“Behind them the sky had turned dark, and for the first time in over a hundred years, a drop of rain fell into the empty lake”

I think this book would be great for kids to learn about family relationships. Stanley in the book has a loving family, while Zero had no family. Racism is also mentioned in the book when African Americans were punished harder than the Caucasian males at the camp. Stanley and Zero are both misfits that when given the opportunity to prove themselves, they exhibit their strengths and rise above negative judgements from other people.

Stanley Yelnats is a boy who has bad luck due to a curse placed on his great-great-grandfather. He is sent to Camp Green Lake, a juvenile detention camp, for a crime he didn‘t commit. Stanley and the boys at the camp are forced to dig large holes in the dirt all day as punishment. Stanley then realizes that they are told to dig holes because the warden is searching for something under ground.

“Burning is the right way to paint it. You feel yourself getting so hot, day after day. Hotter and hotter. It gets to be too much. Even for stars. At some point they fizzle out or explode. Cease to be. But if you‘re looking up at the sky, you don‘t see it that way. You think those stars are still there. Some aren‘t. Some are already gone. Long Gomez‘s i guess, now so am I.”

I think this book would be great for students who feel like an outcast, or don‘t think they have many/any friends. Evan is a character that all kids could potentially relate to as everyone feels like an outcast sometimes. While some students may seem ‘popular‘ or have more friends, doesn‘t mean that they can‘t be sad on the inside. I think this book would help children see other people in a different perspective.

Evan Hansen is a high school senior. He is assigned by his therapist to write letters to himself about why each day will be good, which becomes a catalyst for the plot of the story. He also has never had any friends, and has a crush on a girl who doesn‘t know that Evan exists.

“For the first time, he heard something that he knew to be music. He heard people singing. Behind him, across vast distances of space and time, from the place he had left, he thought he heard music too. But perhaps, it was only an echo.”

I think this book would be great to explain that life isn‘t complete without both good and bad experiences. While the world Jonas lives in had eliminated pain, hunger and other negative things, they have also eliminated love, families and freedom of choice. I think this book will also make kids think more about what luxuries they have been given, and to be thankful for what they have.

The Giver is a story about a boy named Jonas who happens to live in a society that is being controlled by the rules and traditions of the elders. Through his wisdom and mannerism, Jonas is selected as the receiver of memory, a post that distinguishes him from others and gives him authority. The Giver creates memories for Jonas that he has never experienced before. These memories teach him about color, love, war and pain.

“No matter what anyone says or tells you to do, look to yourself, Ella. What‘s inside you is stronger than any spell. Take this and I‘ll always be with you.”

The characters in the story have depth, personality and are as realistic as ogres, elves, and fairies can be. I think that kids can easily relate to Ella‘s troubles that she went through and the moral decisions she was faced with throughout the book. While this book is a fairytale, it‘s not the typical sugar coated story where everything is easy. Ella must work hard to get what she wants and to save the people she loves most.

As a baby, Ellen receives a visit from Lucinda, her fairy godmother. She is bestowed with a magical talent that requires her to obey anything that she is told to do. This proves to be more of a curse than a blessing, particularly when her mother dies and she is forced to live with her cruel step mother. Eventually, Ella embarks on a journey to find Lucinda and break the spell.

“The Aldens didn‘t know that soon they would meet a wonderful friend and find some people who were not friendly at all”

This book shows good behaviors modeled by most of the characters in the story. All of the children and their friends are selfless, putting the welfare and happiness of others before their own personal gain. Kids can read this book and look up to the characters, and learn from their behaviors. I think kids could even understand that kids like in this book- can have close to nothing, and still choose to be a good person.

The Boxcar children tells the story of four orphan children, Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny. They create a home for themselves in an abandoned boxcar in the forest. They eventually meet their grandfather, who is a wealthy and kind man. This is a plot twist because the children originally believed that he was cruel.

“It wasn‘t so much that he minded telling Leslie that he was afraid to go; it was that he minded being afraid. It was as though he had been made with a great piece missing - one of May Belle‘s puzzles with this huge gap where somebody‘s eye should have been.”

I think this book demonstrates that friendship is the most important part of children‘s lives, and is key to developing imagination. In the book, we learn that participating in the kind of friendship that the characters share is worth even the most devastating loss.

The life of Jesse changes when he becomes friends with Leslie, the class insider. The children create an imaginary world called Terabithia. The world is inhabited by many magical creatures. Though difficulties fill their ordinary lives, Jesse and Leslie rule as king and queen in Terabithia. Soon one of the friends must draw on the strength of their imaginary kingdom to cope with a tragedy.

“We are now about to visit the most marvelous places and see the most wonderful things!”

I never really seemed to like this book as a kid, up until now. I think the movie just creeped me out a little too much, and veered me away from the book. This book would help a classroom unit on learning from people who are different from you. In the book, James trusted his new giant bug friends who love him by the end of the book. If James never opened up to the bugs, they might not have been friends.

This book is about the adventures of James, an orphaned young British boy. He is forced to live with his cruel aunts. James finds a way out when he discovers an enormous enchanted peach. After rolling into the sea inside the fruit, James accompanied by a crew of friendly talking insects, set sail for New York City.

