“It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live.”

This story is one that I would love to get to read as a chapter book to one of my classes. It is so descriptive and shows how we can create the imaginative worlds and put them into writing. I think this would engage young readers and get the exciting about both reading and writing. You could also go off and create whole lessons in different subjects based on this book.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's stone is a wonderful speculative fiction book that follows Harry Potter who learns about a world of wizardry that he was born into on his 11th birthday. The first book looks into his first year at boarding school which is at a school for wizards, and introduces the magical world of Hogwarts and the friends and adventures he encounters along the way.

“The wolf huffed, and he puffed, but no matter how much he tried, he could not blow down.”

This book would be great for young children. It is a great way to show how you can take one story/fable, and change it to a magical new story. This story would be great for literature activities, such as comparing the two stories. Putting them side by side will help children to work on comparing and contrasting the stories.

Published in 2002. Created a crazy twist on the traditional tale of The Three Little Pigs. He uses the illustrations as a big part of the story, such as creating depth and dimensions to switch it up. He makes the pigs come to life, by creating a narrative for them.

“He did not want to miss a moment”.

In this story we loved how the hedgehog was able to experience some of winter and see what snow looked like before he hibernated. All because the little girl took him inside! It shows appreciation to the beauty of the winter season

The Snowy Nap by Jan Brett (2018), it has not won any awards. This story follows a hedgehog named Hedgie who is about to hibernate for the winter. He goes on one last walk around the farm and all the other animals say goodbye to him and tell him they will miss him. Hedgie realizes he doesn‘t want to hibernate so he tries to stay up, a young girl saves him and brings him indoors so he can look out the windows and experience the beauty of the winter

“Matti couldn't wait any longer. He opened the oven door to take a peek. Instead of a gingerbread boy, out jumped a gingerbread baby!“

This story is great to use during a folk tail lesson but read after the original story about the gingerbread man. The students can compare and contrast the two stories to each other. There is a great use of pictures for younger readers who cannot quite read the words on the page.

This story is a spin the the Gingerbread Man tale, where the little boy accidentally undercooks the gingerbread and out pops a gingerbread baby. The baby runs away and the boy goes after him on a journey until they find him hiding away in the gingerbread house that the little boy made!

“It soared over the sea with its message of change and hope.”

This is a great written and visual story that teaches readers to learn and explore the world!

Little Mermaid written by Jerry Pinkney is a adventurous book about Melody who wants to explore the world, not just the ocean. She gives up her voice to the sea witch to travel land and make new friends. This story shows different trials one must go through in life and what they will learn!

“But I hope we never see her again.“

The illustrations in this book are very detailed and would be interesting to talk about during a read aloud

Goldilocks and the Three Bears by James Marshall (1989) is a retelling of the classic tale of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Goldilocks takes a shortcut through the woods and ends up in the home of three bears, where she makes a mess. The three bears return to find their home has been messed with and find Goldilocks.

“Lisa was chasing them when Hedgie reached his den. How ridiculous they look! Don‘t they know that animals should never wear clothes!”

This would be a great book to read aloud for the class. It does a great job using the illustrations to help tell the story. With all of the different pictures to look at on one page, it allows the children to stay interested when reading the book.

The Hat by Jan Brett. Published in 1998. Won awards for New England Sellers Association and Artist Award Winner Bookweek New England. Hedgie finds his was into a cozy mitten that was once Lisa‘s cozy hat. As the other animals laugh at Hedgie, in the end he gets the last laugh. The paintings throughout the book showcase a beautiful portrayal of a Scandinavian farm in the winter. The illustrations are very detailed.

“His mother and father had named him Cozy because his silly coat was so soft and thick.”

This book would be beneficial to younger children who are having trouble getting along with their peers and playing nicely with them. This book could teach them how to interact with others.

Cozy by Jan Brett was published in 2020. It was awarded the Massachusetts Book Award and the Best Children‘s Book of the Year. This story follows a musk ox named Cozy who loses his herd. On his journey, he encounters many different animals who are in need of warmth. Cozy lets them under his coat, but they must follow his house rules. This book teaches how to get along with others and make new friends.

“She sang the magic song and blew three kisses and with a sputter the pot stopped boiling and the pasta came to a halt.“

This is a fun, silly story to read to children and i think they would find it very entertaining!

