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Courtney Sherkel 113 North 14th Avenue                       Altoona, PA 16601 <!--[if supportFields]><span style='mso-element:field-begin'></span><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>CREATEDATE<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>  </span>\@ "MMMM d, yyyy"<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>  </span>\* MERGEFORMAT <span style='mso-element:field-separator'></span><![endif]-->March 6, 2008<!--[if supportFields]><span style='mso-element:field-end'></span><![endif]-->           Mary Hoffman c/o Pat White  Rogers, Coleridge and White
20 Powis Mews
London
W11 1JN     Dear Ms. Mary Hoffman: Congratulations! I am pleased to announce that your book, Amazing Grace, has been chosen as the recipient of The Break-A-Leg Award for Excellence in Children's Literature about Theater, Acting, Singing, and/or Dancing. This award was created in my children's literature education class at <st1:PlaceName w:st=

This book is about a girl named Susan. Susan is being described as doing activities such as laughing, swimming, running, etc...Then the last page of the book has Susan sitting in a wheelchair. This book describes the messge that special needs children can do the same activities as the normal children.   Ashley Cribbs 124 Indiana Avenue Vandergrift, Pa 15690 aac5024@psu.edu March 4, 2008 Attention: Mrs. Jeanne Willis Books for Young Readers
Henry Holt and Company
175 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10010   Dear Mrs. Willis: My name is Ashley Cribbs and I am a student at Penn State Altoona majoring in elementary education.  I am writing to inform you that your book, "Susan Laughs," has won the Special Kids Award for Children Literature. It is a book about children who have special needs or exceptionalities. This award was created in my Language and Literacy Education block. I was to create an award for any topic in children literature. Then, the class had to nominate books for each of the awards that each student created. Once completed, the nominee of the award had to choose only one book that the student felt met the requirements of the award. That is how I chose your book for my Special Kids Award.  I have dedicated my award to you because I felt that "Susan Laughs" is an excellent way to portray the message that even though children may have special

The One in the Middle is the Green Kangaroo by Judy Blume is a good book. This book is about a kid, Freddy Dissel, who is the middle child in the family. He never gets to be the center of attention. However, one day he heard about a play being held in this school. They were looking for fifth and sixth graders, but Freddy tried out and got the part of the green kangaroo. The day of the performance came and his family went to watch him. He performed his heart out and played the best green kangaroo ever, He never worried about being in the middle anymore. This book is for great for children ages K-4. This book can be found in Penn State Libraries.

  This book is about a famous sculpture in an art museum of a little ballerina girl.  The book is told from the museum guard's perspective. He tells the people that visit the museum that the statue is a girl named Maria.  Maria was a little girl who dreamed of being a ballerina at the Paris Opera House.  Her poor parents saved all their money to send her to ballet school.  At ballet school she encountered a famous artist named Degas. Maria got an opportunity to dance in the Paris Opera House but only if she took lessons everyday. Her father became very ill and since he could not work they couldn't afford it.  Then Degas offered to pay Maria to pose for him, but she only made enough to pay for her father's doctor and not dance lessons. The artist reveals that he is going blind and must sculpt her because he can no longer paint.  She never got to perform at the Paris Opera House but two years later the sculpture became very famous. This is a brilliant tale of an actual sculpture of a ballerina by sculpture/painter Edgar Degas. It displays all types of art; dance, performance, sculpture and painting.  This is an excellent book that incorporates fact and fiction of the arts all in one.

Giraffes Can't Dance is a book about a giraffe named Gerald who has a hard time dancing. Gerald knows that he is bad at dancing, but he gives it a try anyways. When he does try dancing, everyone laughs at him and tells him that giraffes can't dance. Gerald is almost to the point of giving up, but then he hears some encouraging words from a cricket. After listening to the cricket and thinking about what he says, Gerald turns into a really great dancer! One thing I really like about this book is the very colorful and vibrant illustrations. Also, there are rhyming phrases throughout the entire book. Giraffes Can't Dance would be a great book to read in a classroom; it teaches you to always believe in yourself and what you want to do. This book is available through the Penn State libraries.

Dog Breath is about a very good dog with a very big problem, bad breath. Halle is the Tosis family pet and they love her dearly but the Tosis parents say she has to go, even the skunks avoid her. The Tosis children take matters into their own hands. In an attempt to get rid of Halle's bad breath they take her to admire a "breathtaking" view, and exciting movie that leaves you "breathless" and a ride on a roller coaster that promises to make you "loose your breath". None of these endeavors work and the children return home. Later that night burglars break into the house and Halle licks them causing them to pass out and be captured. Now the Tosis family decides to keep their wonderful watchdog. This is a laugh out loud hilarious book for all ages. I am sure that anyone who reads it will find it very amusing.

This book is about a hippo named Hilda who loves to dance. However, Hilda's dancing is very destructive. All of her friends wish she would take up a less destructive hobby. They recommend knitting and singing, but Hilda didn't like either one, so she sticks to dancing. Finally, the water buffalo recommend swimming to Hilda. It is then that she discovers her passion for water ballet dancing. Hilda was good at water ballet and she didn't destroy anything in the process. Best of all, her friends loved it and told her to keep dancing. This book will communicate a passion for the arts, specifically dancing, to the students who read it. The illustrations are bright and colorful. The one weakness of this book is that it shows Hilda's friends not supporting her dancing on land. As a teacher, this book would be good to recommend to students who like dance, or just enjoy the arts in general.

This adorable and very funny children's book is about a zebra and orangutan who loves underwear. They have a friend that is a buffalo, who is always in a bad mood. They challenge the buffalo to say the word underwear 10 times without laughing. Do you think he can do it? This book is perfect for little children, more so the younger, primary grades such ad K-3 grade. Its main strength is how funny it is and it gives children a break from their day to sit and listen to a very fun and silly story. From a teachers perspective, I think it would be great to read when you just need to step back from everything and take a deep breath. I own this book, so if you would like to look at it, just let me know. Enjoy (;

Amazing Grace is a wonderful picture book about an African American girl who wants to perform in the school play. The problem is that her classmates do not believe that Grace should play the part of Peter Pan because she is neither a boy, like Peter Pan, nor white, as they imagine Peter Pan to be. Well, with strength and determination, Grace not only gets the part, but shines. This book is particularly good for children because of its strong female character. Most children, no matter their ethnicity and gender, can relate to Grace's disappointment. All children can learn from Grace how to use disappointment to fuel their determination to succeed. The book might also bring confidence to children who are shy or lack confidence. This would be an excellent book to share with children who are about to begin a performance project.