The Last Dinosaur Egg

The Last Dinosaur Egg, written and illustrated by Andrew Hegeman, is a great picture book that is ready to allow kids to explore their imaginations. When two kids, Jon and Jenny find a baby dinosaur while chasing butterflies, there world is turned upside down. My favorite part bout this story is how the kids find out that their dinosaurs' favorite food is broccoli! It reminds me of when I was a child, and how I would pretend that I was a dinosaur eating "trees" from my dinner plate. Perhaps the most intriguing part of this story is in the pictures themselves and how with the use of crayons, Hegeman has successfully captured illustrations that seem to have been drawn by children! In art it is always an attempt to recapture the essence of a child's artistic perspective, and here it is seen with the utmost integrity. I believe that the drawings help aid the story in it's message that even children are capable of doing amazing things.

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see?

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see? Written and illustrated by Bill Martin and Eric Carle, is a staple classic in elementary classrooms. This story with its' creative and wonderful "tearing" illustrations, depict a world of color and introduce a concept of prediction to beginning readers. The repetion of "what do you see?" invites the reader to engage in predicting the next animal and color that will be found on the next page, concluding with a crafty teacher, looking at her students, thus bringing the story out of its' book form and into the physical classroom. This story also creates for a wonder art lesson in which students can create their own animals who can look at one another. This is a book ripe for wonderful childhood memories that can be connected to a positive reading experience.

Bubba and Trixie

Bubba and Trixie, written and illustrated by Lisa Campbell Ernst, is a brilliant picture book about how things change, but that does not mean you have to change who you are as a person. In this story, a very timid caterpillar named Bubba makes friends with a brave little ladybug named Trixie, who helps Bubba to enjoy the world without the constant fear of living in the garden. But Bubba soon learns that his destiny to become a butterfly is just around the corner, and Bubba's new fear is that he will no longer be allowed to be friends with Trixie. Bubba soon learns that change and growing up are not things that he can avoid, but then discovers that just because he is different on the outside does not make him different on the inside. This is a terrific story to tell kids as they grow and change throughout their elementary education experience, it is a beautiful way to teach kids about a relevant and tough topic in a simple and delightfully fun way.

Wake Up Mr. B!

Wake Up Mr. B!, written and illustrated by Penny Dale, is s fun picture book for children about a young girl named Rosie and her imaginary adventures with her dog, Mr. B. While there is minimal text in the story, this book is perfect for beginning readers to engage in simple sentence structure, and follow a fun story, aided by beautiful images and scenes. I love how the pictures are broken up into panels, it is a great way to allow the teacher to have a dialog with the students about the progression of the story as well as take time to relate each scene to the children's lives, in order to make reading a relevant part of their own lives. I believe that this would be a terrific story to start a morning in a classroom, to help rev up young minds to think differently and get ready to use their imaginations.

Stellaluna

I chose this story to review as a way to honor one of my favorite picture books from my childhood. Stellaluna, is a heart warming tale written by Janell Cannon, about how every family is different, and how those differences are special to the individuals in the family. When a baby bat is separated from her mother, she is adopted by a family of birds. As the odd bunch grows, they struggle with the differences and similarities in which birds and bats exist. In the end Stellaluna and her bird siblings learn that their differences are not strong enough to keep them from sharing their familial bond. This story is filled with rich illustrations that capture the reader's imagination and help enhance the story's whimsical feel. I have read this story a number of times to my four year old niece, and each time it seems she is filled with joy and notices more connections to the world around her in relation to the character's situation. I am proud to have this book for my nieces' enjoyment, and am excited to share it with more children in my future classrooms.

The Tale of Despereaux

Bravery, forgiveness, and consequences; these are a few things in which we as parents and teachers like to set out and show our children. In Kate Dicamillo's novel, The Tale of Despereaux, illustrated by Timothy Basil Ering, the reader is treated to a marvelous tale in which an unusual mouse hero is so inspired by tales of knights and chivalry that he sets out on a bold adventure to save the human princess Pea, of whom he so dearly loves. Dicamillo does justice to her characters to not merely portray them as simply good and evil, a concept to frequently assigned to children's literature, but always depicts the good and bad of each character, as well as treating the reader to the events that lead up to each charecter's behaviors and motivations. I would have to say that my favorite attribute to this thrilling novel is how the author takes time to pull the reader aside from the story in order to challenge the reader to consider the plethora of view points, emotions, and goals, in which need to be considered in order to relate to each and every character. The most poignant quote in which to embody the spirit and theme of the story goes,

"I think, reader, that she was feeling the same thing that Despereaux had felt
when he was faced with his father begging him for forgiveness. That is, Pea was
aware suddenly how fragile her heart was, how much darkness was inside it,
fighting always with the light. She did not like the rat. She would never like
the rat, but she knew what she must do to save her own heart."

(Dicamillo, 264) . Forgiveness to save one's own goodness is a point that I believe will strike a note with children and adults alike, helping to instill one of the most important lessons that we as adults strive to teach our own children, forgiveness and empathy. This book is not all morals and lessons, however, The Tale of Despereaux is filled with a Raul Dahl style humor that delights its' readers and sprinkles whimsical illustrations seemingly from another world. Certainly, this is a story in which I as a teacher would read enthusiastically to my own classroom as well as to the kids who dwell in my personal life, for it is filled with adventure, excitement, humor, and all the things that I would want children to learn from having known myself.

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I have never had a blog before, so lets hope I don't mess up my first one