The Green Eyed Reader

Soar Written by Joan Bauer  Overview: Jeremiah is a twelve-year-old boy from Indiana. At least, they think that he is. He was adopted by a single man named Walt Lopper after he was found next to his office's coffee pot. Jeremiah grew up to be a normal boy until the age of 10. He got sick with a virus that was attacking his heart. In order to survive, Jer had to have a heart transplant. Since that operation, his life changed drastically. He had to watch his heart rate constantly and keep away from germs as to not get sick. Jer learns how to deal with all of this in this touching story about what he absolutely lives for: Baseball. He moves to Ohio with Walt and he ends up finding his place by encouraging the new city to not give up on its love of baseball.  The interesting writing style and length of this book make it a great choice for 5th-6th graders who might love a great book with baseball woven into it. A read aloud of the first few chapters to introduce this book mig

The Day the Crayons Quit Written by Drew Daywalt & Illustrated by Oliver Jeffers Overview: One day in class, a little boy named Duncan took out his crayons and found a stack of letters with his name on them. Each letter was written by one of his crayons. The red crayon, the pink crayon, the green crayon, and so on. Each crayon had written Duncan about he felt in regards to their overuse or underuse in his drawings or other issues that they felt needed to be addressed. When Duncan was finished reading all of the letters he tired to think of a way to appease all of his crayons and decided to draw and incredibly creative picture with all of his crayons. Duncan got an A+ on his drawing! This book takes a comical look at creativity from a crayon's perspective. This entertaining book can be read by 2nd graders and would make such fun read aloud for children.  Awards: 2014-2015 Bluebonnet Award To order your own copy:  https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-day-the-crayo

Zoom! Written by Robert Munsch & Illustrated by Michael Martchenko Overview: Lauretta is a girl who uses a wheelchair to get around and she decides that she needs a new one. Her and her mother go to the wheelchair store and look at lots of different motorized wheelchairs, but they are all too slow of the young girl. That is, until she sees the 92-speed wheelchair. She takes it home and tries it out for the day. Because it is so fast, she is able to rescue her little brother and take him to the hospital in her wheelchair when her family's car would not start. Her parents tell her that she can keep the wheelchair because of how useful it proved even though it is very expensive. She tells them that she actually wants a different wheelchair: one that's even faster! This is an exciting and easy to read story that would be great for 1st-2nd graders. This would also be a fun read aloud book in the classroom and the students could all act out the zooming sounds. The pictu

The Cat In The Hat By Dr. Seuss Overview: This is the classic rhyming story where a brother and sister are sitting at home doing nothing and then a cat dressed in a hat walked in their door. Despite the protests of their pet fish, the cat comes into the house and causes a ruckus. He even brings Thing 1 and Thing 2 along with him. They make a gigantic mess, but the cat ends up cleaning it all of before the children's mother returns home. This is such fun book to read because of the catchy rhymes and exciting story. You cannot wait to see what  the characters will do next! 1st-2nd graders should be able to read this book on their own and, of course, this book makes an incredible read aloud experience. Awards: The Laura Ingalls Wilder Award for author Dr. Suess. To order your own copy:  https://www.amazon.com/Cat-Hat-Dr-Seuss/dp/039480001X -The Green Eyed Reader

Rapunzel Retold & Illustrated by Paul O. Zelinsky Overview: In this retelling of the story of Rapunzel, a man and his wife became pregnant with a child. The woman often sat by a small window in their house that overlooked a garden owned by a sorceress. One day the man snuck into the garden to steal some of the rapunzel that grew there because his wife was craving it. After his wife ate it, she wanted some more. So the next day, the man went back to steal some more, but he was caught by the sorceress! When she threatened his life, the man explained his situation and the sorceress said that she would forgive him if the couple gave them their baby once she was born. Out of fright and uncertainty, the man agreed. And so it was that a baby girl was born and the old woman named her "Rapunzel" and cared for her as her own and then eventually kept her in a tower.  When Rapunzel became older, a Prince discovered that she lived in the tower and climbed up to her by the use

