Children's Realistic Fiction: What Can You Do with a Paleta?

Tafolla, C. (2013). What Can You Do with a Paleta?. New York, NY: Tricycle Press.

Reading level: 710L

Interest level: Grades K - 2

“You can dance to the accordion, you can smell the tacos, but…” Growing up in suburban San Antonio, this was the barrio I knew existed somewhere nearby, but never got to experience myself until I was a teenager recklessly playing around on the “other” side of town. This book made me nostalgic for those blasted hot afternoons in Southtown, spent looking for adventure, but instead finding only popsicles and shops full of brilliantly colored tissue paper banners, wooden puppets, and miniature accordions.  The images are all warm, soft, and full of flesh and earth tones – you can almost feel the heat coming off the pages. I also loved the brightly colored bungalow style houses – very much an iconic representation of South/central S.A. This book should be in most Texas elementary school classrooms because it’s sweet, high quality and there seem to be very few picture books with Mexican themes… which makes little sense, given the huge population in the U.S. of Mexican descent. You could use this book to introduce simple Spanish words, such as fruta or tio.

Children's Realistic Fiction: The Monster at the End of This Book

Stone, J., & Smollin, M. (2004). The monster at the end of this book. New York: Golden Books.

Reading level: AD450L

Interest level: Grades PreK - 2

Featuring affable Grover of PBS puppet fame, “The Monster at the End of This Book,” isn’t a narrative, but rather involves the reader/listener in a direct conversation with the “Sesame Street” creature. Grover reveals right away that there is, as the title suggests, a monster at the end of the book, and he begs the read to please, PLEASE stop turning pages. “Did that say there will be a Monster at the end of this book? IT DID? Oh, I am so scared of Monsters!!!” Of course, the reader must turn pages – the very form of any book entreaties us to keep turning pages all the way to the end. The tension created by this defiance, despite Grover’s increasingly impassioned pleas and admonitions (“YOU TURNED THE PAGE!”), makes reading this book aloud a lot of fun for both the listeners and the speaker. Spoiler alert, Grover is a monster, and he is the monster at the end of the book… this begs an interesting discussion about why Grover is afraid of monsters if he is a monster himself. Repeated readings don’t diminish the listener’s enjoyment, even after the “twist” is revealed, especially if the speaker uses a lot of expression and, if possible, a gruff, gurgly Groveresque voice. In the classroom, you could use this book to demonstrate how important expression is when reading, as well as how foreshadowing can create interest and drama.

"The Monster at the End of This Book" lesson plans

Children's Realistic Fiction: No, David!

Shannon, D. (1998). No, David!. New York: Blue Sky Press.

Reading level: BR

Interest level: Grades PreK – 1

  

Author’s note: “A few years ago, my mother sent me a book I made when I was a little boy. It was called No, David, and it was illustrated with drawing of David doing all sorts of things he wasn’t supposed to do.”

When you’re a kid when any energy and imagination, you hear this combination of words constantly: NO + (name). This is the premise of this cheekily illustrated mediation on the mischievous. You could use this book in the classroom on the first day as an introduction to rules and why they matter.

Watch a video reading of "No, David!"