UPSIDE DOWN and BACKWARDS, BY: Diane Bertrand

This book was so much fun to read. It has a bunch of different stories built in the same book. I like the stories because they explain real life things that can happen. Diana's Party, was a chapter in the book. In the chapter Luis has to stay with his aunt, TIa Anita. He is suppose to go to a friends party and Tia tries to give him a powder puff, he tries to explain how he has a gift card. She thinks that is just rediculous. In the end he realizes his anut isnt so bad and her present wasn't either. I also readlly like how the stories are both in english and in spanish. This would be a great book for a class read, because if a child doesnt know english well, they still will know what is going on. The cover on both sides is the same one in spanish and one in english, I also like this because it doesnt show which side is more important.

When I heard the learn'd astronomer, By: Walt Witman

When I heard the learn'd astronomer, By Walt Witman is a great book full of imagination. When reading the book you can look at all the amazing pictures and see what is exactly going on in the book. The pictures are so real you feel as though you are there with the little boy. At first he cares around his small rocket ship and goes and looks at all the different diagrams and models. Eventually he goes out doors and imagines in the stars that his space ship is flying. This book is full of amazing art work and really makes the reader use their imagination. Sometimes reading a book takes imagination. This would be a great book to read to students and have them imagine flying a rocket ship or what they think the stars look like at night.

Los Gatos Black on Halloween, By: Marisa Montes

Los Gatos Black on Halloween, was a good book. At first when i started reading it I was not sure how i felt about it. It explained about ghost, witches, skeletons which can all be kind of scary for little kids to think about when related to Halloween. When I read on I realized that I liked the book, because in the end the children went to the monsters ball and said, "TRICK OR TREAT." At that moment all the monsters were scared of the children instead of the other way around. I think this would be a great book to read to students around Halloween time, because not only does it say words in spanish and english but it shows them that monsters are just as scared of them as they are of the monsters!

I love Saturdays y domingos, By: Alma Flor Ada

I love Saturdays y domingos, is a book about a girl that hangs out with her english speaking grandparents on saturdays and her spanish speaking grandparents on domingos. I like this book because it shows the two different sides of her life. She can speak english when she needs to or spanish at other times. For example, she calls her grandparents on Saturdays grandma and grandpa, but on Sundays, domingos she calls her grandparents abuelita and abuelito. I think that this would be a great book for children that are just learning the english language or children that are from english/spanish speaking homes. This book really shows diversity with in the family which can be very important as the world is becoming more diverse.

The Name Jar, By: Yangsook Choi

This book is about a little girl named Unhei that has moved from Korea to the United States. When she left Korea her grandmother gve her a stamp with a Korean symbols that spells out the name Unhei. When she goes to class in the U.S. for the first time the class asks what her name is and she said she wasnt sure yet. The class makes her a name jar and puts different names in it to help Unhei decided on an American name. She goes back and forth on names until she realizes that she wants to keep her name Unhei, because it is special and it makes her different. I think that this book is a excelent way to get children excited about finding out the background on their names. I like that the little girls name is different and shows her culture through her name even though she has moved to the U.S. she can still carry out her Korean culture through her name. A new country or even city can be scary at a young age so this would be a great way to get the class to be inviting when a new student is introduced.

Graduation Day!

My boyfriend Johnnie and I




My puppy Zeus!

My name is Maria Isabel, About book

The little girl Maria Isabel, is very proud of her name. She goes to a new school and her teacher re-names her Mary. She hates this because she is proud of her name! I think it is a great book because it shows the background of Maria's name and how proud she is of it. In the end her name gets changed because she made a wish. I think this is a good book to make students wonder where their names came from and get them interested in history.