My Rows and Piles of Coins Written by Tololwa M. Mollel & Illustrated by E.B. Lewis Overview: This is a story about a young boy named Saruni who wanted a bicycle of his very own. His father owned one and taught him how to ride it after much trial and error. Every Saturday, the young boy would help his mother sell their crops in the market and she would give him a few coins as a job well done. He saved for months and months and when he finally felt like he had enough, he went to the shop that sold bicycles in the marketplace and asked to buy one with the money he had saved up. But the owner just laugh at hi and told him that he did not have enough money. Saruni became so sad and told his mother about what had happened. The next day, his father came home with a new moter bike and gave his old bike to Saruni. The boy was so excited and began to keep saving his money in order to buy a cart to help his mom carry the crops to the marketplace.  The illustrations of this book ar

My Chinatown: One Year in Poems Written and Illustrated by Kam Mak Overview:  This is a poem about a little boy who left his hometown of Hong Kong and is now in America living in a Chinatown. This poem is separated into four sections, one for each season: winter, spring, summer, and fall. In each section, the little boy describes what he is doing during that time and how it is similar, but different from his life back in Hong Kong. From pickling kumquats to lighting paper lanterns, the little boy learns to love his new Chinatown when New Year's Day comes around. This book uses a mixture of photographs and realistic drawings for the pictures. They take up full pages and display beautiful aspects of Chinese culture and celebrations. This is a longer book, but is helpful to gain insight into the spirit of Chinatown. I would recommend this to 4th-5th graders. To order your own copy:  https://www.amazon.com/My-Chinatown-One-Year-Poems/dp/0064437329/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF

Mama, Do You Love Me? Written By Barbara M. Joosse & Illustrated by Barbara Lavallee Overview: This is the story about a little Inuit girl who wants to know if and when her mother loves her. The mother always answers that she will love her little girl forever because she is hers. Her mother will love her even if she puts a salmon in her parka or turns into a poor bear. She will love her even if she runs away or throws water on their lamp. No matter what she will love her. This a beautiful book for read alouds and shows some cultural aspect of the Inuits. It even has a glossary of terms in the back of the book. The pictures are pristine and help tell the story. I would recommend this book to 2nd-3rd graders.  To order your own copy:  https://www.amazon.com/Mama-Do-You-Love-Me/dp/0811821315/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1512016657&sr=1-1&keywords=mama+do+you+love+me -The Green Eyed Reader

Too Many Tamales Written by Gary Soto & Illustrated by Ed Martinez Overview: During one Christmas Eve, Maria was helping her mother make tamales and she put on her mother's ring because she admired it so much. Without another thought, she went back to work on needing the masa . After the tamales were finished, her cousins arrived and she began to spend time with them. All of a sudden, she realized that the ring was not on her hand anymore and it must be in the tamales! She ran down the stairs with her cousins and made them eat all 24 of them to find the ring! When it was not found, she went to tell her mother the terrible news. However, when she approached her, she saw the ring on her hand! Maria was relieved and her and her aunts and her mother set to work making a new batch of tamales.    This story has an illustration on almost every page and it is an exciting one! Young readers will want to finish this story to the end so it is a great idea to read it aloud. 3rd gr

Mice Squeak, We Speak Written by Arnold L. Shapiro & Illustrated by Tomie dePaola Overview: This short book is a rhyming poem that features many different animals and how they communicate. "Cats purr. Lions roar. Owls hoot." But then the text explains that humans, children specifically, speak, say, and talk. Many other animals are mentioned as well, such as cows, ducks, horses, chickens, and many others. This book is perfect for read alouds for PreK-1st grade. Kindergarteners could probably read this on their own with some help. The illustrations are really fun and feature each animal speaking their "language." To order your own copy:  https://www.amazon.com/Mice-Squeak-Speak-Arnold-Shapiro/dp/0698118731/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1512014220&sr=1-1&keywords=mice+squeak+we+speak -The Green Eyed Reader

Tar Beach Written & Illustrated Faith Ringgold Overview: This is a beautiful quilt story about a girl who lies on her "tar beach," her rooftop, with her family. She talks about how her father is a construction worker and looks for new work for lengthy amounts of time. The little girl decides that she is going to fly over the union building, the ice cream factory and a great bridge so that they will be hers forever. I believe that she means this in a figurative manner, in a sort of dream. She takes her little brother with her at the end and they fly with their eyes closed.  The paintings in this book have an unclean, but beautiful nature to them. This book provokes deep thinking and even has some historical events in it that would be great to explain to a classroom. 2nd graders would enjoy reading this book by themselves.   To order your own copy:  https://www.amazon.com/Tar-Beach-Faith-Ringgold/dp/0517885441/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1512013031&a

