I liked this story because it is really relatable for kids. We can all relate to having had difficulty with a new sibling at one point or another, and I like how at the end, the new small person finally has a name. The illustrations weren't my favorite. I prefer watercolor, and a more polished look but it was still enjoyable to read.

This would be a really cool book to read, and then have students create a similar story about how they got their names. I liked the illustrations because they look like sketches, and they are simple. I liked how each page was dedicated to a person that represented one of her names. I would definitely use this at the beginning of the year to do an activity where they explore their name.

The strength in this book was definitely the illustrations. I loved the color and different textures, and also the mixed media. It was very fun to look at. I also liked how it celebrates creativity and how even when we don't have anything to draw or write with, we can still imagine and create in our minds. It was a very sweet story, but I just loved the colors.

This was a fun book. I like the message it sends about getting to know people and about possible misconceptions we may have about someone. I liked seeing how Robert's teacher changed in appearance with each page until she looked human again, and then how she was a monster at the very end. It's a funny way to think about how kids might consider their teachers.

This was a really fun book to read. I didn't really know what to expect out of a book titled Weasels, but I like the world domination thing. This would be a fun, silly book for a read aloud in class. I like how many details are in the illustrations and how much there is to look at.

I like this version of the Little Red Riding Hood. It could be used to hit the literacy standard that looks at different versions of the same story. The illustrations weren't my favorite because they looked a bit like they were drawn by a child, but it wasn't completely distracting. I just prefer more intricate illustrations.

I thought this book as really creative in how each color was used (like neon red for his dad's sunburn), but it has a lot of text in it. Even as an adult, I felt like it took me a while to read, so this would be good for a read aloud in the primary grades. I think an upper elementary student could read this independently though, and it is fun.

I like the different perspective of this book. I would have never thought of how a school might feel on the first day of school. I would read this to a class at the beginning of the year because it's really relatable for the kids and it's a fun take on the first day jitters.

I think a strength of this book was the repetition in the wording. In the first book, there's a pattern in the sentences that repeats itself, so for a beginning reader it would be great. I also like the content, and how fun Charlie and Mouse are and how they like to do things together. It's a cute book.

I loved this book! It was so funny and the illustrations were great. There was so much color and I love that the main characters were food. The words are simple enough for beginners, it's repetitive and easy to follow along. I will definitely have this in my classroom.

This is a great example of freestyle poetry. I think when students think of poetry, they think of rhymes, but it's important to know different kinds of poetry. It's also great because the theme is so relevant to students in the Portland area, and they can see themselves in the poems. I loved reading about people who paved the way for Hispanics in the United States and who made a difference.

This is a great beginning book for kids. The print is large, so even though there were over 100 pages it was a quick read. It also had illustrations, which helped visualize the characters and what was going on. I noticed a lot of repetition in phrases, which helps a lot for early readers. I would recommend this to any student who wants a fun book.

I loved the wonder that this book brought. It wasn't very tethered to reality, and at times I was a little lost in the Little Prince's adventures, but I think that's a strength to this book. Children would appreciate the fantasy aspect of it, as well as the deeper meaning of friendship and love, and forgiving others who make us feel sad.

My brother and my mom are both hard of hearing and wear hearing aids, so I was curious was to what this might be like. I like how personal the story was, but that also the characters weren't human. I looked it up online and the author chose bunnies because they have excellent hearing, so she wanted it to be ironic that the main character did not have good hearing. Her journey through becoming deaf and then navigating the hearing world was realistic, which I liked. I felt like I saw my brother struggle through similar things when he was younger.

I usually don't read books about insects, but this one was more about Jean-Henri Fabre and his lifelong love of insects. I like how it went through some of his research and how it just started with an observation. I think this book shows that science is so broad and not limited to what the children think is science, which is usually someone mixing chemicals. This book would be a good introduction to a science unit on insects, or if we wanted to talk about what scientists look like. I like the storytelling in this book.

This would be a great book to have in a unit on animals and animal behavior. This is so dense with information but also creates a narrative so you feel like you're there with the emu. I like the two different fonts and how each served a purpose. I learned a lot from this book. The illustrations are fun too look at and very detailed.

I loved the illustrations in this book. I thought the construction paper and ink was so cool because it had a lot of texture and was exciting to look at. At first, I really enjoyed the general information about the Statue of Liberty. I didn't know, for instance, that it was originally brown. I kind of forgot that the title referred to her right foot until the author mentioned it. I love how this book celebrates immigrants and their role in this country. I think that students need to see immigrants in a positive light considering everything going on right now in our country, and this book did it so gracefully.

The science behind hurricanes and wind patterns are complicated (in my opinion), so I feel like this book would be good to read in chunks. If all of it was read in one sitting, the students might not get everything out of it. I felt like there was a lot of information that was very useful but could be split up. I really liked the illustrations. I love watercolor, so having that in an information book was really cool. I'm used to seeing photographs in information books but I like the incorporation of watercolor.

I really like the history that this book talks about, and I love the positive female role model in STEM. I did feel, however, that the thinking machine mentioned in the book would be something to research afterword. It made me want to investigate more and also learn more about the calculator that Ada used. This book would be good for a unit in math or science.

The illustrations in this book were unique to what I've read so far. I like the bright lines on every page that circle around. I feel like the message of the book was that life is a circle and we all eventually go back to the earth. Since it is goes around in a circle, we should take care of the earth while we're here.

This book was definitely one I would have read when I was little. I liked information books a lot, and this book has such a good mix of narrative and facts. I like how each section of chapter started with a story in Fred's lifetime and then there were real pictures and information about that time period. This would be a great book to read in chunks when talking bout social justice issues and human rights.

I loved the idea for this book. I thought it was great that the theme of the poems revolved around that day in the Bronx and all of the musicians that were there. One of the strengths is in the illustrations. The bold colors match the vibrant theme of the book. I like the mixed media because it added texture to the book.

I enjoyed the story overall and I felt like it was true to the Grimm fairy tales, but it was start and stop a lot at the beginning with the author stopping to make comments. It's not something I'm used to.

The vocabulary in this book was accurate for the time period, and I like how it addressed mental illness in such a real way. This was one of my favorite books of the term.

Elephant and Piggie books are so popular and easy to read. I like the big text and speech bubbles. because it teaches the element of dialogue and shows kids who is talking. My brothers loved these when they were younger because they're fun and don't have too much text.

This book is so great for studying and talking about homophones. There were so many moments in this book when Amelia got confused because she heard a word but chose the wrong meaning. I love how likable and silly Amelia is as well. Great book for vocabulary and language!

This is a great resource for a culture that is not usually studied. I liked the illustrations, and it read like an informational text at times which I thought was cool. I like how before the stories started, there was background information and a pronunciation guide.

This was a fun take on Cinderella. I thought it was interesting that this version didn't include an evil stepmother, but just evil cousins. This would be a great resources when looking at different versions of the Cinderella story.

This book is a great variation of the Princess and the Pea. It has a Central American vibe to it, with some Spanish words. The illustrations are true to the dialogue and it has a lot of color to it. I really liked this version.

This book was so much fun to read. I LOVED the watercolor and how it looked like an actual tour guide. The illustrations are so intricate. This book not only looks great, but is a great resource in earth science. It would be great for a project specifically about the Grand Canyon, but also just for a fun book to read together as a class. It is easy to spend a lot of time on just one page because there is so much to look at.