Sherry's Library Shelf

Culture 6 - Inclusive Literature

2009-08-06T16:43:00.000-07:00

This is part of a class assignment from TWU

CULTURE 6 – INCLUSIVE LITERATURE

A. Novel by Randa Abdel-Fattah – Does My Head Look Big in This?

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Abdel-Fattah, Randa. Does My Head Look Big In This? New York: Orchard Books, 2007. ISBN 0439919479.

PLOT SUMMARY
The protagonist of Randa Abdel-Fattah’s novel Does My Head Look Big In This? is a lively Muslim Australian-Palestinian girl, Amal, who attends private school in a suburb of Melbourne. When Amal decides to start wearing a hijab as a symbol of her deep faith, she confronts insults and ridicule from many. Her parents and friends support her decision and stand by her. Amal describes her typical teenage interests in boys, school, and friends. She also describes her uncle and his family as being very liberal about their Islamic beliefs. On the other hand, her best friend, Leila, comes from a strict Muslim family. Though Amal has a huge crush on Adam, she has to make him understand that her religion forbids anything other than friendship. When Amal and her friends lie to Leila’s mom and take Leila to a restaurant for her birthday, the outing ends in disaster with Leila running away from home. As eleventh grade comes to an end, Amal has a better understanding of herself and her goals and a better understanding of friends and family.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Does My Head Look Big In This? by Randa Abdel-Fattah is the enjoyable and entertaining story of a teenage Muslim Australian-Palestinian girl as she meshes together religion, school, friends, and boys while dealing with presumptions, stereotypes, and ridicule. Many cultural markers related to the Islamic religion are offered in this book through the characters, language, clothing, food, and activities of Amal, her family, and friends.

While Amal contemplates wearing a hijab or headscarf to school, readers are taught the significance of that article of clothing as it relates to the Islamic religion. Amal explains, “I want to prove to myself that I’m strong enough to wear a badge of my faith. I believe it will make me feel so close to God.” Trying to understand about wearing the hijab her friend states, “’So let me get this right,’ Eileen says, ‘You don’t have to wear it in front of family, kids, and females.’” Amal also explains that there is no one uniform for the hijab. “’A lot of Africans wear those really colorful wraparound dress and veils…stricter women cover their face, but it’s not required in Islam. It’s their choice to go to that extent.’”

Language is another cultural marker. Usually the terms are immediately defined in the sentence. “Yallah means ‘come on’ or ‘hurry up.” and “Fajr, prayer.” Another example is “Assalamu Alaykom” which is “the universal Islamic greeting, peace be upon you.”

Amal also describes the culturally authentic food her family prepares at times.
“She cooked a Palestinian dish called mansaf, basically rice mixed with pieces of chicken and pine nuts, dressed with a hot yogurt soup…a massive bowl of fatoosh, salad topped with pieces of bread dipped in olive oil, with side dishes of pickled cucumber, radish, and chilis, minced meat pastries, and warak aneb, which are vine leaves stuffed with spicy rice.”

During Ramadan, the family fasts and Amal describes her preparation before prayer, “I perform the wuduh, the ablution, wetting my hands, face, arms, feet, and crown of my head. And then we pray.” Amal begins to pray at school in private with her legs folded beneath her and her face to the floor. She explains, “…now I really want to try to pray at the set times, the way it’s supposed to be.”

The characters in Abdel-Fattah’s novel are realistic and diverse. Many of Amal’s friends are of various cultures and religions. The author includes interesting facts about their cultures and religions as the teens discuss their family lives. Readers understand the diversity of the Muslim community when Amal describes her relatives and close Muslim friends. Upset at the strict rules of Leila’s mother, Amal states, “Any moron would realize that she’s following her village’s culture, not Islam.”

The independent spirit of Abdel-Fattah’s lively protagonist makes this book fun and enjoyable for older readers. It shows her determination and faithfulness in the face of trials and adversity to stand separate from the crowd and create her own identity.

REVIEW EXCERPTS
Booklist starred (July 2007 (Vol. 103, No. 21))
Without heavy preaching, the issues of faith and culture are part of the story, from fasting at Ramadan to refusing sex before marriage. More than the usual story of the immigrant teen’s conflict with her traditional parents, the funny, touching contemporary narrative will grab teens everywhere.

Horn Book (July/August, 2007)
Though the lengthy analyses on everything from female body image to Palestinian food give the book more message than momentum, the girls' thoughts and dreams are authentically adolescent, providing a bridge between cultures -- as the author clearly intends.

CONNECTIONS
*Students might be interested in researching more about the Islamic religion, customs and practices, and clothing.
*The teacher could invite a member of the Islamic religion to speak to the class.
*Students could learn more about the author, Randa Abdel-Fattah, by accessing her official web site and may enjoy reading more of her books including Ten Things I Hate About Me and Where the Streets had a Name.

B. Picture book that focuses on Gay/Lesbian characters - Who's in a Family?

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Skutch, Robert. Who’s in a Family? Berkeley, Calif: Tricycle, 1995. ISBN 1883672139.

PLOT SUMMARY
Who’s in a Family? introduces various types of families as it describes the activities they enjoy together. It includes characteristic of families in the animal kingdom as well: the lion, chimpanzee, and elephant. For example, some families have only a mother, some have only a father, and some have two fathers. One family mentioned has no children. It also points out how members of the same family can look very different. The book concludes by stating that a family is “The people who love you the most!”

CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Who’s in a Family? is a picture book that introduces all types of families including those with gay/lesbian parents. Each family is shown doing typical activities that all families do with simple text introducing the family. “Laura and Kyle live with their mom, Joyce, her partner, Emily, and a poodle named Daisy. It takes four of them the give Daisy her bath.” The author also describes families of the animal kingdom that are comparable to human families. Comparing a family with a single parent mom the author states, “Mama chimp raises the babies by herself, with the help of any older children she may have.”

The pencil color illustrations by Laura Neinhaus show single- and double-page spreads of families doing various activities, as well as some collages of different families on some pages. She also has family portrait photo-type pictures on the cover and at the end of the book. The families are drawn with varying skin and hair color. In addition, she illustrates families from various cultural backgrounds dressed in clothes appropriate to the activity in which they are participating.

The author invites readers to draw their own families stating on the back cover, “Chances are, your family is like no one else’s—and that’s just fine.” For young students, this book is a nice introduction to the different types of families to which they and others may belong.

REVIEW EXCERPTS
From Publishers Weekly
Beginning with a traditional nuclear family and ending with blank spaces in which the child reader is instructed to "draw a picture of your family," this slight book catalogues multicultural contemporary family units, including those with single parents, lesbian and gay parents, mixed-race couples, grandparents and divorced parents. Nienhaus's lackluster illustrations, the schoolmarmish tone of the text and the comparisons with wild animals all tend to undercut the final definition of a family as "the people who love you the most!"

