Book Reports- RE 3030

Author/Illustrator- Paul O. Zelinsky

Date of Publication- 1986

ISBN #- 0-525-44265-0

Title- Rumpelstiltskin

Grade Level- Any grade to read aloud

Summary- The poor miller’s daughter did not know how to spin straw into gold. The King asked her three different times to spin straw into gold by the next morning or she would have to die. A man, secretely does this all three times for the miller’s daughter and in return he got her necklace and ring but the third time her made her promise her first born child. She married the King and she eventually found out the name of the man who had helpd her spin the straw into gold, so she did not have to give her child up.

In Classroom- Rumpelstiltskin is a classic story among children. This book could possibly teach us morals and how a lie can get you into trouble.

*****

Author/Illustrator- Marcia Brown

Date of Publication- 1954

Title- Cinderella

Grade Level- Read Aloud

Summary- Cinderella was made to do all the chores form her stepmother. However, she was far more beautiful thatn her sisters. Cinderella got her sisters ready for a ball and pretied them up, while hty made fu of her for the thought of her going along. As they left, her godmother, who is a fairy, promised Cinderella a place at the ball if she were a good girl. The fairy turned a pumpkin into a beautiful coach. The fairy made Cinderella beautiful and made sure seh had everything she needed for the ball. Conderella left the ball before midnight as instructed. While she was at the ball, everyone was amazed at Cinderella. In the end, Cinderella forgave her stepsisters and she begged them to love her always.

In Classroom- This story could be used to teach children that we should treat everyone equally. Just because someone is “different,” we should not treat them in a mean way or have negative thoughts about them.

*****

Author/Illustrator- Pamela Duncan Edwards and Henry Cole

Date of Publication- 1997

ISBN #- 0-7868-1173-0

Title-  Dinorella

Grade Level- Kindergarten

Dora, Doris, and Dinorella all live in a dinosaur den. Dora and Doris did notihng to help Dinorella with housework.  They received an invitation to go to Duke’s dance.  Dora and Doris told Dinorella that she could not go.  Suddenly, a Fairydactyl helped Dinorella get dazzled up for the dance.  At the dance, a deinonychus was dragging the Duke away and destroying him.  Dinorella saved the Duke from the deinonychus.  The Duke wanted whoever saved him to be his darling.  Dinorella dfinaly confessed it was her and Duke asked her to be his dearest.  The both danced off into the dawn.  However, Dora and Doris were not very happy!

In Class Use- This book is  a great book when the children start to learn the letter “D.”  After reading the story and discussing, the teacher could pull words that began with the letter D to help the children to learn the sound that D makes.

*****

Author/Illustrator- Ruth Sanderson

Date of Publication-  1999

ISBN #- 0-316-77092-2

Title- The Crystal Mountain

Grade Level- Second

Anna made beautiful brocades which were loved by the noble classes of garments. Anna had three sons: Leon, known for his strength; Blaine, known for his intelligence; and Perrin, who got made fun of for playing his lute. The three sons take off to a nearby city with a load of fabric. One night, Anna dreamt of a place like paradise, so she decides to weave a picture of it in cloth. This took ger mnths to do , meanwhile her sons were getting very concerned about their money! Anna, after three years, finished this tapestry and hung it on the wall. A gust of wind lifted it off the wall and out the window until it blew out of sight. Anna was extremely upset. A hermit told Leon that the ind listens to the fariies of The Crystal Mountain. The third son finally is the one who climbs the crystal mountain. He gets his mom’s tapestry and bring it home with a fairy!

Use in a classroom-  The use of this book would be great to catch the children’s interest and keep them focused on reading. Anything that is make believe, children love. They love fairies and dragons!  This book could also teach patience to us and our children.

*****

Author: Erica Silverman

Illustrator: Susan Gaber

ISBN: 0-374-36168-1

Title: Raisel’s Riddle

Grade Level: Second Grade

Summary: Raisel grew up an orphan girl and was raised by her grandfather. He studied all the time. During winter, Raisel’s grandfather became ill and took his last breath. Raisel then felt that she had to seek work but had a very difficult time. Raisel ended up at a rabbi and he volunteered help for the maid. He told Raisel that she could help the woman cook and clean. The cook treated Raisel very poorly. She made her work extremely hard all day, every day. Raisel held her tongue, hid her tears, and did what she was told. A dinner was held at the rabbi’s house in which his son was talking to Raisel, however the cook demanded her to stay hidden and get to work. Raisel met a beggar woman while she ate her meal outside. The woman granted Raisel three wishes. 1) She wished for a Purium costume; suddenly she was dressed like a queen. 2) She wished for a horse-drawn wagon, and it was granted. She ran into the rabbi’s son at the Purium party. He was obviously attracted to her and did not notice that she was the cook in his house. The clock almost strikes midnight and Raisel knew that her wishes would be gone. She arrived back at the rabbi’s house. Her last wish, she used to wish the kitchen spotless. Just like that, the kitchen was clean. Another dinner was held at the rabbi’s house and he announced that his son met an intelligent girl and she must be found because his son wants to marry her. During this announcement, the cook had barred the door after locking Raisel in the pantry. After many woman came to the rabbi’s son and pretended to know the riddle he was seeking, Raisel finally was unbarred and told the riddle to the son once again. They married and lived happily ever after!

