Hi! Fly Guy

Hi! Fly Guy by Tedd Arnold (also illustrated)
Theodore Suess Geisel Honor Book
Scholastic, Inc.

ISBN: 0-439-63903-4

My rating: 4 out of 5

This is the story about a boy and his pet fly. Everyone is astonished by the fly’s ability to say the boy’s name – Buzz. This is fun short story that primary age students will enjoy. Even though it’s a small size, this would be a good book to use for a read aloud or possibly as a reading center. The vocabulary is not too challenging either.

Visually, the book certainly gets your attention. In some editions, the cover features a holo-foil background that reflects many different colors of light. The artwork itself is simply done in a cartoon-ish style. Far away, it looks like solid color, but when you look at the pictures up close, the shading is done with different colors of spirals. I do not think I have seen this done in any other book I’ve read. It really adds uniqueness to the book.

Hi! Fly Guy is an entertaining book that I would recommend to primary teachers.

Duck for President

Duck for President by Doreen Cronin, illustrated by Betsy Lewin
Caldecott Award Honor Book
Simon & Schuster

ISBN: 0-689-86377-2

My rating: 5 out of 5

This book is a sequel to Click Clack Moo and features the character of Duck, although Farmer Brown and the other barn yard animals and in the book as well. The story centers around Duck and how he disagrees with how things are being done, so he runs for office.

The art in this book is just as good as Click Clack Moo’s. The watercolor paintings create a nice balance of light/shadow and color. I also enjoyed little things painted in the story that older readers will understand. For example, Duck plays the saxophone on a late night TV show. Young readers will probably just think that’s funny, while older readers will remember that that is a nod to Bill Clinton’s run for the presidency when he appeared on “The Arsenio Hall Show.”

This would be a good book to use when discussing democracy and voting to students. Although it is geared toward younger readers, there is plenty in this book that can be applied to older grades as well. Duck for President is a fantastic book that all ages will enjoy.

The Scrambled States of America

The Scrambled States of America by Laurie Keller
Henry Holt & Co.
ISBN: 0-8050-5802-8

My rating: 4 out of 5

This is an amusing tale of the United States of America. The states are living things on a map with their own personalities and quirks. The states get tired of where they are located so they decide to switch places with other states. At first, I wasn’t so sure about this book, but the more I read it, the funnier it got. The story itself is funny, but the smaller pictures on the side of other happenings are pretty darn funny as well. This book is good, but I don’t think it is quite as good as one of her other works – Do Unto Otters.

This would be a great book to use in a unit about geography of the United States. Not only does it cover the states’ locations, but it also discusses things like the earthquakes in California, the cold weather of Minnesota, and the warm Florida climate just to name a few.