Review: The Snail and the Whale

The Snail and the Whale

Written by Julia Donaldson

Illustrated by Axel Scheffler

Publication date: 2003
Publisher: Macmillian Children’s Books
ISBN: 978-0-333-98224-2

Summary/back cover:
The sea snail slithered all over the rock and gazed at the sea and the ships and the dock.  And as she gazed she sniffed and sighed.  “The sea is deep and the world is wide!  How I long to sail” said the tiny snail.

Review:
The book is a wonderful tail of a sea snail that catches a ride on a humpback whale and travels around the world to see new and wonderful things.  This book flows like a song, which I find keeps kids interested for a lot longer.  During their adventure the humpback whale gets confused by a boat race and gets beached in a small bay.  The Tiny sea snail finds a way to save the giant humpback whale. Showing that no matter how small you are you are able to help others.  At the end of the book all of the sea snail’s friends that made fun of him in the beginning, for wanting to do something different, see what a wonderful adventure he had and hop on the whale’s tail to go for an adventure themselves.  This book is loved in our house and after the third time reading it is now a stable in our nightly reading routine.  I love that it can open so many conversations about the world we live in.  Even if they aren’t interested in the story the child can see the wonderful illustrations and talk about them.

My rating - 5/5.

Review written by Tracy

Review: The Gruffalo's Child

The Gruffalo’s Child

Written by Julia Donaldson

Illustrated by Axel Scheffler

Publication date: 2004
Publisher: Macmillian Children’s Books
ISBN: 978-1-4050-2046-6

Summary/back cover:
The Gruffalo said that no gruffalo should ever set foot in the deep dark wood.  But one wild and windy night the Gruffalo’s Child ignores her father’s warning and tiptoes out into the snow.  After all, the Big Bad Mouse doesn’t really exist....does he?

Review:
This is a follow on to The Gruffalo and actually quite a good one if your child like mine was slightly scared of the original book.  It shows the gruffalo child as cute and cuddly and getting tricked by a tiny mouse.  Using the original animals snake, fox and owl the Gruffalo’s Child goes on an adventure to find the big scary mouse.  Yet again the mouse uses his brains and tricks the Gruffalo’s Child with his shadow.  It’s a great way to get into a conversation with your child about shadows and how you can make hand shadows with a torch etc.  Thus turning off the light and getting ready for bedtime.

My daughter started liking these books just before she turned 3, before that she was a little scared of the gruffalo so probably a good idea to think about your child’s stage before launching into reading these books.  My only issue now is that I am made to read both gruffalo books and also The Snail and the Whale that is written by the same author as she loves them sooo much.

My rating - 4/5.

Review written by Tracy

Book Review: Me ... Jane

Author/Illustrator: Patrick McDonnell
Interest Level: Ages 4 and Up
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company

From the Publisher: In his characteristic heartwarming style, Patrick McDonnell tells the story of the young Jane Goodall and her special childhood toy chimpanzee named Jubilee. As the young Jane observes the natural world around her with wonder, she dreams of "a life living with and helping all animals," until one day she find that her dream has come true.

One of the world's most inspiring women, Dr. Jane Goodall is a renowned humanitarian, conservationist, animal activist, environmentalist, and United Nations Messenger of Peace. In 1977 she founded the Jane Goodall Institute (JGI), a global nonprofit organization that empowers people to make a difference for all living things.

With anecdotes taken directly from Jane Goodall's autobiography, McDonnell makes this very true story accessible for the very young -- and young at heart.

Why It's On My Bookshelf: Just when I think I'm done gushing about a book....another one takes my breath away. I am so head over heels for Me...Jane as were the students. The illustrations are darling. This was my chosen read for Earth Day last week. Yep, I even read it to the 5th graders and they were so engaged as they listened to Jane's dream to one day go to Africa and live a life helping animals. Then on the last page comes a REAL photograph of Jane Goodall living out this dream. GASP went the kids. The kind of gasp I love. Yes, dream big!

In a time of state testing and constant assessments it's a breath of fresh air to read such an encouraging uplifting TRUE story. I want kids to remember there is nothing wrong with having a dream of doing something special with their lives. 

Book Review: Arthur Turns Green

Author/Illustrator: Marc Brown
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Interest Level: Ages

From the Book Jacket: Arthur is full of ideas when it comes to doing his part to save the planet. But is he actually turning green?

Arthur comes home from school and begins sneaking around the house, taking notes and taking about a Big Green Machine. D.W. is suspicious of her brother's weird behavior, and when Arthur shows up late for dinner with green hands, she really gets the creeps! Will the Big Green Machine get her, too? Find out how Arthur's secret project convinces his entire family to turn green!

Why It's On My Bookshelf: Do your kids know what it means to Go Green? Well, your favorite aardvark is back after nearly a decade to teach them. It's Earth Day this Friday, April 22nd and all of our classrooms are taking on school wide green projects. I started reading Arthur Turns Green today to help honor Friday and a majority of kids had no idea what it meant to be green. We get to learn through Arthur's little sister D.W. just what this going green stuff means. She thinks the Big Green Machine is out to get her family. Lots of chuckles from students as they realized her perspective on the concept was all wrong. The story has a humorous element to it which author Marc Brown does so well in all of his Arthur books. If you want to teach about Earth Day or just encourage kids to be mindful of their everyday habits....Arthur is your guy.


