Our Projects

Welcome! The grade levels and ages listed here are estimates, simply meant to guide you. You know your kids and students best—every reader grows at their own pace. Many books are wonderfully universal and work well across multiple age groups, and some titles remain a perfect fit for readers who may still be developing their skills, especially with a bit of guidance or support. And remember: nonfiction picture books can be powerful tools at any age—even in high school—as supplements, mentor texts, or just great stories worth encountering. Thank you for sharing books with young people, embracing beautifully diverse stories, and keeping the magic of reading alive.

Feel free to use and share any of the educator materials provided here—just kindly credit Room 228, and please note that none of our resources are permitted for resale. Read away!

Marcus Makes It Big by Kevin Hart

You better hold onto your socks because this book is about to knock them right off! Students are sure to love Marcus Makes It Big’s texts, emojis and realistic, REAL-LIFE conflicts. The activities in this guide give students a chance to dive deep into some big feelings, as well as get creative and cultivate a classroom community. Students will be reading, writing, analyzing, creating, and laughing the whole way. Happy reading!

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Educator Guide for Laura Shovan and Michael Rothenberg’s Poetry Collection, Monsterville

Monsters. We all know them. We’ve been taught to fear and even hate them. The monsters under the bed, in the closet, beneath us in the basement, or above us in the attic – they’ve all been given a bad reputation. In Welcome to Monsterville, award-winning author Laura Shovan and illustrator-extraordinaire Michael Rothenberg introduce us to their monsters and help us to reckon with our own monsters, too. Together they show us through humor, art, poetry, and heart that our monsters are deserving of empathy and acceptance.

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Educator Guide for Lindsay Bonilla and Mark Hoffmann’s The Note Who Faced the Music

This adorable and fun, offbeat tale of sheet music “in treble” will strike a chord with anyone who’s felt out of sync, ringing with reassurance that everyone has a part to play when working as a team. Young readers new to music can develop their ear with a glossary of musical terms included. The educator guide incorporates music, art, narrative writing, and vocabulary. Kids will love this book and teachers will enjoy using it to facilitate lively and engaging learning.

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The Best Kind of Mooncake by Pearl Au Yeung

A young girl at a Hong Kong market is really looking forward to the deliciously sweet mooncake pastry with a double-yolk center. Yum! But then an exhausted stranger enters the scene. No one seems to want to help. The girl must make a decision, a decision that will change her and those around her. This mostly true story written by Pearl Au Yeung is a gem and the illustrations are just as delicious as mooncake! This accompanying educator guide assists young people in exploring oral histories and the writing process, the theme of kindness, the history and celebration of food and cultures, and it dives into how authors use setting to transport their readers to a place they’ve never been before.

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Moody Moody Cars Educator Guide

Bumpers, lights, grills, and fenders come alive in this beautifully designed picture book, Moody Moody Cars, by Eileen Kennedy-Moore, PhD, with photos by Michael Furman. Young readers and their educators can simply admire some really cool cars, or they may also dive deeper into the engine that helps drive us all toward emotional wellbeing and educational progress – social-emotional learning. The various activities in this guide span classroom discussion, improv, and art while creating opportunities to develop social-emotional, writing and reading skills. Moody Moody Cars, along with these engaging activities, will help your students develop their accuracy in recognizing emotions in the world around them…one road trip at a time.

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