The Greatest of All

The Greatest of All

Retold by: Eric A Kimmel
Folktale

This story is an old Japanese Folktale. Father Mouse lives in the Emperor's Palace and is approached by his daughter. She wants to marry a field mouse but her father thinks she deserves better so he goes on a search to find the Greatest of all the mice for his daughter to marry.

This book would be great for English Language Learners because the pictures are really colorful and depict exactly what is going on, so it allows them to predict what is about to happen next. It also is a great book to introduce ancient Japanese culture.

The True Story of the Three Little Pigs

The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs
By: Jon Scieszka
Folk Literature

Everyone has heard the story of the three little pigs, but this is the wolf's side of the story. In this story the wolf explains that it was all a set up and he was framed. He just went over to borrow a cup of sugar from his neighbor for his granny's birthday cake but he had a bad cold so he began to sneeze. It really isn't as bad as it looks, or so he says.

This is a great book to use for teaching point of view by discussing the wolf's point of view. You can also teach comparing and contrasting by using the original Three Little Pigs story and comparing it to this story.

Mirette on the High Wire

Mirette on the Hire Wire

By Emily Arnold McCully
Historical Fiction

Mirette is a young girl who lives in Paris. Her mother owned a boarding house there and many would come to stay. One night, Bellini, a retired high-wire walker came to stay. Mirette would watch him walk a rope every day until finally she told him that she wanted to learn. She asked him if he could teach her but he refused. One day when he was gone, she tried on her own and fell immediately but she didn't give up and kept practicing until she finally succeeded. She showed Mr. Bellini and he was impressed so he taught her. One day, Mirette overheard a man talking about all the great things Bellini use to do so she asked if he could take her with him but he finally confessed why he no longer is a high-wire walker. He is afraid. Mirette is disappointed. At the thought of this, Bellini decides he needs to overcome that fear and Mirette is the person to help him do just that.

Bellini is a real life high-wire walker who did many amazing tricks but even though this book is considered "historical fiction," some of the facts in this book are not correct about him so as a teacher, I could use this book to prove the point of checking two or three sources before believing that something is true. I would also use this book for teaching perseverance because even though Mirette fell many times and was not good when she first started to learn how to walk the hire wire, she never gave up and in the end she became a great high wire walker.

Baby Mouse: Our Hero

Baby Mouse: Our Hero
By Jennifer Holm & Matthew Holm
Graphic Novel

For Babymouse, school is a constant struggle everyday between good the good kids and the bad kids. Just when things were looking up and she thought nothing could go wrong anymore, it's time for the annual dodge ball tournament. Babymouse becomes very afraid and thinks that Felicia will win but she gets up enough courage and becomes the hero of the day by getting Felicia out and winning the tournament.

I could use this in the classroom to teach about the character trait perseverance because even when Babymouse was scared of the tournament, she didn't want to give up and not win. I could also use it to help teach about story boarding and comic strips which are activities I can do with other books.

The Giver

The Giver

By Lois Lowry
Science Fiction

Jonas, a twelve year old boy, lives in a utopia where everyone has a place in the world by which talents and interests. Any "flawed" people who are in this society are exiled. Jonas's job is the Receiver of Memory. He gets all the memories of the community, past and present, good or bad, which makes him realize how boring and bland his community really is so he decides he wants to change her. The Giver and Jonas plan for Jonas to escape enter Elsewhere. Once he escapes, his larger supply of memories will disperse, and the Giver will help the community accept the new feelings and thoughts, changing their society forever.

This book can be used to talk about diversity and how boring the world would be if everyone was the same. It will help the students to embrace and celebrate diversity instead of frown upon it. I can also use it to discuss mood. Each memory provokes a different mood and being able to determine what type of mood it is is required for the EOGs.

Dear Mr. Henshaw

Dear Mr. Henshaw

By: Beverly Cleary
Realistic Fiction

This book is about a little boy who is struggling with his life at home and at school. His teacher requires each student to write to their favorite author and Leigh Botts writes to Mr. Henshaw but then becomes pen pals with him. It comforts Leigh to have someone to talk to and vent.

I used technology to record a book talk with a few students who really enjoyed this book.

Beegu

Beegu
By: Alexis Deacon
Free choice

Beegu is from another planet but her spaceship crashes on Earth. The lost alien starts to look for some friends but all the adults turn her away. Then she finds a park and starts to play with the little children who become her friends. Her parents finally arrive to rescue her and she tells them all about the small creatures who were friendly and full of hope.

This would be a good book to talk about friendship and acceptance. It is also another good book to use with creative writing. The students could write about what they think they would experience if they landed on a foreign planet and how the other creatures on that planet would treat them.