Coraline by Neil Gaiman (2002)

This book is about Coraline. She has moved into a new house that has a mysterious door that leads to no where. Her parents are very busy and Coraline gets extremely bored on her own. One day, the mysterious door opens and it leads to a life that is much better than her own. As she spends time there, she begins to find out that something strange is going on and that the new parents want to permanently change her. She fights back to save herself and the other children that are trapped there.

I really enjoyed this book. I had seen this movie and thought it was okay, so I was looking forward to reading this book. I liked the book much better than the movie. I thought it was written very well and I really liked the illustrations at the beginning of every chapter. Having the image before the chapter made it fun to try to predict what would happen next.

I would use this book in my classroom. I think it would be good to use as a free read book. I also think it would be a good book to read out loud. When reading out loud, students could look at the pictures given at the beginning of each chapter to predict what would happen next. I would also use this book to compare it to the movie so students could compare and contrast.

What's Special About Me, Mama? by Kristina Evans (2011)

This book is about a little boy that wonders about what makes him unique. He asks his Mama to tell him what makes him special and hears about all of the things that he shares with his family member and things that are unique to himself.

I thought this book was okay. I really like the concept of the book and how it names many things that make this boy special. I especially liked the mixed media used for the illustrations.

I could see myself using this book in my future classroom. I think it would be fun to read to the whole class and have everyone name off things that make them special.

Harry and Hopper by Margaret Wild and Freya Blackwood (2009)

This book is about Harry and his dog Hopper. Harry and Hopper do everything together. One day, Harry comes home to find out that there was an accident and Hopper was dead. For the next few nights, Harry dreams of Hopper, but his memories begin to fade until he finally feels it is time to say goodbye.

I think this is my favorite picture book that I have read during this class. I am a huge animal lover, so I can easily relate to the love that Harry has for Hopper. Through the text, you really feel the emotions that Harry feels (and I'll admit it, I teared up a little bit.) The illustrations also brought the text to life. As Harry's memories of Hopper start to fade, you see the image of Hopper fade as well. I plan on reading this book again in the future.

I think this would be a great book to have in the classroom. Many students deal with the loss of a pet, and sometimes it is hard to console them. I think this would be a great book to read to a student individually if you know that an important pet has passed away. That way you can talk to them about their feelings and give them a character they can easily identify with.

One More Acorn by Don Freeman and Roy Freeman (2010)

This book is about a squirrel finding his acorns after the winter. He lives in Washington D.C. so it is always full of people. One day while he is searching, he runs into a parade and has to be creative with finding a way home.

I thought this book was okay. The text wasn't anything exciting to me, but I thought the illustrations were great. I just went to Washington D.C. over spring break, so it was fun to pick out the monuments that were shown in the book. The illustrations also complimented the text very nicely.

If I were to use this book in my classroom, it would be for a read out loud book. I think it would be good to use this book for a social studies class because then you could talk about Washington D.C. and the students could identify the monuments within the book.

Mudkin by Stephen Gammell (2011)

This is a wordless book about a girl and her imagination. After the rain, she meets Mudkin and goes off on a magical adventure to create her own kingdom.

I absolutely loved the images in this book! They were very creative and told the story without needing any words. The text that was included in the book was scattered through out and didn't make much sense to me. I think this book would have been better if there were no words in this book.

I'm not sure if I would use this book in my classroom. I think it would be a good book to have available for students to read on their own. I really enjoy the illustrations and think it could be fun to use this book to develop an art project to create an imaginary place.

The Talent Show by Jo Hodgkinson (2010)

This book is about four friends wanting to enter a talent show. As they begin to practice, they realize they are missing a lead singer. The put out an ad to have auditions. The first one to come audition is a bird and the band laughs, saying he is too small. He comes back later in a disguise and the band thinks he would be a perfect fit. When they find out he is a bird, they realize they shouldn't have judged based on size.

I enjoyed this book. The text was a lot of fun and rhymed. It was also written in a unique way to help it flow through the pages. The illustrations were very colorful. I really liked the layout of the book and how some pages had multiple images.

I would love to use this book in my classroom. It has a great message to not judge someone by the way they look and I think that is an important lesson for all kids to know. I think this would be a very fun book to read out loud.

Brontorina by James Howe (2010)

This book is about Brontorina, a dinosaur that dreams of being a dancer. When she goes to the local dance school, she is welcomed in but soon realizes she is too big for their dance studio. The entire studio goes on an adventure to find a studio that will fit Brontorina.

I thought this was an extremely cute book. I love to dance and that is one reason why I love this book. I also thought it was silly, but that it still had a good message. The text flowed really well and the illustrations were very cute.

I would definitely use this book in my classroom. It has a great message about doing anything you dream. I think this would be a great read out loud book. I could also see a fun lesson branching off of this book where students can figure out a silly thing for an animal to do, and how they can overcome the obstacles.