Written by: Doreen Cronin
Illustrated by: Betsy Lewin
Cronin, D. (2000). Click, clack, moo cows that type. New York: Scholastic INC.
Genre: Fantasy
Recommended grades: Pre-K – 4th grade
Awards: 2001 Highly Commended Title (Charlotte Zolotow), 2001 Caldecott Honor Book
Summary: Farmer Brown’s animals find a type writer and start demanding items to make farm life better.
Personal Reflection: I love to read this story to the students because they love the humor in the animals. I read this story as an introduction to my letter writing unit. I model how to write a letter and then the students write their own. In the past, I have partnered with my mother’s first grade class in a different district and they get a pen pal. We write letters back and forth for a nine weeks. This is a great way to teach correspondence. For upper elementary grades, I would recommend that this book be used to teach persuasion. This is writing prompt is needed for students as they are preparing for the 4th grade writing STAARS assessment.
Recommendation: I would highly recommend this book for library purchase because you can teach many lessons from this quick, humorous read.
A Good Day
Written and Illustrated by: Kevin Henkes
Henkes, K. (2007). A good day. New York: Greenwillow Books.
Genre: Fantasy
Recommended grades: Pre-K – 2nd grade
Awards: ALA Children’s Notable Book, 2008 Highly Commended Title (Charlotte Zolotow)
Summary: The animals in the forest are having a bad day, but then as they solve their problems it turns into a good day.
Personal Reflection: This is a great book to teach students how to be a problem solver. It is kid friendly because all the problems are relatable. When I read this story, I stop in the middle, before the good day page, and go back to every animal and ask the students how they would solve the problem for each animal. Then I continue to see if the students were right. Since I teach first grade, I try to include ways to remind the students that they can solve their problems by themselves.
Recommendation: I would highly recommend this book for library purchase because it reminds the students that they can turn a bad day into a good day by looking at a situation differently or by solving their problems. Every student can benefit from this lesson more than once.
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