Dirty Beasts

Author: Roald Dahl 

Illustrator: Quentin Blake

Genre: Poetry

Grade level: K-4

This book is a collection of poems about unsuspecting animals. Each one is a story about an animal. It is very fun and kid friendly. The poems are all rhyming poems and they each tell a different story. It gets children's imaginations going and is really amusing entertainment. 

This book can be used during a poetry unit. It can also be used just for entertainment and learning purposes. It is very fun and exciting and really can help pique the interests of young readers to poetry.

The illustrations are watercolor fantasy pictures. They help the poems come to life and give the book an extra something special to make poetry less formal and more appropriate for children.

A Child's Garden of Verses 

Author: Robert Louis Stevenson 

Illustrator: Tasha Tudor 

Genre: Poetry

Grade level: K-5

This book is a collection of poetry for children. It is about darkness and solitude. The poem's are put into a kid friendly manor to teach them about the realities of life and sadness. Some poems are rhyming poems and some are not. This poems are written in the perspective of children and really relate to children and the innocence of what it's like to be a child

I could use this in the classroom during a poetry unit. I can also use this to help children relate to poems. A lot of the time poems can be hard to understand and pretty un-relatable to a small child. These poems can be used to relate to them on a personable level.

The illustrations are very beautiful. They are whimsical like and really add a lot to the poems. They capture the essence of how great it is to be a child. 

Where the Sidewalk Ends

Author/Cover Art: Shel Silverstein

Genre: Poetry

Grade level: K-6

This book is a collection of poems by Shel Silverstein. The rhyming patterns are different in each poem and therefore not predictable. They all have a very humorous tone to them and are all about different things so they do not need to be read in specific order. All the poems give very descriptive details and really helps the reader imagine what is going on in addition to some art sketches. There are many poems in the book that refer to holidays and family relationships along with friendships as well. 

This book will be used during a poetry unit in class. It is very entertaining and can give children entertaining ideas to write their own poems. It also teaches some morals in life and can be used to teach morals to students as well. 

The illustrations are very amusing. They are sketches in black and white and are very detailed. They are super animated and help add an extra something special to these great poems. 

Roller Girl

Author/Illustrator: Victoria Jamieson 

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Grade Level: K-4

Award: Newbery Award 

This book is about a little girl and her best friend. Her mother takes her to the roller derby one time and thats when she decides that she wants to be a roller derby girl someday. She signs up for summer camp thinking that her friend will also sign up since they are best friends and do everything together. Instead her friend Nicole signs up for dance camp and she starts to make different friends. Astrid makes new friends and eventually learns how to skate and ends up growing so much this summer she thought was going to be horrible. 

This book is a good book to teach a lesson about change. It can help students identify with change in their lives and being okay with growth. It also teaches us that we all have different interests and that doesn't mean we can't be friends with those who don't share the same interests as us.

This is a graphic novel. It looks like a comic book style. It is very colorful and very fun. The text is in speech bubbles and the font is very comic book like. 

Millions of Cats

Author/Illustrator: Wanda Ga'g

Genre: Fantasy

Grade level: K-2

Awards: Newbery Medal 

There once was a very old couple that lived in a nice clean home. The old man wanted a fluffy little cat. The old man said he will get her a cat. He set out to look for one. He came to a hill and saw cats everywhere. He chose the prettiest cat and started to leave but then he saw another one and liked that one as well. He took all the ones he kept seeing and thought it was more beautiful than the last. He brought so many cats back home with him. Each cat took a sip of water and the whole pond was gone. They were hungry as well and each cat ate a mouthful of grass and nothing was left. The old woman saw all the cats coming and she was shocked because she only wanted 1 cat. They let the cats decide which one to keep. Each cat started to fight because they all thought they were prettier than the last. They all ran away and they found a little poor kitten scared and skinny. They kept the kitten that was not the prettiest but they loved it and thought she was the most beautiful one after all. 

This book is a great story. It can be used to teach may valuable lessons to children. In it they talk about big numbers so this could be used in a math lesson referring to big numbers. It can also be used to teach children to be humble as well as how only basing things off of the way people look is not good as well. 

The illustrations are very interesting. The cover is orange, black and yellow, which are pretty odd colors together. The inside pictures are in ink and in black and white. It is a really cool feel to the book making it seem almost vintage. 

