Ashleigh+Leonard



**__Theme: Self-Confidence __** Arizona Early Learning Standard: Concept 1a  “The child demonstrates awareness of his or her self; demonstrates self-confidence.”

1) Beaumont, Karen. 2004 **“I Like Myself.”** Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 16 pages. I own this book in my book collection.  The book “I Like Myself” is about a little girl who is proclaiming that she likes herself, no matter what she looks like or acts like. It starts out with the little girl proclaiming that she likes who she is, and there is no one else that she would rather be. She then goes into detail about all the aspects of her physical appearance, and how much she likes her differences. In the middle of the book it transitions into how she likes herself, even if people make fun of who she is. She also makes a clear point that she cares about what is deep inside, and that who she is, is what makes her special.  This book was chosen for my theme “self-esteem and self-acceptance,” but this book also has a clear theme about how we should treat one another. On top of teaching healthy self-esteem and self-acceptance through this book, there is a curriculum of how we can accept our friends who may look and act different than us. The middle of the book talks about ignoring the mean things people have to say, and through that section there can be many lessons on bullying, and how to treat those around us.
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2) Russo, Marisabina. 2010 **“A Very Big Bunny.”** Shwartz and Wade Books. 29 pages. Burton-Barr Library, Phoenix.  This book is about a very big bunny named Amelia. In the beginning of the book it goes through what Amelia’s day at school looks like. Since she is the tallest in her class, she is always the last bunny in line. It then describes what recess time looks like for her, and since she is so tall, she is unable to play jump rope, hopscotch, and seesaw with her classmates. Amelia describes how she feels the best when she is alone because she can be herself, and do whatever she wants. Amelia’s class gets a new student, and this bunny is the smallest of them all. Once again the classmates don’t want to play with her because of how small she is, so her and Amelia become friends through their differences.  Along with the curriculum of self-esteem and self-acceptance, this book has a subject of how to make friends with those around us. In the book the very small bunny tried many different ways to become friends with Amelia. This could be a lesson on how we make friends despite the differences that may be in our physical appearance. The curriculum on making friends can also go into the lesson of how to treat our friends, and the subject of bullying. There is also a math lesson in measurement that could be taught throughout this book. There are big bunnies and small bunnies, so there are many opportunities to teach big and small and comparing each of the bunnies.

3) Luftner, Kai and Drews, Judith. 2012 **“Lily Loves.”** Simply Read Books. 20 pages. Burton-Barr Library, Phoenix.  “Lily Loves” is all about Lily loving herself and who she was made to be. On every page it has a trait that Lily has, and different things that she likes and doesn’t like. Even on the subjects that Lily doesn’t like, the book portrays it in a way where it is okay to not like certain things. In end it talks about how Lily is the world’s best Lily. On the last page it has a picture of a mirror and explains that you are the world’s best when you are who you are.  This book offers a lot of descriptive areas of physical and emotional attributes. This book could be used to help children discover what they like and what they don’t like. It can also be used for kids to describe the physical attributes that they like about themselves. Through describing attributes about themselves, students can learn about adjectives in a very personal way.

