Alaska ABC Book

Alaska ABC Book, by Charlene Kreeger and Shannon Cartwright is a nice concept book that incorporates an Alaskan theme so the children can relate more to it. I will use it again if I'm teaching the ABC's to children in Alaska.

The eye of the needle by Terry Sloat

The Eye of the Needle retold and illustrated by Teri Sloat based on a Yupik tale as told by Betty Huffmon. I really like this story. I think the children were a little too young to fully enjoy it, but they still liked it. I think it would be a great introduction to Alaska Studies. It has a great story and beautiful pictures.

Annie and the Wild Animals by Jan Brett

We read Annie and the Wild Animals by Jan Brett. It is a very cute story and the children loved the pictures. It became very interactive when we talked about the pictures. I will use this book again.

The Big Fish: An Alaskan Fairy Tale by Marcia Wakeland

The children and I read, The Big Fish: An Alaskan Fairy Tale written by Marcia Wakeland with illustrations by Alexander Sagan. This is a pretty fun fairy tale and the pictures are beautiful. The only thing that I thought was strange was the salmon doesn't look like salmon at all, not a very accurate portrayal of Alaskan fish, but it is a fairy tale. Either way the children seemed to like it.

Mama Do You Love Me?

The children and I read, Mama, Do You Love Me? By Barbara M. Joosse and illustrated by Barbara Lavallee. It is a very good story with great illustrations. The children enjoyed it. It could be used as an introduction to Alaska Native Studies.

Alaska's Three Bears by Shannon Cartwright and Shelly Gill

Alaska's Three Bears by Shannon Cartwright and Shelly Gill is another great book to read with children especially in Alaska. The pictures are very engaging and the topic is related to the children. They seemed to enjoy the story very much.

Love You Forever by Robert Munsch illustrated by Sheila McGaw

The children and I read Love You Forever by Robert Munsch and illustrated by Sheila McGraw. The very popular book by Munsch was very familiar to the children and also book I remember hearing from my own family as a child. Though it's not my favorite Robert Munsch book, it does bring back happy memories and the children seemed to enjoy it.

Stone Soup by Marcia Brown

The same group of 5 children and I read Stone Soup by Marcia Brown. The children seemed engaged and interested in the book. The illustrations are quite simple and the children were comfortable with that. I've seen a few good lessons used with this book in math and language and I will use it in my future classroom.

One by Kathryn Otoshi

The children and I read the book, One by Katheryn Otoshi next. This was by far the favorite book of the day. The children really gravitated towards this story they moved closer to the book, they talked about the pictures, they counted, and they named all the colors in the story. It is a very good story that incorporates a lot of different elements into the book from counting to colors to standing up for whats right and standing up for yourself. It's a great book and one I will use in my future classroom.

Tikki Tikki Tembo retold by Arlene Mosel/ illustrated by Blair Lent

The children and I read this classic novel, Tikki Tikki Tembo retold by Arlene Mosel and illustrated by Blair Lent. It was one of the few books I remember my school librarian reading to my third grade class so it has always been a favorite of mine. The children seemed to like listening to the book. It kept them engaged and they were excited to hear the story.

Parts by Ted Arnold

We read, Parts by Ted Arnold next. I heard this book title from our last class discussion and I thought I would give it a try with the group of children I was reading it to. We all agreed that it was pretty silly. The children and I had to discuss the different events that were happening to the character. Overall it was a pretty good story and the children responded well to it.

Flat Stanley by Jeff Brown pictures by Scott Nash

The next storybook we read was, Flat Stanley by Jeff Brown pictures by Scott Nash. The book was enjoyed by all the children as well as myself. In the future I will use this fantasy book to encourage creative writing in the classroom as well as letter writing and cultural experiences.

Flotsam by David Wiesner

The 5 children and I looked at the book, Flotsam by David Wiesner. The children are aged 2-5. They seemed to enjoy the pictures and I had them dictate what they saw in the pictures. I think they were a little young to enjoy the full complexity of the book, but I think it is enjoyable for all ages to look at. One of my personal favorites which I will keep in my future classroom.

Some titles I don't want to forget

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs

We read, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs by Judi Barrett and drawn by Ron Barrett. The children had read the book before so they were comfortable with the story and enjoyed listening to it. When the giant pancake fell on top of the school one of the girls said, "Oh-no, I'm afraid that's going to happen to my house!" It was adorable. It's a very could story and I will use it in my future classrooms especially during units pertaining to weather.

The Way To Start A Day and Pancakes for Breakfast

The children and I read, The Way to Start a Day by Byrd Baylor and illustrated by Peter Parnall. I found this book really awkward to read with the children and the placement of the words on the pages is confusing. We didn't end up finishing it. The illustrations are really cool, but it should be used with older children who are possibly studying other cultures.

Next we read, Pancakes for Breakfast by Tomie DePaola, which is a wordless book. The children seemed to like it. I asked them some questions and had them dictate what was happening in the picture and make predictions.

The Crayon Box that Talked and I Knew You Could!

The children and I read, The Crayon Box that Talked by Shane DeRolf and illustrated by Michael Letzig. The children really seemed to enjoy the story a lot. They asked a lot of questions and were very engaged. We read, I Knew You Could! by Craig Dorfman and illustrated by Cristina Ong. They were also very engaged in this story and responded well to the context of the book. They really liked the trains. Both of these book have really good positive messages that celebrate acceptance and perseverance. In the future I will use both of these books in my classroom.