Ms. Sevon's Booktique

  Genre: Science Fiction Title: The Return of Zita the Spacegirl Author: Ben Hatke Awards: N/A Age Range: 8-12 Years Old Summary: Zita is found guilty of actions she has committed, so she is thrown into the dungeon. She tries to escape but fails. Then, she is sent to work in the mines as further punishment. There she finds out that the Dungeon Lord is using prisoners to look for a crystal that will help him take over Earth. Zita tries a second time to escape and this time she manages to escape with the help of a stranger who she discovers is Joseph. Somehow  Zita ends up with the crystal in her pocket and she wants to use it as bait against the Dungeon Lord, so she can try to save her friends. Joseph does not like this idea because he just wants to save Earth. Therefore, he betrays Zita and gives the crystal to the Dungeon Lord who he thought would bargain with him. Unfortunately, the Dungeon Lord did not listen to Joseph's request instead he chose to invade earth immediately....

Genre: Traditional Literature Title: Zomo The Rabbit: A Trickster Tale from West Africa Author & Illustrator: Gerald McDermott Awards: N/A Age Range: 4-7 Years Old Summary: Zomo the rabbit wanted wisdom, so he went to ask the Sky God to give him some. Although, the Sky God could not just give the rabbit wisdom. Zomo had to work for it by doing the three tasks the Sky God asked him to complete. Once, he completed the tasks Zomo went back to the Sky God and received wisdom. Evaluation: I really liked this story and I would use the book in a 1st through 3rd grade class. The unit that I would teach along with this book is sequencing of events. For 1st graders we would work together as a class to do a cut and paste worksheet of the events in order. A graphic organizer would be given to 2nd and 3rd graders and they would need to write in order the events that happened using the words: first, second, third, next, after or finally. 

Genre: Fantasy Title: The Polar Express Author & Illustrator: Chris Van Allsburg Awards: Caldecott Medal Age Range: 5-8 Years Old Summary: On Christmas Eve, a young boy went outside when he saw a train in front of his house. The conductor invited him on board, which he accepted the invitation because they were going to the North Pole. When they arrive at the North Pole, the train took the children to see Santa. Santa gave out the first gift to a young boy. After that, Santa took off on his sleigh to deliver presents. When the children got on the train the boy noticed that he lost his gift. However, on Christmas morning Santa left his gift under his tree.  Evaluation: I would use this book with grades 1st through 5th. The Polar Express is one of my favorite stories and it would be a great book to read during December. For younger students, I would have them write a letter to Santa asking for one thing they want for Christmas and have them include a picture. For older students, ...

Title: Where the Wild Things Are Genre: Fantasy Author: Maurice Sendak Awards: Caldecott Medal Age Group: 3-7 Years Old Summary: Max is sent to his room because he is misbehaving. When he goes to his room he begins to use his imagination to take him on a journey. Max eventually makes it to an island where the wild things are and he is the only one that can tame them. He becomes king of the wild things and enjoys his time with them. Eventually Max gets homesick, so he sails for home. When he arrives homes he finds his mom left his dinner in his room.  Evaluation:  I think this book would work best with students in pre-k through 2nd grade.   I really like the book especially how it ends. I think a great lesson we can all learn from this book is that even when we mess up our family or even friends will still love us. Another activity I would do after reading the book is have students create their own mini book. I would have them write a short story about an adventure they wo...

Genre: Fantasy Title: 12 Little Elves Visit Texas  Author: Jess Smart Smiley Illustrator: Sadie Han Awards: N/A Age Range: 4-6 years old Summary: There are 12 elves that were sent to see who was sleeping in Texas. They went city to city and house to house just to check on everyone. The elves stopped by some of the most popular places like the state fair and Big Bend. In addition, they also went to see some of Texas' landmarks like the Alamo in San Antonio and the capitol building in Austin. The 12 elves have visited all the houses, but the last place they need to visit is the reader's house. Evaluation: I would use this book because I love how I could talk about the different landmarks that the elves visit in Texas. I would use this book as a read-aloud the last day before Christmas break, so students will be excited about Christmas. This book is best for pre-k, Kindergarten, and first grade. I think those students would love this story. Another activity I would do to incorpora...

