Frankly, Frannie by A.J Stern
and Frankly, Frannie Doggy Day Care 
Oh sweet Frannie, our little friend who can not wait to be an adult. See, there are so many things that are so cool about Frannie: she loves office, has some terrific ideas (according to her), and loves to use big, big words. She believes in herself so much, without boundaries, especially age boundaries. Frannie sees every moment as an opportunity to be that adult she wants to be so badly, with responsibilities and unlimited knowledge. What is so cool about the way A.J. Stern writes is the different she uses to catch the audience or readers attention on extraordinary, magnificent words or expressions. I'm sure our young students will LOVE learning to pay attention to words and language when it is done in such a fantastic way. Adorable character, great language, excellent illustrations! What is there not to love?
Princess Posey and the First Grade Parade by Stephanie Greene and Illustrated by Stephanie Roth Sisson
I believe many, many anxious first graders will feel identify with this young lady. Posy will be starting first grade in a couple of weeks, but there are so many changes coming her way that she is not sure First Grade is a good idea anymore. I mean, Posey must say good bye to mom at the Kiss and Go lane. She has to walk to her classroom by herself. The only time that Posey feels very strong and courageous is when she wears her tutu. One day Posey runs into her future First Grade teacher at a shop and both Posey and her teacher had an amazing eye-opening moment, one that helps everyone on that first day of First Grade. You would have to read to find out the moment that help all those little one start a new academic year!Stay Tuned my dear blogger friends. There are more great summer reading I got to share with all of you! In the meantime, enjoy the journey!
Oh I much I enjoyed the humor of this book! Talk about voice, talk about unique! So what is happening at this house located at 43 Old Cemetery Road? Well, definitely some interesting things. First, a famous writer named Ignatious B. Grumply is trying to find inspiration and peace so he can write more children's books. But he has a terrible case of writer's block. With the hope that the Victorian mansion will provide him with the freedom to write again, he moves in the house for the summer. Did he find what he was looking for? Well, he found a bit more of what he was looking for. Let's see....he found a boy named Seymour whose parents abandoned him at the house so they can tour Europe and speak at conferences. He also found an interesting ghost Olive Spence who was once a writer herself. So how did these three awkward, uncommon trio live in the same house? Well, that's part of the adventures happening at 43 Old Cemetary Road. The unlikely trio actually found something in common but I won't tell you what it is ....you'll have to discover it by yourself.
I can't tell you much about the Book 2 in this series without spoiling Book 1 but you'll have to trust me on this one. It is as good as the first one. I'm planning on sharing this with my Third Grade ESL class about mid-year. I have to make sure my students don't believe in ghosts or get easily scared by ghost stories before reading it as our Read Aloud. I have to know my audience first! I certainly enjoyed the humor in it! My recommendation is for students in grades 3 and up.
I always enjoyed the work of Patricia MacLachlan and I can see the endless possibilities and potential with this book. In this chapter book, we meet Ms. Mirabel, a writer who will be spending several weeks in a 4th grade class. This writer introduces, encourages and teaches the children to think of the power of words in writing. Lucy, one of the girls in this 4th grade, believes that she doesn't really have much to contribute to this writing class. She doesn't think her life is interesting enough to be shared in writing. However, little by little, word by word, the students in this class start finding new discoveries and excitement in writing. But most importantly, the writer helps students understand that by writing about things that matter, they're also learning how to cope with some of the most difficult moments in life. A wonderful beginning of the year story to set the mood for Writer's Workshop.
Get ready to love her new books, just like the others! In One Smart Cookie, Amy invites us to discover a whole new batch of fresh words, tasty new vocabulary for our young ones to devour. From organized, to contribute, to persevere, all these words are so delicious, it's impossible not to go for seconds (multiple reading of the book). I've mentioned this before in my blog and I will say it again, vocabulary enhancement and language development is something that ALL students would benefit from. Not just your English language learners benefit but ALL our children do. So I can't think of a better way to start the year, establishing that community feeling than with one of Amy's books. She gets it. She really does!
Oh The Red Umbrella!! How I LOVED this book. The Red Umbrella by Christina Gonzalez is one of those books that will stay with me for a very long time. The waiting for this book was completely worth it. Chirstina Gonzalez brought us a story that although it is a work of fiction, the story is based on real events. Let me take you to Cuba back in 1960 when Castro to over the country. At first a lot of people believed in Castro and his idea, but later you realized but his true intentions really are. He wanted to retain complete control of the country by taking away the right to private property, stopping freedom of speech, censoring the press and limiting people's choice in religion. But worst of all, he wanted to also control Cuban children's lives. Children were being separated from their parents, sent to Russia to attend boarding schools. The fate of many children and their families did not look promising.