Red Butterfly

Red Butterfly, written by Deborah Noyes, is a Chinese folktail about the princess of China long, long ago. The story is about how the princess was married off to a king of Khotan, in Tibet. She talked about everything that she loved about her father's kingdom. The princess did not want to leave her fathers prestigious kingdom. She felt that he had everything; nothing that she wanted to leave behind. The princess had not choice and had to leave her fathers kingdom to become a queen. One of China's most long kept secrets, the secret of silk, was somehow smuggled away by the to-be-queen. It was a crime for secrets to be taken away from one kingdom, punishable by death, but how did the princess manage this most daring task.
This book took me two times to read through to discover how the princess smuggled the silk out of her fathers kingdom, it was well hidden in the text. It was very well described in the back of the book within the author's notes as well. This book was very educational and had great pictures for readers to relate to. It was written in a form of Chinese poetry, called T'ang Dynasty poetry. It was a very interesting book and recommend that teachers check the book out if they have the opportunity.

Pappy's Handkerchief

Pappy's Handkerchief, written by Devin Scillian, is about an African American family who is struggling to make ends meet in Baltimore Maryland. Moses is a young boy who helps his father sell fish, which just isn't providing for the family. He lives with his mother, father, grandparents, and 3 siblings. The house they live in is small and they need to get out of Baltimore. Moses' father meets a man named Liberty, who is an educated black man that can read. Liberty reads Moses' father the form from Oklahoma about land claims being given away to any American. Pa goes home and talks all night about the free land in Oklahoma and the family decides to make the long trip. They sell everything they have and face many trials as they make their way to Oklahoma to stake their own piece of land. Will they get the land they wanted? Will the U.S. Marshall's allow for the African American family to keep their claim?
I think that this is a great book to read in class about the westward expansion. The pictures in this book are amazing and provide the reader with great visuals to relate the text to. Another unit this could be used for is when students are learning about the end of slavery. It has some vocabulary that would need to be taught to students to get a good understanding of the book; having background knowledge of the Oklahoma Territory and western expansion would be ideal. I felt that this book would make for a great read in the classroom and would provide with some excitement amongst students as the book is read. I would recommend that teachers take a look at this book.

Toestomper and the Caterpillars

Toestomper and the Caterpillars, written by Sharleen Collicott, is a story about a mouse named Toestomper. Toestomper is a very rude and disgusting creature. He doesnt care for others except his three griends who are also trouble makes; mean and disgusting. Toestomper get's mad one day because his friends arent around to cause trouble with and he ruins the home of a bunch of caterpillars. These caterpillars follow Toestomper home and are sad because they dont know how to build a place to live. Toestomper changes his ways because he starts to see how being nice was more benificial to him and to others.
This book was recommended to me by the librarian at Pioneer Elementary to use with the 5th grade class when teaching them about respect. This book is a good read aloud for students to listen to and reflect on. It shows students how being rude and inconsiderate of each other doesnt help any situation. The book also teaches them how being nice and caring of others can help you make more friends, have more fun day by day and makes you feel better as well. It is a good book for learning respect in the classroom and having students think critically about the story to make real life connections. I would use this book with 5th graders in this situation along with younger grades as well.

Purple Heart

Purple Heart, written by Patricia McCormick, is a book about an 18 year old private in the Iraq War named Matt Duffy. Matt wakes up in an army hospital not knowing what happened to him however he has flashbacks about something. Matt finds out the he is being held and tested for TBI, traumatic brain injury. Matt doesn't know what day it is or how long he has been in the hospital but he wants to get back out with his squad. Matt stays in the hospital and is taken through a series of test and befriends a man named Francis. As time goes on in the hospital Matt finds out more information about what happened and learns some from his friend and squad member Justin. He has a hard time remembering things and writes down what he learns in a notebook. Matt is nearly questioned by the military police for the incident that put him into the hospital. When he is discharged from the hospital he gets to go back to his squad but he is scared of going back out into the war zone. He meets back up with his friends who are glad to see him except his best friend Justin, who seems weird about things. Matt gets back out into the city on patrols with Charlene, a woman from his squad, so that he could keep up with her. They weren't really very good friends but they see something in each other and become closer. One day on patrol things go awry as an explosions, gunshots, fire and smoke fill the immediate area. Two of Matt's squad members become victim's of an insurgent attack. Where is Justin? Can Matt pull the trigger when he needs to? Will he make it through the fight?

Purple Heart is a book about real life situations that effect the men and women in the military. McCormick gained accurate information to write the book via interviews of soldiers and soldiers families. It shows struggles both mentally and physically that soldiers may endure during battle, and the up close and personal situation that arise in the war zone.

I really enjoyed the book. It was very well written and draws the reader into the story, and leaves the reader wanting more, especially at the abrupt ending. The book was a very fast read and did involve some colorful language that many people wouldn't care to read or let their 5th grade student read. It wouldn't be a book that I would read in class but is a book that could be recommended to older middle school or high school students to read. It may be a book that as a teacher you would possibly send a letter home to the parents summarizing the book and stating what the book is about so that they aren't surprised when their children shows a book that you lent them consisting of vulgar language, death and war. War is also not an easy topic for some, so considerations should be made about the overall topic of the book as well. Overall I would rate the book a 4 out of 5! It would be a 5 out of 5 without the abrupt ending; I really wanted to learn more about Matt Duffy.

Wishbone Classics: Joan of Arc

Joan of Arc is a historical fiction book based off of the TV series Wishbone. Wishbone tells of the story of Joan of Arc, the young, courageous, and heroic young woman of France. The book starts when Joan is young and how she first becomes to be known as strong and brave in her community. As she grows people see how special of a girl she is. The hundred years war is destroying the country and the French heir to the throne, the dauphin, is no longer going to get the country because of a treaty signed with the English. Joan wasn't going to let this happen. She became a instant leader and strived for the freedom of France and for them to have their dauphin become king. Joan uses God's strength and his word to guide her and speak for her. Many people doubt Joan but find that her prophetic comments can't be looked over and she gains the trust of many people to fight in the war for her. Joan leads the army to the Battle of Orleans. Will she be able to win the fight and help lead France to freedom from the English? What will happen to Joan on her brave conquest?
This book is a fairly easy book to read. It is helpful to understand the information but can help to teach a lot as well. There are many bold passages where Wishbone gives the reader more information, like quick history tips, or vocabulary terms, or questions for the reader to think about. I think that this would be a good book for 4th-6th grade readers. It is a fun way to learn about history and gain valuable knowledge while reading an easy story. It could also be a good read aloud for the classroom to help learn about history as well, primarily European, French history of course. There are many of these classic books told by Wishbone that can help to engage readers in the text with the few pictures and bold text that give readers additional information.

