This series is about Sam Gribley living unhappily in New York City who runs away to some forgotten family land in the Catskill Mountains. He learns to live off the land with the help of a kindly librarian, a falcon baby, a flint and steele, penknife, and a ball of cord. He is joined by his sister in book two, and book three chronicles Frightful’s migration journal south.
How To: Be a Better Parent
Adventure Book for Middle School Boys
Brian’s Hunt by Gary Paulsen is Sam Gribley, of My Side of the Mountain, a little older, morphed with the movie starring Michael Douglas and Val Kilmer called The Ghost and The Darkness. Perfect for reluctant boy readers grades 4-6th.
Picture Book about Autism for Typicals in Elementary School
This is a great book to teach children how to relate to their classmates with special needs. In this picture book, MacKenzie Macabee meets Dylan, the new boy at school who seems a little different. When he has trouble fitting in, she puts the pieces of the puzzle together of why and learns about autism, but, even more importantly, she learns how to connect with him.
Science Project: How a Knock on the Head Causes a Concussion
Take the hockey-puck-on-a-rod test a Michigan high school kid cobbled together to help figure out if a knock on the head has caused a concussion. Sports medicine specialists are increasingly worried about the long-term implications of mild, repeated head trauma.
Pippi Longstocking meets Anne of Green Gables
Everything on a Waffle by Polly Horvath is Pippi Longstocking meets Anne of Green Gables combined with a Newbery Honor Award. For grades 3-5.
Immigrant Story: In The Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson
In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson by Bette Bao Lord is the story of Shirley Temple Wong as she immigrates to America at age 8 and discovers that American is the land of opportunity by learning about baseball, the Brooklyn Dodgers and the great Jackie Robinson. Four other immigrant stories are listed and all books are approrpriate for grades 3-5.