Book Look: Thank You, Mr. Falker and Mr. Peabody's Apples

One of my biggest goals this year is to read aloud more picture books to my big kids. Part of the reason why I haven't in the past is because I'm really not as familiar as I probably should be with the world of children's literature. I thought that I'd write a brief summary and review here of some of the books that I share with my class to create an anthology of sorts for future (and others') reference.

Thank You, Mr. Falker
by Patricia Polacco

I'm sure many people have read this book, but I'll share about it anyway.
How I used it: First read aloud of the year... we simply read it and enjoyed it!
Summary:An inspiring success story, it's a great first day read to set the tone in a classroom for the year. It's the autobiographical story of a girl who struggles to read through elementary school, when her fifth grade teacher finally shows her that he believes in her and helps her find success.
Themes: perseverance, mentors, inspirational teaching stories
Other thoughts: Many teachers already know about this book, and many of my students had already read the story before. That didn't stop a few of us from nearly tearing up on the last page, though!

Mr. Peabody's Apples
by Madonna

How I used it: Read it on the second day, introduced the CAFE strategy "check for understanding," briefly.
Summary: A boy sees Mr. Peabody, his teacher/baseball coach, taking apples from the grocer without paying for them and tells everyone in town that the Mr. Peabody is a thief. He later learns that Mr. Peabody paid for the apples in advance. When the boy apologizes for ruining his reputation, Mr. Peabody uses a feather pillow as a metaphor to explain that it is impossible to repair the damage caused by judging others and spreading untrue rumors.
Themes: honesty, trust, rumors, gossip
Other thoughts: This book has beautiful illustrations that lend themselves well to reinforcing how to read a book by "reading the pictures."