I can not imagine having been in this young man's position! If it was not for his quick and creative thinking, I do not think he would have survived. The compassion and empathy he feels for the Jewish prisoners is simply overwhelming. This book make's one ponder, " What would I do if that were me?". When I picked up this book, I could not put it down until I finished it! Now I am fortunate enough to read it again and share this with a group of students of the characters age and hear their perspective. This is truley specil to hear their insights.

 

      I have now read three of Napoli's works and I really enjoy her penmenship. I was first introduced to her through the literature circle, and honestly I chose her book for the cover. I was intrigues by this young boy standing in the middle of a winter scene without proper winter attire. I am really glad that I did chose that novel. I  read the book, then sold it to a group of 10 students and we dove right in. It was neat to experience the novel through the students eyes, as the character of the story is the same age as the students. Watching the students make connections to the book, their life and the bigger world around them was fascinating.

     After we made it past the first book, Stones in Water we decided to read the sequel. We read Fire in the Hills in only three short weeks. i was impressed that the students showed such a high intrest and enthusiasm for the books. We had wonderful discussions and learned many strategies. I found that we made more connections when we went slower, but we also learned how to summerize better in the short period.

    I was so impressed with Napoli that i went to the library to look at her other works. I read The King of Mulberry Street and sold this book to a few students in my literature circle. It is an amazing survival story of a sole young boy making his way in the rough streets of New York. This became one of those books that I had a hard time setting down. Maybe because my roots lie in New York and I learned to survive during that time, or maybe it was because Napoli is simply a captivating writer. Whatever the reason, I really enjoyed reading this book. If I have a junior high class, I will make sure to fit this book in to the curriculum. I think it is important for students to experience all forms of literature. 

 

     I had never read this book before and what a shame! This story of a young orphan girl blossoming into a successful loving daughter is truley remarkable. You have to love Anne as she is always able to find mischief and unable to hold her toungue. I think anyone could find a trait they could relate to.

 

     Since my daughter was born three years ago, I have been reading picture books to her everyday. Many of my friends thought me to be crazy reading to my daughter who was only days old, but I have seen how this has benefitted her. My point being is that I am very familiar with this genre as my house is full of these books. She has four over flowing libraries within our house, and although they are not solely picture books, the majority are. We read books all the time! We love looking at the pictures and infering what the story is before we read. She has enlightened me to many things through our picture walks. Since taking this class, I have aquired even more books, which has turned into buying bigger book shelves. I asked her recently if she had more books at home or at school her response was, "Oh Mama! I have a lot more books at home!" Because of this we share our books with the school. The students in her class love looking at Avery's books and her teachers love the variety the students are getting.

     One thing I noticed was how many Disney and Golden books she has. I have really shyed away from buying these books this semester as I have been enlightened to the fact that these are not true literature as they are mass produced. Since doing this, we have discovered new authors and illustrators who have enriched our lives. Now at bedtime, it is not those Disney books she chooses, it is the new literature I have brought into the house. Needless to say I truley love this genre!

 

     I have had the pleasure of discovering Dr. Suess again after many years. I had recieved these books via mail as a child and i loved when a new package came, but when i read through many of his books again this semester i fell in love all over again. I was amazed at how difficult it was at times to work through the toungue twisters but I kept at it. My daughter loves when I can't get it all out and i have to just laugh along with her because it is very comical.

 

 

     I found the works of Eric Carle, whom I have never been aware of, and currently hold 2 of his books now in my personal library. I love his art and story lines. The Hungry Catapillar is the perfect introduction to the life cycle of a catapillar and I love how friendly it is. I also love Brown Bear, Brown Bear, My daugter has been reciting this book to me for 2 years ( she is 3) and I never knew it was a book! I thought it was a song  she had learned from pre-school. Now we read it together, (or more often than not) she reads it to me! I love sharing this with her and having book talks with her at such an earlly age. It turned out that we both had The hungry Catapillar read to us on the same day. When I picked her up from school I told her about it, and she quickly jumped in to tell me all the various things the catapillar ate, then turned into a butterfly. Who would think we would ever have such an amazing experience on the same day to share. I understand now why he is a classic and I wonder how I missed out on this before!

 

     Another Author I  discovered was Robert Munsch! All I can say is WOW! I love his work. This is another author who i have been fortunate enough to add to my library. I love how he incorporates a moral into his stories and his illustrations. So far my favorite is The Paperbag Princess  due to the nature of the princess being the heroine and walking away from an artificial romance. I did find one book that I am not sure I love of his though. Even though I understand the back story of Love You Forever it is simply strange and stalker like to me. I just think, wow... an old lady climbing through her sons window to hold him. It does have a saying " I will like you for always, love you forever, as long as i'm living, my baby you'll be" that i find heart warming.