Eating Fractions

Written and Photography by: Bruce McMillan

Recommended for: Children Ages 4-8

Themes: Math, Character Education

Summary:

     Eating Fractions illustrates the story of two friends who share their food by cutting it up into fractions to share amongst one another and with their dog. The children enjoy cutting up the food into halves, thirds and quarters. McMillian has used pictures of the friends dividing up there food along with simple drawings of each food with fractions displayed on each fraction of the food to show that the real portions of food are in fact a portion of the whole.

     Children will love the simplistic way in which the book is written and in which it displays dividing up a whole into equal parts to make a fraction. The pictures in this book really do tell the story, making it easy for children to go back to it on there own with little assistance from an adult while maintaining their ability to understand the story and concept.

Suggestions for the Classroom:

     Eating Fractions is a wonderful book to use with young children to introduce fractions as being parts of a whole. It is also a great book to open up discussions with children about sharing and how all members of a group should get equal amounts in order to be fair when sharing.

*Pre-Reading Activities: Tell the students brought in a special treat which you would like to share with them in class today: bananas. However, you were quite sleepy when you packed your bag today and did not bring enough for everyone. You only brought 12 bananas with you and there are 24 children in the class today. Tell students that you are very sad, because you wanted to share and are not sure how you can do it fairly so that everyone gets some. Tell that you are going to read them a book while you try to figure out what to do to solve your problem.

*During Reading: Point out to students how the two boys were able to cut up their the different parts of their meal so that each of them could have some. Ask the students if the boys were getting the same amount of each food?

*Post-Reading Activities: See if any of them come up with a solution to your problem and whether or not it could work for the amount of bananas that you have so that they can be shared equally. Carefully cut the bananas in half and count them with the children to see if you now have enough for everyone to get an equal share (you may want to have someone put paper towels down on the students desks ahead of time, if you can, to save time once you begin cutting). To extend this activity, after the students have finished eating their snack, give them a contruction paper template of a pizza. Ask the students to show you how they could share their pizza with three friends equally, between the four of them, so that each of them would get an equal amount.

About the Author/Photographer:

     Bruce McMillan was born in Boston, Mass but grew up and attended school in Maine. He began his love for literature as a young child, riding his bike into town each week to spend his hard earned allowance on books while he made his way through the Hardy Boys Series. McMillian always loved to take photographs, with a professional camera given to him by his dad at the age of 9, and sold his first one as a teenager (a photograph of his former home, now the summer residence of George H.W. Bush). He describes that while he has always loved reading and the spoken word, it wasn't until he was a "big kid". He states that he taught himself about writing while working as a island caretaker on McGee Island one summer. By the end of that summer he wrote his first published work, an article for the DownEast Magazine. During his last few weeks on the island, McMillian had also taken the photographs for and outlined his first book, Finestkind o'Day, which featured his own child.

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Ten Seeds

Written and Illustrated by: Ruth Brown

Recommended for: Children Ages Birth-5

Themes: Science, Math, Character Education (Responsibility)

Summary:

     Ten Seeds tells the story of a little boy who has planted ten flower seeds in his garden. However, throughout the story the the seeds, seedlings, shoots and plants are picked out or trampled by a slue of animals and people one by one until just one flower is left. At the conclusion of the story the flower drops ten seeds so that the whole cycle may start again.

     Children will enjoy this counting book, counting down from ten to one, and watching the seeds as the grow into a flower. They will be sad to see some of them do not make it but will be able to make connections to this process and what they may have seen in their own gardens or those in their neighborhoods. The pictures are simple yet realistic, and will really draw the children into the story.

Suggestions for the Classroom:

     This story is wonderful to use with children when discussing plants and how the grow from seeds. It will be interesting for them to see that not all seeds will make it to being made into plants and that even though many animals help them to survive, there are also accidents that keep them from maturing.

*Pre-Reading Activities: Discuss with students all of the things that plants need to grow: food, water, light, and oxygen. Explain to them that most plants make their own seeds, and with help from the wind and bees they are able to spread these seeds to help new plants grow. Tell them, that they are going to listen to you read a book today and learn more about how plants grow.

*During Reading: Discuss with students the changes that are taking place among the different plants as they grow. Give them opportunities to make connections with times that they have seen plants grow as well as time where they have seen plants get trampled.

