Officer Buckle and Gloria Caldecott written and illustrated by Peggy Rathmann Copyright 1995

Officer Buckle is a very sweet officer who thinks up new, important, but boring safety tips. Every week he reads his safety tips to an elementary school where the children are bored, asleep, or snoring. Something has got to change! The police station gets a new police dog named Gloria who works quite a bit with Officer Buckle. The first week the two work together, they are to go deliver the safety tips to the elementary school. As Officer Buckle gives the tips, Gloria does silly tricks and “acts out” what could happen if you don’t follow some of the safety rules. For example, as Officer Buckle reads, “Never sit on a thumbtack,” Gloria jumps up into the air holding her bottom like she sat on a thumbtack! Everyone listening pays very good attention—no more snoring! Officer Buckle receives many letters from the school and one that is in the shape of a star. The phone calls roll in from schools, daycares, and colleges begging for Officer Buckle and Gloria to come speak. They go to a college where there are TV cameras for the news, all hoping to catch some of the excitement. That evening Officer Buckle watches himself deliver the safety tips on the news, but he sees Gloria stealing the show too. It makes him sad and upset to know that no one is listening to him, so when the principal calls him for the school’s weekly safety tip day he says he won’t be coming in. Gloria goes by herself as per the principal’s request. When she arrives to the school she just sits on the stage. There is snoring, boredom, and sleeping as Gloria “delivers the safety tips” by herself. Later that day there is a huge accident at the school because no one was following any safety tips. Officer Buckle gets tons of letters all about the accident and how people wish he’d been there. He reads another special one on a star-shaped piece of paper, and it makes him realize that Gloria is nothing without him just as he is nothing without her! He decides to go back to the school, and read a new safety tip: “Never go anywhere without your buddy!”

A fun project for students to do would be to create their own star-shaped safety tips and send them to local police officers. They could also just write letters to local police officers thanking them for everything they do. It might also be kind of neat to have the children write up safety tips and deliver them while another student acts them out in the background.

This book’s inspiration came from a videotape of Peggy’s mother talking while a dog licked eggs that the family later ate! They couldn’t pay any attention to the interview though—they were too distracted by the dog!!

A House for Hermit Crab Picture Storybook written and illustrated by Eric Carle Copyright 1987

Hermit Crab wanders around the ocean floor in his very well decorated shell until one day he finds that he’s grown a bit too big for it! He goes and finds a new empty shell. It’s empty inside and out, which makes Hermit Crab a little sad. He goes out on the ocean floor to find something to decorate his new shell with. In his search, Hermit Crab comes across many new friends to help him decorate his shell. He finds a sea anemone, a starfish, a coral, a snail, and a sea urchin. Some of these “decorations” also act as helpers to Hermit Crab. The sea anemone is simply beautiful. The starfish are very “handsome.” The coral is pretty and doesn’t move. The snail is a very good cleaner. And the sea urchin is very spiky, which will help with protection. Hermit Crab also meets a lantern fish to help him through a dark spot in the ocean, and some pebbles to help build a house for him. When Hermit Crab is all done building his house and decorating his shell, he realizes that this new shell, just like the first one, has gotten too small! Fortunately, he doesn’t get upset. There is a small hermit crab walking past with no shell! Hermit crab offers his newly decorated shell to this new, younger hermit crab that gladly accepts. As Hermit Crab walks away from his old shell and new friends, he thinks of all of the great things that will help him to decorate his next shell! In the back of the book there is a short glossary of all the different animals and creatures in the storybook.

A neat project to try with students would be to have them trace their bodies on a large piece of white paper. They could then draw in their faces, but leave the body plain white. On the white body, the students could paste pictures of their friends, hobbies they enjoy, or other things that describe them. This would be similar to how Hermit Crab picks up different things that make him who he is along his way.

This is a very good book for describing friendships and how each friend brings something different just like the snail is the cleaner, the sea urchin is the protector, etcetera.

Maisy’s ABC ABC written and illustrated by Lucy Cousins Copyright 1994

Maisy is a little mouse. She travels through various places on her little trip through the alphabet. First she is on a boat for A (alligator), B (boat), C (crab), and D (dolphin). She rides an E (elephant) with an F (flea) walking over a G (grasshopper). Later, she is outside with an H (hen), some I (insects), and a J (jaguar) while flying a K (kite). After that there is just an illustration of Maisy with an L (ladybug) on her, the M (mouse’s), N (nose). Then little Maisy is with an O (ostrich) and a P (peacock) while dressed as a Q (queen). After she’s a queen, Maisy becomes a conductor pulling an R (rabbit) and S (snake) while driving a T (train). After this, Maisy goes to join a band of other animals playing a U (ukulele), V (violin), W (whistle), and X (xylophone). On the last page Maisy is Y (yo-yoing) with a Z (zebra). The book is also a toy book since it has flaps and “pull-tabs” to move and hide the animals or other moving parts. It seems like it would be a lot of fun for children to manipulate while learning the alphabet.

As a literary extension activity, the children could draw a picture of themselves and draw the letter of their name with them doing an activity or activities that start with that letter. For example, I could draw a picture of myself, write a D on the page, and be drumming while eating a doughnut!

Drummer Hoff Caldecott adapted by Barbara Emberley illustrated by Ed Emberley Copyright 1967

Drummer Hoff is the drummer who “fired it off” in this rhyming book all about the military. It shows the different ranks of the military men from General Border to Sergeant Powder to Drummer Hoff. All of the different men bring different things, but in the end, Drummer Hoff is always the one to fire it off. Corporal Farrel may bring the barrel, but Drummer Hoff always fires it off. Private Parriage brings the carriage. Each man brings something different. This teaches a very good lesson: everyone matters. The cannon would not fire without the different things that each man brings, but Drummer Hoff is definitely needed to fire off that shot.

A project to try with a class would be to have the students make a picture of Drummer Hoff using small scraps of finely cut paper. That is what the illustrations in the book look like, so it would be a cool experiment to try with children. The illustrations in the book are made up entirely of squares and triangles and just smaller pieces. It is very interesting, so children would definitely enjoy the puzzle of making their own Drummer Hoffs.

