Book Seventeen: Kitten's First Full Moon

Kitten's First Full Moon by Kevin Henkes
Publisher: Greenwillow Books; 7th edition (March 2, 2004)
Lexile: 360K


This is a story about a kitten who thinks the moon is a bowl of milk, so the kitten tries and tries to get the bowl of milk but can’t. Finally after a long night of trying to get the milk she is tired, wet, and hungry. When she gets home there is a bowl of milk waiting for her and she is happy. This is a unique book for Kevin Henkes because most of his books are about mice and this one is about a cat.


This book is a little different compared to the other books Henkes has written because the main character isn't a mouse and it is also geared towards younger children. The plot is very different because it is not from the cats perspective, and you are just following along watching this cat make attempts to drink milk from the moon. It is also a story that is hard to get to know a character. From the text you can't really get to know the can on a personal level, but the pictures add to it a little by seeing all the cats attempts to get the moon. This book again has a lot of personification, and it also has a theme that is related to children. This theme has to do with wanting something so bad, and trying impatiently to get it, but the whole time you have what you want all along. This is a story that relates to everyone not just kids. In this story there is also a frequently used m-dash, and I think this would be a great text to introduce that. 


I am not sure if I would use this book with the others because it is so different, but I would definitely use it for the m-dash and also adjectives because they are very present in the text. 




Thanks for reading!


Gorms  

Book Sixteen: Wemberly Worried

Wemberly Worried by Kevin Henkes
Publisher: Greenwillow Books; 1 edition (April 27, 2010)
Lexile: 170L

This book is about a little mouse named Wemberly, who was always worrying. Sometimes she worried about not fitting in, and sometimes she worried about not standing out. She worries about school until she gets there and sees how much fun she is having. There is a little play on words at the end when her teacher says, “come back tomorrow!”, and she responds with, “don’t worry we will”. It is a good book to use to talk about the anxiety of trying to fit in, and the worries that go along with school. 

This is one of Henkes' newer books, and it is a very good one. The plot of the story is very believable, and like his previous books, they relate to kids. The character Wemberly really changes throughout the book, and she goes from a little girl who is worried all the time, to her own person. I often times forget that we as humans try to change ourselves to be who other people want us to be. I think that Wemberly goes through this because she doesn't want to stand out, but she also doesn't want to be just like everyone else. The illustrations go very well with the text and probably even adds to the story. Like almost all of his books there is a strong presence of personification. I do have to say that I don't think the characters change that much from what I see, but Laura had mentioned that he uses different colored mice in his stories. Again after what Annie said today in class about different cultures not understanding personification I don't think I would use this book in every classroom. This story also incorporates a lot of alliteration and has lines like, "Wemberly, who was worrying." This book could be used to teach that part of reading and writing. 

Like my previous posts I think I would use this in a series, but I think I would use this book to talk about alliteration, and how it is used in reading and writing.  

Thanks for reading!

Gorms

Book Fifteen: JULIUS, the Baby of the World

Julius, the Baby of the World by Kevin Henkes
Publisher: Greenwillow Books (September 21, 1995)
Lexile: 460L

This is a story about a young mouse who is used to be the only child in the family, but when her parents have another baby she is jealous and often times says she hates him. She tries everything she can to get rid of him, but nothing works. She finally comes to realize how much she loves him when one of her cousins insults him. She sticks up for her brother. This is a great book for young students who are dealing with new siblings.

I also enjoyed this book very much (I think you can see a trend), and again I thought it was both written and illustrated very well. The plot was very believable because often times this is a very concerning behavior that students have after the parents have a baby. I remember my parents telling me that the first time my older sister ever saw me she slapped me, so this really is a very frequent situation and feeling for students. This book really shows how the characters develop, and she sticks up for her brother at the end. The characters develop pretty well throughout the story. Like the previous books this book has a lot of personification and describing words, but it also has a lot of repetition. For example the word "stayed" is repeated frequently, and there are also repeated lines throughout the book. Because repetition is very important, and also because of the theme of the story I would use this story in an early elementary classroom. 

