Tag Archive for third grade

Over On A Mountain

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Written by  Marianne Berkes
Illustrated by Jill Dubin

Marianne Berkes continues her great series with this book that introduces 20 different animals that live on ten different mountain ranges on seven different continents of the world. This book will make teaching geography fun and easily fulfills the core curriculum standards for elementary literacy skills, math, and geography. It will be a wonderful addition to your school, classroom or home library.

Readers can count the animal babies, and read the numeral on the page, or vice versa. Likewise, they will enjoy the natural rhymes of the story and sing a song they already know with different words. Besides all that, they can identify the continents and animals that live on each. The cut paper illustrations are realistic enough to jump right into. Readers of all ages will be tempted to make their own cut paper illustrations.

This is a book that just keeps on giving.  The end pages have tips from the author as well as tips from the illustrator so readers can try out the techniques on their own. That is on top of all the added detailed information about the animals included in the book.

A particularly helpful section in the end pages deals with what parts of the book are facts and which fiction. These are decisions always difficult for young readers to distinguish on their own.

Facts about mountains and suggestions about how to compare and contrast are added benefits as well as suggestions for further reading.

While the youngest readers might not grasp everything in the end pages, older students will soak up everything this book has to offer.

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  • Over on a mountainTitle: Over On A Mountain
  • Author:  Marianne Berkes
  • Illustrator: Jill Dubin
  • Publisher: Dawn Publications, March 1, 2015
  • Reviewer: Elizabeth Swartz
  • Format: paperback/32pgs
  • ISBN:  978-1584695196
  • Genre: picture book
  • Grade level: Preschool to 4
  • Extras: Tips from the author, tips from the illustrator, fact or fiction, mountain facts, compare and contrast. More books related
Posted in 2015, Animals, Geography, Math, Nature tagged with ,

Henry Aaron’s Dream

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Written and illustrated by Matt Tavares

Nearly everyone who knows anything about baseball knows about Hank Aaron. He did, in fact, break the all-time home run record set by Babe Ruth. But do fans know about his youth? Drawing a picture of a hard-playing youth, Tavares makes the hero even more accessible to young readers. Young Henry Aaron loved baseball so much, he would swing any stick to make any object to make it fly. He began with a broom handle and bottle caps. He started playing with real baseball diamonds, bats, and balls when he was twelve. He grew up in a Mobile that was strictly segregated. So, when he began his career, only the Negro Leagues were available to him despite Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier with the Dodgers. Eventually, he was invited to play for a farm team for the Braves. He proved himself through his willingness to listen and learn, his perseverance, and his natural talent. He was one of the best players ever and one of the most respected men in sports.

Vivid illustrations make the story come alive.

The third grade reader hears about Henry Aaron, history, civil rights, sports, and following one’s dreams and talents. This volume of Candlewick Biographies will promote literacy skills and comprehension.

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  • Henry Aarons DreamTitle: Henry Aaron’s Dream
  • Author/Illustrator: Matt Tavares
  • Publisher: Candlewick, 2012
  • Reviewer: Sue Poduska
  • Format: Hardcover, 40 pages
  • Grade Level: 3 to 7
  • Genre: Nonfiction, biography, history, sports
  • ISBN: 978-0763658205

 

Posted in 2012, Biography, History, Nonfiction, Sports tagged with , ,

What Was Ellis Island?

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Written by Patricia Brennan Demuth

Illustrated by David Groff

 

January 1, 1892 was Annie Moore’s fifteenth birthday. She celebrated by being the first immigrant to set foot on Ellis Island. A long ocean voyage brought her from Ireland to a new life in America. Officials awarded her a ten dollar gold piece for being the first person to enter.

Interspersed within the narrative of the Island’s history and development are short two page biographies of famous immigrants who passed through Ellis Island, such as Golda Meir, Andrew Carnegie, Fiorella La Guardia, and Bob Hope.  Other interesting passages include diagrams of the ships who carried the immigrants, informative article about child labor at the time, the statue of liberty, and the kissing post.

Readers will also learn about the health requirements for entering the country and what it was like to be turned away and sent back across the ocean.

Pen and ink sketches help transport the reader into the story of what is now Ellis Island National Monument. It has become one of America’s most popular historic landmarks. Two million people visit each year.

This book is an addition to the popular series of Nonfiction books called, “What Was?”

These books are well designed to fulfill core curriculum standards in the areas of history and geography specifically, though they are also very useful for teaching how to read nonfiction, charts, graphs, and diagrams. Students introduced to one of these books might naturally want to continue reading through the set. Several more are planned for the coming year.

