Chapter Book 8

A.    Author: Cynthia Lord

B.     Title: Rules

C.     Photographs:

D.    Readability: 3.9

E.     Genre: Realistic Fiction

F.      Subgenre:  

G.    Theme: Compassion, Abilities, Friendships, Understanding self and others

H.    Primary and secondary characters: Catherine, Jason, David, Kristi

I.       Award(s) date of publication:  Newbery Honor Award

J.       Publishing company: Scholastic  

K.    ISBN number:978-0-545-03640-5

L.     Brief Summary: A rainy cold day, David decides to go to school. But only with his red umbrella. Catherine fights David tooth and nail, she’s fighting a losing battle. Ryan, joins them at the bus stop. Making a joke, David doesn’t understand, he repeats Catherine, “Oh look at the time, gotta go!’ That’s the rule!” David lives his life by rules. His autism controls his life. David goes to OT, occupational therapy, where his sister Catherine, meets a non-verbal boy, Jason. She starts to draw his portrait, when he points at his communication book, and his mother asks her to stop! Catherine quickly retreats into her chair pretending to be invisible. When Catherine returns home she notices that her neighbors were moved in, waiting patiently Catherine, finally meets her neighbor Kristi. Kristi, is going to be a popular kid according to Catherine. Kristi seems stand-off like but friendly enough to start a friendship with Kristi. Catherine returns to OT with her brother, this time she is introduced to Jason, who is in a wheelchair, and cannot speak, but uses a card system communication book. As the book progresses, Catherine begins making words for Jason’s communication book, she adds colors and words that would be useful when talking to another person of the same age. Catherine gives Jason’s vocabulary a revamping, and Jason is beyond ecstatic. Jason one day asks Catherine how it feels to run, as she describes, she realizes Jason will never be able to run, he heart breaks a little. So she asks him to go outside to take a run, she pushes his wheel chair as fast as she can, Jason uses his revamped communication cards to tell her, better than awesome.  Catherine and Jason’s relationship begins to grow, she has to overcome the adversity that is caused by the looks and thoughts given to their friendship. Catherine buys Jason a guitar for his birthday, she and David are invited to the party. Catherine fears Jason will ruin it for her, he never follows rules given to him. Jason brings Catherine to his room, they open the guitar and Jason plays a few seconds of music for her on his cd player. They return to the living room and shortly Jason arrives. He doesn’t follow the rules just as Catherine fears, David opens doors and eats the cake with his hands. Catherine tears out of Jason’s  house, with David in toe.  Jason is left devastated thinking Catherine left because she was ashamed of him. As the story concludes, Catherine, decides to attend a dance, she calls Jason’s mother and tells her to please bring him. Catherine then calls her father and demands attention and for him to bring her and David to the dance. Catherine waits and waits, Jason finally arrives, and she apologizes. They move to the dance floor and the fun begins.

M.   Description of How to Use in the Classroom: I would use this in the class to help with the idea of diversity and how to overcome an obstacle that most people never have to deal with.  Since David lives off of rules, we can have our own rules based on the book. We can also discuss how the rules can change as the book concludes. 

