My Book Blog

Plummer, Louise. (1991). My Name is Sus5an Smith. The 5 is Silent. . New York: Delacorte.

This is a very intersting chapter book geared towards people, particularly girls, in the mid to late teens. This story is one of a very artistic and eccentric young artist who changes the spelling of her name and goes to Boston to pursue a painting career. This wasn't particularly intriguing for me, and I've read a lot better literature for that age group.

DK Publishing. (2004). Tractor . New York: DK Publishing.

This book on big farm machinery is a good addition to a set of books on machines and how they are used. The big pictures, which are photos, bring the farm to the classroom, and will be of particular interest to students interested in machines.

Adler, David A. (1992). A Picture Book of Helen Keller . New York: Holiday House.

This picture book biography focuses on Helen Keller's early life before reaching adulthood. It focuses on her disabilities and on her fantastic teacher Annie Sullivan. It is a good message about overcoming diversity as well as giving basic information about a very important historical figure that can hopefully spark further interest in her life.

Bunnett, Rochelle. (1995). Friends at School . New York: Star Bright Books.

This is a book of inclusion and acceptance, particularly at school. It shows students with different abilities working and playing together, so using this early in the year will help build community within the classroom. Illustrated with photos of real children, it brings the message closer to home. Since I hope to be a special education teacher, this book is particularly important to me and should be to all other educators.

Civardi, Anne. (2000). Going to the Hospital . New York: Educational Development Corporation.

This would be a great book to use if one of your students is facing a hospital stay. It explains everything that would be happening on a child's level, and keeps things from getting too scary. This would help eliminate a lot of anxiety and is part of a set of first experience books that would be a great addition to your classroom as students go through new and different things.

Rosenthal, Amy Krouse. (2005). Little Pea . New York: Chronicle Books.

This is the story of the Little Pea who has to deal with having to clean his plate at dinner! He must eat five pieces of candy so his parents will let him have his favorite dessert- spinach! This is a fun book because it's a total reverse of what children usually have to deal with! Thus, it gets some giggles while teaching about good nutrition. The pictures are cute and not too busy, and the main character is a pea!

Schoenberg, Jane. (2005). My Bodyworks: Songs About Your Bones, Muscles, Heart And More! . New York: Crocodile Books.

This book all about the body and the way it works is a great way to learn about the body but make it fun! It comes with a CD of all the songs recorded and could be used in a center that is kinesthetic and science-oriented. Those kids with the wiggles will love this!

McCourt, Lisa. (1998). Deadly Snakes. New York: Scholastic.

This nonfiction book is an interesting story on snakes and all the different kinds around the world. The illustrations are accurate and pretty cool looking. This would make a great addition to a science center, and the boys in the class will like this especially. It may provide great information for a class book on snakes, or provide a model to follow for making a class book on another type of animal.

Kellogg, Steven. (2000). The Missing Mitten Mystery. New York: Scholastic.

One little girl's mitten is missing! First, she and her dog Oscar retrace their steps, and find their friends' missing things, but no mitten! Then she starts to imagine all the things that the mitten could be doing... it could have been carried away by an eagle, it could have gotten bored and gone off on adventures, it could be growing into a mitten tree! Dejectedly they go home, where they discover that her red mitten was the heart of the snowman they had built!

I got this book for 95 cents from the Scholastic book orders, and I got a classroom set of them. These cheap books make great material for literature circles.

Palatini, Margie. (2000). Mooseltoe. New York: Scholastic.

Moose is really in the Christmas spirit! He spends all his days writing cards, baking cookies, and decorating! But he forgot one important thing--the tree! He went out to buy one, but he couldn't find one no matter how hard he looked. He was so disappointed, and so were the children. So, he stood in the forner, spread out his arms, and had the children slather his moosetache with glue to make it into a huge tree-like structure! They decorated his moosetache, and Christmas was saved! Be sure to check out the prequel to this too!