The Missing Tooth

Author: Joanna Cole

Illustrator: Marylin Hafner

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Grade level: K-3

Arlo and Robby were the best of friends! They both had the same things like bikes, peanut butter ice cream and much more. They even have a tooth missing in the same spot. They wore the same thing to school one day even. They match all over even their teeth match. Robby said he had a wiggly tooth and Arlo wanted to be the same so he pretended that his was loose too even though it wasn't. They made a deal that whoever's tooth comes out first owes the other one 10 cents. Robby's tooth finally came out and Arlo was sad because they are not the same. Arlo was jealous of Robby and was mean to Robby. Robby went home and Arlo was lonely. One of Robby's card fell out of his deck and Arlo saw it and wanted to keep it. He figured it would make Robby sad if he took it. He gave back the card to Robby and they said sorry and Robby gave back his 10 cents but Arlo let him keep it and they went to go play. Arlo's mouth bumped on the bar and he lost a tooth in a different place than Robby's. They were still best friends anyway. 

This is a good story to teach children about differences. It is okay to be different than others. We can still befriend them. It also teaches that if there is an argument, there is always forgiveness and communication skills that can get them through it. It also has a beautiful message of doing the right thing. 

The illustrations in this book are colorful realistic looking drawings. They fill the entire page up with warm and cool colors with the writing in the white space of the illustrations. 

Enemy Pie

Author: Derek Munson

Illustrator: Tara Calahan King 

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Grade level: K-3

It should have been a perfect summer for this little boy until a boy named Jeremy Ross moved into the neighborhood. He was a bully and would laugh at him. His dad said he knew a way to get rid of enemies. He pulled out a recipe book off the kitchen shelf and said "Enemy Pie." Enemy pie was a secret recipe and I thought of all the gross things you'd put in enemy pie. They were all gross things and his dad said that he didn't need any of those ingredients. He was confused when he smelt something really good and said that enemy pie shouldn't smell this good. Dad said that if it smelt bad the enemy wouldn't eat it and it looked good enough to eat. The little boy thought all these horrible things would happen when you eat enemy pie. Dad told him that he needed to be nice to him all day. They rode bikes for a while and threw water balloons. He was kind of having fun with his enemy. He couldn't tell his dad because he worked so hard on the enemy pie. He let him win a game just to be nice. Enemies aren't allowed in the treehouse but Jeremy was being a bad enemy and being nice. He tore the enemy list off the wall. He was thinking that he should just not give the enemy pie to Jeremy.  He told Jeremy not to eat the pie and he felt relieved that he had saved his life. His dad was eating half of the pie. They became friends. 

This book is good to talk about how to not judge someone. We can teach children how sometimes first impressions are not what that person is all about. We must always give someone a chance to prove and be themselves before we judge their character. 

The illustrations in this book are very fun. They are warm colors and showcase all the different emotions of the characters. They take up the whole page and are very cartoonish. 

When Sophie Gets Angry-Really, Really Angry...
Author/Illustrator: Molly Bang 
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Grade Level: PreK-2
Awards: Caldecott Honor

Sophie was playing when her sister grabbed gorilla and yelled "my turn!" Sophie was mad because she didn't want her to have gorilla. She was mad as her sister pulled the gorilla and she trips over the truck. She starts to kick and scream and through a tantrum. When she gets really angry she runs and then for a little bit she cries. She notices the beautiful outdoors and comes to an old beach tree where she climbs up. The world and its beauty and simplicity comforts her and she feels much better. She climbs down and heads for home. Everyone is happy that Sophie is back home and everything gets back together again and Sophie isn't angry anymore.

This is a good book to teach children about how to calm themselves down whenever they are angry. Lots of children throw tantrums when they don't get their way. This is a good book to talk about how everything isn't as bad as it seems and sometimes we need to just walk it off and let ourselves cool down.

The illustrations in the book are very nice. They are colorful paintings that are simple and cover the entire page. The expressions clearly portray what the characters are feeling. The lettering looks like it was handwritten and that adds a nice homemade story look to the book. 

