Esperanza Rising

by Pam Munoz Ryan

I can't say it better than the back of the book, so I'm not even going to try. "Esperanza thought she'd always live with her family on their ranch in Mexico--she'd always have fancy dresses, a beautiful home, and servants. But a sudden tragedy forces Esperanza and Mama to flee to California during the Great Depression, and to settle in a camp for Mexican farm workers. Esperanza isn't ready for the hard labor, financial struggles, or lack of acceptance she now faces. When their new life is threatened, Esperanza must find a way to rise above her difficult circumstances--Mama's life, and her own, depend on it."

Audience: 5th grade and up

What I Love:
1. All the characters are relateable
2. Debunking of stereotypes about Latinos (ie being uneducated)
3. A wonderful story about growing up

Cautions:
This book deals with grief and persecution of migrant workers

Follow the Drinking Gourd

by Jeanette Winter

The story of a family making their way to freedom from a slave plantation with the help of "Peg Leg Joe" and the underground railroad.  The one thing they need to remember is to "Follow the drinking gourd" or big dipper's north star.

Audience: anyone old enough to learn about the underground railroad

What I Love:
1. The historical concepts
2. The sheet music
3. The happy ending

Cautions: The music for "Follow the Drinking Gourd" was first published in 1928.  It's suspected such a song was used on the underground railroad, but the version in the book was not.

The Tooth Fairy Meets Senor Perez

by Rene Colato Lainez

When a tooth falls out, the Tooth Fairy comes to collect it and leaves a surprise under your pillow, at least in the United States.  When a tooth falls out in Mexico, it's collected by el Raton Perez.  So what happens when a Mexican American boy loses a tooth?  They duke it out, of course?  This is a heartwarming story about intercultural cooperation.

Audience: Anyone old enough to lose teeth.  It should be entertaining for all ages.

What I Love:
1. A Latio boy is shown living in a middle-class neighborhood
2. It's funny
3. The illustrations are amazing
4. It has a good message

Cautions: There are some Spanish words.  Both a recommendation and a caution

Junkyard Wonders

by Patricia Polacco

Trisha finds out that her special education class is known as "the junkyard" by the rest of the school.  Their quirky, unpredictable
teacher takes them on a trip to the junkyard to show them that's where real treasure is found.

Audience: 2nd grade to be read to, 5th grade to read independently

What I Love:
1. An excellent teacher
2. Positive portrayal of disabilities
3. Positive role models
4. Based on a true story

Cautions:
I'd recommend some discussion with this one on what it means to be disabled

Thank You Mr. Falker

by Patricia Pollaco

This story warms my teacher's heart.  It's about a girl who excitedly begins school, anxious for the learning and wonder she's been told books will bring her.  At first she struggles with reading, and eventually she falls behind completely.  By 5th grade she thinks of herself as stupid for not knowing what the others grasp so easily.  She doesn't want her new teacher to know she can't read, but Mr. Falker figures it out anyway.  He proves to her that she is smart, and with the proper help she can read just as well as anyone else.

Audience:
Can be read to someone as young as 3rd grade, written at 5th grade reading level.

What I Love:
1. The illustrations are beautiful
2. It's heartwarming
3. Positive view of disabilities
4. Based on a true story

Cautions:
I would hesitate to read this to struggling readers for fear they would think they have dyslexia too.  If the student does have dyslexia, this is one of the first stories I would share.

Chicken Sunday

by Patricia Polacco

This sweet story is about a young Jewish girl growing up in the South.  When her own grandmother dies she is initiated into a black family.  She goes to church each Sunday with her new grandmother and brothers, then they come home for "Chicken Sunday."  The kids decide they want to ask  Mr. Kozinski for the the hat, but are accused of vandalism.  The children work to earn the full price and learn more about life from Mr. Kozinski than they ever realized they didn't know, and watch his heart soften in the process.

Audience:Anyone around 7 should enjoy the story, and I used it with my 3rd graders for independent reading

What I Love:

This is a real life story.  Good intentions go awry, and sometimes people aren't nice.  This is a story of persevering in spite of that.  This is also a beautiful family story about self-less love.

