Contents

1. Multicultural/International Literature (5 books)
2. Traditional/Folk Literature (5 books) *includes 3 variations of a fairy tale
3. Realistic/Historical Fiction (5 books) *includes graphic novel
4. Modern Fantasy/Science Fiction (5 books)
5. Non-Fiction/Biography/Autobiography (5 books) *includes 3 uses of technology

Multicultural/International Literature

Book List:
-Cactus Soup
-Napi
-Kamishibai Man
-I, Doko: The Tale of a Basket
-The Night of the Fireflies

Cactus Soup, Written by Eric A. Kimmel, Illustrated by Phil Huling

Summary: Cactus soup is set in a town in San Miguel; the story tells of the peoples attempt to keep to themselves what food they had, rather than sharing it with soldiers. When the townspeople saw the soldiers coming, they quickly hid everything they had including: beans, cornmeal, tortillas, tamales, chickens, ducks, geese, pigs, cows, sheep and chile peppers. Their plan was to tell the soldiers they were very poor and unable to feed their own people, thus they surely couldn’t feed a troop of soldiers who they very well expected would clear out their food. When the mayor expresses this to the Senor Capitan, he “feels sorry” for the people and requests to make Cactus Soup. This strikes curiosity in the people and soon he is boiling water with a single cactus thorn. Senor Capitan continuously drops hints suggesting what ingredients make the soup better, but never comes right out and asks. It isn’t before long that the mayor, priest, children, teachers and townspeople are contributing their products to the soup.

Implementation: This story shares a beautiful message that giving can be rewarding. It also shows that clever requests can sometimes lead to getting what you want. Sharing is a primary ideal from this story I would practice in the classroom. I would urge students to share with one another so that both may benefit. Give and take is all a part of getting along in society. Furthermore, this is a Hispanic based multicultural literature piece similar to Stone Soup. I think this would motivate some ELL students to help their peers learn and understand some on the Spanish words and culture exposed in the story.

Napi, Written by Antonio Ramirez, Illustrated by Domi

Summary: Napi is a story about a young Mazateca girl who lives with her poor family in Mexico on a riverbank. Every day the family sits together under a tree to listen to her grandfather tell stories. With each afternoon that comes, so does another color of life. Napi appreciates the brilliant orange, calm purple and dark green colors of the forest each day. She finds beauty in both day and night and dreams of becoming one of the herons that live in the tree on the river bank so she can fly peacefully and view from above the breathtaking colors of her habitat.

Implementation: In the classroom, this book would be great to teach that beauty can be found in anything. Tradition is also instilled in this story in regards to her grandfather telling stories. The illustrations in this story are wonderful. I think a neat activity to do with students would be to give them an image of something plain and “ugly” and have them color it with bright colors then write a story about it using strong adjectives to explain their illustration.

Kamishibai Man, Written by Allen Say

Summary: In Japan, Kamishibai men are known to ride their bikes into town with a paper theater, candy and wooden blocks. They attract the attention of the public, primarily children, hand out candy and tell stories. This book is about one man in particular who hasn’t been to town for some time but makes the decision to try again. His wife makes some candies and he packs his bike up; he is ready to venture out. Once he reaches town though, he is disappointed to realize how many buildings are sky high, how many cars there are on the road and how many rude people there are! He sets up his theater and begins to clap his wooden blocks. He begins to tell the history of his best days of coming to town as the Kamishibai man, then his struggle to remain an entertainer once television became popular and sadly his last day as the Kamishibai man. As he is telling this long story, people of the town young and old have gathered around him to listen. A man calls out from the crowd that he remembers him and soon most of the townspeople who have gathered remember him from their childhood. The Kamishibai man is interviewed by a television reporter and later discusses with his wife how busy his day was and suggests he may need more candy!

Implementation: The most important theme in this story is tradition. In my opinion, traditions are so important for children and adults. I would use this book to spark conversation about things my students remember from their early years that they’re still doing or something their family does every year. Whether its buying new supplies for school every year, eating dinner with family every Sunday or wearing a purple shirt every Monday. Traditions can be very simple or very complex and vary from culture to culture. I feel that this would be a good way for students to find common ground through discussion of classroom traditions. I would include each student by allowing them to discuss their traditions.

