Schools Books

THis story is classic. I use this book so much that I have to retire my old copy and replace it with a new one every couple of years. It is a fabulous vehicle for storywriting in the primary classroom.

I have been reading Pat Hutchins books to children for many years. They are wonderful!! Rosie's Walk is a great book for sound effects! As Rosie goes obliviously on her walk,the fox encounters all sorts of sound effect producing trials. Great fun!

We have the board book edition, and I have to admit, I didn't think my 2-year old was going to like it when I first flipped through it. There didn't seem to be much to it --- no eye-catching illustrations and not much text. Shows how much I know... My daughter loves it. The story is less about Rosie the hen and more about the fox --- what happens to it from page to page. It is truly a sequential story and shows cause-and-effect: on one page you see the fox leaping towards Rosie, who is walking past the pond. On the next page, you see the fox in the pond. Your toddler will make the connection on her own: "Uh-oh. Fox fall in water."

My absolute FAVORITE book as a child! Simple, clever, and humorous all at the same time. GREAT for children starting to read! A+

We fell for this after watching the scholastic dvd series. It's on the Chicka Chicka Boom Boom video and we're hooked - love the detailed pictures and watching where thefox is headed.

I love this book and this is a perfect source of good learning of idiom for a small price its comes with. Perfect choice of gift for people that would love to read

Can anyone tell me what this book says about the idiom, "the calm before the storm"?

The graphic desciption and origin of the idiom are excellent. The explanation of the idiom is written in simple English that my 5 year old understands and loves. She read half of the book in one sitting. It's like a joke book to her. She was having a good time by herself. (She reads on a 3rd grade level.) I even learned a few things. It's a must have resource like a special dictionary that will also help to expand vocabulary. I now want all of the author's books.

I absolutely love this book. I am a teacher and this book really helped my students in 7th grade learn what idioms are. They really enjoyed learning about where the idioms came from.

Fairly good source for origins of idioms. Not all are here, but many. Some "conjecture" as to origin on many, but they do seem logical. A good over-all (particularly sufficient for elementary level) resource & nice leisure reading.

This has to be one of the best books! My kids- 5 & 2- love books, we read all the time and are always at the library and bookstore. They both instantly loved this book and we read it over and over. They both get up and dance and sing right along with me. I highly recommend this for any age. I'm positive it will be on our book shelf all year and not just at Halloween!

A wonderful book! My one yr old hands me this all the time- she loves it. A very fun Halloween themed book that can be read all year long!

This is a very entertaining and fun book to read aloud to a class or even one child. It is fast paced and interactive and I simply love it.

We had borrowed this book from the library dozens of times and realized it was time to purchase our own. This has been our children's favorite book since the moment we first read it. A family favorite at our house! Sing-song rhythm makes it fun too!

A friend told me about this book and shared a tune she made up for the words. I bought a copy and my son (2) loves it. He brings it out quite often for me to read or sing to him. The illustrations are a fun change from the usual kiddie fare.

This book was very good. I liked just about all the characters in the book. Jenna the main character had a way of taking you off, i fealt realy bad for her in some parts of the story. The only thing that i dident quite like about the book was that after a "story" it then told you the truth behind it... It was sometimes a bit difficutlt to udnerstand or get through... But it was intersting... Now if only i can get a coppy of White Jenna to spur my minde a bit more....

I read the book about a year ago and still remember it in detail. A wonderful read!

This book was really cool. I liked the simpleness of it. I liked how she got to the point and didn't describe everylast detail. I also liked Pynt. She was my favorite character. She was mischivious, yet she had a loyal quality to her.

"Sister Light, Sister Dark" and its sequel, "White Jenna," hold places of honor on my bookshelves.

The story is about Jenna, a thrice-orphaned girl of the Dales (a fictional region) being raised by followers of Great Alta, the Goddess. These women--mostly unwanted daughters of local peasants--train for years to call up their "dark sisters." Jenna, who was born with completely white hair, may be the Anna foretold in prophecy.

Stuff happens.

