"The Wildest Brother"

Title: "The Wildest Brother"
Author: Cornelia Funke
Illustrator: Kerstin Meyer
Publisher: Scholastic Inc, 2004
Genre: Picture book, fantasy
Age Range: K-2

This book is about a boy named Ben. When he wakes up he is a wild wolf but through the day he is also a knight who has to protect his older sister from all of these different creatures. He fights the slime out of the bathroom and throws the elephant over the balcony. At the end of the day when Night comes, Ben crawls into Anna's, his older sister, bed and she protects him through the night.

I thought this was a cute book. It would be a book that would be more appropriate for younger elementary students than older ones. Meyer did a fantastic job illustrating the book. The illustrations are so detailed that a student could tell the story just from looking at the pictures. I laughed to myself while I read the book because it is so funny how a little boy can take care of his sister by protecting her throughout the day from all these different creatures, but when it comes to nighttime he is scared so his sister protects him!

I would use this book to help my students learn the difference from real life from imagination. For example, this book is full of events that are not real, but imaginary. It would also be a good book to teach students that it is okay to be scared of the dark because there is always a bigger person who can protect you at night.

"The Polar Express"

Title: "The Polar Express"
Author and Illustrator: Chris Van Allsburg
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1985
Genre: Picture Book, Fiction
Age Range: K-6
Won the Caldecott Medal

The story begins with a little boy waiting up to see whether Santa Claus is real or not, but instead of hearing Santa he hears a train conductor yelling, "All Aboard!" The train was filled with lots of children dressed in their nightgowns. They sang Christmas carols while they ate candy and drank hot chocolate. The train finally arrived at the North Pole. Each child got to sit on Santa's knee and tell him what they wanted for Christmas. The little boy doesn't ask for a big, extravagant toy, but instead asks for a silver bell from Santa's sleigh. Santa gives him a bell but on the way back home the boy realizes he had lost his bell, but the next morning the boy found a present from Santa. Wrapped in a little box was the silver bell. His parents thought it was broken but really they just couldn't hear it because only the ones who truly believe can hear the bell.

I love this book! I also love the movie, but I think I like the book a lot better. Chris Van Allsburg does a wonderful job with the illustrations. His oil painting makes it look as though I could reach through the book and touch the children and the little silver bell. I think it is amazing how when the book first starts out the reader thinks it is just going to be about a boy taking a train ride on Christmas Eve, but by the end of the book the reader really finds out that the book is really about believing in something. This book makes me feel so happy because it is about Christmas, my favorite holiday!

I will definitely use this book in my classroom one day. I think it is one of the better Christmas books that are out. I could incorporate a Polar Express day in my class where my students could wear their pajamas and we could drink hot chocolate while we watched the movie. For second grade, I would probably have my students to do a venn diagram comparing the book with the movie.

"The Mysteries of Harris Burdick"

Title: "The Mysteries of Harris Burdick"
Author and Illustrator: Chris Van Allsburg
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1984
Genre: Picture Book
Grade: 3-6

This book begins with an introduction letting the readers know how this particular book came into being. The rest of the book shows 14 pictures that Van Allsburg has used a charcoal pencil to make. Each two-page spread has a drawing on the right and on the left page there is a title for the picture and then underneath the title it gives a caption for the drawing. However the thing that sets this book apart from any other is the fact that the book doesn't tell a story. It's actually 14 different stories in one single picture book.

I was amazed by this book! I had never seen anything like it! I was amazed at the background that Van Allsburg gives about this book. Thirty years ago a man named Harris Burdick came into Peter Wenders' office and brought with him one drawing from each story. Wenders loved the drawings so he told Burdick to bring the stories that went along with each drawing, as soon as possible. He left his drawings with Wenders but he never returned with the other stories and no one ever heard from Harris Burdick again. Van Allsburg then took the pictures and re-drew them and made them his own work. It was really weird reading through a book that isn't telling one story, but instead 14 different stories. On top of that though, it was hard to imagine what kind of story would have been associated with the picture and its caption.

