Diane de Groat

Gilbert is excited to go as a martian for Halloween but apparently so is everyone else in his class. His classmates get ready for the Halloween parade and almost everyone decided to be martian. Gilbert is disappointed but as he looks in his bag he realizes he accidentally grabbed his sisters ballerina costume. He was too embarrassed to show his face at first but when they arrive at the party he twirls in front of everyone making it seem like he wanted to be something different. I feel this show more book touches on the stereotypical gender role, using a ballerina costume for sister and an alien for a boy. In the classroom you could read this during Halloween and talk to students about being what they want to be, not what they are told to be. show less

I liked this book for many reasons. One thing that I liked about this story was the illustrations. The author used very bright colors and filled the entire page with the illustration. I thought that this really enhanced the story because I was able to picture jumping into the story and knowing what my surroundings would look like. I also like that the illustrations portray the characters emotions. For example, when Gilbert is pondering what he should do about writing nice poems to students show more who were mean to him, his facial expressions, particularly through his eyes and mouth, show that he is very upset and unsure of what to do. Another reason I liked this book was because of the plot. Although the characters are animals, the plot is extremely relatable. Many kids face the issue of bullying and I think that this story did a wonderful job of portraying how Gilbert dealt with the situation and what he learned. The plot was suspenseful when Gilbert wrote mean poems and signed another students name. This event kept the reader engaged and wanting to find out if he would get caught. The plot included sad events, such as the bullying, but ended happy with Gilbert resolving the issue. I like that the plot engages the reader by taking them through various emotions. I believe that the main message of this story is that people make mistakes, there are reasons for there actions, and that it is important to give second chances. show less

After reading this book, I have mixed feelings. I didn’t get much out of this book and I found it to be a little boring. I think one of the main reasons I feel this way is because of the language. I like reading books that have descriptive text that creates imagery and I didn’t get that from this book. It didn’t engage me or hook me. For example, the Dad asks, “tomorrow is the first day of school, do you have everything ready?” Gilbert then responded, “I do.” This is one part show more of the story that I really felt like I wanted more. I personally wanted to hear about how Gilbert had to get ready for school, what all he needed, and how it made him feel. I think that is something that a lot of students could relate to. I did like the illustrations in the book. The pictures are what lead me to read this book in the first place. They were fun, bright, and drew the reader in. I also liked the plot of the book. It had a nice storyline for the intended audience. It was about a child named Gilbert who was starting first grade and he was feeling anxious about it. I liked that the author walked us through Gilbert’s whole first day of school. I think it was easy to connect to and could make a reader feel better about starting school. For example, a boy made fun of Gilbert for not knowing how to read yet. He felt really embarrassed and upset about it. Later in the day, Gilbert meets another boy who doesn’t know how to read either. Their teacher ensures them that they will learn how to read in first grade. They end up feeling better about reading and make even more friends. The main idea was that the first day of school can be scary, but you meet new friends, have fun, and learn cool things. show less

This is a cute book to read to kindergarten and first grade students towards Easter. It is about a family of hedgehogs and a race for easter eggs. Throughout the book one of the hedgehogs keeps yelling that people are rotten eggs if the lose, but in the end he is the rotten egg.

My students loved this book! The loved it mainly because they liked to yell out rotten egg, when it was said in the book. They giggled and had a good time listening along to the book. They then had their own stories show more to tell about Easter eggs, and Easter egg hunts. I would only recomend reading this book around the holiday because that is what this book showcases. show less