Interspersed among the actual narrative chapters are ballads and myths of the Dales, as well as a pretentious contemporary historian's interpretation of the events of the story. Through his impeccable application of scientific method to historical research, he manages to get just about everything completely wrong. It's hilarious.

The third volume in this trilogy, "The One-Armed Queen," was a disappointment to me. While it was a good book in its own right, to me it didn't feel related to the other two--it worked on its own, but it was not part of the series. It concerns Jenna's one-armed adopted daughter Scillia, who seemed much less interesting than Jenna. Oh, well.

I highly recommend the first two books.

One of the best reprints produced by Starscape books has been the reissue of Jane Yolen's Alta trilogy, the first of which is "Sister Light, Sister Dark." While it takes awhile to get going, this unique and imaginative fantasy book introduces us to a fantasy story that's both familiar and innovative.

Jenna was orphaned three times: Her mother died in childbirth, the midwife died while taking her away, and the warrior woman who adopted her was also killed. She's taken in collectively by the follows of Great Alta, a benevolent goddess. They're somewhat Amazonian -- there are no men in their "hames," they are warriors, farmers, priestesses, and everything else that they need to be.

But Jenna is different from the rest. There's a prophecy that a white-haired child who lost three mothers is the Anna, a savior who will change everything. Events are set into motion when Jenna and her friend Pynt encounter teenage prince Carum in the woods, who is being hunted by a vicious warrior. Killing the warrior and saving Carum leads to destruction for Jenna's home and family...

Jane Yolen crafts a wonderful, believable place in the Dales. Not only is it very detailed and plausible-sounding, but she also sprinkles it with songs and historical studies. While the Alta series is often labelled "feminist fantasy," there's no preaching or two-dimensional male characters. Yolen simply shows us Jenna and Pynt operating on the same level as Carum, and leaves it at that.

Her writing is earthy and has plenty of detail without bogging itself down. The concept of "dark sisters" (sort of a nighttime-only spiritual twin) is an unusual and well-crafted one. The only problem is that it takes quite some time for the plot to get moving, and it's a jolt when it finally does; we go from no action to all-action in an instant.

Jenna is an excellent reluctant lead. Her mixed feelings (she both wants and doesn't want to be the Anna) are quite plausible, as are her strength and gutsiness. She's not some sort of supergirl; she cries, feels pain and loneliness like anyone else. Pynt is a good sidekick, with her mischievous attitude. And Carum is a strong counterpart (and romantic interest) to Jenna.

Since "Sister Light Sister Dark" ends on an unfinished note, readers will want to check out the second volume of the trilogy (also available from Starscape) "White Jenna." A unique epic fantasy.

I read this book and I loved it. You have to read the book because it shows the power of children to make the World better.

School is for more than English, Math, and Science - it's for the intangibles too. "Spectacular Things Happen Along the Way: Lessons From an Urban Classroom" follows Brian Schultz as he teaches an inner city class something far more valuable than academics - determination and a feeling of self worth. An inspired and inspiring tale sure to give hope in the next generation ensues. "Spectacular Things Happen Along the Way: Lessons From an Urban Classroom" is highly recommended for community library education collections.

"Impressive..." or "Extraordinary..." may be a more appropriate title for this book. Schultz traces the both the history of a non-functional inner-city public school classroom all the way through the children's education achievements, and his personal growth along the way. Developing a democratic classroom with both the students and teacher learning from each other is truly amazing!

The book allows the reader to share, and understand, the successes and disappointments of both Schultz and his students. And throughout, the reader remains totally engaged.

The interaction between the students and politicians, the news media, and national organizations has demonstrated that we all have much to learn. Truly inspirational and extremely motivational. A must read.

One of the most important and challenging things we do in this country is educate our children. This becomes especially important when we think about how education can affect one's life. This book really highlighted for me the hope and possibilities for education in a time when all I hear about is that teachers are focused on standardized tests. Apparently, things can be different.

I must admit that at first I was resistant to some of the ideas presented early on in the book in terms of allowing the students' to guide the learning. I thought the students would naturally pick something that did not challenge them. But, boy was I wrong! It is almost as if my inclinations were the exact opposite. That is where this book has a extremely powerful hook. The students clearly went well beyond that simplicity. They clearly found something that mattered to them. They clearly became transformed in their learning.

