darcy Pattison

I Can Make Wise Choices

This simple book teaches kids the difference between small, medium and big choices. It also shows them that sometimes they need to ask for help thinking about and making decisions about big choices. Slowing down to think things through is the key in this book.

 

My Dirty Dog: My Informative Essay
This picture book is a how-to book for elementary kids. However, I have used it with my middle school kids who just could not get the concept of writing an informative essay. The author uses two young kids and their dogs to create a scene from which they will write an informative essay. What I liked best about this book was at the very end she gives instructions for the steps in writing an informative essay.

 

My Crazy Dog: My Narrative Essay
With this picture book kids learn how to write a narrative essay. The main character needs to take his dog to the vet for shots. He tells about the events that happened up until he caught his dog to get him ready for the vet. Once again you get a wonderful story. Then you get to read the essay the character has written and this is followed up by a how-to page on how to write a narrative essay.

The Nantucket Sea Monster
This is among one of my favorites of this author’s books. Every year when my students start to write essays we have to have a chat about reliable information. I use this book to help them understand that just because they see it or hear it in the new or find it online doesn’t mean it isn’t fake news. This is the story of one of the biggest hoaxes ever. The man who was responsible for balloons in the Macy’s Day parade decided to create a sea monster balloon. He got several officials from the town, the newspapers both local and not local. They created this fabulous story. It brought people to Nantucket and put them in news around the world. They were able to do this because of the first amendment which gives the press freedom of speech. One thing Darcy points out is that sometimes freedom of speech can show you that you can’t believe everything you read in the paper. I use this with students to discuss how we know if something is reliable or not. I don’t want them to decided because it was said on the news that it was true. This author’s books are not only entertaining but informative and useful for teachers of all grades.

Pollen
This is the story of a prediction Charles Darwin made and how approximately 130 years later it was proven by another scientists. After receiving a star orchid from Madagascar, Darwin hypothesized how the flower was pollinated. Unfortunately he didn’t live long enough to find out if his hypothesis was true. Other scientist carried on his work and found a moth like Darwin had predicted to be about the right size and with a long probiscus to pollinate this flower. Unfortunately it took another scientist to set up night vision camera’s to actually prove Darwin’s hypothesis correct. The book gives information on each of the scientists and pictures of the actual moth pollinating the orchid. Great tool for the science classroom.

 Wonky: A Robotics Club Story 

This book is about a robotics club. Howie is a turtle, after everyone has chosen a partner Howie is left without a partner until Lincoln walks in. Lincoln is an Ostrich. His father works with robots. When Howie and Lincoln try to design their robot they keep coming up with wonky looking designs. They finally decide they need to know what they want their robot to do. Once they agree on that they decide a wonky robot is the only way to go. This is a subtle way of teaching kids that they can be different (wonky) and still find value and friendship in each other.

Eight Picture Books

Little Buggies by Cindy Bracken 
A cute little book with wonderful rhymes that teaches children to look for specific insects. This is done in a fun and lyrical way.

Little Monsters It’s Time to Go to Bed by Olivia Longray
This is a very cute way to teach children the importance of brushing their teeth. The illustrations were bright and cheerful. The message is one every parent will love to read to their children. Children will rush to brush their teeth after reading this book to put their own little monsters to bed.

Little Red Writing by Joan Holub
This is a cute story of a red pencil who is challenged to write a story. But, this is not just a cute story. There is so much to learn throughout this book. When Mrs. 2 tells her class they are going to write a story she has the writing "story path" on the board. Little red is given a basket of useful words as she goes off on her writing journey. The book demonstrates the importance of using vivid words to spice up your story We learn how too many adjectives ca bog your writing down. Run-on sentences, as well as, chasing something new can lead to a wonderful ending. This is a wonderful take on the "Little Red Riding Hood" story with a twist. This is a great way to introduce story writing ot only to the youngest writers, but also to the reluctant writer. This is a bok I will definitely use in my classroom.

Rocks and Minerals of the World by Baby Professor 
I know this is just an introductory book. I purchased it because I have always loved rocks and minerals. Some of the words used in the book, such as igneous could have been defined in a glossary/dictionary in the back. I felt like the book just suddenly ended. Those are my only complaints with this book.

The Case of the Missing Money at the Zoo by Betty Smith
When a class gets the opportunity to take a trip to the zoo, one young boy makes a bad decision to steal money from the teacher. This author’s books are written to teach children valuable lessons. In this case it is the lesson of not taking what is not yours. A simple lesson told in a simple fashion.

The Moody Monster by Sarah Read
When Monster wakes up after a bad dream he finds himself mad. He doesn’t understand why. To make matters worse his mom isn’t home. His aunt fixes him a breakfast he doesn’t want and he decides he’s not going to school. When his mom comes home he tells her about his dream and the way he feels. His mom helps him learn to calm himself to make himself feel better.

The Pillow Parade by Edward Dron
Olive is a rabbit who loves to bounce. She bounces very high. One day she meets a sheep who also loves to jump. The sheep belong to a special club where they jump so children can count them and go to sleep. What happens to those children who live in very high buildings? Can Olive the bunny help? 

The Worry Unicorn by Sarah Read
When Lily has to start at a new school she worries about all of the things that could go wrong. She worries about it so much that she can’t sleep. When she tells her parents about her feelings her mom talks to her about the positive side. She reassures her that her feelings are normal and that she will do just fine.