White Snow Bright Snow Caldecott written by Alvin Tresselt illustrated by Roger Duvoisin Copyright 1947, 1988

In White Snow Bright Snow the audience follows the Postman, the Farmer, the Policeman and his wife, the children, and the rabbits as the snow comes. They can all sense it one night as they are outside, and, sure enough, it comes! When the snow comes, all of the people have to behave differently. The Postman has to wear different shoes, the Farmer needs to shovel and milk inside, the Policeman has to worry about becoming ill, and then his wife cares for him. The children play outside making all sorts of different creations. The rabbits have to burrow underground. Then the next day, the sun comes back out. The houses that were just covered up the last night are now being slowly revealed as the sun melts away the snow. The snowman loses his arms, and the rabbits come out of their burrows. The Postman walks slowly as he delivers the mail, so he can enjoy the nice weather. The last image in the book is of the children looking at the first robin, which shows them that spring has finally arrived.

A project to try with children is to journal about their favorite things to do in the snow and how their families have to respond differently to it. Maybe one boy’s father works for the snowplow company, so he has to help him plow. Anything will work; this would be an interesting journal for any time of year. It would be nice to have during the first or last snow, but it would be interesting during warmer times of year too because children would remember how snow affects them and their families.

Alexander and the Wind-Up Mouse Caldecott written and illustrated by Leo Lionni Copyright 1969

Alexander is just a regular old mouse. He gets shooed by the family who lives in the house that he lives in. Sometimes people chase after Alexander with a broom! One day Alexander meets a mouse with a key in his back—a wind-up mouse named Willy. Willy tells Alexander about how everyone loves being around him and that he has so much fun all the time. Willy even gets to sleep by a teddy bear on a pillow at night. Alexander tells Willy about how hard things are for him, and that he wishes he could be just like Willy. Willy tells Alexander about a lizard who lives in the family’s garden. The lizard can turn one animal into another! Alexander goes to the lizard and tells him he wants to be just like Willy. The lizard won’t change Alexander though—not until he can bring him a purple pebble. Alexander searches and searches, but he cannot find a purple pebble. After looking around for a very long time, Alexander sees Willy. Willy is in a box of old toys… That are going to be thrown away!! Luckily though, there is a purple pebble lying right next to this box! Alexander picks up the purple pebble and goes off to the lizard in the garden to get changed into a mouse just like Willy. Once Alexander gets to the lizard on the night of the full moon and is about ready to make his wish, he stops. He stops and changes his wish. Alexander wishes that Willy could be a mouse just like him! When he runs back to the house he finds Willy in his mouse hole, and the two mice dance the whole night as best friends.

A project that would be very fun for children to work on is bringing in their favorite stuffed or toy animals. With these animals the children could make a play or skit about animals changing into other animals or even other people! The lesson would show that everything and everyone has benefits, and that everyone is made the way they are for a reason.

No, David Caldecott written and illustrated by David Shannon Copyright 1998

David is a little boy who gets in to very much trouble. Whether he’s eating too much food or leaving a mess out in the living room, David’s mom can always tell him “NO!” David makes trouble at school, at home, by himself, and around others! At the end of the book David is being a good boy with his arms outstretched. His mom says, “Come here Davey.” Then she gives him a big hug, so the book ends on a good note. The words on the pages are very large and easy to read. Children would be able to read them by themselves and also along with a teacher.

For a project to try with students, a teacher could just ask students when a time they got in trouble was. This would be a funny time for the students and teacher, and it would show that everyone gets in trouble sometimes, but people are still good in the end. “One time I decided it would be a good idea to water the fake plants in my living room. Water spilled all over the floor, and I got in huge trouble!”

Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! Caldecott written and illustrated by Mo Willems Copyright 2003

A little blue pigeon REALLY wants to drive a bus, but the very first page of the book has the bus driver saying specifically, “Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!” The pigeon is very persuasive, and he tries and tries to drive that bus saying, “I’ll be careful,” and “My cousin Herb drives a bus almost every day!” He tries almost every excuse, but still no one will let him drive that darn bus! He tries bribery, trickery, begging, and almost every excuse in the book all to no avail. In the end, the bus driver comes back and asks either the readers or an unseen group of people whether or not the pigeon drove the bus. Of course, he didn’t. On the very last page, the pigeon has a great idea when he sees a giant dump truck…

A project that students would have a lot of fun doing is writing on white boards their different reasons for wanting to do things or different methods of persuasion (good vocabulary word). They could also write different things they want to try. “I want to do a bike jump!” Other kids could then write different ways of saying no or different ways of persuading to do something different.

Big Bird’s Rhyming Book Toy pictures by Norman Chartier paper engineering by Ib Penick Copyright 1979

Big Bird, Oscar the Grouch, the Count, and many more of Jim Henson’s Muppets live on Sesame Street. They are teaching all about rhyming. A picture or pop-up of something will appear (i.e., a cat), and a word bubble will have a rhyming word (i.e., bat). There are different types of toys in the book. There are pop-up pictures, sliding movers, and even swinging manipulatives! It’s a very neat little book for very young children just learning about rhyming and wordplay.

Since the book is geared toward such a young audience, the project idea is a very simple one. The teacher could just say a word and ask for children to think up words that rhyme with it and say them aloud. If that got boring, the children could try to think of words to rhyme with a list of words and draw pictures of both rhyming objects.

Knuffle Bunny Caldecott written and illustrated by Mo Willems Copyright 2004

One day Trixie and her dad go for a walk to the Laundromat. They have a pretty nice walk through the park and by the school. Once they arrive at the Laundromat, Trixie helps her dad throw the laundry into the machine. When they start walking back, they only make it about a block when Trixie starts to cry. She exclaims, “Aggle Flabble Clabble!!” Since she is a baby, dad doesn’t understand what she’s saying. Trixie puts up a huge fuss trying to get her dad to realize the problem, but he just doesn’t get it! They finally get home, and Trixie’s mom asks, “Where’s Knuffle Bunny?” That was what Trixie was so fussy about! The family runs back to the Laundromat and looks and looks for Knuffle Bunny. In the end, Trixie says her first words: Knuffle Bunny.