When I Was Young in the Mountains By Cynthia Rylant & Illustrated by Diane Goode Overview: This is a story of a girl who reminisces about the all of the time and adventures that she spent in the mountains as a young girl. She spent this time on a ranch with her Grandmother, Grandfather, and younger brother. She remembers how her Grandfather worked in the coal mines and her Grandmother cooked delicious meals. She remembered taking trips to the swimming hole and pumping water from the wall. She also remembered her Grandmother killing snakes and them holding them up as trophies. Lastly, the little girl remembers how she never wanted to go anywhere else for she was perfectly happy in the mountains. This beautifully illustrated book is an easy read that would be great for read alouds and independent reading for 1st-3rd graders. The language of this book is repetitive and fun to make predictions about. Awards: Caldecott Honor Book To order your own copy:  https://www.amazon.co

Firebird By Misty Copeland & Illustrated by Christopher Myers Overview: In this story, Misty Copeland teaches and inspires a young girl, who reminds her of herself as a little girl, to dance. From practice to the stage the young girl gains grace and confidence to dance like Misty, like a Firebird. This is a very short, but inspiring story of reaching for your dreams and achieving them through hard work and dedication. There is even a note to the reader in the back from Misty Copeland explaining why she wrote the book and how she hopes to inspire this generation below her. The artwork is gorgeous and looks like a mixture of paintings and collage.  Awards: The 2015 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award Winner To order your own copy:  https://www.amazon.com/Firebird-Misty-Copeland/dp/0399166157/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1511997624&sr=1-1&keywords=firebird -The Green Eyed Reader 

  The Eye of the Pharaoh: A Pop-Up Whodunit By Iain Smyth Overview: This is a mystery pop-up book. While learning a few things about Egypt's history, students can explore a mystery through clues and plot. This unique book has three alternative endings to the case which keep the book exciting for multiple read throughs. Each of the respective character has a motive for committing the crime of stealing the Eye of the Pharaoh, a priceless artifact with supposed healing powers. I would recommend this short, but critical thinking book to 5th-6th graders to read and enjoy individually.   To order your own copy:  https://www.amazon.com/Eye-Pharaoh-Pop-Up-Whodunnit/dp/1852138270 -The Green Eyed Reader

The Little Mermaid By Hans Christian Anderson  Overview: This is a magical tale about a young girl with a tail. A young mermaid has always dreamed about swimming up to the surface of the sea and seeing what lies there, but she is not allowed to until she reaches the age of 15. She is the youngest of her sisters and loves hearing their stories about what they had seen on the surface of the sea. When she finally turns 15, she travels to the surface and sees a great ship with a celebration going on. As she looked closer, she realized that it was a young prince's 16th birthday party. She also sees how handsome and kind the prince is and falls in love with him, but she knows that she cannot be with him so she becomes very sad. After the party was finished, a great storm hit the ship and the prince fell overboard and began to drown. The young mermaid rescued him and brought him safely to shore.  After months of wishing to be with the handsome prince and have an immortal soul lik

Frog and Toad Together By Arnold Lobel  Overview: This book features a collection of stories about the famous duo Frog and Toad. It has five exciting stories included within its pages that make fun read alouds or independent reading. I would suggest these stories for 2nd graders because there is a lot of dialogue to understand and keep up with even through the words are pretty simple. The pictures are beautiful and go very well with each individual story. From Lists to Gardens to Dreams, this book shows the wonderful friendship of Frog and Toad and always ends happily or on a comedic note. Awards: A  Newbery Honor Book To order your own copy:  https://www.amazon.com/Frog-Toad-Together-Read-Level/dp/0064440214/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1511896501&sr=1-1&keywords=frog+and+toad+together -The Green Eyed Reader

  The Cat Who Went to Heaven By Elizabeth Coatsworth Overview: This a story about a poor Artist who lived in Japan with his housekeeper. One day, when the housekeeper came back from the market, she did not bring food as usual, but a white cat. She had spots on her back, yellow eyes, and a stub for a tail. They named her "Good Fortune." After a couple of days of owning the cat, the high priest from their temple came to the Artist's house and commissioned him to paint a picture of Buddha's death. The Artist agreed and the priest left. The Artist spent the next three days imagining what Buddha's life must have been like and on the last day, he drew him.  In the days that followed after that, the Artist imagined all of the different animals that Buddha's spirit had been in, according to the many stories he had heard, and he drew one after another. With each animal drawn, Good Fortune would look at the painting and seem pleased with it. However, she b