Last Stop On Market Street

Author: Matt de la Pena 

Illustrator: Christian Robinson
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Grade level: K-2
Awards: Newberry Medal, Caldecott Honor

A little boy named CJ walks out of the church and feels the rain on his face. He ducked underneath his Nana's umbrella and asked why they had to wait for the bus when it was this wet. From the bus stop he watched his friends going away in cars and asked his nana why they didn't have a car. Nana said they didn't need a car they had a bus that breathed fire. The bus driver did a magic trick when CJ entered. They sat at the front of the bus and greeted everyone with a big smile. CJ seems to want everything that everyone else has. Nana told CJ to close his eyes and realize that he had everything live. He spotted the familiar faces and was grateful they came to the soup kitchen.

This book is a wonderful book to teach about humility. It teaches kids about being grateful for what they have. It also give perspective on what it would be like to be a child from a lower class family.

The illustrations are beautiful and fill up the whole page with lots of colors. They are cut and pated on like collages style. It is simple but very detailed. It portrays the characters well to tell us that they are poor and in the end of the book it is apparent that they are going to a soup kitchen to get their food.

The Snowy Day

Author/illustrator: Ezra Jack Keats

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Grade level: K-3

Awards: Caldecott Medal

One day a little boy named Peter woke up and looked out the window to see snow covering everything that he could see. After breakfast he put on his snowsuit and went outside to play in the snow. He walked along the snow making different types of tracks. He found a stick to make a new track. He thought it would be fun to join the big kids in their snowball fight but he knew he wasn't old enough yet. He made snow angels and snowmen and used his imagination to pretend he was a mountain lion instead. He saved a snowball in his pocket to save for tomorrow. Before bed he checked his pocket for the snowball but it wasn't there. He was very sad and he dreamed that the sun had melted all the sun away. When he woke up the snow was still there and he went outside with his friend to play. 

This book can be used in the classroom to discuss weather. It can be used to illustrate what happens in the winter time and as well as what happens when cold things become hot or when things melt. 

The illustrations are very intriguing. They are so colorful for a book about white snow. It is different things cut and pasted together. It showcases emotion and ties in well with the storyline. It is a Caldecott Medal award winning book. 

This is Me

Author: Jamie Lee Curtis

Illustrator: Laura Cornell

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Grade level: K-3

This book starts out with a teacher's great-grandmother who left er family and friends to cross the sea. She had no say and sadly she would have to pack only the things that she loves and unfortunately she will have to leave all of the rest at home. She then asks the class what would they take. It then goes through different students in the class talking about what they would take with them if they were to travel. What they would take in order to best represent them on the trip. Some would take their punk rocker barbie, nintendo DS, USA passport, signed harry potter book, and much more. Who you all are isn't just what you've got but its what you learn and what you're taught is who you become. In the end it asks what the reader would take to say "hey this is me!"

This book can be used to talk about the importance of history. It can also be used to highlight the importance of who we are based on what we have done. 

The illustrations in this are very bright and colorful. The expressions on the characters faces are clear to the emotions that they are feeling in relationship to the text. There is a popup case on the last page that adds a fun little surprise for the readers when they are thinking about what they are going to bring in their case to represent themselves. 

Welcome to the Family

Author: Mary Hoffman

Illustrator: Ros Asquith

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Grade Level: K-3

This book explores different ways a baby or child can come into a family. It talks about adoption as well as divorce and adding step siblings to the family. It talks about parents of the same gender and artificial insemination. It also talks about blending two families together who already have kids in each family. In the end it states how there will always be new children and asks the question "How did you come into YOUR family?"

This book can be used in the classroom to talk about where families come from and how important that they are. It can be used as a prompt for a writing to ponder on the differences in each family and why it is important to accept each others differences and be aware that it is normal to be different. 

The illustrations are very fun. They are colorful. They are set up in kind of a comic strip way with other comments happening within the pictures other than the text about the book above it. There is also a little bear that has small comments throughout the book about what they had just been talking about. 

My Great Grandpa 

Author: Martin Waddel 

Illustrator: Dom Mansell

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Grade Level: K-2

This little girl's great grandpa is her best friend. He is weak and slow but he tells her a lot of things that she doesn't know. When they go out they have fun and don't care what anyone else says about them. They like to adventure around and grandpa tries to remember who lives in what house but often can't remember. He reminisces about his wife and her grandma and lets her know what she was like. They share a special bond. 

