Tina Schumacher

Dr. Sherry Crow

TE 869
December 4, 2011

Childrens Library Resources Log

Junior Novel /Chapter Book Category (Grades 3 6 or 5 8)five books
Book #1
Title: Night of the Spadefoot Toads
Author: Bill Harley
Publisher: Peachtree Press
Year of Publication: 2008
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Interest Level: 5 8
Award/Review: Green Earth Book Award 2009, Nebraska Golden Sower nominee 2011-2012, South Dakota Childrens
Book Award Nominee 2010 2011, Tennessee Volunteer State Book Award nominee 2010-2011
Description: It is March and Ben Moroney has just moved to Massachusetts from Arizona, from a desert to what he
considers a rain forest. He misses his pet lizard and his best friend, Toby. He doesnt seem to fit anywhere until his
science teacher, Mrs. Tibbets, invites him to help out with some yard work on her land. Ben learns that deserts arent
the only interesting places on the planet and that it is possible to find friends and a home 2,000 miles away from his
comfort zone.
Curriculum Connection: This book could be read during a study on the environment in either a science or social
studies class. It could lead to research on endangered species and/or habitats.

Book #2
Title: The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate
Author: Jacqueline Kelly
Publisher: Holt and Company
Year of Publication: 2009
Genre: Historical Fiction
Interest Level: 5 8
Award/Review: Newberry Honor Book, 2010
Description: Eleven and a half, nearly twelve-year-old Calpurnia Tate is the only girl in a family of seven children.
This is the delightful tale of Calliess developing relationship with her curmudgeon of a grandfather through a study of
the natural world around their home in Texas at the turn of the twentieth century. Jacqueline Kelly does a terrific job of
relating Callies joys, desires, and disappointments.
Curriculum Connection: This book could be used as a starting point for studying natural selection/Darwinism in a
science or social studies class. It could also be used as a basis for discussing many topics related to the turn of the
twentieth centurylife after the Civil War for Southerners and African Americansas well as the scientific revolution.
Book #3
Title: Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
Author: Mildred Taylor
Publisher: Dial Books, Puffin Books
Year of Publication: 1977, 1997
Genre: Historical Fiction, Multicultural Literature
Interest Level: 5 8

Award/Review: Newberry Honor Book 1977

Description: This is the story of Cassie Logan and her family in the Southern United States during the Great
Depression. It seems Cassie and her family have to fight racism at every turn, but her parents refuse to allow their
children to give up in the face of oppression from the white community. In fact, her father organizes a concerted effort
among the sharecropping families to refuse to do business with the people who are taking advantage of them. It is
through these trials that Cassies older brother Stacy comes to terms with what it means to be a black man in a whitedominated society.
Curriculum Connection: Roll of Thunder can be used in social studies/history classes during a study of The Great
Depression, tenant farming, or black/white relations in the South in the 1930s , as well as a study of the life of black
Americans in the years after slavery was abolished.
Book #4
Title: Mockingbird
Author: Kathryn Erskine
Publisher: Puffin Books
Year of Publication: 2010
Genre: Realistic Fiction, Multicultural (Auspergers Spectrum Disorder)
Interest Level: 5 8
Award/Review: National Book Award, 2010; Childrens Book of the Year, 2011; Best Books for Young Adults, 2011;
Notable Childrens Books, 2011; Teachers Choices, 2011.
Description: Ten-year-old Caitlin struggles with developing friendships, empathy, and closure because she has
Auspergers syndrome. Her mom died two years ago, losing her battle with cancer; her brother was killed in a school
shooting at the middle school that Caitlin will attend in the fall, and her father is disconnected from life due to the
tragedy hes faced. Caitlin longs for her older brother, who called her Scout because she reminds him of the character
from the classic film, To Kill a Mockingbird. He also thought of himself as Jem and his father as Atticus.

