Picture:

Eric Carle:
1, 2, 3, To the Zoo:

1, 2, 3 to the Zoo is a wonderful counting books for younger children as it goes from 1 elephant
to 10 birds. The book shows a train full of animals going to their new home in the zoo, with 1
elephant, 2 hippos, 3 Giraffes, and so on with more animals and by the time all of the animals are
counted the train has arrived at the zoo. This book would be fantastic for a PreK-1 classroom
since it will cover simpler numbers and is much less wordy than other counting books. The book
is also very well illustrated, because it is illustrated by Carle, and can integrated into a drawing
or art activity where children can practice their counting while they create their art piece or craft.
Brown Bear, Brown Bear, what do you See?

This book is about a brown bear that sees a red bird which begins a story of animals seeing other
animals. The animals see many other types of animals both wild and domestic in many different
colors, shapes, and sizes. Eventually the book shifts to the children listing off all of the different
animals that they saw throughout the book. Brown Bear, Brown Bear is a fantastic book for
practicing types of animals and reading at a lower level since it is very predictable. The book is

also very useful in teaching colors since every animals gets a different color until the book
moves to seeing the teacher.
Leo Lionni:
An Extraordinary Egg:

In this book, a young frog named Jessica stumbles upon an egg and has no idea what kind of egg
it is. She decides to bring it back to her family who believes it is a chicken egg; that is until an
alligator hatches out of it. The frogs did not know that it was called an alligator so, thinking it
came from a chicken egg, called it a chicken. Jessica and the chicken are the best of friends
until a bird tells and takes the chicken to his mother, an alligator. This book was a very cute
and useful for younger ages. The children will find this book much easier to read than others and
will get to experience a story that does not follow a traditional ending.
Fish is Fish:

Fish is Fish is a great story about two best friends, a tadpole and a fish, who both have to
experience change, one experiencing himself changing the other experiencing a change in
another. The tadpole continues to grow and develop out of the fish stage and into back legs and
front legs. The frog leaves for some time as he grows into a grown frog and comes back to tell
the minnow all about life outside of the pond. The minnow decided to try to see the world, but
being a fish he was unable to see the world outside of his pond. This book would be exemplary
for teaching children about how they will grow and change, some children will grow to be very
tall and athletic, some will be shorter and more creative, others will fall in between. The book is
good at celebrating the differences that make everyone unique.

Laura Numeroff:
If You Give a Mouse a Cookie:

Laura Numeroffs book is a school favorite that every child will enjoy and will want to read over
multiple times. The book is great for helping children learn to read since it follows a very simple
pattern of this action leads to this action, which allows students to make their own guesses as
to what may happen next. In the book the young boy gives the mouse a cookie which leads to the
mouse coming inside, cleaning the house, wanting to draw, wanting to hang the drawing on the
fridge, which will make him thirsty so hell ask for milk and will obviously want a cookie with
that milk.
If You Give a Moose a Muffin:

If You Give a Moose a Muffin follows the same idea of the previous book. A moose asks for
muffins which he will eat up so the boy has to get more, but before they can get more the moose
has to sew his sweater, and he will also want to sew some sock puppets. The moose will then
want to make a scene for his sock puppets and will need a sheet to hide his antlers when he
performs but he just uses it to clean up. He cleans the sheet and as he puts it outside to dry he
sees the blackberry tree which the boys mother uses to make jam for muffins, so he will want
more muffins for the jam. These types of books also offer children a chance to write their own
story so instead of guessing the ending they can write their own.

Audrey Wood:
Piggies:

Piggies is a story about a childs fingers, including the thumb. Each similar finger is named a
certain type of piggy. The story explores many of feelings that a finger can feel and many of
situations that fingers can find themselves in such as hot, cold, clean, and dirty. To end the story
all of the piggies get ready for bed time but coming together for a kiss and then hugging as they
all go to bed. Piggies is a great story to use when trying to teach children about the different
fingers that they have and also how they should and should not use them. I would use this book if
I have children that cannot keep their hands to themselves or when trying to teach certain fine
motor skills.
The Napping House:

The napping house is a house specifically for sleeping where many people go to take a nap or go
to sleep. Each page adds more into the napping house. The book starts just by showing a bed in
the napping house but soon there is a granny, a child, and a few animals on top of the bed in
napping house. Unfortunately there is a wakeful flea that wakes up one animal which leads to all
of the characters waking up. This book can be good to help children learn to count where they
can count how many characters are on the bed or use subtraction to count how many left the bed
at a certain point. This book would also be very useful in a PreK or Kindergarten setting to help
get children to go down for a nap.

