Historical Fiction Post #3

Title: Mr. Wayne's Masterpiece
Author/Illustrator: Patricia Polacco
Lauren's Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Mr. Wayne's Masterpiece is about a young girl who is terrified to speak in front of an audience. Her teacher tells her to join in on the drama class. Mr Wayne, the drama teacher, tells her to let the play take her and not to focus on everyone else. He believed in her and when she went out on stage, she delivered her lines and did an amazing job without any problems!

This story is relatable to every person at any age. The way that the book resolves the children's fear is incredible. The teacher believed in her and gave her a chance for success, which in turn, made her believe in herself. The illustrations are unusual, in that, the sketch marks are still left on the page. The pencil marks show the fear in the child's face in the beginning of the book and toward the end, the illustrator used her pencil drawings to elicit confidence. The illustrations are very detailed and you could spend five minutes looking at each individual page. The text was longer but it did not use difficult language.
The message in the book is appropriate for the audience. I did some research and it turns out that the book was written about herself. The author had a fear of public speaking and this true story is how she overcame her fears! Children could read this book and become more confident in their abilities. I would recommend this to all advanced readers, parents and teachers. This book should be read in all classrooms.

Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons
Publication date: 2014
ISBN: 978-0-399-16095-0

Historical Fiction Post #2

Title: Mouse Island
Author/Illustrator: Eve Bunting & Dominic Catalano
Lauren's Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Mouse Island is a story about a mouse who lived alone on an island. He felt empty and one day that emptiness disappeared when he rescued a cat on a ship from drowning. The two animals became best friends and lived on the island together.

This was a very cute and easily understood story. The minimal text and number of words on every page is appealing. The illustrations were incredible. There was so much detail incorporated into the pictures. The colors used made the pictures come to life. I liked the idea of an unlikely friendship because the mouse was nice to the cat, even though he knew he could eat him. That concept goes along well with the concept of not judging a book by its cover. Mouse Island is a real island located in Ohio. The island was inhabited once before by a lighthouse keeper and his wife. Now, no one lives there. The story could easily be read to a classroom of children or for individual reading.


Publisher: Boyds Mills Press
Publication date: 2008
ISBN: 978-1-59078-447-1

Historical Fiction Post #1

Title: That's What Leprechauns Do
Author/Illustrator: Eve Bunting/ Emily Arnold McCully
Lauren's Rating: 4.8 out of 5 stars

That's What Leprechauns Do is a story about three mischievous leprechauns that are on a mission to put a pot of gold under a rainbow. Along their journey, they find different ways to create trouble, such as painting a cow's hooves red and putting a tennis ball underneath a hen, as an egg! When the rain subsides and they reach the rainbow, they put a pot of gold underneath it. They sit around and wait for a person to come and find it; which no one ever does.

This was a great story. The legend that there is a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow was something I was always told as a child. This creative story was humorous and interesting. The illustrations were extraordinary with the use of watercolors. The landscape, which took place in Ireland, looked as real as the Irish country looks now. Even the way the leprechauns talked was accurate for an Irishman. Another accurate depiction in the book was the weather. It rains a lot in Ireland and when the rain subsides, a rainbow always appears. This story was brilliantly told and is very creative. The last page of the book included a brief, "about leprechauns" section that I thought was very appropriate. The story included more complicated text and the story was meant for an older audience of children. However, I would recommend this book to every child and to their parents to read to them if they cannot. This is a great book for Irish children to learn about a part of their culture and for other children to learn more about the mischievous Irish.

Publisher: Clarion Books
Publication date: 2005
ISBN: 0-618-35410-7

Informational Texts Post #3

Title: Penguin Chick
Author/Illustrator: Betty Tatham & Helen K. Davie
Lauren's Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Event though this book is an information text, it is written as a story. The mother and father penguin both take care of their egg and soon-to-be baby penguin. They describe the life cycle of the penguin as well as what happens with the parents while they wait for two months for the egg to hatch.

I liked this book a lot. Not only did it provide information, but it did so in a creative and interesting manner. The book is still a story and the illustrations were painted in watercolor. There is more text on each page, but the lettering is big and the pictures help describe the story. The colors that were used in the story are amazing. They used the black and white colors for the penguin. They used colorful pinks and blues for the landscape. The story is easy to comprehend and it includes the jobs of the parents when an egg is formed. I liked that the book showed the life cycle of the penguin. This book showed that it is possible to write an informational text that is intriguing and contains somewhat of a plot. I would recommend this book to all children that could read. It is a book that helps teach children while it enhances their reading abilities. I overall thought this was the best informational text I have read!

Publisher: HarperCollins
Publication date: 2002
ISBN: 0-06-028594

Informational Texts Post #2

Title: The Respiratory System

Author: Kay Manolis
Lauren's Rating: 2.8 out of 5 stars

This informational text talks all about the respiratory system. It describes the mechanisms of breathing, coughing and sneezing. It also explains the process of oxygen going into the body and carbon dioxide leaving the body.

This book was made for young children. It has very appealing colors, uses children as the pictures, and includes very short, simple sentences. The illustrations are photographs that are clear and of good quality. The content is challenging in itself, but the author made it easily readable and accessible for kids. It uses photographs of children and normal bodily functions, such as coughing, to help children be able to relate to this system. There is a glossary at the end of terms that can be utilized by the children. This is a great learning tool. This book would be great to use in a science class or to direct a child to read for more important about this system.

Publisher: Bellwether Media
Publication date: 2009
ISBN: 978-1-60014-246-8

Informational Texts Post #1

Title: Platypuses
Author: Rebecca Hirsch
Lauren's Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

This informational text is all about platypuses. It talks about their life cycle, compares them to other animals, and describes the foods that they eat. It describes all of the characteristics of a platypus and explains why it is considered a mammal. Finally, it describes where the platypuses live and fun facts about them.

This is a book that does not consist of a story, but rather, describes different features of platypuses. It is directed towards children because of its excessive use of pictures, different colors, and fun facts on each page. The book has chapters. This could help children look up the information that they need for a project for school or help them if they wanted to locate something specific about this animal. The pictures in the book are real photographs of the animal. The book goes into great detail of this animal as well. The one aspect of the book that I liked the most was the fact that they compared platypuses to all sorts of other animals, such as beavers, giraffes, and otters. The comparison charts would be very helpful for a child. It would help a child differentiate different animals. This in turn would make learning easier. I would recommend this book to an older child that wants to learn more about platypuses or to a child that has to do a report on this animal.

Publisher: Lerner
Publication date: 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4677-5581-8

Fantasy Post #3

Title: Bedtime Monsters
Author/Illustrator: Josh Schneider
Lauren's Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Bedtime Monsters is about a boy who is afraid of going to sleep alone because of the monsters that might be under his bed. When he sees the monster that he was afraid of, the monster tells him that he is afraid of another monster. After several monsters are afraid of each other and get under the covers with the boy, they realize that the scariest monster is an "Arnold" who eats the heads off of other animals. Arnold is the boy who plays and pretends to be a monster during the day.

This story is very clever and I liked the message it gave at the end. I think that the illustrations, especially the monster outline drawn around the boy, is creative and intriguing. The story is based off the of the usual idea that kid's fear monsters under their bed. However, this fantastical book plays on the fact that the monsters might be afraid of you. The use of cool colors, such as purple and blue, when the lights are turned off show the child and monster's fear in the dark. I liked the story and I would recommend this book to children that have this fear or want to read a very different book.

Publisher: Clarion Books
Publication date: 2013
ISBN: 978-0-544-00270-8