The Lily Cupboard

Oppenheim, S. (1992). The Lily Cupboard. Illustrated by Ronald Himler. New York, NY: Charlotte Zolotow Book.

Brief Annotation: Miriam is a young Jewish girl living during World War II. Her parents pack up her bags and she is confused as to why they need to leave their home. The family brings her to a new family where Miriam is told to stay. She develops a friendship with her new “brother” Nello and a pet bunny Hendrik. One day Miriam is told to hide in the cupboard. She hears soldiers come in and is thankful that she and her bunny are safe in the lily cupboard, where finally the door opens to the light and they are safe. Miriam survives the war and is thankful to be a part of her new family.

Genre: Picture book- Historical Fiction

Grade Level: Grades 1- 5

Readers who will like this: Students who are learning about World War II would really enjoy this book. It is fairly lighthearted even though it’s addressing a very difficult and dark subject. This would also be a great book for teachers who are starting a unit or lesson on World War II, especially for younger ages.
Response/Rating (1-4): 4, Absolutely beautiful book. World War II is such a tough subject, and this book brings to light the many heroes that we found throughout that time, people who risked their own lives to help the Jewish people. At the end of the book it says that many young children went to live with other families throughout the war, this was truly inspiring. The story is almost cheery in some parts and you can appreciate the child like view that we get. The illustrations are beautiful and overall this was a great book.

One question you would ask before a read aloud: “Do you think you would risk your life to help another person?”

Reading Strategies Connection: Before reading this book out loud to an older group, I would have them do a Quickwrite. I would ask them to write down everything they know about World War II and ask what questions they may have as well. (Yopp & Yopp, 2010, pg. 52).

Konigsburg, E. L. (1977). From the Mixed Up files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. New York, NY: Yearling.

Brief Annotation: This story is about Claudia and Jamie Kincaid and the adventures they encounter when they run away from home to live in the Metropolitan museum of Art. As they hide out in the museum, they find themselves in the middle of an art mystery—a new statue has been sold to the museum by a Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. Everyone suspects that it is the work of Renaissance great, Michaelangelo, but there is no definitive proof. Claudia and Jamie set out to put their newfound freedom to use solving the mystery of the Angel sculpture.

Genre: contemporary realistic fiction/mystery
Grade level: 4-7
Readers who will like this book: Kids who enjoy adventures and/or mysteries. Students who like strong/somewhat flawed female lead characters.
Response/rating (1-4): 3 This is a really fun story and I loved the idea of hiding out in an art museum. The best part of the book is hearing about how the children make the museum a home. The mystery part was less engaging in my opinion and I was hoping for a bit more suspense.

One question you would ask before read aloud: If you were to run away from home, where would you go?

All the Lovely Bad Ones

Hahn, M. (2008). All the Lovely Bad Ones. New York, NY: Clarion Books.

Brief Annotation: “To all the little children:- The happy ones; and sad ones; the sober and the silent ones; the boisterous and glad ones; the good ones- Yes, the good ones, too; and all the lovely bad ones.” (Hahn, 2008). Travis and his sister Corey visit their grandmother at a very old Inn in Vermont. They learn quickly that the inn used to be haunted. They decide to be mischievous and pretend to be the ghosts at the Inn- attracting guests and people from all over who are fascinated by the ghosts. Travis quickly realizes that they have also attracted the actual ghosts who once lived there. They were back and wanted very much to rest peacefully. Travis and Corey have to help the lovely bad boy ghosts who want to be free from the spirit of the woman who killed them. Will they be able to free the boys and get out of the Inn safely?

Genre: Thriller- Contemporary Fiction

Grade Level: Grades 5-8

Readers who will like this: Students who are not afraid will like this book! I would not recommend it to people who scare easily- I was pretty afraid actually! It’s a more mature read and there are many words and no pictures in the book, so the student would need to be a fairly advanced reader. It is a good mystery and is a lot of fun.

Response/Rating (1-4): 4, I really enjoyed the book even though I was fairly afraid! It is a quick read and is a lot of fun. The story is interesting and they captivate the ghost boys in a really fun way. They give them goofy characteristics, which make the book a little more lighthearted, but ultimately the book is a ghost story and you hope for the ghosts to go away quickly. I think this story will be told around campfires for many generations to come.

One question you would ask before a read aloud: “ Would you ever want to go to a haunted Inn to find a ghost?”