Cynthia Rylant:
Steadfast Tin Soldier:

This book is a remake of a classic fairytale, with a special twist added by Rylant. The Tin Soldier
falls in love with the Ballerina from another part of the house. Their love is stopped though by an
evil goblin in the home, similar to the original story. The tin soldier is carried away into the
sewers where he goes through all kinds of difficulties such as being eaten by a fish and having to
fend off a rat. Rylant decides to make a softer and gentler ending as compared to the original, so
instead of having the soldier melted after finding his way home, he and the ballerina are welded
or melded with the ballerina, so they live together happily ever after. This story is a very good
example of a modern fairytale, but also traditional literature, since it takes the older story and
adds a different more modern ending. This book is good since it will show children that
perseverance and not giving up is important.
Poppleton in Spring:

Poppleton is a series of book and one of them is Poppleton in Spring. Poppleton realizes that
since it is now spring, it is time for him to clean up his house. So Poppleton takes some of his
things and gives them away to others in his neighborhood but he collects many things that his
neighbors are trying to get rid of. Poppleton also buys a bicycle for him to get around during
since the weather was now nicer for bike riding. The tent is the next chapter and Poppleton buys
a tent so that he can enjoy the new weather by sleeping outside, but Poppleton got sick.

Kevin Henkes:
Lillys Purple Plastic Purse:

This book is about Lilly and her brand new purple plastic purse that her grandmother bought her.
Lilly was normally a well behaved child, but when she got her brand new purple purse, that also
played music, she could not contain herself so he showed everyone. Lilly got mad at Mr. Slinger
meanwhile Mr. Slinger not only returned her purse but also gave her a note and some candy.
Lilly, to make up for her mean drawing of Mr. Slinger, drew a new picture of Mr. Slinger, made
him a note, and some snacks. This book would be very good for teaching children about honesty
and forgiveness, both forgiving and asking for forgiveness.
Chrysanthemum:

Chrysanthemum is a book about a new born mouse baby and her name was Chrysanthemum. Her
parents named her Chrysanthemum because they wanted a name as perfect as her and for a while
she believed it. That is until she went to school and everyone made fun of her for her name and
she started to believe that her name was not as good as everyone elses. The children continually
pick on Chrysanthemum until Mrs. Twinkle, the music teacher, stood up for Chrysanthemum and
explaining that she also had a long and flower name. The children then all wanted to have long
and flower names and Chrysanthemum realizes her name is perfect. This book is wonderful, and
I think it is a very good book for the beginning of the year as children try to learn names and may
begin to make fun of others for their names. This book also shows that what some people may
find something different is actually something that many have in common so it is not good to
tease about it.

David Shannon:
No, David!

David is a cantankerous young boy who is very active and sometimes a little bit naughty. His
mother continually has to yell No, David! as he continually misbehaves and does things that
his mother does not like, such as playing ball in the house or not putting his toys away. David
starts to feel a little unloved, but at the end of the book his mother says Yes, David, I love you,
to show that she is not mad at him, just what he does. This book would be useful in trying to
teach children about good and bad ways to behave not only in the classroom but also at home.
Children can also learn that when an adult yells at them it is not because they do not love or care
for the child but instead they need the child to understand how important it is that they listen to
what the adult is saying.
David Gets In Trouble:

This book will also teach children a similar lesson as to No, David! Children should not that
adults do not make rules to stop them from having fun but to keep them safe and not harm
themselves or someone else. David misbehaves and he continually comes up with the typical
excuses that all children make, such as It was an accident, or I didnt mean too. In the end
David finally admits to his mistakes and accidents and even though he did all of those things he
and his mother still love each other which is shown at the end of the book as the overall lesson.

Chris Van Allsburg:

This book would be a perfect book for the Halloween time of year. The book also teaches all of
the letters and some interesting or spooky words that start with the letter on that page, such as
The C was cut into ribbon. This book would be very good for teaching letters while also fitting
in well with the holiday theme. The book goes from A-Z with many different bad and dangerous
scenarios happening to the different letters. I was not a big fan of this book since it described
some more violent things. It is ok for letters be zapped or vanish but to be cut or nailed sounds a
little bit too much for children.
Two Bad Ants:

These two ants go on a mission with a large squad of other ants to find crystals for the queen
since that was her new favorite food. The two ants were left behind in the sugar pile so they
decided to eat the sugar but before they knew it they were dropped into a cup of coffee. The ants
escaped from the cup right into a muffin that was put into a toaster. The ants then came across a
sink where they had to get a drink but fell into the sink where they were spun around where they
tried to escape into an outlet and were shocked. The ants then heard their ant family approaching
and followed them home, sugar in hand. This book would be good for in a science lesson about
ants or bugs in general. The book is also very useful for grades 2 and 3 since it contains much
more on one page than a smaller picture book.

