I Lay My Stitches Down

By Cynthia Grady

This book consists of poems from slavery in America. Although the poems are sometimes worded awkwardly, there is an explanation of the poem right below it, which I think would help children understand the concepts in the poems better, because they don't have to infer. It has poems about how slave owners did not care if families were torn apart in the process of selling slaves, and how some slaves liked to be "domestic slaves" (meaning not field workers) but that meant they were always in closer proximity with their masters.

Overall, this book was very interesting and offers wonderful insight from the point of view of slaves. The author took a year to compose these poems, researching and reading old journal entries and diaries to make these poems as accurate as possible. I think it would be a wonderful book to introduce into the classroom about history and/or Civil Rights. The book also has very vibrant and patterned pictures that would draw the children's attention.

The Vengekeep Prophecies

The Vengekeep Prophecies

Jaxter Grimjinx comes from a family of thieves, and isn't the most nimble person. On his first raid by himself, he accidentally sets fire to the Castellan's house. His whole family ends up in jail because of it, but are later released. This is due to the unveiling of a tapestry that tells of the year's forthcomings, and it shows the Grimjinx family as the heroes of the year's catastrophic events. However, this tapestry was woven by Jaxter's mother in case the family ever got in a tight situation. Unfortunately, she wove it on Fateskin- a fabric that is virtually indestructible and all events woven on it will come true. Jaxter must go on an adventure across the Five Provinces of his homeland to gather ingredients to try to destroy the Fateskin before all of the prophecies come true and his home is destroyed.

This would be a great book to do in a read aloud, because Jaxter, even though he is born into a family of thieves, he learns that he doesn't need to follow in his family foot steps. He lets his family know that he has other passions, and they urge him on to follow his dreams and are behind him one hundred percent.

I really loved this book. It was interesting and it also had bits of magic and magical creatures thrown in. If you like Harry Potter (who doesn't?!), I'm sure you'll love this book. It's an easy read and keeps you interested.

The Cavendish Home for Boys and Girls

By Claire LeGrand

Victoria lives in a town where everything is perfect and up to par. She's a perfectionist from her tidy room to her perfectly bouncy curls. Plus, she's top of the class at the academy. The only downside is that she does not have any friends. Pretty soon, Laurence shows up in town and is the exact opposite of Victoria- always late, shirt is untucked, hair not brushed, etc. She decides to make him her "project" to try and straighten him out. One day, he goes missing, and no one seems to notice, not even his parents, classmates, nor teacher. Only Victoria does and she finds out that she really does miss him. Victoria thinks it's the orphanage at the end of the street that is up to this, and soon is taken by Ms. Cavendish, the Orphanage's head. Victoria realizes that Ms. Cavendish was somehow able to brainwash the whole town, as well as brainwash the kids in the orphanage to become "perfect little children." Eventually, Victoria and Laurence ere able to escape, and the Orphanage, as well as Ms. Cavendish, disappear. 

This book was really weird. The house was alive with all the people that found out Ms. Cavendish's secret and were taken by her roaches, and there were random hallways that would appear in the house, making it bigger on the outside than on the inside. Did I also mention that Ms. Cavendish was seemingly immortal and half roach? Yeah, it's that weird. It's a mediocre scary story. I thought at first it would be more like a Nancy Drew story or something relatable, however, it became a story of magic, bugs, and a dystopia created by Ms. Cavendish. The only way I find that it can be used in a classroom is the moral that friends are important; Victoria eventually realizes that Laurence is her best friend and not just a "project."

Overall, if you like weird mysteries like this, than I would definitely recommend this book. It's not the greatest book I have ever read, nor the worst; I found it more-so interesting. And weird. Very weird. 

