There written and illustrated by Marie-Louise Fitzpatrick is a wonderful picture book about a young boy. The boy has many questions about “There” which is actually adulthood. He has questions like “Will I ever act silly again?”, questions that many kids have. He does not really want to go “There” because he is questioning what he is leaving behind. He decides not to go “There”, he wants to go later. It is a really great book and the questions in the book are questions that I sometimes ask as well. This is one connection I made. Another connection I made to the book is that I am also excited for adulthood and also am nervous. Overall, this was a really great book and I enjoyed it a lot.

Wanted: The Perfect Pet is a really good book by Fiona Robertson. This book is about a boy named Henry who really wants a dog. He puts out an advertisement asking for a dog with special requirements. On the other side of the story, there is a duck who does not have a friend. He really wants someone to spend time with and sees Henry’s advertisement. He wants to be friends with Henry, so he decides to dress up as a dog and goes to Henry’s house. Henry is very happy, and they play but Henry sees that the “dog” is different, and later the costume falls off the duck. He still accepts the duck and they become good friends. I made some connections to this story. One of the connections is that I have always wanted a dog. I think that I may get one within the next few months because my parents have been looking at Labradoodles online lately. I have always wanted a Shiba Inu, but apparently, they are very yappy. Overall, I really liked this book and I also really would like a dog.

After The Fall: How Humpty Dumpty Got Back Up Again is a great book about overcoming your fears written and illustrator by Dan Santat. The book is about Humpty Dumpty who gained a fear of heights after falling off the wall, and his life has become harder because he doesn’t like to go high up in the air. Later, he builds a miniature plane and he loves it. One day, the plane lands on top of a very high wall. He decides to get over his fear and climb the ladder to get the airplane. I made some connections to this story. One connection is how I also used to have a fear of heights. I was absolutely terrified of heights, I hid under the seats on a Ferris wheel. I am now not afraid of heights because I know that I won’t fall or the safety mechanism won’t break. Another connection I made to this story is how I always read Humpty Dumpty when I was very young. I really loved that book, and I enjoyed seeing how his life was after the big fall.

Morris Micklewhite and The Tangerine Dress is a very inspiring story by Christine Baldacchino. It is about a boy named Morris who is a very normal child at his school and does all of the things that the other kids do. There is just one thing that Morris does that is different. At the dress-up time, he likes to wear a tangerine dress. The other kids do not understand, and make fun of Morris and exclude him from activities at school. The other boys say “Dresses are only for girls.”, and they don’t sit near Morris at lunchtime because they “don’t want to get turned into girls”. I made some connections to this story. One connection I made to this story is how I also loved the dress up time during preschool. I would always be a firefighter with my friends, and it was very fun. Morris also loves the dress up time, and he loves the tangerine dress. Another connection I made to the story is how I always have pancakes over the weekend. At the beginning of the story, it says that Morris always has pancakes on Sunday mornings. I love to make pancakes, and I usually only make them on the weekend. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and it has a very good message.

The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind is a great book written by William Kam Kwamba and illustrated by Elizabeth Zunon. The book is about a boy named William who lives in Malawi. His family cannot afford many things, such as William’s education and having even two meals a day. He reads a book about different electronic devices and he understands how to create a windmill, and he calls it “wind electricity”. He later goes on to use his windmill design to power his home, water his mother’s garden, and many more things. He speaks at a Ted Talk in Tanzania, and he grows up to influence people all around the world. People are inspired by his story, and they donate him money to send him back to school. I made some connections to this story. One connection I made is that I also really enjoy making contraptions and designing electronic things. Another connection I made to this story is that I also have a science book that teaches me all about electricity and engines, similar to the one William had from the library. Overall, this was a very inspiring book to read, and I really enjoyed it.

The Noisy Paint Box: The Colors and Sounds of Kandinsky’s Abstract is a great inspiring book written by Barb Rosenstock and illustrated by Mary Grandpre. This story is about a boy named Wassily Kandinsky who is brought up to his family’s standards, and he loves to paint. The way he paints is quite different than everything else his family has seen before, so his family sends him to an art class, where he learns to paint just like everyone else, like painting trees and nice landscapes. As he grows up, he knows that this is not what he wants to paint. He takes a risk by inviting the world to see his painting which he feels have sounds, and the people take a while to understand what this is, but eventually, Wassily Kandinsky introduces abstract art into the world. I made a few connections with this story. One of them is how I love to draw and paint. I started making little comics with my brother when I was about 7, and we would always make them. I photocopied them and turned them into comic books. I also made a connection to how he played the piano as a child, and playing the piano is one of my passions. I have always loved it and I hope to carry on this skill throughout my life. Overall, this book was very interesting to read and I enjoyed it a lot.

