Spy in the Sky by Kathleen Karr

This book is a great example of historical fiction. A young boy named Ridley is an orphan who is not treated very well by the adults around him. One day a hot air balloon comes down with the famous balloonist, Thaddeus Lowe, inside it. Lowe makes Ridley his assistant and teaches him morse code so that they may spy on the Confederates for the president, Abraham Lincoln. Because of Ridley's help, the Union Army is able to win the Civil War.

I like this book because it would tie in great with a lesson on the Civil War. The book does not explain anything about the Civil War (such as why they are fighting and who the blues and the grays are) so a lesson on the Civil War would have to proceed this book. This book also provides a great opportunity to talk about genres (such as historical fiction). Even though the Civil War really happened and Thaddeus Lowe really was a balloonist, this story and the character Ridley are fictional.

This is a good chapter book for grades 2-4. However, there are some phrases that children may not understand such as "I've been getting hot air from grown-ups for ten years" and "You're eating on my mercy." They can read the words but they may not comprehend what it is trying to say so an explanation may be required. Another good thing about this book is that the plot starts right away on the first page. There isn't any "beginning reading" that sets up the plot. It starts right away which I think is important for beginner readers to keep them interested.

Junie B. Jones and a Little Monkey Business by Barbara Park

Ahhh, Junie B. Jones brings back memories. My first grade teacher used to read this series aloud to us and I instantly fell in love with them.

This particular book, which is number 2 in the series, is about Junie B. Jones getting a younger brother. Her grandma tells her that her new brother is the cutest little monkey she has ever seen and Junie believes that her brother is a real monkey. During show and tell at school, she tells the class about her new monkey brother and quickly irritates the teacher. At recess, Junie's friends Lucille and Grace give her things in the hope to see her monkey brother first. After recess the teacher notices that Junie has Lucille's and Grace's snack tickets and Junie is wearing Grace's new shoes and Lucille's sweater. Junie is then sent to the Principal's office where they call her grandma and her grandma explains that her brother isn't really a monkey, he is just cute like a monkey.

I like Junie B. Jones because of her humor. I remember constantly laughing while reading when I was younger but I also caught myself laughing this time. Barbara Park does such a great job of developing her character which makes it so easy to picture Junie in your mind. Park also does a great job of remaining consistent throughout her books. Junie is someone that you grow to love and the reader can easily predict what Junie will do next because the reader has gotten to know her. When Junie gets herself into trouble for some reason, I say to myself "ahh that sounds like Junie B. Jones." I also like how Junie explains words that may be difficult. For example, in this book Junie explains that the word autumn is the school word for fall and confiscate is the school word for yanked it right out of my hand. It is such a simple explanation but it makes sense and I think younger readers can relate to this because this is how they may be thinking.

My only concern is the grammar and spelling that Junie uses. For example, Junie doesn't correctly use the past tense of verbs: "And so I runned to her speedy quick." Junie also incorrectly spells longer, more difficult words such as "pology" for apology. My concern is that this won't help kids learn grammar or spelling but on the other hand, these books do make kids read. I am not totally sure how I feel about this yet. I read these books as a child and I loved them and it didn't seem to affect my grammar or spelling. These books could provide a great opportunity to talk to the class about correct grammar; the class can correct Junie's mistakes together. Overall, I am so pleased with the Junie B. Jones books that I will have them in my classroom.

Punk Wig by Lori Ries

This book is about a young boy's mom who has "alien blobs" inside her called cancer. The young boy visits the mom in the hospital and they talk about the fact that her medicine is going to make her hair fall out. When she feels a little better, the boy and the mom go to a wig shop to buy a wig. The mom and boy try on many different silly wigs and finally decide on an orange, spiky, punk wig. The story then continues throughout the seasons and the mom and the boy spend time together. A year later, the mom's hair has grown back and she finds out she is cancer free. The mom then gives the punk wig to the boy to keep.