Beyond Belief

Beyond Belief is a biography written by Tim Keown about Texas Rangers All star Josh Hamilton. Hamilton currently plays for the Rangers and has been since 2008. This book follows Hamilton since he was a young boy and how when he was 6 he was forced to play with 11-12 year olds because he could hit to hard and throw too fast for his age. Hamilton was an amazing baseball player through high school, graduating as the number one prospect for Major League Baseball. He has set a goal during high school to reach the pros and stay away from trouble. He met his goal and was drafter number one overall in the draft and began playing minor league ball to make it to the big leagues. During this time his parents were usually around to support and help him but managers felt that he was being overprotected and Hamilton's parents backed off. One day Hamilton and his parents were in a car wreck that injured his back and kept him from performing at a top level. This is where things got bad for Josh; he became depressed. He started getting tattoos and began to experiment with drugs and alcohol with his tattoo artists. He begin to slide further and further down in life spending excessive amounts of money on drugs. He started to hang out with the wrong people and baseball seemed to slip from his grip. He knew he needed to change but couldn't, he had the support from family that he needed but at times it wasn't enough. One night at his grandmothers, who took him in to feed him and house him, he came across the bible. He opened the book to the passage James 4:7 "Humble yourself before God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you." Hamilton memorized and changed from this passage, along with his love for life and family.
This story is absolutely amazing. The events that he went through in his 4 year slump of drugs and alcohol were unreal. Spending nearly 2 million on drugs alone, and bartering off his wife's wedding rings for drugs shows how he was below rock bottom. He is now back at the top of major league baseball and has a story to tell that nobody should ever have to experience. He is an inspiration to many people and a great role model.
Since this book is a sport biography I think it would be hard to recommend in school or do read alouds. It is about his faith in the God and how it saved him; which makes it religious and not able to make others read. I would highly recommend this book, especially to fans of Josh Hamilton. This book is about a mans life at its highest point, reaching the lowest of lows, and making a comeback to be the best once again. It is truly inspiring and is a must read for all sports fans.

Diary of A Wimpy Kid

Jeff Kinney is the author of the series Diary of a Wimpy Kid. The first book is just that, Diary of a Wimpy Kid. However Greg, the main character of the book, states it's not a diary it is a journal, diaries are for girls. The book is set up in a journal format written by him.
Greg is a middle school kid who lives a fun life and enjoys being with his strange friend Rowley. Greg often goes to his friends house to play video games, which is actually only ever one video game because Rowley's dad checks all the games online to make sure they don't have any violence, but this beats not playing any games when Greg gets grounded and can't play at home. Greg tends to get into trouble for things that he does at school and at home, like listening to his brothers music, or going trick or treating in the wron neighborhood and staying out to later. He gets teased by his older brother Rodrick and fears that his little brother Manny will expose his nickname of "Bubby" to others and this will only get him beat up in school. He likes to take the easy way out on some things which only ends up making things worse. Greg tries not to do very much and ends up getting kicked out of his house for a while to go get some exercise, or is forced into the school play to broaden his horizons, and is forced to wrestle at school. Greg is a good kid and has a lot of stories, funny ones at that.
Diary of a Wimpy Kid is a comic style book like the Big Nate series. I found this one to be funnier than the other and was constantly laughing at the comics and text that Greg was writing in his journal. I like the simple humor that is used in the book and the text makes the book for a fairly quick read. It could be one of those books that gets kids reading because of the humor, mixed with comics and familiar text. It would also be a good read aloud that would have students wanting to hear more because Greg is just an interesting character. I would recommend this book to everybody. Not only would kids like to read it but for me it was a funny book and I like the humor that is in it, even though it is simple. It makes for a fun and quick read at the older level but makes you want to continue. I could see myself finishing the series, which would also be benificial to explain to students further into the series to keep them reading and intersted.

Frindle

The book Frindle, written by Andrew Clements, is a book about a boy named Nick who learns some appealing information about how words are formed.Nick was known as the time-stopper, he was good as wasting time in school. One day Nick tries to pull a fast one on his teacher Mrs. Granger. They were talking about the dictionary and Nick had a brilliant idea. He asked the teacher were all the words came from, which he thought was a good question to waste time in the strictest teachers classroom and avoid homework, Nick felt this was the total "thought grenade". Well it turns out the teacher knew exactly what was going on with the little joker and had Nick do a research on how and where words come from. This created the biggest problem the school had ever had. Nick found out that anyone could create a word and with his friends and the help of everyone in school he changed the work pen to frindle. This caused a lot of trouble for Nick in school and out of school. It became a nationwide word and recognition was coming from everywhere except from the mean old teacher Mrs. Granger who highly encouraged Nick to stop with the nonsense. Well more problems arise and some good even comes from the situation, but how?
The book Frindle was a funny book to read. I would recommend reading this book to a 4th or 5th grade class that would be able to understand about words and the dictionary and maybe even do their own projects with the dictionary as well. It would be good to have students learn a little about the dictionary at the same time Nick does in the book so that they could easily follow along, and even have them create their own new word, or a create a new name for a current word. The book has a few pictures to offer a visual to the students reading the book. The easy text makes for a quick read, perfect for in class.

Big Nate: In A Class By Himself

Big Nate: In A Class By Himself, written by Lincoln Peirce, is a humorous book about a boy who attends Public School 38. Well Nate always find trouble when hes not looking for it and just racks up the detention slips. The day starts of bad for Nate from the moment his covers are ripped off of him to wake up. He can't remember if he has a test or not so he uses binoculars to check if his friend is studying across the street, and uh-oh, he certainly is. Nate has to find a way to get out of going to school so that he wont fail his test and need to attend summer school. Nate soon finds out after nearly forging his dads signature on a letter that there is not test. Whew...Nate lucked out. When he gets to school he notices he left his lunch as school and his friend Teddy tells him not to worry that he will help him out. He tosses Nate a fortune cookie first thing in the morning and Nate opens it up and reads its fortune. Today is Nate's lucky day because "Today you will surpass all others" is the fortune he recieved. Nate is very excited and his friends are too. But what will Nate do to surpass all others? He knows he is destined for greatness and has many talents that will help him achieve his goal of surpassing all others. However as the day goes on things don't look good for Nate. His friends are optimistic about there being enough time left in the day though, but is there? Will his fortune come true?
This book has a lot of humor. I would recommend this book to readers of all ages. Younger readers 3rd-5th, would get a good laugh out of some comments that Nate makes, and the artwork in the book. The 6th-8th grade readers would be able to relate with some of the problems of school like beginning to have more homework and more tests to be prepared for, classes to switch from with numerous teachers that "dont like you", friends and enemies. Like Nate, some kids try not to get into trouble but it just seems to happen. The book is almost set up like a comic book, there are sketches and drawings on every page that help the reader relate the text. Many of the pictures also require reading since they are part of the main text. It is an easy book to read and having humor on every page and school to relate too, many readers would enjoy the comedy of Big Nate.