For this book, a fun project for children to do would be to bring in something that is very important to them, like Trixie’s Knuffle Bunny. The students could talk about their item and why it is so important to them, and they could say whether or not they’ve ever lost it before. “This is my favorite blanket, and I can’t sleep without it. One time when I lost it I cried until my mom found it—in the bottom of the laundry hamper!”

Counting Money Concept written by Tanya Thayer Copyright 2002

Pictures of different pieces of change and their equivalents are depicted. One page shows a photograph of a penny and reads, “It is 1 cent.” A dollar is also shown. Among the different photographs of money are photographs of children handling and/or counting the money. This book is very straightforward and would do a great job teaching about money and counting with money. In the back there is a short glossary of the different pieces of money and change.

With this book children could learn how to count with money. This book would go great with a math unit on counting money, making purchases, and making change. Children could be given play money and given a direction depending on their ages. For younger children “Show me twenty-eight cents” would be a fair command, and for older children “How much change do I get back from a five-dollar bill if my purchase total is $3.87?” would be a good question.

Dinner Time! Concept written by Dawn Sirett photography by Howard Shooter Copyright 2007

Jessie takes her audience through her dinner preparations and mealtime. She shows how her friends use their good manners at the table and how to set the table. She and her mom make pizza for dinner, and it is very healthy because of all the vegetables that are served with it. Later in the book Jessie and her friends tell us what their favorite foods are. They say that people can’t eat only their favorite foods because they might not always be the healthiest. This book teaches a very good lesson about manners, healthy eating, and how to be helpful at dinnertime.

A very fun project to try with students is to have a family dinner during class. The children could show their parents how to prepare a simple meal (like pizza), set the table, and behave properly at the table. More books would probably have to be read about manners and things since this is a very short one, but it would make a great start to a unit about table manners and meals.

Sign Language Fun with Linda Bove Non-Fiction written by Linda Bove with the National Theatre of the Deaf illustrated by Tom Cooke Copyright 1980

The Sesame Street Muppets and Linda Rove, a deaf actress, show us how to use American Sign Language properly. Linda demonstrates all of the signs in the book, and the Muppets are in different scenarios that sign language could be used in. Linda shows different categories of sign language including waking up, school, colors, and in the neighborhood. There are many more, and probably over one hundred signs in the whole book. The signs are easy to understand, and on the Muppet pages they are used in sentences.

A project to have students try would be having them learn the sign language and use it daily. This would be more of a long-term project because sign language, like any language, can’t just be learned overnight. Students could use it when asking to go to the bathroom, saying yes/no, or any other basic questions or commands.

A Year Down Yonder Newbery written by Richard Peck Copyright 2000

Mary-Alice Dowdel is a city girl straight out of Chicago. It’s 1937 though, so times are tough. Her parents can’t afford a home big enough for the whole family, so she is sent to live with her grandma in a very tiny little town in rural Illinois. People aren’t very welcoming at first. Mary-Alice runs into quite a few characters, girls, who aren’t exactly fond of her. She doesn’t really let it get to her though because she’s got her feisty old grandma. Grandma Dowdel is definitely one-of-a-kind. She knows exactly what she wants, and she gets it too! For example, on Veteran’s Day, Grandma Dowdel is serving a stew to the people of the town—ten cents a cup. Grandma won’t settle on ten cents from everyone though. If someone’s worth more than that, she’ll charge him or her more than that. Seems rude, right? Grandma sees it differently—she’s helping out the Veteran’s and honoring those who served. Grandma is quite the conniver. After her lodger gets a poor reputation from painting a nude woman, Grandma Dowdel comes to the rescue to save his name. She has Mary-Alice invite her teacher over for dinner to get to know this artist a little better. Grandma Dowdel really does care, but sometimes she just has an odd way of showing it! Finally, after the school year and many more adventures (including a tornado) are up, it’s time for Mary-Alice to head back to Chicago. Her parents bought a little apartment that she can live in with them. She’s scared to leave her grandma at first, but her grandma talks her in to leaving—Mary-Alice isn’t ready to make a big decision like that. In the end, Mary-Alice marries the boy she’d been crushing on throughout school, and Grandma Dowdel gives her away.

A literary extension activity to do with children would be to write a letter to their grandmothers (or grandfathers, or favorite aunts/uncles, etc.) just about a favorite time they’d spent with them. It could also work as a pen pal project with students and senior citizens. It is so interesting for children to have an elderly person in their lives for inspiration and just good life lessons.

Joseph Had A Little Overcoat Caldecott written and illustrated by Simms Taback Copyright 1999

Joseph wears a little overcoat that is patched up and getting pretty old. He then makes it into a jacket, a vest, a scarf, a necktie, a handkerchief, and lastly a button. He just keeps reusing the same old fabric that started off as an overcoat and uses it up until it’s good for nothing else. As he makes different things out of his original overcoat, he does different things in whatever it is he’s wearing. When he wears his scarf he is singing with the men’s chorus, when he has just a button he uses it to fasten his suspenders. In the end he loses his button, and he really has nothing. But, as promised on the title page, there is a moral! Joseph writes down his story and makes it into a book… The moral of the story is “You can always make something out of nothing.”

For a project to try with students, making a classroom quilt would be very neat. Students could bring in a T-shirt, piece of a blanket, favorite pair of pants, socks, or anything, and a quilt could be made out of whatever items are brought in. Of course, someone would have to be able to make a quilt, but it shouldn’t be too hard to find. Making the quilt out of everyone’s possessions would show that something greater could be made from everyone’s single belongings.

