Erin's Reading Blog

 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!