From School Library Journal
Simple declarative statements move readers from one family configuration to the next, from single children to single parents to same-sex couples. Here and there animal families are juxtaposed with the human, presumably to show that certain situations are natural. Richly colored although somewhat two-dimensional pencil illustrations show loving families of a variety of races and colors in action. A serviceable, albeit surface, title.

CONNECTIONS
*Teachers could lead students in a discussion on different types of families.
*Students could write paragraphs describing their own families. These could be displayed with the students’ illustrations of their families.
*Students could research animal families and how they care for and protect each other.

C. Novel that focuses on character with disabilities – Rules

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Lord, Cynthia. Rules. New York: Scholastic, 2006. ISBN 0439443822.

PLOT SUMMARY
Rules by Cynthia Lord is a humorous and heart warming book about a young girl trying to create a “normal” life with a brother who has autism. Catherine describes her life as she is pulled between being defensive of her brother, David, and embarrassed by the things he does. She has learned to anticipate his actions and is ever ready to repeat one of her established “rules” to help him learn the correct way of doing things, such as, “no toys in the fish tank.” Then Catherine meets Jason at the occupational therapy clinic David attends. Jason is a paraplegic who communicates using word cards. Catherine’s artistic abilities and understanding sparks a friendship between the two. Catherine also meets her new neighbor, Kristi, with whom she desperately wants to develop a friendship. When Jason invites her to a dance on his birthday, she refuses, because of what Kristi and others might think. Then Catherine realizes that Jason’s friendship and his feelings are more important to her than what others think and meets him at the dance. In the end, her friendship with Jason helps Catherine become more understanding and compassionate toward her brother.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Rules is an enjoyable book by Cynthia Lord that addresses the feelings of a young girl coping with feeling different because she has an autistic brother. As the story progresses, readers come to understand Catherine’s feelings of uncertainty, defensiveness, embarrassment, and unimportance as she describes her family life and relations with others. Readers become sensitive to those families who have a family member with special needs and aware of the increased challenges in managing daily life.

Cynthia Lord writes with authentic accuracy as a mother who has an autistic child. She provides insights into the feelings and thoughts of the disabled by describing their reactions and feelings. When Jason joins in on the joke about the overzealous speech therapist, Lord writes, “Jason sneaks his hand over his cards. Speech. Woman. Stinks a big one!!!” She also describes David’s reaction when his favorite tape breaks. “David drops to the floor and wraps his arms over his knees. ‘Trash goes in the garbage can,’ he says, between sobs. ‘That’s the rule.’”

Lord does not romanticize the disability of the characters but provides information that shows the characters face challenges because of it. Catherine feels neglected by her parents. She approaches her dad to ask about them doing something together. “’Someday soon,’ he says. ‘I promise.’…I know he’s just promising to stop me from asking again. Walking away I turn once to check if Dad’s watching me go. Look at me.” The reality of Jason’s disability shows when he asks Catherine, “How? Does. It. Feel. To. Run.” Considering David’s disability Catherine explains the reason she has made rules for David, “Most kids don’t even consider these rules…Not David, though. He needs to be taught everything.”

One universal problem that Catherine contends with is when she witnesses someone teasing her brother. When David asks Ryan for a piece of gum, Ryan makes him jump for it, then hands him an empty wrapper. “’You jerk!’ I scream at Ryan so loud, David bursts into tears.”

Recognized as a Newbery Honor Book, Rules is a book of literary merit and one that will touch young people and help them “understand their feelings and how to handle interactions” (Vardell, lecture notes, quoting Andrews, 1998).

REVIEW EXCERPTS
Booklist (February 15, 2006 (Vol. 102, No. 12))
The details of autistic behavior are handled well, as are depictions of relationships: Catherine experiences some of the same unease with Jason that others do in the presence of her brother. In the end, Jason helps Catherine see that her rules may really be excuses, opening the way for her to look at things differently. A heartwarming first novel.

Kirkus Review (March 1, 2006)
Catherine is an appealing and believable character, acutely self-conscious and torn between her love for her brother and her resentment of his special needs. Middle-grade readers will recognize her longing for acceptance and be intrigued by this exploration of dealing with differences. (Fiction. 9-12)

CONNECTIONS
Students may be interested in researching autism.
Students may have fun creating a list of “rules” in their journals they would like their siblings or parents to follow and why.
Introduce student to other books featuring exceptional children like Joey Pigza.
Students may be interested in viewing Cynthia Lord’s website, reading about her life, and of her soon-to-be published books.

Culture 5 - Asian American Literature

2009-07-31T13:17:00.000-07:00

This is part of a class assignment from TWU

CULTURE 5 – ASIAN AMERICAN LITERATURE

A. Picture book by Allen Say – Grandfather’s Journey

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Say, Allen. Grandfather's Journey. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1993. ISBN 0395570352.

PLOT SUMMARY
Grandfather’s Journey by Allen Say is the story of a young boy describing how his grandfather left his homeland in Japan and traveled to the United States. He traveled across the country before returning to his homeland to marry his sweetheart. Afterward, they settled in San Francisco and had a daughter. When she was grown, they returned to Japan to live. The daughter married a young man, and they had a son. The grandfather told the boy about California and how he would return there one day; but after the war, the grandfather was not able to return to America. Later, the young grandson who narrates the story traveled to America to see the things about which his grandfather had spoken and came to love both countries as much as his grandfather did.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS
This Caldecott medal winner is a heart-warming story written and illustrated by Allen Say. In only a few lines of text and beautiful, photo-like, watercolor illustrations, it offers many cultural markers. The cultural makers of the book are displayed in the illustrations. The grandfather changes from his Japanese attire to that of European dress characteristic of the period when he travels to America. He dons various outfits in his travels, as do his wife and daughter when they go to America. When the family visits their homeland, they wear the culturally authentic clothing of Japan.

The realistic scenic views depict whether the characters are in Japan or America. The characters have varying facial structures, features, and skin coloring. Especially notable is the illustration of men of several races standing on a porch and the mother with her children after the war standing in rubble. The illustrations show the passage of time as the characters age. Another cultural marker is the immigrant theme and that the narrative is about conforming, renewing, and continuing. The grandson states, “After a time I came to love the land my grandfather had loved, and I stayed on and on until I had a daughter of my own.”

REVIEW EXCERPTS
Horn Book starred (March, 1994)
The immigrant experience has rarely been so poignantly evoked as it is in this direct, lyrical narrative, accompanied by soft-toned watercolors.

Kirkus Review starred (1993)
In lucid, graceful language, he chronicles these passages, reflecting his love of both countries--plus the expatriate's ever-present longing for home--in both simple text and exquisitely composed watercolors: scenes of his grandfather discovering his new country and returning with new appreciation to the old, and pensive portraits recalling family photos, including two evoking the war and its aftermath. Lovely, quiet--with a tenderness and warmth new to this fine illustrator's work.

