Non-Fiction Text

From Caterpillar to Butterfly

Written by: Deborah Heliligman

Illustrated by: Bari Weissman

Grade Level: Preschool – 5^th

Have you ever wondered how a caterpillar turns into a butterfly? Do you ever wonder how it makes a chrysalis? Do you ever wonder how it gets out afterwards? The caterpillar seems to have disappeared, but it hasn’t it has turned into a beautiful butterfly. This book educates the readers how a caterpillar turns into a butterfly.

From the time a caterpillar first hatches, it eats so fast that it's skin can't keep up. It sheds its skin several times as it grows bigger and bigger. Finally it forms a shell around itself called a chrysalis. Nothing seems to happen for a long time. But then one day the chrysalis splits open, and a beautiful butterfly emerges. This is a magical metamorphosis!

Just like in this book a caterpillar could be brought into your classroom. It could be kept in a jar or even an aquarium tank with a netted cover. The class can observe the caterpillar each day as it eats, grows, moves, and changes. Soon the caterpillar will “disappear” into a hard shell. The students could use magnify glasses to look closely at the chrysalis. There could even be pieces of paper with drawing materials so they can illustrate their observations. One day the chrysalis will split and a beautiful butterfly will emerge. This book is a great way to introduce this process and a great guide to the mystery of what happens to a caterpillar and metamorphosis.

This is a great informational text for a classroom. This book can be used for a science lesson. The Life Science (Biology) Massachusetts Curriculum Standards for the grades PreK – 5^th grade are as followed.

Massachusetts Curriculum Standards

Life Science (Biology) Grades PreK – 2^nd

1. Recognize that plants and animals have life cycles, and that life cycles vary for different living things.

· Using either live organisms or pictures/models, observe the changes in form that occur during the life cycle of a butterfly or frog. · Discuss the life cycle of a tree.

Design and build a habitat for a living organism that can be modified to meet the changing needs of the organism during its life cycle. (T/E 1.1, 1.2)

Life Science (Biology) Grades 3^rd – 5^th

2. Recognize that plants and animals go through predictable life cycles that include birth, growth, development, reproduction, and death.	Grow plants from seed. Document the complete life cycle of the plant. Describe emergence of structures and the functions of these structures. Record changes in height over time. Graph the data.	Design and construct a habitat for a small animal (e.g., insect, butterfly, frog) that has adequate space and contains the necessities for survival. The habitat should allow for observation of the animal as it goes through the stages of its life cycle. (T/E 1.1, 1.2, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3)
3. Describe the major stages that characterize the life cycle of the frog and butterfly as they go through metamorphosis.	Using either live organisms or pictures/models, observe the changes in form that occur during the life cycle of a butterfly or frog.

Multicultural Book

How My Parents Learned to Eat

Written by: Ina R. Friedman

Illustrated by: Allen Say

Grade Level: 1^st – 6^th

Have you ever wondered how other cultures learn to adapt to a culture not their own? Is it possible that eating traditions and utensils that are used are differently in the homes of your peers and around the world? This story is about a Japanese woman who only knows Japanese eating traditions and eating with chopsticks and an American man who only knows American eating traditions and eating with a fork, knife, and a spoon. They hang out often but they never go out to eat with each other because they don’t know each other’s eating culture.

The following picture book depicts two different cultures eating customs. It shows American and Chinese customs. An American sailor courts a young Japanese woman and each tries, in secret, to learn the other's way of eating. They struggled to understand each other’s ways yet till fall in lobe and later marry. This book brings American and Japanese food cultures to life bringing diversity to the classroom and expanding diverse cultural knowledge to students. It's a wonderful depiction of diversity, showing children that superficial differences in cultures don't really mean much and shouldn't get in the way of people appreciating each other.

Throughout the book it seems that the cultural aspects are portrayed accurately. Also Diversity exists among the member of each cultural group portrayed. Each member of an ethnic group has slightly different facial features. Groups of people do not appear to have identical faces in illustrations; they look like individuals. This story has a well-developed plot, setting, and characters. There is distinctive use of composition, color, and perspective in the illustrations.

"A Plane Goes Ka-ZOOM!"

A Plane Goes Ka-ZOOM!

By: Jonathon London

Illustrated By: Denis Roche

Intended for: Little ones that love things that go! Appropriate for: K-2

Genre: Non-Fiction

Type: Informational Picture Book

It's a bird! No, it's a plane! Ever wondered how many different types of planes there were out there? Well, planes can do all sorts of things. They can fly fast, they can fly high, they can carry pets or they can carry jets, and they can land on water, snow or runways. But, all planes come and go. If you're a youngster wondering about how things, like airplanes, do what they do, then A Plane Goes Ka-ZOOM! is just the book for you!

