Calvin Can't Fly

Calvin Can't Fly: The Story of a Bookworm Birdie  By: Jennifer Berne Illustrated By: Keith Bendis

Calvin fell out of the nest onto a book.  From this moment on Calvin loved to read.  He read all the time. When his birdie cousins were learning how to be birds he was learning in the library.  When everyone was learning to fly he was reading a book instead. Then the sad day came when he was to fly south for the winter.   He realized he spent so much time reading that he never learned to do bird things, his cousins refused to leave him behind and tied him up and carried him.  Along the way a huge storm was coming, Calvin knows it is something called a hurricane and safely gets his friends to a cave where they wait out a storm.

I loved this book. It shows that no matter what you love to do you need to learn the important things in life too.  It also shows that learning from books is a good thing and you have to know about the world around you.  I loved the illustrations and so did all the kiddos I have read the book too!!

I bought this from Scholastic.
ISBN: 978-1-4027-7323-5

Some Dog

Some Dog By: Mary Casanova Pictures By: Ard Hoyt

George loved his life as a dog. He loved his family. He had a special spot in all his favorite places, that is until Zippity showed up.  Zippity was loud and moved very fast and George felt replaced.  One night Zippity went missing during a very bad storm.  George's family asked him to do what he did best and find Zippity.  George rose to the challenge and from then on Zippity and George were never apart.

I love this book. It has a sweet story of friendship and love.  The illustrations are fantastic and so great to look at. The kids that I read this to in my fourth and fifth grade class loved the pictures to and asked me to slow down so they could look at them more. My children at home think that George is a great friend to Zippity and love to hear the story over and over.

I purchased this from Scholastic.
ISBN: 978-0-374-37133-3

The Littlest Dinosaur

The Littlest Dinosaur By: Michael Foreman

In the dinosaur world a mommy dinosaur sits on her eggs. All but one hatches, the mom is convinced it will hatch and spends a lot of time warming it and cooling it. The daddy dino is upset and yells at the egg one day, it then cracks open. Out comes the smallest dinosaur anyone has ever seen.  The little dinosaur always feels left out and is often alone. But one day when everyone else gets themselves caught in the mud it is the littlest dinosaur and his new big friend to the rescue.

This is a beautiful book about no matter what size you are you can make a difference and are important to the world. The illustrations are beautiful and it makes a wonderful read aloud to any elementary school classroom.  I loved reading it to my kids and my boys at home really liked it too!

I borrowed this from the school library.
ISBN: 978-08027-9759-9

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake By: Aimee Bender

On her ninth birthday Rose finds out that she has a special gift.  She can taste the feelings of the person who makes her food. This may sound like a great thing, except when you find out that you mother is not a happy person.  Or when you find out that your mother is happy because she is seeing someone that is not your father.  As Rose grows her tasting ability gets to the point that she can tell where certain foods are made or grown. This forces Rose to love food that is packaged.  Rose has to figure out how to deal with this type of gift and figure out just where she stands in the world. Her mother who is distant, her father who is afraid of hospitals, and her brother who just disappears from the world at times. 

I think that this book was interesting. I don't know that I loved it, and am still not sure what I feel about it.  I felt very confused and sad when the book ended.  I felt that Rose had a potential that she missed and her family's odd behaviors and sadness made my heart break for her.  I really feel odd about this book, like I might have missed something along the way.  It was a quick read and not for kids, for adults.  I cant wait until my book group meets to talk about this book so I get others perspectives of the book.

I borrowed this from the public library.
ISBN:  978-0-385-50112-5

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind By: William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer

This is an inspirational story of a boy who had a dream and was able to make it happen.  William Kamkwamba was born and raised in Malawi, where drought and famine reined.  He always loved to take things apart and rebuild them and was able to do that with many things.  One day he found a book that showed him how to make a windmill.  He proceeds to build this thing out of scrap metal and old bicycles.  He is able to build something that works and changed his life forever.


















I loved this story for the pure nature of someone who is able to create something so important and needed without anyone showing him how.  He is a  true genius and a true wonder.   I thought that the books was full of detail that at times I was overwhelmed by but pushed through because the story was so great. It is also a picture book that I read with my students at school and they loved the story too. It shows that no matter where you are at in life, you can make things better for yourself and for those around you.

I purchased both of these on Amazon.com

ISBN: 978-0-06-0173033-7  and 978-0-8037-3511-8

Ten Little Caterpillars

Ten Little Caterpillars By: Bill Martin Jr  Illustrated By: Lois Ehlert

This is the story of the adventures of ten caterpillars and where they are off to.  It shows them eating, being carried by kids to school, and just walking around meeting other animals!  It makes a perfect read aloud for young kids, but what I loved about it is..That it tells you the names of the different types of caterpillars.  It also tells the names of the types of plants that the caterpillars are eating or sitting on.  At the end of this book it shows the caterpillars again and shows what type of butterfly or moth that it will turn into.  While this is great for young kids to hear, the science information is great for any study on caterpillars, moths and butterflies.  Great Read!!

I purchased this from the Scholastic Book Fair
ISBN: 978-1-4424-3385-4

PicThe Eraserheads

The Eraserheads By: Kate Banks Pictures By: Boris Kulikov

This book is about the lives of three eraserheads; an owl, a crocodile, and a pig.  They live in the room of a young boys who loves to draw and create.  They are all special and have their own talents, like math eating, and letters.  One day their young boy started to draw a picture the picture ended up at the edge of the paper and was accidentally erased.  By the boy was able to draw more adventures to send the eraserheads on, but they found out that they really really liked just being at home!

I loved this book!  I thought the pictures were beautiful and made the story come to life on the page. The story was cute, having the eraserheads come to life was a great idea, and giving them different personalities that worked well together!  I read this to my class of fourth and fifth graders and they really liked it a lot!  My kids at home did to! Great read aloud book!!

I bought this at the Scholastic Book Fair
ISBN: 978-0-374-39920-7