An Island Grows

An Island Grows
Written by Lola M. Schaefer and Illustrated by Cathie Felstead
Publisher: Greenwillow Books, 2006
Grade Level: K-2
Themes: geological history and volcanoes

Summary: This book is about how a volcano forms from beginning to end. First there is an undersea explosion of molten lava. Then the gradual buildup of solidified lava. Next the arrival of plants and wildlife. Lastly, the arrival of people.

Reflection: This is a nice book about the development of a volcanic island. It is simple text, but the wording is nice. Great sentence fluency. This is a great book to teach science (geology and rocks) with. The illustrations are colorful.

Pre-Reading: Tell the children that this book is about a volcanic island forming. Make sure they listen to how to it forms. Turn to someone sitting next to you and make a prediction about how you think a volcanic island forms? Can plants and people live on an island?

Post-Reading: I will write a couple things from the book on the board. Stones break,water quakes and Lava flows. We will talk about subject and verbs. Subjects and Verbs are essential for making sentences. Ask students to think of processes such as the water cycle, life cycle of a plant or tree. Pick one of these and brainstorm the steps in each process using a subject and verb. I chose the life cycle of a plant. For example, Leaves sprout, branches fill, sun shines and so on. Once we are finished brainstorming, children will go back to their seats. They will get with a partner and create a book about any process they choose.

About the author:

Lola M. Schaefer has always loved books, but she never imagined that she would be writing children's books. She is also a writing consultant. She travels to schools, conferences and workshops. She has written more than 250 books for children. Her book, Frankie Stein was awarded the Children's Choice Book Award for Kindergarten through Grade 2. She has won many other awards. She was a teacher and an instructor for graduate level courses. She lives with her husband Tim.

The Tortilla Factory

The Tortilla Factory
Written by Gary Paulsen and Illustrated by Ruth Wright Paulsen
Publisher: Harcourt Brace and Company, 1995
Grade: K-2
Themes: Tortilla making process, cycle

Summary: This story is about how tortillas are made. Farmers are in the field, preparing the soil, planting the seeds and growing the corn. We see the workers in the factory, using corn flour to create dough, kneading the dough and baking it into tortillas. Then, we return to the farmer's home, eating the tortillas so they have energy to continue their work. Tortilla making is basically a full circle just like seasons and water cycle for example. The process repeats itself.

Reflection: This non-fiction topic would be interesting to children because tortillas are a staple in so many families kitchens. It is simple text, but almost poetic. The illustrations are perfect for the book. They are made up of warm colors that helps you to envision someone making the tortillas in your kitchen and how delicious and warm they are when you finally get to eat them. This book is perfect to demonstrate a cycle. The cycle of planting, harvesting, processing the grain and eating the tortillas.

Pre-Reading: Make an overhead of the beginning and ending of the book's text and discuss what the students think it means and predict what will happen in the story based on the sentences in the beginning and the sentences at the very end.

Post-Reading: Ask the children if they noticed anything about how the book was organized. I would tell the children that the book goes in a cycle or full circle. We will make a list on chart paper of other things that go in cycles. Some examples could be the water cycle, seasons, school, days and night and trees and plants. Then the students will be given a piece of paper. They will draw and color one of these cycles we talked about.

About the author:

Gary Paulsen was born in 1939. He was never a dedicated student, but he enjoyed reading. He ran away from home when he was 14 and traveled with a carnival. Paulsen realized he wanted to be a writer when he was working as a satellite technician for an aerospace firm. Paulsen has written over 175 books. Gary's wife, Ruth is an illustrator. They spend their time at their home in New Mexico and a boat on the Pacific.

One Tiny Turtle

One Tiny Turtle
Written by Nicola Davies and Illustrated by Jane Chapman
Publisher: Candlewick Press, 2001
Grade:K-3
Theme: Loggerhead turtle's habitat

Summary: This is about a Loggerhead turtle. She makes her way from her egg far into the sea to her summer and winter feeding areas and her nesting ground, the beach where she was born. We experience her feasting on crabs, clams and shrimp. The struggle of depositing her eggs in the sand and swimming from one location to another.

Reflection: I love sea turtles so I really enjoyed this book. I love the author's descriptive language to explain the lifecycle of Loggerhead sea turtles. I like on each page how there are interesting well researched bits of information about the Loggerheads. The pictures are very beautiful. This is a great and interesting non-fiction book! There is also a version of this book with a cd including music and facts.

Pre-Reading: Ask children if they know anything about Loggerhead Turtles.Tell the children that they need to listen for similis and metaphors. There are a lot in this book. The children will have background knowledge on similis and metaphors because we will have already gone over what they are.

Post-Reading: I will have sentence strips with the similis and metaphors from the story written on them. I will have a chart with similis on one side and metaphors on the other. The children will help to read each sentence strip and I will call on the students and ask them if that sentence is a simili or metaphor and then he or she will put it on the appropriate place on the chart (under simili or metaphor). Then, they will go back to their seats and write one fact they learned about Loggerhead Turtles and draw a picture.
There is a lot you can do with this book. You could use this book to demonstrate the characteristics of non-fiction books. You could discuss complete sentences and fragments. There are some sentences in the book that are not complete (fragments). Discuss that a complete sentence has a subject and a verb (a doer and an action). I would re-read sentences from the book and students will put their thumb up if the sentence is complete and thumb down if it isn't. Then the students will go back to their seats and write one complete sentence using a fact from the story and then draw a picture. 

