Annotated Bibliography of Childrens

Literature

by: Lisa Ralston





Childrens Literature in Teaching Writing
Instructor: April Silimperi












1___________________________________________________

Seuss, Dr., 1990. Oh, the Places Youll Go!

New York: Random House Publisher ISBN:0-679-80527-3

Fiction
Summary: As only Dr. Suess can, he gives sage life advice in lyrical form. He
rhymes about getting through lives trials and tribulations, and taking charge of
your actions to succeed in life.

Mini-Lessons
Topics:
. Realities of life
. Dreams
. Trials and tribulations
. Success
. Grammar
. Rhyme

Craft:
. rhyme - on every page









. repetition- OH! The Places Youll Go!
. strong adjectives- weirdish wild space
. alliteration-wide world watching
. imagery- on most pages
. dialect-hither and yon
. hyphenated- words- mind-maker-upper
. poetic license (nonsense, made up words)ex: Hakken- Kraks howl


2. _________________________________________________

Krieb, 2005. Were Off to Find the Witchs House
Puffin Books, New York ISBN: 978-0-14-240854-4

Fiction

Summary- A Halloween themed book filled with adventure and freight, as every
good Halloween book should. They encounter monsters and witches. The
children are terrified of a witchs house as they are trick or treating, and it turns
out that the witchs house isnt so bad.

Mini Lessons
. Conquering fears
. Friendship









. Misunderstandings
. Grammar
. Rhyme

Craft (Great use of Literary Devices)
. Rhyme- ex: Were rambling past a howling wolf, a scowling wolf,
a growling wolf (and all throughout)
. Repetition- were not afraid, witchs door
. Alliteration- Were skedaddling past a skeleton, a skittle-
skattling skeleton.
. Onomatopoeia- Swishing through the dark
. Adjectives- ghastly ghost, mostly misty, ghostly ghost,
flying, floating twisty ghost.
Homophones- which/witch

3.__________________________________________________

Lyon, George E., 1999. BOOK
Orchard Books, ISBN:0-7894-2560-2

Summary- Book is a beautifully illustrated free verse poem, in the form of a
picture book. It celebrates the love and beauty in reading in a metaphorical way.











Mini Lessons
. Free verse poetry
. Metaphors (This book contains many metaphors)
. Personification (The book is the main character and demonstrates human
emotions)
. Joy of reading and celebration of books!

Craft
. Metaphors
- A book is a chest that keeps the hearts treasures.
- A book is a farm its fields sown with words.
- A book is a house that its sole is windows and doors
- Reader, you are its weather: your tears, your eyes
shining.
- test structure- curved words, and artistically expressive
words.

4. _________________________________________________

Halse, Laurie: The Hair of Zoe Fleefenbacher Goes to School
Simon and Schuste, New York 2009
ISBN:

Summary:









Zoes hair has a larger than life personality. The book demonstrates
personification throughout the book, as her hair is the main/mane character (no
pun intended).Her first grade teacher is frustrated by her hair, and it starts to
cause problems for Zoe. At the end of the story, Zoes teacher learns to
accept and appreciate Zoes wild and crazy red hair.

Mini Lessons
. Acceptance
. Personification

Craft: This book contains many literary devices, but I am
solely focusing on personification.

Personification- Zoes hair flies, picks up trash, erases the
board, tickles, doesnt listen, draws and
walls, has its on crib, and is essentially
the main character of the story.

5.__________________________________________________

Lester, Julius: John Henry
Puffins, 1999 ISBN: 0140566228











Summary: John Henry is an African American folk hero.

This tall tale demonstrates his great exaggerated strength
as he competes against a machine in a contest.

Mini Lessons:
. folktales

Craft:
Dialect- She said everybody saw Ferret-Faced Freddy ride by on his big
white horse and they were moving.

Foreshadowing- The next morning all was still. The birds
werent singing and the roosters werent
crowing....On the other side was John
Henry. Next to the mountain he didnt
look much bigger than a wish that wasnt
going to come true.

