A Baby Panda is Born

written by Kristin Ostby, illustrated by Lucia Washburn

This "All Aboard Science Reader" is intended for kids who are reading with help. It has short sentences and simple vocabulary, and tells the story of Mei Lan, a panda born in 2007 at the Atlanta Zoo.

The book has many extremely cute illustrations showing Mei Lan's progression from a tiny pink hairless critter "the size of a stick of butter" into a 4 month old, black and white bear recognizable as a panda.

After telling Mei Lan's story, the book goes on to give information about the life of pandas, where they live in the wild, what they eat, and challenges they face that are leading them to extinction. The book is never preachy and does not assign blame to bad people for invading their habitat, but delicately and clearly communicates the dangers these beautiful creatures face in ways that children can understand.

I would use this book in a 1st or 2nd grade classroom, but older children could also benefit from the factual information it contains. It would be a good book to give to a reluctant nonfiction reader, because it is an easy read and yet contains a compelling story and connections to current events.

Great Migrations: Elephants

by Laura Marsh

This National Geographic Kids book tells about the life cycle and migration pattern of Mali elephants. The book is chock full of photographs and facts, and incorporates information boxes and blurbs with extra facts. The book is classified by the publishers as a "Level 3" book, intended "for kids who are reading fluently."

The book contains quite a few specialized words, so I would recommend it for 3rd grade and up. While my 2nd graders would be fascinated by the subject material and would love the wacky facts in the book, most of them would not be able to read the text pages.

This would be a great book to have available for students while doing a social studies unit on Africa, or a science unit on mammals. The information contained in it is both factual and fascinating, and I am on the lookout for a kid to share it with!

Barack Obama: Out of Many, One

written by Shana Corey and illustrated by James Bernardin

This biography is part of the "Step Into Reading" series, and is classified on their scale as Level 3 (Reading On Your Own). The first half of the book covers Obama's childhood and gives facts about his life that kids can relate to.

The pictures are vivid and colorful, and some appear to have been done from photographs. The book focuses on Obama as a person rather than as a politician, and does not go into much depth on his political ideas (as a children's book probably shouldn't!)

This book does contain some fairly sophisticated vocabulary and sentence structure, along with full paragraphs of text. I would recommend this book for 3rd grade and up because of these features, but it could be read to 1st or 2nd graders if definitions and explanations were given.

Below the Root

by Zilpha Keatley Snyder

This book first came out in 1975. It is the first book in the Green Sky Trilogy, which was the most popular series at my elementary school in the mid-1980s. There was a waiting list a mile long for it in the school library, and after a year on the list I finally read this book in 3rd grade.

I don't remember much from my early reading, but I did remember the basic storyline all of these years. This book starts the trilogy by introducing us to the utopian world of Green Sky, a distant planet far in the future which is populated by the descendants of refugees from a war that destroyed Earth. The main character is a 13 year old boy named Raamo who is chosen to become a member of the ruling body, the Ol-zhaan, based on his psychic abilities.

Raamo soon discovers things that make him suspicious of the society and rules he has grown up with, and he begins to investigate the forbidden forest floor. What he finds there will ultimately shake the foundations of Green Sky society and change his world forever.

While reading this book again as an adult, I was able to appreciate the deeper theme of questioning utopia that runs through the series. I think this book would be appropriate for 5th or 6th graders after an introduction to political systems, but much was lost on me when I read it in 3rd grade.

In fact, I think the only reason I remember the story so well is that in 1984, this series was the basis for a wildly popular computer game for the Commodore 64, also called Below the Root. The game picked up the story where the trilogy left off, and I spent many hours playing it! While the game is long gone, the books are finally back in print and I have purchased the whole trilogy. I've wanted this on my bookshelf for over 20 years, and I finally have it!

Woodsong

by Gary Paulson

I was initially reluctant to read this book, because I always think I am not a fan of memoir. However (as with some other writers in the past), I loved it! Paulson's vivid imagery and descriptions of what he feels as he runs his dogs pulled me right into the story, and I didn't want the book to end.

I would definitely have upper elementary students read this book! Paulson's descriptions of his dogs are woven through the book until they are developed as characters, and the reader suffers when they do. After reading this, I will be on the lookout for more memoirs to read with similarly captivating stories.

