CB #14: The Black Stallion

The Black Stallion

Author:  Walter Farley
Illustrator:  N/A
Genre:  Juvenile Fiction
Subgenre:  Animals/ Fantasy
Themes: friendship, horses, shipwreck
Primary Characters:  Alec Ramsay and Black
Secondary Characters:  N/A
Awards:  N/A
Date of Publication:  2011

Publishing Company:  Random House Digital

This book of wonderful adventure with a man and his horse in a shipwreck situation is fun for all ages to read.  it is full of disaster and full of companionship.  They work together to make things work, human and animal!  This would be a wonderful addition to my library, simply because it incorporates a lot of important life lessons!

CB #13: The Rock and the River

The Rock and the River

Author:  Kekia Magoon
Illustrator:  N/A
Genre:  Juvenile Fiction
Subgenre:  African American
Themes:  civil rights, teenagers
Primary Characters:  Sam
Secondary Characters:  Stick
Awards:  Coretta Scott King
Date of Publication:  2009

Publishing Company:  Simon and Schuster

Set in 1968 in Chicago Sam is a son of a man who is part of the civil rights activist.  Sam finds something interesting under his dad's bed.  Who can Sam trust?  This is a wonderful story that implies trust and friendship.  Such a great novel to have in a classroom library!

CB #12: My Father's Dragon

My Father's Dragon

Author:  Ruth Chrisman Gannett

Illustrator:  Ruth Chrisman Gannett

Genre:  Fiction

Subgenre:  Animals

Themes:  Dragons

Primary Characters:  Elmer Elevator

Secondary Characters:  n/a

Awards:  Newberry Honor Book

Date of Publication:  2008

Publishing Company:  Random House Digital, Inc.

This book is a wonderful adventure for all kids to read.  It is about a boy named Elmer Elevator and his flying dragon in a far away land.  With the help of all the knick knacks he carries, it will help him fight off evil! Any child would be intrigued by this story just because of the cover! 

CB #11: Indian in the Cupboard

Indian in the Cupboard

Author:  Lynne Reid Banks

Illustrator:  Brock Cole

Genre:  Juvenile Fiction

Subgenre:  Fantasy

Themes:  friends, indian, culture, magic

Primary Characters: 

Secondary Characters:

Awards:  n/a
Date of Publication:  1980

Publiching Company:  Random House Digital, Inc.

When the plastic indian in the cupboard comes to life, the little boy begins to ask himself what kind of gifts were given to him.  He begins to realize that this indian is a great friend and advice seeker for him now in his life.  This is a fantastic tale of two people who are set apart and brought together for eachother's benefit.

CB #10: Heidi

Heidi

Author:  Johanna Spyri
Illustrator:  Johanna Spyri
Genre:  Juvenile Fiction
Subgenre:  Family Life
Themes:  orphans, family, grandparents
Primary Characters:  Heidi
Secondary Characters:  Grandfather
Awards:  n/a
Date of Publication:  2006

Publishing Company: J.B. Lippincott Company

The wonderful tale is of a little girl who becomes an orphan when her aunt drops her off at her grandfathers house.  The grandfather takes her in and makes her part of her home; not easily of course.  It all takes a lot to get used to, but everything takes a little time.  Any child should read this book and take in all of the descriptivness it has to offer about everything that goes on inside this novel.

CB #9: The Borrowers

The Borrowers

Author:  Mary Norton
Illustrator:  n/a
Genre:  Juvenile Fiction
Subgenre:  fantasy
Themes:  little people, borrowing, friendship, beating the odds
Primary Characters:  Homily, Pod and Arrietty
Secondary Characters: Arrietty's friend (human bean)
Awards: n/a
Date of Publication:  2003

Publishing Company:  Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

This cute adventure is about a tiny family, the Clocks, who live under the kitchen floor in the "human bean's" house.  Their household items are little things that were borrowed from the house they were living in.  This is a cute story that shows how this little family beat the odds and made it in the word of big people.  This is an amazing chapter book for kids of all ages.  If I enjoyed it, I know everyone will.

PB #26: Something Might Happen

Something Might Happen

Author:  Helen Lester

Illustrator:  Lynn Munsinger

Genre:  Juvenile Fiction

Subgenre:  Animal Fantasy

Themes:  lemurs, scared

Primary Character:  Twitchly Fidget

Secondary Character:  n/a

Awards:  n/a

Date of Publication:  2003

Publishing Company:  Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Twitchly hates having things around him because he is scared that everything is going to go wrong.  He always is looking out for things falling and scaring him because he does not want to twitch and make an even bigger mess.  This story and it's illustration are very cute and exciting.  It makes me enjoy children's literature even more!

PB #25: Old Black Witch!

Old Black Witch!

Author:  Harry Devlin
Illustrator: Harry Devlin
Genre:  Juvenile Fiction
Subgenre:  Fantasy and Magic
Themes:  witches, tearooms, family
Primary Characters:  Nicky
Secondary Characters:  his mother
Awards:  n/a
Date of Publication:  1992

Publishing Company:  Four Winds Press

A family wants to move to New England to buy something that will change their lives.  They are so caught up with the greatness of it, that they forget that they are having to reconcile with the owner of the place named black witch!  This is a cute tale that could be read to any group of children and keep them entertained.

