Into the Forest

Into the Forest

Written and Illustrated by Anthony Brown

Publisher: Candlewick Press 2004

Genre:Picture books, Family, and Fairy Tales

Reading Level: Ages 4-8

Summary: This story about a little boy who wakes to find that his father is gone and his mother doesn’t seem to know when he is coming back. She sends him to take a cake to his grandmother. His mother tells him to take the long way around the forest instead of the shorter path through the forest. He takes the shorter path so that he will be home when his father comes home. When he reaches his grandmother’s, his father is there and when they get home, his mother is very happy to see them.

Response: I liked this story. It is very much like Red Riding Hood.

Hush! A Thai Lullaby

Hush! A Thai Lullaby

Written by Minfong Ho

Illustrated by Holly Meade

Publisher: Orchard Books 1996

Genre:Picture books, and Bedtime Stories

Reading Level: Baby- Preschool

Summary: This book is based on a lullaby from Thailand. It tells the story of a mother who has just gotten her baby and she goes around quieting all of the animals around her, so that they will not wake up baby, but by the time, she quieted everything and gotten to sleep herself, the baby has woken up.

Response: I like this book. It has a nice rhythm to it and the ending is very funny and very realistic.

Henry's Freedom Box

Henry’s Freedom Box: A true story from the Underground Railr

Written by Ellen Levine

Illustrated by Kadir Nelson

Publisher: Scholastic Press 2007

Genre: Picture book, History, Prejudice and Racism

Reading Level:Ages 4-8

Summary: This book tells the true story of Henry “Box” Brown. Henry was a slave who decided to run away from his master after his wife and children were sold away from him. With the help of James and Dr. Smith, he mailed himself to Philadelphia to friends of Dr. Smith in Philadelphia.

Response: I learned a lot from this book. I knew a little bit of the story of Henry “Box” Brown, but I didn’t know the reason that he decided to mail himself. This book also makes me want to learn more about Henry “Box” Brown.

Grandfather's Journey

Grandfather’s Journey

Written and Illustrated by Allen Say

Publisher: Houghton Mufflin Co. 1993

Genre: Picture books, Historical Fiction, and Family Life

Reading Level: Ages 4-8

Summary: This story is about a Japanese family and most specifically, about the author’s grandfather. It is about their family history, about how his grandfather went to the US and traveled all over. He returned to Japan to marry his childhood sweetheart and then returned to California. When his daughter was nearly grown, they returned to Japan. The daughter married and the author was born and then World War II started. When the author was nearly grown, he went to California and then he feels that he truly understands his grandfather.

Response: I liked this book, especially since it is based on true events.

Flyaway Girl

Flyaway Girl

Written and illustrated by Ann Grifalconi

Publisher: Little, Brown and Company 1992

Genre:Picture books and Family Life

Reading Level: Ages 4-8

Summary:This is the story of a young girl in an African village who is helping her mother by finding dark and light reeds for a basket. She finds the light-colored reeds easily and by listening to the sounds of the earth, she finds the dark-colored reeds.

Response: I liked this book because of the mother’s attitude. She recognize that a child’s assets should be utilized instead of suppressed.

Don't Let The Pigeon Drive the Bus

Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus

Written and Illustrated by Mo Willems

Publisher: Hyperion Books for Children 2003 43 pages

Genre: Picture book, and Humor

Reading Level: Baby-Preschool

Summary:This book is about a pigeon that is begging you as the reader to give him permission to drive the bus, even after the bus driver has asked not to let him.

Response: I loved this book. I was laughing the entire time.

Daisy Comes Home

Daisy Comes Home

Written and Illustrated by Jan Brett

Publisher:G P Putnam’s sons 2002

Genre: Picture books, Action, Adventure and Self-Esteem and Self-Respect

Reading Level: Ages 4-8

Summary:

Daisy is a chicken who is picked by all the chickens, and she has to sleep in the mud of the henhouse floor. One day, she gets tired of being picked on and tired of sleeping in the mud, so she sleeps in one of the market basket. She gets swept down the river and meets lots of different creature and has to defend herself against them. In the morning, Mei Mei, her owner noticed that she is missing and goes looking for her. Daisy had been captured by a fisherman, but when she sees Mei Mei, she escapes and Mei Mei takes her home. When the rest of the chickens try to pick on her, she uses the defenses that she used on the creatures that she met on her trip and they stopped picking on her and she could sleep on the perch.