The Tale of Despereaux

The Tale of Despereaux, written by Kate DiCamillo, is an adventurous tale of a noble mouse. The book is broken up into 4 "Books". Book 1 is about Despereaux, Book 2 is about Roscuro, the rat, Book 3 is about Miggery Sow, the abused servant, and Book 4 is about how they all meet together, with the princess of course.
So the book is obviously about the mouse named Despereaux. He is a brave mouse, however, he isnt much of a mouse at all. He isnt afraid of things he is suppossed to be, and is rather intrigued with the castle and all the vibrant colors it has to offer. Little Despereaux is just not normal; his ears are to large, hes very small, and he was born with his eyes open (apparently not a mouse thing). The quality that gets Despereaux into a predicament however is love. After reading a book in the castle library and getting into trouble with his family, Despereaux wanders off daily in the castly in search of a "honey sweet sound", a beautiful sound, music, and Desperaux is mesmerized. He finds the source of the museic and goes out into the open where the princess sees him. He is chased away by the king, after being held by the beautiful princess, but not before being seen by his brother Furlough who turns in him for endangering the mouse commuunity. This gets Despereaux banned from the community and sent to the rat ridden dungeon, where he wants nothing more than to be back up in the light and with the person he loves, the princess.
Roscuro is a sneaky rat who longs for the light too, but this gets him into trouble after he kills the queen, and the king bans soup from the entire kingdom. Poor Miggery Sow is a beaten young child who wants nothing more than to be wanted however only ever gets "clouts" to the ear. She schemes with the rat as Desperaux fights for the princess, who is taken hostage to the dungeon by Mig and Roscuro. Is it possible for the little mouse to save the princess?
This was a really good book to read. If you expect to read the book after the movie dont expect it to be the same, they are completely different. I really enjoyed the movie and might like that version a little better, even though this was a good read. The text in the book was easy to read and I would recommend this book to readers between 5th and 6th grade, possible lower for advanced readers as well. It would be a really fun read aloud in the classroom that would provide students many opportunities to predict the text." The Tale of Despereaux, being the stroy of a mouse, a princess, some soup, and a spool of thread" is a must have book in the classroom!

Julie of the Wolves

Julie of the Wolves, written by Jean Craighead George, is about an Eskimo girl named Miyax who's mother died at the age of 4, and her fathers aunt came to take her away from her father Kapugen. Kapugens Aunt wanted to take her and enroll in her in school. As Miyax leaves to live with her Aunt, she becomes Julie. Within a month her father is presumed dead from a hunting trip that he didn't return from. By the age of thirteen Julie had gotten married and was in a bad situation, she wanted to go to San Francisco and meet her pen pal. As she leaves, she states that Julie is gone and Miyax is her name again. She tries to find her way across the Tundra but gets lost and she runs out of supplies. She finds a way to communicate with wolves, and uses knowledge that her father taught her and is accepted into the pack. The leader of the back is skeptical in the beginning but Miyax longs for his acceptance in the pack. She finds the leader, Amaroq, to be her father figure and learns to love the pack. Amaroq is later killed and Miyax situation changes dramatically. But how?
The book have starts with Miyax among the wolves, then it talks about her life as a young girl and the struggles that took place leading up to her running away, the last part is about how she discovers that her father is still alive, but is he who is use to be?
I think that this would be a good book for readers in 5th to 6th grade, who like books about survival and adventure. It would also be a good book to read as a class to discover cultural differences from their own. It will show a reader how life changes and decisions may be hard to make up, like Miyax's decision at the end of the book. The book has a few sketches through the book that help build visuals for the reader as well, the text is detailed and informative enough as well that a good sense of visualization can be created from reading. I would recommend this book as a must have in the classroom.

The BFG

The story, The BFG, written by Roald Dahl, is about a little orphan girl named Sophie who was longing to see what witching hour was like outside as she laid awake in her orphanage home. As she stood at the window she saw something coming down the street and peeking in windows. She figured out it was a giant person with a  black coat, suitcase, and trumpet. Well the giant sees that she notices him and he comes and takes her form her orphanage and back to his cave where all the giants live. The BFG sits Sophie down when they get back to the cave and talks to her, in really bad langwitch. He talks to her about all the other terrible giants who like to eat children and people throughout the world. He shows her how he is a good giant and has to eat snozzcumbers, a terrible vegetable, and how he catches dreams to blow into children's bedrooms at night. The BFG really doesn't like how the other giants eat people and Sophie especially doesn't. So Sophie and the BFG devise a plan and carry it out to keep the giants from ever eating any more innocent people. Does their plan work out?
I think that many 5th or 6th grade kids would like to read this book. There are times when the reader has to figure out what the giant is saying, so it does require thought as you are reading to understand him. The main part of the text is easy to read and flows well, the transition between chapters are smooth and lead your right where you want them to go from anticipation of wanting to know what is going to happen next. There are also some sketches through the book depicting what is happening on these pages, which are fun to look at because they give the reader a good visual of what the giants look like, and what Sophie looks like as well. Overall this was a good book that I would recommend to students to read who like Giant fiction!

Just Kidding

Just Kidding, written by Trudy Ludwig, is a book about teaching awareness about bullying. It is about a boy who is constantly being made fun of, and he hates it. His name is D.J. and the bully, Vince, thinks he is a funny guy and makes jokes at D.J.'s expense. D.J. is tired of being made fun of and being picked on by Vince, so he gets a small lesson from his father about bullies and tries to solve the problem, when the problem doesn't get solved they go to the principal. D.J. believes that "its fun to kid around with your friends and family. But...when a joke has a sharp edge to it, it can cut you to pieces."
Just Kidding would be a good book to read to older students, upper elementary, who feel they are funny and don't realize they are being bullies. It would be a good book for students to hear and to keep them aware of what they are actually doing to others even when they feel it was just a joke. The artwork of the book is very captivating and the emotions of the children in the book really give that bully/victim feel, you can see the hurt in the victim and the "joke" in the bully. It provides the reader with advice to tell students who are bullied, and also gives a chart of Do's and Don'ts about bullying. This would be a great book to keep in the classroom whenever these situations arise!