This book would be great for children/students interested in stories and tales written from an animal‘s perspective. The animals plight with one another is also interesting and incorporates knowledge of different animals and their characteristics and traits.

This book is about Mr. Ocax the owl who has declared himself king of Dimwood Forest. He protects the porcupines and mice in the forest. The forest animals lived in the Gray house that once belonged to a farmer. The mouse family asks Mr Ocax for permission to dance on the hill outside, he denies their request. Poppy then goes face to face with a porcupine.

I think this book would be great for students interested in wolves and fantasies about wolves. The children were raised by wolves, which I could see being a huge selling point for kids that were interested in reading this book. Also the contrast of the wolf like children vs. their caretaker who is royalty, adds an interesting twist to the overall story.

This story is about children who were seen as naughty. They were believed to be raised as wolves. But when Miss Penelope takes the children in, they behave more appropriately and get used to wearing human clothes. They even stopped howling at the moon! Although the children are behaving better, the children manage to ruin the Christmas ball almost destroying their house all together!

I like how this book explains the uphill and downhill battles of the characters and how they will make it out of their situation. I also like how there are illustrations throughout the book that don‘t have color. The black and white texture of the illustrations add a bleak and dramatic theme to the images.

This book is about a boy named Pip who can talk to fish. This book is the first of three other books that talk about the high seas of this “second world”. The story begins with twins named Venus and Swimmer who were captured on a slave ship. They manage to save themselves from cruelty, and fall into shark infested waters. The book tells all about the tale, and how they later meet Kinchen and other friends.

“Olivia has a little brother named Ian. He‘s always copying. Sometimes Ian just won‘t leave her alone, so Olivia had to be firm.”

I think this book would be informative and creative for children. I don‘t know if there‘s as many topics for the classroom that can be taught from this book though. A couple girls in my class also mentioned that they read this book before as kids, which caught my attention. I have never previously heard or read this book before.

The book talks about the life of a pig named Olivia. She is very artistic and loves changing into all of her clothes, just to find the perfect outfit. She also likes going to the art museum and wondering about what her life would be like if she was a professional dancer. I think that kids could easily relate to Olivia and respond well to this book and the series.

I think this book would be great for a classroom to discuss African American culture and the unique richness of the beautiful art and music that stems from Harlem, and their city itself. I think that African American culture in Harlem is depicted very well and can inform students of different cultures and how they are influenced by location.

This book is about the culture, heritage and language of people from Harlem. The culture there is incredibly unique, and is displayed as being very artistic with music, art and dance. The characters talk to inform the readers about Harlem‘s dialect and how people typically speak in that city. The city is also shown as very busy, with multiple important streets and destinations. Along with some iconic figures described in the book.

“4:38 A.M.”

This book is another example of literature without words, that turns out to be an incredibly realistic fantasy book. I think students will be more involved when reading this book since they can explain what they think is occurring in the book and maybe what they think will happen next. Also the illustrations are comical and easy to understand.

This book explains a random Tuesday evening when toads/frogs are able to fly. No one really notices the occurrence of the flying frogs, but the frogs seem excited about their new ability. When the people wake up, they are confused as to why there are lily pads in the streets and no appearance of flying frogs.

“Joseph had a little vest. It got old and worn. So he made a scarf out of it and sang in the men‘s chorus”

I think this book would be great for children to learn that what is broken can be fixed, or changed for a new purpose! This could also start the conversation of the importance of reducing, reusing and recycling. There can be a new purpose or significance for almost anything, so be careful what you throw away! Also the book is very interactive with cut outs that kids can follow and keep up with.

This book was great! I think the pages and illustrations are so interactive, and can be enjoyed by multiple age groups! When the man‘s coat gets older and worn, he turns it into something else! While some people may think the coat is older and worn, he creates a vest out of the remaining coat! This could teach kids multiple lessons, and I think it would be a great book for any classroom.

“Look!”
“Hmmm?”

This book would be a great tool to explain how and why we emphasize our words to show meaning. The way we talk and pronounce our words almost provides more meaning than the words themselves! Expression is an important topic for elementary school kids, especially those who talk in a tone that doesn‘t match what the student is trying to say.

This book is an easy read for kids, as there aren‘t many words. The two characters talk to each other with one word at a time. Although it‘s only one word, their conversation blossoms from their understanding of each other and the two boys become friends. I also like how even though it‘s not mentioned, the boys are separate races from each other. Depicting this relationship allows kids to think/believe that anyone can be friends with each other.

“Yes, they all saw the cat!”

This book would be EXCELLENT to show multiple perspectives. While they probably aren‘t accurate to specific animals, the lesson remains that perspectives are different for each person/animal. This could also bring out the conversation of differing opinions and opposing personality traits. Everyone is different, special, and unique!

This book explores the perspective of different animals and how not everyone sees things in the same way. The cat is seen by all, but in completely different ways. Each animal is influenced by their environments and their surroundings. The color also changes depending on what colors the animals can see.

I think this would be a great book to show a classroom how dinosaurs look different, but how their structure is similar. Some dinosaurs used to fly, and others didn‘t have wings but were huge in size. The characteristics of the dinosaur‘s structure could be related to humans since humans all have similar bone structure.