Thundercake (Patricia Polacco)

 

This one was okay. Sadly, my students don't really understand the idea of gathering up the eggs, milking the cow, going to the shed where dry good are kept, etc. to prepare to bake a cake. They didn't really get too excited about this story.

Summary:
A loud clap of thunder booms, and rattles the windows of Grandma's old farmhouse. "This is Thunder Cake baking weather," calls Grandma, as she and her granddaughter hurry to gather the ingredients around the farm. A real Thunder Cake must reach the oven before the storm arrives.

A Twisted Tale (Carolyn Fisher)

 

There are so many things I love about this book:

* The similes are vivid!! eg The wind howled like a prom queen steppin' on a cow patty. Having stepped on a not totally dry cow patty more than once in my life, it creates a hilarious image in my mind!
* The silliness is just right for kids
* The illustrations are hilarious and made us really look and we discovered so many cute little details
* The 'about the author' has great connections to the story 
* The author is from Alberta and now lives in Calgary!

Goodreads says:
Bailey Tarbell is in a pickle. A tornado swooped down and sucked all the animals on her farm up into the air. When it finally spat them out again, they were all mixed up. The cow now clucks and tries to sit on eggs, the cat chases the dog who hisses and runs up trees, the pig quacks, the duck moos, and the chickens are all rooting in the mud. What's a farm girl to do? The vet is stumped, demonstrating proper behavior hasn't helped, even hypnosis is a flop. But then eureka! Bailey gets a brainstorm to beat that tornado. She loads all the animals into the truck and heads for the carnival! After a wild ride on The Twister the animals are all singing the right tunes again. But now Bailey is a little mixed up.... 

Train to Somewhere (Eve Bunting)

Oh my gosh. This is so heartbreaking! We read this, hoping all along the way that Marianne would meet her at one of the stops.

She never did.

And it ends like that.

My class sat and stared at me. Then someone said, "That's it?"

Interesting to read a story that doesn't end happily! We thought maybe we could write an ending so that it actually feels like it ends.

I don't think it's a bad thing for kids to read books like this though. It certainly brought out some emotions. It started a great discussion about adoption and orphans and appreciating our parents. And it sounds like we will have a good writing project! We also had a good discussion about historical fiction.

Goodreads says:

Marianne, heading west with fourteen other children on an Orphan Train, is sure her mother will show up at one of the stations along the way. When her mother left Marianne at the orphanage, hadn't she promised she'd come for her after making a new life in the West? Stop after stop goes by, and there's no sign of her mother in the crowds that come to look over the children. No one shows any interest in adopting shy, plain Marianne, either. But that's all right: She has to be free for her mother to claim her. Then the train pulls into its final stop, a town called Somewhere . . . 

Mechanimals (Chris Tougas)

Goodreads says:

There once was a farmer who had lots of animals that got swept away by a tornado. The twister left behind a mountain of scrap metal and machine parts. And a very sad farmer. When a tornado leaves a farmer with a heap of scrap metal and no animals, his neighbors are sure it's all over for him. But the determined farmer refuses to admit defeat. His plans are big, and when his neighbors dismiss them with the words, When pigs fly, they grow bigger still. The farmer sets to work to turn that scrap metal into some rather surprising creatures. 

Otis and the Puppy (Loren Long)

We have been talking about making connections to stories. I didn't think this would be a great story for that because it is about a tractor on a farm and I have a bunch of city slickers in my class. However, there was a lot they could relate to in this book: playing hide a seek, getting a new puppy, feeling adoration over how cute a puppy is, being afraid of the dark, etc. It was a great read and we had plenty of connections!

Goodreads Summary:

Otis and his farm friends love to play hide-and-seek. Otis especially loves to be "It," finding his friends as they hide. Yet when the newest addition to the farm—a bounding puppy who can't sit still and has a habit of licking faces—tries to hide, he finds his attention wandering and is soon lost in the forest. Night falls and Otis, knowing his new friend is afraid of the dark, sets out to find him. There's just one problem: Otis is also afraid of the dark. His friend is alone and in need, though, so Otis takes a deep breath, counts to ten, and sets off on a different game of hide-and-seek.

From the critically-acclaimed illustrator of The Little Engine that Could,Of Thee I Sing, and Otis, the 2013 Read for the Record selection.