Junie B. Jones and the Stupid Smelly Bus

Junie B. Jones and the Stupid Smelly Bus is the story of Junie's first day of kindergarten. But oh no... this year she will have to ride THE BUS. Oh the horror she has heard of the kids who ride the bus. She is terrified to take the smelly bus filled with bullies. So she takes matters into her own hands and decides not to take the bus home.

This story is a fiction chapter book part of the Junie B. Jones series. The book has minimal illustrations but they are done in black ink.

Activities: 

Just like the story take students on a tour of the school inside and out. Show them important offices they should know in case they have questions or get lost. Show them bathrooms, nurses office, play areas, library, ect. to get them more familiar with their new school or just as a refresher for the new school year. (Educator's Guides)

Junie is nervous about meeting new classmates in kindergarten. Have your students get to know each other better by pairing up and doing this fun activity. Have students outline their partner on a large piece of roll paper. Then have them fill in the picture with clothes and faces. Around the border of the picture have them write fun facts about their partner... favorite things and special facts. (Educator's Guides)

Reader Response Questions:

Why do you think Junie was really afraid of the bus?

Do you think it was a bad idea for her to hide at school?

Why do you think Junie made such negative judgements about her classmates?

I have loved this series since I was in elementary school. I think most students who read these books can connect on a personal level because Junie deals with real life school issues in a funny way. This book was written by Barbara Park. She created the Junie B. book series in 1992 and the series grew to over thirty books! All the books are illustrated by Denise Brunkus. 

Some other books in the series are:

Junie B. Jones Is Not a Crook

Junie B. Jones Has a Monster Under Her Bed

Junie B. Jones Is a Party Animal

Park, B. (1992). Junie b. jones and the stupid smelly bus. New York, NY: Random House 

Educator's guides. Teachers' club. Retrieved from http://juniebjones.com/teachers/stupid-smelly-bus/

Good Morning Yoga

Good Morning Yoga: A Pose-by-Pose Wake Up Story is a fun book showing kids how to take on the day in a positive and relaxing way. It introduces yoga poses easy for any kid to do and is a great way to remind kids to stay active.

This is a picture book that would be a fun read for kids K-3. The bright illustrations show a variety of kids doing the poses surrounded by nature. 

Activities:

Yoga of course! Have students go through all the poses from the book. You could start each Monday morning by having students do their poses. 

Focus on ways that kids can de-stress when they are feeling overwhelmed. Go on a guided journey with the class. Read a passage that helps students relax. They will close their eyes, relax all the muscles in their body starting from their face to their feet. Make sure they are breathing deeply, have them let go of any thoughts on their mind and have them sit in this meditative state for a few minutes. Teach them to go to their happy meditative place when they need to relax or this could also be a great way to start the day.

Reader Response Questions:

Why do you think the illustrator has each child doing their yoga poses in nature?

Do you think it is important to stay active?

Why is is a good idea to do these poses in the morning?

This book was written by Mariam Gates whois a teacher and author. She created the Kid Power Yoga Program to show kids ways to stay active, be confident, and find strength within themselves. She also wrote the book Good Night Yoga: A Pose-by-Pose Bedtime Story. These books were illustrated by S. J. Hinder. 

Gates, M. (2016). Good morning yoga: a pose-by-pose wake up story. Louisville, CO: Sounds True.

Gates, M. (n.d.). Mariam Gates: Director and founder of kidpower yoga. Kid Power Yoga. Retrieved from http://kidpoweryoga.com/pages/about/index.html

  

Press Here

Press Here is a hands on book full of fun from page to page! This book gives instructions to press, shake, turn, and tilt the book to see what will happen to the dots on the next page. Lots of fun for all ages but may seem most appropriate for younger children. I had a blast going through the book myself.

This is a picture book with minimal illustrations. The book contains pages filled with yellow, blue, and red dots that grow in size and shape. 

Activities: 

Have kids make their own version of the book. What would they have each page do? They can make any shape they want and use different colors from what the book shows.

Another idea is to make a game out of cutting circles out of colored construction paper. Move desks around and put the colored paper on the floor. Have students go across the room in a musical chairs fashion. When the music stops the kids must find a dot to stand on. Each dot also means something else. If you are on a yellow dot you can only stand on one foot. If you are on a red dot you have to jump up and down, and if you are on a blue dot you must pose like a statue. Each round a dot must be removed off the ground until eventually there is a winner.