I would put this book to great use in my classroom. I believe it would be ideal for fourth graders to use when they are preparing for their writing test. I could show my students a drawing out of the book and read them the caption and then have them to write me a story based on the caption Van Allsburg provided. I would use this same technique up through high school as well. I think it would be a great story to integrate into the mystery genre of literature, as well as the creative writing section.

"The Z Was Zapped"

Title: "The Z Was Zapped"
Author and Illustrator: Chris Van Allsburg
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1987
Genre: Alphabet Picture Book
Age: K-2

"The Z Was Zapped" is an alphabet book that is given in 26 acts. Each page is given an Act number and a picture of the letter with its mishap. For example, The A was in an Avalanche. Each picture shows the the letter and its mishap in pencil and the pictures have been shaded in. There are 26 acts because there are 26 letters in the alphabet. On the last page the Z was finally zapped.

I enjoyed this book. I feel like the illustrations are what makes it! It made me anxious while I was reading the book because I would see the pictures and naturally I would try and guess what Van Allsburg was going to say happened to that particular letter. I found myself laughing several times, especially when the D was nearly Drowned and the E was slowly Evaporating. I personally don't remember ever reading a book or having a book read to me, that was like this particular alphabet book.

I would use this book to teach my students their alphabet. I would also use this book to teach my students about adjectives and verbs. I think that Van Allsburg uses great adjectives and verbs to describe each letter. I especially love that the W was oddly warped.

"I See the Moon and the Moon Sees Me"

Title: "I See the Moon and the Moon Sees Me"
Author: Jonathan London
Illustrator: Peter Fiore
Publisher: Viking, 1996
Genre: Picture Book (displaying poetry/nursery rhymes)
Age Range: K-2

This book is about an older traditional nursery rhyme that has been expanded and made into a story. It talks of all these objects in nature like the sun, the moon, the mountains, the river, etc. and then it asks the object a question. It follows the nursery rhyme but has added in other objects. The book ends by asking the moon if it will dream with him.

I have always loved this nursery rhyme for as long as I can remember. My mama used to always sing me this song, but this was the first time I had seen all the objects added in. I just remember that when I would hear this song, it would put me to sleep because it's such a peaceful song. It makes me feel like nothing was wrong at the time. All I could hear was that song. I love how the pictures are water-colored and they are so real looking. The last page shows a picture of his house and the white picket fence and it looks as though I am standing on that street looking at the front of the house. I love how Fiore shows the boy and that certain object in each picture. These paintings are amazing and I feel like I was right there with the boy each step of the way.

I would use this book in a younger elementary class. I think this book would be a great way to teach my students about the different objects in nature and their different characteristics, as well as poetry and nursery rhymes. I also think it could be used to teach Kinders about questions and what kind of questions can be asked.

FOUND poem of "Aleutian Sparrow"

How could the Americans be like this?
America was founded on qualities of equality!
What is wrong with people being diverse?

How can the American people send these Aleutians,
Some of their own people to camps where they had
To choose between warmth and privacy?
Make them eat powdered eggs?
Make them use a toilet that is an open trough flowing into the creek.

How can this happen to American people when
The German Prisoners of War were well fed,
Had cots and blankets, good food, and a toilet.

How is this possible?
Is this really happening?

"I Am From...."

I am from clean sheets,
from Tide and Downy,
I am from the South
(brick house, white walls, smells like fresh linens)
I am from the clover and daisies
and the bees that sting your feet when you step on them while walking through the grass.

I am from eating homemade spaghetti on Christmas Eve at grandma's house and stocky build,
from Mundy and Calloway and Hendren.
I am from the quick tempered and yet patient.
From "Take a bath you have clean sheets on!" and "I'm going to tell your Daddy!"

I am from a Baptist home where we go to church on Sunday mornings, Sunday nights, and Wednesday nights.
I'm from Statesville, Hiddenite, Catawba, and Elkin,
Sweet Tea and Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies
From the time Aunt Dinnie locked my mama and Uncle John out of the house and stood guard with a flyswatter,
The time my mama and Uncle John were sledding and she cut her leg on the tin,
And the time my brother and I ran Papa Rob's truck into the fence at the farm.

