Wumbers

By Amy Krouse Rosenthal
Illustrated by Tom Lichtenheld

This is a story told through words and numbers. For example, as the dog tells you on the cover "It's words cre8ed with numbers!" The entire book is told this way, and it proves to be very interesting. With all the new technology and texting, words are being created through numbers regularly. I liked the book because it showed just how you could create words with numbers. However, there were pages that I had a lot of trouble reading. I really had to read the majority of it out loud to make sense of what the words were. There wasn't really a story line, but it was a really fun book all the same!

A Penguin Story

By Antoinette Portis

Edna the penguin knows the three colors she sees every day, white, black, and blue. But she just knows there has to be something else. Edna thinks and thinks, and finally sets out on a journey to find something else. Finally, she comes across something big and a color she hasn't seen before. She runs back and gets the rest of her friends. They are greeted by scientists wearing "something else." She is so excited and happy to have found something new. When they leave, she sets out once again in search of something else.

I really enjoyed this book. It has the main character as a very curious young penguin. Most children are very curious by nature but might not go on a journey just to find something they are not familiar with. This book has a lot of dialogue which really adds to the story. I thought it was a great book for wintertime!

Journey

By Aaron Becker

A young girl feels ignored by her family because they all seem to be busy. She goes to her room and lays down on her bed. She spots a red crayon on the floor. Instead of coloring on paper, she draws a door on the wall of her room, and it opens. She steps through the door and is brought to a whole new world. She maneuvers through it with the help of her red crayon and even makes a few friends.

Journey is a wordless picture book. I found the illustrations to be extremely detailed and beautiful. Something I loved about the illustrations was the difference in the colors between when she was home, and when she stepped through the door. It was dark and had tones of brown, black, and white in the beginning. The only thing that stands out are her red toys. After she steps through the door, she is suddenly in a colorful forest with deep greens and blues. It was a very cute little story that I think kids would enjoy!

Yo! Yes?

By Chris Raschka

This is another punctuation book that I loved. It uses simple phrases like, "yo" "yes" "oh" "you," etc. to show how those phrases differ with different punctuation after them. Two boys meet on the street and become friends. But first they go through a series of questions, answers, and exclamations, all using very short phrases. The first boy says, "Yo!" and the second answers with, "yes?" It's fun to see the same word, used in different ways because of the punctuation used at the end.

I think this would be another great book for writers workshop. I would love to read it aloud and let students hear the how the way you say the word or phrase bases off what the punctuation is. The same word on different pages means different things because the punctuation mark is different. I think this would help students learn to read their writing aloud and make sure they are punctuation correctly.

Exclamation Mark

By Amy Krouse Rosenthal
Illustrated By Tom Litchtenheld

In a line of periods, the exclamation mark never feels like he fits in. He always stands out, no matter how hard he tries to be like the rest. He even tries to run away. Until he meets question mark, who asks him so many questions, he can't help but scream, "STOP!" And for the first time, he realizes why he's different. He shouts out so many exclamations of happiness and runs off to show his friends what he can do.

This is a cute little book about the different punctuation marks. It's focused on the exclamation mark which is a great topic for young writers. A lot of writers could use this book more than they do already, and some need to use it less frequently. It would be a great book to add to a writing class. In addition, I love the style of the book. The background of the pages are the traditional lined paper that beginning writers use. It has the two thick lines and the one dashed line in the middle and the whole page looks like notebook paper. All of the text in the book, no matter where it is on the page, falls on one of those lines. I thought it would be really interesting to show students because it's something they're familiar with. I would love to use this in my writing workshop!

Prince Puggly of Spud and the Kingdom of Spiff

By Robert Paul Weston

The Kingdom of Spiff is the most stylish Kingdom in the land, except for their princess. She prefers to dress in pajamas and spend all day long reading. On the other hand, the Kingdom of Spud is very unfashionable. They wear the most tacky clothes and they like it that way. But their king prefers to be stylish, and feels as though he doesn't fit in. He deserts them one day. The people are devastated, and need to find a new ruler. They search high and low all over Spud for the one who dresses the most like a resident of Spud would. Prince Puggly is chosen and from there, a story of acceptance and some interesting fashion choices begins.

This novel is told completely in verse. It is told in stanzas with an AB rhyming pattern. Not only does it have this interesting format, but the text features are also very engaging. There are certain words, such as names, places, and exciting nouns and verbs that are written in a different font. For example, all the different Kingdoms have their own font, and every time that kingdom is mentioned, it is said in its font. The word "party" is also given a font. The text is very engaging and fun to read. The story has a lot of humor and of course a great message of acceptance. I think this would be a fun read aloud in my classroom.

Kate and the Beanstalk

By Mary Pope Osborne

Instead of following Jack up the beanstalk, this story introduces a new character for us to follow. Kate and her mother live alone and are on the verge of starvation. Kate trades their cow for magic beans, just like Jack. Her mother throws them out the window and scolds Kate for not getting money for their cow. Overnight, the magic beans grow a large beanstalk. Out of curiosity, Kate climbs up the beanstalk where she is met by an old woman. The old woman tells of a knight and his family who used to live in the palace at the top of the beanstalk. But giant stole from them and took their home. The old woman tells Kate that to help them, she must steal back those possessions that belonged to the knight. Kate is happy to help and does as she is told.

This story was a wonderful one to read. It tells us a different story than Jack's but one that is just as engaging and interesting. I thought this would be a good one to have in the classroom. There are so many ways to put a spin on fairy tales, and changing the main character is one of them. I would love to do a unit on fractured fairy tales in my classroom to show my students all the different, creative ways you can write.