Grasshopper: On The Road

Grasshopper: On The Road

Author/Illustrator: Arnold Lobel
Genre: Modern Fantasy
Awards: ALA Notable Children's Book, IRA/CBC Children's Choice, Horn Book Fanfare
Age Level: 4-8 years old

Summary: Grasshopper takes his first steps on a new journey. He is not worried about where the road will lead him, but curious to see what is out there. He sets off on his journey to find a group of beetles with signs held high saying, "morning is best!" and "morning tops all!" Grasshopper enjoys making new friends and appreciates their enthusiasm for the morning. He soon left on his way and climbed up a steep hill to find an apple he sees as aj tasty lunch. This wasn't an ordinary apple, this one had a tiny worm living inside! Grasshopper was not amused by the worm, he kicked the apple down the hill and it smashed to pieces. Now the apple was no longer a home nor a meal. Continuing down the path, Grasshopper runs into a housefly cleaning up the road. The housefly shares with grasshopper how important to him it is to keep a tidy house. The housefly swept so much, that dust from the ground got in Grasshoppers eyes causing him to leave and continue on his journey. The next friend Grasshopper meets on his journey was the mosquito. Mosquito was encouraging Grasshopper to join him on his boat to the other side. Grasshopper tried to tell him that he was too big for his little boat and ending up carrying his new friend in his boat across the stream. The next friends that he meets are butterflies. They always do the same thing, same rhythm, and same lunches. Grasshopper encourages the butterflies to try something new and challenge them to do something different. The butterflies seemed intimidated by this suggestion and carried on with their ways. The last friend that Grasshopper makes on his journey are two dragonflies. These two are always in a hurry and never have time to even stop and view the sunset. All the exciting characters that Grasshopper met exhausted him at the end of the day. He decided to fall asleep in a soft place and be reassured that by morning the road will still be there to take him on any journey that he wants to go.

Illustrations in this story were scarce due to being a chapter book. The pictures present were cartoon-like insect characters with some realistic features. Colors used were dull greens with dusty brown and pinks for highlight.

In my classroom, I would use this book for the students to read and learn about a sequencing of events. A foldable or timeline would work really well with this story so that students can have a visual to refer to as the events of Grasshoppers journey continue on.

Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs

Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs (Audible Audiobook)

Author/Illustrator: Judi Barrett/RonBarrett
Narrator: Jerry Terheyen
Genre: Modern Fantasy
Awards: Colorado Children's Best Book Award, The Golden Sower Award of New England
Age Level: 6+ years old

Summary:  The audible book begins by a grandpa telling a story to his grandson Henry. He begins by telling him that the town of Chewandswallow might have looked like an average tiny town with their houses, trees, cats and dogs. The thing it was missing was food stores. The weather fell upon the town at breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Unlike other towns, Chewandswallow didn't precipitate with through rain, snow, or wind. Every few hours, the clouds would rain food items. Everything that anyone ever ate had come from the sky. There came a day where the food got damagingly larger. One morning, storms of pancakes and floods of maple syrup almost flooded the town. Later, the sea was full of floating rolls and the workers couldn't seem to clean it up fast enough. The town was a complete mess and the sanitation department gave up on the town because the everything was so damaged by the huge meatballs, even the schools had been closed. So, they made the decision to abandon the town and move to safety on their roll rafts. Once they drifted to safety, they constructed temporary homes in their new town. The families had a terrible time shopping for food for their families. They do their best to make a new life in this town even though they are left discouraged and missing the storms of hamburgers and pancakes from their tiny town of Chewandswallow. Once grandpa finishes the story, Henry looks outside and sees children playing outside in the snow. He imagines that they are in mashed potatoes snow mountains. Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs is full of creativity, imagination, and originality.

Illustrations were not present in the audiobook version that I was listening too. The cover illustration seems to be drawn in black ink with a comic-looking character. The grandpa is very detailed from his jacket design to the smile on his face.

In my classroom, I would present this to my students at the beginning of the year (hurricane season) in hopes to give them a new perspective on storms. We never know when a storm is going to hit or disaster is going to strike. Even though it won't rain meatballs, this story shows a supportive community working together and demonstrates them handling diversions properly.

Fireflies!

Fireflies!

Author/Illustrator: Julie Brinckloe
Genre: Contemporary Realistic Fiction
Awards: NA
Age Level: 5-8 years old

Summary:  Fireflies is the story of a young boy (name not specified) who longs to hold the precious moonlight in his hands. He waits to the perfect time of night and then rushes to the cellar to make his jar perfect for his soon-to-be-caught fireflies. Using Momma's scissors, he punches holes in the top of the jar to ensure air for the fireflies. He calls to his friends, "fireflies" and they all join together with jars in hand in hopes to catch these moonlight creatures. The fireflies bring them so much joy and wonder of the universe. There are endless amounts of them to catch and hold. The children wave their hands in the night sky like nets to and feel the bright fireflies against their arms. Once they are tired and have filled their jars to the top, they bring the jars back into their homes using the jars as night lights. The young boy stares amazed at the fireflies as the blinked on and off. He continues tow watch them fly in the jar until he noticed the light growing dim, and less flight in their wings. Then quickly flew off his covers, opened the jar, and let his fireflies fly free into the moonlight. Although he was sad that his jar was empty when they left, he still had hope inside that he will later collect the fireflies again.

Illustrations in the story followed a black and white scheme with pops of yellow to enhance the color of the fireflies. The characters seem to be sketched with pencils and they resemble real human beings.

