Love That Dog

Author: Sharon Creech
Publication Date: 2008
Type of Book: Poetry Novel

This novel shares the story of a boy named Jack who is a student in Miss Stretchberry's class. The story is written in the form of mini poems. Each poem is written by Jack as an entry in his writers notebook. The only character you hear from in the story is Jack. All of the other characters are mentioned only through Jack's writing. Throughout the book Jack shares his thoughts on various poems his teacher has read in class, poems he has written himself and about his dog Sky.

I really enjoyed reading this book. I had read it before when I was younger and I remembered loving it then as well. I think part of the reason is because I am a big dog person and this story shares the story of Jack's dog Sky. The poem about his dog getting hit by a car is so heartbreaking, but it also shows how writing can be an outlet for people. This book is beneficial for teachers because they can realize the importance of a writers notebook and just how much they can learn about their students from using one continually in the classroom.

I would recommend this story for students in third grade and up. This would be a fantastic book to read during a poetry unit so students can see that writing poetry isn't as scary as some people think. It can also be used to help teach students about using a writers notebooks in the classroom. The teacher can talk about how Jack used his notebook to responded to various poems from class and  to write to his teacher. The author also wrote another book called Hate That Cat that can be used to do a literary comparison. One half of the class could read Love That Dog and the other half could read Hate That Cat and they could discuss the similarities and differences between the two.

Image References:
http://www.amazon.com/Love-That-Dog-Sharon-Creech/dp/0064409597

Shout! Little Poems That Roar

Author: Brod Bagert
Publication Date: 2007
Type of Book: Poetry Picture Book

This poetry book is a compilation of poems about various aspects of a child's life. Some of the topics for the poems are school, senses, weather, and play time. The poems range from one to two pages and most of them have rhymes.

I enjoyed reading this poetry picture book. Each poem was very cute and kid friendly. Children would find some of the poems silly and could relate to what was written in them. The pictures went along great with the poems and helped bring the writing to life. I would purchase this poetry book to have in my classroom for students to enjoy. I also like how the poems aren't written the same way. Some poems are written in the middle of the page, others are to the side. Throughout the poems some words are in bold, others are larger than the rest of the text. Each poem has it's own personality that engages readers.

I would recommend this book for students in all grades. Teachers in lower elementary school could read the poems aloud to their class daily as a way to teach about poems. Students in upper elementary school could use this book to learn about poetry and help gather ideas for their own poem they're going to write. They can share what they like and dislike about the poems and discuss what makes a poem inviting and exciting for readers.

Image References:
http://www.amazon.com/Shout-Little-Poems-Bagert-Hardcover/dp/B01071AOR0/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1448165792&sr=1-3&keywords=Shout%21+brod+bagert

Dogku

Author: Andrew Clements
Publication Date: 2007
Type of Book: Poetry Picture Book

This picture book tells the story of a stray dog written as a Haiku poem. A dog is found outside of a house one night and the mother takes him in. He gets a bath and fed some food. In the morning he meets the family and the children are so happy to see him. When the kids go to school he goes on errands with the mom and then entertains himself while he waits for everyone to get home. When the dad leaves the house he is afraid that he will be sent to the pound. After he walks through the door with a dog bed, he is so happy and knows that he has found his new home.

I really enjoyed reading this heartwarming story. It was really interesting how the author told the story through the use of a haiku. I was so happy a the end of the story when the dad walked into the house carrying all of the dog stuff instead of taking him to the pound. Seeing what the dog did to entertain himself while the kids were at school was one of my favorite parts.

This story could be used in any grade level. During a poetry unit this story would be really great to use in the classroom to teach about haikus. Students can see that there are different ways to write poetry including picture book form.

Image References:
http://www.amazon.com/Dogku-Andrew-Clements/dp/068985823X

A Primer about the Flag

Author: Marvin Bell
Publication Date: 2011
Type of Book: Poetry Picture Book

This book shares a poem about flags. Each page is one part of the poem. At the end of the story is the completed poem titled, A Primer about the Flag. Readers learn about the different uses of flags through this poetry picture book.

I wasn't a huge fan of this picture book. Even though the full poem is written at the end of the story I didn't think this story provided readers with a lot of information. This book is only a primer to flags but it could have provided just a little bit more information. I also was very confused at the ending of the poem and had to read it a few times to try to understand it. I am still not 100% sure what the ending means.

This isn't the first book I would use in my classroom. If I were to recommend the story for a grade I would say 4th or 5th grade. The teacher could use this book as a read aloud as an intro to a unit about flags.

