SCIENCE FICTION

THE LION, THE WITCH, AND THE WARDROBE

Brothers and sisters discover a wardrobe filled with interesting surprises in a land called Narnia. An evil witch plots against the children. Filled with woodland creatures and mythical characters. A good book to use as a read aloud in 5th grade. Some children may find the amount of characters difficult to follow at times/.











LUNCH BOX AND THE ALIENS

Lunchbox, a basset hound is abducted by aliens.  He then has the task of converting trash into a food adored by aliens and dogs. Pencil drawn cartoons. For grades 3-6.


THE PHANTOM TOLLBOOTH
NORTON JUSTER

Milo, a young boy,who is down in the dumps finds  a mysterious tollbooth appears in his room.  The tollbooth brings him to a place of possibilities. Milo visits the island of conclusions. This journey forces him to use his imagination. Milo and his new friends defeat the enemies in this kingdom.




THE BOXES
WILLIAM SLEATOR

Annie's Uncle goes on a trip and leaves two boxes that she must not open while he is away. She is tempted an then unleashes gross  crab like creatures that are able to transmute time. 4-6 grade.






























AMONG THE HIDDEN
MARGARET PETERSON

Luke has never been to school and has no friends. He is one of the shadow children, a third child hidden by the population police. He has lived his whole life in hiding. He meets another shadow child who wants to risk her life and come out of hiding.



POISON APPLE

Ashlee has been having a tough time ever since she became a vampire. She moves from NYC to Los Angeles to make a new start. When someone starts attacking people at her school, she realizes she is not the only vampire in town. A cute science fiction book for girls in grades 3-5.





ANIMORPHS THE INVASION
K.A APPLEGATE

Five kids take a shortcut home from the mall and see flying saucers and aliens. They see a dying Andalite prince who spills secrets to them. Earth is under attack and they need to fight a war. So the Andalite gives them special technology to fight off the Yeerks. A upper elementary school to middle school book.



STANLEY IN SPACE
JEFF BROWN

Stanley and his family are the first humans chosen to fly in the Star Scout, a top secret spaceship. He meets the Queen of England and has a birthday party in space. He saves a whole planet of aliens from danger.

FRACTURED FAIRY TALES

THE TRUE STORY OF THE THREE LITTLE PIGS
JON SCIESZKA

This version is sold by the point of view of Alexander T Wolf. A favorite among young readers. Alexander is very convincing. He says that he was framed and the police come and he actually gets put in jail. A great story to compare and contrast the original verse the retold version.






CINDER-ELLY
FRANCES MINTRES

This is a fantastic retold fairytale. Instead of getting invited to a ballit is a basketball game and she does not wear a gown, but a hip oufit fit for a sporting event. A really modernized tale with lots of humor. A little lengthy for younger students, but still a great read.


SLEEPING BOBBY
WILL AND MARY POPE OSBOURNE

A retold version of Sleeping Beauty.
A handsome prince named Bob and a princess who wakes him up from his slumber. An adventerous princess rescues the prince. Humorous details and vivid illustrations. Text is written in shapes.Large pages with one image on each page or one image across two pages.



PIGGIE PIE
MARGIE PALATINI

This story is about a witch who is hungry and wants to make Piggie Pie. THe only problem is she does not have any pork to do this. So she decides to go to the Old Mac Donald farm to get some pigs.
A very contemporary vesion of the story. When she is on the farm looking for the pigs,  she finds different animals that are actually the pigs in diguise.



PAPER BAG PRINCESS
ROBERT MUNSCH

Princess Elizbeth is to marry Prince Ronald. A fierce dragon comes and attacks the castle and kidnaps the prince. Elizabeth has to wear a paper bag in order to save the prince. He is not impressed with how she lookshow she looks even though she came to save him.




CINDER-EDNA

A retold fairytale of Cinderella and Cinder-Edna who share similar lives. They are next door neighbors who have evil stepmothers and eveil stepsisters. Cinderella, although she has everything she is sad. Cinder-Edna always sees the positive side of everything. It has a good moral about it is not the material things in life that you have but the family and people you have around you that makes you happy. A great story for older reader as well.



