Just in Time for Christmas by Louise Borden illustrated by Ted Lewin*

 This book celebrates family, traditions, and rural living. The watercolor illustrations are precise, expressive, and detailed.

All year the Bryan family awaits the day near Christmas when they gather to make cream candy (the description reminds me of pulled taffy?). Cousins, aunts, uncles, and a grandmother drive from far away to stay at the farm where the narrator (I can't figure out his name . . .his Great Gram calls him by the wrong name throughout the entire book!!), his parents, his brothers, and Great-Gram live. This Christmas the narrator's dog, Luke, goes missing and causes him to be distracted from the festivities.

*Highly recommend. Please add it to your stack of Christmas read alouds!

The Candymakers and the Great Chocolate Chase by Wendy Mass*

 Sequel to The Candymakers

Six (!!) years ago I read The Candymakers but forgot to read its sequel. 

In this sequel, Logan, Miles, Philip and Daisy are reunited as they take a roadtrip to promote Philip's winning candy creation. Along the way they discover buried secrets about family and Life is Sweet factory/business. 

Points to consider/discuss: lying, some of the boys notice pretty girls along the way (nothing inappropriate)

*Highly recommend (it is long, though-534 pages!) My twelve-year-old read recently read both books and likes the first one better than this one. I recommend reading the two books within weeks/months of each other. Since I read the 1st one six years ago, I did not understand some of the references made to the events in the first book. 

-Borrowed from the library.

Mercedes and the Chocolate Pilot by Margot Theis Raven illustrated by Gijsbert van Frankenhuyzen*

A True Story of the Berlin Airlift and the Candy that Dropped from the Sky
Mercedes and her mother read about the pilot Lt. Gail Halvorsen who was dropping handkerchief parachutes with candy and gum to children at the Tempelhof Air Field.  She writes him a letter requesting that he drops it off right in her garden with the chickens.  Will a busy Lt. have time a small girl in West Berlin?
The Epilogue is sweet!
*Highly recommend.
-Borrowed from the library.
Illustrations reveal a bit of the devastation after World War II.

Milton Hershey by Jane Sutcliffe*

History Maker-Bio
This short five chapter biography reveals how Milton was raised, how he struggled to become successful and how he handled success.  A wonderful overview of his life which reveals many of his admirable character traits.
I read this aloud to my boys on the way to Hershey Park. We enjoyed discussing facts about his life and his characters traits of perseverance, determination and generosity.
*Highly recommend.
-We own this book.
Pair with Chocolate A Sweet History by Sandra Markle

The Candymakers by Wendy Mass*

Twelve year old Logan who has never left his parents' candy factory, Life Is Sweet, competes in the Confectionery Associations' annual contest to create a new kind of candy.  Three other twelve year olds from his town arrive at the factory to learn the basics of candy making and to create their candy with the assistance of the factory's experts.
The four tweens develop an unlikely friendship when they realize someone is trying to sabotage the Life Is Sweet factory.
Ms. Mass slowly reveals each character's story and why he or she reacts in certain ways, disclosing a few mysteries along the way.
Grade Level Equivalent: 4.5
*Highly recommend.
-Borrowed from the library.
I will soon be reading the sequel-The Candymakers and the Great Chocolate Chase.
Strategies: predicting, inferring, check for understanding (the book is divided into each character's point of view so the reader needs to monitor, stop and check for understanding)

Points to discuss: Miles witnessed a drowning and is obsessed with the "afterlife" and what he could have done to save the girl who drowned.  Some lying occurs.

Sheila Rae's Peppermint Stick by Kevin Henkes

Sheila Rae has a glorious peppermint stick.  Her little sister Louise desperately wants one tiny lick.  Sheila Rae requires her to do all sorts of impossible feats to earn the lick.
Who has the last laugh?
Strategy: connections (T-S . . .if have siblings!)
Guided Reading Level: C (K-1st)
Grade Level Equivalent: 1.8
Borrowed from the library.

Chocolate by Hershey A Story about Milton S.Hershey by Betty Burford illustrated by Loren Chantland*

A short chapter book about Milton Hershey's childhood and the years of pursuing the candy business.
A great book to show the importance of work ethic, perseverance and generosity.
*Highly recommend.

Chocolate Unit idea-read lots of books about chocolate -
1. The Chocolate Touch (read King Midas and the Golden Touch with this book) by Patrick Skene Catling
2. Chocolate Fever by Robert Kimmel
3. No Monkeys, No Chocolate by Melissa Stewart
4. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
5. Chocolate  A Sweet History by Sandra Markle
6.  Jerry Pallotta's Hershey Kiss and Hershey Bar math books

The Gummy Candy Counting Book by Amy and Richard Hutchings photographs by Richard Hutchings

A rhyming, counting book that features gummy candies.  The highest number is twelve.  With the number twelve the authors show how one can divide twelve candies into equal groups.  The authors call the "sets".

Candy Counting by Lisa McCourt illustrated by Brad Tuckman*

Each two page spread has story problem that centers on candy.  The mathematician must decide if he/she should add or subtract.  Sometimes the problem is a two step problem where the solver must add and then subtract.  The story problems are humorous and kid appealing.
The photographs of the candy provide help to the mathematician if needed.
In the back are photographs and equations how each problem should have solved the correct answers.
Very creative!
*Highly recommend.