Contemporary Realistic Fiction
Owl Moon by Jane Yolen
- A little girl and her father go owling one cold winter night. Her father says you aren’t allowed to talk when you’re owling so she keeps quiet and observes the world around her. At the end of the book, her father finally calls out the owl call one last time and a giant owl finally calls back and flies to sit on a branch right in front of the girl and her father. “For one minute, three minutes, maybe even a hundred minutes, we stared at one another.” The book ends with “When you go owling you don’t need words or warm or anything but hope. . .The kind of hope that flies on silent wings under a shining Owl Moon”.
-This book would be cute to read during the winter to show children what owling is. The illustrations are what made this book for me, especially the picture of the owl, it was all so beautifully done. I feel like younger children would really enjoy this book.
Loser by Jerry Spinelli
-This book goes through the life of Donald Zinkoff from first grade through sixth grade. Zinkoff is clumsy, has awful handwriting, always threw up until he had corrective surgery in third grade, had too much energy, and wasn’t good in sports. His favorite teachers were his first grade teacher Miss Meeks and his fourth grade teacher Mr. Yalowitz who taught him that it is okay to have a lot of energy and to love school. His father is a mailman and he wants to be a mailman too when he grows up. He goes through first through fourth grade as a regular student until he loses the championships for his team on field day. From then on all through fifth grade he is called a loser behind giggles and smirks. He moves into sixth grade and turns into a nobody until the neighborhood toddler Claudia gets lost and he spends seven hours in the snow sleet and rain looking for her until he is found. The books ends with one of the “bullies” picking him last for a game at the playground, the first game he’s ever been picked for.
-This book is so relatable probably to most everyone at one point or another in their life. It’s a great story that all children should read that teaches them not to bully their classmates just because they’re different from you in any way. I cried reading this because I used to get picked on in middle school so I could totally relate to Zinkoff. This character had an amazing heart and Spinelli did a great job describing what was going on in his head. It also warmed my heart the love that his parents and his younger sister Polly had for Zinkoff even if he himself didn’t realize it.
One Green Apple by Eve Bunting
-Farah is in a new school and she doesn't know much English. The class goes to the apple orchard today and Farah picks a small green apple while the other children pick red apples. They all drop their apples and make apple cider. On the way back to the school, Farah says her first English word to the class, “apple”.
-This is another great picture book about diversity. It’s not very detailed but I like that it is vague and tells the story through the beautiful illustrations. It shows children how hard it is for someone to be different in their school.
Ramona Quimby, Age 8 by Beverly Cleary
-Ramona is a third grader living with her older sister who goes to junior high and her mom, who works, and her dad who goes to school full time and still has a part time job. Her and sister Beezus know that they have money problems and her parents discuss it when they think the children aren’t listening. Other than that, Ramona lives a pretty average life for a third grader. There was a fad going on in school to bring hard boiled eggs to lunch and to crack the eggs open on their heads but unfortunately for Ramona, her eggs splattered all over her and while she was washing her hair out in the secretary’s office she overheard her teacher Mrs. Whaley say that she was a showoff and a nuisance. Later on in the book Mrs. Whaley says that Ramona misunderstood her and everything turned out fine. Another big event for Ramona was when she got the stomach flu and threw up in class and had to stay home for a couple of days. Around this time, the Quimby’s car breaks down which is another financial concern for her parents. At the end of the book, Mr. Quimby announced that they needed a change of pace and they all went out to dinner. At dinner an older man asked Ramona, “Have you been good to your mother?” and she was so flabbergasted she couldn’t answer. He ended up sitting in the aisle across from them and at the end of the meal the waitress said that the old man paid for their meals. At the end of the book Ramona said that this was a happy ending for today, and tomorrow would start all over again.
-This book is really cute and pretty basic for an elementary school child to read. It touched on financial issues that the Quimby family had which at first I thought was inappropriate to mention so often during the book, but then I realized that this was reality and so many people and families go through that especially today with the recession. And of course children are going to pick up on their parent’s financial situation. I loved loved loved at the end of the book when the old man paid for the Quimby’s dinner, that made me choke up. All in all, I would definitely have my students read this book.
