Zin! Zin! Zin! A Violin
by Lloyd Moss
Illustrated by Marjorie Priceman
Publisher:Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers 1995 32 pages
Genre: Picture books, Music and Counting
Reading Level: Ages 4-8
Summary: This is about musical instruments and it is about counting, but it tells it in poetry form.
Response: I liked this book very much
Your Dad was Just Like You
Written and Illustrated by Dolores Johnson
Publisher: Macmillian Publishing Company 1993
Genre: Picture books, and Family Life
Reading Level: Ages 4-8
Summary:This is the story of a little boy who is having problems with his father and he wants to live with his grandfather. His grandfather tells him about his father when he was a boy and Peter learns to understand why his father was so upset when he knocked the purple cup on his father’s dresser. Peter goes home and fixes the cup and apologizes to his father.
Response: I liked this book. It deals with real life and teaches a lesson.
Yo! Yes?
Written and Illustrated by Chris Raschka
Publisher: Orchard Books 1993 32 pages
Genre:Picture book, Humor and Friendship
Reading Level: Ages 4-8
Summary: This is the story of two strangers that meet on the street and with very few words, they become friends. It also shows that people who are different, can still communicate and be friends.
Response: I like this story very much. The thing that I like most about this book is the principle behind it. If more people could exercise the same understanding as these two boys, the world would be a much better place.
Tuesday
Written and Illustrated by David Weisner
Publisher: Clarion Books 1991 32 pages
Genre: Wordless Picture book, Fantasy and Adventure
Reading Level: Ages 4-8
Summary:This is a wordless picture book about the magical nature of Tuesday nights that allows frog to fly on their lilypads and at the end of the book, pigs fly on the next Tuesday.
Response: This is a wonderful book and very funny. The illustrations are fantastic.
Time Flies
Written and Illustrated by Eric Rohmann
Publisher: Crown Publishers 1994
Genre: Wordless Picture book, and Nature
Reading Level: Ages 4-8
Summary:This is a wordless picture book. A bird flies into a museum to get out of the storm. As she flies through the museum, the dinosaurs seem to come to life and the bird flies among them until one of them tries to eat the bird, and it turns back into a skeleton and the bird flies away.
Response: This is a good story, but there is a question that the book raises that I am not sure about. Is the bird dreaming, is she traveling in time or is she remembering her ancestors?
The Wall: Growing up Behind the Iron Curtain
Written and Illustrated by Peter Sis
Publisher: Frances Foster Books 2007 56 pages
Genre: Picture book and History
Reading Level: Ages 9-12
Summary: This book is based on the experiences of Peter Sis as he grew in Czechoslovakia when it was under Soviet rule. At first he didn’t question what he was told, but then he started questioning the State. He quietly protested against the state through his drawings. He even formed his own rock band, though rock ‘n roll had been forbidden by the State.
Ideas for Activities: (optional)
Study about Lenin and the USSR.
Response: This book is absolutely wonderful. It really makes you think about the difference between democracy and communism.
The Three Pigs
Written and Illustrated by David Weisner
Publisher: Clarion Books 2001 40 pages
Genre: Picture book, and Fairy Tales
Reading Level: Ages 4-8
Summary:This is a very original look at the classic story of the Three Little Pigs. In this version, the pigs are blown out of the story by the big, bad wolf and all three of them go into the nursery rhyme of Hey, diddle diddle. When they left, the cat with the fiddle followed them out. They went into another story and rescue a dragon from the knight. Then all of them, the pigs, the cat and the dragon, went back into the three pigs’ story and the dragon scared the wolf away and they all lived happily ever after.
Response: I love this book. It’s funny and I especially like the twist in the story.
