Insect Invaders

This is a Magic School Bus book. If some of you were living under a rock during childhood and never read one of these great Magic School Bus Stories then you were missing out. Throughout the book Ms. Frizzle takes her children on her magical school bus which transforms the world her and her schoolchildren are inhabiting. In this book the children are taking a closer look at insects. The books are great because they have scientific information in the book in the form of notes written from different students. I recommend these small chapter books for 3/4 graders because they are still a little hard to read, but the material is geared toward younger students. It would also be a wonderful series to introduce science experiments or a lesson, because there are tons of different topics that the series covers.

Love That Dog

Hate this Book. Well maybe not so much. I accidentally read The Misfits instead of reading this one so I felt like I had to go back and look through it. It kind of reminds me of my post about the book The Dot. Kid thinks he's not good at something, teacher thinks otherwise and praises kid, kid then realizes it's easier then he thinks and ends up being wonderful. I will give the book a lot of credit for putting the actual poems that were referenced in the back. This gives children a chance to read more great poems and to be able to compare and contrast them on the spot. I guess the more I am actually writing about this book the more it is kind of growing on me. I have seen it in a lot of classrooms so most likely you will see it in mine.

Sylvester and the Magic Pebble

Sylvester loved collecting pebbles of unusual shape and color. One day he found a special pebble, a flaming, red, shiny, and perfectly round, like a marble. He discovered it was a magical pebble as he held it and the rain stopped when he wished it. He was excited about the possibilities of getting everything he and his family wanted. But when a lion approached, he change himself into a rock. However, he was unable to change back because the pebble was next to him. In order for the magic to work, he needed to be touching the pebble. His parents and friends looked and looked for him. This caused his parents a lot of sorrow. One day, while eating lunch at the rock (Sylvester), his parents saw the pebble and placed it upon the rock because it reminded them of their son. When he realized he was touching the rock, Sylvester changed himself back and three were reunited. He knew that this is what he and his family wanted more than anything. Wasn't a big fan pf this book, don't know why just didn't really standout.

The Listening Walk

This is one of my favorite stories that I have rad so far. It is a story about a girl, her father and her dog, who take walks. While they walk, the girl listens to the sounds of the neighborhood. The story is great because you can have the kids do the sounds as you read. Would e more for a younger class, but I read this when I did my Science out at School of the Wild and all the kids who were 6 up to 12 really participated. Its a great story to have a lot of fun with, so really let your kids get into it.

The Hello, Goodbye Window

The Hello, Goodbye Window is a book about a young girl who spends time with her Nanna and Poppy at their big house. It looks like a regular window but it’s not. The large window is in the kitchen and becomes a focal point for family activity and interaction. It is a window to make silly faces in or tap on and duck under. It is a window where the three look out at the stars in the evening. From the window Nanna can be send spending time in the garden, and Poppy will play his harmonica. When Mommy and Daddy pick up the girl, the window is where they stop and blow kisses to Nanna and Poppy s they leave. The family is multicultural so would be a great diversity book to read to the class.

Heather Has Two Mommies

Obviously the story of lesbian parents. Great picture on page two of one of the mom's wearing a No Nukes shirt, very cliche I think. Granted the majority of people who support Gay and Lesbian rites are Liberal and most likely don't believe in Nuclear war (obviously) , but the whole shirt was just a little over the top. The book goes on to describe how different Heather is with her two mommies and she feels sad because she doesn't have a daddy, which is not true, because every child has to have a mom and a dad, but that would just be too confusing to explain in a children's book about lesbians, which in itself is difficult to explain. I didn't really find this book too controversial. At the program I work at we had siblings who had lesbian parents, and they would come and pick up the kids and even after hearing other kids ask, "You have two mom's?" The kids would answer yes and it would be left at that. No one really cared, I'm sure kids talked about it, but I never overheard anything and it seemed like maybe a big deal for all of 5 minutes. I also have a child who was adopted by two guy's, and I have never even heard a word mentioned to him before. Now this could all be due to the fact that we live in the most liberal town in Iowa, but for the record the students I see have done a fantastic job of minding their own business and not being mean to the students who do not have the traditional family. I'm catholic and when people ask me about gay marriage my response is, "If gay people want to be just as miserable as married people why not let them."

Mississippi Morning

Wow....you could kind of see this coming, but didn't want to believe it. Great story about a white boy growing up in 1933 Mississippi where racism runs deep. James hears from a "colored" friend of his LeRoy about a hanging tree, and he hears about the Klan (KKK) from his white friend Red. He asks his father about it and his Dad says they should be minding his own business. You kind of feel the tension start mounting in the story when James asks his dad about the Klan, and that's when you think "wellllll.....mayyybbe his dad...no couldn't be" then the last page. I don't really want to write anything more about it because it's kind of like an episode of a T.V. show where they leave a huge cliffhanger and you're all like "WHATT!"...sorry if this doesn't make much sense, I just really think you should check this book out on your own...Great story! Definitely my favorite book I have read so far.