This novel could be introduced in literary units about poetry or also in discussions about the impact of war on a country. Additionally, students could make their own writings in verse talking about a time that was scary or where they had to learn or try something new. This novel can be used to evoke empathy and develop a supportive and warm attitude to all people, including those from diverse language, cultural, or racial backgrounds.

“I'm practicing to be seen“

This book, written in verse follows a young girl's experience feeling Vietnam as a result of the Vietnam War. Alongside her mother and older brothers, Hà travels to rural Alabama where she faces discrimination and struggles to adapt to a vastly different culture and society. This historical fiction novel helps readers see the impacts of the Vietnam War on the people of Vietnam and explores what being a refugee is like from a child's eyes.

“If a book is a garden carried in a pocket, then Schomburg yielded a bumper crop, blanketed Mount Kilimanjaro with African violets.“

This could be a focus book when talking about important public places in a person's community like a library to understand the foundations. Additionally, it can be used as a figure to look up to for students. Finally, this book could be used in a unit about timelines

I felt that this was a very interesting choice for a subject: a man who many people may not know or have heard of but who left a lasting impact on Black history and culture. Knowing about this figure as well as other important figures throughout his life helps students better understand Black culture and the importance of being proud of one's heritage and understanding how one person may leave a lasting impact on well-known place like a library.

“Already I am hoping that I will be able to return next year to watch another season unfold“

Students could make a timeline of their own week or they could match pictures of the penguins throughout different periods of time to make a sequential period of time like in the story

This book was set up like a log where the researcher wrote about her experiences working with penguins in the Antarctic. It followed much of the penguins' life cycles and explored the hatching of new chicks and the migration of the adults. The information is clearly expressed with different headings for each of the days so a student could follow along throughout the year. It is a long book however so a younger child may lose interest.

“Petra is a storyteller“

“What if you woke up hundreds of years in the future and were now under the control of a strange new collective that is focused on having everyone be the same“

This story explored “What If“ questions by exploring space travel and the exploration of a foreign planet in a futuristic time. There are new technologies being addressed such as pods that keep humans alive without aging for hundreds of years and cognitive learning pods. A new society of humans focused on a collective union take over the ship and it is up to Petra, the last remaining human with their memories intact to save the others.

“Maybe that's all of our mission in life. To find the people who can show you there's another way of living.“

This book embodies the realistic struggles of teenage girls in a modern-day setting. Girls who read this book may relate to one or more of the girls within this book. Ultimately this read helps students recognize that they are not alone in their struggles and become exposed to the often invisible challenges that others may be facing, garnering empathy and sympathy towards others. This book would be best suited towards an older audience.

This book follows four girls, each with their own complex identities and challenges as they look to work towards completing their own “impossible“ goals over the summer they spend together. This is a prime example of contemporary realistic fiction as the girls experience the ups and downs of relationships, religion, medical conditions, and friendships.

This tale could be used as a silly story to read aloud to a classroom but could also be used as an example of how actions have trickle-down impacts. You could also use dominoes to show this chain reaction style event as well.

“Zee! Is everyone still angry at me?“

This story is an example of a pourquoi tale that delivers an explanation for many “why“ questions. The title represents the initial why question that is explored throughout the story. The tale then continues on to tell a long tale of the lead-up to explanation of why the mosquito buzzes, explaining it's guilty conscience for causing the stories in the event to occur.

This story could be used to spark discussion about the moral of the story and allow students to come up with their own opinions on what the tale may tell us. Students can graph out the important events on a graphic organizer and discuss the importance of kindness.

“Squeak, Squeak, Squak“

This story is a fable as it teaches the moral lesson of how the meek can trump the mighty and how different people may need to rely on other's strengths for help throughout life so it is important to be kind to all people.

“What I didn't know was that music would be the cause of our separation“

This book could be used alongside a history unit discussing different time periods. Additionally, students could look into and listen to the different songs that are listed in the playlist in the back of the book and discuss the meaning and history behind the different songs.

