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This book is a picture book for children about dealing with the absence of a father whether it's due to a death, not knowing, or absent fathers. The story is about a boy who gets picked on about not having a father and the mother explains the many reasons why a dad might not be present. The book also includes a section for teenage parents that consists of quotes, ideas, and how other single-parents dealt with this situation. This book would be a good book to send home to a single-parent family to help the child understand their family situation.

Dear Ms. Lindsay,             My name is Tania Lewis, and I am an Elementary Education major at Penn State- Altoona in Pennsylvania, and I am writing to you today to inform you that you have won the Aiden Jacob Lewis Award for excellence in Children's Literature about children who grow up in a single parent home for your story, "Do I Have a Daddy?" The criteria for this award is that the book should display excellence in the fact that it helps children understand that growing up in a single parent home isn't always as been as it may sometimes seem, and that they are not alone and are not the only child who lives in homes just like they do.This award was created in my LLED 402 class. This class is solely based on analyzing, reading, and working with all types of children's literature. Every student in the class was asked to create an award about something that means a lot to them and also name it after someone special. This award that I created is named after my three month old son, Aiden, and the reason for the category is because I am a single mother and I worry sometimes about questions my son will ask me when he gets older, so I thought if I had books to help him understand, that it wouldn't be as hard. Each student, after creating an award, had to nominate books for their classmate's awards. Once done, we got to pick the winning book, and had an award ceremony for the nominators of the books. I chose your book for many different reasons. I chose it because when Erik's mother is faced with the question, "Do I have a Daddy?" she is very positive and honest with him, thinking about his feelings and saying that not all children liv

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.

This is a wonderful book to help children cope with their parents divorce. It is written as a child's resource. It explains how a child will feel if their parents get a divorce, and it lets the child know that it is okay to feel this way. It lets the child know that they are not the only one. It is a wonderful resource for a child to use when they do not know what to do or how to feel after their parents divorce.

Dear Emily Menendez-Aponte, On behalf of the Elementary Education Department at the Penn State Altoona Campus, I would like to present you with The Baker Award for Excellence in Children's Literature on Helping Children Deal with Their Parents Divorce! "The Baker Award for Excellence in Children's Literature on Helping Children Deal with Their Parents Divorce will be awarded to the author who has the best guidance on helping children deal with divorce. It seems like every fairy tale we read today has "They lived happily ever after", however, we all know that in today's society this is not true. In the book "Battling Dragons" edited by Susan Lehr there is an article by Deborah Thompson. In Thompson's article it says "Thomas (1972) found that most family relationships in children's books were unrealistic. She argued that the typical children's book, Mother always took Father, who carried a briefcase and wore a suit, to the train station in a station wagon. She also argued that authors treated single-parenthood like "the plague," and therefore, single-parent families were virtually nonexistent in books for children" (pg. 88). It is almost impossible to go into a classroom anymore and find students that all still have their parents together. Therefore, this award will be given to a book that helps portray divorce as something that can work and that children can deal with. The book should be geared toward ages 6-12 and have an accurate portrayal of strength and encouragement clearly stating that the child is not the only one going through something like this." My name is Chelsea Baker. I am a junior at Penn State Altoona and I created The Baker Award. Within my class, we had an assignment in which each student in the class, including myself, made up awards for a book nomination. Then each person in the class had to nominate one book for all the other students' awards. Don't worry there is only ten students in the class. Any

"Rolling Along" is a story about a young boy named Taylor who was born with cerebral palsy, causing him to have trouble walking. Taylor is a bright optimistic boy. In this story we follow him through his daily schedule and experience the excitement of his first wheelchair. This book promotes the importance for accomodations in public places for people who use wheelchairs, shows that being disabled is not a downfall in life, and that anything is possible with a little love, understanding, and compassion. "Rolling Along" is a great educational book for young readers. Most children have never had much experience with people who are "different" from the everyday child, and a book like this would help them understand and accept those who may have a disability.

"Rolling Along" is a story about a young boy named Taylor who was born with cerebral palsy, causing him to have trouble walking. Taylor is a bright optimistic boy. In this story we follow him through his daily schedule and experience the excitement of his first wheelchair. This book promotes the importance for accomodations in public places for people who use wheelchairs, shows that being disabled is not a downfall in life, and that anything is possible with a little love, understanding, and compassion. "Rolling Along" is a great educational book for young readers. Most children have never had much experience with people who are "different" from the everyday child, and a book like this would help them understand and accept those who may have a disability.

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

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.

"Accidents of Nature" is a very touching story about a girl with Cerebral Palsy. This book is more suitable for young adults because of its language and references to sex and communism. Jean has gone to a Normal school all her life and one summer goes to a cripple camp when she is seventeen. Jean meets many other people with disabilites and experiences life like she never has before. She befriends a very outspoken girl named Sara, who envisions equality for people with disabilities and introduces her own human rights movement. Jean spends ten days coming to terms with her disability and leaves with a new outlook on life. Through Jean's eyes you are truly able to see what it is like to have a disability and feel the rollercoaster of emotions that she experiences.

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 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.

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 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.