Welcome to Mrs. K's Featured Books. Please check back often to learn about a new book, DVD or website or make a new connection with an old favorite. Please also visit the archives for more great titles.
Spoon by Amy Krouse Rosenthal (posted 4/30/2010)
Amy Krouse Rosenthal, author of Cookies: Bite-Size Life Lessons, has done it again.
In this sweet, gentle little story, Spoon is lamenting his life as a, well, as a spoon. Envious of Knife (who gets to cut and spread) and Fork (who gets to "go practically EVERYWHERE") and Chopsticks (cool and exotic), he turns to his mother for comfort.
Wisely, his mother points out how special he himself is, a lesson we can all appreciate.
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Science Solves It--a series new to Peaslee Library (posted 2/26/2010)
Teaching scientific concepts to young learners can sometimes be a challenge. The books in the Science Solves It! series encourage children
to "observe, investigate, predict, experiment, compare, and draw
conclusions" along with the characters in the story. Learn about friction in Slow Down, Sara!; the physics of light in The Rainbow Mystery; plant science in What Homework? and much more.
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Need inspiration or mentor texts to teach the writing process? Here are four great titles to get you started--(posted 12/15/2009)
The Plot Chickens by Mary Jane and Herm Auch
In this pun-filled offering, book-loving hen, Henrietta, decides to write her own story. Writing advice is sprinkled throughout, including Rule Number Seven-"Make your story come alive by using all five senses." Follow our spunky heroine through the writing and publishing process in this amusing picture book.
The Best Story by Eileen Spinelli
What does a good story need? Action, humor, pathos, romance? Watch the creative process flow through the eyes of our young protagonist and see what truly makes the best story.
Nothing Ever Happens on 90th Street by Roni Schotter
More writing advice is offered in this narrative about Eva, a young girl faced with writer's block because "nothing ever happens on 90th Street". With assistance from her helpful neighbors, Eva develops her story by asking "What if?", observing carefully and finding the poetry in her words.
You Have to Write by Janet S. Wong
In a more serious piece, Janet S. Wong encourages struggling and reluctant writers to take the plunge even when they think they have nothing good to write about. Good writing doesn't have to be about glamorous vacations or astounding talents. "Write about the fights. Write about the holes in your socks, your grandmother cracking her knuckles, your father snoring all night long."
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Snake and Lizard by Joy Cowley (posted 9/29/2009)
Veteran author Joy Cowley captures the essence of friendship perfectly with her new book,
Snake and Lizard. 15 short chapters which stand alone as vignettes, but work together as a short read-aloud, introduce Snake and Lizard, friends who have as much in common as they have differences.
Use these short stories to illustrate the concepts of empathy, kindness, friendship and acceptance of diversity. Need examples of conflict and resolution? This book answers the call.
Snake and Lizard offers stories slightly more sophisticated than Frog and Toad, but with the same gentle humor. Our heroes learn the give and take of friendship in a realistic desert setting. Suitable for use with grades 1-5.
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Crazy Like a Fox by Loreen Leedy (posted 4/14/2009)
Do you shake like a leaf when it is time to teach similes or are you as smart as a whip? Either way, this new title by Loreen Leedy is sure to make your lesson easy as pie.
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Don't be stuck up a creek without a paddle! Use these books to introduce idioms to your students.
(posted 3/30/2009)
Butterflies in My Stomach and Other School Hazards by Serge Bloch is an entertaining little book which illustrates some of the more common idioms using simple pen and ink drawings enhanced with photographs. (Picture a nice hunk of swiss cheese with a head and boots depicting the "Big Cheese".)
My Teacher Likes to Say by Denise Brennan-Nelson will amuse with a line of super-glued students ("stick together") and
There's a Frog in My Throat by Loreen Leedy is bound to please with "440 animal sayings a little bird told me".
But if you would like to use these titles, you better hurry; the early bird always gets the worm!
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How odd! Even the library teaches math! (posted 3/25/2009)
Teaching the concept of odd and even? Here is some literary support. Help the farmer solve the mystery of odd numbers in
Missing Mittens by Stuart J. Murphy. Laundry has never been so much fun as in
Odd and Even Socks by Melanie Chrismer. In
Bears Odd, Bears Even by Harriet Ziefert, basketball playing bears demonstrate the rules of odd and even. And, tickle your funny bones with
Even Steven and Odd Todd by Kathryn Cristaldi. These two mismatched cousins are set in their ways,
with quite amusing consequences.
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I Have a Dream by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and
Martin's Big Words by Doreen Rappaport (posted
1/9/2009)
Lavishly illustrated and brilliantly written, both these offerings provide meaningful connections
for today's students.
I Have a Dream takes the text of Dr. King's landmark speech of August 1963
and pairs it with artwork by some of the finest contemporary children's book illustrators.
Martin's Big Words is a simple biography featuring excerpts from his speech as well. Use either title to
introduce the celebration of Martin Luther King Day, the inauguration of our nation's first
African-American president or in February for Black History Month.
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World Book Myths and Legends (posted 11/24/2008)
This 8 volume series spans the continents offering myths and legends from the following cultures:
African, Ancient Egyptian, Ancient Greek, Celtic, Chinese, Norse, North American and South American.
Both an anthology and encyclopedia, the set includes maps and commentary along with traditional
stories from each of the cultures. From better known tales like "Icarus" and "Pegasus" to lesser
known stories such as "Kigbo and the Bush Spirits" or "Fire and the Jaguar", these books are sure to
entertain and enlighten.
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Four Famished Foxes and Fosdyke by Pamela Duncan Edwards (posted 10/20/2008)
Students will comprehend alliteration in a flash with this fabulous, funny fictional picture book.
Mother fox cries "Farewell" and leaves for five days in Florida. What a fracas ensues! Pair with
Edwards' other offerings--
The Worrywarts, Some Smug Slug and
Clara Caterpillar.
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Election Day DVD (posted 10/3/2008)
Complete with vocabulary support, discussion questions and follow-up activities, this 23 minute
video provides a comprehensive overview of the election process. From class president to U. S.
president, learn about campaigning, debating, rallies and the privilege of voting. Supplement with
Grace for President or
Duck for President (two books available in the Peaslee Library) and you
have the start of a great civics unit.
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