Erin's Reading Blog

P.S. I Like You Title: P.S. I Like You Author: Kasie West Genre: Audio Book Age group: 12-15 years old Grade: 7-9  Teacher evaluation: I really enjoyed this book. It reminds me of the stories that I read as a kid. I would recommend this for students who like cute, romantic stories, but I would not read it as a classroom book. I would read certain excerpts from the book like when a teacher was getting upset about her not doing her work. I would only use this in 5th or 6th grade classes. It seems a little too mature for EC- 4. Summary: P.S I Like you is about Lily Abbott and her friend Isabel. Isabel is trying to find Lily a boyfriend. She is a little awkward and she does not think someone will want to go out with her. She writes songs in a notebook. When her teacher bans her notebook from class she begins writing lyrics on the desk. Someone begins finishing the lyrics. They then begin writing letters together. Lily begins to really like this person, but she is scared to actually mee...

  Title: "The Magic School Bus Inside a Beehive" Author: Joanna Cole and Bruce Degen Genre: Fantasy and Science Fiction Age: 6-10 Teacher Evaluation: I love all Mrs. Frizzle books. I read them all throughout elementary school, and middle school. We also watched the videos in school as well. I really enjoyed them. I would use them in school for any Science lesson. There are all different types of books and videos. Also the books are great for interactive read out louds. By doing the read out louds it will really help to know that the students are comprehending what they are learning.  Summary: Ms. Frizzle was looking out the window when she realized it was a beautiful day. They were studying insects, and she found a beekeeper to take them into a hive. They began enjoying a picnic, as the bus began shaking. It was shrinking. The bus was shaped like a beehive, and then they were all dressed as bees. They then try to fly over and find a hive to go into. She then taught them how t...

Title: The Pig in a Wig Author: Alan MacDonald Genre: fantasy and Science Fiction Ages: 4-7 Teacher Evaluation:    This is a great story to tell in the classroom to explain how all children are different, and why we all need to be inclusive, and believe that everyone is perfect in their own eyes. it teaches a great lesson, and it can also be used for older grades whenever students are having any issues Summary: There were animals on a farm. Peggoty was a pig. She was very proud of the way she looks, and would look at herself for hours. Then one day lambs were passing the field; they really enjoyed the way they looked, and they called Peggoty, pink and fat. She then saw herself as ugly and bald. She was so sad and wondered why she was born that way. She then asked her friends why she was bald. The horse answered it was because she had no mane, and that was also why she was ugly. She then asked the marmalade cat and the cat answered that it is because Peggoty has no fur. an...

 Title: "Dragons Love Tacos 2: The Sequel Author: Adam Rubin and Daniel Salmieri Genre: Fantasy and Science Fiction Ages: 5-7 Teacher evaluation: I would use this book in the classroom when learning about dinosaurs. It is super interesting and goes through different time periods in the story that teaches other lessons. You can also ask students about what foods they love to connect to them.  Summary: All the Dragons are crying, because There are no more tacos, the supplies are depleted. Dragons always have taco parties. Dragons only do not eat spicy tacos. So they want to go back in time, and plant tacos in the ground to make taco trees, and they have a time machine in the garage. They set the dial back to "Taco Party" they grab some of the tacos and head back to today. The gave the dial a twist and they went way too far back. They oil the machine and it may complicate their journey home. They grab the tacos and need to get out of there before it is too late. They finall...

Title: Somebody and the Three Blairs Author: Marilyn Tolhurst Genre: Fantasy Ages: 3-6 Teacher evaluation: I would use this book in a classroom, because it is interesting. We can learn about the bears and then evaluate the book to see if it is "realistic" for bears to do what the bear did in the story. We could also read "Goldilocks and the Three Bears." It would be fun to compare the two books.  Summary: There was Mr. Blair, Mrs. Blair, and baby Blair. They decided on a pretty morning to take a walk to the park. When they were gone someone knocked and no one answered so they broke in. They looked at the food, one was too dry, too noisy, and the next one was just right! The bear then looked for a chair. One was too hard, too wobbly, and one was just right. He then looked for something to play with. One game was too noisy, too cold and another was just right. he then looked for something to drink. One was too hot, too small and another was just right. He was then tir...

Title: "The Fourth Little Pig" Author: Teresa Celsi Genre: Fantasy and Science Fiction Ages: 3-6 Teacher Evaluation: As a teacher I would use this book in a kindergarten classroom. It has a good lesson of not being afraid. I would use it if someone is really afraid of something. There is not a particular lesson that I would use it in, but there are a lot of times to use it to teach them a lesson.  Summary: The story begins speaking about 3 little pigs who built homes, and a wolf came and tried to blow it away. They then stayed at the third pigs brick home on a hill. Their sister came by, and they grabbed her inside and did not want to let her outside with the wolf. Pig 4 the sister did not believe that there were wolves outside. The sister did not want them to stay inside. The sister huffed and puffed, and she blew the house down! The boys then peaked over the wall, and they saw no wolves. Hooray they yelled as there were no wolves outside! They climbed up a mountain to enjoy...

