It's a Tiger by David LaRochelle

Are you looking for an interactive book that will give your students a story that they can enjoy and that is easy enough for them to memorize after just a couple of readings? Then you need to look for It's a Tiger! by David LaRochelle. The book has an easy to remember pattern, with language that flows naturally.

It starts by inviting the reader to imagine themselves in a jungle, and continues to paint word pictures that are enhanced by the illustrations, but could easily be ignored since that words are so descriptive. It's a fun game to look for the tiger in each scene and kids love shouting "It's a tiger! Run!"

Don't miss this delightful story. Your kids will love it, and I expect that you will too.

Sorry for the lack of posts.

I made a sudden and rather random decision to move to upstate NY and then life just got in the way of getting posts up on this blog. I will get back on some sort of schedule soon. I might not get 2 a week right away, but at least once a week, and to make things a little easier, I'll move away from the Caldecott and Newberry Medal books for a little while too.

Later this week, look for my post about some book that I haven't chosen yet.

Do you have any suggestions?

The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron and illustrated by Matt Phelan (2007 Newberry Medal Winner)

The last decade of Newberry medal winners has seen several stories about young girls with nontraditional families. (Look at When You Reach Me, and Moon Over Manifest) Fortunately, each of those books brings something different to the mix, so it doesn't matter that they have that in common.

Lucky's mother has died, and since her father can't handle the pressure of raising his daughter alone, he calls his first wife, Brigitte, to come all the way from France to Hard Pan, California (population 43) to take care of Lucky. Lucky always worries that Brigitte will leave her too, but she isn't sure this will happen.

At the age of 10, Lucky has a job cleaning up the town hall after all of the 12-step meetings. She likes to listen to the tales told by the members of the various groups, and Lucky is also in search of her own Higher Power, just like she heats about in the meetings. She has two good friends, a boy named Linclon, who is an avid knot tier who also has aspirations of becoming President, and Miles, a 5-year-old boy who loves the book Are You My Mother? by P. D. Eastman.

The book has illustrations of various knots that are fun, and the relationship between Lucky and Brigitte is strange and fun. It makes for interesting reading.

Lucky's search for her Higher Power leads her to run away from home, but will that actually take her where she wants to be? Lucky has plenty of problems sorting out her life, and her adventures are worth the read.

So let's make some suggestions about uses in the classroom:

• Talk about what makes a family.
• Talk about what it would be like to live in a town as small as Hard Pan.
• Read Are You My Mother to the class and talk about why Miles likes the book so much. (You can talk about it throughout the whole book so you can see the changing perspective of the book.
• Experiment with tying knots.

There are plenty of other ideas you can explore. Why don't you share some of them below in the comments?

Song of the Swallows (1950 Caldecott Medal Winner by Leo Politi)

Song of the Swallows (1950 Caldecott Medal Winner by Leo Politi)

I've mentioned that many of the older Caldecott winners have difficulty deciding how long they should be. That is a problem for Song of the Swallows. This book is too long to fit in with modern ideas about book length for younger readers. The story isn't too bad, but it does drag if you are trying to read it to a class.

The story is rather simple even though it is long. The story follows the non adventures of a young boy that is waiting for the swallows to return and signal the start of spring. This all starts when the bell ringer at Mission San Juan Capistrano tells Juan the story of how the swallows manage to find their way from South America to California every spring.

Juan goes home and creates his own small garden in hopes of attracting a family of swallows to nest near his house. This is successful, and Juan sings the song of the swallows. (You can find the tune and words in the back of the book.)

While the story isn't terrible, it dragged for me as a reader. Maybe I'm just too conditioned for modern stories, but there it is. You might enjoy the story, and make use of the Spanish dialogue in your classroom. It will also be a great story if you are talking about migration.

Miss Hickory by Carolyn Sherwin Bailey (1947 Newberry Medal Winner)

Normally, I would avoid giving away the ending of a book, but you need to know all about this story in order for it to make sense. So you've been warned.

So Miss Hickory is a doll that is made from an apple branch that looks like a body, and a hickory nut that happens to be shaped like a face. Miss Hickory is very set in her ways and a bit rude at times too.

During the nicer times of year, she lives outside in a doll house, and during the winter months she is moved inside, but this year things are different. The family is going away for the winter, and Miss Hickory has been forcefully evicted from her home by a chipmunk. A crow helps her find a robin's nest to live in during the winter, but she balks at the idea even though she agrees to live there in the end.

Her new home is above the hole of a squirrel. Miss Hickory does not treat this squirrel very well, and insults him all the time. That will come back to haunt her.

Miss Hickory has many adventures over her winter. She helps a group of pheasant hens to band together into a women's society to stand up to the male pheasants. She rescues an old frog that has gotten trapped in the ice. She also learns a lot. She changes her wardrobe frequently using the natural world around her for materials.

There are some strange chapters, especially when Miss Hickory goes to a "party" at the barn that is attended by every animal you can find in the world. I can't explain where they come from or how they get there, but I liked it.

So, I mentioned that I would talk about the ending, so here it goes. When spring arrives, the robins that lived in her nest returns and kicks her out. Desperate for a place to go, Miss Hickory visits her neighbor the squirrel, who being hungry after the long winter, eats Miss Hickory's head. This is actually a liberating experience. It frees her of being so hard headed, and even without her head, she is able to feel her way into the tree and sets herself into an open space int the tree and becomes a grafted branch.

