Khristina's Book Blog

I read Those Shoes by Maribeth Boelts. This book hasn't received any major awards. This is one of my favorite books that I've found to do my blogs on. This book is about a boy name Jeremy who really wants a specific pair of black and white shoes, but his family can't afford them. Jeremy finds a pair of those shoes in the thrift shop, but they're too small for his feet. Jeremy doesn't care, and crams his feet inside those shoes and buys them. However, they're way too small and hurt too much to wear all day at school, so he wears the pair the guidance counselor gave him even though almost all the other kids make fun of him for them. There's a boy named Antonio whose shoes have to be taped up to keep them together. Jeremy notices that Antonio's feet are smaller than his, so he knows what he has to do. He gives his pair of black and white shoes to Antonio, and they become friends. This book is super sweet, and demonstrates what it really means to be humble. ...

I read This Is the Way We Go to School by Edith Baer. This book hasn't received any major awards, but is a great book to show diversity. This book is about children all over the world, and the different ways they get to school. I love that at the end it gives a list of where each of the children are from. I love the overall book, but it makes it even better because it rhymes. I think the appropriate grade level would be kindergarten to fourth grade. I would read this book in my future classroom. The way I would incorporate this book in the classroom would be to open up a graphing activity to see the different ways students in our class get to school. I would want to focus on diversity, and that there are differences even in the same classroom and celebrate it.

I read Anansi The Spider by Gerald McDermott. This book is a Caldecott Honor book. My favorite part about this book is the illustrations. I love the different shapes and colors that are used to bring this story to life. This book is about a spider named Anansi who has six sons. Anansi gets into some trouble, but all six of his sons come to his rescue. Anansi wants to reward his six sons with this bright, white ball of light he found, but he can't decide who to give it to. He gives the reward to the god of all things while he makes his decision. In the end, Anansi never chose which son to receive the reward, so the god of all things put the reward in the sky for all to see. The reward becomes the moon. I liked this book. I think the appropriate grade level would be kindergarten to sixth grade. I would read this book in my classroom. I think it would be so fun for students to create their own version of how different things came to be like stars, the sun, grass, trees, etc. Just to g...

I read The Snowy Day  by Ezra Jack Keats. This book received the Caldecott Medal in 1963. This book is a cute book. It's about a little boy named Peter and his day of adventures in the snow, and he has a dream that the sun melted all the snow away. However, in the end, the next day has just as much snow and more. My favorite part about this book is with the tracks in the snow and how they're connected directly to the text. The text says "like this" and "like that", and it's making the reader look at the illustrations. I think the appropriate grade level for this book would be pre-k to third grade. I would definitely read this book in my classroom. I think this would be a great book for ELs to hear when going over the seasons, and specifically winter because it paints a great picture with words and illustrations of what winter looks and feels like.

I read  The Stinky Cheese Man and other Fairly Stupid Tales by Jon Scieszka & Lane Smith. This book received the Caldecott Honor Medal in 1993 and the Texas Bluebonnet Award in 1995. This book is absolutely hilarious, and I've never read any book like it! My favorite part of this book is how a character, Jack, is a narrator and he's affected by the story, pages, and even the words. It's honestly hard to give a summary of this book, but pretty much it's a group of fairytales that have had major changes to their storylines and it's super funny! In The Princess and the Frog, the frog tricks the princess to just get a free kiss. In Little Red Riding Hood (Running Shorts), Jack, the narrator ruins the story, so they leave their story refusing to tell it. Then instead of the gingerbread man, it's the Stinky Cheese Man who no one will chase no matter how fast he runs because he stinks so bad. I absolutely loved this book and the humor that's throughout it. I th...

I read Pilot & Huxley: The First Adventure  by Dan McGuiness. This book hasn't received any major awards. I had never read a graphic novel before, but this one was interesting to say the least. This book is about two boys, Pilot and Huxley, who have a game that is a week overdue from the rental place called awesome video. There are undercover aliens that run awesome video, and their code for their weapon to destroy earth got downloaded on Pilot and Huxley's game that is overdue. So, the aliens send grim reaper to get the game, but he send Pilot and Huxley to another dimension. There goal is to try to get back to Earth, and they find someone who can help them, but right before they're about to go back to Earth the aliens come to attack them. Pilot, Huxley, and the friends they've made work together to defeat the aliens. In the end, Pilot and Huxley get zapped back into the wrong dimension. I think the appropriate grade level for this book would be sixth grade to twel...

