Courtney Sherkel 113 North 14th Avenue                       Altoona, PA 16601 <!--[if supportFields]><span style='mso-element:field-begin'></span><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>CREATEDATE<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>  </span>\@ "MMMM d, yyyy"<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>  </span>\* MERGEFORMAT <span style='mso-element:field-separator'></span><![endif]-->March 6, 2008<!--[if supportFields]><span style='mso-element:field-end'></span><![endif]-->           Mary Hoffman c/o Pat White  Rogers, Coleridge and White
20 Powis Mews
London
W11 1JN     Dear Ms. Mary Hoffman: Congratulations! I am pleased to announce that your book, Amazing Grace, has been chosen as the recipient of The Break-A-Leg Award for Excellence in Children's Literature about Theater, Acting, Singing, and/or Dancing. This award was created in my children's literature education class at <st1:PlaceName w:st=

This book is a fun book with detailed and funny illustrations. The book is about the town of Chewandswallow where food is the precipitation! The kids in your classroom will love the story, love the pictures that show the funny precipitation, and love sharing it with other classmates and their families. This book is also a good starter to talking about the weather.

This book includes 15 different poems about city life. It includes colorful pictures, tons of metaphors, and beautiful poems. This book depicts what it's like to live in the city by describing it in full detail including all of the 5 senses. Kids will love the pictures and the descriptions. Excellent for showing what it's like to live in a city if you are in a very rural area.

This book showcases six extraordinary children with disabilities and shows that they are ordinary kids like everyone else. It helps other kids know that these kids have similar interests as them. This book is good for children with disabilities and without disabilities. It broadens kids ideas about different kids other than themselves. It's also informs the children about different types of disabilites.

This story is about a boy and his family who immigrated from Holland to America. Once he is in America, it doesn't feel like home to him and it's crowded and busy. Not until his furniture from Holland shows up that he feel like there is still room for Holland in his life. This book is perfect for students who are moving or are getting ready to move. Or it's perfect to learn about what it's like for a child to move to another country.

This book is about a pig who is owned by a couple but they got divorced so each person got "half a pig". This humorous story tells what happens when Mr. Harbottle wants the other half of the pig and it starts a wild and crazy chase to keep the pig from being turned into sausage. This story has humor, excitement, and suspense that will give your students' plenty of laughs.

This book is about a litte tiger named Leo who couldn't read, or write, or do anything. His father is worried but his mother knows that Leo will blossom when he is ready. This book is good for a young child who feels like he or she can't do anything- read, write, and other things- and it helps them know that it's ok. They will eventually blossom and be able to read and write just as well as the other tigers. This would be great for young readers and writers just starting out and don't feel like they are getting it.

This book is about a boy who gets really angry after his mom keeps telling him "No". His anger takes over him, becoming like an angry dragon. He then starts to be sad and shameful and his tears put out the fire that his dragon created. This book showcases anger, it's effects, and how to get past it. An excellent book for a child who is dealing with issues of anger and rage.

This book is about a really scary fish named Al who couldn't make any friends because of how he looked. All the other fish were scared of him. He tried everything to get them to be his friend. One day, the other fish got caught in a net and Al got to be the hero and save them. This book highlights the topics of  making friends, getting along with classmates, and understanding one's feelings. This book would be beneficial to read if there is a conflict in your class between students because of differences.

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.

The "The Break-A-Leg Award for Excellence in Drama and the Arts" will be awarded to a children's book that highlights some aspect of Drama or the Arts. In Shelby A. Wolf's book, "Interpreting Literature with Children", she says, "Drama is all too often seen as a frill, something tacked on to the day if only there is time" (279). Drama and the Arts can break students out of their shell, expand their horizons, and help them in their course work. All too often, most kids never experience the Arts or even get introduced to them. Books that can be submitted for nomination can include topics about singing, dancing, music, acting, drama, or the theater. They can inform the reader about aspects of any of the listed topics or be about a character that does any of those themes. These books should inspire a child to want to give the Arts a try or maybe just take interest in them. The books submitted can reach out to a child of any age. Nominations for the award should be submitted no later than February 19, 2008.