Reader Response Questions:

What three colors are the dots throughout the book?

What happened to the dots when we clapped our hands?

This book was written by Hervé Tullet who is a French author of over fifty children's books. He has written two other interactive books that go along with Press Here. Those books are Mix it Up! and Let's Play!

Tullet, H. (2010). Press here. San Fransisco, CA: Chronicle Books.

The Kissing Hand

The Kissing Hand is the story of a young raccoon named Chester who is scared to start school. His mother shows him an old secret that when she kisses his hand her love with stay with him even when they are apart. This is a great story for families to read together especially before a new school year begins. 

This story is a picture book great for preschool and young school aged children. The illustrations are done by Ruth E. Harper and Nancy M. Leak. The pictures are created by dark colors done in watercolor. 

Activities:

On the first day of school have students write down how they feel. Is it sad, happy, scared, or excited. Then have them write down a few things they want to learn this year. Next use paint to cover their hand and have them place their palm on the paper. After their hand print dries have them draw a heart in the center to show the love that they will have throughout the year. Hang all the pictures up in the classroom.

Next have them make something to take home for their parents. At the end of the first week of school have them go home with a certificate that they can sign their name on to show their parents. They will be excited to say they made it through the first week.

Reader Response Questions:

Have you ever felt sad to leave your mom or dad when coming to school?

Do you think Chester will be more confident at school knowing he has a kissing hand?

This story was written by Audrey Penn who has written many other children's books with Chester the raccoon. 

More books from Penn:

A Pocket Full of Kisses

A Kiss Goodbye

Chester the Raccoon and the Big Bad Bully

Penn, A. (1993). The kissing hand. Indianapolis, IN: Tanglewood Press.

All in Just One Cookie

All in Just One Cookie is a light hearted story that goes through all the ingredients Grandma uses to make her famous chocolate chip cookies. Page by page you can see the different places each ingredient comes from.

This story is a nonfiction picture book great for students in grades K-4. The information found in the story about where all the ingredients come from are factual and can help educate readers. This book also acts as a cookbook showing how much of each ingredient is used to make the chocolate chip cookies with the exact recipe at the end. The watercolor illustrations throughout the book show Grandma baking her cookies alongside her dog and cat. While Grandma is cooking the animals are busy searching for facts about each ingredient. 

Activities:

After reading the book think of more ingredients to add to the cookies and look up facts about each one. You could look up more about peanut butter chips, oatmeal, nuts, or dried fruits. Help students look up these new ingredients on the computer and put together more pages to the book.

Teach students about all the different ways math can be used in the kitchen. Go over all the basic measurements that were used in the book like teaspoon, tablespoon, and cup. Bring in measuring tools so that kids can try to measure out ingredients in real life. 

Reader Response Questions:

What type of plant does vanilla come from?

What animal do we need to make butter?

Can eggs be other colors besides white? 

Who doesn't love cookies? I personally have been eating chocolate chip cookies for as long as I can remember! I love books that pull readers in by using an interesting topic and using that to teach something kids would otherwise not have ever thought about. This book was written by Susan E. Goodman who is known for writing over thirty nonfiction children's books. The book was illustrated by Timothy Bush who is known for his dulled watercolor pictures in many children's books. 

More from Goodman:

How Do You Burp in Space?

On This Spot

The First Step: How One Girl Put Segregation on Trial

Goodman, E., S. (2006). All in just one cookie. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers

Beware, The Snowman

Beware, The Snowman is the story of a young girl named Jaclyn who moves from her hometown of Chicago to the cold wintery town of Sherpia. She learns about a mysterious snowman that the townspeople are afraid of living on the top of a hill. The story shows what happens when she breaks the rules and climbs to the top of the mountain to meet the snowman. This is a fun book for kids grades 3-7 who enjoy a wacky plot with frightening elements.

This story falls under the genre of fiction because of its imaginary plot and characters. I would even go to say there are some aspects of fantasy that this book contains based on the snowman that talks, and the magic powers of sorcery. 

Activities:

Great for the Halloween season have students write a short horror story making sure to include at least one character that is not realistic. 

