The Spider and the Fly

Author: Mary Howitt

Illustrator: Tony DiTerlizzi

Publisher: Simon and Schuster 

Publication Date: 2002

Genre: Alphabet, Animals, Picture Book, Poetry, Fable

Audience: Pre-K-2

Awards: Caldecott Honor Book, ALA Notable Children’s Books, Beehive Award Master List (UT)

Overview: A haunting tale, based on a 1800’s poem by Mary Howitt, about a devious spider who coerces an innocent little fly into his parlor of no return. The illustrations in black and white provide details about the story that would not otherwise be known.

Activity: This fable could be used around Halloween, as a light horror story.  You could then have students write their own horror story.  Have students share their stories with the rest of the class. 

Reviewer’s Name: Kristen

The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses

Author/Illustrator: Paul Goble

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Publication Date: 1978

Genre: Animals, Fables, Folktale, Picture Book

Audience: 3+

Awards: Caldecott Medal, ALA Notable Children’s Book, CBC/ NCSS Notable Children’s Book in Social Studies

Overview:  One day a young native American girl gets lost in the wilderness with a herd of wild horses and loves living with them.  A few years later hunters find her, and she goes home to her parents, and realizes that she misses being with the wild horses, so she goes back to live with them.  In the end she lives forever among the horses, where she belongs. 

Activity: Incorporate this story with a lesson about Native American culture.  Have students write their own Native American legend. 

Reviewer’s Name: Kristen

The Little Island

Author: Margaret Wise Brown

Illustrator: Leonard Weisgard

Publisher: Random House

Publication Date: 1946

Genre: Animals, Picture Book, Young Adult

Audience: 3+

Awards: Caldecott Medal

Overview: The little island in the middle of the ocean experiences the many changes of the weather and seasons.  This little island is quite big to all the creatures that live on it. The beautiful watercolors along side the poetic text, helps to paint a clear picture of the island in the readers mind. 

Activity: Have students take a sentence or two from the book and draw a picture to accompany the text.  Take the completed work and make a book out of it. 

Reviewer’s Name: Kristen

Otis

Author/Illustrator: Loren Long

Publisher: Penguin Group

Publication Date: 2009

Genre: Animals, Picture Book

Audience: Pre-K-2

Overview: Otis is an old rundown tractor who is replaced by a big new yellow tractor, and is put into misery when he is left outside because he is no longer of use.  But when his friend, the young calf gets stuck in the mud, he is the only one that is able to get her out.

Activity: Have students think about how Otis helped out the calf.  Have them come up with a list of thing the can do to help out others in the classroom.  Post this list somewhere as a reminder of what they can do.

Reviewer’s Name: Kristen

Llama, Llama Red Pajama

Author: Anna Dewdney
Publisher: Viking
Publication Date: 2005
Genre: Fiction/ Animals

Audience: Gr. Pre-K - 2
Overview: Mama Llama tucks her baby into bed, but Baby Llama gets scared after his mama goes downstairs. He whines at first and then hollers when his mama doesn’t immediately come right back into his room. Children relate to Baby Llama’s need for comfort from his mama and the reassurance that she gives him to be able to sleep.

Activity: Have students write about a time that they were scared and what they did to comfort themselves or what a parent did to comfort them when they were upset. Did the same thing happen again? Or did they overcome their fear?
Reviewer’s Name: Kate Williams

Bedtime in the Jungle

Author: John Butler

Publisher: Peachtree Publishers

Publication Date: 2009

Genre: Animals/ Counting

Audience: Gr. Pre-K - 2

Overview: It is bedtime in the jungle and each of the different species of animals put their babies to sleep. Throughout the book, the number of babies each mother is putting to sleep increases by one until the elephant puts all ten of her babies to sleep.

Activity: Incorporate this book into a science lesson about different species of animals and their typical number of offspring.

Reviewer’s Name: Kate Williams

The Animals’ Merry Christmas

Author: Tula Anthony

Illustrator: Lisa Haughom

Publisher: Kids Books Inc

Publication Date: 1995

Genre: Holiday/ Animals

Audience: Gr. Pre-K - 2

Overview: As the animals are eagerly waiting for Christmas, they realize that they forgot to decorate the tree on Christmas Eve. They rush to cram all of the ornaments on the tree, but with their haste they don’t realize that they put all of them on one side and the tree collapses. They must work together to sort the ornaments and delegate the tasks to decorate a balanced tree in time for Christmas morning.

Activity: Have students decorate their own winter wreaths to take home to share with their families.

Reviewer’s Name: Kate Williams 

Woolly Mammoth

Author/Illustrator: Mick Manning and Brita Granström

Publisher: http://www.franceslincoln.com/Book/6238/1/Woolly%20Mammoth

Publication Date: 2009

Genre: Animals, Historical Fiction, Young Adult

Audience: Gr. Pre-K-2

Overview: A creative story about hard life of the ancient woolly mammoth. This book is a comprehensive teaching tool, which includes additional facts about this interesting animal on each page.