My Side of the Mountain

My Side of the Mountain, written by Jean Craighead George, is a great adventure book about a 12 year old boy, Sam, who runs away from his hectic life in New York to live on his great-grandpas abandoned farm in the Catskill Mountains. Sam is a very resourceful boy after learning so much from reading. He finds a home in the Catskills, a hollowed out tree. He uses Indian techniques to make his hollowed tree a little bit bigger. Sam gets very good at finding plants and trapping animals for food. One of Sam's most courageous acts was stealing a baby falcon from a nest. Sam read about falconry at the library and stole the baby falcon, whose mother he had been watching, to raise and teach how to hunt. This proves very successful and Sam and his falcon, Frightful, create a strong relationship. Sam learns to preserve meat, store food, and is very observant of animals and learns from them how to hunt for certain items. Sam uses many parts of the surrounding world to create a life in the forest, but will he be able to survive the brutal winter and the challenges that he faces as he lives alone?
My Side of the Mountain is a great book to read about adventure and independence. I think that readers from 5th grade on would enjoy the book. The text is easy to follow, and the story line may be something that some readers could relate to, like the urge to run away and be adventurous and independent in the wild. It is something that I could see myself wanting to do when I was young since I loved the outdoors and being able to hunt and fish would have been something I could do daily for the rest of my life. It sparks interest in learning new techniques about survival, and how being observant in the wild can be a beneficial.

Eragon

Eragon, written by Christopher Paolini, is about a 15 year old boy named Eragon who lives in a town named Carvahall, in Alagaesia. Eragon is a farm boy and one day while exploring in the mountains he discovers a magical stone. This magical stone soon hatches, and to Eragons amazement a dragon, which is very rare, is now his. The dragon, Saphira, is sought after by Lord Galbatorix, who sends the Ra'zac in search of Saphira and the new dragon rider Eragon. As Eragon and Saphira hide in the forests of Alagaesia from the Ra'zac, his Uncle is killed and his farm burned down. Saphira and Eragon create a bond and relationship that allow them to communicate with each other, and even heal each other. Eragon's long journey to find help at the Varden takes him through many new places and more troubles arise as he meets new people and encounters new enemies. Can help be found before the elite Ra'zac find and kill Eragon and Saphira?
This book is a young adult fantasy book. Many readers, probably along the lines of middle school, who enjoy fantasy should definitely read Eragon, which is book 1 in a 4 book series. It has good readability and keeps the reader drawn in, the book is very hard to put down, the suspense of situations will keep the pages turning. The author uses text that is easy to visualize and that helps the reader become a part of the book. Some of the towns, cities, landmarks and vocabulary of the book are hard to remember and are easy to be confused by, but the glossary in the book and the maps are very useful and helpful to limit confusion. This book is highly recommended to any who like to read fantasy, not just middle school, young adults.

Night-Graphic Novel

Night, by Elie Wiesel, is a graphic novel of a boys unimaginable account in Jewish concentration camps during World War II. The boy is introduced in the book a very religous boy. His religion was tested as the germans came into his town of Sighet, Transylvania and formed ghettos for the jews to live in and within a week all families were shipped out. Their trip to where they were going was crowded and his account of the ride with a possessed lady screaming fire really got them worried and as they rolled into the town of Auschwitz where they saw horrific buildings with fire and the smell of flesh in the air their lives seemed over. His time spent in camps ruined him as he lost track of his mother and siblings from the second they stepped of the trains, and his father, he was able to spend most of the time with, what happened to him? The horrifying accounts of seeing people hung, executed, burned, and tortured, people of every age sticks in my mind. This book is a great account from a boy who lost everything he had, his innocence, his family, and his God, but lived to tell the story.
I would never recommend a book like this be read at school or given out to students in any form. A book like this could be one recommended to a college student but you would have to really be close to someone to offer this book. If someone is studying life during the holocaust or something of that nature then check it out and know that it is an R rated book. It has text that is easy to read, some sentences don't make very much sense since it was translated from French. Honestly the book was a great read, very interesting; however, the situation the boy went through is unbelievable. Understand this book is a non-fiction account of a real boy and that there are graphic images that will be forced onto the reader through the detail of the boys memories.

Pink and Say

Pink and Say by Patricia Polacco is a heart felt book about two young boys that fought in the Civil War. Sheldon Curtis, Say, was found in a field shot and disoriented by Pinkus Aylee, Pink. Pink saved him by carrying him and dragging him for "a powerful long way." Pink led Say back to his home where his mother, Moe Moe Bay, nursed him back to health and prayed that her son and Say wouldn't have to leave to go back to the war. Pink knew he had to leave to keep his mother out of harms way. On the day Pink and Say were going to leave and head back towards the war marauders came and Moe Moe Bay hid the boys in the cellar inside and made a run for it to protect them. A single shot was heard outside of the house and Pink knew what had happened, and things only get worse for Pink.
The story depicts a great story of a friendship that took place after Pink saved Say, who had never seen a black man before. I think this book would be a great book to read with a unit on the Civil War, or slavery. The story is amazing and is an easy book to read and it is also very interesting to follow along with. The pictures are very detailed and give a very good visual to the story as it is read. Some of the pictures really capture the emotion that take place and make the reader feel the emotion as well. I would highly recommend this five star book as a read aloud to older students with some background of the Civil War and slavery so that they really understand the situation and appreciate what the book is about.

Buried Onions

Buried Onions by Gary Soto was an interesting book about a Mexican boy from Fresno fighting to get out and make a better life for himself. Eddie had been a gangaster growing up but changed due to deaths occuring all around him and situations arising that he just didnt want to be a part of. Eddie tried to attend college but failed at that. He tried to hold down a simple job of painting address numbers but other problems arose from this, such as a stolen vehicle, another friend gets stabbed and he gets arrested. Eddie is tyring so hard to stay away from the violence that is around him but after his cousin gets killed his aunt and a "friend" named Angel keep trying to convince him to find and kill the man responsible. Eddie's only real friend Jose and past mentor, Coach, help Eddie get through the situations that are ruining his life and sending him spiraling in the wrong direction. Eddie seems to be in the wrong place in the wrong time, and just can't catch a break.
The book is suppossed to be a grade level 6 book. However I feel that the violence that takes place and the situations that Eddie is in should make this book be a read for more mature audiences.I think that the book may be read by 6th graders that are in this situation; the violent inner city, gang ridden communities. But I also think that it should be read by highschool audiences from 18-20 to relate directly to Eddie, since he is 19 in the book. It is an easy book to read as far as text and flow of sentences go. The author does a great job at leaving the reader in suspence waiting for the next page to see what is going to happen to Eddie next. Wanting things to go right for him is what is hopeful but it just doesnt seem to happen this way.