 Like the other books I think I would use this story in a unit to pair with the other Henkes stories because they are so related. They all are full of adjectives, adverbs, and verbs. They also almost all deal with real life struggles that students face. 

Thanks for reading!

Gorms

Book Fourteen: Chester's Way

Chester's Way by Kevin Henkes 
Publisher: Greenwillow Books; Pap/Cas edition (September 22, 1997)
Readability Lexile: 570

This is a story about two best friends named Chester and Wilson. They do everything together, but when a new girl Lilly moves in they are scared of her and they think she's weird. But, one day she helps them when some bullies are picking on them, and they discover that she's a lot like them and they all become best friends. This book really focuses on relaying the message to get to know someone before you make judgments.




This was another well done book by Henkes. It is truly amazing that his simple stories can be so well written and illustrated. You really got to know all the characters in this story, and you could see them grow throughout. The plot was very believable, and I think it relates to a lot of students. The language in the story sounded very natural, and it fit the characters very well because you really got a sense of them being elementary aged kids. The illustrations are authentic, but very similar to Henkes' other work. Again this book has a ton of personification in it and it is also full of adjectives and adverbs. This like many of his other pieces reflects students who are faced with a problem. I truly believe that text is a great way to understand problems. It would be really easy to transition into talking about being new and the feelings that go with that, accepting everyone, not judging people before you know them, and being that friend to the new person. All these issues occur in elementary, and they all should be addressed. This is just a nice easy way to do it. 


This book could be used for early elementary, and I also think it could be used in the middle elementary. If I was going to use this story in a lesson; I would focus on adjectives again and also feelings again. These books would be great for a feelings unit that focuses on adjectives describing how we feel, and verbs describing how we deal with our feelings. 


Thanks for reading!


Gorms

Book Thirteen: Owen

Owen by Kevin Henkes 
Publisher: Greenwillow Books; 1st edition (September 15, 1993)

Readability Lexile: 370L


This is a story about a young mouse who doesn’t want to give up his favorite blanket, but as school approaches his parents try everything to get him to give it up. Nothing works until Owen’s mother comes up with a great idea to turn the blanket into a handkerchief. Then Owen can take his blanket with him where ever he goes. 


This was a book that I really enjoyed because Kevin Henkes does such an outstanding job with his stories. This was a story that brings up an important issue that students face. It is often times for anyone to let go of something important to them, especially when it is a sense of security. The author uses many different adjectives, adverbs, and verbs in his writing. It is very enjoyable to read, and to go along with the writing the illustrations are outstanding in relation to the story. As in many of Kevin Henkes' books there is a lot of personification because the main characters are usually animals. The plot can really relate to many students, and any kid that is forced to give up something they love. Owen really struggles to give up his blanket, but he seems to grow towards the end of the book and accepts a compromise. I didn't quite understand where the neighbor lady fit in, but that was minor. I was just thinking about how difficult the concept of personification is to students who are from other cultures, and that would play a big part in if I used this book. 


In a lesson I would use this book to teach about feelings and/or adjectives because they are staples of Henkes' work. This would be an easy book to access and use in the classroom because I think a lot of students can relate to Owen. 




Thanks for reading!


Gorms 

Book Twelve: The Bat Boy and His Violin

The Bat Boy and His Violin
By Gavin Curtis and Illustrations by E.B. Lewis
Publisher: Scholastic, New York (1998)

Readability Lexile: 700L

This story is about the son of a Negro Baseball League Manager named Reginald, and he prefers to play the violin instead of play baseball. His fathers team the Dukes are not very good, and he decides to make his violin playing son the bat boy. The first game the team is losing until Reginald starts to play the violin. All of a sudden the team starts a long winning streak. It is a story about a father loving his son for who he is, and accepts the fact that he will not be just like him.

