If you Take a Mouse to School

If you Take a Mouse to School
Written by Laura Numeroff and Illustrated by Felicia Bond
Publisher: Scholastic Inc., 2002
Grade Level: Pre-K-2
Themes: humor, friendship and sharing

Summary: This is about a mouse and a young boy. They are friends. The boy is going to bring the mouse to school, but the mouse has a lot of requests. Once he asks for one thing, he will need something to go a long with it. There are a series of chain events that take place. 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 so on.

Reflection: This is a cute and funny story. The boy is very patient with the mouse and fulfills all his requests even though the mouse is never fully satisfied. The boy shares everything with the mouse. The illustrations are very colorful and they complement the text well. The books in the series are equally as funny and entertaining. Some of them include, If you Give a Dog a Donut, If you Give a Mouse a Cookie, If you Give a Moose a Muffin and If you Give a Cat a Cupcake. These books are perfect for teaching the skill,  sequencing to children.

Pre-Reading: I will discuss with the children what it is like getting ready for school. Is it hard to get up in the morning? Do you make your bed and pick out your own clothes? Do you bring your lunch or buy it? Does it take you a long time to get ready in the morning? Do you have the same routine everyday? What is your routine? I will also draw the children's attention to the pictures and talk about how they go right a long with the text. We can look at the pictures for meaning of the story even if we don't know every word.

Post-Reading: I will have sequencing paper strips with sentences and illustrations on them. We will all work together to put them in order. What happend first in If you Take a Mouse to School? Then what happend and we will keep going until we reach the end of the cycle with the correct order. Then the students will go back to their seats and do the same thing on their own. They will have paper strips with words and illustrations. Then they will paste them in the correct order onto construction paper.

About the Author: 

Laura Numeroff grew up in Brooklyn, NY. She loved reading, drawing and making up stories. Laura thought she wanted to be a fashion designer just like her sister, Emily. She went to Pratt Institute, but her last year there she had no idea what she wanted to do. She took a class in writing and illustrating books for children. Many of her books are printed in different languages for children all over the world to enjoy.

A Chair for my Mother

A Chair for My Mother
Written and Illustrated by Vera B. Williams
Publisher: Greenwillow Books, 1982
Grade Level: K-2
Themes: family, love, support and tough times

Summary: Rosa is a young girl who lives with her mother and grandmother. A fire destroys everything they own. Rosa and her family decide to save all their pennies until they can buy a new chair for her mother. It is a beautiful, nice soft chair that her mother can come home to after she has been waitressing all day. Rosa wants to do this for her mother because she appreciates all she has done for her and how hardworking she is.

Reflection: This is a sweet book about a loving family and community support. The plot is simple, but it has a great lesson, if you work hard even when times are tough you can get what you want eventually. This is a Caldecott Medal Winner. The illustrations are beautiful and they support the text perfectly. 

Pre-Reading: I will ask students to talk about their favorite possessions and how much they enjoy having them. The main characters in the story we are going to read lose all their favorite possessions in a fire. In what ways could you help someone who experiences a tragedy? Could you donate some of your toys to children who lose theirs? Could you and your family collect money to donate to other families?

Post-Reading: I will ask students to draw pictures of the objects that they pick for Rosa to buy and write their sentences under their pictures.

About the author: 

Vera B. Williams lives in New York City. She went to Black Mountain College and in 1949 got her degree in Graphic Art. She started writing after her divorce at the age of 46. She enjoys writing children's books, but also writes and draws for adults. She writes short stories, leaflets and posters.

Amazing Grace

Amazing Grace
Written by Mary Hoffman and Illustrated by Caroline Binch
Publisher: Dial Books for Young Readers, 1991
Grade:K-2
Themes: performing, determination, inspirational and love

Summary: A young girl named Grace loves reading and acting out stories. She puts on plays for her family. One day in school, Grace's teacher told the class that they will be putting on the play, Peter Pan. Grace knew she wanted to be Peter Pan. Her classmates told her she couldn't be Peter Pan because she was a girl and African American. Grace was very upset, but she believed in herself and auditioned for the part of Peter Pan and in the end she got the part!