A Plane Goes Ka-ZOOM! is a perfectly illustrated informational book that provides its readers with information about planes that they have probably never thought of. Its illustrations back up what the text is offering so well that the reader learns some of the harder vocabulary words, such as "propeller", "engine", "runways" and "pilot" with ease. Some of the pages include word play with words such as "clankety-clank", "va-ROOM", "zippety-zooma" and "ka-ZOOM." Author, Jonathon London, does a great job at listing the varying characteristics of different planes and the illustrator, Denis Roche's pictures do a great job at providing a visual to London's text. Working together, they created the wonderful informational picture book, A Plane Goes Ka-ZOOM!

I think that A Plane Goes Ka-ZOOM! is a wonderful informational book for young readers interested in airplanes. I feel as though the author and the illustrator, together, have created the perfect picture book for students in grades K-2, who may be wanting to learn more about planes but may not have seen all the different types of planes that can be in our sky. This book will provide these students with lively and colorful illustrations that will show them these different types of planes and the text will provide them with new information and new vocabulary about planes. What makes A Plane Goes Ka-ZOOM a well written informational/picture book is that the text and the illustrations go hand in hand. The book informs its readers of what it intends to inform its readers about and its illustrations act as aids to these intentions. I recommend this book and would definately use it in my classroom.



If I were to use A Plane Goes Ka-ZOOM! in my classroom, I would use it to teach my students about one of the many modes of transportation; airplanes. Perhaps a whole week could be devoted to the varying modes of transportation and one of the days would be airplane day. I would read the book aloud and make note of all of the different characteristics that the book offers. This book could also be used to show students the importance of illustrations and how they should offer an amount of information that matches the text's information. I would certainly add this book to my classroom library and leave its usage open to my students. A Plane Goes Ka-ZOOM! would be a beneficial picture book to have in the classroom no matter which you choose to do with it.

Carlos, Light the Farolito

Written by: Jean Ciavonne

Illustrated by: Donna Clair

Grade Level: K-3

Have you ever wondered if your holiday traditions were practiced by everyone? Is it possible that Christmas pageants and festivities are done differently in the homes of your peers and around the world? This story about young Carlos tells of his Christmas pageant and how he overcame his fear of being shy by participating in it. The story tells of how children from the Mexican culture celebrate Christmas.

The following picture book depicts a custom that is practiced in Mexico for Christmas. Carlos, the young boy in the story, brings readers into his family traditions when he must play a role in the Christmas pageant. The book depicts the Mexican culture and provides insight on distinct traditions that are practiced in this culture. In education most school focus on the holidays and traditions of the dominant race. When they do however bring in other cultures it tends to be either African American (Kwanzaa) or Jewish (Hanukkah). The book about Carlos brings the Mexican culture to life bringing diversity to the classroom and expanding diverse cultural knowledge to students.

I Am Utterly Unique

Celebrating the Strengths of Children with Asperger Syndrome and High-Functioning Autism

Written by: Elaine Marie Larson

Illustrated by:Vivian Strand

Reading Level: Age 4 and up

Genre: Informational

Have you ever had a friend that did things differently? In school have you noticed a classmate who just happened to stand out of the group? Have you ever wondered why one of your peers sometimes has trouble with new routines or seems to know a lot about a certain topic? If you have ever experienced or questioned such things you may be in a classroom with a peer who has Asperger Syndrome. While your peer may have a syndrome and it may cause them to appear different they are simply unique. With Asperger Syndrome there are traits that make an individual unique and actions that cause them to stand out of the crowd.

This book is a great informational text for students in young grades especially when teaching about difference in students and individuals being unique. This text can be used in classrooms where a student has Asperger Syndrome and makes it easier to explain the syndrome to students and to shed light on what is to be expected. The book is written in simple sentences and uses easy vocabulary that young students can understand. The pictures are colorful cartoons that coincide with what the text is saying. The book is a great way to bring notice to students with distinct syndromes to bring knowledge and understanding that they are unique and not in a negative way. The book can bring information to students to avoid judging and to bring the classroom closer together so they can understand why their peers may act a certain way.

Dot the Firedog

Dot the Firedog

By Lisa Desimini

Grade Level: K-3

Have you ever thought about becoming a firefighter? Do ever think about the resposibility a firedog has? Would you like to know some fire safety tips? Lisa Desimini does a great job answering all of these questions in her book, Dot the Firedog. This book starts off by showing the life of a firedog named Dot. Then all of a sudden Dot and the firefighters have to rush and put all of their gear on and respond to a fire. They respond to the fire quickly and go into a house and try to save everyone inside.

Desimini uses simple language along with great illustrations to keep her young readers interested. It is very easy for young children to read or read along to. Another thing Desimini includes in her artwork is a variety of different races and genders, which is great for kids to be exposed to early.

