NOT NORMAN: A Goldfish Story

I read NOT NORMAN: A Goldfish Story by Kelly Bennett. This book was Jumpstart's: Read for the Record book in 2015. This book is about a little boy who wanted a pet and got a goldfish named Norman, but he wanted a different kind of pet, not Norman. Throughout the story, the little boy is set on trading Norman for a different pet, but slowly but surly the little boy realizes how great Norman actually is. Norman is there for the little boy when he needs a laugh, needs someone to listen, or when he's scared. In the end, the little boy goes to the pet store, and sees all the great pets, but they're not Norman. I love this book because it's cute, but also teaches the importance of really seeing the value in the people and things in our lives. I would definitely use this book in my future classroom. I think the appropriate grade level for this book would be pre-k to fourth grade. One way I would use this book in my classroom would be to incorporate it in math by making a bar graph of everyone's favorite type of pet in the class, and the book would be the focus to get them thinking about pets.

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