Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Once again, Harry Potter is back with his aunt and uncle during the summer where he stirs up trouble with the family when he argues with his great Aunt Marge and blows her up into a big balloon. Harry Potter runs away from home, finds his way back to Hogwarts where the escaped prisoner from Azkaban is attempting to locate Harry. Harry defeats Dementors by unleashing his inner patronus, a silver stag, he learns more about his father and his father's friends shape shifting abilities, and Snape's hatred for them as Harry discovers that the prisoner, Serius Black, is the wolf he has been seeing. Harry learns that the true traitor to Harry's family was actually Peter Petigrew and not Serius Black , the Dementors attack Black anyway and Harry saves Serius with his patronus again. Harry discovers after Serius has once again been taken prisoner that Serius is indeed Harry's godfather. Dumbledor and Harry plot out away for Serius to once again escape to keep from getting the Dementor's kiss.

Characters are very strong and are very believable. Dialogue shows each of the characters in more depth and allows the reader in to see their personalities.

Rowling, J. (1999). Harry potter and the prisoner of azkaban. Scholastic Paperbacks.

Martin's Big Words

Martin was a boy that did not understand why signs in his neighborhood said "white only." He listened to his father preach and decided he wanted to do something great when he grew up so he learned about love, studied the teachings of Ghandi, and he became a preacher too. Southern white people did not like what he was preaching and his house and his brother's house was bombed and yet Martin still had courage, protested, had peaceful marches. Martin began the end of segregation and taught others to fight with words and love. His words still speak to many even though he died for equality.

This picture book is well illustrated and has beautiful paintings depicting the fight for segregation. The pictures help add to the mood by using color. The composition and use of mixed media and collage create an amazing addition to the beautiful words in the story.

Rappaport, Doreen, & Collier, Bryan. (2001). Martin. New York, NY: Jump At The Sun.

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark

This book is a collection of scary stories meant to read aloud and the book even tells the reader when to jump at your listeners as it is read aloud. One story tells about a boy who finds a toe in the ground and he tugs at it, the toe pops off and he takes it home. After dinner the creature comes back for the toe. Another story just tells the tale of two men who were walking and were very scared of each other. Then the author tells the reader to scream - to scare the listener.

The author creates a mood that children and adults love - fear. Even though the stories may not even be scary, the reader is meant to scare it's listener by jumping or screaming while telling the story. The black and white drawings seem to be scarier than the words in the book.

Schwartz, Alvin. (1986). Scary stories to tell in the dark. HarperTrophy.

Junie B. Jones, Stupid Smelly Bus

Junie B. Jones rides the bus for the very first time in Kindergarten. Junie hates riding the stupid, smelly, yellow bus and would rather be a car rider. Jimmy rides the bus and bullies her because he has a secret crush on her. Jimmy gets them in trouble and the bus driver comes to talk to them about their behavior. Junie convinces her grandma to drive her to school. She no longer has to ride the bus anymore and is happy.

Junie uses figurative language to describe her thoughts, fears, and what angers her. Mood is very evident in this story to explain how this 5-6 year old girl feels about the world.

Park, Barbara, & Brunkus, Denise. (1992). Junie b. jones and the stupid smelly bus. Random House Childrens Books.