A Single Shard

A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park is about a 12 year old boy named Tree Ear. Tree Ear was highly interested in pottery, he especially liked to watch Min. Tree Ear was a poor orphan who lived under a bridge, he scavenged for food and was just in a bad situation. He decides that he likes that pottery enough that he sneaks in to see what type of creations Min has made and finds a special piece that he likes that is inside a box in his pottery studio. What was is that really made Tree Ear love pottery and want to help out Min to get to make his own.
This book was interesting and I would recommend this book to people to read. It is an easier book to read and gives good detail to the reader to create good visuals. I dont know if I would read the book again, it didnt pull me in as well as I like a book to do.

The Wednesday Wars

The Wednesday Wars by Gary Schmidt is about a boy named Holling Hoodhood and his struggles at school with his  teacher Mrs. Baker who "hates his guts". The year is 1967 and there are many struggles outside of school that Holling has to deal with such as the Vietnam War, the assassination of Bobby Kennedy, and his father who cares nothing about anything but his own work. While in school Wednesdays become the day that Holling has to read poetry, Shakespeare, in class for Mrs. Baker. He is the only one who has to do this because all the other kids leave for church activity's. As school goes on Holling and Mrs. Baker become closer and things get better for Holling as Mrs. Baker seems to rescue Holling on occasion from certain downfalls, including Mickey Mantle, a heroic event, and a nearly missed Yankees game. Mrs. Baker has her own problems as well as news reports show how a downed helicopter is missing a marine, her husband Lt. Baker. Outside of school Holling has trouble with his mean older sister as well, but his relationship with her becomes much better as well because he is there to support her when she has problems, including needing money, the assassination of Bobby Kennedy, and general support since their father is so self centered.
The book started off really slow. It was an interesting book with problems arising everywhere and situations being resolved. I would recommend this book for people to read because it is an award winner and would stick out to people especially to those who may relate to the era.

Froggy Bakes A Cake

Froggy Bakes a Cake, by Jonathan London, is about a frog names Froggy. Froggy wants to do something special for his mother on her birthday so he decides to make her some mud pies outside while she worked in the garden. Froggy's father called out to him from inside the house and Froggy went inside to help him bake a cake for his mothers birthday. Well Froggy just seemed to know everything about baking. He mixed seven eggs, a bag of flour and a full box of sugar, a carton of milk, ten handfuls of chocolate covered flies, a box of baking powder and a stick of butter. Froggy then helps his father with decorating the house for his mother's special occasion. As he calls his mother inside something disastrous has happened.
The Froggy books are fun books and have great pictures to follow along with. Kids of all ages could relate to this book, there have always been times when kids have wanted to do things all by themselves and they don't always turn out perfect. This would be a great book to read in class or at home with your children. I personally enjoyed this book and would like to find many more Froggy books.

If You Take a Mouse to School

If You Take a Mouse to School, written by Laura Numeroff, is a fun story about a mouse who wants to go to school with you! The book tells you, the reader, what exactly a mouse would want if they were to take him to school. It begins by letting you know that "If you take a mouse to school, he'll ask for your lunchbox. When you give him your lunchbox, he'll want a sandwich-and a snack for later." The author continues on about what a mouse would need if you took him to school, which includes a notebook, pencils, and even your backpack to share. The mouse has a lot of fun at school and does some great work throughout the day. When you are ready to go home the mouse has forgotten something very important in the classroom. Something that he must go back for.
This book is a great book in a series of these fun stories. I would recommend this book to be read in class to younger students, and it would be fun to have them write a short story about what would happen if they took a certain animal to school. This would be a fun and engaging story and activity. If you haven't read this book or others in the series I highly recommend checking those books out too.

Clifford The Firehouse Dog

Clifford the Firehouse Dog, was written by Norman Bridwell, and is a book about fire safety with the main star Clifford, the big red dog! In this short story Clifford visits the local fire house to go and see his brother Nero. Clifford liked how Nero was a firehouse dog and could show the children safety rules, like Stop Drop and Roll. When Clifford learned this awesome technique he practices out on the street and crushes a street vendor's shop, oops! Just then a fire bell rings and the fire trucks are racing to a fire with Clifford clearing the streets, and protecting people from harm. The fireman face many problems at the fire but good thing Clifford is there to save the day. What exactly does Clifford do? Was Clifford possibly awarded with something in the end for his heroic efforts?
This book was a fun book to read. Clifford is a fun character and the pictures in the book are engaging for a reader. The book had some useful information for young students and would be a good story to read in class to young students. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes a short fun adventure and loves Clifford! It would be a fun book to read to students and for parents to read with children.

Class Two at the Zoo

Class Two at the Zoo, written by Julia Jarman is a funny rhyming book about a second grade class at the zoo. The students are so happy to be at the zoo and they see so many fun things, from a giraffe having a laugh, to hippos hopping in the dirt and monkeys eating chocolate dessert. The students and teacher are having so much fun until some of the kids start to go missing because nobody notices the sly anaconda eating them one by one. The anaconda goes unnoticed as eat eats nearly the whole class, until one girl saw the anaconda eat the teacher and another student. What is she going to do?
The book has great pictures. When the anaconda eats the children you can see them sprawled out inside of the large snake trying to get out. The other animals were having so much fun until they saw the anaconda too. The pictures alone would keep a student, or child's interest. The story is great since it rhymes to adds interest to the story too. I would recommend this book to read during school, especially right before a field trip to the zoo!

Dinosaur vs. Bedtime

Dinosaur vs. Bedtime, written by Bob Shea, is a book about a little dinosaur and the challenges that he faces through the day that can't stop him. Dinosaur begins by roaring around and saying that nothing can stop me. Dinosaur defeats a pile of leaves with his energy and ROAR he bellows as he accomplishes his first challenge, Dinosaur wins! Next is Dinosaur vs. the slide, and guess what? ROAR ROAR ROAR, Dinosaur wins! Dinosaur continues his winning streak against a bowl of spaghetti, ROAR, CHOMP, CHOMP. Then Dinosaur scares talking grown-ups, ROAR, Dinosaur wins again. Will Dinosaur continue his winning streak throughout the day and into the night or will he finally be defeated.
This book is really a really fun book to read, one of my new favorites. The book has great pictures, and Dinosaur is just a great character to be able to follow around. It would be familiar to parents reading to their children how they are able to just go all day and not take a break until one particular event stops them. The book would be an easy read for beginning readers, and the pictures help to tell the story just as easy as reading. Great book!

Donavan's Word Jar

Donavans Word Jar, written by Monalisa DeGross, is about a boy named Donavan who has a strange collection, unlike baseball cards, buttons, and marbles like his friends do. Donavan began his collection by finding words that he found interesting and he just kept writing them and writing them until his collection of words filled his jar. One day when Donavan noticed that his word jar was too full to fit anymore he had to find a way to be able to collect more words. He thought it over and knew he couldn't just get another jar or box because they would just fill up to. He asked for advice from his mother, father, teacher and grandma. The suggestions just didn't seem to work out for Donavan. Donavan did happen to stumble onto a situation that solved his word problem by itself. But what was it?
This book was a good beginners chapter book. I think that it is a book that most children can relate to because of having a collection and trying to keep it away from their siblings as well. The book keeps you engaged in reading and curious to see what Donovan comes up with to solve his word jar dilemma. I think that many readers would enjoy this chapter book. It keeps the reader interested and ready for the next page the whole way through. The pictures in the book are fun to look at because the borders around the pictures include words written on strips just like Donavan kept. This book is recommended to any collector!

