The Green Eyed Reader

Goodnight Moon By Margaret Wise Brown & Pictures by Clement Hurd Summary:  In a large green room with pictures, a red balloon, a telephone, and other items, there sat a little child and a quiet old lady. As the stars come out, the child says, "Goodnight" to lots of items. The child says, "Goodnight" to the moon, the cow jumping over the moon, the red balloon, and everything else seemingly important to him, even the air. Then little child finally falls asleep after he has said, "Goodnight" to everything special to him.  Review: This is a very short story that seems like a bedtime story. A child, represented as a rabbit, is saying, "Goodnight" to everything he deems important in his room and just outside of it. Babies to Kindergarteners would love this book with its pictures and items listed that they can relate to. They would need this read aloud to them, but they would enjoy flipping the board book pages themselves.  To order yo...

Jackrabbit Goalie Written by Matt Christopher & Illustrated by Ed Parker Summary:  This story is about a boy named Pepper who has just recently moved from Columbus, Ohio to a new town. One day, as he passes the local ice cream shop, he hears a group of boys his age discussing their need for a goalie. He asks them about it the open position and offers his services to the team. Although he didn't play goalie in Columbus, he was willing to try it out because he wanted to make friends. However, he may have made the mistake of lying to the team and said that he had. The team decided to take a chance on him because they had a game later that day and needed someone desperately.  By the end of the game later that day, Pepper was worn out! He had never been so bruised or beaten up in his life, but it was all worth it because his new team, the Antelopes, had won 4-2! His team congratulated him on a job well done and told him to get ready for their game next week against the...

Mama Zooms Written & Illustrated by Jane Cowen-Fletcher Summary: This is a short story about a small family consisting of a husband and wife and their small child. The story is told from the child's point of view and it is all about his mother's "zooming machine." This zooming machine is actually a wheelchair. The little boy loves going everywhere with his mom because they get to zoom there in her wheelchair as if they are going on a great adventure. When they zoom across a bridge, she's his airplane. When they zoom through a dark hall, she's his train in the tunnel. When they zoom along the ocean boardwalk, she's his wave. The little boy loves his parents and loves that he can zoom with his mama. Review: This is a quick story that portrays a family with a mother who is handicapped. However, this does not stop her and her little boy from spending time with each other and having great adventures together. This book, with it pretty illustrati...

The Quilt Story Written by Tony Johnston & Pictures by Tomie deploy Summary: This book is about two girls who live in different eras of history, but are connected by the same quilt. The quilt was made by Abigail's mom and it had beautiful patchwork of shooting stars and Abigail's name on it. The little girl loved the quilt and did everything with it: tea parties, star gazing, and napping. It was always a comfort for her. One day, Abigail's family had to move and the quilt came with them. Her family built a cabin in the woods for the family and rocking horse for Abigail, but it was no use, she missed home and was sad. Everything seemed different and new; everything, that is, except the quilt. Abigail's mother wrapped her in the quilt and she felt at home again. When the quilt was old and well-loved, Abigail put it in the attic of her home and mice, raccoons, and cats began to also find comfort on the quilt for years. That is, until one day when another littl...

Wonder By R.J. Palacio Summary: All of his life, August Pullman, Auggie, has been homeschooled. This choice of education had been purely situational due to fact that August was born with two syndromes which resulted in many major surgeries for August in his early years of life. These two different and exceedingly rare syndromes were anything but simple and had caused havoc on the appearance of August's face. But when 5th grade comes around, Auggie's parents feel that he is ready for a challenge and enroll him at Beecher Prep. However, his schoolwork would not be his primary challenge; it would be to fit in. Over the course of a whole 5th grade school year, Beecher Prep begins to change. Auggie learns what it means to find friends, real friends, who love him for who he is and not what he looks like. Ones whom he can trust and who will stand up for him. While Auggie learns to separate the wolves from the sheep, his classmates begin to learn too. They begin to understand ...