Summary: This book described pirates that have become famous. Captain Kidd, Blackbeard, Henry Morgan and Captain Avery are the pirates. Each pirate has a different story about how they became a pirate and about how they obtained their treasures. This book also talks about the different kinds of treasures that each pirate found.
Personal Reaction: I have to admit that I thought the pirates that I read about were fictional characters. I did not realize that these were real men that robbed others of their riches. This was a fascinating book.
Classroom extensions: 1)This book could be used to discuss and learn about pirates.
2) Students can make “wanted” posters for the pirate they found most dangerous or interesting

Summary: This book details the events of what happened when the Titanic ship sank. The book also illustrates what each level was used for and how the people were divided by class. Titanic was a luxurious ship that was said to be “unsinkable.” Only three days into her maiden voyage, the ship hit an iceberg and sank to the bottom of the ocean. There were not enough life boats to save everyone on the ship. More than half the passengers perished that night.
Personal Response: I am intrigued with the story of Titanic. This book has some information and pictures that I have never seen before. I thought this was a great book full of facts.
Classroom extension: 1) Students can learn about sinking and floating. They can experiment with different materials and strategies to make something stay afloat.
2) This book could be used as a tool to learn about ships.

Summary: This story is about an orphaned girl named Summer. She is adopted by her Aunt May and Uncle Ob. When Aunt May dies, Ob and Summer are so lonely and lost. May did everything for them. A young man who goes to school with Summer befriends Summer and Ob. He helps them to finally accept May’s passing and to move on with life.
Personal Reaction: I thought this book was really sad. I could totally understand their feelings because I related it to the passing of my father. I did enjoy the book and I was relieved that they ended up finding peace and the book had a happy ending.
Classroom extension: 1) This book could be used as a tool to discuss death with students.
2) This book could be used to discuss the dynamics of family and love.

Summary: Caleb and Anna lost their mom after she gave birth to Caleb. They are longing to have a mother around them. Their father seeks out a mother and wife for him through a newspaper ad. Sarah responds to the newspaper ad and agrees to meet the family. She describes herself as plain and tall. The children like her immediately and pray that she will want to stay with them. Sarah is homesick for her life by the sea and misses her brother, but she falls in love with Anna, Caleb and Papa. Her decision to stay is a dream come true.
Personal Reaction: I loved this story. I read it with my daughters over ten years ago and did not remember a lot about it. It was delightful and easy to read.
Classroom extensions: 1) This book could be used as a tool to discuss the different ways of life that people around the world live.
2) Do an art project. Sarah describes her home with the use of colors. Students can draw a picture of the city they live in and what it is like by using the colors that remind them of home.

Summary: This is a story about a boy named Joey, who discovers that he is really, really fast. Once his secret gets out, everyone wants to make a profit from him and his super natural powers. Then, Joey gets kidnapped from a mogul who wants to sell Joey’s DNA. Joey’s best friend Freddy finds out that he is in danger and sets off to rescue him. By accident, Freddy knocks out the bad guy and Joey is saved! After they are home, Joey finds out that he is now strong.
Personal Reaction: This book was entertaining. It was never discussed how Joey got his powers to be super-fast and I wanted to know why. Also, the book ended with him being strong; how did that happen to him?
Classroom extension ideas: 1) Students could write a paper about what super natural power they would like to have and what they would do with it.
2) This book could be used to introduce graphic novels to students. The text and format are easy to follow.
3) Students can use this book as a tool to write their own comic.

Summary: Chi is a kitten who isn’t paying attention and loses her mom. While she is looking for her mom, a little boy finds her and takes her home. Chi keeps trying to get out so she can go home, but something always happens. The family ends up keeping the kitty, even though their apartment does not allow pets. Chi has found her home.
Personal Reaction: I thought this book was cute and a little humorous. The kitty just wants to get home and I felt bad for it. I was hoping that his mama would be found, but the story did not end that way.
Classroom extension: 1) Students can draw and discuss their pets and how they came to own them. If a child does not own a pet, they can draw a picture of one that they would like to have.
2) This book can used as a tool to discuss the responsibilities of taking care of a pet.

