Man on the Moon

For my author study I choose Anastasia Suen, and she has written around 145 books! She is amazingly talented, and I didn't get the chance to read all of her books.  I read a variety of her books, and one book that stuck out in particular was Man on the Moon.


Man on the Moon is obviously about traveling to the moon! It is a great book that talks about the first successful trip by the USA to the moon.  It is great for young readers because it gives simple, step-by-step instructions on how the astronauts landed on the moon.  It gives great historical references, and discusses how Buzz Aldren and Neil Armstrong feel stepping foot on the moon for the first time! It shows how they brought back moon rocks and put the US flag on the moon.
The pictures are wonderful, and do a great job depicting what it was like on the moon.
I really enjoyed this book because it took a famous historical event and turned it into an interesting and easy read for children to understand.

Suen, A. (1997) Man on the Moon. New York: Puffin Books.

Alligators!

I found a cute book called Later, Gator by Laurence Yep.  It was a good chapter book about the relationship between brothers.

It begins with the story of Teddy, a boy who strongly dislikes his perfect younger brother, Bobby.  They are a Chinese family, who live in New York City.  Teddy always gets Bobby terrible birthday gifts and Christmas gifts, but Bobby is always happy and thankful.
For his next birthday, Teddy's mom has asked him to go get Bobby a pet turtle from the pet store. So Teddy, being the smart boy he is, got Bobby an alligator.  His mom was furious, but Bobby was excited! He couldn't believe he had a pet alligator!!
The book continues when the whole family comes over to celebrate Bobby's birthday and meets the alligator, Oscar (originally named Teddy, but then changed).  The family loves feeding the alligator and playing with him.
A couple days after Bobby gets Oscar, he has escaped from his "swamp".  They search the house but cannot find Oscar.  The father is furious.  Finally Teddy finds Oscar in the house, dead from lack of water.  He tries to hide it from Bobby but Bobby finds him.  Together they go bury the alligator in a special place.
Throughout the book one can see how the brothers' relationship is changing for the better.  Teddy is starting to care more and more about Bobby. 
Overall, it was a great, fun book to read!

Yep, L. (1995). Later, Gator. New York: Hyperion Books for Children.

Red Light, Green Light

This is a picture book by my author study: Anastasia Suen.


This cute and fun book is bright and colorfully illustrated for young readers.  It is a great rhyming book for young readers who are looking to discover the world of car toys, planes, helicopters, and trains! The book follows a young boy's imagination through zooming cars and flying helicopters.  It is a perfect rhyming book for students to read, and the bright colors will grab their attention.  Although there are not a lot of words in the book, it is fun to read and interpret the pictures!

Suen, A. (2005). Red Light, Green Light. New York: Gulliver Books.

Holes!

Today I decided to read a more challenging chapter book.  I read the infamous Holes by Louis Sachar.

I loved this book! What a great book for elementary students to read.  It is about Stanley, who I think most kids can relate to...he has a little bit of bad luck!  Stanley found a new pair of autographed shoes on the side of the road walking home from school one day, and gets arrested because he is accused of stealing them.  He is sentence to Camp Green Lake; which he thought would be great.  But, there is no lake at Camp Green Lake; only dry desert.  And holes.  Lots of holes.  The Warden runs the camp, and she requires that you dig holes every day in the heat.  You only have one canteen of water, and you must dig all your holes even if it gets dark.  Stanley meets the other guys at camp, and starts to bond with Zero.  He is teaching Zero to read while Zero is helping him dig holes faster.  The other guys (X-Ray, Armpit, etc) are all mean to Zero and think he is stupid.  Stanley knows otherwise. Eventually Zero gets tired of everything and runs away.  Everyone is worried about Zero because they don't know if he can survive in the desert alone.  Stanley makes a run for him, and escapes the camp.  All the while this part of the story is going on, the author is switching back and forth to the past, about Stanley's grandfather, and how he brought about the bad luck to the family.
It is a great story with so many different themes to explore: friendship, family, history, adventure, and many more!  I won't ruin the end of the book because it comes full circle, and some things are discovered that are great!  I'm curious to see the movie to see how closely it relates to the book.