Junie B., First Grader Cheater Pants by Barbara Park
-Junie B. Jones sits next to her classmate May one day when she realizes she forgot to do her homework over the weekend. So while May is out of the room, she copies her homework. The only problem is that the teacher asks everyone to go around the room and to share with the class their homework. Junie doesn’t read from her paper so she gets caught by her teacher and her teacher gives her a note to give to her parents when she gets home. The next day, the class works on cinquain poems and her and her group get an A+ from the teacher. After lunch and recess they go back to the room and there’s a spelling test that that Junie didn’t study for. Her friend Herb lets her cheat off his paper and Junie gets all of her words right. That night both Herb and Junie don’t sleep well because they feel guilty for cheating so they confess to their teacher who applauds them for their honesty but still gives them zeros on their tests and calls their parents.
-Junie B. Jones books are great for any child to read but this one is especially great because it teaches children not to cheat because it is not a nice thing to do and you will get into trouble.
Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney
-Greg Heffley is a regular middle schooler who writes in his diary and draws cartoons to describe what goes on in his day to day life. He lives with his parents, his older brother who’s in a metal rock band, and his younger brother who’s still in daycare. He’s the typical middle child. His best friend is Rowley, and they always hang out together. During Halloween, Greg’s favorite holiday, him and Rowley get into trouble with the neighborhood teenagers and somehow get out of it. The phys ed teacher starts a wrestling unit for the boys and Greg gets the idea that it he bulks up he can get more popular and even do football in the spring. So he tells his parents he wants a weight lifting bench and his parents say we’ll think about it. Greg’s mom forces him to try out for the play, which is the Wizard of Oz, to make him a “more rounded person”. He ends up in the play as a tree. His older brother ends up coming to see the play, so he doesn’t sing his song when he’s supposed to, figuring he can get away with it, but his plan fails and the whole play turns out to be a big mess. All Greg wanted for Christmas was a video game, but his mother ended up switching his gift and the secret santa gift at church so he got the wrong gift. His dad did show him that he got him a weight lifting bench and Greg felt bad because he was over his wrestling phase. After school break, Greg and Rowley sign up to be safety patrols until one day Rowley got in trouble for “terrorizing" the kindergarteners when it was really Greg who was messing around. Greg eventually got in trouble for it and Rowley didn’t speak to him for a while after that. Before all this happened, Greg and Rowley drew up some cartoons for the school newspaper and Greg’s got submitted but the teacher editor completely changed them so they weren’t even funny anymore. For the next issue, Greg and Rowley’s cartoon got put into the paper but Rowley didn’t give Greg any credit. At the end of the book, the high schoolers from Halloween caught up with them and as payback made Rowley eat the stinky cheese on the basketball courts while Greg got out of it. Rowley ended up in the school yearbook as class clown but Greg didn’t mind because if he wanted to he could just tell everyone who ate the cheese!
-This book is honestly hilarious, it had me laughing from start to finish. It is a very cute book that doesn’t really teach a lesson but it’s good for a laugh and great for kids. I loved how Kinney drew all of his own cartoons along with the writing so they all flowed together because the cartoons were funny as well.
Because of Winn Dixie by Kate DiCamillo
-India Opal moved down to Florida with her father who’s a preacher. She discovered a stray dog at the local grocery store and named him after it (Winn-Dixie). Winn-Dixie has a knack of making new friends and along the way Opal meets the local librarian, Miss Franny Block, the neighborhood “witch”, Gloria Dump, the man who works in the pet store, Otis, her five year old neighbor, nicknamed Sweetie Pie, another neighbor, Amanda Wilkinson, and the neighborhood troublemakers, Stevie and Dunlap. One night, Gloria and Opal throw a party but a thunderstorm drives them all into the house. Opal realizes Winn-Dixie ran away (he’s terrified of thunderstorms) and her dad and her go around town looking for him. He turned out just fine hiding in Gloria’s bedroom. Throughout the summer, Opal learns to let go of her mother who ran away when she was three, and to be close with all of the new friends she has made, her dad, and Winn-Dixie.
-This is an excellent novel for any child of any age to read. It talks a lot about how Opal misses her mom so children who go through the same situation can relate to Opal. I liked that it did talk about that openly and the book also mentions drinking and death that is appropriate for children to read. All in all, it’s a great book.
