A Very Special Chair

A CHAIR FOR MY MOTHER, by Vera B. Williams
AR Level: 3.4 Points: .5
Vocabulary Quiz Available

The young girl who narrates this story told in first person is helping her mama and grandma save up money for a chair. All of their furniture and other things were burned in a fire, and her mama wants a big comfortable chair more than anything. She is a waitress and works hard on her feet all day and is very tired when she gets home at night. Every night she puts her tips in the jar, and the little girl also puts half of all her money in it. When the jar is full, they go to the store and buy a huge, comfortable chair. This is a wonderful story about family, love, and sacrifice.

Can YOU hear the ringing of the Christmas bell?

THE POLAR EXPRESS, by Chris Van Allsburg
AR Level: 3.8 Points: .5
Vocabulary Quiz Available

Told in first person, this is the account of a young boy’s trip to the North Pole, on the magical "Polar Express" which picks him up outside his house on Christmas Eve. Upon arriving at the North Pole, the boy sees a huge city filled with factories for making toys. Everyone is moving to the center of the city where Santa gives the first gift of Christmas to a lucky child. The boy is chosen out of the assembled crowd, and Santa gives him a silver bell from his sleigh. When he gets back on the Polar Express, he realizes he’s lost the bell through a hole in his robe. The train delivers him home and on Christmas morning when he opens his gifts, he finds the silver bell along with a note from Santa telling him to fix the hole in his pocket. When he rang it, it made the sweetest sound—but his parents could not hear it because they didn’t believe in Santa. The artwork in this book is amazing—what a great Christmas story!

Too Depressing for Me...

THE BAD BEGINNING, by Lemony Snicket
AR Leve: 6.4 Points: 4
Vocabulary Quiz Available

This, the first installment in thirteen books, is truly what the title claims—a series of unfortunate events. It centers around the Baudelaire children. First there’s Violet, who loves to invent things, and is right handed. Next is Klaus—he loves to read. Finally there’s Sunny, who is an infant that has four sharp teeth and chews on everything. The Baudelaire children, orphaned after their parents and all their belongings are burned in a fire; spend their life trying to escape the evil Count Olaf, who claims to be their uncle and wants to get his hands on their fortune. He plots to marry Violet—but Violet signs the marriage certificate with her left hand, thus making the document invalid. They escape Olaf—but only for a short time, until their unfortunate adventures continue. I wonder what makes these books so wildly popular with kids. Maybe it’s because the children in the book have lives that are far worse than anything they would have to endure and it makes them feel better. I do think the vocabulary usage is amazing—but these books are just too depressing for me.

COWGIRL KATE AND COCOA: Partners , by Erica Silverman
AR Level: 2.3 Points: .5
Voice Quiz Available

Cowgirl Kate and Cocoa are the stars of this chapter book about a girl and her best friend—who happens to be a horse. There are four chapters in this picture book, and each chapter tells a different story. Whether Kate is tricking Cocoa into getting shoed, the two of them are rounding up cows, Cocoa is pretending to BE a cow so Kate can practice her roping, or they’re working together in order to round up and errant calf, this book is a tale of friendship—one of the best kinds of friendship—that between a girl and her horse. This would be a fantastic book to use with kids who are reading independently. Even though it’s a picture book, the fact that there are actual chapters, will make a young reader feel very grown up.

"Kissin Kate Barlow..."

HOLES, by Lous Sachar
AR Level: 4.6 Points: 7
AR Quiz Available
Literacy Skills Quiz Available

Stanley Yelnats is sent to Camp Green Lake, a juvenile camp, for a crime he didn’t commit. The boys there are forced to dig holes all day long in the hot desert sun. They figure out that they are digging because the warden is looking for something. There are three stories weaved into the book—one about a gypsy, one about a tragic kiss between a white teacher and an African American onion seller, and another about "Kissin Kate Barlow," who the white teacher becomes after her black onion seller is killed. She robs and kills men, leaving a lipstick mark on their dead faces as her trademark. She buries all of the money from her crime spree, then dies. Stanley ends up digging up the treasure, which is what the warden has been looking for the entire time. The warden tries to take it from him, but his lawyer shows up to say he’s been found innocent of the crime that put him there—and he gets to keep it and return home. This book had me rooting for all of the boys that were being mistreated at Camp Green Lake.

