The Penderwicks in Spring by Jeanne Birdsall**

I recommend this series to all girls I know and even adults!
This book focuses mainly on fifth grader Batty with some chapters devoted to her step brother Ben.  Ms. Birdsall captures the pull a fifth grader feels between childhood and  growing up and unrelenting emotions.
Batty discovers several things about herself-that she can earn money, that she can sing, that Nick is good at rescuing her and bringing her home and that her mother sacrificed her own life so Batty can live. . . .and that secrets and misunderstandings rot at one's soul and dissipate joy but family, honesty and clarification can revive one again.
Although this series will naturally appeal to girls, Ms. Birdsall includes a boy character in each book that just might do the trick in enticing boys.  I want to read the series to my two boys.
***Highly, highly recommend.
Already looking forward to Book #5-the final one!

Hello, Ocean by Pam Munoz Ryan illustrated by Mark Astrella translated by Yanitzia Canetti*

I was at an used bookstore this weekend and spied this title-it is one I have been wanting to purchase.  This copy included both Spanish and English texts on each page.
A girl describes her day at the ocean using her five senses.
When my preschooler and I read the line "I'm here, with five of me, again!", we had fun trying to infer what that line meant.
What I love mostly about this book is its word choice and beautiful illustrations.
Strategies: inferring, ***a top pick for modeling/introducing visualizing
**Highly recommend.
http://www.amazon.com/Hello-Ocean-Pam-Munoz-Ryan/dp/0881069884

A Butterfly is Patient by Dianna Hutts Aston illustrated by Sylvia Long*

I love, love books created by this team!
The illustrations are soft, realistic and just plain gorgeous.
Each page has a descriptive sentence and then supports that main idea sentence with facts about butterflies.
Lots of ways to use this book in the classroom:

• word choice/expanding vocab.
• text features
• main idea/details
• for any butterfly unit

I love the end pages-in the beginning the illustrations are of unique caterpillars and then the back end pages Ms. Long has drawn to what butterflies they have transformed!
http://www.amazon.com/Butterfly-Patient-Dianna-Hutts-Aston/dp/0811864790

Check out all the books created by this team:
An Egg is Quiet
A Seed is Sleepy
A Rock is Lively
most recent: A Nest is Noisy
Highly recommend adding them to a classroom or home library!

Yard Sale by Eve Bunting illustrated by Lauren Castillo*

Callie's family is moving to a small apartment so they must sell most of their possessions at a yard sale.  Told from Callie's perspective, Ms. Bunting portrays how a child may feel as a family endures unwelcome change.  She really captures a child's feelings and fears well.
This book has the potential to spark a lot of discussion with inferences.
Strategies: connections, inferring
**Highly recommend.

George in the Dark by Madeline Valentine*

George is very brave-mean dogs, intimidating bullies, towering trees-are not a problem.  Bedtime, in the dark, was a different story!
Read how George discovers how to overcome his fear to save a beloved teddy bear.
The dark illustrations reinforce George's fear from his point of view.
*Highly recommend.
Strategy: connections

The Bad Birthday Idea by Madeline Valentine*

Although the text is sparse, Ms. Valentine creates a story that will provoke a lot of discussion.
Ben never lets his sister Alice play with him.  He plays with his toy robot and nothing else.  When Alice's birthday approaches, to Ben's horror, she ask for the newest robot toy-Roboy 2000.  To say Ben is slightly envious is an understatement!
On Alice's birthday, Ben makes two choices that have an impact on Alice's birthday and his relationship with her.
*Highly recommend.
Strategies: inferring, predicting, sequencing/retelling, connections (T-S)

Spectacular Spots by Susan Stockdale

With very simple text format, Ms. Stockdale focuses on animals who possess spots.  The animal noun is always proceeded by a descriptive adjective (charging cheetahs, creeping slugs, scouting fish) so this book would be a good one to use as a mentor text for descriptive writing.

In the back, Ms. Stockdale provides more details about each of the featured animals-including their real name and on which continent you would find the them.  Another fun activity  is a spot identification "game" where she has rectangles full of spots where the reader must identify to which creature it belongs.