Arthur's Off to School

Title: Arthur's Off to School

Author: Marc Brown

Publisher: LB Kids

Date: 2004

Number of pages: 24 Pages

Reading level: Ages 4-8

Genre: Children's Educational Picturebook

Summary: It's time for school! Arthur readers are able to catch a glimpse into each character's morning routine. Arthur is running late, and the Brain has lost his lizard! Binky lifts weights, Francine prepares for recess activities, and Muffy searches for the perfect outfit. And even though D.W. is too young to get ready for school, she wishes she could join the fun. And - in her own way - at the end, she does!

My reaction:  I love the Arthur series. Growing up, I didn't read the books - but was a frequent viewer of the television program. Most all the Arthur series teaches children a different lesson. Whether it be brushing your teeth, to being respectful, to not stealing. Arthur appeals to the children's senses encouraging them to learn and grow and realize the right. I also really like the illustrations in the book, I felt the pictures complimented the text and lessons very well.

Potential problems: I didn't notice any particular problems with this story.

My recommendation: I think every parent, preschool, daycare, and elementary library should have a few books from the Arthur series. I feel it teaches children valuable lessons at such a young age, and it teaches them in an appealing manner. This particular book in the series teaches children to be excited about starting school, and getting ready for the school day!

Pinkalicious

Title: Pinkalicious

Author: Victoria Kann & Elizabeth Kann

Publisher: Rayo 

Date: 2010

Number of pages: 40 Pages

Reading level: Ages 4-8

Genre: Children's Picturebook

Summary: This new popular children's book is about a little girl who adores pink. She loves it so much, in fact, that she only wants to eat pink treats. The pinker, the better and the gooier, the yummier. When she comes down with a horrible case of pinkititis she begins to turn pink.  Her parents take her to the doctor who insists that she begin to eat more green in the form of vegetables- But she didn't want any of that! After her parents insist that she eat more vegetables so she can return to normal, she sneaks just one last pink treat and turns even darker- almost red! That’s when she decides that vegetables aren’t so bad after all and finally returns to normal. The only problem is her little brother has now decided that he loves pink food! Therefore, the family  gets to start all over again!

My reaction:  A darling book with great illustrations (they are whimsical and full of pink and frilly fun), that will make you and your little one giggle with delight. This book and series should appeal to little girls, and fans of the color pink everywhere. Although controversial, I think the book is certainly fun!

Potential problems: Gender role and stereotyping. May encourage children to support gender complexes. Also the main character is demanding and disobedient to her mother, therefore teaching children it's okay to treat authoritative figures like that.

My recommendation: If you or the girls in your life love pink, then this is the book for you . . . no matter what your age. Every little girl on earth will laugh, giggle and want to read this pinkaliciously delectable book over and over. It should be owned by every mother with a little diva! I do believe though with the critics that children should understand that it's not okay to treat their parents like the antagonist does.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Title: The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Author: Eric Carle

Publisher: World Publishing Company

Date: 1969

Number of pages: 22

Reading level: Ages 4-6

Genre: Children's Picturebook

Summary: This classic children's picturebook follows a caterpillar as it eats its way through a variety of foods before he finally turns into a beautiful butterfly. The story teaches counting to five, the names of the days of the week, and about different types of food. The caterpillar's diet is a fictional fantasy but the story does introduce the concept of the metamorphosis from egg to caterpillar to butterfly.

My reaction: I loved this book! I read it to my nephew almost everytime I babysit. He loves to watch the caterpillar work it's way through the different foods. I also like that the pages are not paper, rather board. I really enjoy the complexity of the story, and how much it teaches children.

Potential problems: No problems.

My recommendation:  I would have to say that the Reader Age rating of 4-8 years old may be accurate based on the complexity of the words, but I think kids those ages would not be interested except as perhaps a vocabulary flash-card approach.

If You Give A Mouse A Cookie

Title: If You Give A Mouse A Cookie

Author: Laura Numeroff

Publisher: HarperCollins

Date: 1985

Number of pages:  40 pages

Reading level: Ages 4-8

Genre: Children's Picturebook

Summary: The story starts with a little boy eating cookies outside his house, he sees a mouse and wants to share his cookies with it. The mouse eats the cookie, then asks for a glass of milk, of course the boy gives him some milk, and the story goes on and on. The little mouse asking for more and more, the boy having a wonderful time following his new companion. From a napkin, to scissors to trim his hair, a broom to sweep up, and so on. And the wonderful, funny last page when the mouse asks for a glass of milk, but of course, if you give him a glass of milk the chances are that he will want a cookie to go with it, and we are right back to the start of the book.

