Evaluating books

Award: Caldecott

David Ezra Stein wrote and illustrated Interrupting Chicken.  He also received the Ezra Jack Keats New Writer Award for Leaves and Leaves was also a Publishers Weekly Best Book, a Kirkus Reviews Editor's Choice, and a School Library Journal Best Book.  Stein also wrote and illustrated Tad and Dad, Pouch!, I'm My Own Dog, The Nice Book, Because Amelia Smiled, Monster Hug, and many more.  I absolutely love the illustrations in this book and I know kids are really able to visualize what's happening in the story after looking at the pictures.

Main characters: The little red chicken, Papa

Setting: The little red chicken's bedroom

Summary: Papa begins reader the little red chicken a bedtime story, but she can't help herself whether it's Hansel and Gretel, Little Red Riding Hood, or Chicken Little, she keeps interrupting the story.  Instead of listening to the story, the little red chicken interrupts the story to create an outcome that saves the characters from something dangerous or embarrassing.  Papa has the little red chicken tell a story this time so she begins to read Bedtime for Papa and Papa can't quite make it through without falling asleep.

I would use this story to help students make a text to self connection.  I would ask students to retell the story and ask them what the Papa's problem was in the story and how he solved that problem.  I would use this story to help students work on comprehension and using the CLUE strategy to see what predictions they would make throughout the story.  I have seen students read this book in the classroom and I know they just love it when teachers read it to them because they find it very funny and entertaining.  Below are some of the activities I would do in my classroom.

Reference:

Stein, David. Interrupting Chicken. Candlewick. Somerville, MA. 2010.  Print.

Award: Caldecott

Jon Klassen wrote and illustrated This is Not My Hat.  He is a Canadian writer and illustrator of children's books and he won the Caldecott award and the British Kate Greenaway award for this book.  He was the first person ever to win both of these awards for the same book.  He has also written and illustrated Cats' Night Out, I Want My Hat Back, Extra Yarn, The Dark, We Found a Hat, and more.  I love that the students can use illustrations in this story to make predictions about what has happened or what they think is going to happen.

Main characters: Little fish, big fish

Setting: The sea

Summary: This book is about a little fish who takes a small hat from a big fish.  He is going to hide because he thinks nobody will be able to find him.  He says he knows it's wrong to steal from another person, but he tries to make it okay by saying the hat didn't fit the big fish anyway.  We see in the illustrations that the big fish ends up getting the hat back in the end.

I plan to teach younger elementary students and I really love this book for that age group.  It has wonderful illustrations that show students how to use clues from the story to predict what's going to happen and what is happening in the book.  This book also has a great text to world connections about doing what is right even when nobody is watching.  This is a good lesson about not reminding students that taking things that aren't yours is not right and making good choices is very important.  I would have students predict what happened next and create that part of the story in the classroom.  What happened to the fish?  Did he get away?  What might happen next?  I would have students create and illustrate what would happen next in the story.  Below are some more activities I would have students complete with this story.

Reference:

Klassen, Jon. This is Not My Hat. Candlewick. Somerville, MA. 2012. Print.


Questions to consider:

• Do you have favorite authors? Illustrators? Why do you like their work?
• How could you use your books as mentor texts for writing instruction or for modeling of deep reading?
• Have you seen picture books used in middle elementary grades on up to high school? Was it effective? If not, how could it have been? If yes, why so?
• How do you choose what books to read aloud to your students?