I would not read this book to younger children, because it does contain a few brutal scenes of dogfights, dogs passing away, and dead or dying wildlife. I think those episodes would make parts of the book too upsetting for primary age students, but older students would probably delight in them!

The Witch of Blackbird Pond

By Elizabeth George Speare

I first read this book in 3rd grade, and it kicked off a lifelong love of historical fiction. It tells the story of Kit, a girl raised in Barbados who finds herself moving to 1600's Massachusetts when her grandfather dies. She tries to adapt to the rigid Puritan lifestyle of her extended family, but longs for the freedom and color of her former life. Nothing in her upbringing prepared her for the insular community where suspicion and superstition run rampant, and she ends up an outcast and accused witch.

The book provides a striking contrast between Kit's memories of Barbados and her wardrobe from those happy days and the grey, rigid reality of a New England Puritan society. I remember rereading over and over the descriptions of her colorful silk dresses and plumed hats and dreaming of the Barbados Kit longs for. The descriptions of everyday life in Massachusetts also fascinated me, as everyday tasks like baking and teaching young children were vividly described. Ever since reading it, I have loved learning how people in different times did these types of everyday chores and what they believed. This book really grabbed my imagination and I think it would have a similar effect on upper elementary students. Younger students might enjoy the story as I did initially, but would probably not understand the larger plot of group hysteria and scapegoating that I appreciated when I read it again a few years later.

I haven't seen this book available for sale in several years, but I reread it every time I come across a copy. Two years ago, I was lucky enough to finally visit Barbados myself and it was everything Kit described and more! The only disappointment was that I did not have her wardrobe or her love interest (or my own love interest, for that matter) with me.

Beezus andRamona

by Beverly Cleary

The Ramona Quimby series was always one of my favorites growing up. This is the first book in the series and intro

duces us to Beezus (age 9) and her "exasperating" little sister Ramona (age 4). Everything Beezus tries to do gets spoiled by Ramona's antics, from going to the library to playing chess to taking painting classes. Ramona doesn't just cause problems for Beezus, she also does crazy things like inviting her whole class to a non-existent party (and not warning her mother about it).

As an older sister, I definitely sympathized with Beezus when she worried about not always feeling good towards her sister. As a younger sister, I could really empathize with the curious Ramona, who just wanted to be grown up like Beezus. By the end of the book, Beezus has gained some insight into what it means to be a big sister as well as learning that even when you love someone, you might not like them all of the time. This is a big lesson for kids to learn, Cleary addresses the feelings of guilt that it can inspire along the way in a very sensitive way through the character of Beezus.

Some of the descriptions in this book are slightly dated, like a reference to going to the "record and phonograph store" or Mrs. Quimby washing everyone's hair in the kitchen sink. However, these old fashioned concepts really don't impact the story at all, and could be a good opportunity to explain how the world changes over time but people are basically the same. The main focus of the story is the relationship between the sisters, and it shines through brightly.

I would read this book to kids starting in first or second grade and older kids could read the later books in the series. While the language and stories would not cause comprehension issues with younger kids, I wouldn't want them to be inspired with Ramona's adventures and try to emulate them. She definitely gets herself (and others) into some scrapes!

Revolting Rhymes

Written by Roald Dahl and illustrated by Quentin Blake

This wonderful book is a collection of fractured fairy tales told in verse. Dahl adds his own twists to change the lessons the stories originally told. For example, Cinderella decides that the prince is too brutal and instead wishes for a good man. Her fairy godmother grants the wish, and she lives happily ever after. Similar twists are added to Snow White, Jack and the Beanstalk, Little Red Riding Hood, Goldilocks, and the Three Little Pigs. The pictures that accompany them are done by longtime Dahl collaborator Quentin Blake, whose illustrations perfectly capture the characters as re-imagined by Dahl.

While these stories are basically familiar, the vocabulary would be difficult for younger children. Older elementary students would probably enjoy the fractured nature of the tales as well as the gruesome twists, and this could be a great way to get them to read poetry. While the spelling is British (pyjamas) and so are some of the references (like one to Barclay's Bank), older children would most likely have the strategies in place to handle these challenges. Having students alternate reading these fairly short poems to a partner would get them started reading verse aloud, using stories they would definitely enjoy!

Mary Engelbreit's Nursery Tales

This collection of 12 classic fairy tales is perfect for children in the primary grades. The stories are ones that we have all heard before, including Hansel and Gretel, The Emperor's New Clothes, Puss in Boots, Jack and the Beanstalk, The Little Red Hen, and more.

