✏️✨ Malala‘s Magic Pencil is a wonderful B that tells the life story of Malala Yousafzai. Malala Yousafzai is a Pakistani activist for female education, she survived an attack from a Taliban gunman in 2012, and is the youngest person to receive a Nobel Peace Prize. The story is based around what Malala would‘ve done if she had the magic pencil that she wished for every night. #LAE3414sp19

🏘 Carson Ellis‘ Home is a RF story about diversity. It shows the endless possibilities of what a home might look like with some more realistic and some fantasy renditions. This story would make a great RA to integrate social studies! Home would make a great hook to a geography lesson. It promotes diversity and belonging. #LAE3414sp19

🎹 Sharon Draper‘s Blended tells the story of Isabella, an 11 year old biracial gifted pianist with divorced parents. Every week, Isabella goes through what she calls the “Exchange Day,” where she meets up with the other parent at the mall and lives with them for that week. Not only does she switches homes every week; she switches nicknames, backpacks, and her identity. It is currently on the New York Times Best Seller list! #LAE3414sp19

🌷🍓If you like the TV show Fixer Upper, We are the Gardeners might be the book for you because it was written by Joanna Gaines and her children. This NF picture book is currently number one on the New York Times Best Seller for Children‘s Picture books. We are the Gardeners tells the adventures that the Gaines family went on when they decided to create their own family garden. It would make a great RA for kindergarten or first grade!#LAE3415sp19

🤖🌳 You may know Peter Brown for his amazing illustrations from Creepy Carrots or Mr. Tiger Goes Wild, but The Wild Robot shows a different side of his work. This SF novel is about a robot, named Roz 7134, who becomes stranded on an island due to a shipwreck. It was one of the 2017-2018 Sunshine State Young Reader books! #LAE3414sp19

??? La Princesa and the Pea is a wonderful TL variation of the fairy tale, The Princess and the Pea, with a bilingual twist. Instead of the average Caucasian royalty, this story revolves around a la reina and her el príncipe. It is one of those heart warming stories that shows how true love wins. The story integrates Spanish vocabulary throughout which ties into EL strategy 24 #LAE3414sp19

🧜🏽‍♂️ Julian is a Mermaid tells the story of a young boy who absolutely loves mermaids. In the beginning of the story, Julian and his Abuela were riding the subway home when he noticed three women in dressed in mermaid costumes. He marveled at how they looked and when he got home, he decided that he was going to make a costume of his own instead of just dreaming about becoming a mermaid. #LAE3414sp19

🍋 We‘ve all heard the saying, “when life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” That is exactly what Lemonade Liberty Witt‘s mother always told her. Melissa Savage‘s HF book, Lemons, follows the life of Lemonade, or Lem for short, after her mother dies and she has to move to Willow Creek with her Grandfather who she has never met. She meets Tobin Sky, the next door neighbor who is also the CEO of Bigfoot Detectives Inc... #LAE3414sp19

🏈🎨Between the Lines is a B, which won the Orbis Pictus Award of 2019, tells the life story of Ernest Barnes. Ernest, or Ernie, was a NFL and AFL player but his true fame came from his art. Throughout his life, people told him to stop painting and to focus on his career as an athlete since athletes lives well and artists struggle. Ernie continuously choices his passion for art over football. #LAE3414sp19

🦋 The Girl Who Drew Butterflies is a B tell that tells the story of Maria Sibylla Merian, a self-taught artist in the 17th century who was the first person to document the metamorphosis of a butterfly. While this is considered a picture book, there is a lot of information so an older audience would be better. The Girl Who Drew Butterflies would integrate science into reading time. #LAE3414sp19

⚖️Full of Beans is a HF prequel to Jennifer Holm‘s Turtle in Paradise and won the Scott O‘dell Book Award. It is based in the Great Depression and revolves around Bean Curry who is the cousin of Turtle. Bean lives in Key West and faces two major struggles; his father left to New Jersey in hopes to find a job and a stranger came to turn his hometown into a tourist destination. #LAE3414sp19

🦍🐘🐕If you love books like Charlotte‘s Web or The Cricket in Times Square, in the sense that there is an animal narrator, Katherine Applegate‘s The Only and Only Ivan is for you. This 2013 Newbery Award winning F book is inspired by the true story of a silverback gorilla named Ivan who lived in a cage at a mall for 27 years. This book deals with heavy topics like animal rights, neglect, and death. #LAE3414sp19

🏀First of all, WOW! Kwame Alexander has a way with words and that is so evident in the Crossover. This P book would be on the top of my list to recommend to students who say they don‘t like poetry but listen to rap or have an interest in basketball. It won not only the Newbery Award in 2015 but also the Coretta Scott King Honor. The Crossover is about the life of Josh, an almost thirteen year old with a twin brother, JB. #LAE3414sp19

🐶You may have seen Marla Frazee‘s name associated with a lot of Sara Pennypacker books, especially Clementine but Little Brown is a F story of her own which won the Charlotte Zolotow award of 2019. The story follows the life of Little Brown; a lonely dog who keeps to himself. Little Brown wonders if the other dogs at the dog park won‘t play with him because he is grumpy, or if he is grumpy because the other dogs won‘t play with him. #LAE3414sp19

💙 If you love a RF that makes you cry, Wonder is the book for you. In Wonder, we follow the life of August, aka Auggie, who is going to school for the first time in his life. Which is a normal thing that all kids do, except Auggie is entering Middle School and he has a facial anomaly.I believe this book has a message that all students should hear. #LAS3414sp19

??‍♂️J.K. Rowling‘s Harry Potter and the Sorcerer‘s Stone is the first of a seven part F series. This book is the introduction to the life of the "chosen one” finding out that he is a wizard and moving away from his terrible (muggle) aunt and uncle. This book fostered so many people‘s love for reading and still does. The captivating adventures that Harry and his friends face are written in a way to keep the reader on their feet. #LAE3414sp19

💭Where the Wild Thing Are was written AND illustrated by Maurice Sendak. This F picture book took two years to win the hearts of students since it was banned in libraries after being published. Sendak‘s creation ended up winning a Caldecott Medal and was adapted into a movie! This book‘s beautiful illustrations and compelling story can be used a part of an RA circle or transformed into an RT. Either way, children would love it. #LAE3414sp19

🌌Stella by Starlight is a wonderful read written by Sharon Draper. It steps back into the past and relives a part of history that many textbooks don‘t like to discuss with such a young age.This HF book is an important one to add into a classroom library, not only because of the content that it touches on historically, but because it could be easier for some students to relate to! #LAE3414sp19

🦉Carl Hiaasen‘s John Newbery Award winning book Hoot is a great RF book for upper elementary to beginning middle school classes. While it can be considered a lengthy book, splitting the chapters up by having students in LC or a class wide SR could make the “load” seem easier. It is based in Florida and the story follows themes of growing up, friendship, bullying, and environmentalism. #LAE3414sp19

Actual Size, which was written AND illustrated by Steve Jenkins, is a fun twist on the traditional NF picture book. The illustrations are so captivating to the reader or listener because they are the “actual size” of the animal in real life.  This would be a great RA for kindergarten to fourth grade. It can be used to tie reading to math, science, and social studies standards. #LAE3414sp19