Rules

Rules
Written by Cynthia Lord
2006

Artistic Catherine yearns to be like every other twelve-year-old...easier said than done. Her younger brother David has autism and Catherine has spent years trying to teach him what she refers to as "the rules" so that he embarrasses her less. Catherine is tired of her family's life revolving around David and what he needs. She often goes with David and her mom to his OT sessions with the hope that she and her mom can go shopping or to the beach during his appointment. One day while in the waiting room, she meets a new friend named Jason when he's leaving after his appointment. Their first interaction is less than friendly, but before long they become friends and begin to help each other in some unexpected ways. 

Lord wrote this book with Catherine as the narrator, which allows us to take a peek at a child with autism through the eyes of a sibling. The title of each chapter is one of Catherine's rules for David such as "if you don't have the words you need, borrow someone else's" and "pantless brothers are not my problem." I really enjoyed this book because I have worked with numerous autistic children in my classroom, but had a different perception of them because of my role as their teacher. I think students in the upper elementary grades and middle school would really enjoy this book, as it's written from the perspective of someone close to their own age. Many of the dilemmas that the characters in the story have are very relatable to real life situations.

Sloppy Joe

Sloppy Joe
Written by Dave Keane
2009

Sloppy Joe is a kid that has certainly earned his nickname. Everything about him is sloppy...his clothes, his room, how he eats and how he plays. When being sloppy gets him into trouble, Joe decides it's time to make a change and be Neat Joe. He starts his new life as Neat Joe the next day and cleans everything from his room to the dog. He even sets the table for dinner, and thinks that being neat isn't nearly as tough as he thought it would be. Everything seems to be going well, until he realizes that no one has noticed all of the changes that he's made because they all have the flu! The new Neat Joe does everything he can to take care of his family and make them feel better, at least until Grandma gets there, and his family helps him realize that Sloppy Joe is a pretty special kid.

Very few children (or adults for that matter) would struggle to relate to a kid who has a messy room. The events of Joe's day to day life, both while sloppy and neat, help to promote discussion and connections made by the students. This book would be a great one to use when encouraging students to make those connections to a story. 

Bigmama's

Bigmama's
Written by Donald Crews
1991

We all have memories of our grandparents, and the children portrayed in this story are no different. They call them Bigmama and Bigpapa, and they're spending three days and two nights on a train to get to their grandparents' house in Cottondale for the summer. After arriving, the first item on the agenda is to go from room to room in order to make sure that nothing had changed since their last visit. The narrator thinks of memories from past years, and is pleased to find everything on the property just as he remembered. It isn't until the end of the story that we discover that it's all a memory...that he's a grown man, looking out the window at the big city he lives in.

This story is very versatile and could be utilized with a wide range of ages. It's simple enough on the surface level to be understood by younger readers, particularly with the help of the illustrations, while it could be used with older readers to discuss everything from point-of-view to customs and traditions. The illustrations of the characters are relatively simple, while the surroundings are done in much greater detail. This helps to draw the reader's focus the what is happening around the characters in the illustrations. 

The Stray Dog

The Stray Dog
Written by Marc Simont
2001

This is the story of how a family's picnic in the park leads to them gaining a new member of the family. Right away the children fall in love with the dog and quickly name him "Willy." Convinced by their parents that the dog belongs to someone, the children are sad when they say goodbye to Willy at the end of the day. All week, the family thinks about Willy, and they see him once again the following Saturday when they go back to the park. This time, Willy does not stop to play with the children but quickly runs past them instead. The children's quick thinking helps them to come up with a way to save Willy from the dog warden, and become their newest family member.

The text in this story is quite basic and depends heavily upon the illustrations in order to deliver the full story to the reader. The reader has to use their inferencing skills and background knowledge to further understand the story, because although their are many pictures, they are made up of relatively simple lines and colors. This book would be particularly appealing to the early elementary readers based on the level of text complexity, as well as the style of the illustrations.

How to Steal a Dog

How to Steal a Dog
Written by Barbara O'Connor
2007

Georgina Hayes is a typical kid, until her father leaves without warning and she is forced to live with her mom and brother in their car after being evicted from their apartment. She is trying her best to keep anyone from discovering that her family is living in a car, while her mother is working multiple jobs in order to get a better place to live. Georgina is determined to help her mom get enough money to be able to get a read place to live, and is inspired when she comes across a poster offering a reward of $500 for finding a missing dog. Instantly she knows that this is the solution to their problem. She spends the next couple of weeks figuring out how to steal a dog, and searching the the perfect pooch.