I read Because of Winn Dixie  by Kate DiCamillo. This book received the Newbery Medal in 2001 and the Texas Bluebonnet Award in 2002. I think I might have read this book when I was younger, but I couldn't remember all the details. This is a super sweet book, and for me it had a lot of similarities to Shiloh by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor. A big part of this is because they're both about a dog, but there are even similarities in the language of the book. Both books include a southern twang when the characters speak. Because of Winn Dixie is about a girl named Opal who has recently moved to a new town, but soon after moving she takes in a stray dog that she names Winn Dixie. Winn Dixie changes Opal's whole world, and Opal starts making all sorts of friends because of this amazing dog. Another big part of the story is Opal discovering things about her mom that she never knew. Opal's mom left when Opal was only three. The book overall follows Opal and Winn Dixie along in their ...

I read  The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend by Dan Santat. This book received the Caldecott Medal in 2015. This is a super cute book that takes a new twist on the idea of imaginary friends. The story is about an imaginary friend that is so excited for a child to imagine him, but he waits and waits and no one ever does. So, he decided to go on a grand journey to go find his friend in the real world. But, this place isn't as bright as he thought it would be and he still can't find his friend, so he gives up. However, a young girl named Alice finds him, names him Beekle, they become friends, and do the unimaginable. I absolutely loved this book. I think the appropriate grade level for this book would be pre-k to fourth grade. I would use this book in my classroom because it's about imaginary friends which is not something that is talked about often, but kids still have imaginary friends. The way I would use this book in my classroom is to have each child create th...

I read Buzz off I'm Busy! by Christine Tagg and Illustrated by Bill Bolton. This book hasn't received any major awards. This is a Pop-Up book, and I thought the paper engineering was super great, and I love all the bright colors that are used. The story is about a bee named Zed that goes around to his friends to find someone who isn't too busy to play with him. However, each one of his friends seem to be busy with their own thing for the day. In the end, by the time his friends are ready to play, Zed is fast asleep. I thought this book was cute, and kids would love it. I would read this book in my classroom. The appropriate grade level would be pre-k to first grade. Something I would definitely pull out of this book is the importance of making time for other people. I think it would be great for the students to problem solve with each bug's business from the story, and come up with a solution of how they could do their tasks but still have time to play. Another focus th...

I read At The Crossroads  by Rachel Isadora. This book received the ALA Notable Children's Book Award. This is a super sweet, heartwarming book. The illustrations are absolutely beautiful. This book is based in South Africa, and is about the day these kid's fathers are supposed to return home from working in the mines. These kids wait at the crossroads all night long, refusing to sleep or go home until their fathers come. In the end, their father's come, and they sing all the way home. The appropriate grade level for this book would be kindergarten to fourth grade. I would read this book in my future classroom. I would use this book to focus on writing, and have each student write about a time they had to wait. They would write about what it looked and felt like to wait, and compare it to how they think the kids in the book felt waiting for their fathers.

I read I Go with My Family to Grandma's by Riki Levinson. This book hasn't received any major awards. This is a very simple, but cute book. It's multicultural because it shows that even in the same state people come from different backgrounds, and use different ways to travel. This story is about everyone going to Grandma's whether it's by bicycle, trolley, white wagon, train, or ferry. This is a cute little story, and I think the appropriate grade level would be pre-k to first grade. I would read this book in my class. I would incorporate this book into my pre-k classroom over a lesson about the types of transportation.

I read First Day in Grapes  by L. King Pérez. This book hasn't received any major awards. This book is about a third grade boy named Chico whose life is about constantly moving to follow the harvest. Chico hates going to a new school every time because the kids are mean to him. However, he has a really great start to his first day in Grapes. He sits by a nice kid named John, his teacher really likes him, and he finds out about a math fair. A couple of kids start being mean to Chico at lunch, but Chico stands up to them, and they leave him alone. In the end, Chico decides that it's been a pretty good first day in Grapes. I really liked this book, and how it brought to light little things about hispanic culture. I would definitely read this book in my future classroom. I think the appropriate grade level would be second grade to sixth grade. The way I would incorporate this book in my classroom would be to address the concept of bullying or on the first day of school. This book i...