Yes, this story is strange, but if you are into unique takes on the world, then this book might be for you.

Kitten's First Full Moon by Kevin Henkes (2005 Caldecott Medal Winner)

Kitten's First Full Moon by Kevin Henkes (2005 Caldecott Medal)

When I think about writers that should have won a Newberry or Caldecott Medal more than once, I will definitely have Kevin Henkes as a part of that list from now on. Henkes is a prolific writer with a hefty portfolio of tales that are all worthy of that medal in my opinion.

Maybe you don't recognize the name, so let me give you a few examples of the stories that Mr. Henkes writes:

• Jessica-a young girl has an imaginary friend named, Jessica. What will happen to Jessica when she starts Kindergarten and makes new friends?
• Chrysanthemum- A young mouse named Chrysanthemum deals with the other students who tease her because of her name.
• Owen-A young mouse doesn't want to give up his blanket.

These are just a few of the amazing stories that have come from Mr. Henkes, and any one of them could have won a Caldecott Medal. So let's talk about Kitten's First Full Moon. (I did learn that Owen won a Caldecott Honor Medal.)

This is the story of a young kitten that mistakes the full moon for a bowl of milk and tries to get the milk with some less than filling results.

• Sticks her neck out and lick a lightning bug.
• Jumps off the porch and lands on her head.
• Runs after the moon and climbs a high tree without getting any closer.
• Mistakes the moons reflection in a pool of water for an even larger bowl of milk with soggy results.

After all of that the kitten crawls home saddened until she gets back to her front porch and finds a bowl of milk waiting for her.

It's a fun little tale with picture that tell the story just as much as the words. I have used the story without the words on occasion. When I do this, I have a student tell me the story one-on-one. Have the student look through the book and try to recall the story.

Other fun ideas:

• Talk about perspective. Why does the kitten think the moon (which is very far away) is a bowl of milk?
• Goal setting. The kitten has a goal. How does she reach that goal?
• List other objects you might mistake the moon for (in the different phases)
• Track what the moon looks like on different nights. (The kids can draw the moon every night and bring it in with them.)

There are plenty of other ideas, so if you have something cool to share, leave a comment below.

Feather Mountain by Elizabeth Olds (1952 Caldecott Honor book)

Feather Mountain by Elizabeth Olds (Caldecott Honor Book)

So we took time to look at the 1952 Newberry Medal winner and one of the Honor books for that year to compare them. (Ginger Pye and Charlotte's Web) So now I am going to do the same thing for the Caldecott winner for that year, and one of the honor books.

I already made a post about Finders Keepers so let's consider another book from that year, Feather Mountain. isn't an easy book to find, but it is worth taking the time to find it. You can't go to a store to find it unless it is a used book store, because it is out of print.

So what is the story about? Well, imagine a world where birds don't have feathers, but they still manage to be able to fly. That is the situation in this story. I had trouble finding out information about this book because it is from 1952 and it is out of print, but a search of the web gave me two helpful bits of information:

• Feather Mountain is an important part of Chinese mythology.
• The use of the Great Spirit indicates that the story might indicate a Native American origin.

Regardless of the source of the story, it is still a good one worth talking about, so let's talk about it.

Once upon a time, birds did not have feathers. Instead they were pink and funny looking. This was just the way that the world worked, and the birds didn't really notice or care until they realized that the other animals were laughing at them. This made them feel self conscious and desire a solution to their problem. After an appeal to the Great Spirit, they learn that their feathers are waiting for them at Feather Mountain.

The turkey buzzard offers to fly to Feather Mountain to bring back feathers for all of the birds. He is a strong, wise and good bird that is able to make the flight in the cold without feathers. When he arrives at Feather Mountain, he discovers that the trees are covered with feathers all for his fellow birds. Being a wise and practical bird, he picks a colorless suit of feathers for his return trip that will let him fly gracefully and the long distance home. He packs up all the feathers he can carry and returns home to his fellow birds.

As soon as he arrives, all of the birds attack the feathers trying to claim the prettiest ones, but turkey buzzard makes them stop and see reason about the matter. The birds take turns and consider what feathers would suit them best rather than the ones that they like most. They pick colors that will camouflage them if they are in vulnerable positions and they even get paint for their beaks and legs.

Near the end there is a splash page with pictures of dozens of birds so you can see what they look like with their new feathers. Then the birds fly away and revel in their new garments.

So what do I think of Feather Mountain? It is a nice read with beautiful art. I wish it were still in publication and available to readers, but that isn't the case. I recommend that you find a copy to see what you think. I won't list classroom uses because I can't guarantee that you will find it or be able to take it if you do get your hands on a copy. I was surprised when my library let me have it for a few weeks.

So, since I can't ask for ideas, let's ask another question:

What is your favorite book that references mythology? Answer in the comments below.

Charlotte's Web by E. B. White (1952 Newberry Honor Book)

Charlotte's Web by E. B. White (1952 Newberry Honor Book)

So last week, we talked about the winner of the 1952 Newberry medal, Ginger Pye, but this week we will be talking about what is probably the most popular book to come out in that year, and it was only an honor book. We'll get into all the reasons I think the committee that made that decision was wrong in just a moment, but first, let's talk about the story.

