Novel File

Miss Lavender
Title: Charlottes Web
Author: E.B White
Summary: Charlottes Web is a heartwarming book on friendship. This story about a
little pig named Wilbur who was born a runt will have readers wanting more. Mr.
Arable wants to kill Wilbur, until his daughter Fern decides she will take care of
Wilbur. Fern spends her free time with Wilbur and loves him very much. Wilbur
meets new barn animals that become some of his friends, including Charlotte.
Charlotte befriends Wilbur and helps him deal with the shocking news that his life
will end. Charlotte goes as far as coming up with an interesting plan that only this
spider could carry out, with the help of Templeton the rat to help Wilbur escape
death.
Genre: Newbery
Grade level appropriateness: 2-4
Theme emersion: The theme of Charlottes Web is friendship and loyalty.
Content connection: SCIENCE; This book could be used with many different
content areas. This book could easily be incorporated into science lessons. There
are many different types of animals that students could examine and compare and
contrast. Students could examine farm life.
Personal review: I love Charlottes Web. I chose to do my novel study on this book
and fell even more in love with it. I think this is a wonderful book that children
would enjoy.
Title: Because of Winn-Dixie
Author: Kate DiCamillo
Summary: 10 year old India Opal Buloni finds a stray dog and decides to name it
Winn- Dixie. Opal and her father live in Florida, and when Opal finds Winn Dixie
things begin to change. Winn-Dixie helps Opal make friends. Through the friendship
of Opal and Winn-Dixie, Opal learns not to judge people, including her mother who
abandoned her. Opal learns that she has an important story to share.
Genre: Newbery
Grade level appropriateness: 3-5
Theme emersion: The theme of this book is Friendship and loyalty. This book
addresses unlikely friendship and what it is all about. This book also has a theme of
community.
Content connection: GEOGRAPHY; While reading this book, the class could do a
study the state of Florida. This would require looking at different types of maps
and understanding that Florida is located in the Southeast portion of the United
States.
Personal review: This is such a good book. I think this book does a great job of
helping students to open up to the topic of difficult life situations.
Title: The Tale of Despereaux
Author: Kate DiCamillo
Summary: The Tale of Despereax is a combined story of unique characters. A
mouse named Tilling was born a little different than an average mouse. Tilling had
rather large eyes, and his mother was ashamed of him. Tilling loved music, stories,
and a Princess named Pea. He falls in love with Princess Pea. The story is also about
a rat named Roscuro. Roscuros is a rat who loves in the dungeon. He longs for light.
Miggery Sow, a little girl who was sold by her father. She was sold to a man who
made her his servant girl. The man gave her cauliflower ears for all the clouting
that he did. Throughout the book, the characters deal with light and darkness. The
three characters paths cross as they struggle against what is expected of them.
Genre: Newbery
Grade level appropriateness: 4-6
Theme emersion: The theme of this book is courage, forgiveness and light vs. dark.
The theme of light and dark are woven throughout the entire book.
Content connection: ART; Princess Pea makes a tapestry and explains to Miggery
Sow that it represents the history of her world. Students will create their own
tapestry representing history of their life. They will be encouraged to use
different types of art media.
Personal review: I did not enjoy this book. I was bored throughout the book. I do
think this book is for some readers, but not others. One thing I liked about this
book, was how the author talked to the reader.
Title: Bud, Not Buddy
Author: Christopher Paul Curtis
Summary: Bud is a 10 year old orphan during the time of the Great Depression. This
book takes place in Flint, Michigan. When his mother died, he was left with a few
precious possessions that he guards with his life. Bud carries around a suitcase that
carries all of these possessions. He takes this suitcase from one orphanage or
foster home to the next. Bud has enough of the foster homes, and runs away to try
and find his father. But what Bud finds is not his father.
Genre: Newbery
Grade level appropriateness: 4-6
Theme emersion: The theme of this book is perseverance. Another theme that is
woven into this book is family and reconciliation.
Content connection: SOCIAL STUDIES; This book takes place during the Great
Depression. This would be a great read to go along with a Great Depression study.
Students could go on a web quest and research about the Great Depression.
Personal review: This is a good book. I love the writing style Christopher Paul
Curtis uses throughout the book. This is a great book to use when discussing
diversity.
Title: Mr. Poppers Penguins
Author: Richard and Florence Atwater
Summary: Mr. Popper is a house painter who loves to read about the South Pole. He
wants to visit Antarctica. He is gifted a penguin from the South Pole. Mr. Popper
names the penguin Captain Cook. His family is excited about having a penguin for a
pet. The penguin is lonely and unhappy until a near by zoo sends another penguin.
Soon enough, the family has twelve penguins at their house! This costs the Popper
family a lot of money. To make money, Mr. Popper decides to train the penguins to
perform and travel around the country. The performing penguins are a success! In
the end, the penguins are asked to go on an expedition to the North Pole. Mr.
Popper joins them- a dream come true!
Genre: Newbery
Grade level appropriateness: 2-4
Theme emersion: This book has a theme of adventure! Mr. Popper gets his
adventure in the form of Captain Cook the penguin.
