Book 18 Piper Reed Navy Brat

This chapter book is about a 4th grade girl whose Dad is in the Navy. She moves a lot because he is transferred quite often. She loves her house in California because she has her own room, her own club that meets in her new tree house, and her own saying. Her dad suddenly makes an announcement at supper that they will be moving to Pensacola, Florida in 2 weeks. She will have to leave her school in the middle of the year. I loved the chapter where her little sister’s doll is missing during packing and Piper chooses the right box out of many boxes where the doll was accidentally packed. Her sister thinks she is a hero! Read about their adventures as they drive to Florida, the author even talks about Texas! Find out if Piper is able to find new friends, start a new club, and the special surprise they get in Florida.

Book 17 - Alvin Ho

This book is about a boy who is plenty smart, but refuses to talk at school. His adventures are funny, but you can relate to them

Book 16 - What To Do About Alice? by Kerley

This is a true story about President Theodore Roosevelt's daughter, Alice. She was a very adventurous girl. She taught herself astronomy, geology, Greek, as well as all the other subjects. She had a pet green snake in the White House! They never knew what she might do next! When her father began his 2nd term as President, she went with the American delegation to Asia. Read about her great adventures for 4 months in many countries. Wow! She did so many unusual things in many different countries! I didn't know Alice Roosevelt was such an adventurous lady, you won't believe all she did! I enjoyed learning about her, great biography. What did you think?

Book 15 Martina the Beautiful Cockroach by Deedy

Martina is a green cockroach who is ready to get married because she is 21 days old!! Her abuela (grandmother) gives her some special advice about what to do to help her choose the right person to marry. Will Martina listen to her? See what happens when the rooster, pig, and lizard come to ask her to marry them. Who will she marry?

Book 14 - Help Me, Mr. Mutt

This is another great animal book. If you have ever been around cats or dogs, you have to read this. Dogs write in about their problems to Mr. Mutt and he gives the greatest answers to dogs concerned with not getting enough to eat or play time. Another one is about sleeping, and another about barking. You have to really study the pictures, addresses, and cat answers they will make you laugh too!! Terrific book, what did you think?

Book 13 - Surprises According to Humphrey by Birney

OK, you know I love this book with all my animals. This is about a class hamster named Humphrey. It is about all his wild adventures as he sees them. It is written by Humphrey as he watches what goes on in the class and in the homes where he goes to spend weekends! He has a pal named Frog (guess what he is?) that jumps when Humphrey gets excited or asks him a question, and that is the only way he can communicate! Humphrey though has a little tiny chalkboard and does the work with the kids in the class. One time he has to alert the teacher about something, so he gets out and leaves something for the teacher. Will she get the message? If you love animals like I do, you have to read this book! It is funny to read about how a hamster might see your life at school! What did you think?

Maybelle in the Soup by Speck

This is short book is hysterical, but it teaches a great lesson. Maybelle is a roach who is sick and tired of only having specks of leftovers to eat. She thinks that it is bound to be better somewhere else. Her friend, Henry the flea, tells her to be satisfied with what she has or she is looking for trouble. He tells her he has to be satisfied with being a flea on a cat, when he'd rather have a dog!! But she is sure the "grass is greener on the other side". One day she has her chance when she sees a special dinner being made by the owner of the house. Boy, is she sorry later. Luckily, Henry saves them from the exterminator and gets them out of the house. Their funny adventures have only just begun!! You will laugh so hard at this story, make sure and read it!!

Book 11 - Two Minute Drill by Lupica

Do you love to play or watch sports? Have you ever been new to a school and just wished for a friend? Or have you ever wished you could be better at something than you are whether it is reading or football? Then you will love this book. I love to watch football, especially Dallas Cowboys, UT, and Texas Tech. The author, Mike Lupica, uses events, tv shows, and even movies that are current right now (like one comment about "Deal or No Deal") that make you feel like you are right there when the story is going on.

