The Three Billy Goats Gruff

Genre: Fantasy/Science Fiction
Author: P.C Asbjornsen and J.E. Moe
Illustrator: Marcia Brown
Awards: none
Grade level: K-3rd

I actually discovered this book this year and fell in love with it! It is about three billy goats crossing a bridge, and they can't get across because this big mean troll wants to eat them. The first billy goat convinces the troll not to eat him because he is very tiny, and the billy goat after him is bigger. Then the second billy goat crosses and convinces the troll not to eat him because the billy goat after him is the biggest and strongest. When the third billy goat tries to cross and the troll stops him and claims he is going to eat him, the big and strong billy goat charges at the troll and uses his big horns to knock the troll right off the bridge, and the big billy goat and the other two billy goats enjoy the grass on the other side of the bridge.

I would read this book in my class, I think it is a fun book to read to children. It is also repetitive with each billy goat, and I think the children would enjoy repeating the words as the story goes along. I think a good range for this book is K-3rd because children will enjoy reading or hearing this through a read aloud. In my classroom, I might introduce the book as a read-aloud or have children explore the reading on their own and write about it in their reading logs.

Monster's Lunch Box

Genre: Fantasy/Science Fiction
Author: Marc Brown
Illustrator: Marc Brown
Awards: none
Grade level: 1st-3rd 

This book is about children playing on a playground and coming across a huge, mysterious lunch box. They all open it up, and assume it is a monsters lunch box and list all of the nasty, gross things found inside this lunchbox. I enjoyed this book because it is actually shaped like a lunch kit, and I just found that really creative. I also enjoyed that throughout the entire book, there were little manipulatives, and even some pop-ups, on each page to really make the monsters lunch box come alive.

I would definitely use this book in my classroom because I think it will really spark children's creativity, and I think they would love feeling all of the different items in the books. I think a good age range is between 1st and 3rd grade because younger children are able to explore the book and enjoy the manipulatives more. In my classroom, I would probably read the book to the students and have them write and draw what they believe they would find in a monsters lunch box.

Mockingjay

Genre: Fantasy/Science Fiction
Author: Suzanne Collins
Illustrator: N/A
Awards: Nebula Award
Grade level: 5th-early high school

The hunger games series books are some of my favorite books! I chose Mockingjay just because it was the last one, and is definitely one of my favorites in the series. The book series set in a dystopia where there are different districts, and they have an annual "hunger games", where each district sends one boy and one girl to fight in the arena, and the last person standing is the victor. The main character, Katniss Everdeen leads the rebellion and fights the capital on their rules, and eventually gets everything overthrown. This book is filled with many twists and turns and is a book that has the reader hooked and makes them not want to stop reading.

If I was teaching secondary, I would definitely have this book in my classroom! It is definitely not a book for younger children, but older children will love it. I think a proper age range would be 5th grade(maybe)- all the way up to high school. This book can be a bit gruesome, and I know some 5th graders will enjoy that and be able to maturely read it, but others aren't quite there yet. I also know that high schoolers will love these books as well! In my classroom, I would probably introduce the book series and allow students to explore it if they want, and then talk about how different their society is from ours.

Duck in the Truck

Genre: Fantasy/Science Fiction
Author: Jez Alborough
Illustrator: Jez Alborough
Awards: None 
Grade level: K-2nd 

Duck in the Truck is a hilarious book! It is about a duck driving around, and he goes through some obstacles on his way home, which includes getting stuck in some mud. Throughout the story, we meet many characters, all animals, who try to help this duck out of the mud. At the end, he eventually is able to get out of the mud, but with doing so, he leaves everyone else stuck in the mud.

I love this book and would definitely use it in my classroom. It is great because there are rhymes throughout the story and it allows children to think creatively. I gave the age range K-2nd because the vocabulary is very simple, but I still think children would enjoy this book mid-elementary school. An idea for a unit on this book would be to have the children focus on the different rhyming words, and have them create their own rhyming story. 

Charlotte's Web

Genre: Fantasy/Science Fiction
Author: E.B White
Illustrator: Garth Williams
Awards: Newberry Honor, Laura Ingalls Wilder Award
Grade level: 2nd-middle school

I absolutely love Charlotte's Web! I remember reading it when I was younger, and it is still one of my favorite books to this day! It is mainly about the friendship and love between a spider and a pig on a farm, and all the ups and downs that come between this friendship. Fern is the daughter of the farmer, and without her, Wilbur the pig wouldn't even be alive. In the end, Charlotte the spider passes of old age but leaves her children, and Wilbur becomes very close with them. None of them can replace Charlotte in Wilbur's heart, but Wilbur loves them just as much.

I would definitely use this book in my classroom. This book would be a great read-aloud for younger children who can't read this book on their own. It teaches great lessons about friendship and love. I think the appropriate grade level is so broad because it could be used as a read-aloud or it would be a great story for children to read through on their own and discuss it. An idea for this book in the classroom would be to have the students read through the book and create "book club" groups and have them talk about what they read in the book and what they enjoyed about it.