Devin ScillianReviews

What a great book for teaching about the name groupings of animals. Some are obvious, others are less so. Some went with the secondary name...it's cool!!

Our smartmouthed goldfish friend starts out alone in his bowl, where he swims around it--twice. But apparently eager pet owners are adding item after item to it, until he's crowded out. Finally rescued into a separate bowl, he feels relieved, but then worries about his former bowl mates (props for the 'they need me to make guppy bottles and change guppy diapers' line). Fortunately, they are all reunited in a much bigger aquarium, with an additional surprise.
Author Scillian captures a child's-- or anybody's-- frustration of being crowded in with a lot of others (and their stuff) as well as the counterbalancing feeling of being part of a family or group with funny dialog, accompanied by Tim Bowers' humorous illustrations. Even my 12 year old smiled and sniggered.

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really long

This book has a rhyming pattern and goes through the entire alphabet. Each page represents a letter that has something to do with the military. On the sides there are also fun facts that go into more detail on what the page was about. I think this book would be good for teaching rhyme to older children as well as helping them to learn about the sacrifices military members and their families make when it is around the time of a military holiday. I would personally use this book in a third through fifth grade classroom. After doing a shared reading of the book I would do activities with it that would include students choosing to research a specific branch and having students write letters to members of the military. I think this book would go great with teaching the process of researching as well as the process of writing a letter. I think this book would also help children understand what their classmates who have military parents have to go through. I would use it for students in second through fifth grade.

This book speaks to the introvert in us all. Introverts feel inconvenienced by other people's presence sometimes and they can lash out at others for the wrong reasons. If everyone just acted like the goldfish at the end then we'd all be a lot happier and more open to our surroundings.

A goldfish in brightly colored art film noirs his way through a bowl change.

LOVED this story! Very fun and funny

This is a great book that can be used for more than one purpose. The main idea of this text is the military. However, it also includes the letters of the alphabet. Each letter of the alphabet represents an aspect of the military. Each page provides information on the different branches of the military and the history behind them. There is also a little story that goes along with the alphabet to make it interesting for students.

A goldfish recounts the days’ events over the course of two weeks as he gets more and more irritated as his bowl gets increasingly crowded. Eventually he gets moved to a small bowl by himself and he starts to miss everyone else, but then he is moved into a large tank with all his friends again.

A Passport and rhyming text celebrate the author's adventures discovering differences as well as similarities, from "A" for the variety of animals that populate the planet to "Z" for the time zones that mark the days around the world.

Summary:
An African American family made their way to Oklahoma with hopes of being able to get the free Indian land that was soon to open up for all Americans. There was lots of trials and tribulations on the way to Oklahoma and once they reached Oklahoma. The family was able to come together and got their lot of free land to farm on like they had hoped.

Personal Reaction:
The story brought to life how hard it was for people to get the land that I now live on. It blows my mind to think how things changed since back then. Makes me more proud and grateful for the life that I have today.

Classroom Ideas:
1. Educate the children on what was going on back in the 1889 before Oklahoma became the state that we know it as today.
2. Show the children footage of the events talked about in the story.

"A goldfish gives a personal account of his experiences while swimming around his bowl as it slowly fills with fish and other accessories, only to realize when he is relocated for a cleaning how much he misses them." This is a good story about accepting changes and making new friends.

This book is great for writers workshop. Teacher's can model how to write a memoir with this hysterically funny yet heartwarming picture book. The illustrations also engage the students.

I liked the book "Memoirs of a Goldfish" for two reasons because of the writing and the illustrations. The writing is structured as a memoir and broken down into days with headings. For example, "Day 4: I got some company today. I don't like the looks of him one bit. He didn't say anything. He just bubbles." The writing helps the reader understand how a memoir is structured with opinion, personal pronouns, and how the author is telling a personal story to the reader that is interesting and engaging. Furthermore, the illustrations add to the overall message of the children's book. The illustrations represent the main character, which is the fish, at the beginning of the book with a smile, swimming around his bowl. However, as the story goes along, his facial expression changes to become more frustrated because of all the other fish that are joining his fishbowl. He then becomes very upset, but once all the fish leave, he is happy again. However, not for long because he misses his friends so he becomes sad again. Once he meets a girl goldfish, he becomes extremely happy with a smile on his face again. The illustrations represent his emotions throughout the children's book and how it changes. The goldfish stated, "Her name is Gracie and she is the color of a fresh tangerine. She's a Pisces, just like me." The overall message of this book is about the power of friendship, and not being too quick to judge someone. Be accepting towards everyone because you never know when people are going to leave, and it might be too late for a second chance.

