"It Goes Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!"

This book is science fiction.  It is about a group of second graders in Mrs. Zookey's class named Patrick, Ben, Richard, Dawn Marie, and Linda.  Ben and Richard are good friends who think that Patrick is a troublemaker.  He leads them to believe that the bat they find in the grass is after them and will turn them into vampires.  Patrick causes more trouble when he breaks a pot holding Jack's Beanstalk with his squirt gun during Yummies and Yuckies.  Dawn Marie becomes Patrick's friend, though and they end up doing their Endangered Species project together about bats.  Dawn Marie has bats in her shed, which she shows to her friends.  Linda doesn't like bats. Patrick and Dawn Marie have brought a bat house that Dawn Marie's father helped them make that they plan on hanging in Dawn Marie's yard.  I would ask the students to act out one of the situations or conversations in the book with a few of their classmates.

Daniel Boone

This is a biography about Daniel Boone. I could have students make a time line based on the events in this book.  This book gives information about Boone's childhood and his adult life.  He was a hunter and explorer.  Some places he explored were Florida and  Kentucky.  The Shawnee were a group of Native Americans who were angry that settlers were moving into their territory.  At one point, the leader of the Shawnee adopted Daniel after he was kidnapped.  He escaped. though and reunited with his wife. He stayed in Missouri with his family until they died.  Informative sentences accompany pictures.
I would do a book pass activity with  the students using legends based on Daniel Boone.  I would have them fill out a Venn Diagram comparing and contrasting literary characteristics of this book with the books used for the book pass.

"Marie Curie: A Brilliant Life"

This biography describes aspects of Marie Curie's personal life, like her family as well as her education, achievements and awards, and setbacks.  It provides photographs and talks about her discovery of radium.  Her and her husband Pierre, along with Henri Becquerel win the Nobel Prize for physics.  The cause of Pierre's death is explained and the unit of measurement for amounts of radiation is termed the curie."  Marie won a second Nobel Prize in chemistry.  She taught women how to use X-ray equipment during World War I.  I would have students talk about who they thought had the biggest impact on Marie's life.

"Cinderella"

This book is a graphic novel. The main character loses her mother and her father remarries. The two stepsisters which Ella inherits along with a new stepmother, are cruel and order her around. They call her Cinderella. The father goes to the city and before leaving, he asks what he should bring home for his daughters. The evil step sisters ask for dresses and jewels, but Ella asks for the first twig that knocks against her father's hat on the way home. She later plants the twig on her mother's grave and the tears she cries water it. The twin turns into a tree and many birds live in it. Ella wants to go to a ball held in the prince's honor and Ella is told by her stepmother that if she can pick all of the seeds out of the ashes, then she may go. The birds help her, but she still isn't allowed to go. Her godmother asks her to find a pumpkin and turns it into a carriage and turns mice into horses. She also gives her a beautiful dress and shoes. She gets to dance with the prince, but in a rush to leave at midnight, leaves her shoe behind. A few days later, the prince comes to Cinderella's home and tries the shoe on her. It fits and they get married, but the sisters do not come to the wedding. The doves punish them.

I would teach sequencing with this book and ask them to put the events in order.

"Penguins!"

A variety of facts are provided about penguins, such as the biggest kind and the smallest kind.  There are description of penguins and pictures of the different types.  A map is color-coded to show where different kinds of penguins live.  The author talks about penguins as they were millions of years ago.  She describes what they can do, what they eat, and how they form colonies.  She talks about courting among penguins and what happens before their young are born.  The author talks about the chicks once they are born and she explains why penguins are in danger.

I would have students do research on one of the kinds of penguins in the  book and find some information that they can share with the class.

"Day of the Dragon King"

Two children, named Jack and Annie travel in a magical tree house to ancient China in order to find a story.  They are given a research book, called The Time of the First Emperor. Once they get to China, they receive a ball of silk from a silk receiver and are asked by a cow herder to give a message to the silk weaver.  Jack and Annie must run from soldiers after Annie saves a bundle of bamboo strips from being burned with the rest of the books.  They get lost, but the ball of silk helps them find their way out of the hall.  They make it out of the city just in time before the wooden gates close.   I would do a read-aloud with this book and ask the characters what they predict.  I would also teach them about the time period and what an emperor's job is.

"To be a drum"

There are three characters in this book- Daddy Wes, Mat, and Martha.  Daddy Wes tells them a story of when people's hearts beat for the first time on the continent of Africa.  He explains how this was how the drum was born.  The tone of the story changes as Daddy Wes talks about slavery and how men took the drums away, as well as their own languages.  He explains how the people became drums and made their feet, mouths, speech, hands, courage, minds, communities, art, stories, history, and dreams drums.  He asks Martha and Wes to listen to the earth's heartbeat.  They both hear it.  I would do a read-aloud with this book and ask the students to predict what the story was about based on the cover.

