Making Connections Book List

These books are an important tool for teachers of any subject.  Helping students make a connection from their personal lives and connect them to a particular situation, social settings, etc.  The list below is a collection of books connecting students to varying degrees of scenarios; dyslexia, ADHD, distractions, disabled family members.

1.  If You're So Smart, How Come You Can't Spell Mississippi? (A Story About Dyslexia) by Barbara Esham.

Description:  A girl always thought her dad was smart; he is an attorney in town, and people are always asking him for advice. She becomes confused since asking him for help with her weekly spelling list as her dad struggles with one of her spelling words.

           

  

2.  Free Association, Where My Mind Goes During Science Class (A Story About Attention. Distraction, and Creativity) by Barbara Esham.

 

Description:  Emily loves science, but one idea sparks another in her mind, leading her away from what’s happening in class. Frustrated, her teacher gives her a notebook to jot down her off-topic ideas. While the point was to discover what distracts Emily, the teacher is surprised to find some creative, science-based thinking in the journal. Though it does not problem solve the correction of daydreaming, it reinforces a method for the student-teacher relationship to move past the distractions.

3.  Katy's Secret - An ADHD Story by Orit Chuosho Shulim.

 

Description:  The book deals with a girl who, from the time she was a baby until she was in a middle grade class, hears everything and fails to achieve the best results on school tests.  She feels different and unusual wherever she goes until one day her teacher calls a personal meeting.

4. Help Me Be Good About Throwing Tantrums by Joy Berry.

 

Description:  The Help Me Be Good Series defines a misbehavior, explains the cause of the misbehavior and its negative effects, and offers children and parents practical advice for tuning the misbehavior into acceptable behavior.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5.  Stand Tall, Molly Lou Melon by Patty Lovell.                      

 

Description:  Molly Lou Melon has many features from her appearance to her voice that are easy for bullies to pick on.  But, her grandmother has always told her to walk proud, smile big, and sing loud, and she takes that advice to heart.  As she has to start in a new school, a horrible bully picks on her on the very first day, but Molly Lou Melon knows just what to do about that.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6.  Now One Foot, Now the Other by Tomie dePaola.

 

Description:  A young boy coping with his grandfather's disability  is set with Grandpa Bob teaching Bobby to walk, and how Bobby returns the favor when Bob has a stroke.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

7.  Keep Your Eye on the Prize by Barbara Esham.

 

Description:  This book deals with what can be a difficult subject for students or teachers to broach. Parents wanting to help too much for their children's projects.  Dylan, the main character in the book, feels accomplished as he received minimal help for his science project.

 

 

8.  Like Pickle Juice on a Cookie by Julie Sternberg.

 

Description:  When Eleanor's beloved babysitter, Bibi, has to move away to take care of her ailing father, Eleanor must try to bear the summer without Bibi and prepare for the upcoming school year. Her new, less-than-perfect babysitter just isn't up to snuff, and she doesn't take care of things like Bibi used to. But as the school year looms, it's time for new beginnings. Eleanor soon realizes that she will always have Bibi, no matter how far away she is. 

 

9.  Big Moon Tortilla by Joy Cowley.

 

Description:  Marta Enos has been working hard on her homework and is hungry for a taste of Grandmother's big moon tortillas, "the best in the world". But as she rushes out to the cookhouse, disasters happen. Her homework blows out the window and is ruined by dogs. She drops her glasses and breaks them. Grandmother comforts her broken-hearted granddaughter with the wisdom of an old healing song: "When we have problem, we must choose what we shall be". Marta chooses to fly high and laugh at her problems, like the eagle.

 

10.  I Need My Monster by Amanda Noll.

 

Description:  A unique monster-under-the-bed story with the perfect balance of giggles and shivers, this picture book relies on the power of humor over fear, appeals to a child’s love for creatures both alarming and absurd, and glorifies the scope of a child’s imagination. One night, when Ethan checks under his bed for his monster, Gabe, he finds a note from him instead: "Gone fishing. Back in a week." Ethan knows that without Gabe’s familiar nightly scares he doesn't stand a chance of getting to sleep, so Ethan interviews potential substitutes to see if they've got the right equipment for the job—pointy teeth, sharp claws, and a long tail—but none of them proves scary enough for Ethan. When Gabe returns sooner than expected from his fishing trip, Ethan is thrilled.