Book #3- Informational Text

Title: Platypuses Web-Footed Billed Mammals

Author: Rebecca E. Hirsch

Publisher: Lerner Publications
Publication Date: 2015

ISBN #: 978-1-4677-5581-8

Brief Summary: This is an informational book about Platypuses. The author takes you through every detail about Platypuses including the following: their living environment, how they hunt, their physical characteristics, and how platypuses compare to many other animals.

Evaluation: This book is very colorful and can attract the attention of young children. However, children, especially young readers might need help reading some of the scientific words and interpreting the units of measurement that the book describes Platypuses with and describes how Platypuses compare to other animals with. It was definitely very informative and if you love to learn about Platypuses like I do this is the book for you!

Rating: 4 out of 5 Platypuses

Book #2- Informational Text

Title: Diana The People's Princess

Author: Richard Wood

Publisher: Steck-Vaughn Comopany
Publication Date: 1998

ISBN #: 0-8172-3998-7

Brief Summary: This is an informative history book for young readers about princess Diana. The book explains her upbringing, marriage, children and family, and most importantly her humanitarian efforts. It really brings to life how beautiful of a person Princess Diana was both inside and out.

Evaluation: I chose to do my blog on this book because I have heard wonderful things about Princess Diana but I didn't know that much about her and I was interested in knowing more about her. This book really describes her shining personality well and shows how amazing of a person she was. However, I don't think that this book is appropriate for all young readers. Elementary school aged children don't need to be seeing pictures of her car after it crashed for example. Also the vocabulary used in this book was complicated at times so that young readers might not be able to read this book on their own. Also, young children most likely won't be interested in this book because they probably have never heard of Princess Diana and the information that it talks about takes place way before there time. For those reasons they have no way of relating to the books information. I could see this book being useful if it was used by a child doing a project on Princess Diana who has to learn everything there is to know about her. This book is even more informative because it contains a glossary of complicated or medical terminology and the terms definitions.

Rating: 3 out of 5 crowns.

Book #1- Informational Text

Title: EMTs

Author: Kristin Nelson

Publisher: Lerner Publications Company
Publication Date: 2005

ISBN #: 0-8225-1690-x

Brief Summary: This book is all about what EMTs are and what they do. It describes the supplies EMTs use and things they do to help their patients in a medically accurate yet child friendly way. It also contains a fact sheet and history of EMTs synopsis at the end of the book.

Evaluation: As an EMT, I saw this informational text and knew I had to use it for my blog. I was surprised to see how accurate the author was regarding the information provided and how child freindly the wording was. EMTs can handle violent and dangerous situations and I think the aspects of the job were explained in a way that was appropriate yet informative for young readers. This book really makes an ambulance and the poeple who work on it less scary for kids and I love that! I think all schools should be reading this book to students becuase the chance that they will come across EMTs or an emergency situation is highly likely. The only critique I have is that it is outdated. Medicine, especially pre-hospital medicine, is changing everyday. Many of the facts on the facts page are wrong. For example, there is no longer such a thing as an "EMT-Intermediate", also the supplies shown in the pictures look alot different now, especially the stretchers. If children read this today they probably wouldn't be able to recognize that the supplies they see in the book are the same they might see if on an ambulance or scene of an emergency. The author should write an updated version of the same book because she did an excellent job with this one!

rating: 4 out of 5 Ambulances!

Book #3- Fantasy

Title: Bartholomew and The Oobleck 

Author and Illustrator: Dr. Seuss 

Publisher: Random House Inc. 
Publication Date: 1949

ISBN #- 0-394-80075-3

Brief Summary: This classic Dr. Seuss story is about an egotistical king who wishes to have something new fall from the sky. The King summons his magicians who create the horrible Oobleck that is sticky like glue and destroys the kingdom. After realizing this is a horrible idea, with Bartholomew's help, The King is able to say that he is sorry and that it is all his fault which made the Oobleck go away! Everything in the kingdom returned back to normal because those simple words saved the day! 

Evaluation: This has always been one of my favorite Dr. Seuss books. I love how all the drawings are gray scale except for the Oobleck which makes the mysterious slime look even more magical. The bright green color really catches readers attention. This story also has a great underlying message for children which is that it is always better to admit when you are wrong. Obviously there is no such thing as Oobleck, there is magic involved, and the setting takes place in a kingdom. These are all characteristics of fantasy books. This book is not appropriate for all reading levels because of the difficult vocabulary at times and the amount of words per page. The story would be more effective for young readers if teachers or parents read the book out loud to them as my parents did for me when I was younger. 



