Electronic Reading File by Brandi Hancock

Electronic Reading File
By Brandi Hancock

Caldecott Medal Winners

Picture of Book

Genre

Title

Author/
Illustrator/
Copyright

Recommended Age/Grade
Level

Ideas for Classroom Use

Brief Description of the Book

Modern Fantasy

Where the Wild Things Are

Maurice Sendak/ 1963

K-2

Have students make a monster parade.

A little boy named Max gets sent to his room with out any supper for being bad and he imagines that his room turns into a jungle and he sails over the ocean for a year and becomes king of the wild things.

Picture
Book

My Friend Rabbit

Eric Rohmann/ 2002

Grades Pre-S; K-2

Have the students write about something they have done that has led to trouble.

Mouse and Rabbit are good friends. Rabbit is a good friend but trouble always follows him where ever he goes.

Picture Book

In the Small, Small Pond

Denise Fleming

K-2

Use this book when talking about water animals. Bring in a tadpole and over time watch it grow into a frog.

This book shows a little boy how important water is for some animals. It also shows the changing of the different seasons.

Picture Book

No, David!

David Shannon/1997

K-2

Have the students recreate a scene with paint or markers on art paper.

The Adventures throughout a day that David finds himself into.

Modern Fantasy/Traditional Fantasy

The Three Pigs

(retold by)David Weisner/2001

K-2;3-4

Have the copy of the original, The Three Little Pigs. The older grades could find similarities and differences between the two. Have the students make pig masks and act out differences between
the two.

The three pigs escape the wrath of the wolf by flying into worlds of other fairy tale creatures.

Realistic Fiction

Song and Dance Man

Karen Ackerman/Stephen Gammell/1998

K-2

Have the children learn a brief historic overview of Vaudeville. Let the students listen to a sample of this style of music and have free style dance.

A grandfather recreates this Vaudeville magic in his attic for his grandchildren. They love and enjoy every moment.

Modern Fantasy

Tuesday

David Wiesner/1991

K-2

The book reveals various times of the night. Have the students create flying frogs and a big clock. Hang from the ceiling to commemorate the reading of this book.

The Frogs fly through the air and enter unknown houses while the people sleep. The adventure ends at daybreak.

Realistic Fiction

Joseph Had a Little Overcoat

Simms Taback/1999

K-2

Ask students if they have an old coat or worn piece of clothing that could be transformed into something else. Ask students to share what they could make from it.

Joseph has a coat that becomes old and worn. Instead of getting rid of it, he creates different kinds of garments from it.

Caldecott/
Realistic Fiction

Owl Moon

Jane Yolen/
John Schoenherr/
1987

K-2

Students will conduct their own shadow experiment using a flashlight or by going outdoors. They will compare the different shadows made by objects and other people. They can create a poem about their shadow using the information they gather.

A young child tells about the joy of going owling with her Pa. She admires her father and tries to do just what he does.

Caldecott/
Realistic Fiction

The Snowy Day

Ezra Jack Keats/
1962

Pre-S; K-2

Students will look at picture cards of a snowman being built. They will sequence the cards from the first step to the last step of the process. Students could also look at a picture of different footprints in snow and match the correct animal to the footprints it would make.

One morning Peter wakes up to find that it snowed the night before. Excitedly, he goes outdoors to explore and play in the snow. The next day he goes out again with a friend.

Newbery Award Winners

Picture of Book	Genre	Title	Author/ Illustrator/ Copyright	Recommended Age/Grade Level	Ideas for Classroom Use	Brief Description of the Book
	Realistic Fiction	Bud, Not Buddy	Christopher Paul Curtis/ 1999	5-6	I would ask the students to draw a picture of a suitcase and draw inside of it, the stuff they would take with them if they were running away.	This book is about a little boy who is searching for a man he believes to be his father. Once he finds the man, he finds out that he is not his father, but his grandfather.
	Realistic Fiction	Because of Winn-Dixie	Kate Dicamillo	3-5	The students will write a short story or draw a picture about an animal they would love to have as a pet. They will then tell about an adventure they would go on together. Turn the pictures or writings into a small book and have the students share them with the class.	A touching story of a lonely, young girl who finds a smart dog. The dog, Winn-Dixie, in a round about way introduces her to several people and helps her make many friends. As stated in the book everything that happened that summer to Opal, the young girl, was because of Winn-Dixie.

