My Little Polar Bear by Claudia Rueda

My Little Polar Bear is a sweet and simple story about a baby polar asking his mother if he is a polar bear. His mother tries to explain to him how he is polar bear. She explains that he was born in the Arctic, is white like the snow, has large feet, can walk on snow, smells seals, is a good swimmer, and can find his way in a snow storm. The little polar bear says he does not swim well, he gets lost in the snow, and he slips. The mother bear tells her baby that she will teach him all of these things. The one thing the little polar bear knows for sure is that his mother loves him.

This story is very simple and for beginner readers in Kindergarten and 1st grade. The story is something that many parents can relate to. All children need to learn from their parents as they grow up. This is a great book for students learning to read because there are only a few words on each page and they are fairly simple words.

The book caught my eye because of the blue glitter cover. All the pictures are very simple in blue and white. I was not that fond of the illustrations, but the simplicity of them goes along with the simplicity of the story. It is not trying to hard, it just a plain and simple sweet story. When i read this to my second grade child study student he really liked it because he could read along with me. I think this story would be a good addition to a Kindergarten and first grade classroom. Kids will enjoy it and parents will enjoy it as well.

Bubble Trouble by Margaret Mahy

Bubble Trouble is the story of a little boy who gets stuck inside his sisters bubble and floats above the town where everyone stops what they are doing to run after him. His mother is worried that the bubble will pop and the little baby will fall. A rebel boy on the block decides to try to shoot it down with a pebble and when he does, the bubble bursts and the baby begins to fall. Luckily, one of their neighbors had a quilt with her that she was working on and they all open up the quilt and hold it out so that the baby can fall safely on it and be okay.

This story is told in an interesting rhyming fashion. Only two lines on the page rhyme and for some reason I just could not get the flow going with that. There were many tongue twister rhyming words that all sounded a like and would make for a fun read for children, but also somewhat difficult for parents. It is hard to keep a good pace because the rhyming was different then what I am used to reading. Also, many of the words were different and harder for younger children to understand. Though they will probably understand what is going on through the pictures, I found the book itself to be confusing for young kids.

The illustrations, done by Polly Dunbar, seemed to be done partially in colored pencil which I found refreshing. It was a little something different then you usually see and for children who use colored pencil, they can try to replicate some of the illustrations. This story would be good for students in 1st and 2nd grade, though it still might be a little confusing for them. If the story is read fast, kids will get a kick out of the rhyming words and funny tongue twisters in the story.

Dem Bones by Bob Barner

Dem Bones is a book that goes through all the major bones in the human body. It shows the bone and explains what the bone is connected to, like that little song we use to sing as kids "the foot bones connected to the...ankle bone, the ankle bones connected to the...leg bone, the leg bones connected to the...knee bones, and so on and so forth. It gives a little description of the bone and then some functions that that bones allows us to do.

This fun book is a great way for children to learn all about the bones in their bodies. It is a great information book that still has a fun childrens book feel to it. I think this book would be great when teaching science to children. Even though the book is simple, it could still be a good book to use for kids in older grades like 5th or 6th. The illustrations show the reader the different bones and use a lot of color.

I really like this book as a way to teach the bones in the body. While reading it there were many things about the bones that I still did not know as a adult so I think that this book would be really helpful for students learning about the body.

The Giver

I honestly think I read this book in the 4th grade, but do not know how I could have even began to understand it. This extraordinary takes place in a community where everything and everyone are the same. The people of the community do not experience any pain or even love. They are given a job during their twelfth year and that is the job they are to study and do. They do not believe in choice, or color, or anything that would allow a person to think or be an individual. The main character of the story, Jonas, is incredibly nervous as his twelfth year approaches. He is not sure what kind of job he will receive. At the end of the ceremony he finds out he will be the new receiver of memory. This is very honorable job to have in this community because he gets to a follow a different set of rules. The receiver of memory trains with the giver, the only person in the community who holds memories of a place in which the world was once like. When he begins to receive memories from the giver, he starts to feel pain and love. He does not understand why the community would be against this things. He see's colors and finds them beautiful.