Vincent van Gogh Sunflowers and Swirly Stars Biography written and illustrated by Brad Bucks and Joan Holub Copyright 2001

Vincent van Gogh was poor most of his life. Growing up, he didn’t really enjoy school and couldn’t find a job that fit him very well. He moved around a few times, and he really enjoyed all the time he could spend with his brother Theo. He started out painting like the other painters he saw in the art gallery he worked at. These painters used mostly dark colors, so Vincent used mostly dark colors in his first paintings. He then took a trip to Paris where he saw a Japanese painting that used a lot of bright colors. This inspired him to use bright colors and mostly swirls and dashes when he painted. Van Gogh was pretty depressed most of his life. He had no luck with women, selling his paintings, or finding a job, so it makes sense he would be in a tough place. By the time he was thirty-seven years old he had only sold one painting. He shot himself, and his paintings didn’t become famous until much after his death. His brother’s wife put the paintings in a museum.

A good project for children to do would be to try to emulate van Gogh’s painting style by using dashes and swirls to create a painting. They could look at the pictures in the book, look up pictures online, or travel to the art room to see books with pictures painted by van Gogh. They would then take paints and make a painting of whatever they pleased using swirls and dashes.

Hey, Al Caldecott written by Arthur Yorinks illustrated by Richard Egielski Copyright 1986

Al is a simple janitor. He lives very simply with his dog in basically one little room. His dog Eddie longs to get out of the janitor world and try something new—like living in a house! One day a huge bird flies up to Al’s window while he is shaving. The bird tells Al and Eddie of a place that is paradise and that they can get there if they just come with him. Al is hesitant, but Eddie talks Al in to going with the bird the next day. The bird flies Al and Eddie to a real paradise full of fresh water springs, beautiful forests and trees, and wondrous birds. It is a great place to be, and the two friends are waited on hand and foot. After only about a day, though, Al notices that he and Eddie are starting to look a little bird-like. Al has wings and a beak, and Eddie’s arms are starting to sprout feathers! Al yells to Eddie that they need to get out of there! So the two fly away back to the city. On the way back to the city Eddie fell into the ocean just when he was about to shore! Al kept flying because he didn’t notice Eddie was gone. Fortunately, Eddie turns up the next day, and Al and Eddie go back to living the way they did from the start. The moral of the story: “Paradise lost is sometimes Heaven found.”

A great project to do with kids is having a bird show! Either the children could make birds out of feathers and paper or whatever other crafts, or they could dress up as their favorite birds for a day! What a fun time for children to explain what type of bird they are dressed as and different facts about the bird. Another project would be along the lines of a journal. Older children could write about a time they thought they had everything so perfect only to find that going back to “start” was the best thing for them.

Strange Mysteries from Around the World Non-Fiction written by Seymour Simon Copyright 1980, 1997

There are tons of happenings that just can’t be explained! Some people can walk across hot coals and come away from it almost unscarred at all! One story is of frogs and fish raining from the sky just like regular rain. One man even claimed a turtle rained and thumped his car! This book includes many different basically unexplained mysteries. They are all pretty interesting for adults and children alike. It is set up in chapters, and each chapter is a different mystery. The author gives all kinds of research to explain the mysteries from the most scientific and realistic explanation to the most outlandish, alien attack kind of answer! This might give children wrong ideas about real and make-believe, but it is still pretty interesting nonetheless.

A cool project to try with older students would be for them to write little reports about one of the mysteries in the book. This would be good for third to fourth grade students who are probably ready to write their first little research papers. Younger students would probably enjoy taking home a sheet with various mysteries on it and learning about them from their parents. The mysteries could be read aloud by parents at home. This would also be a good chance for children to address different mysteries they are confused about for instance, “Why is the sky blue?”

Clifford Takes a Trip Picture Storybook written and illustrated by Norman Bridwell Copyright 1995

Clifford is a big red dog who always seems to get in some kind of trouble! This time his family goes on a vacation to a campground somewhere, but Clifford is left home. He howls and wakes up the neighbors on the first night, so they get upset and throw a shoe at him! Clifford can’t stand being away from his family, so he goes on a search to find them. On his way he goes through wet cement and swims under a broken bridge! Finally, he finds Emily Elizabeth caught by a bear! He growls at the bear and saves the day! It was a good thing Clifford went to find his family!

A very exciting project to do with students is a vacation project. The students could color and cut out little Cliffords out of paper. When they were done they could write a little note and send the Cliffords to different family members or friends all over the place. The idea would be for Clifford to actually be going on vacation to wherever the kids sent him! The people who received Clifford would take pictures with Clifford wherever they were and then send them back. When the students got the pictures and Cliffords back, a bulletin board could be made showing all of the different interesting places Clifford traveled to!

Time for Bed Easy-to-Read written by Laura Driscoll images by Entara Ltd. Copyright 2006

It is time for bed for three little farm animals. The animals are just not ready for bed though! First they have a pillow fight that is interrupted by dad. Next they think it’s time for a snack, but dad puts an end to that too! Third they think it is time for fun, but dad says no to that. The animals finally get to sleep. Then it is morning, and mom and dad say, “Time to wake up!” But the little animals are not ready to wake up—what a night!

A literary extension activity to do with children would be practicing their “going-to-bed” skills. The children could draw a picture of themselves brushing their teeth, changing into pajamas, or reading a bedtime story.

Snappers Shark Toy written and illustrated by Chuck Gonzales and Dave Klug Copyright 2008

This shark-shaped book has a few basic facts about the scariest predators, sharks! From different sizes and shapes to how many teeth they have, this book covers the bases and gives a good introduction to sharks for very young children. The book is shaped like the head of a shark, complete with eyes and sharp teeth! It’s a very neat book, and it would be fun to have in a pre-school classroom.

It would be very fun to replicate the shark-head shape for a literary extension activity to try with children. They could make the shape out of cardboard or even just paper, write facts about sharks, and call it a book! The children could color all the pages and share their stories and facts with the class. It would be a neat little beginning research project and maybe introduction to computer use.

