Madeline Series

Madeline  Picture Books
Madeline's Rescue
Madeline In London
Madeline's Christmas
By Ludwig Bemelmans

     The Madeline Series Books remain dear and true to my heart.  The tan book in the picture is from my original book collection when I was three.  My mom would read these books to me.  Before I even knew it was the thing to do, I was painting pictures and making predictions about the characters.  The books are about the character of Madeline.  She goes to a boarding school in Paris.  She has eleven friends and she is the smallest in her class.  Madeline is always wondering off somewhere and getting herself in trouble.  Miss Clavel is the head mistress of the school and in charge of all the girls.  No matter what happens to Madeline, or what kind of predicaments she gets herself into, the books always have a happy ending!

The Book Models!

The Snowman Storybook

The Snowman Storybook   Genre:  Fantasy
Words by Raymond Briggs


     This story is about a little boy who wakes up one morning to snow.  He decides to go outside and build himself a snowman.  When he goes to bed that night, he looks at the snowman.  He wakes in the middle of the night to find the snowman can move!  He invites the snowman inside to play.  Then, the snowman takes the boy flying around the world during the night. When they return, the boy says goodbye and goes back to bed.  When he awakes in the morning, the snowman has melted.  There is also a wordless movie to this book.

The Graveyard Book

The Graveyard Book  Genre Fantasy
By Neil Gaiman
Illustrations by Dave McKean
     This is a story about the childhood of a boy named Nobody Owens.  Nobody, Bod for short, lives in a very unique neighborhood, a graveyard!  His dad, mom, and sister were killed when he was just a small baby.  He managed to get away from this evil man by just learning how to climb out of his crib.  He crawls into a graveyard, by accident, and the ghosts of the people who were buried, take him in and raise him until adulthood.  Since the graveyard will be his new home, he gets honored the same skills of the ghosts.  On one condition, he does not leave the graveyard because the man who killed his family are still out looking for him, everywhere!
     This story is very well written and will draw readers to the book.  Bod gets himself in trouble by wanting to go out in the real world, exploring and learning.  He meets tons of ghosts and hears history lessons from them.  There is a bully lesson that can be expanded and life lessons on the value of having good friends.  Neil Gaiman even adds a little England twist in his writings for the watchful reader!

What I Know Now

What I Know Now
Letters to My Younger Self  Genre:  Informational
Edited By Ellyn Spragins
Letters By 41 Wise and Famous Women


     This book is all about earthly advice and individual letters of hard lessons learned in the 41 lives gathered in this book.  Ellyn Spragins organized the famous women to write a letter of the best information, that they have learned through the years to share with others.  The women are from age from 18 to 75.  The letters vary in people and their careers.  There are fashion designers, actresses, authors, poets, singers, olympians, newscasters, inspirational speakers, and business women.  (I would have liked Ellyn to have utilized a vivacious teacher in that list!)  One of my favorites is the letter from Maya Angelou.  Her famous quote from the book is, "Don't let anybody raise you.  You've been raised."  She also shares that when the world had knocked her down, she was able to go home and have her mother pamper her, giving her courage to go back again.  This reminded me of going to visit my daughter at college this school year.  On my arrival, I was able to "scoop her up," take her places, and share with her some tantalizing food.  Our college time visits were endless adventures from dawn until dusk.  
     I enjoyed reading this book.  Some of the women sharing are better writers than others.  Ellyn Spragins writes an introduction and acknowledgment at the beginning of the book.  I really like her style of writing and am going to be looking for more!

Eleanor Roosevelt and Amelia Earhart Legendary Aviator

1.  Eleanor Roosevelt  By Wendy Conklin
2.  Amelia Earhart Legendary Aviator/Graphic Library
by Jameson Anderson 
Pictures by Rod Whigham and Charles Barnett III
Genre:  Biography
     Eleanor Roosevelt is the story of her life with words and real pictures.  The book contains a table of contents, glossary, and index in the back of the book.  This 32 page book shares the highlights and struggles of her life and how she handled these situations.  This book would make a great resource for students in  2nd through 6th grades doing a report on her!


