Picture Books

Title: The Snowman
Author: Raymond Briggs
Publisher: The Trumpet Club
Genre: Fantasy; Wordless picture book
Pages: 30
How Found: Suggested in class, and in textbook
Lexile: None (Wordless)
Awards: Boston Globe-Horn Book Award (USA),1979 The Snowman. British Book Awards Children's Book of the Year, 1992, The Man
Plot Summary: Through pictures, we see a young boy build a snowman. Then during the night, the snowman comes to life.
Relationship to Theme: The boy and the snowman become fast friends, and show each other what they know.
Personal Connection: I loved the beautiful colored pencil drawings and the looks of wonder on the child's face. Plus, I have very fond memories of making snowpeople!
Possible Readers: Because it is wordless, I think it could be enjoyed at almost any age, but because of the small , detailed pictures, I wouldn't recommend it for very young children, even though it is available in a board- book format.
Instructional Ideas: This could be a great way to springboard writing and teach sequencing.



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Title: The Grouchy Ladybug
Author: Eric Carle
Publisher: Harper Collins
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 37
How Found: Borders Books
Lexile: 560L
Awards: National Children's Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies designation, 1977
Plot Summary: A ladybug with bad manners tries to pick fights with every bug and animal it encounters, but keeps finding them "not big enough". She finally gets taught a lesson.
Relationship to Theme: Learning to get along with others, manners.
Personal Connection: I found the story very amusing and the pictures very detailed and colorful. I especially liked how the author included unusual bugs and the specially cut pages that made it fun to peek underneath.
Possible Readers: Toddlers (read-alouds) up to 2nd grade
Instructional Ideas: Discussion about manners; research on bugs and how they protect themselves.
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Title: Love, Splat

Author: Rob Scotton
Publisher: Harper Collins
Genre: Trade Fiction
Pages: 29
How Found: Borders Books
Lexile: AD700L
Awards: None listed.
Plot Summary: Splat the cat likes his classmate, Kitten, and makes her a special Valentine's Day card. When everyone exchanges cards, he chickens out because she always teases him (so he thinks she may not like him) and Spike makes a bigger, better card. Splat throws the card in the trash, but Kitten finds it.
Relationship to Theme: Handling first crushes
Personal Connection: I love anything with cats, and the pictures were so cute and fuzzy! The facial expressions were hysterical too, and we can all relate to the awkwardness of crushes!
Possible Readers: Preschool to 3rd grade
Instructional Ideas: This would be a perfect read-aloud for Valentine's Day!
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Title: My Dad
Author: Chae Strathie
Publisher: Jonas Publishing
Genre: Fiction
Pages: 21
How Found: Borders Books
Lexile: None listed.
Awards: None listed.
Plot Summary: A little girl describes the crazy, unbelievable stories her dad has told her, such as when he was a secret agent and when he grew wings and flew.
Relationship to Theme: Shows a great relationship between dad and daughter.
Personal Connection: I really liked this because I can already see my husband telling our child crazy stories and making him/her laugh. (He tells hilarious stories everyday that make me laugh so hard I cry, so I can really relate.) The pictures of the dad on his adventures are very amusing.
Possible Readers: toddler to 1st grade
Instructional Ideas: Have children tell about an imaginary adventure of their own.
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Title: The Ultimate Guide to Grandmas and Grandpas
Author: Sally Lloyd-Jones
Publisher: Harper Collins
Genre: Non-Fiction
Pages: 29
How Found: Borders Books
Lexile: None listed.
Awards: None listed.
Plot Summary: Each page gives advice on how a child should "take care of" his/her grandparents. It includes sly tips like making sure they take naps and napping with them so they aren't the only ones. The children and grandparents are depicted as various animals, such as bears, alligators, elephants, etc.
Relationship to Theme: Relationships with grandparents
Personal Connection: I liked the subtle humor, like how you should hold their hands when they cross the street, or always staying where you can see them so they don't run off!
Possible Readers: toddlers to 1st grade
Instructional Ideas: Children could add to the list of what you should do.