Fantasy Books

Title: "The Gruffalo"

Author: Julia Donaldson

Illustrator: Axel Scheffler

Publisher: Dial Books for Young Readers

Publication Date: 1999

ISBN: 0-8037-2386-5

Rating: 4/5

While walking through the woods, a little mouse makes up a scary creature called the Gruffalo to scare away all the animals that want to eat him. He tells them that the Gruffalo is coming to meet him and he eats other animals for dinner. Unfortunately, as the mouse is walking, he actually encounters the Gruffalo, who also wants to eat the mouse. The mouse tricks the Gruffalo into being scared of him too, and the mouse goes on in peace. 

This book is adorable, and it has a really good moral to it. I think this is a good book to help children learn to overcome their fears just as the little mouse does in the book. Also, the book is a rhyming book with a lot of repetition, so it's a good book to use with students who are just learning to read and need practice with predictable books. 

Title: "7 Sector 7"

Author/Illustrator: David Wiesner

Publisher: Clarion Books

Publication Date: 1999

ISBN: 0-395-74656-6

Rating: 5/5

"7 Sector 7" is a fantasy, wordless picture book about a young boy on a school trip that takes him deep into his imagination. At the top of the Empire State Building, this boy befriends a cloud who takes him to Sector 7 where all of the different types of clouds are. The boy draws fish and other creatures for them, which become the shapes in the clouds. When the boy returns back to Earth, the clouds all look like the fish and animals he made in Sector 7. 

I give this book a 5/5, because not only are the pictures very detailed, but the story is easy to follow. Although this book leaves room for children to use their imagination, it's still easy to understand what is going on throughout the story. Also, David Wiesner uses a lot of detail in his images of the clouds. Finally, this book actually uses the names of specific types of clouds, so it's slightly educational also!

Title: "We are All in the Dumps with Jack and Guy"

Author: Maurice Sendak 

Illustrator: Maurice Sendak

Publisher: Harper Collins

Publication Date: 1993

ISBN: 0788156454 

Rating: 2/5

The story "We are All in the Dumps with Jack and Guy" is a fantasy story about people living in the dumps. The rats steal their kittens and the little baby boy, and they challenge the people of the dumps to a card game to get the baby and kitten's back. Jack and Guy are taken up by the moon and are taken to the baby and the kittens who are eventually saved.

This is mostly a wordless picture book, and I personally did not like it very much. I thought the plot line was very confusing and it was hard to understand the story. I also didn't like how the "people of the dump" were portrayed, because it seemed to be making fun of homeless people. t think that some students would find this mysterious, funny plot to be entertaining, but I personally found it slightly insulting.