"The Warrior Maiden: A hopi Legend"

This legend is about a brave Warrior Maiden named Huh-ay-ay. Before heading off to the desert, her father tells her to watch for Apache raiders and to protect the corn and the people. She warns her mother when she sees Apache raiders. Her mother protects her sisters while Huh-ay-ay runs off to warn the people. She commands the people to guard the ladders and to make a lot of noise so that the raiders will think that the pueblo has many warriors. Meanwhile, she hurries to warn her father and the boys in the desert. Frightened by the weapons, the raiders flee. People sing and dance in praise of The Warrior maiden each year.

After doing a read-aloud with this book, I would have the students do a quick-write of a time they had to think fast in an urgent or frightening situation.

"The story of a seagull and the cat who taught her to fly"

Kengah, a female gull gets covered by a black wave of oil while diving for herring.  She makes it to the balcony where Zorba the cat was resting.  Knowing that she will probably die, the gull asks Zorba to promise three things to her. 1) that he won't eat the egg, 2) that he will look after it until the chick is born and 3) that he will teach the chick to fly.  Zorba struggles with the first two promises, because of dangers like the friend of the family who comes to Feed Zorba while his family is away, rats and cats that are up to no good.  However, he also has the help of Einstein, Secretario, SevenSeas and the Colonel, three cats that help him.  When the chick is born, she immediately takes to Zorba and calls her "momma."  The hardest promise for Zorba to keep is teaching the chick how to fly.  When information that Einstein gets from the encyclopedia doesn't help the chick learn to fly, Zorba must talk with a human who takes Lucky, the gull up to the tower pf Saint Michael's.  Lucky is very afraid, but she conquers her fear and flies.  I would probably have the students read this book in literature circles and ask them to stop at certain points to predict what will happen.  I would let it be a discussion in which they could talk about other things they wanted to as well. 

"Five Smooth Stones"

This book is historical fiction. It takes place during the Revolutionary War between the Tories and the the Patriots. Hope, who is the main character, misses her father. She feels bad for her neighbor, Mrs. Quinn, whose husband was in an accident while guarding cannons and gunpowder for General Washington. She later becomes a widow, but gladly helps Hope's mother after she gives birth to another baby. Hope also has a brother, named Ethan, who is thirteen and a good friend named Polly. Ethan is expected to do things that their father did, since he is away. However, he wonders if his father is no longer a Patriot, but a Tory who supports King George and this is a factor in him running away. Polly and Hope sell baked goods at the markets together. A gentleman takes Polly's room, so that Polly's family can earn some extra money by giving him meals and a place to live. Polly and Hope have a quarrel, but they reconcile. The gentleman who is staying at their house talks about the men who are meeting in the Continental Congress all day long. Mr. Dean, the gentleman, gives Hope five smooth stones that he found in the creek. He relates it to the story of David and Goliath. Polly, Hope, and her mother, hear the letter to King George, the Declaration of Independence. Polly and Hope recite one section to one another. Ethan regrets leaving home. He was captured by the Tories. Hope gets a new baby sister, named Faith. Her family moves temporarily to their cousins home, since it would be safer there if the redcoats come. Hope ends her entry by admitting that she knows in her heart that Ethan and her papa will return. What causes her to feel this way is the news of the capture of the enemy.

I would ask students to find actual facts from this book and possibly do it as a rad-aloud while they are learning about the Revolutionary War.

"Sarah, Plain and Tall'

Caleb and Anna are siblings who live with their father on a prairie with horses, sheep, and two dogs named Lottie and Nick.  Anna loves her brother even though she doesn't like certain things about him, such as the fact that their mother died the morning after  giving birth to him.  Their papa  puts an ad in the newspaper for a wife.  He receives a letter from Sarah Wheaton from Maine and has a cat.  Sarah comes to live with the three of them, but she talks of missing the sea.  Sarah picks flowers, cooks, and cuts Caleb and Papa's hair.  She even sings to the children and Papa joins him.  Sarah surprises Papa when she wants to do hard work, like helping Papa fix the the roof.  Caleb is afraid that Sarah wants to go to town so she can leave their family.  Sarah helps get the animals in the barn during a squall.  Sarah drives away in the wagon, but she returns.  Caleb was afraid she was leaving for good, but she loves their family.  Jacob and Sarah will get married and Anna describes all the things that are to come.  I would have the students write an alternative ending to the story in one or two paragraphs.

Crispin: The Cross of Lead

Overall, I really enjoyed reading Crispin: The Cross of Lead. It was unlike anything I had ever read before. "Asta's Son" is all Crispin has ever been called until he meets Bear. At first, it seems like Bear is going to be the antagonist, but as the days go by, he turns into Crispin's best friend. I really like how their relationship changes.  I think it is really amazing how Crispin goes from having a strong dislike towards Bear to risking his life to save him. Their friendship goes stronger throughout the book.  I don't know why Bear kept the words on Crispin's cross of lead a secret from Crispin.  I would not require the students to read this book.  I would ask students who read it to do a book report on it.