Miss Fox's Class Earns a Field Trip

Miss Fox's Class Earns a Field Trip is a cute story about a class who desperately wants to earn enough money to take a class field trip to a roller coaster park. Although they are trying hard to make the money, various problems keep getting in the way. The students need $135 dollars to take the trip and it seems like a lot of the book is focused on helping kids with their math. It would be a good opportunity to use this book in a math lesson because the story tells you how much they earned and then tells you how much they take away when they hit various roadblocks. Having your students keep track of the money might make a good lesson. In addition to the learning component, this book is enjoyable. The illustrations are bright and fun with Miss Fox's class made up of various animals and their activities provide a sight to see. I think that a child would be entertained by this book and after I learned that there are other books in this series, I might just have to go check them out.

Tutus aren't My Style

Tutus aren't My Style written by Linda Skeers is a predictable book about a young girl who is quite the tomboy and doesn't want to have to wear a tutu. I could have described the book to someone without even cracking open the cover but it still was a cute book. It came with the obvious message of "girls don't have to be girly" and so on, but it would definitely keep the interest of a child. Especially with the full page illustrations that illustrated the funny scenes with the little girl. I know from experience that it's the main character falling down or something of the sort that becomes the favorite part of the book. I thought that the book could have been a little longer, especially with the topic, and that the author could have added a little more embellishment. It was too short to really get into but it was a cute story.

Friend Frog

Friend Frog was the last book that I read by Alma Flor Ada. Overall, I was impressed by this author. But I also was surprised at the variation of her books. She didn't really seem to have any sort of consistent theme throughout her books. I thought while researching her that she would write mostly in Spanish and English themes, but that wasn't it at all. In Friend Frog the reader explores the relationship between two unpredictable animals, a mouse and a frog. I liked this book especially because of the bright illustrations, because I felt like some of her books could have had better illustrations to accompany her great writing.

Daniel's Mystery Egg

This book, written by Alma Flor Ada is a book about a young boy who finds an egg and along with his friends, wonders what is inside. I read this book with a student that I work with on reading and she seemed to like the book just fine. She struggles a little bit with reading as a second grader and this book was pretty simple for her. The words and the illustrations were basic and there were only a few words on each page. I thought that this was incredibly different from her other books. Alma Flor Ada is very diverse but I responded much more to her other books that I read than this book. But it is a book for "Green Light Readers" so I'm guessing that it is more of a story to help children along than to entertain. It was a great book to work with predictions, because I had my students guess what they thought could be in the egg. Of course, as kids do, they came up with some crazy ideas but in the end we were all surprised at what came out of the egg. I wouldn't enthusiastically recommend this book but there was nothing negative about it either.

I Love Saturdays y domingos

This book also written by Alma Flor Ada is a great mix of English and Spanish. It is about a young girl and her love for the weekend days. She describes an event in English and then that same text is on the next page only certain words are switched out for Spanish words. This is a great method for children who are just learning how to speak either English or Spanish. It only changes key words such as grandma to abuelita so it's not too challenging for younger children. Also, the illustrations that go along with it are vibrant and bright and they remind me of tropical islands and culture. This would be a great book to use in a unit about different cultures and in addition to gaining knowledge about the Spanish culture, the students can also absorb some new vocabulary as well. The only negative about the book is the fact that it is a little long but I think that it is interesting enough to keep children's interest. Overall, I think that this is a really useful book to teach children about culture and language.

Jordi's Star

I found this book, Jordi's Star written by Alma Flor Ada, to be a little sad. The story is a man who is lonely and sad until he sees the reflection of a star in a rain pool and believes that the star has actually fallen down into the pool of water. This belief leads him to do wonderful things with his life and eventually he regains his faith and happiness. This is a rather mature theme for kids and it might go over some of their heads, but it's also a nice idea that he believed the reflection of the star was truly the star. Also, the language is beautiful and inspiring. The illustrations are a little bland, I think the book could have been enriched with more brilliant and detailed drawings, but they are better than some. This is a key Alma Flor Ada book because of the rich detail and language. I really respond to her writing and although this book was kind of sad, I do think that it was a well-written and engaging story.

Dear Peter Rabbit

This book written by my Author study Alma Flor Ada is a great twist with well-known fairytale characters. The whole book is written in letter form, with well known characters such as Goldilocks, Pig 1, 2, & 3 from the Three Little Pigs and other various characters. They write to each other and have relationships that the reader of the original fairy tales probably would never have even thought about. Eventually, their paths cross and it's a great twist on a well known topic. I really enjoyed this book. I think it would be best for upper elementary students because of the length and I'm not sure that the really young ones would pick up on the fairytale theme. The illustrations are nice and bright and they match the accompanying letters really well. Alma Flor Ada is great at writing engaging text and I really responded to this book of hers.