I, Doko the Tale of a Basket, Written by Ed Young

Summary: This is an anthropomorphic story about a basket. Told from the perspective of the basket, it begins with the basket being purchased by a couple Yeh-Yeh and Nei-Nei with a baby. The basket is used by the couple to carry the baby, heavy things, kindling wood, and later, the body of the wife who died after an epidemic. The baby grew into a boy and eventually got married, the basket was used to carry his wife’s dowry, and it felt proud. Soon another baby, Wangal was born. At this point, Yeh-Yeh (who was Wangal’s grandfather) was an elder man, and the basket had seen better days. They were left at home. One night, Yeh-Yeh, the basket and Wangal heard Wangal’s father talking about bringing Yeh-Yeh to the temple steps to leave him with the priests. It is up to Wangal to save both the basket and his grandfather from being left behind.

Implementation: The lesson learned by the end of the story is to treat elders with respect, tolerance and harmony. I think often we get lost in the rush of the world and forget to treat everyone with respect and tolerance. Whether it’s an elder writing a check, crossing the street, or walking down a hallway; it is important to remember to treat them the way they deserve. After reading this story, a discussion with the class regarding the way we treat people would be beneficial to the way they contribute to society their values and ideals.

The Night of the Fireflies, Written by Karen B. Winnick, Illustrated by Yoriko Ito

Summary: The Night of the Fireflies is a tradition in Japan. A long time ago, summers were filled with fireflies until they eventually disappeared. So now, fireflies are raised and saved for one summer night when they are set free for children to experience their magic. Set in Japan, this story is about Miko and her brother, Toshibo, singing and waiting by the river for the fireflies. The principal comes with a box and releases hundreds of fireflies to travel through the sky. Miko desires to catch them and chases them all around. She catches some in a jar and they lead the way home for her and her brother. Once they get there though, he instructs her to release them. She learns that their beauty is in their freedom.

Implementation: This story would lead to great conversation about seeing the beauty in nature all around. I think it would help students make personal connections with the text, because many people have experienced fireflies, and if not-this could make for a great science lesson about insects! To further comprehension of the text, students could develop their own personal connection with application of previous knowledge to write a story about a time when they saw beauty in nature. Furthermore, since this is set in Japan, cultural tradition is exposed which could be used to tie a geography/social studies lesson.

Traditional/Folk Literature

Book List:
-Zomo the Rabbit: A Trickster Tale from West Africa
-Finn McCool and the Great Fish
-The Wolf's Story: What Really Happened to Little Red Riding Hood
-Little Red Riding Hood
-Pretty Salma: A Little Red Riding Hood Story from Africa

Zomo the Rabbit: A Trickster Tale from West Africa, Written by Gerald McDermott

Summary: Zomo the Rabbit is an African trickster tale. Zomo is a very clever rabbit but still seeks wisdom. When he goes to the Sky God to request wisdom, he is given 3 impossible tasks he must complete to be granted wisdom. The Sky God asks him to bring him the scales of the fish, the milk of a cow and the tooth of the leopard. To do so he uses trickery. He accomplishes the tasks and receives wisdom (courage and good sense) but finds out he lacks caution. Now that he has angered the fish, cow and leopard, he must be very careful when he comes into contact with those who he tricked.

Implementation: I think this stories theme is primarily karma. What goes around, comes around is an important thing for children to learn. With my 5th graders now, there is a lot of bullying and sass talking throughout the grade, after reading this book I would have a nice long discussion about building good karma by how you treat others. Furthermore, the trickery Zomo uses to get wisdom is relative to cheating to get a good grade. Seeking wisdom or good grades goes beyond trickery or cheating, it must be honest!

Finn McCool and the Great Fish, Written by Eve Bunting, Illustrated by Zachary Pullen

Summary: This story, set in Ireland, is about a great giant, Finn McCool who is a strong warrior yet very happy and friendly with the people of Ireland. With all his great strength and kindness, he lacks wisdom. In his search, he goes to the old man who lives in another village, who is known to hold the secret of wisdom, and asks him how to gain the secret. The old man had been waiting for Finn because he knew he would do the most good with it, he instructed Finn to go to the River Boyne and catch the great fish, cook it and eat it. Within the fish lies the wisdom of the world. So Finn goes fishing and eventually catches the salmon. He finds he cannot find himself to kill it and in return the fish speaks to him. Something magical happens and Finn gains the wisdom from the fish without having to kill it. He does well in the eyes of the people and the fish, and finds the old man has disappeared leaving behind a path of what might have been brilliantly colored fish scales.

