Megan OKeefe Childrens Literature Exploration February 17, 2013

List and summaries of the books being used: 1. Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak (1963) This story is about a boy named Max who is wearing a wolf suit, envisions a new world, where Wild Things live. He is the King of those Wild Things and is not at all scared of them despite their appearance. Eventually Max had gotten lonely, even though he was having fun with the Wild Things, so he went home to his bedroom with his supper waiting for him. ( 2. The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg (1985) This story is about a boy who on Christmas eve, looks out his bedroom window and sees a train that is going to the North Pole. He aboard that train and is able to meet Santa, once meeting Santa he asks him for one special gift for Christmas. He asks Santa for one of his bells off of his sleigh, he is given that bell. It turns out that the only people who can hear that bell are the boy and his sister. Only those who truly believe can hear Santas bell. 3. Eddies Little Sister Makes a Splash by Ed Koch and Pat Koch Thaler (2007) The main character Patty wants to seem as though she is a big girl when she goes on her family vacation. Her older brother Eddie did not want to hang out with her, so she tried finding herself a new friend her own age. Patty saw her brother playing by the lake with his friends, she was not allowed there

without her parents. Patty fell into the water and did not know how to swim, then Eddie jumped in to save her and brought her to the shore. Afterwards, Patty had swimming lessons from her father, later on Patty found a friend and felt like a big girl. 4. Me and My Cat by Satoshi Kitamura (1999) This story is about a boy Nicholas, who changes places with his cat, Leonardo, after seeing a witch in his window with a broom. At first, he thought it was fun being a cat and went for a walk outside and met some other cats along the way, creating some mischief. Meanwhile, Nicholas is acting like a cat and the cat (who is really Nicholas), realizes that the life of a cat is just as difficult as that of a humans. His mother then called the doctor and the doctor told her to just put him to sleep and he will be better in the morning. That night the witch came back and everything went back to normal, the next day at school Nicholas saw that his teacher had to the mannerisms of a cat, it seems as though the witch had gone to his house too. 5. The 512 Ants on Sullivan Street by Carol Losi (1997) This story is about two people who go on a picnic, they put their food out and soon the ants around them start to steal their food. As the book goes on the ants multiply, the amount doubles each time they are mentioned. All of the food eventually goes into the ant hole. 6. The Hero of Little Street by Gregory Rogers (2012) A young boy happens upon a gallery, while hiding from a gang of bullies. While waiting he sees as dog leap from the canvas, who leads him on an

adventure. The boy and the dog are then put into a painting set into the seventeenth century Holland, Little Street. He has to rescue his new friend from something that is not good. 7. Huff and Puff: Can You Blow Down the Houses of the 3 Little Pigs by Claudia Rueda (2012) A story of the three little pigs told through an interactive book. The kids play the part of the big bad wolf, it allows them to huff and puff and blow the houses down. Instead of blowing down the last house, they blow out candles on a cake that was baked by the three little pigs. 8. Because Amelia Smiled by David Ezra Stein (2012) This story is very simply about a girl named Amelia who changes peoples lives with just one smile. She sends a smile to one person and they pass it on to another, this is something called What goes around comes around. 9. Thank You Mr. Falker by Patricia Polacco (2012) A young girl Trisha has trouble with reading and is made fun of by the other students. Then once she got to fifth grade her teacher Mr. Falker, helped her with her reading and really inspired her to want to do better. He helps to make her confident in herself and to believe that she can read. 10. Brave Irene by Irene Bobbin (2011) A young girl Irene has to deliver a ball gown that her mother made for the Duchess. There is a big snowstorm coming and she has to overcome some obstacles before she finally gets to the Duchess to deliver the dress.

Activities for each book: 1. In Where the Wild Things Are, throughout reading the book I would have the students infer about how the character Max is feeling. Especially when he is king to the wild things and when he is punished and sent to his room in the beginning of the book. This would be a good way to have students learn about inferences, although I would not necessarily use that word, because if they are in kindergarten or first grade they might not know what it means. But I would just simply ask them about how they think Max would be feeling, therefore creating inferences. 2. After reading the Polar Express, I would have the students write about what they would ask Santa for Christmas, if they were in the same shoes as the young boy in the story. This would preferably work for 2nd grade and I feel as though they would have fun with it. This would be good for their writing skills and help them to figure out the true meaning of the story. This will be collected, but not graded; it is just to see where they are with their writing skills. 3. While reading this book I can ask the students to make predictions as to what they think is going to happen next. This would be good for first grade. Then when the story is over, I will have the students talk about them meaning of the story, such as why the girl jumped into the water and why she wanted to play with her brother so badly. Then we will have a brief discussion as a class and they will learn a lesson from this book.

4. In Me and My Cat, I will have the students make connections. Whether they have a cat or not I will have them pretend that they are in Nicholas place and therefore they will take the place of the cat. This could work for first grade, as they are the cat throughout the story, I will ask them to tell me how they feel right before Nicholas turns back into himself. How does it feel to be a cat? Have only a few kids share, then once the story is over have them tell me again how they feel and whether being a cat was fun or not. This is a great way to get the children involved and to help them comprehend and be able to make inferences without even realizing they are doing it. 5. In The 512 Ants on Sullivan Street, the students will learn a little bit about math. This book shows about the doubling of a number and throughout will really show the students how to multiply and add numbers. This would be great for first grade and with a lesson where they have to add and multiply because it does it in a fun and silly way. IT is great to have a book like this because then it helps them to learn math without them even really knowing that they are and it makes them want to learn it because it is more fun for them. 6. THe Hero of Little Street is the perfect story for the children to learn a little bit about history. There are a lot of great pictures of paintings and information about those famous painters and such. After we are done reading the story I will have the kids go back to their seats and draw their own picture. This could be done in first grade. This picture could be about

the story or about something that they like, these will be put up around the classroom later on. This is a great way to get them interested in the story, they may not have to write something, which might make it more interesting for them. 7. This is a great story of the Three Little Pigs, where instead of just listening to the story they are able to interact and make the story more fun for them. This would be a great activity for Kindergarten or first grade. This is the activity in and of itself, kids love to be able to interact when they read stories, this will make them want to listen and be a part of the story. As they are interacting I can have them tell me how the character is feeling throughout the story. Also, this story ends differently than the normal one, this might be a good morally based story to read to young kids. 8. What I would do for Because Amelia Smiled is to have the kids think of something that makes them smile and to write about it. When they are done they can share it with the class, I will then explain to them that smiling to someone could really make a difference on their lives and that when Amelia smiled it made everyone happy. This is a great way to teach the students about being kind to others. This would work great for first or second grade. 9. Thank You Mr. Falker is a great book to show the students because it talks about a teacher helping a student how to read. While reading this book I will do a read aloud with the kids, by having turn and talk and aaking

how the character feels. At the end they could also write about someone who has helped them with something, whether it be reading or something else. This could be done for first grade. This will really show the students about helping others. 10. After reading this story, Brave Irene, I will just ask the students if they would do what Irene did for the Duchess. Would they go through a snowstorm to deliver the dress and if so how would they prepare themselves. Only a few students could answer this one and it could be done for first grade.

Common Core Standards: First grade: 1.RL.1, 1.RL.7,1.W.1, 1.SL.1