Frankenstein makes a WHAT?

FRANKENSTEIN MAKES A SANDWICH, by Adam Rex
AR Level: 4.0 Points: .5
Vocabulary Quiz Available

This collection of poems sheds a whole new light and different spin on a collection of well known monsters. First, Frankenstein makes a sandwich out of all the rotten food the townspeople throw at him. There is a letter to Wolfman from his dog asking him to please not scratch on the front door or howl because the neighbors are starting to complain. The reader gets to witness the invisible man getting a haircut, see Count Dracula with spinach in his teeth, and learn about a young King Tut throwing a fit because he doesn’t want to go to his eternal rest without getting some milk and cookies. There’s Bigfoot being mistaken for a Yeti, a poem about the Hunchback of Notre Dame probably eating his lunch the same as everyone else, and a hilarious tale of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Henderson—who has everyone running away from him because he’s so dreadfully boring. There are dancing zombies, and Dracula’s tale of going to the dentist to get a filling in one of his fangs.

CROW BOY, by Tara Yashima
AR Level: 3.9 Book Leve: .5
Vocabulary Quiz Available

This is the story of a boy nicknamed Chibi, which means "tiny boy." No one knows him until he shows up at school on the first day of village school. He is considered stupid and strange by all of the other children, who tease him all through school. He learns to tune them out by daydreaming and getting lost in things that others find mundane—the patch on a boy’s shirt, or patterns in the ceiling. Even though the children make fun of him, he never misses a day of school, having to leave before sunrise in the morning and not returning home until sunset, because he lives so far away. At the start of the year, there is a new teacher, Mr Isobe. He is friendly and kind, and pays special attention to Chibi. When the school has a talent show and Chibi enters, everyone is amazed when he displays an amazing talent for mimicking the different calls of the crow. The children realize they had been wrong to make fun of Chibi for all those years, and he is finally accepted. After the talent show, he is known as "Crow Boy."

Teachers: This is a great book for teachign acceptance.

Doesn't sound like OUR librarian!

THE LIBRARIAN FROM THE BLACK LAGOON, by Mike Thaler
AR Level: 3.2 Points: .5

In true "Black Lagoon" form, this book is all about some of a child’s worst fears coming to life—this time in the form of the school librarian. Mrs. Beamster, or "The Laminator" as she is lovingly known by the students—is rumored to laminate you if you talk in the library. She bolts the books together to keep them in alphabetical order, and has rubber stamps on the soles of her shoes. She shows photos of the same annual vacation—to the Library of Congress, and her computer uses a REAL mouse. However, also in true "Black Lagoon" form, when the class actually makes its way to the library, they find the librarian as well as the library, to be warm and inviting—nothing to fear at all.
Teachers: This would be a great book to use as a read aloud during the first week of school.

That's One Bad Hombre!

CHATO AND THE PARTY ANIMALS, by Gary Soto
AR Level: 3.0 Points: .5

"Cool Cat" Chato’s best friend Novio Boy has never had a birthday party because he is from the pound, and never really had a family. Chato decides to get all of his party-loving friends together to throw a party for Novio Boy. After all the preparations—pinata, flea combs, shiny collars, half-price yarn and catnip—are done, they realize that they forgot to tell Novio Boy—but no one can find him. Everyone is worried—the party turns into a wake for their lost friend—until he shows up, having been "dumpster hopping" with two alley cats. The party continues until long after the sun goes down and the neighbors start throwing shoes at them to get the racket to stop. This book combines barrio slang, Spanish, and English, and is a delight to read. I would have loved having this book when I taught in Inner City San Antonio fifteen years ago!

Itchy, Itchy!!

MOSQUITO BITE, by Alexandra Siy
AR Level: 4.9 Points: .5
Vocabulary Quiz Available

Combining the story of a summer’s game of hide and seek along with the life cycle of a mosquito, this non-fiction book is packed with information. The fiction portion of the story is illustrated with black and white photographs, while the non-fiction portions are done in vivid, highly detailed color "micrographs". Also included are a glossary, further information on mosquitoes, and information about the micrographs that are used in the book. The description of the female mosquito taking fourteen stabs at the boy’s neck before finally hitting a blood vessel, had me slapping at my own neck. This book would be a great reference for an elementary student researching mosquitoes.