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.

Three Oliver and Jumpy Stories by Werner Stejskal

Genre: Children's Picture Books
Source: I received a copy to facilitate my reviews. The opinions expressed here are my own.

Oliver and Jumpy Stories 40-42

Story 40: Elephant Heaven
In this story Oliver, Jumpy and Joey visit ghost castle. They find a group of elephants in a desert waiting for them to lead them to fertile ground. Oliver is up for the challenge. They encounter a grass fire and an avalanche. Will they find the land of plenty?

Story 41: Waking the Princess
In this story Oliver sets out on his own to break a curse. Years before a Princess was put to sleep until a cat Prince could wake her with a kiss. However, the cat prince would have to overcome three challenges. The challenges included a genie out of a bottle, a giant and a spider. Will he be able to wake the Princess?

Story 42: Space Ball
Jumpy and Joey were watching a star in the sky when suddenly it began to move. It became a fireball and landed in their lake. The next morning a spacecraft emerged from the lake. A creature came out. What do you think the creature wants?

Oliver and Jumpy Stories 43-45

Story 43: Flying Carpet
In this story a stork from Africa delivers a letter to Oliver. He is needed to rescue another princess. He and his friends travel to Africa where they are given a magic carpet to help them rescue the princess. They manage to do this, but the guards chase them. Can they evade the guards and take the Princess to her destination?

Story 44: Birthday Party
Oliver returned home from one of his adventures to a surprise birthday party. His friends had cake and presents for him. He felt their love.  What kind of presents do you think he got?

Story 45: Magic Berries
In this story the three friends visit Ghost Castle again and end up in a land where there were very large berries. Before anyone could stop him, Joey ate a handful. He began to shrink. He found another colored berry and ate it. It caused him to grow fat. He found a third berry and ate it and it caused him to grow tall again, but remain fat. They were told they had to find a wood fairy to help them. Will Joey be able to do what is needed to get back to his regular size?

Oliver and Jumpy Stories 46-48

Story 46: Saving Fairyland
Fairyland was under attack. Their food was being destroyed. The Fairy Queen asked Oliver and his friends to help save her land. With their magic wands they went to help.  Will they be able to save fairy land?

Story 47: Cat King
Oliver and his friends visit the Ghost Castle again for another adventure. They find themselves in a room with several statues. One of them looks just like him.  The statues come to life and declare him their returned king. They take him to meet his bride. They get married and begin to eat. There is one major problem. When Oliver eats anything with mice or birds in ti he begins to turn white. The other cats think he is an impostor.  What will happen to Oliver and his friends.?

Story 48: The Bee Gnomes
Oliver is not the neatest cat. Sometimes his home can be quite messy. One day he woke up and found his house had been tidied up.  This happened several mornings. He pretended to go to sleep one night and found out who was cleaning up his house.  The bee gnomes had a favor to ask of him. Would he be able to help them?