Saturday 9 March 2013

Way Out in the Desert





Way Out in the Desert
Written by T.J. Marsh and Jennifer Ward
Illustrated by Kenneth Spengler

I've had this book in my own collection for years, being that I'm from the Arizona desert originally. It's a spin on the classic Wadsworth Over in the Meadow song/story, but with a super cool twist of having a number hidden on each page. Ooh, we went a bit nuts over that one as it was just the right amount of challenge for the little ones. Plus, we learned lots about desert animals. Mostly, they loved the cadence of the song, and I looked out to see every single one of their faces just mesmerized. It sent us on a mission to find and read as many versions of the song/story as we could.

We read Over on the Farm and Over in the Meadow and again, they loved the melody and rhythm. Still, Way Out in the Desert was our favorite because of finding the numbers. So glad they loved one of my favorites!

Thursday 7 March 2013

No-Bot


No-Bot
Written and Illustrated by Sue Hendra

What's not to love about this book? Robots + bottom humor is a perfect match for just about any age, and this book was a huge hit with my students. No-Bot has lost his bottom on the swing and searches high and low for it around his neighborhood. Seems that everyone else has found different uses for it (I am always trying to get my students to think creatively about what something might be used for, so this was a great teaching moment!), and he finally does find it at the end. Only then he loses another body part. Fun and fabulous, No-Bot could be used for many different grades.