Tight Times Multicultural written by Barbara Shook Hazen illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman Copyright 1979

A young boy really wants a dog, but right now it’s just not going to work out his parents tell him. It’s time for another regular day for this family—of to work and off to school. One day though, the boy isn’t picked up by his mom as usual, and he needs to be picked up by a sitter. Mom has to work now. When the boy is home with his sitter, his dad comes home early. This is odd, the boy thinks. Dad makes “special drinks” for himself and his son. Dad lost his job. Times are definitely tough, and when mom gets home the family hugs and cries together. The boy goes outside because his parents need to talk alone, and he hears something crying from a garbage can! A nice lady gets a cat out of the garbage can for him! She tells him he can keep the cat, so he brings it inside and his parents reluctantly tell him he can keep it. He names the cat Dog, and he hopes that Dog will like his lima beans.

This is such a great book for the current state of the economy (2009). Children will understand this other aspect of culture, economic differences. People tend to focus so much on different cultures being race, and it’s important for children to see the culture means much more than that. People have to cut back and deal with losing jobs and incomes. A good project to do with children is journaling or discussing how they could cut back or give something up to help their families, schools, or churches save money. This would also be a great time to teach the benefits of energy conservation, recycling, and volunteering. Children could also volunteer at a food shelf or shelter to better understand how helpful they can be.

If the Shoe Fits Mother Goose written by Alison Jackson illustrated by Karla Firehammer Copyright 2001

The old lady who lives in a shoe has got a family so big she doesn’t know what to do. The family cannot fit in the shoe any longer, so they try moving out. First the family moves to a hat worn by the fiddling cat (“Hey Diddle-diddle”), but it has to move up because that cat is up all night! They just can’t seem to find a place to go. They try Little Jack Horner’s old wool coat, a sock on a clock climbed by a hickory-dickory mouse, and a tub occupied by three men—rub-a-dub-dub! After all this adventure they end up on a wall that an egg just fell off of, Little Miss Muffet’s teacup, and in an old glove surrounded by four and twenty blackbirds. This family still can’t find a place to fit in! The old lady brings her family to Old King Cole’s sleeve, the Queen of Heart’s blouse, and finally the Duke of York’s boot. This boot is a little too small though, and they see an old shoe not too far away. In the end, the family goes back to the shoe it started out in—it wasn’t too small after all.

This is such a fun variation on Mother Goose’s rhymes and stories. A project to try with students would be for them to rewrite one of their favorite Mother Goose stories. For example, “Jack and Jill went up the hill to run away from a spider. Jill was scared by Little Miss Muffet, and Jack was scared right beside her.” The children could illustrate their rhymes and post them all over the classroom.

Bugs in My Hair?! Contemporary Realistic Fiction written by Catherin Stier illustrated by Tammie Lyon Copyright 2008

Ellie is a perfect little girl who has everything just right. She wears great clothes, uses fancy shampoo, and allows nothing to go wrong. One day though, Ellie’s head starts to itch. She scratches and scratches until she can’t take it any longer and goes to the nurse. When she gets to the nurse’s office, she gets her head checked and finds out she has head lice. “There are bugs in my hair?!” she cries out. Ellie is disgusted and can’t believe it. Her mom takes her home. At home Ellie and her mom go through the house and clean up everything that might have lice—bed sheets, recently worn clothes, toys, and furniture. When Ellie’s dad gets home, he has some special shampoo. Ellie’s mom and dad wash her hair and comb out all of the little nits, lice eggs. Once the lice are gone and the shampooing is done, Ellie thinks it would be a good idea to write about her experiences with lice. She wrote down her story and gave it to the nurse, and now the nurse passes out Ellie’s story for all the children who come through with lice.

A literary extension activity to do with children would be for them to write down their story about dealing with a tough issue just like Ellie wrote her story about dealing with lice. If a child had to get his appendix out, he could write down his story. Another child could write about getting her tonsils out. These experiences make for great teaching to other children.

Good Night, Garden Gnome Picture Book (no text) written and illustrated by Jamichael Henterly Copyright 2001

A little girl is pulling a wagon with all of her stuffed animals and, oddly enough, a garden gnome. She has a tea party with all of her toys, but her stuffed teddy bear falls out! She doesn’t notice, and now it’s dark so she needs to go inside. Once the girl is inside and the sun is down, the little garden gnome goes to work! He tills a garden, instructs some snails and rabbits of what to do, saves some field mice from a cat, waters the plants, and of course, saves the teddy bear! He rides a bunny rabbit back to the house carrying the teddy bear and puts it back in the little girl’s window. The teddy bear and the garden gnome are the first things the little girl sees in the morning.

A literary extension activity to do with children is make a picture of the garden gnome from the book out of construction paper and coloring supplies. They could use a pattern that was already made, cut out the shape of the gnome, and color it. This could be as large or as small as desired, and in any different colors available.

A Giraffe and a Half Poetry written and illustrated by Shel Silverstein Copyright 1964

“You” have a giraffe that stretches himself another half and all sorts of other things! He gets a bee on his knee, a rose on his nose, finds a trunk with a skunk, and combs his hair with a chair! He’s one busy and crowded giraffe. After all of this messiness he falls into a hole dug by a mole and loses all of the things he gained before! In the end, all you’re left with is a giraffe. The book rhymes very well and is a very good poem of Silverstein’s. It does get a big long when reading and repeating every time, but children would enjoy saying things with the teacher.

A project to do with this book is send the children home with a piece of construction paper. They would then work with their parents and cut pictures out of magazines of things that rhyme. An example, would be cutting out pictures of cats, bats, hats, mats, vats, etc.

City 1 2 3 Counting text and photographs by Zoran Milich Copyright 2005

Pictures of numbers found in the city are accompanied by great text on the opposite pages. On the TWO page for example, there are two taxis and the number two on a sign. On the opposite page, there are the numerals 1 through 10 with the 2 in red, two red dots, and the word TWO underneath. There are also just pages with the numbers as found in the city. For example, after eight there is a picture of an elevator floor schedule with the numbers 1 through 8. This is a great counting book because it applies numbers to the real world and because of the great text that accompanies all of the pictures. The dots are great for beginning counters, and the numerals and words are great for beginning readers.

A very fun project for this book would be to go for a walk around the city of the school. The children could then look for numbers all over the city, and the teacher could take pictures of the numbers that the children find. After getting the pictures developed, the children could make them into a book.