A litter of pigs is born on the Arable farm and Mr. Arable plans to kill the runt of the litter, but his daughter, Fern pleads for his life. She convinces her father, and gets to raise the pig, now named Wilbur, until he becomes too big to live at the house. They then sell Wilbur to Fern's uncle, Homer Zuckerman. Fern doesn't like the idea, but the Zuckerman farm is close so Fern is able to visit often.

Wilbur has a happy life on the farm even though there is some shadow of uncertainty around the farm. The other animals hint that there may be something to fear, but they don't get into details.

One night after a good cry about not having a friend, Wilbur hears a voice that promises to be his friend. She says that they will meet in the morning. Wilbur falls asleep, happy with what the future might hold.

In the morning, Wilbur meets a small spider named Charlotte. She is kind and gentle even though she does scare Wilbur with her carnivorous nature. When Wilbur realizes that his life will be cut short in the fall, Charlotte promises to find a way to save Wilbur.

That is when something strange starts to happen around the farm. The next morning, the words, "Some Pig" were found in the texture of the web. This causes a lot of excitement around the farm, and word spreads as more and more words appear.

Charlotte is obviously the source of the words. She gets them from a rat named Templeton. In the end, Wilbur is taken to the state fair. It seems like his only chance is to win the pig show at the fair, but there is also a large pig known as Uncle. Uncle wins the contest, but the committee has decided to give Wilbur an award because of Charlotte's messages. Wilbur's life is saved.

Charlotte is not able to return to the farm because she is about to die. She has laid her egg sack, and her life is spent after weaving one last web for her friend. Wilbur convinces Templeton to retrieve the eggs by offering the first choice on the scraps in the morning.

All winter, Wilbur waits to meet Charlotte's children, but when the eggs hatch in the spring, most of the spiders spin chutes and fly away, but three of the spiders are too small to fly away. Wilbur welcomes them and gives them names-Joy, Arenea, and Nellie.

The story is well known and well loved by everyone. Now let's talk about using it in your classroom.

• Charlotte has an excellent vocabulary, so look through the book for some great words to teach your kids. Use a variety of methods to teach these words-a jigsaw puzzle, a word search, whatever you like to do.
• Have discussions about how friendships work. Wilbur and Charlotte are very different creatures, but their friendship is genuine and strong. How does this work?
• Why does Fern spend less time with Wilbur as she gets older?
• How is Wilbur saved by simple words in a spider web?

As always, you can come up with plenty of great ideas on your own. Let your imagination go wild. Don't miss out on sharing this story with your students.

Leave your ideas in the comments below.

Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak (1964 Caldecott Medal Winner)

Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak (1964 Caldecott Medal Winner)

There is something about a book or part of a book not having any words that makes me experience the story more. This is the case with Where the Wild Things Are. The wordless section is made more important in my mind by the text at the beginning and the end of the book.

You ought to know the story of this book. Just in case, though, here you go.

Max is a young boy who does not like to do what he is supposed to do. His mother dubs him "Wild Thing" and sends him to his room without dinner after getting frustrated with his antics. Max doesn't care (much like another Sendak character called Pierre.) He has his wolf suit, and that seems to be enough.

Max's room changes and becomes a giant forest with an ocean and a private boat for young Max which takes him for a journey that lasts almost an entire year to the place where the wild things are.

The wild things act threatening and display their terrible roars, terrible teeth, terrible eyes, and terrible claws, but this does not impress Max. He tells them to "be still" and stares into their eyes until they submit. That is when Max is made the king of all the wild things.

Then comes the wild rumpus. The rumpus consists of 3 full page spreads of the book showing Max and the wild things doing wild things. This is probably one of the best parts of the book because the art says so much, and you don't need words to know the story.

After the rumpus, Max sends the wild things to bed without dinner, and while they are all sleeping, Max realizes that being the king of the wild things isn't all it's cracked up to be. He decides to go back home and ignores the pleas of the wild things begging him to stay.

Max sails the year back home and finds his supper waiting for him.

This story is filled with potential for class room activities. Let me give you a few:

• Create your own wild thing. Create your wild thing in 3D or 2D. Use marker, crayons, clay, or whatever you like.
• Have a conversation about not listening to your parents. Why did it happen? What should you have done?
• Tell the story-make cards with parts of the story, and organize them in the correct order.
• Have a wild rumpus!

There are certainly plenty of other ideas you can come up with if you let your imagination run wild just like Max does.

Ginger Pye by Eleanor Estes (1952 Newberry Medal Winner)

Ginger Pye by Eleanor Estes

This book makes me mad. 1952 was the year when another, much more deserving book, was also eligible to win the Newberry Medal, but it was given to Ginger Pye instead. It may seem like a small detail, but the one of the honor books that year was Charlotte's Web. Even if you haven't had a lot of exposure to children's literature, you must have heard of this story, but who has heard anything of the adventures of Ginger Pye in the years since that book won the medal?

Next week I'll talk about what makes the honor book so great, but for now, let's talk about Ginger Pye.

My biggest problem with this book is that it cannot decide who the story is going to be about. When it starts, it seems like it will be the story of how Jerry Pye saves the money to get a dog that he really wants, but that part of the story ends very quickly. Maybe it will be the story of what a great dog Ginger Pye is. Or perhaps it is a mystery about where Ginger Pye has been taken.

This book is almost all of these story, but still none of them. In fact, it never really figures out what it is trying to do. There only a few moments that I really enjoyed while I was reading, but there were even more confusing moments.

Confusing/pointless moments?