I loved this book! I thought everything from the text to the illustrations were outstanding. The plot was really well thought of for this historical fiction story. You really start to get to know all the characters (not just the main one). They fit very well in this time period because it was right after Jackie Robinson switched baseball leagues. I think on of my favorite parts of the book was how the characters were portrayed. I felt that they were very realistically represented, and they were not stereotyped in anyway. It would be very easy to make this book stereotypical, but the author and illustrator do a fabulous job of representing that culture well.This story really shows that a parent will love you for who you are. You really start to see the growth in the father throughout the book, and he starts to accept his sons gift more and more.  This book is for upper elementary because of the language and themes. You would have to pre-teach some of the vocabulary, but it would be worth it. Some of the themes are accepting people for who they are, civil rights era, power of music, etc..

I would use this book when talking about accepting people for who they are and the gifts they have. I think this would be a great alley way to talking about accepting people (which is not always an easy thing to talk about). It is an important thing to talk about especially in elementary because not everyone is going to be a great athlete or singer, but we need to have those talks about people being individuals and accepting everyone for who they are.



Thanks for reading!

Gorms

Book Eleven: Little Brother Moose

Little Brother Moose
by James Kasperson and Illustrations by Karlyn Holman
Publisher: DAWN Publications Nevada City, CA (1995)

This story follows a young moose how wonders his way out of the forest and into a northern city. He is very confused and distraught. He struggles to hear the voice of nature to direct him back to where he came from because of the loud noise of the city. He is lost and confused until one day he sees a flock of geese and he gets a sense of home. He follows the geese all the way back to his home.

I thought this was a really great story. This plot is very believable because often times animals up north wander into towns for many reasons. I thought the character (Moss the moose) was great, and you could really see him grow from being a confused young moose into a more adult like moose who trusts his senses. This setting was great, and it really reminded me of being up north in Ely, Minnesota, and it really fit the book well. There is a lot of personification used in this book, like when he references the river laughing or talking to him. There was some alliteration like, "Spoke through the seasons, shouted". I think this is  a good book to talk about new experiences and how they can be fun and exciting, but they can also be dangerous. The senses are brought up a few times, and how he uses them in the wilderness. This would be a good book to use to talk about listening to your instincts because he has to use them to get back, and that sometimes we as humans need to listen to our instincts to stay safe. Amazon says this book is for younger elementary, and I would agree with middle elementary because there is some difficult verbs and vocabulary. The pictures were really well done in this book, and added a lot to the story because it made me feel like I was in the town/city with the moose.

I would use this book to teach about adjectives and the senses. Both are shown in this book, and often times they are shown together. You could focus on a sense each day, and describe adjectives that go along with those senses.

Book Ten: Jack's Garden

Jacks Garden by Henry Cole
Publisher: Green Willow Books, New York (2005)
DRA: 16

This is a cumulative story that starts with a boy planting a garden, and then each page builds on the next. From the soil that the plants are planted to the bugs in the garden. It shows how things grow in a garden, and how gardens tie us together with nature.

I thought this was an interesting book because I have never read anything like it. I enjoyed how everything flowed together at the end. I think this would be a great piece of literature in a gardening unit or even a nature unit. The plot is very simple, and the setting never changes because it is set in Jack's garden. There also is no character development, so I had no idea who Jack was. The story shows how we connect to all things in nature through the growing process. It is a book about cause and effect (because this happened, now this is happening). Scholastic says this book is for pre-school to second grade, but I don't think I would use it earlier then kindergarten and even that might be soon because their are many concepts of print. Also, it might be hard for younger students to understand that each page is connected. I do think that the repetition of the story is great, and because of that I might use it. There is a lot of vocabulary in this story from gardening tools to types of birds, so you could use this book for many units. I would recommend this book for specific units and in a read aloud. 

I would use this book in a unit about gardens or nature, but I think I might focus on verbs and specifically ones with -ed endings. These endings are frequent and they are repeated. These could be used on a word wall or in a word sort.

