Book Reviews For Assignment 1

The books I have chosen are as follows and I will be modeling my reviews after The HornBook format. I also modeled my own rating system on the of the HornBook format. My rating is numbered 1 through 5, with 1 being the highest rating.  Taken into consideration is readability, illustrations, enjoyment of book for children, and enjoyment of book for adult.

Graham-Barber, Lynda. KokoCat, Inside and Out

24pp. Lane, Nancy. The Gryphon Press, 2012. ISBN 978-0-940719-12-5

Rating – 2, 2-4, An informing story about caring for a pet cat. Many children may have a pet cat which they will be able to relate the activities to their own cat. The story also points out the dangers of letting cats go outside. The illustrations capture the actions and expressions of KokoCat making one believe that she could jump off the page.

Animals – Behavior, Animals – Cats, Animals – Domestic, Animals – Mammals, Pet Care, Pets, Young Reader

Logue, Mary. Sleep Like a Tiger

36 pp. Zagarebski, Pamela. Houghton Mifflin Books for Children, 2012. ISBN 978-0-547-64102-7

Rating – 3, 2-4, Charming illustrations help the young reader/listener to envision the story as it is read. The story is about a young girl, who as most children do, reaches an age when they do not want to go to sleep. Her smart parents explained how everything sleeps for a reason providing her with some explanation. A fun activity to do is to have the reader/listener observe is items and creatures that appear in the illustrations such as wheels in odd places throughout the book.

Animals – Behavior, Children – Bed Time, Children – Routine, Children – Sleep, Human – Behavior

Long, Ethan. Up! Tall! And High! (but not necessarily in the order)

29pp Long, Ethan and Tamura, Marikka. The Penguin Group, 2012. ISBN 978-0-399-25611-0

Rating – 1, 0-4, Simple wording and colorful illustrations help the young reader/listener to understand the meaning of the words from the title. Fun tricks like expanding pages help keep the reader’s/listener’s attention. Repetition of reading will help the child to visually identify the words and help connect the definitions.

Animals - Birds, Comical, Fiction, Spatial Relations, Young Reader

Seeger, Laura Vaccaro. Green

34pp. Seeger, Laura Vaccaro. Roaring Brook Press, 2011. ISBN 978-1-59643-397-7

Rating – 5, 0-4, Wonderfully vibrant pictures illustrating many different shades of the color green. Cut outs on the pages give the reader/listener a fun way to view the next color in a creative way to stimulate visual acuity. Rhyming words stimulate the hearing acuity of the young reader/listener.

Colors, Green, Rhyme, Young Reader

Willems, Mo. Let’s Go for a Drive!

57pp. Willems, Mo. Hyperion Books for Children, 2012. ISBN 978-142316482-1

Rating – 1, 2-4, The latest in a series of books about Elephant and Piggie. In this story Elephant and Piggie plan a car trip and must prepare by gathering all items they may need. The repetition throughout the story allows the young reader/listener to participate and improve their verbal skills.

Animals – Elephant, Animals – Mammals, Animals – Pig, Comical, Driving, Fiction, Friendship, Planning an Event, Young Reader