Children's Literature Awards of Spring 08

"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.

"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.

"My Dog is as Smelly as Dirty Socks" is an extraordinary book full of color and smiles. It starts off with a child who draws a simple picture of her family. But she is not satisfied. She goes further into detail about her family and their characteristics, illustrating them with everything from lightbulbs, dirty socks, whistles and springs. This book has many strengths. It is extremely creative and definitely a book that would inspire children to think outside the box. It engages in the idea of using great detail utilizing the basic senses in a peice of writing. Finally, it is a book that will intrigue children, and keep their interest throughout all of the book's pages. "My Dog is as Smelly as Dirty Socks" is a great book to inspired children to use their imagination and to turn away from the conventional writing and thinking. It encourages students to think independantly and to be their unique selves.

"The Red Blanket" is a book about a single woman who wished she had a child to share her life with. She wrote to adoption agencies and adopted a baby girl from an orphanage in China. The book goes through the ups and downs of the relationship between the young woman and her new child. This book has several strong themes. First, that love will take you far. Second, A family can be made up of different componants, not everyone has to have the same "normal" family to be considered a family. Finally, that dreams can come true with a little work, faith, and determination. "The Red Blanket" is a great book to read to children to enforce the idea of diverse families. It is important that children understand that families come in different colors, shapes, and sizes so that they can better live in today's society.

"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.

Dog Breath is about a very good dog with a very big problem, bad breath. Halle is the Tosis family pet and they love her dearly but the Tosis parents say she has to go, even the skunks avoid her. The Tosis children take matters into their own hands. In an attempt to get rid of Halle's bad breath they take her to admire a "breathtaking" view, and exciting movie that leaves you "breathless" and a ride on a roller coaster that promises to make you "loose your breath". None of these endeavors work and the children return home. Later that night burglars break into the house and Halle licks them causing them to pass out and be captured. Now the Tosis family decides to keep their wonderful watchdog. This is a laugh out loud hilarious book for all ages. I am sure that anyone who reads it will find it very amusing.

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)

Annushka's Voyage is a marvelous story of two girls trip from Russia to the United States.  There father had left for the United States to look for work and find a place to live while the girls stayed with their grandparents in Russia. Then their father finally sent for them.  They had to travel by boat for many weeks, jammed packed with other immigrants and unsanitary conditions.  When they finally arrive in America they go through a health check and get  reunited with their  father for a very happy ending. This book is an acurate portrayal of what a jounrney to America would have been like in the early 1900's. It is uplifting and high spirited.

This book is my personal favorite poetry book.  I remember reading this when I was young and all the kids in my class loved it too. Shel Silverstein, the author of many books of prose and poetry, really did a wonderful job with this one. Where the Sidewalk Ends has tons of poems and great illustrations to go along with each one.  Every poem is packed with humor and imagination.  One weekness for might be that it doesn't tell one continuous story.  This book would make an excellent source for a coffee house or readers theater.

It's Prefectly Normal was written by Rob Harris. Like so many other authors his personal experiences influenced him to write the book. This is a really well detailed information book. It would be an excellent resource for the older children. It has very detailed pictures and information about the changing body. It can be found at your local Altoona Library

When Sophie Gets Angry-- Really, Really Angry.. is written by Molly bang. The book demonstrates a young girl becoming very upset and being able to control her temper. The words are simple to read for the younger school age children and the illustrations are very bright and colorful. The book has a wonderful dynamic character named Sophie who will allow the students to see an example of how young children with a temper can be able to control their temper. This book does not lack anything. I would greatly encourage teachers to use this book in their classroom. This book can be found at your local Altoona Library.

Pat-A-Cake is a wonderful piece of poetry that everyone can come to love. The book is put together very well and has excellent illustrations in and throughout the book. The book would be a great piece to add to anyone's collection of poetry books for the elementary children. This book can be found at your local Altoona Library.

Trucks Roll! is by far my most favorite book I read during this project. The illustrations are flat out awesome. Boys and even men that are boys at heart can really enjoy this book. I absolutely loved this book. I can't say enough about this. It is written by George Lyon and talks about all types of trucks. The pictures are very well drawn and the colors are bright and colorful. This book would be a wonderful book for young boys. I would not recommend this book for young girls because I feel it would not be of any interest to them.

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.

No Time Like Show Time is a really well written book. The book lacks in the illustration department. I was sadden by the lack of illustrations. The book is very lengthy and with lots of suspense. The book includes, twisted plots, mystery, humor, and some romance. Michael Hoeye created a wonderful piece of literature with this book and is an amazing sequel to his other books. This book can be found at the Altoona Library.

Top 10 Physically Challenged Athletes was written by Jeff Savage. The book is a wonderful piece of literature that would be great in any classroom. The book goes behind the scenes and looks into the lives of 10 athletes that are at the top of their game. The book is a great piece to show students that anything is possible and disabilities can be over come.

Sampson The Horse is a wonderful easy reader. The easy to read book only has twenty words. The book is very comical. The book talks about a horse who does everything opposite of what he really is supposed to do. Wendy Kanno did a terrific job with this book and would be wonderful for young children.