Mother Goose Remembers Mother Goose pictures by Clare Beaton Copyright 2000

All of Mother Goose’s best rhymes are accompanied by amazing photographic illustrations done with antique felt and fabrics, braids, buttons, and beads. They make for very interesting viewing, and children will love to look at all of the little details of the pictures while listening to the rhymes or reading to themselves. Since the rhymes are so well known, children would probably be able to tell the stories without even reading them. A lot of time went in to creating these photographs and art. The pictures are so interesting to look at and they definitely tell the story very well. In the book, “Little Boy Blue” is written and the pictures that accompany the nursery rhyme are a cow, sheep, boy, fence, and grassland made completely of felt designs with buttons for eyes and stitching for extra detail.

A project to do with this book would be to try to emulate the illustrator’s picture-style and cut things out of felt. With older children, the stitching and detail work could be done, but with younger children, markers would suffice. They could tell the story to their favorite nursery rhymes or illustrate a favorite holiday, event, or other fun thing.

Dr. Seuss’s ABC ABC written and illustrated by Dr. Seuss Copyright 1963

This amazing ABC book utilizes excellent alliteration to teach children their letters and the letters’ sounds. There is no real story or plot in this book. Each page is set up about the same way. For example, J’s page reads, “Big J/little j/What begins with j? Jerry Jordan’s jelly jar and jam begin that way.” In addition to the excellent text, Dr. Seuss also illustrated his book with great accompanying pictures. On the J page, for example, a bear wearing a shirt that reads “J.J.” is scooping jelly from a jelly jar also marked “J.J.” Other outstanding pages include L’s, which reads, “Big L/little l/Little Lola Lopp. Left leg. Lazy lion licks a lollipop.” On this page there is a picture of a lion licking a lollipop, a little girl with “L.L.” on her shirt, and a left leg. And G’s page reads, “A B C D E F G/Goat girl googoo goggles/G…g…G.”

For such a fun book, a fun project should definitely follow. It would be a neat idea for the children of a class to each memorize a page or two (depending on size) and act them out. The child with the L page could dress as Little Lola Lopp, a lion licking a lollipop, or just point to his/her left leg.

Flamingos on the Roof Poetry poems and paintings by Calef Brown Copyright 2006

This poetry collection is full of many short poems that all seem pretty simple and shallow. They’re for children as quick pleasure because of their length and easy rhymes. The paintings are probably the more marvelous piece of the book—they are definitely worth noting. They’re very bright and colorful and fit each poem well. They’re slightly unrealistic, and mostly based on animals with very human characteristics. Some of the poems in the book include “Allicatter Gatorpillar”, “Birthday Lights”, “Peas”, and “Bossy Casey.” The poems don’t really teach any lessons, and, as previously mentioned, are pretty silly and showy.

A neat project to try for this book would be to just photocopy a few of the paintings from the book and give them to the children. The children could then make up their own poems to fit the brilliant paintings. That project would be mostly for older kids. Younger children could get into small groups with a narrator and a few actors and memorize the poem and act it out.

Chicka Chicka 1, 2, 3 Counting written by Bill Martin, Jr. and Michael Sampson illustrated by Lois Ehlert Copyright 2004

All of the numbers are trying to get to the top of the apple tree. The numbers are very brightly colored and large. Zero can’t find a place in the tree though! All of the other numbers seem to be leaving him out! One is telling two, and two is telling three… All of the numbers tell one another up to number twenty. After twenty the numbers start coming in by tens up to 90. Zero still hasn’t found his place up in the tree! After 99 gets up in the tree, they start hearing bumblebees buzzing around! All of the numbers are worried and afraid, so they scramble down the tree. Ten, for some reason, isn’t able to get down the tree (or he’s just hiding). Then, after all of the chaos, zero exclaims, “Chicka Chicka 1, 2, 3… Now I know the place for me!” He climbs up the tree and joins ten to make 100! All of the numbers come back from their hiding and join 100 in the big apple tree!

A fun literary extension activity to do with children would have to fall on the one-hundredth day of school. The children could bring in one hundred of a certain object—cheerios, pennies, or staples, for example—and they could practice counting both by ones, tens, twenties, whatever, up to one hundred. After the counting, the children could glue their one hundred objects (or just some of them) to a cutout of an apple tree.

Hot on the Scent Picture book (no text) story by Peter Lind pictures by Bente Bech Copyright 1992

A mouse smells something far, far away while he is gathering nuts. He really wants to get to whatever is emitting that scent! He ends up fighting off a dragonfly, going through a mole’s tunnel, and dodging plants to escape a vegetable garden! He’s a very daring mouse. Next though, a large bird is flying overhead. The bird swoops down just as the mouse runs through a hole in a gate—the bird smacks his head! Then the little mouse runs without looking ahead… Right onto the back of a cat! The cat paws at him as he jumps up and grabs the legs of a nice robin. He’s had quite the adventure so far, and it isn’t even done yet! The robin drops him onto a leaf in a stream that ends in a waterfall! He jumps the waterfall and bounces off of a spider web. Now that scent is only a few feet away, and it’s coming from the trunk of a tree. He slides in to find his family all waiting for him to eat dinner—the scent he’d been smelling all along!

A great project to do with children would be to have something of a scavenger hunt. The only catch would be that it must be silent, and the clues must only be pictures! Young children would especially like this. Clues could include pictures of cakes (indicating going to the kitchen), books (the library), and slides (the playground). The scavenger hunt would be a lot like the mouse’s hunt.

Snow Day! Contemporary Realistic Fiction written by Lester L. Laminack illustrated by Adam Gustavson Copyright 2007

Someone is imagining all of the snow that is supposed to fall during the coming night. The meteorologist is predicting snow, and the children are very happy for the big snow! The family imagines what they’ll do. From sipping hot chocolate on the couch, to building the best snow fort ever, equipped with snowballs and shelter! The snow then starts to fall at night. Everyone is very excited! They wonder where the sleds are… But this is too much! It’s time for bed. The family, a father and his children, is just so excited about the snow! In the morning, they all wake up and hear the sounds coming from outside. The one sound that they hear first is that of children! They must be playing! The father looks out and sees all the children… Wearing back packs!! It’s time to go to school. No snow day happened this time. On the very last page, the reader finds out that the father was the one who was so excited for the snow day—he is a teacher!

