In the Beginning told by Virginia Hamilton

Hamilton, V., & Moser, B. (1988). In the beginning: Creation stories from around the world. San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.

In the Beginning is a collection of 25 myths that tell how the world was created.    The myths are about gods, superhuman beings, animals, plants, and about the first people on the earth.  The myths tell about the events that cause changes in the way humans feel and act.

These stories are told from different places around the world, from Eskimo myths to Blackfoot American Indian myths.  These myths engage the readers and get them intrigued about what is going on during that time. It is often hard to understand some of the wonder that they are describing because it is a place that we will never see.

I believe that this is a Newbery Honor winner because of the many different stories and how engaged the book keeps its readers.  These narratives convey truth to the people that believe in them and the cultures that they come from.

One of my favorite creation stories from this book is The Pea-Pod Man: Raven the Creator. This myth is about a man that lay still in a pea-pod.  On the fifth day he pushed his legs out and hatched from the pea-pod. He ran into the Raven that created the vine he was from.  The Raven went on to create a mate, woman.  Then he went away and the woman and man created children and the world prospered.

If I used this in my classroom, I would have my students choose two creation stories and read them with a partner. I would then have them compare and contrast the creation stories to tell how they are alike and different.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Collins, S. (2009). The hunger games. London: Scholastic.

The Hunger Games is a fantasy chapter book that is for young adults. I would not use this book in my classroom because some of the themes and concepts would be too high for my students.  Some of the themes in this book are: poverty, the aftermath of war, and torture for enjoyment.

This book set in the future and is written from Katiniss Everdean's point of view.  She is a 16 year old girl that lives in District 12. Each year they have something called the Hunger Games, which is where tributes from each of the 12 districts come and fight to the death.  Katniss ends up in the Hunger Games because she takes her sister's place.  She has to prepare with help from a team from the Capitol.  Katniss is in a love triangle with Peeta, the other tribute from District 12, and Gale, her childhood friend.  She tries to figure out which one she loves, but doesn't really decide by the end of the book.  Peeta and her help each other throughout the games and end up as the last two.  The game makers say there can only be one winner.

If you have seen the movie then you should definately read the book!  

This is not my typical book, but I have seen the movie and wanted to see how the book compared.

For the most part, the movie followed the events of the book.  The book however, used imagery that the movie could just not duplicate.  For instance, in the end of the book when Peeta and Katniss are on top of the cornucopia and there are creatures that are mutations from the fallen tributes.  Collins goes into great detail about how they look and resemble the tributes.  The movie did not even include this imagery.  The movie just simply had creatures trying to attack Peeta and Katniss.

I am looking forward to reading the second and third book in this trilogy.

Diary of a Fly

Cronin, D., & Bliss, H. (2013). Diary of a fly. London: HarperCollins Children's.

This is another book that is in diary format that I want to use with my students next year.  There are similaries and differences to Born Yesterday: The Diary of a Young Journalist. 

Both books display the date the same way, at the top of the page, and they are both told from first person point of view.  This book however, has bigger illustrations that fill the page.  There is more labeling in the illustrations since it is told from the fly's point of view.  All of the illustrations are "bigger." What I mean is since a fly is very small, all of the illustrations seem huge.  There is a coke can on one page and it fills most of the page.  If you saw a coke can in the other book, it wouldn't take up so much space.

Cronin does a great job writing from the fly's point of view.  It goes into detail about how he is scared he will be the only one that eats regurgitated food at school and how he learns about the food chain from his friend, the spider. All Fly wants to be is a superhero and through his journey his friends help him realize that he can be anything.

This is a good book that I plan on using next year with my students during our writing units. I think when I go back to the library I am going to check out Diary of a Worm and Diary of a Spider. :)

Born Yesterday: The Diary of a Young Journalist

Solheim, J., & James, S. (2010). Born yesterday: The diary of a young journalist. New York, NY: Philomel Books.

Born Yesterday is a diary written in a first person point of view.  The baby is writing the diary beginning with the day she was born.

The diary shares funny thoughts that only a baby can have.  Whether it be her trying to hit the "thingy hanging over the crib," or trying to get into Kindergarten, she has a unique perspective on life. Throughout the book she keeps refering to her older sister. Once she figures out what "growing" is, she tries to grow and be like her sister.  She thinks her older sister is a super-chick that knows everything!

