David Goes to School

David Goes to School by David Shannon.
    This book is about a young, rambunctious boy who goes to school. It is the sequel to the book No David! written by the same author. The book starts out by the teacher yelling at David for everything he is doing wrong. David eventually does enough to get him after school time with the teacher. At the end of the book David makes his wrong doings, right and is able to go home.
    This book is just fun! It is fun for the reader and listeners. The pictures are simple and but very funny. There are very few words on the each page which makes this book great to emergent learners and readers. Students all remember their first few days of school when they had to learn all the rules and it was sometimes hard to remember them all like David is experiencing.
    This book would be great for prek to 2nd grade students. It may be a too easy for students in the third grade but they may also enjoy reading it every once in awhile. Young students can look at the pictures in this book and figure out what is going on which makes reading for younger children more enjoyable. This book can be used to get students excited about reading. It may also be used to help students remember the things they aren't suppose to to at school. Students will laugh with this book and be entertained by the silly things David does. Reading this book to students or just having it in the classroom will spark students enjoyment to read because it is just a fun book. It doesn't contain any words that English Language Learners don't hear every day so they too can enjoy this book without getting frustrated.

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin, Jr. and John Archambault.
    This book is about all the letters of the alphabet. Each lower case letter climbs up the coconut tree (in order). The tree gets too heavy and tips over making all the letters fall out. The parent or upper case letters then come to help their babies who have fallen. They then climb back up the coconut tree and fall asleep.
    When this book was read to me as a young child I enjoyed it. As an adult reading it I still enjoy it. It is a great way to get young children thinking about the alphabet and saying their a,b,c's. It also relates to young children when they fall and their parents come rescue them. The pictures in this book are very simple. This is probably a good idea since young children that will be reading this are not developed enough to handle pictures that are too busy. The book also has a catching phrase that will gets students attention and participation.
    This is a great book for emergent readers and young, emergent learners. It has simple pictures that catch their attention with out overwhelming them. This book is a great way for students to learn their alphabet and know what each letter looks like. It also gives students something to relate each letter to making each letter a little more memorable. Students in first, second, and third grades will also enjoy reading this book but may get bored with it because it is not challenging enough for them. This book can be used in Prek-1st grade for students to read on their own. Children in Pre-k and kindergarten won't be able to read all the words on the pages but it will be good for them to look through the book and say each letter.

Stars of the Sea

Stars of the Sea by Allan Fowler.

The book starts out by asking where we see stars, it then moves to talking about stars in the ocean. It talks about what sea stars look like; the physical attributes that a sea stars has (arms, length, color, tubes on the feet, and its mouth). It tells us how a sea star eats and then it describes a few different types of star fish. At the end of the book there is a review page of words the reader encountered throughout reading that may be new words to them.
    This book is very informative. It gives great information about sea stars and other animals that are related to it that also live in the ocean. The pictures in this book are very detailed and really bring the words that are used to life. This book has a great use of vocabulary that may not be used every day.
    This book can be read to students in Prek-1st grades. It may be difficult for emergent readers to read on their own so it would be best to read it to students who are just beginning to read. First grade students who are a little more advanced in reading and second grade students can read this book on their own. It would be a great book to use if you were doing a unit on the ocean or on star fishes. English Language Learners may have a hard time reading this book and will need additional help or information to understand what is being said. This book is a great way to increase students vocabulary and knowledge about star fish.
  

The Three Bears

The Three Bears

 This book tells the well known story of the three little bears and Goldilocks but without any words. The story is told with pictures. It starts out with a picture of Goldilocks leaving her house and all three bears. Throughout the book there are the same amount of pictures detailing what Goldilocks is doing as there are pictures about the bears. It shows what happens throughout their day. The bears leave their house as Goldilocks enters it. The bears are walking as Goldilocks tries each of their breakfast cereals. Goldilocks breaks a chair and tries out every bed before falling asleep in one; the bears are walking home at this same point. When the bears get home they are mad that their food is gone and the chair is broken. Goldilocks wakes up and runs home.
    I really enjoyed looking at the pictures in this book. It makes you use your imagination in order to come up with the story since the words aren't there. The pictures are simple but tell a lot and they are also very easy to interpret. I liked that on each page you are able to see what Goldilocks and the bears are doing at the same time. Even though there aren't any words you can still tell the setting of the story through the pictures. This is a great picture book for anyone to use because everyone needs the opportunity to let their imaginations run wild.
    This book can be used in any classroom Prek-3rd. It has no words so it doesn't require any reading. Students who may not know the primary language at your school will also enjoy reading this book because they don't have to know any language to be able to read The Three Bears. This book is a great way to get children thinking and to have them tell a story by only looking at the pictures. Some children may not have ever read the story of the the bears and Goldilocks so this gives them the opportunity to make the story up as they see. Children who have heard of the three bears and Goldilocks will also enjoy making up their own version of the story through the pictures. Students who avoid reading because they struggle will enjoy this book because there aren't words for them to struggle with. This book woul work great for a lesson having students retell a story in their own words.

Freckle Juice

Freckle Juice by Judy Blume

    Sometimes it is necessary for us to read just plain silly books. I think this book is a good way to get students excited about reading. It is not informational but it is funny and students can relate to it.
    Freckle Juice is about a boy who sits behind a kid in class who has many freckles. This young boy decides he really wants freckles too. A girl in his class overhears that he wants freckles and tells him that she has a magic recipe for freckle juice. He pays her fifty cents to get the recipe and rushes home to try it out. You will have to read the book to see if the freckle juice works!
    I thought this book was a fun and entertaining. It would be a great book for students to read when they need to laugh.
    This book can be used for students enjoyment. It would be a good book for children to read on their own or for the teacher to read to the students during a free reading time. Students will find reading fun because this book is entertaining and silly.

Stellaluna

     I love books that are educational but also fun to read. Stellaluna by Janell Cannon, informs readers about bats but presents the information in an entertaining way.
    Stellaluna is about a baby bat who gets separated from her mother. She ends up in a nest with birds and begins to do everything birds do like sleeping at night (instead of the day like a bat), eating insects (instead of fruit), and sleeping in a nest (instead of hanging from a tree branch). One day she goes flying with her bird friends and gets separated from them. She ends up meeting some bats and one of them turns out to be her mother. Stellaluna is so excited to show her mom her new bird friends. Stellaluna soon comes to realize that her and the birds are very different but they can still be friends.
    I thought this book had great information about bats in it. Even though it is fiction children get to learn about bats, what they eat, where, when, and how they sleep, and when and how they fly. They are able to learn this without actually knowing they are learning. Stellaluna experiences many emotions throughout this book and children will also experience these emotions with her and relate to these different emotions.
    I think this book could be used in Prek-3 grades to inform students about bats. It can also be used in these grades as a way to introduce a unit about bats. Teachers will have to read this book to their students in the younger grades and explain a few words that may be new to the students but all students will enjoy reading about Stellaluna.