A Link to This Book and Others You Might Find Helpful:

Book Review: You're Mean, Lily Jean!

Author: Frieda Wishinsky
Illustrated by Kady MacDonald Denton
Publisher: Albert Whitman
Interest Level: Ages 4-8

From the Book Jacket: When Lily Jean moves in next door, sisters Carly and Sandy are happy to have a new friend join their game. But Lily Jean changes everything. She decides they'll play house and orders Carly to be the baby. When they play king and queen, King Lily Jean tells Carly to be the royal dog! Tired of being bossed around, Carly comes up with a way to teach Lily Jean a lesson. With Sandy's help, can she turn a bully into a friend?

Why It's On My Bookshelf: Well, my 2011 favorites list just grew again! I am very passionate about the name of my blog because of books just like this one. I spend hours hunting for the ones with teachable moments that help children learn important social skills. Every K-3 class I read this to benefited in their friendships, sibling relationships, and helped curb bullying behavior.

There is a whole lot of bossing around going on in the story. Lily Jean is on a power trip and her behavior got a ton of disapproval from students. Carly is picked on because she is the little sister and Lily Jean wants to have Sandy all to herself. But what blessed my heart was how sweet and caring big sister Sandy is to Carly. She sticks up for her. It was a great stopping point to talk about how we need to look out for our siblings and make sure they are being treated with kindness. Carly sticks up for herself too and lets Lily Jean know she can hang with her and Sandy if she is nice. That's their friendship rule for Lily Jean. Stop being bossy and start being nice or go play alone. Lots of kids need to hear this truth. It's okay to say NO to bad behavior. Looking forward to reading this one to my own kiddo.  


Pictures of the inside of this book will be posted tomorrow. Technical difficulties are preventing the pictures from popping up in the blog post,

A Link to This Book and Others You Might Find Helpful:

Book Review: Point to Happy (a book for kids on the autism spectrum)

 

Authors: Miriam Smith and Afton Fraser

Photographs by Margo Smithwick

Publisher: Workman 

Interest Level: Ages 4 and Up

From the Publisher: Children love to look at pictures and share them with others. For those children on the autism spectrum, communicating through pictures is sometimes the only way to express their feelings and emotions - and it can also open a door to further communication. Until now, there has been no book developed specifically for children with ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) that could help them convey their immediate wants and needs, experiences, and most importantly, their feelings.

Miriam Smith and her daughter, Afton Fraser searched for a way to aid Afton's son, who is on the autism spectrum. Taking matters into their own hands, Point to Happy is the first book of its kind: one written and designed for children on the autism spectrum who benefit from visual support. Ingenious in its simplicity, the parent reads and the child points to photographs with the attached pointer. 

The text is clear, and the friendly photographs are compelling to look at and easy to understand. The simple motor task of using a pointer helps children focus as they select the appropriate pictures. Identifying everyday objects, knowing the rituals of going to bed and getting up in the morning, and choosing what to eat is all made clear through the photos. A child can describe polite language, prompt when he is thirsty, and recognize the colors of the rainbow. 

Why It's On My Bookshelf:  April is Autism Awareness Month so a great way to support and celebrate is by sharing an amazing discovery. Working in an inclusive school district I see an overwhelming need for more curriculum and resources to help our students affected by autism. Parents are also looking to us as educators to help them find appropriate tools for home to support the social and emotional needs of their child. Point to Happy is a new resource at our school that we are LUCKY to have and put to use. Our autistic students are mostly visual learners and need curriculum geared towards helping them overcome the communication deficit they struggle with on a daily basis.

Point to Happy helps break down those language barriers with pictures depicting feelings and daily routines. It also has a super COOL pointer for the child to use as you are reading. The last few pages are blank for you to put your own photos in...loving that. Another reason it caught my eye is because it's AFFORDABLE. I get counseling catalogs all the time with curriculum tools that are not very budget friendly. When you have a child with high needs husbanding your financial resources is essential. Enjoy this new find!

 

A Link to This Book and Others You Might Find Helpful:

Book Review: The LOUD Book

Author: Deborah Underwood
Illustrated by Renata Liwska 
Interest Level: Ages 4-8
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children 
Companion to the The Quiet Book 


From the Book Jacket: BANG! CRACKLE! BOO! Just as there are different kinds of quiet, there are also different kinds of loud: Good louds (HOORAY!). And bad louds (CRASH!). And accidental louds that make you the center of attention (BURP!). The Loud Book presents all of these kid-friendly noises in a way that is sure to make readers CHEER!  

Why It's On My Bookshelf: Don't you love it when you are a fan of an awesome book and then the author decides to do a cool companion to it!? I started to use The Quiet Book this year with my K-1 students to help support that concept in the classroom. A cute adorable read is always a nice way to help introduce the need for shhhhhh sometimes. But we aren't always required to be hush hush in school so I was so excited to see The Loud Book at my local bookstore. Another creative resource to add to my classroom management lessons! It can be pretty darn boring to hear your teacher instruct you on different voice levels - but not when you have two delightful books to help bring the message home.
 
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