This is a funny story that goes through all of the first impressions of the big world to a baby.  I chose this book because one of our writing units have the students writing a diary from someone/something else's point of view.  I thought that this is a great example to use next year for them to see a different perspective from a baby.

Fly Away Home by Eve Bunting

Bunting, E., & Himler, R. (1991). Fly away home. New York: Clarion Books.

After reading The Wednesday Surprise, I wanted to find more books by Eve Bunting.  One of the ones I picked up was Fly Away Home.

Fly Away Home is about a little boy and his father. They live in an airport because they are not able to pay rent or a house payment.  It is told from the little boy's point of view.  "Do not get noticed!" He goes through all the "rules" of living in an airport. He and his father have to sleep sitting up.  "Do not get noticed!" They have to switch air terminals every night.  "Do not get noticed!" They wash up in the bathrooms.  "Do not get noticed!"  There is a repeated word/phrase throughout the book which is, "do not get noticed!"

The little boy sees many people, or friends, of theirs that get noticed because they are doing certain things.  He knows and makes his audience aware that he is very mature for a four/five year old.  He knows what he can do and cannot do while living at the airport.

The boy sees a bird one day that gets stuck in the airport.  The bird's underlying significance represents freedom, and the boy sees that.  Every time he gets sad about living in the airport, he thinks of the bird and how it took it awhile to get out, but eventually it was free.

The illustrations in this book were done by Ronald Himler.  His use of illustrations compliment the text.  When the little boy is describing a lady that got "taken away," he described her with a long, dirty coat pushing a cart.  The picture on the opposite page showed just that.  Himler uses changing colors to depict different moods of the little boy.  On the page where he is upset because he doesn't think he is special it is really hard, cool and dark colors.  Then it moves to bright and cheerful when he remembers the bird and knows that one day he will be free.

The Rainbow Club by Annette Aubrey

Aubrey, A. (2007). The Rainbow Club. California: QEB Publishing.

Another theme I was going for this week was a picture book about bullying. I teacher third graders and they can be mean sometimes.  It is never a HUGE problem, but it can get in the way of their learning.  I was on a search to find one I could read to them and revisit "social skills."  

The Rainbow Club is not my favorite book ever, but I think it will help get the point across to them.  They love picture books!  I would put this book in a smaller age range.  I would say Kindergarten-1st grade.

The book starts with two children, Tommy and Chloe, who decide to wear only green the next day on their field trip.  When they show up the next day they are only nice to the other kids that are wearing green. They tell everyone they are in the "green club."  They are mean to all the students wearing blue and any other color.  The students wearing other colors are upset and embarrassed. 

The other students find anything they can to make themselves "green."  From the pictures, you can tell they put leaves in their hair and they find green ribbons.  Finally, one of the other students steps out and tells everyone that it is not what they are wearing, but what is on the inside.  She tells them that they it is all nonsense and that they should all be nice to each other.  The "green club" realizes this is true and they decide to come up with a new name.  They come up with The Rainbow Club.  All students can be in the Rainbow Club because they can wear any color.

The book has great illustrations by Patrice Barton.  They are colorful and inviting for students to look at.  The pictures match the words on every page as the story was told. 

I give this book three stars!!!

Unspoken by Henry Cole

Cole, H. (1955). Unspoken. New York: Scholastic Press.

When I was picking out picture books at the library I was in search of some that I could use in my classroom this coming week.  One of the books I was going after was a wordless book.  I love using wordless books in my room when we do lessons on illustrations giving us information.  I picked up the book Unspoken by Henry Cole.

This book is about a little girl that discovers a runaway slave in her family's barn.  She doesn't tell anyone about the stranger being there. The illustrations show her struggle in deciding what to do. Should she tell her parents (and the men that are looking) or should she do what is right and keep quiet to help the man.

Henry Cole uses graphite illustrations in the double spread picture book.  The illustrations create a suspenseful story that will keep my students interested throughout.  They fill the entire pages from corner to corner and keep the reader engaged. 

I give this book five stars!!!