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  • Ellis IslandTitle: What Was Ellis Island?
  • Author: Patricia Brennan Demuth
  • Illustrator: David Groff
  • Publisher: Grosset & Dunlap, 2014
  • Reviewer: Elizabeth Swartz
  • Format: Paperback, 113 pages
  • ISBN:  978-0-448-47915-6
  • Genre: Non-Fiction
  • Grade Level: 3 to 7
  • Extras: Bibliography, 16 pages of historic photos, timeline of the world, timeline of Ellis Island, related websites
Posted in 2014, Geography, History, Nonfiction tagged with

You Call That Art?! Learn about Modern Sculpture and Make Your Own

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Written by David A. Carter and James Diaz

More than one hundred years since the inception of modern art, there is still little general understanding about the discipline – what it is, what it does. In a new hands-on approach, the authors start to clear up the mystery for many readers. A brief background and history of all sculpture is followed by one- to two-page biographies of several of the giants of modern sculpture. The detailed photographs are great illustrations of the work talk about each artist. The authors are state the contributions each artist made to the art world in general and the current locations of some of their work.

Third graders and up will love the hands-on approach and creating the sculptures with their own little touches. The well-researched background provides a wealth of reference material useful to much older children. There is a lot to contribute to the readers’ comprehension of the text and of the art.

Through a review by a budding artist, we learned “the history section is fantastic. The authors have done a masterful job of providing enough information to whet kids’ appetite for learning about the history of sculpture” without overwhelming or boring young readers. Our artist “enjoyed the photographs of the different artists’ work and the ‘Did You Know’ blurbs that provided interesting tidbits about the artists.” She did wonder why there were only two female artists and why the biography spent so much time on how one dressed. She wanted to know more about Louise Nevelson’s artistic contributions. Regarding the materials for making sculptures, our artist “absolutely loved putting together the sculptures.” She proudly displayed them in her room. “Each piece took a while to put together, but the instructions and diagrams are clear and descriptive. She was able to complete the sculptures without any help.” The biggest problem was identification of individual sculpture parts after they were punched out of the cardboard. The pieces should probably be marked in some way.

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  • You Call That ArtTitle: You Call That Art?! Learn about Modern Sculpture and Make Your Own
  • Authors: David A. Carter and James Diaz
  • Publisher: Abrams Books for Young Readers, 2014
  • Reviewer: Sue Poduska
  • Format: Novelty, 48 paperback pages plus art materials
  • Genre: Art, history
  • ISBN: 978-1-4197-1307-1
  • Extras: Art materials and instructions for possible use, three-page glossary, list of additional artists to check out, source notes, bibliography, websites for museums mentioned, index
Posted in 2014, Art, History, Nonfiction tagged with ,

Charlie Bumpers vs. The Squeaking Skull

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Written by Bill Harley
Illustrated by Adam Gustavson

Charlie Bumpers is a typical fourth grader who is afraid of scary movies, but certainly doesn’t want any of his friends to know it. His brother tries to help prepare him for a Halloween sleep over by telling him a scary story every night before bed. Each night the “practice story” becomes a little scarier.

Of course, Charlie had another purpose for wanting to go to this particular sleep over on Halloween night, too. It was so he didn’t have to take his little sister out trick or treating! Lots of young readers will relate to that problem.

So, he gets to the sleep over and goes trick or treating in a new neighborhood with really big houses and rich people. They all expect to get lots of extra candy at such big houses, but instead find themselves getting only one piece at each house. And the houses are so far apart they only get enough candy to fill the bottom of the bag.

While the story is somewhat predictable to adults, it will provide fresh excitement for the grade three readers and even the strong grade two readers. Bill Harley is able to capture the realistic voice of the fourth graders as well as of their parents. The black and white sketches by Adam Gustavson also help get the reader into the story. The pacing and vocabulary is spot on for developing independent readers. They will have great fun getting to know these characters and will enjoy reading more stories in this series.

