My House

Author: Rebecca Emberley
Illustrator: Rebecca Emberley
Publisher: Little Brown and Company
Copyright Date: 1990
Number of Pages: 20
Reading Level: Ages 3-8



Summary:
This book is a book for learning words. There are two languages in this book English and Spanish. The story says what things are in the house, such as the rooms and things that are commonly seen in the different rooms.

Personal Response: I think that this is a great book to help children learn words.

Potential Problems:
I couldn't find any potential problems.

Recommended to...
I would recommend that parents read this book with a child to help them become familiar with common words.

I Lost My Bear

Author: Jules Feiffer
Illustrated By: Jules Feiffer
Publisher: Harper Collins
Copyright Date: 1998
Number of Pages: 38
Reading Level: Ages 4-8





Summary
In this story a little girl is looking for her lost bear. Her parents wont help her because they want her to be able to find things on her own. She looks everywhere and can't find it. Then she gets distracted because she finds other things that she had lost. Then when were mother says its time for bed she remembers that she couldn't find her bear so she starts crying because she felt so bad that she forgot about it. Then she asks her mom again if she would help her find it. In the end the bear was found in the girls bed under the blanket.

Personal Reaction:
I thought that this book was really cute and really funny and dramatic. I really liked the use of color. For example, when she is so upset that she is giving up the illustrator made everything black and white. The background was black and the girl was white and she had a single white tear running down her face.

Potential problems:
I couldn't find any potential problems.

Recommended to...
I would recommend this book to a child that is upset because he or she cannot find their toy.

Time Train

Author: Paul Fleischman
Illustrated By: Claire Ewart
Publisher: Library of Congress Cataloging
Copyright Date: 1991
Number of Pages: 28
Reading Level: Ages 4-9




Summary
In this story a young child tells a story about the Rocky Mountain Unlimited train. On the trip the children encounter dinosaurs and make scrambled eggs with dinosaur eggs. In the end the father of the child asks if she saw any dinosaurs. In response the child says one or two.

Personal Response:
I didn't really like this story because I thought it was unclear and rushed. I think that the story line was confusing and it didn't really make sense. However I really liked the illustrations. They reminded me of the illustrations in The Polar Express. They were well done.

Potential Problems:
I couldn't find any potential problems.

Recommended to...
I would recommend this book to an imaginative child that likes dinosaurs.

Presenting Tanya the Ugly Duckling

Author: Patricia Lee Gauch
Illustrated By: Satomi Ichikawa
Publisher: Philomel Books
Copyright Date: 1999
Number of Pages: 32
Reading Level: 5-9




Summary
In this story a young girl named Tanya is preparing for a dance performance of the Ugly Duckling. She is the Ugly duckling in the story. She learns to put herself into the story. She feels like she is the Ugly Duckling, she is afraid because she doesn't know if she will be ready. She feels like she has two left feet and that everyone else can dance better than her. Then for the dress rehearsal when they get to the end where the ugly duckling realizes that she is a beautiful swan the young Tanya gains confidence. In the end she proclaims that she is ready for the performance.

Personal Response:
I really enjoyed reading this book. I think it was well-written and the illustrations were really well done. I really like how the Illustrations were necessary for this book. They show how Tanya puts herself into the story.

Potential Problems:
I couldn't find any potential problems.

Recommended to...
I would recommend this book to all young girls that are becoming more aware of themselves and those who are focusing on what other people think of them instead of looking at who they are for themselves.

Hurty Feelings

Author: Len Lester
Illustrated By: Lynn Munsinger
Publisher: Walter Lorraine
Copyright Date: 2004
Number of Pages: 32
Reading Level: Ages 4-8





Summary
In this story there is an elephant named Fragility that is very fragile. Whenever someone gave her a compliment she turned it into something offensive. When the monkey said you look nice today she claimed that cupcakes are nice so you're comparing me to a cupcake and she started crying. One day the hippos were playing soccer and Fragility was the goal. She defended the goal so well that the elephant named Rudy came up to her and he had heard how fragile she was so he began to taunt her by saying she had legs like tree stumps and funny looking ears. Fragility after sobbing finally said that Elephants have funny looking ears too. The elephant then goes and looks at his reflection and starts crying. Fragility comforts the elephant saying she knows exactly how he feels. At the end Rudy tells Fragility that she is a real  solid piece of work. Fragility was about to say something rude back but instead she just said thank you.