Children learn more about important social justice events throughout America's timeline, including the march for equal rights, the Vietnam war, and more as the two protagonists search for their father through a magical jukebox that teleports them to the timeframe from each of the records. This is a story of connection, friendship, and a love for music.

“Side by side Hondo and Fabian eat their dinner“

Students can make a timeline of what they do throughout the day or talk about favorite family pets. The classroom can vote on whether they like dogs, cats, or another pet the most and engage in mathematical conversations about graphing their opinions.

Picturebook. This book is composed in a unique way to show the individual experiences behind Hondo and Fabian throughout their days. The book has separate images for Hondo and Fabian where they are apart and when they come back together, the images are merged to show the two of them together once more to share their time in the evening.

This story can be used in a discussion about how some things can be seen in very different ways, even when they are the seemingly black and white. Before the story begins, the students can engage in discussion about what they think they know about dragons and at the end, they can be asked on whether their ideas have changed about dragons.

“Both journeys are yours to take.“

Picturebook. The bright red and blue dragons represent the fire and water themes, two supposedly conflicting ideas that follow the theme of the story. The illustrations and colors used throughout the book represent the mystique of the imaginative travels the little boy faces. The illustrations throughout the book represent the mystical themes shown in the book.

This could be used as an introduction to measurement and to discuss things that you can and cannot measure in inches and how else you might be able to measure these things.

“Until he inched out of sight“

Picturebook. This story uses unique textures in the illustrations behind the different animals and natural elements shown throughout the book. The textures are eye-catching and look as if they are drawn in different familiar mediums such as crayons and markers. The natural colors helps set the story in its natural scene and camouflage the little inchworm in the story.

“There was an old lady who swallowed a fly“

This story is a way to include a bit of laughter into your classroom through a read aloud. With the catchy repetitive lines that are predictable, students can engage in choral reading as a class and create their own lines of other things they think the old lady might eat next.

Picture book. The colorful and wacky illustrations make this book visually exciting and engaging. The cutouts in the story are creative in the way that they show how the old lady's stomach grows and grows with all the new things she eats. This is a classic silly story that follows a catchy repetitive line.

The classroom can discuss the Mid Autumn Moon Festival of the Asian culture may take part in. They can learn more about the festival and make their own classroom mooncake to celebrate.

“Would Mama notice if she took another tiny nibble?“

The striking black and yellow illustrations behind this book make Little Star and her mother look like stars in the night sky, with the mooncake representing the moon. As Little Star takes nibbles from the book, the crumbs are compared to stardust. The illustrations behind this reflection of the Mid Autumn Moon Festival are an image of the beautiful night sky.

“Now, wait said Strega Nona. The punishment must fit the crime“

This book can engage students on a discussion of rights and wrongs and engagement with the theme of “curiosity killed the cat“.

Picturebook. This story uses small boxes of illustrations to show scene progression throughout the story. The wavy lines of the noodles slowly creep in to take up more and more space in the book as the pot bubbles up. The warm, faded colors represent a classic, well-loved story.

“A home full of life“

This can be a story used to help evoke feelings of calmness in the classroom due to its repetitive lines and simple illustrations

This story is unique in the way that it is illustrated with many horizontal and vertical lines, using all black and white besides a few hints of yellow, representing the light throughout the story. The stark images represent the calm, dark, nighttime scene and rhythmic story.

“I guess some critters just aren't meant to be pets.“

This picture book can engage students in discussions about perspectives in stories and whether they think that they would like to be kept as a pet.

Picture book. The composition and sketched design of this book helps to create a warm atmosphere in the bears' home. The wooden backgrounds behind the pages make the book seem vintage, a callback to the classic tale of a child finding a wild animal and attempting to keep it as a pet. This witty book follows a bear and her newly found pet, a human boy.

Creepy carrots can be read around the fall as a story with an example of a surprising twist ending. Students can create their own plot twist stories, design their own creepy carrot pictures, or talk with peers about whether they believe Jasper really was seeing carrots or whether it was all just their imagination.

“Jasper Rabbit would never get into that carrot patch ever again“