The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses

by Paul Goble
Bradbury Press ( 1978)
Interest Level: Grade 3+
Awards: Caldecott Medal Winner

Genre Category: Multicultural Literature
Book Type: Picture Book

Summary: A young Native American girl loves her horses. She has a special affinity for them and they, in turn, follow her willingly. One afternoon, a thunderstorm sweeps through her village and the girl and the horses are swept along with it. By the end of the storm, the girl and the horses find themselves in the mountains with the wild horses, where the girl finally finds her true home.

Online Connections:
1. Learn more about the art of Paul Goble at http://www.artcyclopedia.com/artists/goble_paul.html.
2. Paul Goble was born in England, but he has developed strong ties to the Black Hills of South Dakota. Learn more about this amazing transplant at http://www.harpercollinschildrens.com/HarperChildrens/Kids/AuthorsAndIllustrators/ContributorDetail.aspx?CId=20771.

Book Connections
1. Jingle Dancer by Cynthia L. Smith
2. Moonstick, the seasons of the Sioux by Eve Bunting

Keywords: Horses, Native Americans, thunderstorms, wild horses, South Dakota

Chicken Boy

by Frances O'Roark Dowell

Aladdin Paperbacks (2005)

Interest Level: Middle School

Awards or honors: Starred Review in Booklist, Kirkus Reviews and School Library Journal

Category: Young Adult

Type: Novel

Summary: Tobin McCauley has been having a rough time at home and at school. It is not until his seventh grade year when he makes a friend in Henry and begins to raise chickens as a class project that he begins to come out of his shell and find out who he really is. A diverse company of characters adds color to this story. The ending is upbeat and hopeful. Good read.

Online Connections:

1. Learn more about this author and her books by visiting her website at http://www.francesdowell.com/.

2. Learn more about raising chickens in your own backyard at http://www.backyardchickens.com/

Book Connections:

1. Dovey Coe by Frances O'Roark Dowell

2. The Fairest Fowl: portraits of championship chickens by Tamara Staples (photographer), Ira Glass (essays), Christa Velba (text)

Keywords: chickens, self-esteem, middle school, dysfunctional family, family problems, school, friendship

The Apprenticeship of Lucas Whitaker

by Cynthia DeFelice

Farrar Straus Giroux (1996)

Interest Level: grades 5+

Category: Historical Fiction

Type: Novel

Summary: In 1849, Tuberculosis, or consumption, rages through the countryside leaving Lucas Whitaker an orphan. Feeling guilty for not being able to save his mother's life, Lucas goes to work for Doc Beecher. Even the doctor is at a loss as to how to stop the disease from killing people. Is Lucas willing to try a voodoo cure to save lives or will he be able to find some other way to help the people in his community?

Online Connections:

1. Author's website: http://www.cynthiadefelice.com/

2. To learn more about Anthony van Leeuwenhoek, the Dutch tradesman who discovered bacteria, visit: http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/history/leeuwenhoek.html

Book Connections:

1. Matilda Bone by Karen Cushman

2. The Midwife's Apprentice by Karen Cushman

Keywords: Orphans, tuberculosis, consumption, superstition, apprentices, medicine, doctors, cleanliness, New England, apothecary

The SOS File

by Betsy Byars
Henry Holt and Co. (2004)
Interest Level: grades 3-5

Category: Contemporary Fiction
Type: Novel

Summary: Mr Magro asks his students to write about the biggest challenges they have faced in their lives and then to read them out loud to the class. Some of the stories are funny, others are heartwrenching, but each is an emergency in itself.

Online Connections:
1. Author's website: http://www.betsybyars.com/
2. Learn more about the author at http://www.randomhouse.com/author/results.pperl?authorid=3960

Book Connections:
1. My Dog, My Hero by Betsy Byars
2. The Homework Machine by Dan Gutman

Keywords: Emergencies, schools, fictional biographies,

Good Queen Bess: The story of Elizabeth I of England

by Diane Stanley and Peter Vennema
Four Winds Press (1990)
Interest Level: Grades 5 up
Awards and Honors: ALA Notable Book; Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, Honor Book for Non-Fiction; IRA Teacher's Choices; Parenting Magazine Reading Magic Award, Ten Best Books; Parents' Magazine Best Kids Books; American Bookseller Pick of the Lists; Booklist Editor's Choice; Upper Midwest Booksellers' Association, Booksellers' Choice; Notable Children's Books in the Field of Social Studies; The Library of Congress Recommended Books For Children; nominee for the Texas Bluebonnet Award, the Alabama Emphasis on Reading Award, the Kentucky Bluegrass Award, the Kansas William Allen White Children's Book Award; starred reviews, Booklist, Horn Book.

