Beginning Readers 5-8
Book of the Week: Sorry
June 17, 2011 in Baby/Toddler 0-4, Beginning Readers 5-8, Book of the Week, Fiction

Sorry by Jean Van Leeuwen, Phyllis Fogelman Books, 2001, Ages 0-4, 4-8.
Ebenezer and Obadiah are two brothers who lived a happy routine on their family’s farm. However, one day they had a misunderstanding and wouldn’t say sorry to one another. They move to different sides of the farm and eventually have families. It takes the rising generation to learn from Ebenezer’s and Obadiah’s mistakes and learn to say “I’m sorry.”
Sorry is an engaging story that offers a wonderful lesson that will teach children and adults of all ages. The story is accompanied by lively and colorful pictures by Brad Sneed. Although there is a sad tint to the story, it ends hopefully and would offer an excellent teaching moment to explain the importance of apologizing and forgiving.
–The Book of the Week this week was written by Lauren Bangerter, a BYU Student in the Department of English.
Older posts
Book of the Week: Let’s Do Nothing
June 10, 2011 in Baby/Toddler 0-4, Beginning Readers 5-8, Book of the Week
Let’s Do Nothing by Tony Fucile, Candlewick Press, 2009, Ages 4-8. It becomes a problem when you are two best friends who have done all there is to do. Really all that’s left is to do nothing at all. Except maybe one of you will end being kind of bad at it. Fucile, who is …
Book of the Week: Benno and the Night of Broken Glass
May 13, 2011 in Beginning Readers 5-8, Book of the Week, Fiction, Teen 13+, Tween 9-12
Benno and the Night of Broken Glass by Meg Wiviott, Kar-Ben Publishing/Lerner Pub, 2010, Ages 5 and up. Benno is a cat–a very observant cat. He lives behind the furnace of an apartment house at Number 5 Rosenstrasse in 1938 Berlin. And as far as Benno can tell his neighborhood is a nice place to …
Book of the Week: We Are in a Book!
April 29, 2011 in Beginning Readers 5-8, Book of the Week, Fiction
We Are in a Book! by Mo Willems, Hyperion, 2010, Ages 5-8. Elephant and Piggie discover someone looking at them. It is a Reader! “We are in a book!” “We are in a book? THAT IS SO COOL!” And we, the readers, are off and running with the delight and glee of this wonderful little …
Book of the Week: Art & Max
April 15, 2011 in Baby/Toddler 0-4, Beginning Readers 5-8, Book of the Week, Fiction
Art & Max by David Wiesner, Clarion Books, 2010, Ages 4-8. Max, a young lizard, wants to be an artist like Arthur. Arthur reluctantly lets Max paint with him. Max gets painter’s block and asks Arthur for advice. Arthur conceitedly suggests Max paint him. Max obliges and literally puts paint on Arthur! After getting blown …
Book of the Week: Guyku
March 25, 2011 in Baby/Toddler 0-4, Beginning Readers 5-8, Book of the Week, Non-Fiction, Tween 9-12
Guyku: A Year of Haiku for Boys by Bob Raczka, Illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds, Houghton Mifflin, 2010, Ages 4-8. “The wind and I play / tug-of-war with my new kite. / The wind is winning,” and “Hey, who turned off all / the crickets? I’m not ready / for summer to end,” are just …
Book of the Week: Bears! Bears! Bears!
February 11, 2011 in Beginning Readers 5-8, Book of the Week, Non-Fiction
Bears! Bears! Bears! by Bob Barner, Chronicle Books, 2010, Ages 4-8. Mother bears and their cubs around the world have fun doing what they do best: being bears. Pandas snap bamboo and grizzlies fish with their claws while sun bears lick up sticky snacks of honey; spectacled bears doze together in a nap, and polar …
Book of the Week: Dotty
January 14, 2011 in Baby/Toddler 0-4, Beginning Readers 5-8, Book of the Week, Fiction
Dotty by Erica S. Perl, Illustrated by Julia Denos, Abrams, 2010, Ages 4-8. Ida has just started school, and of course, she brings her imaginary friend, Dotty, with her. The other kids have all brought imaginary friends too. After the winter holidays, Ida brings Dotty to school again, as usual. Some of the other kids …
Book of the Week: Layla, Queen of Hearts
December 17, 2010 in Beginning Readers 5-8, Book of the Week, Fiction
Layla, Queen of Hearts by Glenda Millard, Illustrated by Patrice Barton, Farrar Straus Giroux, 2010, Ages 5-8. Senior Citizens Day is coming up at school, and Layla has no one to bring. Her best friend’s grandmother suggests a Miss Amelie for the job. When they meet her, Layla realizes Miss Amelie has difficulty remembering current …
Book of the Week: Never Smile at a Monkey
November 19, 2010 in Beginning Readers 5-8, Book of the Week, Non-Fiction
Never Smile at a Monkey is about surprisingly lethal creatures and how to avoid their dangers. For example, never pet a platypus, because it might kick you with the venomous spurs on its hind legs. A cane toad has large sacs of venom on its neck that can squirt a deadly poison. And be sure …