This book can be used as a tool for learning how to rhyme. It can be used in a guided reading where it is specifically guided towards learning how to rhyme words. It can also be used as an example of what the kids can write about in their own poem. 

The illustrations are colorful and fun they cover the whole pages of the book and where the words are it is a lighter scheme of colors. The pictures look a little bit more cartoonish but they are mostly realistic depictions. The faces of the characters really portray exactly the mood that they're in. 

My Friend Isabelle 

Author: Eliza Woloson

Illustrator: Bryan Gough

Genre: Realistic Fiction, Special Needs 

Grade Level: K-3

Charlie has a friend named Isabelle. Even though they are the same age, they are different. Charlie is tall and Isabelle is short. He runs fast and Isabelle takes her time. They carry around different things. Charlie knows a lot of words but Isabelle's words are sometimes hard to understand. Charlie's mom says that differences are what makes the world so great. Every Friday they play together and dance. They do everything together and enjoy each others company. They are friends even though Isabelle has down syndrome. 

This book is an important book to use in the classroom when teaching or talking about disabilities. I can use this if we have someone in the class that comes in for inclusion time and children may be confused with what is wrong with them. 

The illustrations are kind of darker and realistic. It shows the differences in little Isabelle's face compared to Charlie's. 

The Sandwich Swap

Author: Kelly DiPucchio and queen Rania Al Abdullah

Illustrator: Tricia Tusa 

Genre: Multicultural 

Grade Level: K-2

Two little girls were best friends at school. They did everything together like drawing pictures together and swinging. They ate their lunches together but what they ate for lunch was very different. One ate pb and j sandwich and one ate a hummus sandwich. They never told each other what they thought. Lily said to Selma that her sandwich looks yucky. Selma was sad as she thought about her mother making her sandwich. Selma told lily that her sandwich smells bad and Lily was sad as she thought about her dad and his silly apron. They didn't do anything together that afternoon and the next day they sat at different tables for lunch. The story spread around school and people began to start picking sides. They started a food fight. Lily and Selma felt ashamed after they were called into the principals office. They decided to try each others sandwiches and they both ended up liking each others sandwiches and were friends again. 

This book can be used in the classroom for talking about differences. It brings to light bullying and how we should respect each others differences. It also is a cultural book about arabic culture and their food. It can be used to learn about that. 

The illustrations are so cute! They are bright and colorful and showcase the emotions of the characters really well. The color scheme is light cool and warm colors. There is a lot of white space to help the pictures pop out. 

Duck for President 
Author: Doreen Cronin
Illustrator: Betsy lewin
Genre: Fantasy
Grade level: K-2

Farmer brown always has a lot of work to do. The animals have chores that they have to do. Duck didn't like to do chores and made a sign to hold an election for the farm. Farmer brown ran to the barn and saw that they were registering to vote. On election day duck won and farmer brown demanded a recount and the voters still voted Duck. Duck was eventually the owner of the farm but he did not like it at all. They started to work on ducks campaign for governor. Duck won governor. He didn't like being governor so he decided to campaign for president. Duck wins president. Being president wasn't fun. He saw that a duck was needed at the farm. He decided to go back to the farm and duck worked on his autobiography.

I could use this book in numerous different ways in the classroom. We could use this book for a math lesson because there is a lot of counting and big numbers involved. I could also use this book when we learn about the justice system and how to vote. It can highlight the importance of registering to vote and voting for the future of our country.

The illustrations are very fun and colorful. Their is some white space in between the words but that adds interest to the pages and really makes the illustrations pop out. The drawings are cartoon style and very cute! 

How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight? 
Author: Jane Yolen
Illustrator: Mark Teague
Genre: Fantasy
Grade Level: K-3

How does the dinosaur say goodnight when papa comes in to turn off the light. This book goes on to tell different situations like does he pout, throw his teddy bear, stomp, shout, roar, demand a piggy back ride, mope, moan, sulk, sigh, and cry. This book is a rhyming book that then describes that the dinosaurs don't do those horrible things. They give big kisses, turn out the light, tuck in their tails, whisper goodnight, give a big hug, and one kiss more!

This book can be used for a rhyming lesson. The rhyming schemes are perfect to develop a rhyming lesson or a rhyming interactive read aloud lesson where you ask the students to come up with words that rhyme with the words in the story as well as identify what the rhyming words are in the book.