In my classroom, I would try to find a place to see real life fireflies and bring them contained to my classroom for the students to see. This would really bring life to the story and appreciate the emotions of the characters in the book.

Frog and Toad Are Friends

Frog and Toad Are Friends

Author/Illustrator: Arnold Lobel
Genre: Modern Fantasy
Awards: NA
Age Level: 4-8 years old

Summary:  Frog and Toad are ready for adventure this spring. Frog walks over to Toads house and tries to get him out of bed. Only to find out that he is feeling sick and doesn't want to get out of bed. Toad does not take no for an answer and drags him onto the porch  as they examine the calendar. Being the good friend that Toad is, he jokes with Frog and makes him some tea when he isn't feeling very well. When he tries to tell Frog a story, he can't think of a single one! So he tries multiple ways to remember the story. By standing on his head, walking up and down, and even pouring water on his head Toad still can not think of a story to tell. Finally, he realizes that the best story for his friend is just retelling what he did to think of a story and watching him fall sound asleep. The two friends Toad and Frog decide to go on a long walk together. When Toad realizes he has lost his jacket button, they begin an immediate search all through the woods. They ask all the animals and no one has seen his round, thick button. At the end of the day, they realize that being in each other's company is the best adventure they could possibly ask for. Even when Frog makes fun of Toad for some silly things, they still are two friends stuck together like glue.

Illustrations are simple and delightful! There are about three shades colors used in the novel, black, white, and brown. Toad and Frog have a pleasant demeanor and a warm tone to each of them.

In my classroom, I would use this novel as a part of my centers. Student's would read Frog and Toad Are Friends individually to me as I assessed their pronunciation, understanding, and comprehension.

Jonah's Whale

Jonah's Whale

Author/Illustrator: Eileen Spinelli/Giuliano Ferri
Genre: Traditional Literature
Awards: NA
Age Level: 4-8 years old

Summary: Jonah's Whale is the beloved bible story of the God made whale who was living peacefully and happily in the deep blue sea. One stormy and windy day, God gave the whale instruction to keep Jonah safe and protected when his ship wrecks.  Then after three days, the whale would throw Jonah up on dry land unharmed so he could continue on his journey. Illustrations in Jonah's Whale were full of bold and bright colors. The pages were rich with color and shaded with expertise. Characters were animated and helped with the telling of this beloved bible story.

In my classroom, I would use this as a segway into our marine science lesson. Students would do research on any marine animal of choice. They would create a brochure with facts they researched about their marine animal of choice.

Andy and His Yellow Frisbee

Andy and His Yellow Frisbee

Author/Illustrator: Mary Thompson

Genre: Contemporary Realistic Fiction (Special Needs Collection)

Awards: NA

Age Level: 6+ years old

Summary: Andy and His Yellow Frisbee is a children's book about a young boy named andy with autism. He would sit on the playground every day and spin his yellow frisbee no matter who was watching. All recess long, he would watch it spin round and round. Andy has a sister named Rosie, She is very protective and loving towards him. Andy had always shown tendencies to want to be alone and become fixated on one thing. Andy described this feeling of "words being stuck inside him and they couldn't get out." Rosies' mom told her why Andy does the things he does is because he has a disability called Autism. A girl named Sarah would approach Andy during the day. She was gentle, kind, and compassionate. Andy felt comfortable and at peace around her, unlike most of the other students at his school. Andy and His Yellow Frisbee is a great book for students with autism as well as for family members to gain a background of understanding for autism. 

Illustrations are filled with vivid watercolors. The colors are gentle and soft-spoken, matching the tone of Andy's voice.  Characters are drawn with life-like features and the text flows page to page.

In my classroom, this book would be a book at one of my reading centers for the students during library time. I would love for them to read this book in pairs, reflect within their group, and share with the teacher questions they might have about the book. I think this will allow students to gain knowledge of the autism disability in the least intrusive way. 

About Average

About Average

Author/Illustrator: Andrew Clements
Genre: Contemporary Realistic Fiction
Awards: NA
Age Level: 8-11 years old

Summary: Jordan Johnston is an average sixth grader. She's an average violin player, not very tall, not very short, not too gifted, but not flunking out. Jordan looks around and sees the world around her and sees everyone else as more talented, more gifted, more extraordinary than herself. Jordan decides to set a goal at the beginning of the story to become the best "self" that she can be. She finds ways to succeed, such as becoming an assistant soccer coach. She may not be an incredible player for the team, but she can use her organizational skills to bring the team together. This is a story about self-acceptance and self-discovery. Jordan learns that what she sees as flaws in herself become strengths in the end. She uses her leadership and planning skills to be the best Jordan that she can be while staying humble and kind to others. The author of this books challenges its younger readers to find their inner strengths and realize their personal talents. The message Clements is sending the reader is so important to students in this day of age. With all the pressure to be number one, be the best, and be different, some students may feel lost and unworthy of living up to these high standards. Through Jordan, we learn that being your best self is sufficient enough.

Although illustrations in About Average are few and far between, they stand full of detail. Inside the book, illustrations are black and white. They are a guide to the text, but the text does not depend on the illustration to portray a truthful and hopeful message.

If I were to use this book in my classroom, I would use this book in a read-aloud lesson for self-awareness month of March. Students would write positive affirmations for them self and their classmates to encourage each other in our strengths and weakness. Students can use Jordan as a guide and role model to help them become their personal bests.