The Graveyard Book

Newberry Award Winner

Author: Neil Gaiman  Illustrator: Dave McKean

Grade Level: 5th-8th grade

Summary: The Graveyard Book opens with a scary scene of a family being stabbed to death; the only survivor is the 18 month old baby. The baby toddles to the graveyard and some of the ghosts find him and decide to keep him safe from the killer by letting him live in their tomb. They name him “Nobody” (Bod) and he grows up seeing both the living and the dead. The story goes through what Bod goes through as he grows into a teenager and the dangers he finds when he leaves his home among the graves.

Read Aloud: I would read pages 14-19 out loud because this is when the ghosts find the baby at the graveyard and decide to protect him from the killer.

Classroom Uses:

·         Have the students write their own epitaph poem.

·         Group students and have them do more research on the different beings that also lived in the graveyard. (werewolves, ghosts, ghouls, witches)

ESOL Strategies:

·         Draw a picture of Bod and list all the supernatural powers he has around his picture.

·         Discuss how the graveyard comes together to raise this particular child.

Personal Opinion: I didn’t think the plot in this book was developed enough, they never fully give an explanation of who killed Bod’s family and why. The story was very sweet though and interesting but was not explained enough.

Book Fiesta

Pura Belpre Award

Author: Pat Mora  Illustrator: Rafael Lopez

Grade Level: Prek- 3rd Grade

Summary: Book Fiesta is a bilingual picture book celebrating Children’s Day and Book Day. The book shows different activities for kids to do to get them excited about books!

Read Aloud:  I would read the entire book out loud because it is short and introduces children to the opportunities of books.

Classroom Uses:

·         Encourage students to enjoy books in many different locations just like in the book.

·         Use as an introduction to Pat Mora, who founded Children’s Day/Book Day.

ESOL Strategies:

·         Use the Spanish words to recognize the English words for Spanish speakers.

·         Make a list of the activities from the book they have seen others doing.

Personal Opinion: I thought this was a very cute and to the point children’s book with beautiful illustrations!

Lawn Boy

Sunshine State Book

Author: Gary Paulson

Grade Level: 4th-7th grade

Summary:Lawn Boy is the story of the twelve year old narrator who is given an old lawnmower by his grandmother. He believes there is something special about the lawnmower and gets eight jobs mowing lawns by the second day he has it. One of his clients, Arnold is a poor e-trader and offers a stock market account in return for getting his lawn mowed. Arnold gives him business advice and invests his money The boy ends up with a partner, 15 employees, more money than he knows what to do with, and a prize fighter. He must also find a way to tell his parents about all of this.

Read Aloud: I would read Ch. 1 out loud because it opens up information for the entire story.

Classroom Uses

v  It can be used in the classroom with the book “Frindle” to empower students.

v  Introduce older students to how the stock market works.

ESOL Strategies:

v  Use a venn diagram to compare and contrast Frindle and Lawn Boy.

v  Point out tier three vocabulary words.

Personal Opinion: I was surprised to find that I found Lawn Boy very entertaining. I felt certain parts of the book weren't appropriate for some students. Although you make money by working hard this story may give students false expectations.

Bird Lake Moon

Sunshine State Book

Author: Kevin Henkes

Grade Level: 3rd - 8th grade

Summary:  Mitch Sinclair goes to Bird Moon Lake to stay with his grandparents because his parents are getting a divorce. His mother and grandparents aren’t getting along very well and Mitch fantasizes about moving into the empty house next store. A boy Mitch’s age named Spencer and his family own the home next door and decide to visit for the first time since their oldest child, Matty drowned at the lake. Mitch tries to scare Spencer’s family by attempting to make them think the house is haunted, so he and his mother can move into the house. Spencer is the only one who sees all Mitch’s jokes and thinks they are messages from Matty. The boys soon become friends and spend every day together until the boys go on their separate ways.

Read Aloud: I would read the part in Chapter 1 when Mitch tries to claim the house next door to his grandparents as his own.

Classroom Uses:

v  Go over the concept of alliteration by having the students come up with words that begin with the letter M to describe Mitch. They can also come up with S words that describe Spencer.

v  Since Bird Lake Moon is full of strained relationships have the student’s choice a relationship and write an apology letter from one character to another. ( Ex. Mitch and his grandparents, Mitch and his father, Spencer and Lolly and their mother)

ESOL Strategies:

v  Read the students an excerpt out of the book that describes the lake and have them illustrate the lake.

v  Use a graphic organizer to sort of the conflicts in both Mitch and Spencer’s lives.

Personal Opinion:  I enjoyed this book up until the very end. I felt like the story wasn’t finished yet and the readers were left hanging. The rest of the book kept you interested the entire time and was a very realistic story and death for children.