Face Off (hockey novel)

Face-Off by Anastasia Suen (writing as Jake Maddox)
A hockey novel

Reading level: Ages 9-12

Library Binding / Paperback: 72 pages

Publisher: Stone Arch Books

Kyle wants to be a great hockey player, just like his brother, Caleb. Unfortunately, Kyle spends a lot of time sitting on the bench. The only way he’ll ever catch up to his brother’s goal total is if the coach lets him play more, and if his teammates begin to accept him. If Kyle can get his head in the game when he is on the ice, he might have a chance at scoring some major points for the team.

Activities:

See the latest hockey news and videos at NHL.com.

Explore the Science of Hockey.

Try this hockey maze puzzle.

Can you find all of the words in this hockey word search?

Make your own Hockey Word Search.

Literacy Links / Blog Review Policy
Copyright © 2009 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.

Window Music (train)

Window Music by Anastasia Suen
Picture Book

Reading level: Ages 4-8

Hardcover/Paperback: 32 pages

Publisher: Viking/Puffin

This train ride was A New York Times Best Illustrated Book of the Year!

Photos:

Visit Union Station in Los Angeles where the train ride began.

The Union Pacific Railroad photo gallery has LOTS of trains!

Follow the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway freight map.

Use Amtrak’s Interactive Route Atlas to explore all the places Amtrak goes.

Activities:

Print these trains activity and coloring pages.

Try this train track maze and this train shape maze.

Put this online train puzzle together.

Can you find all of the words in this train word search?

Literacy Links / Blog Review Policy
Copyright © 2009 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.

The Story of Soccer (easy reader)

The Story of Soccer by Anastasia Suen
A Sports History easy reader

“A brief history of the sport for beginning readers.”
~School Library Journal

Reading level: Ages 4-8

Hardcover/Paperback: 24 pages

Publisher: Rosen/Rigby

This book is also available in Spanish.

Activities:

Preview the book.

Try these soccer puzzles and word searches.

Soccer Printables has puzzles, word searches, and coloring pages.

Play Soccer Mania online.

Literacy Links
Copyright © 2009 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.

Delivery

Delivery by Anastasia Suen
Picture book

“A good choice for preschool story hours or for primary units on communities or transportation.” Booklist

Activities:

Reading level: Ages 4-8

Hardcover: 32 pages

Publisher: Viking

Try this Online Truck Puzzle.

See Ocean Freight Photos from around the world.

Print these Airplane Coloring Pages.

Can you find all of the words in this School Bus Word Search?

Trace your hand and arm to make this Train Craft.

Literacy Links
Copyright © 2009 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.

Here Comes the Bus

Here Comes the Bus by Anastasia Suen
A Bebop Easy Reader

Reading level: Guided Reading™: B DRA: 2 Intervention: 2

Paperback: 8 pages

Publisher: Bebop Books

A Chinese American girl takes the bus to school and greets her friends, one by one, at each stop.

Also available in Spanish as Ya viene el autobús

Activities:

Use the lesson plans from the 91 page Illinois School Bus Safety Program.

First School has school bus music, coloring pages, crafts, and online games.

Play the online School Bus Safety Games.

Visit the Traffic Safety Kid’s Page for coloring pages, puzzles and a word scramble.

Download Free Bus Safety Presentations in PowerPoint.

Use these lesson plans with your class.

Literacy Links
Copyright © 2009 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.

Tyrannosaurus Rex

Tyrannosaurus Rex
by Anastasia Suen (North American Dinosaurs series)

A close-up look at the Tyrant Lizard, Tyrannosaurus rex.

• Reading level: Ages 4-8
• Library Binding: 24 pages
• Publisher: Rourke Publishing (January 31, 2007)

Photos:

See the T-rex that Barnum Brown found for the American Museum of Natural History in 1902 and 1908.

A school teacher found T-rex bones at a Royal Saskatchewan Museum dig. They named the T-rex Scotty. (Yes, that coprolite is fossilized dinosaur poop!)

The Field Museum in Chicago named their T-rex Sue (after the person who discovered the bones.) Sue is the largest and most complete T-rex found so far.

Activities:

The Just for Kids page at the Field Museum in Chicago has a T-rex flip book you can make, a T-rex cross word puzzle, and a prehistoric word search.

First School has 1, 2, 3 T-rex coloring pages as well as Dinosaur alphabet coloring pages and flash cards in Zaner-Bloser and D’Nealian format.

