Ms. Tointigh's Book Blog

Title:  Knuffle Bunny Genre:  Realistic Fiction Author /  Illustrator:  Mo Willems Major Awards:  Caldecott Award Age group : PreK-1st Summary  This is the story of a poor girl Trixie who loses her favorite stuffed rabbit on the way to the laundromat.  She is trying to convey to her father wat is wrong however it all comes out as gibberish. She tries and tries and finally she gets lucky when her dad understands the words Knuffle Bunny.  After he figures out what is wrong he now has to track down the bunny.  Thank goodness after retracing their steps they are able to find knuffle bunny! Evaluation I think this story would be really good to use as a teaching moment to students about retracing their steps.  It teaches them to be able to encode and store long term information by practicing the reflection that happens when thinking about what you have previously done.  And once they learn that then they will be able to reflect even if it...

  Title:   Last Stop on Market Street Genre:  Realistic Fiction Author : Matt De La Pena Illustrator: Christian Robinson Major Awards:  Caldecott Award & Newberry Award Age group : 1st-4th Summary This story follow CJ and his Nana on a day in their lives.  CJ is constantly comparing himself to others on the street and asking his grandma things like why they don't have a car or why he can't have a bike.  The two of them load the bus and even here CJ is comparing himself to the older boys on the back that have headphones and music players.  His Nana tells him to ask the guitarist on the bus to play a song, and he does.  So in that moment CJ is taken into his imagination with bright colors and is relaxed because of the guitarist singing and playing.  Finally the bus driver calls out "last stop on Market street" and CJ and his nana get off the bus.  He asks his nana why the graffitied area they're in is so dirty.  And his nana says ...

  Title:   Fry Bread Genre:  Realistic Fiction Author : Kevin Noble Maillard Illustrator: Juana Martinez-Neal Major Awards:  Sibert Medal Age group : 1st-4th Summary In this story we learn about fry bread and what exactly it is.  However it's not an instructional book on making fry bread it's so much more than that.  It's showing what fry bread is outside of being just a food.  In the form of a "what is" poem the author writes about the meaning frybread holds to Native American families.  Fry bread is family or Fry bread is sound or Fry Bread is places or Fry bread is nation are just a few examples. It ends with the saying Fry Bread is You acknowledging the reader. Evaluation I think this book can be used in so many different ways in the classroom.  The amount of diversity that it captures and representation it gives to Native American tribes is rich.  Maillard did a great job of incorporating all the meaning of fry bread by using lots o...

  Title:   The Colors of Us Genre:  Realistic Fiction Author/Illustrator : Karen Katz Age group : 1st-3rd Summary This short story book follows Lena's day.  At the beginning of her day Lena is talking with her mom who is an artist and her mom tells her if she mixes the right amount of yellow, red, brown, black, and white she will come up with the perfect shade of brown so she can paint a picture of herself.  Lena disbelievingly tells her mom that brown is just brown.  Lena and her mom begin going about their day of errands and at first Lena's mom points out a neighbor and says look at her shade it's warm like honey.  Soon Lena begins doing the same and pointing out shades of people just as her mother.  Lena does this with her friends, babysitter, and shopkeepers.  At the end of the book Lena races over to the Paints in order to start mixing them in order to make all the different shades she's seen today. Evaluation I think this book explains ...

  Title:   New Kid Genre:  Realistic fiction Author/Illustrator : Jerry Craft Major awards : Newberry Award & Coretta Scott King Award Age group : 4th-10th Summary This story is written in the format of a graphic novel, this is like comic book style.  It follows the life of student Jordan Banks as he attends a new prestigious school.  Jordan comes from an urban area in New York and has grown up this way his entire life.  At this new school diversity is slim to say the least.  On his journey Jordan wrestles with finding his fit because of how all his classmates were raised and how his race is highly misrepresented at the school.  He wants to make friends but no one talks to him or when they do stereotypes and microaggressions run amuck.  In the beginning Jordan does not even want to befriend the other black student in his grade because of how that ma be perceived to others. Through it all Jordan is able to be aware of the stereotypes but n...

  Title:  Wonder Genre:  Fiction Author/Illustrator : R.J. Palacio Major awards : #1 NY Times Bestseller & Texas Bluebonnet Award Age group : 4th-12th  Summary This book follows the life of August, a ten year old boy who's about to start middle school.  Augie is not like the other kids and he knows that.  He was born with a medical condition which caused him to have multiple facial surgeries that make him not look like a "normal" kid.  before starting school Augie goes on a guided tour of the school with three students who already have attended the school.  Here Augie gets his first taste of how he might be treated during school.  He is terrified but after talking with his parents he commits to going to school.  At school many events happen that help Augie formulate his opinion of the school.  These events include both the positive and the negative from dealing  with teachers to dealing with peers and social situations...