Reading Strategies Connection: Before reading this book I would have the students look at the quote on the back of the book. ““To all the little children:- The happy ones; and sad ones; the sober and the silent ones; the boisterous and glad ones; the good ones- Yes, the good ones, too; and all the lovely bad ones.” ( Hahn, 2008). I would ask them to do a character quote and see what they think the quote may be about and what it could mean to the story. I would have them share in small groups and start to prepare for the book. (Yopp & Yopp, 2010, pg. 32).

Alphabet City

Johnson, S. (1995). Alphabet City. Stephen Johnson. New York, NY: A Division of Penguin USA.
Brief Annotation: This alphabet book shows the alphabet through a series of pictures that have been taken throughout a city. In benches the author finds the letter “o”, and a garden is the letter “d”. You go from A-Z seeing these beautiful pictures that show how the letters of our language are all around us.

Genre: Picture book

Grade Level: Birth- Kindergarten

Readers who will like this: People who are learning the alphabet will enjoy this book. People who also enjoy photography will like it too! The pictures are beautiful and it’s fun to see where the letters will be in the different parts of the city.

Response/Rating (1-4): 3, I enjoyed this book a lot but I also think that it could have used some words as well as the pictures. It’s really a fun book and an easy read and could be beneficial for people who are learning the alphabet, but other than that it was not the coolest alphabet book I have seen.

One question you would ask before a read aloud: “ What types of letters can you find in our room right now?”

Reading Strategies Connection: For younger ages (preschoolers possibly) I would read this book to them and then have them sketch their own letters that they find in the classroom. I would use the “sketch to stretch” model from Ruth Yopp and Hallie Yopp (Yopp & Yopp, pg. 108).

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

Martin, B. & Archambault, J. (1989). Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. New York, NY: Aladdin.

Brief Annotation: The alphabet book gets a different meaning in this fun, lighthearted take. Each letter races, climbs, and jumps up a coconut tree, only to make it to the top and the tree falls over! Once it jumps back up the letters try and make their way up again and again.

Genre: Alphabet book.

Grade Level: Pre-K - 1st grade

Readers who will like this: Readers who are just learning their letters, pre-kindergarten readers who are leaning the alphabet or reading.

Response/Rating (1-4): ****. The rhymes and artwork in this book are really fun, and are something that I think would really help a beginning reader. As a sidenote, I got the version with the audio book, and it's really enjoyable to listen along with. It makes the words pop off the page.

One question you would ask before a read aloud: "Does anyone here have a favorite rhyme?"

Shrek

Steig, W. (1990). Shrek. Illus. William Steig. New York, NY: Farrar Straus Giroux.

Brief Annotation: Shrek loves being ugly and disgusting. He is happy just causing terror and chaos wherever he goes. One day Shrek terrifies a witch, who then tells him of a prophecy that he will meet a donkey, a knight, and his one true love. Can an ugly, disgusting, monster really live happily ever after?

Genre: Fantasy, picturebook.

Grade Level: Kindergarten through grade 4.

Readers who will like this: Students who like quest tales, students who like adventure. Students who are just learning to read.

Response/Rating (1-4): ***. This was a very entertaining book, and very differnt from the movie. The story is light and easy to read, and would be great for beginning readers.

One question you would ask before a read aloud: What does 'acceptance' mean? Why should we accept everyone, no matter what they look like?

Reading Strategies Connection: I think a great strategy to use would be Retelling Of A Picturebook (Yopp & Yopp p. 140). The students could record audio of themselves retelling the story. They can use different voices for each of the characters and even change aspects of the book they didn't like or felt could benefit from being different.

Prelutsky, J. (2002). The Frogs Wore Red Suspenders. New York, NY: Harper Collins Audio.

Brief Annotation: What a fun collection of poems! Prelutsky’s poetry is fun and silly. It includes poems and verses about a variety of animals and kids. There is even a poem about Minneapolis and St. Paul! The audio recording was also really well done—instead of just reading the poems, they are set to music and sung. This would be a fun CD to have in classroom for transitions or background music, especially if you had already read the poems with your kids.

Genre: poetry
Grade level: k-2
Readers who will like this book: Kids who enjoy music and silly poems. The poems are fun to listen to and the recording has great music.
Response/rating (1-4): 3 I really had fun listening to this recording. It was more like listening to children’s music than listening to poetry. I would use it as music in a classroom, but I’m not sure how well it would work for a straight poetry study.
One question you would ask before read aloud: “What are suspenders?”