     The Amelia Earhart Graphic Biography shares the life of Amelia from age seven to her disappearance on July 2, 1937.  This book offers a table of contents, facts in a timeline form, glossary, internet site suggestions, additional book suggestions, and an index.  This would be suggested for students 3rd through 6th grades who enjoy getting information from a graphic book.

The Last Exit to Normal A Novel

The Last Exit to Normal   A Novel   Genre:  Controversial Books
Written by Michael Harmon

     This book was very easy to read.  The characters fit together in the small town of Rough Butte, Montana.  The main character, Ben, a high school boy, even though he was not in the best situation, meets a girl, Kimberly Johan, that really liked him.  Ben has the dysfunctional family thing and the normal thing with the girlfriend, that he is trying to figure out.  Ben's mom left him when he was young so he lives with his dad, Paul, and his dad's boyfriend, Edward.   The controversial issue in the novel would be gay men, his father and the boyfriend.  Ben deals with bullying at school, conflict in the community, and trying to stay out of serious trouble during his high school years.  That was the reason why Paul and Edward came to Edward's small hometown, Rough Butte, Montana.  Ben's dad wants to keep Ben from staying out of big city problems thinking, "The Beverly Hillbillies" is the place for the three of them to settle down.

The Latehomecomer

The Latehomecomer   Genre:  Multicultural Book/Biography
A Hmong Family Memoir
By Kao Kalia Yang
     This book is about the Yang family and how they started out in the jungles of Thailand, and trained in the refugee camps so they could better adjust to life in America.  Kao and her family moved to Minnesota when she was only six years old.  America was so different than Thailand like the language, food, jobs, schools, marriage, money, and the ways Americans thought about life.  This book teaches about the Hmong culture and the adaptions the Hmong had to make when coming to America.  It can give teachers a better understanding and insight of the Hmong culture, when they have students in their classrooms.  Kao Kalia Yang was in Appleton, Wisconsin in August of 2010, to share the book and story of her memoir.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian  
Genre:  Multicultural Book/Realistic Fiction
A novel by Sherman Alexie
Art by Ellen Forney


     This book is about a 14 year old boy named, Arnold Spirit, nicknamed, Junior.  Arnold lives on a reservation and he is Spokane Indian. He is born with water on the brain, however, is very smart in school.  His intelligence, art skills, and the love of his family get him far, helping him make good decisions, in spite being very poor.  Junior decides he wants more for his life than living on the indian reservation.  So, he transfers to an all white school in a city 22 miles from his home, being disowned by his friends on the reservation. It is there where he rises above but is faced with many hardships in his young life.  He tackles constant bullying, issues with friendship, alcoholism, poverty, sports competition, and deaths of close people around him.  
     The book is based on true events of the author.  It is written at a lower reading level, with an interest level for high school ages and above.  The writing is clear and eloquent, inviting readers into the book to make connections.  The book will touch readers helping them identify, relate, and possibly solve, problems they may encounter in their lives.  

Kidnapped

Kidnapped Series 1-3    Genre:  Contemporary Realistic Fiction
By Gordon Korman
Book One:  The Abduction
Book Two:  The Search
Book Three:  The Rescue
     The three series books are about the Falconer Family, John, Louise, Aiden, and Meg, and the adventures they encounter in their complicated lives.  Throughout the stories, it summarizes that John, a mystery writer, and Louise get sent to jail, but are proven innocent a year later. Therefore, their two children, Aiden and Meg, are on the run trying to escape the police and being sent to foster homes.  However, when the parents are cleared of their crimes, they finally get back together as a family.  But, when Aiden and Meg are walking home from school one day, a mysterious car pulls up and tries to take the two children.  Aiden escapes but Meg gets taken, with her three kidnappers hoping for ransom money.  Being that Meg was already on her own on the run and hiding in the world, she is able to outsmart her kidnappers, at times. She leaves clues that are like the ones written in her father's mystery books, that only big brother Aiden, not the experienced detectives, can recognize. The books go back in forth from Meg and her kidnappers to the Falconer home, trying to get closer and closer to finding Meg.  These adventure books will draw readers into the story, keeping them wanting to learn more and more about the characters and their astonishing escapades.  These books are written at a fourth grade level, with an interest level of third grade and higher. 