No David

No, David, which is written by David Shannon, is a short book about a boy who is constantly getting into trouble for doing things that he shouldnt be. His mother is always telling him no, and to settle down, to come back and to stop this instant. David is a little trouble maker but something good happens in the end to David.
I really liked this book, the pictures are fun to look at and the text is easy as well and relates to the pictures. David is a fun character for the book and the things that he does to get into trouble can easily be related by most children. There is a series of David books and they are all just as good.
Young children would enjoy this book. The pictures help to draw a reader and being able to read it would build confidence with young readers. Reading this book to young children would also be helpful to hae them see what they may be doing wrong too.

Dinosaur Cove, Attack of the Tyrannosaurus

Dinosaur Cove is an adventure book written by Rex Stone about two boys who meet each other on the beach at Dinosaur Cove. Jamie wants to be a scientist and is equipped with useful tools to learn more about fossils, rocks, and plants. Tom is an explorer, he wants to be a wildlife presenter.

Tom has somewhere fun to show Jamie. So the newly acquainted friends rush down the beach together to the "smugglers cave". The boys start to explore the cave and find a secret entrance. What they find is everything they were looking for. Dinosaurs, fossils, old plants and lots of action! The boys are having a lot of fun looking throughout the new world the discovered until they come face to face with a T-Rex. How could they possibly get away?

This short chapter book would be for the students who likes adventure and action. It is an easy read and has illustrations that follow the book as well. I enjoyed the book and the adventure that it had to offer. It would leave a young reader in suspense of what will happen next. I would recommend this book to young readers who are interested in action and adventure.

Knuffle Bunny

Knuffle Bunny, by Mo Willems is a book about a baby named Trixie. Trixie had a special friend and this friend was knuffle bunny. Well one day Trixie goes with her dad on a trip to the laundromat, they go down the block, through the park, by the school and into the laundromat. Trixie helped her father with the laundry and she gets to put the money in the laundry machine. When Trixie and her father leave the laundromat Trixie starts to babble to her father about something. What was she wanting?

Knuffle Bunny is a good book. The best part of it is the pictures. The pictures are natural black and white pictures with colored cartoons. The pictures really stick out and create the book. I think that young readers would really enjoy this book. Its an adventure book about Trixie that is easy to read, and has really engaging photos. This book would work as a read aloud for students to enjoy to be able to pass a couple minutes at the end of the day. Children would be able to relate to the book about Trixie if they have young siblings as well.

This is the Feast

This is the Feast is a book about the first Thanksgiving. It starts with the journey of the first pilgrims to America. How they built their homes and how they learned from the Indians to plant and harvest food. The Indians helped them grow a wide variety of crops. It also informed the reader of disease that the pilgrims fought off  which decimated the Indian population. The Indians were cautious of the pilgrims but greeted them with care. How long did the first Thansgiving last? Were the Indians invited to join?

This book was a good rhyming book about Thanksgiving and teaches the reader some great information. The pictures in the book fit very well with the text to help tell the story. This book could be read to younger classes that are learning about Thanksgiving in school. Students would like to learn from this book and see the pictures that showed the process to the first Thanksgiving.

Puppy Power

Puppy Power is a book about a little girl named Fran. Fran is a 3rd grade trouble maker. She has a hard time being nice to others and she loves to be competitive, and win. In the book Fran wants to become the princess in the upcoming play, but she hears her teacher and another teacher talking about her when she was on timeout. Fran listens in and hears that she is talented and bright but that her rude behavior just isnt helping her. Fran learns from this and starts to become a better person. At home Fran is also trying to teach her puppy how to behave. Fran learns from this as well and becomes good at being a teacher for her dog and trains him so that her mother doesnt want to get rid of him. So does Fran do a good enough job to keep her dog Hercules? What about becoming a princess, will she be able to change?
I enjoyed this book, it was humorous and easy to read. The pictures helped to understand the text and gave a good visual. I thought that it taught a good lesson to Fran about her attitude and for her to get what she wanted she needed to learn to behave and undersatnd others. This could be a good book to read to a 2nd or 3rd grade class. Individual students older than this would maybe like to read it as well. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to read it! The book was written by Judy Cox.

Horrible Harry and the Dungeon

Horrible Harry and the Dungeon is a book about a boy named Harry and his friend Doug. Doug is the main character of this book and Harry is his best friend. In the book it is the end of the school year and the principal announces that behavior is getting bad and that students who don't cooperate and follow rules will have to go to the suspension room which is a basement room with concrete walls and no windows, Harry and Doug refer to it as the dungeon. The teacher that will be in the suspension room is a new teacher named Mr. Skooghammer. He is a hairy, tall man with a piercing on his eyebrow. The students worry about him and his black bag that he carries. Harry wants so badly to figure out what is inside the bag so he follows the teacher into the restroom and sticks his hand slowly into the bag and gets poked and starts to bleed, he runs away quickly when Mr Skooghammer opens the stall door. Harry devises a plan to find out what is inside the bag after he and Doug decide it must be a medieval weapon, since its sharp and bulging, like a mace! But how do Doug and Harry discover what is inside that bag? Or do they?

This book is a fun and interesting book and I would recommend it for anyone to read to their students or children. It was an easy book to read, the font was fairly large and there were pictures to go along with the text as well. It wasn't a very long book which would be good for beginning chapter book readers, and it keeps you wondering what will happen next to Harry. I think that boys would enjoy this book most since its about getting into trouble and trying to be sneaky to find out something mysterious.

Corduroy Goes to the Fire Station

This book is about Corduroy the bear and his class at school taking a trip to the fire station. The book is a very imformative book and teaches the reader about what each truck does and what to do if you find matches or catch on fire, they also learn about some of the gear that fireman wear. While learning about some of the gear and information the fireman teach them they practice techniques such as stop drop and roll and they also try on and play around with the gear. At the end of the day there is a surprise in store for Corduroys class. Corduroy Goes to the Fire Station is a good book for young students to inform them about fireman and what they do, and to also  teach them what to do if they happen to find matches or catch on fire. The book has great pictures that follow along with the text and each picture has between 2 and 4 pop-up's to see what is kept inside fire truck cabinets or inside doors through the fire house and sometimes under the pop-up's you'll find some of Corduroys classmates or a certain fire house mascot!