As time goes on, Jonas also discovers what it means to be released into the world. He finds out through memories that if you are released you are going to be killed. His father wanting to release Gabriel, a baby they had been looking after. Jonas does not want this to happen and also wants all the memories to be released back into the communities so that they can all experience these things. He decides to escape with Gabriel and free all the memories. The ending of the book is left to interpretation. Jonas and Gabriel hear music and think they will be welcomed in this new land. Some people believe this means they came across a new village, one more like the real world today as we know. Some believe the coldness they experienced made them freeze to death and that is was they heard before they died.

Whatever the ending may mean, I believe that this book is one that should not only be read by middle schoolers, but young adults and adults who may have never read it. I barely remember reading this book because I think I was to young to understand its full meaning. When teaching this book you can really delve into big issues like independence, difference, and being able to make mistakes. We all experience pain, but the great part in experiencing pain is experiencing something great after that pain. We can enjoy the great things in life if we never experience any of the bad things. This is so important for children to learn.

I would recommend this book for children in 6-8th grade because I think they will get the most out of it. There are many great discussions and assignments that can be done with this book and will crease some great dialogue. I feel like this book is a must for teachers.

Twilight by Stephanie Meyer

Twilight is the famous 4-part series book about the love between a vampire and a teenage girl. Bella is an ordinary girl who moved to Seattle to live with her father. She is a shy, quiet girl who mostly keeps to herself. She sits next to a mysterious boy named Edward in one of her classes and gets the feeling like he does not like her. As time goes on and Bella observes Edward, she senses that something is different about him and ultimately realizes that he is a vampire. Edward is a vampire that does not human blood, only animal blood. Two try to stay away, but realize that their connection is much to strong. Being in love with a vampire is difficult, especially when other vampires in town want to eat you. The first book in the series only touches on the crazyness that is The Twilight Saga.

The Twilight books, especially the first one, are extremely popular among teenagers, specifically girls. The reason I think this is, is because many young girls can relate to Bella. She is the gorgeous popular beauty in the school, but an average teenage girl. There is also something very intriguing about a forbidden love as well dating a boy who would do just about anything for you.

Though many think this book is just for girls, I have heard of boys reading the book and enjoying it. There is actions\fighting scenes between the vampires and in the later books with werewolves. I think there is much for boys to like about this book other then the main romance. This book is probably for students in 6-8 grade. It has some risque content in the later series, but I think most young readers have seen or heard of the same stuff on television or in movies. It is a great modern day Romeo and Juliet with a twist and with the current vampire craze, many students will probably want to read it.

Brown Bear, Brown Bear by Bill Martin Jr.

Brown Bear, Brown Bear is a simple childrens book for preschool and kindergartners. The story begins with the brown bear and the author asking brown bear brown bear what do you see and then finding out what animal was next and color it was going to be. Some of the animals were a red bird, yellow duck, purple cat, blue horse, green frog, ect. At the end there is a mother who sees a group of children that explain that they see all of the animals and the mother looking at them. I think the means the mother is reading them the story.

I remember reading this book when I was very little. It is a simple and great book for kids who are just learning how to read. It is also a great way to learn about different animals and different colors. As a teacher you can also make an extension out of it and have kids add their own illustrations and words explaining the types of things they see. This could be very fun for kindergartners and first graders.

The illustrations were by Eric Carle whom I love. They are very colorful, yet simple pictures which are a staple of Eric's work. I think young kids will find this book to be fun and will want to read it over and over again with their parent or teacher. A great addition to any classroom library.

Wolf Camp by Katie Mcky

Wolf Camp is the story of a girl who asks her parents to go to wolf camp. When she returns from her 2 weeks adventure, her parents notice that somethings have changed about her. She was sniffing in the dirt, scratching fleas, and only wanting to eat meat. Her parents found this incredibly strange, but overtime realize that it might be from wolf camp. She then sees a poster for bear camp and asks her parents if she can go, circling the whole story around again, but about a bear.

I really was not a fan of this book. When looking at the cover and seeing the picture of the little girl ready to go to camp with all of her luggage I assumed the book would be about her experience at camp. I attended overnight camp as a kid and thought that this book would remind me of this times. The story does not take place at camp at all. It is a face paced book and I found myself getting annoyed by the fact that they did not once show her at camp.

The one thing I liked, as with most books, were the illustrations. They way they showed the little girl acting like a wolf was very funny. I especially liked the picture of her scratching her head with her foot. I think this book would be good for students in k-2nd grade. Even though I really did not enjoy the overall story, I think that kids will find the story funny.