Same Author

Picture of Book	Genre	Title	Author/ Illustrator/ Copyright	Recommended Age/Grade Level	Ideas for Classroom Use	Brief Description of the Book
	Same Author/ Fantasy	The Magic School Bus Blows Its Top	Joanna Cole/ Bruce Degen	5 years old and up	Have the students get into groups and let them make a real volcano.	Ms. Frizzle and the class take a trip on the magic school bus to an underwater volcano that becomes an island. This is an explosive trip!
	Same Author/ Russian Folktale	Bony-Legs	Joanna Cole/ Dirk Zimmer	5 to 8 years old	Let the students draw their favorite part of the book and tell about it.	This is a story about a little girl named Sasha. One day she meets a witch named Bony Legs. Bony Legs eats little children. Does Sasha get eaten by this mean witch or does she escape cleverly?
	Same Author/ Realistic	Don't Tell the Whole World	Joanna Cole	5 to 8 years old	Have the students to write in their journals and draw a picture of what they liked best about the story.	Lovable Emma just can't keep a secret. It drives her poor husband John crazy!
	Same Author/ Fantasy	The Magic School Bus In The Arctic	Joanna Cole/ Bruce Degen	5 years old and up	Have the students research the arctic and the animals that live there.	Ms. Frizzle and the class take a chilly trip to the Arctic.

Traditional Literature Books (folktales, fables, myths)

Picture of Book	Genre	Title	Author/ Illustrator/ Copyright	Recommended Age/Grade Level	Ideas for Classroom Use	Brief Description of the Book
	Traditional	Jack and the Beanstalk	Retold by: Steven Kellogg	K-3	The students will act out the book through movement. Example: have the students act like they are climbing when Jack is climbing the beanstalk.	A tale of a boy named Jack who climbs a magic beanstalk into the clouds to a castle. In the castle he finds a magic hen who lays golden eggs.
	Traditional	Paul Bunyan	Steven Kellogg	K-1	"After reading this story along with other books about tall tale legends, I will have all of the students write their own tall tales on adding machine paper. When the story is done, they create a head and feet for their featured tall tale character using construction paper. The head is attached to the top of the story while the feet are attached to the bottom. This allows the story to become the "body" of their tall tale characters. These are then displayed in the class, and they make a striking illustration of a tall tale!" www.edplace.com	The story begins when Paul Bunyan was born and the book discusses how big he was. When Paul grew up he became the fastest lumberjack around and met a blue ox named Babe. The book tells of Paul’s many adventures.
	Traditional	The Little Red Hen	Retold by Paul Galdone/1973	K-2	Write a Reader's Theatre Script for the story and allow the students to take on the roles of the characters.	Little Red Hen asks her friends to help with planting and harvesting wheat seeds, but none of her friends are willing to help. When the wheat is harvested, she makes a cake out of the flour, and all of her friends are suddenly eager to help her eat it. Red Hen reminds them that she has done all the work and does not share her cake.
	Tradiitional	The Three Bears	Retold by Paul Galdone	Preschool	Class will make bear puppets out of popsicle sticks and act the story out using them. Assembly directions for the puppet can be found at http://www. first- school.ws/ calendar /july/ 09july01.htm	The traditional story of Goldilocks and three bears. After returning from a family walk, they discover a strange girl in their house.
	Traditional	Chicken Little	Retold and illustrated by Steven Kellogg/1985	K-2	Have students draw or write a different ending to the story.	Chicken Little is hit on the head by an acorn, and this makes her believe the sky is falling. She alarms all of her friends and they begin to shout for help. Foxy Loxy disguises himself as a police officer and offers help to them. He lures them in his truck, but fortunately Chicken Little doesn't fall for his disguise. They are rescued by Sergeant Hippo Hefty.