I loved this book, probably for the fact that it was so heart warming. There are so many kids out there who have a parent that has a cancer or they may have cancer themselves. This is the first book that I have read that has addressed this issue and I think it is such a good thing. Losing hair from chemotherapy can be such a scary thing for both the parents and the child and this book helps make it less scary by finding humor in the possibility of wigs and being able to spend time together looking for wigs. This book can be a comfort to so many kids.

The illustrator, Erin Eitter Kono, does a good job of making the pictures simple. The pictures express emotion in the reader and I think that should be the main goal for every illustrator to strive for.

Sakes Alive! A Cattle Drive by Karma Wilson

This book is about two cows who take the car keys from the farmer and go for a drive. The police try to stop them but the cows don't know how to slow down so they whizz through town. Because of all the cars the townspeople thought it was a parade and they loved it. They even asked the cows for autographs.

I like this book because it rhymes and it has humor. It is an easy book to read and I think kids would love it because of the emotion that is expressed. The only thing that kids might not understand is the expression "sakes alive" because I had never heard of it before. But who knows? Maybe they have heard it.

I love the illustrations in this book; they are filled with humor. In fact, I chose this book because of the illustrations on the cover. I would recommend this book for kids ages 2-6. Because it rhymes and the expression "sakes alive" is repeated, it is a good book for beginner readers.

Funny Farm by Mark Teague

When I read the title and saw the cover, I thought it was going to be a silly book that would make kids laugh. But, it really wasn't like that-in fact, it was kind of serious and straight-forward. The book is about a dog named Edward who goes to visit his relatives (also dogs) who live on the farm. The entire book is about what Edward does during the day-he milks the cows, feeds the pigs, gathers eggs, etc. The text is just a list of his activities throughout the day. Although the text isn't funny, the pictures do have a hint of comedy in them. I can see children laughing at the pictures but I think it would have been better if the text went along more with the pictures.

Like I stated before, the illustrator (also the author) does a good job of making the pictures "funny." For example, there is a picture of the hens chasing Edward after he goes to gather the eggs and the pigs are watching and laughing at him. Overall, this is a good book; I would read it to my students. I just wish there was more to the text to better correspond with the pictures.

Drat That Fat Cat by Pat Thomson

This book is about a fat cat who eats a mouse, duck, dog, and then an old lady. After he eats something, the book asks, "But was that cat fat enough?" And the response is, "No he was not!" So, the cat continues on to eat something else. After eating the mouse, duck, dog, and old lady, a bee buzzes by and the cat accidently swallows it. The bee stings the inside of the cat and the cat hiccups the mouse, duck, dog, and old lady out. Then, the old lady takes the cat home to feed it cat food.

This book is good for young kids because it repeats itself often. When the book asks for the third time if the cat was fat enough, the kids will know to respond with "no he was not." This is good for kids just learning to read. When the cat swallows the mouse, the book talks about the mouse "squeak squeak squeaking" inside the cat. The book then repeats this but also adds a new animal sound each time the cat eats something. The use of sound in the book will also help beginner readers.

I wouldn't say Ailie Busby is my favorite illustrator but she does a good job of making the pictures represent the text (which is also very important for beginner readers) and adding a lot of bright colors.

Double Those Wheels by Nancy Raines Day

This book is about a monkey who is trying to deliver pizza as fast as he can to his customers. He starts on an unicycle but has trouble balancing so he doubles his wheels and now he is on a bike. He finds it too tiring riding the bike so he doubles the wheels to four and now he is riding in a car. It continues until number 64 and then he has no wheels and finishes delivering the pizza from a hot air balloon.

This is a good book for the younger grades because it can help them with math. Even if the student has yet to learn how to double numbers, he or she can try to guess because the entire book rhymes. For example, the book says, "Chug, chug, putt, putt, can't late! Double those wheels and you've got eight (8)." If I were reading this book to young children, I would read the text and let them say the number. This would help reinforce the numbers that are doubled.

Not only is this a great concept book, I also like the illustrations. Steve Haskamp did a great job of making every page colorful and there is not one white space on a page. The pictures correspond with the text so seeing the wheels can help students when they are trying to double the wheels.