Haley Jackson

Title: Abuela  Genre: Multicultural  Author: Arthur Dorros  Major Awards: Parents Choice Award  Age group: 4 - 10 Years old  Summary:  This book is about a young girl and her adventures with her abuela. As they walk in the park the girls imagination starts to run wild as she thinks about what adventures they would endure if they could fly all over the world. She dreams about all the places they could go and all the things they would do together on these magical journeys. At the end of the book the young girl finds herself back on the ground with her grandma embarking on a ride around the lake.  I would not use this book in my classroom for a lesson but as a book in the library or a fun read aloud. It is a cute story about a girl running wild with her imagination and all of the fun adventures with her grandma. I feel like my students would really enjoy this book and all of the journeys she would go on if she could fly.  ...

Title: Whoever You Are  Genre: Multicultural  Author: Mem Fox  Major Awards: None  Age group: 3 - 8 Years old  Summary:  Whoever You Are is about kids all over the world who may not look the same or even speak the same language. Kids all over the world run, jump,play, and learn the same everyday despite their differences. While their lives may be very different in several different ways they are all alike inside. Pain is the same, their hearts are the same, joy is the same, and there are so many ways that each and every child is the same.  I would love to use this book in my classroom! It has such a great message that no matter what everyone is alike in many different ways despite where they live, the color of their skin, their religion,etc. I believe that young kids need to hear this and that it is a great message for all to hear in the classroom. I believe that this book would be perfect for students in grades pre-k thro...

Title: Families Are Different  Genre: Multicultural  Author: Nina Pellegrini  Major Awards: None Age group: 3 - 8 years old  Summary:  Nico is a little girl who was adopted by a family that doesn't really look like her. She starts to feel sad that she looks so different but then she starts to look around agt her friends and peers. Nico quickly realizes that everyone's family is very different just like hers! Some only have one parent, some look like one parent and not the other, others have two parents, and even a few are adopted. This comforts her and she realizes that everyone is unique in their own way.  I would love to use this book in my class! It has a great message that everyone is unique in their own way and that everyone's family is different. It also has a lot of diversity within which I feel is extremely important for students to read and understand. I feel as if my students would really enjoy this book and some may ...

Title: My Great-Aunt Arizona  Genre: Multicultural  Author: Gloria Houston  Major Awards: ALA Notable Children's Book Age group: 3 - 7 Years old  Summary:  My Great-Aunt Arizona is about a girl named Arizona who grew up in a log-cabin that her grandfather built. She grew up to be a very tall girl who loved to sing, read, and most of all dream of far away places. Arizona became a teacher and taught for many years where she shared her dreams of traveling with her students every year. She would express where all she wanted to go in the world and what she wanted to see. Unfortunately, Arizona never made it to any of those places but she still lives on with all of her children and goes on every adventure in spirit when they go visit their families all over the world. I would like to use this book in my classroom as a fun little read aloud. It has such a sweet message and I feel that my students would really enjoy the story. It also has gre...

Title: Estrellita de oro/ Little Gold Star  Genre: Multicultural  Author: Joe Hayes  Major Awards: None  Age group: 4 - 10 Years old Summary:  Estrellita de oro/ Little Gold Star is a story about a young girl, Arcia and it is written in both English and Spanish. Arcia ebgs her father to marry the single woman next door after her mother's death years ago. He marries the woman and moves in with her and her two daughters but she's not who she turns out to be. One day, when Arcia is down by the river washing wool for her father a hawk swoops down and steals it from her. As she looks up into the sky a star falls down and lands on her forehead and never leaves. Her two step-sisters are extremely jealous of this and try to get stars on their foreheads but they end up with a donkey horn and a cow's ear. The prince of the land holds a fancy ball where he falls in love with Africa but she leaves before he can catch her name or anything abo...

Title: Mrs.Katz and Tush  Genre: Multicultural  Author: Patricia Polacco  Major Awards: Young Readers Choice Award  Age group: 8 - 11 Years old  Summary:  Mrs.Katz and Tush is about an older woman, Mrs.Katz, her scrawny cat, and her neighbor a young boy named, Larnel. Mrs.Katz is a widow who finds herself feeling pretty lonely most of the time. Larnel visits Mrs.Katz pretty frequently and he helps her care for her new cat “Tush” that he brought to her, During Larenel’s visits Mrs.Katz provides freshly baked kugels and shares stories about her Jewish heritage and even touches heavily on the Passover holiday. One day Tush gets out and they find out later down the road that she was pregnant when she has her kittens. Mrs.Katz is so ecstatic about it because now she is finally a bu-bee or grandma!  The story ends with Larnel and his family visiting Mrs.Katz grave years down the road.  I would like to use this book in my c...