Title: Emily's Sharing and Caring BookAuthor: Cindy Post Senning, Ed.D., and Peggy Post
Publisher: Harper Collins
Genre: Nonfiction (Self-Help/Advice)
Pages: 20
How Found: Borders Books
Lexile: Not listed.
Awards: None listed.
Plot Summary: Each page contains pictures and brief sentences giving advice on manners for children. It focuses on examples of sharing and caring.
Relationship to Theme: Using manners and getting along with others.
Personal Connection: I liked that it was very simplistic and useful, and the pictures were easy to understand. For example, one picture showed a girl sharing one of her balloons with another child.
Possible Readers: Any culture could relate to these basic concepts; toddlers to 1st grade.
Instructional Ideas: Children could act out the sharing and caring pictures on each page, and add their own examples.
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Title: The Lost Expedition
Author: Barbara Brooks Simons
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Genre: Nonfiction
Pages: 32
How Found: Box of children's books given to me by a co-worker
Lexile: Not listed. (Soar to Success Level 8 Pack)
Awards: None listed.
Plot Summary: This is the story of Ernest Shackleton's expedition to be the first to cross the Antarctic continent in 1914. Shackelton and his crew of 27 men become trapped in the ice on their ship, The Endurance. They wait 10 months for the ice to melt, but instead it starts to crush the ship, and they are forced to set out on foot across the ice, dragging supplies and life boats. The rest of the story covers their perilous journey back to civilization through ice, snow, freezing waves and tough choices.
Relationship to Theme: Shackleton and his crew stuck together and never gave up on each other through unbelievable conditions.
Personal Connection: I was fascinated by the story because it really happened and the crew actually survived the implorable conditions. The mixture of photographs and paintings that illustrate the story add to the feeling of the cold, harsh conditions of Antarctica.
Possible Readers: Any culture, grades 3-6.
Instructional Ideas: This would be great as part of a geography unit on Antarctica. I would would read it aloud as an introduction to spark children's interest in the climate and topography.
Title: The Lost Expedition
Author: Barbara Brooks Simons
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Genre: Nonfiction
Pages: 32
How Found: Box of children's books given to me by a co-worker
Lexile: Not listed. (Soar to Success Level 8 Pack)
Awards: None listed.
Plot Summary: This is the story of Ernest Shackleton's expedition to be the first to cross the Antarctic continent in 1914. Shackelton and his crew of 27 men become trapped in the ice on their ship, The Endurance. They wait 10 months for the ice to melt, but instead it starts to crush the ship, and they are forced to set out on foot across the ice, dragging supplies and life boats. The rest of the story covers their perilous journey back to civilization through ice, snow, freezing waves and tough choices.
Relationship to Theme: Shackleton and his crew stuck together and never gave up on each other through unbelievable conditions.
Personal Connection: I was fascinated by the story because it really happened and the crew actually survived the implorable conditions. The mixture of photographs and paintings that illustrate the story add to the feeling of the cold, harsh conditions of Antarctica.
Possible Readers: Any culture, grades 3-6.
Instructional Ideas: This would be great as part of a geography unit on Antarctica. I would would read it aloud as an introduction to spark children's interest in the climate and topography.
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Title: Potato: A Tale of the Great Depression
Author: Kate Lied
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Genre: Nonfiction
Pages: 32
How Found: Box of books given to me by a co-worker Lexile: 660L (Soar to Success Level 4 Pack)
Awards: None listed.
Plot Summary: A young girl (the author) tells the true story of how her grandparents survived by picking potatoes in Idaho during the Great Depression. They borrowed a car to travel from Iowa to Idaho, where they lived near the potato fields in tents.
Relationship to Theme: The story tells of how a family survived difficult times together.
Personal Connection: I liked that the story was kept very simple and easy to understand, and that it was different from other accounts of the time period that I've read. I was interested because I had never heard of families going to pick potatoes; I'm used to reading about the food lines in the cities and the banks closing their doors. I also liked the effect of the pictures that were all framed in a potato-brown color.
Possible Readers: The language would be accessible for as young as first grade, but the subject/background knowledge would be more appropriate for 3rd-4th graders.
Instructional Ideas: Take a field-trip to a potato field; research the Great Depression and how people survived.
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Title: Fossils Tell of Long Ago
Author: Aliki Brandenberg
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Genre: Nonfiction
Pages: 32
How Found: Box of books that a co-worker gave me.
Lexile: 480L (Soar to Success Level 3 Pack)
Awards: None listed.
Plot Summary: The book explains what fossils are and how they were formed, while a group of children in the pictures discover the fossils and share with each other. It includes how to make your own "fossil" with clay.
Relationship to Theme: Friends are sharing together and making learning more fun.
Personal Connection: The information on fossils was fascinating, but I really liked how the cartoon children were included on the edges of the pages, discussing the information and having fun learning together. For example, as the children look at bugs in amber, one girl comments that her mom has an amber necklace.
Possible Readers: Any culture, grades 1-4.
Instructional Ideas: Take a field trip to a the natural history museum or the library to see more examples of fossils; try the clay handprint activity described in the book.
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