Group items tagged

This book is a wonderful book to address a major issue in growing up, self-esteem. Curtis shows kids that feeling good means liking yourself the way you are. I'm Gonna Like Me celebrates kids differences such as, body type, missing teeth and personal style choices. This book teaches children to love themselves even if they make a mistake, don't know the right answer or get picked last in gym class. It encourages a healthy view of ones self, establishes a sense self worth and a positive outlook on life.  This book is an all around perfect book to teach self esteem, and the pictures make it even better.

Dear Jamie Lee Curtis,      Congratulations! My name is Brittney Ward, and I am pleased to inform you that your book, I'm Gonna Like Me, has been chosen as the recipient of the Kira Elizabeth Award for excellence in children's literature about growing up.      This award was created as part of an assignment in the Elementary Education block courses at Penn State University - Altoona Campus. Each student's task was to create an award for some unique aspect of children's literature and then create the criteria for the award. Our fellow students then nominated books for our award following the specific criteria. After looking closely at several nominations, we were to pick a winner and notify the author of our winning book.      The Kira Elizabeth Award was to be presented to a book that provided guidance to a child going through the trials and tribulations of growing up. In today's society, children are "growing up" much faster than in the past. Because growing up is a part of life, I wanted the book to be one a child could turn to when they wanted to learn about or take shelter in knowing the social and emotional obstacles that come along with growing up. Nominations had to include appropriate facts, reassurances, or guidance on how to deal with the social, emotional, and/or personal changes children age's 5-9 experience growing up, such as how to make friends, getting along with classmates, understanding their feelings, etc.      This award is in honor of a little girl named Kira Elizabeth Angello. She is three years old and, in my opinion, is growing up entirely too fast. I watch her from time to time and she loves books. Her mother always wants to make sure that she has high self-esteem and that she loves who she is. Therefore, I thought this was the perfect opportunity to 'shop around' for books that deal with that issue. In the wo

The Recess Queen is a book about a bully on the playground at recess. Her name is Mean Jean and she has total control of the playground. Nobody can do anything before she does; if they do, she gets mad and lets everyone know it. Then, one day a new girl comes to school and changes everything. Katie Sue, the new girl, lets every kid at school know that she does not care what Mean Jean does. She will play whenever she wants and with whatever she wants. The Recess Queen is a great book that lets kids know how to make friends; it seems to say that you should not let people intimidate you. Also, the illustrations in this book are very colorful. A lot of kids are bullied and pushed around by the "Mean Jean's" of the world; after reading The Recess Queen, hopefully many kids can become "Katie Sue's."

"The Growing Story" is a touching story about a little boy who sees everything around him growing larger and wonders if he is going to grow at all as well. This book has beautiful illustrations that support the text on every page. It's use of the boy's questioning throughout the story promotes the idea of curiosity and the want to learn being a good thing. The book also shows that being patient, and not rushing and getting upset over things that you do not see or do not understand, is the best way to go. "The Growing Story" is the type of book you would choose to read to a group of children who are just beginning to realize or understand that they are going to get bigger and that they are going to change...only it is going to take a little bit of time. A story like this could promote patience and understanding within the classroom setting very easily.

It's Prefectly Normal was written by Rob Harris. Like so many other authors his personal experiences influenced him to write the book. This is a really well detailed information book. It would be an excellent resource for the older children. It has very detailed pictures and information about the changing body. It can be found at your local Altoona Library

This book is about a girl named Maria Isabel, a Hispanic child growing up in the United States. When she starts school, her teacher changes her name to Mary because there are already two other girls with the name Maria in her classroom. Maria Isabel has trouble answering to Mary because it is not her name. Maria Isabel is proud of her name because of the fact that she is named after relatives whom she loves. Because Maria Isabel finds it impossible to answer to Mary, she is excluded from the school's Winter Pageant. This book shows a Hispanic child's pride in her heritage and how difficult it is to fit into a new environment that doesn't understand your culture. With a growing multi-cultural population, this book is great to recommend to older students of all ethnicities to help them understand and accept different cultures.

Adam, who has dyslexia, is not alone when he looks for escape from the terrible task of learning to read. His difficulties cause change in behavior, frustration and a number of other problems. Parents and other adults sometimes do not know what to do, which can make the situation worse. It is not a matter of trying harder, but of having opportunities to participate in good activities. This book explains how children with dyslexia can get help once their disability is diagnosed. It is written in an easy to read format but is much like a what-to-do handbook. It is a good selection for children to read or have read to them. This book is available at Barnes&Noble. Enjoy (;

This book is filled with contrasts of a new and old fairy tale. The book shows two girls who live next door to each other. One is Cinderella and the other is Cinder Edna. They both have a mean stepmother and stepsisters. But, Edna deals with her problems in stride. When the king has a ball, Cinderella wishes for a fairy godmother to help her get ready for the ball. But, Cinder Ella puts a dress on layaway. Cinderella takes a carriage to the ball, but Cinder Edna takes the bus. Randolph, the king's son, dances with Cinderella. Cinder Edna dances with Randolph's brother Rupert. Rupert runs a recycling plant and a home for orphaned kittens. When the clock strikes midnight, both Cinderella and Cinder Edna have to go home. Randolph did not even know Cinderella's name, but Rupert did know Cinder Edna's name. Cinderella left a glass slipper, but Cinder Edna left a loafer. The brothers find Cinderella and Cinder Edna. When they get married in a double ceremony, they change their names to Ella and Edna. Ella seems to have the perfect life, but she is bored by the ceremonies, speeches, and her perfect husband. Rupert and Edna are the ones who live happily ever after. They live in a cottage and enjoy each other's company. This book shows the superficiality of some fairy tales. The book also shows the importance of making the best of your circumstances in life. The book shows children that a happy couple does not need to be perfect. This would be an excellent book to start a discussion about concentrating on your personality and inner qualities and less on your superficial traits.

