March Book Madness 2017

Every year for the past 5 years (I think) I have done this at my school. I post the middle grade and picture books on the wall with the brackets and I have my students pick who they think they will win. I invite the rest of the school to participate but most never do, oh well at least I am exposing them to some great book choices!  This years theme is new classics and I see a lot of last years books on here.

We spent the morning watching read alouds on YouTube or reading the books of all but 4 of them for picture book category, I am not posting middle grade due to being so busy and don't have time to post or read most of these (college and my hectic work schedule). Some I had never heard of but I really liked! Below is the link if you would like to participate.

March Book Madness

 Here are some of the books and my reactions. Last Stop on Market Street and Journey were also ones but see my reviews for my Childrens' Lit class.

The Adventures of Beekle an Unimaginary Friend by Dan Santat
Loved the pictures and the story of being different and being lonely until you find someone that likes you for who you are.

Rosie Revere, Engineer by Andrea Brody
Rosie loved to build things but everyone laughed at her inventions so she stopped making things. Her Great Aunt Rose wanted to fly so she built a contraption but it failed. Her Great Aunt showed her not to give up because of mistakes or problems. Love the rhyming text and the cheese whiz machines were funny. My students loved this book!

Snappsy the Alligator by Julia Falatko
This I had never read before but it reminded me of Piggie and Elephant with the simple drawings and the word captions. The alligator is talking to the narrator who keeps trying to say that he wants to eat everyone but he doesn't. At the end the narrator (who is a chicken) shows up at the party. My students loved this book and so did I!!

Wolfie the Bunny by Amy Dykman
Wolfie is born into a rabbit family and the little rabbit sister keeps saying that he will eat them. But instead she saves herself and him from a bear that tries to eat them. Simple text and pictures it was cute. 

Gaston by Kelly DiPuccio
Gaston is born to a family of poodles with three poodle sisters and is taught how to be a poodle. He can't do it right and one day they go to park and meet a family of bulldog brothers with a sister poodle. They switch but realize even though they are the right dog breed that they don't belong with that family so they switch back. Cute story about being different. The kids thought is was cute and I laughed a lot.

My Teacher is a Monster by Peter Brown
This was very funny because sometimes I hear that I am a mean teacher at my school but my students after having me realize that I am just strict. The teacher is mean to the boy but when they meet at the park his view of the teacher changes and so does she! I laughed and the students liked it.

Trombone Shorty by Troy Trombone Shorty Andrews
I had never heard of this book before but the pictures were stunning and the story was easy to follow and not boring as some biographies can be. The pictures at the end of what Shorty really looked like during this story were great! The students liked this book a lot. 

Pink is for Blobfish: Discovering the World's Perfectly Pink Animals
This was an upper grade read probably for fourth or fifth grade. The kids thought the pictures were gross or cool. I had not heard of most of these animals.