Many elementary students can relate to the problems that Georgina experiences in this book. She desperately wants to help her family's situation, but she is also very concerned about what everyone else thinks of her. The latter is a common worry for many kids, which could help to entice them to read this book. The text is written much like you would expect a girl of Georgina's age and background to speak, which helps to make it that much more believable to the reader.

A Ball for Daisy

A Ball for Daisy
By Chris Raschka
2011

The storyline in this book is one that I would consider to be a classic...that of a dog and her ball. Daisy is very fond of her red ball; she sleeps with it, plays with it, and her owner even brings it on walks. It's all fun and games until one of Daisy's friends pops the ball when they're playing at the park. Daisy makes every attempt to bring her ball back to life but with no luck. It is tossed in a trash can on the way back from the park, but definitely not forgotten by Daisy. Her demeanor has completely changed...she no longer appears to be a happy dog, but rather down in the dumps. Even a walk with her owner doesn't seem to brighten Daisy's spirits, until she gets to the park and sees her friend who popped her precious red ball. She is there with a new ball, a blue ball, just for Daisy!

This wordless picture book would be very appealing to younger children because of both the bright, vivid colors and the storyline. All children have experienced what it feels like to lose something at some point in their young lives, and can relate to Daisy's sadness. Many children have a family pet that they play with, just as Daisy's owner plays with her. Although it is fairy easy to understand what is happening in the pictures, the illustrations are a bit abstract. 

Chalk

Chalk
By Bill Thomson
2010

When three friends are walking through the park on a rainy day, they discover a bag of seemingly magic chalk hanging from a piece of playground equipment shaped like a dinosaur. When one of the girls draws a sun, the clouds quickly begin to clear and the sky brightens. Everything they draw seems to come to life...butterflies surround them. It's all fun and games until the boy draws a dinosaur. It comes to life almost instantly and begins chasing the children around the playground. They take cover in a tunnel slide and are saved when the boy draws a rain cloud, effectively bringing the storm clouds back and washing away the events of the day. By the last page of the book, it's as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened.
 
The illustrations in this book are very realistic, which helps to make it seem as if all of this could really happen. The colors are bright and vivid, and a great deal of attention is paid to every detail...from the textured skin of the dinosaur to the individual hairs on the children's heads. This would be an excellent first wordless book experience for younger children because while there is much detail in the illustrations, they are also quite simple. There is not an overwhelming amount of activity on any of the pages. Drawing with chalk is also an activity which most children have experience with, and can consequently place themselves into the story.

Once Upon a Banana

Once Upon a Banana
Written by Jennifer Armstrong
2006

This wordless picture book tells the story of a monkey who escaped from the circus steals a banana and causes all sorts of commotion after leaving the banana peel on the sidewalk. Everyone from the painter to the dog walker to the judge is involved in this entertaining comedy of errors. Just when you think things couldn't get crazier, a truck carrying a load of bananas crashes and seems to fix everything...apparently a banana can brighten just about anyone's day!

 This book is highly entertaining! The bright colors and variety of characters evokes a sense of adventure and excitement. There are many things happening on each page, and each time I read the book I notice something new. This would be an excellent book for younger children to write a narrative about. Their imaginations, combined with the comedic illustrations, would surely make for an entertaining story.

When You Reach Me

When You Reach Me
Written by Rebecca Stead
2009

Miranda is a sixth grader living with her mother in New York City. She knows the neighborhood well enough to know where she should and shouldn't go, as well as who she should and shouldn't talk to. Her and her best friend Sal are inseparable, until Sal gets punched on the way home from school for no apparent reason. From that day on Miranda struggles to understand why Sal is shutting her out of his life. Strange things begin to happen, including their apartment key being stolen and mysterious notes appearing. Miranda tries to find out who is leaving the notes and why, all the while making friends with the kid who punched Sal.

The story kept me thinking the entire time, constantly trying to figure out who it was that was leaving the notes and what the clues meant. Every aspect of the storyline was woven together so well that in the end it seemed ridiculous that I couldn't figure it out, although I'm confident that I'm not alone in this. This would be a great text for middle school students. It would spark a lot of conversations about a wide variety of topics and issues, and I think it would hold the interest of boys and girls alike.

From the moment I read the back cover of this book, "A Wrinkle in Time" came to mind. As I began reading, I realized before too long that this was the book that Miranda referred to as "her book" and the book that she had read over and over again. The fact that she had a book that she liked to read over and over instantly made me like her as a character because it's something that I can relate to. On the other hand, I read "A Wrinkle in Time" when I was in sixth grade and absolutely hated it...although now I'm feeling the urge to try reading it again.