In this book, Monsieur Monmouton and his farm animals take a trip to Paris which is a big change from the farm.  While on their trip, they visit the Louvre, a three star restaraunt, and many more places that are reminiscent of life in Paris.  This is a really great book for introducing students to Paris and a new language; however, there are quite a few French words that are difficult to say and it doesn't give the meaning of them either.  The pictures are excellent and dramatize the Paris life perfectly so students will be able to feel something while reading it.  One teacher says that this book's water color illustrations bring the adventure alive and to a new level.

This is a story about a Swan who loves to dance, especially ballet. She struggles with the feeling of nervousness throughout the story. The big ballet is coming up and she is afraid to get on stage. Luckily she has a wonderful teacher that encourages her to push on. She keeps practicing, but she is still nervous. This book will teach a child that it is ok to feel nervous, but to never give up.

This is a story about a little girl who likes to be unique. She wears a pony tail in her hair even though the rest of the girls at school wear their hair different. The girls in her class make fun of her, but she does not care. The next day they will come into school wearing their hair the exact same way that Stephanie does. She feels very angry that the girls are copying her, so she changes her hair style. No matter what silly way she does it , they always copy. In the end it doesn't end up so good for the "copy cats".

Katherine Imler 1399 Lafayette Road New Enterprise, PA 16664 March 7, 2008 Robert Munsch 15 Sharon Place Guelph, Ontario, Canada N1H 7V2 Dear Mr. Munsch, I am pleased to announce that you have won the Susan B. Anthony Award for Celebrating Strong Female Characters for your book Stephanie's Ponytail. The award was created for a class project in my children's literature class. I am a junior at Penn State Altoona who is majoring in elementary and kindergarten education. I am in my language and literacy education block. Every student in my class created an award that dealt with an aspect of children's literature. Each student nominated books for the other students' awards. Each award had specific criteria that the nominated book had to meet. My award was to be given to a picture book that featured strong and empowered female characters. Many children's books show girls who are passive and dependent. Also, children's books usually show males as the problem solvers. This is disturbing considering the day and age we live in. Shirley B. Ernst author of the article "Gender Issues in Books for Children and Young Adults" said, "I would like to see more books with strong female characters who are active, inventive, and in charge of their own destinies." Nominations for this award had to show independent and non-stereotypical female characters. The book also had to be a picture book for children in kindergarten through second grade. I chose Stephanie's Ponytail for my award because the book features a strong female character that stands up to group conformity. She does not want to look like everyone else, but instead be her own individual person. Your book teaches children the importance of liking who they are. Another reason I picked your book is that its message is universal. The theme could be the same regardless of what time period or location the book was written about. Many children can relate to this book. Chi

March 5, 2008 Carrie Frederick 376 Harrieta Lane Bedford, Pa 15522 Dear Mrs. Charlotte Zolotow, I am sending you this letter to inform you that you are the winner of The Coco award. I am a student attending Pennsylvania State University, Altoona. I am majoring in elementary education and preparing to become a school teacher. This semester I am learning about and discussing children's literature the other future teachers in the Language and Literacy Education block of our major. We were assigned a project that involved inventing our own award for outstanding children's literature. We made a name for our award, described the criteria needed for nominations, and we all had to nominate a book for each person's award. My award is called The Coco award, and it is given for excellence in children's literature featuring non-stereotypical gender roles. Criteria for Coco award nominations were books with characters playing roles not associated with their gender or books confronting gender stereotypes that exist in our culture. There were ten nominations for the Coco award and William's Doll was chosen by me as the winner. I had ten books nominated for my award and I was only allowed to choose one winner. Of the ten books I had to choose from, I have decided that the most deserving of my award is William's Doll. This book has everything that my Coco award stands for. William and his father are equally important in the story. Even though William expresses that he wants a doll, his father, who cares more about gender stereotypes, gets him a train set and a basketball set. At the end, William's father eventually reveals that he did want William to have a doll because dolls are for girls. Sadly, this is how many parents, not just fathers, would react if their son wanted a doll. Adults who react like this way are the reason there are "boy toys" and "girl toys." If a doll was not labeled a girls toy, boys would not feel wrong for wanting to play with o

I'm currently reading this book, The Spring Tone, which is a very surreal book about two children whose parents are going through a divorce. The book was originally written in Japanese. The older child has just completed elementary school; the younger child is in fourth grade. This book is special for a variety of reasons. First of all, the children move in and out of their dreams throughout the book, often taking the reader by surprise. Also, many children will identify with Tetsu and Tomoki, who are both suffering a great deal because of the turmoil in their family. The close relationship of the siblings, who are typical in the way that they argue and yet love each other, is a good example of a strong yet dynamic sibling relationship. Children will also relate to Tomoki, who has many fears about her changing body, and who is ambivalent and nervous about growing into adulthood.