The stories are told in a fairly middle of the road fashion, not too scary but bad things do happen. For example, in Hansel and Gretel, Engelbreit kept the detail of Gretel pushing the witch into the hot oven and locking her in. The cat still stalks the mice in The City Mouse and the Country Mouse, and the Three Bears do find Goldilocks still in their house when they get home (although she just got scared and ran away before the bears even said anything to her).

However, some of the portrayals which could possibly scare young imaginations have been sanitized. Instead of the Wolf being cut open by the woodcutter to save Little Red Riding Hood and her Grandmother, the woodcutter gives the Wolf "a big scolding!" The Wolf lets them both out of his tummy and runs away in embarrassment. While this ending means every character lives, it is somewhat unsatisfying to see "evil" just walk away from his bad deeds. I also wonder if kids might worry that the Wolf is still out there.

The pictures in this book are delightful. They are full of bright colors and patterns to draw the eye to details, which abound. The interiors are highly decorated and homey, and all of the characters have beautiful costumes. The royal characters have exquisite fur collars, jewels, crowns and hairstyles (and in the case of the Emperor, fleur-de-lis patterned boxer shorts). The more I look at each picture, the more little details and patterns I find.

One minor complaint I have is that the text contains only enough detail for the stories to make sense. There are very few descriptions or extraneous facts or reasoning, which can make the stories feel rushed. However, the illustrations are so richly detailed and decorated that when really looked at they do provide many of the missing elements. This is probably good for younger children, who may not have the attention span to listen to much extraneous description, but older children who already know the stories may miss some of their favorite details.

All in all, I really like this book because it provides the basic elements of a dozen classic fairy tales while still being short enough that younger kids will not lose focus or forget what is happening in the story. I love the comforting environments shown in the illustrations!

Amelia Bedelia's First Day of School

written by Herman Parish with pictures by Lynne Avril

Who doesn't remember Amelia Bedelia, the maid who took everything literally? The antics that had me in stitches as a kid have been brought into an environment familiar to younger children as we join a younger Amelia on her very first day of school. As always, she follows directions precisely...too precisely.

Her day starts when she takes a running start and JUMPS off the school bus, landing squarely on the gym teacher. At the end of the day, Amelia is the last to leave because she explicitly followed her teacher's directions and glued herself to her seat.

The illustrations do a great job of clarifying what could otherwise be a very confusing book for young children and are detailed enough to have even adults chuckling at Amelia's interpretations. The words and pictures combined could be used to introduce a language arts lesson on words and phrases with multiple meanings.

While I didn't find the same degree of absurdity in this 2007 follow-up to the series begun in 1963, I can imagine young children howling with laughter as Amelia Bedelia turns their familiar world upside-down simply by doing what she is told. I would love to read this to a kindergarten or first grade class and then watch them at recess to see what literal interpretations they could make! Harper-Collins, the publisher, also offers suggested activities for use in the classroom after reading this book.

Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel

Story and Pictures by Virginia Lee Burton

This book (originally published in 1939) was one of my favorites as a child, which may have been influenced by my father's love of stories about large pieces of machinery and engineering...we also frequently read Burton's other books Katy and the Big Snow (about a snow plow) and The Little House (about a house in the country that has a whole city grow up around it, and eventually gets moved back out into the country). We read a lot of books about trying as hard as possible and believing in yourself, a theme that runs through this book.

The detailed illustrations show an old fashioned world complete with a milkman and his horse-drawn wagon and, of course, the steam shovel (also known as Mary Ann). Mike Mulligan and Mary Ann find themselves obsolete in a world powered by gasoline and diesel rather then steam, and set out to prove they still have value in the modern world which seems to have passed them by. They head for the little town of Popperville, where they dig a whole basement for the new city hall in just one day! The more people who come to watch them, the faster and better they dig. Unfortunately, they forgot one crucial step when digging. A little boy who has been watching all day steps in with an unusual solution and saves the day, managing to save the town some money at the same time.

This story does a good job of illustrating that even older people (or technology, as it were) has a value. They may not be the newest, shiniest, youngest team out there but Mike Mulligan and Mary Ann work as hard as they can to show how useful they are, and it pays off. If Mary Ann had been made with a diesel or gasoline engine rather than steam, her intriguing late-in-life career change would not have been possible.

