Traditional Literature

The Lion & the Mouse

Author and Illustrator: Jerry Pinkney

Publisher: Little, Brown and Company in 2009

Pages: 40

Genre: Traditional Literature

Summary:

The book is almost wordless, but very captivating for young students who are just beginning to read. This story has a great message that is relayed almost solely through incredible pictures. The moral of this story is that no act of kindness is ever wasted. The lion spares the mouse and later the mouse comes to the lion's rescue.

Illustrations:

Pinkney uses watercolors in his illustrations along with colored pencils. His artwork is so captivating that in this book the reader does not realize there are no words. His artwork shows several emotions and even action. 

Content Area:

This book could be used in an early grade when students are just beginning to read. If I were to use this in my classroom, I would use this book in the subject of English. I would go through the book with my students and let them pay close attention to the details. We would have a class discussion about what each page means. I think this would be a great book to help children's imaginations expand.

Poetry

It's Raining Pigs & Noodles

Author: Jack Prelutsky

 Illustrator: James Stevenson

Publisher: Greenwillow Books

Pages: 160

Genre: Poetry

Summary:

This book is a compilation of various crazy poems. These poems will make answer child smile. The poems include crazy situations from adventures with interesting creatures to what happens in a refrigerator. These silly poems will really get children's imaginations working.

Illustrations:

The illustrations in this poem book are very simple but engage children at the same time. The illustrator, Stevenson uses pencils to create his drawings and then shades them in with colored pencils.

Content Area:

I could use this anywhere from 1st grade to 3rd grade to incorporate poetry in the classroom. This could be used to teach the characteristics of poetry. They would be taught about stanzas, lines, rhyming, and the foundational skills they need to have in order to read or write poetry.