Ending of one journey, and beginning of another

Well, I have finished yet another semester of school. As you all know I was taking children's literature, and I received an A. I learned so much from the class, that I am now going to pursue my teaching degree in special education with an emphasis on reading and literacy. I have had much time to read over the last few weeks. I have stumbled upon a wonderful writer who also taught special education, and has written books from her experiences. Her name is Torey Hayden. She has written books such as One Child, The Tiger's Child, and Beautiful Child. The tiger's child is a sequel to One Child. If you get a chance you should check out these books. It really gives you insight to how children were dealt with prior to the laws that are in tact for today and dealing with abuse. These books are intended for adults only. Happy reading!!!

Jan Brett Books

Books by Jan Brett

Armadillo Rodeo Bo, the armadillo, is always wondering off. His mother tells him to stay close by, but when Bo spots what he thinks is another armadillo, he runs off. What he has found is a pair of red boots. He follows these boots to the rodeo. He realizes when he finally catches up to the boots, that it is not an armadillo. Bo’s family finds him and they head home.

Berloiz the Bear Beloiz and his friends are headed to town to play at the ball. He is concerned with the buzzing sound that he heard coming from the double bass. He is so concerned that he doesn’t notice the hole in the middle of the road. The bandwagon full of musicians gets stuck in a hole, and the mule refuses to move. Several animals try to help get the mule to move, but are unsuccessful. The buzzing starts up again, and out of the double bass flies a bee. He stings the mule right in the caboose. Berloiz and the musicians make it in time to the ball.

Comet’s Nine Lives Like all cats, Comet knew he had been born with nine lives. This story tells about how Comet looses eight of his lives trying to find the perfect place to live. He didn’t realize how quickly his lives would be taken, and wanted to find another cat to see if its lives left as quickly. In the end, he finds a home in the lighthouse with another cat.

Daisy Comes Home Daisy was constantly being picked on by the other hens. They picked on her so much that she didn’t want to sleep in the henhouse with them. One night she left the henhouse to find a place to sleep. She found a basket down on the riverbank to sleep in. Daisy was sleeping and didn’t see the river creeping up from all the rain. The basket floated out onto the river. She woke up from all of the bobbing the basket did, and realized she was far from home. Mei Mei found her at the market; someone else was trying to sell Daisy.

Hedgie Blasts Off! Hedgie dreams of being an astronaut. His dream is about to come true. When Mikkop is in trouble there is no one else that can fit in the spaceship, since the rescue robot has crashed. Hedgie fits perfectly, and is sent off to fix the problem. Hedgie saves the day.

Let's go book shopping with Jan Brett

I recently finished an author study on Jan Brett. She has written and illustrated many children's books throught her life time. Her most famous books are Comet's Nine Lives, Armadillo Rodeo, and Hedgie Blasts Off. Her illustrations are unique, within each page of the story she shows small illustrations around the edge of the pages. I have never seen this before. Anyways, in my lesson plan I had my students write a letter about being an astronaut in a book that looks like a hedgehog. For this lesson I used the book Hedgie Blasts Off. I found the template online at her website. In another lesson, I had my students write a story that uses the basic elements of a story, like the main character, setting, and plot. For this lesson we read 3 of her books, so the students understood what was meant by elements of a story. For my last lesson plan, I had my students read a short autobiography about Jan Brett, and then write 3-5 facts they learned about her. As a culminating activity, the students wrote Jan a letter telling her about themselves, what they liked about her books, and what inspires them to want to be an author. I used this in a 3rd grade classroom, but I think you could use Jan Brett to teach K-4. I know I will be using this lesson when I start teaching.

Get your author news here!!

So I am starting my unit plan, which happens to be a study about an author. I am doing my plan on Jan Brett. Her writing skills are very good. She typically writes about animals. If you get a chance, take a look at some of her books. I will tell you a few to get you started: Hedgie's Surprise, Hedgie Blasts Off, and The Umbrella. These are all great reads.

young adult books

Most recently read books:
The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane- this was a wonderful read. This book tells about the journey of Edward Tulane and how he leaves unnecessarily from his original owner but ends up back with her. You will want to have some tissues, this is a heart sensitive book.

Out of the Dust is another great read. This book details the trials and tribulations of one family during the Dust Bowl of the 1930's.

Fever 1793 is a similar book to the one above only it details the trials and tribulations of a family during the yellow fever epidemic. I would recommend reading The American Plague:The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793.

That's all for now, watch for more to come.

More books added to my list

I remembered some other books that I had forgotten about. I read the Diary of Anne Frank. This was an excellent read. I learned more about myself and my heritage from this book. I am German, but by no means associate with the cruelty that the Germans did to the Jewish people. After reading this book, I wanted to know more about the Holocaust. My daughter and I read these other informative books together. It was so interesting.

I also read Her Father's Daughter by Mollie Poupeney. This book is about a girl at the age of 12, whose father is absent most of the time. On occasion when he is home, he is drunk. She learns that in order to survive she must grow up quickly, and ultimately learns from her mistakes.