While reading the book, I really want to know what happened next. The author does an excellent job of drawing the reader into the story. I felt like I was sitting in the dark classroom with my coat on as vividly described in the narrative. And, I found myself learning, questioning, and reflecting as I was reading. I especially learned what horrific conditions exist in some schools and better understood how that old mantra of picking oneself up by the bootstraps is not so easy when most things in some schools like the one in this book are stacked against you.

I strongly recommend reading this book. It is a page-turner. It will give you much to think about. I promise! What is especially great is that the students are front and center rather than it being all about the teacher. And, I believe that as the author states throughout the book, you will learn from the students in this story, just as he did.

Brian D. Schultz's "Spectacular Things Happen Along the Way: Lessons from an Urban Classroom" is a beautifully written, well-researched, and heartfelt account of one classroom's journey from stereotyped and ignored to empowered, challenged and brilliant. Schultz's narrative intelligently interweaves the students thoughts, hopes, disappointments, work, and words with his own reservations, thoughts, struggles, and triumphs. Furthermore, he manages to connect, explain, and reinforce their story with some of the greatest educational philosophy and research available (e.g. Dewey. Kozol, Freire, etc.).

What is this read about?
It's about Room 405. In 2004, Schultz was a 5th grade teacher at Chicago's Carr Community Academy. And in short, Schultz participates in a workshop called Project Citizen, which in turn inspires Schultz to do something new with Room 405. He asks the students to identify a problem that they care about/want to solve, and from there, a year-long curriculum was created by the students and for the students of Room 405.
What do the students decide upon?
Room 405 decides that they need a new school because their school is obviously falling apart, so they set-up an Action Plan that consists of the ways in which they are going to go about this undertaking (e.g. writing letters to legislators, interviewing the principal, emailing newspapers, etc.).
What happens after they decide on their problem and what they are going to do?
Are you serious? Just read the book!

As an educator myself, I want to point out that Schultz's Social Justice teaching, as exemplified in this book, should have all of the skeptics and naysayers believing because the proof was and is in the students and the results of what they learned, shared, achieved, and experienced together.

We love old stories including Native American legends. This is a quiet story of dreams, sacrifice, hope, perseverance, and rewards. With a lot of descriptive details, I believe the minimum age to read this to a child is 7. The black, grey and white pictures are beautiful, but somehow wished that some light color tone (perhaps sepia) was added. A great read with real texture for adults to share with children. Ran into this quite by accident, sent me to look for more from this author. Was so sorry to note that he passed away. What a talent. The Story of Jumping Mouse (Caldecott Honor Books)

This story is about a mouse who wants to go to a far off land. While he is traveling , he is named jumping mouse, he gets better legs to jump with, he stays with an old mouse,he gives a buffalo his sight,and he gives a fox his smell. Jumping Mouse gets to the far off land and is named Eagle by Magic Frog.Jumping Mouse then turns into an eagle.
I loved this book!

This lovely Caldecott honoree related the Native American legend of a mouse that morphed into an eagle by magic, determination, and force of character. A mouse listens to tales told by older mice that include visions of a far off land. He determines to visit the far off land even though he doesn't know much about traveling and is sure to encounter dangers. Shortly after setting out he meets the Magic Frog, who kindly transports him across the river. The Magic Frog also confers the gift of jumping legs on the mouse, which will serve him well the rest of the journey.

Along the way he meets an Old Mouse, whose pessimistic attitude of ever reaching the far off land is rewarded when the Snake comes along and eats him. "Poor old friend," thought Jumping Mouse. "He lost hope of finding his dream and now his life is over." Subtle this tale is not.

After giving up his sight for a blind bison and his sense of smell to a smell-disabled wolf, Jumping Mouse proves that he is unselfish and worthy of good things. Magic Frog turns up when Jumping Mouse's hope of seeing the far off land is fading. He magically turns Jumping Mouse into an eagle.

