Reading Review with Christal

Title: The Storyteller Author/Illustrator: Evan Turk Major Awards: ALA Notable Children's Books; Aesop Accolade; Anne Izard Storytellers' Choice Award (NY); Center for the Study of Multicultural Children's Literature Best Multicultural Books List; Chicago Public Library's Best of the best; Children's Africana Book Award; Texas Bluebonnet nominee: 2017-2018 Genre: Fantasy Fiction Age: 4-8 This book is about a boy whose whole village has gone without water. This book includes a story within a story. The little boy is given a brass cup by a water-seller and he said if you find water you can drink, drink it and share with others. On his journey home, the boy met an old man, who was sitting at a fountain that didn't have any water, the old man told him to sit and his thirst would be quenched. The old man began with a story about how not too long ago there was a terrible drought in the village, like the one happening to them right now. One family had always had ...

Title: Thunder Boy Jr. Author/Illustrator: Sherman Alexie/Yuyi Morales Genre: Fiction Awards: Bccb Blue Ribbon Picture Book Award Age: 4-8 This book is about a little boy who's named after his father, but wants a name of his own. He mentioned how 'Big Thunder', which is is father's nickname sounds like a name that fills up the sky. His nickname, 'Little Thunder' sounds like a burp to him. He tells how his mother and sister's names are fancy names and normal, while his is nowhere near normal. he tells the reader a secret and that is that he hates his name, and that he wants his own. He wanted a name that sounded like him, and celebrates something amazing that he's done. He comes up with these different names he thinks would be great, and they're all based on things he's done, such as 'Not Afraid of Ten Thousand Teeth' because he touched a wild orca, another was 'Gravity's Best Friend' because he learned to ride a bike whe...

Title: Henny Penny Author/Illustrator: H. Werner Zimmermann Genre: Fiction; Fantasy Age: 4-8 This book is about a hen who gets hit on the head by an acorn and thinks that the sky is falling. Once the acorn falls onto her head, her journey to the King she meets some of her friends who wanted to go with her such as Cocky Locky, Ducky Lucky, Goosey Loosey, Turkey Lurkey, while they're on their journey to the King, they were protective helmets in case anything else falls on them. They then met Foxy Loxy who said he would show them a shortcut, but took them right to his cave instead, and they went in and never came out. Since they were now gone no one could tell the King that the sky was falling. it ends with and image of Foxy Loxy plucking his teeth, and we see a few helmets, which is what each character was wearing, implying that the fox most likely ate them. I would love to read my students this book, because they could get involved. After the first time of reading it, some ma...

Title: Princess Penelope: Handprints, Snowflakes, and Play-dates Author/Illustrator: Christine Bronstein/Karen L. Young Genre: Fiction Age: 4-8 This book talks about a young girl who adjust how her and her brothers normally behave for a play-date with her friend from school who has Autism Spectrum Disorder.  Her teacher was telling her class, that no two minds are alike and that everyone is different n their own unique way. She wanted to students to play with someone different, and Penelope played with Eric and he was invited over for a play-date. The mom had her and her brothers practice using their inside voices, because loud noises would affect Eric and make him upset. She also had them work on being flexible, in case Eric didn't want to do something, and that they wouldn't get upset. At one point Penelope, her brothers and Eric were playing on the trampoline, when he just left because the noises were too loud. Penelope remembered what her mother and father told her and...

Title: Looking Like Me Author/Illustrator: Walter Dean Myers/Christopher Myers Genre: Fiction Awards: School Library Journal Best of Books 2009; Chicago Public Library Best of the Best Book 2009 Age: 4-8 This book is about a boy who describes the kind of person he is. It all starts with him looking at himself in the mirror and he first sees himself and he says I'm Jeremy. Then when he sees different people they remind him of different things he is, like a brother to his sister, a son to his father, a writer to his teacher, he was a city child to the mailman, an artist to his grandma, a dancer to a sweet girl he met on the street. He said he was a runner when he ran into his friend Karen, and added that to his growing list to who he is. His mother called him a dreamer, because he was constantly spreading fantasies across the sky, he dreamed of secret places, hidden faces, and black maids and knights who swooned and sighed. In the end the author challenges the reader to start a...

Title: Little Robot Author/Illustrator: Ben Hatke Genre: Fiction Awards: Eisner Award Winner & Nominee; Illinois Gryphon Award; Kirkus Reviews Best Books of the Year; Age: 6-9 This little adventurous girl, sneaks out of her house and goes on a journey, while on this journey she discovers a box, and in this box was this little robot. She activated him without knowing it and the robot became "alive", he struggled to walk, so I assume it was his first time being turned on. At first the little girl was scared of the robot, but she helped him stand up, and then taught him how to walk. In the next scene they show us the boxes being unloaded into a warehouse, and each was scanned, and the computer noticed that the little robot the girl found was the one that was missing. Next there was a system that went out to catch this little robot who was missing. The next chapter we see the girl and the robot walking down the street and the robot encounters a cat and gets scared of th...