The Lemonade War by Jacqueline Davies
-Brother and sister Evan and Jessie start a lemonade war when Evan finds out Jessie will be skipping a grade ahead and will be in his fourth grade class next year. Every day for five days they sell lemonade and the last day Evan takes his sister’s money but it gets stolen from him and he has to admit it to her. They eventually make up and at the end of the book Evan really admits that he doesn’t like that Jessie will be in his class because he’ll feel dumb compared to her since she’s so great at school. They both figure out a plan to make up the money to their friend Megan (whom part of the money was stolen from) by entering the town’s Labor Day contest and winning the earning money.
-This book is great because at the beginning of each chapter there’s an economics term that’s defined and then applied in the chapter itself. I also liked the brother sister relationship because they loved each other one minute and hated each other the next as brother and sister do. I would recommend this book to any child.
The Dork Diaries by Rachel Renee Russell
-Nikki Maxwell transfers to a private middle school where she tries to make friends and fit in. MacKenzie is the most popular girl in school and her locker is right next to Nikki’s locker and she is always mean to Nikki. Nikki doesn’t get invited to MacKenzie’s big birthday party. She meet two girls, Chloe and Zoey and the three of them instantly become best friends. They all volunteer in the school library together and in order to increase their chances of going on the big trip to NYC for a few days, they start a “Donate a book and get a tattoo” drive. Nikki is in charge of drawing tattoos on anyone who wants one and Chloe and Zoey are in charge of scheduling and collecting books. It soon spirals out of control and Nikki quits doing tattoos. Her painting gets ruined for the art show but Brandon (her crush) and her two friends scheme up a plan by taking pictures of everyone who got the “tattoos” and submitting it for the art show which she won first place for, beating out Mackenzie!
-This book is very cutesy and is good to read for anyone who wants to relive the trauma of middle and high school. It’s best for older children to read. I love that with this “diary” there were cartoons and doodles along with it like in Diaries of a Wimpy Kid. Overall a funny, cute read.
Grandpa’s Teeth by Rod Clement
-Grandpa lost his teeth and the whole town is investigating who stole his teeth. He even gets on TV on a show called Unsolved Crimes. Pretty soon, the whole town is smiling at each other just to show that they aren’t guilty of stealing Grandpa’s teeth. The tourists are scared away and everyone is losing business. The mayor calls a meeting and as a solution he asks everyone to volunteer money to get Grandpa a new set of teeth. Grandpa and their neighbor Mrs. Carbuncle each got a new set of the finest teeth from Switzerland. At the end of the book, you see Grandpa’s dog smiling for the first time ever (with Grandpa’s teeth!)
-Very cute book, with great illustrations. I thought the ending was unexpected, that the dog had the teeth all along.
Chocolate Fever by Robert Kimmel Smith
-Henry Green is obsessed with chocolate. He eats it all day, every day. One day he breaks out into spots all over his body and is rushed to the hospital where the doctor discovers that he has a new disease called Chocolate Fever! Henry decides he doesn’t want to be made into a science experiment so he runs away and hitchhikes with a man named Mac. When the lights are on in the truck, Mac sees his spots all over and doesn’t say anything which surprises Henry and asks why Mac isn’t freaking out. He says, since he’s black he gets stared at often. And it got him thinking, it makes him unique since there’s so many white people and so few black people. “You know, black is beautiful.” Later on, the truck gets hijacked by two guys and they drive out to their hiding spot. All of a sudden they hear dogs barking and all the dogs come rushing in to lick Henry since he’s covered in his chocolate spots. Mac then gets the truck , and him and Henry go make the delivery of candy to Alfred (Sugar) Cane’s candy factory. Sugar tells Henry the story of a boy who also had Chocolate Fever and the cure was to only eat chocolate on special occasions and to take vanilla pills to reverse the effect. Sugar then confides that he was the little boy with chocolate fever. So Henry goes back home and the next morning for breakfast his mom gives him pancakes and his favorite chocolate syrup but Henry declines it for regular syrup. He sprinkles cinnamon on the rest of his pancakes and wonders, can someone get Cinnamon Fever?
-This is a great book for children of any age. My favorite part of the book was when Mac was talking about how he was treated as a black man and how he’s come to accept himself. Even though the book was published it the 70s it still applies to present day and I think children can really understand that when they read the book.
Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans
-“In an old house in Paris that was covered in vines. . .” is a very famous opening line that children around the world cherish. Madeline and eleven of her friends live together in a house with Miss Clavel. One day Miss Clavel woke up to find Madeline ill in bed and she was rushed to the hospital. Madeline got her appendix out and after Miss Clavel and all the other girls went to visit her, Miss Clavel found all the little girls crying because they didn’t get their appendix out!
-I grew up watching Madeline and reading her books, so I loved the original one. Madeline shows children that it’s okay to be different and stand out.
Swimmy by Leo Lionni
-Swimmy is the only black fish in a school of red fish and his fellow fish get eaten up by a big tuna. He’s sad and lonely and swims and looks at new things like jellyfish and lobster. He finds another school of red fish and teaches them to swim in unison to look like a giant fish. They all scare the big fish away.
-The illustrations are beautiful in this book with the watercolors. It has a good story of Swimmy exploring and helping others and standing up to big fish.
Bonjour, Mr. Satie by Tomie dePaola
-Mr. Satie is a traveling cat. He arrives back in the USA to visit his niece and nephew and tells them the adventure that him and Ffortusque Ffollet, Esq had in Paris. Pablo and Henri are two famous artists that have a fight in a café and Mr. Satie has to judge who’s the better artist. He says it is a draw because you can’t compare apples to oranges. They all had a big party after because Mr. Satie saved the day.
-I liked this book because it has the different paintings of Pablo Picasso and Henri. I also like dePaola’s illustrations in the book and the various French words and phrases.
The Jacket I Wear in the Snow by Shirley Neitzel
-Boy describing the items of clothing that he’s wearing out in the snow.
-I liked that this book rhymed and that instead on the word of the item of clothing there was a picture.
One Morning in Maine by Robert McCloskey
-A little girl named Sal woke up with a loose tooth. She went with her dad to look at clams on the beach when her tooth fell out. Her and her dad took a rowboat across the lake to Buck’s Harbor to get their motorboat fixed. They came back home for lunch to have clam chowder.
-Beautiful illustrations to a classic McCloskey book.
Annie and the Wild Animals by Jan Brett
-Annie’s cat Taffy left. She tries to meet new friends. She keeps placing corn cakes at the edge of the woods. The wild animals roared for their meal and the little house shook. Taffy finally came back and brought along three little kittens.
-Awesome illustrations to go along with a great book.
- A little girl and her father go owling one cold winter night. Her father says you aren’t allowed to talk when you’re owling so she keeps quiet and observes the world around her. At the end of the book, her father finally calls out the owl call one last time and a giant owl finally calls back and flies to sit on a branch right in front of the girl and her father. “For one minute, three minutes, maybe even a hundred minutes, we stared at one another.” The book ends with “When you go owling you don’t need words or warm or anything but hope. . .The kind of hope that flies on silent wings under a shining Owl Moon”.
-This book would be cute to read during the winter to show children what owling is. The illustrations are what made this book for me, especially the picture of the owl, it was all so beautifully done. I feel like younger children would really enjoy this book.
Loser by Jerry Spinelli
-This book goes through the life of Donald Zinkoff from first grade through sixth grade. Zinkoff is clumsy, has awful handwriting, always threw up until he had corrective surgery in third grade, had too much energy, and wasn’t good in sports. His favorite teachers were his first grade teacher Miss Meeks and his fourth grade teacher Mr. Yalowitz who taught him that it is okay to have a lot of energy and to love school. His father is a mailman and he wants to be a mailman too when he grows up. He goes through first through fourth grade as a regular student until he loses the championships for his team on field day. From then on all through fifth grade he is called a loser behind giggles and smirks. He moves into sixth grade and turns into a nobody until the neighborhood toddler Claudia gets lost and he spends seven hours in the snow sleet and rain looking for her until he is found. The books ends with one of the “bullies” picking him last for a game at the playground, the first game he’s ever been picked for.
-This book is so relatable probably to most everyone at one point or another in their life. It’s a great story that all children should read that teaches them not to bully their classmates just because they’re different from you in any way. I cried reading this because I used to get picked on in middle school so I could totally relate to Zinkoff. This character had an amazing heart and Spinelli did a great job describing what was going on in his head. It also warmed my heart the love that his parents and his younger sister Polly had for Zinkoff even if he himself didn’t realize it.
One Green Apple by Eve Bunting
-Farah is in a new school and she doesn't know much English. The class goes to the apple orchard today and Farah picks a small green apple while the other children pick red apples. They all drop their apples and make apple cider. On the way back to the school, Farah says her first English word to the class, “apple”.
