10 Little Rubber Ducks

Written and Illustrated by Eric Carle. Carle is most famous for creating the children's classic "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" which was published in 1969.  He is a Syracuse, New York native, but grew up was educated in Germany.  He returned to New York and has been an author illustrator ever since.  To find out more about Eric Carle check out his website.

Genre: Non-Fiction
Theme: Animals, Numbers/Counting
Ages: 2-7

Summary:  The story begins with rubber duckies being manufactured in a factory and then their travels by distribution. When one box of 10 rubber ducks fall overboard.   As they drift apart at sea each passes different animals on their way.





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Pre-Reading Activity: Tell students that they will be hearing a story about rubber ducks.  Have them explain the differences between living ducks and rubber ducks. Make a chart with differences.

Post Reading Activity: Have students take on the role of the 11th rubber duck.  Have them do a journal response about what direction they would drift in the water, what animal they would see, and what that animal would do.

Reflection:  What I like initially when reading this story is that on the very first page is that there are 10 out lines of rubber duckies for children to practice counting up to 10.  I also enjoy that there are lots of onomatopoeias and words that help create sound into the reading.  Eric Carle creates an enviornment that makes the reader feel completely emerged. He also uses a literary technique of repetition which is a good tool for young writers.  If you own the hardcover edition of this text it ends with a literal squeak!

10 Little Penguins

"A Pop-Up Book from the bestselling creators of 365 Penguins."
Written by Jean-Luc Fromental and illustrated by Joelle Jolivet.
Fromental is a French screenwriter, author, and publisher.  Beginning her illustration career in the late 80s, she began to team with Fromental in the mid 2000's.  Together the team has produced several popular and famous children's books about penguins and more.

Genre: Fiction

Theme: Animals/Numbers

Ages: 4 - 7

Summary:  This pop up book is also interactive with arrows to pull and penguins to count.  Starting at 10 and working the way down to 0, the penguins are all having mischievousness fun until one by one they all leave in unique ways.  

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Pre-Reading Activity:  Ask for 10 students to line up in front of classmates one by one, have remaining students count out loud how many they have. Repeat the process asking students to leave the line to join their peers.  Have class count down from 10 to 0.  Instruct the class that the skill of counting downward from 10 will be very helpful in reading this story.

Post-Reading Activity: Have students make their own 10 little (insert animal here) book following the pattern.  The initial assignment would be to create their own title and cover page for the book.  For adaptation or to create full length book students may begin at the number 5 and work their way down. 

Reflection:  This book is the kind that the reader wants to get up very closely to and play with.  Students will want to count each penguin with their fingers.  I really enjoy that this book can be used to talk about art, math, animals, habitat  and even the importance of how to care for books. 

That's Like Me!

Written by Jill Lauren. Lauren received both her B.A. and M.A. in Learning Disabilities from Northwestern University.  She has been teaching students with Learning Disabilities in the classroom for 25 years.  Her expertise has led to her ability to be an on-call consultant today in New York City, where she will also give the occasional lecture.

Genre: Nonfiction
Theme: Learning Disabilites
Ages: 8 and up

Summary: Includes the first hand account of 15 children and adults that learn differently. Each is uniquely successful in their endeavors, yet faced with challenges in school.







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Susan Laughs

Written by Jeanne Willis and illustrated by Tony Ross.  Willis was born in the UK, in St Albans, Herts.  She was very close with her grandparents growing up, she wrote her first novel on her grandmother's manual typewriter.  She was married at the London Zoo and lives with her family today.  While Ross is best known for his illustration, he also has written several of his own books, including the Little Princesses series.

 

Genre: Fiction
Themes: Disability
Ages: 6 and Up

Summary: This is another sweet children's picture book which begins with a simple repeating structure of 'Susan rows, Susan throws, ect...” Susan can do anything a typical child can do. This is a surprising story because you do not know that the protagonist is anything but typical until the very last page. You discover that Susan is physically handicapped and needs to use a wheel chair but you only know that from the picture, the story ends with the words that she is just like me and you. This text sparks great discussion for not underestimating the abilities of those with special needs.

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My Friend Has Down Syndrome

Written by Amanda Doering Tourville and illustrated by Kristin Sorra.  Tourville lives in Eagan, Minnesota with her husband and her pet bulldog.  Sorra is an avid painter, having illustrated two other books as well. Today, she lives in New York with her husband (who is also an artist) and pet dog.

Genre: Nonfiction
Themes: Friendship/Relationships
Ages: 5 and up

Summary: This is another book from the "Friends with Disabilities" Series. See entry on "My Friend has Autism" for more detail.






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My Friend Has Autism

Written by Amanda Doering Tourville and illustrated by Kristin Sorra. Tourville lives in Eagan, Minnesota with her husband and her pet bulldog. Sorra is an avid painter, having illustrated two other books as well. Today, she lives in New York with her husband (who is also an artist) and pet dog.

Genre: Nonfiction
Themes: Friendships/Relationships
Ages: 6 and up

Summary:  This is a cute children's story helping to describe what people with autism may be like. It is the short story of a young boy who is friends with another young boy from an airplane club. Each page includes a little 'did you know?' note that helps to explain common characteristics of people with autism. It is a great beginning book for introducing this condition to children. This text also offers other books and even web sites to consider for looking for more information.

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Different Like Me: My Book of Autism Heroes

Written by Jennifer Elder with illustrations by  Marc Thomas. Jennifer Elder was born and raised in San Francisco, and continued through college there as well studying at the San Francisco Art Institute.  In addition to writing two children's books on Autism, she is also an assistant editor at a large publishing company.   She writes on topics like autism because she has a child with Asperger's Syndrome.

Genre: Nonfiction
Theme: Historical Figures with Special Needs
Ages: 8 - 12

Summary: This story introduces children to famous historical figures, their accomplishments and their characteristics.  What is different about this story is that it is told by a young boy with Asperger's Syndrome.  He tells the readers about heroes with autism. It includes famous figures from Albert Einstein, Dian Gossey and Wassily Kandinsky to Lewis Carroll, Benjamin Banneker and Julia Bowman Robinson, and many other.  What links all of these important figures together is that they all struggled to fit in.  The book also has a list of other stories about people with special needs for further reading.

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