I am from the photo albums and Rubbermaid containers full of pictures.
I am from the dresser drawers that contain all the old photographs of my mama and her family.
I am from all these people and all these people are part of me.

Jessica's Response to "Aleutian Sparrow"

Reaction to the websites:
The idea of the Aleutian Islands and how the Aleutians were treated during World War II came as a complete shock to me! I had never heard of the Aleutian people. I did not know that the Japanese made an attack on US soil other than the attack on Pearl Harbor. From the websites I found that on June 7, 1942, Japanese forces invaded the Aleutian Islands and took 42 prisoners of war. In response to the Japanese attack, the US evacuated 881 Aleutian people from nine villages. They were then taken and crammed into transport ships. The Aleutians could only have a single suitcase so they had to decide what was most important for them to take with them. They were transported to Southeast Alaska and were crammed into villages with no electricity, plumbing, or toilets. They remained in these villages for two years. I am shocked that the US would do this to their own American people. I thought it was the Japanese people who took all the Aleutian people and moved them but instead it was the Americans. The Americans burnt the Aleutian churches and homes to make sure that it didn't fall into Japanese hands. It sort of makes me upset that this event is not taught in history class today. All students learn about today is the attack on Pearl Harbor but no one ever talks about the Aleutian people.


Reaction to the book:
I was shocked while reading this book. I felt like this book was very informational to all people who do not know about the Aleutians and their treatment during World War II. The way Hesse describes in detail of how the camp looked and all the many things that happened when they were imprisoned is amazing. They were supposed to be going to Ward Lake. A lake is supposed to have water, but there was no water. Vera says that "not until we are abandoned in the dark suffocation of the forest, not until we count only two small bunkhouses and two cabins for five villages of Aleuts, not until the morning, when we wake, on the floor, a landscape of bedrolls and blankets, do we discover that we cannot, from any corner of the camp, catch a glimpse of open water." Each person had one blanket and they had to choose whether they would use that blanket for warmth or for privacy. They had to eat powdered eggs instead of having the food that they were used to their mothers' cooking. The Aleut men had to build their cabins and the women had to bandage up their hands with the few medical supplies they had. The new cabins had one small bedroom with bunks and a kitchen with a cmap wood-burning stove. The Aleutians heard of a German POV camp nearby and these prisoners were well fed, each had a cot and a blanket, and they had a clean, safe place to live, a variety of foods, and an infirmary. The Aleutians had done nothing wrong and yet they didn't have any doctoring, they had little to eat, and their toilet was an open trough washing into the creek. The Aleutian people were trapped in the camp. It is said several times throughout the book that the forests surrounded them and they felt as if the forest kept closing in on them.

Vera is much like Opal from "Because of Winn Dixie." Vera is forced to mature and grow up while she is still a child. She chooses not to go to school but instead goes and gets a job at the laundrymat. When they got the permission to live in Ketchikan, Vera's mother is one of the first to leave. This reminds me of Opal's mother and how she left her. It seems like Vera takes up more with Alfred's grandparents than she does with her own mother. Opal was the same way. She took up with Gloria Dump, Mrs. Franny, and Otis but finally becomes closer to her dad. Vera also takes care of Pari while she is sick and Vera becomes very sad when Pari dies. This story is so unreal to me. How can someone just be forced to move away from everything they know and love for no reason? How can a young girl come to terms with the way things are and operate like usual?

Karen Hesse does a wonderful job describing the scenes in this book. One of my favorite descriptions is on page 74 where she describes the creek. "The creek there is like a woman dressed in a filmy green gown, her lace pockets spilling with leaping salmon."

I thought it was so sad when Vera says that "something as simple as chickweed carries the taste of home and the promise of healing." These were people who were heartbroken because they had to leave everything they knew and loved to go to tis internment camp.