CONNECTIONS
Students should enjoy hearing Tree of Cranes by Allen Say, which is the story of his mother’s experience in Japan when Say was a young boy.
Students could research biographical information about the author, Allen Say, and read some of his other works including, Emma’s Rug, Stranger in the Mirror, and Under the Cherry Blossom Tree.
Teachers could lead a discussion on traveling abroad.

B. Novel by Laurence Yep – Cockroach Cooties

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Yep, Laurence. Cockroach Cooties. New York: Hyperion Books for Children, 2000. ISBN 0786804874.

PLOT SUMMARY
Cockroach Cooties is a fun and lively book about two Chinese American brothers who try to outwit Arnie, the school bully. Teddy the older, more streetwise brother feels he should protect his younger brother Bobby. As the days pass, Teddy comes to understand his inquisitive, softhearted little brother and to appreciate his quick thinking. The two discover that Arnie is afraid of bugs and with the help of the Bug Lady’s buggy cookies; they not only stop his bullying, but find a friend as well.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS
In this enjoyable novel by Laurence Yep there are few indications that the story is about Chinese American brothers other than it is set in present day Chinatown in San Francisco and that the boys attend a mission school that has Chinese class one hour each day. In that class the teacher, Mrs. Lee, discussed Chinese language, writing, and history. She “liked to wear Chinese-style dresses that had a slit up one leg. She liked the old-fashioned Chinese discipline, too.”

Another cultural marker is the food Yep describes at the mom’s birthday party. Some dishes the family liked were winter melon soup, Belfast sparkling cider, paper-wrapped chicken, steamed fish with black bean sauce, and a prawn dish.

The characters are strong and diverse with no stereotypes from comical Uncle Curtis to the “weird” Bug Lady. When Bobby’s father asks about the dripping pipes in the restaurant, Uncle Curtis retorts, “It’s water. When’s the last time you took a bath?” When introduced to the Bug Lady, Teddy cringes as a giant spider crawls up onto her shoulder. He asks her if the spider is a pet. “No, more of a colleague…She’s the coauthor of my dissertation.”

The antics between the brothers, the bugs, and the bully will delight young readers. It is a novel based on conflict and resolution but also has an element of continuity as bully and siblings come to understand each other. Teddy states, “After years of living with a pest, I had finally found a brother. It felt strange. But it also felt good.”

REVIEW EXCERPTS
From Publishers Weekly
Full of the sights and sounds of San Francisco's Chinatown, the tale zips along at a brisk pace, percolating with snappy dialogue. A seasoned craftsman, Yep (Dragonwings; The Imp Who Ate My Homework) effortlessly shoehorns in fun facts about insects ("Did you know that cockroaches have two brains?" Bobby asks the hapless Arnie as he pursues him with Hercules). An altogether chipper outing.

From School Library Journal
Pair this funny, action-packed story with Elizabeth Winthrop's Luke's Bully (Viking, 1990; o.p.). Readers will either be instantly attracted to Cockroach Cooties or completely repelled by it, but those who can stomach the idea of crushed crickets in their chocolate-chip cookies will eat it up.

CONNECTIONS
Teachers could use this selection as an introduction to a unit on insects and spiders.
Students might enjoy researching strange facts about insects and spiders and compiling a class book
Another interesting topic for discussion this book could introduce is bullies.
Students might also be interested in learning more about Chinese School.
The class might be interested in reading another book about Teddy and Bobby titled Later Gator by Laurence Yep.

C. Novel by Grace Lin – The Year of the Dog

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Lin, Grace. Year of the Dog. New York: Little, Brown, 2006. ISBN 0316060003.

PLOT SUMMARY
Pacy (or Grace, her American name) is a young Taiwanese American girl who looks with excitement toward the Chinese New Year, which is The Year of the Dog. It is a year for friends, family, thinking, and for finding yourself. Since there are no other Taiwanese Americans in her community and school except for her and her sisters, Pacy is excited when a new Taiwanese American student enters school. They become friends and as the Year of the Dog progresses attempt to “fine themselves” by entering the science fair, the school play, and finally, the writing contest. At Halloween, Melody and Grace dress for the costume contest. Grace is happy that Melody won the blue ribbon but as the Year of the Dog draws to a close, she is disappointed that she has not found her special niche. Then the announcement comes that Grace has won $400 for her book The Ugly Vegetables.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS
In her book, The Year of the Dog, Grace Lin introduces readers to the enchanting and enthusiastic young protagonist, Grace, who is named and patterned after the author. The book is overflowing with authentic cultural markers that will both engage and delight readers, as do the stories Grace’s mother tells.

So many authentic cultural holidays and traditions are explained in the book as Grace meshes her family’s Taiwanese traditions with her life as a Taiwanese American. The reader along with Grace learns of her heritage from the stories her mother tells, from her activities, and from her view of other Taiwanese Americans. She describes what happens during the Chinese New Year, “The phone had been ringing all night with relatives calling to wish us a happy Chinese New Year. If we had lived in Taiwan, we would be having a big dinner with all our relatives…” A Red Egg party is given when a Chinese baby is born. “…you have to bring red eggs…[they] symbolize good luck for the new baby.” “Relative kept coming by and slipping those envelopes stuffed with money into the crib.”

When preparing for the Red Egg party, Grace describes the traditional clothing she wears to the party. “My dress was dark parsley green…all silky and shiny and had collars that buttoned close around our necks.” Lin also describes the food that is so much a part of each celebration. “There was a whole fried fish—crispy brown, meat dumplings fried golden, vegetables shining with oil, steamed buns that looked like puffy clouds, shrimp in milky sauce, and pork colored a brilliant ruby pink.” Her Dad states, “Everything we eat tonight has a special meaning.”

Language is another cultural marker throughout the book usually defined immediately following the words. “Gong xi-gong si! Xin Nian Hao!” is “Happy Chinese New Year!” “Ja-ba bei?” is “Have you eaten yet?”

The ink drawings Lin places throughout the book show tidbits of the storyline that Grace describes. Some are informative such as “How to color an egg red” and some are comical such as “X-mas light at our house” and “Our Thanksgiving Dinner” showing the tiny turkey her mother buys.

Grace Lin’s novel about conforming, renewing, and continuing is a wonderful example of cultural authenticity. Set in New Hartford, New York, her characters transcend stereotypes and draw readers into an authentic view of cultural assimilation.

REVIEW EXCERPTS
Kirkus Review (December 15, 2005)
Elementary school readers will enjoy the familiar details of school life and the less familiar but deliciously described Chinese holiday meals. Interspersed with the happenings of daily life are her mother's stories of Pacy's grandparents' lives and her own struggles as a new immigrant. Occasional black-and-white drawings by the author enliven the text. This comfortable first-person story will be a treat for Asian-American girls looking to see themselves in their reading, but also for any reader who enjoys stories of friendship and family life. (Fiction. 8-12)

School Library Journal (March 1, 2006)
A lighthearted coming-of-age novel with a cultural twist…Small, captioned, childlike black-and-white drawings are dotted throughout. This is an enjoyable chapter book with easily identifiable characters.

