The Levitical Readings and Reactions

Title- Every Day’s, a Dog’s Day Author/Retold- Marilyn Singer Illustrated by Miki Sakamoto Genre- Poetry Grade level- kindergarten-third There are many poems in this book. Valentine’s Day poem is about a dog in the first person. The dogs owner calls him valentine and he knows that’s not his name. The owner kisses and loves the dog. She gave him her hear, so he offers his paw. The Thanksgiving poem is about his mischievous acts like burying the turkey, puncturing the football, and getting in the pantry. At the end, the dog is thankful for them not throwing him in the pound for what he did. I think this is a perfect book for kindergarteners to third graders. There are multiple poems for certain days of the year. You could use the Fourth of July poem to introduce the revolutionary war topic or why we celebrate Fourth of July. I would use this book to introduce the topic of the day or the theme of the holiday coming up (ex. Thanksgiving, Christmas, First day of School). I would read it alo

Title- Once Upon a Rhyme  Author/Retold- Carol Hosking Illustrated by Trevor Pye Genre- poetry  Grade level- 3rd-8th Grade Once upon a Rhyme is collection of poems. They have the classic Ring around the Roses rhyme. After giving the rhyme, the author explains the historical significance of the poem. The poem originated from the Great Plague. The pockets were full of posies because flowers and herbs were used to mask the smell of the sickness. Many people died in the plague and that’s why they all fall down. Another Rhyme that is shown in this book is Mary had a little lamb. The historical context is that they believe that the rhyme was made after Mary Sawyer. One of Mary’s lambs was sick and she nursed it back to health. The lamb thought she was the mother and followed her every where, even to school. This book is great for any social studies class from 3-8th grade. It shows how a lot of poems and rhymes we know as children, have certain meanings and background. This book would be grea

  Title- I’m still here in the Bathtub Author/Retold- Alan Katz Illustrated by David Catrow Genre- poetry  Grade level- preschool- 2nd grade The poems are “silly silly songs” that use the tunes of older rhymes in a new funny way. “I’m a menace” is set to the tune “Frère Jacques”. It’s about about a boy who plays tennis, hockey, and karate in his house. The house looks and sounds broken to bits and his mother is very sore and aggravated. “Meals at Camp” is set to the tune of “The Wheels on the Bus”. The camper despises the food at camp and says his brain hurts because of it. The food cooked by Greg, Joan, and Trish makes this camper have one wish, a new camp. This a very funny poem book to entertain students. The illustrations made by Catrow are very good and reflect the image of the poem well. I think I would use this book as a repeat after me type exercise. This will help younger students with pronunciation of certain words in a fun and entertaining way.

Title- All Together, A Child’s Treasury of verse Author/Retold- Dorothy Aldis Illustrated by Helen D. Jameson Genre- poetry  Grade level- 1st graders to 12th graders All Together, A Child’s Treasury of verse is a collection of poems. The poem “Mouths” is about a child who she had two mouths, one to eat with and one to talk with. The child thinks that all the time mouths just wanna talk, but what they want is to chew. “Supper for a Lion” starts off with a lion in a cage walking back and forth. The lion thinks it’s time to eat. The child asks if the Lion wants stew or a bone. She tells the Lion to stop looking at her as if she would taste good.  I think this book is great for all ages. There are some poems that are very simple to understand, but enjoyable for younger children. There are others that are complex in nature and older English students can try to derive what that poem means to them. I would personally use this book as discussion piece exercise for older students. I would read

Title- Feathers for Lunch Author/Retold- Lois Ehlert Illustrated by NA Genre- poetry  Grade level- kindergarten- 2nd The poem begins with a cat that has escaped the house. The cat is sick of his food, so he’s trying t eat something different. He sees the birds and they look good for him to eat. But every time he gets close to a bird, they hear his bells and fly away. He does this multiple time but all he’s left with is a bunch of feathers to be eaten. I think this is a great book to be read a loud. The pictures are very well drawn and shown to the students while reading. Under each picture of a plant or a bird, there is a title for what type of plant or bird that animal may be. I think this book would be a great read before going on a nature field trip. Letting the students look at the book during the trip to see if they can see any of the birds or the plants from the book would be pretty neat.  