Reflection:   This is a sweet and inspirational book about a determined girl who wouldn't let her classmates bring her down. She wanted something and never gave up. Determination, race and gender roles are all things to discuss after reading this book.

Pre-Reading: Tell the children that this book, Amazing Grace has a lot in common with a book they read a couple days ago called Oliver Button is a Sissy by Tomie DePaola. As I read this book think about how it is similar and different than Oliver Button. As I read the book to the children I will model text- to- text connections to construct meaning and enhance understanding. I will tell them that making text-to-text connections from one book to another, can help them to understand the new story and make predictions about what may happen based on what they know from the other story.

Post-Reading: As a class we will complete a large Venn-diagram comparing and contrasting the connections we made between Amazing Grace and Oliver Button is a Sissy.

About the Author:

Mary Hoffman was born in New Hampshire. When she was three her family moved to London. She has two degrees, one in English Literature and one in Linguistics. Her first book, White Magic was published in 1975. She has written over 90 books for children and teenagers. She has a husband and three daughters. She travels to Italy at least once a year. 

A Sick Day for Amos McGee

A Sick Day for Amos McGee
Written by Philip E. Stead and Illustrated by Erin E. Stead
Publisher: Roaring Book Press
May, 2010
Grade Level: K-2
Themes: Friendship

Summary: Amos McGee is a zoo-keeper. He has a lot to do everyday, but he still finds the time to visit his friends. His friends are zoo animals. He has lots of fun playing with the animals, but one day Amos wakes up with a horrible cold. He can't go into work. His friends wait and wait for him, but he never shows up. The animals are very sad, they then decide to take the bus to Amos's house. Amos is delighted and they play games such as chess and hide and seek. At the end of the book they have a sleepover.

Reflection: This is one of my favorite books! This book makes me feel as if I have been reading it from the time I was very little until now. It feels like a classic. This is a really great story about friendship. The children will find it entertaining how all the animals leave the zoo and show up at Amos McGee's house to play with him. Amos is a cute elderly man and is so nice to the animals. There are awesome life like illustrations with hints of color.  This book is a Caldecott Medal Winner. The illustrator uses woodblock printing techniques and a pencil.

Pre-Reading: Tell the children that this is a story about friendship. Ask the children to think about their friends. What makes a good friend and what kinds of things do you do with your friend? I will record their responses on chart paper.

Post-Reading: Discuss Amos and how kind he was to his friends. When Amos got sick his friends went to see him. Tell the children to write a short paragraph describing what they would do for a friend or family member if they got sick and then draw a picture.

About the author:

Philip E. Stead is the author of the New York Times Best Illustrated Book of 2010 and Publisher's Weekly Best Children's Book of 2010 Amos McGee. Philip's wife, Erin illustrated the book. Philip, also an artist, both wrote and illustrated in debut, Creamed Tuna Fish and Peas on Toast. Philip lives in Michigan.

The Hello, Goodbye Window

The Hello,Goodbye Window
Written by Norton Juster and Illustrated by Chris Raschka
Publisher: Hyperion Books for children
April, 2005
Grade:K-2
Themes: imagination, grandparents/grandchild relationship

Summary: A little girl loves going to her nana and poppy's house because she loves looking out the Hello, Goodbye window. It looks like a regular window, but it is not. It is a magic window. She imagines seeing dinosaurs walking by, the queen of England and many other things.

Reflection: I like this book. Children will be able to relate to having fun at their grandparent's house. It made me think of running around and playing games when I was little at my grandparent's house. I liked all of the scenarios the young girl imagined. I enjoyed reading about the magical getaways. It was entertaining.

