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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

Susan Laughs is a very cute book about a little girl and the things she does. The best part of this book is the surprise ending! Despite having little variation in the text, the book has a very strong and special message. It gives the idea that everyone is basically the same and can do the same things. The illustrations in the book do a fantastic job at conveying the message. Susan Laughs would be a great book for younger children to read because it has a lot of repetition.

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 pig who is owned by a couple but they got divorced so each person got "half a pig". This humorous story tells what happens when Mr. Harbottle wants the other half of the pig and it starts a wild and crazy chase to keep the pig from being turned into sausage. This story has humor, excitement, and suspense that will give your students' plenty of laughs.

Almost Late to School is a collection of poems about school. The book starts off with a poem about the first day of school. Then, the topics range from getting along with classmates to detention to what happens after school. These poems will probably make any student laugh! The illustrations in this book are very cute and colorful. Almost Late to School would be a fantastic book to read in a classroom after a very long and stressful day. What I really like about this book is that it does a great job at introducing poetry to children in a very humorous way that they can understand. When you want to look at this book, let me know.

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.

Marvin One Too Many is a really good book for children who are struggling to learn. This book is about a boy named Marvin and the struggles he has with reading. When Marvin first arrives at school, he does not have a desk and is one too many; it only gets worse from here. Marvin is the only one in his class who can not read. He often feels left out because of this. The children in his class laugh at Marvin and make fun of him because he can not read. A lot of children who have trouble reading can probably relate to Marvin. Finally with the help of his family, Marvin learns to read and begins to enjoy it! Since this is an "I Can Read Book," many children will be able to read this independently. This book can be found in the Penn State libraries.

My Brother Matthew, by Mary Thompson, is a great book about a young boy, David, and his autistic brother, Matthew.  Matthew was born with autism and at first David is very upset by all the extra attention Matthew gets. Eventually, David loves playing with Matthew, he makes him laugh and they go on great adventures together.  David is even sometimes an interpreter for his parents because Matthew's speech is often hard to decifer. David and Matthew have a wonderfull relationship and is an inspiration to children with disabilities. This book is all around perfect, it explores the what its like to have an autistic sibling in an understanding and compassionate manner.  (the author is from State College)

In this story, Miss Nelson's class has trouble following rules and listening to Miss Nelson. Fed up with the misbehavior, Miss Nelson comes up with a plan and "disappears". Since Miss Nelson can't be found, the school call in Viola Swamp. With Viola Swamp in charge, the children find themselves doing twice the amount of homework and losing their storytime. The kids set out to find Miss Nelson to bring her back. Finally, when Miss Nelson comes back, her students are well behaved and appreciate the teacher they have. This book could bring a smile to anyone's face when the students are coming up with ideas of what happened to Miss Nelson. From a teacher's perspective, this could be a good story to read to a class that is having behavior problems.

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 (;

Skippyjon Jones is the first in a series of books about a Siamese cat who thinks he is anything but! The cat's name is Skippyjon Jones. In this book, he goes into his closet and make believes he is in Mexico. When Skippyjon Jones gets to Mexico, he encounters many Chihuahuas whom he plays and sings with. This book has a lot of Spanish words and phrases and also features a lot of rhyming. The illustrations are fantastic and support this imaginative character very well. Skippyjon Jones has previously won the E.B. White Read Aloud Award; after reading the book, it is evident to see why. Overall, this is an extremely funny book and students will love it!