The Jolly Postman

By Janet and Alan Ahlberg

The Jolly Postman follows the postman of the fairy tale world for a day. Not only do we get to visit the characters we're familiar with, but we also get to read their mail. Golilocks writes a  letter to Baby Bear, and the giant gets a post card from Jack. Kids can flip each page and read every letter. And the letters aren't just written on the page, they are in envelops that can be opened! Kids can take the letters out of book, unfold them and read them as if they were actual letters.

I love this story because of how engaging it is. As a kid I always wanted to read the mail, and in this book, they get to. I think students would love this book. Of course because of the pieces the book has it would need to be kept in a special place, but I would really like the kids in my class to get the chance to read and enjoy this book.

The Frog Prince Continued

By Jon Scieszka

We all know the story of the Frog Prince. He befriends a beautiful princess, convinces her to kiss him, turns into a prince and the two live happily ever after. Few of us ever stop to think, well what happens after happily ever after? This story tells us that living happily ever after doesn't always end up how we think it would. The prince realizes his happily ever after isn't what he signed up for and runs away in search of witch to turn him back into a frog. Along the way he encounters many witches, but none are able to help him. He begins to wonder if he'll ever get his happily ever after.

This is another great story by Jon Scieszka. I've enjoyed reading his books, especially his fractured fairy tales. I really enjoy that this story makes students question what "happily ever after" really means. Fairy tales always begin with "once upon a time" and end with "and they lived happily ever after." Jon Scieszka gives students the chance to explore what happens after the fairy tale ends.

The True Story of the Three Little Pigs

By Jon Scieszka

You may think you know the whole story, but Al wants you to know what really happened. The True Story of the Three Little Pigs is written by the Wolf, who tells the reader, he doesn't know where the whole Big Bad Wolf thing came from. He was simply trying to make a cake for his dear old granny's birthday, and ran out of sugar. It's not his fault that his neighbors were pigs and he happened to have a cold that day. It's also not his fault that his great sneezes happened to blow down their houses. I mean, who builds houses of straw and sticks anyway?

This story is one of my absolute favorites when it comes to fractured fairy tales. It's a huge hit with kids as well. It addresses a story we all know well (or as the Wolf would say, we think we know well) and shows us a new side. It tells us something we never would have expected and does it in a funny, enjoyable way. The Wolf has a sarcastic sense of humor that makes the story an enjoyable read aloud for any age!

Bubba the Cowboy Prince

By Helen Ketteman

Bubba the Cowboy Prince is a modern-day Cinderella story that takes place down in Texas. But instead of the beautiful Cinderella, we have Bubba the cowboy. Bubba lives on a ranch with his wicked step brothers and step daddy. He takes care of the cattle and does all the chores around the farm every day. One day Miz Lurleen, a wealthy girl who owns large ranch decides she wants a partner in her ranchin' and throws a ball.

This is a great twist on the classic Cinderella tale that kids will love. It contains not only a great story, but also some text elements of a different culture. The story takes place in Texas, and rightfully so, it needs to be read with a little southern twang.There are phrases such as "cuter than a cow's ear" that almost force you to read it like a southerner. I would love to have this in my classroom!

Zita The Space Girl

By Ben Hatke

Zita is walking home from school with a friend of her's when they come across a crater they have never seen before. In it is a small remote with a big red button in the middle. Zita taunts her friend and pushes the button. Immediately he is sucked into a vortex, and Zita is left alone. She knows she needs to go after him and nervously pushes the button again and jumps through the portal. She is transported to another planet with robots and creatures she has never seen before. She quickly realizes she is not in any place familiar and needs to save her friend from the robots that kidnapped him.

Zita The Space Girl is a graphic novel. It is very vivid and colorful which adds to the engagement of the students! At times I found it hard to follow, but overall it was a quick book to read with an interesting story line. Graphic novels are becoming very popular with elementary children. I would really like to have these in my classroom. They introduce new and different text features such as text boxes, dialogue bubbles, thought bubbles, and sounds. I think this would be fun to have in the classroom.

The Rooster Who Went to His Uncle's Wedding

By Alma Flor Ada

This story tells of a Rooster who wakes up early to go to his uncle's wedding. He shines his beak and heads out on his way. But he forgot to eat breakfast and begins to get very hungry. He sees a kernel of corn sitting in a puddle of mud. He debates weather or not to eat it, but his hunger wins out. He eats the kernel and gets his beak all muddy. He looks around for someone to help him. He continually asks everyone around him to help, and they refuse, until one friend is nice enough to help him.

This is another paperback plus book that contains other resources at the end of the story. It has a guide to different kinds of roosters, a song in English and in Spanish called Oh, The colors (De Colores), and the poem, Chanticleer by John Farrar. These are great little resources to use in the classroom. Not only for reading but to help teach features of informational texts. There is a table of contents and titles and subtitles throughout the book.

In the Cow's Backyard

By Alma Flor Ada

This is a short story of animal friends gathering in the Cow's backyard. As each new friend joins, the hammock grows more crowded. Eventually there is no more room, but the Ant tells the elephant as he has told everyone before, "Come join us! There's always room for one more friend. Please don't say you can't!" Mother elephant picks up the hammock and puts it on her back and carries around her friends. It's a cute little story about friendship!

The book as a whole is a paperback plus book. After the story In The Cow's Backyard, there is a poem called So Many Kinds of Animals by Mary Ann Hoberman, and a quiz on animals and what they do when it's hot outside. There is also a cute game for kids that relates to the story at the end of the book. This is a great little text that would be great to use in a lower level classroom!