Implementation: With a laugh at the end and beautiful illustration, this tells a very nice story. To implement this book in the classroom, I would do text to text compare and contrast lessons with different giants (Jack and the Beanstalk). Also, students could practice their foreshadowing techniques. Since there is some Irish slang in the book, a geography lesson as well as cultural diversity could be tied to the story.

The Wolf’s Story: What Really Happened to Little Red Riding Hood, Written by Toby Forward, Illustrated by Izhar Cohen

Summary: This tells the traditional Little Red Riding Hood story from the wolves perspective. It starts with his explanation of his relationship with the Grandmother and how he spent a lot of time at her house doing odd jobs for her and she enjoyed the company. What he didn’t like was that when the girl came, he didn’t get paid any attention. So one day he met the girl as she came up the path and when she didn’t speak to him he ran ahead to beat her home. He met Grandmother at her closet reaching for a dress and when he went to help her she fell, bumped her head, and was knocked out. Not wanting to be blamed for causing any trouble, the wolf slipped the dress on. When the girl came, she was apprehensive of the wolf and tried to feed him her toffee…well he didn’t like this so he got up to run away and just then the woodsman opened the door and cut of his tail as he slipped out. The wolf went all the way to town.

Implementation: I really like the dialogue aspect of this text. I would enjoy hearing students practice expressive read aloud tone. The storytelling idea of this book offers an example to students of different ways to write a story. Furthermore, they could learn to write from a different perspective. I remember reading a story in high school and having to write from a different characters perspective-this paves the way for creativity and imaginative writing that excites children. This book would also serve as a vocabulary practice/using context to decode words…versatile, altered, frightening...

Little Red Riding Hood, Written by Jerry Pickney

Summary: A young girl sets out to go to her sick grandmothers, to bring her soup and muffins. Along the way she runs into a wolf that she explains her trip to. He decides to join her on the walk, suggesting she collect kindling wood for a fire. Once she begins to gather wood, he runs ahead to the grandmother’s house and eats her so he can take her place. Once disguised, he crawls in the bed and waits for the little girl to arrive. The little girl comes inside and notices the differences in her grandmother and all at once eats her as well. When he is finished, he decides to take a nap and snores so loud a woodsmen passing by hears and decides to check on the old woman. He finds the wolf in her clothes napping and notices his stomach snoring. It takes him no time at all to figure out what has happened and kills the wolf. The grandmother and little girl crawl out and the three enjoy soup and muffins. The bad wolf was buried and never harmed them again.

Implementation: To introduce the idea of a traditional story, this is a good place to start. This story tells the original Little Red Riding Hood story that has been told for years. It also serves as a comparison piece for the variations of the story. I can recall using this story as a play in school, and then we had to write our own version and act that one out. Students would be able to explore their own creativity to come up with an interesting twist to the story.

Pretty Salma: A Little Red Riding Hood Story from Africa, Written by Niki Daly

Summary: Salma is a little girl who lives with her grandparents in a village in Africa. Her grandmother asks her to go to the market and sends her on her way with money wearing a blue scarf, ntama, white beads and yellow sandals. She filled her basket with all sorts of goods and continued on her way. While walking back, she came across Mr. Dog who began to ask her questions as well as offer his assistance carrying the basket and wearing her clothes. All along, he is tricking her! Once he becomes disguised as Pretty Salma, she realizes what he has done and asked for her things back but he threatens to bite her in two. She runs away to find her grandfather because she knows where the wolf is headed. She and her grandfather disguise themselves in the storytelling masks he uses and follow the wolf to their home, scare them and save granny.

Implementation: Obviously this would be used as a variation of the traditional story in an alternative setting and plot. The text is in different places all over the page, which would be good practice for students. This formatting would also offer something they can attempt in their own writing.