Fantasy/Science Fiction Books

Picture of Book	Genre	Title	Author/ Illustrator/ Copyright	Recommended Age/Grade Level	Ideas for Classroom Use	Brief Description of the Book
	Modern Fantasy	Corduroy	Don Freeman/ 1990 (1968)	K-2	Students draw a picture and tell abaout a toy that they wanted really bad, but had to wait to get it. Or maybe they can bring that toy to class, if possible, to share with others.	A bear named Corduroy waits in a department store to be taken home with a child. He experiences adventures while he waits.
	Modern Fantasy	Matilda	Ronald Dahl/1990	3-4	We will make two facing lines. Two end people walk between the lines. As they pass, people say positive things to them. Then the next people will go.	Matilda is a very smart girl but only one person recognizes her.
	Modern Fantasy	Tuck Everlasting	Natalie Babbitt/1975	5-6	Students will choose the three most interesting characters from the novel to role play on a panel discussion. Three group members can take on the roles of the characters and the other two group members can direct questions to the panel. The panel should be asked about what happens to the characters in the book, including their feelings about certain events and why they made the choices they did.	Winnie Foster ventures into the forest and stumbles onto to a boy drinking from a fountain--the youngest Tuck. The boy takes her to meet his family, and she must decide whether she wants to join the Tucks, as they live forever.
	Modern Fantasy	The Three Sillies	Steven Kellogg/1999	K-2	Allow the students to listen to "silly" music. Allow them to explore the music through creative movement and dance.	A young man goes on an adventure to find sillier people than his true love and her family.
	Modern Fantasy	No More Water In the Tub!	Tedd Arnold	1-3	Bring several different items to class that float and several that sink. Have the students predict what each object will do. Then test each object as a class. Each student will then draw a picture of the object and write float or sink next to the picture.	William and his brother Walter were in the bathroom and William wanted more water in the tub than their mother allowed. Before he knew it William was floating out the door in the tub. He gathered people from the different apartments on his way down.

Realistic Ficion Books

Picture of Book	Genre	Title	Author/ Illustrator/ Copyright	Recommended Age/Grade Level	Ideas for Classroom Use	Brief Description of the Book
	Realistic Fiction	Ramona the Pest	Beverly Cleary/1968	3rd-5th	Students could write a short paragraph about what they remember from their excitement about kindergarten and then what it was like once school started.	A little boy named Max gets sent to his room with out any supper for being bad and he imagines that his room turns into a jungle and he sails over the ocean for a year and becomes king of the wild things.
	Contemporary Realistic Fiction	The Relatives Came	Cynthia Rylant/ Stephen Gammell/ 1985	K-2; 3-4	Have students remember a time when they had relatives visit, or when they visited some of their relatives. Maybe bring pictures in of a family reunion or something to share with the class.	Relatives come to visit. When they get there they hug and hug each other for a long time. There are not enough beds for everyone to sleep, so they are all touching each other, but they don't mind. They enjoy each other's company and miss when they leave.
	Realistic Fiction	Thank You, Mr. Falker	Patricia Polacco/1998	3-6	Students will write thank-you notes to a former teacher.	This story is about a girl who has a great desire to read but has a learning disability and cannot. Over the years she has been looked over, but finally finds a teacher that cares and helps her to learn to read.
	Realistic Fiction	Stargirl	Jerry Spinelli/2000	7+	Students will make an open-mind portrait of Stargirl. The portrait will illustrate aspects of the character at important times during the story.	Stargirl is new at Mica Area High and soon becomes the most popular girl at school. Her peculiar but loving personality intrigues the entire school and especially captures the heart of a boy named Leo. Her popularity, however soon declines and Leo asks Stargirl to do the one thing that he knows she cannot do-- be normal.
	Realistic Fiction	The Best Christmas Pageant Ever	Barbara Robinson	2-5	The students will discuss correct behavior in certain places and talk about what they would have done differently if they were a character in the book. Ask them what they would have done to the Herdman children.	A Christmas pageant goes bad because of the Herdman children. However, the pageant ends up teaching everyone including the Herdmans’ a good lesson.

