The Giant Golden Book of Elves and Fairies

This book is a compilation of stories and poems about fairies, goblins, dwarves, elves, personified animals, and other mystical creatures. Fairies and Elves holds a place near and dear to my heart as my mother read it to me as a child, her mother read it to her, and I now read it to my children. Many of the main characters are easy to fall in love with, such as Cannery Bear, Dickey Bundle, and the sweet little Merbaby. The stories jumpstart the imagination of the reader while addressing such issues as being greatful for the things you have, not taking things that don't belong to you, and recycling items you don't need anymore to those who might use them.

Singeli saving the King

Elves and Fairies was written in 1951, with several of its stories borrowed from other country's folklore. One story, titled "Singeli's Silver Slippers" was translated from Swedish, and surprisingly (at least for 1951) has a female heroin. Singeli lives an honest and right life, as her silver shoes were a gift from the Fairies of fortune who forwarn "if you, dear child, go astray, silver slippers will vanish away". She grows up during the story, where she learned her fathers trade, worked to support herself, and even managed to save the young King on day. Her story is full of fairy tale creatures that help shape her life without her knowledge, but entertain the reader. This is just one of the many exciting stories that the reader is sure to enjoy reading time and again.

The stories tend to be long, several pages with heavy text, so it would probably be best enjoyed if read aloud to a young audience, or read independantly by older, more fluid readers. In addition, the stories in this book have excellent language usage, which can be used as examples to teach in the classroom. Lines such as music that"reached out into shadowy spots and drew more and still more dancing couples", or how bushes "spread in a web for miles" or how tiny carriages "bowl along into the shadows".  To see children's faces when you read the book to them, as they see the pictures of the characters, you will see for yourself how wonderful this book is. But don't take my word for it, check it out to see for yourself!



Five Little Monkeys Jumping On The Bed, retold by Eileen Christelow

Anyone who has kids, or who has been a kid, knows what getting ready for bed is like. After the lights go out and the kisses have been distributed, its time to party! This book shows what happens when naughty little monkeys don't listen to their mama. For students, they can participate in the reading of this story as it is extremely repetitive. As the reader points to the words, students can start to recognize sight words, such as the, his, said, words kindergartners are just learning to recognize. It also helps children to learn to count backwards from five to one, and develop sight recognition skills for number sets. 

I enjoy the artistic medium that the illustrator chose. She used shading with color pencils to draw pictures that extend the meaning of the story. For example, the line "one fell off and bumped his head" doesn't give much information, but the pictures show the monkeys crying while mama monkey bandages them up, one by one. The last page is definitely a surprise, after all the monkey's are asleep in bed, mama has found her own entertainment. But, you'll have to read it to find out what it is!!!     

Blue Horse, by Helen Stephens

Blue Horse is a story about a girl coping with moving to a new place. Tilly, the main character is too shy to approach the other children that play near her new house. Rather than making friends, she stays inside her room and realizes how boring it is playing alone. As she tries to entertain herself, Tilly finds that one of her toys, a blue horse, can talk. They quickly become best friends and go on great adventures together. Tilly's friendship with Blue Horse helps to boost her confidence in this story. I like this book because the author shows how children often develop imaginary friends to cope with difficult situations they may face. It also shows students that meeting new friends can be intimidating, but that once you take the step to meet them, they can be just as comfortable and nice as old friends. 

The illustrations in this book are excellent. The colors are vivid, and the drawings are juvenile in a good way, as they add to the comfort of the child's view from which the book is written. Tilly is portrayed as a girl with dark hair and eyes, but the line "Tilly was new in town" leaves her previous home open for interpretation. She could easily be from across town or from across an ocean. Regardless of the reason, I believe that Blue Horse is a great book to help children transition to a new environment, whether they find themselves in a new school, town, state, or country. However it could even just relate to those students who are more shy than others.

One Guinea Pig Is Not Enough, by Kate Duke

This book is a family favorite! It teaches basic math and counting skills, manners, problem solving, morals, and deductive reasoning. The story begins with one sad, lonely guinea pig who doesn't have anyone to play with. She meets another guinea pig and they become friends. Each page introduces a new guinea pig, which quickly adds up to ten. Each new friend helps the former friends out in some manner, whether by helping them to construct a sand castle, picking up the money they dropped, even by breaking up a fight! As the book has limited words, the illustrations tell more of the story than does the narration. For example, the third character to enter the story is described as "one silly guinea pig". The illustration however shows her with a feather skirt, leaves tied to her feet, paperclips on her ears, balloons in her hand, and a paper cup full of crayons balanced on her head. By the end of the story, the characters have all resolved their conflicts, and have gone home to see their parents, whom have some identifying feature that children can connect the kid to. This book is easy to read for young readers and helps with math comprehension.

The LOUDEST Roar, By Thomas Taylor

This book introduces children to different jungle animals, but more importantly it introduces them to the golden rule. The story follows a tiny tiger in his naughty daily routine of scaring other animals with his ferocious roar. He enjoys scaring creatures over and over until one day they work together to scare him back. Clovis realizes that its not fun to be scared and promises to change his ways. While the repetition in the book engages children to help read the story such as the repeated use of the line "ROAR, suddenly- there was Clovis", it also teaches them to think about how their actions affect other people. In the conclusion, Clovis has mended his ways, the jungle returns to "a peaceful place". My favorite part however is how the author points out that even though Clovis has become a better tiger, he still has the occasional relapse. The illustrator adds to this fact on the last two pages. Clovis sneaks up on a turtle grazing on some flowers, but as you turn the page, the words have ended but the story has not. Clovis is walking off proudly and the turtle shell is upside down with lines implying shaking and the turtle is hidden deep within his shell.

I believe children can connect with this book because at a young age, the are egocentric. They do not think how thier actions effect others, or how it effects the classroom environment. When children are disruptive, learning is hard difficult. The book also shows that even though you may try your hardest, we all make errors in judgement.   

Bear Snores On, By Karma Wilson

This book makes use of rhythm as well as rhyming words to tell a story about a what occurs when a bear is asleep for the winter. While the Bear Snores On, other forest animals seek shelter in his cave, and enjoy each other's company. The illustrations add to the story line, by showing how cozy, warm, and inviting bears cave is in comparison to the bitter cold winter that howls outside. With each new character that enters, the animal brings some new food to share with their newly met friends. When bear finally wakes up, he is upset that he finds all the animals in his cave because he feels that he was left out. When the tiny mouse offers food to the bear, and includes him in their fun, he cheers up. On the last page, the sun comes out, and the cold winter storm is gone. The author captures the joys, as well as insecurities that children often face when meeting new friends, as well as the joy that sharing can bring.