Judith Viorst:
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day:

In this book Alexander continually faces tough times throughout his whole day. He starts off by
waking up with gum in his hair, falling over his skate board, and getting his sweater wet. Next
Alexander does not find a prize in his cereal box along with getting stuck in the middle of the
car. Once at school Alexanders picture is not the teachers favorite, he forgot about the number
16, and is no longer Pauls best friend. Alexander continually faced difficulties and no one would
even help but Alexander realizes that at the end of the day some days are like that regardless of
who or where you are. This book would work well for teaching kids about perseverance and that
everyone will have bad days. It will also teach them that others need to be helpful,
compassionate, and those having the bad day need to learn how to cope with their difficulties.
Alexander Who Used to Be Rich Last Sunday:

Alexander is a young boy who is jealous of his brother Anthony cause he always gets money,
while Alexander only gets bus tokens. Alexander is then given a dollar by his aunt and uncle and
he wants to buy a walkey talkey so his mother tells him to save but he keeps finding ways to
spend money such as buying gum or betting and losing his money to his family. Alexander also
drops his money and is punished for doing bad things so he loses more money. In the end
Alexander is left with a candle, some cards, and bus tokens. This book would be good for
teaching children that they should be wise with their money even when they do not have much.

Maurice Sendak:
Where the Wild Things are:

This book is about Max, a young boy who acts very wild and rambunctious. One night Maxs
room turns into a forest with a lake with a boat. Max sails across the lake for a year where he
comes across large and mean looking monsters with big teeth and big horns. Max knew how to
tame them, by staring into their eyes, and he became their king. He played with them and acted
wild with them until he was tired of playing, told them to stop, and sent them to bed. He then got
lonely and smelled good things to eat from all the way back across the lake so he went home and
found his supper sitting on his table and still warm. This book is good for teaching children about
adventure and being creative.
In the Night Kitchen:

One night there was a racket in his house so Mickey screamed quiet down there. Mickey fell
all the way through his house past his room and his parents and through his whole house. Mickey
fell into a cake batter because bakers thought he was cake and he was then baked. He then turned
some bread dough into an airplane so he could fly to the top of a milk jug for bakers so they
could bake their cakes. Mickey then slid down off of the milk jug back into his bed where he
woke up the next morning to a fresh cake for breakfast. This book can also teach about
imagination and adventure.

Judy Blume:
Are You There God? Its me Margaret:

Margaret is a sixth grade girl who just moved into a completely surroundings, a new school, and
an extremely new group of friends. Margaret moved to the suburbs in New Jersey where she
goes to a new school and her new group of friends who talk about what teenage girls both then
and now talk about. Her and her friends talk about their bodies and how they are starting to
experience what it is like to be growing up into women. They deal with both inward and outward
changes and how they plan on coping with them. Her friends also deal with the difficulties they
have with boys and relationships. But through all of this Margaret is trying to figure out how she
feels about God, since she does not have a religion and everyone around her is either joining the
Christian YMCA or the Jewish Community Center. She struggles with her anger towards God
for not allowing her to be similar to everyone else, she was not developing and having
difficulties with her friends and boys. Margaret throughout the whole book has to continually
work on her relationship with God and her relationships with those around her.
Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing:

This book is about a 4th grader named Peter. Peter has to deal with the struggle that many
students in a classroom will face and that is a younger sibling. Peters younger sibling, Fudge,
always gets his way and if he does not he will go into a temper tantrum and a fit of rage, often
destroying or doing whatever is necessary to get what he wants. Peter can never get away from
Fudges actions but nothing frustrates Peter more than when Fudge bothers Peters turtle Dribble,
who is Peters most prized possession. The book continues as Peter goes through school and
continues to battle the problems with Fudge, as Fudge at one point broke his front teeth thinking
he could fly by jumping off of a jungle gym along with ruining Peters school work and other
activities. The cycle continues until finally Fudge does something that destroys Peter, Fudge ate
Dribble. Doctors are able to get Dribble out of Fudge but not before Dribble dies. In the end
Peter gets a new dog which he names Turtle in honor of Dribble.
Beverly Cleary:
Ramona the Brave

Ramona Quimby spends her summer with her friend Howie playing their favorite game, brick
factory. But brick factory does not make Ramona feel brave and grown up but she gets the
opportunity when her older sister Beezus is being made fun of and Ramona stands up for her.
Beezus, instead of being grateful, gets mad at Ramona for embarrassing her in front of the boys
and is more upset with Ramona than the bullies. Ramona also gets an opportunity to be brave
when she gets the chance to sleep in her room alone but she is very frightened. There is another
chance for Ramona when she tries to stand up for herself when Susan steals Ramonas owl
drawing idea but Mrs. Griggs takes Susans side and yells at Ramona. Ramona is finally able to
prove her bravery when one day a big dog is chasing Ramona so she throws her shoe at the dog,
but the dog took her shoe. To add on to her difficulties Mrs. Griggs finally chooses Ramona to be
room leader and leads the class in the flag salute, Mrs. Griggs notices she is only wearing one
shoe, and sends her to the principals office. To prove her bravery Ramona makes a truce with
the teacher even though they have difficulty relating, earning her the nickname The Brave. I
liked that this book showed that it is sometimes necessary to make compromises and that making
compromises is a sign of strength and compassion instead of weakness and passivity.