The illustrations are more compelling than the story, drawn with charcoal pencil (I am guessing). They are lifelike and vivid, adding charm to the simple tale. The standard animal figures of buffalo, wolf, and eagle seem to turn up in most Native American literature.

This is a great book. THe artwork is worth the Caldacott medal and the story is a good one for all ages. It is about a mouse trying to reach a far land which is supposed to be beautiful and about learning to keep hope and selfishness alive in you and you will be rewarded. It is a great story that people now a days need to consider more often the world would be a better place.

John Steptoe's 40-page illustrated version of The Story of Jumping Mouse is a Native American legend of a Magic Frog who gives his jumping legs to a discouraged young mouse that had recently set out on a quest -- a journey to a far-off land. The frog also tells Jumping Mouse to remember three words -- "never lose hope." Rejuvenated and able to travel much more quickly, Jumping Mouse continues on his journey. On the way he encounters a fat mouse who invites him to stay with him the rest of his life in a safe haven. But Jumping Mouse is determined to continue his quest and later discovers his acquaintance is eaten by a snake. When his journey brings him to a vast prairie Jumping Mouse is surprised to meet a lonely buffalo just standing there. Upon inquiry, he learns that the buffalo is blind, so Jumping Mouse imitates Magic Frog by giving his eyes sight to a blind buffalo and the buffalo leads him across the prairie on his back. At the end of the prairie the buffalo can go no further and Jumping Mouse recalls Magic Frog's words, "never lose hope" and thus journeys animal that identifies himself as a fox that can't smell. Jumping Mouse tries his magic once more and is able to give the fox his nose. The fox, delighted at his cure, accompanies Jumping Mouse through the forest. But as the forest ends at the foot of a mountain and the fox can not go any further, Jumping Mouse goes to sleep in despair in the face of this seemingly hopeless barrier to his goal. Suddenly Magic Frog appears again and tells Jumping Mouse to jump as high as he can and remember his words, "never lose hope." He gathers his courage, leaps as high as he can, and discovers himself soaring over the mountain as Magic Frog below shouts out Jumping Mouse's new name -- "Eagle." This is a wonderful story to teach children about Hope, Determination, Sacrifice, Hardship, and Compassion.

This book is great. I loved how it just picked up after the 1st. It was like the first just kept going. page turner the 1st was great but this was better. Again i didn't like the religousness and enough with the flash backs.

SWEET BOUNDLESS picks up where THE ROSE LEGACY left off. With the town of Crystal now free from the evil that had held it captive, Carina DeGratia Shepard takes hold of the house that had once been promised to her. Though Quillian refuses to acknowledge their marriage, Carina refuses to let him go. With grit and determination, Carina creates for herself a small restaurant, bringing her Italian charm to a bustling town. Carina continues to learn more about Quillian's past, a past that has made him the closed-off person that he is. Carina is determined to break down those walls and love Quillian like he deserves to be loved.

At times SWEET BOUNDLESS is difficult to read because of the distance between Carina and Quillian. You want so badly for them to be together it's hard to read as they continue to go their separates ways. Knowing THE TENDER VINE will pick up where SWEET BOUNDLESS left off, I'm off to read the final book in series

This is such a great series! I was hooked from the first series and could not put them down. The second is my favorite, I love the change she shows in each of the characters because of their change of heart towards Christ. What a GREAT example of how God's love changes us and allows us to love others.

This book was just as promising as it's prequel! I couldn't put it down! The plot wasn't as thrilling, but Hietzmann did pick up on the unanswered questions that nagged at you in the first book. Well, as you know if you've read the first book(if you haven't you are VERY NAUGHTY), Quillan is having trouble allowing himself to love his wife, Carina. Meanwhile, she is suffering while he is away...heartbroken that he "doesn't" love her. Well, when a new man comes to take care of the New Boundless(the deceased Cain's mine, now left in Quillan's hands), his budding love for Carina threatens to lure her away from her love for Quillan. When disaster strikes, will Carina's husband comes home to her? Can he ever make peace with his dreadful past? The ending was wonderful, although Quillan's doubts about Carina's feelings for him were somewhat dissappointing. Anyway, I loved this and highly reccommend it!!

