Mandy+P

__**Picture Books**__

__#1 Title:__ Good Work, Amelia Bedelia __Author:__ Peggy Parish __Illustrator:__ Lynn Sweat

Amelia Bedelia books are quite fun to read. Amelia has a hard time doing things the way they are suppose to be done. In this book, she is left at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Rogers and is to follow the directions and take care of the chores. However, she is pretty clumsy and doesn't quite understand the directions given. She thinks she completes the chores, and completes them well, but the results aren't quite what Mr. and Mrs. Rogers is looking for. For an example, she is suppose to make a sponge cake and in it, Amelia ends up putting actual pieces of sponge into the cake! Now, we all know that an actual sponge that we use for cleaning is not suppose to go into the cake, but alas, Amelia does it anyway - she didn't know any better. Amelia Bedelia books, like I said, are a great read. They are funny and enjoyable. This particular book is a good lesson on following directions. Sometimes it's hard to follow the directions if they aren't specific. If directions are confusing, ask for help to understand what they are saying, otherwise you might just end up putting a sponge in your cake!

__#2 Title:__ Chick Chicka Boom Boom __Author:__ Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault __Illustrator:__ Lois Ehlert

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom is a great book for children! It has excellent rhyming, as well as a repetitive chorus throughout the whole book. It is very cheerful and colorful and fun to read over and over. Basically, the story is about the letters of the alphabet racing to see who gets to the top of the coconut tree first. Just when each letter reaches the top, it becomes top-heavy and "chicka chicka boom boom" the letters come tumbling down! I think this is an extraordinary way to teach your children the alphabet. This is a story that children will not want to put down. Once they catch the tune, they'll be singing it and perhaps try to go up the coconut tree themselves! But, don't worry... :)

__#3 Title:__ The Very Hungry Caterpillar __Author:__ Eric Carle

The Very Hungry Caterpillar is a very easy read. This book is full of color! In this story, there is this egg laying on a leaf in the moonlight. The next morning, the thing that once was an egg became a little caterpillar! He searched for food, then he ate it. Then again, he searched for food, and then he ate it. Eventually he ate so much that he got so full and couldn't eat anymore. He wasn't a little caterpillar anymore! After that, he made his home - a cocoon - around himself and stayed in there for more than two weeks. He then nibbled a hole and pushed himself out and was a beautiful butterfly! I like this book because it's colorful, fun, and it briefly goes through the stages of the life of a caterpillar. I know it's a book that children enjoy!

__#4 Title:__ The Rainbow Fish __Author:__ Marcus Pfister

The Rainbow Fish is such a good children's book! I love it! I'm pretty sure I didn't actually read it as a child, but I definitely remember looking through it several times just because of the shimmer it has in it. It is about this fish, Rainbow Fish, who has many shimmering scales. He is the only one in the sea with these beautiful scales. All of the other fish want him to play with them, but he is too prideful and decides to turn them down. Later, a fish asks about having one of his shimmering scales. With those beautiful scales being his most prized possession, he turns him down saying, "Why would I do such a thing? Get away from me!" The little blue fish then swims away telling all his friends what had happened. Then Rainbow Fish was all alone and no one wanted to be around him or play with him. He then goes to the wise octopus asking why he was all alone. The octopus tells him that until he gives away his most prized possession, he won't find out what true happiness is all about. He then goes and gives each of the fish one shimmering scale and is left with one for himself, and they all play happily together. I love the message this book gives. It talks in the Bible about how we are to give everything we have to those who have none. This is what Rainbow Fish did. Also, I think it's kind of like if we hold onto Jesus and keep Him all to ourselves and don't share His love and about Him to anyone else, how can the others who don't know anything about Him, experience that joy that you have? Food for thought...

