How to Steal a Dog

I can guarantee that there are many of us who have wanted to steal a dog at one point in our lives. I have absolutely wanted to steal a dog on many occasions. If you're a cat person, we can no longer be friends and you may disagree with everything in this blog. I often find myself taking my roommate's dog and keeping her in my room because I want to keep her for myself. Dogs are animals that just seem to make everything better. They are so fun and lovable. This is why they bring dogs in for pet therapy, not cats! Anywho, this post is not about debating whether dogs or cats are better (dogs all the way). This post is about a book titled How to Steal a Dog by Barbara O'Connor.

I have just started this book and I am already hooked. I want to share with you the introduction to help you get a feel.

"The day I decided to steal a dog was the same day my best friend, Luanne Godfrey, found out I lived in a car. I had told my Mama she would find out sooner or later seeing as how she's so nosey and all. But Mama had rolled her eyes and said, "Just get on up there to the bus stop, Georgina, quit your whining." So that's what I did. I stood up there at the bus stop pretending like I still lived in Apartment 3B. I pretended like I didn't have mustard on my shirt from the day before. I pretended like I hadn't washed my hair in the bathroom of the Texaco gas station that very morning. And I pretended like my daddy hadn't just waltzed off and left us with nothing but three rolls of quaters and a mayonnaise jar full of wadded-up dollar bills. I guess I'm pretty good at pretending."

Georgina is in charge of watching her little brother Toby while her mom is busy working two jobs. Georgina wants nothing more than help out her mom and help change their situation. So naturally, when she spots a missing dog poster with a reward for $500 Georgina comes up with a plan. I am so excited to keep reading and find out what this little girl is up to.

As you can tell, Georgina is going through some hard times. Could you imagine having to go to school after sleeping in a car? This also makes me think about some of the students I teach. Many of those students are in poverty and could be going through a similar situation. This would be a great book to keep in your classroom. Students who are going through some hard times may be able to relate to this story. Hopefully, they don't try to steal a dog.

 

The Lemonade War

This week, I began reading The Lemonade War by Jacqueline Davies. This book has been read by many of classmates and I've had it on my "want to read" list for quite some time. I am so glad that I finally got this book! The author does such a good job of pulling the reader into the story. Davies makes you feel as though you are connected to the story because many of her readers have similar personal experiences.

In this book, there are 2 siblings Jessie and Evan. Evan is only a year older than Jessie, causing some drama. Especially when Jessie skips a grade and they become classmates. Being in the world of education, many of us know how much tension there can be between siblings in the same class. These 2 decided to build a lemonade stand as summer is coming to an end. Of course, they could not share the same lemonade stand and work together. Each child built their own stand and it became a lemonade war.

I am connected to this book due to the fact that I have a strong sibling rivalry. I have 1 older brother and that is it. You can imagine some of the battles we have been through. Oh boy, I can remember the pranks and the arguments. This was especially apparent in my family because we all are so competitive, even my dad would hop in and help stir the pot between us. We eventually grew up and we now are very close. The rivalry has not completely gone away and this is apparent when we all get together for the holidays and we play Family Feud and other games, which is coming up soon this year and I am very excited!

Anyway, I don't want to spoil this book for any of you interested in reading it. If you enjoy a little laughter with some competitive spirit, you will love this book!

Piglet Gets A New Job

Piglet Gets a New Job by Joe Corcoran is a modern fairy tale chapter book for children in grades 4 through 6. Yet, another book found off https://freekidsbooks.org/piglet-gets-a-new-job/! Thank goodness for the internet and this amazing website.

This little piglet was born into the circus and had been performing her whole life. Her job was to be launched out of the cannon and fly through the air only to be caught by the net, a crowd favorite. When one day, the ringleader had prepared the cannon and the crowd was anticipating the launch. All of the sudden the ringleader's face was covered with black smoke and he could hear the crowd roaring with laughter. When the smoke cleared, the ringleader saw the piglet half in and half out of the cannon. She was stuck, squealing and flailing her legs all over in the attempt to escape. After the show had finished, the ringleader had to tell the piglet that she had gotten too fat and she was going to have to leave the circus. The circus packed up and left the piglet behind, she watched the only family she had ever known drive away.