*Post Reading: Give students an opportunity to plant their own flower seeds in a cup. Explain to them that we are going to keep them in a safe place to keep them from getting trampled so that they can grow into flowers. Ask them what other things the plant may need: food, water, sunlight, and oxygen. Explain how we can give them these things: oxygen: all around us in the room; light: we will put them in the window to get sunlight; food: we will plant them in potting soil which will feed them the nutrients in the soil; and water: we will have someone in the class water them each day as a job.

Let the students take their flowers home once they have sprouted to share with their families, remind them to keep them in a safe place.

About the Author/Illustrator:

     Ruth Brown was born in England, her family moved to Germany after the war but Ruth returned to England in 1953. She was always talented when it came to drawing, and began attending Art College at the age of 16. She earned a National Diploma in Design in 1961, and then became an Asssociate at the Royal College of Art in London, where she met her husband, Ken Brown, also a student at this college. She orignially worked for BBC doing children's programming but eventually got her start illustrating children's books for other writers. In 1978 she published her first children's book, which she authored, through the encouragement of a friend (Crazy Charlie).

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Mirror Mirror: A Book of Reversible Verse

Written by: Marilyn Singer

Illustrated by: Josee Masse

Recommended for: Children Ages 4-10

Themes: Fiction, Poetry, Fairy Tales/Fantasy

Summary:

     This book is filled with wonderful poems about Fairy Tale characters, such as: Cinderella, Rapunzel, Little Red Riding Hood, and the Ugly Duckling. Each poem is acompanied by an second poem writen in reverse.

     Children will enjoy reading each poem and then reading it then in reverse, often in the perspective of another character from the same fairy tale. In one poem you hear about Red Riding Hood's thoughts as she picks flowers, when the poem is them told in reverse you get the wolf's thoughts as he sees the young girl picking flowers. The illustrations are beautiful and not overly elaborate, reminicent of those from the fairytales that they know and love. The will be drawn to both the style of the poems and the characters of the poems.

Suggestions for the Classroom:

     This would be a wonderful selection to use to introduce young children to poetry through the use of familiar fairytale characters. It is also an exciting twist on poetry to use with children in grades 2-5 to challenge them as writers.

*Pre-Reading Activities: Explain to children that not all poems have to have rhyming patterns. Often, we also refer to poems as a verse. Tell the children that today you are going to read them some unique verses that star some familiar characters. Tell them that you want them to see if they can figure out what is so special about the poems that you are going to read.

*During Reading: Refrain from asking the students questions, give them time to listen and see if they can identify that the second poem is written in reverse.

*Post-Reading: Ask if anyone has figured out what makes these poems special, if they are having trouble then show them the page as a hint. Once they get that the poems are written in reverse, share with them a few more of the selections (have them identify from which character's perspective each version is being told). You can then follow up this activity by challenging your students to write a reversible poem of their own.

About the Author:

     Marilyn Singer writes picture books, novels for kids, poetry, non-fiction, fairy tales, fiction for young adults, and mysteries. She grew up on Long Island and has received dergrees form both Queens College and New York University in English and Communications. She began her career teaching High School English in New York City Schools but quickly began to making a career in writing and has since writen over 80 books for children and young adults. She feels that writing in so many different genres challenges her and keeps her from getting bored.

Marilyn currently lives in Brooklyn, NY, with her husband Steve; their standard poodle Oggi, seen in the home page photo; a cat named August ; two collared doves named Jubilee and Holiday; and a starling named Darling. Her interests include ballroom/Latin dancing, dog training, reading, hiking, bird-watching, gardening, playing computer adventure games, and going to the movies and the theatre. She's also a major Star Trek fan.

About the Illustrator:

     Josee Masse lives in the country near Montreal, where she studied Graphic Arts. Josse has been drawing almost all of her life and worked as a Graphic Designer for three years before becoming an illustrator for children's books. She enjoys her job and tackling the challenges of conveying difficult subjects.

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All the World

Written by: Liz Garton Scanlon

Illustrated by: Marla Frazee

Recommended for: Children Ages 4-8

Themes: Fiction, Poetry, Multi-culturalism, Character Education

Summary:

     A wonderful rhyming poem that points out that all around the world there are people doing similar things. While the words in this poem are beautiful, it is really the pictures that tell the story. Through each section, children are able to see different cultures and different places.