• The kids go swimming at the quarry, and there is one boy that engages in "vertical swimming." What is vertical swimming? Well, you might think that this boy likes to dive down as far as he can go, but no, vertical swimming means that he likes to swim under water. This is a huge deal for some reason. The boy also loses swimming races because even though he is the fastest swimmer, you can't win if you go underwater. This has no purpose in the rest of the story.
• Ginger is abducted after Thanksgiving dinner because the dog is put outside, but the children are the only ones that are interested in doing anything about finding Ginger.
• The story is filled with the children trying to find Ginger, but they never really do anything to solve the mystery. All they know is that the culprit might wear a yellow hat. They find a yellow hat in the woods one day and make a crayon mark inside the hat. (Big deal.)
• At the beginning of the book Jerry's biggest dilemma is if the cat will be upset if the family gets a dog.

Good points?

• There is an entire chapter devoted to Ginger trying to figure out where Jerry goes during the day. Ginger manages to track Jerry by following his nose and even finds Jerry's pencil that was dropped while hanging in a tree. Once Ginger finds the school he also manages to climb the fire escape to the classroom window. This chapter is great because we get inside Ginger's head. We get to follow the dog and get inside its mind. Why couldn't the entire book be like this?
• When Jerry is trying to raise money to get his dog, he takes a job cleaning the church pews, and the brother, sister, and toddler uncle figure out how to shuttle the uncle across the pews to clean them quickly.
• Um, that's honestly all I have.

So, I don't think there is a lot of mystery about my feelings on this book. I can't conceive of using it for a class of students, so I won't give a list of ways to use it with your students. Next weekend I'll talk about one of the 1952 honor books, Charlotte's Web, a much better book.

Finders Keepers by William Lipkind (1952 Caldecott winner)

Finders Keepers by William Lipkind

While this is a much older book, it still holds a valuable lesson about sharing over greediness. Two dogs find a bone, and spend much of their time arguing over who the bone belongs to. They ask for advice from several passers-by and never get an acceptable answer to the question. After all, Nap saw it first, and Winkle touched it first.

A farmer, a goat, an apprentice barber, and another dog are all asked their opinions, but the four that are questioned have their own ideas and plans, so the dogs don't get any answer worth receiving. In fact, the results put the two dogs in a worse position than when they started. (Especially when the other dog ends up with the bone.)

The story is clever and engaging and the art is appealing to young eyes. It does anthropomorphic characters correctly (animals with human characteristics) because the dogs seem like dogs. They are fighting over a bone, and they have simple reasons why that bone belongs to them.

So what can you do with this book in your classroom? Well, I would suggest:

• Predictions about which dog will get the bone, and which one deserves it.
• Talk about the deals that the dogs are making. Are those good choices?
• Have you seen dogs fight over something? What was the result?

As always, there are plenty of other ideas that you can use, so go crazy with it.

Next week is 1952 review. I'll be looking at a couple of honor books for 1952, and consider if the committee made a good choice. 1952 Caldecott Honor book-Feather Mountain by Elizabeth Olds, and Charlotte's Web by E. B. White.

The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin (1979 Newberry Winner)

I enjoy a good mystery novel, and this one certainly pays off with lots of twists and turns, but it just wasn't as engaging as I would have liked.

A mysterious man, Sam Westing, who is also the man behind the Westing Paper fortune, returns from his self-imposed exile only to be killed on the night he returns.

The next day a group of 16 people are assembled to hear the will of Sam Westing. What's most strange about these 16 people is that they recently moved into a new apartment complex called Sunset Towers. In fact, it seems that they were specifically chosen and enticed to rent the apartments where they live. This group of heirs is very diverse and don't seem to have many connections, but they are now a part of the Westing Game.

The 16 people are broken into pairs and given a check for $10,000, but it is only valid if each person partakes in the game. The goal of the game is to find the man or woman that killed Sam Westing. They are given clues that are part of a complete clue that is broken up. The winners of the game will inherit the complete $200 million dollar fortune, and the Paper Factory.

There are plenty of twists and misdirections, but it really didn't draw me into the mystery. Sure we are told that Westing was killed and that the killer may kill all of the heirs, but I never felt that anyone's life was in danger. The characters, and the interactions are very good though, and the ending is worth reading the entire book.

How can you use it in your classroom?

You can talk about how to solve a mystery/riddle/challenge.
You can explore how the characters interact in the story.
You can ask about the whys of the story. (Why does this happen or that?)

If you're looking for a good book, this is a good place to look. Don't be worried about it not catching my attention as much as I would have liked. It's still a great read.

Hello, Goodbye Window by Norton Juster (2006 Caldecott Winner)

This is a story where a little girl explains why the window of her Nanna and Poppy's kitchen is more than just a window. It is a place where magic happens. Through this window you can play games, see the stars, and say your hellos and goodbyes.

The story explores all of the ways that the girl and her Nanna and Poppy use the window for their own entertainment. I don't want to give these entertainments away, so I'll wrap things up with uses of the book.

Here are some ideas on activity sets you can use with this book:

• What is the difference between a window and a mirror?
• What can you see through different windows?
• How can you communicate without words?
• What does it mean to say hello and goodbye?

Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIHM by Robert C. O'Brien (1972 Newberry Medal Winner)

This is one of the books that I had always wanted to read, but for some reason, I was never able to do more than pick up a copy. I had tried at least half a dozen times, but I never even got past the cover on most of those attempts. I don't know what was causing the block, but I'm glad that I got over it because this is a great book.