Response: I liked this book very much. Not only is it a good story, but it also covers the subject of bullying in a very creative way.

Coming on Home Soon

Coming on Home Soon

Written Jacqueline Woodson

Illustrated by E B Lewis

Publisher: G P Putnam’s Sons 2004

Genre:Picture book, Family Life and Historical Fiction

Reading Level: Ages 4-8

Summary: This story is based during World War II. Ada Ruth’s mama goes to Chicago to find work on the railroad. Ada Ruth lives with her grandma while her mama is away. They wait for a letter, but none comes. Ada Ruth continues to write to her mama. They adopt a kitten. At last, a letter comes and Mama comes home.

Response: This is a good book.

Charlie Needs a Cloak

"Charlie Needs a Cloak”

Written and Illustrated by Tome dePaola

Publisher: Aladdin Paperbacks 1973

Copyright: 1973

Genre: Picture books, and Family.

Reading Level: Ages 4-8

Summary: Charlie is a shepherd that needs a cloak. So he sheared his sheep, carded the wool, spun it into yarn and dyed it red. When the yarn was dry, he put into loom and wove it into cloth. Then he cut the cloth and made it into a cloak.

Response:This story is wonderful. It shows you the process of how clothes are made.

Chanticleer and the Fox

Chanticleer and the Fox

Written Geoffrey Chaucer

Illustrator: and adapted by Barbara Cooney

Publisher: Thomas Y Crowell Company 1958

Genre: Picture books and Fables

Reading Level: Ages 4-8

Summary: There was an old widow who just managed to keep herself and her daughters alive, through the things that she produced on her farm. She had a rooster called Chanticler and 7 hens. Chanticleer had a dream that a beast that looked like a fox entered his yard and he nearly died of fear at the sight of him. One day, a fox got into the yard and he tricks Chanticleer into sings with his neck extended and his eyes closed. As he was singing, the fox jumped forward, grabbed him by the neck and took him into the forest. Every creature and the woman and her daughters ran after the fox. Chanticleer tricks the fox into speaking to them and when he opens his mouthl, Chanticleer flies into a tree. The fox tries to get Chanticleer to come down, but Chanticleer doesn’t listen and the fox left and Chanticleer taken back to the farmyard.

Never trust in flattery.

Response: I liked this book and it has a wonderful moral.

Let's Look at Castles

Let's Look at Castles

Written by Rupert Matthews

Illustrated by John James

Publisher: The Bookwright Press 1988 32 pages

Genre: Picture books, Types of Architectures and History

Reading Level: Ages 6-8

Summary: This is about castles. It tells how castles started as hilltop fortresses into bailey and motte castles. It tells how people lived in castles. Only the lord and his family had their own rooms, the rest of the people in the castle slept in the Great Hall. 600 years ago, people began to leave castles. Most of the castles that still stand today have been changed into museums.

Response: This book is very informative and highly enjoyable.

Black is brown is tan

Black is brown is tan

Written by Arnold Adoff

Illustrated by Emily Arnold McCully

Publisher: Harper Collins Publisher 1973

Genre: Family Life, Prejudice and Racism and Picture Books

Reading Level: Ages 4-8

Summary:This is the first picture book to include a interracial family. The story is the form of a poem.

Response: I loved this book.

Walk Two Moons

Walk Two Moons

By Sharon Creech

Publisher: Harper Collins Publishers 1994 280 pages

Genre: Family, Death and Dying

Reading Level: Young Adult

Summary: This is about Salmananca who is on a trip with her grandparents to Lewiston, Idaho. Along the way, she comes to terms with my parents’ separation, and her new life in Euclid, Ohio, where she moved with my father after her mother left. She tells her grandparents the story of her friend Phoebe, about the mysterious notes and Phoebe’s mother sudden disappearance and Phoebe’s discovery of her new brother. Just before they reach Lewiston, Idaho, her grandmother has a stroke and Sal has to go the rest of the way by herself. She drives the rest of the way alone and she visits her mother’s grave and comes to terms with her mother’s death. When she goes home, she and her father move back to their farm in Bybanks, Kentucky.