Activity: Have students research facts about an endangered animal. Have them share their animal with the rest of the class.  Discuss why it’s important to protect endangered species.

Reviewer’s Name: Kristin Gowing

'Cuz That's Just My Way

Author: RAZ

Illustrator: Janet Hall Kerchner

Publisher: B2Z Publishing, Inc.

Publication Date: 2005

Genre: Fiction, Animals

Audience: Gr. Pre-K – 2

Overview: A curious young boy meets many wild animals throughout the story and questions their appearances. Each animal explains the purpose of their appearance to the boy and they teach him about tolerance of other’s differences.

Activity: Tie this book in with the theme of tolerance to a lesson on Martin Luther King, Jr. and learning to respect each other.

Reviewer’s Name: Kate Williams

Old MacDonald

Author/Illustrator: Rosemary Wells

Publisher: Scholastic

Publication Date: 1998

Genre: Animals

Audience: Gr. Pre K-2

Overview: This sing-song picture book is very easy to read with large fonts on the small pages. By the end of the book children will know the Old MacDonald song and will be able to identify animals and the sounds they make.

Activity: Have the children use different animal noises from those in the song for a sing along.

Reviewer’s Name: Alex Corbutt

Mister Seahorse

Author/Illustrator: Eric Carle
Publisher: Penguin Books
Publication Date: 2004
Genre: Fiction Picture Book
Audience: Gr. Pre-K+
Overview: As can be expected, author Eric Carle’s beautifully collaged book, Mister Seahorse, tells a delightful yet informative story. The character, Mr.Seahorse, floats through the sea caring for his young. All the while discovering other camouflaged fathers who care for their young in different ways.

Activity: Have the student’s think of other animals that camouflage themselves to survive and create a colorful collage to share.

Reviewer’s Name: Staci Banks

Koala Lou

Author/Illustrator: Mem Fox/Pamela Lofts
Publisher: Harcourt Books
Publication Date: 1989
Genre: Fiction, Picture Book
Audience: Pre-K+

Overview: Koala Lou enters the Olympics to win an event and her mothers love because her mother became too busy and forgot to tell her how much she loves her.

Activity: Use this book to teach the students about story sequence. Copy five pages in the story from the beginning middle and end, have the students put the pictures in the order that they think the story will happen. Then read the story and look at the pictures again and put them in the correct sequence of the story. Students then write the story in their own words underneath the illustrations.

Reviewer’s Name: Nina Penman

Owen and Mzee: The Language of Friendship

Author/Illustrator: Isabella Hatkoff, Craig Katkoff, and Dr. Paula Kahumbu
Publisher: Scholastic
Publication Date: 2007
Genre: Nonfiction, Picture-Storybook
Sources: Sequel to the New York Times #1 Bestseller, Owen and Mzee: The True Story of a Remarkable Friendship
Audience: Gr. Pre-K+
Overview: This is the beautifully illustrated story of Mzee, a 130 year-old tortoise, and Owen, a newborn hippo at the Haller Park and Nature Reserve of Kenya. After Owen was rescued during a dangerous tsunami, the park workers did not want to place him with the other hippos who might attack him, so they placed Owen in a small enclosure occupied by smaller, less threatening animals, including Mzee, a grumpy tortoise. A remarkable friendship began between the two animals, a friendship marked by protectiveness, imitation, and companionship.

Activity: Ask students to research the different habits of tortoises and hippos. How are Owen and Mzee’s species similar and different? How do students account for their strange friendship?

Reviewer’s Name: Katie Coursey

Gone Wild: An Endangered Animal Alphabet

Author: David McLimans
Publisher: Walker & Co.
Publication Date: 2006
Genre: Nonfiction
Audience: Gr. K-3
Awards: 2006 Caldecott Honor; “One of the ten best illustrated children’s books of 2006” by The New York Times Book Review

Overview: In this alphabet book of 26 animals that are critically endangered, or vulnerable, each letter is formed to look like the animal, which it is presenting. Illustrations are very appealing, and the book introduces animals from all over the world.

Activity: Ask children if they know what ‘endangered’ means. Define and explain vocabulary words: critically endangered, endangered, and vulnerable. Come up with a collective list of animals they know are endangered or extinct. Talk about causes of this (pollution, etc).

Reviewer’s Name: Mandi Kingeter

If You Give a Pig a Pancake

Author/Illustrator: Laura Numeroff (Illus.) Felicia Bond
Publisher: An Imprint of Harper Collins Publishers
Publication Date: 1998
Genre: Fiction Picture Book
Audience: Gr. K-3

Overview: By the author of If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, this little pig exhibits the same neediness. A willing young girl caters to her every, exhausting wish. Their fun filled adventure of a day captivates audiences. Dream up what could possibly come next!