__#5 Title:__ A Pocket For Corduroy __Author:__ Don Freeman

This is a cute book. It is about a little teddy bear named Corduroy. He goes to the laundry mat with his family and while they are washing clothes he sees his owner cleaning out her pockets. That makes him want a pocket on his outfit. Well, he leaves his seat and looks around the laundry mat looking for a pocket for himself. He is left there overnight and the next day his owner comes to get him. She asked why he left his seat and he told her that all he was doing is looking for a pocket - he has always wanted a pocket. To please Corduroy, his owner makes him a pocket and he even gets a nametag to put inside of it. This makes him very happy! I think this is a good book because it kind of shows that if you really want something, don't be afraid to ask for it. I mean, the worst that could happen is being told no, but you never know... you just might get it! :)

__#6 Title:__ Africa Dream __Author:__ Eloise Greenfield __Illustrator:__ Carole Byard

This book is not as exciting as I thought it'd be. I saw the title and wanted to read it because I love Africa! It is an old book (1977) so that might explain why the illustrations are so bland. They are just black and white so not very thrilling in that aspect. It is a fun book otherwise because it shows how a young is here in the US, perhaps, and dreams of where she came from and where her ancestors are from (Africa). It's a heartwarming story of how dreams can be so pure and feel so real. Sometimes they may not even remember what it was like where they came from, but they have an imagination of what it was like or could be like. I've been to Africa, so I know what it's really like in the area I was, but before that, all I could do was imagine what it would be like to be there. Let me tell you... what I thought it was going to be like compared to what it was actually like was not at all the same, but maybe another part of Africa is like my imagination. I won't know until I get there again! I like this book simply because it's something about Africa and Africa makes me happy :)

__#7 Title:__ Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile __Author:__ Bernard Waber

Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile is an enjoyable book! The illustrations are neat and the storyline is good. Lyle is a neighborhood crocodile and his neighbor is not very fond of him. The story is about Lyle, being as friendly as he can be, first of all, trying to make a friend with Loretta, the neighbor's cat... needless to say, it doesn't work out very well. Lyle loves his family and likes to play with Joshua and his friends. He also likes to go into the city with his Mrs. Primm (his "mom"). One day he went into the store and Mr. Grumps, Loretta's owner, found Mrs. Primm and Lyle and got very angry and kicked them out. By this time Mr. Grumps is so tired of Lyle that he gets paperwork taken care of and gets him sent to the zoo. While in the zoo, his old time friend frees him from his cage. His friend was going to take him to Australia to do some shows, but just before they were going to leave, they passed by Lyle's neighborhood again and saw that Mr. Grumps house was on fire! Lyle rushes in and grabs Mr. Grumps and Loretta out of the house and saves them. After that, Mr. Grumps said he would gladly let Lyle stay in the neighborhood again and even Loretta became friends with him! :) This is a cute children's book. It's a fun little story and I like that it shows that even though being kind to everyone could cause you to get persecuted, in the end it pays off!

__#8 Title:__ The Kissing Hand __Author:__ Audrey Penn __Illustrator:__ Ruth E. Harper and Nancy M. Leak

This is such a sweet children's book! I absolutely love it :) In The Kissing Hand, Chester, a little racoon, is afraid to go to his first day of school. His mom tells him all the things that will be good about it and to not be afraid. He was still convinced that he should stay home with his mom. Mrs. Racoon then shows him a secret. The secret is the kissing hand. She got it from her mom and she wants to share it with her son. So she opens his hand and kisses the middle of his palm. She then tells him that whenever he is lonely or in need of some love from home to put his hand on his cheek and the love will flow from his hand to his heart. As she said, he put his hand on his cheek while at school and it cured the fear. Later, Chester returns the favor and gives his mom a kissing hand. It makes her happy :) This heartwarming story is a beautiful in the way that it shows the love of a mother to a child and a child to a mother and how their love is each others security. It's kind of like Jesus' love... how when you've been touched by the love of Jesus, you will always have it and no matter where you go, His love will always be with you. So comforting.

__#9 Title:__ David Gets in Trouble __Author:__ David Shannon

This book is a very kid friendly book. The illustrations are silly and fun. In this book, David gets in trouble basically every time he does something. Most of the time whenever something bad happens it's an accident. Nonetheless, he always gets in trouble. He uses every excuse he can think of and never takes responsibility for his mistakes. For an example, when he forgets to put his pants on for school, his mom runs after him with his pants and his excuse is "I forgot!" I think it's a little silly of him to forget to put his pants on, but that's just an example of how David is. There are many excuses given in this book, so a downfall would be that children could read them and then later on use them in their own life. However, it does show in the end that regardless of how many accidents David has, his mom still loves him and vice versa. Even though we make mistakes, we are still loved :)