Pre-Reading: Show the children the cover of the book and the illustrations. Ask the children to predict what they think the hello, goodbye window is. 

Post-Reading: I will give the students a worksheet with a window on it. It will say, if you could see anything out of the hello, goodbye window what would you see and why? The students will write a few sentences about what they would want to see and draw a picture in the window of what they see.

About the author:

Norton Juster was born in 1929 in Brooklyn, New York. He studied architecture at the University of Pennsylvania. In 1954 he joined the navy and began writing. His first book, Phantom Tollbooth was published in 1961. It was a winner of the George C. Stone Centre for Children's Books Award. It was made into a film by MGM and was recently turned turned into a musical. His latest book, Sourpuss and Sweetie Pie is a sequel to The Hello, Goodbye Window.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw
Written and Illustrated by Jeff Kinney
Publisher:Amulet Books
January, 2009
Grade:5-8
Themes:  peer acceptance, humor and family

Summary: This book is part of the Diary of the Wimpy Kid series. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw is about a typical middle school age boy who writes in his journal everyday about embarrassing moments, sibling rivalry, crushes, friends and his relationship with his family. He tries to impress people all around him. He is not an honors student and is not very athletic. He tries to fit in at school and occasionally gets in trouble. He wants to please his father because his father has threatened to send him to boarding school.

Reflection: This book is so funny! I think middle school students could relate to it and would enjoy it. I couldn't put it down. I liked that it was written from a child's point of view. It brought me back to when I was in middle school. The themes such as peer acceptance, sibling rivalry and embarrassing moments are all apart of typical middle age student's lives. For boys who don't typically enjoy reading will really like this book.

Pre-Reading: Discuss what a graphic novel is and the different parts of graphic novels. Look at all the illustrations and discuss how they create meaning.

Post-Reading: The students will create their own graphic novels. They will use the same format as the book, comic strips. They can make a comic strip about any topic they would like. They need to brainstorm in their journals before creating their graphic novel.

About the author:

Jeff Kinney was born in Maryland in 1971 and attended the University of Maryland. He knew he wanted to be a cartoonist. He worked on Diary of a Wimpy Kid for a long time before it was finally released in 2007. Diary of a Wimpy Kid was a New York Times best seller along with the other books in the series. Jeff is a full-time design director of a Boston-based Internet Publishing Company. Jeff lives in Massachusetts with his wife and two sons.

I Wanna Iguana

I Wanna Iguana
Written by Karen Kaufman Orloff and Illustrated by David Catrow
Publisher: Putnam
2004
Grade:K-2
Themes: pets, responsibility and humor

Summary: Alex wants a pet more than anything! He doesn't want a cat, dog or a bird. He wants an iguana. He writes letters to his mom explaining all the reasons why an iguana is the perfect pet for him. She writes letters back explaining why one isn't, but Alex doesn't give up trying to convince his mom to let him have an iguana. Alex eventually gets his wish.

Reflection: This is a funny book written from both Alex's and his mom's point of view. Children will definitely be able to relate to Alex begging his mom to get a pet and her needing a lot of convincing that he will take care of his pet. The pictures are very funny. My favorite illustration was the six foot iguana laying in bed reading the newspaper.

Pre-Reading: We will do a picture walk through the book and I will talk to the children about the letter's that Alex is writing to his mother and the letters she is writing back to him.

Post-Reading: I will teach children about the parts of a letter. The greeting, body, closing and P.S. We will look at a letter and label it correctly. The children will then be assigned a pen pal from another class and they will write letters back and forth to each other.

About the Author:

Karen Kaufman Orloff dreamt of writing novels when she was a little girl, but later decided to write children's books. She loves writing for children. She says, "They are my best audience," She lives with her husband, two kids, an iguana and guinea pig.