Summary: El Barrio is a brightly illustrated book about a little boy and where he lives. Throughout the book he describes where he lives and the customs that are going on around him. The story gives a clear picture of what it is like to live in the Barrio and you even learn some Spanish words and what they mean. The Latino heritage is depicted well in this book.
Personal Reaction: I grew up surrounded by Hispanic and Latinos. This book brought back a lot of memories for me as a little girl. I liked the way the little boy describes the music and food and customs that go on around him.
Class room extension ideas: 1) This book could be used to introduce the differences in our cultures and heritage.
2) This book could be used as a tool to learn about Spanish words and customs.
3) Latino’s celebrate the age 15 with a great big party. You could have the children draw a picture about how they celebrate their birthday.

Summary: This is a story about a little girl (and her family) that goes to Africa to visit her relatives. While she is there, she loses her tooth and she is excited to learn that you get a chicken when you lose your tooth in Africa. She takes good care of her chicken while she is there and then she has to leave her chicken with her uncle when she goes back to America.
Personal Reaction: This was such a cute story. I liked the way the author included African words in the story. This was a fun a great book about customs and traditions.
Class room extensions ideas: 1) This book could be used to learn about different customs and traditions.
2) I would use this book as a tool for an example of an African custom. Then I would have the students write about their traditions or customs.

Summary: Where the Sidewalk Ends is a charming book of poems. The poems are silly and pretty much non-sense poems about things that could not really happen. Not all the poems are of this nature, just majority. There are a few really long poems in this book that tells a story.
Personal Reaction: Reading poems is not really something I enjoy. However, these poems are funny and not of a serious nature, so I enjoyed reading them.
Class room extension ideas: 1) I would use this book to introduce poetry to my class.
2) This book could be used as a tool to teach memorizing. Since these poems are silly, they would be fun to learn in sections.

Summary: This is a book about poems for children. The poems are about subjects that are interesting to children. One of the poems is about Jam, and another about lady bugs. Some of the poems tell a short story and others simply rhyme. This is an older book with easy to understand poems for young readers.
Personal Reaction: I enjoyed reading these poems to my 5 year old. The poems were not complex and that made them enjoyable and easy to understand. Some of the poems didn’t make any sense at all, but they were still fun to read.
Class room extension ideas: 1) This book could be used to introduce children to the world of poetry.
2) This book could be used as a tool when teaching about rhyming.
3) Have children choose an object to write a poem about.

Summary: This is a story about a little boy named Max, who gets into trouble and sent to his room without any supper. While in his room, Max uses his wild imagination to dream up a make believe place that he gets to by boat. He becomes the King of the “Wild Things.” Then he sails back to his room, to find his supper waiting for him.
Personal Reaction: What I liked about this book was that Max uses his imagination to dream up a crazy story. What I didn’t like so much is that the story is just weird. Even my little boy didn’t quite understand it.
Class room extension ideas: 1) This book can be used as a tool to discuss imagination and make believe.
2) Have children make up their own story.

Summary: Peter Pan is a beloved story re- told with slight variations throughout the years. It is about a boy named Peter, who does not want to grow up, so he leaves to a world called “Neverland.” A girl named Wendy meets Peter Pan when he loses his shadow in her room. Wendy is told she needs to grow up and move into her own room, so Peter takes Wendy and her 2 little brothers with him to Neverland. Wendy and her brothers have all sorts of adventures, including meeting Hook, the mean pirate. After a while, Wendy and the boys miss home and Peter Pan takes them back.
Personal Reaction: I remember reading this story as a little girl and loving it. Then when I had children of my own, I read this story to them. I always wanted to grow up and wondered why Peter Pan didn’t want to.
Class room extension ideas: 1) This book could be used to learn about pirates.
2)This book could be used as a tool to talk about growing up. 3) This book can also be used as a tool to teach about strangers.

Summary: Cam Jansen has a series of mystery books. This story was about Cam and her Eric. They are sitting at the mall when a robbery occurs. The police are chasing the wrong man, but Cam has a great memory and she can recall who she saw running out of the jewelry store. Together, the kids help the police catch the real thieves and save the day.
Personal reaction: I thought this book was very entertaining. If I was in 5h or 6th grade again, I would read the entire series of Cam Jansen books. I can’t wait for my son to get older so he can enjoy these kinds of chapter books.
Class room extension ideas: 1) This book could be used as tool to learn about police. The kids have their own mystery by breaking into teams. One team can create clues, while the other team solves the mystery.
2) This book can be used to introduce and learn about memory. The kids can play a memory card game to see how much they can remember.

