Jamaica's Find

Title: Jamaica's Find
Author: Juanita Havill
Illustrator: Anne Sibley O'Brien
Genre: Realistic Fiction

Jamaica's Find is a story of a little girl that finds a toy at the park and did not want to take it to lost and found, and later her parents convince her to do the right thing and take it back because it did not belong to her. Jamaica agrees to take it back the stuffed dog that she wanted to keep because she liked. Later on she goes back to the park and sees another girl and asks her to play, but she is busy looking for something... She is looking for her stuffed dog that she lost the day before. Jamaica finds pride in the fact that she can say she took the stuffed dog to the lost and found and she takes her to get back her lost item.

This is a cute and very informational book to read to young children. You can give a lesson on being honest, being prideful, and being a good friend. All of these things are shown in the story and are each very important factors to be known for.

Will I Have a Friend?

Title: Will I Have a Friend?
Author: Miriam Cohen
Illustrator: Lillian Hoban
Genre: Realistic Fiction

This book is a story about a little boy joining a school and being nervous about not having any friends. This can be a good thing to read to the classroom because it can provide a lesson for teaching students to be friendly, and not to be afraid to step out and try to make friends on the other end!

Sky Color

Title: Sky Color
Author: Peter H. Reynolds
Genre: Realistic Fiction

This is a cute story about a girl that loves to draw and she loves everything "art" in general. She loves painting and she shows off her paintings, until one day she decides to paint a sky for a class project and there is no blue paint. This is when she has to use her artistic skills and take a step back and look around, then she realizes that the sky is not always blue. She ends up painting a beautiful sky for her class project!

This is a good story to do as a read aloud because it can be used to build the students' confidence and it also shows a great example of not being afraid to show off your talents, whether it is athletics, music, or art.

Love You Forever

Title: Love You Forever
Author: Robert Munsch
Illustrated: Sheila McGraw
Genre: Realistic Fiction

This is a story of a mother that has a little boy and sings to him at night time before bed, while he is going to sleep. As the book progresses the boy gets older as does the mother, yet she still feels the need to hold him and sing to him about her love for him. She reminds him that he will always be her baby, which becomes ironic at the end of the story when the mother grows too old to carry her son and her son begins to carry her and sing to her at last. The story finishes with the son walking upstairs to his new baby girl and he sings to her, the song his mother sang to him all of his life.

This story could create an awesome lesson on tradition, and learning the meaning of the word "tradition". I think it would be a fun lesson to do to as all of the kids if they have any traditions in their family and what they might be!!

This book was read to me growing up and it is one of my favorites!

The Night Before Mother's Day

Title: The Night Before Mother's Day 
Author: Natasha Wing
Illustrator: Amy Wummer
Genre: Realistic Fiction

This book is a sweet book that describes the events of a Mother's Day planned by a husband and their two daughters. It is a fiction book, however it has all reason to think it is a real story because of the content. Realistic fiction is tricky that way, but the characters are not real life people, therefore it is not a true story.

This book would be a great book to read aloud in class right before mother's day to give some children ideas on things that they could do for their mothers on this special day! You could even read this book to a class after Mother's Day and then ask them to write about what their Mother's Day looked like, and what they did!