WGS Book Almanac

goodreads.com

Being a Pig is Nice:  A Child's-Eye View of Manners
by Sally Lloyd-Jones
Illustrator: Dan Krall
AR 3.5

Being a well-mannered kid can be hard, right?  So, maybe it would be better to be a snail, or a monkey, or even an elephant.  As our character imagines herself in each of these roles instead, she realizes that each of them come with their own set of challenges.  Until... she thinks of one more thing she could be and not have to worry about her manners.  What do you think it is?  And, will it work?

goodreads.com

Stone Soup
by Marcia Brown
Genre: Folk Tale/AR 3.3
Caldecott Honor Book

Three soldiers returning from war are hoping to find a nice meal and a place to rest for the night.  The villagers, however, do not intend to welcome the soldiers as their guests. When they claim to have no food or room in their houses, the soldiers devise a plan to trick the people to share what they have to make the stone soup.  It was one of my favorite books to reread as a child. I hope you get a chance to read and enjoy it, too.

betterworldbooks.com

Three Days on a River in a Red Canoe
by Vera B. Williams
A.R. Level 3.5
Genre: Realistic Fiction

A boy's story of the 3-day trip he takes with his mother, aunt, and cousin begins with the purchase of the canoe and the planning of the trip. The exciting adventures are retold with pencil drawings illustrating each page.  This type of storytelling feels like a journal with its side notes on knot tieing, recipes, and tent hoisting instructions.  It is exactly the kind of journaling I tried (in vain) to get my family to adopt for our vacations.  I am going to reread this to them and see if I can inspire them to give it another try. 

betterworldbooks.com

The Hero of Bremen
by Margaret Hodges
Illustrator Chalres Mikolaycak
A.R. Level 4.9
Genre:  Legend

This legend tells of a crippled shoemaker who must perform a heroic deed to acquire much needed land for the crowded city of Bremen.  Hans, the shoemaker, has often retold the tale of another Bremen legend, Roland, whose strength and courage Hans will need to draw on if he is to succeed.

Our second graders read The Bremen Town Musicians in their reading series. While this book is above most of their reading levels, they will enjoy it as a read aloud in the library along with their reading series feature about Bremen.   

I'll be reading some of these great titles to my Pre-K through 5th graders this week.

 

To review the history and traditions of Thanksgiving:

by Gail Gibbons

A simple history from the Mayflower to our current day dinner table. 








by Jean Craighead George

A little long (it begins with the plymouth rock's journey via glacier to its spot in Massachusetts), but plenty of information and gorgeous illustrations.

The Thanksgiving Story
by Alice Dalgliesh
Helen Sewell (Illustrator)

If You Were at the First Thanksgiving
by Anne Kamma
Bert Dodson (Illustrator)

Kids always love the way these books are written with easy access points for relating to life then and now.  It's not necessary to read the entire thing, but students generally enjoy all the different bits of information.

Fun reads for Story Time

Some chapter books, too:

goodreads.com

Feathers
by Jacqueline Woodson
Genre: Historical Fiction/AR 4.4
Newbery Honor

Told from the perspective of 11 year-old Frannie, this story deals with a range of issues: segregation, bullying, Christian faith and doubt, discrimination, deafness, death, and sorrow.  Yet, it's really not a heavy hearted book.  Frannie expresses her anger, sorrow, and happiness with a detached manner that is nevertheless genuine and heartfelt.  She questions everything, including her friends' rejection and bullying of a new white boy in their all black school and community, the need to go to church, her mother's miscarriages, and the impact of her brother's deafness.  The references to Emily Dickinson's poem, Hope, provides insight to the author and Frannie's perspective.  For me, it is a story of searching for resilience and what is required to overcome not just the big obstacles, but the small injustices and lingering doubts that we all face from time to time.