Electronic Reading File

This book is about a boy named Jess and girl named Leslie who become best friends. They create an imaginary world in the woods that they call Terabithia. They go to Terabithia to get away from everyone and to forget about their problems. One day when Leslie went to Terabithia by herself, there was a terrible accident. Jess has to learn how to deal with the accident and understand that life is not always fair.

Picture of Book	Genre	Title	Author/ Illustrator/ Copyright	Recommended Age/Grade Level	Ideas for Classroom Use	Brief Description of the Book
	Realistic Fiction	The Egg Tree	Katherine Milhous	Interest Level: 1-5 Reading Level: 3.5	Around Easter time, you could let the students decorate a paper egg and hang all of the eggs from a tree in the classroom.	This story is about a boy and a girl who can't wait for the Easter bunny to leave them eggs to hunt on Easter morning. After the Easter bunny arrived, the hunt began. Since everyone else had found eggs except for Katy, she decided to go to the attic and hunt for eggs. There she found a box with six beautifully decorated eggs. They found a small tree to bring inside to hang the beautiful eggs on. The next day they found a bigger tree and made more eggs to put on it. Each year the children got a bigger tree and decorated it with more eggs. Visitors would come from far away just to see the unique tree.
	Fiction/Realisic Fiction	Mirette On The High Wire	Emily Arnold McCully	Interest Level: K-3 Reading Level: 4.1	The teacher could draw a line of chalk on the pavement outside and let the children act like they are walking on a high wire. Have them imagine that they are high in the air and see if they can stay on the line.	This book is about a little girl named Mirette. Her mother owned a boardinghouse in Paris that traveling players from all over the world would stay at. One day, a man named Bellini came to stay. One day when Mirette came to get the sheets, she saw Bellini walking across a wire. She begged Bellini to teach her how to walk on the wire but he refused to teach her. Mirette decided that she would teach herself while Bellini was gone. Mirette practiced for days and she finally figured out how to walk on the wire. When she showed Bellini what she had learned to do on her own, he decided to help her. Bellini admitted that he was afraid to walk the wire and he didn't know if he could do it again. Once he realized how sad Mirette was about his fear, he decided to face his wire-walking fear. He planned a performance for that night in the street. When Mirette heard the commotion, she ran outside. When she saw that Bellini could not cross the wire alone, she ran upstairs and got on the wire with him. Mirette soon became famous and Bellini had finally overcome his fear.
	Fiction/Realistic Fiction	The Snowy Day	Ezra Jack Keats	Interest Level: K-2 Reading Level: 3.2	You could have your students write or draw a picture about what they would do if it snowed at their house.	This book is about a little boy named Peter. When he wakes up one morning and sees snow everywhere he decides to go outside and play. When he heads back home, he gets a big snowball and puts it in his pocket. Before he went to bed, he looked for the snowball and couldn't find it. He was upset about his snowball being missing so the next morning he went outside again for another day of fun.
	Fiction/Classics/Modern Fantasy	The Polar Express	Chris Van Allsburg	Interest Level: K-5 Reading Level: 4.9	The teacher could get the students to draw a picture of a train on a piece of white paper. The students could then draw some presents that they would like to get for Christmas on different colored construction paper. Once they have the presents drawn and cut out, they could glue the presents on the white piece of paper like the presents were on the train.	This book is about a little boy and his magical surprise on Christmas Eve. As he sat there waiting to hear the sleigh bells ring, he was surprised to hear the whistle of a train. He walked outside and boarded the magical train that was headed to the North Pole. When they finally arrived at the North Pole, they saw hundreds of elves gathering in the center of the city with Santa. They could not wait to see who would receive the first gift of Christmas from Santa. Surprisingly, he picked the little boy and asked him what he wanted for Christmas. All he asked for was a bell off of Santa's sleigh. When the clock struck twelve, Santa and his reindeer flew off and the Polar Express went back home. When the children asked to see the little boy's bell, he could not find the bell. All he found was a hole in his pocket. When he got home he was very upset with himself. However, on Christmas day he was surprised to find a box with a note from Santa and the bell inside.
	Fiction	Make Way For Ducklings	Robert McCloskey	Interest Level: K-3 Reading Level: 3.1	The students could write about a place in their town that they think would be good for a family of ducks to live.	This book is about a mama duck and a daddy duck who are looking for a place to raise their baby ducklings. Once the mama duck laid her eggs and the eggs hatched, she became very busy. She taught the ducklings to swim, dive, walk in a line and many other tricks. Once they were old enough to go across town to meet their dad at their new home, they started on their journey. Once they finally reached the Public Garden and met their dad, they knew that the island would be their new home.
	Fiction/Humorous Fiction, Jokes & Riddles	Finders Keepers	William Lipkind/ Nicolas Mordvinoff	Interest Level: K-3 Reading Level: 3.9	The students could use puppets to act out the story as the teacher read.	This book it about two dogs who find a bone. They can't decide which one will get the bone since one of them saw it first and one of them touched it first. They asked a variety of animals and people who should get the bone and none of them had an answer. When they asked another dog who should get the bone, the dog ran off with their bone. They chased after him and got the bone back. After the fight, they sat down and decided to eat the bone together.
	Fiction/Humorous Fiction	Officer Buckle and Gloria	Peggy Rathmann	Interest Level: K-2 Reading Level: 2.5	You could cut out a star and have the students write a safety rule on the star and put the stars up in the classroom.	The book is about police officer Buckle and his K-9 helper Gloria. Officer Buckle gives safety speeches at schools and takes Gloria with him. The kids loved when Gloria would come to the schools with Officer Buckle. They would cheer and scream when he gave his speeches. Officer Buckle was so proud of himself until he realized that the children weren't excited about hearing him, all they cared about was seeing Gloria. In the end, Officer Buckle and Gloria realize that they need each other to make each visit a success.
	Realistic Fiction	Song and Dance Man	Karen Ackerman/Stephen Gammell	Interest Level: K-3 Reading Level: 3.8	The students could interview their grandparents and write about what their grandparents did when they were younger that is funny now.	This book is about a Grandpa who used to dance on the vaudeville stage. One day while his grandchildren are visiting, he finds his old performing clothes in the attic. He puts on the clothes and dances for his grandchildren just like old times.
	Realistic Fiction	Grandfather's Journey	Allen Say	Interest Level: 3-5 Reading Level: 4.2	The students could write about a place that they would like to visit or that they have visited before.	This book is about a boy who talks about how his grandfather loved traveling and seeing the world. His grandfather's home was in Japan but once he got married, he and his wife moved to California. There they had a daughter together. Although he loved California, he missed his home in Japan so they moved back. As his daughter grew up, she fell in love and married a man and they had a son together. Their son loved hearing about his grandfather's adventures. His grandfather always told the boy how he longed to see California one more time. However, he never did. When the boy grew up, he went to California to see the land that his grandfather loved so much. He decided to stay and live in California and it was there that he also had a daughter just like his grandfather.
	Fiction/Folk & Fairy Tales/Myths & Legends	Rapunzel	Paul O. Zelinsky	Interest Level: 3-5 Reading Level: 3.8	The students could draw a picture of Rapunzel in the tower with her long hair hanging down.	This book is about a young girl named Rapunzel. When Rapunzel is born, she is given to a sorceress. The sorceress locks Rapunzel up in a tower that has no doors and one window at the top. The only way that people could get up the tower was by climbing up Rapunzel's long hair and using it as a ladder. One day a Prince was walking by and he heard Rapunzel’s voice. He decided to climb up her hair to see who had such a beautiful voice. The Prince quickly fell in love with Rapunzel and married her. Rapunzel soon became pregnant with twins and the sorceress was not happy. She threw Rapunzel out of the tower and left her in the wilderness alone. As soon as the Prince found out what happened, he searched everywhere for Rapunzel. He finally found her and the two babies and they live happily ever after in his kingdom.

