Sammy The Classroom Guinea Pig

Sammy The Classroom Guinea Pig was written and illustrated by Alix Berenzy. I initially picked this book off the shelf because my sisters nickname is Sammy and it caught my eye. It is about a classroom Guinea Pig who randomly starts squealing during class. The class tries to diagnose him and while they do this they offer a lot of interesting facts about guinea pigs in general. In the end the guinea pig just wanted attention from the children, his friends. I thought it was really cool how the author included facts about the guinea pig within the story. Right away it reminded me of my kindergarten class because we had a guinea pig as a class pet and we all got to take turns taking care of it by feeding it and cleaning it's cage. I have been thinking about when I'm a teacher if I would want to have a class pet in the room. This book helped confirm my decision that having a class pet would bring responsibility to the children and it would just be FUN!

Sally and the Purple Socks

Sally and the Purple Socks was written and illustrated by Lisze Bechtold. I picked this book off of the shelf because the cover and title made me think it would be a funny book, which it was. Sally sock that she ordered are to small but then they start to grow and grow and grow and Sally finds fun things to do with her new socks such as curtians and carpet. For some reason the book reminded me of the Dr. Suess book where the red spots keep spreading all around the house. I think that young children would definately find this book funny. I found myself excited to see what Sally was going to use her sock for next. There are only a few different colors in the story which I feel really draws your attention to the purple socks. At the the socks get wet and shrink back to normal just in time for winter. I found myself guessing what the socks were going to be used for next and I think this would be a fun activity for kids to do also.

My Brother

Mh browther was written and illustrated by Anthony Brown. It is about a little boy that thinks his big brother is so COOL! Everypage has arrows pointing at different things saying cool this and cool that. It's funny because I feel like it is written how a child would talk. It seems like such a realistic book because so many little brothers think everything that their big brother does is so cool. I feel like older siblings don't always realize how much their little brothes and sisters look up to them. I don't think I realized how much my younger brothers and sisters looked up to me until I was a lot older. The story sounded like a child would talk, but it alway was illustrated very chidllike and very animated. My favorite part of the book was a real picture on the author page of a young boy with his two front missing, no shirt on, and a big huge grin. Right away I new this was a true story of how a younger brother felt about his bigger brother when he was a kid.

Llama Llama Mad At Mama

Llama Llama Mad at Mama was written and illustrated by Anna Dewdney. I heard someone say this was their favorite chidrens book in one of my classes and I thought I better check it out. For one, it rhymed and I just love books that rhyme. I also thought it was very cute. It is about a llama who has to go shopping with his mother and throws a fit because a he doesn't want to be there and doesn't like shopping. It reminded me of little walking through a store and seeing a small chld having a temper tantrum. It is always so funny and you just feel so bad for the parents. I loved that the book was about llama's. I mean how often do you read a childrens book where llama's are the main characters. I think this is the most fun part about the book. The llama in the story also has funny facial expressions to go along with his feelings. If I had kids, I would read this to them before we went shopping and tell them to make sure to not act like the little llama in the story. The ends and shows how much the mother and son llama's love eachother. I like how the mama doesn't ever get mad at the little llama for throwing a fit. Doesn't seem very typical... but yet seems like such a good mother!!

Pulling My Leg

Pulling My leg is written by Jo Carson with pictures by Julie Downing. I actually didn't really like the story. I thought it was going to talk about how pulling your leg can be a metaphor. I work at a daycare and there are times I will say things like this and the children will just look at me so confused. The story was kind of about this, but it never really said what "pulling my leg" meant. I think if a child was reading this and didn't know what it meant before they read it, they still wouldn't know afterwards. Also, there were a couple places in the book that I actually didn't understand. It randomly talked about a black snake and I wasn't sure if that meant a real snake or some type of tool or what. I guess I just feel if the book was confusing to me it would be confusing to a young child also. I did like how the book was about getting a loose tooth pulled out. It is always fun to joke around with children about them getting their teeth pulled out. I also liked the pictures in the story. They looked like someone drew them with colored pencil and I really liked this.

So Far From The Bamboo Grove

While I was reading So Far From The Bamboo Grove I found myself painting so many mental images in my head. I thought it was a very detailed book. I found the book to be really sad. It is so hard to believe that this kind of stuff went on in the world. At one point in the book I was picturing myself as one of the Korean soldiers. I can't imagine having enough hate to do the things they did. It reminds me of the soldiers that are fighting for our country today and makes me wonder how they are doing and what kinds of things they have to got through. I was a little confused about the situation that was going on in the story. I would have like more information about why there was so much fighting that to me, seemed so abrupt. I just felt like I needed a little more background to fully understand the situation and what was going on. I loved that the story ended with all of the kids being reunited. The story had such a sad theme to it, it was nice to have a bit of happiness in the last part of the book. Yoko was just so young in the story it is so hard to imagine a child today going through something like this. It makes me feel really lucky and priveledged. I think about how long they had to go without eating and it seems unimaginable. The mental picture that I can't get out of my head is the part of the story where their train gets stopped and they have to hide their identity. I can't imagine how scared they had to be.