-This is another great picture book about diversity. It’s not very detailed but I like that it is vague and tells the story through the beautiful illustrations. It shows children how hard it is for someone to be different in their school.
Ramona Quimby, Age 8 by Beverly Cleary
-Ramona is a third grader living with her older sister who goes to junior high and her mom, who works, and her dad who goes to school full time and still has a part time job. Her and sister Beezus know that they have money problems and her parents discuss it when they think the children aren’t listening. Other than that, Ramona lives a pretty average life for a third grader. There was a fad going on in school to bring hard boiled eggs to lunch and to crack the eggs open on their heads but unfortunately for Ramona, her eggs splattered all over her and while she was washing her hair out in the secretary’s office she overheard her teacher Mrs. Whaley say that she was a showoff and a nuisance. Later on in the book Mrs. Whaley says that Ramona misunderstood her and everything turned out fine. Another big event for Ramona was when she got the stomach flu and threw up in class and had to stay home for a couple of days. Around this time, the Quimby’s car breaks down which is another financial concern for her parents. At the end of the book, Mr. Quimby announced that they needed a change of pace and they all went out to dinner. At dinner an older man asked Ramona, “Have you been good to your mother?” and she was so flabbergasted she couldn’t answer. He ended up sitting in the aisle across from them and at the end of the meal the waitress said that the old man paid for their meals. At the end of the book Ramona said that this was a happy ending for today, and tomorrow would start all over again.
-This book is really cute and pretty basic for an elementary school child to read. It touched on financial issues that the Quimby family had which at first I thought was inappropriate to mention so often during the book, but then I realized that this was reality and so many people and families go through that especially today with the recession. And of course children are going to pick up on their parent’s financial situation. I loved loved loved at the end of the book when the old man paid for the Quimby’s dinner, that made me choke up. All in all, I would definitely have my students read this book.
Junie B., First Grader Cheater Pants by Barbara Park
-Junie B. Jones sits next to her classmate May one day when she realizes she forgot to do her homework over the weekend. So while May is out of the room, she copies her homework. The only problem is that the teacher asks everyone to go around the room and to share with the class their homework. Junie doesn’t read from her paper so she gets caught by her teacher and her teacher gives her a note to give to her parents when she gets home. The next day, the class works on cinquain poems and her and her group get an A+ from the teacher. After lunch and recess they go back to the room and there’s a spelling test that that Junie didn’t study for. Her friend Herb lets her cheat off his paper and Junie gets all of her words right. That night both Herb and Junie don’t sleep well because they feel guilty for cheating so they confess to their teacher who applauds them for their honesty but still gives them zeros on their tests and calls their parents.
-Junie B. Jones books are great for any child to read but this one is especially great because it teaches children not to cheat because it is not a nice thing to do and you will get into trouble.
Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney
-Greg Heffley is a regular middle schooler who writes in his diary and draws cartoons to describe what goes on in his day to day life. He lives with his parents, his older brother who’s in a metal rock band, and his younger brother who’s still in daycare. He’s the typical middle child. His best friend is Rowley, and they always hang out together. During Halloween, Greg’s favorite holiday, him and Rowley get into trouble with the neighborhood teenagers and somehow get out of it. The phys ed teacher starts a wrestling unit for the boys and Greg gets the idea that it he bulks up he can get more popular and even do football in the spring. So he tells his parents he wants a weight lifting bench and his parents say we’ll think about it. Greg’s mom forces him to try out for the play, which is the Wizard of Oz, to make him a “more rounded person”. He ends up in the play as a tree. His older brother ends up coming to see the play, so he doesn’t sing his song when he’s supposed to, figuring he can get away with it, but his plan fails and the whole play turns out to be a big mess. All Greg wanted for Christmas was a video game, but his mother ended up switching his gift and the secret santa gift at church so he got the wrong gift. His dad did show him that he got him a weight lifting bench and Greg felt bad because he was over his wrestling phase. After school break, Greg and Rowley sign up to be safety patrols until one day Rowley got in trouble for “terrorizing" the kindergarteners when it was really Greg who was messing around. Greg eventually got in trouble for it and Rowley didn’t speak to him for a while after that. Before all this happened, Greg and Rowley drew up some cartoons for the school newspaper and Greg’s got submitted but the teacher editor completely changed them so they weren’t even funny anymore. For the next issue, Greg and Rowley’s cartoon got put into the paper but Rowley didn’t give Greg any credit. At the end of the book, the high schoolers from Halloween caught up with them and as payback made Rowley eat the stinky cheese on the basketball courts while Greg got out of it. Rowley ended up in the school yearbook as class clown but Greg didn’t mind because if he wanted to he could just tell everyone who ate the cheese!
