"Clouds" by Anne Rockwell

Clouds is a nonfiction book that describes the many different types of clouds. It tells the name of the coud, what it looks like, and in general what it means if that cloud is in the sky. This book also describes the importance of clouds and why we need them. I liked this book and could see myself using it during a science lesson as an introduction to clouds. At the end of the book there were some facts and an activity that I liked. The activity tells how to make a cloud using a jar, a balloon, some water, and a match. I have never heard of this activity before but I think it would be a good one to use in the classroom!

"Blue Lake Days" by Sarah Shey

This book was written by an author who spent many summers at Lake Okoboji, Iowa. It tells of a girl who goes on vacation with her family to a lake where she swims, goes on boat rides, visits the candy store, watches a play, sends postcards to her friends, rides on a rollercoaster, and eats at a fish fry. These are all activities that many children do with their families during the summer. Trips to lakes and eating at fish frys are activities that many children would be able to relate to. I like this book because I have been on many lake trips over the summer with my family and I liked thinking back to many of my memories that I have while boating and swimming at each of the lakes that I have been to. This book would be interesting to read near the end of the school year when students are getting excited for vacations and activities that they are going to do during the summer. It could be read to the students then they could write in journals about what they are going to do over the summer.

"Lazy Little Loafers" by Susan Orlean

The book Lazy Little Loafers is a funny book about a little girl who wonders why babies don't work. She complains that all babies do is sleep in strollers, hang out with their friends on blankets in the park, eat snacks, and get carried by people everywhere they go. She wonders why babies get praised so much for walking or pushing every single button on the elevator (who wants to stop at every single floor?). The little girl has had enough of babies getting everything they want while she is in school doing math problems, taking tests and wearing stiff new shoes. In the end the little girl comes to the conclusion that babies don't work because they're too smart.
This book had an interesting perspective on how children view others who are younger than them. Many children have younger siblings who get to stay home or sleep while they have to go to school or finish their chores. I really liked it because it was very funny and the conclusion that the little girl comes to in the end is one that I think many children would laugh at as well.

"The Mixed-Up Chameleon" by Eric Carle

This book was very interesting. First it described how chameleons adapt to their environment by changing color. It described how when they get hungry they get very dull-looking and when they have something to eat they are shiny and green. The chameleon sees a zoo one day and wishes it could be like every animal in the zoo. It wants to be big, handsome, smart, strong and funny just like the other animals that it sees. After each wish it makes part of the chameleon turns into the desired animal. After almost every part of the chameleon has been changed into something else it realizes that it is hungry. When it sees a fly the chameleon realizes that it cannot catch the fly because it is so mixed-up! Finally in the end the chameleon wishes it could be itself again and it turns back into how he looked in the beginning of the story and it is able to catch the fly. I think a lot of children would like this book because they could probably relate to wanting to "be" something else for a time in their life. I remember when I was little I always wanted to be a different type of animal. Teachers may enjoy this book because it describes a little bit about the life of chameleons so it could be used for a unit about reptiles. I chose to read this book because Eric Carle is one of my favorite children's authors and I had never read this book by him.

"The Day I Swapped my Dad for Two Goldfish" by Neil Gaiman

This book is very different but I enjoyed reading it a lot! It is about a boy who trades his dad to his friend Nathan for two goldfish. When his mother gets upset and makes him take the goldfish back, Nathan has already traded the dad for an electric guitar. The story follows the boy on his search to get his dad back. He ends up going to several different places to trade other items that the children traded the boy's dad for. What stood out most to me while reading this book were the pictures because they were all very unique. Some were just sketches while others were filled with bright colors and details.
I think children would like this story because most would be able to relate to wanting to trade things with their friends. I remember when I was younger I loved trading so that I could have new things to play with. In the classroom this book could be useful to teach students about trading and the value of different goods. For example, in the story, trading the boy's dad for two goldfish is an acceptable trade, but in reality the value of these things is very different.