Rating: 4 out of 5 drops of Oobleck!

Book #2- Fantasy

Title: The Day The Crayons Quit 

Author: Drew Daywalt 
Illustrator: Oliver Jeffers

Publication: Philomel Books 
Publication Date: 2013

ISBN #: 978-0-399-25537-3

Brief Summary: This is a hysterical book about crayons who wrote a letter to their owner Duncan. Each crayon had their own problem with Duncan's coloring that they each addressed to Duncan in their own letter. After reading all the letters Duncan colored an awesome picture at school which got an A plus for creativity.  

Evaluation: This author really has quite an imagination. This idea is so unique and hysterical I know that children of any age would really enjoy reading this book. Most of the illustrations were drawn with crayon but there were also realistic illustrations that seemed to pop off of the page! I laughed out loud while reading each crayons letter and I know you will too! 

Rating: 5 out of 5 crayons!
 

Book #1- Fantasy

Title: Bedtime Monsters

Author and Illustrator: Josh Schneider

Publisher: Clarion Books
Publication Date: 2013

ISBN #: 978-0-544-00270

Brief Summary: This is an adorable story about a little boy who is scared to go to bed at night because of the monster that comes out and bites toes. The monster comes out and turns out to be just as scared of monsters as the little boy is. Soon the little boys bed is filled with monsters who are all scared of monsters too! The little boy scares all the monsters away and is finally able to get a good night sleep. 

Evaluation: I had high expectations for this book because the cover says that it was a winner of the Theodor Seuss Geisel Award. This book met my expectations and then some! I think it has a great moral for little kids who are afraid of monsters at night like I was when I was little. The moral is that there is nothing to be afraid of. The illustrations were cute and made the monsters alot less scary than they sounded. I recommend this book to all young readers. 

Rating: 5 out of 5 monsters under the bed. 

Book #3- Realistic Fiction

Title: Odd Velvet

Author: Mary E. Whitcomb
Illustrator: Tara Calahan King

Publisher: Chronicle Books
Publication Date: 1998

ISBN #: 0-8118-2004-1

Brief Summary: This story is about a girl named Velvet who everyone at school thinks is a little odd. Velvet has an odd rock collection, gives the teacher odd first day of school gifts and wears odd clothes. As the children get to know Velvet, they see that she is a talented painter, throws fun birthday partys and is really nice. They realize that Velvet isn't so odd after all!

Evaluation: This is a story with a great moral for young children. It teaches them to give the kids that they think are odd a chance and really get to know them before they judge them. This is a problem that leads to bullying in schools and I really like that the author chose to write about such an important topic. Also, the book was written in 1998 but I couldn't tell. I figured it was written more recently because the picutres don't look outdated at all. This is still a very relevant message for kids that they can still relate to and learn from.

Rating: 4 out of 5 crayons.

Book #2- Realistic Fiction

Title: Oma's Quilt

Author: Paulette Bourgeois
Illustrator: Stephane Jorisch

Publisher: Kids Can Press
Publication Date: 2001

ISBN #: 1-55074-777-0

Brief Summary: This is a heartwarming story about a little girls Oma who is moving out of her home on Maple Street and into a nursing home. Oma does not like the nursing home and misses her old home. The little girl and her mother make Oma a quilt filled with her favorite things from Maple Street and it makes Oma feel happier and more at home.

Evaluation: As soon as I saw the title of this book I knew I had to read it. I have an Oma as well, this means Grandma in German. A lot of the characteristics of the Oma in the story are identical to my own Oma like how she saves a lot of sentimental items and makes amazing strudel. This story talkes about a problem that I think lots of elderly people go through, moving out of the house they've lived in for years and into a nursing home must be a big change and an emotional roller coaster. I think this story portrays the feelings that those elderly people must go through very well. I absolutely loved this story and for all the people who have Oma's of their own I know this book will touch a special place in your heart like it did for me.

Rating: 5 out of 5 quilts!

Book #1- Realistic Fiction

Title: Winter Is Coming

Author: Tony Johnston
Illustrator: Jim LaMarche

Publisher: Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing Division
Publication Date: 2014

ISBN #: 978-1-4424-7253-2

Brief Summary: This book is about a girl who is witnessing nature changing and taking note of how all the animals around her are getting ready for winter time.  She sees all kinds of animals like fox, rabbits, geese, and deer. All of the animals prepare for winter in different ways.

