Anansi and the Moss Covered Rock By: Eric A. Kimmel
This book is about a black spider that discovers a moss covered rock. Each time
someone says, “that is a strange moss covered rock”they pass out for an hour.
The black spider takes advantage of this and steals all the animals’ things
after he takes them to the rock and they pass out. In the end, the bush deer
takes Anansi to the rock and tricks Anansi into fainting for an hour and helps
all the animals get their lost items. This book is good for children because it
teaches a good lesson on not to steal and trick your friends so you can take
their belongings.
Tony’s Bread By: Tomie dePaola
This book Tony’s bread is about a baker that has a dream of owning a bakery in the
city of Milano. He lived with his daughter Seraphina. No man was ever good
enough for Seraphina to marry until the day that Angelo came and fell in love
with Seraphina. Angelo sent a note to Tony to help in start his own bakery in
Milano so he was able to marry his daughter. Tony moves there and was not able
to compete with all the different bakeries until he thinks of a phenomenal
recipe that sweeps everyone in the city of Milano off their feet. In the end,
Tony gets his bakery and Seraphina is married to her love Angelo. This book has
many Italian words that can teach children diversity and the meaning of a
different language. It is good for a teacher to use when teaching a lesson about
Italy of Italian words that are related to a bakery.
Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters By: John Steptoe
This book is about two daughters named Manyara and Nyasha. Manyara is very mean to
Nyasha and says she will be queen and Nyasha will be her servant. Nyasha spends
a lot of her time in a garden where she names her garden snake Nyoka. One day,
the girl’s fathers tell them to travel to the king to see who will be the most
beautiful daughter to be wed. One their journey they come across certain
situations such as a hungry boy. Nyasha feeds the boy as Manyara keeps walking
having only one focus on becoming queen. Once they reach the kingdom, Manyara is
scared out of the kingdom. Nyasha walks in to find Nyoka, her garden snake who
transforms into a king. They wed because her kindness and beauty and Manyara
become their servant. This book teaches children to be kind to others and treat
people the way you want to be treated.
Luba
and the Wren By: Patricia Polacco
This
book is about a little girl named Luba who lives with her parents on a little dacha. One day she saves the life of a wren and the wren grants her any wish she desires. Luba said that there is nothing
that she wishes for except when her parents tell her to go ask for a bigger
house. Her parents keep asking for bigger things until they ask to be to empress
and emperor of the world and to be just like the God. Luba gets so upset that
her parents are so ungrateful and finally in the end, the wren grants her back
her dacha and house that she originally lived in. This book shows children how
to be grateful for what they have in life and that sometimes having
everything not always makes you happy.
The
Three Pigs By: David Weisner
This book starts out by reciting the story of the Three Little Pigs. Then, all of the
sudden, the three pigs are outside of the story exploring other fairytales. They
jump from book to book and finally beat the wolf by bringing the creature back
to blow the wolf down. This book shows children the story of the pigs exploring
other fairytales and adds humor to the book.
Town Mouse Country Mouse By: Jan Brett
This book is about a town mouse who is tired of his daily life.
Country mouse wants some excitement and a change of his laidback life that he is
used too. Town mouse and country mouse and their wives decide to swap homes. The
life that they desired is not entirely what they had expected it to be. Both
mice actually find it hard because of the lifestyles that they are used too.
Some difficulty includes, country mouse gets his tail snapped in a mouse trap and town mouse gets chased by a black bird. The mice finally come to realize that their . I enjoyed reading this
book, and I think it would make for a great lesson in an elementary
classroom. This story teaches all readers to be grateful for what they have and that things
are not always better on the other side.
Hansel and Gretel By:
James Marshall
Hansel and Gretel is about the brother and sister
who live with their father and their stepmother. There is not enough food for
each family member to be eating so their stepmother tries leaving the children
in the woods when they go woodcutting. The children get lost and end up finding
a witch’s house made of candy. The witch turns on the children and tells them
that she will eat Hansel and begins to fatten him up every day by feeding him
food. Eventually the children trick the witch and send her into the over. After
this, they live happily ever after with their father and their stepmother is no
longer there. I feel this is a good book because it is an old fairytale for
children to enjoy.
The Polar Bear Son By: Lydia Dabcovich
This book is about a woman who took care of baby Kuinjdaike who was a polar bear.
The children of the village loved him, but hald of the village wanted to kill him for food
and warmth. The older woman considered this bear to be like her child, so she tells the polar
bear to run far far away. Then she meets up with him when Kuinjdajke is all grown up.
This book is good for children because they are able to learn about the Alaskan culture.
The Rough Faced Girl By: Rafe Martin and David Shannon
This book is about a girl who has two sisters that are trying their hardest
to marry the invisible human being. The invisible human being's sister will grant the
one and only girl marriage to her brother once they are able to fully describe him. The
evil stepsisters of the rough faced girl attempt to fully describe him, but fail miserably.
The rough faced girl goes to try and she succeds and all her scars and body is cleaned up
into a beautiful girl and she lives happily ever after. This book is good for children because it
helps them to realize to treat others how you want to be treated.
The Little Red Hen By: Elizabeth Lane
This book is a repititon book about a red hen that makes bread and it goes through
all the steps. But, duck, cat, and pig did not want to help the hen make the bread. So,
hen decided to make it herself. By the time she was ready to eat the bread, duck, cat,
and pig were more than willing to help. By the end of the book hen was fed up and did
not want to deal with feeding the other animals so she fed her little chicks instead. This
book shows that hard work will eventually be rewarded.
Hansel and Gretel By:
James Marshall
Hansel and Gretel is about the brother and sister
who live with their father and their stepmother. There is not enough food for
each family member to be eating so their stepmother tries leaving the children
in the woods when they go woodcutting. The children get lost and end up finding
a witch’s house made of candy. The witch turns on the children and tells them
that she will eat Hansel and begins to fatten him up every day by feeding him
food. Eventually the children trick the witch and send her into the over. After
this, they live happily ever after with their father and their stepmother is no
longer there. I feel this is a good book because it is an old fairytale for
children to enjoy.
Frog Prince By: Jerry Smith
This book is about a princess who drops her ball in the pond when a frog appears. The frog then ends up at dinner with the princess and she will not eat. Then the frog jumps up into bed and the princess kicks him off. She then kisses the frog on the head and he turns into a prince.
Johnny Appleseed By: Jane Kurtz
This story is about Johnny Chapman or also known as Johnny Appleseed. His mother and his sibling died before his second birthday. His father remarried and the whole family had an apple orchard. One day Johnny traveled through the forest. He had many orchards and many pioneers wanted to buy his orchards giving him the name Johnny Appleseed. Good to tell tall talkes because exaggeration of history keeps children entertained while they are also learning a piece of history.