Carina is now married in name only. Quillan is fulfilling his duty to "take care of her material needs" but that is all. However, one real fact draws her attention to the validity of this hurried wedding...she is expecting. Problem is, she really does not have a "husband" in the truest sense of the word.

Determined to make it on her own, Carina occupies her original little house and becomes the darling of the mine and professional men by cooking her original Italian dishes and starting her own restaurant. We are introduced to Alex, the man brought in to oversee and perhaps run the mine owned now by Quillan and D.C. He plays a huge role in this book and the reader cannot quite decide if he is terribly good or terrible cunning. Obviously, Carina and Alex have mutual respect for each other, or is it more?

The cave of Quillan's parents still haunts and draws Carina and she discovers Wolf's "own diary" and now owns both his Mother's and his Dad's stories.

A horrible accident at the mine and a subsequent humanitarian act by Carina causes a major uproar, ending up with a savage beating and the reader is brought to tears.

Definitely a page turner and I am already a good ways into book three. Thanks Kristen, for a great series.

My daughter is a homeschooled 6th grader. Her passion is horses or anything that has to do with horses. I have her on a reading regimen with the Heartland series. She is really enjoying them. I am also excited that they are age appropiate with much detail. She is getting a lot out of them.

THis book is amazing! Amy fleming's mother died and now amy has to run a farm called Heartland for problem horses along with her grandapa Jack, older sister Lou and the only stablehand Ty. Amy cured Lisa Stillman's horse and now she has sent her nefhew to help them around the stable and she is also paying for him to be there. Lisa is a famous Arabian breeder and makes alot of money. Her nefhew's name is Ben. Ben has a secert that Amy knows and isn't supposed to know or tell anyone. 't tell anyone she is not allowed to tell Ty which angers him and may leave Hearland to work at Amy's worst enemy's farm. Ben and Ty don't get along and since Ben's past has been rough Amy doesn't want to have to fire him and also his aunt is paying for him to be there. In the end they become happy and stop fighting, and telling lies but inbetween alot of things happen read the fantasic book to find out what.

I am 11 years old and i just started reading these books. The book is about Amy and Ty. They are haveing an over flow of work so they hire Ben. Ben is not how he seems. He abuses is horse and treats Ty like dirt. Amy goes against Ty's wishes of firing him for one reason. The afull truth about bens life is somthing Amy has to keep from Ty no matter how hard it is. If you are a horse lover than you will love this series.

when in book 3 amy cures Lisa stillmans horse promise ,she sends her nephew ben to help at heartland .He has a faboulos show jummper RED he has to come to with ben ,ben takes things to far as working him to much ,when ty sees him he goes mad and trys to get him sent back but amy woun't tell lou becaues she knows bens dark secert which ty doen't near the end amy goes past the kitchen and hears ty on the phone to ashleys mum who owns the ruivel stable asking about a job ,amy walks away and trys carries on like normal ty sees something s wrond she start shouting i hate you and storms out,.later s out inthe traing ring with red geting angery now AMY had enough she jumps out in fornt of a jump to stop him then ty grabs red andstops him .fealing ashamed of him self ben takes red back but some things the mater with red,will amy help red or will ty leave heartland for good youll have to read it to find out

At the time I read this book, I thought that this would be a romance, but it was nothing like that, just dramatic. This book is about Amy, still trying to get over her mothers death, has had one person to always lean on, Ty, the stable boy, but everything just gets thrown! A new stable boy (Ben) comes to Heartland to help Ty out but that doesn't happen. Between Ben beating his horse and Ty anger against Ben nature, Amy is forced to be an enemy to Ty because of the secret that Ty shouldn't know about Ben's life. Amy knows that her relationship with Ty is burning and she never realized before how much she took him for granted. Read and find out what Amy should do!

Dr Seuss comes through again. Fun to read, good morals, excellent story.
Lots of fun!!

This is my favorite Dr Seuss book (even though I discovered it only a few months ago). The story and pictures are excellent and (importantly) it is particularly easy and fun to read aloud.