Chapter Book 7

A.    Author: Roald Dahl

B.     Title: The BFG

C.     Illustrator: Quentin Blake

D.    Readability: 5.8

E.      Genre: Fantasy

F.      Subgenre: Comedy and Humor

G.    Theme: Courage, Honor, Friends   

H.    Primary and secondary characters: Sophie-Orphan  BFG-

I.       Award(s) date of publication:  

J.       Publishing company: Puffin (1998)

K.    ISBN number:978-0141301051

L.     Brief summary: Sophie is an orphan living in a room filled with other children. One night Sophie is awaken by strange noises outside her window, she gets up and attempts to sneak a peak at what was going on outside. Sophie was witnessing a giant thing, outside acting funny. He saw her and snatched her from the window, he took her back to his home, where all the giants lived. Sophie, hides from the giant on the table, he tells her he is hungry and she is frightened he will eat her! But the Giant reveals that he doesn’t want to eat humans, he wants a turkey! He tells her that his name is the BFG, The Big Friendly Giant! He offers her food, so she does not become skinny, but she says it tastes like frog skins and spits the foods out. Sophie asks BFG for carrots and veggies from the garden but the BFG says he never steals, but Sophie says, Yes, you stole me!  The BFG feels remorseful, until Sophie tells him she has no mom or dad and that her life is spent locked in rooms with mice and a horrid women who is mean to all the children. All of a sudden a mean, mean giant enters the scene, and asks who the BFG is talking to, the mean giant searches the room. He convinces the mean giant to try some of the food he had been eating, but that is where Sophie had been hiding, the BFG thinks his new friend is lost. Sophie appears, she was coughed out by the mean giant. She then asks the BFG what he was doing in the city but the BFG won’t tell her. She is given a new dress, and is told to try a drink that bubbles go down instead of up! So the bubbles cause you to wizzpoples not burp. Wizpopers are better than belching in the Giant world. The next day Sophie and the BFG head to the dream country to capture some dreams, but first they must pass through a group of mean, people eating giants. The BFG tells Sophie that he has never shown anyone the stairway to dream country before and he begins the steps. BFG catches a dream and contains it in a jar. The BFG catches a scary dream and he locks it away so no child will ever have to have that scary dream.  The BFG and Sophie race off to the villages and deliver great dreams to boys and girls. While delivering dreams the big mean, giant tries to seek out a human to eat. He chooses a little boy. The BFG cannot stop him, and Sophie wants to save all the children. Sophie tells the BFG to make a dream that tells the humans about the big mean giants that eat people and that will help them believe about the giants who eat humans. They give it to the queen of England, she tells her maid about it, and it is the front page of the paper. The maid finds Sophie on the window sill just as her dream said she would. The BFG waits in the garden, and moves to the window when Sophie calls him. The queen invites the BFG and Sophie to eat dinner with her, she calls the Army and Air Force to meet immediately. The BFG tells the heads how many giants there are and by the dead of night he leads them to Giant Country. As the giants sleep, they tie up all the giants, but one giant was missing. He calls for the BFG, asking Sophie to hide, the BFG goes to stand up to him. The mean giant wants to kill BFG, but Sophie screams and he chases after her. Sophie hides in the BFG’s table, and the giant tries to shake her free, she falls out right in front of him, trying to run she cannot and he catches her. The BFG blows  dream powder in his eye and the giant retreats. Sophie is pulled out for all the rubble. BFG saved the day, all the giants are flown to an underground hold, where they will never get out ever again! The orphanage is closed by the queen, all the girls move to the palace. The BFG is welcomed but he sadly must return to the land of Giants, to continue his dream work. As the BFG gets ready to say goodbye, Sophie confesses to wanting to be with the BFG forever, they take off back to the land of Giants to live.

M.   Description of how you would use the book with students: This book uses creative vocabulary. We could pick out words and discuss the meanings of the words.  Since the BFG catches dreams we can also have a writing activity based on the dreams. This will help sentence structure and writing and spelling. 

Chapter Book 6

                                                       

a.       Author: Lois Lowry

b.      Title: Gathering Blue

c.       Photographs:

d.      Readability: 5

e.        Genre: Fantasy

f.       Subgenre: Fiction

g.      Theme: Friendship, loyalty  

h.      Primary and secondary characters: Kira, an Orphan thread and loom worker. Thomas, the carver. Jamison, Kira’s Mentor, Matt, a boy from the Fen, Jo an Orphan singer.

i.        Award(s) date of publication:  

j.        Publishing company: Houghton Mifflin   

k.      ISBN number: 0-440-22949-9

l.        Brief summary: Gathering Blue, continues the plot line of The Giver. This sequel starts with a little girl, Kira, only two syllables, mourning the loss of her  mother, Katarina, 3 syllables. Kira stayed with her mother’s body for 4 days, ensuring her spirit would reach heaven. When she returned to town, she found the town turning a blind eye to her. Soon Vandara came and harassed Kira, telling her that the home that was once there, would be turned into a tyke pen for her children and the other tykes who were wild and roamed the city.  Vandara takes Kira to the Guardian Council to fight for the land Kira rightfully owns. Kira is granted with a choice, to allow herself to be represented by a council member or self-representation, she almost quickly answered self-representation, but remember that the more syllables a person had the wiser, since she only had two, she chose a  council member to be represented. Jamison soon took her under his wing, as Vandara told the council things that Kira did wrong, Jamison would find reasons to keep the land Kira owned. By the end of the meeting, it was decided that Vandara would get Kira’s land but Kira would be moved into the chambers. Kira had a talent, I forgot to mention, she has the gift of needle work. The thread she uses makes beautiful pictures and she is now given the job to use her hands, to repair the Singers robe. The singer performs once a year, wearing the robe and holding a staff. While inside the chambers she meets a boy, Thomas who is the carver. He is in charge of carving the staff of the singer, the staff is a music guide to how the long song goes.  As the story progressed Kira meets the future singer Jo. The three attend the Gathering, which they watch their hard work on the robe and staff. The whole city has arrived, even Matt who had been gone for many days. He met Kira and Thomas  back in the chambers, but he had a surprise, the color blue! Kira could plant the color blue and be able to dye thousands of threads. But the biggest surprise had yet to arrive. The three went back to the Gathering, but Kira heard a sound, it was a clinking sound, but only Kira and Thomas could hear it. Soon they realized, all their powers keep them chained in the chambers, they will never experience the outside world. Kira returns to her room to find Matt and a man, who was blind. This man is Kira’s father. He tells her that he survived a brutal attack by Jamison, the saver of Kira. They went on a hunt and Jamison attacked him from behind, cutting his eyes, leaving him for death. The draggers took him to the field to die but he was saved by a village of broken people. Kira’s father had four syllables meaning he was special and wise. Kira was bound and set on going to live with him, until she realized her powers of thread and needle point could shape the future, one day reuniting them. Kira states that the Council is made up of the wise, but they had no special powers, they only tell people how to live. Kira begins her life again as a skilled threader.

m.    Description of how you would use the book with students: This book shows perseverance in many ways. First by Kira, for standing up for her land. Then by Matt, who traveled many days to bring her the color blue. Again by Kira who kept her job as a threader in mind when making a choice that could change the course of the whole community. Lastly, by Christopher, Kira’s father, who fought through the pain to keep his life, knowing that one day he may or may not meet his daughter.  I would use this in my class to do a connection to writing, how did you preserver? This can also be used in class when discussing book series, since this and the Give are tied. We can also compare and contrast the books. How did the Giver and Gathering Blue connect and how did they show differences? Did you learn anything from  Gathering Blue that you would have liked to know in the Giver? 