CONNECTIONS
Students might research Asian American holiday celebrations including the Chinese New Year.
They might enjoy sampling Asian American food as well.
Teachers could share with students Grace Lin’s debut children’s book, The Ugly Vegetables.
Students might enjoy other books by Grace Lin including Dim sum for everyone! and Bringing in the New Year.
They might want to continue reading about Grace and her family in the soon-to-be-published The Year of the Rat.

Culture 4 - Native American Literature

2009-07-18T22:51:00.000-07:00

This is part of a class assignment from TWU

CULTURE 4 – NATIVE AMERICAN LITERATURE

A. Picture book by Joseph Bruchac – Thirteen Moons on a Turtle’s Back

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Bruchac, Joseph. Thirteen Moons on Turtle's Back a Native American Year of Moons. New York: Philomel Books, 1992. ISBN 0399221417.

PLOT SUMMARY
Joseph Bruchac and Jonathan London have collected thirteen stories from thirteen different Native American tribes that relate to the thirteen moons in each year. The thirteen moons are represented by the thirteen scales on a turtles back. The story begins with an Abenaki boy’s grandfather explaining that many tribes recognize the thirteen moons of the year and have names and stories for each one. One story told by the Northern Cheyenne tribe is called “Moon of Popping Trees.” It tells that the tribal people know it is too cold to venture out in bitter winter when the trees crack unless they hear the coyotes howling. Another story told by the Seneca tribe called “Strawberry Moon” tells of a young boy who went hunting and shared his bounty with the Little People. In turn, the Jo-ge-oh shared things with him, including strawberries. He in turn, shared them with his people who thank the Little People each year with songs during the sixth moon. “Frog Moon” is a story told by the Cree that explains how Trickster decided that winter would last five moons, the same number as the toes on a frog’s foot. That is why the frogs sing during the fourth moon when winter is over.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS
This beautiful collection of Native American stories compiled by Joseph Bruchac and Jonathan London gives readers an authentic taste of how many American tribes view the turtle’s back as a calendar of the thirteen moons in a year. The authors include many cultural markers throughout the text and add a note at the conclusion of the book. In the note, Bruchac and London recognize the fact that “Not all Native American people talk about twelve or thirteen moons.” Some tribes divide the seasons and year in other ways.

The book is written in short vertical verses down one side of the page. A dark, rich, oil painting by Thomas Locker finishes the double-paged spreads with dramatic landscapes of nature and Native American life. The scenes are full of texture and movement from howling wolves to roaring fires. The clothes of the tribes depicted in the paintings vary, as do the dwellings. Readers will be drawn in by the cover illustration which features a full moon shining on a pond where a turtle stands eyeing the glowing fires burning outside of several teepees.

The text of the stories is filled with Native American names. Some are written in tribal language with a translation preceding or following. Some examples are “But the people got lazy and when Our Creator, Git-chee Ma-ni-tou, sent his helper, Man-a-bo-zho,…” and “…down the river where the Jo-ge-oh, the Little People who care for the plants, live.” Many of the stories and names have personifications of things found in nature. “One year Old Man Winter refused to leave our land, and so our people asked for help from our great friend, Ju-ski-ha, known to some as the Sun.” Other names include Earth Elder, Grandmother Moon, Earth Maker, Changer, Trickster, and Frost Giant.

This book will be one that readers of any age will enjoy when studying the Native American culture. It will “give a wider sense of the many things Native American people have been taught to notice in this beautiful world around us” (author’s note).

REVIEW EXCERPTS
Booklist (Vol. 88, No. 13 (March 1, 1992))
Gr. 1-5. In many Native American cultures, each of the 13 moon cycles in a year has a specific name and a story. Drawing on his Abenaki heritage, storyteller Bruchac has collaborated with author London to present stories from 13 different tribes... An unusual, easy-to-use resource for librarians, teachers, and others wishing to incorporate multicultural activities throughout the year.

Kirkus Review (1992)
...Folklorist Bruchac and poet London work together on brief, dignified retellings of Native American legends for the accompanying text, properly pointing out in an afterword that tribes in different areas see different seasonal patterns and hold different beliefs.

CONNECTIONS
*Students will discuss the seasons and think of other ways a year could be divided. They could brainstorm things in nature that they’ve noticed change with the passing of each month.
*Students will choose one of the tribes from those represented in the book to research.
*Students will research and compile other stories about the thirteen moons of the year into a class book.
*Introduce students to other stories about Native Americans written by Joseph Bruchac, including A Boy Called Slow, Many Nations: An Alphabet of Native Americans, Fox Song, and The Great Ball game: A Muskogee Tale.

B. Novel by Cynthia Leitich Smith – Rain is not My Indian Name

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Smith, Cynthia Leitich. Rain is not My Indian Name. New York: HarperCollins, 2001. ISBN 0688173977.

PLOT SUMMARY
Rain is not My Indian Name is the story of a young teenage girl who is both Native American and German/Irish. Rain lives with her grandfather, her older brother Fynn, and his girlfriend in a small, Kansas town where few citizens have Native American heritage. She is close to her grandfather since her father is stationed overseas and lightning killed her mother. Now Rain faces the death of her lifelong friend, Galen, who was lately becoming more than just a friend to her.
Rain reads from her journal to describe events from the past. She also relates her feelings about friendship, prejudice, and family throughout the novel. She comes to terms with the loss of her friend while shooting pictures of her Aunt Georgia’s Indian Camp and builds a close bond to others of her heritage.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Rain is not My Indian Name is a story of cultural markers that describe more the feelings that might exist among Native Americans caused by the prejudice of others. Rain begins to understand what her heritage means to her as she deals with the death of her best friend, with small town politics, her unusual family situation, and her aunt’s Indian Camp.

Through Rain’s narrative Smith describes some of the false assumptions people develop about other cultures. Rain states, “In my best Hollywood Indian voice, I said, ‘Bridges not for white man only’…’If it makes you feel any better…all I know about Jewish people, I learned from Fiddler on the Roof’” and statements like “Don’t you mean why is an African American girl at a Native American program?” These statements show us that many times we assume things about others cultures about which we know nothing. The Flash did not know Rain was half Native American, Rain did not know anything about the Jewish culture, and no one realized that Rain’s African American friend Queenie was part Native American.

