Book Talk 4

February 26, 2013

This week, I read a book called Everett Anderson's Friend This book is about a little boy who enjoys spending time with his friends, but becomes curious about the new neighbor who moves in next door. When Everett comes home from school one day, he goes to his apartment and realizes he forgot his key at home. With nowhere else to go, he goes to his new neighbor's house. Everett spends the whole afternoon with his new friend, Maria and her mother. They bake and cook and pass the time away. When Everett's mother comes home, Everett reluctantly leaves, but the next day, Everett gets a chance to play with Maria and introduce her to all of his friends. I would recommend using this book in a classroom, because it teaches kids not to judge a book by its cover or assume that they know who someone is. In this case, Everett thought that Maria would not fit in with his group of friends, but he was proved wrong.

Book Talk 3

February 21, 2013

This week, I read Amazing Grace. This book is about a little girl who loves to act and dance. She constantly plays dress up and acts out characters like Joan of Arc and Mowgli  from the Jungle Book. At school, they are putting on a play called Peter Pan. Grace automatically raises her hand to play the lead part-Peter. All the kids in her class tell her that she can't do that because she is a girl and she is black. Feeling frustrated and put down, Grace looks to her mother and grandmother for advice. They tell her to audition anyways, because you never know what will happen. Grace's grandmother even takes her to a ballet where a famous black woman is performing. Grace is more inspired than ever and auditions proudly for the role of Peter Pan.

Book Talk 2

February 5, 2013




This book was written and illustrated by Dolores Johnson in 1991. The book is about a little boy who is left home with a babysitter. Kevin, the little boy, thinks that all babysitters are the same; they paint their nails, make phone calls and watch tv. Throughout this book, we see Kevin go through a change of emotions and almost a change of character. As the book gets closer to the end, we see this change of emotions and eventually Kevin's behavior changes. The pictures in this book are not vital, but they do emphasize what the words exactly mean. The main connection I have to this book is that my whole life I have babysat small children and I have constantly tried not to be the typical, boring babysitter that Kevin is afraid of having. I would say that the level of this book is about kindergarten-second grade.