Lindsey's Book Share

Books:

Knuffle Bunny by Mo Willems is a hilarious book about a young child who goes to the laundromat with her father. During the trip she loses her stuffed animal. She's unable to speak yet and begins to cry. When they get home, her mother knows exactly why she's so upset and they set out to find her bunny. Once found, she say's, "Knuffle Bunny!" These were her first words. This is a great story for families with young children. The illustrations in the story are fantastic! This is also a Caldecott Honor book.




The Mitten by Jan Brett is one of my favorite and most memorable stories as a child. As I was doing my field experience last fall in a kindergarten room, the teacher read this story to the class. They all enjoyed it just as I had when I was younger. Jan Brett's illustrations are amazing in all of her children's books!



The Mitten is about a young boy named Nicki who unknowingly loses a mitten while walking through the woods. One by one, woodland animals investigate the mitten and climb inside to stay warm. As more and more animals climb in, the mitten begins to stretch and one tiny mouse pushes it's elasticity to it's limit.


The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister is a story about a fish with the most beautiful scales. Rainbow Fish knows that his scales are much prettier than the rest of the fish and the other fish begin the resent him for it. One day, he gives a shiny scale to another fish so the fish would feel special too. Rainbow Fish begins to realize that being so self-centered is not making him happy, but sharing with other fish is. So, he shares is scales until they are all gone and learns that the best feeling is sharing with others and having friends to rely on.

This is a great story to read young readers because it teaches a valuable life lesson.

Sources:

http://http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/alsc/awardsgrants/childrensnotable/notablechibooks/index.cfm

The Association for Library Service to Children is a committee that meets every year and picks the best children's books for that year, based on specific criteria. At this site you can find numerous award-winning books to use in the elementary classroom. The site also offers a variety of other links such as grants and awards, how to become a member, and possibly nominate a book.

http://http://www.bankstreet.edu/bookcom/

The Children's Book Committe at Bank Street College of Education reviews over 4,000 books every year and chooses the best 600 books that they feel will impact children the most. At this site you can view their top picks which are listed by category and age. You can view publications, their favorite picks, and see what young reviewers have to say about the books on their lists.

The Monroe County Public Library

During my first semester of graduate school, my cohort and I took a trip to the Monroe County Public Library. At the library, we were taken on a tour and shown exactly where we could find a variety of children's books. The librarians there were extremely helpful and expressed that if we ever need any help finding books, we should contact them and they would help us. I know your probably saying, "Well that's what they're supposed to do." However, they shared with us that often people are afraid to get to know their local librarians because of existing stereotypes, but that they were more than willing to reach out and help teachers in the community. They were so wonderful to be around and would be happy to show any up and coming teachers around the library.