Title: Baby Monkey, private eye Author/Illustrator: Brian Selznick & David Serlin Genre: Humor, Fiction Age: 4-8 This cute graphic novel is about a baby monkey who solves different cases. The first case was of missing jewels. He said he could help, first he looked for clues, then he would write his notes then he would eat a snack, and finally put on his pants. When he would put in his pants it was a struggle, but in the end he solved the case. The zebra had stolen the jewels, and baby monkey caught him red-handed. The second case was about a missing pizza. A baker comes into his office and says that someone has stolen his pizza. So as with the last case he could help, he looked for clues, wrote his notes, ate a snack, and put on his pants, with the same struggle, and he knew who did it. It was the lion who stole the pizza. The third case was about a stolen clown nose. Baby monkey could help, he looked for clues, wrote down his notes, ate a snack, put on his pants, and solved t...

Title: If You Give A Moose A Muffin Author/Illustrator: Laura Joffe Numeroff/Felicia Bond Genre: Fiction Age: 4-8 This book is about a child who gave a moose a muffin, that let to other events unfolding. It all started when the little boy gave the moose a muffin, the moose wanted some jam to go with it and the child gave him some of his mother's homemade blackberry jam. He finished eating that muffin and wanted another and another and ate them all, so he asked the little boy to make more. He was going to head to the store to get more muffin mix, and the moose wanted to go with. Once he opened the door he realized how chilly it was and asked to borrow a sweater. The boy gave him a sweater to borrow, but the moose noticed a button was loose. He asked for needle and thread and as he was sewing he remembered how his grandmother would make puppets. So he asked for some old socks, to make sock puppets with. When he finished he wanted to put on a show, so hey gathered cardboard and p...

Title: The Three Billy Goats Gruff Author/Illustrator: Paul Galdone Genre: Fairy Tales; Fiction Age: 4-7 This book is about three goats who walked over this bridge and they each get stopped by this troll who wants to eat these billy goats, and how they outsmarted him. They lived on a hillside and were hungry and wanted to get fat the only way to do so was to cross the bridge, which was over a rushing river and a Troll lived underneath it. The first Billy Goat Gruff was tiny and small and warned that a bigger goat was coming along and that he would fill him up, rather than a tiny goat. So the Troll let him go free. Then came along the second slightly larger Billy Goat Gruff and as he was crossing the bridge the Troll stopped him as well. He said he was going to eat him up, but the second billy goat, like the first one warned that a bigger billy goat was coming along and would fill up the Troll. So the Troll let him go as well. Along comes the third and biggest billy goat and like t...

Title: The Popcorn Astronauts: and other bitebable rhymes Author/Illustrator: Deborah Ruddell/Joan Rankin Major Awards: Genre: Poetry Age: 4-8 This book had many poems for students to read. 4 quick poems I read had to do with the seasons, each of them had a last line, that didn't quite rhyme in essence a twist. I thought the poems were cute and that children would enjoy reading them since they do experience seasons and that would be something fun to talk about. Another cute poem I read was called The Strawberry Queen , it had a rhyme scheme of aabbcc. It was easy to follow and was cute. It said you would know her when she entered the room, because you could smell her springtime perfume, her elegant suit was beaded and red, and you noticed the leafy, green crown on her head, remember to bow and address her as ma'am but don't say a word about strawberry jam. Another one I read was called Lickety-Split Picnic , it mentioned what all they were taking on there picnic such ...

Title: Tap Dancing on the Roof Author/Illustrator: Linda Sue Park/Istvan Banyai Genre: Non-Fiction; Poetry Age: 8-12 This book has a collection of poems suited for young children.One poem I looked at called School Lunch mentioned how the food was plopped with tongs or a spatula and had its own little space. It said square pizza in one space, a square brownie in another spot, with a milk carton cube all on a rectangular tray. It ended by saying that their afternoon snack was anything without corners, which I thought was random, but I looked back at the poem and all the items were rectangular and had sharp edges, so they wanted something different. Another poem I looked at was called Pockets , I really thought this poem was cute because the narrative is that if your pockets are empty you're wasting your time. This child had one horse chestnut, a gum wrapper, a dime an a hamster in their pockets. Another poem I found interesting was called Frog , this one talked about how a frog...

