Beware of the Frog
William Bee
 Mrs. Collywobbles lives on the edge of a big, dark, scary wood. The only thing protecting her from all the horrible creatures that live in the wood is her little pet frog. Yes, a frog.
Every time Mrs. Collywobbles looks out one of the little windows in her home, she sees a scary creature coming out of the woods.
“Oh, dear! It’s Smelly troll, up to no good. He moves into little old ladies’ houses and stinks so much that they have to run away. Welly-welly, welly-welly, I’m awfully slimy and awfully smelly… This little old lady’s house is just what I’ve been looking for… ” The creatures get scarier, but not too scary….and the ending is a complete surprise. The only thing that might spoil it is the illustration on the back cover. We would hide that from the kids until we’ve read it aloud. It is a book they will beg to read to themselves after you introduce it.
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Meet Wild Boars
Meg Rosoff and Sophie Blackall
 “Boris, Morris, Horace and Doris are wild boars. They are dirty and smelly, bad-tempered and rude. Do you like them? Never mind. They do not like you either. “
These four ill-mannered characters demonstrate the reasons for their reputation throughout the book, but what if they were to come to your house? What if they tried to be good? Would you give them a chance? Don’t believe them for a second. These boars can’t be trusted.
If you are offended by a small bit of bathroom humor you’ll want to avoid it….but we want to assure you that all the dirty, smelly, gross boar behavior is certain to please primary students….especially reluctant readers.
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The Underneath
Kathy Appelt
 You’ll likely be hooked from the first line, “There is nothing lonelier than a cat who has been loved, at least for a while, and then abandoned on the side of the road.”
This little cat, who happens to be pregnant with two kittens, finds friendship when she discovers an old hound dog named Ranger. He encourages her to stay in the safety of the underneath (below the porch), because Ranger’s owner, Gar-face, is perhaps one of the coldest, cruelest and most hateful characters ever imagined. If you are looking for a novel where you will authentically catch yourself doing a myriad of comprehension strategies, then this might be the one. The reader has to think hard as three story threads are uncovered and eventually woven together. 1. Gar-face, a heartless trapper who is on a relentless quest to kill a 100 foot alligator lurking in the bayou.
2. Grandmother moccasin, an ancient, powerful and extremely selfish creature who thirsts for vengeance.
3. Mother cat and her two kittens, who would do well to stay in the safety of the underneath, but experience a serious chain reaction set of events when one of the kittens ventures into the sunlight. The consequences are shocking, sad, and compelling.
There is always a chance for redemption, but as in real life, not everyone takes the chance when offered. It is mystical, dark, poetic, suspenseful, and ultimately satisfying in the end.
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Greetings from Nowhere
Barbara O’Connor
 Aggie is a widow. She and her beloved husband, Harold, ran a little motel in the Great Smoky Mountains which ceased being busy a long time ago. She decides to sell.
Willow’s father has been in a tailspin ever since Willow’s mother left them. He decides to buy the motel to give them a new start.
Loretta, a lively girl, receives a box of trinkets and treasures that belonged to her recently deceased birth mother. The motel becomes her temporary home base as she takes day trips to the places where the trinkets may have come from.
Kirby is a troubled boy on his way to a last chance type of reform school, but ends up at the motel when his mom’s car breaks down.
This is one of those satisfying tales where strangers meet, interact with each other, and are changed as a result. Great for perspective!
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No! That’s Wrong!
Zhaohua Ji and Cui Xu
 Well, a pair of red underpants blows off a clothesline and the rabbit who finds the lacy garment puts it on as a hat. He is congratulated by friends of all shapes and sizes, and condemned by the audience “No, that’s wrong. It’s not a hat.” Finally, he is convinced, and puts them on as intended...only to find they look ridiculous due to his puffy cotton tail. So, he determines he was right all along, and puts the “hat” back on his head. Kindergarten and first grade students will love it.
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A Caldecott Celebration: Seven Artists and Their Paths to the Caldecott Medal
Leonard S. Marcus
 Mr. Marcus celebrates 70 years of the Caldecott medal (award for outstanding illustrations) by selecting one winner from each of the 7 decades to feature in this book: 1942 Make Way for Ducklings by Robert Mccloskey; 1955 Cinderella; or The Little Glass Slipper by Marcia Brown; 1964 Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak; 1970 Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by William Steig; 1982 Jumanji by Chris Van Allsburg; 1992 Tuesday by David Wiesner; 2004 The Man Who Walked Between the Towers by Mordicai Gerstein. We wouldn’t read it aloud from cover to cover, but we would love to share about the author after reading their winning book to our students. Especially valuable is hearing about the writing process and how some of these timeless titles came into being.
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The Adventures of Odysseus
Hugh Lupton and Daniel Morden, illustrated by Christina Balit
 If you are looking to introduce your intermediate students to Greek Mythology, then this is a winner! Stunning art….and an unwillingness to water down the gore (for example, Cyclops bites the heads off men) will surely please 5th and 6th grade boys. Barefoot Books began in the home of Nancy Traversy and Tessa Strickland in 1993. They believe art and story play a vital role in fostering children’s creativity and capacity for independence, so they offer a series of books that are thoughtfully written, beautifully designed and illustrated, and have high educational value. Check out other offerings at barefootbooks.com
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Singing to the Sun: A Fairy Tale
Vivian French, illustrated by Jackie Morris
 This is a really unique fairy tale with gorgeous illustrations! Thorfinn’s life in the castle is far from happy. His father is completely obsessed with power and his mother’s sole interest is wealth. His only two friends are the jester (who, in this instance, is wise) and the castle cat. Throfinn’s quest to find a worthy wife leads to a kingdom with three beautiful princesses. He will be given his choice of the three, if he can determine which princess brings power, which wealth, and which love, all without speaking to them. He has one of the musicians play the violin with a strand of hair from each, and the music that ensues clearly reveals to him which princess is which. Will he choose wealth, power, or love? And will the princess he chooses, select him? The ending may surprise you.
