I Will Make Miracles

This book is one of my new favorites.  The author is Susie Morgenstern and the illustrator is Jiang Hong Chen.  The book begins with a boy who is somewhat bothered by the question everyone keeps asking, "when you get older, what will you be?"  He says a plumber or pilot but he doesn't really know.  On one particular morning he wakes to a sunrise and he imagines that it might be fun to wake up the sun.  His thoughts race to even bigger and grander ideas. He wants to make miracles like feeding the hungry, healing the sick and ending all wars.  The boy's thoughts return to the present and he says that, "to change the world from dark to bright, first I should learn to read and write."  The colorful watercolor illustrations are simple and accompany the text beautifully.  A touching story that will be a wonderful addition to both your personal and classroom libraries. 

When Sophie Gets Angry- Really, Really Angry

Molly Bang is both author and illustrator of this colorful picture book that tells the story of a little girl named Sophie who is happily playing with her stuffed gorilla until her sister grabs it away.  Sophie becomes really, really angry when her mom agrees that it is her sisters turn to play with the gorilla.  Sophie explodes, raging first in the house and then running outdoors. She eventually cries then becomes calm looking at the world around her.  She happily returns home joining her family in play, completing  a puzzle that says, "Everything's back together again."

This is a story that young children can easily relate to.  It is written at the level of the child and not the adult, which makes this book special.  It depicts a range of emotions and how a child might experience them.  You can experience joy, anger, rage, sadness and still be OK.  Molly Bang uses intense colors in the illustrations to mirror Sophie's emotional state throughout the story.  

Emotions can be scary for young children.  This is  simple but important book that can open the door to exploring emotions with your students (preschool - 2nd grade).  

Did You Ever Have One of Those Days?

Some days it just seems as though nothing can go right.   This is just how Alexander feels in the book, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, written by Judith Viorst and illustrated by Ray Cruz.  Alexander's day begins by finding gum in his hair, tripping on his skateboard and dropping his sweater in the sink, and that's just before breakfast.  Alexander has two brothers and their day is going just swell.  Alexander's solution - move to Australia! The book chronicles Alexander's day of mishaps and emotional upsets.  At the end of the story, Alexander's mother reassures him that even people in Australia have bad days. 

As the saying goes, "the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence," or in this case Australia.  Children can easily relate to the mishaps and feelings Alexander experiences. Although the illustrations are black and white, they are beautifully detailed and clearly show just how Alexander is feeling. 

This book can be used for lessons in multiple areas of the curriculum for grades 1 -4.  For instance:  Language Arts: Letter writing, grammar, and/or adjective lessons,  Social Studies: Geography, mapping skills, compare Australia to U.S.,  Science:  Climate, animals, plants of Australia, Mathematics: Time, distance, compare size and population Australia to U.S., to name a few.

This book is worth adding to your children's library.

Read Any Good Books Lately?

I recommend, A Bad Case of Stripes, written by David Shannon and illustrated by Kathleen Westray. It is humorous book that addresses the not so humorous issue of "fitting in." The story begins with the main character, Camilla Cream, fretting over what to wear on the first day of school. Her primary concern of course, is impressing others. She wants to please others so much that she begins to physically change - first stripes, then stars, then polka-dots cover her body. Camilla pleases others at the cost of losing her own identity. Eventually, she is lost within her room, her eyes the paintings on the wall, her mouth the mattress. With some help, Camilla finds her way out of her predicament and discovers how to be happy being herself (and loving lima beans).

Most children can relate to this book and the worry of "fitting in." The illustrations in this book are as fantastic as the story. The colorful images jump off the page and draw you into the story. The suggested level could be K - 2nd or 3rd grade. It can be used for lessons in many of the core curriculum areas. A humorous addition for your teaching library.