-This book is honestly hilarious, it had me laughing from start to finish. It is a very cute book that doesn’t really teach a lesson but it’s good for a laugh and great for kids. I loved how Kinney drew all of his own cartoons along with the writing so they all flowed together because the cartoons were funny as well.
Because of Winn Dixie by Kate DiCamillo
-India Opal moved down to Florida with her father who’s a preacher. She discovered a stray dog at the local grocery store and named him after it (Winn-Dixie). Winn-Dixie has a knack of making new friends and along the way Opal meets the local librarian, Miss Franny Block, the neighborhood “witch”, Gloria Dump, the man who works in the pet store, Otis, her five year old neighbor, nicknamed Sweetie Pie, another neighbor, Amanda Wilkinson, and the neighborhood troublemakers, Stevie and Dunlap. One night, Gloria and Opal throw a party but a thunderstorm drives them all into the house. Opal realizes Winn-Dixie ran away (he’s terrified of thunderstorms) and her dad and her go around town looking for him. He turned out just fine hiding in Gloria’s bedroom. Throughout the summer, Opal learns to let go of her mother who ran away when she was three, and to be close with all of the new friends she has made, her dad, and Winn-Dixie.
-This is an excellent novel for any child of any age to read. It talks a lot about how Opal misses her mom so children who go through the same situation can relate to Opal. I liked that it did talk about that openly and the book also mentions drinking and death that is appropriate for children to read. All in all, it’s a great book.
The Lemonade War by Jacqueline Davies
-Brother and sister Evan and Jessie start a lemonade war when Evan finds out Jessie will be skipping a grade ahead and will be in his fourth grade class next year. Every day for five days they sell lemonade and the last day Evan takes his sister’s money but it gets stolen from him and he has to admit it to her. They eventually make up and at the end of the book Evan really admits that he doesn’t like that Jessie will be in his class because he’ll feel dumb compared to her since she’s so great at school. They both figure out a plan to make up the money to their friend Megan (whom part of the money was stolen from) by entering the town’s Labor Day contest and winning the earning money.
-This book is great because at the beginning of each chapter there’s an economics term that’s defined and then applied in the chapter itself. I also liked the brother sister relationship because they loved each other one minute and hated each other the next as brother and sister do. I would recommend this book to any child.
The Dork Diaries by Rachel Renee Russell
-Nikki Maxwell transfers to a private middle school where she tries to make friends and fit in. MacKenzie is the most popular girl in school and her locker is right next to Nikki’s locker and she is always mean to Nikki. Nikki doesn’t get invited to MacKenzie’s big birthday party. She meet two girls, Chloe and Zoey and the three of them instantly become best friends. They all volunteer in the school library together and in order to increase their chances of going on the big trip to NYC for a few days, they start a “Donate a book and get a tattoo” drive. Nikki is in charge of drawing tattoos on anyone who wants one and Chloe and Zoey are in charge of scheduling and collecting books. It soon spirals out of control and Nikki quits doing tattoos. Her painting gets ruined for the art show but Brandon (her crush) and her two friends scheme up a plan by taking pictures of everyone who got the “tattoos” and submitting it for the art show which she won first place for, beating out Mackenzie!
-This book is very cutesy and is good to read for anyone who wants to relive the trauma of middle and high school. It’s best for older children to read. I love that with this “diary” there were cartoons and doodles along with it like in Diaries of a Wimpy Kid. Overall a funny, cute read.
Grandpa’s Teeth by Rod Clement
-Grandpa lost his teeth and the whole town is investigating who stole his teeth. He even gets on TV on a show called Unsolved Crimes. Pretty soon, the whole town is smiling at each other just to show that they aren’t guilty of stealing Grandpa’s teeth. The tourists are scared away and everyone is losing business. The mayor calls a meeting and as a solution he asks everyone to volunteer money to get Grandpa a new set of teeth. Grandpa and their neighbor Mrs. Carbuncle each got a new set of the finest teeth from Switzerland. At the end of the book, you see Grandpa’s dog smiling for the first time ever (with Grandpa’s teeth!)