My reaction: Not all children's books are created equal. What's nice about this book is that it's easy for beginning readers but yet enjoyable at the same time. That's not easy to find in children's books. With only about one sentence per page, it moves quickly, the children feel they are reading and not bogged down on one page.

Potential Problems: I don't see any potential problems.

My recommendation: This is one of in a series of books by this team. Others include If you give a Moose a Muffin, If you give a Pig a Pancake, If you take a Mouse to the Movies, If you take a Mouse to School and If you give a Pig a Party. All are as well done. I have noted in reading this book and others in the series that the kids love them and will always ask for repeat readings. I highly recommend this book for small children and beginning readers, and I guarantee that it will quickly become a family favorite.

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

Title: Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

Author: Judith Viorst

Publisher: Atheneum

Date: 1972

Number of pages: 32 pages

Reading level: Ages 4-8

Genre: Children's Picture Book

Summary:  From the moment Alexander wakes up with gum in his hair,Alexander realizes that nothign will go his way today. When Alexander gets out of bed, he trips on the skateboard and drops his sweater into the sink while the water was running. At breakfast, Alexander's brothers, reach into their cereal boxes and find amazing prizes while Alexander ends up with just cereal. These are a few of the examples that set Alexander up for his day. Feeling down, Alex set's on his way to school, where he does not get the luxury of enjoying the window seat in the carpool. At school his teacher doesn't like his picture of the invisible castle and lectures him. His friend, deserts him to his third best friend and there is no dessert in his lunch.

He realizes he has a dentist appointment, and there he finds out he has a cavity.

All in all, Alexander endures many obstacles and trials throughout his day, like the elevator door closing on his foot, his brother pushes him in the mud, and calls him a crybaby for crying. He makes a messa d dad's office, and his father asks him not to come and pick him up from work anymore.

At bedtime, his nightlight burns out, he bites his tongue. No wonder Alexander wants to move to Australia. The book ends with Mom's reassuring Alexander that everybody has bad days, even people who live in Australia.

My reaction: I read the book and tossed it in the trash. There was no good message, no encouragement. I can't imagine what the writer was thinking. Absolute garbage. DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY. It's discouraging and has no positive message to leave with children.

Potential problems: No positivity or climax to the story. Very depressing for readers.

My recommendation: Don't waste your time, you'll end the book feeling worse then you did before. Growing up I never read this story, and when I asked my sister what I should read for my Children's Lit class, she suggested this warning it was controversial. I can no see why. I don't feel like children should be subjected to such negativity, especially in this day and age.

Charlotte's Web

Title: Charlotte's Web

Author: E.B. White

Publisher: HarperCollins

Date: 1952

Number of pages: 192 pages

Reading level: Ages 9-12

Genre: Childrens Fantasy

Summary: Fern Arable has always been an animal lover. However, she had never saved a pig from an untimely injustice until the day she learned that her father planned on shooting a runt, just because he had been too small. Begging her father for a chance to save the little oinker, Fern wins the battle, and is given the opportunity to raise the wriggling piglet as her own. Promptly named Wilbur, Fern falls in love with her new charge, and can't get him off her mind, even while at school. But as he grows bigger and bigger each day, things begin to change. Soon, Mr. Arable refuses to allow Wilbur to sleep in the house, then her father reprimands her for taking Wilbur for walks in her doll carriage. Soon, Fern is forced to sell little Wilbur to her Uncle Homer, where Wilbur is quickly swept away, and forced to live. Fern doesn't mind the arrangement as long as she can still see her beloved friend. But when she learns that Uncle Homer plans to fatten the little piggy up and then kill him, she's devastated. As is Wilbur. Confiding in the other farm animals, Wilbur begs everyone for their help in saving his life. Sadly, none of the animals seem to know what to do to keep Wilbur from meeting his fate. No one, that is, except for an intelligent spider known as Charlotte.