Tweak Tweak

Tweak Tweak
Written by Eve Bunting and Illustrated by Sergio Ruzzier
Publisher: Clarion Books
2011
Grade: Pre-K-K
Themes: Love, discovery and curiosity

Summary: This book is about a mother and baby elephant going on a walk. Mother elephant tells the baby elephant to tweak twice if he has a question. As they are walking, baby elephant becomes very curious and asks his mother about the frog, monkey, songbird, butterfly and crocodile. He especially wants to know what elephants can do.

Reflection: This is a great book for younger children.This book is all about discovery and curiosity. Younger readers will learn something about the animals just like the baby elephant did. The illustrations of the animals are very cute. I like the question and answer format of the story and the animal sounds.

Pre-Reading: I would tell the children a little bit about the book. Baby elephant has lots of questions for his mother about the animals they see on their walk. Some of the animals they see are frogs, monkeys, butterflies and crocodiles.

Post-Reading: I would tell the children to think about their favorite animal. They will draw that animal on a piece of construction paper. Then they will think about a question they have about that animal. They will write the question next to their drawing, a teacher will help them with this. We will also talk about the question mark before completing this activity.

About the Author:

Eve Bunting grew up in Ireland. Bunting moved to California with her husband and children. She had a strong desire to write and had many ideas from all her family in Ireland's stories. She enrolled in a Writing for Publication class at a local college. She has written many books with a variety of topics and books for all ages. Picture books are her favorite to write. She has won many awards.

Dirt on my Shirt

"Dirt on my Shirt"
Written by Jeff Foxworthy and Illustrated by Steve Bjorkman
Published:Harper Collins
2008
Grades: 1-3
Themes: family, friends, nature and poetry

Summary: This a book of poetry filled with humor and rhyme. Children in elementary school classrooms can relate to the poems. Some of the topics include friends, family members, outdoors and nature.

Reflection: This is a great way to introduce poetry to students. It is humorous and the topics are all age appropriate. The text is simple and easy to follow so children will not feel overwhelmed. The illustrations are kid friendly, colorful and dramatic. I like how there is a table of contents because you can teach children what a table of contents is. Some of my favorite poems are Friends, Are We There Yet?, Auntie Brooke, Uncle Moe and Sharing a Bed.

Pre-Reading: Before reading the book have the children brainstorm what they know about poetry on chart paper. You could also complete a KWL Chart with children. Talk with the children and write down some examples of different kinds of poetry.

Post Reading: Have the students write a poem about a family member, friend or animal. Children will be instructed to either write a Limerick or Acrostic Poem. We will review the Limerick and Acrostic Poems before they begin writing.

About the Author:

Jeff Foxworthy is a comedian. He is a Grammy Award Nominee and the best selling author of 11 books. Foxworthy stars in and executive produces the Television Series Blue Collar TV. Jeff is also the voice of Reggie the Rooster in the Warner Brother's film Racing Stripes and the voice of Lyle in the film, The Fox and the Hound 2. He has greeting cards through American Greetings at Walmart. He lives in Georgia with his wife and two daughters.

Chrysanthemum

Chrysanthemum
Written and illustrated by Kevin Henkes
Publisher: Harper Collins
1996
Grade: Pre-K-2
Themes: Love, individuality and acceptance

Summary: Chrysanthemum loves her name. She loves how it sounds when she whispers it to herself in the bathroom mirror and when she sees it written on an envelope. When she starts school the children make fun of her because of her name. The children point out how long her name is, how it doesn't even fit on a name tage and how she is named after a flower. One day the children are at music class and their pregnant teacher overhears them making fun of Chrysanthemum and she tells the class that she is considering the name Chrysanthemum for her baby. It is then Chrysanthemum's school days go from dreadful to delightful.

Reflection: This is a cute book. I remember one of my teachers reading it and I liked it then and I still like it now! It is a book geared for younger students. Once the boys gets too old I do not think they will enjoy it very much. I enjoyed the happy ending when the student's begin to accept the name Chrysanthemum. I think teachers could do a lot of different activities with this book especially math activities.  The illustrations are very cute and they match the descriptions and actions in the text.