Curriculum Connection: This book would be a terrific to use in a language arts classroom, especially after a class
reading of To Kill a Mockingbird. Most students quickly understand the jailing and trial of Tom Robinson as being
undeserved. This book by Erskine could so easily help to extend the tremendous lessons of TKAM into life today and
the many mockingbirds that exist in society. It would also be terrific for use in a character education class or a
sociology class to propel discussion or research.
Book #5
Title: Anything But Typical
Author: Nora Raleigh Baskin
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Year of Publication: 2009
Genre: Realistic Fiction, Multicultural (Autism)
Interest Level: 5 8
Award/Review: Schneider Family Book Award 2010; Notable Books for a Global Society 2010
Description: Autism is difficult to live withespecially if you are the one with the disorder. Young Jason Blake
struggles daily with autism, and the one place he can truly escape is into the stories he writes on the website
storyboard. He makes a friend in cyberspace who calls herself PhoenixBird and all is well, until he realizes he might
actually meet her in person at the storyboard convention in Texas. It is at this moment that his loosely held-together
world suddenly starts to unravel.
Curriculum Connection: This book would fit well, as Mockingbird, in a language arts classroom. It would also work
well in a social science class, such as psychology, when doing a study on brain disorders.

Picture Books (K Grade 5)five books

Book #1
Title: Martina the Beautiful Cockroach: A Cuban Folktale

Author: (Retold by) Carmen Agra Deedy

Illustrator: Michael Austin
Publisher: Peachtree Publishers
Year of Publication: 2007
Genre: Multicultural, Folklore
Interest Level: K 3
Award/Review: ALA Notable/Best Books 2008; Booklist 2007; School Library Journal 2007
Description: This is the story of the most beautiful cockroach, Martina, who is ready to select a husband. Her
grandmother advises her to spill coffee on her suitors shoes to see how he will react when he is angry; in this way,
Martina will know his true character. Martina is unsure of this plan at first; but once she tries it, she finds it reveals the
truth.
Curriculum Connection: This book can be read for pure enjoyment, but I can see using it during a study of folktales
from countries around the world in a social studies or literature class. Students could write their own folktales after
reading this one.
Book #2
Title: Testing the Ice: A True Story about Jackie Robinson
Author: Sharon Robinson
Illustrator: Kadir Nelson
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Year of Publication: 2009
Genre: Multicultural
Interest Level: K - 3

Award/Review: Booklist, October 2009; Horn Book, April 2010; School Library Journal, October 2008; Wilsons Children,
October 2010

Description: Sharon Robinson recalls family memories of her father, Jackie Robinson, the ball player who broke the
color barrier in baseball. It is beautifully illustrated with scenes of baseball and their home in Connecticut. The title,
Testing the Ice, is a metaphor for Jackies contribution to easing race relations for his children as well as African
Americans.
Curriculum Connection: This book could easily be used in a social studies or history lesson about race relations in
America in the twentieth century or even in a physical education class during a unit on baseball.
Book #3
Title: A Sick Day for Amos McGee
Author: Philip C. Stead
Illustrator: Erin E. Stead
Publisher: Roaring Book Press
Year of Publication: 2010
Genre: Fiction/Picture Book
Interest Level: K - 3
Award/Review: Booklist, May 2010; Notable/Best Books (A.L.A.) January, 2011; Caldecott Medal/Honor, January,
2011, Publishers Weekly starred, May 2010; Kirkus Review starred, April 2010; School Library Journal, May 2010; New
York Times, November 2011; Wilsons Children, October 2010.
Description: The illustrations make this book come alive as Amos McGee, an elderly gentleman, spends his days
visiting his animal friends at the zoo. Until one day, poor Amos catches a cold and has to stay home. The animals
wonder where he is and they seek him out at his house and keep him company through the day and into the night.

Curriculum Connection: The creatures drawn by Erin Stead for this book are priceless. I could see this book being
used by an art teacher to show how the use of lines in a drawing can give a picture depth and character. This book
could also be used when discussing friendship in a character education class.
Book #4
Title: Sam, Bangs, and Moonshine
Author: Evaline Ness
Publisher: Holt
Year of Publication: 1966
Genre: Childrens Fiction
Interest Level: K 3
Award/Review: Caldecott Medal, 1967
Description: Sam is a fishermans daughter who lives very near the ocean. She is prone to telling stories which
her dad calls moonshine. She learns, finally, to distinguish between what is real and what is moonshine when her cat,
Bangs, and a friend are in very real danger. She has to tell the truth.
Curriculum Connection: This story could be used in a younger elementary classroom when teaching character
education. Children use their imaginations, but must learn that there are times when the truth must be told, even if
there is danger of getting in trouble because of the truth.
Book #5
Title: The Snowy Day
Author: Ezra Jack Keats
Publisher: Viking Press
Year of Publication: 1962
Genre: Fiction/Adventure

