Creepy Carrots!, by Aaron Reynolds

Published January 3, 2013 by Dagmar

creepycarrotsYes.  Carrots can be creepy, very creepy.  Jasper Rabbit’s passion for carrots gets him in trouble.  I tried this book with younger listeners and didn’t get much of a reaction.  Then, I tried it with my older students who loved it.  I love the great illustrations by Peter Brown.

Synopsis: Jasper Rabbit loves carrots and heads for Crackenhopper Field where he finds plenty of carrots to eat and eats them constantly. Until one day, when he starts to think that the carrots are following him.  Everywhere he looks, there are shadows of carrots that only he sees.  Finally, so spooked by the carrots, Jasper takes action and rids himself of the carrots once and for all, much to the carrots’ delight.

This book won a Caldecott Honor in 2013.

The Sneetches and other Stories, by Dr. Seuss

Published January 3, 2013 by Dagmar

sneetchesOne of my favorite Seuss books and always a great read aloud for my fourth through sixth graders who tell me that even though they’re older, they still like to be read to.  In fact, my older readers love listening to the Sneetches every year.  This year, I included the other stories, which they really liked.  Included are The Zax, about a north-going Zax and a south-going Zax who stubbornly won’t budge when they find each other blocking their way.  (reminscent of today’s Congress – a fact not lost on our teachers as I read the book.)  Too Many Daves about Mrs. McCave who had 23 sons and named them all Dave.  Lastly, What am I Scared of?  “Then I was deep within the woods, When, suddenly, I spied them.  I saw a pair of pale green pants With nobody inside them!

Pete & Pickles, by Berkeley Breathed

Published January 2, 2013 by Dagmar

petandpicklesWow.  What an incredible book.  I don’t know if it’s the amazing illustrations or how much I love both Pete and Pickles that makes me love this book so much.  It’s a story about new friends and the strength of friendship. My fourth,  fifth and sixth graders absolutely loved it.  The illustrations are beautiful and are drawn with humor.  Highly recommended.

Synopsis: Pete is a perfectly practical and uncomplicated pig until he meets Pickles, an elephant who is trying to escape his miserable life at the circus.  When Pete rescues Pickles, Pickles opens up a new life for Pete, filled with adventure …and complication.  Pete has just about had it with Pickles when a pipe bursts in the house and begins to flood the house.  The water is rising and threatens to drown the friends.  Pete sits at the top of Pickles’ trunk reaching the last air at the top of the house.  Pickles, underneath Pete, can’t breathe at all…unless Pete helps him.  Students wait with baited breath to see if the two friends make it through the night.  Read and find out.  You won’t regret it.

One Tiny Turtle, by Nicola Davies

Published January 2, 2013 by Dagmar

onetinyturtleA wonderful non-fiction picture book about a loggerhead turtle’s life from the time when she is as tiny as a bottle top to her return to the beach where she is born thirty years later.  There are two layers to the book.  The larger print provides a great real aloud for first graders.  The smaller print provides more detailed information about turtles.   The illustrations, by Jane Chapman, are beautiful, colorful and full-page.  My young audience was captivated and clapped when we finished.

Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs, by Mo Willems

Published January 2, 2013 by Dagmar

goldilocksFrom the author of the easy reader Elephant and Piggie series, and books about that naughty pigeon who wants to drive a bus, here is a great picture book for older readers.  It’s the Goldilocks story, re-told with dinosaurs and chocolate pudding.  Snarky humor abounds as the dinosaurs leave everything in their house, “just so” in order to facilitate the arrival of “a little succulent child” who might “happen by our unlocked home”.  Of course, soon enough, “a poorly supervised little girl named Goldilocks” happens along.  A must read for older readers who want a laugh.

Bomb! The Race to Build – and Steal – the World’s Most Dangerous Weapon

Published December 28, 2012 by Dagmar

BombMoving from the recruitment of Robert Oppenheimer to the building of Los Alamos to the testing of the bombs and Hiroshima and the eventual arms race between the United States and the Soviet Union, this excellent non-fiction book cleverly interweaves three story lines.  The first is the Americans’ attempt to build the atomic bomb.  The second is the Soviets’ attempt to steal the plans for the bomb.  The third is an attack on Germany’s heavy water plants in an attempt to prevent Hitler from building an atomic bomb.  Full of material that illuminates a period of history few middle school and high school students may be familiar with, this engaging read will keep them interested.  I’ve also recommended it to adults, because it provides real insight into the scientists that built the bomb, their motivations for building it and the motivations of some scientists to ensure that the United States wasn’t the only country in the world with this most powerful weapon.  Photographs are included.

Winner of YALSA Award for Excellence in Non-fiction for Young Adults, the Silbert Medal, a Newbery honor and a National Book Award finalist.

Press Here, by Herve Tullet

Published December 28, 2012 by Dagmar

presshereIf you’ve ever wanted to make a young audience scream with delight, read them this book.  You’ll need an audience volunteer.  Press Here is magical. Not only did my older students absolutely loved it, but my younger students are completely overjoyed by it.  I had to ask them to keep it down, or the fifth grade next door wouldn’t be able to work!  (My first graders even recognized a pattern in the book and started chanting it.) Highly recommended as a read aloud.

Synopsis: Follow the instructions in the book (involving pressing dots,  shaking the book or clapping) to see what happens.  Is it magic?  Maybe!

Smile, by Raina Telgemeier

Published December 28, 2012 by Dagmar

smileWonderful! What if you knocked out your two front teeth…in middle school? Smile takes me back to the times when I had braces and when I also had to figure out which friends were truly friends.  It’s a great book that just flies off my library shelves.  I can see why.  It’s great for fifth graders and middle schoolers.  For those of you who love this book, the same author wrote another book called Drama.

Synopsis: Raina knocks out her two front teeth when she trips and falls.  So begins an odyssey that includes false teeth, retainers, braces, headgear etc.  all during middle school when everyone is as self-conscious as humanly possible.  Following Raina through middle school to high school, this book takes her through her friends’ reactions to her appearance and her first crush on a boy.  Finding that her friends are not necessarily good friends, Raina finds a new group in of friends in high school who are supportive and don’t care about her appearance.

Kitten’s First Full Moon, by Kevin Henkes

Published December 12, 2012 by Dagmar

kittensfirstKevin Henkes is a well-loved author.  With very little text and simple black and white drawings, this book is perfect for read alouds with young students.  Kitten wants a glass of milk and mistakes the moon and then the moon’s reflection for a bowl of milk.  Poor kitten!  Luckily, kitten goes home and finds a nice glass of milk.

Clever Jack Takes the Cake, by Candace Fleming

Published December 12, 2012 by Dagmar

cleverjackJack is invited to the princess’ 10th birthday party and wonders what to bring. Trading away his few possessions, he makes an incredible cake to take to the princess.  But, all sorts of trouble lies ahead: crows, trolls and dancing bears, you name it.  By the time Jack gets to the castle he is left with one strawberry from the cake – only to find out that the princess is allergic to strawberries!  What to do?  Without knowing it, and with no present left, Jack gives the princess the best present of all.  My very, very wiggly third grade class sat so still you could hear a pin drop and then clapped at the end.  I loved this book before today, but seeing this class mesmerized made me love it even more.  The illustrations by G. Brian Karas are wonderful.