__#10 Title:__ The Hundred Dresses __Author:__ Eleanor Estes __Illustrator:__ Louis Slobodkin

Wanda is the girl in school who wore the same blue dress to school every single day. It always looked clean but it never looked like it was ironed. This girl named Peggy (the most popular girl in school) stared to play a game with Wanda one day and asked, "How many dresses do you have?" Wanda replied, "A hundred dresses - all lined up in my closet." Every time that question was asked and that answer was given all the girls had a good laugh while Wanda just tightened her lips and walked off with her shoulder hunched the way no one understood. This is a story of how Wanda really did have a hundred dresses and it shows how Peggy and Maddie came to the understanding of that. This is really such a sweet story. It shows how people think they know someone, but come to find out, they really had no idea what that person was all about. For school wise, it shows that the students should respect one another and not to make fun of each other because it could make a huge difference in someone's life. It could even make them move away to a different school.

__#11 Title:__ Freedom Summer __Author:__ Deborah Wiles __Illustrator:__ Jerome Lagarrigue

This story is a response to the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which stated that all persons regardless of race, color, religion, or natural origin, were entitled to the full and equal enjoyment of any public place. After this act was passed, many White businesses closed down, some even permanently. They did so because then the other races wouldn't be able to enjoy them. As a white child, this author writes this book in response to this - it expresses how he was feeling at the time. This book opens eyes quiet a bit to what prejudice experiences were like, I think. This is a really good children's book! It is California's young reader nominee for good reasons :) I think this is an excellent book to use to teach on prejudice and how it was like back in the day. It's a little sad, but it ends very heart warmingly. :) The illustrations are quite colorful and most definitely help tell the story.

__#12 Title:__ Peach & Blue __Author:__ Sarah S. Kilborne __Illustrator:__ Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher

This is such a cute book! It is a tale of friendship and love that radiates warmth. The illustrations are ones to remember because they are very colorful and beautiful and so right on. I love the illustrations because they seem so real. This is a story about a Peach in the who longs to see the world from somewhere other than in a tree. Blue (a frog) sees Peach crying from up in the tree and he feels bad for her. He gets his 28 siblings to help make a tower up to where Peach is in the tree so Blue can get her down from there. Once she reaches the ground, the frogs make a bowl for her to sit in to be her legs so she can see the world. She ends up seeing much more than Blue ever saw. To him, everything was the same and there wasn't anything extraordinary about it - that is, until Peach showed him. In the end, she wishes that she could stay there with him forever and then she told him that she wouldn't last forever. He said that as long as she lives, she can stay and be there with him :) Precious, I know ;)

__#13 Title:__ This Is the Feast __Author:__ Diane Z. Shore __Illustrator:__ Megan Lloyd

This is my new favorite Thanksgiving book! We just read it to the children in my Children's Church Service and I absolutely love it! This story is one (of many, I'm sure) stories that tell why we celebrate Thanksgiving - the real meaning behind it. It is such an excellent read to and for the students and even for teachers because it is a beautiful story and the illustrations are phenominal. The pictures are very colorful and detailed and they thrill my soul! This story also does not leave God out of the meaning behind Thanksgiving and I throughly enjoy that. Almost every page ended with a line about thanking God for something. Also, this is a wonderful story to use to teach about words that rhyme. There are two sentences that rhyme with each other throughout the book and it also can help with vocabulary because not only do the words have good rhyme, they also may be words that aren't used that often so children may not even have heard of them before. I recommend this book for anyone! It's definitely one that I want to buy!

__#14 Title:__ Love You Forever __Author:__ Robert Munsch __Illustrator:__ Sheila McGraw

This is a sweet story for the most part. Reading the part and seeing the pictures about the part when the man's mother climbs into his window in the middle of the night just to hold him cracks me up! Other than that, this is a really cute story. It shows true love of a mother and son and honestly I don't think there are many boys who have a tight relationship like that with their mother so... it's nice to see it even if it's just a book. This is a good story to show repetition. When it says the same thing almost every other page, I think the children would quickly pick up the words by the end of the story and even be able to tell you it before you read it.