Picture of Book	Genre	Title	Author/ Illustrator/ Copyright	Recommended Age/Grade Level	Ideas for Classroom Use	Brief Description of the Book
	Realistic Fiction/Classics	Bridge to Terabithia	Katherine Paterson	Interest Level: 6-8 Reading Level: 6.1	The students could come up with a name for an imaginary land and draw a picture of what it might look like. They could also come up with some rules for governing their imaginary land.	This book is about a boy named Jess and girl named Leslie who become best friends. They create an imaginary world in the woods that they call Terabithia. They go to Terabithia to get away from everyone and to forget about their problems. One day when Leslie went to Terabithia by herself, there was a terrible accident. Jess has to learn how to deal with the accident and understand that life is not always fair.
	Historical Fiction	Sarah, Plain and Tall	Patricia MacLachlan	Interest Level: 3-5 Reading Level: 4.2	The students could write a letter to Sarah asking her questions as if she was going to be their new mother.	This book is about a family who lives on the prairie. The family consists of a father, a daughter, and a son. The mother died a day after her son was born and the father is very lonely. He also wants a mother for his children so he puts an ad in the paper for a wife and gets a response from a woman in Maine. The woman comes to visit them and gets really close to all of them. When she is confronted with the choice to stay or to go back home, she decides that she loves and misses her home but not as much as she would miss them if she left them.

