The Dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins

The Dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins by Barbara Kerley is the true story of a famous artist in London that created life size models of dinosaurs during the mid 1800s. His work was so famous and well liked in... that scientists in America wanted him to build a life size museum in New York. However, there was a very corrupt politician who thought this was a waste of money so he had some of his men break into the workshop of Waterhouse and destroy his models. This ended all work to the museum and Waterhouse moved to Princeton to do paintings of the dinosaurs instead. He was very disappointed that he was not able to finish his work in New York and died dreaming of what he could have built there.
    I thought this was a very interesting book. It did not turn out the way I thought it would according to the summary on the back of the book. I thought this was going to be a fantasy themed book where the dinosaurs actually came to life but it turned out that his models were so amazing that they looked very real. The pictures in this book are beautiful and go great with the text in the book.
    The text in the book is a bit advanced so ESOL learners may have trouble reading it on their own. Students in the fourth grade and up will be able to read this book but they may have to look a few words up that are foreign to them. This is a gender neutral book so boys and girls will both enjoy reading this book. I think boys would especially love this book because it is about dinosaurs. I would have this book in my classroom library and use it as a read aloud as well. The history in this story is very informative and not something that a lot of people know about. This book would prompt great discussions about the history of art, science, corrupt governments, and the history of New York. This is a great book that could be used for many different educational opportunities.

The Summer of the Swans

The Summer of the Swans by Betsy Byars is the story of a fourteen your old girl and the summer she will never forget. Sara's mother passed away six years ago and now she lives with her aunt, nineteen year old sister, and ten year old brother. Her brother had two very bad illnesses when he was three which caused him to have very high fevers which results in brain damage. He is now intellectually disabled and hasn't talked since he was six years old. One day some beautiful swans land in the pond near their house and Sara takes her brother to see the swans. He is instantly infatuated with the swans. In the middle of the night he leaves home to go see the swans again but gets lost and ends up in a forest. His family wakes up in a panic and nowhere to start looking. Will they find him before it is too late?
    It took me awhile to get into this book. I started it several times and just couldn't continue reading it because it started out so slow. After reading it awhile I liked it a little more. Once I finished it I thought it was actually a pretty good book. I love that the sister is so concerned for her brother and is so determined to find him. I think all brothers and sisters should have this great bond. Sara is also very protective of her brother which I think is so great as well. All siblings should have this feeling of protection for their brothers and sisters.
    I think this would be a great book to have in a classroom library. I think that many girls would find this interesting. Since the main character is a girl and it talks a lot about her feelings I don't think many boys would be interested in this book. The text and content of the book is at a third grade level. Many older readers would also enjoy reading this book. I think this book could be used as a read aloud with many great discussions and creative writing lessons from what is happening in the story. This book would also be great for teachers to read because it explains the needs of children with intellectual disabilities. It also explains what kinds of environments are best for these types of students.

Sarah, Plain and Tall

Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan is a story about a family without a mother. Anna and Caleb have lived many years without a mother in their lives because their mother passed away right after giving birth to Caleb. One day their father comes home and tells them that he has written an advertisement for a wife and gotten a reply from a lady named Sarah. Sarah decides to come for a month and see how she likes it. Anna, Caleb and their father all fall in love with Sarah but does Sarah love them enought to stay?
    I thought this was a good book. I thought it was too short though and I wish they would have made it longer and told more of their story. I would have liked to have heard about their life after Sarah and their father were married. I thought the book was written very well with great descriptions of Maine (Sarah's old life) and the new life she is moving into. The emotion of the book is very raw and you feel what they are feeling and hope for the best for them.
    I would use this book as a read aloud and I would also have it in my classroom library. This book would lead into great discussions about blending families or having a step parent. It would also lead to good discussions about the way marriages were set up back in the day compared to how they are set up in our society in present time. You could also have a discussion about marriages in different countries because there are arranged marriages in other countries and students would find this interesting. This book would be great for third graders and older. I am not sure if many boys would read this book on their own because it is told from the perspective of a girl but I think either gender would enjoy having this book read to them.

The Hershey's Milk Chocolate Fractions Book

The Hershey's Milk Chocolate Fractions Book by Jerry Pallotta and Rob Bolster is a book that breaks down different fractions, reducing the fractions, and equivalent fractions. Throughout the book they break down a Hershey's Milk Chocolate bar into different fractions and talk about it.
    I thought this was a great book and would be great to use with a class when starting to talk about fractions. I liked how all the fractions were talked about and gave examples to represent each one.
    I would not read this book all at once when introducing fractions because it would be too overwhelming. To use this book I would give each of my students their own Hersey's Milk Chocolate bar to manipulate while we read each page and discussed it. This book would be great for third grade and up for teachers to read to their students when talking about fractions and also to have in the classroom for students to refer to when needed. This book is one that students can apply to their everyday lives and I could see many students going home and showing their parents what they learned about fractions. Using this book and having a Hersey's bar for each student to manipulate would make the concepts easier to understand and give a great application to fractions in everyday life. I don't think students would read this for pleasure because it is not really interesting other than to learn more about fractions. It would be a great book to have in the classroom when talking about fractions though for students to refer back to.