Unfortunately, this book is advertised as being suitable for 5-8 year olds only - NOT TRUE! This book is for ANYONE of ANY AGE who enjoys stories.

This book is so appropriate today, maybe more than when it was written in 1948 (a response to the New Deal, perhaps?)! I'm sure I appreciate the message (beware of freeloaders!!) more than my kids, but they enjoy the story and the pictures (as always) are priceless. Dr. Seuss was a national treasure and his books are all terrific.

This book should be in every child's library (and most adults as well). This is the starter book for Orwell's Animal Farm.

I first read this book when I was a little girl. I was really impressed with it then, of all the Dr. Seuss books I thought it was the best because of the message. The poor moose is so soft-hearted, he lets everyone take advantage of him. It has a wonderful message for children to learn about "users". If you only read one Dr. Seuss book to your children, read them this one.

Barnabas Sackett's life from his evasion of the Queen of England in Europe to fighting and befriending different tribes of Indians North of Jamestown and South of Plymouth. Makes a long drive seem much shorter! John Curless has a perfect voice for this story. One of Louis Lamour's best!

I discovered books on CD from a coworker. Having a one hour and ten minute commute each way makes listening to books on CD a great way to enjoy the travel time.
I found this book very well written and very well spoken. One person having to read the voice of many characters is probably not the easiest thing to do. This reading is well done. I found myself sitting in the company parking lot just to finish a chapter before facing my workday. This was my first L'Amour book on CD and it was very enjoyable.

Sackett's Land and To the Far Blue Mountains make a complete story of the life and times of the Sackett progenitor. The combination is entirely satisfactory. L'Amour had the ability to tell the story well, and he developed that ability with years of work and research. It is probably fortunate for Sackett enthusiasts that he wrote the first books in the series later in his writing career. We benefit from his seasoned skills.

As in his westerns, in this book L'Amour focuses on what he finds interesting and what he thinks the reader will like to know. For the most part, he doesn't go into the technical detail that some authors pursue, but he paints a clear picture. The reader has a feeling of being there, or the strong sense that they could be there, right along with our hero.

The Sackett family saga is the story of an American family. Like all of L'Amour's work, it is wholesome and educational. He consistently hits on themes that his readers recognize, the importance of education and critical thinking, respect for our fellow creatures and the world in which we live,loyalty to family and friends, and taking positive action to shape one's own life. All that and a fun story too, for the cost of five bucks.

Dramatically narrated by John Curless, To The Far Blue Mountains is an flawlessly recorded audiobook presentation of yet another of Louis L'Amour's classic western novels featuring the hardy endurance of the Sackett clan as they addressed the challenges of life in the Old West. To The Far Blue Mountains follows Barnabas Sackett, who is on the run with his steadfast wife Abigail and his only escape is to the west. This is a superbly written adventure story of earning a life for oneself on the frontier, surviving all manner of hazards both human and environmental, and eventually prospering despite the hostilities of nature and man alike. To The Far Blue Mountains is an enthusiastically recommended audiobook for personal and community library collections!

I picked up this book because the intro on the back cover sounded good and I've liked almost every L'amour book I've read. Its written in a first person narrative as though he was sitting across from you on the couch telling the story.

The first half of the book is terrific, following his escape from England. We learn of his thirst to be out in the wild open spaces of the newly discovered America, he is falsy accused and is running from the law collecting people to join him as he describes the new beginnings they can have in the New World. Its very tightly written (though I think his escape from prison was way too easy) and you really love the character.

Once the group got to America things changed. In an effort to show the WHOLE life of Barnabas the whole story changes, now we have 50 years of history in 100 pages. So the narrative changes from a day-by-day upbeat story where friends are joining the group to a list of significant events, usually where one of the group dies from an indian raid. It becomes a series of "we built a fort", "xxx died in an indian raid", "the fort burned down", "we went down to sea and traded our skins for supplies", "yyyy died in an indian raid", "we built another fort", etc.

I didn't like the ending either, I think the whole story basically got pretty depressing towards the end with all the group dying or leaving to go off and do other things. All the next generation were grown up and strong but we don't have the emotional connection with them that we did with the first group.