One Bear Lost

One Bear Lost is a book about a bear who finds himself lost and alone after being with 10 bears in the beginning. The book begins with 10 bears, and as each page is turned there is one less bear because something happens to them. The bears come back but how and where did the lonely bear get lost? I feel that this book's pictures are by far the best part of the book. The pages look like real paintings on canvas, and the detail in each picture is just amazing. The story line of the book itself is good as well and uses numbers on every page which makes it a good concept book as well for students using numbers 1-10. I think that many young students would enjoy the book for its vibrant pictures and fun story. One Bear Lost is a book that I had never heard of but am defintlay glad I checked it out!

Lenny's Lost Spots

Lenny's Lost Spots is a rhyming book about a lady bug who some how loses his spots. Lenny looks near, and Lenny looks far. Lenny looked twice and thought his spots were on a dice. Lenny doesnt understand where his spots went but eventually finds them. This book is a good book for emergent readers to read and listen to for rhyming words throughout the pages. The book does well with incorporating numbers as well. I liked this book, it gives colorful pictures to follow along with and is fun to look at every page and try to help Lenny investigate and discover his spots.

Howard B. Wigglebottom Learns to Listen

Howard B. Wigglebottom Learns to Listen, is a book about listening written by Howard Binkow. Binkow wrote the book about himself when he was young, because he didn't listen well and he wanted to teach a lesson to young students about how to listen.

The book about Howard, the bunny, is a fun book to read. It shows how Howard's always gets into trouble when he doesn't listen, and how bad things can happen to a person, or bunny, when they don't listen. Something good happens to Howard in the end of the book, but what is it?

This would be a great book to read to a young class to teach them about listening, or to remind them if they haven't been listening so well. I think that kids would enjoy the book because its about a funny bunny. The pictures of the book show humor, great color, and a great sense of the story.

Days With Frog and Toad

Days With Frog and Toad is a very easy chapter book to read. Any child looking to read their first chapter book should try Days With Frog and Toad. It has a few pictures to relate with the text, and the text is in bigger font and easy to read. The chapters are rather short, there are 5 of them in the 65 page book.

Days With Frog and Toad highlight 5 days that Frog and Toad spend with each other. The days are about activities they do or problems they run in to that need solved. Frog and Toad are fun characters and really show what friendship is about. Frog seems to be very logical and helps Toad out quite often. Toad seems like hes more laid back and needs encouragement to get going. I really enjoyed the book and would like to find more of the Frog and Toad books to read. I vaguely remember reading them when I was young, it would be nice to see them all again!

Animalia

Animalia is a really fun book to read. It goes through the whole alphabet in an interesting format. "An Armoured Armadillo Avoiding An Angry Alligator" and "Beautiful BLUE BUTTERFLIES basking by a BABBLING BROOK", are the first two pages of Animalia. The entire alphabet is represented in this format and some of the pages are just amazing. The pictures in the book are so detailed and have so much to look at, the pictures of each page also relate to the letter of that page as well. For instance on the G page there are gorillas, goats, giraffes, guitars, etc. The book also has a search for a kid, who I believe is the author. It's a lot of fun to look through the pages of the book for the kid and be able to see all the interesting objects on each page.

This book can be used for all ages, young children will have a really hard time understanding the vocabulary on some of the pages because I know that I did. "Victor V. Vulture the Vaudeville Ventriloquist-Versatile Virtuoso of Vociferous Verbosity-Vexatiously Vocalizing at the Valhalla Variety Venue" is an example of one of those pages. Just because children may not be able to read it doesn't mean they cant see all of the pictures that start with the letters related to the page, or can't just look through each page and recognize letter sequence. This book is really fun and very interesting to look at, I would recommend that everyone find this book!

The Boy Of The Three Year Nap

The Boy of the Three Year Nap was a very detailed book to read. The boy, Taro, was a lazy young man who liked to do nothing but sleep and eat. One day he came up with a plan, and he had the help of his widowed mother, unknown to her. She always complained to him that he was too lazy and that he needed to find a job and help fix the old home they lived in. Well Taro followed out his plan and somehow got the house fixed and the mother had a plan of her own for Taro as well.

The book was very well written and had great pictures to go along with the story. Personally I didn't really like the book though. It just wasn't something that interested me even though it was well written. It is a rather long book and I wouldn't recommend reading it aloud to younger students. It would be a good take home book for children to read with their parents, many children would enjoy this book.

Owl Moon

Owl Moon is an adventure book written by Jane Yolen. The book is about a father and soon who go out on an adventure after dark to look for the elusive Great Horned Owl. Owling, as referred to in the book, requires silence and patience. The boy has a lot of fun with his father walking deep into the forest in search of the owl. It is cold outside and bundling in warm clothes for the long walk through the wintry wonderland is required. The father calls for the owl over and over so they can catch a glimpse of the great bird, but does the owl ever answer?

I really enjoyed this book. I like adventures that relate to the one they get to take. It reminds me of the father and son outing's and adventures I have taken with my father. I would recommend this book to any adventure seeker. Children of all ages would like this book. It is something that many children can relate to.

Flotsam

This is an interesting wordless book to look at. It doesn't have pictures that you would normally see. The colors in the pictures are great and the detail of the pictures are amazing. Flotsam begins with a kid combing the beach for items to look at the may have washed ashore, flotsam. As he is looking a crab he is swept up by a wave and finds a camera has just washed ashore beside him. He takes the book the the photo shop and develops the pictures and finds some really strange pictures. The camera had taken pictures underwater along its journey, and the pictures aren't things you would ever expect to see. The boy then finds a very interesting picture and looks closer and closer at the picture with hit magnifying glass, then with his microscope.
This book is very fun to look at. The pictures really make the book, which they have to because there are no words. I think readers of all ages could read this book because it is a long book and takes you on a journey through the ocean from the cameras perspective. It really causes the reader to think about what goes on when we can't see things and if there really are strange occurrences that happen when humans can't see them. I really liked this book, its one of those books that you can look through and either create a story or just enjoy and thoroughly observe the pictures.

Have You Seen My Duckling

Have You Seen My Duckling is a fun book with colorful pictures that draw a reader into the story. There really isn't that much text in the book and where there is text it is the same on each page.
The book is about a mother duckling, who early in the morning checks on her chicks and notices that one has gone missing. The mother duck goes searching for her missing chick with her other ducklings. As readers look closely they can see where the chick is on every page, it makes for a fun activity while reading. Where and how does the mother find her missing duckling?
The book would be for a beginning reader who can understand the repetition when there is text. Other than for reading I feel the book can be used for all lower elementary grades, it has great pictures to follow along with and its fun to look for the missing duckling in each page as the mother wonders where it has gone.