Enchanted Learning has several T-rex pages, including one you can color online!

Literacy Links

Copyright © 2009 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.

An Elephant Grows Up

An Elephant Grows Up
by Anastasia Suen (Wild Animals series)

Reading level: Ages 4-8

Hardcover / Paperback: 24 pages

Publisher: Picture Window Books

Under the hot African sun, a baby elephant is born. The calf looks small next to her mother, but she weighs more than 200 pounds. Her days will be filled with lots of eating—this calf has a lot of growing left to do. What else happens when an elephant grows up?

Science Books and Films Best Book of 2006

Photos:

Watch San Diego Zoo’s Elephant Cam and meet all 11 elephants.

See all 25 elephant photos in the AWF media gallery.

Activities:

Find your way through the elephant maze.

Try a baby elephant dot-to-dot, an ABC elephant dot-to-dot, and an online elephant dot-to-dot.

Set your own level of difficulty in this online elephant puzzle.

Select the number/shape of the pieces for this elephant puzzle.

Make a 3-d elephant or an elephant counting book.

Color the elephants in M.E. and Me’s Africa Coloring Book.

Visit the Elephant Coloring pages at First School.

Literacy Links

Copyright © 2009 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.

Wired

Wired by Anastasia Suen
A picture book about electricity

Reading level: Ages 6-9

Hardcover/Paperback: 32 pages

Publisher: Charlesbridge Publishing

“By sticking consistently to the topic of how electricity reaches the home without trying to cover history, trivia, or more complex science, the fundamental information comes through in an appealing way that kids can fully understand.”
— School Library Journal

Activities:

Make a battery:

• with a lemon
• with coins or three potatoes
• a lemon and an old penny.

Try the electricity word search, criss-cross and double puzzles at Discovery Education.

Visit the Games Page at Energy Quest for an energy word search, crossword, jigsaw puzzles and more!

The Energy Kids page has riddles, online field trips, wordsearch and crossword puzzles, an energy source sudoku, and a scavenger hunt.

See Teacher’s Corner extensive list of electricity lessons and experiments.

Tune in Monday, June 29 at 2 pm Central. I’ll be on blogtalkradio’s Book Bites for Kids. Call in and ask me a question!

I’ll be signing copies of Wired at ALA in Chicago on Sunday, July 12 from 3-4 pm in Booth #1627.

Literacy Links
Copyright © 2009 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.

Uncle Sam

Uncle Sam by Anastasia Suen
American Symbols Picture Book

Reading level: Ages 4-8

Library Binding: 24 pages

Publisher: Picture Window Books

He has become one of the country’s most well-known characters. Tall and firm, Uncle Sam stands for a strong U.S. government. Join meatpacker Sam Wilson in Uncle Sam as he shares the wild story of how he, a clown, and countless artists shaped this American symbol.

Activities:

September 13th is Uncle Sam Day!

Bake and paint an Uncle Sam hat.

Try this online Uncle Sam coloring page.

Make an Uncle Sam pin with seed beads and a safety pin.

Find lesson plans, crafts, puzzles and writing activities at abcteach.

Use these six trait writing activities as students create their own Uncle Sam comic.

Are you attending ALA in Chicago? On Monday, July 13 from 11-12 in Booth #1940, I’ll be signing 100 copies of Uncle Sam…and Capstone is giving them away!

Literacy Links
Copyright © 2009 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.

A Tiger Grows Up

A Tiger Grows Up by Anastasia Suen (Wild Animals series)

Reading level: Ages 4-8

Hardcover / Paperback: 24 pages

Publisher: Picture Window Books

Deep in the forest, a tiny tiger cub is born. As the tiny tiger grows, she plays in the river and learns to hunt on her own. Catching a fish is an easy task. Splash! Learn more about this wild hunter, as you watch a tiger grow up.

Photos:

See the National Geographic Photo Gallery of tigers and other big cats.

Visit National Geographic’s Creature Feature for a tiger video, facts, photos, and an e-card you can send to a friend.

Activities:

DLTK’s Crafts for Kids has tiger coloring pages, paper bag puppets, paper plate crafts and more!

Kaboose has a tiger cub magnetic frame craft, a tiger pencil holder craft and instructions for a tiger seltzer rocket!

Try the tiger word search here and here.

Help the baby tiger find his way through this online maze.

Literacy Links
Copyright © 2009 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.