Sachar, L. (1998). Holes. New York: Yearling.

Polka Dots & Pottery

That title just makes me curious about what book I'm going to read next! This one jumped out at me because of the title: Polka Dot Penguin Pottery and the brightly decorated book cover.  Plus the book is not read horizontal like most books, it's read vertical!



This is the cute story of Kim Chee Lee, who has writers block! She loves to write anything, and even has a special tree house just for her writing studio.  She has a sign that says do not disturb, or come play! Lately she's been having writer's block so her grandparents take a day from writing with her to a pottery shop. 
Kim is able to pick anything she wants to paint...there are so many choices, but she settles on an Easter egg.  She sits there and sits there. More of her friends come into paint, and they are painting masterpieces! She is frustrated; she doesn't understand how she cannot come up with any ideas.  There are more and more people in the pottery shop, but nothing is helping.  Kim has no ideas, until she lowers her head and realizes she has dripped paint on the egg and her baby sister, Olivia, has put polka dot finger prints on the egg.  One of her friends points out you can't make a masterpiece unless you are willing to get messy.  So Kim makes the egg messy, and then she starts to see things out of the mess; a tree, butterflies, grass, a little girl in a dress, and several other things.
She finishes her Easter egg, and it is beautiful!  She is eager to get back home and start writing because her creative juices have started flowing!

A fun, creative book for young readers.

Look, L. (2011). Polka Dot Penguin Pottery. New York: Schwartz & Wade Books.

Through My Eyes

This picture represents this book perfectly.  It is the true story of Ruby Bridges, and how she changed the face of integration in public schools.
This is a picture of little Ruby Bridges at 7 years old, walking to first grade at William Frantz Elementary School, with 4 US Marshall's to protect her.  She is such a young, little thing.  She was one of the first black students to be integrated into this school.  The white people protested and fought hard for a long time against this, but Ruby's parents kept sending her day after day to work with Mrs. Henry, her first grade teacher.  Ruby was the only student in the class for the entire year because no one wanted to go to school with black children.
This book is written by Ruby and describes all the things going on during that time in her life, and how her life was changed because of this situation.  Ruby formed a very close relationship to Mrs. Henry, but then when second grade came, Mrs. Henry was not asked to return, and Ruby was put in a classroom with a mean teacher.  It was still an integrated school, but things had been slowly getting better the second year.
Ruby went on to graduate from high school and went to work in tourism.  She didn't realize how much of an impact her first grade school year had on the country.  She finally realized it when the book was written, and many pictures were inspired by her.  Ruby now travels and tells her story as an inspirational speaker for others.
This book is fabulous.  It truly gives a great insight to what it was like to be a black child in the 1960s, and how it felt to be all alone.  Was the impact on her life a positive one? Was she robbed of a childhood?  Ruby discusses may of these feelings through her book.  It is a great read for older students, especially if it can correlate to history.

Bridges, R. (1999). Through My Eyes. New York: Scholastic Inc.

You are loved!!!

That is something everyone needs to hear every day!! This sweet book is about love for anyone.  The book is written in first person (as to be deducted that it is the person who gave you this book talking to you), and describes how the many ways you are loved.
This book seems to be typically a gift book for a child because the love is so unconditional.  The book describes the many ways you are loved, the many places you are loved, and how if you are lonely just look around because my love is all around you.



It is written in rhyme, but this book is to read in a quieter and sweeter expression.  The book truly means what the title says: my love will find you.  The book shows a young child working, playing, swimming, or anything else, but their love will find the child; always!

It is a sweet and touching book written by Nancy Tillman, with great illustrations depicting each rhyme.
A good book for anyone to read who might need a little love in their life!

Tillman, N. (2010). Wherever You Are My Love Will Find You. New York: Feiwel and Friends Book.