Cautions:

Nazi death camps are alluded to, but never explicitly stated. The tatoo is visible on Mr. Kozinski's arm

Wonderstruck

by Brian Selznick

Wonderstruck starts out about a little boy in 1977 who has lost his mother.  Unsure how to cope living with relatives that seem to feel more obligation to take him in than actual love, he goes back to the house he and his mother shared.  He is on the phone when it is struck by lightning and becomes deaf.  As we are learning pieces of his story the prose (words) will stop and pictures will tell the story of a deaf girl in 1927 who feels very trapped, finding solace in following the career of actress Lilyan Mayhew.  I spent the whole book entranced by both characters and wondering how they could possibly be connected.  When I found out, I was delighted and touched.

Audience:
About 3rd grade.  It is a really thick book, but so much of the story is told with only pictures that reading it won't be a problem for younger children.

What I Love:
The title of this book is very fitting.  It comes in the text from Ben (the little boy) reading a book about how the purpose of museums is to leave someone 'wonderstruck' but expands to include the wonder of discovering the world and oneself.  It is about feeling lost and alone, then finding a friend and becoming part of something more than yourself.

I don't think I have any words for the pictures, they are gorgeous and they really are worth a thousand words each:

Cautions:
This story is meandering at best.  There are several ideas that aren't really tied together in the end-the idea of museums and the idea of reaching higher than oneself for instance.  I think the author purposely left out a few conclusions to allow the audience to decide what certain things mean.

Carry On, Mr. Bowditch

by Jean Lee Latham

Nat Bowditch is a little known American historical figure around the time of the Revolutionary War.  The book starts out with Nat as a child excited about school and especially about his best subject: Math.  Unfortunately Nat's career in school is short lived due to his family's poverty.  At 12 he is indentured to a Chandler (someone who sells everything a ship would need) and has to give up all dreams of further schooling.  In his job at the Chandlery Nat learns every thing he possibly can get his mind around on any and every subject.  Eventually Nat becomes a skilled navigator and spends most of his time teaching others the art.  Along the course of his teaching, Nat finds the charts they currently use are riddled with errors leading to the loss of ships and sets out to publish The New American Practical Navigator still known as the Sailor's Bible today.

Audience
5th and 6th grad boys will love it best.  This book will be perfect for anyone who loves Johnny Tremaine.

What I Love:
1) I love this book's view of education.  Nat was heartbroken about not returning to school, but educated himself to the extent that he was awarded an honorary Harvard degree.
2)I like that Nat took accountability for everything in his life and bettered his circumstance instead of complaining,
3) The title is taken from an oft repeated line by Nat's captain, Captain Price.  I love when adults are shown as wise and caring.  His support enabled Nat's legacy.

The Tale of Desperaux

by Kate DiCamillo



Desperaux is a very small mouse with very large ears.  He lives in the castle and is a complete failure at being a mouse.  He doesn't like hunting or eating books-he likes reading books.  His favorites are about the knights that save the princess.  Shortly thereafter he falls in love with Princess Pea and learns the truth of how powerful love really is.  Along the way he learns love for many others, including a serving girl, a prison guard, a rat, a brokenhearted king, and his own family.

Audience: 2nd Grade, Vocabulary 4th Grade

What I Love:
This story is about real love.  The characters are flawed and sometimes absurd.  They hurt each other and make mistakes, but they forgive and move forward.  I found countless priceless lines throughout the story.  The theme has to do with Light v. Dark and how we choose which one we will keep.  I feel every child and most adults need to read this book.

Caution:
Every single character comes from a broken family.

Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs

by Judi Barrett

Can you imagine a place where ready to eat food falls from the sky?  All the houses have open roofs to let in the food, and it rains/snows three times a day.  It's a pretty great setup until the whether goes haywire and destroys the town (school was canceled when a ginormous pancake covered it).

Audience:
I loved it in 1st grade and I could picture some kids in kindergarten loving it.

Why I Love It:
I think the setting and the artwork are enchanting.  You can feel the differences in the season and time of day though the pictures.
I like the idea of ready-made food falling from the sky.

Cautions:
I liked the movie, but this is nothing like it.  We don't get to know anyone in Chewandswallow and there is no machine making it happen.  The book has a much more fairy tale feel to it.