“Swish-swoosh“

I would use this book for older grades (3-5) because the title is a play on words and this can be a good introduction to homophones.

A Beach Tail by Karen Lynn Williams published in 2010 follows a young main character as he creates a drawing in the sand who he names Sandy. The pictures are of the perspective of the young boy as he continues on and on with the tail of Sandy. The almost grainy looking illustrations help bring a nostalgic feel to the picture book. In the end, Sandy becomes more useful than just a fun activity. The cover of this book is reflective like sand.

“The sky surrounded him. Seagulls flew under and over. As long as he stayed on the wire he was free.“

You could use this book in the classroom in many ways. I would use it when educating my class about the events of 9/11 (before reading the book) or for social-emotional ideas. Never be afraid to follow your dreams, work hard, and don't give up.

The Man Who Walked Between the Towers by Mordicai Gerstein, published in 2004 uses many colors, lines, and space to tell a story. In the pictures, you can see the use of different lines to create perspective, depth, and texture. The illustrator used pictures each with a black outline. This allowed for multiple stories to be told on one page. There were also pages that folded outwards, extending the image. It is more interactive for the reader.

“Lift your arms, close your eyes, take a deep breath, and believe in a thing.“

I would use this book in my classroom to help my students think outside the box. I think this book would also be good to highlight during Black history month.

The Year We Learned to Fly by Jacqueline Woodson was written in 2022. This was a story of 2 young African American children who “learn to fly“ when they were bored one day. The children are always the vocal point, they are composed of simple designs with bright colors. This story also references times of slavery within the words and the drawings. The illustrator captures the past in dark colors but also warm colors when they “learned to fly“.

“Whose ABC's became drums, bumping jumping thumping like a heart the size of the whole wide world.“

This story would work well for introducing Langston Hughes and connected ELA with social studies.

There Was a Party for Langston was written by Jason Reynolds in 2023. This book had beautiful rhythm and tempo when read out loud by the author. The characters were brought to life with color and intentional illustrations on each page. Words were often used within the pictures to give them emphasis.

I enjoyed the simple yet intricate pictures that are in this story. Throughout the story, it shows many animals besides the tiger which is engaging and enriching for an interactive read-aloud. You could use this book when talking about classroom management and you could use this book to tell your class that it is okay to get wild, but it's about where you get wild and when you should get wild.

“And then one day, Mr. Tiger had, a very, wild idea.“ I picked this quote because it is the key turning point of the story.

Mr. Tiger Goes Wild was written by Peter Brown in 2013. This story is about a Tiger who feels the need to let loose and go wild. Once Mr. Tiger lets loose he soon misses his friends, city, and family. This story has pictures that help Mr. Tiger and his expressions stand out on the pages. The author uses vertical shapes and characters to help the Tiger stand out when he decides to go horizontal on his journey to go wild.

“They threw themselves at her feet and begged forgiveness for all their bad treatment of her.“

This book could be used in the classroom to teach about the moral lesson that kindness will be rewarded. This would be a good activity to use in the beginning of the year to set the tone for how students should treat each other in the classroom.

This book won its Caldecott Award in 1955. This story is a classic tale that is known across many age groups. Although Cinderella herself might not be relatable, the feelings that she goes through are (exclusion and sadness). The simple yet detailed pictures will catch the attention of children because there is much to look at and different things to focus on, from the dresses to the facial expressions.

“The cat knew them all. And they all knew the cat.“

You can use this story and relate it to science. You could do how different animals' eyes work, preditor and prey, and also the habitats of the different animals that were mentioned.

This book was a Caldecott winner in 2017. The pictures show how different animals all view a cat and sometimes the emotion that comes with that (ex: the mouse). I also read this as a cat being seen by the world as a whole. Being visible and not feeling alone. The different uses of colors, patterns/methods represent texture and feeling.

“In every love, blessed are the tears.“ All the quotes in this book were so good!

This book could be used to associate colors with emotions. An activity could be students using certain colors to depict how they feel that day or how their weekend was through colors. Yet again, another way to get to know your students outside of school.

This book won the Caldecott in 2024. The illustrations are what stood out to me from the cover, then opening it up they stood out to me even more. This book talks about how we go through life blessed by experiences. The color that the illustrator used represents each quote. When they are talking about sadness they use dark colors, when they are talking about happy experiences they use light colors, and love is reds, pinks, and purples.

“I want to be everywhere Mama is“

This book can be used when talking about how a student's life is at home. Using this and discussing how your students live can give a teacher great insight into their student's lives in an informal way.

This book is a 2021 Caldecott winner. This story takes us through a day with a girl and her mother. It compares the girl's things to her mom's things, the girl notices that they're different. Their relationship is the vocal point of the book. These characters are relatable beyond the fact that they are a girl and her mom, any child-to-caretaker relationship can be compared to this. Side note the colors used also show how happy each character is.

“CJ's chest grew full and he was lost in the sound and the sound gave him the feeling of magic.“

You could use this book to focus on how the illustrator created the pictures. With that, the students could draw what is around their house in that format (bright colors, blocky objects, etc)

This book is a story about CJ and his Nana making their way back home. The illustrations are blocky drawings that use various bright colors to depict how the author feels about the journey back home -happy. This book talks about loving where you grow up and appreciating the things around you.

“wherever he goes, trouble follows.“

This book can be used to discuss the emotions in each picture. Although there are no words the animals are expressive.

This book is a 2003 Caldecott winner. This story follows a rabbit who has a tendency to find trouble. The main thing that stood out to me in this story is the way the illustrator bolded the pictures and made them look comic-like with their black borders and skinny pages. The pictures also pull weight in telling the story without words.

“Maybe good luck and bad luck are mixed up. You never know what will happen next.“

This story could be used to help understand different vocabulary and cultures of different areas.

Written by Muth, it won its award in 2006. This story has detailed drawings of a Panda. The theme in this book revolves around cooperation with others. This story reflects the theme through the panda's wise stories that the children listen to.

“a new cat came“

This book could be used when talking about friendship and leadership. This could also be used if a new student were to come into the class and the teacher wanted to remind the students that they can help others.

This book is a 2018 Caldecott winner. The first main cat of this story is tasked with showing the new “little cat“ how to live life. This is a story of trust and friendship between two beings. I think that the way this book is laid out also helps with the emotions that the first cat is feeling. Through the pages, you can tell how responsible the white cat feels, and as it continues that responsibility is passed to the black cat.

“Sooner or later, all the people of the world will have to discover a way to live together.“

This book would be a great reference to use when teaching about American history and during Black History Month in February. The quotes that are written throughout the pages could be used as discussion points in a classroom when talking about equality, feelings, etc.

This book was a 2002 Caldecott winner. This story goes on to tell about MLK's upbringing and journey as a Civil Rights Activist. The pictures have a realistic but almost colored pencil look to them. The illustrator used a lot of dark colors and patterns to display the emotion that was felt during this time in America. Throughout the book, the pictures display a sense of community that African Americans were building during this time.

“That's my name, and it fits me just right! I am Alma, and I have a story to tell.“

This whole book can be used to teach students to love who they are and where they come from. This can be turned into several activities such as show-in-tell, writing a personal narrative, or bringing in a family member to discuss interesting family history.

Alma and How She Got Her Name is a story about a girl who journeys to understand and love her name. This is a Caldecott winner from 2019. The pictures in this book are done by pencil, there is a fair amount of detail but the pictures themself feel softy and homelike. At the start of the book Alma is ashamed of how long her name is and then as her dad is telling her the history behind each name, she quickly becomes proud.