Genre Category: Biography
Book Type: Picture book

Summary: The life of Elizabeth I is a fascinating study of a neglected child raised in intrigue and danger who goes on to become one of the most important rulers in her time (if not for centuries to come). This picture book fits a lot of information into a small space. Stanley combines British history with biographical information about Queen Elizabeth without getting bogged down in the minutae that signified life at court during her day.

Online Connections:
1. Author's page: http://www.dianestanley.com/
2. Learn more about Queen Elizabeth I at http://www.elizabethi.org/

Book Connections:
1. Bard of Avon: The story of William Shakespeare by Diane Stanley
2. Elizabeth I: Red Rose of the House of Tudor, England, 1544 by Kathryn Lasky

Keywords: Queens, Kings, Henry VIII, Great Britain

Earthquakes

by Seymour Simon

Morrow Junior Books (1991)

Interest Level: Grades 3-5

Category: Nonfiction

Type: Picture book

Summary: Simon explains in clear language what an earthquake is, how and where they occur, how they can be predicted, and how much damage can be caused by one. Wonderful graphics and photos illustrate the text.

Online connections:

1. Visit the author's webpage at http://www.seymoursimon.com/.

2. Visit the Smithsonian online at http://www.smithsonianeducation.org/students/.

Book Connections:

1. Hurricanes by Seymour Simon

2. Tornadoes by Seymour Simon

Keywords: Earthquakes, natural disasters, nonfiction, plate techtonics, geology, faults, San Andreas Fault Line,.

The Talking Eggs: A folktale from the American South

by Robert D. San Souci
Dial Books for Young Readers (1989)
Interest Level: Grades 2-5
Awards and Honors: Caldecott Honor Book, Coretta Scott King Award

Genre Category: Folk Tale
Book Type: Picture Book

Summary:
A poor woman and her two daughters, Rose and Blanche, live on an old farm in the South. Rose is kind and thoughtful, while her mother and sister are hateful and unkind. One day, while fetching water from the well, Rose meets an old woman and gives her a drink of water from the well. The old woman repays her kindness with jewels, clothing, and other fine things. When her mother sees all the things Rose has been given, she sends Blanche out to do the same. Unfortunately, Blanche is not as nice as Rose and her rewards are quite different.

Online Connections:
1. Visit the author's website and learn more about him@ http://www.rsansouci.com/
2. Learn more about the author and his works@ http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/contributor.jsp?id=1738

Book Connections:
1. The Rough-Face Girl by Rafe Martin
2. Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters by John Steptoe

Keywords: Folktales, Creole, magic, sisters, mothers, daughters, American South, Louisiana

The Sisters Grimm: The Fairy Tale Detectives

by Michael Buckley
Scholastic, Inc. (2007)
Interest Level: Grades 4-8

Genre Category: Fantasy
Book Type: Novel

Summary: When Sabrina and Daphne's parents disappear, they are sent to live with their Grandmother, Relda, a woman they thought was dead. The sisters step off the train into a new world where storybook characters are real and the Grimm family is in charge of keeping them out of trouble. Giants, fairies, elves, and all the Grimm Brother's characters you remember so well are here and they are not happy.

Online Connections:
1. Watch a YouTube trailer about this book, meet the characters, play games, and listen to the Grimm song@ http://www.sistergrimm.com/
2. Read an interview with the author @http://www.powells.com/kidsqa/buckley.html

Book Connections:
1. Michael Buckley's Sister Grimm series
2. Grimm Brother's Fairy Tales by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm

Keywords: Fair tales, fairies, giants, witches, pigs, wolves, maidens, forests, magic, fantasy

Love That Dog

by Sharon Creech

Joanna Cotler Books (2001)

Interest Level: ages 9+

Category: Contemporary novel told in verse

Type: Novel

Summary:

Jack does not want to write poetry. He feels poetry is for girls. However, as time goes by, he finds he likes poetry, especially the poems of Walter Dean Myers. Through the story we learn about Jack's dog, Sky, and his growing appreciation of poetry.

Online Connections:

1. Visit Sharon's site to learn more about her and her books: http://www.sharoncreech.com/index.html

2. Visit Sharon's English website at: http://www.sharoncreech.co.uk/

Book Connections:

1. No More Dead Dogs by Gordon Korman

2. Once I Ate a Pie by Patricia MacLachlan

Keywords: Poetry, dogs

My Parents Think I'm Sleeping

My Parents Think I'm Sleeping
by Jack Prelutsky
Greenwillow Books (1985)
Interest Level: Grades K-5

Genre Category: Poetry
Book Type: Picture Book

Summary: This is a collection of poems all about night. A young boy has trouble falling asleep as he plays with his toys, imagines the clouds are wolves, and listens to the night sounds that all take one ominous shapes in the dark.

