Laurels children's lit reviews

    In this Native American legend, readers will learn of the Cherokee tale of how berries were founded, and discover a lesson of respect and love for nature. A man and woman live happily together in peace, until one day the man speaks in an angry tone to the woman, they argue, and she leaves him. The man becomes regretful of the way he acted towards her, and ventures out to catch her in her path with help from the sun. On the path appears berries of sorts, including strawberries! The woman stops to taste one, she had never seen such a fruit before, and the sweetness of the berry reminds her of the happiness she felt with her husband and she wants to share the fruit with him.      When deciding whether this legend is a quality piece of folklore, I took into account the rich and natural language used. The rhythm of the story had a great flow to it. The text was able to  encapsulate what we would imagine the story to be told if done so orally. ...

                    "Cyberia" by Chris Lynch brings science fiction to life with main character Zane and his dog Hugo. Life seems perfect for Zane until he comes to the unbelievable realization he is living in a video game. Technology has reached a point in advancement in this book that even pets can talk.     Science fiction focuses on technological advances and incredibly hard to believe versions of reality. What makes science fiction so interesting is the way it is able to twist our minds into questioning whether an event or concept make ever actually exist. It provides a version of the world that is beyond our own, into the future. In "Cyberia", Lynch does just that as he takes us through this wired version of the world where he presents interesting ideas about technological possibilities in a story that is intended for younger readers. There are many challenges that Zane must face in this story, an...

      In "Bridge to Terabithia" by Katherine Paterson, children ages 9 and above can expect to experience a story of friendship between the main characters Jess and Leslie as they explore the fantasy land of Terabithia. This story, although a fantasy, brings up important topics such as grief and finding one's self after loss.     When evaluating whether this book is a quality piece of fantasy literature, I took a few things into consideration. First, I thought about the whether or not the events and characters in this fantasy world were detailed and gave a sense of  believable reality in the story. This story combines reality and the fantasy world in a very well structured way. The author did a great job with mixing the fantasy and real world together in order to give the story a good flow. The fantasy characters fit in with the story and setting, there is never a time where you think "well that just doesn't fit here" when reading. The conten...

      In this poetry book, the classic songs and lyrics of Mister Rogers in brought to paper in a wonderfully illustrated collection of poems. It truly brings a  nostalgic vibe for those of us who grew up with Mister Rogers, and a great way to allow young learners now to experience Mister Rogers just the same.      The illustrations throughout the book are colorful, fun, and pleasing to the eye. The poems range from cute and sweet, to funny, and to serious, using multiple  different real world topics that can be used as discussion starters and the basis for a lesson. In this selection we are able to experience quality poetry that promotes self-awareness, confidence, kindness, and other important values as well that are important for children to learn about and experience.      Since there are over 70 poems included in this book, there are so many  opportunities for activities and response questions. For example one of...

     This text selection is an amazing option for including multicultural literature into an early childhood classroom. This book promotes empathy, understanding, and diversity. For young learners, this would be a great book to use for a class read aloud and incorporate multicultural topics with social / emotional learning!      Through the illustrations and the text, there is representation of multiple cultures. When children are able to see a character in a story that looks like them, it makes it  relatable and they are able to connect with it on a personal level. This would be a good read for children from preschool up to fifth grade. It is a high quality book that gives students a chance to see differences between themselves and their peers, and acknowledge those differences so they aren't (to quote the author) "living in a color-blind world".      There is actually an activity already included into this book! The acti...