On The Move

On The Move is a step up book to reading by National Geographic School Publishing. Since it is step up to reading it is very simple. The text in the book is very large print and the pictures are the main focus of the page. Summarizing the book is hard to do with this simple of book. It has the same text on every page asking the reader "How do I move?", and shows a picture of an animal doing an action. The student is to guess how the given animal moves. The very last page of the book tells how the animal on each page actually does move since some of the pictures are misleading actually.
This book is for beginning readers that are just starting to learn about animals and how they move. It is very basic and doesn't really provide for very much reading, but can be important in the students who are learning about animals and gives them good pictures for observation as well. I thought this book was a good book with basic information for students but I wouldn't really recommend this book past 1st grade because it doesn't provide much for reading and the movements of the animals should be well known by this age.

The Red Book

Barbara Lehman wrote The Red Book, which is a wordless book so it allows for all sorts of different stories. My perception of the book begins with a little girl walking down the street and discovering a book buried in the snow. She picks up the book and puts it in her back pack on the way to school. While she is in school she gets bored and looks at the book and finds something magical about the book. What is it?

This book would be great for beginning readers who just need to get use to what a book is for; how to turn the pages and how to hold a book correctly. This book would also be fun so that kids can create their own story with the book and see it with a different perspective than the way I did. The book shouldn't only be used for beginning readers though, kids up to third grade would probably enjoy the book as I did. Personally I liked this book, it had great pictures and was just an interesting book. It requires the reader to look closely at the pages to see whats so magical about the book the girl finds.

The Great Trash Bash

The Great Trash Bash is about a hippo, who is the mayor of the town of Beaston. He wonders what is wrong with his town and lists things that are so great about it, such as the parks, restaurants, roads and more. Mayor realizes what needs to be done in the town of Beaston, it needs to be cleaned from all the trash that litter the sidewalks, parks, and roadsides. So the people of the town start cleaning up all the trash from town, including the waterways, parks, roads and even the dump.

The story really gives children a good look into what pollution and littering does to the environment. The characters explain what a landfill is, and what an incinerator does and how these just provide further problems for the environment. They realize that finding ways to recycle and produce less garbage is helpful to the environment, and they show what we can do to make an impact, whether it is through re-using of items, fixing old things rather than buying new or by using separate bins for all sorts of recycling.

This is a great book to use to introduce recycling with young children. They get to see what we do to our environment by using landfills, and incinerators. They see affects of trash in the parks and ponds and how it may harm animals and people. Students can learn a great lesson by seeing what items can be recycled and what they are recycled in to. They can learn to play a large part in keeping our classroom, town and environment in good shape!

A Turkey for Thanksgiving

Every year turkeys are a traditional meal at the dinner table. In A Turkey for Thanksgiving, Mr. Moose is searching for a turkey for thanksgiving dinner for Mrs. Moose and their friends that will be over for dinner. Mr. Moose begins the search for a turkey on Thanksgiving morning. While on his search for a turkey he picks up his friends who are willing to help search for a turkey that Mrs. Moose wants. His friends Mr and Mrs Goat know exactly where a turkey lives and they all head down to the river to find him. When they get to the river they find the perfect, fat turkey they were looking for and manage to catch the turkey and head back home for dinner.

This book would obviously be a great book to read near or on Thanksgiving day. It is a rather long story but his great pictures to follow along with. All the characters in the book in drawn well and the environment reminds me of what it looks like when it is Thanksgiving here. The emotions of the animals in the books are shown clearly through their facial expressions and can be a focal point to discussion of the book. I think that young to middle range audiences would enjoy this book. It keeps you wondering what is going to happen on the next page. Will they find the turkey? Do they catch the turkey? Questions that race through the audiences mind will be answered with the turn of a page. The book has a good story line and I personally enjoyed it. I found myself wondering what was going to happen next and where that turkey was too. If you haven't read this book I would recommend it as a holiday story to a class or to family. Everyone will enjoy!

Peanut Butter Rhino

Peanut Butter Rhino is a funny book that will get laughs from everyone who hears or reads it. Vincent Andriani does a great job with incorporating friendship in the book, along with humor, in bright and colorful pictures.

Rhino is the main character in the book who sets out to have a picnic with his best friend Elephant. As he leaves to go have lunch he checks his lunchbox to be sure he has everything that he wanted for lunch, including his delicious peanut butter sandwich. Rhino loses track of his sandwich as he sees what else he has in his lunchbox and just cant seem to find it. His friends help him search in various places for his sandwich but they can't find the sandwich either. What did Rhino do with his sandwich? Well, his best friend Elephant finds his sandwich in quite a silly place, but where?

Readers of all ages would enjoy this funny book. The pictures do a good job with drawing the reader in to observe more than the text has to offer. The characters in the book are all different and have their own ways of helping Rhino when he is in need. It is a fairly short and simple read for in class read a loud or a quick bedtime story! Peanut Butter Rhino is a must read book. You will enjoy it!

Pancakes for Breakfast

Pancakes for Breakfast is a very good wordless book for children to picture read. The pictures are full of color and enjoyable to look closely at. Tomie dePaola did a great job with interpreting a story without the use of words and children of all ages can understand what the old lady is looking for throughout the book.

The book, Pancakes for Breakfast, is about an old lady who wakes up in the morning hungry for, you guessed it, pancakes! So the old lady gets up and goes to the kitchen to make her pancakes with her cat and dog. She gets her flour, but is missing eggs, so she goes to the hen house to get some eggs. As she continues with her pancake recipe she notices she is missing other key ingredients to mix her special pancake batter. How does she attain these ingredients? Will she be able eat her delicious pancakes that she dreamed of?

This book is fun and can be used as a problem solving book for young students. Being able to look at a book and try to decipher what will happen on the next page is part of the fun. Wordless books are good for all ages and give the opportunity to read by pictures. I enjoy looking at this book and seeing the actions that the old lady takes with every new page to do whatever it takes to have delicious pancakes for breakfast!

The Artist Who Painted A Blue Horse

The Artist Who Painted A Blue Horse is a very fun book. It is about an artist who paints colors on animals that wouldn't normally be seen in the real world. He feels that he is a good artist, and why wouldn't he be?

This book can be used for grades of any age to teach about art. It lets people know that art is what you make of it. It doesn't matter what you color things, or how odd things may look, its about having fun and feeling confident in whatever you decide to create. Author Eric Carle really reaches out to others in this book through personal experiences with art.

The confidence that the artist in the book portrays can reach out and help others in feeling that their "blue horse" is good art and it doesn't matter that it isn't typical. It is a very simple read, and it is fun to see all the colors in the book that the artist uses in every new page you turn to.