Eats, Shoots, and Leaves

In a departure from the great read alouds, I would like to suggest two books that can be kind of fun to read out loud, but really teach a lesson in grammar. The first book I found in the book store and just had to find out what its message was. The book is Eats, Shoots, and Leaves: Why Commas Really Do Make a Difference. This book shows how the placement of a comma in a sentence can change the entire meaning of the sentence. The first example is that a panda bear eats shoots and leaves. This is illustrated nicely with a panda bear eating some shoots and leaves. On the adjoining page, you see the exact same sentence, but with some commas thrown in. Instead of a panda bear eating shoots and leaves, you have a panda bear that eats, shoots, and leaves. This sentence is illustrated with a panda holding a bazooka who has just eaten, shot someone, and is leaving. There are many more zany examples throughout the book. I recommend the book for a laugh, but also for a good lesson on commas.

Woe is I, Jr.

In another departure from read alouds, I suggest using Woe is I, Jr. This is a great tool to teach the concepts that are harder to chew on by many students. It is just like a grammar textbook without all of the tedious exercises, and with more fun. I have used parts of this book with my students to help them understand when to use me and when to use I in a sentence. In order to figure out the correct word to use they play a game of hide and seek. Ask yourself: would I say Jason and I went to the park or Jason and me went to the park? Play hide and seek with Jason's name + and. You would be left with I went to the park and Me went to the park. Which sounds correct? Simple little tips like this will help any student, young or old, to have a better command of the English grammar rules.

Peak

In a slight change for me, I would like to recommend a realistic fiction story.
Peak, by Roland Smith, is a story about a teenage boy who lives in New York City with his mom, stepdad, and twin sisters. The story starts out as Peak is scaling a very tall building to leave his mark at the top. Just as he reaches the top, police enter the picture and haul him off to jail. When it comes time for the court to rule what to do with this juvenile delinquent, an offer is made for Peak to go with his biological father to climb Mount Everest.

Peak has never met his father before. He doesn't understand why his father has come to see him and is untrusting at first. Peak sadly has to say goodbye to his family, but it winds up being all for the best. Now he will have to serve no jail time. In order to get up Mount Everest, Peak must get acclimated to how to climb and endure some horrible weather. He begins learning from a Tibetan monk who will be climbing with Peak and his father. Alongside Peak is Sunjo, who will be like Peak's sherpa. Many challenges face the group as they begin to climb the mountain. One challenge that the group keeps meeting is a Chinese general who will stop at nothing to eliminate any unauthorized people from climbing the mountain.

In this book, you find out that the climb up Everest is not a straight climb up, but a treacherous journey that involves climbing up the mountain part way, then climbing back down before you can continue up. The other thing is that to get to the peak is not an easy task. The conditions have to be just right, and those conditions do not last for very long. Peak is an enjoyable book about a person's experience climbing Mount Everest. You could read it at 3rd grade, but expect to explain a lot of what is happening to your kids.

The Wizard of Oz

In a step back to the good old classics I next suggest The Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum. I read this every year to my students with the warning that they cannot think of it as the movie. I tell them to listen for similarities, but we compare and contrast the movie with the book. This year I have mostly boys, so to get them excited with the idea of reading The Wizard of Oz I told them to be looking for all of the death and head chopping. This is not your classic Judy Garland film. It is a much darker story with a similar message.

This is a great book to share with anyone. One thing that you may want to be aware of is the vocabulary difference from when the story was created and present day. You'll have to explain what bondage is. Happy reading as you follow the yellow brick road!

Poppy

My next story is about a character who rules over others with fear and death. It is also about a character that will not let the norm go unchallenged. This story is about a mouse that lives in a house with many, many members of her family. These mice have been told by an owl, Mr. Ocax, that they are not to leave a certain area because he cannot assure the mice protection outside of this area. He warns them that there are porcupines out in the world that love to eat mice. If the mice do not listen to him and wind up being seen outside of the acceptable area without his permission, Mr. Ocax will try to eat them.

The story begins when Poppy is searching with her boyfriend, Ragweed, up on a hill outside of their territory. Mr. Ocax sees the two mice and swoops down for the kill. He manages to eat Ragweed, but only scares Poppy. When Poppy returns home, she is chastised by her father for going against the owl. Poppy has seen that there is a new house across from the house they are in now. She goes to ask Mr. Ocax for permission to go search the new house, but is denied. Poppy sets out on her own to find out what the new house is like. She just has to be careful not to be seen by the ever vigilant Ocax. On her way, she meets a porcupine who turns out to be a little bit different than she had been told about.

Poppy is an exciting story with great characters and suspense. It also blends in some humor when Ereth the porcupine is introduced. It is not a terribly long story, so it can be read quickly. The climax is very exciting, leaving the kids cheering. Avi wrote 5 stories that include this cast of characters. Poppy is the second in the series.