Interest Level: K 3
Award/Review: Caldecott Medal Winner, 1963
Description: Peter (about five years old) wakes up one morning to a wonderland of snow outside his bedroom
window. He spends the rest of the day exploring, playing, and imagining. Exhausted at the end of the day, he falls
asleep dreaming that the snow melts away, but in the morning new snow is falling and he gets to do it all over again.
Curriculum Connection: Pure literary enjoyment. I read this one with my sons many times when they were very
young as they often adventured through our yard after a big snow. The artwork in this one is wonderful as wellit is
as if the drawings are made up cut up/ripped up pieces of paper and glued together. It could easily be used as a
starting board for an art unit or story-telling.

Nonfiction (K Grade 5)five books

Book #1
Title: Spot the Plot
Author: J. Patrick Lewis
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Year of Publication: 2009
Genre: Nonfiction; riddles
Interest Level: K - 3
Award/Review: Reviewed in Horn Book starred, 2010; School Library Journal; Wilsons Children; Library Media
Connection
Description: The riddles in this book lead the reader to identify a well-known story. Lewis includes classics
(Cinderella) and new stories (Tacky the Penguin) as he leads the reader to connect riddles to the plots in literature.

Curriculum Connection: The most obvious curriculum connection with this book is that it could be used when
teaching plot. The students could then write their own riddles hinting toward the plots of books they have read or
perhaps a book theyve read as a class. I could have a lot of fun with this.
Book #2
Title: What do you do with a Tail like This?
Author: Steve Jenkins
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Year of Publication: 2003
Genre: Animals, nonfiction
Interest Level: K 3
Award/Review: Caldecott Medal, 2004
Description: This book, which includes wonderful water-color illustrations, looks at the way animals use their eyes,
mouths, tails, ears, and noses.
Curriculum Connection: This book would work perfectly in an early elementary classroom in a science lesson. The
teacher could conduct a discussion on how humans/people use their five senses and then branch the discussion out to
animals as well.
Book #3
Title: Children of the Great Depression
Author: Russell Freedman
Publisher: Clarion Books
Year of Publication: 2005
Genre: Nonfiction/History/The Great Depression

Interest Level: 5 - 8
Award/Review: ALA Notable Books, 2006; School Library Journal starred review, 12/01/05
Description: Through essays and pictures taken by famous Depression Era photographers, Freedman tells the story
of the Great Depression in the United States. There are lessons taught in these stories and photographs that cannot
be found in a history book.
Curriculum Connection: This book should be used in a social studies classroom when teaching about the Great
Depression in the United States. The stories and pictures could be pulled up for a whole class view with a projector
connected to a Smart Board or Mimeo Teachor similar technology.
Book #4
Title: Gershwins Rhapsody in Blue
Author: Anna Harwell Celenza
Publisher: Charlesbrigde
Year of Publication: 2006
Genre: Informational
Interest Level: 3 - 6
Award/Review: Booklist starred 11/01/06; School Library Journal 07/01/06
Description: This book tells the story of a young George Gershwin who must write a piece of music that tells the
story of American life. The story is true/the conversation imagined. The book takes the reader through the pains
Gershwin went to write this piece of music and the success it garnered as it spoke to the American people. A CD of the
song is included.
Curriculum Connection: This book would work well as an introduction to the music of George and Ira Gershwin in a
music class. I can also see this used in a social studies curriculum when studying the roaring 20s in the United
States. Students who are musically smart will love this book.

Book #5
Title: Blood and Guts, a Working Guide to your Own Insides
Author: Linda Allison
Publisher: Little Brown
Year of Publication: 1976
Genre: Science/Anatomy
Interest Level: 5 - 8
Award/Review: Recommended in Childrens Literature by Michael O. Tunnell, et. al. ; A.L.A. and Booklist
Description: This little book tells about the human body (skin, bones, organs, cells, etc.) and presents easily
conducted experiments that a child could do on his/her own or as a class.
Curriculum Connection: Science baby! The earlier we get our students interested in science, the better off our
whole society will bescience is what propels us forward and when our kids to make scientific connections to everyday
life we all win!

