CB#14 Flat Stanley

Author: Jeff Brown

Title: Flat Stanley

Illustrator: Tomi Ungerer 

Genre: Children's Chapter Book

Subgenre: Ages 7+ 

Theme: Adventure

Publishing company: Harper and Row 

Brief summary & how to use with students: This imaginative story by Jeff Brown tells about the adventures of a young boy, Stanley, who is mashed flat by an enormous bulletin board that falls on him in the night. As being flat has its advantages, Stanley has quite a few exciting adventures, one of which includes being placed in an envelope and mailed to friends in California for a vacation trip. The story is filled with mystery, adventure, sibling rivalry, and family fun. Children will love reading about the antics of Flat Stanley!

Note to teachers: This book is great when used as a part of a social studies unit on America. Have children create a U.S. map. Find California. Practice letter writing. Send Flat Stanley to friends and relatives in other states. Locate those states on the class map. Gather information about those states through return letters and let children learn from each other.

CB#13 Cork and Fuzz

Author: Dori Chaconas

Title: Cork and Fuzz: Short and Tall

Illustrator: Lisa McCue 

Genre: Children's Chapter Book

Subgenre: Ages 5+ 

Theme: Friendship overcomes differences

Primary and Secondary characters: Cork and Fuzz   

Publishing company: Penguin 

Brief summary & how to use with students: This is a really sweet and funny about Cork and Fuzz. Cork is older than Fuzz but he's upset that Fuzz is taller than him. They try all they can to make Fuzz shorter and Cork taller but it just doesn't work. Cork doesn't think they can be friends if they are so different but in the end, Fuzz makes him see - they can be friends no matter how different they are.

CB#12 Minnie and Moo Go to the Moon

Author: Denys Cazet

Title: Minnie and Moo Go to the Moon

Genre: Children's Chapter Book

Subgenre: Ages 4+ 

Theme: Adventure and friendship

Primary and Secondary characters: Minnie, Moo, the farmer  

Publishing company: DK Ink 

Brief summary & how to use with students: This is a cute beginners book about two cows, Minnie and Moo, who see a tractor nearby and decide to go on a ride. Everything starts out fine but they end up causing so many crazy things to happen, when they finally stop, they think they're on the moon!

PB#33 The Man Who Went to the Far Side of the Moon

Author: Bea Uusma Schyffert

Title: The Man Who Went to the Far Side of the Moon: The Story of Apollo 11 Astronaut Michael Collins

Genre: Children's Picture Book (Biography)

Awards: Mildred L Batchelder

Publishing company: Chronicle Books 

Brief summary & how to use with students: Even though this book is in the children's section of my library, I think any space fan would find it fascinating! This the story of Michael Collins, the Apollo 11 astronaut who went all the way to the moon but never walked on its surface. Instead, he orbited the moon 14 times, surrounded by 701 power switches and 20 pounds of checklists. Reminiscent of a scrapbook, this extraordinary book chronicles what Michael Collins did, saw, and thought about in space. Through fascinating facts, quotes, checklists, original drawings, and photos taken both in space and on Earth, it also tells how the astronauts prepared for their historic journey, what they brought with them, and what they left behind. A must have for anyone interested in space exploration.

CB#11 Feathers

Author: Jacqueline Woodson

Title: Feathers

Genre: Children's Chapter Book

Subgenre: Ages 8+ 

Theme: Learning to look beneath the surface

Primary and Secondary characters: Frannie, Jesus Boy, Samantha, Trevor  
Awards: Newbery

Publishing company: Putnam 

Brief summary & how to use with students: In January of 1971, eleven-year-old Frannie lives contentedly with her parents and deaf older brother, Sean, in an apartment on the "wrong" side of the highway. Suddenly, a tall, skinny white boy with long hair appears in Frannie's sixth-grade class. His classmates decide that he looks like the pictures of Jesus and start calling him the "Jesus Boy." Frannie's best friend Samantha, whose father is a "fire-and brimstone" preacher according to Frannie's mother, seems especially taken with the Jesus Boy and begins to fantasize that he might be Jesus returned to earth. While Jesus Boy must stand up to enormous bullying from his male classmates, which Frannie deplores, she becomes quite interested in him and is mystified that he knows how to "sign" which is how she communicates with her beloved brother.

This book is a bit slow but does explore the many obstacles of growing up. The likable Frannie learns to deal with religious ideas, racism, the meaning of friendship, familial love, and human kindness.

CB#10 One Crazy Summer

Author:  Rita Williams-Garcia

Title: One Crazy Summer

Genre: Children's Chapter Book

Subgenre: Ages 9+ 

Theme: Children reclaiming a reluctant parent's love.