Just Listen

Just Listen       Genre:  Controversial Books
By Sarah Dessen
     Just Listen is about the Greene family, mainly about their three daughters, and the many issues they encounter in their lives.  The main sister character is Annabel, and she is a fashion model in high school.  Her life in high school, for the most part, is a happy one.  She has many friends and the status of hanging out with her older, trendy sisters.  At the beginning of the book, her life falls downhill when she is at a party and gets trapped in a bedroom with her best friend's boyfriend.  Her best friend, Sophie, walks in on them, blaming Annabel for luring her boyfriend, and trying to steal him away.  
     This book explains understandings of high school students trying to sort out issues of bullying, rape, anorexia, seclusion, anger management, friendship, and families staying interlaced together.  The characters are very real, drawing its readers in, giving insight to hushed issues high school students may encounter in their lifetimes.  This book can give its readers the strength, knowledge, and communication skills to stand up for their beliefs, like Annabel.  The book would be a great addition to a high school book list, to bring a nonreader into the world of reading!

Twisted

Twisted           Genre:  Controversial Books
By Laurie Halse Anderson
     This book is about Tyler Miller, a high school, hardworking boy from a middle class family.  The book seems like it has the thinking mentality of life in the 1960's.  Mr. Miller rules the roost, while his wife, Linda, a homemaker, lives "without a voice."  Throughout the book, Tyler's dad tries to crawl up the ladder of success with Mr. Milbury, his boss at work.  He ends up taking two climbs up and falling three steps down, weekly, with his work projects.  This is where the conflict starts for Tyler.  The Milbury kids go to school with Tyler and his younger sister. Tyler is forced to be the underdog, even though he is very intelligent!  He ends up taking the blame for posting some inappropriate internet pictures of Bethany Milbury.  Bethany knows he is innocent, but will not stick up for him. 
     This book shares the issues of high school bullying, being left out, classes too hard, parties, friendships, suspension, and suicide.  This book leaves the reader thinking and analyzing throughout the story.  It shares some life lessons and standing up for individual beliefs, no matter how difficult the situation.     

The Most Beautiful Roof in the World

The Most Beautiful Roof in the World  Genre: Informational Books
Exploring the Rainforest Canopy
By Kathryn Lasky
Photographs by Christopher G. Knight

     This is the story of scientist, Meg Lowman, and what she does for her job.  Meg spends five days a month, in the canopy, the the very top layer of new growth.  Meg studies plants, leaves, flowers, and insects.  When she is not at the top of the rainforest, she is on the bottom, looking up, standing in mosquito larvae, tarantulas, salamanders, and fungi.  The understory is full of stinging ants, rotten trunks, and thorns.  In the canopy, there are monkeys and birds.
     This book has a variety of beautiful pictures.  I used this book when I taught the Island Series, by Gordan Korman, to give students background knowledge and a visual on how it was to live in the rainforest.  At first, they pictured woods like in Wisconsin.  We also talked about the tropical fruits that could be found, like durians.  There is a glossary in the back, also, set in a 4th grade reading level so students can do some of their own research.

Dresden

Dresden    Genre:  Realistic Fiction/Modern Fantasy/Horror
Written by Michael O. Sajbel
First Draft of Script
April 20, 2010


This script was emailed and written from the director of the movie, The Ultimate Gift.  This movie was based on the book, The Ultimate Gift, by Jim Stovall.  If you have not seen the movie, rent it!  If you have not read the book, read it!  