Response: I liked this book very much. I didn’t actually realize that her mother was dead until the very end and then the whole book made sense.

The Tale of Despereaux

The Tale of Despereaux

by Kate DiCamillo

Illustrated by Timothy Basil Ering

Publisher: Candlewick Press 2003 270 pages

Genre:Action, Adventure, Fairy Tales, Folk Tales and Myths

Reading Level: Ages 9-12

Summary: This book is centered around a mouse, a rat, a servant girl called Miggery Sow and a princess named Pea. The story starts with Despereaux, a mouse who is born with large ears and his eyes open. He commits the sin of being seen by humans and talking to them so he is sentenced to die in the dungeon so they tie red thread around his neck and throw him into dungeon. Despereaux doesn’t die, however, he is saved by the jailor Gregory. Roscuro is a rat who wants light instead of darkness. A rat’s mission is to make people miserable. Roscuro goes to the royal banquet and scares the queen so much that she dies. This upsets the king so much that he declares soup illegal and all rats are to be killed. Roscuro uses Miggery to kidnap the princess to get at the king and take over the kingdom. Despereaux saves the princess from Roscuro.

Response: I loved this book due to the fact that it has an imaginative plot and wonderful characters.

The Green Glass Sea

The Green Glass Sea

by Ellen Klages

Publisher: Penguin Group 2006 336 pages

Genre: Historical Fiction, Death & Dying, and Friendship

Reading Level: Ages 9-12

Summary: Dewey Carrigan’s father is a scientist working for the government under World War II. She moves to New Mexico to live with her father after her grandmother has a stroke. She moves into a secret government compound where everything is top secret. She meets Suze, a very popular girl and she ends up moving in with Suze and her family when her father is called away. While Dewey’s father is killed while he is away and Dewey is left without any family at all, due to the fact her mother walked out when she was 2. Dewey has to deal with her father’s death and say goodbye to him and eventually she works for through it. She lives with Suze’s family from then on.

Response: I loved this book. It helped me to work through some very profound fears that I have been dealing with at the time that I read it.

The Giver

by Lois Lowry

Publisher: Bantam Doubleday Books 1993 180 pages

Genre: Utopia and Distopia, Fantasy, Science Fiction and Magic

Reading Level:Young Adult

Summary: The Giver is set in a future society where everything about its citizens’ lives are controlled. The main character of this book is Jonas who was chosen at the age of twelve to become the new Receiver of Memory. As he works with the Giver, he gains awareness of the flaws of his society. He also develops emotions, and begins to see color, both of which have been eliminated from his world. He and the Giver come up with a plan for him to escape from the community, but Jonas is forced to act quicker than they had planned to save the life of Gabriel, who would be released for his lack of development. Jonas and Gabriel faced cold and hunger and many challenges as they make their journey towards Elsewhere.

Response: This is one of my favorite books. I have read many times over the years and it never fails to fascinate me.

The Devil's Arithmetic

The Devil’s Arithmetic

by Jane Yolen

Publisher: Puffin Books 1988 170 pages

Genre:Ages 9-12

Reading Level: Historical Fiction, and Holocaust

Summary:Hannah goes to his family’s Passover Seder and when she opens the door to symbolically let in Elijah and she is transported into a Polish village in the year 1942. Shortly after she arrives, everyone is packed into trucks by the Nazis. Next, they are loaded into baggage cars of a train, without food, water or toilets. A few people die along the way and they are transported to a prison work camp. They are stripped of all possessions, their heads are shaved and their clothes are taken from them. In order to survive, they organized a secret network to acquire the necessities of life. In the end, Hannah sacrifices herself in order to save another inmate. When this happened, she is transported back into the present.

Response: This book really gives insight about the concentration camps during the Holocaust. It really amazed just how much the prisoners relied on each other for their very survival.

Title: Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World

by Jennifer Armstrong

Publisher: Crown Publishers 1998 134 pages

Genre: History and Historical Fiction and Nonfiction

Reading Level: Ages 9-12

Summary:This is the story of the ship Endurance that was captained by Ernest Shackleton. Shackleton set out to be the first explorer to travel across the continent of Antarctica on foot. Along the way, the ship becomes trapped in the ice and is crushed by the ice until it sinks. Now stranded on the ice, they had to find a way to survive and a way back to civilization. Shackleton and a small group of men make their way to South Georgia Island in order to find help for his crew. A week later, even though he was sick and exhausted, Shackleton went back himself to retrieve the rest of his crew. All of them survived.