Hans my Hedgehog

Retold by: Kate Coombs
Illustrated byL John Nickle

This book is about a farmer and his wife, how they are lonely, and how they want a child. The Farmer tells his wife that he would be happy with a child, even if it's half hedgehog! Lo and behold, the wife gives birth the next day to a child that's half human and half hedgehog. His parents are very supportive and get Hans a fiddle, which he plays amazingly. Hans develops a bond with the pigs on the farm, and they often accompany him on his adventures into the forest, where he is the only one to never get lost. One day, he can't stand being an outcast, so he tells his parents that he is going to go into the woods to live and that they can't stop him. He takes his band of pigs and they venture into the forest, where he teaches his piggies directions with different tones of his fiddle. One day, a lost king comes along, and Hans makes a deal that if he helps the king, he gets the first thing that the king sees when he gets to his castle. Turns out, his daughter is the first thing that he sees, but the king and daughter agree that she will not go to Hans. Soon, another king comes along and Hans strikes the same deal. When the king gets back to his palace, his daughter runs out to see him, and they decide to keep their promise to Hans. News eventually gets back to Hans about the two kings, so he takes his band of pigs and raids the first king's castle, stealing most of his treasure. He then goes to the second king's castle and marries the king's daughter. During the wedding, he starts playing his fiddle so majestically that his hedgehog skin falls off and he turns into a handsome prince!

This story is retold, because it was originally written by the Brother's Grimm (you can access the original story here). Obviously, Coombs' story is a lot more cheery and not bloody/gory. The main differences are that his parents are neglectful, the first princess is stabbed by his quills (not raided), and he sheds his skin and the guardsmen throw it into the fire for him to be able to be a man in the Grimm's tale.

This story would be great in the classroom, because it teaches children that if you keep your promises, good things will happen. However, it might show kids that it's not okay to be different, because Hans was an outcast when he was still living with his parents, but he did learn to be friends with his piggies. Overall, this was a very amusing book and I would recommend it to anyone who would like to read a story about a hedgehog riding a rooster with a band of piggies, playing a fiddle.

Sadie and Ratz

By Sonya Hartnett and Ann James

This book is about Hannah, and her mischievous hands Sadie and Ratz. When her brother, Baby Boy, makes Hannah upset, Sadie and Ratz go nuts and "try to rub his ears off." Eventually, Baby Boy is tired of getting his ears rubbed off, and gets street smarts; when he draws on the walls or breaks something, he blames Sadie and Ratz. Of course, Hannah's parents know how her hands behave, and she gets into trouble. When Baby Boy pulls a leg off Hannah's pet bug, Hannah has had enough! She decides to put Sadie and Ratz in timeout to claim her innocence. Her parents realize it was Baby Boy, and Hannah is free of charge. 

I think this book would be perfect for a class, because most everyone, as a child, had an imaginary friend. Even though Hannah's hands are not imaginary, she gives them separate personalities, thus them becoming imaginary individuals. She sees her hands as separate beings, and at one point in the book even discusses what they want to be when they grow up. Also, children can relate to having younger siblings that irk them, and having to deal with the frustration, and the punishments as a result of acting out on that frustration.

Overall, I think this book was very entertaining, and shows children that you can stick up to your parents if they are wrong. Hannah shows this by planning and proving to her parents that she was innocent, not by yelling and screaming. 

Jimmy the Greatest!

By Jairo Buitrago and Illustrated by Rafeal Yockteng

This book is about Jimmy, who lives in a small, rural village in what appears to be Africa. They live in houses that basically look like shacks, and most of the village's population does not have shoes and barely any clothing. Jimmy becomes interested in boxing, and starts going to the town's "gym" which only has a boxing ring and is operated by Don Apolinar. Don introduces Jimmy to Muhammed Ali who becomes Jimmy's inspiration to become the very best boxer he could be. When Don Apolinar decides to move to the city, Jimmy stays behind and continues to maintain the boxing ring to be inspirational to all the other children in his village. 

At first, I did not like this book at all. What type of children's book doesn't have the main character able to follow his dreams?! But as I reread it, I realized that Jimmy is too young to make it on his own just yet, and that he needs to continue to practice and encourage other children to follow their passions. I thought this book would be great for a read aloud for the sole purpose of children being able to compare life in the United States to other countries, especially third world ones. 