Onomatopoeia- KERBOOM BLAMMITY-BLAMMITY
BOOM BOOM BANG BOOM BANG!

6.__________________________________________________










Laminack, Lester: Jakes 100th Day of School
Peachtree Publish, 2008
ISBN: 1516145463X
Summary:

Jake and his class prepare for the 100th day of school by collecting items. On
the 100th day, Jack forgets to bring in his items.

Mini Lessons:
Strong leads
Surprise endings

Craft:
Setting- Mr. Thompsons class was excited. Tomorrow would be the 100th
day of school. (Lead)

Foreshadowing- Jake was so excited about the 100th day that he rushed out
the door to catch the school bus...but he left something very important at home.

Surprise Ending- The next day, Jake brought his picture book of 100
memories to share with the class. But, it wasnt the 100th day anymore. Now it
was the 101st day and that meant one more page...and a picture everyone
remembered.










Repetition: A hundred marbles, A hundred buttons (and more throughout the
text)


7.__________________________________________________

Keats, Ezra Jack: Whistle for Willie
Viking , 1998
ISBN: 0670880469

Summary- A boy name Willie tries to learn how to whistle for his dog.

Mini- Lessons:
Figurative Language
Sequence
Dialogue

Craft:
Inner voice- Wouldnt it be funny if whistled? Peter thought
Sequence- Went into his house and put on his fathers old hat...

Dialogue- Ive come home early today dear. Is Peter here?
Circular beginning and ending- Wished he could whistle
He whistled all the way home.










8_________________________________________________________
_

Rylant, Cynthia: Silver Packages
Orchard Books, 1997
ISBN: 053130051X

Summary: Every year, all the children in a small Appalachian town wait for the
Christmas train. A boy named Frankie waits beside the tracks each year
waiting for a special gift. In this beautiful story, Frankie eventually learns the
true meaning of the holiday spirit.

Mini Lesson:
Theme
Hope
Faith

Craft:
Setting- Entire first paragraph

Endings- A girl falls in the snow and the Frank now takes care of her. This
circles right back to the plot.










Sequence- Throughout the story a timeline is presented.

Ellipses- Out of breath, cant yell a thank you...

Progression- Refers back to each year at Christmas yet
continues on with the story.

9. ________________________________________________

Yolen, Jane: Owl Moon
Philomel Publishing, 1989
ISBN: 0-590-42044-5

Summary: The story is set in winter and a girl and her grandfather go owling
This book lends itself to a sense of era, and is great to use for snapshot.

Mini-Lessons
Snapshot
Era- Pat and I went owling.

Craft:
Snapshot- Using pictures throughout the text.










Simile- Quiet as a dream, A train whistle blew long and low, like a sad, sad,
song

Sensory- Feel the cold, watched silently, heat in our mouths, Shadow hooted,
feet crunched,

Adjectives: crisp snow

10. ________________________________________________

Scieszka, Jon: The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs
ISBN: 0590-44357-7

Summary: This story is based on the class Three Little Pigs, but it told from
the perspective of the wolf. The wolf tries to convince you that it really wasnt
his fault that he ate the Three Little Pigs.

Mini Lesson:
Perspective
Persuasion

Craft: Throughout the story, the wolf provides evidence to support his
opinion, that he had to eat the pigs.










Evidence:
. Nobody knows the real story, because nobody has ever heard my
side of the story.
. The real story is about a sneeze and a cup of water.
. The pig wasnt too bright, he made a house out of straw.
. The wolf sneezed a great sneeze.
. It seemed like a shame to leave a perfectly good ham
dinner go to waste.
. Now you know, food will spoil if you just leave it out
in the open.
. The news reporter found out about the 2 pigs I had
for dinner. They figured a sick guy going to borrow
a cup of sugar didnt exactly sound very exciting.
So they jazzed up the story with all of that Huff and
puff and blow the house down. And they made me
the BIG BAD WOLF. Thats the real story, I was
framed.