Last Stop On Market Street Words by Matt de la Pena & Pictures by Christian Robinson Overview: This is a story about a little boy named CJ and his Nana as they take a trip after church on Sunday. At many points in the trip, CJ asks his Nana why they are doing the things that they are doing and his Nana always has an answer that either educates the child or makes him think about their situation in a different way as  they make their way down to their local soup kitchen in order to help serve the people there. This is a beautifully written and illustrated story that helps put life in perspective for not only children, but also for adults. It helps you appreciate life and helps you see to give back to the community. It also helps the reader understand that you can find beauty in every situation. This is a wonderful book for read alouds and children in 2nd-4th grade would enjoy reading it on their own. Awards: The 2016 Newbery Award, A Caldecott Honor, & A Coretta Scott K

The Girl Who Drank the Moon By Kelly Barnhill Overview: This story begins in a town called the Protectorate. Every year, for hundreds of years, the "Day of Sacrifice" comes and the youngest baby of the town is left in the forest for an evil witch to claim. If the town does not leave a baby, the town will be destroyed by the witch. Or so all of the townspeople are told by the elders of their town. This turns out to not be the truth at all, and the elders are just trying to keep the town in submission by having them live in fear and sorrow. However, there is a witch in the woods: a good witch and her name is Xan. Every year on the same day, Xan travels outside of the city of the Protectorate where she finds a baby. She does not know why the mother has abandoned the child, but she does know that the baby needs to be taken care of. So, she collects the baby and brings the children year after year to the Free Cities on the other side of the Bog, her home.   On one of th

Sisters By Raina Telgemeier With Color by Braden Lamb  Overview: This is the story of two sisters, Raina and Amara.   Their family is planning on taking a road trip from California to Colorado for a family reunion. From the start of this book, it is clear to see that the sisters do not get along very well. They seem to be opposite in almost every way and tend to annoy each other for the fun of it, so a whole weak in the car together quickly becomes a problem, but they finally make it to their family reunion. When the girls' cousins do not seem to be interested in hanging out with them, Raina and Amara begin to spend more time with each other. By the end of the trip, they have bonded. Of course, like any sibling relationship, they are not perfect in how they treat each other, but by the end of the book they seem to understand each other better and try to mend their relationship.  This is a graphic novel with colorful cartoon drawings and easy to read speech bubbles. I re

Joan of Arc By George Woolard Overview: This is an incredible informational book about the life of Joan of Arc who was a French, female soldier. This book contains many modern pictures of the places that she visited and photos of paintings that are of her or pertinent to her story. The story goes from her birth all the way to her death at the stake by fire. I love that this book has the unfamiliar terms that are used defined and pictured in the margins. It make it a really great book for research and exploration. I would suggest this book for 4th-6th graders because of the more mature themes of war, violence, and death.   To order your own copy:  https://www.amazon.com/Joan-Arc-ELT-graded-readers/dp/075132941X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1511305753&sr=1-1&keywords=ELT+graded+readers+joan+of+arc -The Green Eyed Reader

Jackie Robinson and the Story of All-Black Baseball By Jim O'Connor & Illustrated by Jim Butcher (with photographs) Overview: This book traces the history of baseball back to the time when black men first joined. Of course, Jackie Robinson was the first and he encountered many heartaches because he as the first. This book tells his story, the story of how he joined the Dodgers and paved the way for of people of his color to do the same in the professional world of baseball. The illustrations and primary source photographs are excellent in this book as the help to effectively communicate this incredible story in America's history. This is a chapter-book and is recommended for students in 2nd-4th grade.  To order your own copy:  https://www.amazon.com/Jackie-Robinson-Story-Baseball-Reading/dp/0394824563/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1511304783&sr=1-1&keywords=Jackie+Robinson+and+the+Story+of+All-Black+Baseball -The Green Eyed Reader

