Author Archives: Katy Beattie

About Katy Beattie

Katy Beattie is the Teacher-Librarian at Pioneer Elementary School (Olympia, WA). She has been teaching for 17 years and been a Teacher-Librarian for more than half that time. She has an Australian Labradoodle and two young boys (ages 8 and 11). Her favorite books are anything by Kate DiCamillo and Jason Reynolds, Shalimar the Clown by Salman Rushdie, and The Woman Who Walked into Doors by Roddy Doyle. Her favorite things to teach are coding/robotics and Battle of the Books.

Jules vs. The Ocean by Jessie Sima

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In Jules vs. The Ocean Jules, her mom and sister are having a beach day. Jules is so excited to build a sandcastle that will for sure impress her big sister, but the ocean has other plans. Every time Jules builds a castle, the ocean comes and destroys it. Jules gets frustrated, pulls herself together and keeps trying. Each time a wave comes and smashes her castle. She perseveres with her goal of building the “biggest, fanciest, most excellent castle” on the beach. And each time “SLAP” the ocean knocks the castle down. Eventually Jules’ big sister comes to help her build the castle and together they build a big, fancy, most excellent sand castle! But, once again CRASH the ocean slaps it down. Despite that Jules and her sister realize the most excellent part of the day was building it together, not the castle itself. The beach day ends with happy sisters after a great day, until Mom tells them really the moon is controlling the waves – now they’ll have to watch out for the moon!

Great illustrations add the fun nature of this story that everyone can relate to. This book could be used in the classroom for topics of perseverance, kindness, and just a fun read aloud.

You Should Meet: Shirley Chisholm by Laurie Calkhoven, a Ready to Read Level 3

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The world needs more books about Shirley Chisholm. This Ready to Ready book gives a solid background of the activist from her childhood in Barbados to her first run for Congress and her first run for President. The details and explanations were easy to follow and presented in a relatable way for even kids below a Level 3 who may have the book read to them. It contains all the important parts of Shirley’s life and quotes she is famous for.

The illustrations by Kaitlyn Shea O’Connor are great, colorful and eye-catching.

My one complaint is that the text is very close together and there are alot of words on one page. This is difficult for our leveled readers who might pick up the book.

I recommend this book if you don’t have any other biographies about Shirley Chisholm. It definitely has great information. It is not one that will fly off the shelf and the text spacing will make it harder to read for the younger kids.

Our Favorite Day of the Year by A.E. Ali, illus. by Rahele Jomepour Bell

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What is your favorite day of the year? Is it a holiday? Your birthday? The first day of school? Musa’s teacher’s favorite holiday is the first day of school. He and his new classmates wonder why because there are so many other great days of the year! They each have their own favorite day: Eid, Rosh Hashanah, Las Posadas, and Pi Day. As we follow along in the book, Ms. Gupta (their teacher) invites each student to introduce their own favorite day of the year to their classmates. Together with their families, they bring in food and decorations and tell share with their friends the joys of their favorite days.

As you follow these four new friends on their journey sharing with each other and their classmates, you are reminded how sharing small or big parts of ourselves can help create lasting memories and friendships. This is a perfect back to school book that shows how we may all start out differently, but in the end, we share in the togetherness that is a classroom community.

In addition to a wonderful story of friendship and the beginning of the school year, this book is exquisitely illustrated and has fantastic end papers.

Snow Song by A.K. Riley

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This simple poem shows small children enjoying little moments in snow as it builds in the woods, on hills, through the town, and on the local pond. This poem uses interesting descriptive words to describe the accumulating snow such as “lathering” and “creamy.” These words are not normally used in conjunction with the image of snow and it leaves the reader struggling to picture the type of snow covering the ground.

This is a good preschool through first grade poem, but because of the odd descriptors, it is an easy one to skip.

Points to note: illustrated by Dawn Lo

Speak Up by Miranda Paul

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Knowing when to use your voice can be difficult. This book gives our littlest readers ideas on when and how to speak up and use their voices for good. It follows a diverse class through their day, giving real life scenarios of when and how students can use their voices individually or together. Some instances given are: if a teacher mispronounces your name – Speak Up! If you need be an ally to a friend, animal, or plant – Speak Up! When a rule isn’t fair – Speak Up! Even if your voice is quiet as a whisper, try it – Speak Up!

This is a great story to teach self advocacy and allyship to our youngest learners.

Points of note: illustrated by Ebony Glenn; diverse characters shown throughout.

Boxitects by Kim Smith

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Creativity. Teamwork. STEAM. These three themes make this book a hit with all readers

The story follows Meg, a boxitect, as she creates magnificent structures at Maker School. Problems arise when another boxitect enters the school and suddenly there is competition. Meg and Simone have very different styles. When the end of year showcase requires them to work together, will they let their competition and differences keep them from winning? Or can they work together to create something even more magnificent?

The book ends with instructions to make your own box creations. A perfect book for kids who have just moved and may have a plethora or boxes sitting around. Points of note: book cover is different than the jacket.

Louis by Tom Lichtenheld

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Have you ever thought about how your favorite stuffed animal feels about being squeezed around the neck? Squashed while you slept on him? Matted with food dripped on her? This story explores a boy’s unending, unforgiving, and maybe at times, suffocating love for his best stuffed bear, Louis. Louis has plans to run far away from this life as he has been stuck with needles (sewn back together), thrown into hurricanes (washed in the washing machine), and stranded places (accidentally forgotten on a bus). Will he succeed in running away or will he give in to being needed and loved?

This is a fun story with perfect, simple illustrations that are necessary to the story. Louis is a great tool for teaching point of view and would be a great addition to a library collection. Points of note: book cover is different than the jacket; Tom Lichentenheld’s real stuffed bear is photographed in the author bio at the back jacket flap; illustrations by Julie Rowan-Zoch.