Biography: Primary/Multicultural

Title: Satchel Paige: Don't Look Back
Author: David A. Adler
Illustrator: Terry Widener
Genre: Biography: Primary/Multicultural 
Publisher: HarcourtBooks 2007
Age: F- 3rd grade
Summary: This book discusses Satchel Paige's life.  He was an awesome pitcher and baseball player.  But, he could not be on a Major League Baseball team because he was black.  Satchel Paige did not give up and he kept doing what he loved.  He did so in hopes that one day he will be able to play on a Major League team.  His dream finally came true when he was 42 years old.

Response: I did not know much about Satchel Paige before I read this book.  He seems like he was a great inspiration for African Americans during the early 1900s.  The pictures made me feel as though I knew Satchel.  He lived a very interesting life.

Biography: Intermediate/Multicultural

Title: Peaceful Protest: The Life of Nelson Mandela
Author: Yona Zeldis McDonough
Illustrator: Malcah Zeldis
Genre: Biography: Intermediate/Multicultural
Publisher: Walking Publishing Company 2002
Age: 3rd- 5th grade
Summary: This is a story about Nelson Mandela's life.  It tells about his country's problems and discusses what Madela did to help.  He was even sent to prison.  He tried as hard as he could to get his country to a better way of life. He then won the Nobel Peace Prize for all of his work with civil rights.  Later, became the first black president of the Republic of South Africa.  

Response: The book is very appropriate for younger readers.  It talks about how important it is to stand up for what you believe in.  It would be very helpful when teaching a lesson about South Africa.  I think the images are nice, but I do not know if they would be very appealing to children.

Nonfiction: Intermediate

Title: Along the Luangwa 
Author: Schuyler Bull
Illustrator: Alan Male
Genre: Nonfiction: Intermediate
Publisher: Soundprints 1999
Age: 2nd to 5th grade
Summary: The story describes the animals in the African floodplain.  Particularly the crocodiles and their babies.  It talks about what life is like and how the animals view their surroundings.  It tells how the drought is very difficult to live through.  Many of the animals suffer and have to search hard for food.

Response: The illustrations in this book are very realistic.  They are beautiful drawings that really show details about the animals.  The story is one that grabs the reader attention.  It describes just what life would be like to be a crocodile in Africa.  

Nonfiction: Intermediate/Multicultural

Title: Escaping to America
Author: Rosalyn Schanzer
Illustrator: n/a
Genre: Nonfiction: Intermediate/Multicultural
Publisher: HarperCollins 2000
Age: 3rd-6th grade
Summary: A family in Poland does not enjoy it there because of the war in the early 1900s.  The family got attacked by soldiers often because they were Jewish.  They felt their best plan for a good life was to move to America.  The entire family packed two outfits and headed on their journey.  They traveled by wagon and train until they reached the boat to America.  Everyone on the boat began to get sick after four weeks of traveling.  

Response: "Escaping to America" tells the story about what the Jews in Poland went through.  I definitely feel that it is meant for older kids because they have quotes such as, "you Jews are all going to be killed anyway."  I do think that they way the story is told is good.  But, it is only appropriate for children if you know that they will respond to it correctly.  

Nonfiction: Primary

Title: Sea Horse: The Shyest Fish in the Sea
Author: Chris Butterworth
Illustrator: John Lawrence
Genre: Nonfiction: Primary
Publisher: Candlewick Press 2004
Age: Pre K- 3rd grade
Summary: Talks about how seahorses are known as the shyest fish in the sea.  They swim upright and have small fins on their head.  Seahorses change color when they feel like they are in danger.  The book also talks about how seahorses are loyal to their mates.  Also, their babies are so tiny that they float away with the currents.  

Response:  This book was very cool to read.  It had a lot of interesting and fun facts.  I have always loved seahorses and I never realized that the men were the ones who had the pouches.  This would be a great book for children to read if they are really interested in the ocean.  The pictures were not as exciting as I hoped they would be, but the facts made up for that. 

Nonfiction: Primary

Title: Why I Sneeze, Shiver, Hiccup, and Yawn
Author: Melvin Berger
Illustrator: Paul Meisel
Genre: Nonfiction: Primary
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers 1983
Age: Pre K - 2nd
Summary: This book explains why people sneeze, hiccup, and yawn.  It tells children about reflexes and what they are. No matter what, we cannot control when our reflexes happen.  It talks about what our nervous system is made up of. Also, how we react to things without realizing. 

Response: The illustrations in this book really showed facial expressions and emotions.  I actually have always wondered why exactly we hiccup.  I learned a few things from this book.  This would be really fun for a young child to read.  It explains why our body does many things and it does it in an interesting way.

Poetry: Multicultural

Title: The Blacker the Berry
Author: Joyce Carol Thomas
Illustrator: Floyd Cooper
Genre: Poetry: Multicultural
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Age: 2nd-5th grade
Summary: This book is filled with poems about African Americans.  Each poem is about a certain shade of skin.  The names of the poems and the colors of the skin go from "Blacker the Berry" to "toast".  The poems are explaining why skin can be a certain shade and how skin got to be that way.  

Response: The poems and images in this book are very cute and they all relate to each other.  This book is a good way to boost a child's self-esteem, if they are ever wondering about the way they look.  This book is saying that no matter what color a person's skin is, they are beautiful no matter what.  

Graphic Novel: Multicultural

Title: Prince of Persia
Author: Jordan Mechner & A.B. Sina
Illustrator: LeUyen Pham & Alex Puvilland
Genre: Graphic Novel: Multicultural
Publisher: New York & London 2008
Age: 9 & up
Summary: Prince of Persia is a video game that has been turned into books. It is about two princes that were born hundreds of years apart. The prince meets Elika and hears about her life. They become close and she tells him about how she died. The prince used the life from a tree to make Elika come back to life and he saves her.
Response: Graphic novels do not really interest me as much as they might many other people. But, I thought this one was a very fun read and I think students, especially young boys would really enjoy it. The pictures were very appealing to the eye and I feel that images are what make or break a graphic novel. Overall, the book was enjoyable to read even though it is made based off of a video game.

Realistic Contemporary Fiction: Newbery

Title: The Higher Power of Lucky
Author: Susan Patron
Illustrator: Matt Phelan
Genre: Contemporary Realistic Fiction
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Division 2006
Age: 4th-6th grade
Summary: Lucky is a ten year old girl who may be put in a foster home because her mother passed away and her father does not care to be a father. Her dad had his ex-wife Brigitte, from France, stay with Lucky until a good foster family comes around. Lucky worries she will be going to a foster home soon and she wants something to make all of her problems go away. She listens in on "Anonymous" meetings and hopes that they will help her to find her 'higher power.' She wants her higher power to help her to have a better life. So she works hard to find her higher power and communicates with the people who live in her small town.

Response: The people in the story are very real. Many children should be able to relate to the characters and their lifestyles or know people that the characters remind them of. This story is a good one about the love of a family and community. It was a very interesting book to read and it seemed different than many of the books that I read when I was in elementary school. Although the references to smoking and alcohol in the story made me question whether or not this would really be a good story for young children to read. I think I would have it in my classroom and if I knew the child really well I would allow them to read it.