The ringleader had told the piglet to avoid humans and stay to herself, the humans were always up to no good. The piglet takes off and experiences many new things, adventures she never thought were possible. In fear of the humans, the little piglet practices new tricks to try and get back in the circus, although she was not very good. The piglet continues on with her adventures until she is able to find her new job and her new family.

This book shows an important message to young students that may feel lost and alone. Some students might have a hard time opening up when going through troubling family situations. This book would be good for these children to read, allowing them to see that we must never give up and that we can always find someone to be there for us. These are important topics for children to learn about and reading about them might be easier than talking through them. Another great book to add to your list!

Sister, Sister, Where Does the Sun Go at Night?

Life has been crazy this past week so I was extremely thankful when I ran into this website where I could download children's books for free! How awesome is that?! I will share with all of you this link in case you are having a hectic week and cannot make it to the library. At https://freekidsbooks.org/ you are provided with all kinds of children's books that have free downloads. You can find books that you want to use in the classroom, books for to read at night to your own children, and even books just for enjoyment. As I was scrolling through, I found the book Sister, Sister, Where Does the Sun Go at Night? This book is a non-fiction children's book that you could use in a science class grades 1-3 to discuss how the Earth rotates around the sun, making it "disappear at night."

Non-fiction books can often be portrayed as boring. However, this book does an excellent job of keeping the topic interesting. This book is about a brother and sister trying to figure out where the sun goes at night. The book provides all of these different crazy ideas that children may have about where the sun goes. To give you an idea, an excerpt from the text is below.

"I think
That maybe, while it is night
Here on earth,
It is a glorious day in
The ocean's darkest depths.
And the mermaids come dancing out
Of their undersea caves
To frolic with the sharks.
We have seen it ourselves
When we went to Mumbai last summer.
Remember
How the sun lets go of the sky
Each evening at dusk
And slides soundlessly into the sea?
That’s where I think the sun goes at night
To flood the underwater
With golden light.
I’m clever, aren’t I sister?"

We may laugh at this crazy idea, but many of our students might actually think this way! The book goes through several different examples, provided with illustrations for the children to look at to further understand. Towards the end of the book, the sister state that in all of the books she has read it says the Earth rotates. Then she explains what all of the books say to her brother and he says, "Can it be true, sister, can it be true?"

After the book ends, it provides you with a "find out more" section, where it explains in more scientific terms of the Earth's rotation and why the sun seems to disappear. The book then provides you with an experiment! I know... AWESOME! This book would be a fantastic way to engage your students in a topic that could potentially be pretty boring. I also would like to add that this is a very awesome non-fiction book. The children's crazy ideas and illustrations are so much more intriguing than your typical textbook.  I absolutely love this book and this website!

Read Like a Writer

Currently, I am still reading the book Animorphs by K.A. Applegate. As I shared last week, this is a science fiction book that has our planet under attack by a strange species of aliens, known as Yeerks. A group of young children ran into a different alien, a good alien known as the Andalites, who granted the children a special power to stop the Yeerks with his last dying breaths. These children could then morph into an animal they touched, hence the name Animorphs. Morphing into an animal would allow them to go undetected by the Yeerks.

This author clearly has a large imagination. I love the way she is able to describe scenes in the book, painting a picture in the reader's mind. I often find myself having a hard time connecting with science fiction works. However, the author does an excellent job of providing mystery and suspense throughout the story. Dragging you into the alien madness you never thought you could be interested in.

If I were to use this text in a classroom, I would use it for the upper elementary grades. I am thinking 5th and 6th, possibly even into 7th and 8th, depending on how you are using the book. I would want my students to use their imaginations and use descriptive words to paint that picture for the reader, as Applegate does.

Here are some of the passages I would use:

"<You do not understand. Yeerks are different. They have no body like your or mine. They live in the bodies of other species. They are...> I guess he couldn't think of a word to explain Yeerks, so he closed his eyes and seemed to concentrate. Suddenly a bright picture popped into my head. I saw a gray-green, slimy thing like a snal without its shell, only bigger, the size of a rat, maybe. It wasn't a pretty picture. "I'm guessing that was a Yeerk," Marco said. "Either that or a very big wad of slimy chewing gum." <They are almost powerless without hosts. They-> Suddenly we felt that bast of pain, straight from the alien. I could also feel his saddness. He knew his time was almost up. <The Yeerks are parasites. They must have a host to live in. In this form they are known as Controllers. They enter the brain and are absorbed into it, taking over the host's thoughts and feelings. They try to get the host to accept them voluntarily. It is easier that way. Otherwise the host may be able to resist, at least a little.>"