Realistic/Historical Fiction

Book List:
-Because of Winn-Dixie
-The Boxcar Children Graphic Novel #4: Mystery Ranch
-Going North
-Shoeshine Girl
-Rules

Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo

Summary: Because of Winn-Dixie is about 10 year old India Opal Buloni who reluctantly moves to Naomi Florida with her father who is a preacher. She isn’t thrilled about living in the small town or having to make new friends and she especially misses her mother. Her mother ran off when India Opal was just a little girl, but questions remain in her mind and she seeks genuine companionship. One day, when grocery shopping, she stumbles upon a dog who has caused quite the uproar in the store. Without thinking, she claims the dog is hers to save him from going to the pound. This event leads to a summer filled with good things caused because of her mangy orphan dog that she’ll never forget.

Implementation: This is a good book to use with small reading groups. A literature circle once a week would maintain interest and spark discussion about some of the issues that come up in this book including: death, bullying, loneliness, and friendship.

The Boxcar Children Graphic Novel #4: Mystery Ranch, Written by Gertrude Chandler Warner, Illustrated by Mike Dubisch

Summary: One day, Henry, Jessie, Violet and Benny notice their grandfather seems upset. When they ask him why he explains that his unhappy sister Aunt Jane who he hasn’t spoken to in years lives on a ranch and her neighbor Maggie who stays with her can’t take anymore of how hard to deal with Aunt Jane is. Maggie has sent a letter explaining and a request of behalf of Aunt Jane that the grandchildren come and visit. Violet and Jessie decide to go. They take a train and arrive at their destination, yet find it odd one other passenger, a man gets off too. It’s not likely people get off at this stop. They get to the ranch and realize Aunt Jane is bed ridden because she hardly eats. She is kind to them but often tells them to leave her, she “tired.” The next day the girls go into town and while they’re gone, three men stop by to ask Aunt Jane to sell the ranch. Henry and Benny decide to come to with their dog, but Aunt Jane doesn’t want their grandfather to come. They arrive; she meets and likes all of them, then tells them she is giving them the ranch. After exploring the ranch and finding a hut, the children become alarmed. After signing the papers to put the ranch in their name, the sheriff becomes involved with the situation. Turns out the mystery man was sent by their grandfather to find valuable resources on the land. When he finds uranium, he realizes the land is worth much money, and the three men were trying to rip Aunt Jane off. Aunt Jane learns the story and asks Grandfather to come manage the ranch and build a mine. She writes a letter apologizing and seeking his help. When Grandfather arrives, they throw a party and open presents. The children learn the reason Aunt Jane and Grandfather haven’t talked in so long is because when their parents left, he wanted to sell the mine but she was stubborn and wanted to keep it.

Implementation: Graphic novels are best used for students who seek picture books or comic books. For those students who become easily bored or frustrated with a full-text book, this graphic novel and others like it help excite and motivate them to read. In addition to urging children to read graphic novels, a teacher could allow students to write their own. Many students enjoy drawing more than reading, start by letting them draw something, the request they write a story about the picture. Beyond inspiring them to read and write graphic novels, this book teaches a lesson about forgiveness. Students can also make predictions, inferences, summarize chapters, discuss characters and understand the plot and time, etc. Words like telegram and horse-drawn carriage will help offer context clues to deriving the time period in which this book takes place.

Going North by Janice N. Harrington, Illustrated by Jerome Lagarrigue

This book is about a black girl named Jessie and her family leaving Alabama to head up north to Nebraska so her daddy can get a better job, and she and her siblings can live a better life. The problem is that Jessie doesn’t want to go. She likes living in Alabama close to family and loves gatherings at Big Mama’s. Before they set off, she said goodbye to all of her family and friends and dug her feet into the red Alabama soil; she knew she would miss it. Along their journey they watch as the world rolled by; sand, fields, pines, people. As the people got smaller the trip got longer, as the road whispered her along, they stopped for lunch and gasoline. Set in the 1960s, Jessie’s family finds it difficult to travel through the segregated south…it took them quite a while to find a gas station that would serve Negroes. They drove all through the night and the next day made it to Nebraska. Jessie noticed how different from Alabama was; black dirt and a grassy rug. The family gathers once they’re out of the car and holds on to one another as they take the step to becoming pioneers with a brand-new life.