The Fantastic Undersea Life of Jacques Cousteau is a very educational and interesting picture book written and illustrated by Dan Yaccarina. In this book, Jacques Cousteau wants everyone in the world to learn about what is in the ocean, so he creates a television show that educates people on marine life and how to preserve it. The oceans were a vast, unexplored world, and Jacques Cousteau wanted to be our guide to explore with him. One connection I made with this book is how I love to snorkel. During spring break, I went snorkelling many times in Maui and saw lots of interesting marine life, mainly fish, and some turtles as well. Another connection I made to the story is how the animals living in the oceans right now are going to become extinct because of littering and garbage in the ocean. I watched a documentary called “The Blue Planet” and I learned so much about the animals living in the ocean. The third connection I made to the story is how I am writing a script for a television show with Ryan Q. and Ronan. Jacques Cousteau had a television show, and I hope to create one with my friends someday. This book was a very good book, and I made some connections to the story.

Bat’s Big Game is a funny and educational picture book about being a good sport retold by Margaret Read MacDonald and illustrated by Eugenia Nobati. In this book, a bat is playing a soccer game but only wants to win. During the game, he is constantly switching to the winning team, because he just wants to win and not have fun. After the two teams realize that Bat is switching teams, and Bat explains why. The teams explain to Bat that sports aren’t all about winning and more about enjoying the experience and having fun with your friends. I made some connections to this story, and one of them is how I am quite competitive, a text to self connection. Bat is always wanting to win, and I can relate to that because I also like to win whenever I can. Another connection I made is a text to media connection, and it is connected to a movie called “Kicking and Screaming” I watched during spring break. This movie is also about soccer and how someone really wants to win. The third and final connection I made to this story is a text to world connection. The connection is how BC has a bat program, to protect and conserve the bats living in BC. This was a great book, and I enjoyed making connections to it.

Enemy Pie is a great children’s book written by Derek Munson and illustrated by Tara Calahan King. It is about a boy who doesn’t like a new kid named Jeremy who just moved in down the street. He talks to his father about it, and his father says to make “Enemy Pie” to get rid of enemies. I think that when his father says “get rid of” he just means to make them not your enemy anymore. They make the Enemy Pie, and his father says that he has to spend a whole day with Jeremy to make it work. The boy then asks Jeremy if he wants to play, and he’s okay with it, so they play throughout the whole day and have a lot of fun with each other and they teach each other new skills that they are good at. Later in the day, the boy realizes that Jeremy isn’t a bad kid and he’s a good friend, so he doesn’t want to give Jeremy the Enemy Pie. Unknowingly, the dad’s plan all along was to make them friends. After they have dinner at the boy’s house, the dad brings out the pie for dessert, and the boy is trying to give his dad signals that he shouldn’t give him the pie because it’s Enemy Pie. When Jeremy is about to eat the pie, the boy doesn’t want him to have the effects of Enemy Pie, so he tells him that it’s poisonous. Jeremy looks at him and says “Then why has your dad already eaten half of the pie?” So Jeremy eats his pie and the boy doesn’t see anything strange happening, so he eats his pie. I made some connections whilst reading this story, and one of them is how I enjoy pie so much. This book revolves around the mysterious pie that the boy doesn’t know very much about, and I like pie very much. Another connection I made to the story is how the boy made a new friend without even knowing it. Last summer, I went to a camp for a week. I stayed with 4 other kids that I barely knew, but as the week passed, we became very close, and we still communicate to this day. The third connection I made to this story is how I love to bake/cook. My dad and I cook almost every night together, and I enjoy it very much. Although, I have not made a pie yet but want to make one. This book is a great book, and I made some connections with it.

Sir Cumference + The Dragon of Pi: A Math Adventure by Cindy Neuschwander and illustrated by Wayne Geehan is a very useful and entertaining story about a knight who accidentally drinks a potion that transforms him into a fire-breathing dragon.  Sir Cumference needs to find a cure, so his son Radius goes to find a spell or potion to transform his father back into a human. Radius finds out that he needs to find the ratio of the distance across and the length around him, and he tries to find out how to measure it. He figures out that the ratio is 3.14, and he needs to give his father that many spoonfuls of medicine to turn him back into his human form. I think that the theme in this book is perseverance. I think this because Radius only had less than a day to find a cure for his father, but he tried very hard and eventually found out how to cure his father. This is a very good book because it has the perfect mix of excitement and teaching moments, such as using pi, diameter, radius, and circumference. It almost sneaks the math terms into the story, so that we do not think of this book as a math book, but a normal story with math elements. I think that this is a good book for 11-12-year-olds because they are starting to learn about circumference and diameter.