THE GINGERBREAD COWBOY
JANET SQUIRES

A wild west retelling of the classic Gingerbread Man. Some of the characters include the rancher's wife, cacti, javelinas and canyons. Of course, there is also the resting coyote. Many cowboy style phrases throughout. Beautiful illustrations, a great retold version that kids enjoy.



THE THREE SNOW BEARS
JAN BRETT

A retold version of The Three Little Bears.
A beautiful story with detailed illustrations. Instead of Goldilocks, it is Aloo-ki. Instead of a house, it is an igloo. Aloo-ki eats soup, tries on boots, and takes a nap.

Graphic Novels

LUNCH LADY

JARRET J. KROSOCZKA

Lunch Lady is a favorite for many older elementary students. The story is about a substitute teacher who is undercover to conduct mischievous acts. The lunch lady, Betty is on the case to uncover this spy and take him down. She uses her gadgets to save the day. This book was also a Charlotte Award Nominee for 3-5th graders.

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BONE

JEFF SMITH

This is the first book in a series of adventures. The main character Bone is an imaginative creature. This book has to do with the three Bone cousins. Smiley Bone sits down with a group of young campers to retell the stories of Boneville's origin. The tall tales have wild antics, rat creatures, dragons, and a monkey.

BABYMOUSE

JENNIFER L. HOLM AND MATTHEW HOLM

Lovable Babymouse is a great comic book for girls. Sometimes she gets down on herself that she can't do everything perfectly. She often imagines herself as the lead in may children's books. She learns that working hard and staying positive is the way to be successful.

323 DETECTIVE AGENCY

FOENA RODENSON



Five friends meet to set up a detective agency. Jenny is the wise donkey, Roger the gourmet dung beetle, Priscilla, the theatrical penguin, slingshot, the hyperactive sloth, and Bluebell, the shy rat. In Whiska City, they tackle their first mystery.

THE AMAZING VOYAGE

Geronimo Stilton returns to the kingdom of fantasy. The kingdom has fallen under a freezing winter. The queen of the fairies is in danger. Geronimo travels through new lands. He braves the kingdom of nightmares to save Queen Blossom and stop the freezing winter. He boards a ship and brings spring to the fairies. He runs the newspaper in New Mouse City.

BABE RUTH BEFORE THEY WERE FAMOUS

VITO DELSANTE

Roger is always getting into trouble and never goes to school. So his parents send him to a special school where he will be taught a trade and how to respect people. When he arrives at St. Mary's he realizes he has a lot to learn. He also learns how to be a team player and he becomes part of a new family, his baseball family.

ANNE FRANK

SID JACOBSON AND ERNIE COLON

This book is about dreams, hardships, and passions. A new edition to Anne's classic diary. It is written in an Amsterdam warehouse where she hid from the Nazis for two years with her family. She is much more sarcastic and rebellious and has resentment toward her sister.

BAD KITTY GETS A BATH

NICK BRUEL

This book is like a "How To" get the cat to take a bath book. Cartoon illustrations. Following the story are fun facts of why cats hate water and why they make hairballs. A glossary of cat sounds.

THE ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN UNDERPANTS

DAV PILKEY



Fourth grade boys pull pranks and get into a lot of trouble. The principal video tapes the boys pulling these stunts. Harold and George hypnotize the principal and turn him into the comic book creation. Black and white illustrations.



PICTURE BOOKS FOR OLDER READERS AND BIOGRAPHIES

FLY FREE
ROSEANNE THONG

This book has beautiful water-like color illustrations. This book refers to the Buddhist religion where they believe in reincarnation; that we are reborn many times until we reach nirvana or perfect wisdom. The book is about people paying acts of kindness foward as a result of helping someone, that person does a good deed for someone else. It is a Charlotte Award nominee and the older grades loved this book. It reminded me of the movie "Pay It Forward". Repitition is found throughout the story.

MIRROR MIRROR
MARILYN SINGER

This book is a collection of reverso poems. Reverso poems are about any tpoic that can be read top to bottom or bottom to top without the meaning being changed. THe only thing that can be changed is the punctuation. The poems in this book is based on different fairy tales. A great book for older readers to introduce a new type of poetry that most students have not hear of before. Beautiful illustrations depicting both sides of the reverso poem.