Image Resources:
https://books.google.com/books/about/A_Primer_about_the_Flag.html?id=fbZJ8ApXbVUC&source=kp_cover&hl=en

The Perfect Present

Author: Fiona Roberton
Publication Date: 2012
Type of Book: Picture Book

This book is about a young boy named Henry. Henry is very excited for his birthday and all of the presents he is going to receive. Spot, Henry's pet duck picked out the perfect present for his friend. Spot's perfect present is ruined when Henry opens up a box from his grandparents and finds a puppy. Spot feels that he is no longer wanted since Henry has a new pet that he can love. Spot packs up his belongings and starts the journey back to his old house. It isn't until Spot is caught in a storm and Henry comes to his rescue with the new puppy that he realizes, maybe Henry can love both of them after all. In the end Spot is excited because he has a pet of his own and Henry did love the perfect present that he had bought him.

When reading this story I felt so bad for Spot. You saw how excited he was to give his present to Henry and then how things changed instantly. Henry was so caught up in his new puppy that he didn't even open his present from Spot. The picture where Spot was packing up his belongings and looking at a picture of him and Henry was so sad! I also liked how in the end Henry told Spot that the puppy could be their perfect pet together instead of just his.

I would recommend story for younger students. The illustrations are very kid friendly and the story is one that they would enjoy. I think student's would think it was funny that a pet had a pet of his own. A teacher could also use this story to teach students about predictions. Even though this is a picture book the author broke it into three little chapters. The students could predict what was going to happen within each chapter by using the title alone.

Image References:
http://www.amazon.com/Perfect-Present-Fiona-Roberton/dp/039925773X/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1448134176&sr=1-2&keywords=The+Perfect+Present 

Journey

Author: Aaron Becker
Publication Date: 2013
Type of Book: Picture Book

This wordless picture book shares the journey one little girl takes after she finds a red marker. This red marker is magic and whatever she draws comes to life. Her journey begins after she draws a door and goes through it. She goes all over the place, traveling by foot, boat, flying carpet, and hot air balloon. During her journey she saves a purple bird that ends up helping her later on. The bird leads her to a purple door that resembles the red door she drew earlier. After going through the door she is taken back to where she began but she meets a young boy who has a magic pen just like her. The two of them take their magic pens and continue their journey together.

My favorite part of this book is that everything the girl creates is bright red. The colors throughout the story are very muted and the red always pops on the page. Each page is also illustrated with incredible details. Since the illustrations are so well done there was never a point where I didn't understand what was happening even though there weren't any words. This story also promotes creativity which I love. It also shows readers the benefit of being kind and helping those in need. If the girl wasn't kind and didn't help the bird escape she would never had made a new friend.

I would recommend this book for students in upper elementary school. The story told through the illustrations may be difficult for younger children to interpret, unless it is used during small groups with an adult to help scaffold student's thinking. Students in upper elementary school could use this as a part of a wordless picture book genre study. They can gather ideas for their own wordless picture book from this story. Students can also do an activity where they put dialogue into the story.

Image References:
http://www.amazon.com/Journey-Aaron-Becker/dp/0763660531/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1448132920&sr=1-1&keywords=journey

Lucky Ducklings

Author: Eva Moore
Publication Date: 2013
Type of Book: Picture Book

This picture book shares the true story of a family of ducks from Long Island, NY. The mother duck and her ducklings were taking a walk through town one day. The mama duck crossed over the storm drain and closely behind were her babies. The only problem was that her babies were a lot smaller than her and because of these each of them fell into the drain. Someone from he town saw what had happened and called the Fire Department. With the help of people from the town the ducks were rescued and taken back to their home in the park.

I really enjoyed reading this story. The illustrations were fantastic and really helped tell the story. The author included dialogue to represent what they thought the duck was saying. This was a really cute addition to the book and helped personify the characters that weren't human. Suspense was also another aspect of this story that was unique. The author made it so you had to continue reading in order to find out what happened next. I also liked how the author repeated the phrase, "That could have been the end of the story. But it wasn't, because..." throughout the story. Then at the end the author finally said, "And that is the end of the story".

This is a fantastic book to use in the classroom. You can use it for students in all grades. Since this book is based on a true story the teacher could find the news article from the day it happened. Students could read this article and take notes. They then can read the picture book and compare it to the informational text they had read. This book can also be used to teach students how to figure out unknown words using different reading strategies. The teacher can do this by covering up various words within the story and students have to determine what the words could be. Since the illustrations are so well done students could rely a lot on picture clues to help them.

Image References:
http://www.amazon.com/Lucky-Ducklings-Eva-Moore/dp/0439448611