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Monday, August 10, 2015

Must Read Monday: Modern Fairy Tale Books

Happy Monday!! Many of you have your first week of kiddos and I wish you well this week! I have a few weeks left before the kiddos return!
Why yes Ryan, I would definitely like your help setting up my classroom this week!! Got the best email ever, the one that says we're allowed to get into our classrooms to start setting things up! I'm not yet sure how I'm going to manage my classroom set up, since I still have a broken ankle and can't lift things or move things or climb up on things.... I'm sure it will all work out the way it needs too, so I'm trying not to freak out too much.....

Anyway, since it's still a Monday in the summer time my favorite link up of all time is happening. My sweet friends from Kindergarten Planet and The Kindergarten Connection are hosting Must Read Monday!
This incredibly wonderful linky party is all about us getting to share our favorite children's literature. Each week we have a topic to talk about, and we get to discuss our favorite books that address that topic. 
This week it's all about Modern Fairy Tales. How fun!! 
Each year I seem to have a large group of students who are obsessed with ninjas and all things martial arts. I was lucky enough to find some awesome fairy tales to feed their ninja obsessions!

Corey Rosen Schwartz is definitely one of the go-to authors for a modern spin on classic fairy tales. In The Three Ninja Pigs, two pig brothers are sick and tired of hearing about this Big Bad Wolf who is going to come and blow all their houses down. The first little pig learns akido and the second little pig learns jujitsu, and they feel they are ready to face the wolf. However, when the Wolf actually shows up the brothers realize they may not be quite ready after all. Luckily for them, their sister has been working on her moves. Will the three ninja pigs be able to save the village from the Big Bad Wolf??

Another awesome gem from Ms. Schwartz is Ninja Red Riding Hood. Wolf just can't seem to catch a break, ever since those troublesome pigs began teaching everyone around their karate moves! He hasn't been able to huff up a decent meal in weeks. Unwilling to give up, Wolf visits a local dojo to improve his skills. He decides that a little girl and her frail old granny will be the perfect targets. Little does he know he is in for quite a surprise!!

Sticking with my ninja theme, The Boy Who Cried Ninja by Alex Latimer is based off of one of my all-time favorite fairy tales. I can remember my parents using the tale 'The Boy Who Cried Wolf' to teach me many a lesson as I was growing up, and it's so fun to use these more modern version with my kinders!
Tim is witness to some incredibly strange and unusual things that happen around his house. He tries to tell his parents about what he sees, but they never believe him. Not only do they never believe him, but every time he tries to tell them about what he sees they punish him by giving him chores!! Not a fan of chores, Tim devises a pretty clever scheme to expose the truth to his parents. Will it work, or will he forever be sweeping and mowing and raking??

Another modern fairy tale by Corey Rosen Schwartz is Goldi Rocks and the Three Bears.
Papa Bear, Mama Bear, and Baby Bear definitely know how to rock. Papa is the drummer, Mama is on bass, and Baby tickles the ivories. However, they are missing a lead singer. In their pursuit to find the singer who fits them just right, they audition the Three Little Pigs, Little Red Riding Hood, and everyone else who lives in their little corner of the world. However, none of them seemed to fit. They were about to give up their search when they found a little girl sleeping in Baby Bear's bed....

One of my personal favorites appeals to most of the boys in my class each year! The Three Little Fish and the Big Bad Shark by Ken Geist is such an adorable spin on an old favorite!
"Little fish, little fish, let me come in!"
"Not by the skin of my finny, fin, fin!"
"Then I'll munch, and I'll crunch, and I'll smash your house in!"
When Mama fish tells her three little fish that it's time for them to move out and make their own homes, each little fish chooses a different building material. Jim builds his house out of seaweed, Tim makes his home out of sand, and Kim sets up house in an old sunken ship. Who do you think was successful in keeping out the Big Bad Shark?

I hope you really enjoyed reading about my Modern Fairy Tale book choices! I had a great time sharing them with you! Make sure to swing back over to Must Read Monday and see who else has linked up. If you want to share your favorite books you can link up too!

Here are my prior Must Read Monday Posts, if you want to learn about more of my favorite books!!

Also, it's not too late to link up for Spotlight Saturday! It's a Teacher's Show and Tell to share our favorite products, activities, resources, ideas, tips, lesson, tricks, and anything else that makes our classroom lives easier and more awesome!

8 comments:

  1. OMG! Great minds think alike! I'll have to check out The Three Little Fish and the Big Bad Shark. I haven't heard of that one yet. If we lived closer, I'd help you set up your bulletin boards. Good luck and post pictures!
    Rachael

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    1. That's so funny that we chose so many of the same books!!! We have excellent taste!! :-) I totally appreciate your offer of help to set up my room, that's the biggest thing I'm stressing about right now! I'll definitely post some pictures when things start coming together!
      Thank you so much for stopping by and reading about my book choices, I love that you left such great feedback. You rock!!

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  2. The Three Ninja Pigs is such a cute one and the kids love it! I will have to check out the Three Little Fish and the Big Bad Shark. That sounds like a good one! Thanks for sharing! Kristi
    Teaching Little Miracles

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    1. What is it with kids and ninjas?? :-) I'm so glad you were able to learn about a new book or two from my post!
      Thank you so much for reading about my favorite books, I really appreciate that you took the time to leave such great feedback too!

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  3. I need The Boy Who Cried Ninja. My kids would flip out, lol. They love The Three Ninja Pigs like nobody's business. And how cute is Ninja Red Riding Hood?!?
    http://theprimarypineapple.blogspot.com/2015/08/must-read-mondayon-tuesday.html

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    1. My kiddos have always had an obsession for ninjas, I'm sure this year will be no different! :-) Ninja Red Riding Hood is awesome because it's from the same author so the Three Ninja Pigs appear in the story, too!
      Thanks so much for reading my favorite modern fairy tales books and leaving such great feedback, I really appreciate it!!

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  4. Hi Erin! You did it again. Every single one of your books is new to me. They all sounds great! I adore the ninja theme in this post too. My boys would go crazy for those seeing as how some of them dress up as ninjas for Halloween and want to be a ninja when they grow up. Thanks so much for your enthusiasm for sharing your vast children's book selection!

    Suzanne
    Kindergarten Planet

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    1. I have you to thank for allowing me to share my fave books in such a creative way!! I'm so in love with this link up, I'll be so bummed when its over!
      I'm so glad I was able to share new books with you, that's my favorite part of this link up! Definitely invest in the ninja books, your boys will love them!! They are a huge hit for read-alouds as well as additions to the Book Boxes for Daily 5 Read to Self and Read to Someone!
      Thank you so much for reading about my books and leaving such incredibly sweet feedback! So glad to have connected with you through this link up!!

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