katieritoch's reviews
509 reviews

Pretty Salma is an African retelling of the classic story Little Red Riding Hood. In this version, Salma goes to the market to pick things up for Granny but goes home on the crazy side of town. On her way home, she meets Mr.Dog who steals all her things then pretends to be her. In the end, Salma and her grandfather save the day by wearing masks and pretending to be scary folk legends and scaring Mr. Dog away. Again, a great book for teaching about different cultures. Would go well with the Anasi series.

Assignment #2

Lon Po Po is a Chinese retelling of the classic story of Little Red Riding Hood. In this version, three cunning sisters trick the wolf until he falls to his death. This book would be amazing to teach about different cultures and how fairytales vary from culture to culture.

Assignment #2

A Lady Has the Floor is an inspirational book about the early women’s rights leader, Belva Lockwood. This book goes through the life story of Belva Lockwood and her efforts as an activist in early America. This book would be perfect for teaching about history, especially women’s history. The illustrations are also very pretty in this book.

Assignment #1

What Can You Do With a Rebozo? Is a great teaching tool for one of the cultural aspects of the Mexican culture. This book goes through all the different uses of the rebozo and has stunning illustrations. It’s a Pura Belpré award winner. I think this book is good for teaching about different aspects of different cultures and what a rebozo is.

Leave Me Alone! Is a Caldecott medal winner and has the most stunning illustrations. The story follows a grandmother of 30 who just wants quiet time to knit. The story follows her as she travels from place to place looking for a place to knit. The story would be useful when teaching about how the room needs to be quiet at times to let people work. The book would also be a fun read aloud.

Assignment #3

A Ball For Daisy is a super cute wordless book. The book tells a story of a dog who loves her red ball. One day she takes the ball to the park and another dog pops it. This book would be great for teaching inferences and all about friendship. Another tool this book could be used for is teaching about forgiveness and apologies. The pictures are amazing in this book but does lack words which can make it hard to follow the story.

In Plain Sight is a cute story of a little girl and her grandfather hiding items and seeking them. The book was a Coretta Scott King winner and has the most beautiful illustrations. The storyline of the book was a bit hard to follow but showed how the little girl could always count on her grandfather and vice verse. The book would useful for possibly playing hide and seek with the pictures in the book.

This book would be great for primary students as it teaches a message. Chrysanthemum is a story of a little girl who starts kindergarten and is made fun of for her name. After Chrysanthemum struggles through the school year, she meets her music teacher who also is named after a flower and helps her to overcome the bullies and anxieties. Would be great to use in the classroom to help teach kindness and diversity.

Little Red Hot is a Texas retelling of the classic story of Little Red Riding Hood. In this hilarious tale, Little Red Hot brings her grandma hot pepper pie instead of bread and chaos ensues. This story would be appropriate for younger grades to compare and contrast with the original version.


*Book used in Assignment #2

Those Shoes is a story about a boy who wants new, popular shoes. Unfortunately, his grandmother can't afford the shoes he wants. They end up finding the shoes at a thrift store but they are too small. Jeremy sees a boy in his class who has taped together shoes and seems to be about the same size as the small shoes. He gives the shoes to the other little boy. In the end, everything works out because Jeremy can wear his brand-new winter boots. I personally, wouldn't use this book in my classroom as I feel it plays into African-American stereotypes. I also wasn't a fan of the message of you need to have these shoes in order to be popular. You could use this book to talk about generosity but I feel the bad outweighs the good in this story.