Activity: Students can create their very own adventurous story. See what types of activities they can scheme up on their own about them and their character of choice. Share the stories with the class and laugh at the ridiculous chain of events to come!

Reviewer’s Name: Amanda Sorflaten

Diary of a Fly

Author/Illustrator: Doreen Cronin, (Illus.) Harry Bliss
Publisher: Harper Collins Childrens
Publication Date: 2007
Genre: Picture Book, Fiction
Audience: Gr. K-4

Overview: This dynamic duo is back with the adventures of a fly. This is a perfect introduction to entomology. Written in diary format, Fly writes about all the things he learns in school about being a fly: He can move at 4.5 miles per hour, can see in all directions at once, and beats his wings 200 times a second. The tongue in cheek humor will catch even readers who dislike bugs!

Activity: After reading this book, Diary of a Worm and Diary of a Spider, choose a new creature to research. Present the information in a diary format. For fun, send it off to the author. Who knows? YOU might have inspired a new book!

Reviewer’s Name: Deb Marciano

Mrs. Chicken and the Hungry Crocodile

Author/Illustrator: by Won-Ldy Paye and Margaret H. Lippert, Illustrated by Julie Paschkis
Publisher: Henry Holt
Publication Date: 2003
Awards: 2005 Anne Izard Storytellers' Choice Award, Nominated for the 2005 Washington Children's Choice Picture Book Award, Charlotte Zolotow 2004 Honor Book for Outstanding Writing in Picture Books, Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People for 2004, 2003 Chapman Award, for Best Classroom Read-Alouds, Starred review in Publishers Weekly
Genre: African Folktale – picture book
Audience: Gr. K -3

Overview: This is a great example of an African trickster tale geared for younger children. A chicken outsmarts a crocodile into not eating her by switching the eggs in the crocodile’s nest with her own. When the eggs that the chicken was sitting on hatched, they were baby crocodiles and when the eggs that the crocodile was sitting on hatched, they were baby chicks. The crocodile then thought the animals were sisters and she was glad that she did not eat Mrs. Chicken. The two animals then decided to switch the babies so they had their real children because that is what they both wanted to do and they went on to live happily ever after.

Activity: After reading this book, read the story of Brer Rabbit and discuss the similarities between the two trickster tales. Children can try to write their own trickster tales, too.

Reviewer’s Name: Sarah DeVan

Turtles In My Sandbox

Author/Illustrator: Jennifer Keats Curtis / Emanuel Schongut
Publisher: Sylvan Dell Publishing
Publication Date: 2006
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Audience: Gr. Pre-K+

Overview: This is a story of a diamondback terrapin mama that swims to shore along the Chesapeake Bay to lay her eggs. A young girl finds these eggs in her sandbox and decides to help make sure that the eggs survive. Maggie and her mom did some research to make sure that they did everything that they could to help the eggs. This book gives professional advice and detailed explanation about many features of the diamondback terrapin turtle. This author travels around to different elementary schools, reading to the student’s and/or doing writing workshops.

Activity: Before reading: A power point presentation is a great way to introduce some vocabulary concepts and background knowledge on the diamondback terrapin to the students.
After reading: The students can write a follow-up letter to the author having them comment on interesting facts they learned or turtles.

Reviewer’s Name: Kimberly Freeman

Honey...Honey...Lion!

Author/Illustrator: Jane Brett
Publisher: Penguin Group
Publication Date: 2005
Awards: Monarch Award: Children’s K-3 Choice Award, and Publishers Weekly (Starred Review).
Genre: Fiction
Audience: Gr. K-3

Overview: One day Badger would not share his honey with the Honeyguide. So, the Honeyguide leads Badger to an acacia tree, and a mean, ferocious, lion begins to chase him. Badger reaches his burrow safely, and learns an important lesson about sharing honey!

Activity: Taste honey or something made with honey. Have students brainstorm all the different ways there is to eat honey. Compile a class list and hang it up in the classroom.

Reviewer’s Name: Amie Lauriello

Charlotte's Web

Author: E.B. White, Illustrator
Illustrator: Garth Williams
Publisher: Harper and Row Publishers
Publication Date: 1952
Genre: Classic Literature – chapter book
Audience: Gr. 3+

Overview: The story is about a young girl who saves a runt pig from death. She takes care of him until the day they must sell him. Even though Fern visits him, he is still lonely in the barn, until he meets Charlotte, the brilliant spider. With Charlotte’s help, Wilbur has an eventful year, one that he will never forget.

Activity: Ask students to think of a word that describes their best friend. Write the word and draw a spider web and spider around it, just like Charlotte did.

Reviewer’s Name: Becky Broyles