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

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.

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.

The Special Kids Award for children with exceptionalities and disabilities is an award for the special needs children in the world. The award is specifically to help the special needs children deal with the social and educational issues that they are faced with everyday of their lives. Also, the award is to show the special needs children that through motivation and hard work, they can have independent lives. For example, Fletcher states that " No matter how hard I tried, I could not replicate anything even approaching their work. " The children are trying to do the best in their lives, but they are going through tough obstacles to get there. Therefore, the type of book for this nomination can be any gender of children with disabilities. The expected age of the readers can range from kindergarten to high school. All ages of children should be aware of the social and educational issues of the special needs children. The last date for nominations is February 19, 2008.