__#15 Title:__ Twilight Comes Twice __Author:__ Ralph Fletcher __Illustrator:__ Kate Kiesler

This is a beautifully illustrated book! The colors and detail are quite nice. The story itself was fine. It didn't really amaze me at all or draw me in. I think the pictures drew me into it more than the actual story did. However, the word choice was really wonderful!! There were awesome words that were used for description and such and I did like that a lot. It was also very good for personification.

I would recommend this book for teachers and students while they are teaching or learning about word choice as well as personification because I just think this is an excellent source for that!

__#16 Title:__ A Kiss For Little Bear __Author:__ Else Holmelund Minark __Illustrator:__ Maurice Sendak

This book was... silly. Growing up I watched Little Bear all the time and so I thought this would bring back good childhood memories. However, it was weird because it was a very short story about passing Little Bear's kiss to his grandmother through his friends. When the first skunk got a hold of the kiss it was suppose to pass it on to another skunk and then that skunk I am assuming was suppose to pass it to Grandmother, but it ended up being passed back to the previous skunk. This went back and forth for a little bit before the kiss ended where it was suppose to. In the end, the skunks get married. So... it really didn't help bring any childhood memories back, needless to say. Haha. It was just silly. I guess the only reason why I would recommend this book for any child is for repetition of the passing of the kiss. Words are similar throughout and would make it really easy to read.

__#17 Title:__ The Harmonica __Author:__ Tony Johnston __Illustrator:__ Ron Mazellan

This book is really good. It is a story about this family who gets split up when the Nazis invade Poland. This boy and his parents are together in the beginning of the story. They are a family who loves music and who loved listening to, singing with, and dancing to Schubert (a famous piano player). The boy has a dream of playing piano as well as Schubert someday, but because they are poor, his dad gives him a harmonica. He plays and his parents dance and they were having the time of their life, just when they thought nothing could go wrong... and then the Nazis invade, taking his parents and moving him to a concentration camp. He didn't know that it'd be the last time he'd see his parents. After a short time of being at the camp, the commandant figured out that he could play Schubert on his harmonica and told him to play it for him every single night. The commandant ended up giving this boy bread when he would play, but taking and eating the bread made him feel guilty because every other prisoner was starving and he didn't deserve the bread, he thought. Every time he played the harmonica he thought of his father, who gave him the harmonica, his mother who loved dancing, and the other prisoners... hoping they would find hope in the midst of his playing. He ends up playing from the bottom of his heart, full of hope.

This is a sad but sweet story at the same time. I liked how he found joy in the midst of such trials and the loss of his parents. Music really does do something for soul. Also, the pictures in this story are so good! I absolutely love them!

__#18 Title:__ The Enormous Crocodile __Author:__ Roald Dahl __Illustrator:__ Quentin Blake

This was another silly book. It started off with an Enormous Crocodile and a Notsobig One. Enormous Crocodile wanted to prove to the little one that he was going to have juicy little children for lunch. After passing other animals in the jungle on his way to find the children, the animals tell him how rotten he is for wanting to eat children. He goes and hunts them down anyway. He tries four different clever and secret tricks to try to get the children close enough for him to clam on them, but every time he tried, the other animals would keep the children safe. In the end, his friend Trunky (an elephant) takes Enormous Crocodile by his trunk and twirls him around so fast and lets him loose so that he blows up into the sun. That's how the story ends. I probably wouldn't recommend this book for anyone unless it's the only book they can find to read. There doesn't seem to be anything special about it.

__#19 Title:__ Cloud Dance __Author:__ Thomas Locker

I love this book! First of all I like it because I like pictures of clouds... there is just something about them that makes me happy. Secondly, almost in every picture there is a mother and a child doing something in the picture - usually walking. The fact that the illustrator makes them part of the book in the pictures also makes me happy for some reason. Also, the pictures are so... smooth, might I say. They are beautiful pieces of artwork and it's almost peaceful just reading the book because it's so pretty. Another thing that I really like about this book is that it's informational. It talks about the different clouds there are and when and at the back of the book it shares more facts about clouds and even has a cloud project! How cool is that! This would make a great educational tool when teaching about clouds, for sure!

