This week’s BOOK ROOM recommendations are what the ReaderKidZ like to refer to as “Old Favorites.” These are the books kids enjoy at the beginning of every new school year. They’re also the ones children are fond of revisiting often.
For our Back-to-School picks, we’ve selected just a few of our picture book favorites. What are some of your child’s or class’s favorites for the new school year?
Miss Nelson is missing and the students in her class are not happy. That’s because their substitute, Miss Viola Swamp, means business! Besides that, she’s a “real witch” who loads them down with homework and doesn’t even read a book for story hour.
The class is convinced something terrible has happened to Miss Nelson and they’re determined to track her down, bring her back, and get rid of Miss Viola once and for all.
It’s the first day of school and the new teacher is a monster. A real monster. Her name is Mrs. Green and she really is! Green, that is. She has a tail, breathes fire, and has her own unique way of teaching fractions.
Kids love THE TEACHER FROM THE BLACK LAGOON, as well as all the other books in the “Black Lagoon” series.
Froggy’s a little nervous about his first day at school, but that doesn’t stop his enthusiasm from bubbling over. Before long, Froggy’s sharing about the summer he learned how to swim, and the whole class, including Mr. Mugwort, the principal, is joining in. FROGGY GOES TO SCHOOL is one of many Froggy books that young readers giggle over and love to share with friend.
A back-to-school book with dinosaurs as the main characters? A sure-fire win in any primary classroom! With Jane Yolen’s rhyming verse and Mark Teague’s lively illustrations, readers will be wishing an Iguanodon and Dsungaripterus like the ones in HOW DO DINOSAURS GO TO SCHOOL? would spend a day or two in their classrooms.
This video is VERY cute. Yes, it’s on youtube, which means teachers may not be able to access it at their school site. Perhaps Marshall Cavendish will load the video on teachertube??
(*** As of 8.12.10, the video of COOL DOG, SCHOOL DOG is now available on teacher tube!! Thanks to Marshall Cavendish and Deborah Heiligman for making it happen.)
Meanwhile, teachers…listen to the video at home and search out the book in your local library!
For the first several pages, we weren’t sure. Even though we know Jon S. *knows* what kids – especially boy kids – like to read.
But, slowly, the book grew on us. And now, we can’t wait to read the next book in the series. And we’re absolutely certain boys (and girls) will love this book. It’s got amazing illustrations by Shane Prigmore and lots of fun cyber and walking-commercial-slogan type references.
By the end of the book, we, too, wanted to “SAVE THE WORLD.” We wanted to be SPHDZ!
It’s the beginning of summer and nine-year old Lowji and his Ma and Bape have just moved from Bombay to a small town in Illinois. Lowji misses home and his best friend, Jamshed.
The summer stretches out long, lonely, and friendless. America’s not so different from what Lowji thought it would be, but it’s not home and Lowji’s looking for silver linings.
Before long, a dog, a cat, goats, a pig named Blossom and his tough-guy owner, Ironman, a mysterious girl on a blue bicycle, an overworked Landlady Crisp, and more come into Lowji’s life and fill the summer with crazy adventure.
By summer’s end, Lowji finds the best of silver linings. A new friend.
When Tamika, the girl on the blue bicycle, visits one evening, she comments on the kitchen garden that Bape and Lowji had planted.
“What will they grow into?” she asks.
“Flavors from India,” I say. “Green chilies. Coriander. Curry leaves. Onions.”
“Really?” says Tamika. “Plants from India can grow in America?”
The Breakfast Bunch – Hector, Terrence, and Dee – have always wondered about the Lunch Lady. What does she do when she’s not dishing up chicken patty pizzas or her famous French toast sticks? Soon enough, the BB discover that the Lunch Lady and her sidekick, fellow cafeteria worker, Betty, are on the prowl for unusual and suspicious looking characters. They’re off in pursuit of justice!
When we first heard a while back about this new series, we couldn’t wait to check it out. And we did. We read a few pages while standing in the book store and decided not to buy. We know. We know. We should’ve kept reading, because when we recently returned to really look at and read the book, cover-to-cover, we felt we’d discovered a new gem.
Kids are going to love the Lunch Lady and, best of all, there are more in the series. We haven’t read the other two yet, but we will, and we have a feeling these books will be just as much fun!
It’s almost Sophie’s double-digit birthday and things are off to a rocky start. Even though her dad had said, “Wonderful!” when Sophie told him she wanted a baby gorilla for her big day, deep down, Sophie knew it wasn’t going to be as easy as all that.