Picture Book 13

A.    Author: Michele Benoit Slawson

B.     Title: Signs For Sale

C.     Photographs: Bagram Ibatoulline

D.    Readability: 3.5

E.      Genre: Realistic

F.      Subgenre:   

G.    Theme: Fathers and Daughters, Selling, History

H.    Primary and secondary characters: Daughter and PaPa

I.       Award(s) date of publication:  

J.       Publishing company: Penguin Books

K.    ISBN number:0-670-03568-8

L.     Brief summary: A traveling sales man and his daughter hit the roads selling neon signs! The daughter takes photos of all the stops, ensuring to get the buyers point of view. They ride through town in their light blue convertible, helping out all their previous buyers and even making a sale to a man who promises he will never buy a neon sign. As the book comes to an end, the daughter aspires to be just like her father, selling millions of signs and making cities light up with enthusiasm.   

M.   Description of how you would use the book with students: This book can be used to tell children to follow their dreams. At the start the drug store owner, would not buy the sign, but because the daughter had careful words and persistence she got her goal! It also can be used when discussing the 1950’s, this story has a traveling salesmen, which today we do not see many if any of. Students can use this to make their own traveling sales and have a presentation that is a pitch of their best idea!          

Picture Book 12

A.    Author: Jan Carr

B.     Title: Splish, Splash, Spring

C.     Photographs: Dorothy Donohue

D.    Readability: 1.6

E.      Genre: Realistic

F.      Subgenre: Poetry  

G.    Theme: Spring

H.    Primary and secondary characters: 3 Friends  

I.       Award(s) date of publication:  

J.       Publishing company: Holiday House

K.    ISBN number:00-03605

L.     Brief summary: On a sloppy spring day, three friends run out and play. The sun comes out and the children play hide and seek with the frogs. The friends dig up worms and feed slugs to baby birds. Then the children play with their kites, running down the field, the kites get tangled and the children fall. As the day progresses the rain begins to move back in, the children race back to their house to dry off.  

M.Description of how you would use the book with students: This would be an excellent book to use with students when discussing spring. It also would be perfect to help students understand rhyming words.  Students can also be interactive with this, showing sequencing, they could draw pictures of rain, then they can move on to the sun and the activities that the children did in the sunshine, lastly, the end of the book with the rain again.

Picture Book 11

A.    Author: Lois Ehlert

B.     Title: Market Day   A Story Told With Folk Art

C.     Illustrator: Lois Ehlert

D.    Readability: 2.1

E.     Genre: Realistic  

F.      Subgenre: Fiction

G.    Theme: Farm Life, Market

H.    Primary and secondary characters: Boy and Girl

I.       Award(s) date of publication:  

J.       Publishing company: Harcourt Inc.

K.    ISBN number: 0-15-202158-2

L.     Brief summary: This story is a families journey from farm to market then market to home. How they have to pick tomatoes and carrots. The story tells us of all the creatures who inhabit the lands along the way to the market. The families play at the market and make their livings at the market.

M.   Description of how you would use the book with students: I would use this because it is a rhyming book but it also shows students that you don’t always have to get produce and nicknaks at stores, you can go to a market! I can also ask them what they could bring to the market and we could make a pretend market and show how to tie into math by making change and purchasing things we put in our markets. 

Picture Book 10

A.    Author: Kathryn E. Lewis

B.     Title: Carrots Don’t Talk

C.     Illustrator: JoAnn Kitchel

D.    Readability: Cannot find

E.     Genre: Fantasy

F.      Subgenre: Fiction

G.    Theme: Carrots

H.    Primary and secondary characters: Boy and Girl

I.       Award(s) date of publication:  

J.       Publishing company: Silver Burdett Ginn Inc

K.    ISBN number: 0-663-59389-1

L.     Brief summary: A boy and a girl were playing in the field. The boy said he was hungry so he went to the garden to pull out a carrot. Every time he pulled the carrot cried “Do not eat me.”  The boy then heard a dog talk, then a tree. He ran back to the girl to tell her of his findings. The girl told him that it was time for him to go to bed. The boy went back home and the girl had her apple, and was about to take a bite out of her apple and the apple makes a joke, the girl looked stunned!

M.   Description of how you would use the book with students: I would use this in my class to start a project. I would have a food or an inanimate object talk and they would have to work on writing a story, short like this book. It helps with having students work on sentence structure and