Snakes

Informational Texts

I am no snake lover by any means, but Nic Bishop does an amazing job of capturing photos of various snakes. They are enlarged enough for readers to see every coil of their body, so much so that you feel it's going to slither right off the page! Descriptive paragraphs with simple yet insightful text with special coloring and font emphasis on main ideas and supporting details. At the end, not only is there is an index and glossary, but a personal account of Bishop's challenges in photographing his subjects. Highly recommend for any science classroom!

Title: Snakes
Author/Illustrator: Nic Bishop
Publisher/Date: Scholastic Inc 2012
ISBN: 978-0-545-20638-9
Rating: 5 out of 5

Hurricanes: Earth's Mightiest Storms

Informational Texts

Patricia Lauber explains what scientists know about how hurricanes form, how they can be detected and predicted, and how much damage they can do. There is a mix of diagrams, charts, maps, and photos to help reinforce the text. Very comprehensive and would be best for an older classroom learning out different weather elements.

Title: Hurricanes: Earth's Mightiest Storms
Author/Illustrator: Patricia Lauber
Publisher/Date: Scholastic Press 1996
ISBN: 0-590-47406-5
Rating: 3 out of 5

Next Stop Neptune: Experiencing the Solar System

Informational Texts

Take a trip through space- learning about planets, moons, asteroids, and everything in between. This book really puts the solar system into perspective for children. It tells them to imagine the sun shrunk to the size of a basketball, Jupiter would be the size of a marble and Pluto the size of a head of a pin. Some of the information was a little hard to comprehend, such as "the gas at the center of the sun is so dense that a drinking glass filled with it would weigh 75 pounds." Good illustrations with mixed media.

Title: Next Stop Neptune: Experiencing the Solar System
Author: Alvin Jenkins
Illustrator: Steve Jenkins
Publisher/Date: Houghton Mifflin Company 2004
ISBN: 0-618-41603-X
Rating: 3 out of 5

Lilly's Big Day

Fantasy

Lilly has her heart set on being the flower girl at her teacher's wedding and takes it pretty hard when Ginger is chosen instead. Ginger freezes on the big day and Lilly carries her down the aisle rather than take the spotlight herself. Sweet story that shows the variety of emotions that come about when things don't exactly go your way!



Title: Lilly's Big Day
Author/Illustrator: Kevin Henkes
Publisher/Date: Greenwillow Books 2006
ISBN: 0-06-074236-4
Rating: 4 out of 5

Three Bears in a Boat

Fantasy

Worried that mama bear was going to be mad for breaking her blue seashell, three bears go out to find her a new one. While fighting about who is responsible for breaking the shell, they don't notice a big storm approaching. Once they stop fighting, they arrive home and find a perfect blue shell on the beach. Oversized book that has beautiful watercolors spread across two pages, really inviting the reader in. I definitely think this should of been up for the Caldecott Award!

Title: Three Bears in a Boat
Author/Illustrator: David Soman
Publisher/Date: Penguin Group 2014
ISBN: 978-0-8037-3993-2
Rating: 5 out of 5

Little Moon Dog

Fantasy

One day a bus full of fairy tourists come to the moon- the home of The Man in the Moon and his Moon Dog. Moon Dog ventures out to play with the fairies, but wakes up to find they had left him and he's no where near his home! Luckily, the Moon Dog has a faithful friend in The Man in the Moon who comes looking for him. The illustrations are luminously whimsical, even somewhat eerie. Great story about companionship!


Title: Little Moon Dog
Author: Helen Ward
Illustrator: Wayne Anderson
Publisher/Date: Dutton Children Books 2007
ISBN: 0-525-47727-6
Rating: 5 out of 5

Michael Rosen's Sad Book

Realistic Fiction

This book truly lives up to its name. Heartbreaking and truthful descriptions of grief are perfectly matched with monochrome illustrations. Rosen teaches us that its okay and normal to be sad. Because of the heavy subject material, it gives children and adults the chance to discuss something in which most people would steer away from. Excellent book that really leaves you deep in thought, rating it a 5 out of 5


Title: Micheal Rosen's Sad Book
Author: Micheal Rosen
Illustrator: Quentin Blake
Publisher/Date: Candlewick Press 2005
ISBN: 0-7636-2597-3
Rating: 5 out of 5