"Stars" by Stevee Tomecek

This book is a National Geographic series book. It is a non-fiction book all about stars and their properties. Although it is written for ages 4-8 I think that this book could definitely be used with older kids. I liked that the information was presented in an interesting way. The illustrator, Sachiko Yoshikawa, did a good job using bright colors to keep the illustrations interesting. Many of the pictures really helped diagram what was being explained about the stars. For example, the constellation Orien's Belt was shown and an image of a man was put over it so it is easier to make out the image that the constellation conveys. At the end of the book there is a science experiement to try. This is a great resource for teachers as you have pretty much an entire lesson laid out with this book. First you could read the book to students, then have them do the experiment.

Grandpappy Snippy Snappies by Lynn Plourde

From the bright and colorful illustrations to the clever wording and silly nature of this book I was thoroughly entertained throughout the entire story. It is about Grandpappy, who snaps his suspenders and saves the day. He rescues cows stuck in the mud, the sheriff's car from a stack of hay bales, the derailed mail train, and Grandmammy from a flock of crows. The situations are funny and the reader never knows what he's going to have to rescue next. The text is written in a very creative way. The words are curved, slanted, big, small, bold, italicized, and everything in between. There is a lot of alliteration, which makes it fun to read out loud. Plourde incorporates opposites in an interesting way, so children who are just learning would benefit from having this book read to them. The layout of this book is interesting because the dedication and copyright information is listed on the last page of the book. In most books this information is written at the beginning. The layout is also interesting because the words are written all over the pages, not just in simple lines at the top or bottom.

"Junie B., First Grader (at last!)" by Barbara Park

This is an excellent book about the ups and downs of going to a new classroom. Junie B. is starting first grade and is very nervous. Her best friend from Kindergarten has new best friends. The girl who sits next to Junie B. is always very mean. Her old bus buddy has a new bus buddy. Throughout this book, Junie B. makes new friends and gets glasses, all while actually convincing herself that she actually likes first grade. I liked that Junie B. had a writer's notebook and a couple of her entries were copied into this book. The journal entries looked like they had been written on notebook paper and the font looked like a child's handwriting. I think this was a nice touch and made it really seem like it was her journal that I was reading. In general many children are nervous to start a new grade at school so I think that reading this book would give them something to relate to. They also might be able to realzie that their school year is going to go great, even if they have to make new friends and overcome the changes since the past year. I know lots of children who enjoy reading the Junie B. series and I think the main reason so many kids like it is because it is so relatable. As a teacher it was interesting to read this and remind myself of the little details that made a big difference on those first few days of school. I believe that it's important to make all students feel welcome in the classroom and this book helped me realize a few ways that I could do that.

"My Mom is Trying to Ruin my Life" by Kate Feiffer

This book is about a girl who is embarrassed by the things her mom and dad do and she doesn't understand why everyone thinks her parents are such great people. After thinking a lot about how to get her parents to go away and stop ruining her life she realizes that she would be very scared without them. At the end of the book she realizes that she loves her parents despite the embarrassing things that they sometimes do. I liked this book a lot because many children go through stages when they feel this way about their parents. Sometimes it's difficult to think about all the good things someone does for you until after they're gone. I think I could use this book to teach children about the importance of family and that even though people do things that are ambarrassing it's only because they care.

"Inch by Inch" by Leo Lionni

This is a Caldecott Honor book and it is the story of an inchworm. The inchworm is useful to all the requests of the animals to measure their tails or legs until he gets to the bird who wants him to measure his song. Obviously an inchworm cannot measure the length of a song so he starts thinking. Finally he has an idea of how to measure the song so he starts inching away when the bird starts singing until he inches out of sight. I think this book is good because it teaches its readers about measurement. As a teacher I could use this book when introducing units of measurement to my students. After reading this book my students could do an activity where they measure various objects in the classroom. I could give them several items that cannot be measured also (for example the sound of a horn honking) and have them identify ways that we could measure those things (for a horn we could use a pitch reader to measure its sound). In a classroom I volunteered in last year the teacher had a bulletin board about measurement and I noticed that the title of the board was "Inch by Inch". I hadn't realized until now that it may have been making reference to this book. The bulletin board had many units of measurement along with several objects and their corresponding lengths. I liked the idea of a measurement bulletin board for introducing the topic to students. I think this book could be used very effectively in the classroom in this way.