My Rotten Redheaded Older Brother

by Patricia Polacco

Tricia's older brother Richie is horrible. No matter what Tricia does, he does it better. As he tells her, he is "four years older, and always will be!" But then Bubbie, her grandmother, teaches her to wish on a shooting star and the next day she finds something can do better than Richie can. Proving it leads to an accident and to stitches for Tricia, and a revelation about what big brothers are really for.

Anyone with an older sibling has probably felt this way at one time or another...I know I did! My older was taller, faster, smarter, and way more horrible than I was. The expressions on Richie's face throughout the book perfectly capture that annoying knack for always being right and really made me feel like I was looking at my older brother's antics all over again.

The connection that the siblings make on the last few pages of the book really touched a nerve and brought up memories for me of how nobody got to insult my sibling but me! Older and younger siblings alike can relate to this fun and sweet tale.

The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge

by Hildegarde H. Swift and Lynd Ward

The current, restored edition of this classic book features original watercolors initially painted by Lynd Ward for the book in the days right after Pearl Harbor and lost for over a generation. They capture the dark shadows and looming nature of the giant bridge while dark blues and blacks on nearly every page reflect the tight security conditions which led the illustrator to post a lookout while he was sketching the bridge and the national mood of the times.

This classic tale of a proud lighthouse on the Hudson River always makes me think of home. I grew up in New York City, not too far from "the Great Gray Bridge" (the George Washington Bridge). This book tells the story of a red lighthouse whose job it is to guide the boat traffic that plies the mighty Hudson. During the day, the lighthouse is silent and motionless. Every night, it goes "Flash! Flash!" every night to warn boats away from dangerous rocks. When there is a storm, a man comes and winds and winds and winds a clock inside, and a bell begins to ring. "Warn-ing! War-ning!" "'Flash!' said the light." "'War-ning!' said the bell."

One day, men begin to dig next to the lighthouse. Soon, they are dragging cables across the river and raising huge steel towers. One day, the lighthouse stops flashing and ringing, and the light on top of the tower starts to flash instead. The once-proud lighthouse feels sad and useless, until there is a terrible fog and a boat crashes into the rocks in front of the lighthouse. After than, the man comes back and winds up the clock, and the lighthouse begins to ring again. The lighthouse realizes that it still has a job to do and that while the light on top of the big new bridge is useful for some things, the lighthouse is still needed.

I have vivid memories of hearing this story as a child and looking for the little red lighthouse. Sure enough, it still stands! The bridge towers over it, but the tiny old lighthouse has hung on for 130 years. It looks minuscule and humble under the great mass of steel that is the George Washington Bridge, but on foggy days my brothers and sisters and I always swore we could hear the bell ringing.

In A Bad Case of Stripes, author and illustrator David Shannon cleverly addresses the issues of conformity and marching to one's own drum. Young Camilla Cream, who loves lima beans, awakens on the first day of school and, after agonizing over the perfect outfit, discovers she is covered with multicolored stripes! The doctor is summoned, and he can find nothing wrong with her. The next day, she goes to school and "when the class said the Pledge of Allegiance, her stripes turned red, white, and blue, and she broke out in stars!"

The class has a great time discovering what else she can do, and after that she stays home from school while a seemingly endless array of Specialists and Experts rush to try to cure her. Her parents try everything, even having an Environmental Therapist come to try to help Camilla. Unfortunately, with each attempted cure, she just gets worse. Finally, "an old woman who was just as plump and sweet as a strawberry" knocked on the door. She offered Camilla something different than the others, which finally cures her and offers up the explanation for Camilla's pigmentation problems.

The lesson in this story is subtle but effective, and made perfectly clear on the last few pages. The book makes a wonderful point about being yourself, and the brightly colored, almost psychedelic, vivid illustrations stuck with me for several days after reading it for the first time.

I personally found both the text and illustrations delightful and imaginative, but I was surprised to discover several pages of very negative reviews on Amazon.com where parents complained that they or their children had been traumatized by the pictures and/or story. It made me wonder if they had failed to grasp the lesson, and focused solely on the imagery. While a person who is striped certainly is different, I really felt there was nothing scary in the book at all. I wonder if this is a reflection of modern attitudes towards non-conformity?