PB #24: The Ugly Vegetable

The Ugly Vegetables

Author:  Grace Lin

Illustrator:  Grace Lin

Genre: Juvenile Fiction

Subgenre:  Family

Themes:  planting

Primary Characters:  Irma

Secondary Characters: the mom

Awards:  n/a

Date of Publication:  1999

Publishing Company:  Charlesbridge

A little girl thinks that her mom's garden is the ugliest one of them all.  But what she doesn't know is that the garden does not have to be the prettiest to make the best food out of all the gardens in the world.  The book is really cute considering that you have a recipe at the end that you can try all of the foods!

PB #23: The Umbrella

The Umbrella

Author:  Jan Brett
Illustrator:  Jan Brett
Genre:  Juvenile Fiction
Subgenre: Animal Fantasy
Themes:  friends, adventure, animals
Primary Characters:  Carlos
Secondary Characters:  the animals
Awards: N/A
Date of Publication:  2011
Publishing Company:  Penguin Group Inc.

This is a book about a little boy named Carlos who goes on a slight adventure into the jungle to see a jagaur and toucan.  He meets so many new animals and gets to experience the jungle as well.  This would be a wonderful story to tell your kids if you wanted to incorporate spanish lesson and different cultures into your daily classroom. 

PB #22: Where is Grandpa?

Where is Grandpa?

Author:  T.A. Barron

Illustrator:  Chris K. Soentpiet

Genre: Fiction

Subgenre:  Death, Grief

Themes:  Grandparents, love, heaven, learning

Primary Characters:  Grandpa and grandson

Secondary Characters:  Mom, dad, brother, sister

Awards:  N/A

Date of Publication: 2003

Publishing Company: Turtleback Books

"Where is Grandpa?" is a sad but trialing children's story that would most definitely show a child how to cope with something like this and realize how much feelings do not need to be kept inside.  This story is one that I most certainly enjoyed and many students could quite possibly relate to this story very easily.  The illustrations are beautiful and truely add to the story.

PB #21: Betty Doll

Betty Doll

Author:  Patricia Polacco

Illustrator:  Patricia Polacco

Genre:  Juvenile Nonfiction

Subgenre: toys, dolls, memorablia

Theme:  family, concern, memories

Primary characters:  Trisha, Ginny

Secondary characters: Momma and Daddy

Awards: N/A

Date of publication: 2001

Publishing company: Scholastic Inc.

This is a picture book based on the relevance of a Betty Doll and what the mean to the granddaughter.  It is a tragic story of the loss of all the family's possessions in a house fire, and the grandmother makes it up to her granddaughter in this amazing story about a family who loses everything, yet still continues to put together through the odds.  I think this would be a great addition to the library in my classroom because of how much it can show children that no matter how bad it gets, things can still prosper.

PB #20: Mrs. Katz and Tush

Mrs. Katz and Tush

Author:  Patrica Polacco

Illustrator:  Patrica Polacco

Genre:  Juvenile Fiction

Subgenre:  Cats, Friendship, generations

Theme: caring, family, animals

Primary characters:  Larnel, Mrs. Katz

Secondary characters: Larnel's parents

Awards: N/A

Date of publication: 2009

Publishing company:  Random House Children's Books

This children's book is an intrigueing story about a little African-American boy named Larnel, who becomes close with an older woman named Mrs. Katz.  Not only do they become close, but take in a little kitten that they name Tush.  This abandoned cat becomes something they both share, and would be an amazing lesson to implement inside the classroom.  This will encompass how important sharing and caring for someone else is respectful and important in life as a human being.

PB# 19: Thunder Cake

Thunder Cake
Author:  Patricia Polacco
Illustrator:  Patricia Polacco
Genre:  Juvenile Fiction
Subgenre:  family, adventure
Themes:  caring, brave, thunder
Primary Characters:  grandma and granddaughter
Secondary Characters: n/a
Awards:  n/a
Publishing Date: 1992
Publishing company:  First Scholastic
This is a wonderful children's book that could be greatly used inside my classroom.  The grandmother shows her granddaughter how to be brave.  She does so by helping her fear of thunder go away.  They do many things to race the storm rolling up and bake their thunder cake.

PB# 18: The Scarecrow's Hat

 The Scarecrow's Hat
Author:  Ken Brown
Illustrator:  Ken Brown
Genre:  Juvenile Fiction
Subgenre:  Animal Fantasy
Theme:  giving, selflessness, caring
Primary Characters:  Chicken and Scarecrow
Secondary Characters:  Badger, Owl, Donkey, Sheep
Award(s):  n/a
Date of Publication:  2011
Publishing company:  Peachtree Pub Ltd
"The Scarecrow's Hat" is a wonderful tale about a chicken who gives herself freely to those who need help.  This type of selfless act is something that would be great for students to learn, and understand the meaning of true caring.  There is also a lesson that could teach children, that if you want something bad enough, you must work for it to get there.

PB# 17: The Lotus Seed

The Lotus Seed   
Author: Sherry Garland
Illustrator: Tatsuro Kiuchi
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
Subgenre: Vietnam, Moving, Plants
Theme:  family, caring, symbolism
Primary:  Ba
Secondary Characters: Ba's grand children
Award(s): n/a
Date of Publication:  1997
Publishing company:  Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
This is a wonderful children's picture book about a woman named Ba who is forced out of Vietnam to a place where she is not familiar.  She has collected a lotus seed from the Imperial Garden to keep with her through heartache, trials, happiness, and good deed.  This lotus seed was something that she cherished and wanted to share the story behind the beautiful flower...