THE CAN MAN
LAURA E. WILLIAMS

This is a must read!! This was also a Charlotte Award nominee and then it recently won the Charlotte Award for grades 3-5. A heartwarming story of a man who lost his job and now is often found collecting cans for money. Tim, a next door neighbor wants a skateboard for his birthday but does not have enough money to buy it himself. Tim starts collecting cans to save up for a skateboard at the same time The Can Man is trying to save up for a new winter coat before the snow starts falling. Well, Tim realizes that he should give the money he saved to the "Can Man" instead of using it for a skateboard. A lovely story of appreciating what you have, helping others, and realizing the difference between needs and wants.

THANK YOU MR. FALKER
PATRICIA POLACCO

Trisha is very excited about going to school. These feelings change when she realizes that she is having trouble learning to read. Unfortunately, her classmates begin to make fun of her and begin calling her names. Then finally, in fifth grade, she gets a wonderful teacher Mr. Falker who sees all the potential that Trisha has inside of her. He helps her realize that she does not see the words like other students do. With his help and support Trisha becomes a reader.

MARTIN'S BIG WORDS
DOREEN RAPPAPORT

A biography of Martin Luther King Jr that is written in kid friendly terminology. Beautiful illustration to go along with the story. Th e last two pages are important dates in his life such as the day of his speech and the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

MUHAMMAD ALI CHAMPIONS OF THE WORLD
JONAH WINTER

A biography of Muhammad Ali with colorful illustrations of what he did when he was a young boy. Large bold print to accentuate some of the dialogue. The book also describes his appreciation for his African roots and his Muslim faith. Much of the writing is poetic verses.

JUMANJI
CHRIS VAN ALLSBURG

Detailed and beautiful illustrations. Judy and Peter are playing a game called Jumanji. The game takes the two of them on fantastic journeys. Every picture has portrays an animal representing the place where they are visiting. Some of the animals they encounter are: a rhino, monkey, lion , and python.  An adventurous story showing the place your imagination can take you.

THUNDERCAKE
PATRICIA POLACCO

This is a story of how Babushka (grandma) helps her grand daughter overcome the fear of thunderstorms.  She tells her granddaughter that in order for them to make a Thundercake, they need to pay attention to the lighting and the thunder to know how far away the storm is from them. She put all the ingredients on a piece of paper and then went out into the barn to get the eggs, milk, etc.
 Her grandmother kept her busy making thundercake that she never feared another storm again.
Very descriptive language and onomonapia.

Multicultural Perspectives/Coretta Scott KIng

BEAUTIFUL BLACKBIRD
ASHLEY BRYAN

This book is about the birds of Africa that were colorful and beautiful; all the birds wanted to have black markings like the blackbird. THe blackbird explained to the colorful birds that they cannot be like him becasue we are all different. Eventually the blackbird, said it is color on the inside that matters. THe blackbird shares some of its "culture" with the birds by painting black markings on them.Beautiful illustrations with some poetic verses throughout.


LET IT SHINE
ASHLEY BRYAN

This book is also written by Ashley Bryan. Similar illustrations and color pallete that was used in Beautiful Blackbird. The book takes 3 popular songs: This Little Light, When the Saints, In his hands, and creates colorful paintings that display african american slaves.




THE OTHER SIDE
JAQUELINE WOODSON

This is one of my favorute books for teaching equality in the classroom. It is about 2 girls who live next door to each other and are seperated by a fence. The fence represents the barrier between the the white side of town and the black side of town. When all the girls really want is to play with one another and be friends. The girls eventually broke the barrier.  A must read... I love this book!!!





NATHANIEL TALKING
ELOISE GREENFIELD

Beautiful written by poetry about a 9 year old boy named Nathaniel who rymes about his world. Sketches that are in black and white really capture Nathaniels feelings. Very simplistic yet heartwarming poems that bring you back to your childhood. Definetly a book I will share for a unit on poetry.

Multicultural Perspectives

LET IT SHINE
ANDREA DAVIS PINKEY

Detailed descriptions of ten black women who fought for freedom. Each story has a picture representing the famous African American. The stories represent the journey that each women took, and the obstacles that they encountered fighting for freedom. Some of the women represented are: Sojourner Truth, Biddy Mason, Harriet Tubman, and Rosa Parks. A great resource to use during Black History Month or for the students to use as a resource for writing a biography.