Summary: This book is about a kid growing up and going through all the growing pains of feeling awkward and geeky. It doesn’t help matters out when his mom decides to go back to college and hires a maid to keep an eye on things. He is fighting with his best friend, so he feels frustrated and needs someone. In the end, his mom decides not to continue at school and he makes up with his best friend.
Personal reaction: I didn’t know when I got this book that there were a series of these books. I thought the story was a bit awkward and I wondered what age the author was targeting.
Class room extension ideas: 1) This book could be used as a tool to demonstrate how to write a diary. 2.) Have kids start a diary that they write in everyday about their events and how they feel.

Summary: Happy Birthday, Felicity is a story from the “American Girls Collection.” This story is about a girl named Felicity and she is turning 10. She wants to have a party since her grandpa will be visiting. Her grandpa gives her a guitar that was her grandma’s because he trust her with great responsibilities. Felicity takes the guitar out and forgets it in the rain. Her parents and grandpa are disappointed in her. Felicity earns their trust back by acting bravely and catching the Governor’s soldiers stealing gunpowder. The story ends with Felicity walking into the parlor at her home and finding it decorated for her birthday party.
Personal reaction: When my girls were in elementary school we would read all of the American Girl stories. We enjoyed reading about little girls around their age, but during a different time period.
Class room extension ideas: 1) This book could be used to introduce the era of the late 1700’s.
2) This book could be used as a tool to learn about the colonies wanting their independence from Britain.

Summary: Joseph has an overcoat that gets worn out. He continues to find new things to make out of the material from the coat. Joseph uses up all the material until there is nothing left to use.
personal reaction: I liked this book because it used repetition and sequence. You couldn't wait to read about what he would make next.
Classroom extension: i would use this book to teach about recycling. How you can use old things to make new things. An activity that we could do would be to invent something out of a water bottle or even a piece of material, like Joseph, that would be useful.

Summary: This is a book abouut a rabbit who tries to fix problems, but makes a problem instead. He means well, but no matter what he tries, it turns out wrong. His bestfriend, mouse, stays by his side no matter what trouble Rabbit finds.
Personal reaction: I thought the book could have a more detailed storyline. The story was cute , but would have been better with more descriptions about the problems rabbit tried to fix. I expected more from a Caldecott book.
Class room extension: I would use this book to talk about friendship and what it means to be a friend. Another extension would be to learn about problem solving. I could make up an activity where the kids needed to find a solution that works best. Like how to build the highest tower or how to get down that is high up , with out climbing.

Summary: This picture book is all about colors, texture and smells. Each page contained objects in one particular color. There are also pictures that have a texture on them and another picture has a good smell.

Personal reaction: I like this book because it is bright and has so much to look at and ideas to use from this book.

Classroom extension: This book could be used to learn about your colors. An activity to do would be to find things around the class or extend it to home, that are the same color that you are learning about. Another activity would be to make a book with different textures in it and discuss our senses.

summary: This story is about an elephant who gets a new bike and wants to show her friends. When Elly won't share, her friends go play somewhere else. Elly decides it's more fun to share than to play alone.
Personal reaction: I personally like this story because it is simple and to the point. It's a story about sharing that children can relate to.
classroom extension ideas: I would use this book to talk about sharing. An activity that I would do is to let the kids each play with something they really like and take turns sharing with someone. Another extension would be to learn about feelings or emotions. Elly went from excited , to upset, protective, sad and then happy.

Summary: Three brother pigs set off to live on their own. Each pig builds their own house from different materials, to hide from the big bad wolf. Only the third little pig's house, made from bricks, is still standing after the wolf tries to blow it down.
Personal reaction: This is one of my favorite stories from my childhood. I can remember learnning how to read it all by myself. This is a fun story to read to your kids because they can help you tell you it.
Class room extensions: This book could be used to discuss what houses are made of around the world. An activity to do with the class would be to make little houses out of different materials such as sticks, clay , mud or rocks.

Summary: Jack and his mom are hungry and have no money, so Jack trades the famiy cow for magic beans instead of money. The beans grow into a giant vine that Jack cliimbs. Then Jack steals gold and a singing harp from a giant . His mother and him never go hungry again.
Personal reaction: I remember reading this story as a kid and wishing that I could find magic beans. As an adult I read this story and can only think about Jack disobeying his mom and stealing.
Extension Ideas: I could use this book to discuss right from wrong. Making good choices . My second idea would be to teach about beans and then try to grow different kinds of beans.