About the author: 

Nicola Davies has always been fascinated with animals. Nicola's first job was studying geese in Scotland. She has been all over the world studying animals. She has written 8 non-fiction picture books. All the animals she has written about are creatures she has seen in the wild or habitats she has visited. She visits schools and runs writing workshops for children.

Blueberries for Sal

Blueberries for Sal
Written and Illustrated by Robert McCloskey
Publisher:Viking Press
September, 1976
Grade Level: K-2
Themes: Families and Relationships

Summary: Sal and his mother went out on Blueberry Hill to pick blueberries. Sal's mother was busy picking blueberries. However Sal was eating all the blueberries. Then Sal got lost, she begins to follow a bear who is eating lots of blueberries to store up for the long, cold winter. On the other side of the mountain little bear is following Sal's mother because he too is lost. The big bear turns around and is shocked to see Sal following her. Sal's mother is turns around is also shocked to see a bear following her. Finally, big bear finds little bear and Sal's mother finds Sal.

Reflection:This is a cute book. There is a lot you could do with it in an elementary classroom. You could focus on the letter Bb and use this book to help you. Create math lessons. You could also talk about hibernation or have the children make a connection about a time they got lost and then write about it.

Pre-Reading: Talk to the children about blueberries and what people make with blueberries. Tell the children that in this book Sal and her mother go to Blueberry Hill to pick blueberries. They will be canning them once they have enough blueberries. Explain to the children what canning means.

Post-Reading: I would complete a math activity with the children. This would be most suited for kindergartners. I would focus on subtraction. I would show the children a number sentence, for example, 3-1=. The children would then each have a pal and blueberries that were cut out of blue paper earlier. Children would then place three blueberries in the pal and take one out. How many blueberries are they left with?

About the Author:

Robert McCloskey was born in Ohio. He is the author and illustrator of many children's books. He is a very admired man in Ohio. There is a children's section of the library called the Robert McCloskey room. He not only has books in American, but many of his books are translated into different languages for foreign countries.

Weather Words and What They Mean

Weather Words and What They Mean
Written and Illustrated by Gail Gibbons
Publisher: Holiday House
March 1992
Grade Levels: K-3
Theme: Weather

Summary: Great book for discussing the weather and why it happens with children. Many facts about the weather. Some topics include moisture, temperature, air pressure, clouds and wind.

Reflection: Learning about the weather is a topic that comes up in elementary schools, middle schools, high schools and college. Weather is always around us and always changing. This book is great to begin talking about the weather with students. It is very detailed, but not overly detailed where children would be confused. I think this book will make learning about weather exciting and as a teacher you could do a lot with it.

Pre-Reading: I will write some of the topics that I know will be covered in the book on chart paper and we will discuss them.

Post- Reading: We will use some of the weather topics we learned to discuss the weather outside on that day. This is lesson is aimed toward older students. Students will write in their weather journals for one week. They will discuss what the weather is for each day using the weather topics we have discussed.

About the Author:

Gail Gibbons was born in Illinois in 1944. Gibbons loved putting books together as a child. She attended University of Illinois. She moved to New York City and got a job doing art work for television shows. Shen then decided to try writing children's non-fiction books because of her love for putting books together as a child. She has written and illustrated over 170 books.

Owen and Mzee

Owen and Mzee
Told by Isabella Hatkoff, Craig Hatkoff
and Dr. Paul Kahumbu and Photographs by Peter Greste
Publisher: Scholastic Press
February, 2006
Grade Levels:K-6
Theme: Friendship and Geography

Summary: This book is a story about friendship between a hippo and a 130 year old tortoise. The hippo known as Owen lived around the Sabaki Canyon in Kenya, but was separated from his family after the tsunami in 2004. Owen was stranded alone in a coral reef. Dr. Kahumbu, a ecologist and conservationist was contacted and was able to to find Owen a home. He was taken to a wild life park. It was there that Owen met Mzee(tortoise). This is how their remarkable friendship began.

Reflection: This is such a sweet book about about an unlikely friendship and the fact that it is factual makes it so much better. The wording is simple enough to understand for young children. The pictures are also amazing! I would recommend this to all ages even adults. You won't be disappointed!

Pre-Reading: I will give the students some background knowledge about the setting in the story, some facts about hippos and tortoises and what a tsunami is.

Post-Reading: Children will write in their journals or draw depending on their age about a friendship they have. Answering the questions, what it means to be a friend, are you similar or different and what do you like to do together? It would also be great, if we could write letters to Isabella Hatkoff, Craig Hatkoff or Dr. Kahumbu with questions or comments.

Told By:

Father and daughter team Craig and Isabella Hatkoff collaborated with Dr. Paula Kahumbu, director of the Haller Park sanctuary where Owen and Mzee live, to tell the story of this great friendship in the New York Times best selling books Owen & Mzee: the True Story of a Remarkable Friendship and Owen & Mzee: The Language of Friendship.