Literary Tool Kit
Genre/Type / Title / Author / Diversity / Grade Level / Summary/Review/ResponseAlphabet (1) / Alphabet City / Stephen T. Johnson / N/A / K-2 / The book includes pictures of letters created by different objects and places around the city. Letters are found on bridges, construction sites, etc. In the classroom, have students create their own alphabet book using any letters they can find out of objects/places around their school.
Number (1) / One Gorilla: A Counting Book / Atsuko Morozumi / N/A / K-1 / The story follows a single gorilla as he travels to different places and sees other animals. He goes to gardens, forests, and houses. As the story goes on it follows a pattern of numbers for each group of animals. It begins with one gorilla. Then, two butterflies and one gorilla… and the story continues adding another group of animals each time.
Predictable (1) / Goodnight Moon / Margaret Wise Brown / N/A / K-1 / A bedtime story. A young rabbit is getting ready to go to bed. He performs his bedtime routine. Part of his routine includes saying goodnight to various objects that he can see. Some things are in his room,such as clocks and mice, and some things are outside, like the moon. He ends his routine by saying “goodnight noises everywhere.”
Historical (3) / Amelia and Eleanor Go for a Ride
Henry’s Freedom Box
The Mighty Miss Malone / Pam Munoz Ryan
Ellen Levine
Christopher Paul Curtis / Culturally Neutral
Culturally Specific
Culturally Specific / K-2
3-5
4-6 / Amelia Earhart and Eleanor Roosevelt discover that they are very much alike. Both women felt that they could do whatever they pleased no matter what the standards for women were. Amelia learned to fly and Eleanor got a new car. They became very good friends. One night Eleanor invited Amelia to the White House for dinner. Overdinner they discuss their adventures and decide to take a ride in Amelia’s plane and Eleanor’s car that very night. At the end of their trips they enjoy a dessert of pink cloud on angel food cake.
Based on the life of Henry “Box” Brown, a slave that is taken from his family and sent to work in a warehouse. The one thing Henry wants most is his freedom. Once Henry grows older and has a family of his own, they are also taken from him. One day Henry has an idea to get to freedom. He mails himself to the North inside one of the crates at the warehouse. After a long and difficult journey, Henry arrives in the North a free man.
Deza Malone is a twelve year old girl who excels at school and loves her family. After a horrific accident, Deza’s father goes in search of work outside of their hometown. The family decides to go out searching for him after not receiving any letter and being evicted from their home. Throughout the journey the family goes through several difficult situations such as jumping a train and staying in a shantytown. Deza’s brother also leaves to help the family earn some money. Eventually, the family is reunited.
Realistic (3) / Holes
Bridge to Terabithia
Because of Winn-Dixie / Louis Sachar
Katherine Paterson
Kate DiCamillo / Culturally Neutral
Culturally Neutral
Culturaly Neutral / 5-6
3-5
3-5 / Stanley Yelnats has always had terrible luck and blames it on a curse put on his family by a gypsy. That unlucky street continues when he is wrongly accused of stealing a pair of shoes and sent to a correctional facility where the boys are made to dig holes in order to “build character.” Stanly and his friend Zero discover that the warden of the facility is searching for treasure after Stanley finds the lipstick tube of Kate Barlow, the woman who buried it. Zero and Stanley run away to the top of a mountain and break the curse in the process. They return lateer to find the treasure.
Jesse is a young boy who is determined to prove himself the faster kid in class, but a new girl named Leslie out runs everyone. Leslie and Jesse become best friends and discover the world of Terabithia together. They call themselves the King and Queen of the land and have incredible adventures together. One day after attending a museum with Mrs. Edmunds, a teacher he is secretly crushing on, Jesse comes home to find that Leslie was in a terrible accident. Leslie had died from drowning in the creek after the rope swing broke. Jesse has a hard time coping at first but then finds comfort in showing his little sister May Belle their world and making her the new Queen.
