Mel's Book Corner

Title: How to Trick the Tooth Fairy Genre: Fantasy Author: Erin Danielle Russell Major Awards: None Age Group: Pre-K-1st grade Kaylee is the queen of pranks. She pulls pranks day-in and day-out, and even pulled one on Santa Claus! She knows that nobody can perform pranks better than she can until...she meets the Tooth Fairy! She pranks the Tooth Fairy by putting a fake frog under her pillow instead of her tooth. This causes the Tooth Fairy to cast a spell and fill Kaylee's room with real frogs. The Tooth Fairy and Kaylee try to outperform each other in pranks, and then realize what a mess they have made in Kaylee's house. In the end, they clean up their mess and decide that they should become friends instead of trying to be better than the other.  I am unsure about if I would want this in my classroom. Sure, it is a silly story about the antics of a Tooth Fairy, but it did not really have a big impact on me. The main character, Kaylee, and the Tooth Fairy pulled some...

Title: Corduroy Genre: Fantasy Author: Don Freeman Major Awards: Indie's Choice Book Awards Picture Book Hall of Fame, Top 100 Picture Books for 21st Century- School Library Journal  Age Group: Pre-K-1st grade Corduroy is a story about a bear named Corduroy who lives on a shelf at a department store. He desperately wants to be purchased and loved by someone. One day, a young girl spots Corduroy and wants to buy him. Her mother says no, and tells her that Corduroy is missing a button. Corduroy had no clue he lost one of his buttons, so in an attempt to find it, he runs around the department store searching for his lost button. A security officer finds him causing a raucous, and takes him back to his spot on the shelf. At the end, the same young girl from the day before comes to buy Corduroy and they become best friends forever.  This is a classic children's novel that is loved by young children, so I would like to have it in my classroom! Corduroy just wants to love ...

Title: The Twelve Dancing Princesses Genre: Fantasy Author: Alison Jay Major Awards: None Age Group: 3rd-5th grade This story is about a group of twelve princesses who are sisters. Each morning when they awoke, their father noticed that their shoes looked like they had been danced in all night. The father asked them what they did at night, and they assured him that they slept in their beds. The father did not believe them, so he sent in princes to spy on them as the slept. The father said that whoever could discover what these princesses were up to at night could marry the princess of their choice. The first prince was given wine from the princesses upon entering their room. This wine made him sleepy, so he fell asleep each night instead of spying on the princesses. One day, a wounded soldier was riding through the kingdom when he met a woman. She handed him an invisible cloak and told him to not drink the wine when it was offered at the door of the princesses' room. Upo...

Title: Georgia's Terrific, Colorific Experiment Genre: Science Fiction Author: Zoe Persico Major Awards: None Age Group: 1st-3rd grade This story is about a girl named Georgia. Georgia's family are all artists, and she is amazed by everything they create. Georgia is not like them, though. She loves space, learning about cell structure, and is in awe of what famous scientists have done. She always imagines herself traveling to space and traveling the world to meet famous scientists. Georgia wants to be just like the scientists she learns about, and sets out to create her very own experiment. All of her family members doubt her because all they know about is art. Their doubt pushes her even harder to create an experiment. One day, she goes deep into the forest and starts dreaming about what she can create. She gets discouraged and wonders how scientists come up with their experiments, when she gets an idea. She decides to mix art and science and starts filling beakers wi...

Title: Giant Tess Genre: Science Fiction Author: Dan Yaccarino Major Awards: None Age Group: Pre-K-1st grade This story is interesting because it is set in "Mythhattan", and in this town there is "Centaur Park", "Grand Cyclops Station", "The Lower Beast Side", along with other spin-off names of places in New York City. Giant Tess is a story about an extraordinary girl named Tess.  Tess was adopted and quickly realizes she is not like anyone else she knows: she is a giant. She struggles to fit in with her peers, and desperately wants to be "normal." One day, she tries to help set up for the annual parade when havoc strikes; she breaks everything in sight because she is so giant. Defeated, she runs to a park where she meets a dragon named Smokey. She becomes best friends with the dragon because they are both the same size. In the end, she and the dragon help rescue the mayor who starts to float away in the parade. Tess never aga...