Inside a Barn in the Country

Inside a Barn in the Country by Alyssa Satin Capucilli is a sequential book about different animals in a barn in the country waking up and then waking up other animals in the barn. It starts off by a cat scaring a mouse which makes the mouse squeak and wake up a horse which wakes up a cow, etc. Eventually all the animals in the barn are awake and running loose outside. They wake the farmer up who tells them that it is not morning yet and they need to go back to bed. They go back to bed and the book ends by the cat scaring an owl.
    I think this would be a great book for pre-k to 2nd grade. The repetion in the book will make it a great book for a read aloud. Students will be able to participate in the reading because it is repetitive. I really like how it tells the animal and then gives the sound that each animal makes. This is a great way for young children to learn animal sounds. The pictures in this book are fun and very animated. Males and females will enjoy reading this book.
    I would have this book in my classroom library and I would also use it as a read aloud. Young children who are still learning to read will be able to look at the pictures and tell their own version of the story. For students who can read will enjoying reading this book on their own. This book can be used to increase student motivation for reading. I would also use this book as an introduction for a unit on writing out own class book using this sequential type of writing. Young students will enjoy creating a book using the same type of repetition that is represented in Inside a Barn in the Country.  

Night Shift Daddy

Night Shift Daddy by Eileen Spinelli and Melissa Iwai is about a relationship with a little girl and her daddy. The dad reads to his daughter, eats with her, and tucks her into bed before he goes to work. When she wakes up her daddy is home. They eat breakfast together, she reads to him, and then she tucks him into bed before she goes out to play.
    I love this book! I love how personable and relatable it is. Students of all ages can relate to this book. Every line in the book rhymes with the line below it which is a great way to introduce poetry to young children. Young children will be able to understand this book because the content and wording is written to interest young emergent readers. Male or female children will be able to relate to this book because it is a gender neutral book. The pictures go perfectly with the words and really bring the book to life for young children.
    This would be a great book to have in a classroom library. Children will be able to read this book and share what kind of job their parents have. I would also use this in a unit about poetry or when talking about children's parent's jobs. Reading this book would be a great way to get children's imaginations going to be able to write their own poems. 

The Frog Prince Continued

The Frog Prince Continued by Jon Scieszka is about the marriage of a man who was a frog and turned into a prince after a princess kissed him. The Frog Prince and Princess are having a tough time being married. She wants him to stop his frog ways, like eating flies, and he is sad that they never go to the pond anymore. The Frog Prince is so unhappy with his marriage that he decides to find a witch to turn him back into a frog because he believes that will make their marriage better. The Prince goes through the woods looking for a witch to turn him back and ends of running away from every witch because they want to kill him. The Prince gets very scared and can't find his way home. He ends up getting home and realizes how much he loves his princess. They turn into frogs and live happily ever after.
    I liked this book. I found it humorous and it had a good message. However, I would not recommend this to any age children in elementary school. I think the contents of the book are too advanced for young children and deals with a topic that is too serious for children. I also think that it may hit too close to home for some children (their parents may be having marital problems) and make them sad. I think this book would be one that young adults and adults would like and find humorous. The pictures in the book are fun, detailed, and go great with the text.
    I would not use this book as a read aloud or have it in my classroom library. I would recommend it to my friends to read for enjoyment but I would not read it to young children. The marriage problems that are talked about are a little too advanced for children but the moral, of loving your spouse as they are, is great for adults.

Heckedy Peg

Heckedy Peg by Audrey Wood is about a mother with seven children. The mother has to go to town one and leaves her children home without supervision. Before she leaves she asks the children to tell her one thing they want from town. The children tell her, she tells them not to let any strangers in and not to play with fire and then she leaves. After she has left an old witch comes by and convinces the children to let her in. Once she is in she turns the children into food and takes them to her house to eat them. The mother returns to her house but her children are no longer there. A little bird tells her where to go to find her children. When the mother gets to the witch's house the witch won't let her in. Will the mother ever be able to get her children back?
    This was a very interesting book. I think that it is kind of a little dark and gloomy and might scare some kids. I liked the story line of the book and the pictures are done beautifully with pastel colors. I would not read this book to young children because it might scare them but older children (2nd grade and older) will really enjoy this book.
    Since this book is about magic I think this would be a good book to read to older students before a writing lesson on what they would do if they had magic or a lesson on having the students create their own books. Older boys and girls would enjoy reading this book and find the content very interesting.  This book is one that students can relate in the fact that they have all disobeyed their parents before. Children will enjoy the mythical nature of this book and reading this book will increase their motivation to read.

On Top of Spaghetti

On Top of Spaghetti by Paul Brett Johnson is a book written about a chef who needs to create the best meatball in town in order to keep his restaurant in business. Once he has created his masterpiece someone sneezes and the meatball goes flying. The man must now chase his meatball all over town so he can get it back and actually taste it. The chef finally gets the meatball slowed down so he can grab it when...SNEEZE!!! It flies away again and lands SPLAT! on the ground. The meatball is now nothing but mush. What will the chef do now to keep his restaurant from closing down?
    I loved this book. I really liked the song this book was based on and is in the book. This would be a great interactive book for teachers to read with their students. Not a lot of books incorporate singing into them and this is why I really liked this book. The characters in this book are animals so either gender will enjoy reading this book.
     I would use this book as an interactive book with my students. I would read them the text and the parts that are part of the song we would sing together. If my students were a little rowdy one day I would read this book to them so they could get their wiggles out through singing. The words in this book are kind of difficult so teachers may need to read this book to their emergent readers. Students who are more advanced will be able to read this story on their own. This would be a good book to teach a vocabulary lesson with descriptive words or synonyms.

Sloppy Joe

  
Sloppy Joe by Dave Keane is about a little boy who is very sloppy. Everything he does is creates a mess. His room is a total mess with clothes, food, toys, and even animals scattered about. Joe's family has adapted to his ways in order to keep themselves and the rest of the house clean. They put newspaper on the floor when Joe eats so he doesn't stain the floor. Joe likes being messy but it bothers him that his friend's parents won't let him in the house because he is too dirty and messy. One day Joe decides that he is going to be Neat Joe. Will he be able to stay clean? You will have to read this book to find out!
    I thought this book was very cute and it reminded me of a few little boys that I know. The pictures in this book are so much fun and detailed; they really bring the book to life. Children would know what the story is exactly about by looking at the pictures. They will even get a laugh out of some of the pictures and find some pictures to be gross because of the dirtiness of the little boy.
    This would be a good book for boys to read to increase their motivation for reading. Boys will enjoy reading this book and relate to many things that are in it. Girls will also find this book fun and enjoy reading it. This book will need to be read to pre-K-2nd grades but older more advanced readers will be able to read it on their own. This would be a good book to read to students about cleanliness and why it is important. It can also be a good book to have in a classroom library because students will enjoy reading it and find humor in the book.