Scott has just moved to a new town and really wants a friend. He is spending most of his time with his dog, Casey, out on the field his dad made for him where they practice football and sports, even though Scott thinks he is not very good. He is great with schoolwork so all the kids tease him, and call him "brain". It gets so bad they start bullying him one afternoon while they are waiting for the bus. The bully (Jimmy) dumps out his backpack, and when he sees a picture of Scott and his dog starts teasing him about this too. Suddenly, from out of nowhere someone tells Jimmy to cut it out and leave Scott alone. Scott looks up surprised out of his mind to see it is the best football player and most popular boy in the school, Chris Conlan. Why did he come to his defense? Do they become friends? Chris has a secret problem, can Scott help Chris? Can Chris help Scott with his football skills? Scott already has one football skill that he is terrific with, but will anyone ever find out about it? This is a terrific book for boys and girls and I highly recommend it. There is always someone we can help. And you might be surprised to find out that the person who you think has everything might just need your help in an area!! What did you think?

Book 10 - Someone Named Eva by Wolf

Mirona (Eve) grew up during Nazi times in Czechoslovakia. Her family heard of Jews being persecuted and she was so glad she wasn't Jewish. One day the Nazis invaded her whole town. Her family was so scared as they were rounded up and then separated. Then Mirona was taken from her family. She was sent to a special school where she realized all the girls there were blond and blue eyed. This Nazi school trained girls to be good German ladies, because they wanted everyone to be blond and blue eyed. They thought this was the perfect kind of people. They changed Mirona's name to Eve. After she learned German and all the German ways, she was adopted by a German family. Eve noticed there was always a smell around her. What was it? She had lots of adventures with her new "sister". Eve almost forgot her real family and even her own name. Read about how Jewish and other people were treated by the Nazis. It is important that we remember these things so we don't ever let this happen again in our world. But this book has a happy ending for Mirona so you will want to read it. You will even learn some German words!

Book 9 - Where I Live by Spinelli

This author writes in a neat type of poetry. It doesn't rhyme but flows so smoothly!

Diana is a girl who loves the stars and writing poetry. In fact her little sister was named "Twink" because Diana sang Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star to her so much! There are even some cool star facts in one of the poems! Diana loves her house, her school, and her friend Rose. She even wins a poetry contest and gets to go to a special poetry workshop that only 6 kids get to attend. Then her Dad loses his job and her grandfather in another town breaks his arm. Things aren't going like Diana had planned. What will they do, will all of Diana's interests be lost? Read the book to see. If you have ever had to move or had a friend move you will really enjoy this book.

Book 8 - The Luck of the Loch Ness Monster: A Tale of Picky Eating by Flaherty

This is a very funny short book about how the Loch Ness monster came to be, not really! Katerina was taking a trip across the ocean to see her grandmother in Scotland on a huge ship. They kept giving her oatmeal for breakfast, which she hated! So every morning she threw it overboard. Well, a little sea worm was following the ship and ate it each morning. He got bigger and stronger each day. It got so big that Katerina started teaching it tricks. You will want to read this book to see the funny ending of how it lived in Loch Ness. What did you think of this book?

Book 7 We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball

We all know of the baseball players, Hank Aaron and Jackie Robinson, but did you know there used to be a Negro Baseball League? This book tells a great story of how brave, dedicated, and strong men did not let the color of their skin make them give up their dream of playing baseball. Bud Fowler was the 1st to try to play pro ball, but they spiked and hurt him and he was not welcome to play. Then Ruby Foster formed the Negro Baseball League. There were 8 teams. They had to travel on a bus and sometime sleep on the bus because they weren't allowed to stay in the hotels there. These teams were better than many white teams, but they had to eat out of the back of restaurants and were only played $15-$20 dollars a game. The pictures are so real, it's hard to believe that they were drawn. Lots of interesting facts about a time we should know about. What did you think?

Book 6 - Hound of Rowan by Neff

If you love Harry Potter, you will love this book. It all starts when Max and his dad (Mr. McDaniels) went on a trip to a museum. A scary man was staring at Max on the train, and he couldn't figure out why. Max went off to sketch while his dad talked. He heard scary noises coming, so he hid in a little room where he saw a beautiful tapestry hanging on the wall. It started moving and trying to show him something, but just then his dad called. This started adventures you won't believe! He finds out that he may have special powers, mysterious people come to his house, and he goes to a special school to develop his powers. Here he has so many more adventures. He even has a pet to take care of which has its own abilities too. Learn who the scary man is, how his dad becomes involved, and why Max is so involved. Max learns a great deal, see how he helps the school at Rowan. How did you like it?

