Neil Gaiman’s Coraline tells the story of a young girl who moves to a new home with her family. The house is very old and Coraline finds a little door that leads to an alternate world much like her own. Coraline decides the alternate world is too weird when her “other mother” tries to sew buttons onto her eyes. She enters her regular world and finds her parents missing. This book is good for students who love mystery and horror stories. This was one of my favorite books when I was younger and reading it again as an adult was like going on a trip through time. Coraline would be a great book to teach symbolism and figurative language to students. This story also inspires creativity to middle elementary students who are maturing and still need a burst of imagination.

Paddington Bear and Mr. Grubber spend the day walking around the carnival. Paddington Bear and Mr. Grubber began looking around for words that begin with B. Paddington sees a boat that he hopes to ride on, a bee buzzing around his head, and balloons that a clown was giving away. At the end of the day Paddington got to go on the boat ride that he had desired all day long. I love this book because it is great for children who are starting to recognize letters, find the beginning letters of words, or using literature to make real world connections. I definitely recommend this book to early elementary students!

Beatrix Potter’s beloved tale tells of farm girl named Lucie who has lost three handkerchiefs and her pinafore. After questioning some animals on the farm, Lucie ventures into the woods behind the farm to search for her missing laundry. Here she finds the little hillside home of Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle, a hedgehog washerwoman. Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle has found Lucie’s missing items and even laundered and starched them for her! They have tea together and then return to Lucie’s farm, but when Lucie tries to thank Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle, she has been transformed into a regular, run of the mill hedgehog! Was it a dream? We may never know. But the author attests that she too has met Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle and seen her little home in the woods.

This is a fun little story for young kids, with beautiful illustrations to keep students interested. Although it was originally geared toward girls, it is appropriate for both genders and all ages!

Matilda by Roald Dahl

Matilda was my favorite movie growing but I had never read the book until now. Like almost every other story that is made into a movie, the book has quite a few more details. I thought it was so great to see the musical as well because there were a lot of added things that were not in the book or movie. I think that the book is a classic that every child should read. It is funny but serious at the same time. The story takes a seriousness of a child being neglected and makes it humorous and understandable for young readers. It also takes the serious subject such as abuse at school and makes it funny. I think this part is really great because in the book and especially in the play, the good people win. All of the students concur Miss Trunchbull. Not only does the school win but Matilda, Miss Honey and even Matilda’s family all come out with a victory. Matilda gets a loving guardian, Miss Honey escapes her evil aunt, and Matilda’s family doesn’t have to put up with their genius child anymore.

A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett

This book was my all time favorite book in elementary school. I think I was fascinated with not only the way that Sara lived but also by the idea of boarding school. I was amazed by her wealth and proper she was for a young girl. The story is very entertaining with the ups and downs. From being treated like a princess and then a servant and then back to a princess, Sara is a very strong character. She never loses her poise or sweet gestures. She makes friends with everyone she can even though she as to teach the children and do everything that Headmistress Miss Minchin demands. I think that Sara’s integrity is very honorable and is something that all girls, and even boys should learn at a young age. When things don’t go your way, whether it is something small or large, such as losing a parent, you have to stay true to yourself and be a good person. I think this book is also very entertaining for children because it is set in a different country and culture. I think it gives children something to think about and be curious about. It is hard to pinpoint why I loved this book so much but I think it was because Sara acted like a generous princess no matter her circumstances. For many years, her peers stopped treating her like royalty but she always treated them as if she was a saint. I think it was just inspiring to read about a character that shined from the inside out, no matter how horrid her surroundings were.

The Complete Tales of Beatrix Potter by Beatrix Potter

This collection of Beatrix Potter’s tales was where I found The Tale of Peter Rabit, The Tale of Two Bad Mice, and The Tale of Tom Kitten (the ones I recorded) as well as many others. I thought this collection of tales was truly unique. Growing up I had heard quite a few of these tales but I had no idea that there were so many. Something unique about these stories is how the characters reappear time and time again in tales other than their own. Peter Rabbit is in a lot of the stories as well as Samuel Whiskers and Tom Kitten. A lot of the characters are related as well. Something I find funny about these tales is how the stories end. There isn’t a big conclusion or a happily ever after, just “The End”. This does make sense though since they are just short tales and not long stories. I also really enjoyed this book because it gave a little background to Beatrix Potter’s life as well as “About this book” for every single Tale. The explanations of each book included the reasoning behind Beatrix writing the tale and how the story came about. I think this is a great book because not only does it have all the tales but it also provides a look in the history of each tale. My favorite tale is The Tale of Two Bad Mice. The way that Beatrix describes the dollhouse and the dolls that live there is almost comical. She doesn’t pretend that the dolls are real, but instead talks about how beautiful the meals were but they never had to be prepared because they came in a box and wouldn’t come off the plate. In the “About This Book”, it is told that Beatrix kept some of the dollhouse furniture her whole life and can still be seen in her Lakeland home today.

Not For Parents Great Britain Everything you ever want to know by Janine Scott and Peter Rees

I thought this book was very interesting and easy to understand. Sometimes I think kids learn to dislike history because it can be boring and it never changes but this book does a good job of keeping the reader’s attention and interest in reading about Great Britain. The book touches on everything from how to play rugby to the timeline of all the royals in the land. I really enjoyed this book because I learned little things that I didn’t even know. The book included big things like how James Young Simpson discovered liquid anesthetic but also small things like the “rules of drinking tea.” I think that this is a good book for all ages but especially late elementary and middle school. I think this is a time where kids start to dislike reading and even history so these “Not For your Parents” books are great ones to keep kids’ attention. The book makes you think you are reading a bunch of little facts when in the long run you are learning a lot more. This is a great read for anyone interested in Great Britain’s customs and history. It definitely has all the information that a textbook or the internet would have but keeps it simple and entertaining.

The Enormous Crocodile by Roald Dahl 

I really enjoyed this book because it was the first time I had heard of it and it was the first time I had seen Quentin Blake’s work in color (other than on the web). The book starts off with the enormous crocodile telling the smaller croc that he would like to go to the village and get a child to eat. He is told that he is being greedy and that he should just stay in the river where he belongs and eat the fish. He is so determined and sure that his tricks will work, he sets out on his quest. He brags to all the other jungle animals about how he is going to eat children and no one seems to approve. The hippopotamus, elephant, monkey, and bird all tell him he is not smart and should stay in the jungle. After trying to eat a few of the other animals, he works up an appetite and decides he will have to eat multiple children. When he gets to the village, all of his plans fail thanks to the other animals and he eventually dies. I thought this ending was little strange because I feel like in books written today, the character that is learning a lesson is almost always punished but never actually dies. This book was published in 1978 so it is not exactly up to date but I still think it had a great message, do not be greedy and be thankful for what you have. I thought Blake’s drawings were amazing and I loved seeing them with color and filling up all the pages.