Tweak Tweak

Author: Eve Bunting
Illustrator:   Sergio Ruzzier
Publisher:  Clarion
Publication Year:   2011
Location: Knox County Public Library- Lawson McGhee

Awards:   featured on "Calling Caldecott" blog,

Summary:  Mama Elephant and Little Elephant are going for a walk. Mama says to tweak her tail when she has a question, and Little is full of questions. She wants to know about the frog's jumping, the monkey's climbing, the crocodile's swimming, the butterfly's flying, the bird's singing, and whether she could do any of those things. The mother assures her that she can do other elephant things and that she can ask questions, learn, and grown to be a "big, strong, smart, beautiful elephant." Any mother/child pair could see themselves in this sweet story.

Classroom Ideas: For the younger readers, they could identify with the mother/daughter pair here. You could also use this book to teach repetition and onomatopoeia as the "tweak, tweak" is repeated, and as part of a unit on elephants.

Oh, No!

Author: Candace Fleming
Illustrator:   Eric Rohmann
Publisher:  Schwartz & Wade Books
Publication Year: 2012  
Location: Knox County Public Library- Powell

Awards:   Kirkus starred review & Best Book, School Library Journal starred review, Bull-Bransom Award

Summary:  The rhyming text in this book is infectious! Frog falls into a hole and then his friends try to get him out. Unfortunately, they all fall in too. Then Tiger comes over, sees all the tasty animals in the hole together and offers to "help" them out. Instead, Elephant comes along and shakes the ground so Tiger falls in too. In the end, Elephant helps almost all of them out, but Tiger remains in the hole. Rohmann's gorgeous relief cuts pull the reader into the jungle environment perfectly, and the final endpaper with Tiger's paws just showing to pull him out of the hole is priceless!

Classroom Ideas: This book is full of rhyme, rhythm, onomotopeia, and repetition. It would be fun to show kids the two endpapers and have them make predictions about the story, as they perfectly bookmark it!

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

Author: Judith Viorst
Illustrator:   Ray Cruz
Publisher:  Atheneum
Publication Year:   1972
Location: Personal collection

Awards:   ALA Notable, Reading Rainbow selection

Summary:  Alexander is having a bad day. Everything is going wrong- from waking up with gum in his hair to to messing up in school to fighting with his friends. He wants to move to Australia. His day gets worse and worse, until the lima beans for dinner and the hated railroad-train pajamas. At the end of it all, Alexander's mom reassures him that everybody has bad days, even in Australia. Cruz's realistic drawings showing Alexander's typical life in detail; and Viorst finds a way to make his compaints sympathetic rather than whiny. One of my childhood favorites!

Classroom Ideas: This book would work well as a mentor text as kids write about their worst day. It also has great mood, and Alexander's character would be an interesting one to discuss (Does he perhaps bring some of this bad day onto himself? Is he a reliable narrator?)  The refrain of moving to Australia could be an example of repetition.

Extra Yarn

Author: Mac Barnett
Illustrator:   Jon Klassen
Publisher:  Balzer + Bray
Publication Year:   2012
Location: Knox County Public Library- Powell

Awards:   Kirkus Best of 2012, Caldecott Honor, Horn Book Award, EB White Picture Book Award, Booklist's Best Picture Book, School Library Journal Best

Summary:  Annabelle discovers a box full of unending yarn and knits for everyone she knows. She even makes a hat for Mr. Crabtree who would never wear even pants in the snow. An archduke comes and offered Annabelle millions of dollars for the box of yarn, but she refuses and he has it stolen. But the box is empty until he throws it away and tries to curse Annabelle. However, it makes its way back to Annabelle who is happy once more. Klassen's charming mixed media illustrations use muted color so effectively in this book, especially when depicting the dark shades of the archduke.

Classroom Ideas: This book's theme touches on the idea of greed and community and would be a wonderful conversation starter for a class discussion.There is also some repetition and a smaller theme of bullying.

There Was an Old Lady who Swallowed a Fly

Author & Illustrator:   Simms Taback
Publisher:  Viking
Publication Year: 1997 
Location: Personal Collection

Awards:  Caldecott Honor, NYT Best Illustrated

Summary:  In the traditional poem, there was an old lady who swallowed a fly, spider, bird, and so on until she swallows a horse (and dies of course). Simms Taback uses his die-cut collages to illustrate this version and shows the inside of the old lady's stomach!


Classroom Ideas: This book can be used to teach repetition and rhythm. Art teachers could use it as an excellent example of the art of collage.

Hush! A Thai Lullaby

Author: Minfong Ho
Illustrator:   Holly Meade
Publisher:  Orchard Books
Publication Year:   1996
Location: Knox County Public Library- Powell

Awards:   Caldecott Honor Book, an ALA Notable Children's Book and The Horn Fanfare Book.,

Summary:  A Thai lullaby that asks asks  the animals such as a lizard, monkey, and water buffalo to be quiet and not disturb the sleeping baby. At the end, only the baby is still wide awake.

Classroom Ideas: Younger readers will enjoy the repetition involved and this would be a great book for older kids in writing to use as a mentor text.