Also mentioned are various tribes to which the Indian Camp students belong.
“That’s not all it is with the wild-rice harvest…the harvest was part of Ojibway traditional life…it most likely had some spiritual importance…best for an outsider to leave the details alone.” Dmitri and Marie Headbirds were part of the Ojibway tribe. Rain visits their small, sparsely furnished home and discovers Dmitri’s outstanding artistic ability. The reader understands that Rain is not familiar with other Native American traditions when Dmitri offers her a dream catcher and she makes a quip about it. It is the goal of the Indian Camp to unite the students in the community that have American Indian heritage.

When Rain stops hiding behind her camera, she embraces her heritage and her family and friends. Readers will enjoy this tender, yet funny protagonist’s story.

REVIEW EXCERPTS
Horn Book (Spring, 2002)
Fourteen-year-old Rain, of mixed Native American heritage, is devastated by her best friend's death. She comes out of her self-imposed seclusion to shoot photos for a local newspaper feature on a summer youth program for Native Americans in her Kansas hometown. The engaging first-person narrative convincingly portrays Rain's grieving process and addresses the varying degrees of prejudice she encounters.

Publishers Weekly (July 9, 2001)
Multiple plot lines and nonlinear storytelling may make it difficult to enter Smith's (Jingle Dancer) complex novel, but the warmth and texture of the writing eventually serve as ample reward for readers... readers will feel the affection of Rain's loose-knit family and admire the way that they, like the author with the audience, allow Rain to draw her own conclusions about who she is and what her heritage means to her.

CONNECTIONS
*This book could help introduce the practice of journal keeping. Students could discuss advantages of keeping journals and prepare journals to write in daily or weekly.
*Students would research photography and use Rain’s tips in picture taking. Students could take turns a few pictures of objects or people that would be added to a class album.
*Students could research the American Indian tribes mentioned in the text and do group presentation about each one.

C. Novel by Michael Dorris – Morning Girl

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Dorris, Michael. Morning Girl. New York: Hyperion, 1999. ISBN 978076813581.

PLOT SUMMARY
A twelve-year-old Taino girl named Morning Girl and her younger brother, Star Boy, narrates Morning Girl by Michael Dorris. They live in the Bahamas Islands in 1492 during the arrival of Columbus. In alternating chapters, the siblings describe everyday life on the island, their family, and their feelings. Star Boy describes his feelings when he loses his father’s canoe. Morning Girl is curious about what she looks like. The family is separated from Star Boy during the fury of a hurricane but is reunited afterward. One day while swimming, Morning Girl cheerfully greets unfamiliar canoes of men rowing to the island and invites them forward, expecting all visitors to be friendly.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Morning Girl by Michael Dorris gives us a look at the lives of Native American tribes inhabiting the Bahamian islands around the time of Columbus through the eyes of two young siblings, Morning Girl and Star Boy. The story includes markers that add to the cultural authenticity of the book. At the conclusion of the story an epilogue from the journal of Christopher Columbus will spark much discussion because of its air of superiority and lack of regard for the native culture.

Several universal themes are addressed in Morning Girl, including sibling rivalry, the unity of family through good and bad times, and seeking to discover oneself. Through the narrative, readers learn of the housing, food, transportation, dress and culture of Morning Girl’s people. The housing is described in phrases like “…the light calls through the smoke hole in the roof…” and “putting big mats outdoors to air in the sun and retying the palm fronds on the roof so that the rain would not drip through…” The text mentions “She pounds roots for dinner,” “sitting side by side, spinning strings of cotton,” and “I trim my nails with the
rough edge of a broken shell.” We get other incites into the culture when Star Boy accidentally looses his father’s canoe that is so important to them and that sometimes the people cover themselves with ashes to keep the bugs from biting.

Dorris gives the characters descriptive names such as Red Feathers, Sharp Tooth, Never Cry, I Swam Too Far, and The One Who Stands Beside. Morning Girl describes herself as being “…tan as the inside of a yam after the air has dried it…” and having “brows straight as canoes.”

Young readers will enjoy the alternating narratives of Star Boy and Morning Girl as they tell of their family life on a tropical island.

REVIEW EXCERPTS
Publishers Weekly
Youthful brother and sister narrators are a great choice to interpret Dorris's novel, written from the point of view of Morning Girl and Star Boy, two Taino siblings living on a Bahamian island in 1492. A string of images of everyday life and the dynamics between family members introduce listeners to what this part of the world was like before the arrival of Christopher Columbus... In a brief epilogue Dorris signals the arrival/encroachment of European explorers. The way this text...bring(s) alive a lesser-known side of a well-studied bit of world history may well spark discussion in classrooms and family kitchens.

School Library Journal
...Michael Dorris's lyrical language rolls off the tongues of the two young narrators, who bring the hopes, everyday lives, and petty sibling rivalry of the two protagonists—each named for the time of day that they love best—to life. Hints of change come at the end of the story, when Morning Girl encounters strangers on the beach—revealed in the epilogue to be members of Christopher Columbus's crew.

CONNECTIONS
*This book might be read as part of a lesson on Christopher Columbus.
*Students can research the Bahamas Islands and the Taino Indians that lived there.
*Students might enjoy other novels by Michael Morris about American Indians from a younger point-of-view including Guests and Sees Behind Trees.

Culture Three - Latino(a) Literature

2009-07-10T15:10:00.000-07:00

This is part of a class assignment from TWU

CULTURE 3 – LATINO(A) LITERATURE

A. Picture Book by Pat Mora – Tomas and the Library Lady

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Mora, Pat. Tomas and the Library Lady. New York: Knopf, Distributed by Random House, 1997. ISBN 0679804013.

PLOT SUMMARY
Tomas’s family members are migrant farm workers traveling from Texas to Iowa to work picking crops. Tomas and his brother carry water to the hot workers, play in the fields, and sit in the shade listening to their grandfather tell stories. He suggests that Tomas visit the local library to read more stories that he could share with the family. Hesitantly, Tomas enters the library. He meets and is assisted by a kind librarian who introduces him to book of interest to him. He develops a love of reading and sharing stories with his family. He helps the librarian learn Spanish words. They bond together through books and language. When the time comes for Tomas’s family to go back to Texas, Tomas says goodbye. He teaches her the word “adios” and gives her sweet bread his mother has made. She gives Tomas a copy of his favorite book.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS
This heartwarming book by Pat Mora about migrant Mexican-American field workers from Texas offers many cultural markers. A number of students in the U.S. are part of migrant families that travel with harvest opportunities during different seasons of the year. During the 1940s when Tomas Rivera was Tomas’s age, many of these families lived in poverty. Mora indicates the poverty of Tomas’s family by mentioning “their rusty old car,” the “small house that his family shared with the other workers,” that “the boys played with a ball Mama had sewn from a old teddy bear,” and how the family would search the dump for things to sell and use.