Have students identify ways the author keeps readers interested in the story by using suspenseful writing. 

Reader Response Questions:

What did the people in Sherpia do to protect themselves?

Who did the snowman tell Jaclyn he was? Who was he really?

Why was the snowman on top of the mountain?

The Goosebumps series written by R.L. Stine is made up of over 60 books. This story is one that I remember checking out of the library in middle school. I loved the R.L. Stine books growing up because of their scary plots and weird characters. 

More books by Stine:

The Haunted Mask

Don't Go to Sleep

Full Moon Fever

Stine, R., L. (1997). Beware, the snowman. New York, NY: Scholastic.

When Sophie Gets Angry- Really, Really Angry...

When Sophie Gets Angry- Really, Really Angry... is the story of a young girl and what happens when she gets upset. This book expresses the feelings of anger and sadness and shows that sometimes we just need some alone time to be ourselves again.

This story is a picture book great for young readers in grades K-2. The author uses thick lines and colors that change depending on the mood of the character. When Sophie is angry her color changes page to page from yellow to red. This technique of changing color is used to show personality and feelings of the character.

Activities:

Have students draw a picture of themselves when they are really happy and when they are really sad. Have them write some words or explanation as to what makes them happy or sad. Also talk about what they do to cheer themselves up if they are feeling sad. Do they need alone time, do they need a hug, do they need to cry?

The main conflict arises in the book because Sophie's sister takes the toy away from her. Her sister took the toy because it was her turn but this still upset Sophie. Have students say why they think it is important to share with other people and how it makes them feel when others don't share with them.

Reader Response Questions:

Would you be upset if someone took the toy you were playing with away from you?

Do you think Sophie used a helpful way of dealing with her feelings by spending some time alone?

I think this is a great story for small children because around the kindergarten age children are still getting used to sharing and expressing feelings. This story was written and illustrated by Molly Bang. She has written many children's picture books and this story won a Caldecott Medal.

More books by Molly Bang:

When Sophie's Feelings Are Really, Really Hurt

The Grey Lady and the Strawberry Snatcher

Ten, Nine, Eight

Bang, M. (1999). When sophie gets angry- really, really angry... New York, NY: The Blue Sky Press

A Child's Calendar

A Child's Calendar is a picture book of poems depicting life through the seasons. Each poem represents a month of the year. This book is a Caldecott Medal winner and would be great for children in grades K-3.

I believe this book falls under two main genres, picture book and poetry. The illustrations are done in watercolor and each one enhances the readers understanding of the poetry. Each poem is labeled a different month and the poems follow a Vermont family's journey through the year.

Activities:

I think this book of poems is a great book to have in the classroom to pull out and read the poem for that month. You can have students create their own poem for each month of the year after reading the one from the book. Students can also create a picture to go along with their poem.

After reading the poem for that month, go around the room and ask students to share their favorite things to do during that month or particular season. If it is October ask about Halloween traditions, if it is February ask if students do anything fun outside in the snow or cold weather.

Reader Response Questions:

What are three words in the poem that best describe the month?

Find four things in the illustrations that connect with that month's poem

Would you add anything to the poem to help show what month is being shown?

I think this book has beautiful illustrations and is a fun way to get children excited for the upcoming month. This book is written by John Updike who is known for his short stories, novels and poetry. The book was illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman who worked in children's books for over thirty years.

More books by John Updike:

Rabbit, Run

Of the Farm

The Witches of Eastwick

More books illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman

Sense Pass King

The Healers Keep

Prince Across the Water

Updike, J. (1999). A child's calendar. New York, NY: Holiday House.

The Lemonade War

The Lemonade War is the story of two siblings who go to battle on the summer streets to see who can sell the most lemonade. The book includes themes of rivalry, jealously, and brother/sister relationships. This book is the beginning of the Lemonade War series that includes 5 books.

This book falls under contemporary realistic fiction. The characters and setting could occur in the real world today and their conflicts and dialogue are realistic. The two main characters Evan and Jessie are multidimensional and they go through changes throughout the book that help them grow. The book contains few illustrations that are mainly graphs or tables drawn in pen and ink.