Classroom Use: This could be a lesson about frienship and treating others the way you would want to be treated. The cook treated Raisel with a negative attitude, and she lost in the long run.

*****

Author:  Bill Martin Jr and John Archambault

Illustrator: Lois Ehlert

ISBN: 978-0-689-83568-1

Title: Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

Grade Level: Kindergarten

Summary: This book goes through the entire alphabet, grouping a few letters at a time. The letters were climbing up a coconut tree while they sing a jingle! The entire alphabet made it up the coconut tree and then they became too heavy so the tree fell and the book starts all over and goes through the entire alphabet again.

Classroom Use: This book is great for beginning learners. Kindergartners will love this book as it is creative and makes learning the alphabet and reading enjoyable. This book makes the alphabet useful in a story! I actually bought this book for my niece and she loves it! Kids love this time of interaction while they learn!

*****

Haiku by: Jack Prelutsky

Paintings by: Ted Rand

Title: If Not for the Cat

ISBN: 0-439-79908-2

Grade Level: Kindergarten or 1^st

Summary: This book talks about different animals on each page. The animals it briefly mentions are a mouse, a hummingbird, jellyfish, a sloth, elephants, a moth, crows, an otter, a rattlesnake, a parrot, ants, and anteater, a kangaroo, a beaver, bald eagles, a skunk, and butterflies. It briefly describes in typically on to two sentences a feature about each particular animal.

Classroom Use: This would be a great book to use with a science lesson. If in science, we were talking about features of different animals, this could be a quick overview of several animals. We then could go into how each animal is born and how differently they are and how alike some are. I could then tell the students to pick their favorite animal and illustrate several things about their particular animal.

*****

Written by: Carol Crane

Illustrated by: Gary Palmer

Title: T is for Tar Heel

ISBN: 1-58536-082-1

Grade Level: 4h

Summary: This book goes through each individual letter of the alphabet and has each letter stand for something about North Carolina. It starts with the Appalachian Mountains an other locations, to the state flower (Dogwood), state insect (Honeybee), to Presidents of the United States, to the Underground caverns, and finally it states North Carolina being the home for NASCAR, which they use for letter Z for zoom, zoom, zoom! This book also gives several sentences of facts about each topic it discusses. It talks about where that particular topic came from and a little about it.

Classroom Use: I chose this book a being useful for 4^th graders because that grade learns about North Carolina History. Just by reading this book, students can learn lot about the state. Also, what’s great about this book is that it ahs twenty-five questions in the back to ask student to see what they learned from this text. The answers are on the opposite page for verification. This is a great learning tool for students learning about North Carolina!

*****

Title: That Rabbit Belongs to Emily Brown

Author: Cressida Cowell

Illustrator: Neal Layton

ISBN: 13-978-0-545-14259-5

Date of Publication: January 2009

Grade Level: 1^st

Summary: Emily Brown has an old gray rabbit named Stanley. She gets knocks on her door every day from people wanting to trade the rabbit for several other things, one trade was the things as before plus all the toys Emily could ever desire. Emily rejects each offer and gets extremely upset as each one calls he rabbit “BunnyWunny.” She repeats several times in the book that his name is Stanley! A person even stole Stanley one night while e Emily was sleeping. In the end, Stanley is beaten u[p and a different color, but Emily is so happy to have him back with her.

In Class Use: This book will be a great source to students to help them learn the value of things, even the small things. They could, after reading the book, draw a pictures of something they have that they cherish and write a couple sentences about it. Then we can all share as a class each person’s picture.

*****

Title: Skippy jon Jones and the Big Bones

Author: Judy Schachner

ISBN: 13-978-0-545-20126-1

Date of Publication: 2007

Grade Level: 1^st or 2^nd

Summary: Skippy jon Jones loved to terrorize Darwin, who was a fearful dog. He buried his bones in the same place every time and Skippy jon Jones would dig them up all the time. Since he loved bones and dinosaurs so much, he said, “I’m going to be a famous paleontologist.” Mama Junebug Jones insisted that he give them back to Darwin before she wakes up, but Skippy jon Jones had no intention of it. He looked in his mirror and said, “I know I’m not a Siamese cat…I am a Chihuahua!” He then thought about the dinosaurs in his closest. Skippy jon Jones and some friends ran into a “T. Mexito” and some other dinosaurs. Skippy jon Jones had to do something to frighten the huge dinosaur, so he let out a fierce bark with his tint body. The dinosaur definitely backed down but not because he was scared of Skippy jon Jones, but because his breath from the pickle he had eaten earlier was horrible! By this time, Darwin had woken up and knocked on Skippy on Jones’ closet door. Skippy jon Jones finally did the right thing and gave back MOST of Darwin’s bones!

In Class Use: Definitely a Spanish lesson. The children would love the pictures and songs that Skippy jon Jones sings. This is a great way to bring different culture into the classroom. After reading this book, the students could do an activity that involved choosing any animal they would want to be and draw a picture.