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Grandfather's Journey is a book about the life of Allen Say's grandfather. Say writes about his grandfather's life and experiences in Japan and the United States. The illustrations in Grandfather's Journey are absolutely remarkable. The colors Say uses are perfect. The pictures in this book really help to tell the story; they are the main feature on the pages. Allen Say not only wrote the book, he illustrated it as well. This would be a great book to use when teaching a multicultural lesson. This book definitely lives up to its name as a picture book.

This is a story about a little girl who takes pride in how she became a part of a family. She was adopted by a single mother and loves to hear the story of how she was adopted. She wishes she had a father but she has a grandfather and a friend's father to fill in the gap. Her life is very fulfilling and the story shows that she gets plenty of love and support even though there isn't a father in the picture.

"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.

"Banjo Granny" is a fun story about a Grandmother who would do anything to be able to see her grandchild. Through a little bit of banjo playing and a little bit of determination, Granny makes her way to her Grandchild to share her bluegrass tunes with him. This book utilizes immense amounts of imagination and creativity through the use of Granny's "Carry-All Banjo". The illustrations are supportive of the text and are bright and colorful enough to catch the attention of any wandering pair of eyes. The book also holds a theme of determination, and love which are two important parts of social life. "Banjo Granny" is an amazing children's story. It inspires kids to become interested in music. It teaches kids that music can be fun and with a little determination, anything is possible.

"The Girl Who Wanted a Song" is a beautiful story about a young girl who has just lost her parents and is trying to find a way back to her normal life. After moving in with her aunt, she becomes friends with a goose who cannot fly. Through the interaction between the girl and the goose, both finally, in the end, get their wings back and are able to fly. This is a great story to deal with emotion. It shows that even when things get bad and you feel there is nothing left, there is always a way to get back to normal and live again. The book also has amazing illustrations than capture your eyes attention immediately. The illustrations also fully support the text, which is good for younger readers who are just starting to understand books. "The Girl Who Wanted a Song" is an amazing book that portrays emotions in a deep and meaningful way. It shows that in even the saddest of times, things eventually will look up, especially with a little help from a friend.

"Raccoon Tune" is an amazing book full of fun illustrations and an outlook on the night life from a raccoon's point of view. The use of poetry in this story makes the text fun and enjoyable for readers of almost any age. This book holds several strengths. First, it's images support the text that is being presented page by page. Second, it uniquely uses poetry as it's main format of writing and portraying the given story. Finally, the illustrations and story line are fun and interesting. It is definitely a book that can keep the attention of any child. "Raccoon Tune" is a great book to use as an example of the use of poetry as a type of writing. It also promotes creativity and the use of unique ideas within a peice of writing.

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.

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.

In Tuesday, Wiesner takes you on a frogs nighttime journey. Starting Tuesday evening the frogs take off from on their lilly pads from the pond where they live. By 11:21 they are soaring past peoples windows and right through a sleeping womans living room. At 4:38 they harras a neighborhood dog playing in the yard. The story then ends with curious detectives trying to solve last night mystery and the readers trying to decide what will happen next Tuesday night. Those who do not have an imagination may not enjoy this book but those who do will surely fall in love with it. The reader gets to tell the story the way they want to which encourages imagination and helps to develope literature interprtation skills. The author's illustrations really make this book, literally.

"Once Upon a Time" is a heartwarming story about a girl who struggles with reading and gets teased at school. Sarie's old friend Auntie Anna is the one person who understands the difficulty she has with reading. Sarie learns to read when she finds a book that she likes and Auntie Anna supports her and gets her imagination going. Once Sarie accomplishes this, she is able to read in school and no longer gets teased. I would recommend this book to those children who are struggling with reading. Sometimes they just have to find something that interests them and that they enjoy to help them in the reading process. I would read this in a classroom of my own because many children can relate to what Sarie is going through.

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!