Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led her People to Freedom By: Carole Boston
This book is about Harriet Tubman and her escape
to freedom. Throughout he whole book, Harriet is talking to the Lord
asking and praying for her and all of her people. During the book Harriet has
doubts about a lot of things but she continues to talk to her Lord, helping her
make it through the wilderness to Philadelphia where she will be free. When she
reaches her freedom, Harriet feels empty because her people are not with her.
The Lord then tells her to make the journey to go and free more slaves naming
her Moses. This book is good for children because it can be a good history
lesson talking about Harriet Tubman and how she freed so many slaves and it can
bring on discussion about Harriet Tubman’s life.
Eleanor By: Barbara Cooney
This book is about Eleanor Roosevelt growing up
as a little girl and the difficult life that she had. Her mother thought that
she looked old and unfashionable and ignored her. When with her two younger
brothers, Eleanor had always disappeared into the back. Her father and mother
had both passed away, leaving her an orphan to live with the rest of her crazy
family. Finally they decided to send Eleanor off at age fifteen to a boarding
school at Allenswood. Growing up there Eleanor became very close with Mlle.
Souvestre and when she had finally become the First Lady, Mlle. Souvestre had
seen the remarkable woman that she had become. This book is good to teach
children about the First Lady and her life growing up. It is a good lesson to
show that sometimes a tough life can lead into great things if you keep a
positive attitude and strive to reach your dreams.
Sadako and Thousand Paper Crane- Eleanor Coerr
This story is about a girl named Sadako Sasasaki
who was living in Japan during the time of the Hiroshima atomic bomb. Because of
all the radiation that she had to go through, she developed leukemia and spent
majority of her time in a nursing home creating and folding thousands of
origami. All that Sadako wanted to do was live. She died in October of 1955 and
there was a statue created of her with the origami. She was buried peacefully
with the rest of the origami that her family had finished for he before she was
laid to rest. This story is good for children because it shows how many people
were affected by this atomic bombing in Japan. I think it would be good for
discussion and show the true story of Sadako Sasasaki and how important her life
is.
My Great Aunt Arizona By: Gloria Houston
This book is about a little girl named Arizona
after the great land, and grows up to influence a lot of children. The book
starts out by saying the different things that Arizona loves to do such as
reading, going to school, catching tadpoles with her little brother Jim and
dancing. Arizona’s dream to become a teacher is fulfilled and she teaches
children for many years. She talks about different places and her great interest
to go there but when asked if she has ever been Arizona replies “ Only in my
mind, but someday you will go there.” Arizona teaches her niece and nephew who
adore her and died on her ninety third birthday. Arizona never went to the far
away places but she goes with all the students in their minds. This book had
very good illustrations and teaches children that the possibilities to do
anything are endless. If you dream big, you will accomplish your goals!
And Tango Makes Three By: Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell
This book is about two penguins Roy and Silo in a
zoo in New York. They are recognized for bowing to each other and
making a nest for an egg that is about to hatch. The zookeepers gave them an egg
from another penguin couple called Porky and Betty once they realized that Roy
and Silo were two males. The penguin had hatched and they named her Tango! This
book is about two males caring for a baby. I think that this book is good to
read to children because some children may relate to these penguins either
having two moms or two dads. This will help the other children to see that
everyone is different but either way they are still loved.
Here Are My Hands By: Bill Martin Jr.
This book is a short easy read for children talking about certain parts on their body and the functions that they have. It rhymes for children and it also has great pictures to illustrate each children
and the different nationality of each child. This book would be great for
children in Kindergarten because it is an easy read and helps the children learn
different parts of the body.
Animals Nobody Loves By: Seymour Simon
This book is a really cool book that shows all the animals that everyone dislikes. There is a description of each animal and about the animal and a big picture of the animal in the wild on the same
page. The book looks at some of the positives of the animals that many people
did not recognize before. I think that this book is good for children because
they can learn about the different animals and look at the cool pictures also
put into the book. I learned some facts as well when reading this book!
Balloons Over Broadway By: Melissa Sweet
Tony was a young boy who loved trying to make things move. Tony would have to
get up early and feed the chickens until he finally decided that he was going to
make a rope to feed them. He then moved to London and started making marionettes. He then moved back to New York and started to perform on broadway. Then Macy’s decided to sign him for
their annual Thanksgiving Day Parade. Tony decided to make floats with puppets
on them that started a tradition every year. This book is good for children
because it gives the nonfiction story about the Thanksgiving Day Parade and how
the floats came into tradition.
The Sandwich Swap By: Queen Rania of Jordan Al Abdullah
Salma and Lily were best friends that did everything together. Each day at school Salma ate a hummus
sandwich and Lily ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. One day they both told each other that
theydid not like the way each other’s sandwiches looked or smelled. They did not draw together that day and they did not do anything together. The next day at school there was a huge food fight.
Salma and Lily then decided that they would try each other’s sandwich and they
ended up liking it very much. This book teaches children not to judge a book by
the cover and do not judge other people. It brings a good diversity lesson in
the class.
The Great Kapok Tree By: Lynne Cherry
Two men go into the forest and the one man goes to chop down this large tree. The
man becomes very tired and falls into a deep sleep. All of the animals from the
tree whisper into the ear of the man how much the tree means to them. They do
not want to see the tree chopped down. A child from the rainforest also tells
the man that this tree is full of life. Once the man wakes, there are so many
eyes from all the animals and the child staring at him. The man goes to take a
whack at the tree again, then he stops and puts the axe down and walks into the
rainforest. This book teaches children not to disturb nature because like we
have a home, the trees and forests have a home too.
Nana Upstairs and Nana Downstairs By: Tomie dePaola
This book is about a boy named Tommy and his great grandmother and grandmother. He nicknames them Nana upstairs and Nana Downstairs because his great grandmother is always in bed upstair and his grandma is always downstairs. Tommy does things his Nana's do. Then one day, Nana usptairs passes away. Tommy is very upset, but then Tommy grows older. He then realizes that his grandmother downstairs because his grandma upstairs and she passes away as well. I think that this book is good for children because it touches on the topic of death.
Heart By: Discover Kids
This is a magazine or an article kids can read about and it explains all aspects of the heart. It talks about different beats per different people. It talks about emotions dealing with the heart. There are fill in the blank games and matching children can play with as well associated with the heart. This is good for students to read or reference to during a reading lesson or history lesson about the heart.
Who Lives in the Forest Planet Earth
This book goes through all different kinds of animals in the forest. It talks about the different animals in each season. For example, Amur Lepord in the winter and the marbled murreler. In the summer, the Pudu lives in South America and in the fall you have the Cicada. This book is good for children because they can hear about the different animals through each season and learn many different facts.
Songs in Signs By: Harold Collins
This book contains four different songs including If youre happy, twinkle little star, bingo, and row row row your boat. Each page has a song on it with hand signs with sign language showing the children how to sign while singing the song. I feel this is good for children because it creates diversity in the classroom and helps children to learn sign language.