Historical Fiction Books

Picture of Book	Genre	Title	Author/ Illustrator/ Copyright	Recommended Age/Grade Level	Ideas for Classroom Use	Brief Description of the Book
	Historical Fiction	Ox-Cart Man	Donald Hall/ Barbara Cooney	2-4	Use the book to talk about the seasons. Let the students paint a picture of the different seasons.	This book takes place in a New England setting. A farmer's life is described day by day, season to season.
	Historical Fiction	Sounder	William H. Armstrong/James Barkley/1969	5-6	Have students write a story discussing how their lives would be different if they had lived during the nineteenth century.	This book is about an African American boy who lives in south during the 1800's. The boy's father is a sharecropper and is sent to jail for stealing. The boy has no choice but to grow up and take care of his family.
	Historical Fiction	Little House on the Prarie	Laura Ingalls Wilder/ 1935	4-6	Students will dress in attire (provided) from the 1800's. Students will re-enact a part of the book or the daily lives of a typical family during this time period.	The Wilder family has decided to move and they sell their home and move to Indian Country. They build their new little house on the prairie. They work hard on the land and in the house. Unfortunately, they are forced to move again because it is the Indian's land.

Multicultural

Picture of Book	Genre	Title	Author/ Illustrator/ Copyright	Recommended Age/Grade Level	Ideas for Classroom Use	Brief Description of the Book
	Multicultural	The Patchwork Quilt	Valerie Flournoy/Jerry Pinkney/1985	K-4	Students can make their own patchwork quilt. On a piece of construction paper, have each child glue on a piece of pre-cut article of clothing. Staple the pieces of construction paper together and hang on the wall for display.	Tanya's grandmother is making a special quilt for her family so that they will always have something to help them remember the past. Her grandmother, however becomes very ill and is not able to work on the quilt any longer. Tanya decides that she will help finish the quilt for her.
	Multicultural	Amazing Grace	Mary Hoffman/Caroline Binch/1991	K-4	Grace and the other characters in the story have distinctive characteristics including how they look, as well as how they think and act. The students will do a "character collage" project about themselves. The teacher will provide magazines, newspapers, and old workbooks that students can cut pictures and words out of that say something about their character.	A small girl named Grace wants to play the role of Peter Pan in a school play. Yet is told she cannot because she does not fit the part. Grace, however, proves her wrong, and learns that she can do anything she wants if she wants it badly enough.
	Multicultural	What Is Your Language?	Debra Leventhal/ Monica Wellington/ 1998	Pre-K - 1	Students may draw a picture of one of their favorite kids out of the book and then we will work on learning a word from the language of that child.	This book introduces several foreign languages to small students and allows them to experience the sounds of the different languages.
	Multicultural	Mama, Do You Love Me?	Barbara Ma. Jose	K-2	The students will write a letter to their guardian telling them how much they love them.	A mother Native American tells her daughter how much she loves her by relating her love to many different elements of the Earth.
	Multicultural Jewish Folk tale/ Predictable	Something From Nothing	Phoebe Gilman	K-3	Talking with the students before reading the book what predicting means and as you flip the pages have the students predict what the fabric will be turned into next.	A young boy, Joseph, is given a blanket from his grandfather when he was a baby. But as Joseph grew so did the blanket but he took it to his grandfather and he made the blanket into a jacket as he grew he continued to take the fabric to his grandfather for him to make something out of it.