-Very cute book, with great illustrations. I thought the ending was unexpected, that the dog had the teeth all along.
Chocolate Fever by Robert Kimmel Smith
-Henry Green is obsessed with chocolate. He eats it all day, every day. One day he breaks out into spots all over his body and is rushed to the hospital where the doctor discovers that he has a new disease called Chocolate Fever! Henry decides he doesn’t want to be made into a science experiment so he runs away and hitchhikes with a man named Mac. When the lights are on in the truck, Mac sees his spots all over and doesn’t say anything which surprises Henry and asks why Mac isn’t freaking out. He says, since he’s black he gets stared at often. And it got him thinking, it makes him unique since there’s so many white people and so few black people. “You know, black is beautiful.” Later on, the truck gets hijacked by two guys and they drive out to their hiding spot. All of a sudden they hear dogs barking and all the dogs come rushing in to lick Henry since he’s covered in his chocolate spots. Mac then gets the truck , and him and Henry go make the delivery of candy to Alfred (Sugar) Cane’s candy factory. Sugar tells Henry the story of a boy who also had Chocolate Fever and the cure was to only eat chocolate on special occasions and to take vanilla pills to reverse the effect. Sugar then confides that he was the little boy with chocolate fever. So Henry goes back home and the next morning for breakfast his mom gives him pancakes and his favorite chocolate syrup but Henry declines it for regular syrup. He sprinkles cinnamon on the rest of his pancakes and wonders, can someone get Cinnamon Fever?
-This is a great book for children of any age. My favorite part of the book was when Mac was talking about how he was treated as a black man and how he’s come to accept himself. Even though the book was published it the 70s it still applies to present day and I think children can really understand that when they read the book.
Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans
-“In an old house in Paris that was covered in vines. . .” is a very famous opening line that children around the world cherish. Madeline and eleven of her friends live together in a house with Miss Clavel. One day Miss Clavel woke up to find Madeline ill in bed and she was rushed to the hospital. Madeline got her appendix out and after Miss Clavel and all the other girls went to visit her, Miss Clavel found all the little girls crying because they didn’t get their appendix out!
-I grew up watching Madeline and reading her books, so I loved the original one. Madeline shows children that it’s okay to be different and stand out.
Swimmy by Leo Lionni
-Swimmy is the only black fish in a school of red fish and his fellow fish get eaten up by a big tuna. He’s sad and lonely and swims and looks at new things like jellyfish and lobster. He finds another school of red fish and teaches them to swim in unison to look like a giant fish. They all scare the big fish away.
-The illustrations are beautiful in this book with the watercolors. It has a good story of Swimmy exploring and helping others and standing up to big fish.
Bonjour, Mr. Satie by Tomie dePaola
-Mr. Satie is a traveling cat. He arrives back in the USA to visit his niece and nephew and tells them the adventure that him and Ffortusque Ffollet, Esq had in Paris. Pablo and Henri are two famous artists that have a fight in a café and Mr. Satie has to judge who’s the better artist. He says it is a draw because you can’t compare apples to oranges. They all had a big party after because Mr. Satie saved the day.
-I liked this book because it has the different paintings of Pablo Picasso and Henri. I also like dePaola’s illustrations in the book and the various French words and phrases.
The Jacket I Wear in the Snow by Shirley Neitzel
-Boy describing the items of clothing that he’s wearing out in the snow.
-I liked that this book rhymed and that instead on the word of the item of clothing there was a picture.
One Morning in Maine by Robert McCloskey
-A little girl named Sal woke up with a loose tooth. She went with her dad to look at clams on the beach when her tooth fell out. Her and her dad took a rowboat across the lake to Buck’s Harbor to get their motorboat fixed. They came back home for lunch to have clam chowder.
-Beautiful illustrations to a classic McCloskey book.
Annie and the Wild Animals by Jan Brett
-Annie’s cat Taffy left. She tries to meet new friends. She keeps placing corn cakes at the edge of the woods. The wild animals roared for their meal and the little house shook. Taffy finally came back and brought along three little kittens.
-Awesome illustrations to go along with a great book.