Ms. Griffin's Virtual Bookshelf

Love That Dog by: Sharon Creech (2001) Jack was not a fan of writing before he finds his voice as a poet.  With the help of a teacher, a pencil, some yellow paper and a dog, he finds his voice as a poet.  His teacher used to give constant poetry assignments, and Jack hated doing them.  Jack would try his best to avoid doing the poetry assignments.  Then he discovers that the more he writes, the more he has to say.   The format of this book is written as a journal entry.  I think that it is special and uncommon for young readers to experience a book this way.  It is written in the perspective of a student, so students will be able to relate to it.  I think that it would be an excellent book to read with elementary students.  It is a great way to introduce poetry to reluctant readers and writers.  

Doodle Dandies: Poems That Take Shape by: J. Patrick Lewis images by: Lisa Desimini (1998) The poems in this book take the shape that the poem is talking about.  The poems are an assortment of different topics, they do not necessarily all connect to one another.  This book has many different poems, that are all different shapes.  Although the poems are different shapes, the poems are not difficult to read.  Some poems that take shape are hard to follow, but this book does it very well.   This book is good for students to read to introduce them to poems.  I think that this would be a good book to introduce to students through a read aloud.  I would read this book, only a few of the poems, then leave it in the classroom library for students to read.  I would love to have this book in my classroom library.  

Only A Star written by: Margery Facklam illustrated by: Nancy Carpenter (1996) This book details the decorations for the first day a baby was born in a manger on Christmas day.  The star is the only thing that shone in the night.  The star let the world know that something spectacular had happened.  The star made everything about the night sparkle a little brighter.  This is a short poem book that starts off with a question asking what made the first christmas night so special.  The answer is the star, the only star in the sky that night.  The star made everything feel special and sparkle.   This is a good book to read around the holidays.  There are no religious references, so it should not interfere with anything that parents might not want their children to hear.  I think this would be a good way to have poetry in the classroom, even low levels, around the holiday season.  It would be a great way to show students how words ca...

A Spectacular Selection of Sea Critters: Concrete Poems by: Betsy Franco illustrations by: Michael Wertz (2015) In this book you will encounter everything from dolphins to octopuses and sea turtles or sharks and squirrel fish.  This book of poems is about a wide range of spectacular sea critters.  Each page is a different sea critter.  The poems are shaped to look like the animals and objects they are talking about.  The book is informative about the different animals.  This book describes the animals and what the interact with in the sea.  Although this book has a lot of information and is fun to read, it is not very easy to read.  This book would not be easy for an elementary school student to read.  The way the words are formatted does not make it easy to follow.   I would like to have this book in my classroom, but I would not have it in lower level classrooms.  I would introduce this book before I would have it in the class...

Madam President by: Lane Smith (2008) This book is about a little girl that acts as though she is the president of the United States.  This little girl wants to do all the duties that a president has in her world.  She goes to press conferences, she attends meetings, and deals with emergencies.  This is a great book to teach young students basic concepts about the president.  The book talks about things that the president has to do on a daily basis.   I would love to use this book to introduce the judicial system in a lower level elementary classroom.  It is a simple way to describe the duties of the president, and the power that they have.  This book also has little pictures and references to past presidents.  It would be a good book to have as a starter for a social studies lesson.  

Henry's Freedom Box: A True Story from the Underground Railroad by: Ellen Levine and Kadir Nelson (2007) Henry's Freedom Box is the true story of a young man that gets sold into slavery, loses everything he loves, and attempts to escape. The story starts off with Henry as a little boy and his family getting split apart.  His original master dies, and he gets separated from his family by being sold to a new master.  This master makes him work in a factory, and will beat him if he does not do his job well.  Henry grows older, falls in love and gets a family.  His wife belongs to a different man.  This man sells his wife and children and sends them off before he can say goodbye.  Henry is distraught, and wants to run away.  He does this with the help of a few friends, and ships himself to friends up north.   This is a wonderful true story of the underground railroad. This book would be wonderful to have in a classroom library.  I would...