Encyclopedia Brown Gets His Man - Realistic Fiction

 

I used these words for my wordle because
Encyclopedia Brown, a boy genius, solves
mysteries in this book.  The villain is
named Bugs Meany and tries to thwart Encyclopedia.
I would use this in my classroom as a fun book
 for students to read and try to solve the mysteries.

The Arrival - Graphic Novel

I did a voicethread for this piece. It can be found here http://cedncsu.ed.voicethread.com/share/419181/

Super Oscar - Multicultural Literature

This book was actually written by the famous boxer Oscar De La Hoya, and this is another book that is written in both Spanish and English. The main plot of the story is that Oscar, always a daydreamer, has forgotten about the neighborhood picnic! I think many students would be able to relate to this chronic daydreamer, and they would enjoy reading about the funny problems it causes. Oscar hurries to get ready for the picnic, and he takes a few silly shortcuts to get everything done. Nice illustrations follow him the whole way, and the story is just a fun read from beginning to end. I love that it's bilingual, and I am going to include a few books like this in my classroom to help my ESL students and other students who might be interested in learning about the Spanish language.

The Wolf Who Cried Boy - Modern Fantasy/Folk Literature

This is a fun book that, much like "The Paper Bag Princess," flips the script on an old tale. In this book, as you might guess, there is a fantasy land in which talking animals abound, including one mischievous little wolf who loves playing tricks on people. He cries out that a little boy is after him one too many times, and the shopkeepers are fed up with it! They get together and fool the wolf by dressing up as a boy and scaring him. He cries for help and no one comes! I remember the original "Boy Who Cried Wolf" story being told to me when I was young because I too had a problem with taking jokes too far. This story had a big impact on me, and I started taking important things more seriously. I think this story would have the same impact on students in my classroom, so it would be a good book with a valuable moral, not to mention the cute story and wonderful illustrations.

The Paper Bag Princess - Modern Fantasy

This is a very charming, if a bit simple, book about a princess from a far away land. She is captured by a dragon and needs to be rescued! This is no normal fairy tale, however. While her prince is taking his sweet time, this brave princess tricks her captor into tiring himself out and using up all his fire. By the time her prince arrives the dragon is out of commission, and all he has to say is that she doesn't look very lady-like. The princess realizes he's a useless bum and walks away. I love the way this story flips the script on the old fairy tale story, and I think many girls in my class would appreciate a story in which the damsel is not exactly in distress. I would use this in my class as an example of creative fantasy, because I think that's a genre that could help my students with their own creative writing.

Jazz - Nonfiction

Wow, this book was one that just blew me away. Having some background in studying the evolution of jazz culture, I can say this was an accurate and creative way to expose people to the nature of the music and culture. A lot of the history is told in song form, and the author uses colorful language and rhythm to teach the reader about the nature of jazz and blues songs. It's not all simple songs, though. Interspersed throughout the author puts bits of facts and interesting pieces about jazz culture. At the end of the book there's a timeline of jazz history and a glossary of jazz terms. I would call this book multicultural as well, because it details a subculture of America, one that could easily be overlooked in some school cultures. I would love to have this book in my classroom to spread awareness of types of music and also to teach kids about a culture that might not be represented in their history textbooks.

The Way we do it in Japan - Multicultural Literature

This is a wonderful multicultural book about a boy from a family with a Japanese father and an American mother. They live in America until suddenly his father's job relocates him to Japan! Gregory has to learn about Japanese culture quickly, and so does the reader! There are many japanese phrases used in this book, and the author gives pronunciation guides and translations for each item. I loved learning a little Japanese as I read it, and I'm sure students would too! I would use this book in a classroom to spread awareness about cultural differences, and I would have my students research Japanese culture a bit as enrichment. With Japanese phrases and colorful illustrations, this book would be wonderful to have in a classroom.