__#20 Title:__ Shaoey and Dot __Author:__ Mary Beth & Steven Curtis Chapman __Illustrator:__ Jim Chapman

This is a very heartwarming story! This is a story written by the music artist Steven Curtis Chapman and his wife. They were called to adopt three children from China and this is a story about the adoption of one of them named Shaohannah (Shaoey, for short). She was adopted in 2000 and this book was written in 2004. It is a sweet story about love and hope and faith and finding a home in a perfect family. There are special places in peoples' hearts for children who are orphaned or without a home and family. This story shows the short life of little Shaoey before she was adopted by the Chapman family and in the end she is flying home to be with her family forever.

After reading this I think about how Steven Curtis Chapman lost a daughter and I just wonder if Shaoey is the one he lost. If so, it's very sad to realize that she didn't have a family for very long, but forever she will be in their hearts.

__#21 Title:__ Ryan and Jimmy And the Well in Africa That Brought Them Together __Author:__ Herb Shoveller

Just by looking at this title I knew I would want to read this book because I have a heart for Africa :-) Even more, I opened it up and saw that it's about Uganda, Africa and funny as it may seem, I have thought and prayed a bit about Uganda and going there, so really... this book was meant to be read by me. This is a story about Ryan's Well. As a six year old in Canada he was told about how $70 could help build a well in Africa. He decided to do months and months of chores to raise money. He ended up becoming very popular by giving speeches all over the world about how important water is in Africa. People gave money toward the well and eventually it was built in Uganda. Ryan's teacher then thought that it'd be a great idea to do pen pals in her class with those students in Africa. Ryan's penpal was Jimmy. They exchanged a few letters and then Ryan was able to visit Uganda! He visited the well and he met and spent time with Jimmy. By the time it was his time to leave and go back to Canada, their friendship was so strong that they were almost like brothers. Just after Ryan left, things turned worse for Jimmy. The LRA (Lord's Resistance Army) came and attacked once again. Jimmy's life was on the line. He ended up getting away but his life was still on the line because he knew that if he was found again they would kill him. In the meantime, Ryan's family was so worried about Jimmy that they needed a way to get him to leave Uganda and go to Canada even if it was just for a visit. After much stress about getting passports and visa's, Jimmy made it to Canada. He traveled with Ryan and his parents giving speeches about water. He grew as part of their family and when it was about time for him to go back to Uganda, Ryan's parents spoke and fought for Jimmy to be part of their family forever. In the end, he does become part of their family permanently and all things work out for the good for all of them.

I LOVE this story! It's so amazing what a huge impact one 6 year old boy can make! This is a heartwarming story and there is so much truth in it. It tells a lot about what life was like for Jimmy in Africa and it's all so real. I am glad he ended up being part of the family :)

__**Intermediate Books**__

__#1 Title:__ Pippi Longstocking __Author:__ Astrid Lindgren

Pippi Longstocking is such an extraordinary girl. We all probably know a little bit about her :) When I tried to watch the movie that did not go so well because it was in Sweden. The book was better than the English version of the movie, I'm sure. Pippi is so different than any other kid her age. She always wants things done her way and usually she gets what she wants because she does all she has to do to get it done. She's so funny because she is so intelligent that she even tricks adults and she is very sneaky. She is known for her looks. She has lots of friends - it's like Everybody Loves Pippi. Although she hangs out with her neighbors, Tommy and Annika and she has two of her favorite friends, Mr. Nilsson (her monkey) and Old Man (her horse). She is so strong that she can lift her horse. How crazy is that?! She is also the kind of person who doesn't really need school because she is so brilliant already. She knows the difference from right and wrong and she can make the most out of anything she finds! The best part about Pippi is that she is a loyal friend and she always has others interests before hers. I'd want to be her friend ;)

__#2 Title:__ From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler __Author:__ E.L. Konigsburg

This is a story about these two children, Claudia and Jamie (her younger brother who saves his money) staying at a museum not intentially. They ran away from home. They become infatuated with the newest statue: an angel. They discover that the statue came from Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. They take what money they have and go visit her to find out the story behind the angel. They indeed find the hidden secret in the crazyily unorganized mixed-up files of Frankweiler - they were so proud or themselves. Then Frankweiler sends them home to their worried parents. In the end, Claudia and Jamie are happy that they now have a secret of their own to keep and treasure with their hearts.