Unlike some of the earlier Newberry Medal books that have animals that live and act like people, the characters in this book seem genuine. I can believe in these animals.

Mrs. Frisby is the widow of Johnathan Frisby. She has a very nice winter home in a mostly buried cement block in a field owned by Mr. Fitzgibbons. Her youngest child, Timothy is sick, and the spring is coming soon. It is very likely that Timothy will not survive the cold trip to their summer home.

Mrs. Frisby obtains medicine from an old friend of her husband, Mr. Ages. On the way home, she is saves the life of a crow named Jeremy from Mr. Fitzgibbon's cat, Dragon. Jeremy suggests she visit a wise old owl for advice and even offers to take her there.

After seeing Timothy again, Mrs. Frisby works up the nerve to visit the owl in his home. It is a dangerous endeavor to visit a predator in its own home, but after the owl learns that her husband was Johnathn Frisby, he advises her to go and visit the rats that live near the rose bush and ask them to move her house a safe location.

Mrs. Frisby is more nervous about going to the rats since mice and rats are natural enemies, but since she doesn't have a better plan, she decides to risk that as well. Once again, the name of Johnathan Frisby sparks recognition and gains her aid she didn't really expect.

The rats formulate a plan to pull the block out of the ground using a pulley system and then use sticks to create a crude wheel system. Mrs. Frisby is amazed at the intelligence of the rats, and the world they have created under the rose bush.

This story has two stories to tell which adds to the interest. You see the rats were part of an experiment ran by an organization simply known as NIHM. They were seeing if they could increase the intelligence of mice and rats, but the experiment worked better than they expected, because the animals organized an escape. Only two mice managed to escape, Mr. Ages and Johnathan Frisby. The rats had several adventures and learned much before arriving at Mr. Fitzgibbon's farm where they have been stealing electricity to create their rat utopia.

The rats also have a plan to break free of dependence on stealing from the farm. They want to see if it is possible to create their own society that doesn't depend on being rats any more. They have grown beyond that lifestyle.

I won't tell you if the plans succeed, because you should read the book for yourself. Don Bluth made an animated movie in the 80's that is entertaining, although not completely faithful to the book. Both are worth a look.

So what can you do with this book in the classroom? Let's look at the differences between mice and rats. what about considering predators vs prey. You can also look at the technology that the rats use, and how it works.

This book has plenty of applications to the classroom, and would be a great fit for your students.

The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss (1957)

Saturday is Dr Seuss' birthday!!!!!!!

So why not use one of my free days to write about the most beloved of children's authors and one of his greatest books? So let's talk about the Cat in the Hat.

In 1954, Theodore Geisel read an article called, "Why do students bog down on the first \R?" (This refers to the 3 Rs-reading, writing, (a)rithmatic. I know, only one of them actually starts with an R.) In the article, John Hershey was upset about the quality of the books available to elementary students for reading.

This article led to a challenge from Houghton Mifflin's education division head, William Ellsworth Spaulding-create a book using only 225 words from the list of 348 words that every 6-year-old should know that will appeal broadly to 6 and 7-year-olds. The story uses a total of 1629 words, most of which are single-syllable words.

Now that I've talked about the history, let's talk about the book that you should already know about:

It's a rainy day, and our two young children are stuck inside while their mother is away. They get a visit from a strange creature known as the Cat in the Hat. He speaks in rhyme and has a messy and dangerous idea of fun, especially if you are a fish.

In the book, the children are overwhelmed by the aggressive nature of the Cat in the Hat, and even a talking fish isn't up to the task of chasing him away. The Cat in the Hat tries to show off his balancing skills by holding a growing variety of items while standing and even bouncing on a ball before everything crashes, and he enlists the aid of Thing 1 and Thing 2 in his chaos.

The story ends with the return of the mother, but before she comes in the door, the Cat in the Hat returns and picks up the mess.

In 1971, there was a musical version of the book in cartoon form. It makes the children more active in enjoying the antics of the Cat in the Hat, and gives the Cat in the Hat more reason for staying. After being expelled from the house, he returns in a search for his  "moss-covered three-handled family gradunza." No one knows what this is, but they turn the house upside down looking for it. The fish gets a name (Karlos K. Krinkelbein) and has more of a role than just trying to kick the Cat in the Hat out of the house.

My favorite part of this cartoon comes near the end when the Cat in the Hat gets to sing a song about his name that includes translating Cat in the Hat into different languages. (Cat, hat, in French, chat, chapeau. In Spain I am a gato in el sombrero.)

If you haven't read this book before, then shame on you. Go get one of the 11 million copies that have been published. Also, check out the cartoon. It is worth the time.

The Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia Wrede

Is it just me, or are all of the stories involving a princess about a discontent princess who doesn't want to be a princess? (At least most of the modern tales seem to be that way.)

Princess Cimorene may not be happy being a princess, but she definitely doesn't fit into the mold of your typical discontented princess. Fortunately, that part of the story ends by the end of the first chapter, and Cimorene can move on to more important details.

To avoid marrying a rather worthless prince, Cimorene follow the advice of a talking frog and makes her way to a cave. This cave just happens to be filled with dragons. The dragons debate what to do with her since "It just isn't done" for a dragon to take a willing princess. One of the dragons, Kazul, declares that this tradition is stupid and takes Cimorene on as her princess.

