Angelina and Alice by Katharine Holabird

I came across this book for another class when I wanted to find one about gymnastics for some 2nd grade girls I work with. Then I realized that I had read some of the books by this particular author when I was younger and I was excited to discover this series again. It is a very girly book. This is good for me because I am goign to be using it in a lesson for two girls. The story is about two friends (they are little mice) Angelina and Alice who love to do gymnastics but they can each do different tricks. When one fo the girls falls, she feels left out until the other teachers her how to do it so the kids at school don't make fun of her.

This book is just overall an enjoyable story. I think it can relate to a lot of girls because I think that both gymnastics and dance are two very popular things to do for elementary school aged children. I know that I have mentioned pictures in a lot of my entries but the illistrations in this book are just AMAZING. They have so much detail and color that it is mind blowing to me. Just focusing on the page that has the villiage festival is fantastic. I think that I coudl use this page for a whole lesson. It is one the evokes a lot of emotion for me. I can see excitement and lots of activity. I see families young and old all together. I see people playing games and eating ice cream. And of course there is the gymnastics show which the entire festival is focused around.

We have been talking about writers notebooks and writing obviously goes hand in hand with reading so I got to thinking that this page could be a greaet launching point for a lesson on adjectives. There is so much to describe about what is going on and how it is being done. I could see students really running with this idea. Also, if a student got stuck, they would be able to hopefully relate to the picture. Some ideas on how it relates that comes to mind are families, parades, games, brothers and sisters, sports, parks, and watching live shows.