A Series of Unfortunate Events #1: The Bad Beginning, by Lemony Snicket and illustrated by Brett Helquist

This short children's fiction novel is appealing right off the bat. The book looks old fashioned and mysterious. Snicket begins the book with a warning to potential readers explaining that if they like happy endings then this is not the book for them because there is no happy ending just misfortune, despair, and sadness. I know that this immediately fed into my own curiosity, and I was wondering if the author was serious about the dark nature of the book.

The book introduces in detail the characters that will be present in the thirteen-book series. The three Baudelaire orphan children (their parents were killed in a "horrible accident") are the main characters. The children are sent to live with the most awful of all relatives and the story just keeps getting more and more dark and "unfortunate." It seems like just as things are starting to brighten up for the Baudelaire's, things all of a sudden get worse.

Although the series may be too dark and depressing for some readers, they really are page-turners. The book is not all negative either, the text reinforces the positive habits and outlooks of the children. For instance, reading is an important pastime for the children in their dire environment and they become very creative attempting to plan their escape.

No matter how horrid life seems for the Baudelaire children, they always see the light at the end of the tunnel - NOTHING IS COMPLETELY HOPELESS.

The Giving Tree, written and illustrated by Shel Silversein

This book is a classic tale that mirrors the give-take relationship that is so common to children. The story of a young boy who has a close relationship with the giving tree, is great for helping children understand sharing, giving, and loving unconditionally.

The boy swung swung from the tree's branches, climbed her trunk, and ate her sweet apples as the boy the boy grew older he needed the apples for money, the branches for building a house, and her trunk to make a boat. Finally the giving tree had nothing left to give, so the boy (now an old man) sat atop the stump to rest, they were finally happy having the companionship of one another.

The illustrations, however simplistic, are so meaningful and full of emotion. Through the simple line drawings and the poetic nature of the story, the reader is "grabbed" and "pulled" into the emotions presented by Silverstein.

This could be seen as a parallel to what we do as teachers, we give unconditionally.

If I Had a Robot, by Dan Yaccarino

If you want a description, it can be found in the title. The main character in this book thinks about all the things he could do if he had a robot. This is a great book for beginning readers.
The
vertical
layout
of
the
text simplifies the reading process and makes it easy for young readers to see each word separately. Another aspect that makes this book very readable for youngsters, is the repetitive nature of the story as well as the blatant "picture clues" in the illustrations that provide hints into the text. The illustrations are large, brightly colored, and fill all of the space on the pages.

This book is good for reading with kids, but really, when I contemplate the message it sends, it seems a little "iffy." Send the robot to school so I don't have to go, have the robot do my homework, make the robot eat my vegetables... These are all things that children are taught to love (that is the goal, right?). But I suppose a child would most likely be able to relate to the ideas of the story and if they like robots, then the message may not matter at all.

One last noteworthy point to make on this book, is the power of imagination and curiosity it is capable of producing in a classroom setting. I can imagine a student being inspired to create their own robot, or write about what they would do with a robot.

Sylvester and the Magic Pebble, written and illustrated by William Steig

Sylvester and the Magic Pebble is a great book to read aloud to children. It is interesting that there are no human characters in this story but all characters (the family of donkeys, the lion, and other farm animals) are humanized. That is, they are standing, wearing clothes, reading, cleaning, and doing otherwise "human" activities.

Sylvester, the young donkey is a collector of unique pebbles. One pebble is magic, and when Sylvester wishes upon the pebble his wishes come true. But, when one wish doesn't go as Sylvester planned and he ends up turning himself into a rock when attempting to dodge a Lion. The book becomes very sad... depressing. The donkey parents search and search for Sylvester with long, worried faces. The problem here is that the parents only search for one month and only choose to ask and look in the same places. Then the parents had expended their options and they feared the worst - THEY GAVE UP ON THEIR LITTLE DONKEY SON.