Each letter is of the alphabet is accompanied by a poem as well as pictures to explain each letter. The book focuses on the US and presents several features a person could find in the county. This is a great book for children learning the alphabet and for children who enjoy learning about facts.

This book was about a life of a goldfish and how his bowl slowly started to fill up. At first, the goldfish did not like the fact that his bowl was filling up but when everyone left, he realized he missed them all very much. I could use this book to show students that sometimes we may not like when things start to fill up and that we may not have control over it, but good things can come out of it. Fiction book

I practiced a read aloud with this book and really enjoyed it. I was able to come up with many questions as to what I could ask students throughout the story. With that being said, the life of this goldfish seems pretty simple until other fish begin to join it in the bowl. He quickly becomes crammed and frustrated, but after the others are not in the tank any longer, he finds himself missing them right away. They are eventually reunited in a bigger tank, where the goldfish made friends with the rest. Readers are able to grasp that the goldfish was not in its comfort zone when the other fish arrived or invaded his space. On another hand, the illustrations add brightness are engaging for viewers and tend to get their attention early on. Aside from the illustrations, the author seems to engage readers by having the book follow a daily routine. For example, he includes, "Day One, Day Two, Day Three," etc. to show this sequence, which is easy for readers to follow. Lastly, having the story told in the perspective of the goldfish really provides readers with a better representation of the character development throughout the book. We were able to see how the goldfish grew to enjoy his company and build friendships along the way. Overall, this story represents the true importance of friendships/companionships, which young children can easily relate to.

6 ILL no CC

P is for Passport is a great book for Geography. Finding the places on the globe would be fun for children. Many topics are covered in the informational text side of the alphabet page that could be addressed when studying Geography.

Pierce County Library (3-5)

Adorable! Day One: I swam around my bowl. Day Two: I swam around my bowl. Twice.

Goldfish loves his life. Until his simple bowl is invaded, daily, by a creepy bubble man, a disgusting snail who eats slime, a crab, and guppies who will be multiplying. He just wants his bowl back - or does he?

A fun look at what makes up a family setting!

Prose Kansas historical vignettes alternate with descriptive verse in this colorful counting book.

Nicknamed the "world's breadbasket," the contributions from the great state of Kansas reverberate far beyond its borders. Kansas has given us leaders in politics (Dwight D. Eisenhower), aviation (Amelia Earhart); and sports (Wilt Chamberlain); leads our nation in wheat production; and fuels our Hollywood image of the wild West (Dodge City). From A-Z, S is for Sunflower explores the broad plain of history and people that make up the state of Kansas.

This is about a boy who is the tallest boy to have ever lived. He is so tall that he can clear the plains, tames tornadoes, and creates the Rocky Mountains by throwing boulders. The text was done in a rhyming doctor suess type which was fun to read. I think that this is a fun talltale to read to your class, especially for younger students because of the rhyming.
The illustrations were done with ink and water color.
Genre: TallTale

I like this book for many reasons. The big reason why I enjoyed this book was because of its moral. The moral is that you would rather be with people who love you like family and friends and not be alone all by yourself. Friends and family are very important people in your life. They are there for you when you need them and care about you. You should never leave them, family and friends should always stick together. Another reason why I liked the book was because of the illustrations. The illustrations were vibrant and really caught the mood of the text. They had bright colors and you could see the animals expressions in picture. When the goldfish was mad at all the people in his bowl, you could tell by his facial expression that he was not happy with the rest of the animals in the bowl. I also enjoyed the book for it being a memoir. I liked how it went day to day in the goldfish's point of view. It did not jump around. It went day to day and it was easy to follow.