Response: I learned a lot from this book. Their sheer endurance and the fact that they were willing to do anything to survive really inspired me.

Out of Darkness: the Story of Louis Braille

by Russell Freedman

Illustrated by Kate Kiesler

Publisher: Houghton Mufflin Company 1999 81 pages

Genre: Nonfiction, Biography and History

Reading Level: Ages 9-12

Summary:Louis Braille was blinded at a very young age and he was sent to a school for the blind. The technique used at the school in order for the students to read was called embossing. The letter were enlarged on the page and raised on the page, so the students could feel their outlines with their fingertips. This technique was impractical. Another technique was introduced with raised dots serving for phonic sounds. Braille over many years, perfected this technique by having the idea of the raised dots serve for letters instead of phonic sounds. It took many years of experimenting, but the eventual product was Braille as we know today.

Response: I really liked this book and I learned about Louis Braille and the struggle of blind people to be able to read.

On My Own: The Journey Continues

Sally Hobart Alexander

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux 1997 165 pages

Genre: Nonfiction and Biography

Reading Level: Young Adult

Summary:This is an autobiography that is an continuation of Taking Hold, and chronicles Sally Hobart’s journey to become fully independent as a blind person. She starts her job at the Blind Rehabilitation Guild as a teacher, but she leaves when she feels discriminated against for being the only blind person on the staff. She goes onto graduate school, first studying English literature, and then counseling to get her PhD in social work. She meets and marries Bob Alexander.

Response: I liked this book a lot. I really admire her independence.

Maniac Magee

Maniac Magee

by Jerry Spinelli

Publisher: Little, Brown & Company 1990 184 pages

Genre: Family Life, and Social Issues

Reading Level: Ages 9-12

Summary:Maniac Magee is a roaming orphan who longs for acceptance and an address to call his own. His parents died when he was very young, and was sent to live with Aunt Dot and Uncle Dan. He runs away from them at the age of 8 years old. He runs until he reaches the town of Two Mills where most of the story takes place. The town of Two Mills is separated by Hector st and by whites on the west side and blacks on the East side. It is there that he meets the Beales and eventually moves in with them. He unties Cobbler’s knot in a effort to make tensions about him living in a black neighborhood, but he realizes that this can never be and so he leaves the Beales, and he eventually moves in with Grayson in the Band Shell equipment room and has some very happy memories there, but it all ends when Grayson dies. After Grayson’s funeral, he is forced to run again and he goes to Valley Forge. He decides that he wants to die and there he finds Piper and Russell McNab who are running away to Mexico. He bribes them into going home and then moves in with them. He lives with them until Maniac protests enough about the Pillbox that they are building in the living room to guard against black invasion, and they force him to leave. Mars Bars later saves Russ McNab from the trolley bridge and Maniac becomes a permanent residence with the Beales.

Response: This book really makes you think about lots of serious facts of life, like the prejudice and racism that we exercise in our everyday lives.

Cautionary notes: Racism, prejudice, and dysfunctional homes

Bud, not Buddy

Bud, Not Buddy

by Christopher Paul Curtis

Publisher: Random House Children’s Books 1999 243 pages

Genre: Historical Fiction, Family Life, Action, and Adventure

Reading Level: Ages 9-12

Summary: This book is based during the Great Depression. Bud Caldwell is an orphan who runs away from the foster home that he is sent to, after the son of the family sticks a pencil up his nose as he slept and he was thrown into the shed by the parents. He goes from Flint, Michigan to Grand Rapids, Michigan, to try and find his father. He thought that he had found him but it turns out that the man he found out was his father turned out to be his grandfather and Bud moves in with him.

Response: The feeling of being lost that is experienced by Bud is very characteristic of the time period. I really liked this book. I especially liked that it had a happy ending.

