Smoky Night

by Eve Bunting
Illustrated by David Diaz

This book brings a lot of controversial topics to the table. Daniel is a young boy living with his mother in an apartment. One night, there is a riot in the streets below them. People are screaming, and breaking into stores and stealing. Over and over things are stolen until finally it quiets down, and the crowd moves to another street. Hours later Daniel and his mother are awoken by a fire in their building. They're evacuated, but Daniel's cat, Jasmine, is missing. Daniel's neighbor Mrs. Kim is also missing her cat. Once at a nearby shelter, a fire fighter brings the two cats back and says they were found together. Daniel realizes that the two cats might not have gotten along previously because they didn't know each other, which prompts Daniel's mom to reach out to Mrs. Kim.

This story not only talks of riots, but also speaks a lot to racial stereotypes. Mrs. Kim is a chineese woman and Daniel and his mother are black. Mrs. Kim has a store down the street, but Daniel and his mother never shop there because it's better to buy from their "own people."This book is an interesting one because of how many controversial issues it addresses. At the end, Daniel's mother realizes that she has never reached out or tried to get to know Mrs. Kim due to her race, and Mrs. Kim realizes the same. The two decide to try and get to know each other and bridge the gap created by race. This book is told from the point of view of a child which makes it very powerful.

The illustrations are similar to that of King and King in that paper and other material are used, and than a picture is taken. The material used relates to the words on the page, and add a lot of texture. There are also pictures put in frames over the textured pieces. It adds a lot to the story and really sets the mood.

King and King

By Linda de Haan and Stern Nijland

King and King is a story about a prince who is forced to find a princess to marry. His mother explains that she is tired of ruling the kingdom and he must be married so that he may take over. Princess after princess is presented to the prince, but no one seems to fit. Then the last princess is announced with her brother as her escort, and the young prince falls in love. However, it's not with the princess.

This story addresses the topic of sexuality in a fairy tale form. The prince falls in love with another prince. They marry and are called "King and King" by their subjects. I like this story because it doesn't harp on the fact that prince falls in love with a boy instead of a girl. The two meet, fall in love, and get married just like they would if it had been a girl and a boy. The story is still just as happy, and just as much fun. It's showing kids that it's okay for two boys to be in love.

Another thing I love about this story are the illustrations. They are fantastic. They're all made with paper, and other craft supplies and then pictures were taken and words printed on top. There are newspaper clippings, cotton balls, felt, and tissue paper. It brings an element of texture to the pictures that I thought really added to the story. In addition, the words were printed in with the text. They flowed over the page, or were in a circle of the arch way. The way the illustrations and the text interacted really made a difference!

The Lightning Thief

By Rick Riordan

This is the first book in a four part series following Percy Jackson and his adventures with the Greek gods and goddesses that, surprisingly, are still around today. Percy has been to many schools, kicked out of each one because of his behavior issues. He is diagnosed as dyslexic and has ADHD. Trouble always seems to happen when he is around. Then one day Percy is faced with an unbelievable truth about himself. He is the son of a Greek god. He is taken to Camp Half-Blood and his entire confusing childhood is explained. However, when it becomes known to Percy that his father and another god are about to begin a war, he is given a quest. He is told to go and find the god who has stolen Zeus's master lightning bolt, and return it to Olympus before a war breaks out.

This book was incredibly hard to put down. The story line is very engaging. I think this is great for elementary and middle school children. I believe Greek mythology is covered in the sixth or seventh grade, and this would be a great book to have kids reading at the time of that unit. It is told from Percy's point of view, so we get to hear everything going on, as well as what's happening inside his head. The humor, dialogue and adventure are sure ways to engage students in this book. I loved reading it and I hope to one day have the time to finish the series!

When I was Little

By Jamie Lee Curtis
Illustrated by Laura Cornell

This is a very enjoyable story about a four year old girl talking about when she was little. She tells of the differences in her appearance and her behavior from when she was little to now, as a four year old. She says things like, "When I was little, I spilled a lot. My mom said I was a handful. Now I'm helpful." The story ends with her explaining all of the things she didn't know about when she was little, like family, and dreams, but now she does.

This is a great story of growing up. To kids, it's very relateable, because they remember a time when they were little and how they've changed. I plan to use this in my unit. I am going to use it for the opening lesson on the concept of change. I love the idea of using this book to relate change, to kids!

Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall

By Sian Smith

These are actually four different books. However, they were all written by the same author as part of a series of informational texts. Each is a short little book that has features of informational text. There are subtitles, graphics, pictures, page numbers, a table of contents, a picture glossary, and an index. There is one sentence on each page about the season explaining what the weather is like, when the seasons falls, what we can see in that season, and so on.

I really liked these books and I plan on using them in my unit. They serve as a great introduction to the features of informational texts, and have sentences that are very easy to read. One of the best parts is that the text isn't the main focus of the books. The pictures explain so much that even students that can't quite read all of the text, will get a lot from the pictures! I really liked the way these are set up and I can't wait to use them in the classroom!

Seasons

By Heidi Goennel

This story is told from the point of view of a child. The child tells you that he likes each season because of what he gets to do. He goes through each season and tells you what the weather is like, and what he likes to do most in that season like fly kits, go trick or treating, eat ice cream and so on.

I like this book for my unit because it's a little different. All of the other books that I have read so far about seasons have been strictly about the weather. This story is about how the changing seasons bring new and fun activities for children to do! This book is set up a little different than the majority of the books I've read so far this semester. The illustrations are much darker in color, and it doesn't seem to follow one character. It sounds like one person telling the story, but the illustrations are of many different children partaking in the activity mentioned. I liked this aspect of the book because it shows that everyone can do these things!

What Makes the Seasons?

By Megan Montague Cash

This book talks about the changing seasons through poetry! Each pages talks about different facets of each season. At the end of the story, we're asked "But what controls the season's change? And what makes weather rearrange?" This part of the story goes into the tilt of the earth and the relationship between the earth and the sun. It tells the information in a simple and easy to understand way.

I am a huge fan of this book. The text moves on the page with the illustration sometimes acting almost as a label. For example, when talking about hibernation, the text explaining hibernation is underground in between sleeping animals. I also really enjoyed the rhyming poetry scheme that this story has. It makes it very engaging to students of a young age, and it is telling them a lot about how the seasons change in a way that will make them want to listen!

The Seasons of Arnold's Apple Tree

By Gail Gibbons

This book is about an apple tree, and a young boy's relation to it throughout the year. The book goes through each season explaining what the tree looks like, and telling the reader what Arnold does with his apple tree. In the spring he watched the flowers bud, in the summer he builds a tree house, in the fall he picks the apples and makes apple pie and apple cider with his parents, and in winter, he builds a fort around his tree house. The book ends when spring begins again signaling to the reader that the process will start all over again.

I am planning to use this book in my EE3 for my unit on change. One of the large topics I will be covering is the changing of the seasons. This is going to be the book I use in my first lesson about seasons. I like this book because it gives children something to relate the changing of the seasons to. Something we all notice very easily in the changing seasons is how the trees change. This is something they can watch throughout the year at school and at home!

I really liked the way this book was written. The illustrations have.very bright, vivid colors. The text is framed below the pictures in little boxes. When the season changes, the text telling you "it is spring" is framed at the top of the page. In some sections, there are also small boxes with more information on the science of what is happening with the tree. For example, in the spring section it tells us about the honeybee and the apple blossoms and how they interact. In fall, we are given a recipe for apple pie (and told to have and adult help us make it) and a box on how the apple cider press works. I love these elements that make the store more informative!