Title: The Little Kids' Table Author/Illustrator: Mary Ann McCabe Riehle/Mary Reaves Uhles Major Awards: Genre: Fiction; Poetry Age: 3-6 This book is about what being at the little kids' table is like. The kids have more fun than the adults and it talks about what the adults tell the kids. They went to visit the child's grandmother and the child was excited to sit at the kids' table. The child mentions that the adults' table was shinier and fancier and had more decorations. The author said that when grandmother called 'let's eat' that they scrambled to their chairs and the little brother gets bumped and ends up crying. They played with their utensils and tried sticking their spoons to their nose and that the parents would tell them to quiet down or behave. They were given their food and most of them didn't want was served because they didn't like trying to eat healthy, but the grandmother mentioned if they didn't eat their vegetables ...

Title: Night Sky Wheel Ride Author/Illustrator: Sheree Fitch/Yayo Genre: Poetry Age: 3-6 This book is about two children who go to the fair and want to ride the big Ferris wheel. They first started out, in line and were the first ones at the gate. They then went and got some cotton candy and it melted on their tongues. They then noticed the Ferris wheel and were excited to ride it. Throughout the beginning of the story they constantly asked "Are we big enough this year, Mama? Are we brave enough, Brother, Sister are you ready to fly?" When they got in line for the Ferris wheel they said they were big enough and they were brave enough and ready to fly. So they got into they their cart and they went up and up, and they started spinning and they imagined they were on a washing machine, and they even talked about going upside down. At one point the Ferris wheel stopped at the top, and it was swinging and swaying and the little girl told the brother not to look down so instea...

Title: The Wheels on the Tuk Tuk Author/Illustrator: Kabir & Surishtha Sehgal/ Jess Golden Awards: CBC/NCSS Notable Social Studies Trade Book; Grand Canyon Reader Award Nominee (AZ) Genre: Fiction Age: 4-8 This book is an Indian take on Wheels on the Bus, and it's sung to the same tune. It's written by a mother-son duo about their life in India, and since it's based on The Wheels on the Bus, it's what the kids would see when they are looking out the window riding in their Tuk Tuks. The book even included similar features that are included in Wheels on the Bus, such as the wheels on it go round, the wipers go swish, and differences in that they stopped for a cow that was lying in the road, they got sprayed with water by an elephant and things like that aren't likely to happen here in Texas, unless you live in a more country area then you might see a cow in the street, but in India that seems to be normal. Once the book was finished it was just an image of a...

Title: The Blacker the Berry Author/Illustrator: Joyce Carol Thomas/Floyd Cooper Major Awards: Notable Children's Book in the Language Arts (NCTE); New York Public Library's "One Hundred Titles for Reading and Sharing"; Kirkus Reviews Best Children's Book; Coretta Scott King Honor (Author & Illustrator); Cooperative Children's Book Center Choice; ALA Notable Children's Book Genre: Fiction Age: 5-8 This book is a collection of poems geared toward celebrating African Americans. This book celebrates the many shades of black people. One of the poems labeled " The Blacker the Berry " talked about how this girl was midnight and berries, she said since she was dark the moon and stars would shine brighter. The author mentions that the darker the berry the sweeter the juice. There wouldn't be day without the night and colors wouldn't shine brightly without black. Another poem tilted " Golden Goodness " talks about a girl who wa...

Title: Robin Hood and the Golden Arrow Author/Illustrator: Robert D. San Souci/ E.B. Lewis Genre: Folklore Age: 4-8 This book is based on the story of Robin Hood, not the Disney version we know but an actual archer, who, with his Merry Men did help those who were in need. In this story they devise a plan to outwit the Nottingham Sheriff and compete in a contest in disguises. The sheriff devised a plan to try and catch Robin Hood and his friends by having an archery contest and having a golden arrow be the winning prize, they thought for sure that Robin and his friends couldn't resist the urge to come out. Robin heard about the contest and told his Merry Men that should participate, but some of them knew that it was probably a trick by the sheriff, so Little John came up with a plan that they should all wear disguises and enter the town separately, so they wouldn't get caught. On the day of the contest the Sheriff was out looking for Robin's crew and couldn't find t...

Title: Wonder Author/Illustrator: R.J. Palacio Genre: Realistic Fiction Major Awards: Texas Bluebonnet nominee - 2013-2014; Texas Lone Star reading list - 2013; New York Times Best Seller; Maine Student Book Award; V ermont's Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children's Book Award; Mark Twain Award, there are just so many to name, because this book is that great.    Age: 8+ This book is about a ten year-old boy named August, whose nickname is Auggie, Pullman who was born with a rare genetic disorder to where he has facial deformities. He started out being home-schooled and his parents decide that it was time for him to go to a regular and it was fifth grade, and they thought this would be the perfect time to transition him from home-school to regular to school. Anytime he went somewhere people would always stare at him because of he looked. No matter how people treated him, he was always nice and respectful, even though he was hurt most times he overcame that. His parents wanted t...

