Skip to main content

Wonder

Genre: Contemporary Realistic Fiction
Author: R.J. Palacio
Awards: Texas Bluebonnet Award
Age Range: 9-13 years old

Summary: The main character of the book is August, who goes by his nickname "Auggie." Throughout the story, we get an insight into Auggie's life and how he deals with going to a real school and interacting with many peers for the very first time. Auggie is very different from most children his age because he has had to undergo many surgeries due to being born with a cleft pallet and having a very severe condition that causes him to have a facial difference. Many people often stare at Auggie, which embarrasses him. At first, he did not want to go to school but eventually warmed up to the idea. He had a hard time at first because people were rude, called him names, and would avoid him because people were scared to catch "the plague." Those first few months were the hardest, but he found two very good friends, Summer, and Jack. Eventually, all the kids began to see Auggie as a nice kid and did not care about his appearance. At the very end, Auggie won the Henry Ward Beecher Award for having courage and being kind that school year. Everyone chanted Auggie's name as he went to accept his award. 

Evaluation: This book is very different from most books because the story is told from the point of view of many different characters. That is one of the reasons why I really enjoyed Wonder. Readers were able to get the full picture of what happened from different sources. I would use this book with 5th and 6th graders because it is a little more complicated and long. An activity that I would have the students do after we finish reading the book would be to pick a character and write an essay on how they changed throughout the story. 
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Name Jar

  Genre: Fiction/Multicultural Title: The Name Jar Author/Illustrator: Yangsook Choi Awards: Arkansas Diamond Primary Book Master List, Arizona Younger Readers Award Nominee Age Range: 3-7 Years Old Summary: Unhei is new to America and is attending school for her first day. She is nervous, and some of the kids make fun of her name. She tells her mom that she wants an American name because she does not want to be different. She tests out different names by introducing herself in the mirror, but nothing seems to sound right. The next day at school Unhei found a jar on her desk, which was filled with name suggestions from her classmates. It keeps getting filled up, but one day when she went to class the name jar was gone. Only one name was on her desk and it was her own. She decided to introduce herself to the class and keep her original name. Johnny showed up at her house that evening with the name jar. He told Unhei that he wanted her to keep her own name which is why he took the ja...
Post a Comment
Read more

Little Rabbit Foo Foo

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.
Post a Comment
Read more

The Wheels on the Bus

  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. 
Post a Comment
Read more