I would definitely teach this book in my classroom. I would write the quote from page 59, "How many times can a person lose their way before they are lost forever?" and ask them to write in a journal what they thought about it. I would also incorporate a writing assignment like Dr. Frye did with us. I would have the students to write down the things that were most important to them and what they would take with them if they were told they were moving and could only bring what they could carry in a suitcase. I truly believe that by helping children to recognize inustice that we can empower them to intiate change. The students that we will be teaching is the future of this world. I feel if we can show them these situations of injustice then there will be a better chance of it not happening again in the future. I think we can help our students become more empathetic and compassionate by showing that we are empathetic and compassionate. We can also make them realize how awful these events were by asking them to imagine that they are in this same situation. I feel like students today feel like everyone is so different from them based on the color of the skin or what may be going on at home, but in the end everyone is the same. The Aleutians are Americans just like we are! Everyone has the same feelings on the inside for the objects and people that they care about the most. This book is definitely one teachers could tie in as social injustice or just simply teaching their students that everyone goes through hardships and no matter how people look or act on the outside, they are all the same on the inside.

The Widow's Broom

Title: "The Widow's Broom"
Author and Illustrator: Chris Van Allsburg
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Company in 1992
Genre: fictional picture book, fantasy
Grade: K-3

This book begins with a witch flying on her broom but her broom lost its power so she fell into Widow Shaw's garden. When the witch wakes up, Widow Shaw is standing over her. Widow Shaw takes the witch into her house and puts her to bed. When the widow gets up the next morning, the witch is gone but she has left her broom with the widow. The broom begins sweeping the kitchen by itself and then the widow teaches the broom to do many other chores around the house. Mr. Spivey, one of Widow Shaw's neighbors, thinks the broom is evil and dangerous so he takes the broom outside and burns it to ashes. Minna Shaw sees the ghost of the broom and tells Mr. Spivey that the broom is carrying a ax and circling his house. The next morning the Spiveys move. The end of the book shows the widow sitting in her chair asleep while the broom she had covered with white paint plays on the piano.

I was very surprised by the end of the book. I really thought it was going to be a type of Halloween story where there really was a ghost involved but to find out it was really just the broom painted white. It was a very entertaining book! I liked the book. I loved the illustrations and how Chris Van Allsburg uses pencil and sketches all the pictures. There were no colors in book, other than the black and white.

I was use this book around Halloween. I would use it to integrate drawings as well as fiction and imagination. I think imagination is an important part to this story. The students have to imagine that there is a witch and a magic broom. I could also have them write a story or draw a picture of what they would have their magic brooms to do.

Bad Day at Riverbend

Title: Bad Day at Riverbend
Author and Illustrator: Chris Van Allsburg
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Company Boston in 1995
Genre: Fictional Picture Book
Grades: K-3

This book begins in Riverbend which is a quiet little town. It was set a long time ago when there was a sheriff and a jailhouse and people rode on horses and in carriages and wagons. The coachman is missing but the sheriff finally found him sitting on the ground behind a rock. The town became covered in hideous marks and stripes, so when the sheriff and the coachman came back to town all the people were gathered inside the hotel hiding from whatever was making these stripes and marks. The sheriff and some of the men townspeople decided to go find what was making these marks so they go out and find a man at the bottom of teh hill who was as tall as a cottonwood tree and as skinny as a broomstick. The townspeople began over the hill and then they were frozen in the bright light that filled the sky. Then it was gone!

When I first glanced through the book at the pictures I couldn't figure out if someone had taken a crayon and colored the book or if it was supposed to be like that. I soon found out that I had to read the story to figure out the pictures. I loved this story! I thought it was amazing how Chris Van Allsburg had this little boy in a red cowboy hat coloring the coloring book. I had no idea it was a coloring book until the very end. Based on reading level I feel like this book would be more appropriate for second or third graders but I think it could be appreciated on up through elementary school. It's a great picture book and story for kindergarten and first grade. I think they would need more help understanding that there was a little boy coloring this coloring book and that is why the pages look like they do. I have never read a book like this before. But while I've been doing this project on Chris Van Allsburg I have realized that his illustrations are sometimes different than other illustrators I am more familiar with.

I would definitely use this book in my classroom. I think it needs to be read to kindergarten through first maybe even second grade but the third graders could do it themselves. This book is a great book for children to use their imagination and they can imagine themselves coloring their own coloring book. As a teacher I could have my students to write their own story and color it and draw in whatever they want, just like the little boy drew himself at the bottom of the hill. This book could also be used to show students what old towns looked like long ago.