Pre-Reading: I will ask the children if they know what a Chrysanthemum is. I will tell them that it is a flower and then I will ask them to look at the cover and make a prediction about what the book is about and why they made that prediction.

Post-Reading: As a class we will graph how many letters there are in their first names. Children will think pair share with a partner telling them how many letters are in their name and then their partner will tell them how many letters they have in their name. Then we will talk about the characteristics of a graph and then I will ask each child how many letters are in their first names and we will graph each name and then talk about whose name had the most letters and whose name had the least and whose name had an equal amount of letters. 

About the Author:

Kevin Henkes is from Wisconsin. He wanted to be an author all through his childhood. He brought hos portfolio to New York City in hopes to find a publisher. He found Green Willow Books. His first picture book, All Alone was published in 1981. He was nineteen years old. He lives with his wife, daughter and son.

A Day's Work

A Day's Work
Written by Eve Bunting and Illustrated by Ronald Himler
Publisher: Sandpiper
April, 1997
Grade Level:K-3
Themes: honesty, love and immigration

Summary: Seven year old Francisco waits with his grandfather as they look for work along with many other immigrants on the street corner. A man came looking for a gardner. Francisco's agrees to gardening. Since his grandfather does not know English, Francisco does all the talking. He says, "My grandfather and I are great gardeners." They work all day in the hot sun, but when the man comes back at the end of the day, he scolds them saying, "You pulled out plants instead of weeds!" At the end, Francisco learns a valuable lesson about honesty.

Reflection:This is a great book to discuss immigration, culture and honesty. I like the water color illustrations. They depict the characters and emotions well.

Pre-Reading: Discuss immigration with the children. Some people came to America in search for jobs or a better place to live, where there is no war or diseases. When immigrants got to American they needed to find work to pay for food, clothing and a place to live. Some examples of places immigrants could come from are Ireland, Italy and Mexico. Francisco and his grandfather are from Mexico and they come to the United States looking for work. I would also go over some of the spanish vocabulary in the book and write it on chart paper.  Abuelo: (grandfather) Hace Frio: (it's cold) Senora: (Lady) Gracias:(thank you) Bueno: (good) Muy Bonita: (beautiful) and Chickweed:  This not a spanish word, but children would need to know this to understand what Francisco and his grandfather picked. A chickweed is a herb that is grown all over the world. They have pretty white flowers that bloom and contain many vitamins. Francisco and his grandfather picked the chickweed instead of the weeds. 

Post Reading: Point of View: First person. This book is written in Francisco's point of view. Write about how the point of view would be different if Francisco's grandpa told the story.

About the Author:

Eve Bunting grew up in Ireland. Bunting moved to California with her husband and children. She had a strong desire to write and had many ideas all from her family in Ireland's stories. She enrolled in a Writing for Publication class at a local college. She has written many books with a variety of topics and books for all ages. Picture books are her favorite to write. She has won many awards.

Sylvester and the Magic Pebble

Sylvester and the Magic Pebble
Written and Illustrated by William Steig
Publisher: Aladdin Picturebooks
1997
Grade Level:K-2
Themes: family and magic

Summary: A donkey named Sylvester finds a magic pebble. He discovered that if he held the pebble and made a wish the wish would come true. One day a lion frightens Sylvester. Sylvester makes a wish, but the wish brings unexpected results. I do not want to give away what happens to Sylvester.

Reflection:This is one of my favorites. It will definitely keep children's attention because of the magic and exciting plot. This book brings out so many emotions in the reader. The illustrations are colorful and filled with detail.

Pre-Reading: This is a great book to have the class make predictions with. I would have the students looks at the front of the cover and we would do a picture walk through. We will talk about our predictions.

Post-Reading: I will give each child a marble. I will ask them if they could wish for anything, what would it be? They will write and draw a picture in their journals. They will get to keep the marble.

