A trip to the barbershop made the this young boy feel like a king. How something as simple as a haircut can change how you feel about yourself and how others view you. It shares the cultural experience for black and brown boys vising the barbershop. This could be used as a mentor text for writing a small moment or something that makes you feel great about yourself.
Other great titles by Derrick Barnes; The King of Kindergarten, I am Every Good Thing, and Stop, Drop, and Chill.
Awards: Caldecott Medal, Coretta Scott King Award, John Newbery Medal
Barnes, D. (2017) . Crown: an ode to the fresh cut. NY: Denene Miller Books
El Deafo by author Cece Bell
This graphic novel tells the story of the author's childhood. The main character Cece is deaf and wants to make friends. She takes a disadvantage and turns herself into a superhero. If you like graphic novels, you'll enjoy this title. Great illustrations and a great way to make the characters more appealing by making them animals. Great novel for learning about differences in characters. This mentor text can be used to help students write their own cartoon or graphic novel.
Other titles by Cece Bell; I Yam a Donkey!, Itty Bitty, and Bee-Wiggeed.
Awards: John Newbery Medal
Bell, C. (2014). El Deafo. NY: Abrams
A young boy writes to his favorite author, and the author writes back! They continue to write and ask each others questions. The questions help the boy reflect on his thoughts and actions. This is a great book for character analysis or even letter writing. The use of the letters and journal writing give insight to the boys inner feelings and how he is growing and changing. I suggest taking the opportunit towrite to book authors.
Cleary, B. (1983). Dear Mr. Henshaw. NY: Morrow.
Martina the Beautiful Cockroach by Carmen Agra Deedy
This is a Cuban folktale where the main character is Martina a beautiful cockroach who is looking for a husband. Her Cuban grandmother has given her some valuable advice on how to find her true love. The advice works as Martina continues to meet suitors who are not good for Martina. Continuing to follow her grandmother's advice, Martina finally meets her match. This book includes wonderfully colorful illustrations. This book would match wonderfully with Planting Stories by Anika A. Denise.
Deedy, C. A. (2007). Martina the beautiful cockroach. Atlanta, GA: Peachtree.
Last Stop on Market Street by Matt de la Pena
Awards: Caldecott Medal, John Newbery Medal
de la Pena, M. (2015) Last stop on Market Street. NY; Penguin
Planting Stories by Anika A. Denise
This story with wonderfully done illustrations tells the story of Pura Belpre. This is a must read for any true librarian at heart. Moving from Puerto Rico and sharing stories in a New York library, Pura turns her attentions to adding Spanish stories to the New York library where she tells stories to kids. She gets the Puerto Rican tale of Martina the beautiful cockroach turned into a book. You will see the theme of Martina throughout the book and even mirroring the life of Pura Belpre.
More titles by Anika A. Denise are; Starring Carmen!, Bunny in the Middle, and Monster Trucks.
Awards: Pura Belpre Award
Strega Nona by Tomie dePaola
The curious story of a witch who all of the town visits to cure them of their ailments. She hires the help of a young man who sees some magic of Strega Nona's, at least he thinks he has seen all of the magic. When Strega Nona leaves the young man tries his hand at the magic. When the town is angry with the young man, Strega Nona says the punishment must fit the crime. You must read to find out what happens with the young man. If you are teaching a lesson about sharing this can be used as a mentor text. I'd even go so far as to pair it with The Little Red Hen by Paul Galdone.
Other titles by Tomie dePaola include; The Art Lesson, The Legend of the Blue Bonnet, Bill and Pete, and The Popcorn Book.
Awards: Caldecott Medal
Rosa by Nikki Giovanni
This story follows Rosa Parks from a normal day in her life to a day that ignited a movement. This illustrations are outstanding, some of my favorite. The facts of events and names of individuals in the story bring this story front and center. I enjoyed the quote from Martin Luther King, Jr., "We will walk until justice runs down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream." This is a must read and should be a part of any classroom literature. I really enjoyed this book and it is on my "Top 10" list! This is great for any unit on Civil Rights, Black History, famous women in history.
Nikki Giovanni has other wonderful titles; I am Loved, The Sun is so Quiet, and The Girls in the Circle.
Awards: Caldecott Medal, Coretta Scott King Award
Giovanni, N. (2005). Rosa. NY: Holt.
It's so Amazing! by Robie H. Harris
This informational book about how babies are made, sperm, eggs, puberty, adoption, and even how the human body changes with age is written in a graphic novel style. Lead characters who guide the reader through all of the information are a bird and a bee. Table of contents are throrough and a great index in the back of the book are helpful to the reader. This is written in kid friendly language and matter of factly. There is a very large thank you page for all of the information and illustrations. The end papers consist of a pattern of sperm and eggs. Great use of personification.
Funny story involved with checking this book out from my local library. I was using my 8 year old daughter's library card because I can not locate my card. This book was flagged when I checked it out due to the nature of content. This title is on my required read list for my children's literature class!
If you are interested in checking out more of Robie H. Harris's work; It's Perfectly Normal, It's NOT the Stork, and Crash! Boom! A Math Tale.