A very fun project to work on with children would be to have a “snow day” in class! The children could wear their pajamas, bring blankets, and have all sorts of fun snow day snacks, like hot chocolate and cookies! They could also bring cold lunches from home, so it was as if they were really snowed into the classroom. This would probably work best as a reward type of day because it could also be filled with lots of books, board games, and maybe even a movie!

Big Boy Multicultural written by Tololwa M. Mollel illustrated by E. B. Lewis Copyright 1995

A little boy named Oli just isn’t treated fairly at home! He has to eat all of his vegetables, and then he has to take a nap. His brother gets to go outside and play in the woods. Oli wants to join him, but his mother says he can’t. Oli lays down for his nap, but he doesn’t sleep. He sneaks out of the house with his slingshot and walks to a tree. There is a bird in the tree that can grant wishes! Oli wishes he was big, “Big as a mountain and strong as the wind!” Oli’s wish is granted. He walks into town to show off his great size, and the new Oli amazes everyone. Oli continues through the villages asking for shoes and water and other things, but he is so big it is difficult to accommodate him! He is in the ocean when a big wave rolls in. He is swept up by the big wave, which causes him to land on and break many fishermen’s boats. They demand he go out and get them wood for new boats. Oli goes out in search of wood, but he is so stressed and sad about his new size and the destruction he has caused. The wish-granting bird flies overhead and drops a feather on Oli. The next thing he knows, he is in his mother’s arms under the tree from the beginning of the story. In the end, Oli decides that it is pretty nice to be little. Sometimes.

For this type of story, a journaling project would probably be most appropriate. Children could make a “Plus/Delta” chart for themselves. Under the plus side, children could list things that they are proud of themselves for (i.e., fast runner, good piano player, etc.). And under the delta side, children could make a list of the things they wouldn’t mind changing about themselves (i.e., don’t eat healthy, often tired, not good at math). It is important for children to realize their dissatisfactions with themselves so that they are able to create goals from these things. No one is perfect, and that is a very important lesson to learn.

Escape King: the Story of Harry Houdini Biography written by John Ernst illustrated by Ray Abel Copyright 1975

Ehrich Weiss was born in Hungary and moved with his family to Appleton, Wisconsin the same year. They moved because his father killed a man in a duel. The family was very poor in the new country, so Ehrich felt that he should help his family out in any way he could. He tried many jobs, shoe shiner and tie cutter, but found only one he loved. Ehrich and his brother became The Brothers Houdini. They chose this name because Robert-Houdin was a famous French magician. Ehrich became Harry because it sounded like his nickname, Ehrie. The brothers had a big break performing a show in New York. They messed up their best trick though, and found it hard to get booked ever again. This made them move back to the Midwest where Harry met his wife, Bess. Bess and Harry then traveled and performed together as a team. During their travels, Harry became a tremendous escape artist. He could escape from just about anywhere—prison cells, locked vans, and closets. He wanted to do something bigger and better though, so his next trick was jumping into the freezing cold Detroit River. He lived through this and went on to perform many brand new tricks including making an elephant disappear and escaping from a water tank. Finally, it was one of his tricks that got him killed. Harry could be punched in the stomach very roughly and not be hurt. A young man came into the room and hit Harry before he was able to flex his strong, powerful stomach muscles. Harry’s stomach hurt for many days before he finally went to a hospital. He died soon after of a burst appendix.

This is such an interesting story, and children, like most people, will love the magic tricks described in this book. Houdini lived a very exciting life, and children will enjoy hearing about it. A good project to try with children would be to have children find a magic trick to perform for the class. This would be a good way to get some simple research done—a trip to the library or computer lab would be terrific. After researching, the children could show the class their magic tricks and, if they chose to, explain how the trick works.

Madeline’s Rescue Caldecott written and illustrated by Ludwig Bemelmans Copyright 1953

One very nice day in France, Ms. Clavel is taking her girls for a walk. On the walk, Madeline is not paying attention and falls into the river! Everyone scatters about and doesn’t know how to save her. Fortunately, a very friendly dog comes to the rescue and saves little Madeline from drowning. The girls take this dog in and name her Genevieve. Everyone loves her. Then once May rolls around, the board of trustees comes to inspect the school. The girls are very worried, so they try to hide Genevieve. To everyone’s dismay though, the board finds the dog and promptly kicks her out. Ms. Clavel takes the girls searching all through the town to find their beloved dog. They don’t have much luck anywhere, so they call it quits. After putting the girls to bed though, Ms. Clavel hears a sound coming from outside. She goes out and sees Genevieve under a streetlamp! So Genevieve is back in the house, and everyone is happy (except the girls who don’t get to sleep by the dog!). Finally, everyone gets back to sleep, but then everyone has to wake back up! Why? Genevieve had puppies! Now all of the girls have a little dog to sleep by.

To really bring this book to life, it would be fun to both act out the story in class and also to watch the movie Madeline. The children could become much more familiar with the story and characters if they were able to reenact the happenings of this Caldecott Medal Winner, and they would be able to see someone else’s take on many of the Madeline books by watching the movie in class. This would be a great project to start with the book on a Wednesday, act it out on Thursday, and show the movie on Friday!

