Summary:
In this story, Rabbit and Mouse go on adventures together. Everywhere Rabbit goes, there is some sort of trouble. This story demonstrates the silly things that happen as he tries to get out of trouble.
Review:
I enjoyed this book very much, because the illustrations are so vibrant and eye-catching. Each animal has a different personality, and it would be perfect for an early primary classroom to illustrate the importance of friendship with others, even if they are different. When Rabbit gets into trouble, Mouse sticks by him, even though he makes some mistakes. Using this book as part of a larger friendship unit would help children understand that friends stick together, even through difficult times. Since the book is so visually engaging, the students would probably be very interested in the story, and they could even write their own version after reading My Friend Rabbit.
Summary:
This story begins like a traditional three little pigs story, but then it takes a surprising twist! The pigs escape the story and go on adventures of their own, only to come back to the story with a big surprise for the wolf!
Review:
I thought this story was fantastic! I really liked that Wiesner took a traditional story and put his own twist on it. It really demonstrates that it is great to use your imagination. I think this book would be fun to do as part of a fairy tale unit in the second or third grade with kids. It could be paired with The True Story of the Three Little Pigs and Cinder Edna, among other fairy tale spin-offs, and the students could choose their own fairy tale and write their own version. This could be presented as a lesson on individuality, and how it is great to use your imagination and creativity to create your own ending to a very traditional story. The students could not only write their own stories, but they could illustrate them as well, and the class could have a camp-in with sleeping bags where everyone shared their new stories.
Summary:
Jumanji is a story about two children who discover a mysterious board game in the park near their house. When they begin to play, they realize that it is not a game at all, and unless they finish, they are in very big trouble.
Review:
This story could be great to use in a classroom unit on the jungle—as long as the students have not already seen the movie. I would love to use Jumanji to complement lessons about the environment, animals, climate, geography, and other aspects of the jungle. It would be really fun to create our own jungle in the classroom, as inspired by the game. We could put lions, monkeys, rhinos, volcanoes, monsoons, snakes, and other jungle components in our classroom and turn it into a jungle. We could learn about what purpose all of these animals and things serve in the jungle and how they all work together. It would be so fun, and it would work beautifully with the text. As an extension, we could journal about how our parents would react or how we would feel if there were a real jungle in our houses! I think this would be a fantastic opportunity for the students to express their creativity and imagination in the classroom.
Summary:
Grandfather travels from his homeland of Japan to America, and he loves it. After a while, however, he misses his home and goes back. No matter where he goes, he misses the other place, and his grandson soon learns that he feels the same.
Review:
This book would be perfect as part of a larger unit on culture and traditions. The illustrations capture both countries beautifully, and it would be very easy to find similarities and differences between Japan and America. It would also be interesting to draw the students into a discussion of why Grandfather misses both Japan and America. After looking at the illustrations, we could learn about Japanese culture, especially the dress, the geography of the country, food, and family. This would be very enlightening to the students, and if we combined this with social studies and writing, it could be a great thematic unit to use in the classroom. Also, we could discuss the concept of home, and find out if any students have moved to make it more relatable for them. We could find what what the students think is necessary for a place to be a home, and then use that to compare homes in different cultures.
Summary:
Mr. and Mrs. Mallard need to find a place to build their nest. They look all over Boston before choosing an island in the middle of the Charles River. They make friends with the people around them, and then once their ducklings are born, the whole family goes on an adventure to another island!
Review:
This book would be a wonderful start to a science/nature unit in which we learn about habitats. The students could start by deciding what Mr. and Mrs. Mallard thought they would need for their nest. Then we could explore why they needed those things. We could then launch that into a larger discussion of what some other animals need for their habitats. It would be a great way to introduce something that might otherwise be a tedious subject. Also, we could use this story as part of a unit on family and why family is important. The children could decide what makes a family, as well as what a family does. We could talk about the kind of family that the ducks are part of, and then read other stories such as And Tango Makes Three to learn about other kinds of families.
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