Genre:  Historical Fiction Title:  The War that Saved my Life Author: Kimberly Brubaker Bradley  Awards:  Newbery Honor Award,  Schneider Family Book Award   Age Group: 9-11 years old Summary: Ada lives with her younger brother, Jamie, and abusive mother in London. The mother favors Jamie and does not let Ada leave their apartment because she is ashamed of her. Ada and Jamie escape to the countryside when they evacuated all the children because of the war. They lived with Ms. Susan Smith who took great care of them. A few months went by with no word from their mother when all of a sudden she showed up at Susan's house to take back her children. The girl and boy went back to London with their mother, but Ada was not happy. In the end, Ada stood up to her mother, and that morning she and her brother were reunited with Susan.  Evaluation: I really enjoyed this book, but I am unsure if I would want to use this book in my class. My biggest worry is the abus...

Title: The Pig in the Spigot Genre: Poetry Author: Richard Wilbur Illustrator: J. Otto Seibold Awards: N/A Age Group: 4-7 years old Summary: This book is a collection of poems that are fun and silly that children would enjoy. One poem is about an ant being able to find sweet treats. Another poem is about a king sitting on a throne because he is the one that rules. Evaluation: All the poems have rhyming words, so I would use the book during a rhyming lesson. For older students, I would use the longer poems for us to identify their rhyme scheme. One thing I really like about this book is the play on words that that poet uses to create his entire poem around. For example, with the title pig in a spigot, the word pig can be found in the word spigot. As a fun assignment, I would have older students try to create a poem like one from the book.

Title: Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening  Genre: Poetry Author: Robert Frost Illustrator:  Susan Jeffers Awards: N/A Age Group: 7-12 years old Summary: This is a single illustrated poem about a man traveling through the woods in the winter. The man stops in the woods to watch as the snow falls and appreciate nature. The audience is taken on the journey with the man, so we can see what he does as he is in the woods. Evaluation: I would use this book as an introduction to a poetry writing lesson. I would use this as one an example of how students can write about a specific place or moment. 

  Title: The Wheels on the Bus Genre: Poetry Author &  Illustrato r : Annie Kubler Awards: N/A Age Group: 1-4 years old Summary: The author shows us the life of being a bus driver. We get to see different people get on and off the bus. In addition, we get to learn about the different parts of the bus and how the people on the bus act. At the very end, everyone gets off the bus because they arrived at their destination where they are having a party. Evaluation: I would use this book when doing a lesson on transportation. The students will learn parts of cars by reading this book and singing along. I would also use the illustrations to get students to predict where they think the people on the bus are going. 

  Title: You are My Sunshine Genre: Poetry Author: Steve Metzger Illustrator:  Jill Dubin Awards: N/A Age Group: 3-5 years old Summary: This book shows how parents love their children. The pictures show different activities that parents do with their children, which further demonstrates how they care about them.  Evaluation: I would use this book with pre-k students and possibly kindergarten students. We would sing the song you are my sunshine and I would show the pictures to the book. Afterward, an activity we could do is talk about the pictures. Then, I would have students draw a picture of what they do with their family.

Genre:  Poetry Title:   Little Rabbit Foo Foo Author: Michael Rosen Illustrator: Arthur Robins Awards: N/A Age group: 3-6 years old Summary: A fairy visits Little Rabbit Foo Foo because he is being mean to others. The fairy gives him three chances to change, but he does not listen. Therefore, she turns Little Rabbit Foo Foo into a goon.  Evaluation:  This would be a fun book to not only read but to sing chorally as a class. I would create some hand motions for the students to do as we read and sang the song. I think this book could be a good brain break especially if I incorporated some movements with the song. Also, I can use the book to teach students that we should be kind to others and the importance of listening when told to do something the first time.