11. ________________________________________________
Kellog, Steven: Sally Ann Thunder Ann Whirlwind Crockett
Harper Collins, 1995 ISBN: 0688140424

Summary-









Sally is born into a large family of boys. In this tall tale, Sally is very strong and
fast, and even saves Davy Crocket.
She is a heroine of the old frontier.

Min-Lesson
Hyperbole
Folktales
Heroines



Craft:
Simile- .Beaming like a sunrise.
.My heart is pounding like a buffalo stampede.
.A grin as bright as a flash of lightning.

Hyperbole- Throughout the text, some examples are:
.Howdy! Im Sally Ann Thunder Ann Whirlwind! Shouted the baby in a
voice as loud as a blast of buckshot. (simile)
. Man knocked unconscious by her scream

Power of Three/ Alliteration
.eagle egg eggnog
. razor-sharp stalactites and stalagmites that skinned.










12. ________________________________________________

Moss, Marissa: Amelias Notebook
Simon and Schuster, 2006 ISBN:14169052

Summary:
Amelia moves into a new house and is sad. Her mother gives her a notebook
for her 9th birthday, so that she can record her feelings in her notebook.


Mini-Lesson:
Idea Development
Voice
Organization

Craft:
Text Structure- Pictures surround each paragraph.

Organization/Transitions: Then we piled into the car, and it took days to
drive to the new house.

13. _________________________________________________










Polacco, Patricia: The Bee Tree
Scholastic, 1993 ISBN: 0-590--22108-6

Summary:
Mary becomes board of reading. Her grandfather then takes her looking for a
bee tree. Everyone in the community helps out as they chase bees.
At the end, Mary Ellen makes a connection between searching for bees and
learning through books.

Mini Lessons:
Personal Narrative
Life Lesson/Theme

Craft:
Dialogue:
.Whats a bee tree, Grampa,? Mary Ellen said. Well...its where the
bees make their home. Its where they keep the honey...the sweetest
in the land! (Many other examples throughout the text)

Sensory: buzzed (onomatopoeia)- honk, tweedle-tweddle-squeek.

Onomatopoeia- buzzed, slap, bump, fump!, bleat










Vocabulary/Style/Adjectives- raucous laughter, expedition, thundering
stampede, blinding speed, damp leaves

14._______________________________________________________
_______

Polacco, Patricia: Mr. Lincolns Way
Philomel, 2001 ISBN-10: 0399237542
Summary: Mr. Lincoln, a principal, takes on a troubled boy named Mean
Gene who expresses racist views and bullies children. Mr. Lincoln teaches him
how to accept others despite their differences.
Mini Lesson:
Theme
Character Development
Making Inferences
Craft:









Dialogue/Text/Style: What you lookin at, scumball,? he said, and he pushed
her down and her backpack away.
Go ahead, you little brat, I aint afraid of that n___

15._______________________________________________________
________
Ryant, Cynthia: Scarecrow
HMH Books for Young Readers, 2001
Summary: The world is viewed through the eyes of a scarecrow. He quietly
observes and appreciates all the beauty in the world.
Mini Lessons: Poetic Language
Personification
Craft:
Simile: . He has watched a spider work for hours making a web like
face.









Repetition/ . So he doesnt mind that there is always a smile on his face or
that his eyes are always open. He doesnt mind being up high.
He doesnt mind staying there
. His hat is borrowed, his suit is borrowed, his hands are
borrowed, even his head is borrowed.
Ellipses . The scarecrow is thinking his long, slow thoughts... and soon,
birds will be coming by.
Verbs .(Showing past tense, and changing seasons) The earth has
rained and snowed and blossomed and wilted and yellowed and
greened and vined itself all around him.
16._______________________________________________________
________
Keats, Ezra Jack: Goggles
Viking Juvenile, 1998 ISBN: 0670880620
Summary: Two boys outwit bullies and end up with treasure, goggles without
lenses.










Mini-Lesson:
Focusing on a small moment and interesting leads

Craft:
Varied sentence lengths . Peter stuffed the goggles into his pocket and
put up his fist. Archie gasped.

Focused Moment . Books is about finding goggles and being
chased.

Interesting Lead . Archie, look what I found,