This book could be used in the classroom for many different reasons. First, it uses such simple language that it is very easy to understand and read. Second, this book shows the basics of what a firefighter/firedog does throughout the day and when they have to respond to a fire. Next, the last page has a list of fire safety tips. Fire safety tips are great to teach in the classroom because children of all ages should know who they should call in an emergency and what to do if their is a fire.

A Giraffe and a Half by Shel Silverstein

Do you like rhyming? Do you like to play with Giraffes? Do you like animals such as snakes or mice? Well, if you do then this is the perfect book for you. A Giraffe and a Half by Shel Silverstein is a cute and somewhat long poem for children. This book incorporates all kinds of fun silly ideas that children will love. This book is fun to sit down with children and read through together.

In the book A Giraffe and a Half, the author goes through a series of events that occur to a very seemingly willing giraffe. He has to handle things such as having a rat inside of his hat and having a chair in his hair or even a spike in his bike that he’s riding with all these other things. In this lengthy children’s poem the poor Giraffe endears all of these things and at the end is finally able to, one by one, be rid of each. He gives his bike with a spike to a scout going on a hike and he told the snake to jump in a lake. All finally until it was just the Giraffe and his little boy friend.

The illustrations in this book are pretty simple yet they give you what is going on each time something in the story happens. For a student who is still learning to read, the illustrations would be of great use to them because you can really see what’s happening without reading the words, so that would be a good aid for younger students still learning to read. There are a few words in here that, for the younger students could be used for vocabulary words. One such words is “saggin’” a student in first grade wouldn’t necessarily know what that word was or what it meant. There are a few other words that younger students would probably have troubles with, so this book is a good way to help them learn that vocabulary.

This is a great fictional poetry book for students. There is nothing realistic in this book and it’s not one that really teaches anything outside of rhyming and maybe some phonics. As I said before, there are also some vocabulary words in this story that would come in handy in the classroom.

Abuela

Written by: Arthur Dorros

Illustrations by: Elisa Kleven

Appropriate for grades K-3

Have you ever imagined yourself soaring through the air? Where would you go? What would you see? Who would you take with you? In Arthur Dorros' Children book Abuela, Rosalba and her Abuela (her grandmother) find themselves flying above the many colors and cultures of New York City. Dorros does an excellent job of weaving Spanish phrases into the story adding an element of spice! Through the bright, colorful illustrations and the alluring vocabulary, Abuela is a great multicultural story of an adventurous afternoon with her grandmother.

Rosalba and her Abuela start their usual venture through New York City, hopping on the bus to head to the park. They begin to feeding the birds when Rosalba’s imagination takes her into the sky as she begins to fly. Abuela soon joins her as their journey begins over the vast city. On their journey in the beautiful blue sky the see many things. They greet people they know as they fly by and introduce the reader to some Spanish things that they may have never seen before. Along the way Rosalba explains that Abuela traveled to the United States from her homeland and reminds us of their Spanish culture.

Dorros does a fantastic job engaging the reader by having Rosalba and Abuela flying around the city. When I think of my grandmother, her flying is not the first thing that comes to mind so I think that’s a great way to get students interested. Dorros also does an amazing job at embedding Spanish into the text in subtle ways without throwing the reader way off track. He also went a step further and added a glossary to the end of the text incase the reader wants to go back and clarify the meaning of some of the Spanish vocabulary. What really drew me into this story though, were the illustrations. Elisa Kleven used so many bright colors and textures throughout the story. Right off the bat when Rosalba and Abuela were on the bus I noticed a Jewish man sitting down with a yamaka on reading a newspaper in Hebrew. Although that may not be something that children will notice, it really shows how much time and effort Kleven put into her illustrations. It also adds more multiculturalism to this story that wasn’t expected. The illustrations in the text went along so perfectly with the story and gave and set a light, fun tone for the adventures of Rosalba and Abuela.

I think this story could be used in the classroom in many ways. There are many elements that are brought to the readers attention such as family, imagination, and adventures. The multiculturalism is also a huge part of the story. Immigration was brought up. They explained how Abuela speaks Spanish because of where she is from. A teacher could possibly do a lesson about ethnicity and where students are from. This could get students interested in their family background. There’s a good chance that there would be students in the classroom who’s family members were immigrants. Ultimately, Abuela is a great story for students to listen to. The pictures and text will appeal to any audience.

Mass Curriculum Frameworks

Reading Standard grade 2. Key Ideas and Details- Recount stories, including fables and folktales from diverse cultures, and determine their central message, lesson, or moral.

Reading Standard grade 2. Craft and Structure- Know and use various text features (e.g., captions, bold print, subheadings, glossaries, indexes, electronic menus, icons) to locate key facts or information in a text efficiently.