The illustrations are amazing! They are very colorful and fun. They are realistic looking drawings and are super fun. They take up the entire page and the words overlap the illustrations.

The Very Busy Spider

Author/Illustrator: Eric Carle

Genre: Fantasy

Grade Level: PreK-2

Early one morning the spider began to spin a web on a fence. A horse came by and asked the spider if she wanted to go for a ride. The spider didn't answer because she was very busy spinning her web. A cow came by to ask if she wanted to eat some grass. She didn't answer once again. A sheep, a goat, a pig, a dog, a cat, and a duck came by to ask if she wanted to hang out with them and each time she didn't answer because she was busy spinning her web. A rooster came by and asked her if she wanted to catch a fly and she caught the fly. An owl came by at night and asked who built the beautiful web and she didn't answer because she had fallen asleep since it was such a busy day. 

I would use this story to talk about the sounds that the animals were making. It could be used to teach about different animals as well. It also shows what each animal likes to do.

The illustrations are amazing collages and very colorful. The different animals have such character since they are a little bit more abstract since they are made from collage paper cutting and pasting. 

The Grouchy Ladybug

Author/Illustrator: Eric Carl

Genre: Fantasy

Grade Level: K-3

There were two ladybugs that flew onto a leaf. One was a nice ladybug and one was a grouchy ladybug. They both wanted to eat the same thing for breakfast. The nice ladybug suggested that they could share but the grouchy one did not want to share. He said he could fight him for them. The grouchy ladybug said that the friendly one was not big enough for him to fight and the friendly ladybug suggests that he finds someone bigger. He finds a yellow jacket and challenges him to a fight. The yellow jacket shows his stinger and the grouchy ladybug says he's not big enough. He runs into a beetle, praying mantis, sparrow, lobster, skunk, snake, hyena, gorilla, rhino, elephant, whale, and then eventually the whale smacks the ladybug back to where he began and the friendly ladybug shared the food with him.

This book includes time in it. This would be perfect to use on a lesson learning about time. It also teaches children valuable lessons about being prideful and rude. We could make paper clocks and draw each animal the ladybug encounters on each of the time stamps that it says.

The illustrations are just marvelous. It is the famous Eric Carle and his famous collage illustrations. The white space is ever so apparent making the colorful illustrations stand out. The different animals are on different sized flaps of pages as they get bigger. 

The Whale Who Ate Everything

Author/Illustrator: Dan Devoe

Genre: Fantasy

Grade Level: K-2

The book starts off with a small sized blue whale that was very hungry. He decided to look for something to eat. He ate a pail and got a little bit bigger. He ate A, B, C in braille. He ate his own mail and got bigger. He tried to eat his own tail but couldn't and he remained the same size. He then ate many other things and just continually got bigger and bigger. He became the biggest whale ever and could not even swim. An anchor was near by and he tried to eat the anchor but the anchor got stuck in his mouth. The anchor hooked onto everything that the whale had eaten and pulled it all out and he was back to being a small whale. 

This book would definitely be used for a rhyming lesson. Even within the book there is small prompts asking students what else rhymes with certain words. 

The illustrations in this book are colorful and bold. There is a lot of white space to really make the colorful illustrations stand out. The left page is where the story is being told and is where most of the white space is. 

I Took the Moon for a Walk
Author: Carolyn Curtis
Illustrator: Alison Jay
Genre: Fantasy
Grade Level: PreK-3

A young boy tells the story of how he took the moon for a walk. There wasn't any strings or leash the moon just followed behind him. He brought his own light and the moon hid its face but peeked through the clouds of lace. He warned the moon to go higher so he wouldn't run into the church's spire. They swung together and dances together. It followed him home and stayed there all night. And thanked the boy by sharing his light.

This book can be used in the classroom to learn about rhyming words. A guided reading can be done asking the class which rhyming words they see on the page or what would come next.

The illustrations of this book are very colorful and fun. They boy and the moon are bigger than the scenery for the most part giving the illusion that both are flying high over it. Not the whole pages of the book are filled with illustration. Lots of white space is used to create a cool and interesting design throughout the book.