About the Author:

William Steig (1907-2003)

Steig was a cartoonist, illustrator and author. Steig's family members were all artists so Steig followed in their path. He attended City College and National Academy of Design. Many of Steig's works appeared in the New Yorker. He wrote his first children's book in 1968. He has won numerous awards. Sylvester and the Magic Pebble won a Caldecott Medal and he also wrote the book Shrek! Which later became a movie.

It's Okay to Be Different

It's Okay to Be Different
Written and Illustrated by Todd Parr
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Re-print Edition April 2009
Grade Level: Pre-K-K
Themes: Love, Kindness and Acceptance

Summary: It's Okay to Be Different inspires children to embrace their individuality through acceptance of others and self confidence. It's okay to be a different color, it's okay to have no hair and it's okay to say no to bad things are just a few of the it's okays.

Reflection: This book is great for younger children. You can use this book to begin teaching about differences and individuality. The text is simple and the illustrations are cute, bright and funny. Todd Parr has many other books that are easy for kids to understand. Some of these include,  The Earth Book, The Peace Book and The Feel Good Book.

Pre-Reading: This is a great book for early literacy. Each page begins, it's okay. The repetition makes it great for them to learn those words and read along with the teacher. You could go through the book and ask the children to help you find some sight words.

Post-Reading: Create your own class book. It's Okay to Be Different. Have the children create a picture of themselves and put them all together to form a book or tell students they are going to make a collage that shows interesting things about themselves. They will cut out pictures from magazines of any of their favorite things(pets, places, hobbies, clothing, sports) and glue them onto construction paper. Older students need to label their collage such as my favorite place.

About the Author:

Todd Parr grew up in Wyoming. He failed art class in high school, but was determined to pursue his passion of drawing and painting. He was rejected many times, but never gave up. He continued working and has written and illustrated more than 28 books. He has won many awards and has joined several organizations to promote reading.

The Kissing Hand

The Kissing Hand
Written by Audrey Penn
Illustrations by Ruth E. Harper and Nancy M. Leak
Publisher: Tanglewood Press
August, 2007
Grade Levels: Pre-K-1
Themes: Love and Family

Summary: Chester the raccoon does not want to go to school. He wants to stay home with his mom. She assures Chester that he will have fun at school. He will meet new friends, play with new toys and read new books. She then tells him the secret of the kissing hand that she learned from her mother. She kisses him in the palm of his hand. Chester feels the love of his mother's kiss immediately. She tells him that whenever he feels lonely at school put his hand to his cheek and he will feel her love.

Reflection: This is one of of my favorite books. I think that this is a great book to read to children on the first day of school. Most children can relate to Chester. It is a simple story filled with love.

Pre-Reading: I will talk with children about feeling lonely or sad. What did you do to make yourself feel better or did someone help you to feel better. 

Post Reading: This lesson is geared towards younger children. I will paint their hand and then they will press it on a piece of paper. Once is dries, we will place a heart in the middle of it. The children will have their very own kissing hand. They will give it to someone they love very much. I will put a typed message onto the children's papers explaining to their parents, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles or grandparents what a kissing hand is.

About the Author:

Audrey Penn's first career was dancing with the National Ballet in New York City. She became ill with Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis so  she had to give up dancing. Penn loved writing in her journal as a young girl and decided she would start writing. She lives with her husband, three children and one foster child and her dogs in Maryland. One of her daughters inspired The Kissing Hand. 

Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse

Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse
Written and Illustrated by Kevin Henkes
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
2004
Grade Levels: Pre-K -1
Theme: Forgiveness

Summary: Lilly adores her purple, plastic, purse and her teacher Mr. Slinger. It holds her glasses, quarters and plays music, but it starts to become a distraction in the classroom. Lilly gets very upset when Mr. Slinger talks to her about her purse and keeps it at his desk for the day. Lilly slips a mean drawing into Mr. Slinger's bag. Lilly gets her bag back at the end of the day and she finds a nice note in it from Mr. Slinger. She feels horrible for putting that mean note into Mr. Slinger's bag. Will he ever find a way to forgive her?

