Khristina's Book Blog

I read the book Cinderella by Nosy Crow and illustrated by Ed Bryan. I absolutely love the illustrations in this book because they're bright, vibrant, and easily relatable for a child. I love the story of Cinderella because it puts a focus on kindness being important since Cinderella got to marry the prince instead of the stepsisters. I also love how Cinderella gets a fairy godmother who helps Cinderella without expecting anything in return. In the end, the prince chose Cinderella because her foot fit perfectly into the glass slipper. The appropriate grade level range for this book would be Pre-K to 2nd grade. Boys might not particularly like this story, but they might if there were intentions to focus on the prince's role in the story. I can see the potential to use this book in my future classroom. One activity I would do would be inferring with shoes. To have multiple different types of shoes, and have the children infer what someone wearing those shoes would do. Another a

I read the book Red Riding Hood  retold and illustrated by James Marshall. This is always a fun story to tell specifically because of the voice changes the wolf uses as he mimics the Granny and Red Riding Hood. The story is about how the wolf meets Red Riding Hood on her way to Granny's house, and he devises the plan to eat both of them. In the end, the hunter kills the wolf and saves Granny and Red Riding Hood from the wolf's stomach, and Red Riding Hood learned her lesson about talking to strangers. The appropriate grade level for this book would be Pre-K to 2nd grade. The story is kind of silly, and the overall lesson being "don't talk to strangers" applies more to the younger audiences. This would be a fun book to read in the classroom, and I can see the potential of using it as a future teacher. One activity that I think would be fun with this book would be to do a story analysis, but in the form of a police report. They would have to describe what happened

I read the book Rumpelstiltskin  retold by John Cech. John Cech received the Chandler Award of Merit for his work in children's literature. I've always loved the story of Rumpelstiltskin since I was a little girl. The story focuses on this little man showing up to help the miller's daughter, who later becomes the queen, turn straw into gold for the greedy king, but the little man will only help for something in return. The final thing he desires is the queen's first born child, but she refuses and her only way out is to guess the little man's name. In the end, the queen guesses the little man's name because the queen's messenger overheard the little man dancing and singing about his name being Rumpelstiltskin. I think the appropriate grade levels for this book would range from kindergarten to fourth grade. I would use this book in my future classroom because I just love the story, and even though there is a lesson to be learned in this story, I just enjoy

I read The Ugly Duckling adapted and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney. This book received the Caldecott Honor Book award. I thought I knew the story of the Ugly Duckling pretty well, but there were more details than I remembered. Also, I didn't realize how mean the other animals were to the little ugly duckling. However, in the end, he realizes that he's not even a duck, but the most beautiful swan. I love the quote at the end that says, "...the swan knew that it was worth having undergone all the suffering and loneliness that he had. Otherwise, he would never have known what it was like to be really happy." There is so much truth in that quote, and it is easily relatable because we've all gone through our own version of suffering and/or loneliness. I think the appropriate grade level for the book would range from second grade to high school. Yes, it's a children's book, but there is a really big lesson in this story that is important for all ages to know.

I read The Three Little Pigs retold by Kath Jewitt and illustrated by Mei Matsuoka. I love this story! This is a very well-known story, but I enjoyed actually reading it for myself. This specific version of the story was told well and had phenomenal illustrations. The story focuses on three little pigs each leaving home, building their own house out of different materials to protect them from the big bad wolf. In the end, the third little pig's house, made of bricks, was the strongest. No matter how much the big bad wolf huffed and puffed he couldn't blow it down, so he decided to climb down the chimney, but he fell in the hot pot of turnips that was on the fire. The big bad wolf was never seen again, and the little pigs lived happily ever after. I think the appropriate grade level for this book would be early childhood up to second grade. A good thing about this specific version of The Three Little Pigs is that the material of the cover is very kid friendly. The book is stil

The book  Where The Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak received the 2018 Caldecott Medal. I listened to the audiobook of this amazing picture story book. The thing that stood out the most was the use of music to make the story come alive. The music brought feelings of suspense, excitement, and adventure! I would definitely use this book in my classroom, and the audiobook version as well. I think it would be great to have the children listen to the audiobook while they're looking at the illustrations. Combining the words, pictures, and music would keep the kids very engaged. On top of the technicalities of the book, the story is so sweet. The book shows Max's struggle with wanting to be the "king of the wild things", but how in the end, even when he acts like a "wild thing" that his mom still loves him. I think the appropriate grade level for this book can range from early childhood all the way to 3rd or 4th graders. It's simple, but still relatable for

I read the book Junie B. Jones and the Stupid Smelly Bus by Barbara Parks which was a part of New York Times Best Selling chapter book Junie B. Jones series. I absolutely love how the author writes just like a kindergartener would talk. That can be hard to bring vocabulary down, and it requires a lot of creativity. The book focuses on all the ups and downs of kindergarten, especially the "stupid smelly bus" that Junie B. goes through. In the end, after hiding in the supply closet after school, Junie B. agrees to ride the school bus to school with her new friend. If I used this in my classroom, this would be a good book to read together as a class. This book is a chapter book, but it would be easy for students to follow along, and maybe read a chapter or two at the end of class each day. This book may be pretty simple, but I think kids will be able to relate to the book really easily because similar things happen to them as well. I think the appropriate grade level for thi

I read Wonder  by R.J. Palacio which has won some major awards such as being on the Texas Bluebonnet Award master list and being on the New York Times Best Seller list. The book's main character is little Auggie Pullman. The reader gets to follow Auggie's journey as he starts the 5th grade, and how his life is impacted as well as how much he impacts the lives and hearts of others. I would definitely use this book in the classroom because it shines a light on how people are different, and how there is nothing wrong with that! The book also focuses on bullying, and how it effects everyone involved. When reading the book, you can't help but fall in love with Auggie, so when he's bullied by those around him it stirs up the readers emotions. The book allows the reader to put themselves in Auggie's shoes, and reminds them that the way they treat others is important because he or she wouldn't want to be treated in a negative way. I think the appropriate grade lev

Hey! I'm so excited to start my future collection of books which will make a big impact on the dynamic of my future classroom library. I hope to be a kindergarten teacher once I obtain my EC-6 Education degree with a supplement in ESL. PS: "Let Go. Let God."