Picture Book # 11

Title:  The Polar Express

Author:  Chris Van Allsburg

Illustrator:  Chris Van Allsburg

Readability Scores:  Interest Level=K-2, Grade Level Equivalent=4.9, Lexile=520L, DRA=30, Guided Reading=N

Genre:  Fiction

Subgenre:  Classics, adventure

Theme:  Winter, Christmas, imagination

Primary and Secondary Characters:  Primary=the little boy who boards the train, Secondary=other children, conductor, Santa Claus, Sarah

Awards:  Caldecott Medal winner

Date of Publication:  1985

Publishing Company:  Houghton Mifflin Company

ISBN Number:  0395389496

Summary:  The little boy wanted to hear the bells on Santa's sleigh, but instead what he heard one Christmas Eve night was a train. He looked out his window and saw a train in his front yard. He went out and the conductor told him it was the Polar Express going to the North Pole. The little boy joined the other children on the train as they traveled to the North Pole. Once they arrived, they saw elves and Santa's sleigh and reindeer. Then Santa appeared and he picked the little boy to give him the first gift of Christmas. The boy wanted one of the silver bells from the reindeer harness. He was given it and then Santa was gone to deliver toys to the rest of the world. Once he was back on the train, the little boy realized that the bell had fallen through a hole in his pocket. He thought it was lost, but then Christmas morning it was wrapped and under the tree from Mr. C. He was always able to hear the bell even though his friends and his sister stopped hearing the bell when they stopped believing.

Applications for Teaching:  This book is filled with excellent examples of figurative language. Students could read this book and be instructed to write down the different parts of speech they find. There are also several vocabulary words that could be introduced and defined before reading this story.

Picture Book # 10

Title:  Officer Buckle and Gloria

Author:  Peggy Rathmann

Illustrator:  Peggy Rathmann

Readability Scores:  Interest Level=K-2, Grade Level Equivalent=2.5, Lexile=510L, DRA=16, Guided Reading=J

Genre:  Fiction

Subgenre:  Comedy, humor

Theme:  Jobs, careers, companionship

Primary and Secondary Characters:  Primary=Officer Buckle and Gloria, Secondary=Mrs. Toppel, Claire

Awards:  Caldecott Medal winner

Date of Publication:  1995

Publishing Company:  G.P. Putnam's Sons

ISBN Number:  9780399226168

Summary:  Officer Buckle is always writing down safety tips and sharing them with the students at Napville school. His speeches are usually very boring, and the students don't pay attention. Then one day he gets a police dog named Gloria. He takes Gloria with him to the school. This time when he gives his speech, Gloria does tricks and the students pay attention and cheer. Officer Buckle starts getting more requests for his speech. One day he sees his speech broadcast on the news and realizes that the students are cheering for Gloria. He decides to not do anymore speeches. Gloria goes to the school alone, but she does not do any tricks without Officer Buckle. They realize that they are much better as partners instead of being alone. They start doing speeches together again.

Applications for Teaching:  This is a good book to use when discussing jobs, friendship, companionship, and safety. The students could write down some safety tips they know and share them with the class or the whole school. They could also write a short story about their favorite pet describing what made them special.

Picture Book # 9

Title:  Before John Was a Jazz Giant

Author:  Carole Boston Weatherford

Illustrator:  Sean Qualls

Readability Scores:  Interest Level=K-2, (other scores not available)

Genre:  Biography

Subgenre:  Autobiography

Theme:  Music

Primary and Secondary Characters:  Primary=John Coltrane, Secondary=John's family members

Awards:  Coretta Scott King Honor Book

Date of Publication:  2008

Publishing Company:  Henry Holt & Company

ISBN Number:  9780805079949

Summary:  This book portrays John Coltrane as a young child. It talks about all the things John hears and how he turns those sounds into music when he starts playing his saxophone. The book repeats the title several times, reiterating that this was all the sounds he was exposed to as a child that had a musical rhythm to them for him.

Applications for Teaching:  This is a simple book that can be used to introduce the genre of biography. It could also be read and discussed in terms of how every sound around us could be thought of as music.

Picture Book # 8

Title:  The Little House

Author:  Virginia Lee Burton

Illustrator:  Virginia Lee Burton

Readability Scores:  Interest Level=K-2, Grade Level Equivalent=3.8, Lexile=890L, DRA=28, Guided Reading=L

Genre:  Realistic Fiction

Subgenre:  Classics

Theme:  Communities, way of life, changes

Primary and Secondary Characters:  Primary=little house, Secondary=family members who built the house, great-great granddaughter

Awards:  1943 Caldecott Medal winner

Date of Publication:  1942

Publishing Company:  Houghton Mifflin Company

ISBN Number:  9780395259382

Summary:  The story is being told by a narrator through the perspective of the house. It begins in the past when the house is built. The house watches as the seasons pass and the surroundings around the house change with time. The community goes from being a very rural community to being a busy city. The house suffers from neglect until the great-great granddaughter of the builder sees it and moves it back out to the country to live in.