The Whipping Boy Newbery written by Sid Fleischman illustrations by Peter Sis Copyright 1986

Prince Brat causes trouble left and right! He hasn’t learned his reading or math lessons, and he pulls all sorts of different pranks! But a prince cannot be spanked, so someone needs punished for his wrongdoings, and that someone is Jemmy, the whipping boy. Jemmy takes Prince Brat’s beatings every time without a cry. One night, Prince Brat wakes Jemmy and says they’re BOTH running away. Jemmy is hesitant at first—he doesn’t even like Prince Brat! He goes with him though because he doesn’t even want to think about the punishment he’d face if Prince Brat ran away. The two barely make it out of the castle’s grounds when two bandits, Hold-Your-Nose Billy and Cutwater, catch them. The two villains take the boys to their slum of a home, and plan to keep them for a ransom. Somehow, Jemmy tricks the guys into thinking he’s actually the prince and Prince Brat is the whipping boy. After a crazy series of events, the boys get out of the house and are back on the road with the bandits on their trail. Once, the bandits do catch the boys and decide they need punished for running away. Hitting a prince is grounds for death though, so they punish the whipping boy they know, Prince Brat. Prince Brat realizes what Jemmy must go through every time he misbehaves. Jemmy and Prince Brat are saved by a dancing bear, her owner, and a potato seller and are safe for a while at a carnival. Then they hear a song that asks citizens to look for the prince and his whipping boy—there’s a price for Jemmy’s head! They run to the sewers with Hold-Your-Nose Billy and Cutwater not far behind and are able to lose them there. Once they run out of the adventure in the sewer, they run promptly back to the carnival where they turn themselves in to the potato seller. He turns the boys in to collect the reward, and neither boy is truly punished beyond their lesson learned. The King warns that if the boys every plan to run off again… They’d better invite him! The story ends with a brief tale of Hold-Your-Nose Billy and Cutwater last being seen on a ship to an island—a convict ship to an abandoned convict island.

To really emphasize the silliness of a whipping boy and the character in the book, a good project for students would be to research other silly laws that have existed throughout time. “It’s illegal to milk your cow in your neighbor’s yard” type of laws always bring a laugh to students and adults, and the notion of a whipping boy seems just as silly as this cow-milking law!

Sarah, Plain and Tall Newbery written by Patricia McLachlan Copyright 1985

Anna is a young girl whose mother died while giving birth to Anna’s younger brother Caleb. Their father, Jacob, feels like it is time to have a mother figure for the children. He puts an ad out for a wife to come live with his family. When he receives a letter from a woman named Sarah, everyone is overjoyed! The children and Jacob write letters back and forth to Sarah. The children ask her all sorts of questions, and the most important one they can think of is, “Do you sing?” They get a letter back in which Sarah says she does sing and that she will be coming to town soon wearing yellow, and that she is plain and tall. Sarah arrives, and things seem a bit weird at first. Once Sarah remembers home, she feels a little sad. Soon though, the children are so happy with Sarah and the things she adds to the family, and she is happy with where she is. The children still aren’t sure about her staying though. Sometimes she’ll mention things that allude to staying, and the children, Caleb mostly, reads into them way too much. One day though, Sarah decides she wants to learn to drive the wagon. The children are sure it’s so she can drive into town and leave them. Towards the end of the story a big storm hits! The sky is all kinds of shades of green and grey and blue. Everyone makes it safely out of the storm even though Sarah braved the storm to save an animal! After the storm, Sarah takes a trip into town on the wagon all by herself. The children fear that it’s the last time they’ll see Sarah. Fortunately for everyone though, Sarah comes back from town. The children see Sarah riding back to their home and remember how she arrived to their home the first time the very same way.

What a perfect book to use with children adapting to new surroundings and dealing with feelings of hopefulness. A literary project to do with children for this book would be to journal about different things they do with their families. Children could write a page about favorite activities they do together with their families and illustrate the journal page as well. This could tie in with the letter writing in the book as well as the use of colored pencils in the book! Another great tool to use with this book is the movie. Great for rainy days or Fridays!

Biscuit Finds a Friend Easy-to-Read written by Alyssa Satin Capucilli illustrated by Pat Schories Copyright 1997

Biscuit is a little golden retriever puppy that finds something! What is it? It’s not a rock, and it isn’t a bone... It’s a little duck! Biscuit and his owner bring the duck back to the pond where they find his mother, father, brothers, and sisters! The duck is very happy, and the duck wants Biscuit to play with him and his family! They are all playing when Biscuit falls in the water! Biscuit is such a silly puppy. Then it is time for Biscuit and his owner to go home, but the silly little duck is following them!

A very fun project to do with children would be a duck matching game! Go outside and fill a little pool with water and ducks with different colors, numbers, or shapes on the bottom. The children can draw one duck, check the bottom, and draw another to try to make a match with the art on the bottom! This would be a great game that teaches matching and, in an abstract way, friendship by pairing the ducks together!

The View From Saturday Newbery written by E.L. Konigsburg Copyright 1996

Noah, Ethan, Nadia, and Julian are The Souls in this very smartly written Newbery book. Their supervisor, Mrs. Olinski, is a paraplegic who has all the faith in the world in their success. Each of the children has a different story about becoming who they are. They each have had a different journey. Mrs. Olinski has a special journey as well. This book is much about discovering one’s journey both in the short term and in the long term, life. The students are selected by Mrs. Olinski to compete on a sort of quiz bowl tournament. They work so well together because they are all great friends. They became such great friends by sharing experiences and stories together at tea on Saturdays. Why Mrs. Olinski selected them is unknown until the very end—and the reason is because they have all had journeys. Throughout the course of the quiz bowl competition the students perform very well beating out seventh and eighth graders even though they themselves are only in the sixth grade. The book is so fun to read because it is written in a humorous, almost smart-alecky kind of way. It is very enjoyable and easy to read, and a reader will go away feeling very positive but definitely longing for more.

A fun literary extension activity to do with this book would be to focus on others. One of the main themes in this book is listening to others to discover their journeys or just new things about them. Focusing on others seems like it wouldn’t be a very “gradable” project, but it would be one that should help students become better people. If a teacher could take time each day to just talk to his or her students about whatever was on their minds. The students could also talk to one another, but it is important that students focus mostly on listening and less on trying to tell their stories. A less abstract extension activity is having a quiz bowl within the classroom. A teacher could make up different questions, divide the class into teams, and have the students compete. The questions could just be trivia, as they are in this book, or they could focus on specific subjects—maybe this book!