Implementation: When starting a social studies unit on Civil Rights, this book would best be used in a book pass. It would also be great as a read aloud because it has such a lyrical text to it and the pictures are so vivid and pretty. Another teachable aspect of this book includes the impact of change. This girl is up and moving away from everything she’s known to start over; I think many students could relate to that.

Shoeshine Girl, Written by Clyde Robert Bulla

Summary: Sarah Ida has been sent to live with her Aunt Claudia in Palmville as a result of her parents’ lack of ability to handle her; her father’s job keeps him away from home and her mother is sick. Sarah is reluctant to let herself enjoy her stay, especially when she finds out Aunt Claudia won’t pay her allowance. She becomes determined to find a job. While walking on Grande Avenue, she discovers a shoeshine stand with a sign reading: “Help Wanted.” After much convincing and quite the negotiation, the owner of the store, Al, and her Aunt Claudia allow Sarah to join him. Over the course of the summer, she and Al develop a great friendship. She becomes successful and has quite the experience until one day she gets called home early. Her parents are requesting she return home. The lessons she learned that summer will guide her decision of whether she’ll stay in Palmville or go back home.

Implementation: Sarah Ida learns the value of money and working hard to earn it, along with the value of family and friendship. This book would help students to grasp these concepts. Shoeshine Girl teaches a strong lesson that to get what you want, you must to go out and work hard for it. The lesson taught in this book aligns with everyday life in that students must aspire to become great things but work hard in school to accomplish such.

Rules, Written by Cynthia Lord

Summary: The book Rules is about Catherine, a young girl who is learning to understand and positively deal with David, her younger brothers’ autism. She seeks to live a normal life, without stares or judgment from people wherever she goes, but she feels that David hinders her ability because he is the cause of the stares. Her family seems to only care about David and Catherine feels like she has fallen to the wayside. Catherine develops a list of rules for David to follow so she can try to hold a grip on his behavior. It isn’t until her visits with her mom and David to his doctor become more frequent, that she starts to develop a friendship with a boy, Jason, whom also goes to the same doctor’s office every week for speech therapy. In her friendship with him, she begins to see her brother in a different light as well as her own behavior.

Implementation: I would use this book with a group of 4th or 5th graders. At this age they are mature enough to handle answers to questions they’ve had for years about the “class that is different from them.” In the field experience this year, our teacher asked us to do a diversity lesson on differences; whether it be down’s syndrome, ADD/ADHD, autism, aspergers, etc. In reading this book, many questions will arise that will lead to rich discussion that will allow students to begin to understand that everyone around them is different but it shouldn’t change their behavior.

Modern Fantasy/Science Fiction

Book List:
-Grace the Glitter Fairy
-Tuck Everlasting
-Andrew Lost #12: In the Ice Age
-The Trial of Cardigan Jones
-Mush, A Dog From Space

Grace the Glitter Fairy, Written by Daisy Meadows

Summary: Rachel and Kirsty are two best friends with a special secret-they’re friends with the fairies! But they also have an important and not so special secret-they know Jack Frost and his Goblins have been up to a lot of mischief lately ruining parties. When Mr. Cooper, Kirsty’s neighbors asks them over to help with his son’s birthday party, they have no doubt that the Goblins will surely be there to ruin some of the fun. Together with their friend Grace the Glitter Fairy they devise a plan to ensure the Goblins don’t ruin the party. With their wise plan and thoughtfully organized trick they save the party from becoming a disaster.

Implementation: When teaching science fiction, many girls hate to read about the topics portrayed. This gives them a magical girlie story they can get lost in. Though they are short and easy to read books, they do have many tough vocabulary words and adult like sayings. To teach these words and decode these sayings, the ability to use context clues comes into play. Words such as: grateful, managed, swiftly, hem, fluttering, desperate and thrilled. Sayings such as: the French Doors, “flat as a pancake,” “racked their brains,” and “serves you right” can offer fun lessons for students to learn and come up with their own sayings in their writing.

