"I Spy: Spooky Night" by Walter Wick and Jean Marzollo

"I Spy: Spooky Night" 

by Walter Wick and Jean Marzollo

40 pages /  Print / Realistic

Summary: Spooky rhymes challenge readers to find clues in the pictures on the page. The theme of this book is "spooky nights". Readers explore a haunted mansion and a graveyard to find creepy items like ghosts, skeletons and other things that go bump in the night.

Evaluation: Students love reading these books with a find, which is a postivie thing to see in a library. Adding this book to a library display with ensure that it gets checked out just around Halloween time. Reading the text and making connections with the illustrations is a skill that readers need to development.

Appeal Terms: engrossing, creepy, spooky, thought provoking

"My Pen" by Christopher Myers

"My Pen" 

by Christopher Myers

32 pages /  Print / Fantasy

Summary: "To the people who make things, and to the people who share them." Christopher Myers dedicates this book to the creators. This simple story is page after page of a boy creating fantasy scenes with his pen. His pen allows him to travel to Africa in a newspaper boat, ride dinosaurs, tell people that he loves him, and more. Myers encourages readers to pick up a pen and let your own world be created.

Evaluation: The illustrations of "My Pen" are very detailed and imaginative. I think students that have a drawing talent will enjoy reading this book and gain inspiration. After reading this book I wanted to pick up a pen and create a world of my own. This book celebrates beauty and the expression and art.

Appeal Terms: leisurely, inspirational, magical, character centered, thought provoking, introspective, art

"The Lion and the Mouse" by Jerry Pinkney

 

"The Lion and the Mouse" 

by Jerry Pinkney

40 pages /  E-Book / Folktale

Summary: After escaping the grasp of a hungry owl, a mouse finds itself in the clutches of a lion. The lion does a noble thing and lets the mouse run away free. Some poachers set up a net to catch wild game. The lion gets caught in the netting and is trapped. The same mouse comes to rescue it.

Evaluation: This retelling of Aesop's Fable accompanied by Pinkney's illustrations makes for a delightful reading experience for the reader. There are no words ( just onomatopoeia ) in the story, which leaves the reader to fill in the noises and plot-line with his or her imagination. The warm colors used in the illustrations match the warmth inside of the lion and mouse's heart as they help each other in times of despair. Using this book to teach about humanity and compassion could prove as a successful hook for a classroom lesson.

Appeal Terms: fable, lively, heartwarming, inspirational, thought provoking, introspective