Cimorene has to deal with all sorts of duties that she actually enjoys-organizing the library and a variety of collections, cooking dragon-sized meals, and leaning about magic and fighting. She also has to deal with a variety of heroes trying to rescue her.

So things seem to be going well, so let's throw in some complications. What about wizards? In this world, wizards get to use magic by stealing it from other sources. They are always trying to find new sources of magic and causing trouble. Oh, dragons are allergic to wizards because their staffs try to take the magic that dragons generate naturally.

Dragons and wizards don't get along for another reason, because wizards are not polite, and dragons demand a certain level of formality.

The first book is Dealing with Dragons and deals with Cimorene and friends trying to prevent the wizards from influencing the choice of the next King of the Dragons.

What about this Enchanted Forest?
In the Enchanted Forest, we meet King Mendenbar who also isn't terribly excited about the formality of his role as the King. In fact, if it weren't for the awesome magical powers, he would probably just walk away from it all. You see, the King of the Enchanted Forest is able to access the magic of the forest directly. He sees the magical patterns and use it by reaching out and touching the magical field.

He discovers that part of the forest has been damaged. It looks like it was burned, and since there are dragon scales in the area, it must have been a dragon. He travels to the Mountains of Morning to talk with Kozul the King of the Dragons. (King is a job so gender doesn't matter a little bit.)

Mendenbar meet Cimorene and they get along pretty well even though her dislike of princes and his dislike of princesses could have been a sticky issue. Kozul is missing, and the two decide to go looking for her.

I'm going to skip  books three and four so I can talk about some of the great characters you get to meet in these stories.

• Morwen is not your typical witch. She doesn't wear a pointy hat and she has nine cats instead of one, but she is an amazing woman. Her door is enchanted to go wherever she wants it to go. Her sleeves are enchanted to hold lots of stuff. She is an amazing witch, and she is an amazing friend.
• Telemain is an absent-minded magician. He is often mistaken for a wizard, but while wizards steal magic and only work with their staffs, magicians work with a variety of magics. Telemain works in a variety of cool things like magic mirrors and helping Mendenbar understand the magics of the Enchanted Forest.

Those two are also main characters, but I also want to give you some incentive to read these books by listing some other characters you will encounter.

• All of Morwen's cats because the story follows her in the third book, so you get to hear them.
• Killer-a rabbit that falls under a variety of enchantments and ends up as an intangible blue donkey with wings.
• The giant and his wife from Jack and the beanstalk
• Herman, the descendant of Rumplestiltskin, who has a large number of children he has won from spinning straw into gold. He loves them, but he can't afford them.
• Old MacDonald

There are plenty of others to mention, but hopefully I've convinced you to check them out if you haven't already.

Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats (Caldecott 1963)

Ezra Jack Keats was a prolific writer of children's books, and he drew from the flavor of his own childhood, and the neighborhood where he grew up to find his stories. Snowy Day is the adventures of a young boy who is enjoying the snow fall. His adventures aren't extraordinary, but very relatable to children.

• Peter makes 2 trails as he drags his feet in the snow. Then there are suddenly 3 trails. What could have caused this?
• What happens when Peter strikes the snow-covered tree with a stick?
• What happens when you put a now ball in your coat pocket when you go inside?

Peter is just an oridnary boy experiencing a snowy day in the only way an ordinary boy can experience it.

One of the best features of this book, and all the books illustrated by Ezra Jack Keats is the art work. As an artist, Keats tends to use cut paper to make the shapes he desires, and the effect of the images are startling. So what can you do with this book in the classroom?

• Talk about what kinds of activities your students like to do when it snows.
• Make your own "Snowy Day Adventure" book
• Create cut-paper pictures.
• Using pre-formed panels, students can draw pictures of the story.

Those are just a few ideas. Feel free to make up your own ideas, and feel free to share them in the comments section below.

So You Want to be President? by Judith St. George (2001 Caldecott)

Even though this collection of facts and details is old enough to be missing a few Presidents, this book is still a great way to get your kids thinking about who the President is, and how you might get to hold that office. It doesn't spend a lot of time talking about what the job entails, instead it looks at similarities and differences between the men who have held the office over the years.

You get all sorts of trivia including the most popular names for Presidents and how many people could fit in President Taft's bathtub. It's a bit denser than you would expect from a Caldecott book in the 21st Century, but It's still a very interesting book, and well worth your time.

Lincoln-a Photo Biography by Russell Freedman (1988 Newberry Medal Winner)

You may think that you know about the life and times of Abraham Lincoln, but he was a complex man with a life full of complications and even the thorough examination prepared by Russell Freedman doesn't give us everything we could know. That really isn't possible, but he does manage to give a very clear, and impartial picture of Mr. Lincoln's life.

You probably have a good idea about the story of Abraham Lincoln. You may not know about his difficulties in becoming the President, and the challenges he faced while he was in office, but I won't get into those right now.

Let's talk about all of the ways you can use this book in your setting (whatever it might be.)

• As a photo biography, this book is loaded with photographs from the time of Lincoln, so you can see actual images of the times and places that were significant in Lincoln's life.
• Discuss the differences between the time of the Civil War and today.
• Talk about the reasons that Lincoln freed the slaves.
• Discuss why the Southern states were willing to fight.
• How does someone become President?

I'm sure you can come up with plenty of other ideas for this book as well. Enjoy!

Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes (1944)

You may not have read this book, but I'm fairly certain that some teacher asked you to at some point. Johnny Tremain is a standard book that ties into a curriculum of English teachers to explore American history and American literature.

Johnny Tremain is a promising apprentice of silver smith Ephraim Lapham. Johnny loses his apprenticeship due to an accident while working on a big order for merchant, John Hancock. Johnny burns his hand and will never be able to do the delicate artistry needed for being a silver smith. The rest of the story follows Johnny as he struggles to make a living, and find a profession that will work for him.

It sounds fairly simple as a story, but its importance comes more from the historical setting. Readers get to meet some figures from the period around the Revolutionary War, and discover the political situation of the era.

This is an era when Democrats and Republicans are not even an idea yet. Instead, you have the arguments of the Whigs and Tories.

Who do you get to meet?

• Samuel Adams
• John Hancock
• Paul Revere
• many others who aren't so well known

This book is a great tool for the historical setting, and conversations about why the American colonies decided to rebel from England. You can also look at the apprenticeship system and how it is designed.

Johnny Tremain has long been a tool for teachers. Don't miss your chance to use it in your classroom.

Zen Shorts by Jon J. Muth

Zen Shorts by Jon J. Muth (2005)

Zen Shorts is a great book. It didn't win a Caldecott, but that doesn't change anything. (I recently realized that Charlotte's Web was only an honor book for the Newberry Medal. Ginger Pye certainly doesn't stick out that much these days.)

Zen Shorts is an interesting look at Zen philosophies and stories. Three children discover that their new neighbor is a panda bear named Stillwater. Each of the children visit with the bear and hear a story that he shares with them that applies to their situation.

The focus of these stories is to give a different (Zen) perspective on the situations each child is facing. Stillwater is a good friend who is happy to share his wisdom. The stories are adaptations of familiar stories of Zen wisdom.

Here is the lesson of the three stories, but I won't tell you the actual stories:

• Sometimes good luck and bad luck are wrapped up together.
• Don't keep the past with you, especially if it keeps you from enjoying the moment.
• Even if you give away everything you have, there are still things you can have and enjoy.

These stories are provide an opportunity to help your students examine their perspective on the situations. You can ask them questions about how they feel about the choices that were made in the story. Along with this you can explore the decision making process.

This book is definitely worth the read, and a great addition to your lesson plans. Check it out.

Key to the Treasure by Peggy Parish

Key to the Treasure by Peggy Parish (1966)

This is the book that made me realize that I loved reading. I'm not sure how I got a copy or why I decided to read it the fine Saturday morning instead of going outside, but it was a very important moment in my life. I read this book from cover to cover in a single day, and I was only in second grade.

Peggy Parish is best known for her character Amelia Bedelia, the maid with no understanding of figurative language. However, Parish wrote a variety of stories including a set of stories during her life including a series of young children solving mysteries.

Key to the Treasure, is the first of these stories involving siblings Jed, Bill, and Liza. In this story, the children are spending the summer with their grandparents. Grandpa's family has a story that has been passed down for generations. Actually, there are two stories to tell.

When Grandpa's Grandpa was a boy, he lived near an old Indian woman names Old Jane. (This is written in the 60's when that name was acceptable.) When she died, she left him all of the tribal treasures she had collected.

When Grandpa's Grandpa grew up, he got married, and had three children-two boys and a girl. The children love their father's games, and the Indian treasures. Each of them has a special item that they love most. Grandpa's Grandpa is called away to fight in the Civil War, and to keep the kids out of trouble, he takes their favorite items and hides them. There are a set of clues to the hiding place. Grandpa's Grandma is given the first clue which she accidentally washes when she does the laundry. All that remains is a painting with a the Indian headdress, a clay pot, a strange key, and a question mark. Each generation tries to find the treasure, but there is something missing, some clue.

The next day, the children are playing with the headdress before it is sent to be a part of an exhibit at the local museum. They fight over whose turn it should be, and Bill accidentally pulls out one of the feathers. Inside the cup that holds the feather, they find a piece of old paper that holds a clue to the treasure. The children decide to try to find the treasure in secret so they can surprise Grandpa.

I love the clues because they are a variety of word puzzles that you can solve for yourself. You just need to write out the clues and stop the story long enough to solve them.

I actually used this book when I was doing my student teaching. I only had the one copy so I read it. We did all sorts of lessons with secret codes and puzzles. We learned Morse Code, and solved each of the puzzles.

I definitely suggest this book, and you should check it out as soon as you can.

Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by William Steig (1970 Caldecott Book)

Sylvester and the Magic Pebble (1970)

William Steig has a very interesting story telling style that I enjoy, especially in this book.

Sylvester is a young donkey who loves pebbles. He collects them and is always searching for special stones to add to his collection. One day he discovers an unusual specimen. It is a small red pebble. "It was flaming red, shiny, and perfectly round, like a marble."

It's a rainy day, and Sylvester makes a casual wish that it would stop raining. Much to his surprise, the rain stops immediately. He decides this is because it is a magical pebble and wishes that it would start raining again. When the rain starts, Sylvester knows his guess is correct.

While heading home to share his magical pebble with anyone that needs assistance, Sylvester sees a lion approaching. In a panic, he wishes that he was a stone so the lion won't be able to find him. Sylvester instantly finds himself as a stone, but because he isn't touching the pebble he isn't able to turn back.

