1, 2, I Love You

1, 2, I Love You by Alice Schertle was a book that I feel I have read many times. It was an easy read and happy and very flowing. I don't think this book would have a deeper meaning or theme that would be useful in the classroom. However, the story does count from 1 to 10 and then back from 10 to 1, so teachers could possibly use it in a kindergarten classroom to reinforce their learning of numbers. Another possibility would be rhyming lesson as the book has a rhyming pattern throughout the pages. I think this book would be okay with younger grades but older grades would easily get bored as there is no climax or plot to the story.

Frog Face

Frog Face: My little sister and me by John Schindel is a story about a little girl adjusting to having a new baby sister in her family and life. I really liked this book because it showed that within family relationships there are going to be hard times and times when you may not like the other one very much. However at the end of the day you are going to be there for one another and with love. I really liked the pictures by Janet Delaney because they were real and showed the relationship building between two sisters over the years. I thought it was very cool that Delaney dedicated this book to her two daughters and I wouldn't be surprised if these photos in the book are her daughters that she took when they were younger. I think this book would be beneficial to have in the classroom as it teaches children to appreciate their siblings. It shows them that their siblings add a certain amount of joy to their lives and that there is no bond like the ones that siblings share.

Let's Dance!

Let's Dance! by George Ancona is a book that describes dancing in every form. It talks about dancing with groups or alone, for men or women, and so on. I really liked this book and thought it was very informational. Throughout the book it talked about different cultures and a type of dancing which I thought was interesting because I wasn't familiar with many of them. I really liked the beginning that said "If you can walk, you can dance" because I feel that many children think that they are "bad" dancers. I really would want to portray to my students that anyone can dance and it doesn't matter how you move as long as you are having fun. I think this book would be amazing for any type of lesson on dancing because not only does it instill confidence in the students, but it will teach them about different types of dance and cultures.

Dance

The book Dance by Bill T. Jones was a book about all of the different types of ways a person can move their body when they are dancing. I think my favorite part of this book was that the person who showed all of the dance moves and ways their body can move was a man. It was surprising because many of the dance books that I have read before almost always include mainly girls. I think that this will allow boys to see that dancing is okay for them also. I like the quote in the end "Dance is action and shape designed in space and time to express feelings and ideas" by the author. I think that any dancer knows exactly what he is talking about when he says that dancing is part of expressing yourself. I feel the same way with music and know that many times it will help me control my feelings whether they may be angry, sad, or happy. The pictures were very realistic and I can almost feel like I am there watching him dance. I also was excited to see that the author was the one who was doing the dancing. It made me feel that his excitement for the book was very heartfelt.

Princess Penelope

Princess Penelope by Todd Mack is a book about a little girl named Penelope who believes she is a Princess. She takes a normal day and shows the reader how her life mirrors the life of a princess. I found it amusing how she can take the most mundane task and find it glamorous such as riding in the car in her car seat which is like when a princess is sitting on her throne. The book was very girly and fun especially with the text that was written in curly cursive with some of the words written bigger and in pink. I think part of the reason this book appealed to me so much because I remember when I was a child and wanting to be a princess. I used to play in my own fantasy world and pretend that I was Ariel from The Little Mermaid. I think this book gives little girls the perfect excuse to lose themselves in their own fantasy for awhile.

The Day The Babies Crawled Away

The Day The Babies Crawled Away by Peggy Rathmann is a book about a group of babies that crawled away and one older child goes after to make them come back. However they refuse to listen and keep crawling to find things that interest them. I really liked how the text rhymed and was sing-songy throughout the book because it made the whole book more fun. The illustrations were fun to look at because they kept the peoples and object silhoutted in black and add colors in the background. The colors in the background seem to be done with watercolor and depict a very realistic feeling that the day and night are progressing and eventually fading. The book is very youthful and would be a fun read especially to younger children to portray how they can do anything they put their mind to. I think this would be great for a lesson where children would write about their own series of events with colorful descriptions.

The Puppy Who Wanted A Boy

The Puppy Who Wanted A Boy by Jane Thayer was a warm fuzzy feeling book. I was intrigued because two of my friends exclaimed how much they loved this book when they were a child when they saw it in my room. The book talks about how this puppy wants his very own boy for Christmas. However his mother can't find any boys because they are short on demand this year. So Petey (the puppy) goes around to see if any other dog will give up their boy. After receiving many frightening nos, Petey loses hope until he finds a boy at a Home for Boy Orphans. The boy takes him inside and he is greeted by many boys. He then makes a home for himself at the orphanagage and is happy. I really liked this book because it gave a different feeling to getting a puppy. It was cute to look at getting a puppy from the puppy's angle and that every puppy wants a boy just as much as a boy wants a puppy. One thing I didn't like was that the puppy only wanted a boy and not a girl owner. But the book is a bit older so I think that is a big part of why only the boy is shown with the puppy.