With that in mind I decided to book-talk a few fiction titles to each of the 4th and 5th grade classes. I adlibbed a bit, read a from the back cover, and sometimes just started reading from page 1, stopping just as things were getting interesting.
My success rate is pretty high -- only 3 books out of the 29 did not go home with a student. The true results will be revealed the next time we meet... Did they read the book? Was it interesting to them? Do they want more?
4th grade Book Talks
- Potterwookiee by Obert Skye
- Inkheart by Cornelia Funke
- The Big Field by Mike Lupica
- The Report Card by Andrew Clements
- Spiderwick Chronicles: The Field Guide by Tony DiTerlazzi and Holly Black
- Lawn Boy by Gary Paulsen
- The Magic Finger by Roald Dahl
- The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
- 43 Old Cemetery Road: Dying to Meet You by Kate Klise
- Emmy and the Incredible Shrinking Rat by Lynne Jonell
- A Nest for Celeste by Henry Cole
- The Monster’s Ring by Bruce Coville
- Dodger and Me by Jordan Sonnenblick
- The Doom Machine by Mark Teague
- Hocus Pocus: A Tale of Magnificent Magicians by Paul Kieve
5th grade Book Talks
- Found by Margaret Haddix
- Confectionately Yours by Lisa Papademetriou
- Three times lucky by Sheila Turnage
- Adventures of Nanny Piggins by R A Spratt
- Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli
- Missle Mouse by Jake Parker
- What Happened on Fox Street by Tricia Springstubb
- War Horse by Michael Morpurgo
- The Puzzling World of Winston Breen by Eric Berlin
- Masterpiece by Elise Broach
- Tennyson by Lesley Blume
- The Barn by Avi
- Chickenhare by Chris Grine
- Giants Beware by Rafael Rosado and Jorge Aguirre
