Clementine- Monarch Nominee 2009

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Clementine. These are the types of books that I would have loved to have read as a child when i was just beginning to read chapter books on my own. I even think I would have enjoyed them if my parents had read them to me. Even as a nineteen year old, I found myself chuckling at the humor throughout the story. It was a very easy read as well because it was so entertaining. I felt like a child all over again, waiting in anticipation to hear the end of the story. I know the book isn't very long, but I did end up reading it in one sitting because I became so engrossed. There is humor in the book that young children will pick up on, but there is also humor in there that becomes even more funny when you realize what it would be like to actually come across a child like Clementine. Being an elementary education major, I found myself imagining what it would be like to have Clementine as a student. I think it would also be interesting to read this book again in a few years when I have a class of my own to see if I have any students that remind me of the characters in the story.

My Mama Needs Me- 1984 Coretta Scott King illustrator winner

My Mama Needs Me would not be a book that I would recommend to others to read. It wasn't a bad book for a one-time read, but it's not something that I would want to read any more than that. It also is not one of the top books that I have read in awhile, which would be why I would not recommend it to others. It wasn't that I disliked the book; it just was not one of my favorites. This is a cute book for portraying how children always want to be of help to their parents, but it doesn't really have a point other than that. I can relate to the book because I know that I would do whatever I could to help my mother with my younger sister after she was born. Jason is no different that any other child who wants take over the duties of caring for a younger sibling. I think that children would be able to relate to him, but they would not find the book interesting or funny because there is nothing out of the ordinary that happens. I just do not feel that this book would be able to hold their attention. It would be something they would have to read as they got older because they might be able to relate to it better thinking back to when they were younger.

The Friendship- 1988 Coretta Scott King author winner

I thought The Friendship was an excellent book. I had never heard of it before, but am very glad that I chose to read it. It had beautiful pictures that really brought the story to life as well as a very strong message. The Friendship showed the importance of standing up for what you believe in and staying true to the people you care about as well as yourself. It broke my heart to see Mr. Tom Bee betrayed by the man whose life he had saved various times. Mr. Tom Bee shows the readers the importance of not following the crowd. He knows that he deserves to be treated fairly and that he has earned the respect of these men, and refuses to lower himself to their level. This is a very important lesson for young children to learn because they will soon be pressured to follow the crowd. Unfortunately, John Wallace chose to follow the crowd and let down the person who used to be his best friend. The reader sees what an impact these actions can have on another person's life and how badly someone can be hurt by someone they thought they could trust. Hopefully, this story would have enough of an impact on the reader to make them think twice about how their actions are going to affect others.

Maniac Magee- 1991 Newbery Winner

Maniac Magee is a book that I enjoy very much. When I chose it, I remembered that I had read it in school when I was younger, but had forgotten what it was about. It is important for children to read this book when they are around middle school age because they will soon be faced with new forms of diversity issues. Maniac Magee shows these kids how race should not make a difference in who you associate with. It has such a strong message that I enjoyed it more now than I had ever before. I think that it is very important to go back and reread the books that you had read as a child. As you get older, you start to appreciate the stories more and can relate to the issues that they express. I had never been faced with diversity before middle school because we were taught to be friends with everyone. All of this changes as you get older and start to develop your own identity and experience new things. Maniac Magee gave me a preview of racial issues before I ever saw them for myself. Of course, I never saw them to the degree that book the portrayed them, but that does not mean that they were not existant.

Fables- 1981 Caldecott Winner

Fables proved to be a very interesting read. It is a collection of short stories that each have their own message. Although the messages are great life-lessons to know, they are not anything that a child would be interested in. Many of them are too complex or worded in a way that kids would not understand. I think that this book might be okay for 4th or 5th graders if the teacher just picked a select few stories out of it to read to them. A couple of the stories contain valuable lessons for the students to know and state them in a way that they might be able to understand as long as the teacher discussed them with the students. I even found a few of the stories to be weird and make no sense, so the teacher needs to make sure that he or she is picky in choosing what stories to have the students read.

Jumanji- 1982 Caldecott Winner

I chose to read Jumanji because it reminded me of the many times that I watched the movie as a child. I vaguely recall having the book read to me back in grade school, but there is no way I could forget the many nights that the movie Jumanji would be on television and my sisters and I would watch it, completely engrossed. Presently, I enjoy the book more than the movie because I feel that the movie was a little bit drawn out. I think that the book got the point across in about 15 pages of text just as well as the movie did. I also really enjoyed the beautiful illustrations in the story. The pictures are incredibly realistic and would be great to show to a classroom of young children. I really enjoyed reading this book. It helped me to realize even more how books are important to read because they can actually prove be better than the movie, despite what most children will tell you.