Tuck Everlasting, Written by Natalie Babbit

Summary: This is a beautifully written novel with vivid imagery and a suspenseful story. Winnie Foster lives with her family-proud, land-proud people in a cottage that sits right next to a wood that belongs to them. As far as they know or care, the only things that come and go from that wood are cows. Yet, that didn’t keep Winnie from wandering into the wood one day after a strange encounter with a man in a yellow suit the night before. Apprehensive at first, she soon begins to notice how beautiful the wood is. Not long into her journey, she spots a boy sitting near a spring. When she asks for a drink, he begins to act very strange. Before she knows it, the boy’s mother and brother ride up on horseback and the next few minutes are a blur. She learns these people are the Tuck’s: Mae, Miles, Jesse and Angus. They take her to their cottage and explain to her why the spring she requested to drink from must remain a secret. It wasn’t necessarily a kidnapping, Winnie realizes, when they are so sweet to her, feed her and promise to take her home in the morning. When the man in the yellow suit shows up the next morning, Winnie refuses to go with him, but something worse happens. Winnie must act courageously to save Mae Tuck and the secret of the spring.

Implementation: Literature circles would be fabulous to use with this book! Literary Luminary, Summarizer, Connector, Discussion Director, Vocabulary Enricher are all roles to assign to students to focus on with each chapter or part to a book. This would help to introduce student led literature discussions rather than teacher led. Students would summarize parts of the book, research vocabulary words, answer questions/make predictions and connect the story to themselves and other texts. This would build confidence in reading and comprehension capability.

Andrew Lost #12: In the Ice Age, Written by J. C. Greenburg, Illustrated by Jan Gerardi

Summary: Andrew and Judy are cousins. Their Uncle Al is a scientist who invented a Time-A-Tron time-travel machine. When they find themselves caught in the time of dinosaurs in the middle of fires caused by an asteroid, it takes the help of their robot buddy Thudd to help them escape. Right when they think they’re safe though, they found themselves stuck in the Ice Age! The only good that comes of this is that Andrew and Judy are finally reunited with their Uncle Al thanks to a DNA Detector. Once all is settled, they are under the impression their adventures are over for the day and they’ll soon be heading home.
To their surprise, this isn’t the case. Doctor Kron-Tox, a scientist who invented a different time machine, the Tick-Tox Box, is capturing animals from different time periods and hiding them in a glacier. It is up to them to save the animals! It will take smarts and skills to insure Doctor Kron-Tox doesn’t put an end to their heroism. Along the way they will encounter dangerous animals and a group of people carrying spears they’ve never seen before. Will they have enough time before the flood to save the animals?

Implementation: Though this book is science fantasy, it does have a lot of genuine science concepts incorporated such as: what a glacier is; what animal in the world may have the best sense of smell; why Earth has ice ages; what makes a teratorn bird so special. Boys would definitely find themselves “lost” in this book series with Andrew and his gang. Some of the text will propose a challenge to readers. They will have to practice pronunciation, use of context clues and comprehension to successfully read and understand this book.

The Trial of Cardigan Jones, Written & Illustrated by Tim Egan

Summary: As Mrs. Brown placed a pie on the windowsill to cool, Cardigan, a moose who was new to town walked over for a smell of the pie. Neighbors watched curiously to see what he was doing. As he began to walk away, Mrs. Brown came back to retrieve the pie only to find it was missing. Cardigan was blamed, arrested and taken to court where a judge and jury would decide if he was guilty or innocent. After a series of events in court, the judge begins to realize what must have happened to the pie. This realization proves Cardigan innocent, and all is well.

Implementation: Because this is a short picture book, it would be perfect as a read aloud for any grade. The story teaches a lesson of not blaming others unless you have facts for proof. It would be helpful in a classroom where there are a lot of tattletale tellers and finger pointers. Beyond the lesson of blaming others, students can relate this story to writing or researching. Aligning this with science misconceptions would be helpful to have them see they shouldn’t believe everything the read, see or hear. When researching or writing, students should be reminded to check their facts.

