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Poems to Dream Together by Francisco Alarcon is a great poetry book. This book is a collection of poems. The poems are in Spanish and English. The poems have subjects like: childhood, teacher experiences, and ones about the future. They are very short and have lots of meaning that will effect the children positively. This book has a wide range of topics and many can read it due to the number of languages in it. This is a great poetry book for children ages seven to nine. A great picture book to visualize the meaning of the poems. This book can be found in Penn State libraries.

Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters by John Steptoe is a great book for illustrations. Mufaro has two daughters that are really beautiful. One daughter, Nyasha, is kind, nice, and caring towards others. Manyard is a spoiled brat. The king has to choose one of the daughters to get married to her. Both daughters travel to a city in Africa. However, the king chooses Nyasha to marry him. The illustrations in the book are wonderful. Looks like a painter drew them by hand by the well drawn pictures. This is a great book for children illustrations. Also, this is a picture book with wonderful pictures. This book can be found in Penn State libraries.

Being Friends by Karen Beaumont is a great book about friends. Two girls talk about being friends. There are things that they both disagree on, yet there are many things that they do like. For example, one likes jeans and the other likes gowns. However, they are still friends. Moral is that friends are different individually, and that they can still be friends. The book is great for children having a hard time making friends. This book can be found in Penn State libraries.

My Many Colored Days by Dr. Seuss is a great book. The book describes various colors. Then for each color in the book, it tells how the child feels on those days. Towards the end, it states that there days that are all mixed up. During these days, they do not know who they are. And they end, by turning back into themselves. Also, everyone has many emotions that they experience. This book is great for children ages 5-8. This book can be found in the Penn State libraries.

Pinkalicious by Victoria Kann and Elizabeth Kann is a great book. It was a rainy day and there was nothing to do. The girl's mom suggested to make cupcakes. So they did. The girl ate lots of cupcakes. When she woke up the next morning, she was pink. She loved being pink. Then her mom took her to the doctors and said that she had pinkititis. She was not allowed to eat anything pink. She turned red by eating one more cupcake. She ate something green and turned back to normal. Then her brother ate a pink cupcake and he turned pink. This is a great book for laughter in the classroom. This book can be found in the Penn State libraries.

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.

Is a Worry Worrying You? is about worrying. This book gives examples as to what worries are and how you can get rid of them. It tells the readers exactly what a worry is. The book talks about worries as being invisible and unable to find. This book deals with a very serious issue; however, the book is actually presented in a humorous way. Is a Worry Worrying You? would be a great book to read in a classroom because a lot of kids are constantly worried about something or another (especially the things mentioned in the book). Remember, as the book says, just don't worry! This book is available through the Penn State Libraries.

I am pleased to present the Jason Baker Award for children's books portraying children effectively dealing with emotions and feelings to Ferida Wolff and Harriet May Savitz for Is A Worry Worrying You? My Name is Carli Van Scyoc and I am currently a student a Penn State University. As part of the language and literacy curriculum for the elementary education program, we had an assignment to create an award for a category that was important.  Then we were to choose a book from various student nominations that best fits our award description.  I am very happy to say that this book was perfect.  I am interested in  pursuing a career in counceling  so I used this oppurtunity to read many books that taught children how to deal with their unfamiliar emotions and understand that it is completely normal.  I absolutely love this book and would offer it to any child who finds themselves in a similar situation.  Thank you for writting just a great book.

The Castle on Hester Street by LInda Heller is about a grandfather and grandmother immigrating to America. The grandfather begins by telling the story of Moishe to his granddaugher, Julie. The grandfather states that he came from Russia and his story of how he met his wife. The grandfather went through many journeys and obstacles to get his way out of Russia. The grandfather and grandmother were attacked beacuse they were Jews. Then, the grandfather said that once he arrived in America they were given a castle. The grandmother was famous because she sewed for royalty. And the grandfather concludes the story of him immigrating to America. This is a great picture book for grades K-4. This book can be found in the Penn State libraries.

You have to Write by Janet S. Wong is a book about girls and boys struggling to write. The book is composed of short poems on teaching children on how to write. It starts by stating that the students do not like to write. The reason is due to the children not knowing what to write about. They have so many things going on in shcool and in their lives that they miss many opportunities to write. The students can write about anything that is happening in their lives. The book describes the writing process that children can understand. Overall, the book is very good and educational to help the struggling students learn to write. This is a wonderful book for children grades K-4 who are struggling to write. This book is available through Penn State libraries.

Let's Talk About Living with a Single Parent by Elizabeth Weitzman is a book about children living with a single parent.  The book provides an example of a girl drawing pictures of her family. Also, it tells the definition of a single parent and what it means to be adopted. There is a special relationship between the child and the single parent. And that this relationship can grow by letting the child help with chores around the house. This way the child and parent can spend valuable time together. Also, if the child has concerns or questions about living with a single parent then they can go to a friend or someone they know to talk to. Lastly, it does not matter who is in their family. It just matters that love is in the air. Let's Talk About Living with a Single Parent is a great book to read to a group of children who are living with a single parent and need guidance on how to deal with their emotions. This book is available through Penn State libraries.

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.

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

Pat-A-Cake is a wonderful piece of poetry that everyone can come to love. The book is put together very well and has excellent illustrations in and throughout the book. The book would be a great piece to add to anyone's collection of poetry books for the elementary children. This book can be found at your local Altoona Library.

When Sophie Gets Angry-- Really, Really Angry.. is written by Molly bang. The book demonstrates a young girl becoming very upset and being able to control her temper. The words are simple to read for the younger school age children and the illustrations are very bright and colorful. The book has a wonderful dynamic character named Sophie who will allow the students to see an example of how young children with a temper can be able to control their temper. This book does not lack anything. I would greatly encourage teachers to use this book in their classroom. This book can be found at your local Altoona Library.

Cultures of Italian Americans was published in 1995. It was written by Carolyn Kott Washburne. It is a nicely written piece of literature that has a lot of positive imformation in it about Italian Americans. The pictures in it are well thought out and the text supports the pictures that help the reader to better understand the culture. The book was well thought out and executed perfectly. This book talks about many of the traditions that Italian Americans still do and carry out. This book can be found at your Altoona Library.