The Rainbow Fish

Author/Illustrator: Marcus Pfister

Translated by: J. Alison James

Genre: Fantasy

Grade Level: PreK-3

Rainbow fish is a very beautiful fish. He has a lot of sparkly scales that the other fish do not have and as a result he does not play with the other fish. A little blue fish asks him if he can have one of his scales and the rainbow fish says no. The little fish becomes sad and tells the other fish and the other fish start to shun the rainbow fish. Rainbow fish asks an octopus how to be happy in which the octopus replies that she can't give rainbow fish the secret to happiness. The little blue fish comes back and makes the same request for a scale and this time rainbow fish gives him one. Then they all become happy and like rainbow fish again. 

This could be used in the classroom to teach a story of sharing. The underlying message of this book isn't very good though and I would most likely not use this in my classroom. 

The illustrations are awesome! I really like that the sparkles are different material and you can really feel the sparkles. The color scheme is obviously very cool since the setting is in the ocean. 

A Bad Case of Stripes

Author/Illustrator: David Shannon

Genre: Fantasy

Grade Level: PreK-3

This story starts out with a girl named Camilla Cream and how she doesn't like lima beans just because the other kids in school don't like them and made fun of her. She cares about what everyone thinks about her a little too much. Camilla eventually breaks out in colorful stripes. The doctors can't seem to find anything wrong with her so her mother still makes her go to the first day of school. Her classmates soon discover that whenever they yell out a color or design, she will turn into that color or design. She soon finds out that the only cure for this is for her to eat lima beans, and when she does she turns back into old Camilla. 

This book can be used in the classroom to talk about the effects of peer pressure. It can help students to be themselves and to not do things according to what others want. It also can be used as an anti-bullying tool and teaching kids to stand up for themselves and to not be afraid to be who they are no matter what. 

The illustrations in this book are amazing! They are bright and colorful and show the emotions perfectly. We know exactly what the character is feeling based on the illustrations.

If You Give a Pig a Pancake

Author: Laura Numeroff

Illustrator: Felicia Bond

Genre: Fantasy

Grade Level: K-2

This is story about a little girl who tries to satisfy the desires of a little pig. It starts out with the girl giving the little pig one of her pancakes. The pig wants syrup and when the pig gets syrup he gets all sticky and will need a bath and new clothes. The pig even wants to learn how to tap dance, send a letter, wear a costume, take a picture, and eventually wants a pancake once more. 

This story can be used in the classroom to teach young children how to appreciate things. You could also take a turn and use this book to teach an economics lesson. Students would need to research how much money the girl would need in order to fulfill all the needs of the pig. 

The illustrations are adorable! The color scheme is warm but very lightly colored. The colors are not bold. The expressions of the drawings portray exactly the emotions of the book and tie in well with the story. 

Too Many Tamales

Author: Gary Soto 

Illustrator: Ed Martinez

Genre: Realistic Fiction 

Grade Level: K-2

Maria helps her family make the Tamales for Christmas dinner. She sees her mom putting her diamond ring aside to make the tamales. She just wants to try it on for a second because the ring is so beautiful. After having it on she realizes that it is gone from her finger! She thinks she may spy it in the tamale dough. When her cousins arrive Maria and them come up with a plan. They will eat all 24 tamales in hopes to find the ring. They eat all of the tamales and didn't end up finding the ring. When Maria goes to confess to her mother about it, she notices that the ring is right there on her finger! But now there are no more tamales for dinner. They decide to make more and all of them join in together to make more tamales joyfully. 

This book can be used to help illustrate what Christmas would be like in a multicultural home. It can also help illustrate family traditions.

The illustrations in this book are very dark and somber. They go with the feeling of winter time. Although the color scheme is dark and somber, the story and the expressions on the children's faces make it a joyful story full of fun. The illustrations are very realistic. 

The Adventures of Beetle: The Unimaginary Friend 
Author/Illustrator: Dan Stantat
Genre: Fantasy
Grade Level: K-3
Awards: Caldecott Medal

This is a magical story about a little imaginary friend who is born in a land far away. He is patiently waiting for his turn to be chosen by a real child someday. He is tired of waiting for his turn to be imagined. He sets off in an adventure to go find a little boy or girl to be his friend. He ends up in the bustling city where he searches and searches. After a long journey he finally find his special friend. 

This book can be used to talk and learn about friendships. It can also be used to expand children's imaginations and used as a prompt for them to create their own imaginary friend or story. 