The mom and dad donkey were so sad that "life had no meaning for them anymore." Seasons passed and Sylvester (the rock) was sad, lonely, cold, hungry, and slept most of the time. Finally through a mere coincidental miracle, the parents use the rock that is Sylvester as a picnic table and find the magic pebble which reunites the donkey family.

They are all happy in the end, but for me this book is too sad - perhaps it would not be so upsetting for young children who may be able to relate to the emotions presented, rather than being thrown back by the somber and dramatic tone of the story as I was.

Overall, I must say that the book has a great flow to it, it is very readable, and the illustrations are vivid and captivating for young readers. A very interesting read.

Strega Nona, by Tomie DePaolo

Ooo, what a gem. This book teaches the importance of listening carefully, following the rules, and that there is such a thing as "too much of a good thing."

In this book too much of good thing comes in the form of a magical pasta pot that boils and bubbles and makes hot pasta. However, when Big Anthony uses the magical pasta pot without the permission of Strega Nona (the magical old woman who the pot belongs to) - the pasta almost engulfs the entire village when he is unable to turn it off. Big Anthony thought everyone in the village would be so thankful for his generous gift of free pasta that he did not stop to contemplate what may go wrong. Everyone was angry at Big Anthony for flooding the village with pasta, and in the end he is scolded by Strega Nona and is punished by being forced to eat all of the pasta.

I'd say Big Anthony learned his lesson.

The magic in this book is very exciting, and the illustrations tell a wonderfully vivid story. The image of the pasta flowing out of Strega Nona's little house and down the hill to the village is an unforgettable sight. The illustrations are interesting in that some are set up like a "comic strip" - showing the progression of the flowing pasta.

This is an awesome book, I would recommend it as a MUST READ!

A Boy, a Dog, and a Frog, written and illustrated by Mercer Mayer

This book by Mercer Mayer is a story without words, and form what I know about this kind of book - it is one of the very first, published in 1967.

The book, illustrated using pen, ink, and pencil drawings, portrays the story of a boy and his dog, who sets out wearing his waders and carrying a bucket and a net, for an adventure in frog-catching. After an entire day of playing "capture-the-frog" the boy looks as if he has become frustrated by the 'un-catchable' frog and he gives-up and heads for home. The frog becomes lonely and follows the boy's tracks until they are all reunited in the bathtub and everyone is happy.

The illustrations facilitate and encourage the creation of a story as it is seen in the pictures. The reader, children especially, can develop their own dialogue and narration that coincides with each illustration. It would be really interesting to actually see a child read this book, and to observe how they interpret the drawings and feelings represented within.

Millions of Cats, written and illustrated by Wanda Gág

This is a classic children's book - first published in 1928. I faintly remember hearing it read to me as a young child. The nonsensical book manages to convey real-life issues in the form of the human need for companionship and the difficulty of decision-making, while in my own memories a more frightening and disturbing theme stands out: SURVIVAL.

Following a recent re-read of the book the reason for this "fright" became apparent. The story begins with a sad, lonely, "very old" couple. The ink pen illustrations sprawl across the pages and highlight the despair of the couple: their home sad little cobblestone cottage perched on a baron hill, their lonesome expressions... Then EUREKA, the reader is amazed when the old man journeys out to find a companion and then "hundreds of cats, thousands of cats, millions and billions and trillions of cats" appear over the hill. The man marches the trillions of cats home to his wife after he is unable to choose just one (each cat he sees is just as beautiful as the last). Of course all of the cats cannot be cared for - so the unthinkable happens - while the very old couple is deciding what to do, the cats all fight to the death.

The exact line that remains so disturbing to me, is uttered by the old woman, “I think they must have eaten each other all up... It's too bad!” (I must say that there is no gore or evidence of this battle occurring in the illustrations)

In the end the only cat that survived was the smallest, "homely cat" - it was not a threat to the other more beautiful cats - so this is the cat the couple kept and it became the most beautiful cat ever!

The absurd humor of the story is fun for an audience of young elementary students but on the other hand, I can definitely see how this book may be viewed by some as inappropriate or at least "controversial" for children in today's schools.