Another cultural marker is the various Spanish words used throughout the text, especially when Tomas is with his family. The author masterfully weaves the meaning of the words within the text in contextual translations so that the story flows smoothly. “The library lady said, ‘Buenas tardes, senor.’ Tomas smiled. He has taught the library lady how to say ‘Good afternoon, sir’ in Spanish.” An example of how Mora gives the meaning in the context is “He counted them to himself in Spanish. Uno, dos, tres, cuatro…” The Spanish words are set apart from the rest of the text by italics so young readers can recognize them and look for sentence cues to give the meaning.

The characters are depicted by artist Raul Colon with natural hairstyles, facial features and skin tones. Each illustration is done in soft, rich earth tones in one and two-page spreads that show texture and movement. Some of the illustrations show the scenes Tomas imagines as he reads and tells stories to his family. He becomes part of the stories he is reading. Colon does not show on the faces of the people the harsh conditions under which so many of these families worked, however he does show that they find joy in the simple pleasures experienced together as a family.

It is an appealing book that shows how a librarian and books can influence someone’s life, how education can make a better life for everyone.

REVIEW EXCERPTS
Booklist (Vol. 93, No. 22 (August 1997))
Colon's beautiful scratchboard illustrations, in his textured, glowingly colored, rhythmic style, capture the warmth and the dreams that the boy finds in the world of books. The pictures are upbeat; little stress is shown; even in the fields, the kids could be playing kick ball or listening to stories. Perhaps the most moving picture is that of the child outside the library door, his face pressed against the pane. In contrast is the peaceful space he finds inside, where he is free to imagine dinosaurs and wild adventure.

Horn Book (March, 1998)
In a story inspired by the life of Tomás Rivera, a migrant worker who became a nationally known educator, young Tomás and his family, migrant farm workers, leave Texas for work in Iowa, where Tomás discovers the wonder of books at the local library. Colón's scratchboard illustrations convey the magic of reading and of telling stories, but give little sense of the time period or poverty of Tomás's life.

CONNECTIONS
*Students may research the life of Tomas Rivera, the migrant worker who became chancellor at the University of California at Riverside, who inspired the story.
* Make a list of Spanish words from the book and their meanings. What tell us the meaning of the words?
*Investigate information about migrant field workers in America today.
*Introduce other books by Pat Mora.

B. Novel by Gary Soto – Taking Sides

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Soto, Gary. Taking sides. San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1991. ISBN 0152840761.

PLOT SUMMARY
Lincoln has moved to a new home in the suburbs with his mother, 10 miles from his old one. He has left behind good friends like Tony, his old school, Franklin, and people of his own culture. The adjustment is not an easy one but Lincoln manages to make some friends at Columbus, his new “white” school; and he still plays basketball, though the coach seems to be extra hard on him. When Franklin is scheduled to play Columbus in a league game, Lincoln is torn between loyalty to his old school and his new one. Other problems are also troubling Lincoln. His friend, Tony is mad; his new girlfriend, Monica doesn’t understand his mood; his new house is burglarized just like the old one; his teammates question his loyalty; and in spite of injuries, his coach is brutal. Lincoln misjudges his mom’s new boyfriend who becomes his friend and ally and reveals secrets about Lincoln’s coach that explain a lot. In spite of injuries, Lincoln plays his best in the last quarter of the game. As Franklin defeats Columbus, Lincoln resolves his feelings and learns something about loyalty, friendship, and change.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS
The theme presented in Gary Soto’s book, Taking Sides, is one many students face throughout their school career. It focuses on the hardship of leaving friends and all that is familiar to move to a new school. It is especially hard finding that the new school is also a totally different culture. Lincoln Mendoza is a Mexican-American student who moves from the Hispanic inner city to a white suburban neighborhood and school “…his school was all white, or nearly all white—except for a couple of black kids and a knot of Koreans who sat by themselves at lunchtime.” Lincoln’s trying experiences, fears, and uncertainty give readers a vivid picture of the hardships someone from another culture might face when trying to “fit in” in a new place.

Gary Soto enriches the story with a blend of unique characters, from Tony, Lincoln’s best friend at Franlkin, to James, a new friend and teammate from Columbus. Lincoln gives a comical description of Roy, his mom’s boyfriend. “He didn’t like Roy, who was shorter than his mother. He drove a baby-blue BMW—a girl’s color, Lincoln thought—and was, like Mr. Schulman, pudgy and pale. Lincoln figured he couldn’t run around the block with stopping to pinch the pain in his side. Some man.” Lincoln describes his girlfriend Monica the first time they meet, “The girl was nearly as tall as James. She had short dark hair, almost like a boy’s. But she was no boy. She was good to look at, and that’s what Lincoln did as the two” sat down. Later, “…she jumped, lean as a deer, and shot [the basketball].” Lincoln is surprised to find that although Monica is not brown she is of Hispanic heritage.

Language is another cultural marker in the book. Many Spanish words are included in the text written in italics. A glossary of Spanish words and phrases is also included in the back. Most often a translation follows the Spanish words and phrases used in the text. This might become monotonous for some bilingual readers. Other might find the Spanish words and phrases interesting and fun to learn like “Que quieres? What do you want?” or “Tienes hambre? Are you hungry?” Sometimes the reader will need to refer to the glossary. Not much contextual translation is written into the story.

Cultural authenticity is shown in the foods Lincoln and his mother eat at the home and in casual conversation. “My mom did her share of field work in the Valley…mi familia…talk[s] about cardboard in their shoes. Blisters. Lawn-mowing jobs. It’s boring.” Soto also uses authentic names and forms of address like ese (dude), vatos (guys), mijo (my son), and carnal (bro).

REVIEW EXCERPTS

Booklist (Vol. 88, No. 7 (December 1, 1991))
...Linc's cool appraisal of the differences and similarities between his two communities makes for interesting reading, but the book's universality springs from the essential realism of the boy's hopes, fears, and disquieting moments. While the use of Spanish words within the text (some translated in context, others requiring a flip back to the glossary) is a mixed blessing, the novel itself is well constructed, well written, and believable.

Horn Book (March, 1992)
Being the only Hispanic American on the basketball team is hard enough, but Lincoln Mendoza faces a racist coach and conflicting loyalties to his old friends when the teams from his old barrio school and his new suburban school meet. Background complications with his mother's new male friend add texture to a story of growing maturity set inside a sport. Awkward use of Spanish with English translations gets in the way of an otherwise good book.

CONNECTIONS
*Introduce other novels, poetry and picture books by Gary Soto including:
Buried Onions Neighborhood Odes Too Many Tamales
The Afterlife A Fire in My Hands Chato’s Kitchen
Jesse Worlds Apart: Fernie and Me Snapshots from the
Pacific Crossing Wedding
Baseball in April*Lead a discussion on how students might feel moving to a new school, what could students do to make a newcomer feel welcome
*Discuss feeling one might have playing a sport against a former school.

