What We Wear: Dressing Up Around the World by Maya Ajmera

• Title: What We Wear: Dressing Up Around the World
• Author: Maya Ajmera
• Publishing: Charlesbridge. February 1st, 2012.
• Synopsis: This book starts out by discussing how all over the world we dress for many situations such as playing, studying and celebrating and how are clothes are an important part of who we are. The book then shows pictures of children from all over the world dressed for a number of purposes such as the activities listed above. (playing, celebrating) The book then concludes by saying how although we all may dress differently, we are united by the fact that they are all unique and beautiful in their own ways. 
• This book takes a different approach to telling the story using pictures more than words. The book is organized by prompting a type of situation common to everyone, and showing mere pictures with captions of how children from around the world dress for them. The actual glossy photographs really help to understand the reality of how this is the way people dress. 
• I found this book to be a wonderful way to discuss different cultures in a way that children can relate to. All children are familiar with the different outfits that they wear for different occasions and hearing about how other people dress would really captivate their attention and get them thinking about different cultures. In this way the book is an excellent means of opening up a conversation about different cultures. 
• In the classroom, I could see my self using this book in a multitude of ways. I could use this book to test comprehension by having the students write down the various countries depicted in the story. I could also incorporate the creative arts by having my students draw from memory their favorite outfit from the story, therefore working on visualizing and comprehension. I could also use this story as geography activity where we identify the various countries discussed in the story.
• I also thought of various more interactive activities we could do as a class. We could have a class fashion show of the various outfits that we wear for various occasions. We could also have a clothes around the world day in which i have groups of two or four pick a country (different from those from the book) out of a hat. They then have to research the different ways people dress in that country and present them to the class on clothes from around the world day. 
• In looking up the author, I found that she has a website. If you wish to learn more about the author, click on the link: http://www.mayaajmera.com
  

Have Fun, Molly Lou Melon by David Catrow

• Title: Have Fun, Molly Lou Melon
• Author: Patty Lovell
• Publishing: G. P Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers. October 25, 2012. 
• Synopsis: This book is a part of a series following a little girl named Molly Lou Melon who is having fun learning about life and who she is. In this story, Molly Lou Melon’s grandma teaches her that she should love and believe in herself no matter what comes in life. This theme comes to light in another Molly Lou Melon book called Stand Tall Molly Lou Melon, which I grew up reading because my parents bought it for my younger sister Molly. The grandma tells Molly about how when she was a little girl she didn’t have and couldn’t afford fancy toys bought from the store and instead created her own toys using things she could find like sticks. She continues on by saying how she was able to create her own fun, which is the best kind of fun to have. After hearing this, Molly Lou Melon does as her grandmother did before her and creates her own fun, learning that using her imagination is the best way to have fun.
• The illustrations, by David Catrow are very vivid, colorful and whacky really adding a sense of fun to the book. In addition, the illustrations really show the creativity and imagination that Molly Lou uses to create her new toys. 
• I grew up know of the Molly Lou Melon book series ever since my parents brought home the book Stand Tall, Molly Lou Melon for my little sister Molly. I really love how this book series uses a spunky interesting character like Molly Lou Melon who is easy to realtor to for little girls growing up and uses her power to teach important lessons about life and growing up. In this book in particular, Molly Lou Melon is used to teach children the importance of using their imagination and creating their own fun, which I feel are very important skills for children to learn. This book teaches this lesson in a fun a creative way which makes this book an excellent choice for young readers. 
• While reading this book I thought of a fun activity I would do with my own classroom after reading this book. After reading, we would have a short discussion on what it means to use our imagination and how children can make their own fun. I would then take the students outside where we would have a competition. I would let the children loose to find different object such as grass, rocks, and twigs (already fallen from the tree) to create their own game activity or toy. I would give the students atlas an hour, and when the time was up, they would each present their creative masterpiece and the class would vote on which student used their imagination the best. This way I would be giving my students an actual opportunity to use their imaginations and do as Molly Lou Melon did in the book. 
• In addition to the imagination activity, I also found an awesome YouTube clip in which the illustrator David Catrow, discusses the main character Molly Lou Melon and how he relates to her in this story, while drawing the character as he did for the book. I feel this would be an interesting thing for my students to see, and we might even try to step by step draw our own Molly Lou Melons. The link to the YouTube video is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUC4XJbDgyM 
  

