Elementary Library

The Same But Different Too by Karl Newson (E NEW) These children and animals are all very different from each other. Some are big, some are small. Some are gentle, some are rough. Everyone is playful, but who's the best at hiding? But one thing's certain: they all love a good bedtime story! The perfect picture book for little ones who are just beginning to make sense of their place in the world.

Discussion Prompts:

●​ How are we all the same? ●​ How are we all different? ●​ Why are differences important? ●​ Why are differences not important?

The Cool Bean by Jory John (E JOH) Everyone knows the cool beans. They're sooooo cool. And then there's the uncool has-bean. Always on the sidelines, one bean unsuccessfully tries everything he can to fit in with the crowd--until one day the cool beans show him how it's done.

Discussion Prompts: ●​ Before reading: What do you think makes someone “cool”?

●​ Why doesn’t the main character hang out with the cool beans anymore? ●​ How did the cool beans show the main character that they were still friends? ●​ How are you or someone you know a “cool bean”?

This Book is Not for You! by Shannon Hale (E HAL) When the bookmobile librarian refuses to lend Stanley the story he wants, he learns the importance of advocating for the book of his choosing, and in doing so teaches the librarian the virtue in allowing everyone to select the stories they enjoy.

Discussion Prompts: ●​ How does Stanley feel when he can’t get the book he wants? ●​ How does the librarian change in the story? Why does he change?

●​ Who is allowed to choose what you can and can’t read? ●​ How can we support our friends in their reading choices? ●​ If we find a book in the library that we don’t like or that doesn’t match our family values, what should we do? ●​ There is no such thing as a “girl book” or “boy book”. Why are books for ●​ everybody? ●​ How can we support someone who has been bullied about their book choices? ●​ Who are the grownups who get to make rules about what you read in the ●​ library? (The answer is we all follow the school rules and then their caregiver

●​ can also make rules for only them) ●​ Who showed kindness in this story?

Yo! Yes? by Chris Raschka (E RAS) Two lonely characters, one black and one white, meet on the street and become friends.

Discussion Prompts: ●​ Do a call and response reading, which will invite all children to participate in rereading the story. ●​ Discuss what yo means and why we use it. ●​ Make up some gestures to match yo, yes and well. At the beginning of the story, one boy passes the other. Why is that ●​ Be Punctuation Detectives and look to see which punctuation mark is being used as you read. Discuss what they mean. ●​ At the end the boys jump up and say “ yow”. What does that mean? 59