3.+Literature+List


 * Anne Kuckkahn:**

American Symbols: Ellis Island Author: Terri DeGezelle This is a nonfiction book. It has a table of contents at the beginning. The book has many facts and vocabulary words that relate to Ellis Island. There are historical pictures and timelines as well. The book goes in order from the beginning to the end of Ellis Island. It is easy to read this book as a story, but also just to research and find facts in it. National Landmarks: The Statue of Liberty Author: Kathleen W. Deady This book is a nonfiction book. There are many nonfiction text features such as a table of contents, pictures, graphs, captions, and vocabulary words. This book can be read as a story, or read just to find the facts. It is colorful and inviting to read. This book will help students really understand the Statue of Liberty. The Butterfly Seeds Author: Mary Watson This book is historical fiction. It tells the story about a young boy and his family who will be immigrating to America. The young boy is going to miss his grandpa very much, so his grandpa gives him seeds to plant when he gets there. The seeds will bring butterflies and remind the boy of his grandpa. The story follows the journey of the child as he travels on the ship, makes new friends, arrives at Ellis Island, and begins his life in America. The Keeping Quilt Patricia Polacco This is a historical fiction book about a Jewish family who immigrated to America. The girl Anna brought her dress and her babushka. Soon she outgrew the dress and her mother made it into a quilt. The quilt was passed down throughout different family members, and it would always remind the family of their past and their immigration to America.


 * Margaret Lahmeyer:**

//I Am Here// By Rose Blue, Pictures by Moneta Barnett, Fiction This book is about a young girl named Luz who is trying to accustom herself to living in America because she just moved from Puerto Rico. The whole book is about how she gains confidence on her first day at school.

//Russia Immigrant girl: Becky of Eldridge Street// By Brett Harvey, Historical Fiction Becky is a Russian immigrant to the lower east side of Manhattan in 1910, she is giving us flashbacks into her previous life in Russia and how it is different in America. This book gives a lot of information about the Jewish culture.

//I Was Dreaming to Come to America: Memories from the Ellis Island Oral History Project// By Veronica Lawlor, Auto Biographies This book contains fifteen excerpts from young immigrants of various ethnicities as they explain their reasons for coming to America and their feelings about leaving home.

//The Keeping Quilt// By Patricia Polacco, Fiction This story is about a Jewish family in America that passes down a quilt made up of family clothing, to share the story of their journey from their Russian homeland.


 * Melissa Pina: **

1) Ellis Island: American Symbols By: Terri DeGezelle  This book is a very nice an easy read for children that I feel would be perfect for a second grader. This book contains information on Ellis Island, the immigration station and inspections, a timeline, Ellis Island today, etc. The book also has vocabulary words in the ready, as well as their definitions on the bottom of the page. The back of the book also contains hands on activity, words to know, books and Internet sites that can be used to continue a students reading and research.

2) Atlantic By: G. Brian Karas  This book is exactly what the title says it is, this book talks about the Atlantic. This is not an informational book with sub headings, but rather a story that explains what the Atlantic is, where it is, what it does, and what other oceans it is by or intersects with. This is also a picture book. This is a great children’s book that can be an interesting and creative way to introduce the Atlantic, because there are some students that may not know. At the end of this book there is also a very cute poem that describes the Atlantic as well. This whole book has information that is very easy to remember and can help with a lesson on immigration by describing how they traveled on various ships.

3) Ellis Island: Doorway to Freedom By: Ritz Kroll  This book tells the story of Ellis Island and how it became what it is today. This book is a picture book that shares information in a child friendly way. The book shares information on how more than 16 million people entered America between 1892-1954. The book includes the history of how immigrants entered this country and the various paths that they took to get here. This book could be used in sections. The teacher can look through this book and label pages that are related, and talk about each section separately rather then trying to read the whole thing which might be to much information in one sitting.

4) The Memory Coat By: Elvira Woodruff  This book tells a story about a little girl named Rachel, her cousin named Grisha, and their family. They lived in Russia, but there came a time where it was not safe for Jews to live there anymore, so they decided to travel to America. Grisha’s parents had passed away in an epidemic and all he had was the coat that his mother made him. When the left to travel the family was afraid that the worn coat would make him seem dirty and unfit for America, but he wouldn’t take it off. While they waited in long lines in inspection Grisha fell and scratched his eye. The doctor had place an “E” on the outer coat, showing that something was wrong. Rachel thought of a great idea and turned the coat inside out and they waited to see another doctor where he was then let through inspection. This is a great beginner story that can be used to introduce a lesson on Ellis Island.

**Kimberly Hoolihan**

1. Title: Coming to America: The Story of Immigration Author: Betsey Maestro Summary: This is a children's picture book that focuses on immigration throughout history. It has information about immigration from hundreds of years ago up to the present. Also, the book discusses different reasons why people wanted to immigrate to America. This book has great illustrations making it fun to read and is perfect for a second grade classroom.

2. Title: I was Dreaming to Come to America Author: Veronica Lawlor Summary: This is a book that was composed of 15 different peoples stories about coming to America and going through Ellis Island. I thought that this book would be a great one to use in the classroom because it is a picture book with great illustrations and a biography. Also, the stories about coming to America are from people from all different cultures and are mostly under the age of 20 and some as young as elementary school which they could relate to.

3. Title: At Ellis Island: A History in Many Voices Author: Louise Peacock Summary: This book is told by two different view points, one from a 10 year old girl who is traveling to Ellis Island and another as a girl thinking of her great grandmother coming though this immigration station. I think this would be a great book for students ebcause they will be able to relate to the 10-year-old girl because they will be near that age.

4. Title: Dreaming of America Author: Eve Bunting Summary: This book is about the first immigrant to reach Ellis Island when she was 15 years old. I believe that students would be able to relate because the main character is still young. It also discusses what she faced when arriving to America including the welcome ceremony and the process of entering the United States. I think this book would be beneficial to have in a classroom when learning about immigration.