"<I know that you are young. I know that you have no power with which to resist the Controllers. But I may be able to give you some small powers that may help.> We all looked at each other. All except Tobias, who never took his gaze off the alien. <If you wish, I can give you powers that no other human has ever had.> "Powers?" What was that supposed to mean? <It is a piece of Andalite technology that the Yeerks do not have, a technology that enables us to pass unnoticed in many parts of the universe - the power to morph. We have never shared this power. But your need is great.> "Morph? Morph how?" Rachel asked, her eyes narrowed. <To change your bodies, to become any other species. Any animal.>"

After reading these passages and possibly a few more to my students. I would start writing on the board adjectives and descriptive words, asking them what descriptive words are popping up into their heads after reading. Leaving those words up there while they write. I would have them go work individually on writing what animal they would morph to and why. Also including how that would help them in defeating the Yeerks. The students would be working on good descriptive words, enhancing their vocabulary and working on painting that picture for the reader. I would ask them to create a story that readers can visualize while they're reading. After the students have completed their stories I would randomly pass the stories out to different students. I would then ask the students to draw what they think is happening in the story. This would allow the students to see if they created a good visual representation with their words.

There are many other ways to teach this aspect of writing, but I think this would be a fun and exciting way to let my students use their imaginations in the classroom. We so often see students being scolded for using their imaginations in their work, but I want them to be creative as they possibly can with this activity.

 

Animorphs - The Invasion

Some of my favorite book series include The Hunger Games and the Divergent series. After reading the back cover of Animorphs, I just had to try it. "We can't tell you who we are. Or where we live. It's too risky, and we've got to be careful. But everyone is in danger. Yeah. Even you." The author, K. A. Applegate, catches the reader's attention with this introduction. It makes you wonder what could possibly be happening? This is what lead me into choosing Animorphs - The Invasion by K. A. Applegate, the first book in the Animorphs series.

After reading the first page of this book, I was hooked.

"My name is Jake. That's my first name, obviously, I can't tell you my last name. It would be too dangerous. The Controllers are everywhere. Everywhere. And if they knew my full name, they could find me and my friends, and then . . . well, let's just say I don't want them to find me. What they do to people who resist them is too horrible to think about. I won't even tell you where I live. You'll just have to trust me that it is even a real place, a real town. It may even be your town."

I was so intrigued to see what was happening in this book after reading that. Jake and his friends were walking home from the mall one day, they cut through the dangerous short-cut way when all of the sudden a bright flash of light appears in the sky. I know exactly what you're all thinking, a UFO. (Science fiction books are a little over the top sometimes.) Guess what it was... a spaceship. Then out walks an alien, or so they thought. This creature is not your ordinary slimy green alien, but a creature that looked as though someone had fused a person and a deer together. As this creature slid out of his spaceship, the kids realized he was dying. With his last breaths, the creature, known as an Andalite, shares with the children information that these creatures called Yeerks were trying to take over the world. Yeerks are able to take over human bodies and control their thoughts and actions. Not only did the Andalite share important information, but he gave the children a superpower to morph into any animal they touch. This will help them defeat the Yeerks.

After typing some of this out, the book seems kind of cheesy. However, the author does an amazing job of dragging you in as a reader. I feel as though if I would have read this book when I was younger I would have loved it. Now that I am all old and crusty, my imagination is not as good as it used to be. This book is an action-packed science fiction, with a little hint of a romance of course, Jake has a crush on his friend Cassie. I still am intrigued to see what happens to these young kids as they try and save the world from the evil Yeerks. Do you think they can do it? I will keep reading and let you know!

Guardians of Ga'Hoole - The Capture

Many of us have heard the phrase, "Don't judge a book by its cover." Well... that is exactly what I did here. In all honesty, I saw the owl on the front cover and I found it intriguing, causing me to check this book out from the library. I also was intrigued by the fact that this book is now a movie, I have never heard of it, but I certainly want to check it out! I am only a few chapters into this book, but I love it already.

Owls are very majestic and mystical creatures, in my opinion. They seem to sort of go under the radar, this may also be due to the fact that many owl species are endangered. The Capture by Kathryn Lasky is a story about a family of barn owls, focused mainly from the point of view of a young owl named Soren. The family lives in the magical forest of Tyto, home to many barn owls. Life has been good here for the owls, but something is beginning to change. There are owls going missing and eggs being snatched from their nests. I wonder who is taking the owls?