In a way, Jimmy did what teachers do. Instead of moving forward with our careers and going to a job that gives us more income, we stay behind and choose to help others find their dreams and reach out to them. We inspire children just as Jimmy did in this book. 

Duck for a Day

By Meg McKinlay and Illustrated by Leila Rudge

Duck for a Day is about a young girl named Abby and her attempts to bring home the class pet for a day. She goes into her classroom the first day of school into Mrs. Melvino's classroom to find a covered crate. Lo and behold, in that crate was a duck, named Max, that would be the class pet. Abby is willing to do anything to bring home Max, because her mother is a neat freak and will not allow Abby to have any pets, but a class pet is "okay" because it is only for a day. However, Mrs. Melvino holds very high expectations for Max's day home, and requests portfolios complete with pictures before she is willing to let Max go to their home. Abby competes against her next door neighbor, Noah, to bring Max home first. They are enemies and polar opposites from the start, mainly because Abby's house is tidy, and Noah's house is pure chaos. Eventually, Abby gets to take Max home for a day and Noah is jealous. However, when Abby wakes up in the morning, Max has escaped. With Noah's help, she is able to retrieve Max safely and gain Noah's friendship.

This book is about friendship and it would be a great way to encourage kids to give "enemies" a chance. It can also give children the determination to strive for their goals; even if they are shot down a couple times does not mean that they cannot continue on and reach their goals, such as Abby and Noah did. Ultimately, I think this would be a great read aloud over a couple days (it's a chapter book) and kids would be able to relate to it on more than one level. 

The Quiet Place

By Sarah Stewart and Illustrated by David Small

The Quiet Place is about a young girl, Isabel, and her family moving from Mexico to California during the summer around the 1950's. This book is consisted of letters Isabel writes to her Aunt Lupita back in Mexico in which Isabel is able to practice her English. Her parents buy a refrigerator, and give Isabel the box which she calls her "quiet place" that reminds her of Mexico. One day, the box blows away, and her quiet place is gone. Isabel's mother starts catering for birthday parties in the area, and asks for the boxes that the presents come in. Isabel often attended the parties, but never really played with the other children. She gives these boxes to Isabel, and she eventually builds a new quiet place that's even more impressive than the first. When it's time for her birthday, all the children at the parties her mother catered came, and she realized that there was no need to be shy or self conscious of her heritage/the way she speaks.

I really enjoyed this book, and connected with it very well (since I played in boxes when I was little...). This book would be great to read in a class, especially if the class consisted of children immigrants. Isabel is a shy child, because she does not know English that well. When she accompanies her mother to the parties she caters, Isabel often does not play with the other children. The children can certainly relate to Isabel if they are self conscious about the way they speak. However, in the end, Isabel realizes that all her future classmates like her, because they show up for her birthday party.

The only problem I had with this book was that it took place in the 1950's- when racism and civil rights were at an all time high in America. As sad as it is, Isabel would have had a very hard time to find friends, let alone go to the same school as all of her "white" friends. The picture to the left shows all of her new friends playing in her quiet place, with a diverse group of ethnicities. Unfortunately, she would have been discriminated against. I think the book would be more fitted to take place during the modern day, because discrimination is at a minimum and Isabel would be able to make friends of every race and ethnicity she so desired.

Z is for Moose

Z is for Moose

By Kelly Bingham and Illustrated by Paul O. Zelinsky

Z is for Moose is an easy read about the alphabet- mostly. The Zebra is the "director" of the pages and tells us which letter is for which word, such as "L is for Lollipop." As he gets closer to the M, Moose is very excited, however, it turns out, that Zebra uses Mouse instead of Moose. Moose then goes on a rampage and destroys as many letters as he can. Zebra tries, and ultimately succeeds in saving the letters, however, he soon realizes that Moose is very upset that he was not chosen. Zebra finds a place to put Moose and their friendship is restored. 

This book illustrates how someone reacts to being left out in a way that children can understand and/or relate to. It demonstrates the problem, the effect, as well as the solution. It is a simple book to show children the moral lesson of how important it is to not intentionally leave people out.