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!

Randolph Caldecott illustrated this nursery rhyme/ children’s book A Frog He Would A-Wooing Go. This nursery rhyme is about Frog and Rat who visit their friend Ms. Mouse at her house. The three characters dance, sing, and eat all afternoon enjoying each other’s company. All at once a cat and her kittens come into Ms. Mouse’s house and eat her and Rat. Frog escapes and walks home peacefully. On his way home however, he is eaten by a swan near the pond. Although this nursery rhyme is strange, it was published in the 1860’s which shows how nursery rhymes have progressed. This story is important because Beatrix Potter was inspired by Caldecott’s illustrations. Potter was fascinated by the animals in clothing (not something Caldecott typically illustrated) and the style of black and white sketches in combination with full color drawings. This is one of my favorite Caldecott works!

The Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck is about a simple minded duck who trusts a fox to take care of her eggs while she is away. While the fox is “watching” the eggs, Jemima is off making new friends in the forest. Her new friends tell her to hurry back to her eggs before they are gone. When she returns, Jemima finds her eggs eaten. She learns not to trust anyone with her eggs and lays new eggs. This time she is patient and cares for her eggs herself.  Jemima  learns to be independent and to take care of herself and her babies. This Beatrix Potter story has wonderful illustrations and not your cliche children’s book story line. The World of Beatrix Potter had several models of Jemima Puddle-Duck and her eggs. It was fantastic to be able to see Jemima come to life through the museum. I enjoyed this book and recommend it to those who love a good Beatrix Potter tale!