George Washington's Mother By Jean Fritz & Illustrated by DyAnne DiSalvo-Ryan Overview: This book is a narrative story about Mary Washington's life. Mothers play important roles in the lives of their children, even children who grow up to be Presidents of their country. This book begins with the death of Mary's mother and father and explains how she did not marry until she was 22 years old. The book gives lots of information about Mary and her role in raising George and his siblings and her part in the Revolutionary War. One could tell that she loved being comfortable and loved by her life choices. Throughout the whole course of her life, she really cared for her children and wanted them nearby. Mary Washington was a well respected American and she died at the age of 81. This book is full of beautiful drawing to help readers understand what America used to be like. This book is fairly wordy and is recommend for students grades 2-3. To order your own copy:  htt

A Girl Named Helen Keller By Margo Lundell & Illustrated by Irene Trivas Overview: This short chapter-book tells the story of Helen Keller. It tells of how she was born perfectly healthy, but then became ill. As a result of her sickness, she became both blind and deaf. In order to help her, Helen's parents sent for a teacher. Anne Sullivan answered the cry for help and came to the Keller's home. She began to teach Helen manners, hygiene, and words through sign-language. After months of trying to get Helen to understand that the letters Anne was spelling in her hand had meaning, she finally had a break through. She understood that the objects she felt were called what she was spelling. Her whole family was overjoyed! Helen grew up to be an author and a friend of kings and presidents.  This book would be great for students grades 1-2. The watercolor illustrations are breathtaking and the chapters help separate the book into easy sections to take on. This book also i

The Whale By Paula Z. Hogan & Illustrations by Karen Halt Overview: This book about Humpback whales offers many true and interesting facts about the life cycle of whales. Facts including what they eat, where they live, and what other animals are related to them. This book also talks about the different features that whales have such as fins and blubber. This is a great informational book about whales for young readers, probably 1st-2nd grade. This book features great pictures of humpback whales in many different situations and places as well as a glossary of terms on the last page. This makes it a helpful resource source. To order your own copy:  https://www.amazon.com/Whale-Cycles-Peeble-Books-Capstone/dp/0811481808  -The Green Eyed Reader

The Big Balloon Race Written by Eleanor Coerr & Pictures by Carolyn Croll Summary: This is a story about a woman named Carlotta Myers and her daughter Ariel. Carlotta was  an aeronaut who flew in hot air balloons. One morning, it was the day of the big race. Balloonists from all over the country would come to compete for the gold medal. Ariel wished that she could ride in the balloon with her mother, but she said no because she was too young. When they got to the grounds of the race, everyone was there. The townspeople, the other competitors, and even the mayor! Carlotta told Ariel that she could stand in the basket until take off, but that she would need to get out when the race was about to begin. Ariel agreed to her mothers conditions and sat in the basket.  However, this is when the mayor began to give his speech: a long one. Ariel quickly became bored and curled up in a storage space and fell asleep. She did not hear the race begin! When she woke up, she was in the ai

Snowshoe Thompson By Nancy Smiler Levinson & Pictures by Joan Sandin Summary: This is a story about a little boy named Danny who wants to get a letter to his Pa who's in a town through the mountains digging for gold. He is writing to his Pa to come him because he misses him a lot and wishes that he would come home for Christmas. Unfortunately, the snow is too deep to get through the pass by horse and buggy so his letter cannot be delivered; that is, until John Thompson steps forward and tells Danny that he can make the trip.  The next day, Danny goes to Johns house where he is busy outside making snow skis, something that Danny has never seen or heard of before. But he learns that one is able to "walk" on snow with them attached to your feel and he helps John make the skis over a couple of days. When the skis are finished, John takes off to deliver Danny's letter. John is gone for five days and everyone in town is sure that he was dead in those dangerous

Going West By Jean Van Leeuwin & Pictures by Thomas B. Allen Summary: This is a book about a family of five that go west: Papa, Mama, Hannah, Jake, and Rebecca. The family packs up everything they own into a wagon and begin to head west and it isn't easy for them. The trip is not only physically hard with the rain, sickness, heat, and mud, but it was also hard emotionally because they had to leave everything behind. They also had to a cross river to get to the land where they would begin to build a cabin. After the cabin was built they planted a garden and Papa made long trips into town to get the supplies the needed.  But the weather would make living on the land difficult. After one hail storm, their new garden was completely destroyed. They would have Indians come to visit them and eat donuts with them. Hannah mentions how bad a terrible snow storm came though and they were snowed in by 6 feet of snow! They almost ran out of food in the long winter, but finally the