Bibliographic Information: Gravett, E. (2010). Blue Chameleon. Illus. Emily Gravett. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.
Brief Annotation: Lonely chameleon changes his color to try to find a friend.
Genre: Animal Fantasy, Picture Storybook
Grade Level: PreK - 2
Readers who will like this book: Anyone who has ever felt lonely and tried to find a friend.
Rating/Response: 4 out of 4. As with so many of Gravett's other books, the front and back endpages tell more of the story. Sparse text with vividly colored illustrations help the reader to discern chameleon's feelings.
One question I would ask before a read aloud: What does it feel like to be lonely?
Showing posts with label Animal Fantasy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Animal Fantasy. Show all posts
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Little Mouse's Big Book of Fears
Bibliographic Information: Gravett, E. (2007). Little Mouse's Big Book of Fears. Illus. Emily Gravett. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.
Brief Annotation: Little Mouse has lots of fears. Follow him as he records his fears in a book designed to help him get over those fears.
Genre: Postmodern Picturebook, Animal Fantasy
Grade Level: K - 5
Readers who will like this book: Anyone who has ever been afraid of something.
Rating/Response: 4 out of 4. Like Gravett's other postmodern picturebooks, there are lots of things to look at and read in this book. Fun and humorous.
One question I would ask before a read aloud: What are you afraid of?
Brief Annotation: Little Mouse has lots of fears. Follow him as he records his fears in a book designed to help him get over those fears.
Genre: Postmodern Picturebook, Animal Fantasy
Grade Level: K - 5
Readers who will like this book: Anyone who has ever been afraid of something.
Rating/Response: 4 out of 4. Like Gravett's other postmodern picturebooks, there are lots of things to look at and read in this book. Fun and humorous.
One question I would ask before a read aloud: What are you afraid of?
The Rabbit Problem
Bibliographic Information: Gravett, E. (2009). The Rabbit Problem. Illus. Emily Gravett. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.
Brief Annotation: Follow these rabbits through the months of a year, as they battle with hunger, boredom, and an ever-growing population.
Genre: Postmodern Picturebook, Animal Fantasy
Grade Level: PreK - 8
Readers who will like this book: Anyone who loves bunnies, and/or math.
Rating/Response: 4 out of 4. An ingenious way to look at the mathematical concept of Fibonacci's sequence, despite the fact that the author swears it is not a book about math. Fun and funny, no matter how you look at it!
One question I would ask before a read aloud: What happens when there are too many rabbits in one place?
Brief Annotation: Follow these rabbits through the months of a year, as they battle with hunger, boredom, and an ever-growing population.
Genre: Postmodern Picturebook, Animal Fantasy
Grade Level: PreK - 8
Readers who will like this book: Anyone who loves bunnies, and/or math.
Rating/Response: 4 out of 4. An ingenious way to look at the mathematical concept of Fibonacci's sequence, despite the fact that the author swears it is not a book about math. Fun and funny, no matter how you look at it!
One question I would ask before a read aloud: What happens when there are too many rabbits in one place?
The Odd Egg
Bibliographic Information: Gravett, E. (2008). The Odd Egg. Illus. Emily Gravett. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.
Brief Annotation: Every bird had an egg, except Duck, until he finds the most beautiful egg. Duck's egg is the last to hatch and - watch out!
Genre: Animal Fantasy, Picture Storybook
Grade Level: PreK - 2
Readers who will like this book: Anyone who likes surprise endings! And anyone who has ever been laughed at for being different.
Rating/Response: 4 out of 4. A delightful story that relates the idea differences sometimes being a wonderful surprise! The back endpages continue the story, as many of books by this author also use the front and back endpages to help tell the story.
One question I would ask before a read aloud: Is it ok to laugh at someone for being different?
10/40: Guided Reading from 50 Literacy Strategies, by Gail E. Tompkins
I would use this book in small group guided reading instruction. The goal of guided reading is to boost students' fluency and comprehension. I would introduce the book; have the students take turns reading pages out loud; ask questions of the students as we read, encouraging them to respond; and place copies of the book in each student's book bag for independent reading. I believe that this book would work well for this strategy, especially in first grade, because the sentences are simple, the text and story are fun and entertaining, and I believe that students would enjoy rereading it on their own.
Brief Annotation: Every bird had an egg, except Duck, until he finds the most beautiful egg. Duck's egg is the last to hatch and - watch out!
Genre: Animal Fantasy, Picture Storybook
Grade Level: PreK - 2
Readers who will like this book: Anyone who likes surprise endings! And anyone who has ever been laughed at for being different.
Rating/Response: 4 out of 4. A delightful story that relates the idea differences sometimes being a wonderful surprise! The back endpages continue the story, as many of books by this author also use the front and back endpages to help tell the story.
One question I would ask before a read aloud: Is it ok to laugh at someone for being different?
10/40: Guided Reading from 50 Literacy Strategies, by Gail E. Tompkins
I would use this book in small group guided reading instruction. The goal of guided reading is to boost students' fluency and comprehension. I would introduce the book; have the students take turns reading pages out loud; ask questions of the students as we read, encouraging them to respond; and place copies of the book in each student's book bag for independent reading. I believe that this book would work well for this strategy, especially in first grade, because the sentences are simple, the text and story are fun and entertaining, and I believe that students would enjoy rereading it on their own.
Sunday, March 18, 2012
A Sick Day for Amos McGee
Bibliographic Information: Stead, P.C. (2010). A Sick Day for Amos McGee. Illus. Erin E. Stead. New York, NY: Roaring Book Press.
Brief Annotation: Amos McGee is a wonderful zookeeper, who has many close friends at the zoo. When he gets sick and can't make it to work, his friends hop on a bus and visit him.
Genre: Animal Fantasy, Picturebook
Grade Level: PreK - 2
Readers who will like this book: Anyone who has ever had to stay home sick, and missed their friends.
Rating/Response: 4 out of 4. This is a wonderful little story about friendship. I love the illustrations.
One question I would ask before a read aloud: What does it feel like when you have to stay home sick?
10/40: Story Boards from 50 Literacy Strategies, by Gail E. Tompkins
This is a wonderful strategy for Kindergarten through second grade. In this strategy, I would create storyboards by cutting out the illustrations from two copies of the book, attaching these to tagboard, and laminating them. I would ask the students to use the storyboards to sequence the story after a read aloud. This strategy helps students to grasp the concept of story sequence. As there are several pages of pure illustration in this book, I believe it would be an ideal story for story boarding.
Stranger in the Woods
Bibliographic Information: Sams, C.R. II & Stoick, J. (2000). Stranger in the Woods. Milford, MI: Carl R. Sams II Photography, Inc.
Brief Annotation: A delightful story about animals in the winter woods discovering a stranger with food.
Genre: Animal Fantasy
Grade Level: PreK - 4
Readers who will like this book: Animal lovers!
Rating/Response: 4 out of 4. I really like this story. It gives the animals' perspectives while it shows us how to get close to wild animals.
One question I would ask before a read aloud: How do animals survive the winter? Is there anything that we can do to help them survive winter?
Brief Annotation: A delightful story about animals in the winter woods discovering a stranger with food.
Genre: Animal Fantasy
Grade Level: PreK - 4
Readers who will like this book: Animal lovers!
Rating/Response: 4 out of 4. I really like this story. It gives the animals' perspectives while it shows us how to get close to wild animals.
One question I would ask before a read aloud: How do animals survive the winter? Is there anything that we can do to help them survive winter?
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