Amber Brown is Not a Crayon. And this is something Justin Daniels would never say to her, just as she would never say to him “Justin Time”. Justin and Amber have been best friends since always, they sit next to eat other in class, help each other with their homework and always stick up for each other when needed. They’re a great team; he helps her with fractions (‘which she only half understands’) and she eats the cream middle out of the Oreos and passes the cookie part to him (‘we call it team work. Hannah Burton calls it gross’). Justin has to move away and despite Amber doing her best to be strong and not get upset, she loses it when Justin throws away the chewing-gum ball they have accumulated while packing his things. As well as dealing with her parents being divorced, she’s now vowed never to speak to Justin again. Ambers mom helps her to understand that sometimes people deal with things by pretending they aren’t happening and that it doesn’t mean Justin isn’t sad about leaving. After acknowledging this, the best friends make up and enjoy their time together before Justin’s move.

Love Is A Family Picture Book/Realistic Fiction
Downey, R., & Gasquet, J. (2002). Love Is A Family. New York: Scholastic.
Lily is a fun-loving, bubbly young girl who loves her mother very much. But when Family Fun Night rolls around for school she worries. What will the other kids think when it’s just her mom? Will they laugh at her because her family is so small? Are they the strangest family that will go? She wants for a large noisy family like her friend has. Lily tells her mum she sometimes wishes she had sisters or a dad who lived with her or even a brother! Mama said she knows and that she wishes that too, but their little family just feels so right, and that love is what makes a family and they have plenty of that. When they arrive at Family Fun night, Lily sees all her friends and their families – of every size, shape and color, having a great time. She finds out some kids have stepmoms or stepdads, some were adopted and some live with their grandparents. She learns there are as many ways of showing love as there are stars in the sky. A beautiful book showing the love between a mother and her child and how love is what makes a family.

Horton Hatches The Egg Picture Book/Poems
Geisel, T. (2004). Horton Hatches The Egg. London: Collins.
Horton Hatches the Egg is the story of Horton the Elephant who is tricked by a lazy and irresponsible bird Mayzie to sit in her nest on her egg while she takes a short break which becomes a permanent vacation to Palm Beach. Hortons kindness and generosity are tested when Horton is laughed at by the other jungle animals, captured by hunters, exposed to the elements, forced to endure a sea voyage and then placed in a tr