The Cat Who went to Heaven

The Cat Who Went to Heaven by Elizabeth Coatsworth is about an artist in Japan who is poor and hungry because no one will buy his art. One day his housekeeper brings home a beautiful white cat with gold and brown spots. The artist is specptical about the cat and thinks it may be a demon but he lets the cat stay anyways. Soon after getting the cat one of the most honored religious men come to his house and tells him that he has been chosen to paint a picture of the dying Buddah. This is a great honor and if the picture is and put in the temple all the people in the town will want the same picture and the artist will become rich. He spends days meditating and living life through the Budda's eyes. He begins painting Will he be able to paint the perfect picture and become financially stable?
    I didn't particularly like this book. I found it a little confusing and boring. I was never able to get intersted in the book. I also found it to be a little weird especially when he was meditating and living life as the Budda and different animals. I could have had a hard time connecting with this book because I don't know anything about the Buddist religion so I could have misunderstood a lot of things in the book. My confusion could have also come from my lack of knowledge about this culture. I would like to talk to someone who has read this book and understood it so they could explain it to me.
    I think this could be used for students to increase motivation for students who are interested in the Japanese and Buddist culture. They would find this book to be very interesting and might understand it better than me. I would not use this book as a read aloud but I would keep it in my classroom library for those students who may be interested in reading it. Even though this is a short chapter book the text and content is very complex so I think this book should be read by advanced fourth graders and older. Males and females would enjoy reading this book because it is gender neutral.

The Twits

The Twits by Roald Dahl is a silly book about a married couple who are very mean. Through out the book they play tricks on each other and next move to the birds they have in a cage. They catch the birds and put them in a pie to eat. The birds want none of this and try everything they can to escape the mean people. Throughout the story they are also mean to a few of their other pets who also want nothing to do with them. The animals all get very angry and you never will guess what they do. Read the book to find out!
    I thought this was a very silly and fun book. I think children would enjoy reading it and have it read to them. It really doesn't have any educational value with any history or other informational subject matter but it would be a great book to motivate those students who can't find a book that they like. This book would be great for third graders and up. The content in the book is appropriate for those ages. It is also an easy read so students should not have a hard time reading it because the text is developmentally appropriate as well. I would recommend this book to have in a classroom library and to use as a read aloud as well.

Sir Cumference and the First Round Table

Circumference and the First Round Table by Cindy Neuschwander and Wayne Geehan is a mathematical tale about how a circle was discovered and how it got its mathematical names such as radius, diameter, and circumference. The great knight circumference is sent on a mission by the King to develop a table that will be pleasing to him and the other ten knights was they meet to discuss going to war with a neighboring kingdom. The knight is troubled by what kind of table to find and talks to his wife The Di of Ameter. Those two along with their son Radius are able to find the perfect table that everyone loves.
    I thought this was a great math book. The references that are made about the different parts of a circle used in math will really make the concepts stick in students' heads. There are also references to other shapes which would be great for younger students who are learning about their shapes.
    Since there is reference to other shapes I would recommend this book for children 5/6 and up. Younger children will benefit from learning about different shapes and older children will benefit by learning about the different parts of a circle in math. The story that goes along with the circle and how it got its specific names is great for students to remember because they have something to refer it back to. I would use this book as a read aloud and I would also have it in my class library. This book would prompt good discussion about circles and their mathematic concepts. The book is also developmentally appropriate for the ages listed above. Boys and girls will equally enjoy reading this book because it is gender neutral.