     Children will enjoy the illustrations and making connections to them as they listen to the poem. Each and every illustration help the children with their comprehension as they go hand-in-hand with the words of the poem. The illustrations aide the children in making connections to the theme of the poem: that we are all living under the same sky and are the same despite our differences.

Suggestions for the Classroom:

     This is a beautiful book to use to discuss with children that although our classroom is filled with children from differnt cultures, we all have many similarities. It will also help them to connect to children all around the world who also go to school, visit the beach, and watch the birds fly by.

*Pre-Reading Activities: Show students two pictures of children of different culture who are in different places, for example: one being of a white child sitting on the beach playing in the sand and another being of a mexican child standing in an outdoor market. Ask children to tell you what is the same or is similar about the two pictures (both are children and they are outside). Record their anwers using a Venn Diagram. Now ask them what is different or is a difference between the two pictures (the color of their skin, and one is in the sand while the other is on a street). Again, record their answers on the Venn Diagram.

*During Reading: Allow time for students to take in the illustrations as you read the poem. Ask some questions to the students, pointing out the different characters/cultures included in the illustrations. Give them opportunities to share connections that they make: text-to-self, text-to-text, and text-to-world.

*Post-Reading Activities: Give students a piece of white paper and ask them to draw a picture of something that is the same everywhere in the world (they can use examples from the book). Model this for them by drawing a sunset. Use the story starter: All over the world ____________ (All over the world the sun sets), and encourage them to write a sentence to go with their picture.

About the Author:

     Liz Garton Scanlon grew up in Wisconsin and Colorado, but currently lives in Austin, Texas. She describes herself as a mother, and author and a teacher. Scanlon says that she has always loved reading and traveling, that and her daughters have been her inspiration for writing childrens books. Which she says that she enjoys because it makes her happy, gives her hope, and she feels that writing for children brings out the best in her. When she isn't writing or traveling, Scanlon enjoys playing cards on the floor, spending time with her children, yoga, and taking her old white dog for walks. She also maintains her own blog which she invites her fans to visit.

About the Illustrator:

     Marla Frazee currently lives in Los Angeles, California with her husband, three sons, a dog and a cat. Frazee states that this is the town where she was born and where she has lived her whole life, as many people insist that she must be from New York. Not only did she graduate from the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, she has also taught children's book illustration there for 20 years. She works out of a small studio cabin under an avacado tree in her backyard.

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The Carnival of the Animals

Created by: Camille Saint-Saens

Verses by: Jack Prelutsky

Illustrated by: Mary GrandPre

Recommended for: Children Ages 4-11

Themes: Fiction, Poetry, Science

Summary:

     A set of animal poems created to amuse and bemuse children. Complete with wonderfully ornate illustrations, The Carnival of the Animals is a wonderfully entertaining selection of poems. Each poem integrates facts about the animal with fanciful tales of excitement and fantasy. This book comes complete with a CD where children and adults alike can listen to the poems read aloud as well as the compositions put together by Saint-Saens to portray each animal (following each poem). This book also includes a note to parents and teachers in the back to explain Saint-Saens idea for the book, to expose children to classical music in an interesting way, as well as a list of possible activities to accompany the book.

     Children will enjoy both the poems and illustrations in this book. The author of the verses uses a complex vocabulary, which may make it difficult for them to read independently, however the CD will help the students to follow along and not struggle with unfamiliar vocabulary. Each poem is unique and amazing in its own right; children will be left wanting more as they read and listen about each animal.

Suggestions for the Classroom:

     This book can be used in a varitey of different grade levels, as a read aloud for younger children and independently for older and more experienced readers. This book could be used for Music teachers to discuss the mood of the music or instruments that are being played. It could also be used with young children to practice the skill of visualizing. Pre-school children may enjoy acting out the animals as the music plays. Lastly, this book would be wonderful to use with students in upper-Elementary grade levels to practice fluency and in performing using poetry.