This book begins when Soren is only 2 weeks old, he is witnessing his baby sister, Eglantine, hatch from her egg. Amazed by the process, Soren struggles to believe that he did this same exact thing only 2 weeks ago and now he is starting his flying training. The first step towards flight is called branching, "The young owlets would begin by hopping from branch to branch and flapping their wings." Soren's father, Glaux, "was the most ancient order of owls from which all other owls descended." Glaux fills his children's heads full of legends and stories from the kingdom of Ga'hoole. Will these legends and stories cause his children to get into mischief?

Not only does this book provide you with some background knowledge about owls, but it also provides you with mystery and suspense. If you're an animal lover and a thrill lover, this may be the book for you. I can't wait to keep reading and find out what evil is lurking in the forest of Tyto.

Ms. Joni is a Phony!

I absolutely loved this book! Ms. Joni is a Phony by Dan Gutman, is the 7th book in the My Weirdest School series. One thing is for sure... this is one weird school.

The narrator, A.J., is a quirky, overexaggerating, sarcastic, mysterious 3rd-grader. I find this little guy to be hilarious. Some of his comments throughout the book had me laughing out loud. I grew up with an older brother and I was always around boys. I have always been referred to as more of a tom-boy, especially throughout my elementary schooling experiences. I was able to relate to many of the comments made by A.J., having more of a "boy-mindset."

It is picture day at Ella Mentry School (clever name), and A.J., like any 3rd-grade boy, is not thrilled to have his picture taken. All of the girls are excited to be all dolled up for such an event, "the picture that we will keep forever." The moms are the most excited, taking their boys shopping for suits and ties, crying when they look "so grown up." Of course, picture day is a hot mess, as it always is. The crazy professional photographer, Ms. Joni, does not help the process either. I would love to share more details, but I don't want to spoil the crazy turn of events throughout the eventful day.

The author does a great job of making it feel like the 3rd grader is actually telling the story. The quirky, sarcastic comments through the book took me back to when it was acceptable to make comments like these (I still do, just in my head). This book was such an easy read, I loved it! I can't wait to read more books from the My Weirdest School series.

Sassy - Little Sister Is NOT My Name by Sharon M. Draper

A book suggestion from my mom led me to find myself looking at the books written by Sharon M. Draper. Draper is a resident of Cincinnati, the greatest place on earth and my hometown. A book titled Sassy - Little Sister is NOT My Name caught my eye. I was instantly intrigued by the word "sassy," a word that should be my middle name. So I thought to myself, let's give this a try.

Draper created this series of Sassy books to tell the ups and downs of a 4th-grade girl. Sassy, being the youngest of 3, goes through many struggles at home and at school. She shares with us on what it can feel like being the youngest sibling. "I'm the one who has to settles for the last piece of the chicken on the plate, usually the wing. I'm the one who's stuck with the last slice of bread in the loaf. I'm the one who gets the last choice of jelly beans in the candy bowl," states Sassy. Many of us can relate to that feeling, or a similar one when it comes to being the youngest child in the family. This brought me to wonder about this can impact a child's behavior, especially in the classroom. The tone Draper uses throughout the book takes you back to your younger days, allowing you to connect Sassy's experiences to your own. 

This book takes you through Sassy's home life, her friends, and her schooling experiences. Sassy loves sparkles and bright beautiful colors (much like her personality), which is why she alway carries around her Sparkle Sack made of satin, silk, and velvet. Sassy says that her Sparkle Sack carries about 2 million items, preparing her for almost every situation. Sassy states, "Every girl in my class wishes she could have one just like it, but my sack is one of a kind." This sack was made for Sassy by her grandmother, who has just recently made an appearance in the book. Sassy's grandmother is a professional story teller who is heading to Sassy's Elementary School as the visiting storyteller. I am intrigued to see what happens when her grandmother comes to school. 

So far, it seems as though Draper is sharing some of her experiences about growing up through Sassy. Sassy is a dreamer and a reader, able to solve her problems with items found in her Sparkle Sack. Sassy is annoyed to no end that her family consistently calls her "little sister." Will Sassy find a way to get her family to call her by her name? What adventure will happen next when her grandma visits her school? I guess I will just have to keep reading to find out!