We read the following books during our read-aloud time this month to go along with our history and geography studies.
Ancient Rome: Modern Rhymes About Ancient Times
by Susan Altman
Nice poems and illustrations about famous events, people, and stories from ancient Roman times.
Chee-Lin : A Giraffe's Journey
by James Rumford
A longer than usual picture book about the life of a giraffe captured in Africa and making its way to China, where it was revered as good luck omen. Based on a true story.
The Empty Pot
by Demi
A delightful parable about hard work and honesty. An emperor in ancient China is looking for his successor. He gives out a flower seed to every child in the kingdom and gives them a certain amount of time to make it grow. One young boy is able to grow anything, except this one seed. He tries everything he can, but it just won't grow. Shamefacedly, he brings his empty pot to the emperor at the appointed time. All the other children bring all kinds of different, lovely flowers. The emperor knows that the boy with the empty pot is the only honest one among them, because he had cooked all the seeds before he gave them out. So he chooses the little boy to be his heir.
A Grain of Rice
by Helena Clare Pittman
A young peasant man wishes to marry the emperor's daughter. Her father laughs in scorn at the idea, but decides to hire the man to work in his palace. The man works diligently and finds ways to improve the efficiency of various tasks in the palace. But still the emperor will not allow him to marry his daughter. She begins to pine away when her father starts trying to find a husband for her. The frightened father offers a large reward to anyone who can save her life. The peasant man makes a sweet smelling concoction and instructs the father to tell his daughter it came from him (the peasant). The daughter improves and the father must pay a reward. Again, the peasant man asks for the daughter's hand in marriage. When the emperor refuses, the man asks for a single grain of rice, to be doubled every day for one hundred days. The emperor agrees to this request, only to find out that it soon becomes an astronomical amount, making the man wealthier than the emperor. Finally, the emperor agrees to the marriage if he can stop giving the man all this rice. Teaches the power of exponents.
Iraq
by Julie Murray
A nice introduction to the modern country of Iraq.
Little Pear
by Eleanor Frances Lattimore
A chapter book about the adventures of a little boy growing up in a rural Chinese village.
The Story About Ping
by Marjorie Flack
A little duck learns that a home with discipline is better than being alone in the big world where dangers abound at every turn.
The Year of the Panda
by Miriam Schlein
The bamboo in the mountains is dying out and the pandas are starving and moving down into the lower lands to find food. This causes some conflicts with the local farmers. A boy finds an orphan cub, saves its life, and cares for it until it is taken to a government rescue center.
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