The Polar Express (Book/Movie)

The Polar Express was written by Chris Van Allsburg. This book beautifully captures the excitement of Christmas and the power of belief. The book is about a young boy and his journey to the North Pole aboard a magical train. Before his trip the the North Pole and before his experience meeting Santa Claus, the boy begins to question his own belief in Santa. After returning from the North Pole his belief in Santa and the magic of Christmas is restored.
The movie of this book truly brings the story to life. The movie does elaborate more in certain areas that the book does not. For example, the movie elaborates a little more on the boy's disbelief in Santa, and the boy's adventures aboard the train and at the North Pole or more detailed and elaborated in the movie than in the book.
I read this book to my class every year during the holiday season and show the movie too. The movie was not a disappointment and even though it has some added content it does not take away from the original story.

Charlotte's Web (Book/Movie)

This book was written by E.B. White and it is one of my all time favorite books. I read it every spring to my students. It is a true classic and has been loved by many generations. The book was first published in 1952. It is about a runt pig named Wilbur who is raised by a little girl named Fern. Wilbur is later saved from being slaughtered by Charlotte, an intelligent spider whom Wilbur befriends. All the farm animals in the book talk and each of them have their own unique personality.
Charlotte's Web has been produced into a cartoon/movie more than once but the most recent production was created in 2006 and it starred Dakota Fanning as Fern. The movie follows the book very closely and portrays all the characters very well. I was not disappointed at all! I thought it was a great movie!

Horton Hears a Who (Book/Movie)

This book was written by Dr. Seuss and was made into a movie in 2008. I read this book to my class and then we took a field trip to the movies to see it. I had my first graders compare and contrast the book and the movie.
Horton, the main character, is an elephant that hears something coming from a speck as it floats by. He discovers that there is a whole world living on the one tiny speck and becomes very determined to protect it. When the others in the jungle hear about this they think Horton has lost his mind, and even set out to destroy the speck. Horton does whatever it takes to protect the people of Who-ville, and the mayor of Who-ville and his people are counting on Horton to save them.
The movie is very similar to the book. The narrator in the movie reads parts of the actual story throughout the movie. The biggest difference between the book and the movie is Who-ville, the time spent and the characters of Who-ville were elaborated on a lot more in the movie than in the book. In the movie you become very familiar with the mayor and his family. In the movie there is mouse named Morton that is friends with Horton and he is a character that is not in the book.

Martin's Big Words 2002 Correta Scott King Award

This is a biography of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was written by Doreen Rappaport and illustrated by Bryan Collier. I like it because it is easy for children to read and understand. It includes some very insightful thoughts and some quotes from some of Dr. King's famous speeches. I use this book every year in my first grade classroom in honor of Dr. King's birthday. It is a great way to introduce students to the civil rights movement and to have them reflect on how they treat others. The artwork in this book is beautiful.

The Tale of Despereaux 2004 Newbery Award

The Tale of Despereaux was written by Kate DiCamillo. This fairytale features the character Despereaux Tilling, a mouse with very large ears. It is a tale of an unlikely hero. It is a very entertaining story with some important underlying messages about being yourself and that an interesting fate often awaits those that don't conform. This story contains a mix or wit and humor. DiCamillo's use of language is fantastic bringing "voice" to the story. It reminds me of Grimm's fairy tales. DiCamillo was also the author of Because of Winn Dixie.

Criss Cross 2006 Newbery Award

Criss Cross was written by Lynne Rae Perkins. I would call this a "coming of age" book. It would be a great book for preteens and young adult readers. Debbie, the main character in this novel, wishes for something good to happen to her. Her story criss-crosses with those of her friends in a search for first love. Young teens can easily relate to the self consciousnesses and uncertainty of all the characters. I think we all go through that time in our teen years when we are tyring to figure out who we really are and what we will become. It is a realistic novel and is creatively written. I think it would be a great book to do a literature circle with especially with middle school age students. I think young female readers would particularly enjoy this novel.

Olivia 2001 Caldecott Award

This is one of my favorite books. It was written and illustrated by Ian Falconer. I love the character, Olivia, because she reminds me of myself when I was young, and she also reminds me of some of the students I teach. Olivia is a very spirited little pig with a somewhat mischievous personality. The text is complimented by simple illustrations of black,white, and red. It is interesting to see what Falconer decided to illustrate with red. In one illustration it is Olivia's swimsuit, in another it is her dress. I think this was a genius way to illustrate the story just because it is so different. Very unique!

My Friend Rabbit 2003 Caldecott Award

Written and illustrated by Eric Rohmann, this is a simple story about a friendship between a rabbit and a mouse. Rabbit sends a toy air plane plying with Mouse as the pilot and the plane gets stuck in a tree. Rabbit comes up with a plan to get it down. There is minimal text in this book but the illustrations will draw your attention. The illustrations are hand-colored relief prints with heavy black outlines. The pictures are very comical! This book will easily put a smile on the readers face. I read this to my four year old daughter and she laughed at the illustrations and loved the story!

Kitten's First Full Moon 2005 Caldecott Award

Kitten's First Full Moon was written and illustrated by one of my favorite authors, Kevin Henkes.  This story is full of suspense as a kitten mistakes the full moon for a bowl of milk and tries to lick it!  The illustrations in this book are black and white which is very different from many of the other books Henkes has illustrated, such as Wemberly Worried and Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse. The illustrations were done in charcoal and features thick, black outlines.  It captures all the many shades of black. I think this was the perfect idea for the illustrations since the story takes place at night when the moon is full and bright.  

The Hello, Goodbye Window 2006 Caldecott Award

This book was written by Norton Juster and illustrated by Chris Raschka.  After reading this story, I will never look through a window quite the same way!  This story is narrated through the eyes and imagination of a young girl who is visiting her grandparents' house.  The illustrations are very childlike with the lines appearing to be somewhat like scribble/sketch marks.  The colors looked like water colors and were very vibrant making the house and the window seem almost magical.  The illustrations were very appealing to look at!  I liked this book because it reminded me of all the visits to my grandparents' house growing up.