Archive for June 29, 2012

A Birthday for Bear

by Bonnie Becker
illustrated by Kady MacDonald Centon.

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Bear stubbornly resists his friend, Mouse’s attempts to celebrate Bear’s own birthday. He would rather clean house than have a party or get balloons or even get birthday cards. Mouse tries all sorts of disguises to deliver birthday goodies to Bear but, no matter how clever he is, Mouse never fools Bear. Bear always turns Mouse down until Mouse slips a yummy chocolate cake with gooey pink frosting on his front porch. Not only is Bear tempted with cake, he’s curious about the present Mouse brings him.

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Princess Peepers

By Pam Calvert
illustrated by Tuesday Mourning

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Princess Peepers has a problem! The other princesses at Princess Academy are very un-princess-like by hurting her feelings when they make fun of her glasses. She loves her glasses so much, she has a pair for every outfit. That stops after her humiliation. She’ll be like the other princesses and go without her glasses. In a series of Mr. Magoo-type adventures, she finally falls out of a window and lands on the Prince. Not only is he there for the big ball, Princess Peepers fails to notice that she knocks the glasses right off his face. It is love at first “sight” and everyone sees happily-ever-after. » Read more

Stand Straight, Ella Kate: The True Story of a Real Giant

Written by Kate Klise
Illustrated by M. Sarah Klise

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What is it like to be different? What is it like to stand out in a crowd when all you want is to disappear? These are the questions Ella Kate Ewing faces every day. Ella Kate was born in rural Missouri in 1872. Although she was a normal baby, Ella Kate soon began to grow…and grow…and grow! She needed a special desk at school and wore men’s size twelve shoes. People laughed at her and called her a freak.
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Louise, the Adventures of a Chicken

by Kate DiCamillo,
illustrated by Harry Bliss

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Louise is not your ordinary chicken. She is a great adventurer. She tries new things, isn’t afraid even when things look scary and thinks things through clearly. When she remembers her hen house fondly, she knows it is time to go home. She’s never boastful and sleeps very soundly in her warm, dry nest. None of the hens guess that she was on a pirate ship, did a high-wire act in the circus and found herself in a cage in an Arabian bazaar.

 
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Flying Chinese Wonder

By Josh Greenhut (created by Jeff Brown)
Illustrated by Mackey Pamintuan

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Stanley Lambchop has many more adventures now that he is flat. A bulletin board fell on him one night while he was asleep and it seems that flattened is now his normal self. People don’t take him seriously which is how he becomes back stage help rather than being in the play. Unfortunately he causes an accident for one of the performers, one of the twins who do a tumbling act called the Flying Chinese Wonders. Stanley feels even worse when he learns that the twins won’t be able to do their biggest performance of their careers at the Chinese New Year show. The twins, Yin and Yang, insist that Stanley take Yin’s place. He sees all the wonders of China and learns important Chinese philosophy. In the end, it takes all three of them to perform the act.

 

Cooperation saves the day in this formulaic story. Flat Stanley is a part of many second grade geography projects in which a flat Stanley travels with family members. These “easy” chapter books take another step and have a story to go along with Stanley’s fantastic adventures all the while showing another culture.
This book tests out at a much higher grade level earmarking this as a read aloud or a book that a second-grader will need help reading. Details of China are woven into the story making this a wonderful accompaniment to a unit on China. Students can compile a reading list of aspects about Chinese culture. Other titles in the series focus on other places in the world if this fits the second-grade curriculum better.

Traveling for vacation this summer? Take along several Flat Stanley stories:

  • Flying ChineseTITLE: Flying Chinese Wonders. (Flat Stanley’s Worldwide Adventures)
  • AUTHOR: Josh Greenhut (created by Jeff Brown)
  • ILLUSTRATOR: Mackey Pamintuan
  • PUBLISHER: 2011, HarperCollins, 82 pages, fantasy
  • REVIEWER: Risa Brown
  • ISBN: 978-0-06-143003-9

Where Do Polar Bears Live?

Written by Sarah L. Thomson
Illustrated by Jason Chin

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A polar bear scientist leads readers on a search for these great white Arctic animals in this engaging and informative book. Beginning with a polar bear cub, this book follows the story of his development and life. Facts such as diet, hunting, and growth are explained in bite-size facts just right for the comprehension level of a second-grade student. Comparisons give students vivid examples of a polar bear’s size, such as saying a polar bear’s head would touch the ceiling of your living room if he stood up, and that his footprints are wider than a dinner plate.

 
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Horrible Harry and the Secret Treasure

by Suzy Kline
illustrated by Amy Wummer

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Harry loves to solve mysteries but this time he sets out to mystify everyone in 3B, but Mary specifically. He uses a highly desirable prize for her if she can crack the case. In return, Mary will make a poster that says “Harry Spooger is the Fifth Best Detective in the World,” behind other greats like Sherlock Holmes and Miss Marple. Mary must follow Harry’s clues to identify the secret he has hidden in his giant suitcase.

 
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Timothy and the Strong Pajamas

Written and illustrated by Viviane Schwarz

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Timothy does everything he can to get stronger. When his mother wants to replace his favorite pajamas with new ones, he begs her to fix the old ones. She fixes them so well, they make Timothy Super Strong. He spends the next day doing Super Heroic deeds. He is tired from all the good deeds but the last one rips his pajamas. He’s back to being an ordinary kid but all the people he helped make sure he gets home.

 
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Christian the Lion

Written by Anthony (Ace) Bourke and John Rendall
Illustrated with photographs by the authors

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Several years ago, the world was captivated by a YouTube video and then a television special about Christian the Lion (see clips below). Christian’s remarkable story began in the late 1960s in London, where the lion cub was actually for sale in a department store! Christian was adopted by two young men named Ace and John, who raised him in their London apartment until he got too big to live with them any longer. Ace and John realized that Christian needed to live in the wild and learn what it was like to really be a lion, They arranged for him to move to a wildlife reserve in Africa run by George Adamson. Christian was successfully introduced into the wild, but as the joyous reunion in the YouTube video proved, he did not forget his human friends from London.

 
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Annie and Snowball and the Wintry Freeze

by Cynthia Rylant,
illustrated by Sucie Stevenson.

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Annie and her cousin Henry both love winter. Henry loves the things he can do in the snow. Annie loves wearing her special winter clothes. Henry’s big dog Mudge and Annie’s pet bunny also have different reasons for enjoying winter. Then the day comes when school is closed because of ice. Now all four can really have fun.

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