I liked both the book and the movie, mostly because they were very similar. Not one was really saying or showing more than the other! Fun story :)

__#3 Title:__ Wish I Might __Author:__ Coleen Murtagh Paratore

This was a pretty easy book to read. However, it is like book four in a series and I've not read the previous three so that makes things a little bit difficult. It is a cute story though. This teen named Willa is going to Cape Cod for the 15th year in a row. Shortly after that her boyfriend, known as JFK, leaves with his family to go to Florida, her best friend chooses a new friend and her new best friend disappears after the hotel that her dad, herself and her brother were living in shut down... To her surprise, she finds out that she has a half-brother, Will, that came from England to find her and solve the crazy mystery of her birth father... who apparently was still alive when people thought he was dead. She just ends up having all these situations to deal with and on top of it all, she has to try to explain Will's existence and why he came to find her...

This is a nice and clean story. Apparently the previously three were really good and this one is okay, according to reviews. I enjoyed it, but I probably wouldn't read the other books partly because it wasn't my absolute favorite, and I wouldn't be able to find the time anyway. One thing that I really like was the quotes she put at the beginning of every chapter. I thought that was a brilliant idea. I like those :)

__**Young Adult Books**__

__#1 Title:__ Code Orange __Author:__ Caroline B. Cooney

Mitty Blake is an apathetic junior attending a well-to-do prep school in New York City who would rather do ANYTHING other than school. His biology teacher assigns a paper on small pox for a huge portion of his grade. While thumbing through some old medical resources at his parents’ house in Connecticut the weekend before the paper is due, he finds scabs from the 1902 Boston Small Pox epidemic. Realizing that he’s touched them and breathed in their germs, he starts to wonder if he has small pox. He emails several agencies regarding the disease. The agencies get suspicious, and in turn, forward his information to the FBI. With the FBI on his tail, Mitty runs, not realizing that terrorists have also gotten his information and intend to use him to launch a biological attack. The terrorists track him down and kidnap him before the FBI can nab him. Convinced that small pox is going to slowly kill him, Mitty begins to experience symptoms of the disease as he’s fending for himself against the terrorists.

I'm not a huge fan of this book because of the whole disease thing... it just weirds me out!

__#2 Title:__ The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn __Author:__ Mark Twain

Huckleberry Finn lives in Missouri under the guardianship of the Widow Douglas and her sister. When Huck’s father, an abusive drunk, suddenly shows up in his life, Huck takes the money he has (he acquired it on an adventure in Twain’s previous book, __Tom Sawyer__), fakes his own death, and hits the road. He soon befriends Jim, a runaway slave. The two are separated for a short time, while Huck is taken in by the Grangerfords and experiences a tragic family feud; he is later reunited with Jim and the two sail south along the Missouri River. While on the raft, they run into two suspicious men. One introduces himself as a Duke and the other, the rightful King of France. They join Jim and Huck on the raft, only to dupe the main characters out of Huck’s money. Thinking they had escaped the Duke and the King, Jim and Huck again take off. To Huck’s horror, the two find Jim and Huck and again hop on the raft. While Huck is gone, the Duke and the King sell Jim for $40 to a couple who Huck later finds out are Tom Sawyer’s aunt and uncle. In the interest of finding out Jim’s location and coming up with a plan to free him, Huck pretends to be Tom. When Huck and Tom run into each other on the road, Huck explains to Tom what’s going on and Tom agrees to get in on the scheme. He pretends to be his half-brother, Sid. After spending some time at the couple’s home, Tom and Huck design a plan to free Jim, including secret messages and hidden tunnels. When Tom is shot in the leg trying to help Jim escape, Jim stays with Tom rather than completing his venture to freedom. Jim is recaptured, and it is left to Tom and Huck to together try to straighten everything out.

__#3 Title:__ Chain Reaction __Author:__ Darrell Scott

Chain Reaction is a biography of Rachel Scott, the first girl killed in the Columbine High School tragedy. Her father writes of the moment-by-moment panic on April 20, 1999, but doesn’t remain there for long. The book is primarily about Rachel’s code for life. She was committed to living a life of compassion, kindness, honesty, forgiveness, and other such virtues, believing that by living such a life, she could change the world.