"Duck on a Bike" by David Shannon

This is a cute story about a duck who rides a bike around a farm and says hello to all the other animals. The animals see the duck and think that he is crazy and that he shouldn't be riding the bike. In the end, the animals find other bikes and they all ride around and have a great time. I thought there was little point to this book but it was still entertaining to read. I think it was written for a younger audience as there is a lot of repetition and there aren't many words per page. I liked that the author included the thoughts of the animals when they see duck riding the bike. Many of these thoughts are ones that fit the lifestyle of the animal. For example, when duck rides past the cat, the cat meows and is thinking 'I wouldn't waste my time riding a bike'. This is funny to me because I think that cats are typically animals that are lazy and would prefer lying on the ground to riding a bike. This book would probably be good to have in a lower-elementary classroom for students who are looking for a funny, easy-to-read book. Many children would find this book entertaining because they know that animals are not able to ride bikes. I read this book with a little girl that I babysit and she was laughin the entire time. She kept saying out loud, "why is a duck riding a bike? How is he able to do that?". This showed me that she has enough prior knowledge to know that riding bikes is for humans. For children who do not know this this book might not be as interesting.

"A House for Hermit Crab" by Eric Carle

My favorite part of this book is the message that it sends to its readers. It tells readers that change is often difficult but it turns out good in the end. In this book, Hermit Crab has outgrown his shell so he has to find a new one. His new shell is very plain and boring; in hopes to make it look nicer he meets many friends. Some of Hermti Crab's new friends include: sea anemones, starfish, corals, snails, sea urchins and lanternfish. Once his shell is finally completely decorated Hermit Crab is too big for it and must leave it for a bigger one. After giving his old shell to a smaller hermit crab in need, Hermit Crab gains a sense of happiness. He is glad that he was able to help out another hermit crab when they were in need. This book not only teaches its readers about accepting change but also about sharing and making friends. Some young readers may not know that hermit crabs have to leave their shells and search for bigger ones, so this book would teach them that. The progression of this book goes by month. This indicates the amount of time it takes a hermit crab to move along in the water. I thought it was interesting that the sea creatures that Hermit Crab encounters are ones that many children may have never heard of before. The lanternfish is one I was not familiar with before reading this book, and I now know that they glow and give light to other sea creatures. Another reason why I enjoyed this book is because of its pictures. Eric Carle's illustrations always keep me turning the page!

“Skippyjon Jones in Mummy Trouble” by Judy Schachner

Skippyjon Jones in Mummy Trouble is about a siamese cat whose alter ego, El Skippito Friskito, is a Chihuahua. El Skippito Friskito goes to visit the 'Under Mundo' with his friends to find 'mummitos' that rest in 'peas'. I enjoyed reading this book because it had a lot of rhyming. Most of the rhymes were words like 'friskito', 'Egypt-ito', 'mummito' and 'chance-erito'. These were fun to read because they aren't real words but the reader is still able to figure out their definition. The illustrations in this book are very colorful and they catch the reader's eye. It also caught my eye that some words were bigger than others. For example, when Skippyjon is jumping on his bed the word 'bounced' is written large and curved in different ways across the page. This gives the illusion that the words actually is bouncing a little bit. The little chants that the characters sing are engaging because they break the book up a little bit. I think they would help children who get bored while listening to books being read because they would catch the child's attention. I thought it was also useful that there were a few Spanish words mixed into the book. In the future I think it will be important for many people to be able to speak Spanish; this book could help young learners with key phrases and words.

"Olivia" by Ian Falconer

This is a wonderful book. It is a story about Olivia and the things she likes to do. As a Caldecott Honor in 2001 it has gained a lot of recognition. I liked the illustrations because they were simple but portrayed the story well. It is very relatable not only for children but for adults too. As I was reading I realized a lot of times I was remembering times when my little brother copied me and was thinking of the things I liked to do when it was rainy. There aren't many words per page so it would keep children's interest throughout the entire story. The vocabulary isn't too difficult either so many children would be able to read this book on their own. This is a book that I can see myself using in the classroom. It could be used just for pleasure reading or for teaching children about routines and people's strengths and favorite things. I believe that it's an important lesson for children to know that everyone is good at something and that everyone has their own "favorites". I could read the book aloud to the class then have the students write an "Olivia" story about themselves, including things they're good at, their personal favorites, their families and their routines. These would be interesting to make into books and share them with the rest of the class. There are several other stories in the "Olivia" collection and I can definitely see myself reading them in the future.

"Sideways Stories from Wayside School" by Louis Sachar

This book is about the teachers and students of Wayside School. This school was built 30 stories high and one classroom wide, instead of one story high and 30 classrooms wide. One of the teachers is named Mrs. Gorf and she turned all her students into apples by wiggling her ears when they misbehaved. After a student holds up a mirror when she wiggles her ears she turns herself into an apple. When the gym teacher, Louis, comes up to the classroom he eats the apple of Mrs. Gorf. Each chapter tells a little story about the students in Mrs. Gorf/Mrs. Jewel's classroom. Mrs. Jewel is the teach that takes over after Mrs. Gorf becomes an apple.
I really like this book and remember reading it when I was younger. It is easy to relate to the stories of teachers who do crazy things and the students with odd quirks. Students in all classrooms have different backgrounds and I think they would enjoy reading and laughing about the students of Wayside School.