Strega Nona by Tomie de Paola (1976) is about a witch named Strega Nona who creates potions for her neighbors. She has a magical pasta pot that one day she leaves alone. Big Anthony tries Strega Nona's pasta pot, but doesn't know how to stop the pot from making pasta. Strega Nona returns to save her neighborhood and pasta!

“It was the Nutcracker, now a boy, on his feet and on the move.“

This is a great choice for a story during the winter season. You can also read different versions of The Nutcracker and have students compare the similarities and differences between different stories.

This rendition of The nutcracker by Jan Brett published in 2021 has such beautiful illustrations with such detail that you want to stay on the page long after you're done reading the words. This story takes special parts of the original ballet and ties it in with little changes following the story of Marie and her brother on a Christmas Journey.

“The spirit obeyed and then departed, for there was nothing more he could do.“

This story gives the message that we may wish that we can change and be something else, but the grass isn't always greener on the other side. He keeps changing into something “more powerful“ but ends up feeling less powerful than who he started as.

This Japanese Folk-Tale written by Gerald McDermott follows Tasaku who began the story as a stone cutter. He then wishes to become more powerful and the spirits grant his wishes each time. But each time he wants something more and doesn't end up happy in the end. The illustrations are very abstract, made of shapes which I enjoyed looking at and interpreting them my own way. It looks as though shapes were cut out the pasted on top of each other.

“Captain good hart also has oodles of marvelous mottos! Such as, Seas the day! Go with the flow! And Ahoy, adventure!”

This book would be great to use at the beginning of the year with your students, even possibly as a read aloud. It allows children to see that you can have multiple friends, and building those friendships are an important part of school. This will help develop a school classroom community, and everyone will be willing to help and support one another.

Narwhal‘s Otter Friend by Ben Clinton. Published in 2019. This book includes five different chapters. Follows the adventures of joy and friendship. Narwhal greets Otto with excitement, while Jelly is scared of loosing Narwhal as a friend. As the stories progress, you are able to see how jelly can work through his jealousy. This book also does a good job highlighting bright and bold sea illustrations that makes it easy for children to read.

“Friends don‘t need magic to like each other”

This book is great for teaching kids how to love our differences and what makes us unique

Sparkly New Friends by Hazel Quintanilla, published in 2019 follows a yeti and a unicorn who quickly become friends. Yeti loves Unicorn‘s sparkles, and Unicorn loves Yeti‘s big fluffy fur. This book shows how despite our differences we can still be friends and love the unique characteristics that we all have.

“Girls it‘s cupcake time!!!”

I really liked the graphics and use of color in this novel. There is always something to look at and it seems to be an enjoyable read for younger kids. I haven't read this myself but it seems like a super fun one to read!

Cupcake Diaries: Katie and the Cupcake Cure was published in 2022 and has not yet won any awards. In this 3 book series, Katie is the main star of the show. She is the main girl of 4 in the cupcake club trying to get through middle school. This graphic novel starts the series and shows the trials and tribulations of a middle schooler and her friends. With bold colors and cartoon like characters, this book is something children relate to.

“Can you turn that frown upside down?“

This is a great book to start out students on graphic novels and chapter books. They tell three different stories, similar to chapters and helps students learn how to read and follow graphic novels.

Don't Worry, Bee Happy by Ross Burach, 2020. This is a short graphic novel containing three stories about two bees and a frog that are friends. Frog is a grumpy and quiet frog, but his bee friends are lively and talkative. This book follows them on three short, silly adventures.

“That‘s okay, I have a new crush…. ME.“

This book is AMAZING for teachers go teach their students to love themselves and to have a good sense of self worth. This will help with the classroom environment and students wanting/ being excited about learning when they believe they are capable.

Forget Me Nat by Maria Scrivan is a graphic novel that goes through the life of a middle school student named Nat. We see her good and bad days when it comes to crushes, friends, school, and more. This book focuses on the ups and downs that all go through when growing up. Forget Me Nat teaches the reader to love themselves first!

“I will help you“

Could be used in a younger classroom maybe as a first series that children begin reading on their own or as a class. There is a nice message in this story about helping friends and that it's okay to not always know how to do something, but we all have our unique things that we can do as does everyone in the classroom.