New Books

Hello,

I know some of you really enjoy knowing about new books. I can be difficult to know which books you might like and which you might not like. I try to choose books that I really like and that fit the criteria we want for our SDA schools.

The Boo-Boos That Changed the World by Barry Wittenstein. 2018.
This is the story of how Band-Aids were created. This book is fun to read aloud. The first page reads “Once upon a time, in 1917 actually, a cotton buyer named Earle Dickson married his beloved, Josephine, and they lived happily ever after. The End.” I read that a stopped. The children were surprised and said, “That isn’t all!?” So I turned the page and read the next ten pages at the end of which stated “The End.” I waited again, and the protests came. The children were laughing by now, so I continued reading four more pages when I again read “The End.” Two more pages – The End. And finally read to the end of the book when it says “The End – Really!” Meanwhile, through all those ‘The Ends” comes the story of how a cotton buyer created bandages with adhesive that was easy to apply with one hand. They didn’t sell well until Johnson and Johnson decided to give them away to the Boy Scouts since boys scrape their knees and elbows. The mothers realized how handy these things were and they began to sell. There is a nice bit of history here and lots of things that you might not know just like the children. This is a book that is appropriate for all ages.

Focused by Alyson Gerber. 2019.
If you have a student in your class with ADHD, they might want to read this book. Clea can’t control her thoughts. She gets distracted; she can’t focus easily especially with others around her making noises. The other kids are beginning to notice and it is starting to affect her grades. Her parents take her to be tested and she learns that she had ADHD. I am processing this book right now and already have a student with ADHD who wants to read it. Alyson Gerber has written a story to help others know what it is like for someone who has ADHD. If you like this one, you may also like a previous book Gerber wrote titled “Braced” about a girl with scoliosis.

Since we are on a roll with medical issues, consider the book Roll With It by Jamie Sumner about a girl in a wheelchair. Not only is Ellie in a wheelchair, but she is the new girl. Add to that, she is the new girl who lived in a trailer park on the wrong side of town. Ellie has cerebral palsy and she and her mom have moved to a new town so they can help care for her grandfather who has dementia. Ellie wants to be a baker and is excited to enter a baking contest. We learn about Ellie and what life is like for her living with CP.

What I like about Focused, Braced, and Roll With It is that we learn more about what it is like for a person with those medical conditions. By learning more about the issues, we become more accepting and tolerant.

I hope you have a great week.

Audrey