Personal Response:
I didn't really like this book because I thought that it was too unrealistic to be helpful to children. I have never heard of someone getting upset over a compliment. I think the story was too unrealistic. I did like the illustrations though because they really went well with the story.

Potential Problems:
I could not find any potential problems.

Recommended to...
I would recommend this story to a child that is extremely sensitive.

Kamishibai Man

Author: Allen Say
Illustrator: Allen Say
Publisher: Walter Lorraine Books
Copyright Date: 2005
Number of Pages: 32
Reading Level: Ages 9-12





Summary:
In this story an old Japanese couple lives with no children. One day the old man says that he wants to go our on rounds. He was an old kamishibai man. He banged his wooden blocks together to invite the crowd and began telling his story of how he used to tell stories to many children. How he would give candies out and tell his many stories. Then one day the television was invented. Fewer and fewer children listened to his story until there was only one left, the poor boy that could never afford to buy candies. That was the last day that the man had told any stories until that day. Then a man proclaimed that he was that boy. When the old man looked up he saw that a huge crowd of adults had gathered around him and listened to his story. They were so pleased because they had been the children that used to listen to him. They had grown up with the mans stories. They requested their favorite stories. That night when the man went home his wife asked if he would be going out the next day. He proclaimed that he would be and he asked her to make him more candies to give out.

Personal Response:
This was a great story that is very informative about a different culture, the Japanese. It is a wonderful description of what life was like before television. The illustrations are beautifully made and they do a great job at supporting the story and adding to it.

Potential Problems
I couldn't find any problems with this children's book.

Recommended to...
I would recommend this book to children that are interested in other cultures. I would also recommend this book for parents to read this book to children that watch too much television, so they can see what life was like before television.

The Shine Man

Author: Mary Quattlebaum
Illistrated by:Tim Ladwig
Publisher: Eurdmans Books
Copyright Date: 2001
Number of Pages: 32
Reading Level: Ages 8-10




Summary
In this Christmas story Larry, whom people call shine man because he shines peoples shoes. Stops at a town. He never stays in the same town, always traveling because times were hard. It is in the winter just a few days before Christmas. He stands on the side of the road and calls to people to come get their shoes shined but nobody will stop because they are too busy getting ready for Christmas and they don't have any money to spare. Then Larry notices some trash on the sidewalk and he makes a spoolie angel out of it. After it is finished a young boy comes over and proclaims that he'd love to have one. The old man notices how tattered the boy's shoes are and then he sees how weathered the boy's hair is. He gives the boy a hat proclaiming that the boy would put to better use a good hat. The next day the boy comes back with no laces. He had given them away. Then Larry gives the boy some sock gloves proclaiming how the boy causes such trouble. The next day the boy comes back and he has no socks. Larry asks what the boy wants from Santa for Christmas. The boy says that he wants some socks. Larry proclaims that the boy should get something more special for Christmas. So he shines the boys shoes until light shines off of them. Larry gives the boy the little angel. When Larry looks up the boy is shining. Larry asks who the boy is. He is the Heavenly Child. Then the boy holds Larry's hand and they fly through the sky giving off light for the rest of the night.

Personal Response:
This was a beautifully written story with wonderful illustrations. Each picture was like a beautiful portrait worthy of a picture frame. This story portrays beautiful selflessness from Larry as he sacrifices for the child again and again. The use of color is very wonderful. The artist uses purples to portray the cold winter weather. Purple is a color that is seen throughout the book. The words were very well written. In the end the Heavenly Child is referred to as the shine man. This shows the connection between Larry and the child. This book was beautifully written.

Potential problems:
Some people may not approve of the way that Christ is depicted in this book.

Recommended to...
I recommend this book to anyone and everyone to read around Christmas time. It is a beautifully written story.