Last Summer with Maizon

By Jacqueline Woodson (1991)

If I had to sum up this book in one word it would be, AMAZING!  My emotions were all over the place as I read this book.  Margaret and Maizon are best friends and they are there to support each other through everything.  Margaret loves her parents and Maizon more than anything in the world.  In this book Margaret's life is completely turned upside down.   Her father dies of a heart attack and then she finds out that Maizon, who is very smart, has been accepted to a boarding school in New York.  Margaret feels so alone because her mother works all the time and is sad about her father.  My heart broke for this poor girl.  Margaret must come up with other ways to get her emotions out since her friend isn't with her everyday.

Jacqueline Woodson did such a wonderful job on this book.  I could not put it down and read it in a day.  I could totally relate to Margaret when he best friend was moving away.  My best friend moved to Wilmington to go to college, but we are best friends and keep in touch.  This book had some moments that were very happy, but I cried when her father passed away and when Maizon left.  This book would be great for 5th or 6th graders.  I like how the author made it so relatable to real life events.  I am sure many students have been through some if the same things that the characters in this book had.  Again, I am so glad that I was introduced to this author.  She is a powerful writer not only in her picture books, but in her novels as well.  I can't wait to read more stuff from her.

The Old Woman Who Named Things

By Cynthia Rylant (1996)

I have read a lot of Cynthia Rylant books during my author study, but I think this one may be my favorite.  This book was about a little old lady who named EVERYTHING! Her car, house, bed, dresser and even her rocking chair had a name.  The old lady was kind of sad though, she had out lived every single one of her friends.  One day a puppy came to her house, she fed it, but she told it to go home.  Everyday the puppy would come back and she would always tell it to go away.  She didn't want to take the risk of out living another friend.  One day the puppy who had grown into a dog didn't show up.  This worried the old lady especially when he didn't show up for many days.  The lady went to the pound to see if she could find her dog.  When the dog catcher asked what the dogs name was, the old lady was a little stunned this is the one thing she had never named.  She told the man his name was Lucky and as soon as she said it the shy dog ran up to her and she took him home.

I thought that this book was so heart warming and touching.  The lady was afraid of outliving the dog that she never named it, but in the end she made room in her home for her new friend Lucky.  This book was very well written and Kathryn Brown did an amazing job with the illustrations.  This book reminds me of my grandmother.  She had a cat who passed away and now she is afraid of getting another one and getting attached to it as well.  This book would engage the audience from the very beginning.  I think it would be a neat book to read to the class and ask the students if they name things around their house like the lady in the book does.  I really think that the students would love this book and it would keep them engaged to the very end to make sure that the old lady found her dog.

Just Plain Fancy

By Patricia Polacco (1990)

I really enjoyed this book by Patricia Polacco.  It was a great story about two girls being raised in an Amish family.  Naomi wants something fancy to brighten up their plain everyday lives on an Amish farm.  One day se finds a unique egg and puts it in a nest in her hen house.  When the chick hatches it is very different and fancy from the other chicks.  When the elders come for a visit, Naomi hides the special bird becasue she is afraid it will be shunned.  The bird gets out and the Elders are delighted by something as beautiful as this bird, which turns out to be a Peacock.

This book was very well written and illustrated.  I think it would be an excellent book to have in class to define your own personal values.  Naomi wanted something fancy, but in the Amish culture they are all about being plain.  Naomi didn't want to be shunned from her community just like she didn't want the beautiful creature to be shunned.  Naomi was very excited to hear the Elders approve of her beautiful bird and she even got her white cap which is what she wanted all along.

This book would also be great to use when studying communities.  The Amish community is very different from the communities that the students would be used to seeing.  I know I had so many questions when I was little and we would drive through Amish country on the way to visit my grandma.  This book will give students an insight to different cultures that are right here in the United States.

Coming on Home Soon

By Jacqueline Woodson (2004)

I really enjoyed this wonderful story of a young girl waiting for her mother to return from Chicago during wartime.  The book starts out with a mother packing her bags and telling her daughter that she is going to Chicago to work with other Black women during the war.  The daughter is very sad, but soon a kitten comes into her life.  Her grandmother says she can't keep it, but the kitten ends up staying.  The little girl writes letters to her mother all the time, but everyday the mailman keeps walking past their house.  The seasons change and still no word from mother.  Finally one day a letter comes and the little girl learns that her mother will be coming home soon.

