Baum, L. (1987).The wonderful wizard of oz: 100th anniversary edition.Singapore:HarperCollinsPublishers.

A Must Read! You are always told not to judge a movie based on the book because the book is always better. Well my favorite movie of all time is The Wizard of Oz.  I have tons of useless knowledge saved in my head about it, so I decided I should read the fantasy story too. They are NOTHING ALIKE, and yet I loved them both. So excited about this great fantasy read I had this week!

The story begins with the main character, Dorothy. She lives on a small farm in Kansas with Aunt Em and Uncle Henry. When a cyclone hits, Dorothy and her dog, Toto, are carried away in their house to a strange land called Munchkin Land. They meet a good witch and tiny people called Munchkins greet them too. Dorothy's house has landed on the Wicked Witch of the East. It has killed the witch and made her a hero! Dorothy takes the Wicked Witch's charmed silver shoes, and the good witch gives her a protective kiss on her forehead so she can reach Oz safely. Dorothy hopes that the Wizard of Oz will be able to send her back to Kansas, so she sets off on the yellow brick road.

Soon, Dorothy and Toto meet the Scarecrow. He desperately wants a brain, so he accompanies them on their trip. Next, they meet the Tin Woodman, who tells his story of how he was once human and how he longs to have a beating heart. The last character they meet is a cowardly lion, who obviously by his names needs some courage, to act like he is king of the forest.

They next enter a land by the Kalidahs. These are huge animals that have the heads of tigers and bodies of bears! Definitely not in the movie. As the plot progress the four friends find themselves facing many new challenges. The Tin Woodsman kills a wildcat and saves the Queen of the Mice.

The next night they stay with a family that tells them that once they enter the Emerald City they will not get to talk with the Wizard. Dorothy decides they can’t take no for an answer and they go anyway. The Wizard does agree to meet with Dorothy but insist that before he can send her home she must kill the Wicked Witch of the West.

The witch knows they are coming and can watch them through her magic eye she sends out many different things to try and kill them. This part of the book is a bit gruesome. Color once again helps create a vivid picture. We learn for the first time that the land of the Winkies is yellow and that the Winkies dress in yellow from head to foot. Dorothy is immediately able to see the good that has come from the Wicked Witch's death. The little girl is able to tell the Winkies they are now free. When Dorothy finds the Golden Cap, Baum gives us more foreshadowing.

The golden cap plays as a big prop in the story. At the end, Baum repeats his theme yet again that there is really NO PLACE LIKE HOME. Another theme of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is self-sufficiency. The Scarecrow, Tin Woodman, and Cowardly Lion all are looking for magic to give them qualities they already possess but fail to recognize.  Baum wrote descriptive passages into his text, which bring the fictitious world of Oz alive in the imagination of the reader. Descriptions of landscapes are appealing to children, who will enjoy getting lost in this fantasy story. In chapter two, Dorothy and her house land among the Munchkins. Baum describes the land so vividly when he wrote “Banks of gorgeous flowers were on every hand, and birds with rare brilliant plumage sand and fluttered in the trees and bushes.”

The Field Beyond The Outfield

Teague, M. (1992). The field beyond the outfield. New York: Scholastic.

  Nothing says summer time like the game of baseball! The children’s picture book by Mark Teague is a great read for daydreamers, baseball lovers and those with a great imagination!  The main character, Ludlow Grebe, believes that there are monsters in his closet and that sharks swim outside every time it rains. This silliness doesn’t fly with his parents and they decided he needed “something real to think about” (pg. 5) so they sign him up for baseball.  He studies the game and learns how to play only to be told to” play back -far, far back – to where the weeds got scraggly and the other players looked small as ants.” (pg. 9). The illustration on this page shows you just how far out he was, and how lonely he must have felt by the use of white space left on the page from the framing of the picture.  He is playing so far back that he is whisked off to a parallel ballgame where the players are insects and the fans are monsters! He gets a chance to hit for the insect team with a great ending to the game. Ludlow realizes he must come back to his own game as night time was coming. When he goes to bed that night the monsters didn’t bother him at all, he was ready for the next day and what it held in store for him! The bright illustrations and double spread pages help catch little reader’s eyes.

This would be a great read for children in grades K-2. I love baseball and the cover of the book caught my attention with the baseball field and a few bugs playing baseball, I liked the drawings. This is a good book, but I’m not sure I would have a lesson to use it with in class. I have thought however that it would make a good “boy” book to pull in a reluctant reader with if they were into sports.

BIG question: Can you remember a time when you thought there where monsters under your bed, or in your closet. What did you do? How did it make you feel?