Primary and Secondary characters: Delphine, Cecile, Vonetta, Fern   
Awards: Coretta Scott King

Publishing company: Amistad 

Brief summary & how to use with students: Delphine and her two sister, Vonetta and Fern, haven't seen their mother since she abandoned them 7 years ago but their father decides now is the time for them to reunite. They don't know what to expect but they have to fly to California and survive one whole month with her. When the girls arrive in Oakland in the summer of 1968, Cecile wants nothing to do with them. She makes them eat Chinese takeout dinners, forbids them to enter her kitchen, and never explains the strange visitors with Afros and black berets who knock on her door. Rather than spend time with them, Cecile sends Delphine, Vonetta, and Fern to a summer camp sponsored by a revolutionary group, the Black Panthers, where the girls get a radical new education.

This is an excellent book for students 9 and up. Not only does it tell the story of children trying to reclaim their reluctant parent's love, it's also set in a pivotal time in history and brings light to the subtle ways political movements affect personal lives.

CB#9 Rules

Author: Cynthia Lord

Title: Rules

Genre: Children's Chapter Book

Subgenre: Ages 9+

Theme: Being different and finding acceptance

Primary and Secondary characters: Catherine, David, Jason, Kristi   
Awards: Newbery Honor

Publishing company: Scholastic Press

Brief summary & how to use with students: This book is about a girl named Catherine who has an autistic younger brother named David and she really doesn't know what to think of him. She loves him but she's also embarrassed by the things he does in public. She also notices how her parents really don't pay as much attention to her as they do to her brother. So she's always giving David rules of how to act and trying to help him be more normal. Things change when she becomes friends with Jason, a boy who is a nonverbal paraplegic at her brother's clinic, and he makes her think of things in a different light.

It's a really sweet story that talks a lot about a few disabilities so you can really learn a lot. More for older children, ages 9 and up, and would be perfect for those who have someone in their life with a disability and who would like to learn more about it.

CB#8 Magic Tree House #30

Author:  Mary Pope Osborne

Title: Haunted Castle on Hallows Eve

Illustrator: Sal Murdocca 

Genre: Children's Chapter Book

Subgenre: Ages 6+ 

Theme: Bravery

Primary and Secondary characters: Jack, Annie, Merlin, Teddy   

Publishing company: Random House

Brief summary & how to use with students: I'd never heard of this series before but once I started researching about beginner chapter books - The Magic Tree House series was one of the first things I heard about. This book references back to past books so I'm assuming children would want to read them in order but I was still able to follow along as Teddy, Jack, and Annie go on their adventure through time. Merlin the Magician starts off by sending the two a note, having them go to their tree house, and then into the time of Camelot. (I'm assuming this is probably what happens in all of the books.) And then its up to the three of them gather their bravery and figure out where the Stone of Destiny is.

CB#7 Gooney Bird and the Room Mother

Author:  Lois Lowry

Title: Gooney Bird and the Room Mother 

Illustrator: Middy Thomas

Genre: Children's Chapter Book

Subgenre: Grades 1-4 (Ages 7+) 

Theme: Learning new words and having new experiences

Primary and Secondary characters: Gooney Bird, Mrs. Pidgeon, and all the students in the classroom.   

Publishing company: Yearling 

Brief summary & how to use with students: Gooney Bird is a student in Mrs. Pidgeon's 2nd grade class and she is not you're usual student! She loves learning new words and looking everything up in the dictionary. In this story, Gooney is wanting to be Squanto in the up coming Thanksgiving play - and in return she says she's found someone who is willing to be the Room Mother and bring cupcakes to the play. The only thing is, this person wants to remain incognito until the day of the play. As the class struggles to decorate the mural, make costumes, and learn their songs for the play, the suspense builds: will the pageant be a success? And who is their mysterious Room Mother?
This is a great story for those kids who have a  thirst for knowledge like Gooney and those who love to learn new words. I even learned a word or two I didn't know when I read this book! There are also a few little tips to those readers who aspire to be storytellers.

CB#6 I Spy Fly Guy!

Author: Tedd Arnold

Title: I Spy Fly Guy!

Genre: Children's Chapter Book

Subgenre: Preschool - Grade 2 

Primary and Secondary characters: Buzz and Fly Guy   

Publishing company: Cartwheel Books 

Brief summary & how to use with students: Buzz is the name of a boy with a fly for a friend who's name is Fly Guy. In this book, they're playing Hide and Seek when Fly Guy hides in a garbage can and is taken to the dump by the trash man. Buzz is afraid he has lost his friend forever when he finally finds him.
This is a very simple book that would be great for younger kids or those who are struggling to read. Even those who are reluctant to read will find these books entertaining and enjoyable!