Charlotte lives right above Wilbur in his tiny alcove, where she spends her days and nights weaving beautiful webs. When she decides to help Wilbur by spelling words and phrases such as "Some Pig" and "Terrific" in her webs, the county becomes interested in visiting this amazing pig, leaving Uncle Homer in awe, and giving him the chance to spare little Wilbur's life. Thanks to Charlotte's efforts, and with the assistance of the gluttonous rat Templeton, Wilbur not only lives, but goes to the county fair with Charlotte and wins a prize. Having reached the end of her natural lifespan, Charlotte dies at the fair. Wilbur repays Charlotte by bringing home with him the sac of eggs she had laid at the fair before dying. When Charlotte's eggs hatch at Zuckerman's farm, most of them leave to make their own lives elsewhere, except for three: Joy, Aranea, and Nellie, who remain there as friends to Wilbur; but none of them can replace Charlotte in Wilbur's life on the farm.

My reaction: A wonderful introduction to friendship, family, and loyalty. The concept of death is brilliantly presented without pulling any punches. Charming, with a brittle edge, and a touch of whimsy! I have loved this book since I was about 6 years old, and my teacher read it to my 1st grade class.

Potential problems: Some children in rural communities may find that injustice in killing the pig to be confusing. In fact, many farming communities do not share this boko in public school's as it makes the children who live on farms, feel uncomfortable.

My recommendation:  I would reccommend this book to everyone.This is a wonderful book for young children, growing up, because it teaches them about their own self-worth in a busy world. It also teaches us about the value of lives, how short they can be, and how much we can make of them. Charlotte saves Wilbur by spinning words in her webs, using her short life to benefit his life and the lives of others. I give this book 5 stars and definately will read it to my children one day.

Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy

Title: Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy

Author: Gary D. Schmidt

Publisher: Clarion Books

Date: 2004

Number of pages: 224 Pages

Reading level: Young Adult

Genre: Young Adult Historical Fiction

Summary: Turner, newly arrived in a small coastal town in Maine where his father is to be the new minister, is immediately an outcast, despised by the children, watched incessantly by the suspicious adults, and ground down by his rigid father. His life is wretched and lonely until he meets Lizzie Bright, granddaughter of the minister on the nearby island of Malaga, an impoverished community of slave descendants. Lizzie is tough, smart, and wise, and with her and her community Turner feels at home in a way he never will in his own home.Lizzie Bright Griffin, an independent Malaga Island girl who improves his baseball, takes him rowing on the bay, and introduces him to the wonders of her island and its natural surroundings. Just off the coast of Phippsburg, her island is an historically black community that the town citizens plan to forcibly remove-in order to make way for the tourist trade. 

But the town wants to attract tourists, and the first step is the elimination of the Malaga community. As a punishment for fighting with local bullies, Turner is forced to play the organ for Mrs. Cobb, a crotchety old neighbor. Later, he and Lizzie form an unusual friendship with her. The inhabitants of Malaga Island are forced to leave, and things become desperate for Lizzie when her grandfather dies-she is sent to an institution for the feeble-minded in faraway Pownal. (Anyone who doesn't "fit in" is sent there by the Phippsburg deacons.) When Turner inherits the old woman's house and attempts to move Lizzie into it, tensions escalate, climaxing in a Buckminster family tragedy. In the background of this turmoil, there is the beauty of the natural world, illustrated by the majesty of the gray whales that cruise offshore, the wheeling gulls overhead, and the bracing fragrance of the coastal pines. Turner's father, beset and manipulated by the Deacons of his church, supports their efforts, leaving only Turner to stand up for what is right. But doing the right thing is far more complicated than it seems and, as Lizzie often tells him, he "never can look at things straight."

My reaction: It is well-deserving of its Newbery and Printz Honors for 2005. Schmidt reminds us that as nature evolves, so do human beings, emotionally , spiritually, and intellectually. This is a book written for children and young adults about love, loss, and transcendence, and the evolution of natural history and human compassion. Schmidt creates sensitive and believable characters that are capable of unexpected acts. He weaves a story rich in historical detail, moral complexity, and regional character that will cause readers to consider the interrelationships between man and nature, young and old, tradition and change.

Potential problems: There are relationships of many kinds to explore, moral growth and change in several characters, majority vs. minority rights, and unintended consequences of one's actions. Based off real events around the Maine area, Lizzie Bright offers much insight and controversy over racism in a community. There is also a couple bloody fights, one that even leads to death.

My recommendation: Its lyrical and metaphorical writing are terrific examples for writing classes. If the book is owned in the home, Families can talk about the challenges of standing up for something you believe in when popular opinion is against you. It can serve as an example too all young readers of how to stand up for what you believe is right, and go against the odds.