Learnitronics

Grumpy Bird describes a very bad day for Bird. Jeremy Tankard effectively shows Bird’s feelings in Bird’s posture and expression.  The grade 3/4 class decided that although there is an animal as the main character the story would still be realistic fiction as it is telling about an experience we can all relate to.  Come and follow Bird on his walk with his friends.  The grade 3/4’s thought this book deserved 5 stars out of six.  You can learn more about Jeremy Tankard here and here or play along with Grumpy Bird here.

Wake up, Henry Rooster is an entertaining look at the life of a teenaged rooster written by Margariet Ruurs He has a problem of staying up late and sleeping in.  This begins to cause problems on the farm, such as, the farmer is late for milking the cows, the farmer’s wife is late collecting eggs and misses her garden meeting and the children miss the school bus.  What is Henry to do?  Read on to find out.  The grade 3/4 thought this book deserved 6 stars out of 6.  Read this book today!

The Queen’s Feet is a super humourous and silly story about a queen with poorly-behaved feet.  They don’t cooperate when she meeting foreign kings and won’t wear proper shoes.  Her feet get her into lots of trouble.  The grade three-fours thought this book deserved five and ½ stars out of six.  You can find out more about Sarah Ellis and her book. 

This lovely illustrated poem is a work of art.  Lynn Blaikie shows us a view of the north and lets us experience the snow and the night.  The grade 3/4’s thought Beyond the Northern Lights deserved 4 1/2 stars out of six.

A Sack Full of Feathers is a Jewish folktale retold by Debby Waldman.  Yankel is a young mischevious boy who tells his friends other people’s stories.  The rumours spread and the local rabbi finds out.  He sends Yankel to put a feather on all his neighbour’s doorsteps.  We learn about rumours and lessons in this weel-told tale.  Learn more about the story and its author and illustrator.

Creatures Great and Small is a non-fiction picture book which shows all kinds of animals and compares their sizes.  Each set of facing pages shows a pair of animals from a different  biological catagory – mammals, insects, reptiles, etc.  The pair show the largest and smallest creatures from the catagory.  The illustrations are fabulous and the facts about the animals are informative.  The grade 3/4 class thought this book was terrific.

You can read more about the book here and here and find out about the author Karen Patkau here and learn about her new book here.

Please, Louise is a realistic picture book which is humourous and creatively illustrated.  The team of Frieda Wishinsky and Marie-Louise Gay have combined their skills to introduce us to Jake and Louise and their relationship.  Louise is a little sister who won’t leave her brother alone.  Jake tries everything to get some time alone and even wishes his sister was a dog.  Jake is suprised to find a dog instead of Louise by the tree outside.  You can read to see what happens next! You can find out more about this book here and here. The grade 3/4’s believe this story deserves at least 5 1/2 stars out of six.

Ancient Thunder is unique and breath-taking illustrated poem.  Leo Yerxa shows us the beauty and power of horses on the prairie.  The thunder is their hooves as they run.  The horses fly over the prairie and gallop across the page.  The illustrations were made with paper which look like raw hide.  The illustrations look three dimensional.  You can read more about the book here.  Our grade 3/4’s think this story deserves 4 stars out of 6.

Scardey Squirrel was a fantastic exciting adventure story.  Scaredy Squirrel lives in a big tree surrounded by the unknown.  He lives in fear of tarantulas, killer bees, sharks, poison ivy and Martians.  One day the unexpected happens and you have to read to find out the rest.  Melanie Watt draws very appealing pictures to capture your attention.  You can read more reviews here and here. The grade 3/4’s at our school thought this book deserved 6 stars out of 6.

Alpha-better is a funny look at the alphabet.  This story tells us about friendship and sharing.  Each page has a person who is missing something but has an item another person could use.  Some of our favourites include Edward playing football with an egg, Noah who has a necktie but not an oar and Alberto who has an alligator but not a bathing suit.  The grade 3/4’s in our school think this book deserves 4 1/2 stars out of 6.  You can read more about it here and here.