Because of Winn Dixie

I have never read this book nor seen the movie, but I remember seeing previews for the movie and thinking that it would be a movie I would want to see. When I began reading this book, I was a little confused. I wasn't sure why Opal referred to her daddy as "the preacher" instead of "daddy." I loved how the story began though by Opal going to the store for macaroni and cheese, rice, and two tomatoes but she comes back with a dog. I thought Kate DiCamillo did a wonderful job describing Winn Dixie. When she says that he "looks like a big piece of old brown carpet that had been left out in the rain," I can just imagine this brown carpet and imagine how shabby the dog must look. I loved how Winn Dixie became the first friend Opal had made since she moved. A part of the book that really got me is when Opal asks her daddy to tell her ten things about her mom. Later on in the story when they can't find Winn Dixie, I almost cried when Opal thinks about making the list of ten things about Winn Dixie to tell people. Thank goodness Winn Dixie was still at the house and Opal never had to make that list!

Langer has four different stances that he believes readers take while they read a text. "Being out and stepping in" is when readers make their initial contact with a book. In this case, the readers are immediately told of how Opal found Winn Dixie and why she brought Winn Dixie home. "Being in and moving through" is when the reader begins to build a personal envisionment. This stance is when the reader becomes so engrossed in the story that they don't want to put it down. This was the case with me. In this stance we begin to see who Opal really is and how she begins to make new friends as the time passes. "Being in and stepping out" is when readers reflect on how the story plays into their own lives. This is more of the stance that I had while I was reading this book. I imagined what it would have been like to be in Opal's shoes. Her mother had left her, her daddy was a preacher, they had moved, she didn't have any friends. It was almost as if the whole world was against her. But once she meets Winn Dixie, she meets her best friend. Later on Opal makes a friend with the librarian Miss Franny. The "witch" that the boys tell her about isn't really a witch. Opal becomes friends with Gloria Dump, the witch. She even begins coming by and visiting her and reads her "Gone with the Wind." Opal wants to get a job at Gertrude's to pay for Winn Dixie's leash, so she meets Otis. Opal finds out that Otis was in jail but she later figures out it wasn't for anything that bad. I just thought it was amazing how DiCamillo brought this story to her reader in a way that makes them feel like they are there beside Opal making all these new friends. Sweetie Pie was one of my favorites. I loved how she invited Opal to her birthday party even though it was a long way away. Sweetie Pie wanted a friend too and she found one! My favorite friendship that took place in the book was between Opal and Dunlap. Dunlap was one of the boys who gave Opal a hard time and told her that Gloria Dump was a witch. Amanda was also another character in the book that Opal became friends with. Opal wasn't too fond of Amanda at first and then she found out her younger brother had drowned and from that time on she just felt sorr for Amanda. The final stance is "stepping out and objectifying the experience" which is where the readers reflect on the story as a crafted object. Through this book I think that students are able to realize that they can make friends of any age or size or from any background. All that matters is that they have good friends that they can count on.

My favorite part of the book is at the end where all of Opal's friends come together for a party at Gloria Dump's house. I think it is wonderful that DiCamillo ended the story on a happy note with all the friends getting along and singing to Otis's guitar.

I really didn't think of this book being a cultural book until just now. I think that one could incorporate this into their class because it shows how Opal moved somewhere where things were different than what she was used to. It's also a good thing to point out that Opal's friends all come from different backgrounds and they are all different ages.

I would definitely use this book in my class. I feel like it would really help students who come from broken homes or from rough backgrounds to realize that it is going to be okay and that they can have friends that are any age. Like Otis and Miss Franny and Gloria Dump were all much older than Opal. I think sometimes it is better to have some older friends just as long as you hold on to friends that are your own age.