Young India Opal has just moved to the trailer park with her preacher father, her mother abandoned them. Opal takes a trip to the local grocery store where a scraggly looking dog is causing trouble. To save him from going to the pound Opal lies and calls him her dog. She names him Winn-Dixie. Opal begins to make new friends. She spends time with the librarian listening to stories, the pet shop owner for work, and a woman named Gloria. Gloria and Opal decide to throw a party, but during their gathering Winn-Dixie disappears. They whole group searches in the rain for the dog without any luck. Opal and her father return home where Winn-Dixie later turns up at the front door.
Traditional (3) / Little Red Riding Hood
Persephone
Paul Bunyan / Trina Schart Hyman
Warwick Hutton
Steven Kellogg / Culturally Neutral
Culturally Neutral
Culturally Neutral / 2-5
4-5
K-2 / Red riding hood sets off on a trip through the woods to visit her sick grandmother. On the way she meets very sneaky wolf, who discovers her plans. The wolf beats Red riding hood to the house and eats her grandmother. When red riding hood arrives he eats her too. The wolf attracts the attention of a hunter who cuts open the wolf and saves red and her grandmother.
Persephone, the earth goddess and daughter of Demeter, is kidnapped by Hates and taken to the underworld. He wants her to be his bride but Persephone’s mother is so upset that Zeus makes a deal with Hates. Persephone is sent to stay with him for six months out of the year and the other six months she spends with her mother. When Persephone is in the underworld, the earth goes through winter. The trees and flowers wither and wilt. When she is with her mother, the earth has nourishment and flourishes during spring and summer.
The story of Paul Bunyan, one of the most popular characters in American tall tales. He was the largest and strongest baby to be born. This lumberjack could carry the largest tree and dug the Great Lakes. He created the Grand Canyon by accidently dragging his ax while hiking. The book follows Paul and his blue ox Babe and all of their adventures and they travel across the country.
Science Fiction (1) / The Giver / Lois Lowry / Culturally Neutral / 4-5 / Jonas lives in “the community” where everything is the same and anything different is “released.” When Jonas turns twelve he is chosen to receive the memories of the past from The Giver. When Jonas is given the memories he is amazed at all the good that everyone has missed out on, and despite all of the painful memories of their past, believes it is time to change. Jonas and the Giver come up with a plan for Jonas to leave the community which will give the community the same memories he was given. Jonas becomes attached to a baby that is staying with his family, who is planned to be “released”. He takes the baby with him and escapes to a small house Elsewhere.
Fantasy (2) / The One and Only Ivan
The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe / Katherine Applegate
C.S. Lewis / N/A
Culturally Neutral / 4-5
3-5 / Ivan was taken from his family when he was young and went to live with Mack. Ivan lived in Mack’s house and did very human-like things until he was too big. Mack took put Ivan on display in the Big Top Mall with an elephant named Stella, and a dog named Bob. Ivan loved to draw. Julia, the caretaker’s daughter, would give Ivan materials to make his art. When a baby elephant named Ruby comes to the Big Top Mall, Ivan promises Stella that he will get her out. Ivan comes up with a plan to draw ruby in the zoo. Julia realizes what Ivan needs. After protests and news articles Ruby and Ivan are taken to live in the zoo.
Four brothers and sisters are sent away to live with a professor in London during the war. While the children are playing hide and seek, the youngest girl, Lucy, hides in a wardrobe. Lucy discovers that the wardrobe is actually a door to another world called Narnia. She meets Mr. Tumnus, who she believes is her friend, but he tells the evil white queen that the sons of Adam and daughters of Eve have come to Narnia. She is determined to kill them and take over. When the rest of the siblings go to Narnia they befriend Aslan a great lion and go to war with the white queen. They become the Kings and Queens of Narnia and return to London after years of staying in Narnia as children.
Informational (2) / Paul Thurlby’s Wildlife
Don’t Touch That Toad and Other Strange Things Adults Tell You / Paul Thurlby
Catherine Rondina / N/A
N/A / K-1
3-5 / Paul Thurlbyshows children’s favorite animals in a whole new light, with facts that they never would have imagined. He tells how dolphins sleep with one eye open, or how lions hunt at night because of their amazing ability to see well in the dark, and pairs them with incredible and hilarious illustrations.