Book 5 Savvy by Law

This unusual family each obtains a "savvy" when they turn 13 years old. The oldest brother "made" electricity when ever he got upset, nervous, or mad. The next brother's "savvy" was wind - even hurricanes. The family had to move to the border of 2 states in the middle of nowhere so that the brothers' would not electrocute or blow people or their houses down!! The mother's savvy was to do everything perfectly. The girl is going to be 13 in just a few days, what will her "savvy" be? She was so excited when the tragedy happens! Her father is in a very bad wreck and in a hospital. Will he be okay? This tells of their adventures to get to their Papa, as she gets her "savvy". Will she and her brother be able to use their savvy to help their dad? They hide away in a van they think is going to the city where the hospital is! But it doesn't! Read about their adventures! What did you think?

Book 4 - The Penderwicks on Gardam Street by Birdsall

This book is about the adventures of 4 sisters - Rosalind, Skye, June, and Batty. It tells of their funny adventures at school, sports, and at home. I thought one of the funniest was where Skye and Jane traded assignments for school. Skye hated writing plays and loved science. Jane hated science and wanted to be a writer when she grows up. So when they had the assignment they hated, they simply traded and did each others. It was all fine, until Skye's play (really written by Jane) was chosen to be performed and Skye had to be the star. She hated acting, what should she do??? The sisters also had another adventure when their Dad decided to start dating again, because their mom died 5 or 6 years ago. They had to stop him, they called it the Save Daddy Plan!! Read to see what they did!! It has a happy ending. What did you think??

Book 3 - Frogs by Nic Bishop

How many colors of frogs do you know? Do they live on every continent? This book has the most detailed photos and answers questions I never knew. Did you know the Goliath frog is as heavy as a baby? Did you know there is a see-through frog? You can see it's stomach and heart. All frogs have long back legs, a big head and eyes, and damp skin with no tail. Toads are a kind of frog with drier skin. They hop because their legs are shorter. They don't have to live as close to water. Frogs don't have as many bones as we do, and half of their bones are in their feet!! Look at the pictures about how they eat and swallow. It is extremely interesting where the photographer explains how he got these pictures and how he trained some of the frogs! What did you think?

Book 2 - Pale Male Citizen Hawk of NYC by Schulman

This is a true story! I am going to read it to my class and then show the real live blog of a bald eagle nest where they watch eggs hatch every year!

A huge 4 foot red-tailed hawk came from New Jersey to New York City. As he flew over Central Park, the hawk saw that this park had everything he needed with lots of pigeons and rats to eat. He decided to stay here. The bird watchers named him Pale Male and started watching him all the time. They watched him change colors as he grew up and got a mate. The people were thrilled as they watched them make a nest for the 1st time. Sadly, Pale Male's mate broke her wing. But he didn't give up and found a new mate. This time they made a better nest on top of a very fancy apartment building and laid 3 eggs. Then a horrible thing happened - would the hawks leave and give up?

Read to see what would happen for the next 9 years! Great book for all who love animals!! What did you think??

Book 1 - Lady Liberty by Rappaport

This terrific book shows the history and creation of the Statue of Liberty! I learned so much that I did not know. I can't wait to read it to my 2nd graders.
The author tells about her grandfather coming over from Latvia and wonders what he thought when he saw this statue of 151 feet from torch to feet.
It started when a man in France thought they should send a present to America for our 100th birthday because France helped us become free from England. Our fight gave France the idea to fight for their own Independence and followed our Constitution for their own. A sculptor named Bartholdi began making a clay Liberty lady - then made it 4 times bigger, then 4 times bigger than that and kept getting bigger. A man named Eiffel made an iron tower 90 feet high and they put the copper molds inside it. Emma Lazarus wrote one of the most famous poems about it - "Give me your tired, your poor....." that is still famous today.
Immigrant men dug a hole 13 feet deep and 91 feet square and poured 27,000 tons of concrete to make the base to put the Statue of Liberty. France paid for part of it, then an American named Pulitzer started writing articles in NY papers to encourage Americans to help France to pay for Liberty. He got money from everywhere even pennies and quarters! Then they brought Liberty over the ocean in 24 crates.
Read about the big parade and celebration that was held when it was complete. We should be so proud of the Statue and how we worked together with another country to do it.
What did you think of this book?