"Jessica"

Author and Illustrator: Kevin Henkes
Puffin Books, 1989
Picture Book- Fiction
Grade: K-2

This book is about this little girl named Ruthie Simms. She didn't have a dog, a cat, a brother, or a sister but Jessica was the next best thing. Jessica was Ruthie's imaginary friend. Wherever Ruthie went or whatever Ruthie did, Jessica was right there with her. On the night before Ruthie's first day of kindergarten, Ruthie's parents told her that they thought Jessica should stay at home. Jessica went to school with Ruthie anyway. While Ruthie's teacher was going over the childrens' names Ruthie and another little girl named Jessica were'nt listening. When the kinders went to the bathroom they had to have a partner. A little girl came up to Ruthie and asked her if she would be her partner. Ruthie said yes and asked the little girl her name. Her name was Jessica, so Ruthie's best friend really was Jessica.


I love this book! My mama bought me this book when I was little because it's title was my name! I think this book is a good book because it identifies with children who have imaginary friends. The illustrations in this book show Ruthie doing things like eating, buiding towers, and looking at books. In the pictures there is always an empty chair or spot for Jessica. These illustrations also have captions where Ruthie is talking to Jessica. I also like how there are a couple pages that are solid colors when Ruthie's parents tell her that "There is no Jessica!" The last page is probably my favorite page out of the whole book. It shows the real Jessica and Ruthie doing everything together.

I would definitely use this book to teach my students the difference in imaginary friends and real friends. It also gives students ideas of what they can do with their friends.

"Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People To Freedom"

Author: Carole Boston Weatherford
Illustrator: Kadir Nelson
Hyperion Books for Children, 2006
Picture Book- historical
Grade 3-6
Caldecott Honor Book and Coretta Scott King Award

The story begins with Harriet talking to God asking how she will get away from her master. When the night comes Harriet flees. Harriet travels at night and continues to ask God for guidance and to keep her safe during her escape. God always tells Harriet what to do and how to stay safe. When Harriet thinks she is too weak to continue on her journey, God always has encouragement for her and always protects her from the patrollers. When Harriet finally gets to the Promised Land, Philadelphia, Harriet wants to go back down south and free her people. God tells her to go down there and rescue them. This became known as teh Underground Railroad. When the free slaves sing praise to her she always makes sure to give credit to the Lord.

I had never read this book until now. I love it though. In today's society so many people are getting away from any form of literature that mentions God. I think this book is a great book. The text keeps the readers' attention through the way it alternates from regular print while they're telling the story, to italics when Harriet is talking to God, and then bigger, bolder, light-colored print when it is the Lord talking. The illustrations are remarkable. They are two-page spread pictures. The picture shows exactly what the text is explaining. I think illustrations are very important for younger kids, especially ages 5-8. The illustrations keep their attention and the illustrations are how the children can tell what is happening in the story.This book definitely deserved the Caldecott Honor because the illustrations are remarkable. The colors and the background of each picture is unique. You can tell the story just from the pictures. These particular pictures that Kadir Nelson uses are oil paintings. The pictures are very dark because Harriet Tubman could only travel at night. I love the picture that shows Harriet sitting on the ground and the reader can see how bad her feet look. They look so real and as if they are really bleeding. Once Harriet reaches freedom the pictures become bright and colorful. One of my favorite pictures is the last one that shows Harriet as a larger than life figure, which I believe she was! She was a hero to all the people she helped on the Underground Railroad.

This book would be a great book to use when you were doing a study on the Underground Railroad. I remember when I was in elementary school, we sang some of Harriet Tubman's songs. A music teacher could read this book to their students while she was teaching her students about the Underground Railroad. I think sometimes the Underground Railroad, as well as slavery, is a hard thing for younger children to comprehend. I think this book and the illustrations in this book will help students to see how the Underground Railroad worked. I also enjoyed the author's note because it told more information about Harriet Tubman and her life before, during, and after the Underground Railroad. The forward and afterward are both very important pages in this picture book. They provide information on slavery and the Underground Railroad as well as information on Harriet Tubman's life.

"What Do You Do With a Tail Like This?"

Author: Robin Page
Illustrator: Steve Jenkins
Houghton Mufflin Company, 2003
Picture Book
Grade K-3
Caldecott Honor Book

This picture book explores the many different animals and what each animal uses their sense organs for. It begins by asking "what you do with a nose like this?" It then proceeds on to ears, tail, eyes, feet, and tongue. Each page asks a question, "What do you do with __________ like these?" The next page provides the answer to the question for the different animals. When one finishes the book, the last four pages are the animals and more information about them.