SOJOURNER TRUTH'S STEP STOMP STRIDE
ANDREA DAVIS PINKEY AND BRIAN PINKEY

This is a book describing the life of Sojourner Truth. I received this book this year as a nominee for the Charlotte Awards. It was listed as a 3-5 book and was well received by the students who heard it as a read aloud. The book is written on the students level and is easy to understand.  It provoked lots of questions about slavery. She was a woman of power who would not let anyone speak for her. She was a young girl, when she fled from her owners and became free. Ever since she became free, she has been working toward speaking against the right of African Americans.




TAR BEACH
FAITH RINGGOLD

This book is a memoir based on a little girl who lived with her family in the city and spent her
 summer nights on the rooftop of her apartment building. Up on the rooftop she would dream of a world where their would be no prejudice and her mom would have an easier life. They called these buildings, Tar Beach and since rooftops are paved it tar they called it Tar Beach. . The activities that took place on the rooftops were those that take place at a sandy beach such as picnicing, sunbathing, playing cards, etc.



THE PATCHWORK QUILT
VALERIE FLOURNOY

A beautiful book about family and the importance of our culture and traditions. The grandmother wants to make a quilt for her family. The young girl does not understand why she just doesn't buy one from the store. She shows her that each square represents something special about their family. When the grandmother becomes ill, the daughter and granddaughter continue to work on the quilt until is is finished. A great book for building classroom community;have each student create a piece of the quilt that represent them and put it together.

NEWBERY AWARDS

1. HATCHET

GARY PAULSEN

An adventure story of a boy who is on his way to see his father and gets into a plane crash. He is stranded in the wilderness with only his Hatchet. He fights to survive and has many encounters with the animals in the wilderness. Excellent vivid descriptions. Great read aloud to 4th and 5th grade students.... They love this book!

2. SHILOH 

PHYLLIS REYNOLDS NAYLOR

Wonderful story of a boy who develops a strong friendship with a beagle. Marty is a young boy who lives with his parents out west. Judd, his alcoholic neighbor who abuses his dogs is on Marty's radar. Marty decided to secretly steal the dog so that Judd can no longer harm it. An insightful story of a boy who would put his own life in danger to save his best freind. Great read aloud for 4th grade!!

3. WALK TWO MOONS

SHARON CREECH

Fantastic story about taking journeys. It is a book filled with a mix of different emotions. A thirteen year old girl travels to Idaho with her parents. On this journey she tells them the story of Phoebe Winterbottom who recieved messages and whose mother dissapeared. It has many layers to it and is told in such a way that you feel that you are on the journey as well.

4. NUMBER THE STARS

LOIS LOWRY

A great read to do to enhance the curriculum of World War II. I would say that it should be read as a read aloud to students. There is some descriptive language that should be explained to younger students(4th and 5th grade). It is about a brave young girl who smuggles her Jewish friends to safety in Sweden.

5. JOYFUL NOISE
PAUL FLEISCHMAN

A delightful poetry book of nature and simple illustrations. Poems are about crickets, fireflies, grasshoppers, etc. There are two sides to each poem and they are supposed to be read as a duet...interesting..poems with two voices. Lovely poems that can be introduced to students in a variety of ways.

6. SARAH, PLAIN AND TALL

PATRICIA MACLACHLAN

This is a great book to use as a mentor text. She uses many different writing techniques. The story is about a family who mama has passed away and the dad has not been the same since she died. The children place an ad in the paper to find a new mama. A great story about family and hope. 

7. The Giver

Lois Lowry

Jonas lives in a society with no pain, no crime, and no unhappiness. He receives a life assignment to be the receiver of memories and discovers secrets about the past. There are manny other Lois Lowry books that I would rather read than this one. For older students;some topics such as mild sexual references.

8. LINCOLN A PHOTOBIOGRAPHY
RUSSELL FREEDMAN


A book about Abraham Lincoln's life with real photographs and prints. It begins with his life as a young boy to his assassination.  Real documents such as his marriage license and Republican victory poster. A great book for students to use for a biography on Lincoln. For older students because the language is quite mature.