Remember all of those things your parents told you not to do? Catherine Rondina tells whether or not these things are true or false. Are you going to go deaf from having your music turned up too loud? This is actually true, but an apple a day does not seem to always keep the doctor away. Some of these statements don’t have straight answers so students will have to really think about their own opinions.
Biography (1) / Testing the Ice: A true Story About Jackie Robinson / Sharon Robinson / Culturally Specific / K-2 / Jackie Robinson was the first African American to play in Major League Baseball. After he retired he moved to a property in Connecticut complete with a lake. The children in the neighborhood all join the family for fun on the lake during the summer. Jackie Robinson however chooses to stay dry. During the first winter the lake freezes and needs to be tested to be sure that it is safe for the children to play on the ice. Jackie finally agrees to test it himself.
Autobiography (1) / Flora and the Tiger / Eric Carle / N/A / 3-5 / Eric Carle has written many of our favorite children’s books, including The Very Hungry Caterpillar and Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? No we can take a look into his own life and inspirations for our favorite animal friends. He tells us of his love for animals and drawing among other things. Talk with students about the difference between biographies and autobiographies. Have students pair up and tell each other a true story about themselves. Have their partner write it. Then, have students write their own story. Compare and discuss differences.
Poetry (2) / A Light in the Attic
Love That Dog / Shel Silverstein
Sharon Creech / Culturally Neutral
Culturally Neutral / 2-5
5-6 / Shel Silverstein writes this book of poetry about numerous fears, interests, and dreams of children today. He writes poems about monsters to help children get over their fears. He creates new characters like “mewho” and “exactlywhat”. He writes about homework machines and catching stars. Some of these poems are humorous, others can be strange.
A young boy thinks poetry is for girls and doesn’t want to write it for class. His teacher, Mrs. Stretchberry, tries to encourage him by reading popular poetry to his class. Slowly, the boy begins to like poetry and come up with some on is own. The boy becomes interested in one poet in particular, Mr. Walter Dean Myers. The boy writes a poem inspired by one of Mr. Myers’ poems. He also writes him a letter asking to come visit the class. The boy is ecstatic when he agrees, and reads the man his own poem.
Caldecott (2) / The Polar Express
Jumanji / Chris Van Alllsburg
Chris Van Allsburg / K+
K+ / A young boy who adores Christmas takes an exciting journey to the North Pole. He arrives there on a magical train called the Polar Express. The train provides all the children with sweets and hot chocolate. The young boy makes a few new friends and even receives two gifts from Santa; a bell from one of his reindeer and being able to believe for the rest of his life.
Two children’s boredom lead them to a park where they find a board game called Jumanji. They find that the game is in a sense alive. For each turn they take they receive riddles and adventures that some to life such as lions and monsoons. As they play the game they must survive each obstacle. Judy screams “Jumanji!” when she finishes the game with her roll. They return the game to the spot that they find it after all the obstacles disappear. Later on their neighbors return home with the game.
Newberry (1) / Bud, Not Buddy / Christopher Paul Curtis / Culturally Specific / 5-6 / Bud Caldwell is now an orphan after the recent death of his mother. She left him with only a few things, including a poster for the Jazz band The Dusky Devastators of the Depression with Herman E. Calloway. After being tormented at his latest foster home, Bud decides to seek out the man thinking that he is his father. He makes his way to Grand Rapids Michigan where he convinces the band to let him stay. Bud shows them the stones that his mother left him with the dates and places of every concert played. It turns out that Bud’s mother is Calloway’s daughter and Bud’s grandfather.
BBOAT (1) / Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone / J.K. Rowling / Culturally Neutral / 4-5 / A baby is dropped off on his Aunt and Uncle’s door step after the death of his parents. He grows up with them and their son Dudley, a spoiled child. Harry is forced to live under the stairs. One day He receives a letter from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Harry attends school there where he discovers He finds out later that he is actually famous for being the only one to survive a dark wizard’s wrath. He also discovers that the dark wizard is trying to return using the sorcerer’s stone. Harry and his friends Ron and Hermione decide to steal the stone in order to protect it and keep it out of the wrong hands.