Harris, R. (1999). It’s so amazing. Boston, MA: Candlewick Press.
Comics Squad: Recess! by Raina Telgemeier
If you are a graphic novel fan then this book is for you! It is a collection of 8 stories by popular graphic novel authors and features characters, like; Baby Mouse, Captain Underpants, and Lunch Lady. I find that graphic novels and comics are a great way to teach dialogue in writing. Great mentor text to get kids excited about writing and finding a graphic novel they would enjoy. To be fair, I am not a big fan of this book. I instantly passed it on to my 10 year old son because I knew this was right up his alley.
Comics squad has a whole series, so be sure to check out the other titles.
Telgemeier, R. (2014). Comics squad: recess. Random House Books for Young Readers.
This is written in a humorous conversational tone, but also has scientific information. Find out fascinating facts about a wide variety of animals from the snot otter to the giraffe. This book has spectacular photography and a mix of humorous illustrations. This mentor text could be used to teach similes.
If you enjoyed this gross animal book, be sure to check out;The Really Gross Animals Book by Emma Dodson, Animal Grossology by Sylia Branzei, and Extremely Gross Animals: Stinky, Slimy, and Strange Animal Adaptations by Claire Eamer.
Keating, J. (2019). Gross as a snot otter. New York. Knopt.
Rules by Cynthia Lord
The main character in this story is a young girl who has a lot of responsibility. She loves art and dreams of having a best friend again after her best friend moved away. She finds herself dealing with a lot of issues which she kept to herself, but she realizes sharing her feelings can accomplish a lot with her family and friends. This is a great story of accepting people for who they are. This would be a good title for a unit on differences in people or even friendship.
if you enjoy Cynthia Lord's work, she has other titles; Touch Blue, Half a Chance, and A Handful of Stars.
Lord, C. (2008). Rules. NY: Scholastic.
We Are the Ship by Kadir Nelson
Additional titles for Negro League Baseball are; What Were the Negro Leagues by Varian Johnson and The Story of Negro League Baseball by William Brashler.
Nelson, K. (2008). We are the ship NY: Hyperion
A tale of a boy living in a family of girls in rural Washington coming of age in a sense. Jess loves drawing and art but has no encouragement from family or school. When Jess befriends his new neighbor, she brings out his imagination and makes him realize there is more for him to experience in the world. But when a terrible accident occurs, Jess questions everything. I cried real tears reading this book. This is a great title to discuss character analysis and plot.
Interested in Katherine Paterson's work? Look for these titles; A Stubborn Sweetness and other stories for the Christmas Season and Stories of My life.
Awards: Newbery Medal
Paterson, K. (1972). Bridge to Terabithia. NY: Crown.
Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
Where the Wild Things Are is the story of a little boy named Max who has quite the imagination. He uses his imagination to travel and meet new characters while he is supposed to be in his room. This can be used as a mentor text for teaching theme as there are many themes in this picture book.
Other titles by Maurice Sendak are Outside Over There and Chicken Soup and Rice: A Book of Months.
Awards: Caldecott Medal
Sendak, M. (1963). Where the wild things are. NY: HarperCollins.
Mirror, Mirror by Marilyn Singer
A clever and imaginative book of reversible fairy tales. Marilyn Singer shares her first "reverso" poem which was written about her cat. These poems can be read top to bottom and bottom to top. The only changes made in the lines are capitalization and punctuation. Great mentor text for a poetry unit, and working with capitalization and punctuation.
Marilyn Singer has more titles, like Feel the Beat and Quiet Night.
Awards: Notable Children's Recordings
Singer, M. (2010). Mirror, Mirror. NY: Dutton.
It's a Book by Lane Smith
This is an interesting look at a girl who had some major changes in her life. From the divorce of her parents, to her father remarrying, and even when she sees a therapist to help her talk about her feelings this story covers all the uncomfortable growing pains in her life. It is beautifully written in a kid friendly voice and teaches above all else love and family are truly valuable.
Goodbye Stranger and When You Reach Me are two more titles from Rebecca Stead in which you may have interest.
Smith, L. (2011). It’s a book. NY: Roaring Brook
The Three Pigs by David Wiesner
The classic story of the three pigs, but with a twist or two! The pigs break the 4th wall and move throughout the different stories. There are two different types of illustration in the book, which sets the pig characters apart from the other characters. This text would be fun to use for creative writing and changing endings to classic stories.
Flotsom and Tuesday are other titles by David Wiesner. He is also a humorous and playful author.
Awards: Caldecott Medal
Wiesner, D. (2001). The three pigs. NY: Clarion.
I must admit I fell in love with this book. Jacqueline Woodson recounts hear early life and struggles with learning, but the love of writing burning inside her soul. This is beautifully written in poem stanzas. This text would be wonderful for lessons in word choice and inferencing. There are wonderful messages throughout the book, like education, family, love, and patience.
Check out these two titles from the same author: One Crazy Summer and The Day You Begin.
Awards: National Book Award for Young People's Literature, Newbery Medal, NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work, Coretta Scott King Award
Woodson, J. (2014). Brown girl dreaming. NY:Penguin.
No comments:
Post a Comment