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There’s A Wolf at the Door; Five Classic Tales Retold
Zoe B. Alley picture by R.W. Alley
 This retelling of The Three Little Pigs, The Boy Who Cried Wolf, Little Red Riding Hood, The Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing, and The Wolf and the Seven Little Goslings is told comic strip style. Kids will love reading these stories via speech bubbles, and there is humor threaded throughout to boot. For instance, when Little Red Riding Hood discovers it’s the wolf and not her granny:
“I’ll teach you to be rude to my granny, you fake!” screamed Rhonda, now clearly upset. “And, did no one ever tell you not to wear white after Labor Day?” She yanked off her not very sensible, but very stylish red Mary Janes and turned on the startled wolf.”
She throws the shoe at him and saves the day. The only drawback for a classroom is the size….about 11.5 x 14.5, which won’t fit easily into some book boxes and book bags….but kids will still clamor to read it.
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Four Feet, Two Sandals
Karen Lynn Williams & Khadra Mohammed
Lina, age ten, lives in a refugee camp in Pakistan. While sorting through a pile of shoes, she discovers a beautiful yellow sandal with a blue flower which fits perfectly. While wearing it around, she sees it’s mate on the foot of another refugee girl, Feroza. They have a chance meeting at the stream the next day, decide to share, and a lovely friendship is born. When Lina’s family is selected to resettle in America, she must leave Feroza behind. What will they do about the sandals? This beautiful, tender story is appropriate for all age levels.
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A Visitor For Bear
Bonny Becker
 Bear doesn’t want visitors, which should be clear from the ‘No Visitors Allowed’ sign on his front door…but little mouse fails to respect the boundary repeatedly until the predictable ending of a newly formed friendship. The illustrations are charming. Those of you who love tuning in to interesting vocabulary will appreciate the use of vamoose, farewell, intolerable, insufferable, and toodle-oo!
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Hate That Cat
Sharon Creech
 If you liked Love That Dog, you will definitely want to read this sequel! We get to be voyeurs in Jack’s classroom again, as he delves into this school years poetry unit, struggling to get his own thoughts down after studying the works of Walter Dean Myers, William Carlos Williams, Edgar Allen Poe, Valerie Worth, Alfred Lord Tennyson, Christopher Myers, and T.S. Eliot. We got hooked on the banter between Jack and his teacher by page two (see below) and finished it in one sitting!
September 12
I hate that cat
like a dog hates a rat
I said I hate that cat
like a dog hates a rat
Hate to see it in the morning
Hate to see that
F A T black cat.
September 13
Sorry
I didn’t know
you liked cats.
Didn’t know
you have one.
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Chester
Melanie Watt
 Two voices, Melanie’s and her cat’s, compete to tell a story about a mouse. The naughty Chester doodles, interrupts and revises throughout with a bold red marker, driving his owner a little crazy. (It begins on the dedication page... “For Marcos, Eva, Melina and Layla” - which is crossed out and next to it is, For Chester because I couldn’t have made this book without him. He’s the smartest, most handsome cat in the world. I wish I could be like him someday!). Your students will want to hear it more than once and will definitely want to read it independently. One of Chester’s additions is an acrostic about himself which may inspire your students to do the same during their writing time.
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Monkey and Me
Emily Gravett
 As you watch this adorable little girl gallivant about with her monkey, you can’t help but wonder if she is at the zoo, has been to the zoo, or does she just like playing zoo. It’s fun to predict what animal she is mimicking before confirming the guess on the next page. The simple repetitive text supports beginning readers.
“Monkey and me,
Monkey and me,
Monkey and me,
We went to see,
We went to see some...”
Children will have to pay close attention to the picture clues, since the simple text repeats without clues. The surprise on the last page will stimulate some conversation. We love it!
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Oops-a-Daisy!
Claire Freedman
 If you are a sucker for books that show learners the value of trying, and that we don’t always get things the first time, and that we all have things we are working on…then you will like this one! Mama Rabbit is teaching Daisy how to hop. Daisy tries, gets discouraged, tries small hops, gets a little more confidence, meets with failure again, receives more encouragement, etc. finally declaring, “There’s so much to remember all at once!” I can’t help think of my emergent writers who are trying to get their ideas on paper, remember spaces, and capitals, and periods, etc. Daisy continues, all the while noticing that her friends are working on goals of their own. Little Mouse is trying to reach the golden seeds at the top of a stalk of grass. Little Badger is trying to dig a tunnel that won’t collapse. Little Duck is practicing swimming. If you want young learners to recognize how difficult it can be to achieve their goals sometimes, and to honor and respect each other as they all work on different things…this might be just the book for you.
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Dragon Slippers
Jessica Day George
 Creel’s poverty stricken guardians send her off to be captured by a dragon, believing it will force a local knight to rescue her, which will undoubtedly result in his falling in love with her and an invitation for them all to live at the palace, thus ending their misfortune once and for all. Well, she does get taken by a dragon, but the adventure takes a completely different course after that. There is suspense, intrigue, battles, friendship and loss. It is a satisfyingly spun tale.
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Dragon Flight
Jessica Day George
 This sequel to Dragon Slippers is equally as good. Creel and Marta are happily working as seamstresses in their own shop when they join forces with dragons again to win a war. This time it’s against a tremendous army of dragons who are being controlled to destroy their town. There is suspense, humor, adventure, and a lot of action. If your fantasy lovers are looking for new titles, these are just the ticket!
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