An American plague: the true and terrifying story of the yellow fever epidermic of 1793

An American plague: the true and terrifying story of the yellow fever epidemic of 1793

by Jim Murphy

Publisher: Houghton Mufflin Company 2003 165 pages

Genre: Nonficition, Death & Dying, and History

Reading Level: Ages 9-12

Summary:This is an account of the yellow fever or malaria epidemic that took place in the city of Philadelphia in the year 1793. It chronicles the medical practices of the day and the spread of the disease. It was thought at the time that African Americans were immune to the disease, so they entered the sick houses and cared for the victims and provided medical care to those that no one else would treat.It was Benjamin Rush who determined the way that the disease was spreading and suggest an adequate treatment.

Response: I liked this book a lot. The explanations of the sick were so accurate and descriptive that it made me sick at times. I experienced this book through a book on CD and the descriptions were unpleasant to listen to, when I was eating.

Countdown

Countdown

by Ben Mikaelson

Publisher: Sagebrush Education Resources 1997 248 pages

Genre: Action, Adventure, and Thriller

Reading Level: Ages 9-12

Summary: This story starts with 14 year-old Elliot Schroeder entering a contest, sponspored by NASA to become the first Junior Astronaut. He wins and begins his training with Marlene, his backup. He almost doesn’t get into space, due to this attitude about Marlene. He does get into space, however, and there he comes into contact with Vincent Ole Tome, another 14 year-old, who dreams of a better life, but he forced to give it up to become a Masai warrior and please his father. Due to this fact, he is forced to quit school and now his only link to the outside is a shortwave radio. Through these radios, Elliot and Vincent meet and at first they don’t get along at all, due to cultural differences. Elliot is so frustrated with Vincent that he decided to stop talking to him, but his commander tells him that the world is listening to their conversations and he is forced to continue. At the end of the book, NASA arranges for the two boys to meet.

Response: I liked this book very much. It shows that although we may have differences with others in the global community, in the end, our similarities outweigh our difficulties.

Brothers in Valor: A story of Resistance

Brothers in Valor: A story of Resistance

by Michael O. Tunnell

Publisher: Holiday House 2001 260 pages

Genre: Historical Fiction, and War

Reading Level: Ages 9-12

Summary:Rudi, Helmuth, and Karl are three LDS teenagers growing up in Germany during the reign of Hilter. They joined Hilter’s organizations, only because it is mandatory and in order to protect their families. They soon realize the cruelty and violence of the Nazi group. After they witness Kristallnact or the Night of Broken Glass, they realize that they have to fight back to free Germany from Hilter. They listen to BBC and typed up handbills of what is broadcasted on the BBC. The SS and Gestapo quickly arrest them one by one and they are sent to Concentration camp Fuhlsbuttel, where lack of sleep and of food are the easiest part. While they were there, they transported to Gestapo Headquarters on a regular basis for interrogation and torture.

After months at the camp, they are transported to a prison in Hamburg. They are sentenced to trial in the People’s Court, a court reserved for Hilter’s most hated enemies. Most of the people that are tried there are executed. The outcome was tragic, Helmuth was sentenced to death, by guillotine. Rudi was sentenced to ten years imprisonment and Karl to 4 years imprisonment.

Response:I liked this book very much. It has a very thought provoking message.This book is a powerful example that even when it is not popular or safe, we must stand up for right.

Across America on a Emigrant Train

Across America on a Emigrant Train

by Jim Murphy

Publisher: Hougton Mufflin Company 2003 150 pages

Genre: Nonfiction and Biography

Reading Level: Ages 9-12

Summary:This book tells the story of Robert Louis Stevenson’s journey across America in a train. It is told through his own writings. He describes the horrible traveling conditions that emigrants must have dealt with as they traveled across the country. Stevenson makes the trip from Scotland to California due to that fact that the woman he loved, Fanny, was severely ill with brain fever. The entire trip took him approximately two weeks.

Response: I learned a lot of the deplorable conditions that emigrants were forced to endure in order to have a better life.

Lincoln: A Photobiography

Lincoln: A Photobiography

by Russell Freedman

Publisher: Clarion Books 1987 150 pages

Genre: Nonfiction and Biography

Reading Level: Ages 9-12

Summary:This biography reveals many interesting facts about Abraham Lincoln that I didn’t know before. He suffered from depression, for instance. He was born in Kentucky, but moved to Indiana and then Illinois as a young boy. He came from a very poor family so he took various odd jobs to help support himself and his family. He became a lawyer and then ran for public office the first time and lost. He eventually worked himself up the political ladder to become President of the United States. 20 days before he was inaugurated, South Carolina seceded from the Union and thus the Civil War started. At first, Lincoln’s purpose was not to free the slaves, but just to preserve the union, but he realized that the freeing of the slaves was imperative to saving the union. He issued the Emancipation Proclamation and ended slavery. The Civil War ended 2 years later. On the day that peace was established, Abraham Lincoln was assassinated in the Ford Theatre by John Wilkins Booth. His last official act as president was to pardon a Confederate spy.

