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Week 1 - Elizabeth Alderton //The Retired Kid// by Jon Agee (2008) This book shows what retirement might look like from the perspective of an 8 year old child. What this boy discovers is that being retired isn't so great and that being a kid is what he wants to do for his "job". The plot in this book is inviting to all ages, as it shows that the grass is not always greener on the other side.

Week 2- Sarah Warren //The Best Kid in the World// by Peter Reynolds This book is about a girl named Sugarloaf. She finds out that her brother was awarded the Best Kid in the World Award by her parents. She is not that thrilled about that so she decides to be very helpful so her parents will give the reward to her. This turns out to be more of a disaster than anything. This book shows in the end that each child is the best for many reasons and that if you try your best, that is what counts the most.

Week 3- Jennifer Hengel //The Spider and the Fly// by Tony Diterlizzi This is a classic poem that has been turned into an exceptional picture book. “‘Will you walk into my parlor?’ said the Spider to the Fly…” the poem begins. You would think the fly would know better, and at first she resists his invitation. However, he flatters her lovely colors and bright eyes, and eventually she falls for his flattery. No, there’s not a happy ending (for the fly), but, as the spider says in an afterword, “What did you expect?” This book is a great story to use in teaching the 6 traits- voice in particular, as it contrasts voices- each powerful in its own way.

Week 4 -Amanda Benson Henry's Freedom Box~ A True Story from the Underground Railroad By: Ellen Levine Illusterated by Kadir Nelson, Scholastic Press, 2007 This book follows the life of Henry, a boy in slavery. It demonstrates the unfainess of slave life as he is seperated from his mother and t hen later on from his wife and children. Henry dreams of a life where slavery does not exist. He teams up with Dr. Smith, a white man who does not believe in slavery, and decides to mail himself in a crate to freedom. This true-life story follows Henry "Box" Brown on his quest for freedom that lasted twenty-seven hours and over 350 miles from Richmond Virginia to Philadelphia.

Week 5 - Nadine Mathu //Goodnight Goon: A Petrifying Parody// by Michael Rex This book is a parody of the classic bedtime story //Goodnight Moon// by Margaret Wise Brown. It transforms the comforting and sometimes strange subject matter of the original into a Halloween story. It is brief, has some nice specific word choice, and maintains the cadence of the original. It would be a good short example for what a parody is and how it maintains the techniques of the original story but adds a twist by playing with the content.

Week 6- Mara Nelson Mr. Peabody's Apples By Madonna //The theme of the book reminds us as readers to choose what we say carefully, as words are powerful and can not be taken back once spoken.// Billy Little and his friends think they see their teacher steal an apple from the market. They tell others and a damaging rumor begins to circulate around town. Mr. Peabody helps Billy Little see how damaging his words can be by teaching him a lesson.

Week 7 - Julie Lardinois //The Origami Master// By Nathaniel Lachenmeyer, Albert Whitman & Company, 2008 This story is about an origami master who leaves his creations at his desk. During the night, a bird watches and makes a better origami form of his creation. The master discovers it is the bird and traps the bird. The bird never does origami in the cage. In the end, the bird gets out and the master realizes that he would miss the bird if it never came back. The story could be used to show how you can’t force someone to do something and to value what we have because you could lose it. In addition, you could use it to introduce origami to students and then let them try it.

Week 8 - Kim Trent //Mind Your Manners, B.B. Wolf// By: Judy Sierra Illustrated by: J.Otto Seibold Random House, 2007 Thiis is a fun, light-hearted story. In this book, B.B. Wolf (a.k.a. The Big Bad Wolf) is invited to a tea party being held at the library. His friend the crocodile teaches the wolf manners. The wolf creates jingles in order for him to remember the manners. When he arrives at the library who should be there? None other than many of the storybook characters the Big Bad Wolf has tormented - Little Red Riding Hood, Little Bo Peep, and the 3 Little Pigs. Oh! Look who is hiding by the book shelves! It is the gingerbread boy! I think this would be a great story for elementary students K-5. Perhaps even 6th grade. There is a lot of background knowledge needed for this book. Students could also create some of their own jingles just like B.B. Wolf did. I think students writing an alternative ending for this book would be lots of fun.

Week 9 Melanie Sickinger //Kami and the Yaks// by Andrea Stenn Stryer Kami, a deaf young boy, uses his shiny whistle to call for the yaks each day. On this particular day, the yaks do not respond or climb down the mountain at day's end. As a storm approaches, Kami chances the climb into the mountains to help find the yaks. He finds the pack guarding a young yak who is trapped in a crevice. Kami saves the day by running down the mountain to find his brother and father. However, he must tell them where the yaks are without speaking. Kami knows his father is proud of his bravery and perseverance in helping to find the yaks. This 2007 release has been awarded the Schneider Family Book Award.

Week 10 -Abbi Wills Phillips //Vampyre- The Terrifying Lost Journal of Dr. Cornelius Van Helsing// Mary-Jane Knight, Harper Collins 2007 This book is written as the travel journal of Dr. Van Helsing; it includes daily entries and little bits of information and scraps of paper tucked inside. This "journal" is very interactive with pop-ups, tabs and slides. It is written with lots of tid bits of information and would be good for upper elementary thru senior high. It would work well with a suspense unit, or as an accompanyment to Dracula or Frankenstein novel units.

Week 11- Jennifer Schoonover //First the Egg// by Laura Vaccaro Seeger

The recipient of the 2008 Caldecott Honor Book and Theodor Seuss Geisel Honor Book Awards, this book was reviewed in the January 2008 issue of //Young Child.// This book invites readers to ponder, what comes first: the chicken or the egg? Filled with carefully planned page turns and die-cuts, this books focuses on the process of change and what comes next (first, then). Children and adults alike will enjoy flipping the sturdy pages back and forth to recreate the transformations over and over again. It is because of the layers of texture in the art and the concepts that this book was awarded the Caldecott Honor award. This book would be very useful for teaching change, life cycles, and creativity.

Week 12-Nikki Nelson //Titanic Cat// by Marty Crisp, Illustrated by Robert Papp

This is a story about a cat that lived on board the Titanic. Back in those days all ships had a resident cat that could be counted among the passenger list. This story deals with the friendship of a cat and a boy and how they brave the voyage together. The cat also has four kittens while on the ship and eventually the boy adopts the whole cat family.

Jacque Smedberg //Owen & Mzee The Language of Friendship// by Isabella Hatkoff, Craig Hatkoff, and Dr. Paula Kauhmbu Illustrated by Peter Greste

This book is non-fiction and is about a hippopotamus and a tortoise. They create a friendship after Owen the hippo was found alone after a tsunami in Kenya and was rescued and brought to a zoo. Owen and Mzee have been friends for a year and a half and this book talks about their friendship. It talks about the changes their friendship has endured over time.