Reflection: This is a nice book about teaching children about apologizing and forgiveness. I think that younger children will really enjoy it.

Pre- Reading: I will activate prior knowledge by asking if anyone has ever gotten so mad that they did something they were not proud of and how they might have solved the problem. This is also a great book to read if focusing on the letter Pp for that day or week.

Post-Reading: I will give the children a worksheet that will say.. Lilly brought her purse to school. I would bring my blank to share. The students will write and draw a picture of what they would bring to school.


About the Author: 

Kevin Henkes is from Wisconsin. He wanted to be an author all through his childhood. He brought his portfolio to New York City in hopes to find a publisher. He found Green Willow Books. His first picture book, All Alone was published in 1981. He was nine-teen years old. He lives with his wife, daughter and son.

Officer Buckle and Gloria

Officer Buckle and Gloria
Written and Illustrated by Peggy Rathmann
Publisher: Putnam Juvenile
2005
Grade Levels:K-2
Theme: Friendship and Safety

Summary: Officer Buckle knows all about safety. He loves sharing his safety tips, but nobody seems to listen. The police department purchased a dog named Gloria. Officer Buckle brings Gloria where ever he goes. Suddenly, everyone wants to hear Officer Buckle's safety speech. Officer Buckle begins to feel that everyone would rather watch Gloria than listen to him. He vows to give up his safety tips, but Gloria convinces her friend that the people of Napville still need him.

Reflection:This is a funny book about safety, teamwork and friendship. Children will love seeing all of Gloria's tricks. The ending is very cute because all of the children write to Officer Buckle telling him they need him back and Gloria convinces him to begin sharing his safety tips again. The illustrations are perfect at complimenting the text on each page.

Pre-Reading: We will brainstorm on chart paper some safety problems, why they are problems and what the solutions could be for the problems.

Post-Reading:  The children will make safety posters. They will each get to pick a safety tip that we went over in class and design a poster like one they saw in the book. They will do their best work and use lots of colors because I will hang them in the classroom.

About the Author: 

Peggy Rathmann is from Minnesota. She attended many colleges and majored in psychology, commercial art, fine art and children's book illustrations. Rathmann received a Caldecott Medal in 1996 for Officer Buckle and Gloria. Peggy lives in San Francisco with her husband, but she travels all over the US entertaining children with drawing demonstrations. 

Corduroy

Corduroy
Written and Illustrated by Don Freeman
Publisher: Viking Juvenile
Reprinted Edition: May, 2011
Grade Levels: K- 2
Theme:Friendship/Adventure

Summary: Corduroy is a lonely bear who lives in a department store. One day a young girl comes into the store with her mother and asks to take Corduroy home. Her mother says, "Not today dear, I've already spent too much money already. Besides, he doesn't look new. He's lost a button on one of his shoulder straps." Corduroy decides to explore the department store to find his missing button. Unfortunately, Corduroy does not find his button, but the next day he finds a home and a friend.

 Reflection: This is such a great book for children because they can relate to having a stuffed animal that they love so much. Reading about Corduroy's adventure will keep the children interested. The end is very touching, when Corduroy discovers he has a new friend and a great home.

Pre-Reading Activity: We will talk about what an adventure is. I will tell the children we will be reading a  book about a bear named Corduroy who goes on an adventure. 

Post-Reading Activity: Children will use their imagination and write their own adventure stories using Corduroy as the main character.

About the Author:

Don Freeman was a painter, printmaker, cartoonist, children's book author, and illustrator. He was born in San Diego, California, attended high school in Missouri, and later moved to New York City where he studied etching with John Sloan. Frequent subjects included Broadway theatre, politics, and the circus. He was also a jazz musician, and the brother of circus entrepreneur Randy Freeman.