A Bad Case of Stripes

Shannon, D. (1998). A bad case of stripes. New York,NY: Scholastic Inc.

A Bad Case of STRIPES, is a wonderfully illustrated book that will grab the reader’s attention with its vivid colors on every page. This picture book has interesting features of the illustrations that pull the young readers in with every flip of the framed pages.  When the class says the pledge of allegiance on page 7, there Camilla is with her red, white, and blue stripes and all broke out in stars!  The pictures really depict the words.

I really enjoy reading this book. I read it every year to my new special education students. Camilla, the main character, is so worried about fitting in with her classmates. Just like my students on the first day of middle school.  Many of them fret over what school will be like, and getting picked on by big eighth graders. Camilla wanted to please so many people and fit that her body begin to react to all of her thoughts in her brain. Her body became covered with so many different colors because she couldn’t decide on what color to wear to school. Another problem so many of my sp. Ed. students have.  Instead of giving into what everyone else wanted she finally realized that she needed to pay more attention to what she liked.  At the end of the story a sweet little old woman enters the plot with a container of small green beans in her bag.

This is great for primary, intermediate, and upper grades. So many times we are concerned with what other people like and never ask ourselves what do I like. Just like Camilla students are confused and don’t know which way to go, they just want to fit in. This book allows them to say that even though I may be different from others I am still a great unique person, even if it means not conforming and liking lima beans! The little old woman helped Camilla find the true her, and then mysteriously disappears into a crowd at the conclusion of the story.

Big Question:

Have you ever been in a situation where you didn’t fit in so you changed your own views to not stick out? Think about a time you have felt pressure from peers and reflect on it.

The Stinky Cheese Man

Scieszka, J. (1992). The stinky cheese man and other fairly stupid tales. New York, NY:Viking Press.



The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales is a book that all ages would enjoy. I do realize that the children will need a basic understanding of fairy tales to enjoy this book so I recommend reading The Stinky Cheese Man after going over fairy tales and folklore genre in class.  Children in class today would really enjoy the humor in this book along with the figurative language included too. It is full of humor from the beginning title to the end. (Literality) 

There are ten common fairy tales in this book that are fractured in some way from the well-told version that most children are familiar with, The Really Ugly Duckling, The Other Frog Prince, Cinderumpelstiltskin, and many others.  It made me even stop to think about the version of the story I was once told, wondering if my parents or grandparents had altered it anyway when passing it down to me.  

The main character Jack of Jack in the Beanstalk, tells the stories and also interacts with the other characters as they pop up anywhere, even in the middle of the book! Little Red Hen stays with you all throughout the book too worried about her precious wheat as always. 

The illustrations in the book are very unique. The illustrator is Lane Smith and she has a twisted way of drawing the characters in the book. Changes your prospective of the cute little images you have in your mind of these wonderful characters from storybooks and movies. The book won the New York Times Illustrated Book award, was a Caldecott Honor book. 

When discussing the fairy tale genre I’m thinking I might let my students pick out their own fairy tale and deconstruct it. It would be a good writing piece for narration. The book also makes fun of some of the common parts of a book and uses this to teach students. It says what the students are really thinking in their heads but would not say out loud. The dedication page is upside down and points out the fact that no one ever reads the page anyway. It has great humor that I believe would capture the minds of all young readers.  

Big Question: Can you name a type of figurative language from the story and explain it?

About Me!

Hello Everyone! My name is Sara Jones and I’m a 6^th grade special education resource teacher. I have taught at Burns Middle School in Owensboro, Kentucky for 8 years. Being a resource teacher, I get moved around a lot based on student numbers from year to year. I have taught reading, English, science, Read 180, and social studies. Next school year I will get to add math to the list too! I attended middle school at BMS and really enjoy co-teaching with some of my former teachers.

  When I’m not in the classroom, I’m coaching cheerleading at Apollo High School. This is my 13^th year as head coach.  We are a competitive squad too, so we practice year round.   I really enjoy coaching the girls and watching them grow up to become true leaders and young ladies.

My husband Micah and I are the proud parents of 3 wonderful and very busy children, Garrett 5, Ava 3, and Harper Lee 4 months (yes after the author) As far as reading for my own enjoyment…… that has been put on the back burner. I do read to my students in school and my children at home just about every night and that is something I love to do. My favorite sport is baseball, I'm a big Atlanta Braves fan. Can't believe it's Chipper's last year.  I also enjoy watching UK basketball and any cheerleading competitions on TV.

Really looking forward to this class and reading the books to my students and my own children.