Content connection: SCIENCE; This would be a great book to do a Penguin study! I
also think you could discuss climate and temperature while reading this book.
Personal review: I loved this book when I was a child. When I read it a second time,
it seemed a little boring. But I loved it as a child, and think it would be a fun read
aloud book.
Title: The Hundred Dresses
Author: Eleanor Estes
Summary: A young girl named Wanda tells girls in her class that she has 100
beautiful dresses at home, all lined up in her closet. The girls do not believe her
because she wears the same, old dress to school everyday. One girl, Peggy teases
Wanda all of the time about her 100 dresses. Peggys best friend, Maddie lets the
teasing take place. When the girls in her class, find out about Wandas imagination
and drawings of her dresses, things begin to change. Maddie and Peggy learn the
true meaning of kindness and generosity through Wanda.
Genre: Classic/Newbery
Grade level appropriateness: 2-4
Theme emersion: The theme of this book is character and values, friendship,
generosity, kindness, and understanding others. This book deals with issues that
young students, especially young girls are still dealing with today.
Content connection: COUNSELING; This is another great book to address the
topic of bullying. The girls in this novel write a letter to Wanda. A great activity
could be for students to write encouraging notes to their own classmates.
Personal review: While I did enjoy this book, it was not one of my favorites. It is
an easy read, that addresses an issue that is still a problem today. I loved the
artwork in this book.
Title: Rules
Author: Cynthia Lord
Summary: Catherine wants a normal life. She has a huge responsibility: that is
helping to take care of her brother with autism. Catherine is sometimes
embarrassed by her brother, so she makes a list of Rules for him to follow.
Catherine goes with her brother to his therapy session. She meets Jason, a non-
verbal boy in a wheelchair. She helps Jason build his vocabulary by creating
communication cards. Catherine and Jasons friendship begins. But when Jason asks
Catherine to a dance, she is faced with being embarrassed in front of her peers.
Catherine ends up going to the dance with Jason and learns love and alter her
definition of normal.
Genre: Newbery/Issues
Grade level appropriateness: 3-6
Theme emersion: There are several themes throughout the book of Rules. Some
include: friendship, honestly, acceptance, diversity, and loyalty.
Content connection: ART; Catherine loves to paint and draw. She draws vocabulary/
communication cards for Jason. Students will paint a scene from the book and/or
create their own communication cards.
Personal review: I absolutely love this book. The book Rules challenged me. I would
love to read this to my class one day, as I believe it is important to address the
topic of children with disabilities to students.
Title: Wonder
Author: R.J Palacio
Summary: 10 year old August is going to school for the first time in his life. He has
to learn new things and figure out how to make new friends. What makes this so
difficult for August is his severe facial deformity that stops people and has them
starring. In this book you hear from 6 people total, offering an insight into Augusts
life and personality. Wonder follows Augusts journey as he starts school until he
finishes fifth grade.
Genre: Issues/ Bestseller
Grade level appropriateness: 4-6
Theme emersion: The theme of Wonder is kindness. This theme is throughout the
entire book. This book encourages readers of all ages to Choose Kind.
Content connection: COUNSELING; This is a perfect book to address the topic of
bullying. There are several resources available to help teach this book and address
the topic of bullying. Choosing kindness is an ultimate theme in this book that could
be used to help support ending bullying.
Personal review: Wonder is truly a wonderful book. It is challenging and
encouraging. It had me laughing and crying (tears of joy!).
Title: Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry
Author: Midred D. Taylor
Summary: Cassie Logan and her entire family work hard to keep their land, and
their land is what holds them close together. The Logan family endure many racial
injustices and are harassed and humiliated. Through their land, Cassie learns just
how important their land is. Throughout the book, we learn that the Logan familys
land gives them emotional foundation as they begin to notice and learn differences
between how white children and black children are treated. THis story takes place
during the 1930s during the time of the Great Depression.
Genre: Historical Fiction
Grade level appropriateness: 4-6
Theme emersion: Family is a major theme throughout this book. Also, hope in the
face of destruction is a theme woven throughout this novel.
Content connection: SOCIAL STUDIES; Discuss what life was like for the Logan
family along with living during the 1930s.
Personal review: I loved this book as a child, and love it even more now. This is a
beautiful and wonderful story.
Title: Esperanza Rising
Author: Pam Munoz Ryan
Summary: Esperanza and her mother must leave their home in Mexico after the
death of her father, a wealthy landowner. This takes place in the 1930s in
California. Esperanzas mother becomes ill and Esperanza must find a way to rise
above her difficult situations. Esperanza shows courage, courage that she thought
she did not have.
Genre: Multicultural
Grade level appropriateness: 4-6
Theme emersion: There are several themes throughout this book. THe main
themes discussed are equality, justice, rights, pride, hope and family.
Content connection: SOCIAL STUDIES; This is a great book to help with a study
on Hispanic and Latin American history. This book could also address topics such as
equality and justice.
Personal review: I had always heard this was a sad story, but did not realize it
would start out so sad. This book had me very emotional throughout. I enjoyed
reading this book.
