kiddieliter

I had not intended posting on the book If Not for the Cat by Jack Prelustsky until yesterday afternoon and I see Teresa enjoyed the book as much as I did:).  At the YMCA I am a the 1st grade afterschool counselor and I am big on reading to them everyday in our “quiet time”.  I encourage them to bring me books that they have checked out from their school libraries or any from home that they like.  Yesterday one of my boys brought me this book and wanted me to read it.  I thought it was so neat that he had brought me a poetry book since we were discussing them in this class as well as my 345 class.  The book basically had a haiku in the form of a riddle on each page with excellent pictures.  We had a lot of fun talking about haikus and how they worked. Of course they didn’t know what a haiku was  before then and they thought it sounded so cool that they wanted to learn about.  We were clapping out syllables and guessing the riddles and I think they really enjoyed it, even though is was semi advanced for their age level.  At times I had to explain words to them they had never heard, but they usually guessed the animal in the end.   So, I had a real life experience with this book and give it an A+. 

This book is a timeless classic.  It’s a story of a girl forced to work day and night.  Her tasks seem almost impossible.  She is able to get help from a strange little man, but at a cost.  She has to promise him her first born child.  This book has wonderful pictures.  I enjoy this story, but I do see how it could be  frightening for younger children.

This is a wonderful book of poems that could be enjoyed by students in any grade.  I think that they particularly appeal to boys.  I think that they are funny and promote interest in poetry.  I don’t think you can really go wrong with Jack Prelutsky though.  I plan on adding it to my collection.

The story of a little boy and his father’s attempts to please his indecisive, unresponsive son.  The book is really cute.  It really reminds me of the book Terrific about a man who only says “terrific”.  Since the only thing the boy will say is “whatever”.

The Sound of Colors by Jimmy Liao is a wonderful modern fantasy book.  It takes a young girl on a journey that is slowly loosing her vision.  In the beginning, she stayed at home and let the darkness surround her.  Then one day she went out and experienced the world through her senses.  This book is great for the imagination and for fantasy.  She begins to realize that she is not missing anything with out her sight but she has a range of colors and design in her mind.  She is able to fantasize about possibilities and questions about her journey.  This book be a great book for students to read or have read to them.  Teachers could use the book as a writing prompt answering, “what do you see when you close your eyes?”  The students would be able to use their imagination and escape to a fantasy land.  I strongly suggest this book.

This is a book of collected poetry from Native American cultures. Each of the thirteen moons are represented on the turtles back. The turtle is believed to contain the mystery of the moons and powers each story behind the moons. I loved the poetry and the illustrations were just gorgeous.

      Award winning poet Jack Prelutsky, will delight you with this charming collection of seventeen haiku poems that all have a secret… Within their simple, yet enlightening words these poems will cause you to envision your favorite animal creatures in a whole new way. But, who is who? This is one big, fun riddle within a collection of entertaining poetry. But, don’t worry the answer will be right in front of you all the time! Ted Rand’s beautiful watercolor illustrations make this South Carolina Picture Book Award winner one that you will want for your very own collection.

This is the classic poem about different animals of different colors and what they see.  Brown bears, red birds, blue horses, and green frogs decorate this book from front to back.  Predictable text helps readers to determine what the next part may be!

“Imagine That!” is a book of collected poems by many different authors, including Dr. Seuss. This book is complete with monsters, machines, and aliens. It really opens children’s mind to being creative and thinking outside the box. It also helps the children to understand different types of poetry and that you can write a poem about anything your heart desires.

Rumpelstiltskin is a folktale about a young miller’s daughter who is told that if she can spin straw into gold she will become the wife of the king. Her father tells the king she can spin straw into gold, so the miller’s daughter is set up to do something that is impossible for her to do. Just when she is ready to give up, a short man appears in the room and tells her if she gives him items that he will keep spinning straw into gold until the king is pleased. On the third time the short man appears she has nothing more to give him, so the man tells her that he will have her first child. When he comes back to take the child the woman pleas to keep the child. The man tells her she must find out his name and tell him in the next three days or she will lose her child. Is she able to find the man’s name in time?