100 Most Dangerous Things on the Planet

100 Most Dangerous Things on the Planet
Written by: Anna Claybourne

I found this book to be seriously awesome.  I purchased it for my future classroom library from a scholastic book order a month or two ago.  When I saw it in the book order I figured that kids would really take a liking to it.  There's an element of 'gross' and 'wow' to it that I know kids tend to appeal to.  However, I didn't know that I would have the same reaction to it.  There were things I read about in this book that I had not been aware of previously.  For example:

-The survival rating for people being swept over a waterfall is only 20%.  Also, in 1960, a 7-year-old boy miraculously survived being swept over one of the world's most powerful waterfalls, Niagara Falls.  He was wearing a life vest and was rescued from the plunge pool by a tour boat.    

This book is full of neat facts similar to the one mentioned above.  There are also survival guides on each of the 100 dangerous things.  Some of these dangerous things you might encounter are: an elephant charging you, a sinking ship, a broken power line, asteroid strike, sand storm, or a pack of wolves.  There are unique and rare events as well as common events mentioned in the book.  I think it's important for everyone to know what to do if they are found in a dangerous situation.  I believe this book would fascinate students and really hold their attention.  It may also help a reluctant reader find the motivation and desire to pick up the book.

The New Baby

The New Baby

Written by: Fred Rogers

Having a new baby brother or sister can be difficult for children.  Often times parents aren't sure how to explain to their children what changes will occur once their sibling arrives.  In addition, when the new sibling arrives it hard for kids to understand why they are no longer receiving as much one on one time as they previously had.  A book may be a good way to introduce this topic to children and to younger students.  This book is recommended for kids between the ages of 2 and 7.  

This book supplies the reader with real-life photos of kids and their baby siblings.  The audience intended for this story would be the big brother/sister.  The author does a great job of giving children advice on how to deal with anger or frustration when things are 'different' than they used to be at home.  He also explains why it may seem like one child is receiving more attention than the other, and he discusses the possible reasons for that.       

This book is a great way to introduce the topic to children expecting a new baby brother or sister.  It's important for kids to know what is coming and help them prepare for it rather than throw them into the situation unprepared and confused.

365 Ways to Live Green

365 Ways to Live Green

Written by: Sheri Amsel

This book of facts is suggested for students between the ages of 9 and 12. However, the topic of the book: Ways to Stay Green, could be used by anyone!.  I wouldn't put an age limit on this particular book.  The information available is very doable by most anyone.  I would be surprised if someone couldn't find something within this book that they could do in order to 'live green'.  

As the title states, this book lists 365 ways that individuals can do in order to help save the environment.  These can be done in a variety of locations, such as school, home, or even during everyday play.  The 365 ways are broken down into subcategories.  These include, but are not limited to, Plant life, Energy and Power, Recycling, and much, much more.  

While I was flipping through the book I was shocked at how many things I noticed that I had not previous known or been aware of.  Simple things such as unplugging your t.v., alarm clock, fan, etc. when on vacation can help save a lot of energy.  I think it's important for students to know what they can do in order to 'live green'.  Often times individuals don't 'live green' because they are uneducated in how they can go go about accomplishing it.  I think it would be neat to introduce one way in this book to 'live green' to students each week.  Encourage the students to try and 'live green' by attempting to follow the book suggestions.  On each Friday, after the week is over, students can choose to write about their experiences in their writer's notebook.  What a great idea for a integrated lesson ;)  

Let's Talk About Race

Let’s Talk About Race

Written by: Julius Lester
Illustrated by: Karen Barbour

This book was one of my favorites to read this semester.  I actually talked about this story and author during our group presentation on the genre of Information.  This particular non-fiction book discusses the issue of race.  This topic can be very controversial and hard to approach, however, I feel that the book did a nice job discussing this topic.  The author, Julius Lester, focuses more heavily on the similarities of different races rather than their differences.  For example, on particular page he encourages the reader to touch their cheek bone (gently and carefully of course ;))... he then continues to inform the reader that those same bones are underneath everyone's skin.  Usually when diversity is talked about, the focus of the conversation is about difference -- different cultures, different races, etc.  I liked how the author took a different perspective on the topic of race.  This is a thoughtful picture book that may inspire some rich discussion within the classroom.  Something a teacher always loves :) 


The illustrations within the book are really neat.  As you can see from the cover, the illustrator, Karen Barbour, creates cartoon-like images by using bold black lines as outlines.  These illustrations often ran off the page and were bright and colorful.  Differences and sameness were portrayed throughout the illustrations and really helped the reader grasp the concept the author was trying to get across.  

First the Egg

First the Egg

Written by: Laura Vaccaro Seeger

Brief Summary: This book is about transformations...from egg to chicken, seed to flower, and caterpillar to butterfly. But it's also a book about creativity -- as paint becomes picture, word becomes story... and commonplace becomes extraordinary.

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I checked this book out of the curriculum lab after our Tuesday, 2/2/10 class presentation. The book is quite colorful and displays large, page-filling illustrations. Personally, I think that the best part of this book is the fact that it is non-fiction. Normally when I think of non-fiction, I think of hard, cold, solid facts that are boring to read and hear. I don't think of big, colorful illustrations, and I don't think of it being fun to read. However, Seeger does a great job of making learning facts fun! If the information itself doesn't keep the kids attention than the cut-outs within the book will. Every time I turned the page I wondered what surprise I would find on the other side. This is a very attractive quality of the book and I feel that readers of all abilities will find this book appealing.