Title: Third Grade Angels
Author: Jerry Spinelli
Summary: George (aka Suds) is finally a Third Grade Angel in Mrs. Simms class. He
is so excited and has been dreaming of this day since Kindergarten. But what does
it mean to be a Third Grade Angel? Mrs. Simms explains what it means and will
present one student with a halo for being an outstanding student- someone who
follows all of the rules and is kind to others. George wants to be the first student
with a halo. George is nice to everyone, even his sister! When it comes time to find
out who the winner is, it is not George. George finds out that the winner was not
trying to get the halo for themselves, but for others.
Genre: Other
Grade level appropriateness: 3
Theme emersion: The theme of this book is friendship, and life challenges. George
had to overcome many challenges, that made him a better friend.
Content connection: COUNSELING; This book would be great to discuss integrity
and giving your best when no one is watching. Also, this book addresses helping
others and watching out for others.
Personal review: I am not a huge fan of Jerry Spinelli, but really enjoyed this book.
The lesson and moral behind this story is sweet and encouraging.
Title: Touch Blue
Author: Cynthia Lord
Summary: Tess lives in Maine, where there are plans to shut down her islands
schoolhouse. If the school shuts down, this will force Tess and her family to move
to the mainland. Tess does not want to leave where she is at. The islanders came up
with a plan to help this situation. The plan is to increase the number of students by
having several families take in foster children. Tess and her family take in a 13
year old boy, Aaron. Aaron plays the trumpet and keeps to himself. Tess feels as
though Aaron does not feel at home. Tess is scared that Aaron will leave. Tess
comes up with a plan to have Aaron play in the show and to invite his mother. When
his mother shows, things start to get messy.
Genre: Other
Grade level appropriateness: 3-6
Theme emersion: The theme of this book is luck. The book refers to luck all
throughout the book.
Content connection: MUSIC; In this book, several songs are mentioned. One in
particular is Ive Got Peace Like a River. This song is an African-American
Spiritual. This song represents the water imagery felt in the book. The teacher will
teach this song to the students as a content connection.
Personal review: I enjoyed this book. I think this is a wonderful book to help
address the topic of adoption and foster care. I was never bored throughout this
read! Cynthia Lord is a great author.
Title: A Series of Unfortunate Events- The Bad Beginnings (Book the First)
Author: Lemony Snicket
Summary: If you are interested in stories with happy endings, you would be better
off reading some other book. This is the first book of the series of Series of
Unfortunate Events. This book introduces four main characters. And of course, this
book begins with a bad beginning. The Baudelaire children are informed that their
parents died in a fire. The children stay at home with a family friend, Mr. Poe.
Another main character, Count Olaf plans to take the Baudelaires fortune, which
Mr. Poe is in charge of until the children are older. The children must come up with
a solution to save the fortune.
Genre: Series
Grade level appropriateness: 3-6
Theme emersion: A theme throughout this book is misfortune and overcoming that
misfortune. Also a theme in this book is death.
Content connection: LANGUAGE ARTS; Students write their own story with a bad
beginning. Discuss how a lot of stories dont begin bad and encourage students to be
creative and come up with their own story with a bad beginning. Students could also
write their own story about misfortune.
Personal review: This was a strange book! I enjoyed it and it had me wanting to
read more, but it was definitely a weird read!
Title: The Chronicles of Narnia The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe
Author: C.S Lewis
Summary: Four siblings, Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy Pevensie open a wardrobe
door to....Narnia! Narnia is a strange and snowy place. Lucy steps in first and
encounters Faun Tumnus. Tumnus invites Lucy and the others to explore the
different world of Narnia. It is always winter in Narnia, because the Witch casts a
spell. The book takes the reader with the four children and their adventures in
Narnia. The fight between good and evil is woven throughout the entire book. There
is deeper meaning that is revealed in this book.
Genre: Fantasy
Grade level appropriateness: 3-5
Theme emersion: Good vs. Evil is a theme that is addressed throughout the entire
book. Redemption is also a major theme.
Content connection: ART; Have students create their own Narnia using different
types of art media, almost like a diorama. GEOGRAPHY; Have students create their
own map. Students will look at the map of Narnia and create their own map. They
will be required to use a map key and other map symbols.
Personal review: The Chronicles of Narnia is such a great book! C.S. Lewis does an
amazing job and writes beautifully. This book is for all ages!
Title: When You Reach Me
Author: Rebecca Stead
Summary: When You Reach Me is about a little girl named Miranda. Miranda and her
mother live in New York City. One day someone steals their key to their house.
Miranda receives letters asking her to write letters explaining what is happening.
She writes letters describing the future events. Throughout the book, there are
clues that are given to figure out who stole the key and figure out more information
given in this. book.
Genre: Mystery
Grade level appropriateness: 5-6
Theme emersion: There were several themes throughout this book. Some include:
family, friendship, forgiveness, and identity.
Content connection: SCIENCE; This book refers a lot to A Wrinkle in Time, this
book also talks about the theory of relativity. Students could research this theory
and prepare a presentation on this theory. ART/DRAMA; Have students stage a
scene from the game show.
Personal review: I enjoyed this book. I love how this book kept the reader
wondering and asking questions. I would be careful to use it in my classroom as it is
a little intense.