My Reflection of Creating This Book Review Blog

It has been so beneficial for me to create this blog of my reviews of children's books. As a teacher student it is very important that I know about as much children's literature as possible so that I can introduce my students to stories that they will love and books that will help teach them reading strategies and lead to great writing opportunities. Along this process I have discovered some really great books, series, and authors that I will be sure to keep in my personal library and in my class rooms in the future. I am inspired to continue reviewing as many books as I can from now on, continuously through out my career as an educator.
Some of the books I have included in this blog I discovered in the library, and others I found while researching different genres on the Internet. I made it a point to put a lot of thought into the books I selected, paying attention to genres and ways to integrate language arts into other subjects such as science, social studies, and math.
Now that I have discovered new authors that I like there will be many other books that I will look for from those writers, and I will continue to explore new ones. I believe that having my students create a blog like this would be a great way for them to discover new authors and genres as well. Hopefully it will lead them to find authors and/or series that they especially like and will stick with so that they continue to enjoy reading.

My Father's Dragon

My Father's Dragon is an adorable story told by a girl about her father. When her father was a boy he met a cat and they became friends. When they were talking one day the boy told the cat that he wanted to learn to fly planes when he grew up so that he could fly all over the world. The cat told the boy that he knew a way for him to start flying now. Thus began the boy's journey to Wild Island where he would find a baby dragon. The wild animals on the island kept the dragon prisoner so that he could fly them back and forth across the river. If the boy would save him then the dragon would be so grateful he'd fly the boy anywhere he wanted to go. The boy finds the island and some very angry animals that do not want him there. But the boy's quick thinking gets him out of some close calls. Finally he finds the dragon, frees him, and they fly away together to safety.

My Father's Dragon was written in the 1940's by Ruth Stiles Gannett. Her story has stood the test of time and it is still loved by many children who read about the boy's adventure to find the baby dragon.

Fred and Anthony Escape from the Netherworld

Fred and Anthony Escape from the Netherworld is hilarious chapter book by Elise Primavera. It is a graphic novel/fiction hybrid, meaning parts of it are in a comic strip form and other parts are just written as a story. I love this book especially because it attracts many boys to read, that may otherwise avoid reading. The story introduces readers to ten year olds Fred and Anthony. They are horror movie fanatics, and they always make it a point to pay someone else to do their homework. Now they have a big history project due, but no money to pay anyone to do it. They decide to venture out looking for old people to do "stuff" for to make some dough. While wandering around the out skirts of town they come upon a creepy house. Once in the house, that has oozing walls, ghosts, and a mummy, they accidentally fall into the netherworld where they meet a crazy dentist and his assistant. The guide to the netherworld book they found makes them realize that the crazy doc is doctor Frankenstein, and his assistant Igor. The doctor wants the boys' brains so he can bring his monster to life. But his bigger plans are to get many boy brains to create many monsters that will take over the world! Read Fred and Anthony Escape the Netherworld to find out if the boys escaped or if they're hanging around with no brains in the Netherworld.

The Shivers in the Fridge

The Shivers in the Fridge is an imaginative story by author Fran Manushkin, and illustrated by Paul O. Zelinsky. This story is about a little family that lives in a cold dark place surrounded by Cheesy Square, Jolly Whip, Egg Valley, Orange Hills, Ketchup Mountain, and Buttery Cliff. Every once in a while a blinding light appears and a horrible monster hand comes in to snatch something out. One by one, as each family member bravely sets off to find a warmer place, they are taken by the monster and don't return. When little Sonny is the last of his family left in the cold dark place he decides to be brave and face the monster and save his family. Soon, Sonny too is taken out by the monster, on purple boulders (grapes). To his surprise the monster smiles, announces to his mother that he has found the last magnet, and places him on the fridge where he is reunited with his mama, papa, grandpa, and grandma. Finally the shivering family was in a bright, warm place where they would live together from then on.

This story is adorable and creative. The illustrator has created an imaginative refrigerator city where the little magnet family lives until they are discovered one by one.

Twenty-One Elephants and Still Standing

Twenty-One Elephants and Still Standing is an incredible story about the Brooklyn Bridge. Author April Jones Prince heard about the story and further researched the facts. Apparently, once the Brooklyn Bridge was completed many people had their doubts about the safety of the bridge, since in the past other bridges had collapsed. Entertainer P.T. Barnum decided that he would use those doubts as an opportunity to advertise for his circus. He took twenty-one elephants across the bridge from Manhattan to Brooklyn as people watched in amazement. The next day many of those doubters walked across the Brooklyn Bridge to go see Barnum's circus and his famous elephants.

For me, as a New Yorker, this story is so meaningful. For New Yorkers the Brooklyn Bridge is a sight that says home. Children will love reading a story about something so significant in their own state.

This book is not only great for social studies lessons about New York, but it could be used for math as well. Each elephant weighed about 10,000 pounds. There were twenty-one elephants on that bridge. How much weight was the bridge holding that day? This story can also lead to a research project about the Brooklyn Bridge, how bridges in general are built, or how it was typical to use elephants to test the safety of newly built bridges.

The Patchwork Path

The Patchwork Path, A Quilt Map to Freedom is an inspirational story of a little African-American girl and her father. The two are slaves on a Georgia plantation. Hannah's mother has died, and her sister has been taken and resold. One night Hannah and her father decide to run to freedom. The little girl carries the quilt her mother helped her make, that carries secrets of how to get to freedom. One square tells them to follow the bear prints, another tells them the church to find where there will be people who can help them, yet another tells them how to find Quakers that will hide them and bring them to Lake Eerie. Once across the lake, Hannah and her papa make it to Canada where they are free. The journey took months. Many times they were freezing, starving, and tired.

Hannah makes a new quilt just like the one her mama taught her to make, but she leaves one square blank in honor of her sister who she hopes and prays will find freedom also, and come back to them.

The Patchwork Path is a great story to incorporate into social studies. This fictional story includes an accurate historical account of the slaves journey to find freedom. It is based on the true story of African-American quilt makers who hid secrets in the patchwork. The students can have fun making their own quilt squares that can be pieced together to create a class room quilt.

Full House

Full House written by Dayle Ann Dodds and illustrated by Abby Carter is a math literacy story. As it reads on the cover it is "an invitation to fractions". It is important to integrate subject areas and find new ways to teach subjects such as math, rather than having students just memorize math rules. This story is great for read aloud during a lesson on fractions. But it's not only a good resource for a math lesson, the story is told in a repetitive, rhyming style that also is beneficial for teaching reading with fluency. Young readers will love the flow and repetitiveness of the story about Miss Bloom's Inn and the visitors that come to stay there. Each of 5 guests fill 5 of the 6 rooms, and Miss Bloom's is the 6th room filled making the Inn 6/6 full that night. Then, in the middle of the night, her 5 guests sneak down into the kitchen and each eat 1/6 of the strawberry cake on the counter, leaving the last 6th for Miss Bloom. The story and the illustrations make this book special because many other books that incorporate math are not as creative. Students will love reading this book with the teacher, rather than just sitting quietly with paper and pencil doing math problems.