(Read in both 2nd and 3rd grades) I cannot for the life of me understand why this book is used in elementary schools today. There are so many outdated terms and concepts, and the narrative is dull and lifeless. It offers nothing in the way of creativity or entertainment for this generation's children.

Held interest of students, easy to understand. Good for graphic organizers and for introducing elements of summary. Would be good use as topic for writing piece, especially letter to congressman or the like.

recommended by school librarian who is not a sci-fi fan but felt this was a real page-turner and had a lot of material to work with. my 6th grader read it and loved it. he read an excerpt aloud to his younger brother and it peaked both mine and the younger brother's interest immediately. this is one to try!

This book was recommended by one of my grad. classes in multicultural children's literature. It is also on the reading list of a local prep school. Considering this one for 5th grade reading group. haven't read it yet.

Just wonderful. Read this aloud to my 2nd grader, but content could be expanded into upper grades (more challenging themes can be explored further with older readers). Simple language, beautiful story. Great for use in character development, study of setting, and wonderful to explore text structure. moments of brilliance. good examples for excellent sentence structure.

Great rhyming. Good for generating ideas about fall and demonstrating adjectives and verbs with Fall theme (2nd graders). Engaging. Great read aloud.