Picture Books

Picture of Book	Genre	Title	Author/ Illustrator/ Copyright	Recommended Age/Grade Level	Ideas for Classroom Use	Brief Description of the Book
	Picture Book	The Very Hungry Caterpillar	Eric Carle/ 1969	Ages 1-6	Students will make caterpillar clothespin magnets out of clothespins, pom-poms, and pipe cleaners.	A tiny seed was born and hatched a caterpillar. The caterpillar ate for seven days, rapped itself in a cocoon and ate itself out. The caterpillar had become a beautiful butterfly.
	Picture Book	Brown Bear, Brown Bear , What Do You See?	Bill Martin Jr./ Eric Carl/1995	Grade Pre-K -K /3-5	Let the students choose between different colors of construction paper and let them draw an animal on the paper that is the color of the paper they choose.	This book asks different questions about what the different animals see and it helps students learn their colors and about different animals.
	Picture Book	No Jumping on the Bed	Tedd Arnold/ 1987	Grades K-2	Imagine that you were jumping on your bed at home. Think of some things that would go through the floor if your bed fell. Draw a picture of them.	Walter lives near the top of a tall apartment building, where one night his habit of jumping on the bed leads to a continuous fall floor after floor.
	Picture Book	Madeline's Rescue	Ludwig Bemelmans/ 1953	Grades K-2	Have the students make puppets of the dog out of small brown paper bags.	A dog saves Madeline's life and becomes a friend to everyone at the school, but not everyone is pleased about it.
	Picture Book	The Grouchy Ladybug	Eric Carle	Pre-S; K-2	Students will piece together a ladybug with pieces of construction paper to make a picture of a ladybug.	A grouchy ladybug lands on a leaf beside a friendly ladybug. The grouchy bug wants to fight everyone he happens upon. In the end he finally gives fighting up when a whale hits him with his tail.

Poetry Anthologies

Picture of Book	Genre	Title	Author/ Illustrator/ Copyright	Recommended Age/Grade Level	Ideas for Classroom Use	Brief Description of the Book
	Poetry Anthology	Where the Sidewalk Ends	Shel Silverstein/ 1973	1-5	Students will illustrate how they interpret a poem. Lending the lesson more or less to interpretation of art/poetry.	A collection of funny poems written and illustrated by Shel Silverstein.
	Poetry Anthology	Sing a Song of Popcorn	Selected by de Regniers and Beatrice Schenk/1988	3-6	Students will choose a poem that they liked most. The students will copy the poem onto a piece of paper and illustrate it. They will then be hung on the bulletin board for display.	A collection of poems for children which includes drawings by Caldecott medalists.
	Poetry	Sing a Song of Piglets	Eve Bunting	K-3	The students will get 12 pieces of paper and write one month on the top of each sheet. Have the student draw what they would have the piglets do on each month.	This book discusses all the moths of the year and tells what the piglets do during these months. This book has great pictures and is very effective in relaying the holidays in each month.

Informational/Biography/Autobiography Books

Biography	Johnny Appleseed	Patricia Demuth/ Michael Montgomery/ 1996	Patricia Demuth/ Michael Montgomery/ 1996	Students could cut out a tree and apples and make an apple tree.	This book is about a real person named Johnny Chapman, who back when the west was being settled roamed the land and planted apple trees everywhere so that the west would be beautiful. That's how he got the name Johnny Appleseed.
Informational	Today is Monday	Eric Carle 1993	Pre K-2	Students will learn the days of the week by reading this book and drawing a different type of food for each day of the week.	Each day of the week brings a new food, until on Sunday all the world's children can "come and eat it up."
Informational Book	Mouse Paint	Ellen Stoll Walsh/1989	Pre S-K	Using this book, have the students identify colors. The students can also partake in an activity of mixing colors and making new ones. Picking a color that they mixed, have them decorate a previously cut out mouse of cardboard.	Three white mice explore colors by playing in paint. They discover the results of mixing paint.
Informational	America: A Patriotic Primer	Lynne Cheney/ Robin Preiss Glasser/ 2002	K-2	This book would be good to use during a history lesson. It breaks the important stuff down so it can be easily understood.	This book tells about how America was founded and defines some important words.
Biography	Abraham Lincoln	George Sullivan	3rd-5th	This would be a good book to read when you are learning about the presidents. You can have a child dress up and play the part of Abraham Lincoln as the story is told.	This book talks about President Abraham Lincoln and how he lived and died.