The Paperbag Princess by Robert N. Munsch

Elizabeth is a beautiful princess who lives in a castle and wears fancy clothes. She is about to marry Prince Ronald when a dragon smashes her castle, burns her clothes with his fiery breath, and takes off with Prince Ronald. Elizabeth only has a large paper bag to wear but sets off to find the dragon and reclaim her prince. She outsmarts the dragon and rescues Prince Ronald. But the spoiled prince says “Elizabeth, you smell like ashes, your hair is all tangled and you are wearing a dirty old paper bag. Come back and rescue me when you look like a real princess.” Elizabeth immediately realizes that her ending will be much happier if she does not marry such a brat.
I have long felt that this, his first book ever, was Robert Munsch’s strongest story. While I like some others, this one has the components of a strong plot, a great character and a fun, twisted ending. Hurray for Elizabeth. A great read aloud!

Clementine, Sara Pennypacker

This time a lighthearted, lovely book. This is a great book to read aloud at night, a chapter before your kids go to sleep. But also a book young readers will love. And, once they do, there are now more in the series.

In this first book of the series, Clementine tries to help out her friend Margaret, but ends up in a lot of trouble for it. Things get worse each day of the week, until finally she’s worried that Margaret is right: Clementine’s parents might consider her “the hard one” in the family. They’re up to something mysterious…are they thinking they’d be better off if they only had her little vegetable-named brother…”the easy one”?

Clementine has a wonderful, spunky voice. She is that dreamer, that girl with the wild imagination – that every classroom has. I like how her personality shines through in the writing. Just a fun book to curl up with!

Hyperion Books
Paperback, 160 pages
http://sarapennypacker.com/pennypacker-clementine.htm

How could I not include a book written by a 13 year old girl who lived in The Netherlands during the war? She had a passion for reading and kept a diary. A wonderful, human diary full of quirky anecdotes, mature contemplation, childish observations and everything in between.
Anne dreamed of being a published writer. She was living in hiding, hoping to evade German soldiers who would kill her and her family – simply for being Jewish. Her life was confined to a few small rooms, shared with friends and family members. But her spirit soared above the steep roofs of Amsterdam’s houses. Her mind twirled with the church bells of the nearby Westerkerk and floated along with the wind blown clouds she could barely see.

For two years, until their whereabouts were betrayed to the Gestapo, they and another family lived cloistered in the “Secret Annex” of an old office building. Cut off from the outside world, they faced hunger, boredom, the constant cruelties of living in confined quarters, and the ever-present threat of discovery and death.
Discovered in the attic in which she spent the last years of her life, Anne Frank’s remarkable diary has since become a world classic—a powerful reminder of the horrors of war and an eloquent testament to the human spirit. 

Teaching Activities: http://teacher.scholastic.com/frank/tguide.htm
Anne Frank House: http://www.annefrank.org/
Virtual Tour: http://www.annefrank.org/en/Subsites/Home/

First Day Jitters by Julie Danneberg
remains one of my favorite picture books ever. It’s one of those books I wished I had thought of and written! 🙂

We all have had those first day jitters as the first day of school approaches, especially if it’s the first day at a new school. Sometimes you have to be dragged there after long summer holidays.

In this funny story you will love the surprise ending! Guess who is being dragged to school, who doesn’t want to go? Guess who’s afraid no one will like her and she won’t know anyone?!

Gotta read the book to find out!

Paperback, 32 pages, Charlesbridge Publishing  ISBN
158089061X (ISBN13: 9781580890618)

Activity Guide: http://www.busyteacherscafe.com/literature_guides/firstdayjitters.html

The Fabulous Song, Don Gillmor
The next installment in my ‘Bucket Book List” is a picture book that I just love. Not being terribly musical, I was given the only speaking part in a musical when I was a child. Maybe that’s why this story really appeals to me.

