Fancy Nancy and the Mermaid Ballet~Jane O'Connor

Publisher: Harper Collins Children’s Books.

Published February 07, 2012

Summary:

Fancy Nancy and the Mermaid Ballet is a thirty-two page children’s book about Fancy Nancy and her best friend, Bree and their dance show coming up.  Unfortunately, another ballerina wings the leading role the mermaid so; Fancy Nancy has to play a tree.  Will Fancy Nancy be able to pull off glamour?

Genre:

Fancy Nancy has several versions and is considered to be a children’s novel book and realistic fiction.

Personal Response:

I really enjoy reading all of Jane O’Connor’s Fancy Nancy children’s books.   They are adorable and creative.  I like them mostly because of the glamour.

Jane O’Connor Bio:

Jane O’Connor was born and currently lives in the Upper West Side of Manhattan.  Jane graduated from Smith College with a BA in English Literature.  She is one of New York Times bestselling author’s.  She is known for her children’s books and the popular Fancy Nancy books published by Harper Collins.  “Three days a week, she works as an acquiring editor in the children’s books division of a major New York publishing house.” (Harper, 2012)

Other books by author:

Fancy Nancy series…

“The Snow Globe family”

“The emperor’s silent army: terracotta warriors of Ancient China”

“The Teeny Tiny Woman”

“Sir Small and the dragonfly”

“Eek! Stories to make you shriek”

“Lulu goes to witch school”

“Ready, set, skip!”

“Molly the brave and me"

Motivational Activities / Reader Response Questions:

If you were helping with this book what would your ballet be about?

Students will be put in groups and make a puppet show for this book.  Will be allowed to change and add on to this book if they desire.

What did Fancy Nancy have to be in the ballet?

What other Fancy Nancy books have read?

Bibliography:

O'Connor, J. (2012). Fancy Nancy and the Mermaid Ballet. New York, NY: Harper Collins.

Harper Collins Publishers. (2012). About the Author. In HarperCollinsPublishers. Retrieved December 1, 2012, from http://www.harpercollins.com/author/microsite/about.aspx?authorid=12552

Seababy: A Little Otter Returns Home~by Ellen Levine, illustrator Jon Van Zyle

 

 

 

Publisher: Walker & Company

Publication date: March 13, 2012

 

Summary: This children’s book is about a baby otter who ends up getting separated from his mother during a horrible storm.  Luckily, he ends up getting saved by a man who takes him to an aquarium that teaches him how to survive in the wild.  He learns: swimming, eating, and diving.

Genre: The genre of this children’s picture book is fiction along with being juvenile fiction.

Personal Response:  I was at first sad when the baby otter got separated from his mother.  But, overall I enjoyed this book because I like how with help he learned to survive.

ELLEN LEVINE Bio: Ellen grew up in New York City and currently resides there as well.  She is the eldest of her sisters.  Ellen ended up graduating from the University of Chicago with a M.A. in political science.  After graduating she decided to go be a teaching assistant grad student at Berkeley where she stayed for two years.  She ended up leaving Berkeley because she decided she wanted make documentary films.  So, she moved back to New York and worked at Public Televisions then CBS.  She then “realized so many of the stories she worked on for TV raised legal questions,” so she decided to attend NYU School of Law for three years.  After law school she decided to move to Philadelphia where she was a clerk for a federal judge for a year.  She loved the country life and hiking.  But, writing stories is her ultimate passion ever since she was a kid.  Along with being a writer and hiker she is also a woodcarver.  Ellen is the author of more than twenty-five books.  Both books “Henry’s Freedom Box” and “Darkness Over Denmark” received the Caldecott Honor.

Other books by Ellen Levine:

“Henry’s Freedom box”

“If your name was changed at Ellis Island”

“Freedom’s children: young civil rights activists tell their own story”

“Darkness over Denmark”

“If you traveled west in a covered wagon”

“If you traveled on the underground railroad”

“The tree that would not die”

“Catch a tiger by the toe”

“If you lived with the Iroquois”

“If you lived at the time of Martin Luther King”

Motivational Activities / Reader Response Questions:

If you were the sea otter and got separated where would you travel?

Draw a picture of the sea otter at the aquarium.

If you were hired to design the cover what would it look like?  Draw the picture on a piece of paper and color.  Present to the class.

Did the sea otter ever see his mother again?

What did the man teach him to do?

Bibliography:

Levine, E. (2012). Biography. In Ellen Levine. Retrieved December 1, 2012, from http://www.ellenlevineauthor.com/bio.htm

Levine, E. (2012). Seababy: A Little Otter Returns Home. N.p.: Walker & Company.

 

 

“Fly Guy vs. The Flyswatter!” ~By Tedd Arnold

Published by Scholastic Inc. SCHOLASTIC, CARTWHEEL BOOKS,

2011

**Friends and Friendship**

Summary:

“Fly Guy vs. The Flyswatter” by Ted Arnold is about a fly who joins Buzz’s on school fieldtrip to the flyswatter factory.  Fly Guy soon realizes that this trip isn’t as fun as he thought it would be.

Genre:

This book is a comedy and humor series of many other books by this author.  I think it is funny a fly ends up going to a flyswatter factor.

Personal Response:

I enjoy reading Tedd Arnold’s Fly Guy series books, they are entertaining and the illustrations are great.  The one thing that caught my eye was the cover of the book; I think it was the shiny silver.  I really how the book is in Chapters and have words in BOLD.

Tedd Arnold Bio:

Tedd Arnold was born in 1949, in Elmira, NY and when he was 10 years old he and his family moved to Florida.  His first art lesson was nothing but interesting, it was in an abandoned dentist office.  He graduated with a BFA from the University of Florida.  After graduating he soon meet Carol who he ended up marrying.  Carol was a kindergarten teacher.  They ended up having a son called Walter who they enjoyed reading stories to at bedtime.

Before long Tedd became interested in writing and illustrating stores; he tried to get his stories published but received rejections letter for six years straight.  He and his family soon decided to move to New York City where he started out at a larger publisher as a book designer.  Then his book that was inspired by his soon Walter called "No Jumping on the Bed!", which became a big success. He decided to leave commercial illustrating when his wife suggested he become a writer/illustrator of children’s books. His books have become extremely popular amongst elementary schools. He and his wife currently live in Elmira, NY and their two sons are grown and married

 

Other Books:

Detective Blue           Ride Fly Guy Ride!

I Spy Fly Guy             Super Fly Guy

Fly Guy Meets Fly Girl                 Hi Fly Guy

Buzz Boy and Fly Guy        Fly High Fly Guy

Shoo Fly Guy                  No Water In The Tub

There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed Fly Guy

Hooray For Fly Guy            There’s A Fly Guy In My Soup

Bibliography:

Arnold, T. (2011). Fly Guy vs. The Flyswatter. New York, NY: Scholastic, Cartwheel.

Scholastic Inc. (n.d.). Tedd Arnold. In Scholastic. Retrieved November 30, 2012, from http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/sites/default/files/asset/file/scholastic_teddarnoldbio.pdf