Realistic Fiction

Peck, Robert Newton
Soup in Love
Delacorte
1992
4th-6th grade

Summary: As Valentine's Day approaches their Vermont town of Learning, Soup and Rob experience several forms of love.

Strengths: There was humor in the book at the various silly things Soup and Rob got themselves into. I also looked forward to the start of a chapter because there would be a drawing of one of the big events to come.

Concerns: At times in the story I did not know what was going on. The boy, Soup, at one point was unraveling string across a football field and I am still unsure of why. Sometimes the language used seemed like it was from the fifties and made it a little incomprehensible at times. I had not checked the date of the book until I was finished and was a little shocked to realize it was written in the nineties.

Classroom use: This book could be read around Valentine's Day for fun. Maybe after the students could create lots of valentines and decorations.


Paterson, Katherine
Bridge to Terabithia
HarperCollins
1977
3rd and up

Summary: A boy, Jess, feels alone at school and in his family full of girls. An unlikely friend, Leslie, helps him to understand a little more about life and death.

Strengths: This is a great story to teach children about death and friendship. The imaginations of the two children will grab children's attention and provide entertainment throughout the story.

Concerns: I was unsure about the time period. I don't know if it was supposed to be set in the seventies when it was written or in the eighties. The death of Leslie was a little abrupt; it kind of just happened and then the story was over. Also the relationship between the art teacher and Jess was not portrayed as well in this story as it was in the movie, so the ending was a little "off."

Classroom Use: This would be a good book for a classroom library that provides a subject on imagination, friendship, and death.

Fitzhugh, Louise
Harriet the Spy
Delacorte
1964
3rd-6th grade

Summary: Harriet writes in her notebook all the time, she loves her nurse, Ole Golly, and her friends. When her notebook is taken and read by classmates, she must learn to apologize in order to win her friends back.

Strengths: I think the story is very entertaining and can teach children how to handle certain situations.

Concerns: Sometimes the story was confusing when it incorporated all the different characters, the main ones and also the ones that Harriet wrote about in her notebook.

Classroom Use: I think this story might inspire young students to write and express their creativity in healthy ways.


Fleming, Denise
In the Small, Small Pond
Henry Holt and Company
1993
Kngrdn-2nd

Summary: Illustrations and rhyming text describe the activities of animals living in and near a small pond as spring progresses to autumn.

Strengths: There are a few words on each page that can help describe the pictures. The pictures are big and bright and can make one feel as if they are actually in a pond.

Concerns: Some very young children may not know how to pronounce some of the words or be able to identify what the animals are, for example the muskrats and whirlings.

Classrom Use: The book can be used as an example of how to use words to describe illustrations and also for sequence-from spring to autumn.


Multicultural
Capital Choice
Cunnane, Kelly
For You are a Kenyan Child
Atheneum Books for Young Readers
2006
1-3rd

Summary: From rooster crow to bedtime, a Kenyan boy plays and visits neighbors all through his village, even though he is supposed to be watching his grandfather's cows.

Strengths: I thought all the events that went on during the day while the boy was avoiding taking care of the cow were entertaining.

Concerns: Sometimes it was irritating the way the story was written. The text makes the reader the the main character. At first it did not make sense to me until I reread it.

Classroom Use: This book could be a source that depicts a multicultural setting through the eyes of a young child that students could relate to.