Thanks for reading!

Gorms

Book Nine: The Hunger Games

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Publisher: Scholastic Inc., New York (2008)
Genre: Adventure

Readability Lexile: 810L

This is a story about a girl named Katniss who is in the farthest district from the capital city. The land she lives on is what used to be known as North America, and the further you get away from the capital the poorer it gets. She provides food for her family by hunting in the forbidden woods. The government has an annual event each year which is known as the Hunger Games, and this is a game of survival. The point of the game is to kill all the other opponents and survive until the end and live a life of luxury. Katniss must throw her name into the competition after her sisters name is pulled from the lottery. She will have to use her charm and hunting skills to some how survive and return to her family.

This is a story I really enjoyed, and I would have to say that it is one of my favorite books. With that being said it seems a little grotesque that the story is about kids killing other kids. I loved the flow of the book and it always kept you guessing. The character development was well done because you really got to know Katniss, and for me often times in the book I felt like I was her. It felt like I could feel what she felt. This is a sign of a good author in my opinion, but then on the other side of that there were parts that kind of disturbed me and I am in college so sometimes I can see how this would be way to disturbing for some students. The language in this book can be hard to understand at times, and that's why I think it would be better as a middle school read. Also, from a social development standpoint I think it would be hard to read this book in elementary because it is also a love story, and most elementary students aren't ready for that type of literature.The one thing I love about this book is its strong themes in comparison to today's world. I would love to use this book in a middle school classroom to talk about serious issues like war, homelessness, killing, violence, glory, etc...

If I used this book in my classroom it would focus on the social justice issues because this book represents many issues that we have in this culture. It would be a nice transition from the book to these issues. I liked how in class we made connections between the book and reality, and it was amazing to me how many things connected between the two.

Book Eight: The Book Thief

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf, New York (2005)
Illustrator: Trudy White

Readability Lexile: 730L

This is a story about a young girl in Germany during WWII. This is a story told from the "Grim-reaper's"  point of view and it is about how a young girl named Liesel Meminger and how she finds a love for words. She is put in a foster family after her brother dies, and at his funeral she finds a book. This book sets off her love and desire to read. She goes to extreme and risky measures to get books, and even though she has such a strong love for words, she can't help but hate them at the same time.

This was a story I really enjoyed because it was a WWII book set in Germany, but it was about a little girl who was not Jewish. This is very unique and is not often seen. The story seems very real to me because this could have very well happened. It is interesting though that the author decided to use this "death" as the narrator because he made death a real person (sort of). One of my favorite parts of this story is watching Liesel grow up. She goes from a starving little girl who could not read, too a girl who writes her own book and lives for reading. She also seems to develop her own personal views on the war and Hitler. She really grows to despise him, and it isn't because someone told her to think that.I think one of the messages the author was trying to get across was the power of words. He used both ends of the extremes because on one hand you have Hitler who became to power through his speaking and persuasion, and then you got Liesel who develops a love to read and it really is what she was living for. It was evident to me that this was a very well written piece of historical-fiction because the author did a lot of research (shows the bibliography at the back). It adds a very nice historical aspect to the story. According to Scholastic.com this book is for 4th grade reading, and just based on the themes and language in the story I could not see myself using this book until late 5th grade or even 6th grade because of the social development in older students can understand this book much easier. Also, cognitively this is a tough book to read, and because of that I think it would be more suited for adolescent students.

There were some illustrations in the book, and I really thought the were important because they made the book feel real. They looked like they were drawn by Liesel or Max, and I think that added something to the story for me.

I would use this book over a very long unit, but if I was going to choose one thing to focus on for a mini lesson I would choose to teach about loss. I think this book is a good avenue to bring up touchy subjects like loss. We all have felt the effects of loss, and I think it is one of the hardest things to talk about, but also one of the mist important.

Thanks for reading!

Gorms