Welcome!

You have accessed the blog site for Choosing and Using Books for Children. Throughout the term we'll use our blog to record the books we read and the ideas we have for using them when we're teachers. By the end of March, our class will have read at least 280 books. Happy reading!

Two important protocol actions for EVERY post:
1. Underline or italicize all book titles (choose one formatting style and stick with it--underline OR italicize for all book titles)
2. Add your name in the "label" box before you post each documentation.

One important recommendation:
Create your documentations in a separate Word document, then cut and paste in a blog post.

Basic Documentation

Book Title:

Author(s):

Illustrator/Photographer/Artist:

Publisher:

Copyright Date:

Genre:

Brief Annotation:

Your Rating (1-5) and why:

Readers who will like this book:

Teaching Strategy from Tompkins or Yopp & Yopp (you'll link a strategy to at least 10 of your 40 books) :

Question to ask about this book before a read aloud:

Optional, but noted as extra effort:

1. Interest Level (age):

2. Grade Level Equivalent (grade):
Use book wizard to help with the previous 2 areas


3. List awards

4. Does this book have a book trailer? If so, cut and paste the web address here.

Sunday, February 5, 2012

The Story of Ferdinand

Book Title: The Story of Ferdinand


Author(s): Munro Leaf


Illustrator/Photographer/Artist: Robert Lawson


Publisher: Viking


Copyright Date: 1936


Genre: Fiction picturebook


Brief Annotation: Ferdinand the bull is unlike the rest of his friends; he prefers to sit and smell the flowers to fighting and butting horns like everyone else. One day a group of men comes to the pasture to choose the biggest, fastest, roughest bull they can find to fight in Madrid. A bee stings Ferdinand, causing the men to mistake him for a fierce and pugnacious bull. He is driven to Madrid to participate in the bullfight, but he sits in the middle of the ring, smelling the flowers from the ladies’ hair, refusing to fight. Ferdinand is taken back home to the pasture, where he lives a happy life of sitting quietly under his favorite tree, smelling the flowers.


Your Rating (1-5) and why: 5—I really enjoyed this simple story about staying true to yourself. Ferdinand continues to do what makes him happy despite seeing all the other bulls act another way. Even more interesting about The Story of Ferdinand is the controversy that surrounded it after publication in 1936. Because it was viewed as a pacifist text with an anti-war message, the book was banned in several countries. The black and white sketches perfectly accompany the text and provide a strong sense of the Spanish setting.


Readers who will like this book: Kids who like stories about “marching to the beat of your own drum”; kids who may feel different or isolated from their peers; anyone who appreciates the classics and/or simple stories with meaningful messages


Question to ask about this book before a read aloud: Have you ever felt different from your friends and classmates or pressure to act a certain way? Did you give in to peer pressure or did you stay true to who you really are? (Could also be used as a journal entry question.)


Optional, but noted as extra effort:


1. Interest Level (age): K—2


2. Grade Level Equivalent (grade): 4.1


3. List awards: ABA Indies Choice Award Nominee


4. Book trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6984FpF08c


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