White Wash

White Wash was written by Ntozake Shange and illustrated by Michael Sporn. It is about a colored girl and her brother who walked home from school one day and got jumped by a white gang of boys. They beat up her brother and put white spray paint on her face. I thought the story was very sad and I felt bad for the two children while reading it. I can not imagine this type of thing ever happening, but I know it does or has happen to people. I definately think this book is on the controversial shelf because of the stereotypes it portrays. The people gang that beat up the two children was a bunch of white boys. I feel this is a very typical stereotype, but it definately is one. I thought the book brought a lot of emotion. I think it may be a hard book for children to understand. If a very young child was reading this I don't think they would understand where the hate came from. I feel you would have to be old enough to understand the types of feeling some people of different races have against eachother. It would be hard to make children understand why and how people can be so cruel to eachother.

Arlene Sardine

Arlene Sardine is the story about how a sardine goes from living in the in the water to being put in a can and ready for sale. While I was reading this I was thinking why would anyone want to write about the life cycle of a sardine. However, I found it very interesting while I was reading it. There were a lot of vocabulary words I didn't know before I read it. Also, when I really thought about it I didn't have any clue how a sardine went from swimming in the water to being canned. I feel this book is labeled as controversial because to children it may seem cruel that we take the fish out of the water and kill them, but the book makes the fish dying seem like it is ok. The language in the book is somewhat poetic, which I think is very interesting since it is about the life cycle of sardines. I think this is what really makes the book so optimistic. The illustrations in the story were like watercolor paintings and I really liked them, especially the pages where there are tons of fish!

The Misfits

Wow! What an amazing book. I didn't want to put it down while reading it. I think this is such a great book to have at libraries for young kids to read. Junior high is such a tough time for kids. They go through so many different changes and along the way try to discover who they really are as people. The Misfits really shows many of the different stereotypes of children and I feel it portrays them so well. As I was reading this I thought back to my junior high years and was thinking about some of the different stereotypes of people my class included. I thought of times I remember that they were made fun of. I also think of different names I was called throught junior high and even high school. I was kind of a push-over in high school and if I was made fun of or called a name I would just laugh if off or ignore it. However, I remember how it hurt and I think I will always remember it. I also remember calling people names or making fun of them. I wasn't the bully type by any means, but I remember talking about other people behind their backs, even my friends. It's so sad to look back and think about. I think it would be cool if junior high kids could read this book or even high schoolers. It has such a strong message. I really liked the descriptive language in the book. James Howe used so many different metaphors that made his writing truly unique. I also liked how their was dialogue in the story. It really helped paint a clearer picture of the characters and who they were as people. In the end the No-Name Party didn't end up winning the elections, but I feel they truly did win because they accomplished what they had set out to do. I think this is also a message that you can take away from the story. I feel the story can help you to look at people in a different way. When Bobby told his class he ate peanut butter and marshmallow fluff sandwhiches because his mom liked them and she had passed away, it really took me by surprise. It definately showed how wrong people can be when they judge others. I thought this was such a good book and I would definately recommend it to everyone!

Reflection

I have really enjoyed blogging about the children's books I have read. I think it is so much more enjoyable than writing about them in a journal. I can not believe how much fun I am having reading children's books. I forgot how much I enjoy reading for fun. I feel like I never have time to just read for myself and this is the perfect class to fix this problem. Sometimes I read more books than I have to just because I get caught up in the moment. I am glad we did the genre presentation because I have a much better understanding of what the different genres are and how they could be used in the classroom. I also enjoy disscussing some of the books we read in class because people have such a variety of opinions.

Walter the Farting Dog

Walter the Farting Dog was written by William Kotzwinkle and Glenn Murray. It was illustrated by Audrey Colman. The book is about a family who gets a dog with gas so awful they have to take him back to the pound. In the end, he scares burglers away with his gas and becomes the family hero. I thought this book was really funny. It is one of a kind, I'm sure their aren't to many books about dogs with really bad gas. While I was reading, I was thinking it was so funny that someone could write so much about a farting dog, but the story line was very well written. I really enjoyed the illustrations in the story. The characters seemed so animated and very colorful. I also like the illustration of the acual farts that the dog was letting out. I have read this book to the kids at my daycare and they all think that it is very funny. The pictures that show how disguisted the peolpe are by the smell of the dog are quite comical.

Amazing Grace

Amazing Grace is a very touching story about a young girl who wants to be Peter Pan in the school play. She is told she can not be Peter Pan because she is a girl and she is black. With the help of her nana, Grace learns that anything is possible if you put your mind to it. In the end, Grace gets the part and does an excellent job. I thought this story was absolutely beautiful. I loved how in the beginning it told how Grace loved stories and acting out the stories. This really showed her creativity. Each story that she liked was so different and imaginative. I loved the overall message of the book that was that anything is possible if you put your mind to it. This is such a great motivational story. Also, children really might think the way they do in the story and feel that Peter Pan must be played by a white male. I think the pictures in this book are great. They look like some type of watercolor and are so colorful.