This book goes through the events of the protagonist finding "little bit scary people" but then stating "but I bet..." and then saying something positive about them. It teaches not to judge a book by its cover. I would honestly read this book to any grade- even high schoolers. There are so many different activities you could do with this book, most of them teaching students soft skills and manners. But I believe you can take this book to a whole other level. You can incorporate this into a science lesson by having students predict what is going to happen and then recording what actually happens. Another idea would be to read this book as an introduction to a new lesson or study in E/LA. I have seen on pinterest where teachers will wrap a book in paper so that students can't see the title. That is then the book they have to read for that particular study. It would also be a great way to split students up into book club books. Or, if you want to teach critical thinking, students can be given those mathematical optical illusions where something appears one way but is actually another. This would help segue into a geometry lesson. I would probably use this book as a fun introduction to another lesson, but you could do a writing prompt if you wanted to focus solely on this book. 

A.R. Reading Level: 3.8

A humorous picture book titled "Meet the Dullards" caught my eye at the library, so of course I HAD to check it out. It was totally worth my time and is worth yours too. It tells the tale of the Dullards- a dull family that doesn't want anything even remotely "fun". The kids however, have a different attitude. It makes for a fun book that children think is funny and ridiculous. This book would be great for teaching kids soft skills and manners and that every family is different. I would use this book for a "First Week of School" activity so that I can get to know each student's family. After they do a work sheet/coloring sheet describing their families to me, I would have the students come up with a fake family that was different in some way- maybe they only eat soup or maybe they cook food in the bathroom? Then they would write about that family in a story. This activity would work on character development and story/creative writing.

Reading Level: 3.8

Lexile: AD 520L

This lovely children's book is about an elephant who feels left out because she can't do all of the awesome things that they can do. But Ellie stays true to herself and learns that everyone is different. She discovers she is really good at painting, so she paints everything she sees. This is a beautifully illustrated and inspirational book. I would use this book with younger elementary students and have them try to paint something or at least create a piece of art in class. This would be something fun to do at the beginning of the school year. And at the end of the school year, the students could paint a friend (like Ellie did in the book). I would also have the students learn to sign their name in cursive just like Ellie does. 

This is a book I would read out loud to the class.

Recommended Ages: 3-6

Guided Reading: K

Lexile Measure: AD560L