And now, older sister, Nora, has decided to move to the attic, leaving Sophie bereft and alone, with only a “tiny sliver of light under her door for company.”
Things are changing and readers will empathize with dear Sophie as she struggles to find her way along the sometimes bumpy road of a 9, almost 10, year old girl growing up as the middle child in a busy, but loving family.
Reading HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SOPHIE HARTLEY, ReaderKidZ laughed and ached for Sophie, admiring her stick-to-itiveness and spunk. We also marveled at the wonderful way Stephanie Greene weaves subplots, bringing the story full circle to a satisfying ending that leaves Sophie with a gift far better than even shecould have imagined.
When third-eldest son of Fergus and Molwena, Wiglaf of Pinwick, is told by a traveling minstral that he was born to be a hero, he can scarcely believe it. A hero. Imagine!
Shortly thereafter, Wiglaf and his family stumble upon a note tacked to the village message tree – The Dragon Slayer’s Academy (DSA) is looking for candidates! Wiglaf is certain he’s found his true calling.
Soon, Wiglaf is off to the DSA in search of heroics and adventure, his pack loaded up with cabbage “delicacies,” his lucky rag, and his faithful pig and sidekick, Daisy, close behind.
This early chapter book is a sure-fire winner, with laughs a-plenty and twists and turns that will have young readers anxious to read more in this series chock-full of dragon-slaying adventure.
Short, silly stories – one chapter for each floor, thirty in all – about the students and teachers of the “accidentally-built-sideways” Wayside School. These slightly exaggerated, somewhat true but all-around, wacky stories – first published over thirty years ago – have stood the test of time.
This true-to-life story of six-year-old Ruby Bridges whose courage to begin school also helped the integration of schools in New Orleans. Reading the fears and feelings of Ruby is a great platform for sharing the many kinds of fears around “first day.”
Perhaps the most talented athlete this country has ever seen, Jim Thorpe began his first attempts at school and sports with frustration and failure. This biography shows the hardships experienced by young Native American students at boarding schools, including not using their names, their language or their own traditional knowledge. Children who are new to this country – or new to a school – will appreciate the tough and often lonely experiences of young Jim Thorpe.
Both books show that some parents read to children at bedtime by candlelight because there is no electricity and often there are no school. What would it be like to NOT be allowed to go to school?
Today, ReaderKidZ would like to spotlight this cool-looking site! It’s called Literacyhead – resources for creative, engaging, standards-based lessons using the visual arts to teach literacy.
Take some time to explore the lessons and images. We’ve included two links to get you started:
Who are we? Some of us are teachers. All of us are parents and children’s book writers. All of us understand two basic truths about children and reading: Lifelong reading habits are established in early childhood, and children need what books have to offer.
We’ve come together to establish a resource for teachers, parents and librarians who work with readers in grades K-5. On a regularly-updated basis, ReaderkidZ will provide new and exciting downloadable tools we hope you’ll use in promoting books to these up-and-coming readers.
On our website, you’ll find:
Author-In-Residence: We’ll feature a different author, or authors, every month. A “Dear Reader” letter from the author you can share with your students. An interview with the author that’s the next, best thing to a school visit. Interesting facts and tidbits about the author throughout the month.
Beyond Boundaries: Our schools, classrooms, and communities reflect the global world we live in. This section will provide book reviews, titles, and commentaries you can share and enjoy with children from every culture.
Book Room: We’ll build a library of selected titles we think K-5 readers will love.
Tool Box: This section will provide classroom activities, Reader’s Theatre’s, Teacher’s Guides, links to interesting articles, plus much more!
Join ReaderKidZ! because K-5 readers rock!!!!
We hope you’ll subscribe to ReaderKidZ or visit us often. We’ll be adding new features on a regular basis. As we continue to grow, things will only get more exciting around here.
Welcome to ReaderKidZ’s Author-in-Residence page. Here, each month, we’ll feature one (or more!) of our favorite authors of books for kids, K-5. We can’t wait!
Here’s who’s on the roster for the next few months:
We hope you’ll subscribe to ReaderKidZ or visit us often. We’ll be adding new features on a regular basis. As we continue to grow, things will only get more exciting around here.
Illustrated by Frank Remkiewicz
HOW DO DINOSAURS GO TO SCHOOL? by Jane Yolen Illustrated by Mark Teague
DRAGONSLAYER’S ACADEMY:THE NEW KID AT SCHOOL