Bunnicula

With Halloween shortly upon us, I would like to tell you about a tale about a vampire bunny. Bunnicula, by James Howe, has been one of my favorite books to read since I was a kid. I like to use it around Halloween time because it talks about a vampire that doesn't hurt anybody. In fact, all he does is drink the juice from vegetables. It also doesn't mention Halloween at all, so as not to upset any family that does not participate in the Halloween festivities.
When the Monroe children bring home a rabbit, strange things begin to happen. The family dog and cat become a little suspicious of this new addition to the family which leads to some crazy events. The family cat, Chester, is convinced that this rabbit is a vampire out to kill everyone. He stops at nothing to get this rabbit far away, if not dead. Harold, the dog, works with Chester at first, but then begins to see that Bunnicula is just a harmless rabbit.
The great thing about this story is that it can be used to teach point of view. Harold tells the entire story. For a quick, funny book to read to the kids, pick up Bunnicula.

The Lightning Thief

The next book that I would like to offer up as a great choice for a read aloud comes as an excellent choice also for teachers who teach Greek myths. The Lightning Thief, written by Rick Riordan, tells the story of a young man who is your typical ADHD teenager. He can't focus in school. He doesn't have many friends, and something is up with his teacher. Percy does not live at home with his mother and stepfather. He has been sent away, primarily so that the stepfather won't hurt Percy. When Percy goes home for the summer, he and his stepfather butt heads miserably. Mom decides that she will take Percy to a special camp. On the way to the camp, his mom reveals that Percy's real father is a Greek god. She takes him to Camp Half-Blood, a camp for students with one parent that is a god.

The camp cabins are separated by the gods. It is undetermined at first who Percy's father is, so he is placed with many other kids who are the offspring of Hermes. As time marches on, Percy's discovers that his father is Poseidon, the god of the sea. Problems arise when it is revealed that someone has stolen Zeus' thunderbolt. Everyone believes that Percy is the thief so he must set out to clear his name.

Along his adventure, Percy meets up with quite a few Greek characters, such as the Fates and a minotaur. There are some nice twists and turns that occur throughout the story likening it to Harry Potter.

I love Greek mythology, and it incorporates them very well into the story. In third grade, we have to study ancient Greece, so this is one of those fun extras that I get to share with my students. If you like the book, there are 3 more currently available in the series.

The Sisters Grimm

In my next set of recommended books, you will see more fantasy. I stumbled upon this series of books when the Scholastic Book Fair came to my school. They appeared interesting so I placed them on my wish list. The series created by Michael Buckley is The Sisters Grimm.
The series starts out with Sabrina and Daphne Grimm being bounced from foster home to foster home because their parents were kidnapped. In the first book, The Fairy Tale Detectives, the girls are taken to New York to meet up with a family member that they have never met, their grandmother. When they reach Fairyport Landing, New York, the eldest girl, Sabrina, hates her grandmother for never having tried to get in contact with the girls. Tension remains throughout the story as Sabrina begins to learn things about her grandmother. Granny Relda, as the grandmother has the girls call her, is a descendant of the famous Grimm Brothers.
In the story, we find out that all fairy tale and mythical creatures are real and living in Fairyport Landing, New York. They are also stuck in this town. A magical spell has placed a barrier around the town, capturing all fairy tale creatures until the final Grimm relative has died. The fairy tale characters are disguised as humans living in the real world. The Grimms help these characters solve mysteries that occur in the town. In The Fairy Tale Detectives, they must find out who destroyed a farmer's house, which could lead to an even more gigantic problem.
I thoroughly enjoy this series especially because they combine all of the characters I grew up knowing from fairy tales into a new creative mystery. My third graders loved when I read these books to them. Many of them went on to read the subsequent books on their own. I highly recommend this series for its humor, adventure, and action.

Peter and the Starcatchers

In my blog, I would like to tell everyone about some of the great literature that is available for teachers to read aloud to their students. One story that became a particularly wonderful find a few years ago was Peter and the Starcatchers. This is the prequel to Peter Pan. I have read it to my third graders for the past two years and each time the students beg for more. It starts out with Peter boarding a ship to be taken to a nasty king faraway from the orphanage he is currently living in. Once he boards the ship, he and his fellow orphans are treated abhorrently. Peter manages to escape the hold that he stays in for most of the day and meets up with a young lady by the name of Molly.

Aboard this ship are some nasty crewmates who stop at nothing to make sure Peter and his pals don't trouble the rest of the passengers. Another problem arises as a famous pirate, one Black Stache by name, has his eyes set on the same ship. There is something on the ship that he must get ahold of.

Danger and action ensue creating an intense read for young and old. You don't want to put the book down. After everything on the ship occurs, we are left watching as Peter, his pals, Molly, the pirates, and a few other characters from the original Peter Pan try to survive.

The really fun part of reading this book is having Black Stache the pirate speak like Tim Curry from Muppet Treasure Island. There is also the talking dolphins. I also find it very interesting that one of the contributing authors is the humorist, Dave Barry. You see where his humor slips in throughout the story.

Watch for deals from Borders and Barnes and Nobles. I was able to get my hardcover copy for $5 from a Borders outlet store. I know that the sequel to Peter and the Starcatchers, Peter and the Shadow Thieves, is currently available for $5 through Barnes and Noble's online store.