The illustrations are simply amazing. They are so vivid and colorful and portray little Beekle's journey very well. 

Betsy Ross

Author: Pamela Chanko

Illustrator: Renee Graef

Genre: Biography

Grade Level: K-2

This book is a biography about Betsy Ross. It starts out by telling us where she was born and how many siblings she had as well as how she helped with chores, especially the sewing. She went to work in a shop and eventually got married to a guy and they opened their own shop together. Her husband joined the army to fight for freedom. One time George Washington came to her shop and asked for a flag to be made with a sketch he drew. She would tell the story to her grandchildren about how she made the first flag. Her grandchildren would tell the story to others. Not many people knew if it was true or not. 

This book can be used when we are talking about the flag in class or learning about the war for freedom. It can also be used when learning about the 4th of July. 

The illustrations are colorful realistic pictures. They accompany the story well and included on the pictures are random facts of information that are important but not directly tied into what the text is saying. 

I Am #11: Walt Disney

Author and Illustrator: Grace Norwich

Genre: Biography

Grade Level: 2-5

This book is a biography about Walt Disney. It mentions how his father is not a kind man and that he lost an early creation titled Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. It talks about how he had a wild imagination as a child. He used those qualities as he grew older to become a cartoonist. Eventually he became a film maker and one of his characters Mikey Mouse become so famous and movie theaters sold out. He even won an academy award. He eventually created an amusement park called Disneyland and became very successful and well loved. Even to this day his work is still successful and widely appreciated and adored. 

I would use this in the classroom if students were interested in doing research on a famous person in history. We could do a wax museum project and this could be used for their research if they were to choose him as their wax museum subject. 

The cover art is a nice cartoonish drawing of Walt and disneyland. Throughout the story there are photographs used as well as realistic illustrations. There was also a timeline and lots of fun facts on the pictures and drawings. 

A Picture Book of Louis Braille

Author: David A. Adler

Illustrator: John & Alexandra Wallner

Genre: Biography

Grade Level: PreK-3

This book is a biography that tells the story of Louis Braille. He was born with normal vision like any other kid. One day he was playing with one of his father's work tools and it poked one of his eyes. Eventually he got an infection that spread to his other eyes. He lost eye site in both eyes as a result. He was a strong willed and a very strong minded person. He was determined to be like other kids and people and he eventually created the braille system for blind people to learn how to read. 

The illustrations are fun cartoon like characters that are more realistic. The color scheme is upbeat and warm. The pictures illustrate exactly whats going on in the story and follow along with the narrations. There are pictures on every page. 

I would use this in class as a subject for a research project. Students can use this as a tool for their research. I can also use this when we learn about disabilities and accommodations for people with disabilities in class. This can be read to introduce background knowledge. 

Thomas Jefferson 

A Picture Book Biography

Author: James Cross Giblin

Illustrator: Michael Dooling

Genre: Biography

Grade level: PreK-3

This book is a biography about Thomas Jefferson. It starts out talking about Thomas as a young boy going to school in Tuckahoe and how he did not want to go to school there anymore. He eventually goes to boarding school and then eventually college in Virginia. He marries Martha Wayles and has six children. It talks about how he wrote the Deceleration of Independence as governor of Virginia. He then becomes George Washington's secretary of state and then eventually becomes the President of the U.S. It talks about many other things that he did during his presidency until his eventual death. 

I would use this book in class when learning about Thomas Jefferson or about presidents. We could read this around presidents day and students could use this as a reference for their research. 

The illustrations were colorful and realistic. There were pictures on every page and the text were over the pictures. 

A Picture Book of Amelia Earhart 

Author: David A. Adler

Illustrator: Jeff Fisher

Genre: Biography

Grade Level: 3-5

This book is a complete biography of Amelia Earhart's life. We learn her birth place in this book along with many significant things that happened throughout her life. Such as how she studied medical research, taught English to immigrant children, worked as a social worker, paid for her own flying lessons, and was only interested in planes when she reached her 20's. It goes over her life all the way to the day of her disappearance and what people thought happened to her. 

The illustrations are very colorful and fun. It accompanies her journey and adds an image to the narration to make a complete story. The pictures are realistic since this is a biography. 

I would use this in my classroom for a book report on Amelia Earhart. They can use this as a reference for their research as well as learning about important people in history.