C. One novel of choice by Pam Munoz Ryan – Esperanza Rising

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Ryan, Pam Munoz. Esperanza Rising. New York: Scholastic P, 2000. ISBN 0439120411.

PLOT SUMMARY
Until age 13, Esperanza has always lived as the only daughter of a rich landowner in Mexico. When her father is suddenly killed, then everything changes. Fleeing the corruption of Esperanza’s two uncles after their house suspiciously burns; Esperanza and her mother migrate to California with a family of their devoted ranch hands. They are employed as field hands in California’s agricultural industry. For a child of privilege, the adjustment is difficult; but Esperanza quickly learns to help with chores, tend children, and pack produce. When her mother becomes ill, Esperanza works desperately to save enough money to bring her grandmother from Mexico to help her mother. The experience gives her an understanding of the plight of migrant workers in the United States during the 1930s, the joy that kindness brings, and an insight into the source of life’s true happiness, which is family and friends.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Pam Munoz creates her story, Esperanza Rizing, from the inspiring experiences of her grandmother Esperanza when she was a young child. It is a riches to rags story about a girl and her mother who lose everything they own in Mexico and become laborers earning a meager living in the fields of California during the 1930s. It is a story of resilience and the strength that comes from the love of family and friends.

Munoz accurately describes the hard life and turmoil in the camps of the field laborers during that period. Through the story readers realize injustice the workers faced, the horrible living conditions, the discontent of those who wanted to strike, and the hopeless circumstances of workers trying to care for families. This is shown in statements like, “We make less money packing asparagus than you do when you pick cotton. Leave us alone. Our children are hungry, too.” Then again in statements such as “But some of them are citizens…It doesn’t matter. They are causing problems for the government. They are talking about forming a farm workers’ union and the government and the growers don’t like that.” The book will generate excellent discussion opportunities related to the topic.

The author uses cultural markers throughout the book in the names of the people and the terms of endearment used by friends and family like Papi, Abuelita, mi nieta, and mija. Munoz describes hairstyles, clothes and people with authentic accuracy. Abuelita “was a smaller, older, more wrinkled version of Mama. She looked very distinguished, wearing a respectable black dress, the same gold loops she wore in her ears every day, and her white hair pulled back into a bun at the nape of her neck.”

Readers are introduced to the food prepared by the workers and family members and cultural celebrations like Quinceaneras, the presentation parties for fifteen- year-old girls. A few Spanish words are highlighted in italics and the translation follows. “’Cuidate los dedos, said Papa. ‘Watch your fingers.’” Distinction between the classes in Mexico is also depicted.

This book will appeal to several grade levels. It is an appealing as well as revealing story.

REVIEW EXCERPTS

Booklist (December 1, 2000 (Vol. 97, No. 7))
Gr. 5-8. Moving from a Mexican ranch to the company labor camps of California, Ryan's lyrical novel manages the contradictory: a story of migration and movement deeply rooted in the earth... Set during the Great Depression, the story weaves cultural, economic, and political unrest into Esperanza's poignant tale of growing up: she witnesses strikes, government sweeps, and deep injustice while finding strength and love in her family and romance with a childhood friend...Ryan writes movingly in clear, poetic language that children will sink into, and the books offers excellent opportunities for discussion and curriculum support.

Horn Book starred (Spring 2001)
In this poignant look at the realities of immigration, thirteen-year-old Esperanza, daughter of an affluent Mexican rancher, is forced to trade fancy dolls and dresses for hard work and ill-fitting hand-me-downs after her beloved father dies. Laboring in the United States, picking grapes on someone else's land for pennies an hour, Esperanza is transformed into someone who can take care of herself and others.

CONNECTIONS
*Students may be interested in researching information about migrant labor in California in the 1930s.
*Researching the Mexican Repatriation, the 1929 Deportation Act, and the “Diaper Crew” might also provide information of interest and promote discussion.
*“Valley Fever,” dust storms, and tule fog can be researched and discussed.
Other books may be introduced on the subject of migrant labor including:
Harvesting Hope: The Story of Cesar Chavez by Kathleen Krull and Lights on the River by Jane Thomas.

Culture #2 - African American Literature

2009-06-28T20:06:00.000-07:00

CULTURE #2 – AFRICAN AMERICAN LITERATURE

A. Book illustrated by Jerry Pinkney – The Hired Hand

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Souci, Robert D. San. Hired Hand: an African-American Folktale. New York: Dial Books for Young Readers, 1997. ISBN 0803712960.

PLOT SUMMARY
Old Sam runs a sawmill in Virginia with his lazy son, Young Sam. When Old Sam takes on a hired hand to help with the work, Young Sam is glad to boss someone around. Young Sam discovers that the hired hand knows a method of making people younger. He secretly watches what to do. While Old Sam is away, the hired is finally disgusted with the way Young Sam treats him and quits. For a bag of gold, Young Sam tries making an old woman younger like he saw the hired hand do. He fumbles the procedure and the old woman is left dead. Young Sam is arrested and brought to trial. In his remorse, he asks for forgiveness from the hired hand that points out that the woman is now alive and present in the courtroom. Young Sam is released and becomes the helpful, kind person Old Sam prayed he would be.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS
San Souci developed this African American folktale from one recorded in 1871 by an African American. He focuses the theme of redemption contrasting the good attributes of Old Sam and the New Hand against the sinful characteristics of Young Sam. The characters are ones that could be found in any culture and the theme of “good triumphs over evil” in many walks of life. What make this book uniquely African American are the amazingly authentic illustrations of Jerry Pickney and the accurate language dialect written by San Souci.

Pinkney captures the posture, gestures, and expressions of the characters so vividly. The skin tones, hair, and build of each one are unique and capture the diversity of individuals in the African American culture. The clothes and accessories are illustrated in detail down to the last wrinkle. The book is set in a “ pre-Civil War Virginia town in the 1700s, a time when free blacks owned property and worked as craftsmen. Attention is given to each minute element of the backgrounds. From the cover to the end pages, Pinkney captures the movement of the characters, scenery, and animals in single- and double-page spreads with the dialogue framed on each page.

The language is realistic of the era and culture. It is shown in phrases like, “Deed I am, an’ I ax pardon an’ hope you’ll forgive me.” Another good example is, “Don’ be lazy an’ greedy an’ wood-headed. ‘Specially don’ act high-handed and biggity with no one,…”

Together San Souci and Jerry Pinkney spin a folktale of magic and morals that readers will enjoy and that will be an asset to any collection.

REVIEW EXCERPTS

Booklist (Vol. 93, No. 12 (February 15, 1997))
San Souci and Pinkney's latest collaboration is based on an African American folktale first recorded in 1871 by a black Virginian. Pinkney's characteristic watercolor illustrations portray one of several small Virginia towns where free blacks lived, owned property, and worked in the late 1700s. He successfully blends historically realistic details with timeless folkloric magic, and he enhances San Souci's smooth retelling in the process. An obvious choice for primary story hours, this will also make a welcome addition to African American folklore and history units.