Kira Kira

Kira Kira by Cynthia Kadohata is a story written in first person about a little girl and her life growing up. The story revolves around her sister, her family, and the journey and tragedies their family had to face. Much of the story is about the two girls' relationship/friendship, the great things they talked about, and experienced together. The story starts out when the girl is only four and her sister is nine in the 1950s. The girl who is telling the story talks a lot about her sister and the great love she had for each other. They were always looking out for each other because they didn't have anyone else to do so. Throughout the story the younger sister references her sisters diary so you are able to see a few situations in the sisters point of view. This is a story about a girl becoming a "big girl" and the hardships and joys that go with that.
    I loved this book. There are so many great cultural experiences in the book because it is about a Japanese family. It also it a great story about growing up and facing life whether it is good or bad. There are many great morals in this story that children will benefit from reading about. The experences/stories the little girl shares about her life is one that students will all be able to relate to. The tradegies the family and young girl has to face is great for children to read and learn from.
    This book would be a great book to have in the classroom for many reasons. There is a lot of great historical value in this book. Students will be able to benefit from reading about how life was like in Georgia for Japanese Americans during the 1950s. The culture in the book is also great for students to read about. There are many references to Japanese words, their meanings, what the Japanese people ate, the traditions they have, and the struggles they faced living in America at this time. I would recommend this book for fourth grade and up. There is language in a few spots so children/parents need to be aware of that but this book is great for young adults. I think this book would appeal more to girls than boys but some boys might enjoy it too. I would probably not use this book as a read aloud but I would definitely recommend it to students and I may use it as a book club book because it would prompt great discussions. There are a few words that may be hard for struggling readers to understand and they may have to look a few up to understand them but the rest of the book is easy to navigate through and is developmentally appropriate for mature fourth graders and older.

Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes

Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes by Eleanor Coerr is a true story about a young girl named Sadako who lived in Hiroshima all her life. The girl is eleven years old in the story in a town that was bombed by American nine years earlier. Many of the people in the town have been dying from the bomb disease called leukemia. This girl is a very energetic and vibrant young girl who wants to the be the fastest runner in all the school. On the day of her school track and school meet the young girl wins the race but feels very weird and dizzy afterwards. Sadako continues to run and improve her speed so she can make the junior high track team but the dizziness won't go away. One day she is running and faints. She is rushed to the hospital to find out that she has the bomb disease. Her and her family are mortified and they come visit her in the hospital every day. Her friends comes one day with a gold piece of paper and folds it into a crane for her. She tells Sadako that she heard if a sick person folds 1,000 cranes they will live a long and healthy life. Sadako sets out to fold her 1,000 cranes. *Spoiler Alert* Since the back of the book gives away what happens I feel it is okay to tell you that she dies before she is able to fold all the cranes. This story is now told to many children in Japan and her story is told throughout the country. There is a monument in the Hiroshima Peace Park dedicated to her and her paper cranes.
    This was a very sad book. I read it because I wanted to know more about the past of Hiroshima and how people there were affected by the atom bomb. It was a very informative and interesting book and I would recommend it to my peers to read. I would also have it in my classroom library for children to read and get some history on different parts of the world but I would caution them before they read it.
    This book is suitable for fifth grade and up. I wouldn't recommend it to younger children because I think some of the content may be too advanced for them. Students of either gender would be interested in this book because it is a gender neutral book. I would use this book as a read aloud in a fifth grade classroom (after I had warned all my students and gotten their approval to do so) because I think it is a great way to talk about history and courageous young people. I think it would be a great way to explain the paper cranes that we see all over stores now and give students a history lesson on the meaning behind these cranes. This was a sad book but many great things can come from it and the meaning behind it.

Girls to the Rescue: Happily Ever After

Girls to the Rescue: Happily Ever After is a book with a collection of  ten different stories by different authors. Each story is about a brave girl who finds a way to solve a very complicated problem and get what she wants or help others who may be struggling. Many of the stories are folklore and are set in older times. The stories come from all over the world and give some history of the different stories passed down to children in different countries. In one of the stories called "Carla and the Greedy Merchant" a father goes out to sell some stuff he has made at the market. A greedy man comes by and tricks out of all the merchandise he is trying to selling along with his horse and buggy. He goes home and tells his daughter about what has happened and she is less than thrilled with the greedy man. She decides to find a way to get back their horse, buggy, merchandise, and some things that are valuable to the greedy man to show him how it feels. The young girl thinks all night and finally comes up with a plan, but will it work? You will have to read to find out!
    All of the stories in this book are about courageous young girls who overcome their fears and help out themselves along with other people they love. I think this is a great book for girls to read to help boost their self-confidence. I really like reading this book and I was so captivated by the clever thinking of all of these girls. I would definitely have this book in my classroom library.
    I think this would be a great book to read aloud to the class. The great thing is that the stories are short and divided into different chapters to it would be a great idea to pick a story (chapter) every day and read a it aloud to the class. I would also mix it up by alternating these stories with stories about young braves being brave. I think it is important to make sure to have courageous stories for both genders so one doesn't feel inferior to the other. I would also use this book as a lead into a creative writing lesson. This book would get students' creative juices flowing to create great stories. The content and level of this book is suitable for third grade and up. I don't think many boys would be interested in reading this whole book on their own because it is all about girls but I think they would enjoy hearing a few stories in it mixed with a few stories of brave boys.