Title: Little Red Riding Hood Author/Illustrator: Jerry Pinkney Genre: Fairy Tale Age: 3-6 This story is about a sweet, little girl who goes to visit her grandmother because she is sick. Her mother told her to go and check on her and take some chicken soup and raisin muffins to hopefully help her feel better. Her mother had made her a red hood, which she loved very much and every in their town knew who she was. As she goes out to visit her grandmother she's on a trail and his approached by a wolf who was hungry and sly. He asked her where she was going and she told him exactly where her grandmother's house was and the wolf thought it would be a good idea for the little girl to gather some twigs to prepare a fire for her grandmother. When he told her he joined, but got an even better idea that he would go to the grandmother's house and pretend to be the granddaughter so she let him not knowing it was the sly wolf. Once the wolf was inside he swallowed the grandmother an...

Title: The Little Red Hen Author/Illustrator: Jerry Pinkney Genre: Folklore Age: 4-5 This book is about a little red hen who discovers these seeds and ask her farm friends to help her with planting these seeds and each had an opportunity to help her because it was something, they could help her with. First she asked the the dog to help her with digging holes, but the dog said no so she had to do it herself. After she had taken care of her crops it was time to harvest them she ask the rat to chop the wheat with his tail, but the rat said no. Then she asked the goat to help her take grain to the mill, since he was strong and steady and it was lovely day to take out his cart, but he said no.  So she took it herself and she was a busy hen, Mr. Miller grounded her grain into flour and gave her jar of berry jam. She then was on her way.  Then she asked the pig to help her bake the bread, since the pig was always delighted with her cooking and the pig said no. So she then bake...

Title: Young Zeus Author/Illustrator: G. Brian Karas Genre: Traditional Literature, Fiction Age: 8-12 This is the story of how young Zeus became ruler of the heaven and earth, and had his family right by side. It all started when Zeus' mother Rhea took her son to an island in Crete to be protected from his evil father. He lived a beautiful life and was protected by a goat, who was enchanted she-goat named Amaltheia. He lived out most of his childhood on this island unbeknowest his about what is father's plans where. Over time Zeus wondered why he had no one to play with and Amaltheia told him the story behind his father and why he was on this island. She told him that he had 12 children who were giants, also known as Titans, and that Cronus, his father, loved them very much, he also had 3 children who were Cyclopes, and six of whom were monsters, known as Hundred-Handers, he didn't love them very much and had them locked in the underworld forever. His grandmother ...

Title: The Rooster Prince of Breslov Author/Illustrator: Ann Redisch Stampler/ Eugene Yelchin Genre: Folklore Age: 5-7 years old This book is based off a Yiddish folktale, and deals with a young, spoiled prince, who assumes the likeness and characteristics of a rooster, until one week and old man spends seven days with him and shows him how he can mature. The book starts out with this young prince who essentially had more than he could ever want and need, nice meals, people waiting on him hand and foot. Until one day during his lavish lifestyle he had, had enough and starting acting like a rooster. He had taken off his clothes and started clucking about the palace, he pecked at things like a rooster, hunched over like a rooster and believed himself that he was a rooster. He wouldn't utter a single human word and wouldn't get dressed when his parents asked him to. They had a doctor come see him and he had said he had a case of roosterism which wasn't really real. So s...

Title: So Much Author/Illustrator: Trish Cooke/Helen Oxenbury Genre: Multicultural Fiction Age group: 3-6 This book was about how one family loved the baby so much. Everyone wanted to squeeze, hug, kiss, eat, fight the baby, but most of all they wanted to love the baby. It started with just being the mother and the baby at home util they hear a "Ding Dong" at the door and they have their first family member over who is Aunt Bibba. As the story went on each family member had their own way of expressing love to this baby as we see throughout their arrival at the door. So first it was Aunt Bibba who wanted to squeeze the baby, then uncle Didi came and he wanted to kiss the baby, Nannie and Gran-Gran wanted to eat the baby (figuratively of course because babies are just so chunky), the two cousins, Kay-Kay and Ross, and Ross wanted to wrestle with the baby, and once the house was full they didn't expect anyone else to arrive. But once the father returned home we see that...

Hi I'm Christal! I see you found your way to my blog and that's perfect. I'm currently a junior at Houston Baptist University and majoring in Elementary Education and loving every minute of it! I remember reading many books throughout my young life and I can't get enough of it. I find that there's always a book, for any situation. I also enjoy reading because it keeps my brain sharp and I like it that way.  I've always known that I wanted to be a teacher from around the time I was about 11. I always enjoyed working with younger kids and I like to be a mentor to them. I can't wait to be a teacher and start impacting the lives of my students, I know they'll do the same to me. Hopefully you enjoy this blog just as much and I enjoy writing.  - Peace. Love. Giraffes.

Hi and welcome to my blog. I look forward to sharing what I read about books here, hope you enjoy!