Evaluation: This was a beautifully written and illustrated book. The illustrations portrayed such a detailed and realistic picture of what nature looks like as the seasons change. The animals were all drawn with such care and looked gentle and loving (which is how I suspected the author wanted nature to seem). The formatting of the words looked like poetry where there were specific line breaks or what seemed like predetermined amounts of words per each line. This story really exemplified the beauty of nature and I strongly recommend teachers to read this to their elementary school students.

Rating: 4 falling leaves

Book #3- Fairytales, Folktales, Myths and Legends

Title: Clay Boy

Author: Mirra Ginsburg
Illustrator: Jos. A. Smith

Publisher:Greenwillow Books
Publication Date: 1997

ISBN #: 0-688-14409-8

Brief Summary: This story was about a boy made out of clay by a grandma and grandpa. The clay boy was so hungry that he ate everything and everyone in the village except for a little goat who was able to outsmart him. The goat rammed into the clay boys belly and caused everything that he had eaten to come flying out. The people from the village, grandma and grandpa were all saved thanks to the goat.

Evaluation: This story is the same kind of story that my grandma used to tell me when I was little in that it was completely unrealistic and a little scary, but had a good ending. The illustrations were of good quality and had lots of texture to them. However, I would not recommend this book to younger readers because it might scare them. I don't think they need to be reading books about people getting eaten. The ending showed how this story came about, it was told by someones grandparent and then the story was told to younger generations. I love when families pass down stories like this because it leaves a small memory behind of the first family member to tell the story.

Rating: 2 balls of clay.

Book #2- Fairytales, Folktales, Myths and Legends

Title: Little Pierre A Cajun Story from Louisiana

Author: Robert D. San Souci
Illustrator: David Catrow

ISBN #: 0-15-202482-4

Publisher: Harcourt Inc.
Publication Date: 2003

Brief Summary: This story is about a boy named Little Pierre who showed his brothers that although he was the smallest, he had the biggest heart, the most bravery and brains. Little Pierre was able to free Mary Louise from the swamp giant and keep his dimwitted brothers out of trouble. The story ends with Little Pierre winning a reward for saving Mary Louise and living with her on a farm.

Evaluation: I thought this book was absolutely incredible. Not only was the story line enticing, but the illustrations were so creative and beautifully drawn. The colors popped out at you and all the the illustrations had such exaggerated detail which made it more fun to read. I could tell that this was a story from Louisiana because there were slang words and phrases used only in that part of the country. Also, the characters ate Gumbo and lived by a swamp, these things are also common in Louisiana. I eventually found myself reading this with a Louisiana like accent because of the slang words that were included. This book also celebrated the underdog which I always enjoy. Little Pierre is definitely a Louisiana tale that all families should read together.

Rating: 5 bowls of Gumbo!

Book #1- Fairytales, Folktales, Myths and Legends

Title: The Princess and The Pea (part of the "Fairy Tale Classics" series)

retold by Dandi of the Fairy Tale Classics 
no illustrator noted

Publication Date: 1996
Publisher: Landoll Inc. 

ISBN #: 1-56987-514-6

Brief Summary: This is a classic fairy tale about a princess who seeks shelter from a storm in another castle. In this castle is a prince who falls in love with this princess and his mother and father (the king and queen). The queen tries to prove that this girl was not a princess by sticking a pea under her mattress but her plan failed and the prince and princess lived happily ever after. 

Rating: 3 crowns 

Evaluation: I know this story well and enjoyed reading it again after many years. This book really is a classic and timeless fairy-tale. The idea that a princess can feel a pea under her mattress while a "peasant" cannot is a completely unrealistic idea. However, I think that is why this story is considered a "fairy-tale". Much like David Wiesner's illustrations, the plot and story line are out of this world and magical. I also noted that the words were all rhyming. This makes it easier for young children to read. One thing I thought was interesting was the way the characters were drawn, especially the princess. They had realistic curves and were more on the chubby side. They were not unrealistically skinny the way princesses are drawn in today's movies, TV shows and children's books. This shows the difference in the 90's idea of a princess compared to today's view of what a princess should look like. I think this is a very good message to children (especially little girls) that they can still be beautiful like a princess and not be super skinny. 

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