I really loved this story and thought that it was very touching.  One of my favorite things the author does in this book, is that she italicizes the words that the characters speak to each other.   I think this is a great way to show dialogue in the book. Jacqueline Woodson does a fantastic job in engaging the reader from the very beginning.  Woodson made all the characters so likable you could almost feel their pain while reading the story.  The mother was in pain because she was having to leave her little girl, the grandmother was in pain because she was left alone with this little girl who missed her mother so much and the little girl was in pain because her mother left to better their lives and she hadn't received a letter from her since she had been gone.

I am so glad that I was introduced to this author.  Her books are very touching and they are a great resource to use in the classroom.  Many books that I find don't have many African American stories or characters.  So having this author in the classroom is a great way to incorporate multi cultural characters and books into the class.

Our Gracie Aunt

By Jacqueline Woodson (2002)

This book was amazing!  The story was about a young boy and his sister who you can tell from the beginning are used to being alone.  One day Miss Roy comes, but they won't answer the door.  They lie to her and tell her that their mother has only been gone for a few minutes when in reality she has been gone for days.  Miss Roy keeps coming back until one day she finally takes them from the home they are living in.  BeeBee the young boys sister tells him that they are going to foster care.  Miss Roy actually takes them to their mothers sister, their Aunt Gracie.  The young boy gets it confused and call her their Gracie Aunt.  BeeBee tries to act like she doesn't enjoy loving with her Aunt, but she truly does.  One day they go and visit their mother once she is finally found.  She tells them it will be awhile before she is able to take care of them, but Gracie is a good person and they should enjoy living with her.

This book was very touching to me.  Jacqueline Woodson does an excellent job in capturing the reader from the very beginning.  While reading this book I felt sadness for the children because they were left alone to fend for themselves with no food, and they had no idea where their mother was and when she was coming back.  I also felt so happy for them when they got to their Aunt's home and she loved them so much and tucked them into bed every night.  I think the title of the book is correct, their Gracie Aunt was truly their saving Grace!

Show Way

By Jacqueline Woodson (2005)

I really enjoyed this story by Jacqueline Woodson.  The story was about her  and her ancestors lives.  When I started reading the book, I thought that the book was going to be all about the character Soonie.  Soonie's great grandmother was a slave and was sold as a young child.  Each character in the book knew how to make quilt squares.  These squares helped guide people along the path to freedom.  The story keeps going down the line to eventually you find out that all these people are the ancestors of Jacqueline Woodson and she even tells about her daughter.

I think this book is very inspiring.  I think it would be so hard to be a young child and be sold or taken away from your parents and family.  During this time they really had no way of taking items that would even remind them of their family.  This was an amazing book and it was very well written.

This would be an awesome book to use in the upper elementary grades.  It would be great to use when studying slavery or to be read during black history month.  Jacqueline Woodson does an excellent job telling this awesome story of her ancestors struggle as slaves and eventually achieving their freedom.  I also think that Hudson Talbott did an amazing job with the illustrations.  This is one of the first multi cultural books that I have ever read and I really enjoyed it.

A Fine White Dust

By Cynthia Rylant (1986)






This book is one of the most touching and amazing books that I have read this entire semester.  The book is about a 13 year old boy, Peter Cassidy.  Peter is growing up in a small NC town when a traveling preacher enters his life.  Peter is an only child and while his parents love him very much, they don't share their sons beliefs in God and his need to find a relationship with him.  Peter becomes mesmerized by the Preacher and decides to run away from home and go with the Preacher.  Peter is let down when the Preacher disappears and leaves town with the girl from the drug store.  Peter doesn't let this incident move him away from his belief in God.  He knows that the Preacher is the one who let him down not God.  The book gets its name from the fine white dust of a shattered ceramic cross.

Oh my goodness I can't get over how entranced I was in this story.  I could not put it down once I started reading it.  I had a hard time deciding which type of novel I would read this week and I am so glad I chose one from  my author study.  Cynthia Rylant is one of my new favorite authors!  I have loved every book that I have read from her and this one was no exception.  This would be an amazing book to use in class to show that you don't have to have the same beliefs as your parents and friends, what a hero is and that sometimes you do idealize the wrong people and they let you down.  The most important lesson I think this book teaches is that YOU are the only person who can define your personal value system.

This book is definitely for the upper grade students.  It was very touching and I cried in a few parts of it, but it is definitely worth the read even as an adult.  I am so glad that I chose to read this novel and I may re-read it when I have the time!

