Education students publish book reviews

Five students in the University of North Georgia's (UNG) College of Education were featured in the Georgia Association of Literacy Advocates (GALA) FOCUS Newsletter for spring 2026.

Three Master of Education in elementary education students provided K-12 book reviews:

• Savannah Bryant wrote about "Buffalo Fluffalo," which she said "is about a grumpy buffalo who wants everyone to know that he is tough and big."
• Maci Walls reviewed "Green: The Story of Plant Life on Our Planet," which she noted "begins with the observation of a tree that appears still but is actually doing very important work."
• Mandy Wilson wrote about "The Year We Learned to Fly," which she said "is a picturebook about two siblings who are bored, fighting with one another, feeling lonely and left out, and experiencing significant changes in their lives."

Two undergraduate students recorded "Book Talk" videos:

• Jessie Baer analyzed "Endlessly Ever After."
• Yoana Garcia discussed "Chooch Helped."

Bryant, a first-year student in UNG's master's program, is also in her first year teaching at Boston Elementary School in Woodstock, Georgia. The Blue Ridge, Georgia, native was grateful to be able to publish her first book review.

"I was looking for something that was fun for kids and had a deeper meaning," Bryant said. "It was good to know I was helping other teachers find a good book for their classrooms."

Wilson, a Dalton, Georgia, resident, serves as an instructional coach at Dawnville Elementary School in Whitfield County. She just completed her 16th year in education after earning a bachelor's degree in elementary and special education from UNG in 2010 and is in her first year in the master's program.

"I wanted to use a book I could see using with other educators to help students learn how to write," Wilson said.

Wilson is grateful to be in a master's program at UNG that encourages opportunities for educators to thrive.

"I want to grow as a leader so I can be what my teachers need me to be," Wilson said. "I want to pour into my teachers so they can pour into the kids."

Dr. Nicole Maxwell, professor of elementary and special education, said the book review submissions were an assignment in one of her classes, and one of the stipulations was that the books had to have been published since 2022.

"This was an attempt to get them to look at other books they could be using in the classroom instead of the old tried-and-true ones that have been around for a long time," Maxwell said.