The Prairie Builders: Reconstructing America's Lost Grasslands

By: Sneed B. Collard III

Genre: Informational Nonfiction

Age Range: 3rd - 6th grade: It is organized to read as a story but the length and wording suggests it to be for fluent or independent readers.

Content: In this book Pauline Drobney and her team attempt to reconstruct North America's tall grasslands in Iowa. The book starts off with an explanation of a tall grassland and the dangers. It moves to introduce Pauline and her plan. It goes onto describe a few plants and animals living on the prairies. Next, the book follows Diane Debinski who is on a mission to save the Regal Fritillary butterflies and help them return back to Iowa's prairies. At the end of the book, there is a list of more books and websites on prairies, also a glossary of all the terms in the book and an index.

Organization: Starting with Pauline and her team beginning to reconstruct the prairie, moving to Diane bring back the Regal and finishing with the Prairie Learning Center.

Illustrations: Photography by Sneed B. Collard III. Photos of Pauline and Diane, the various plants and animals, and the steps everyone took to make it all possible.

Song of the Water Boatman & other pond poems

By: Joyce Sidman
Illustrations: Beckie Prange

Genre: Poetry

Age Range: 3rd-5th.

Plot: The book is composed of poems based on various pond dwelling animals. From tiny larvae to wood ducks, they're all explored in poems and then various facts about the animals  are given in shorts paragraphs on the side of the pages.

Characters: N/A

Setting: A pond

Theme:

Illustrations: Done by Beckie Prange, They look computer generated and reflect the natural beauty of the creatures inhabiting ponds.

The Littlest Wolf

By: Larry Dane Brimner

Genre: Traditional

Age Range: K-3rd grade. Talking animals, center of own world, striving to accomplish skills, peer-group acceptance, and repetition are all reasons why this book fits for this age group.

Plot: As Big Gray watched over his pups playing in the fields, he found Little One hiding up against a great oak tree. Asking why he wasn't playing, Little Wolf told Big Gray that he wasn't as good as his brothers and sister. Each time Big Gray said "That is as it should be". With each time, Little Wolf became more confident and accepting of himself. At the end of the day, Big Gray tells Little Wolf to remember the acorns on the great oak tree and see what they become.

Characters: Little Wolf, Big Gray, Tyler, Frankie, and Ana

Setting: Bright sunny day in a field.

Theme: Acceptance of self and realizing one's own potential.

Illustrations: Jose Aruego and Ariane Dewey. Big, bright illustrations taking up more space on the pages than words keep children's attention while also helping tell the story.

Puss in Boots

By: Charles Perrault

Genre: Fantasy

Age Range: K-3rd grade. This book is appropriate for this age group because of the talking animals, the pictures go hand-in-hand with the reading keeping the attention of young readers, and allows for expansion of language.

Plot: A miller dies and leaves nothing for his three sons except his mill, donkey, and cat. They divide them up with the oldest getting the mill, second oldest getting the donkey, and the youngest getting the cat. The youngest is unhappy but the cat promises him it will be worth his while. The cat begins to catch game and give it to the game saying it is from his master, the Marquis of Carabas. The king is very pleased and Puss continues to manipulate and out smart everyone including a giant Ogre. Puss tricked him into turning into a mouse and ate him leaving his lands and castle to his master. This impressed the king so much that the Marquis married the princess that same day.

Characters: Puss, the Marquis of Carabas (the youngest son), and the Ogre.

Setting: French countryside hundreds of years ago

Theme: Little things can accomplish big tasks

Illustrations: Fred Marcellino; Following the story exactly, the illustrations help to keep the attention of the children allowing them to also see the story and help keep up.

Awards: Caldecott  Medal (1990)