Title- Jamie O’Rourke and the Big  Potato  Author/Retold- Tomie DePaola Illustrated by Tomie DePaola Genre- Traditional Literature  Grade level- 3rd-12th Grade “Jamie O’Rourke is the laziest man in all of Ireland.” He would always avoid working and his wife Eileen would do all of the work. One day Eileen “wrenched” her back and she had to rest. Jamie O’Rourke thought he was going to starve, so at midnight he started his trek to the church for confession and maybe food. He came upon a leprechaun, caught it and asked, “where do you keep your pot of gold.” The leprechaun only had two coins in his pot and he offered Jamie O’Rourke a wish. He wished for the biggest pratie/potato in the world and a seed was given to him by the leprechaun. Jamie O’Rourke planted it and it indeed grew into the biggest potato in the world. He shared the potato with the whole town and it kept them full for the whole winter, so much so, that the town was fed up with potatos. Jamie O’Rourke told the town he saved

  Title- The Little ant  Author/Retold- Shirleyann Costigan, based one Aida Marcuse version Illustrated by Patti Boyd Photgraphed by Scott Campbell  Genre- Traditional Literature  Grade level- 1st-4th Grade Our story begins with an ant named Hormiguita. Hormiguita’s house got drenched by April showers. She asked the sun dry her home, but she couldn’t cause the clouds were in the way. Hormiguita asked the clouds to move so the sun could dry her house. The cloud said he can’t but she could ask the wind to blow the cloud away. So she asked the wind, but the wind said he no, he was going to be sleeping the whole day. So Hormiguita began to sing a lullaby to the wind and the wind started to fall into a deep sleep. Hormiguita began to climb up the winds beard and she took a feather and tickled his nose. This caused him to sneeze, which blew away the clouds, which let the sun dry Hormiguita’s house. This is a great book that teaches us how to have manners and taught a lesson on how to be kind

Title- It’s Mine Author/Retold- Leo Lionni Illustrated by Leo Lionni Genre- Traditional Literature Grade level- Kindergarten-4th Grade The story begins with three frogs named Milton, Rupert, and Lydia. They were always quarreling about what belonged to them and what didn’t. They argued so much that the toad on the other side of the island came over and said that he could hear everything they were say and that there would be no peace because of their endless bickering. They didn’t listen, but shortly after a storm came and began to flood the pond. The island began to disappear and all that was left were three rocks, but soon those to were going under the water. There was one large rock left and they decided to share it and ride the storm out. After the storm passed and the water levels went down, they realized that the rock was actually the toad from earlier. The next day all three frogs enjoyed their island together because the island wasn’t “mine” but it was “our island.” I think this

  Title- The Five Chinese Bothers  Author/Retold- Claire Huchet Bishop & Kurt Wiese Illustrated by N/A Genre- Traditional Literature  Grade level- Kindergarten- 3rd Grade The story begins with a mother and five sons that look “exactly alike.” One brother had the power to swallow the whole sea. Another brother had an Iron Neck. The next brother could stretch his legs really far. Another Brother could not be burned and the last brother could hold his breath indefinitely. The first brother would always come back from his fishing trips with a rare fish and one of the young boys from the town asked if he could go with him the second time. The brother said you can come under one condition, that “you shall obey me promptly”. The boy agreed and the next day they went. The brother sucked up all the water from the sea and all the fish and treasures under the water could be seen. The brother started picking up fish, while the child started stuffing his pockets with treasure. The brother warne

 Title- The Ginger Bread Man (English & Spanish) Author/Retold- Catherine McCafferty  Illustrated by Doug Bowles Genre- Traditional Literature  Grade level- Kindergarten-4th Grade The book opens with an old couple that don’t have any children. The wife decides to make the “perfect child” out of gingerbread dough. The gingerbread man came to life and began to run. He ran from a cat, a snake, and a duck. He came upon a fox that didn’t chase him. The fox told him that there was a river up ahead and the gingerbread asked if he could help him to cross the river. The started to bring up across the river on his tale. As the river grew deeper, the higher the gingerbread man climbed up the fox. The gingerbread man climbed all the way up to the fox’s nose and then the fox ate him. This a great book for students ranging from kindergarten to 4th grade. This book can be used for students who are first beginning to read. It can also be used for teaching higher grade students onomatopoeia. 

 The Dot by Peter Reynolds is an amazing book. I really like the underlying theme of the phrase “it’s what you make of it”. The teacher saying the the blank paper is a polar bear in a storm is a great example of this idealism. Another underlying idea that I loved about this book is “try everything once, you won’t know what will happen next.” Vashti just stabbing a marker on a blank canvas, then that piece of art influenced more art pieces and then was used to influence others. You won’t know what will happen unless you try it.  I didn’t know what I was going to do with this dot. Like Vashti, I’m not good at art. But when I put a dot, I just going and going. I went until I was satisfied. It was hard at times figuring out what to do, but I just tried something and it worked. It is my own famous “dot”.