I read My Rows and Piles of Coins by Tololwa M. Mollel. This book received the Coretta Scott King Award in 2000. This book was absolutely adorable. It's a multicultural, and it's setting is in Tanzania. There are even words in the story that are in the Tanzanian languages of Swahili and Maasai. The story is about a young boy, Saruni, who gets money for helping his mother in the market. Saruni has been saving a long time to buy a bicycle to be able to help his mother even more. Saruni saves up what he feels like is enough to buy a bicycle, but when he goes to buy one that man selling them laughs at him and his little amount of money. In the end, Saruni's father buys a motorbike for Saruni. Saruni is so grateful for the motorbike and how it will be able to help his mother. Saruni decides to save his money for a cart to be able to help his mother even more. I love this story because even though Saruni could have saved his money for something he wanted, he decided to save it to...

I read  Mirandy and Brother Wind  by Patricia C. McKissack, Illustrated by Jerry Pinkney. This book received the Coretta Scott King Award in 1989. This book also received the Caldecott Medal the same year. This is a super cute book about a cake-walk competition with it's roots based in Afro-American culture. The story is about a girl named Mirandy who is determined to catch Brother Wind, and for him to be her partner at the junior cake-walk. She tries multiple attempts, before catching him in the end. She's prepared to dance with him at the dance, but says she's going to win with one of the most clumsiest boys in town to prove a point. In the end, the boy and Mirandy dance beautifully, and to win the cake walk by dancing with the wind. This is a super cute book, and would read it in my future classroom. The appropriate age group for this book would be second grade to sixth grade. The way I would use this book in my classroom would be for the students to focus on the setting...

I read Hatchet by Gary Paulsen. This book received the Newbery medal in 1988. I really enjoyed reading this book, but not just because of the storyline. I really like how Gary Paulsen writes. He used repetition and fragments of sentences to really convey what the character is thinking and feeling. This book is about a thirteen-year-old boy named Brian. At the beginning of the book, Brian is working through the emotions of his parent's fresh divorce. It's hard, as it would be for any kid, but Brian also knew a secret. That his mom was/had been seeing another man. Brian is going through the thoughts in his head while he's on a small plane on the way to stay with his dad for the summer. However, everything changes when the pilot has a heart attack mid flight. Brian lands the plane in a lake, and barely makes it out alive. A major chunk of the book is learning how Brian survives. Brian has a mental change after about a week after the crash. He changes from being hopeful of resc...

I read The Giver by Lois Lowry. This book received the Newbery Award Medal. I remembered reading this book in seventh grade English class, and loving it. It was a joy re-reading it, and I remembered all the reasons I really enjoyed this book. Also, my brother, Kevin is in seventh grade, and he's reading The Giver  in his English class. This book is about a boy named Jonas who lives in a world way in the future that has so many changes to make the perfect society. Some of these changes include: climate control, no animals, rules against rudeness, sharing of feelings and dreams at meals, no colors, precision of language, babies are given to families with a max of two, spouses are assigned not chosen, release instead of natural death, and careers are assigned at twelve-years-old in which training starts right away. The biggest meat of the story is when Jonas isn't assigned a career, but selected to be the new Receiver of Memory. The Receiver of Memory is the person who remembers h...

I read Superfudge by Judy Blume. This book received the Texas Bluebonnet Award in 1980. I chose this book because my mom recommended it because she remembered reading it when she was a kid. This book is about a family, mom, dad, Peter, Fudge, and baby Tootsie. The book's main focus is Peter, and the biggest problem he is faced with at the beginning is that his mom tells him that she's having another baby. Peter is not excited about this because his four-year-old brother Fudge is already more than he can handle. However, Peter eventually comes to like Tootsie. The larger problem Peter faces is that his family is moving to Princeton for a year to see if they like it. As we saw with Tootsie, Peter doesn't like change, so when Peter is told they're moving to Princeton he's is beyond unhappy. However, the book continues, and even though change isn't easy for Peter he finds some good things among the change. In the end, Peter's family decided to move back to New...