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  • Charlie Bumpers Squeaking SkullTitle: Charlie Bumpers vs. the Squeaking Skull
  • Author: Bill Harley
  • Illustrator: Adam Gustavson
  • Publisher: Peachtree, 2014
  • Reviewer: Elizabeth Swartz
  • Format: Hardcover, 164 pages
  • ISBN: 978-1056145-808-0
  • Genre: Fiction
  • Lexile: 490L
  • Extras: Blurbs about other books in the series
Posted in 2014, Fiction, Halloween tagged with ,

Mr. Ferris and His Wheel

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Written by Kathryn Gibbs Davis
Illustrated by Gilbert Ford
America was preparing for the Chicago World’s Fair for 1893, and anxious to surpass France’s Eiffel Tower. But what could possibly do that? A contest was announced and engineers began sketching all manner of tower’s and novelties.
George Ferris won the contest with his idea of a giant wheel that people would ride in closed rooms furnished with velvet chairs. While the contest sponsors liked his magnificent idea, they never thought it would work. In fact, they refused to help finance the project. They seemed to sit on the sidelines watching for it to fail. However, at the conclusion of the fair, they were so amazed by its overwhelming success, they decided to name the magnificence wheel after its creator.

Kathryn Gibbs Davis has written a fascinating account of this episode in American history, including quotes and facts. The illustrations by Gilbert Ford are realistic and magical at the same time capturing the environment that was the 1893 World’s Fair. The illustration of the fair at night is especially meaningful when readers learn that this introduction of electric lights at night gave L. Frank Baum his idea for the Emerald City in his Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

Grade three readers, as well as those younger and older, will be interested in the first Ferris Wheel and amazed by its size.

Core curriculum standards of American history, science, geography, and literacy skills will be met by use of this book. It is an excellent example of combining a narrative with factual paragraphs. This book is an excellent addition to every nonfiction library.

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  • Mr. FerrisTitle: Mr. Ferris and His Wheel
  • Author: Kathryn Gibbs Davis
  • Illustrator: Gilbert Ford
  • Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2014
  • Reviewer: Elizabeth Swartz
  • Format: Hardcover, 40 pages
  • ISBN: 978-0-547-95922-1
  • Genre: Nonfiction
  • Grade level: K-3
  • Extras: Endpapers include a Selected Bibliography, Quote Sources and related websites.
Posted in Geography, History, Science, Uncategorized tagged with ,

The Fourteenth Goldfish

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Written by Jennifer L. Holm

What if your grandfather found the Fountain of Youth and ended up a teenager barely older than you? Would you let him go to your middle school despite his two PhD’s? These questions and more are answered in Holm’s delightful new book.

Eleven-year-old Ellie comes home one day to find her mother with a thirteen-year-old boy in tow. Turns out the boy is Ellie’s grandfather, Melvin, who tested his anti-aging potion on himself. Ellie has to help him complete his research and adjust to middle school. When the potion works, Melvin is kicked out of his own lab by an enthusiastic guard. Denied access to his research, Melvin enlists Ellie’s help plus the help of Ellie’s friend. Absurd details such as Melvin wearing “old man” clothes, or whatever is clean, and using Ellie’s hair bands on his pony tail give the book kid-appeal. Ellie’s mom and grandfather experience a sort of incomplete role reversal, where she grounds him and he tells her to be in by a certain hour.

Although this book is pure fiction, the author manages to sneak in many scientific and historic facts and philosophical questions. Who was Robert Oppenheimer? Are scientific advancements inherently good or do they often carry elements of good and evil? What is the responsibility of the scientist to recognize those elements? Isn’t it important to maintain the circle of life? Third graders and above will enjoy the outrageous ideas in this story and gain literacy skills. Reading activities include research of the many topics introduced and discussion of other topics that might be explored.

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  • Fourteenth GoldfishTitle: The Fourteenth Goldfish
  • Author: Jennifer L. Holm
  • Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers, 2014
  • Reviewer: Sue Poduska
  • Format: Hardcover, 208 pages
  • Genre: Fiction, fantasy
  • ISBN: 978-0-375-87064-4
  • Grade level: 3 to 6
Posted in 2014, Fantasy, Fiction, Science Fiction tagged with , ,

Jesper Jinx

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Written and illustrated by Marko Kitti

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Jesper may not be a jinx, but he sure has a difficult time making things come out the way he envisions them. The first several pages of the book provide an introduction to eleven-year-old Jesper and all his quirks. The author tells the readers they are sworn to secrecy about the fact that this book even exists. Jesper wouldn’t want his antic shared so widely. Then the reader hears two short stories about the workings of Jesper’s world. In the first story, Jesper and his snow white cat tangle over a water glass containing the leavings from a water color brush. A load of red laundry and yellow towel are also involved. (The cat wins the battle. Jesper is no longer bored.) Then the reader gets to hear from the cat. In the second story, Jesper and his friend plan and carry out tricks on their teacher. Turns out they are sharing their secrets with the wrong person. Reminding the reader things are not always as they seem.