4) Reynolds, Peter. 2003 **“The Dot.”** Candlewick Press. 19 Pages. Changing Hands Bookstore.  “The Dot’ is a beautiful story about a student who thinks that she is unable to draw an artistic picture. Her teacher insists that she draws whatever she is able too, and that happens to be a simple dot. The made her simple painting into a treasure by having it framed for the whole class to see. Through this the student was able to unleash her artistic capability, and began to paint extravagant pictures that consisted of many dots. She then encounters another student who had the same struggle, and she encourages him to paint a simple dot. This book illustrates how to gain self-confidence in the simple things, because everything you do is beautiful.  A curriculum area that could also be taught through this book is shapes and sizes. In the beginning of the book, the student starts out with a very simple dot, and as she gains confidence, she expands her dots with different sizes and colors. Through this reading, students can also explore their artistic sides through drawing different sizes and colors of a similar shape.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">5) Shertle, Alice. 2009. **“Little Blue Truck Leads the Way.”** Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing. 23 pages. I own this book in my book collection. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;"> This book is about a little blue truck who is exploring a big city for the first time. While exploring the city, he encounters different types of cars who are bullying him for how slow he is driving. At one point in the book, the little blue truck tells the ‘bullies’ to stop, and explains that just because is he slow doesn’t mean they have to be mean to him. He shows the other trucks that he is okay with who he is and how fast he is able to go, and encourages them to slow down and be kind to one another. The mayor of the town steps out of one of the cars, and encourages the little blue truck that he is has given great advice, and one at a time is the way to go. This book simply shows that just because you may be different doesn’t mean you are any better or worse than others. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;"> A curriculum area that could also be covered in this book is rhyming. It has great words to do a complete lesson on rhyming throughout the whole book. The book has very short pages, so in another lesson, the students can look through the book and pick out all of the rhyming words. Through this book you can also have a social and emotional lesson about how to make friends. The book provides many examples of how we should treat our peers, and how we should not treat our peers. Through the reading you can have open ended questions about how the other cars were treating the little blue truck, and if that is okay or not.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">6) Lovell, Patty. 2001. **“Stand Tall, Molly Lou Melon.”** Penguin Young Readers Group. 32 pages. Changing Hands Bookstore. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;"> This is a precious book about Molly Lou Melon and the wise advice from her grandmother about the different attributes of Molly Lou Mellon has. Her grandmother tells her how to take pride in the things that make her unique. Molly Lou was going to be moving away from her grandmother, and on her very first day of school she gets made fun of how short she is. Molly Lou is able to remember what her grandmother said about her height, and she is able to stand up against the bully and show him how ‘tall’ she really is. The book then goes through the different days, and the different attributes that her classmate points out, and how she is able to ‘stand tall’ against the mean comments. Molly Lou Mellon shows how to have self confidence in the areas that make her unique. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;"> An area of curriculum that could be covered with this book is social studies and demonstrates knowledge about oneself. This book is all about taking pride in the areas that make you unique, and through it, students can express in multiple ways the attributes that make them unique. They can do this through the arts or through writing.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">7) Lionni, Leo. 2012. **“Pezzettino.”** Random House Children’s Book. 40 pages. Burton-Barr Library, Phoenix. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;"> “Pezzettino,”which means little piece in Italian, is a story about a little piece who is trying to discover who he belongs too. He believes that he is so small that he must belong to someone else because everybody else is large, and made up of many pieces. Pezzettino comes to find out, that he too, is made up of many small pieces, and that he is exactly who he is supposed to be. It is a beautifully illustrated story that shows we are the exact size, shape, and person that we are supposed to be. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;"> The illustrations in this book are all contained of geometric shapes. Another area of curriculum that could be incorporated with this book is geometry. Pezzettino is a square, and all of his friends are shapes made up of many squares. There could be great lessons in how to make other shapes out of one simple shape. It would also be a great lesson for the students to make an abstract object, and be able to explain to their peers what they have created with their simple shapes.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">8) Dr. Dyer, Wayne W. 2006. **“Unstoppable Me! 10 Ways to Soar Through Life.”** Hay House. 25 pages. I own this book in my book collection. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;"> “Unstoppable Me!” is a great book that gives children 10 ways to gain self-confidence, and self-acceptance. Each page has a title, for example page 1 has the title of “You’re Great No Matter What!” It goes on to explain what makes you great and how you should value who you are because that is what makes you great. On the following page it has a correlating example and story for each tip. This book has great depth for children to learn why they should believe in themselves and accept who they are. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Along with gaining the skill of self-acceptance and confidence, this book has the theme of learning self-regulation. There are many page titles that relate to dealing with the unknown, and how to keep going when mistakes are made. This social and emotional curriculum can be tied together in a very meaningful way for children. There are questions in the back of the book that relate to each of the titles, and this can be used for a writing or art activity for kids to express how they feel about each area that was covered in the book.
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">9) Richmond, Marianne. 2013. **“Hooray for You! A Celebration of You-ness!”** Sourcebooks Inc. 24 pages. Changing Hands Bookstore. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;"> This book is all about a celebration of who you are. It explains different attributes of different people, and how that it all should be a celebration because it is what makes you, you! It explains how no one else could fill your space in the world because it was specifically for you. This book explains what ‘you-ness’ means and what attributes create your very own ‘you-ness.’ It is beautifully written to show each child that he or she has all of their attributes for a specific reason and that all of those attributes could never be filled by anyone else. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Another area of curriculum that this book could be writing through art about what makes their ‘you-ness.’ Students could have their own “Hooray for You!” book, and each page could be something that makes them unique from everyone else. Through this writing activity they can share with their peers about what is inside their very own ‘you-ness’ book. This would cover the curriculum area of social studies, as they would have to recall attributes of themselves, and explain to their attributes in detail with their peers.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">10) Saltzberg, Barney. 2010. **“Beautiful OOPS.”** Workman Publishing. 14 pages. Changing Hands Bookstore. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;"> This is a book that describes, in a very intriguing and hands-on way, how our mistakes can be beautiful. It teaches the idea that our mistakes are only opportunities to make something beautiful and creative. It directly correlates with teach self-esteem and self-confidence because students can see that even if we have made a mistake in our work, it only creates the possibility to make something even better. The book has many illustrations of how a spill, stain, or torn piece of paper, can be created into something even better if we just look at it with different eyes, instead of giving up on ourselves. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Another area of curriculum that could be taught through this book is the area of fine motor skills. The book has many illustrations of art, and through this, students can use different writing tools and scissors to create their very own “Beautiful OOPS.” This activity can allow students to explore their fine motor and artistic skills through creating artwork that is their very own. This artwork would specifically not have a big idea or theme. It would just be for the students to create beautiful pieces with different objects and materials.