I read Shiloh by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor. This book received the Newbery Medal Award. I had read this book when I was younger, and remembered loving it. However, I had forgot the characters and main storyline. Shiloh is about a family of a mom, dad, two young girls, and Marty who is the oldest child. Marty loves the outdoors, and finds this dog that he falls in love with. However, this dog ends up belonging to Jud Travers who is known for abusing his dogs. Marty decides to hide the dog to protect him. Marty named the dog Shiloh. Sadly, another big dog attacked Shiloh at night. Marty and his dad take Shiloh to the doctor who saves Shiloh. However, Jud Travers is not happy to hear that Marty had been hiding his dog. Marty makes a deal with Jud Travers to work for him for two weeks to buy Shiloh so he can keep him. In the end, Marty gets to keep Shiloh, and Shiloh is saved from being abused from Jud Travers. I think the appropriate grade level for this book would be third grade to ninth g...

I read When Everybody Wore a Hat  written and illustrated by William Steig. This book received the New York Times Best Illustrated Books Award and the Parents Choice Silver Honor Award. This book was about the details William Steig remembered from 1916 when he was eight years old. There isn't any sort of order or storyline in this book; just a lot of memories or facts from Steig's childhood. I do like this book because it portrays a great picture of the early 1900s from a child's perspective and how different it was then compared to now. However, I really didn't like the illustrations in this book. I think the appropriate grade level for this book would second grade to sixth grade. I don't think I would use this book in my future classroom. A possible activity to be used along with this book is to give students a template to write their own autobiography. That would be one benefit of this book hardly having any structure. Students could use this book, and create the...

I read  Gone Wild: An Endangered Animal Alphabet by David McLimans. This book received the Caldecott honor medal in 2007. This book is a very unique alphabet book for many reasons. One reason would be that the letters are in the shape of the animal that is being named. Along with the letter there is details about the specific animal such as the scientific name, class, habitat, range, threats, and its endangerment status. This is a super interesting book because typically alphabets are geared towards pre-k and kindergarten, but I think older grades can find some really great information from this book. I think the appropriate grade range for this book would be pre-k to sixth grade. I would definitely use this book in my classroom. I think a really fun activity to do with this book in the classroom would be for each student to pick a letter (an endangered animal) and do research on their animal, and make a poster/presentation of ways to help save their animal from extinction.

I read Tricks Animals Play by Jan Angel Clarkson. This book did not receive any major awards. This book is really interesting. This thing that stands out the most are the photographs that really make the book come to life. The photos are so clear and vivid. This book shows different animals and the ways they "trick" their enemies. Some ways shown in the book are playing dead, camouflage, showing bright colors, scales/shells, and bad smells. I would definitely use this book in my future classroom. I think the appropriate age group for this book would be kindergarten to sixth grade. Even if the younger grades can't read all the words yet, seeing the photographs of real animals is beneficial too. A great way to incorporate this in the classroom would be with science, but also mixing it with language arts. I think it would be fun for each group to do research on the different types of "tricks" animals use, and then create their own animal that uses that same trick. ...

I read Young Helen Keller: Woman of Courage. This book received no major awards. I think this is a great book to start to introduce the concept of biographies to students. This book walked through the life of Helen Keller from birth to adulthood while highlighting key moments along the way. This book was even informational for me because I didn't know the basics of Helen Keller's story. I think the appropriate age level for this book would be second grade to sixth grade. I would use this book in my classroom. I think an awesome project with this book would be for each student to pick their own person from A Troll First-Start Biography  series, and do a project that would be presented to the rest of the class. I think it would be awesome for each student to dive into the life of someone important in history, and be creative in the way they present their information. These type of projects are the ones I really remember from elementary school because I got to teach about my perso...

I read The Magic School Bus: At The Waterworks by Joanna Cole. This books received the 1989 Washington Children's Choice Picture Book Award. I love how all the Magic School Bus  books take non-fiction content, and portray it in a fun, engaging, and creative way that kids can really appreciate and dive into. This specific Magic School Bus  book was about Ms. Frizzle's class learning about water. On just about every page there is a different fact about water. The class goes on a field trip by truly living life as water starting by being evaporated into the clouds, being rained down in water droplets, being purified, and coming out of the bathroom faucet. If only, as teachers, we could take our students on such engaging field trips. However, this book does a great job of pulling the reader in, and making science fun. I think the appropriate grade level for this book would be first grade to fourth grade. I would use this book in my classroom. A great unit to apply this book to in ...