Applications for Teaching:  This is an excellent book to demonstrate to students how communities can change over time. After reading this book, the teacher could show students pictures of their own community from the past and talk about how things have changed.

Picture Book # 7

Title:  Tops & Bottoms

Author:  Janet Stevens

Illustrator:  Janet Stevens

Readability Scores:  Interest Level=K-2, Grade Level Equivalent=3.8, Lexile=580L, DRA=20, Guided Reading=L

Genre:  Fables

Subgenre:  Fiction, folk tales

Theme:  Conflict resolution

Primary and Secondary Characters:  Primary=Hare and Bear, Secondary=Hare's family

Awards:  Caldecott Medal Honor Book

Date of Publication:  1995

Publishing Company:  Harcourt Books

ISBN Number:  9780152928513

Summary:  Hare had a large family to feed and he was out of money. Bear was very lazy, but he had a large farm that he would not plant and tend to. Hare decides to work with Bear. First he offers to do all the work and they will split the crops. Hare will get bottoms and Bear will get tops. Hare plants carrots, radishes, etc. Bear decides he wants tops next time, and Hare plants cabbage, broccoli, etc. Bear decides that he wants tops and bottoms, and Hare plants corn and takes the middle. Bear decides he has had enough and he is no longer lazy. He plants his own crops from then on, and Hare has successfully fed his family.

Applications for Teaching:  This book contains bright vivid illustrations that would engage younger readers. The rabbit is very clever and outsmarts the bear three different times. Students could work in pairs or groups to come up with different crops or ways the rabbit could continue to trick the bear or ways the bear could outsmart the rabbit. How could the two animals work together without anyone being tricked?

Picture Book # 6

Title:  Where The Wild Things Are

Author:  Maurice Sendak

Illustrator:  Maurice Sendak

Readability Scores:  Interest Level=PreK-3, Grade Level Equivalent=4.4, Lexile=740L, DRA=16, Guided Reading=J

Genre:  Fiction, classics

Subgenre:  Fantasy, bedtime stories

Theme:  Cleverness, creativity and imagination

Primary and Secondary Characters:  Primary=Max, Secondary=the wild things

Awards:  Caldecott Medal winner

Date of Publication:  1963

Publishing Company:  Harper Collins

ISBN Number:  9780064431781

Summary:  Max was acting wild one night while wearing his wolf suit. He was sent to bed without supper. Once inside his room, it began to transform into a forest. Max walked through the forest and sailed the ocean. He landed on the place where the wild things lived. He showed them a magic trick and became the king of all the wild things. Together they had a wild time, but Max crossed the ocean and walked through the forest to go back to his room. When he arrived, his supper was waiting on him.

Applications for Teaching:  This book shows children how to use their imagination. Teachers could read it to students and then have students write their own stories of what they would turn their bedrooms into and who they would meet in this new environment.

Chapter Book # 3

Title:  Into The Volcano

Author:  Don Wood

Illustrator:  Don Wood

Readability Scores:  Interest Level=3-5, Grade Level Equivalent=2.6, Lexile=240L

Genre:  Adventure fiction

Subgenre:  Graphic novel, fantasy

Theme:  Courage, siblings, growing up

Primary and Secondary Characters:  Primary=Sumo and Duffy, Secondary=Mister Come-And-Go, Auntie, Paulina

Awards:

Date of Publication:  2008

Publishing Company:  Blue Sky Press

ISBN Number:  9780439726740

Summary:  Sumo and Duffy are two very different brothers. Duffy is adventurous and Sumo is not. They are sent to a remote island nation to stay with an aunt they have never met while their father is away on business and their mother is working on research. She studies volcanoes. Once they get to the island, they begin to think that something unusual is going on. They are not allowed to call their dad, and they learn that they are leaving on an expedition into an erupting volcano. Once inside the volcano, Duffy and Sumo make a run for it and find themselves alone and injured inside an erupting volcano. They find their mother also in the volcano, and she explains that she has been looking for a treasure produced by the lava of the volcano. Together they make it out of the volcano, and they boys learn that their aunt was only trying to help their mother.

Applications for Teaching:  This is a graphic novel so it may appeal to students who do not enjoy reading regular print texts. The illustrations make the story come alive. This is a very adventurous novel that will engage readers. There are several scientific terms related to volcanoes used within the text. This could be an easy read to accompany a science unit on volcanoes.