Lightning

By Gail Saunders-Smith (1998)

I chose this book, because my class is studying weather right now in Science.  I thought this book would be great to read to them so they could learn about this fascinating, but very dangerous type of weather.  The students love reading about all the dangerous weather types especially the hurricanes and tornadoes.  They really enjoyed learning about lightning as well!

I found this book to be very informative.  I never knew there were different types of lightning. I just figured lightning was lightning and that was it, but I was very wrong!  The book lets us know that lightning is very dangerous and hot.  Lightning travels very fast and if you see lightning you should take cover and not stay outside if you can help it.

This book would be great to use during a weather unit.  It is a great book to read as a class, but young elementary kids would have no problems reading this to themselves.  The book has some amazing pictures of lightning and is filled with information. The kids will stay focused while you are reading the book and will get very excited when you show them the awesome pictures!

The Camping Trip That Changed America

By Barb Rosenstock (2012)

This was my favorite non-fiction book that I read this week!  This book was about how President Roosevelt came to the decision to make Yosemite a National Forest.  President Roosevelt and John Muir could not have been more different.  Roosevelt grew up wealthy and privileged while John Muir grew up poor.  Both men loved the wilderness and when PResident Roosevelt saw a letter from Muir asking the government for help in protecting trees Roosevelt knew he wanted to help.  Roosevelt writes Muir a letter asking him to take him camping for four days, if he can prove his case President Roosevelt will personally see that he get the help he needs protecting the trees.

This book was very interesting and I learned so much from it.  I think the reason that I loved it so much was because it read very much like a regular fiction picture book.  The author did an awesome job telling this important story and made it interesting so that the students would totally be able to stay engaged.  The book would be great for fifth graders when they learn about US History!  The illustrator did a great job on the pictures as well.  The illustrations were very detailed and went along so well with the story.

The author told some very interesting stories from John Muir.  My favorite one was when John met his first Grizzly Bear.  He told President Roosevelt that he had to stay still for hours until the bear finally left him alone.  We have this camping trip to thank for some of the most gorgeous places to visit in the United States.  We can go see not only Yosemite National Forest, but the Grand Canyon as well.  I also found it interesting that President Roosevelt and John Muir stayed in touch until their deaths.  They slept together under the great Sequoia trees on their camping trip and they are both buried under great trees in their home towns.

The White House

By Susan H. Gray (2002)

This book was very informative about the White House.  I liked how it covered many different facts about the house, but was short enough that the students wouldn't lose focus on the book.  I had no idea that the White House had over 130 rooms and 3 elevators.  The book gives great back ground history about the building of the White House to which rooms are the most important and the largest.  It had a lot of great photographs that went along with each section of the book.

I found that the book held a lot of information and it was presented in a way that the students could read it on their own.  The book would be great for younger students, but I can also see how upper elementary kids could use some of this information when learning about the United States.  I found out so many interesting details about the White House.  I already knew that Dolley Madison saved the picture of George Washington, but I had no idea that the desk in the Oval Office was given by the Queen of England.  I also learned that each President is allowed to choose which desk they want to use in the Oval Office.  The one that John F. Kennedy used had a secret door in it that JFK Jr used to play in while his father was working.

I really liked how there was a glossary at the end of the book.  This book is great for younger elementary students and showing them how to use the glossary and the index.  The book also had some really cool "Did you know facts," and information on how to learn more about the White House.  This was a great informational book on the very famous house!

I Want to be a Vet

By Daniel Liebman (2000)

I chose this book because there are about four students in my class that want to be vets when they grow up.  I thought this would be a great book to take in and read to the class.  The teacher that I am working with allows the kids to bring in their Non-Fiction library books and she will read them while waiting for dismissal.  The boys are always bringing in books about cars and motorcycles and the girls always bring in ones about animals.  I think that this book would be great to read during this time.

I found this book to be very informative and would be great for a second grade class.  It talks about how there are many different kinds of vets and what each one of those vets are responsible for.  It also gave information about how it's important that our pets go to the vet because they need their shots just like we need ours.  The book also talked about how vets know what to do with animals that are found in the wild and that they can help all different types of animals.

The pictures in this book were fantastic!  I think the students would really enjoy seeing them as well as learning all about vets.  This book would be great for K-2 because the terminology is something that they could understand and the pictures were age appropriate.

No One Saw Ordinary Things Through the Eyes of an Artist

By Bob Raczka (2002)

I really enjoyed this Non-Fiction book.  The book focused on famous artists and how no one saw ordinary everyday things like they did.  Each artist that was featured in this book saw things like stars, flowers, mothers and even cans of soup in ways that other people didn't.  They put their visions down on paper or canvas and now the entire world is able to see their unique visions.