Response: I learned a lot about Lincoln's character while reading this book and I liked it a lot.

Ella Enchanted

Ella Enchanted

by Gail Carson Levine

Publisher: Harper Collins Publisher 1997 232 pages

Genre: Fairy tale, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Magic, and Humor

Reading Level: Ages 9 to 12

Summary:This book is about a girl named Ella who is given the curse of obedience at birth by the fairy Lucinda and is forced to obey every command that she is given or she becomes physically ill. This doesn’t stop her from trying to get around the commands she is given and she always tries to delay obeying as long as possible.

Her mother dies and gives her one of her seldom commands that she must never tell anyone about the curse since they might try and take advantage of her. Ella is sent away to finishing school with Hattie and Olive and soon excels at all subjects where the teachers are forever issuing commands. She also meets Arreida and they soon become friends. She runs away from finishing school and to try and find Lucinda and to get to take back her gift. She is unsuccessful, but on her journey she meets Prince Charmont and they become friends.

Her father soon thereafter marries Lady Olga, who is Hattie and Olive’s mother. Lucinda gives the couple the gift of eternal love, but Sir Peter, Ella’s father chooses to love his new wife from a distance and is gone for a great deal of the time. In his absence, Olga turns Ella into a servant and due to her curse of obedience, she must obey. She works alongside Mandy, the cook and Ella’s fairy godmother.

During this time, Ella and Char are writing to each other and over time, Ella begins to fall in love with him and when he proposes to her through a letter, Ella knows that she can’t accept or Char will fall under the curse as well, so sends him a letter in Hattie’s hand writing that she is married and Char believes it and is heartbroken.

The three balls are announced for the prince to choose his bride and Ella attends in disguise, through the aid of Mandy and Lucinda, who has learned her lesson concerning big magic after being tricked into turning herself into a squirrel and giving herself the gift of obedience. Ella is finally able to break the curse, through her love for Char and to protect him against Hattie. Ella and Char marry and live happily ever after.

Response: It's a wonderful fairy tale and it presents a very original twist to the Cinderella story.

Taking Hold: My Journey into Blindness

Taking Hold: My Journey into Blindness

by Sally Hobart Alexander

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing 1994 168 pages

Genres: Nonfiction, and Autobiography

Reading Level: Ages 9-12

Summary:This is an autobiography of Sally Hobart, a third grade teacher, who through a series of retinal hemorrhages slowly goes blind over a period of two years. She goes from an independent adult to being dependent on her parents again. It follows her journey of adjustment as she slowly went blind.

Response:I liked this book very much. It came me new insight into the lives of the blind. I was attracted to this book due to the fact that I had an almost blind missionary companion.

Gossamer

Gossamer

by Lois Lowry

Publisher: Hougton Mufflin Books 2006 140 pages

Genres: Fantasy, Magic, Science Fiction and Dreams

Reading Level: Ages 9-12

Summary: Littlest One is a fairy-like being who is learning to be a dream giver. They give us dreams by gently touching the objects around us and gleaning fragments of memories and blowing them into our ears and that is how we have good dreams. The nightmares that are inflicting on us come from dream givers that pressed too hard and collected the dark side of memories. These beings are called Sinisteeds. Littlest One and her second teacher, Thin Elderly, are assigned to the home of an old woman who becomes the foster mom to John, a very angry and abused little boy. Littlest and Thin Elderly fight against the Sinisteeds by strengthening John with good dreams after he is repeatedly attacked by the Sinisteeds, due to the fact that he is emotionally vulnerable and his past has so many tragic elements. Littlest and Thin Elderly win against the Sinisteeds and her name is changed to Gossamer when a new Littlest is born.

Response: I loved this book. It gave me a brand new perspective on how dreams are formed. I couldn’t put it down.

Cautionary notes: images of child abuse