Henry Huggins:

Henry Huggins is a regular boy, and he even believes he is a regular boy. Henry goes to school
and lives a normal third grade life until one day he finds a stray dog that turns his life upside
down. Henry names his dog Ribsy and they go everywhere together. To start one day Henry has
to take the bus home but cannot take Ribsy on so he puts Ribsy in a shopping bag and climbs on.
Henry is always going places and doing wild things with Ribsy such as buying fish, collecting
worms for money, getting Henry out of participating in a play, or winning a dog show using
Talcum powder. Risby and Henry quickly become best friends throughout the book and when
things got tough Risby was always with Henry. At one point a boy tries to take Risby but he
chooses Henry instead of the other boy.
Andrew Clements:
Frindle:

Starting 5th grade, Nick hates English and his English teacher even more. Since Nick hates
English so much he decides to try and delay an English lesson for as long as possible and he asks
Where do words come from? to which Mrs. Granger answers and then assigns Nick an essay.
Nick writes the essay and decides to make a new word for the pen called frindle. Nick gets the
whole school and even most of the country to say the word and even when Mrs. Granger tries to

stop it, she cannot because it has become so popular. She had the children stay after class and the
principal goes to Nicks house but before long they realize it is too far gone and frindle will be
the new word for pen. In the end Nick becomes a very wealthy because of a trust fund, set up by
his fathers friend, based on the rights to the word frindle. Nick in an attempt to make amends
with Mrs. Granger sends her a pen made of gold with a note that says This object belongs to
Lorelei Granger and she may call it any name she chooses.
Jake Drake- Bully Buster:

Jake Drake was every bullys favorite target. Jake is the perfect target for bullies too, he is not
small or large, he does not have an older sibling to protect him, and the bullies think he looks
nerdy. Jake had no issues until a new student, Link Baxter, showed up and he was a Grade A,
Super Bully. Jake starts acting out until realizes that he is acting just like Link and he decides
that he is no longer going to be a bully magnet but instead a bully buster. Jake tries everything
with Link, he tries ignoring him and laughing with him until he cannot take it anymore and hits
Link. Jake goes for a new approach and gets the opportunity when he gets paired for a group
project with Link. Jake tries to find out why Link bullies and finds that Link is bullied by his
older sister. Jake also learns that Link likes to make models and cannot talk well in a presentation
so he decides to be a good friend to Link and lets him make and display the model while he talks
through the presentation. Jake learned that to be a bully buster he must look past the bully face
and see what the bully is really like.

Jack Gantos:
Back to School for Rotten Ralph:

Rotten Ralph is a cat that loves to play practical jokes on the family that owns him. In this book
of the series his owner Sarah has to go back to school. Ralph is a jealous cat and wants to be
Sarahs only friend so he dresses up as another child and starts to destroy any chance of new
friends for Sarah. Everything is going very well for Ralph, he is still Sarahs best friend, and is
able to maintain his costume. Ralphs plan back fire though when he loses his disguise and the
children not only want to be Sarahs friend but Ralphs friend also.
Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key:

Joey has ADHD and that makes things in school tougher for him sometimes. Joey is a good kid
who has a loving family but has to deal with taking his dud meds or his Ritalin which causes
him to act very poorly sometimes. Joey made a string of bad choices, first he wanted to see what
would happen if he put his finger in the pencil sharpener which did not end well for him. Joey
also had an accident with scissors where he accidentally trims off a piece of his friends nose and
he swallows his house key. The string of bad incidences lands him in the special-ed classroom
and he realizes that he needs to changes his ways. And Joey is determined to show that he can do
well in a regular-ed classroom and can behave as well as any other child.

Jack Prelutsky:
Its Halloween:

This book is very timely since it is near Halloween time, which can fit into a unit about
Halloween or this time of year. The book is a collection of poems about different types of
characters, ghosts, and costumes that people will often see during the Halloween. The first is
about a skeleton parade that march all through neighborhoods during Halloween, the next is
about 3 siblings who are out on Halloween tricking people, and another is one about a pumpkin.
The book contains many different stories and activities that deal with Halloween. My favorite is
The Countdown because it is relevant to Halloween and is also very useful in teaching math
lessons and counting.
Be Glad Your Nose is on Your Face:

I really liked this book, it would be very good to include in a lesson about the sense, since it
discusses the sense of smell and the functions of the nose. I also think it can be used in an
anatomy lesson because the book takes the nose off of the face then asks the reader imagine if it
were in a different place. The book asks the reader to imagine their nose between their toes, on
top of their head, or inside of your head.