The author does a lot of asides, speaking directly to the reader and thus drawing them into the conspiracy that is Jesper. This is a great device, especially for third graders, who are still getting comfortable with the chapter book concept. The silly and hilarious adventures are enough to keep kids engaged and will remind them to be kind and think about their actions before carrying them out. The familiar themes and quick pace should help with literacy skills and comprehension.

Find out more at www.jesperjinx.co.uk.

 

  • Jesper JinxTitle: Jesper Jinx
  • Author/Illustrator: Marko Kitti
  • Publisher: CreativeSpace Publishing, 2014
  • Reviewer: Sue Poduska
  • Format: Paperback, 150 pages
  • Genre: Chapter book, humor
  • ISBN: 978-1-4974-5822-2

 

 

Posted in 2014, Chapter Book, Fiction, Humor tagged with , ,

The Grudge Keeper

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Written by Mara Rockliff
Illustrated by Eliza Wheeler

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The town of Bonnyripple is a civilized place where no one ever holds a grudge. Why? Because any and all arguments are to be immediately delivered on a scroll of paper to old man Cornelius, the Grudge Keeper.

Ruffled feathers, petty snits, minor tiffs and major huffs, insults, umbrage, squabbles, dust-ups, and imbroglios – the Grudge Keeper received them all, large and small, tucking each one carefully away in his ramshackle cottage.

Over time, though, the grudges add up. They stack so high in Cornelius’ cottage that he can barely move. Then one day, a storm blows into town and causes quite a commotion. Items are ruined, neighbors bicker, feelings are hurt, and come morning the entire town is upset with each other. They march straight to Cornelius to drop off their grievances. But what do they find? A literal mountain of grudges and complaints and backhanded compliments all tossed together in a blown-about heap. And buried underneath it all is the poor grudge keeper. The townspeople must put aside their differences and work together to save him.

Wheeler does an excellent job creating the fairy-tale town of Bonnyville with her ink-and-watercolor illustrations. Watch how the color pallet shifts with the town’s mood, especially when the storm approaches – literally and figuratively. Rockliff uses plenty of alliteration and tongue-in-cheek wordplay to make the story fun to read and fun to listen to; this would work well as a third grade read aloud and could promote discussion on getting along and resolving conflict.

For a great interview with the author and illustrator and an insider’s look into the picture book-making process, visit The Making of the Grudge Keeper on the publisher’s website:

http://peachtreepub.blogspot.com/2014/04/the-making-of-grudge-keeper.html

 

  • The Grudge KeeperTitle: The Grudge Keeper
  • Author: Mara Rockliff
  • Illustrator: Eliza Wheeler
  • Publisher: Peachtree Publishers, 2014
  • Reviewer: Lauren Abbey Greenberg
  • Format: Hardcover, 32 pages
  • ISBN: 978-1-56145-729-8
  • Genre: Picture Book, Fiction, Humor
Posted in 2014, Fiction, Humor tagged with ,

Voices from the Oregon Trail

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Written by Kay Winters
Illustrated by Larry Day

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The poetry created by Kay Winters breathes life into the story of the Oregon Trail and the many emigrants who traveled there in the thirty years of its use. Between 1830 and 1860 overlanders made the trek in farm wagons pulled by horses, mules or cows. Most people sought free land and riches to be made on their own terms.

They sent letters back home that helped to preserve their adventures; good and bad. People were born and died along the trail. They were married, injured or became sick or lost.

Each poem in this collection is written from the perspective of a particular individual. Women, men, children, Native Americans, and even the captain of a wagon train all have their say and give the story the feel of realism.

Third grade readers will be enthralled by the journey and the chance to think about and pretend they are along for the trip. The illustrations are colorful, active and realistic enough for readers to feel part of the square dance, the river crossing, or the hail storm.

Teachers and librarians can use this text in the core curriculum for literacy skill development in reading as well as in the areas of writing poetry and/or memoir. It would be a valuable addition to any library.

  • Voices from the Oregon TrailTitle: Voices from the Oregon Trail
  • Author: Kay Winters
  • Illustrator: Larry Day
  • Publisher: Dial Books for Young Readers, 2014
  • Reviewer: Elizabeth Swartz
  • Format: Hardcover, 48 pages
  • ISBN:  978-0-8037-3775-4
  • Genre: Historical Fiction in Poetry/Oregon National Historic Trail
  • Extras: Historical Notes/Further Reading Lists
Posted in 2014, Fiction, History, Poetry tagged with ,
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