  Title: "The War that Saved my Life" Author: Kimberly Brubaker Bradley Genre: Historical Fiction Awards: Newbery Age Group: 12- 15 Teacher Evaluation: The book would be great to use in a middle school or early high school classroom, so I would not be able to use it as an EC- 6 Major. But if I were to teach high school I would use this book. It is diverse in what subjects you could use it in because it reflects onto WWII, and it also could be used in an ELA classroom for students to write reflections over.  Summary: Ada is a young girl who has a bad foot. She lives with her mom and brother in London, and WWII is approaching London. Ada's mom abuses Ada and her brother, so Ada and her brother decide to leave London. When they leave London they go to a town called Kent. Kent is a very small town. When they arrive to this small town they meet a women by the name of Susan ,and she pretty much takes in Ada and her brother. Susan gives them everything that they need, but Ada an...

 The Woman who Outshone the Sun Title: The Woman Who Outshone the Sun From a poem by: Alejandro Cruz Martinez Genre: Poem Ages: 6-10 Teacher Evaluation: As a teacher this would be a great book to read in the classroom. It speaks about equality, kindness, forgiveness and the outdoors. It is a book that can teach students how to be kind to each other and how to properly treat everyone. It is a really good book for many grades, because it is a big read. It has a lot of words on each page, so it can be used for comprehension of older graders. It also is in Spanish and English, so it can be used for ESL or Bilingual classrooms.  Summary:  The Woman who Outshone the Sun. Is a billingual book that is about a woman who arrives to a village with her pet iguana. She has long dark hair that people say outshines the sun. Everyone was a little afraid of her because she seemed strange to them. She would wash her hair in the river and the water, fish and otters would gather into her hai...

 Mary Had a Little Jam Title: "Mary Had a Little Jam" Created by: Bruce Lansky Genre: Poetry Age: 1-4 Teacher evaluation: This was a very short and sweet poem that did not have much meaning to it, so I would not use this story in my classroom unless it was snack or lunch time and we needed an attention grabber. It was a cute rhyming poem. Summary. Mary had Jam that she put on her waffle. She ate 10, so she felt awful. This is a very short four line poem that has some rhyming in it. 

 This Old Man Title: "This Old Man" Illustrated by: Carol Jones Genre: Poetry age group: 5-7  Teacher Evaluation: This is a good book when learning about things. You can point to the things he is drumming on. It is also teaching counting so it could be used for EC education when they are beginning to learn their numbers.  Summary: This old man plays with drum sticks, so he begins playing nick nack on a drum, shoe, knee, door, hive, sticks, heaven, gate, line, and a hen. He played "Nick nack paddy wack give a dog a bone" on all of these things while counting to ten, and rhyming. 

 Peanut Butter and Jelly Title: "Peanut Butter and Jelly" Illustrator: Nadine Bernard Westcott Genre: Poetry Ages: early education 2-4 Teacher evaluation: As a teacher I would use this book in Preschool and maybe Kindergarten. This book seems to be a lot of repetition, and not a lot of words. It would be a great book to read during lunch time or as an activity to make sandwiches using the childrens fine motor skills, but it is such an easy read I do not think it would be good for any student over 5 years old. Summary: The book begins with a child thinking about a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. A chef appears, and begins making the bread for him telling him to knead it. then they bake the bread, then they slice the bread. Next, they start to make the peanut butter but cracking peanuts. then they begin mashing the peanuts. They then spread the peanut butter on the bread. They then Squash the grapes, and smear it on the bread. They then eat a giant peanut butter and jelly san...

I'm Still Here in the Bathtub  Title: " I'm Still Here in the Bathtub" Author: Alan Kats Illustrator: David Catrow Genre: Poetry Age group: 5-7 year olds Teacher Evaluation: As a teacher I am not sure that I would use this in the classroom. It is very funny and catchy, but it is not particularly teaching us something. It could be a good book during COVID because it can show students about bath time, but it is not really informing them on anything.  Summary: I'm still here in the bathtub is a poem that goes to a rhythm, and it is very short. His mom makes him take a bath, so he is not happy about it, but as he is bathing himself and playing around his mom goes to get him out. When he realizes it is time to get out. He askes mom PLEASE 2 more minutes!