I really enjoyed this book and think that it would be a great way to show students that it is ok to see things in a different way than their classmates see them.  The paintings in this book are great and it would be a great way to introduce many different artists styles at one time.  I personally love the painting Starry Night and I think that is why I was drawn to this book in the library.

The author used repetition a lot in this book.  Each page started out," No one saw object like artist."  I really like how the author ended the book by saying, "Artists express their own point of view.  And nobody sees the world like you."  I think that it is great that the students would be left with such a positive message at the end of the book.

Cam Jansen: The Mystery at the Haunted House

By David A. Adler (1992)

Before Internship 1, I had never heard of Cam Jansen.  The students in the second grade classroom that I'm in LOVE reading about Cam Jansen.  They can't wait to switch their books out each week and get a new Cam Jansen book in their box.  Since I saw how excited they got over this series I decided to read one.  I now know why they love them so much!  This series is based on a girl who has a photographic memory.  She walks around and says "CLICK" and it's like her brain is taking a picture.  These memories help her solve all kinds of problems and mysteries that happen in this series. I decided to read Cam Jansen: The Mystery at the Haunted House because I love Haunted Houses.  I really enjoyed this book and thought the author did a great job making the reader feel like they were actually apart of the mystery themselves.

David Adler does a great job describing how Cam's mind works and how important it is in helping her solve the mysteries.  In this book Cam remembered details about the Haunted House and that helped her figure out who the thief was that stole her Aunt's wallet.

This book and series for that matter would be a great way to teach details during writing.  As teachers we need to make sure our students are good writers and that they provide important details.  If the author wasn't as detailed in this series then we as readers wouldn't really get how important it was that Cam has a photographic memory.  Adler is also very detailed about the setting and other characters which is very important in writing as well. I can't wait to read more books from this series.

The Bookshop Dog

By: Cynthia Rylant (1996)

I absolutely loved this book!  I am a dog lover and this book was wonderful.  The book was about a bookshop owner who loved her dog Martha Jane.  She took Martha Jane everywhere and even renamed her bookstore after Martha Jane.  The entire community fell in love with Martha Jane.  One day the bookshop owner got sick and had to go have her tonsils removed, but the hospital wouldn't let her bring Martha Jane.  The entire community got in a fight over who would watch Martha Jane while she was in the hospital.  Eventually the man in the green coat got to watch Martha Jane.  The lady and the man in the green coat eventually got married.

I think that this book would be great to use when teaching about communities in social studies.  It is a great example of how when one person in the community was facing a dilemma, they all came together to help her.  Cynthia Rylant did a great job not only writing this story, but illustrating it as well.  She used the technique she has used before and made the drawings look like something a child would do.  I also loved how the font was different.  Sometimes the font was in white, sometimes it was in black, but it wasn't just plain font it was a different style of font and I think it would be really cool for the students to be able to see authors use different fonts in their books.

I think the students would also enjoy seeing how everyone really wanted to take care of Martha Jane and that the policemen and firemen and other people in the community were fighting over who would get the job.  It would also show them how the community came together to solve the problem and resolve the fighting.  I know the second grade class I am in now would absolutely love this book!

Christmas in the Country

By: Cynthia Rylant (2002)

I really enjoyed reading this book.  The descriptions that Cynthia Rylant used were brilliant.  The book was about her childhood growing up in the country with her grandparents.  She had many different tasks that she did during all the seasons, but winter was her absolute favorite.  Everyone waited for something special during winter.  That special thing was Christmas!  Cynthia described how her grandfather would go out and get a tree from the woods behind their house and how her grandmother would go in the attic to get the ornaments that smelled of wool and mothballs.  It is descriptions like this that made the book.  When she was talking about the smell of mothballs I could almost smell them.  If you were to close your eyes while someone read the book to you, you would be able to vividly see exactly what the author is writing about.  The illustrations by Diane Goode were amazing, but with Cynthia Rylant giving all the descriptions that she did you almost don't need physical pictures.  She talked about many other things that she did during the Christmas season such as singing at church and receiving a small bag of candy, nuts and a tangerine.  She always gave the tangerine to her grandfather because they were his favorite.

This book would be great to use during writing time in the classroom.  I know that during writing time in my classroom, some students have a hard time being really descriptive.  I could read this book to show them how to write and use great descriptions about what you are writing.