Online Connections:
1. Jack Prelutsky speaks at Book Fest 2007: http://www.loc.gov/today/cyberlc/feature_wdesc.php?rec=4187.
2. Visit Jack Prelutsky's website to learn mor about him and the "Make Poetry Happen" contest http://www.jackprelutsky.com/

Book Connections:
1. Pizza, Pigs, and Poetry: How to write a poem by Jack Prelutsky
2. Polar Bear Night by Lauren Thompson

Keywords: Night, Nighttime, Poetry, Sleeping, Children, Poems,

My Friend Rabbit

My Friend Rabbit
by Eric Rohmann
Scholastic, Inc. (2002)

Awards or Honors: Caldecott Award winner 2003

Genre Category: Picture Book

Summary: Mouse and Rabbit are great friends. When rabbit lodges mouse's airplane in a tree, he goes to great lengths to fix the problem and save the day.

Online Connections:
1. Meet illustrator Eric Rohmann and learn more about him and his books at: http://www.rif.org/art/illustrators/rohmann.mspx
2. Listen to Eric Rohmann talk about himself and his work at: http://www.libraryofcongress.gov/today/cyberlc/feature_wdesc.php?rec=3567

Book Connections:
1. Time Flies by Eric Rohmann
2. Kitten's First Full Moon by Kevin Henkes

Keywords: Rabbit, Mouse, Friends, Friendship, Airplanes, Animals, Caldecott Award

When Randolph Turned Rotten

When Randolph Turned Rotten
by Charise Mericle Harper
Alfred A. Knopf (2007)

Interest Level: Grades K-3

Genre Category: Picture book

Summary: Randolph, the beaver, and Ivy, the goose, are best friends. They do everything together until one day Ivy is invited to an all girl beach party. Randolph lets his jealousy and hurt feelings take over. In an effort to ruin Ivy's time at the beach, he inadvertently saves the party. In the end, Randolph and Ivy make up and are best friends, again. This is an excellent book to help children talk about feelings and friendship.

Online connection:
1. Learn more about this author and her other books at: http://www.chariseharper.com/.

Book Connections:
1. Just Grace by Charise Mericle Harper
2. How to Be Friends: A guide to making friends and keeping them by Laurie K. Brown

Keywords: friends, friendships, beavers, geese, beach parties, birthday parties

Butterfly, Butterfly

Butterfly, Butterfly: A book of colors
by Petr Horacek
Candlewick Press (2007)

Interest Level: 3-5 year olds
Awards or Honors: TLA 2x2 Reading List

Genre Category: Picture Book

Summary: On a bright summer day, Lucy chases a beautiful butterfly in the garden. The next day, instead of finding her butterfly in the garden, she discovers a number of animals in all the colors of the rainbow. In the end, her beautiful friend returns in a surprising way.

Online connections:
1. For a short biography of Petr and to view a gallery of his work, visit http://www.childrensbookillustration.com/client.asp?id=98.
2. To learn more about this illustrator and see more of his work, visit http://www.petrhoracek.co.uk/.

Book Connections:
1. Flutter By, Butterfly by Petr Horacek
2. From Caterpillar to Butterfly (Let's Read and Find Out Science) by Deborah Heiligman

Keywords: Butterflies, Gardens, Colors, animals, insects, flowers

Lawn Boy

Lawn Boy

by Gary Paulsen

Wendy Lamb Books (2007)

Interest level: grades 4-8



Category: Contemporary Fiction

Type: Novel



Summary: One summer, a twelve year old boy receives a lawnmower for his birthday. In a series of escalating events he goes from being broke to owning a company with several employees, to sponsoring a prize fighter named Joey Pow. The whole story is told in the context of economic growth.



Online Connections:

1. Learn about Gary Paulsen's latest books, his life outside of writing, and his passion for reading at http://www.randomhouse.com/features/garypaulsen/about.html

2. Learn more about Gary Paulsen and how to use his books in the classroom at http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/contributor.jsp?id=3472



Book Connections:

1. My Life in Dog Years by Gary Paulsen

2. Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney



Keywords: Humorous, economics, money, summer jobs

The Tale of Depereaux

by Kate DiCamillo

Candlewick Press (2003)

Interest Level: grade 3-adult

Newbery Award 2004

Category: Fairy Tale

Type: Novel


Summary: This is a story of love and forgiveness told from the point of view of three different characters; Despereaux, a small mouse who loves light, music, and the Princess Pea; Roscuro, whose heart is broken and mended wrong; and Mig, a servant girl who wants what she cannot have.This delightful story is told in short segments, with the author often talking straight to the reader. Younger readers will enjoy having the book read to them, while older readers will savor the feelings invoked by the author.


Online Connections:

1. Meet Kate DiCamillo and learn about her and her other books at http://www.katedicamillo.com/books/tale.html.


2. Learn about Kate DiCamillo and how she came to write her novel Because of Winn-Dixie. http://content.scholastic.com/browse/contributor.jsp?id=2445


Book Connections:

1. Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo

2. Ralph S. Mouse by Beverly Cleary


Keywords: mice, love, forgiveness, mothers, and friendship