It’s Monday!!! What Are You Reading?

My 10 Favorite Caldecott Books (In no particular order)

1. The Treasure, by Uri Shulevitz

This story is about a man named Isaac. He heard a voice in his dreams telling him to go look for a treasure by a palace. When he got to the palace he could not find a treasure and a soldier told him to not believe in his dreams. The soldier laughed in his face, and told him that if he believed his dream the soldier would find a treasure in a man named Isaac’s house. Isaac returned to his home and sure enough he found a treasure.

I really enjoyed this book. It has really good illustrations and shows the reader a different looking culture than most are used to. Also, along with telling a story it also teaches a lesson to the reader. This book is a very good book to read to a younger classroom or for a child that can read independently.

2. Owen, by Kevin Henkes

This book is about a little mouse named Owen that is attached to his blanket. The story goes onto tell all of the many activities that Owen and his blanket Fuzzy do together. When a neighbor sees that he is still carrying around his blanket, she teaches his parents many different ways to try and get Owen to get rid of Fuzzy. After many failed attempts and school approaching fast, his parents finally come up with the solution that Owen, Fuzzy, his parents, and the neighbor are happy with.

I could relate to this book because I have a little sister that was very attached to her blanket and now I have a baby brother that is very attached to his blankets. I thought that this story was very cute and outlined a very good problem and solution story line. The illustrations were adorable and overall the book is a good for reading for story time.

3. Swimmy, by Leo Lionni

Swimmy is a little black fish that lived in a large school of red fish. One day all of the red fish got eaten by a tuna fish, but Swimmy was fast enough to get away. As he swam alone through the ocean he saw many creatures that he had never seen before. Then Swimmy ran into another school of red fish that were hiding. Swimmy wanted to play with them and had to think of a way for all of the fish to be safe from the big fish so they did not have to hide. Finally, Swimmy came up with the best idea ever, and all of the fish were safe.

I really liked that the illustrations were watercolor and weren’t the typical looking pictures in a children’s book. The story line was really done well because it shows the reader problem solving and how to make new friends. It is a cute little book that would be a good book for teachers to read to a classroom of younger kids.

4. Kitten’s First Full Moon, by Kevin Henkes

This book is about a little kitten that sees a full moon and thinks that it is a bowl of milk. She leaps and bounds and jumps to try and reach the bowl of milk. The little kitten climbs a tree to see if she is tall enough to reach it, but can’t. From the tree, she saw the reflection of the moon on the pond and jumped into the pond hoping it was the milk. Now she was wet and wanted to go home. When she got home though, there was a bowl of milk waiting for her.

I thought that the story line was really cute and playful, especially when reading to little kids. The illustrations are very detailed especially for being in black and white. However, I wonder what kind of a difference it would make if the pictures were in color.

5. On Market Street, by Arnold Lobel

 

This book is about a boy who goes to market street and buys an item for each letter of the alphabet. For A, he bought apples; B, he bought books; C, he bought clocks and so forth.

I thought this book was really cute because for A-Z they have a person covered in each thing that the boy bought. I also think that it is a very good book to teach younger children the alphabet and it shows them objects to associate with each letter. This book is very creative and visually appealing.

6. Inch by Inch, by Leo Lionni

 

This book is about a little inch worm that measures lots of things for different animals. He measures a robin’s tail, a flamingo’s neck, a toucan’s beak and a few other things. He almost gets eaten by one of the animals though, but comes up with a solution to get away.

I thought that this book was very cute and had adorable illustrations. It is a very simple story line to follow and would be a very good book for younger children, like kindergarten or 1st grade age. It would be a very good book to read to a class of kids.

7. Green, by Laura Vaccaro Seeger

 

This book is really simple. It does not really have a story line. It has a picture of something green and then the text identifies the color of green. This book would not really be a good book to read to a class, but it would be a good resource to have in a kindergarten classroom when teaching the class colors.

8. Henry’s Freedom Box, by Ellen Levine

 

Henry’s Freedom Box is about a boy that is a slave. At first he is with his family, but then he gets sold off to another slave owner. He works at a tobacco factory for this owner. This is where he meets the love of his life, who is also a slave. Both of them get permission from their owners to get married, they got married, and had three kids. Everything was so perfect. One day when Henry was at work, he got told that his wife and kids were being sold in the slave auction. He was too late, his family was gone, and Henry was alone. Then Henry came up with this idea to be free, which was his ultimate dream. He hid in a cargo box and mailed himself to freedom.

This book has a more advanced story line and a deeper meaning behind the story. The illustrations are very detailed and precise. If a teacher would want to read this book to a class, it would be best to read it to a class of advanced readers of at least 2nd grade age because of the depth of the subject and the story line.

9. A Sick Day for Amos McGee, by Philip C. Stead

 

This book is about a man named Amos who went to the zoo every day to work and visit his good friends. He did many things like racing with a tortoise, played chess with an elephant, and many other things. One day he woke up and he was too sick to go to work. His good friends missed him and went to go make him feel better. They did all of the same things for Amos that Amos did for them.

I thought this book was super adorable. It has a very cute story line and really good illustrations. It shows that friends help each other no matter what and teaches kids to stand by their friends. This would be an adorable book to read to a class and ask them all sorts of questions about it.

10. Journey, by Aaron Becker

 

This book is about a girl that has no one to play with, so she finds a piece of chalk in her room and starts her journey. Anything she needs she draws with the chalk and it magically appears, like a door to a universe that she created. She goes on an amazing journey and even meets a new friend along the way. They continue their journey together and are forever friends.

I have never read a book before that never had any words to tell the story. This book only had pictures to tell the story of this girl’s journey and surprisingly, this book did not need any words to portray the story to the reader. I was surprised at how much I liked this book, because I thought I wouldn’t. Never judge a book by it’s cover, or lack of words.