Activities:

Have students create a Once/Now paper. The students can show how the two main characters changed from the beginning to the end of the book. This can be in paragraph form or simply in bullet points. This activity can be focused on showing how the characters worked toward expressing their feelings in a healthy way toward one another in order to solve conflicts. Show students that respecting one another is the best way to solve problems are bring people together. When Evan and Jessie were fighting they lost sight of what was important but after growing throughout the story they saw how important mutual respect can be.

The end of the story leaves readers wanting more. We are left wondering who stole the money from Evan and we wonder how the school year will be once the two start classes together. Have students predict what they think will happen in the next book of the series The Lemonade Crime.

Reader Response Questions:

What do you think is the real reason Evan is so mad at Jessie?
Have you ever felt competitive with someone before? What did you do?
Do you think Jessie was right for dumping the bugs into Evan's lemonade?
Why didn't Evan confront Scott Spencer about taking the money?
How did the two siblings finally work out their

I personally loved reading this book and found a lot of personal connections with the characters and conflicts. This book is the first of five books in the series written by Jacqueline Davies.

The four other books are listed here:

The Lemonade Crime

The Bell Bandit

The Candy Smash

The Magic Trap

Davies, J. (2007). The lemonade war. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

See How They Run

See How They Run: Campaign Dreams, Election Schemes, and the Race to the White House is a nonfiction book written by Susan E. Goodman and Elwood H. Smith. This is an informational book that teaches readers about the history of our country's voting process and all things about the election process.

This informative book includes information about how we became the democratic country we are today alongside fun pictures and sidebars. We learn all about the different political parties, how voting happens, how campaigns work, and all the dirty tricks used by politicians.

The genre is nonfiction because it is teaching readers about the campaign process using facts from the real world. The facts in this book and clear and no information is one sided. The books is laid out clearly and we are able to travel through each part of the political process with ease. The illustrations used help enhance the reading and extremely reader friendly. The terms used may seem a little advanced for certain readers but the author includes a glossary to help explain the terms that may be more advanced.

Activity:

Have a discussion with students about problems they think are going on in the community. Let them know that even though they cannot vote yet they still have a opportunities to make a difference. The class could plan to volunteer somewhere in the community or write a letter to city officials about said problem.

After reading the book have students go back and find one example of when an idea by a politician was put into action and made an overall good impact on the world or community. Have students explain why the action worked and who made it possible.

Reader Response Questions:

Do you think it is important for everyone to vote?
When is election day?
Besides the democratic party and the republican party what is the third party?

This book is a great way to teach young readers about the process of elections and how our presidents come into office. This book encourages readers to vote someday and shows how important each one of us can be toward the country.

Similar books include:

Vote! by Eileen Christelow

A Kid's Guide to The Voting Process by Tammy Gagne

Susan E. Goodman and Elwood H. Smith have worked on two other books together as well.

The Truth About Poop

Gee Wiz! It's All About Pee

Goodman, E. S., & Smith, H. E. (2008). See how they run: Campaign dreams, election schemes, and the race to the white house. New York, NY: Bloomsbury U.S.A. Children's Books

Goodman, E. S. (n.d.). A Teacher's Guide to Classroom Activities. See how they run lesson plans.  Retrieved from http://www.susangoodmanbooks.com/?page_id=2456

No Monkeys, No Chocolate

 

No Monkeys, No Chocolate is an informational book teaching children where the chocolate they love comes from. Most children have no idea where this delicious treat comes from besides the store. Little do they know quite a few things have to happen before a chocolate bar ends up in their hands. This book shows kids all the work that goes into planting and harvesting on cocoa farms in an educational and fun way. The book also talks about how we depend on the rainforest and shows ways we can help to keep it around.

This book teaches kids about a real life subject using facts about science and nature which put this in the nonfiction genre. The authors use this information in an easy way for kids to understand. They even have cute little bookworms on the bottom of some pages with extra facts and commentary. The illustrations have a watercolor look and they fill the pages entirely. The illustrations enhance the story by putting the text into pictures kids can relate with.

Activities:

One activity can be an arts and crafts project related to the rainforest. Students can put together a collage of different animals, plants, and foods of the rainforest. Each student can can be responsible for one section of the collage. Then you can hang the finished product in front of the class and talk about different ways each part of the rainforest is important.

