Something BIG Has Been Here by
Jack Prelutsky
Illustrator: James Stevenson
Genre:
Poetry/Picture Book
Format: Hardcover
Age Range: 5 to 9 years
ISBN: 688064345
Pages: 160
Pub. Date: August 1990
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
A collection of hilarious poems. Adults may not enjoy them, but children will. Illustrations are done in pencil.
Jingle Dancer by
Cynthia Leitich
Smith
Illustrator: Cornelius Van Wright &
Ying-Hwa Hu
Genre:
Picture Book
Format: Hardcover
Age Range: 4 to 9 years
ISBN: 068816241X
Pages: 32
Pub. Date: April 1, 2000
Publisher: HarperCollins
An amazing conglomeration of lyrical prose and vivid watercolors. The book is about Jenna, a contemporary Muscogee (Creek)-Ojibwe (Chippewa) girl. She wants to perform a traditional jingle dance at the upcoming powwow, but she needs four sets of jingles. Her dilemma takes her on a journey to the homes of four women. These women include a traditional storyteller and a lawyer. Jenna eventually collects all four jingles and remembers the four women as she dances. Reading the author's note gives even more insight into Muscogee traditions.
Peacebound Trains by
Haemi
Balgassi
Illustrator: Chris K. Soentpiet
Genre:
Picture Book
Format: Hardcover
Age Range: 8 to 10 years
ISBN: 395720931
Pages: 48
Pub. Date:August 1996
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Company
Review lost. It will be completed once again in the coming months
Ladder 35, Engine 40 by Juliana Lee
Hatkoff and Craig M Hatkoff
Illustrator: Joshua Scott
Genre:
Non-Fiction
Format: Adobe Acrobat eBook
Age Range: 6 to 9 years
ISBN: 5551048837
Pages: 31
Pub. Date: January 2002
Publisher: Turtle Pond Publications
Ladder 35, Engine 40 was written by Juliana Lee Hatkoff and Craig Hatkoff and illustrated by Joshua Scott in January 2002; and published by Turtle Pond Publications in Adobe Acrobat eBook format.
A true story about six-year-old Juliana Hatkoff's feelings after 9/11, and how she handled them. The book is dedicated to the lost firefighters from Ladder 35, Engine 40. Appropriate for ages 6 to 9 years.
In the Doctors Foreword, Harold S. Koplewicz, M. D. of the New York University School of Medicine Child Study Center gives advice. If you are a parent and need more information, the NYU Child Study Center web site (www.aboutourkids.org) provides scientifically sound and parent friendly advice. Governor Pataki and retired Lieutenant Victor Navarro, of Ladder Company 35 are also in the Foreword.
Holes by
Louis Sachar
Illustrator: N/A
Genre:
Novel
Format: Hardcover
Age Range: 9 to 12 years
ISBN: 374332657
Pages: 233
Pub. Date: September 1, 1998
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
The story about Stanley Yelnats several months at a camp for troubled teenagers. Discover why the holes are being dug in the first place.
The book includes a three-page interview with Sachar after the ending. You can also read it here.
The Watsons Go to Birmingham--1963
by
Christopher Paul Curtis
Illustrator: N/A
Genre:
Novel/Historical Fiction
Format: Hardcover
Age Range: 12 and Up
ISBN: 0385321759
Pages: 224
Pub. Date: September 1995
Publisher: Random House Children's
Books
The Watson's (Daniel and Wilona) and their children Byron, Kenny, and Joetta live in Flint, Michigan. Most of the book focuses on their life in Flint and the adventures of the Watson brothers and their friends. Parts of the book coincide with the civil rights movement and tragic events. It is a great book for classroom, and reading circle, discussion.