Free Choice Booksfive books

Book #1
Title: I Have Lived a Thousand Years
Author: Livia Bitton-Jackson
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Year of Publication: 1997
Genre: Autobiography
Interest Level: YA

Award/Review: Christopher Award; A.L.A. Notable Best Books

Description: Bitton-Jackson tells her story of growing up during the Holocaust. Her family (Jewish)resides in Samorja,
Hungary, and are soon swept away by the wave of Nazism and the policies they set in place in regard to Jews. The
story begins in the summer of 1943 when she is twelve. She then weaves an emotional and difficult tale through
ghettos, work camps, and death camps. She loses, finds, and loses again members of her family along the way. It is a
brutal truth that she tells.
Curriculum Connection: This book will fit in well with a teaching of The Holocaust.
Book #2
Title: Silent to the bone
Author: E. L. Konigsburg
Publisher: Aladdin Paperbacks
Year of Publication: 2000
Genre: mystery, psychological fiction
Interest Level: 5 - 8
Award/Review: A.L.A. Notable Best Books, 2001;
Description: Branwells baby sister Nikki is in the hospital. Branwell knows things about the au pair who was hired to
take care of the baby, but hes not talkingit isnt that he wont talk, he cant talk. Since the day he found Nikki in her
crib and was accused of injuring the child, hes been kept in a youth detention center. His good friend Connor,
knowing that Bran is incapable of hurting Nikki, turns himself into a detective to figure out what really happened in
Branwells house.
Curriculum Connection: This is a terrific psychological read for any student who likes mystery and intrigue.
Book #3
Title: Ms. McCaw Learns to Draw
Author: Kaethe Zemach

Publisher: Arthur A. Levine Books

Year of Publication: 2008
Genre: Fiction; learning disabilities
Interest Level: K - 3
Award/Review: Booklist, Hornbook, Kirkus Review, School Library Journal
Description: Poor little Dudley Ellington. School isnt easy for him as he loses concentration and squirms through
lessons or slips into daydreams of rockets and space. Ms. McCaw offers him the opportunity to teach her something
when she trades places and sits in his desk. He then teaches her how to drawit is a magical connection between
teacher and student.
Curriculum Connection: I can see using this story as a lesson on the different ways people learn and perhaps
teaching understanding and compassion for one another.
Book #4
Title: Love that Dog
Author: Sharon Creech
Publisher: Joanna Cotler Books
Year of Publication: 2001
Genre: Fiction/Poetry
Interest Level: 3 6
Award/Review: Notable Best Books A.L.A., 01/01/02
Description: Young Jack wants nothing to do with poetry until he realizes the value of words through writing his own
in his journal. The story becomes even more exciting when Jack has the opportunity to meet a real poet. The book is
written entirely in poetryshort sentencesthat children are able to connect with. It is poetry; it is a storytwo
worlds in one!

Curriculum Connection: As an introduction to poetrywriting or readingthis book would be an invaluable tool. It

would be terrific to read aloud and it is easily understandable/accessible by students as many kids think poetry is out
of their realm of understanding.
Book #5
Title: Touching Spirit Bear
Author: Ben Mikaelsen
Publisher: Harper Collins
Year of Publication: 2001
Genre: Adventure; Anger Management; Coming of Age
Interest Level: 5 8
Award/Review: A.L.A. Notable/Best Books 01/21/02; School Library Journal starred review 02/01/01
Description: Cole Matthews has suffered abuse at the hands of his father all his life. His mother ignores the trouble,
drinking it away. Cole acts out his frustration by bullying other students and living a life of rebellion. After beating
another student senseless, he is sent to juvenile detention. There he meets the man who will eventually save his life.
But first, he must nearly lose it. It is a wonderful story of healing, forgiveness, and redemption.
Curriculum Connection: This is a good book to use in a language arts classroom because it opens so many
opportunities for discussion and writing. The lessons that Garvey (parole officer) and Edwin (Klingit Indian elder)
teacher Cole on anger management and responsibility are relative to every person in the classroom, including the
teacher.