Another activity can be related to chocolate. Have students describe their favorite chocolate treat in a descriptive writing exercise. Have them include as many adjectives as possible and underline them. Without giving away the answer, read aloud all of the adjectives and write them on the board. Other students will try and guess what food is being described based on the adjectives. The student with the most correct guesses wins a piece of chocolate of course!

Reader Response Questions:

Where is the rainforest?

Name 3 animals from the book that live in the rainforest.

Why is it important to help preserve the rainforest?

I personally love this book because I learned a lot from reading it! I love chocolate and never knew monkeys played a role in the process of growing it. I think this is an excellent childrens book and would be a great edition to the classroom. The book was written by Melissa Stewart and Allen M. Young and illustrated by Nicole E. Wong. Melissa has written over 150 books for children most of which have a science or nature theme. She has a degree in biology and science journalism. Allen works at the Milwaukee Public Museum and is a former member of the board of directors of the Tirimbina Rainforest in Costa Rica. He is the world’s leading expert on cocoa pollination and growth (Stewart, p. 7). 

More books from Melissa Stewart:

Feathers: Not Just for Flying

A Place for Butterflies

Under the Snow

More books from Allen M. Young:

The Chocolate Tree

Small Creatures and Ordinary Places

Tropical Rainforests 

Stewart, M. No Monkeys, No Chocolate A Teachers Guide. Retrieved from http://www.melissa-stewart.com/pdf/NoMonkeysNoChocolate_TeachersGuide.pdf

The Sandwich Swap

 

The Sandwich Swap is a multicultural book written by Kelly DiPucchio and Queen Rania Al Abdullah. Illustrated by Tricia Tusa.

The book is about two best friends who come from different backgrounds. Their differences never interfered before, until one day at lunch they came clean about how gross they thought each others sandwiches are. One girl ate a peanut butter and jelly while the other ate a hummus and pita. Both girls took offense to the thought of having a gross sandwich. They finally made up by trying each others lunch and realizing being different makes friendship fun. This story shows that all cultures have their own version of "normal" and that's okay!

The genre of this book is Contemporary Realistic Fiction. The actions that took place in this story could happen in real life and the characters seem real. The illustrations in this book bring to life the lunchtime conflict between the girls. This book is intended for children preK- 2nd grade. 

Activity:

After reading this book in a classroom I think a great way to get kids involved would be having each student write down their favorite lunchtime food or snack and comparing all the answers. To make this more interesting, you could split the class into different groups and give each group a food from different cultures for them to learn about. The class could work together to organize a "picnic". Each group could be responsible for making a food using paper and markers. Then each group could present their item for the picnic to the class.

This book can be used as an example to teach children how important it is to respect one another. Although we may look different on the outside, we all have the same feelings on the inside. Sometimes we are scared of things that are different to us simply because they are unfamiliar. For example, the sandwich seemed "gross" but turned out to be a delicious way for friends to learn more about each other. It is very important to teach children to respect differences. Respecting others can start with respecting yourself. You could have the children write down the top 2 reasons why they love themselves, including what their "superpower" would be. This can then be used to show that each child has different talents and "powers" and no talent is greater than another.

Reader Response Questions:

Why did the girls think the sandwich that was not theirs looked gross? 

Why do you think it's important to be yourself?

How would you feel if someone made you feel bad about eating your favorite food?

Do you think it is important to learn about other cultures?

This book had two contributing authors, one of which is the Queen Consort of Jordan. Queen Rania fights for the rights of women and education. The Sandwich Swap has been named a New York Times Best Seller.

Queen Rania has also written 3 other children's books. All of the books have been published in Arabic and most in English as well. 

These books are:
Eternal Beauty 
Maha of the Mountains
The King's Gift

Co-author Kelly DiPucchio has written over a dozen children's books including:
Grace for President
Antoinette
Gaston

Books. Retrieved September 1, 2016, from http://www.kellydipucchio.com/books.html

DiPucchio, K., Abdullah, R. A., Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah, & Queen Rania of Jordan Al Abdullah (2010). The sandwich swap. New York: Disney-Hyperion.

(n.d.). Retrieved September 01, 2016, from http://www.biography.com/people/queen-rania-23468#bridging-the-gap

Website, Q. R. (n.d.). The Sandwich Swap | Queen Rania. Retrieved September 01, 2016, from http://www.queenrania.jo/en/rania/publications/sandwich-swap