I won't tell you what happens next except to say that Sylvester's parents are extremely worried about their son. Check out the book to see what else happens.

So how can you use this in a classroom? There are lots of opportunities to use prediction strategies in this book. One example is starting the sentence "Then Sylvester turned into a..." and give the kids a chance to guess and see if they are right.

You can also talk about making good choices. Sylvester wants to use his pebble to help other people, which is a good choice, but then he makes a bad choice in wishing to be a stone. You can also review the steps of the story and see how much the children have retained.

Another fun activity is to let the children explore what they might do with a magic pebble.

So here we have a story filled with educational opportunities. Check it out and use it in your classroom.

Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool (2010)

Moon over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool (2010 Newberry Medal Winner)

Against her better judgement, Abilene Tucker has been sent to the small town of Manifest, Kansas by her father who has found work in a train yard, and he has convinced her that it would be better if, this one time, she didn't travel with him.  It comes as a surprise, and she isn't completely happy about it, but there is one reason for Abilene to be excited about this move-she will have a chance to place her father in all of the stories that she has heard from him about the town of Manifest. In all of her stories, he hasn't had a place.

Manifest is a poor town trying to survive the Great Depression and the loss of the coal mine that was the only business that really kept it afloat.

Abilene is leaving with Shady, a man that works as the interim preacher for a number of years of a Baptist church that burned down many years ago. He runs poorly attended meetings and Abilene wonders about the bottle of booze that sits in what passes for his kitchen.

Abilene finds a box filled with letters from a WWI soldier to a boy named Jinx. Through a strange mishap, Abilene starts working for Miss Sadie, a woman that the people in the town think might be a witch, and a fortune teller. Miss Sadie has the compass that Abilene got from her father.

Miss Sadie tells the story of Jinx and his time in Manifest. How he came to town running from a past that wasn't his fault, and becomes a part of the struggling community. Most of the people of Manifest suffer because the owner of the mine oppresses them and makes them work long hours for little pay with only on store in town owned by the mine.

Will Jinx be able to help the people of Manifest get out from under the thumb of the mine? Will Abilene be able to find where her father fits into the story of Manifest?

This story is great for discussions of history. The story of Jinx happens during the time of World War II. It also faces the issues of racism and bigotry. Abilene's story happens during the Great Depression and during a time when the railroad was an important part of making America happen.

There is also opportunity to talk about the importance of stories, and the stories of family.

Lon Po Po by Ed Young (1990 Caldecott Medal Winner)

Lon Po Po by Ed Young (1990)

Ed Young loves to draw from his childhood home of China when it comes to creating stories for young children. As an author and an illustrator, Ed Young is a well know name in Children's literature.

Lon Po Po is a telling of a tale that will seem familiar since it is very similar to Red Riding Hood, but with a bit of a twist, but even though it seems familiar, it isn't a re imagining of Red Riding Hood. Instead, it is a fairy tale from China.

As I mentioned, the story will seem familiar, but there are some similarities and differences.

Similarities

• A wolf that talks and pretends to be a grandmother.
• Child(ren) alone against the wolf.
• The wolf trying to cover up his physical differences.

Differences

• The mother goes to see grandma, and leaves the house.
• There are three children.
• Rather than a hunter saving the day, the children save themselves.

I won't say anything beyond that because I don't want to ruin the story. Check out this tale for yourself. If you are using it in the classroom, be sure to pair this book with another version of Red Riding Hood in order to let the children analyze the differences.

Holes by Louis Sachar

Holes by Louis Sachar (1999 Newberry Medal Winner)

There isn't much in life that Stanley Yelnats can enjoy. The only cool thing about his name is that is spells the same backwards as it does forwards. He's over weight and unpopular. His father stinks up the house with his attempts to find the cure for stinky feet. Worse than that, Stanley's whole family is cursed by an old gypsy woman because the original Stanley Yelnats broke a promise to her.

How does Stanley know they are cursed? Bad things just keep happening. They may seem good at first, but something always goes wrong. Take for example the day when Stanly was walking down the street, and a really nice pair of sneakers fell on his head. They were really nice, and they looked like they might even fit his feet, but very soon after he found them, the police were arresting him for stealing them.

It turns out the shoes were a donation from a famous athlete to help raise money for needy kids. No one accepts Stanley's reasons why he has the shoes, and even worse, the judge decides to sentence him to either go to jail or Camp Green Lake.

Stanley is pretty excited to learn that he will be spending his time at Camp Green Lake. When Stanley gets to the camp, he discovers that it is a strange work camp where boys who are trying to avoid jail are forced to dig hole in an area that used to be a lake, but is now a dried-up pit in the ground. Their job consists of digging a hole each day. Each hole has to be 3 feet long by 3 feet wide by 3 feet deep.

Stanley's new bunk mates give him the nickname Caveman probably because of his large size, and Stanley struggles every day under the hot sun.

So why are these boys digging holes every day? Is it a way to help them rehabilitate and make better choices about their futures? No, it turns out when this hole in the ground was still a lake, a treasure was lost in a sinking boat. The woman who runs the camp, and her ancestors, have been searching for years for that treasure.

Along with this, there are some other interesting plot points that I won't get into in case you haven't read this book. (If you haven't read it, then shame on you.) Let's just say that Louis Sachar can weave together a story with multiple layers that will leave you wondering what will happen next.