Caldecott Medal Winners

Snowflake Bentley

by Jacqueline Briggs Martin
Grade K -6
Wilson Bentley loved snow and wanted to take a picture of it. He showed the world that no two snowflakes are alike with his beautiful pictures. The story of how he perfected his photographs is beautifully illustrated in this book.

Jumanji

by Chris Van Allsburg
Grades K-4

Two children with nothing to do find a board game in the park. Their wild adventure comes to life as the game becomes real.  The children are faced with ferocious lions and mischievous monkeys.  They must win the game for the adventure to end.

Grandfather's Journey
by Allen Say
Grades 2-6

Grandfather's Journey is the story of how a boy comes to the United States from Japan.  Once he is living in California he misses his homeland and returns to Japan.  Many years later his grandson wishes to see where his grandfather lived and take the journey to the United States too.  This story shares how he came to love both countries and miss them when he was away.

The Little House

by Virginia Lee Burton
Grades K-3

There once was a little house in the country.  The house was happy with the land around it.  As time goes by the land begins to change as more houses are built and more people come.  The more time that passes the more things are built until the house is surrounded by a large city and is not happy anymore.  This story conveys the passage of time with the colorful illustrations that allow the reader to believe the houses feelings and hope for a happy ending.

Lon Po Po

by Ed Young
Grade K-4

This is the fairy tale "Little Red Riding Hood", in a version from China.   The story of the wolf trying to eat three little girls who have been left alone is told with stunning pictures to help the tale.  The girls are too clever for the wolf and are able to trick him. The artwork in this book is more than worthy of the Caldecott award.

The Polar Express

by Chris Van Allsburg
Grade K-4

When a boy does not believe in the magic of Christmas he has an amazing dream.  He travels to the North Pole and has no choice but to believe what he sees.  After he has an amazing adventure he awakes to find that it was not all a dream.  The gift that he receives changes his mind about what he should believe.

Where the Wild Things Are

by Maurice Sendak
Grade K-2

One night when Max has become too wild for his mom he is sent to bed with no dinner. He goes to his room where he travels on a journey across the seas to where the wild things are. He is the most wild thing and becomes king of all the wild things. He soon becomes home sick and travels back home to find mom and his dinner.

The Man Who Walked Between the Towers

by Mordecai Gerstein
Grade K-6

This story is based on the amazing feat of Philippe Petit. He was a French acrobat that stretched a tightrope between the two towers of the World Trade Center while they were being built. The man spent an hour walking, dancing, and laying on the tightrope. The pictures show how high he was from the view up above as well as from below. This was an amazing true story made into a children's book that will astound a child of any age.

Math Concept Books

Sir Cumference and the First Round Table 

by Cindy Neuschwander Grades 1-3

This is a story of how the Knights of the Round table got a round table.  The book mentions basic geometry shapes and tells how we got the terms diameter, circumference and radius.  This is a cute story that can help students remember the three important terms that are associated with the circle.

Apple Fractions

by Jerry Pallotta, Grades K-3

This book has great pictures that explain basic fractions.  The pictures make it easy to understand the concept of dividing an object into equal pieces.  The book shows different apples broken into different fractions.  This is a great book for introducing basic fractions to small children as well as reinforce the concept for older children.

The Best of Times

by Greg Tang , Grades 3-4

The basic multiplication tables are taught in rhyme.  There are tricks for figuring out how to multiply up to 10.  The lines are catchy and easy to remember. The pictures are fun and the examples will help to teach how to multiply.  This is a great book to introduce multiplication or review with struggling students.

The Hershey's Milk Chocolate Fractions Book

by Jerry Pallotta, Grades 3-4

Any child that likes chocolate will love this book.  An entire fraction lesson teaching adding fractions, equivalent fractions, denominators, numerators, subtracting fractions, and simplifying fractions is taught in this fraction book.  The pictures are simple and help to show what the students need to do.  Jerry Pallotta explains the process very clearly and with a touch of humor.

How Much Is a Million?

by David M. Schwartz, Grades K -3

This book introduces the concept of how big a million is.  The story compares a million, a billion, and a trillion to things children can understand. Young children will love the silly pictures and understand just how large these numbers are.

Math for All Seasons

by Greg Tang, Grade K-3

Math in riddles is the theme of this beautifully illustrated book.  Although it is focused at very young children to add small numbers, the patterns that need to be recognized to get the answers that the riddles ask are suitable for children in third or fourth grade.  The pictures are beautiful and the rhyming riddles are fun to read.

Roman Numerals

by David A. Adler, Grades 2-5

This is a great way for children to learn how to read and write Roman numerals.  The book gives a very brief description of different types of numbers and then shows how to write Roman numerals.  The pages are simple and easy to follow.

 

More M&M's Math

by Barbara Barbieri McGrath, Grade 1-4

M&Ms are a great way to help kids learn. This book shows them how to sort, graph and compare using something they love.  The M&M characters that everyone knows give children directions on these difficult math skills as well as multiplication, problem solving, and division.

The Grapes of Math

by Greg Tang, Grade 2

More of Greg Tang's math riddles can be found in this book.  The pictures are colorful and fun and will hold the attention of young children.  The riddles have the reader perform different math tasks such as skip counting, grouping, subtraction, and  finding patterns.

May 16th Class

I am very excited to take this class. The reading that we have to do is a welcome break from the textbooks. The enthusiasm that Prof. Meloni brings to class adds to the wonderful content of the class. Let the reading begin!