*Pre-Reading Activities: Discuss with students the importance of using adjectives when writing poetry. Explain that adjective are describing words and that they help others to visualize your characters within your story or poem. An example of an adjective would be: obnoxious. Obnoxious means: offensive or unpleasent. I may say: The donkeys are both obnoxious and absurd (ridiculous). Both obnoxious and absurd are adjectives that describe the donkeys. Today we are going to listen to a poem and I want you to close your eyes as you listen.

*During Reading: Monitor students to see if they follow the direction to keep their eyes closed as they listen to the first poem: The Lion.

*Post-Reading: Ask students to open their eyes. Explain that you will have them listen to the poem once again, followed by a piece of music. Tell them that you would like them to draw a picture of the Lion using both the poem and the music as a guide. Give them some time, you can decide on what specific amount due to your time constraints and each class differs in how long they will work before getting bored. After the students have finished you could extend this activity in a few different ways: (1) give students an opportunity to pick one of the poems from the book and practice it, they can all perform them at a later date and maybe even draw an illustration to go along with their performance; and (2) ask the students to write their own animal themed poem making use of adjectives, have them read it to another student who will then illustrate the poem for them.

About the Composer/Creator:

     Camille Saint-Saens was born in Paris in 1835, and began piano lessons at the age of two-and-a-half. He composed his first musical piece at the age of 3 and by the time that he was 7 he was studying with Pierre Maledin. While his work was not given justice in his homeland, in England and the United States, Sait-Saems was considered Frace's greatest living composer well into the Twentieth Century. Though he is known for his compositions for The Carnival of Animals, he only allowed the pieces to be played twice while he was still alive; for fear that the all-to-human characteristics and humor of the pieces would ruin his reputation as a serious composer. Sadly, Saint-Saens passed away in 1921 but his music still lives on and is available to young children through this CD and book.

About the Author:

    Jack Prelutsky admits that as a child he never did like poetry and he likens it to a teacher who made it "about as exciting to liver". Instead he loved to draw pictures and later in his life began to write poems to go with his pictures. While others fell in love with his poems, they unfortunately did not fall in love with his pictures. He has proudly written poetry for 30 years and continues to inspire children with his poems (I imagine that this is his audience due to the experience he had as a child with poetry) Prelutsky maintains and interactive website that caters to both children and adults, complete with: poems, letters he has received, a biography, pictures of his family, sports trading cards that he has made which are complete with poems, and lesson plan ideas for teachers.

 

About the Illustrator:

     Mary GrandPre is most widely recognized for her work illustrating the Harry Potter series, however she has also worked on six childrens books and is currently working on her seventh. Her work is widely recognized and has also been used for magazine, advertising, and editorials. Mary GrandPre also as a visonary in the environmental/scenery department for the animated movie Antz. Her illustrations are beautifully ornate and are anything by simple.

 

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Amelia Bedelia's First Day of School

Written by: Herman Parish

Illustrated by: Lynne Avril

Recommended for: Children Ages 4-8

Themes: Fiction, Character Eduation, Children with Special Needs

Summary:

     Young Amelia Bedelia embarks on her exciting first day of school. Unfortunately, young Amelia gets herself into all sorts of sticky situations as she takes everything she hears literally, such as: glue yourself to your seat Amelia. Young readers can follow Amelia as she confuses name tag; sit wherever you like; when you hear your name, say it; keep your nose in a book; sing like birds; and many more school experiences gone wrong.

     Children will enjoy pointing out Amelia's mistakes as seeing the silly pictures that show Amelia's foolish actions. The illustrations are fun, engaging, and humorous and should keep the young readers actively engaged and wanting more.

Suggestions for the Classroom:

     This would be a wonderful book to use to talk with students about how some children may have more trouble following directions than others. It also is a wonderful way to introduce that we can help others to do the right thing through being careful and thoughtful in what we say.

*Pre-Reading Activities: Talk with students about the rules that you have within your classroom. Explain to the students that sometimes it is easy to do what your being asked to do and sometimes it is more difficult. Explain to them that sitting on the carpet can be difficult to do for a long time, after a while you start feeling uncomforable and you want to move around or you see something interesting and you sit on your knees to get a better look. Explain that some children have more trouble with this than others. Tell the students that you are going to read a story today about a child who has trouble finding directions.

*During Reading: Have students point out some of the mistakes that Amelia Bedelia makes on her first day of school. Have them make some connections as they read to times where they too have been confused or excited and had trouble doing what it was they were supposed to be doing.