     Dresden starts out in the year 1945 during WWII.  The people are scurrying and trying to flee for their lives, from the bombing by the British and United States Army.  Dresden is Germany's 7th largest city at the time and most important transportation network.  The scene describes a family running, with highlights of a little girl and her china head doll.  
     The script brings the reader back to present day.  A family of four are the main characters and they are making a move to the Fox Valley area.  They buy an old house, and while they are slowly unpacking their belongings, there are signs of others that may have been living in the dwelling for, who knows how long?  The basement seems to be the habitat of the spirits, and maybe a stalking book or two.  But as the story moves on, the Modern Fantasy genre steps in to explain what happens to the family and in their house.  Scenes include a ghost buster coming with service, spirits taking over beings, and the main father character, Ed, doing an about face in personality at the middle of the story.
     The script is in its first draft state.  But as it unfolds to movie form, which I know it will, it will be galvanizing to have a motion picture filmed in the Neenah and Menasha area....And in today's economic situation, brilliant of director, Michael O. Sajbel!
     

Mythopedia: Greek Myth Book Series

1.  Oh My Gods!  By Megan E. Bryant
2.  What a Beast!  By Sophia Kelly
3.  All in the Family!  By Steven Otfinoski
4.  She's All That!  By Megan E. Bryant   Genre:  Folklore

     This book series contains all the information needed to do a complete Mythology Unit, and show understanding about all there was to know during the times of Gods and Goddesses.  The high interest information is written in modern day times, blended in with old art and pictures.  The way the material is presented, makes it easy for grades fourth grade and up to gather the thoughts and facts.  The books contain a family tree, glossary, web sites, and book suggestions for further reading.

Plants on the Trail with Lewis and Clark

Plants on theTrail with Lewis and Clark  Genre:  Informational Text
Written by Dorothy Hinshaw Patent
Photographs by William Muñoz

     I used this informational book on Earth Day 2011.  We read aloud about the travels of Lewis and Clark on their Western Expedition, a two year journey starting in 1804.  When the western land was purchased, the  two men were hired to explore the land and report how people would be able to live.  They left by boat and learned how to make canoes from the Native Americans they encountered on the way.  They studied plant growth to see if people could live and build off the land.  They brought their hand drawn pictures and plant samples back to Thomas Jefferson.  Their plant discoveries are written in a timeline on the last pages of the book.  As an ending activity to the story, the class planted their own wildflowers.

Boys of Steel The Creators of Superman

Boys of Steel
The Creators of Superman     Genre:  Biography
Written by Marc Tyler Nobleman
Picture Book

     This well written and researched book is about two high school boys, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, who were outcasts during their school years.  Besides being social misfits, Jerry, a talented writer, and Joe, a comic book artist,  combined their talents together and created the character of Superman.  These two lives entwined in the early 1930's, when they decided to sell their work.  Being the start of the depression years, they sold the masterpiece for $130 to a Comic Book Company.  Thinking that was a huge hunk of money at the time, this was when their troubles began to emerge for the two men.  Superman sold millions of copies, merchandise, even made into motion pictures, and they never made another penny from their efforts.  So, they spent the rest of their lives, in and out of court, trying to gain their names stamped on their art, and some payment for the genius efforts.  They finally won in courts from sharing their story to the press, but died shortly after leaving their money to a wife and children.  This book will be well liked by young and old.  It shares the story of Jerry and Joe's adventure, and ends with a three page history lesson for adults.

Two Books: Chains, Forge

1.  Chains                 Genre:  Historical Fiction
2.  Forge               Written by Laurie Halse Anderson

The two books, Chains and Forge, are a series and part three is being written.  The author takes readers back in time to the start of the Revolutionary War.  The pages of the books are made to look like old, weathered journals.  In Forge, each chapter starts out an authentic diary entry from soldiers that fought in the war.  These books are loaded with words from slaves, soldiers, and generals, sharing the friendships and hardships encountered during times of fighting.  In the chapters, when there was not enough food, clothing, and shelter for the people, pages are written for readers to jump timelines back to the year 1776..  These are books that can not be put down, and need to be shared with others who love the realistic adventures of historical fiction.