Where's Spot?

Continuing with the younger children's theme, as I have a 5 month old I chose Where's Spot by Eric Hill. This is a realistic fiction book that well, asks the question where is spot. The reader needs to help Spot's mother Sally find him throughout the book. This great for a young reader as they must find spot. The children as a activity could make a collage of all the of all the places Sally looked for spot.


Hill, Eric. Where's Spot?. 1st ed. Puffin Books, 2010. Print.

Where the Red Fern Grows

The next book for my blog is "Where The Red Fern Grows" by Wilson Rawls. This is a historical fiction genre and centers Billy Coleman and his dogs Old Dan and Little Ann. Billy and his pups become great hunters and fearless in the raccoon hunting world. They win bets and competitions and even win enough money to move out of the country and into the city. Tragedy strikes however and we learn to deal with loss. With the loss we can use Where The Red Fern Grows to teach grief and mourning, and the circle of life. This is a great book and it brought back memories of reading it when I was young. The other lesson is to work hard for something that you want. It took Billy two years to save up for his dogs and he worked hard and saved.


Rawls, W. (2016). Where the red fern grows. New York: Delacorte Press.

The Champ: The Story of Muhammad Ali

This book in my collection is The Champ: The Story of Muhammad Ali. This is from the nonfiction genre and is a biography. The story is about the boxing life of Ali and how a young kid from the south rose to be a Olympian and Heavyweight champion of the world. The story delves briefly in issues like racism, the Vietnam War, and religious beliefs, but only to mention how Ali thought about these things and his conversion to Islam. In the classroom the story can be used for rising above things like racism and peoples opinions, if you work hard dreams can come true.


Bolden, T., & Christie, R. G. (2007). The champ: the story of Muhammad Ali. New York: Dragonfly   Books.

The Diary of a Young Girl

This book, The Diary of a Young Girl, by Anne Frank is a book from the biography genre. This book is also a coming of age story that deal's with real issues. Anne Frank was a Jewish girl in the Holocaust who hides with her family and another in a attic above a store, hoping to not get caught by the Nazi's. Frank keeps a diary of her time in the attic and chronicles the world around her. Sadly Anne did not survive the war, but her story lives on and gives hope to people facing obstacles in life.

Wood's Runner

This week's blog is going to start with the Wood's Runner by Gary Paulsen. This coming of age book is from the historical fiction genre. The lead Samuel must overcome extreme odds to reunite his family and help a girl he befriends named Annie. Samuel goes from being a boy to man in the course of the book. The book tackles real issues that stemmed from the Revolutionary War. This is a great read for young people to show that the issues they face today are pare in comparison to what people have felt throughout time and in other nations.

Oh, the Places You'll Go

The is entry will be on a book I read to my daughter last night "Oh, the Places You'll Go" by Dr. Seuss. First off the tears that began to swell up were from cutting onions earlier in the night I sear. The book describes the highs and lows that life can bring you. Dr.Seuss tells you to preserve and keep trotting through the valleys and mountains that is life. It really tugged on the heartstrings. The book is illustrated perfectly as the highs are very bright and the lows are almost grey and dark. the book is science fiction as it takes place in a different world. This story can be used by a class to describe the places the students wish to go in their lives and illustrate them just like the book.
Seuss (2000). Oh, the places you’ll go! New York: Random House Children’s Books. 

Rumpelstiltskin

This entry will pertain to folklore and the tale I chose is Rumpelstiltskin. This version was told bu Paul Zelinsky and done in 1989. Zelisnky follows the same route as other Rumpelstiltskin tales, and he illustrates his own book. however, Zelinsky almost gets to be a little more devious and down right mean spirited. When he doesn't get his way he throws a tantrum. What can be done as a project in class is that would be fun is to put on a play with the kids and let them take the story where they would like to take it, just like adding to a tale, just like the re-tellers of Rumpelstiltskin.
Paul O Zelinsky- Rumpelstiltskin. (n.d.). Retrieved February 05, 2017, from http://www.paulozelinsky.com/rumpelstiltskin.html