Laurels children's lit reviews

 This very cute and special story is right on theme for social emotional lessons. It is a multicultural book about a little girl named Esperanza. This book teaches children about being kind to themselves and working on self-compassion. It is a perfect story for young learners! I would classify this book as a contemporary realistic fiction book. It has realistic emotions and topics present, and also can be very relatable to children. Their is wonderful representation in the story, and students will be able to make connection to the characters.  Motivational activities:  This story would be a good one to teach about different cultures. Students could take a paper home to their parents or guardians and interview them about their own culture. Then students can bring in the interview paper and share with the class about their backgrounds! You also can do a "be kind to your mind" type of thing where you give students scenarios and they have to think about positive things they c...

 In this book, students will read about self-confidence and positivity. The text is very poetic, and sends an inspirational message. Not to mention there is great representation displayed throughout the entire selection. I truly love this story, and think that it would be perfect for young learners to explore their own minds and the relationship they have with themselves.  Evaluate Genre: I would classify this book as a contemporary realistic fiction. The characters in the illustrations are children, students can look at the pictures and connect to it in a way where they see these children in he book and they look like them! It also sends a very real and important message. It talks about very realistic scenarios and real feelings that I think could be very powerful to students.  Motivational Activities:  Some motivational activities could be to have students draw a self portrait, and write 5 things they like about themselves. Another idea could be to practice whole c...