Mush, A Dog From Space, Written by Daniel Manus Pinkwater, Illustrated by Jill Pinkwater

Summary: This book is about a little girl named Kelly who moves from a small apartment to a new house in a housing development. The entire time they lived in the apartment, Kelly always wanted a dog, but the rule was: No Pets. Now that she lives in a house, her parents excuse is that it’s too soon. They become comfortable in their new house and Kelly gets a babysitter, except it’s an old lady who doesn’t do anything. So Kelly spends most of her time in the woods. One day, Kelly hears something. She requests that whatever is hiding to come out and show itself, and sure enough she finds a dog. A talking dog, named Mush. From another planet! The dog is very smart and friendly so she brings it home, hides it in the garage, and sneaks it food/water. Kelly must think of a plan to get her parents to let her keep the dog!

Implementation: This book offers an example of anthropomorphism. It would be best for early 3rd grade readers who are just getting used to chapter books. Specifically with this book, I would use it as a model and have students design their own anthropomorphic character and write a short story about it. A small literature circle designed to portray science fiction as a fun genre would also be something to do with this science fiction book and others like it.

Non-Fiction/Biography/Autobiography

Book List:
-Johnny Appleseed
-Today at the Bluebird Cafe: A Branchful of Birds
-So You Want to Be an Inventor?
-Your Pet Hamster
-Eye Wonder: Birds

Johnny Appleseed, Written by Jane Yolen, Illustrated by Jim Burke

Summary: This is a text that represents both the historical detail and the magical mystery of the life of legend Johnny Appleseed. The story starts at his birth and progresses throughout his life exposing his successes and struggles to the reader. Most people know that his legend portrays him traveling the country and planting apple seeds, but there is so much rich fact to his true story that this author deems necessary to expose.

Implementation: Johnny Appleseed day is typically celebrated on September 26 or March 11. I would incorporate it into my Language Arts lesson and then integrate it with Social Studies. Implementation would include helping students to learn about legends and what they are, deciphering between true and false/fiction and non-fiction, as well as critically analyzing sources to determine if they are reputable or not. For Social Studies, students could use maps to pinpoint areas that Johnny Appleseed covered.

Today at the Bluebird Café: A Branchful of Birds, Written by Deborah Ruddell, Illustrated by Joan Rankin

Implementation: To use this in a classroom, I would definitely do a read aloud with a discussion about diversity, physical differences, commonalities/uniqueness to follow. Additionally, students could use this book for light research about birds or habitual preferences. To align this book with science, a study of birds could be implemented outside the classroom. Keeping record, making observations and comparing data are all science skills that students need.

So You Want to Be an Inventor? Written by Judith St. George, Illustrated by David Small

Summary: This book leads children from page to page filled with inventions and the history of each. While inspiring the opportunity to become an inventor, it also gives many examples of inventions. A small snippet of information about the invention includes the date, inventor and how it worked or why it came about. This book suggests the possibility of anyone becoming an inventor including men and women. It also explains that inventions can be made individually or with a group; that some inventions lead to others, or more problems; some inventions scare people, never take off, or are dangerous; many fail but some succeed, which change the world. Overall, it informs children that there are “always barriers to be broken” and inventing is something that many know about and can do, but they have to be willing to try and fail, try and fail, over and over again.

Implementation: This book would align perfectly with science and social studies. Because many of the inventors are mentioned across both subjects, keeping this book in the classroom would allow opportunity for students to make text-to-text connections. When reading a chapter or section in a social studies textbook about the Civil War and slavery, students could reference the mention of Eli Whitney’s cotton gin. Or when reading a chapter or section in a science textbook, or learning about electricity, students could reference the mention of Alessandro Volta and James Watt. Making these connections would help students to comprehend and remember what they’ve read.

Your Pet Hamster, Written by Elaine Landau

Implementation: I would definitely use this to introduce a hamster as a class pet! A lot of younger grades have class pets, but many 3rd, 4th, and 5th do as well. As a non-fiction book, there are facts within that would aid as a research tool for students to learn more about hamsters. Practice using a table of contents, index and glossary are necessary skills students need to be able to apply to all sorts of non-fiction books.

Eye Wonder: Birds, Written and Edited by Samantha Gray and Sarah Walker

Eye Wonder: BIRDS by Caroline

Implementation: I would use this book as a research tool for students who seek to write or learn more about birds. Again, learning how to use a table of contents, glossary and index are important features of non-fiction books that students will use throughout their lifetime. (Click the link-Eye Wonder: Birds by Caroline)