A Bad Case of Stripes by David Shannon

• Title: A Bad Case of Stripes
• Author: David Shannon
• Publishing: Scholastic, Inc. June 1st, 2004
• Synopsis: This story revolves around the life of a little girl names Camilla Cream. Camilla Cream really loved to eat lima beans, but never ate them because she was afraid of what people would think of her. In general Camilla was really worried about being liked and the first day of school meant trying on 42 different outfits. All of the sudden, Camilla discovered to her horror that she was completely covered in stripes. Many doctors came to her house and none could figure out what was causing her stripes. When Camilla arrived at school everyone made fun of her and shouted out different patterns as Camilla changed colors with each demand. After tons of doctor examinations, news crews, and children's laughter, an old woman finally discovered what was wrong. Camilla needed to eat her lima beans. Once she did, the stripes went away and Camilla decided to always be true to herself and the things she likes.
• The author of this book is also the illustrator. The pictures in this book are amazing and very colorful, really adding to the story. This book also uses awesome word choice that helps with the illustrations to make the story more vivid. 
• This story is a really create way to get across a very important but simple message of the importance of being yourself. I remember reading this story as a child and thinking how cool it was that Camilla eventually decided to be herself in the end. I think the lesson of being true to yourself is a very important one for young children and this book explains it so well, making it a great book. 
• While reading this book, I could see myself using it to create a number of different creative writing prompts. I thought of various writing prompts, such as describe a time in which you liked something that was unpopular with your friends or classmates. Did your friends opinions change your mind or did you stay true to yourself? In sticking with the creative response theme, I also found a website with many more prompts which I feel would be useful if I were to use this story in the classroom. The link  to the creative writing prompts is below: https://www.webteaching.com/free/stripes.htm
• I also thought I could use this story to spark creative thinking by having the children create a picture in which the draw what they would choose to look like if they were in Camilla's position in the book. What pattern or colors would they choose to be? Would they want to have scales or feather too like Camilla? I would let the children draw or paint little body cut outs and glue anything they want on them such as feathers or buttons. I would then like to hang them around the room.
  

Olivia by Ian Falconer

• Title: Olivia
• Author: Ian Falconer
• Publishing: Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2000
• Synopsis: This book follows the life of a little pig named Olivia who lives with her mom and dad, little brother Ian and dog Perry. The story discusses how young Olivia likes to do many things and often wears people out. The book continues by discussion Olivia's copy cat little brother Ian and all of the various things that Olivia likes to do throughout her day. The story concludes with Olivia's mom reading her a bedtime story after a long day. Olivia's mom tell Olivia that even though she wears her out, she loves her anyway. 
• The author of this book which is a series gets his inspiration for Olivia from a real life little girl with the same name who is his niece. The author is also the illustrator for the book, and only uses shades of black and red for his illustrations which makes the pictures pop and gives his drawings a unique twist. 
• I found this book to be an endearing little story about Olivia, which I think would be relatable to little girls everywhere. I believe that little girls can really relate to this character and the things she does throughout the day with her family which I think makes it a great book. 
• I used this story in a lesson in the field this semester using compare and contrast with another story. However, I realized that you could relate the compare and contrast activities back to your students by having the students do a compare and contrast activity by having your students create a Venn Diagram comparing the things Olivia likes to do with the things they like to do. I found this activity, as well as a splatter paint activity like the one Olivia does in the book on another teacher blog and she said her students really enjoyed it. The link to the Venn Diagram activity and splatter paint craft below: https://drive.google.com/a/saintmarys.edu/file/d/0Bz86DqwQxSdIOWRiZTE5YjQtNTkzYS00ZTlmLThlMjYtMzI1NmFmNDJhYjc1/view
• I also found an awesome website just about the character Olivia, and on the website there is a painting game, coloring pages as well as a some fun downloads for students who can't get enough of Olivia. The website is also the author's website and it can be found here: http://www.oliviathepiglet.com
• In my search for more on Olivia, I also found an official YouTube channel with fun videos about Olivia that can be found at  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKe-7-MbrHXAUB3hYTa6pkw

Oh, the Places You'll Go! by Dr. Seuss

• Title: Oh, the Places You'll Go!
• Author: Dr. Seuss
• Publishing: Random House, January 22, 1990
• Synopsis: The book Oh, the Places You'll Go! is a story that takes a unique approach by narrating the story as if the reader were the main character. "You" are taken through a series of places which you may go during your life. The book also discusses the various sticky situations you can get into and the decisions you will have to make. The book takes the reader on a journey through various places such as the waiting room instructing the reader to seize the day and explore the world. The book concludes with an uplifting message of how the reader will succeed whichever great place they decide to go. 
• Book contains excellent colorful dream like pictures that really add to dreamlike nature of the book. The author narrates the story in rhyme, giving a wonderful rhythm to the story. In addition, the author demonstrates his signature use of made up words in the book. 
• I love this book and it was my favorite bedtime story growing up. I think there is a great message about the endless possibilities ahead in each child's future which I believe is important for children to hear and know. This book is a good read for children because it reminds them that their futures are bright and that they can do or be anything they want in their lives.
• I could definitely see myself using this book in a number of ways in the classroom. The most obvious way would be to use this book in a lesson on rhyming with younger students. I could either read this story aloud to them and have them pick out the rhymes as we go along or have them work with a partner to pick out the rhymes. I also found a cute idea for using this book as a theme for a bulletin board by having each student think of a place they want to go and why with a picture of the place to put on an Oh, the Places You'll Go bulletin board. Here is a link to the bulletin board tie in activity: http://www.seussville.com/activities/OTP_ClassroomDiscussion_0.pdf