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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

This is a great book about a young girl who lives on a farm with her family, but is blind.  Each child has a chore that they attend to on a daily basis, but on her day off she goes off to be with her horse.  The author doesn't say that Mandy is blind, but gives hints that she has a disability.  I like this book because with her disability not mentioned, the reader can form a relationship with the character without any judgement.  It teaches children a really great lesson about not judging people and that all people are the same with or without a disability.  The pictures are great and the author's use of the different senses gives a real insight to what Mandy's life is like.  This book could be used for a lesson on the five senses or giving children insight to different disabilities.

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.

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.

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.

"Least of All" is a heart touching story about a girl who is the youngest in her family. She is too young to help out with the rest of the chores on the farm, but she is able to help by churning the butter. During this time when she is all alone churning butter, she sits with the family Bible on her lap, and tries to teach herself how to read. This book is very strong in the importance of reading. It shows that reading is more of a luxarie in some households than it is a neccesity. The book also portrays a strong sense of family and tradition. "Least of All" is an excellent story for children to read. Through the determination of the little girl to learn to read, author Carol Purdy shows the importance of reading, and how lucky most children today have the opportunity of learning to read and having proper instruction. This is the kind of book that definitely would inspire kids to learn to read.

"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.

A beloved classic of children's literature, The Secret Garden, tells an inspirational tale of transformation and empowerment. Mary Lennox, a sickly and contrary little girl, is orphaned to dim prospects in a gloomy English manor - her only friend is a bed-ridden boy named Colin whose prospects may be dimmer than hers. But when Mary finds the key to a Secret Garden, the magical powers of transformation fall within her reach. This stories strength is that it givs great confidence to chidren with dissabilities and is a great portrayal of what a child with a special need goes through. From a teachers point of view, I think it would be a great choice of a chapter book to read because it can teach children a good deal of information. This book is available at Barnes&Noble. Enjoy (;

This story is about two best friends, Marilyn and Traci, and their fifth grade teacher, Miss Wichelman. The girls loved spending time with their teacher, in and out of school. The teacher always encouraged them to never give up. Her famous line is "If life hands you a lemons, make lemonade". Marilyn, Traci, and Miss Wichelman create a club called "The Lemonade Club", they become very close. In the story, one of the best friends becomes very ill. Patricia Polacco shows the reader the ups and downs of the process of healing and dealing with this illness. The Lemonade Club works through this hard time together. This book will teach the reader how to deal with life-threatening illness.

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