Sarah Pipkin’s little brother is named Frederic, after Chopin, and his parents are sure he will be musical. But Mr. Stricter, the piano teacher, and Mrs. Lumply, the clarinet teacher, can’t do a thing with him. Even leaving his clarinet on the bus doesn’t save Frederic from subsequent trials with an oboe, a violin, and a banjo. However, when Frederic attends Sarah’s youth orchestra concert, the conductor captures his fancy. When the house fills with relatives for his seventh birthday party, Frederic makes music by conducting them all in a song he hears in his head. The illustrations, with their exaggerated figures, limpid watercolors, and nervous line, are full of great touches: Mr. Stricter’s dog barks allegro vivace; Mrs. Lumply’s pets wear earplugs and earmuffs when carroty-haired Frederic plays; the conductor, and later Frederic himself, produce great ribbons of musical notation that reach out to touch the audience. (Picture book. 5-8)

Chanda’s Secrets by Allan Stratton

This powerful story set amid the African HIV/AIDS pandemic. Chanda, a 16-year-old, astonishingly perceptive girl living in the small city of Bonang in Africa, must confront the undercurrents of shame and stigma associated with HIV/AIDS.

Through his dramatic storytelling, Allan Stratton captures the enduring strength of loyalty, the profound impact of loss, and a fearlessness that is powered by the heart. Above all, it is a story about living with truth.

Proceeds from the sale of this book will be used to support organizations working to better the lives of Africans living with HIV/AIDS.

For lesson plans, a trailer and more details visit:
http://site.annickpress.com/catalog/catalog.aspx?Title=Chanda%27s+Secrets

The Face on the Milk Carton, by Caroline B. Cooney

I read the short content of this book on the back cover:

“No one ever really paid close attention to the faces of the missing children on the milk cartons. But as Janie Johnson glanced at the face of the ordinary little girl with her hair in tight pigtails, wearing a dress with a narrow white collar–a three-year-old who had been kidnapped twelve years before from a shopping mall in New Jersey–she felt overcome with shock. She recognized that little girl–it was she. How could it possibly be true?”

Isn’t that the most intriguing short content you ever read?! I simply had to read the book after that.

Janie can’t believe that her loving parents kidnapped her, but as she begins to piece things together, nothing makes sense. Something is terribly wrong. Are Mr. and Mrs. Johnson really Janie’s parents? And if not, who is Janie Johnson, and what really happened?

As a child I always imagined that I had been adopted… so this premise appealed to me. A good read and, if kids like it, there are several more titles in the series to keep ’em reading!

Shadow Bear by Joan Hiatt Harlow (author), Jim Arnosky (illustrator)

I love this gentle story of an Eskimo boy and a polar bear cub. Written as parallel tales, the boy’s mother warns him about the large, dangerous bear while the cub’s mother warns him about dangerous humans.
Both young ones go out for a romp on the tundra and carefully peek around a large boulder. The low, setting northern sun casts huge shadows, even of a small boy and a small cub.
Each is reminded of his mother’s warnings and runs home where it is safe.

I am hesitant to tell you about this book because it is out of print. But hopefully your library has it or you will be lucky enough to find it at a used book sale. If you do, enjoy!

Catherine, Called Birdy by Karen Cushman

“Corpus Bones! I utterly loathe my life.”
Catherine’s father is determined to marry her off to a rich man — any rich man, no matter how awful. Even though she’s only a young teenager, because the day and age is the Middle Ages and this is a glimpse of real life back then.
By wit, trickery, and luck, Catherine manages to send several would-be husbands packing. One, by setting the outhouse on fire when he’s inside… Then a shaggy-bearded suitor from the north comes to call — by far the oldest, ugliest, most revolting suitor of them all. Unfortunately, he is also the richest.

Can a sharp-tongued, high-spirited, clever young maiden with a mind of her own actually lose the battle against an ill-mannered, piglike lord and an unimaginative, greedy toad of a father?
Deus! Not if Catherine has anything to say about it!

I picked this book for my ‘favorite books ever’ list because of the main character’s witty voice. I imagine that, if I had lived in the Middle Ages, I would have wanted to be just like spunky Catherine.

Extensive study guide: http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=3&cts=1331572559026&ved=0CDwQFjAC&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cavesbooks.com.tw%2Ffiles%2Fwebpage%2Fsamplepage-pdf%2Fedi0513s.pdf&ei=NS9eT7r0KIGjiAKyxbHECw&usg=AFQjCNEQ4R0z_f8V1hlUX9Yax5FM8xjojg

ISBN 978-0064405843

Remember that wonderfully strange book The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster? I just discovered an equally wonderful read based on literature, with word play and language at the core of the story: The Bookstore Mouse by Peggy Christian. A fun read for anyone who loves language and words.