Malachy Doyle

Meh. I wasn't too impressed with this one. Georgie was a total mess: incredibly, unpredictably violent, dangerous to himself and other people, unable to keep anything in his room because he destroyed everything he owned. Then he got sent to a facility where he improved dramatically...simply because people acted nice to him. He got a whole room full of possessions and never destroyed any of them. He left his room, started eating in the cafeteria with the other kids, went outside, started show more speaking, made a friend, etc...all in the course of a few months. All because people were nice to him.

Nice as it sounds, it's just not realistic. I'm not the target audience and probably a teenager (I'm 27) would have an easier time buying it. But I know it takes a lot more than kindness and love to turn such a troubled, animal-like child into a functional human being. show less

Sleepy Pendoodle is about a young girl who finds a puppy. She wants the puppy to open his eyes, but she does not know how to help him. She asks her uncle for advice and he says," Scrub your hands, put him on your knees and shout Sleepy Pendoodle!" After trial and error the puppy finally opens his eyes and is excited to see the little girl. I related to this story because I raised a puppy at a young age. I believe this book would be great in the classroom because most children are learning show more about the responsibility and love that comes with having a pet. show less

"Danny the Duck with No Quack" is a cute book about a shy duck who has no quack. But once he finds his quack, he is powerful and makes a difference. This book is very inspirational for children who are shy or quiet and need to find their voice. I especially loved that at the end of this book, there are 11 tips or questions for parents and teachers to engage students during or after the story.

This book follows the story of Jody who is growing plants in her back yard. She plants the seeds with her grandparents and they teach her how to care for and harvest her plants. She even feeds her family with these plants!

I enjoyed this book primarily for the illustrations and the small details you can find in those illustrations. A lot of the borders on the pages are stems and seeds. At the beginning of the book, you can see that Jody's mother is pregnant. If you look closely at the end of show more the book, her mother is holding a baby in a small blanket! There are a lot of small details that children may not be able to pick up so It would be fun to read the book aloud and see if the kids pick up on those details. If they don't, you can explain it to them! show less