I had never read or even heard of this book until now. I thought it was a cute book. It is a book that a teacher could use with any age group. I think the illustrations in this book are remarkable. It looks as though the animals are real and you could touch the book and be touching the animals. Jenkins uses cut-paper collages which enables the audience to see teh different textures of the animals. For example, the elephant's trunk looks rough and rigid much like it would if you were standing there looking at a real elephant. I think it is remarkable that Steve Jenkins goes all over the world looking for the different colors and types of paper. The pages aren't completely covered with text or pictures which I think really help keep the audience's attention. I also like how each illustration ties in with the text.

I think this book could be used for any grade but would probably be more appreciated from Kindergarten up to the third grade. This book would be great to use when studying different types of animals. The last four pages that tell more information about the animals could be very informative for the students. For kindergarten and first grade a teacher could use this book to teach how to ask a question and then give an appropriate response. Overall, I enjoyed this book and will probably use it one day in my classroom.

"The Thief Lord"

When I first began reading this book, I wasn't sure about what I thought. I wasn't that interested in the book when I first began reading it. However by chapter six I couldn't put the book down. I felt as though this book met all the criteria for being an outstanding children's book. The book was set in Venice, Italy and the book really described the many different sites in Venice. The book provided an enjoyable read. The two plots really played in well. You had one plot that included all the kids and their adventure of working for the "Thief Lord" and told their story of how they were orphans and the "Thief Lord" took care of them. The second plot was Victor, the private detective. and his search for Esther's nephews, Prosper and Bo. I felt as though this book told the truth. It discussed how it would be growing up without parents and how the children had to fend for themselves. This book thoroughly embodied quality. As I have already said the plot was very convincing and had a very good plot twist. The description in this book was amazing! When I read the scenes describing how the air felt and the smell and how everything looked, it made me feel as though I was actually there in Venice experiencing these different things with the kids. My favorite thing about the book was its originality. Scipio, or the "Thief Lord", was an amazing character. In the beginning when Hornet, Riccio, and Mosca are talking about the Thief Lord, I expect some big, older man; certainly not a child! Scipio was a child who was well beyond his years. I felt as if he, as well as all the other children, went through things that only adults should endure. I was completely shocked when the reader finds out that Scipio is well off and his father owns the movie theatre that the children are staying in. I also enjoyed the plot twist when Victor begins helping the children and realizes that Bo is better off with his brother, Prosper, than he would be if he lived with his aunt Esther.

I loved each and every one of the characters. Prosper was a "misfit" as his aunt called him, but in reality he was just wanting what was best for Bo. He couldn't stand the thought of Bo and him being separated. When Prosper sees the detective following him in the city, his first thought is to protect the others. He was a very caring individual. Bo is Prosper's brother and is just a little boy. He gets excited every time Scipio comes around. He can't wait until he finally gets to go steal some things with Scipio. Hornet is a little girl who is with the other boys hiding out. No one knows her real name or her story until the end of the book. Riccio and Mosca are two other boys who are hiding out in the theatre. Scipio is the Thief Lord. He is the one who "steals" the things to take to Barbarossa to make money. He gives the money to Hornet so she can buy the boys' food and other things that they need to survive. Victor is the detective who gets hired by Prosper and Bo's aunt to find the boys.

I loved the way Cornella Funke took children around the age of the fifth graders who would be reading this, and used them to tell this story. The way she used Venice, a real life place, and set up a story of children who steal things to survive and who live in this movie theatre. They do everything on their own and don't depend on anyone else to provide for them.

One of most particular passages is when all of the kids are in a store and they go in different directions to try and outwit Victor. Victor starts following them so Hornet is quick on her feet and starts pretending that Victor is attacking her. These children were very smart individuals.

I loved this book and felt as though it would be an appropriate book for the classroom. I especially found the glossary in the back of the book helpful in finding out what these Italian words meant.