Picture of Book	Genre	Title	Author/ Illustrator/ Copyright	Recommended Age/Grade Level	Ideas for Classroom Use	Brief Description of the Book
	ABC Book	Dr. Seuss's ABC - An Amazing Alphabet Book	Dr. Seuss, Corriher	Interest Level: Pre K-2 Reading Level: 2.5	The teacher could read the book once and the second time she reads it, have the students help her read. Have the students say the predictable part of each riddle.	The book teaches the alphabet in a creative way. It goes over each letter and asks what begins with that letter. It then gives a few words that start with the letter. The book is fun to read and teaches children new words.
	ABC Book	Chicka Chicka ABC	Bill Martin Jr. & John Archambault/Lois Ehlert	Interest Level: Pre K-2 Reading Level: 1.9	The teacher could make a tree and put it on a bulletin board and the students could each color a letter to put on the tree.	This book goes through each letter of the alphabet with the help of a coconut tree. The story begins eith a, b, and c climbing up the coconut tree. Each letter in the alphabet climbs up the coconut tree. When X,Y, and Z get to the top of the tree, the tree falls over and all of the letters fall to the ground.

Picture of Book	Genre	Title	Author/ Illustrator/ Copyright	Recommended Age/Grade Level	Ideas for Classroom Use	Brief Description of the Book
	Predictable Book/Fiction	Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?	Bill Martin Jr./Eric Carle	Interest Level: Pre K-2 Reading Level: 1.4	You could have the students think of another animal that Brown Bear could have seen and draw a picture of the animal.	This book starts off with "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see? I see a red bird looking at me." As the story goes on, each page shows a different animal that follows the same rhyme. At the end of the book, it asks the children what do they see. The children then go over each animal that they had seen in the book.
	Predictable Book/Fiction	There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Fly	Simms Taback/Pam Adams	Interest Level: K-2 Reading Level: 1.9	The students could get in small groups and each group have an animal from the book that they design and color. The teacher could then have a woman hung on the bulletin board and have the students put the animals in the order that the woman ate them in.	This book is about a woman who swallows a fly. As the story goes on, she swallows a variety of animals to catch the animal that she had previously swallowed. At the end of the story, the woman swallowed a horse to catch the cow and the story ends with "She's dead of course!"

Picture of Book	Genre	Title	Author/ Illustrator/ Copyright	Recommended Age/Grade Level	Ideas for Classroom Use	Brief Description of the Book
	Realistic Fiction	The Patchwork Quilt	Valerie Flournoy/Jerry Pinkney	Interest Level: K-3 Reading Level: 3.5	The students could color squares of paper with different designs and put them all together to make a paper quilt.	This book is about a little girl named Tanya and a special quilt. Tanya's grandmother is making a quilt out of patches from the family's clothing. Wher her Grandmother gets sick, Tanya takes over and works on the quilt. Once her Grandmother gets better, she sews a special patch on the quilt and gives it to Tanya.
	ABC Book	A Prairie Alphabet	Yvette Moore/Jo Bannatyne - Cugnet	Interest Level: 1-4 Reading Level: 3-5	The students could draw a picture and make up a sentence about the picture. Instead of just having them write an ordinary sentence, have the students write a sentence using as many words that start with one letter that describes their picture.	This book is a great way for children to be introduced to different words. Each letter of the alphabet is shown and a sentence is written with as many words that start with that letter that corresponds with the picture that is shown.