Contemporary Realistic Fiction Book Blog #1

Title: "The Worst Day of My Life Ever"
Author: Julia Cook
Illustrator: Kelsey De Weerd
Publisher: Boys Town Press
Copyright: 2011
Number of Pages: 35
Genre: Contemporary Realistic Fiction

      "The Worst Day of My Life Ever" is a book that describes the very bad day of a little boy who continues to mess things up. As the book goes on it describes all the problems he is having, but then it also tells why the little boy is struggling so much to have a good day. At the end he is able to turn things around because he listened to the advice given to him.
       The illustrations in this book are very colorful, vivid, and welcoming! Each page brings out the drama that is happening throughout the story and shows awesome detail. When reading through the book, it is easy to feel what RJ is feeling as the pictures do a great job of portraying the story.
 
     Grade: K-3
     Content Area: Character Education
     Standard: Cooperation

     This book could easily be used for any younger grade to teach the importance of listening and following directions as a form of cooperation. This could be read to the whole class or even read in groups among students. After reading, the students could write about a time they did not listen to instructions and what happened because of it. They could also write why they think it is important to listen and follow directions. For really young grades that do not generally write as much, the teacher could use this book to kind of introduce a classroom system. He or she could then begin this system by having students, any time they follow directions well, put a direction follower card on their class board as a way of encouraging all the students to listen and follow directions.
     For ELL students, the teacher could let them listen to this book in their own language. This might be helpful since this lesson is done with younger age students that have probably not been brought very far along with their teaching of the English language.