*Post-Reading Activities: Discuss with the students ways in which they can help each other in a kind way and record them on a chart/board. Some examples are: someone is sitting on their knees and you can't see-tap them on the sholder and ask them to sit on their bottom; or Hector keeps yelling out-tap him on the sholder and ask him to raise his hand and wait his turn; etc. Emphasize that it is best to be patient and to use your manners when helping others to do the right thing.

**Within our classrooms we all have the impulsive student that can be a constant disruption. It is important that we teach our students to be tolerant and kind and to help that student to make the right choices. While Amelia Bedelia makes mistakes and takes things literally, she is also impulsive and can teach the children about this problem. It is important to point out how patient her classmates are with her and that everyone makes mistakes.

About the Author:

     Herman Parish is the nephew of Amelia Bedelia creator, Peggy Parish, and has continued her legacy of Amelia Bedilia books.  He has added 19 children's books to the Amelia Bedelia series with his most recent additions being set in Amelia's childhood, in contrast to his aunt's books about her adult life. He currently lives in Princeton, New Jersey and enjoys speaking at conferences to librarians and educators.

About the Illustrator:

     Lynne Avril has illustrated over 65 childrens books, and currently lives in Phoenix, Arizona with her dog Stetson. She has spent most of her life working as a freelancing graphic artist, and continues to also do magazine work, and creatiepainting which she displays in the Paulina Miller Studio Gallery in Pheonix.

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In the Wild

Written by: David Elliott

Illustrated by: Holly Meade

Recommended for: Children Ages 4-8

Themes: Fiction, Science, Poetry

Summary:

     In the Wild is a wonderful collection of poems about wild animals. They will find poems about: the lion, the elephant, the giraffe, the zebra, the rhinocerous, the sloth, the jaguar, the panda, the tiger, the orangutan, the kangaroo, the buffalo, the wolf, and the polar bear.Each poem gives the reader more details about each animal using rhythm and rhyme.

     Children will love the symplistic and wonderful illustrations of each animal and their habitat. They will be interested in learning about the natural habitats of these animals that they are used to seeing at their local zoo. They will enjoy looking for and finding the rhyming patterns and reading the poems aloud to one another.

Suggestions for the Classroom:

     This would be a wonderful book to share with students when discussing poetry as well as for discussing the habitats of animals and making distinctions between domesticated animals (pets) and wild animals. This book would help children to understand that a zoo is not the natural habitat of these animals, but is instread used as a tool to teach us about these animals and to protect and preserve their species for future generations.

*Pre-Reading Activities: Discuss with students the term habitat; explain to students that a habitat is the natural home environment of a plant or an animal. Explain that we describe animals that live outside of homes and farms as wild animals. Tell them that we will be visiting the zoo, where we will be able to see some wild animals, that are kept there so that we may learn more about them and to keep them safe. Explain to the students that the zoo tries to make the homes for their animals as close to their natural habitat as possible. Tell them that we will be reading today about some of the animals that they may see at the zoo and ask them to listen for words that describe their habitat within the poems.

*During Reading: Have students tell you what words they can use to describe the habitats of the different animals using what they heard in the poem as well as through the illustrations.

*Post-Reading Activities: Give the children an opportunity to draw a picture of their favorite animal from the sotry and to write a sentence about their habitat in their writing journals. Use the story starter: ____________ live where it is____________ (ex: Lions live where it is warm and grassy).

About the Author:

     David Elliott originally wanted to become an opera singer, but after many years of practice and schooling her realized that he just wasn't that good at it. He has worked as a singer in Mexico, an English teacher in Libya, a cucumber-washer in Greece, and a popsicle-stick-maker in Israel. These days he works writing children's books, something he came about by chance as everytime he sat down to write his character always seemed to be around nine years of age. He states that his work is usally funny and imaginative and he hopes to inspire and transport children to new placesby sparking their imaginations through his work.

About the Illustrator:

     Holly Meade has provided the illustrations for over 30 children's books. She enjoys attending workshops in areas such as: drawing, painting, printmaking, basket making, and fabric design. Over the past seven years she has been working with woodcuts, a medium that she became interested in after attending a workshop at Haystack Mountain School in 2002.

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