Tiger Can’t Sleep

Tiger Can’t Sleep

Written by S.J. Fore

Illustrated by R.W. Alley

Scholastic Inc., 2006

Fantasy

32 pages

In this story, a little boy tries his very best to fall asleep. However, the tiger in his closet will not stop making all kinds of noise. Every time the boy starts to fall asleep, the tiger decides to do something active. This frustrates the boy and keeps him from being able to fall asleep. Will the tiger ever go to sleep? Will the boy be able to go to sleep too? Find out by reading Tiger Can’t Sleep!

The illustrations in this book are very artistic. A viewer can tell that the illustrator, R. W. Alley, put a lot of work into the art created.  The illustrator seems to use pen and watercolors to portray the right illusion for the book. The illustrator also used horizontal and vertical lines to help the reader flow through each page. Nevertheless, Alley’s pictures go hand in hand with the text in the story.

I would recommend using this book in a first or second grade classroom. This book can be integrated into a classroom in three different ways. First, this book has plenty of onomatopoeias to introduce to a classroom full of students.  Secondly, this book can help with fluency work for students. Lastly, this book would be great for introducing vowel diphthongs to a struggling student.

Skippyjon Jones, Class Action

Skippyjon Jones, Class Action

Written by Judy Schachner

Illustrated by Heather Wood

Scholastic Inc., 2011

Fantasy

32 pages

This adventurous book is about a little kitten who wants nothing more but to go to school. However, school is for dogs! His mother tried to explain this concept to him. Somehow Skippyjon Jones makes his way to school one day. How with those drool filled dogs react to Skippyjon? Will he be able to successfully learn at school or will he have trouble with it? Read this book to answer all your questions!

The illustrations in this book are very detailed and vivid. The pictures help tell the story within this book by Judy Schachner. Heather Wood, the illustrator uses combinations of several different things to help create her illustrations in this book. She uses Aquarelle Arches watercolor paper, ink, pen, and acrylic. The pictures are spread across two pages throughout the book. All in all, the illustrations express a sense of emotion throughout the entire book.

I would recommend using this book in a second or third grade classroom environment. This book can also be integrated into a classroom three different ways. First, this book can show examples of several different poems. This book has a few different poems that are cute and simple enough to help introduce poems. Secondly, this book has several words that could be introduced. Each of these words could be farther investigated as vocabulary words as well. Lastly, this book is great for practicing rhyming words within a classroom.

Giggle, Giggle, Quack

Giggle, Giggle, Quack

Written by Doreen Cronin

Illustrated by Betsy Lewin

Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2002

Fantasy

32 pages

When Farmer Brown decides to go on vacation, he leaves his farm in the hands of his brother, Bob. Farmer Brown left specific instructions for Bob to keep a careful eye on Duck. However, Bob did not think too much of it. You see, Farmer Brown also left specific instructions written down for each day for his brother. However, what Bob did not expect is that Duck can write! What devious schemes will Duck come up with? What can Duck get away with while Farmer Brown is gone? Read this book to find out!

Betsy Lewin did a fantastic job creating the illustrations in Giggle, Giggle, Quack. She used brush drawings by using Winsor and Newton lamp black watercolor on tracing paper. She also did a combination of photocopying, watercolor paper, and watercolors. Altogether, Betsy helped support this funny story with her artwork. The emotions are very visible on the character’s faces within the illustrations of this book. All in all, Betsy’s hard work paid off.

I would recommend using this book in a kindergarten or first grade classroom. This book can be integrated into the classroom in three different ways. First, there are several simple onomatopoeias that can be reviewed or introduced. Secondly, this book would be great for introducing correct use of capitalization and punctuations. Then lastly, this book could be used to introduce adverbs into student’s grammar knowledge.

Animal Hide and Seek

Animal Hide and Seek

Written by Penny Smith

Dorling Kindersley Limited, 2006

Non-Fiction

33 pages

Animal Hide and Seek is a spectacular book to read to students in an elementary school setting. This book is a great science book that helps describe the struggle of staying alive for some animals. You see, animals have their own secret way of adapting to nature to better protect themselves from harm. How do animals do this strange thing in nature? Is this strategy successful for most? What kinds of things do animals do to protect themselves from harm? Read this book to answer all of your questions.

The pictures in this book were produced by several photographers. Many of the pictures were reproduced for this book, Animal Hide and Seek. However, the book has marvelous pictures that help express the information within the text. Each picture is very detailed and shows very vivid descriptions of the animals who like to hide from predators. The pictures also help to visualize the animals being described within the book. All in all, the pictures go hand in hand with the text to help deliverer the information to the fullest.

This book can be cooperated into the classroom in three different ways. The first way is by using the information in the text to support a science lesson about camouflage. Secondly, this book has a great picture glossary. Throughout the text, there are several vocabulary words. The vocabulary words are pulled out to the side and have pictures representing the vocabulary word. Lastly, I could also use this book to help show students examples of well rounded simple sentences.

W.K. Kellogg

W.K. Kellogg

Written by Tiffany Peterson

Designed by Herman Adler Design

Heinemann Library, 2003

Non-Fiction

32 pages

W.K. Kellogg is a magnificent informational book. This book tells the story of one man’s fight for success. This book gives a reader very useful information on W. K. Kellogg. This book begins by briefly telling the early years of Kellogg’s life. Then, the book takes a turn and starts describing Kellogg’s struggle to become a sales person. You see, Kellogg and his brother, John Harvey, invented something very rare to the 1800s. What is this strange new invention? Will Kellogg make it to the top? Just how good of a salesman is Mr. Kellogg?

The pictures within this book play a huge role in expressing the life and success of W. K. Kellogg. Most of the pictures are colored in black and white. The readers can also tell that most of the pictures were taken around and about the 1800s. On the other hand, there are a few colored pictures within the book too. With this combination of pictures, the book is expressed to the fullest with both pictures and text. All in all, the pictures do a grand job creating emotion in this informational book about W. K. Kellogg.

I would recommend using this book in a second or third grade class. This book can be integrated into the classroom in three different ways. First, this book could be used to help give an example of a glossary. If the use of a glossary is being introduced, than the students can use this glossary for a real visual example of what it is. Secondly, this book could be used to integrate in timelines and sequencing of events. There is a great timeline located in the back of the book by the glossary. Then lastly, this book could be use in the classroom to introduce careers. W.K. Kellogg was trying to become a salesman in his lifetime. His career choice could be used to give an example of a career path.