School Library Journal (May 1997)
San Souci makes a choice in favor of "softening the heavy use of dialect," found in the original tale. Pinkney adopts a corresponding tone in his illustrations, polishing any harshness away. Pencil sketches showing through his watercolors add character and interest, but never mar the finish. The result is a first-class treat for readers' eyes and ears. However, the prettiness has a price. The beauty (each illustration perfectly composed and delivered in a charming palette of subdued colors; each bit of dialogue tastefully framed; each character devastatingly handsome) keeps drawing readers' attention back to the surface, to the elegance of the presentation. Beneath that surface, down where the folktale's dynamic themes of filial disobedience, sin and redemption, and the search for immortality all converge, is where the real power lies. Libraries looking for African-American folktales should consider this title and bask in the splendor of its delivery. For fun, pair it with dePaola's Strega Nona (S&S, 1975), in which another magician wannabe misses the master's nuance.

CONNECTIONS
*Students can research sawmills of the late 1700s.
*Other books illustrated by Jerry Pinkney may be introduced:
Goin’ Someplace Special
Sam and the Tigers
Minty: A Story of Young Harriet Tubman
The Patchwork Quilt
Tanya’s Reunion
Sunday Outing
Back Home
*Other books by Robert D. San Souci may be of interest:
The Talking Eggs
The Red Heels
The Samurai’s Daughter
The Snow Wife
Kate Shelley: Bound for Legend
The House in the Sky

B. Novel by Angela Johnson – The First Part Last

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Johnson, Angela. The First Part Last. New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2003. ISBN 0689849222.

PLOT SUMMARY
In flashbacks between “now” and “then,” Bobby, a single teenage parent, talks about events leading up to the birth of his little daughter, Heather. He describes the challenges he has putting his life on hold to be a good father and the difficulties he faces caring for a baby. Nia and Bobby planned to give the baby up for adoption; but when Nia goes into an irreversible coma after the birth, the plan changed. Bobby decides to keep the child since she reminds everyone of her young mother. Though Bobby’s mother if supportive, she does not take any of the responsibility for Heather. Bobby describes the love and delight his daughter brings into his life; but at the same time, regrets his loss of freedom of living a relatively carefree life and hanging out with friends. In an effort to relieve the pressure of his demanding position, Bobby spends a day vandalizing a building with spray paint. He is arrested and faces the harsh reality such which such actions can cause. When Bobby and Heather go to live with his father, he find more love and support there. Bobby continues to make life-changing decisions for them both.

CULTURAL ANALYSIS
Three-time winner of the Coretta Scott King Author Award, Angela Johnson tells the story of Bobby, an African American teenage father and vividly portrays the hardships faced by young people of all cultures who are in that situation. Johnson tells her story using many short, almost poetic sentences that are direct and to the point as she describes the reality of Bobby’s situation tempered by his love, devotion, and wonderment of his daughter. Bobby quickly realizes that life is not easy and people have a choice to run away from the stress or shoulder the hardships “like a man.” Johnson gives a truthful look at how a baby can change ones life and the reality of becoming a teenage parent. Without sermonizing it gives a testimony to teens that are believe “it won’t happen to me.”

Johnson develops and describes an array of authentic African American characters in the story including Bobby’s street buddies K-boy and J.L., Just Frank, a local street vender, innocent Nia and her well-to-do parents, Bobby’s stern mother, and his loving father. Each has a significant place in Bobby’s life and in influencing his character and decisions. Bobby narrates the story and the way he expresses his feelings toward the other characters and relates their reactions to the news of the pregnancy draws an accurate picture of each one.
Nia states, “I don’t want to be anybody’s mother. I’m not done with being a kid myself. I’m way too young and so are you.” Each set of parents reacts differently. His are “Not moving and still quiet, my pops just starts to cry.” Nia’s father “…looks straight ahead like he’s watching a movie.”

The language expressions give a true and authentic sample of the African American culture in a large city. It avoids the stereotypic, hip-hop phrases that can be associated with the African American culture but does incorporate some slang typical of many cultures. Bobby states, “Skipped school with my running buddies. K-boy and J.L., and went to Mineo’s for a couple of slices. Hit a matinee and threw as much popcorn at each other as we ate.”

The inner city setting of the book matches the stark reality of the situation faced by Bobby. The tender picture of a young African American teenager holding an infant in his arms on the cover is an indication of the touching and realistic story inside which will draw young readers as well as adults.

REVIEW EXCERPTS

Booklist starred (September 1, 2003 (Vol. 100, No. 1))
But from the first page, readers feel the physical reality of Bobby's new world: what it's like to hold Feather on his stomach, smell her skin, touch her clenched fists, feel her shiver, and kiss the top of her curly head. Johnson makes poetry with the simplest words in short, spare sentences that teens will read again and again. The great cover photo shows the strong African American teen holding his tiny baby in his arms.

Kirkus Review (June 1, 2003)
By narrating from a realistic first-person voice, Johnson manages to convey a story that is always complex, never preachy. The somewhat pat ending doesn't diminish the impact of this short, involving story. It's the tale of one young man and his choices, which many young readers will appreciate and enjoy. (Fiction. YA)

CONNECTIONS
*Students could investigate the statistics about teenage pregnancy.
*Students might be assigned to “take care of” a bag of flour for a week as if it was
a baby and keep a journal of activities and difficulties.
*Other books receiving the Coretta Scott King Author Award may be of interest to
readers.
*Readers might be interested in Heaven by Angela Johnson, the prequel to The
First Part Last.

C. Picture book by Patricia E. McKissack – Goin’ Someplace Special

BIBLIOGRAPHY
McKissack, Pat. Goin' Someplace Special. New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2000. ISBN 0689818858.

PLOT SUMMARY
After convincing her mother that she could find her way to “Someplace Special” by herself, ‘Tricia Ann ventures out into her 1950s southern town alone. She sees the signs and feels the injustice of the Jim Crow segregation law on the bus, in the park, at the restaurant, and in the hotel into which she is accidentally shuffled. Scared and ready to return home, ‘Tricia gains the strength to continue while talking to Blooming Mary in the church garden. She remembers words of encouragement given her by her mother and grandmother and continues on her way. Finally, she reaches “Someplace Special” which is the public library where all are welcome.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS

Drawing from her experience as a young African American growing up in Nashville, Tennessee, in the 1950s, Patricia McKissack relates an accurate and culturally authentic story of life in a segregated southern town. Her main character, ‘Tricia, ventures alone into the reality of a world labeled with Jim Crow signs, bigotry, and discrimination.

Her text captures the unity of the African American spirit, the courage, pride and support among the members of the culture, and the feelings of discontent as they cope with an unfair situation. “’Carry yo’self proud,’” Mrs. Grannel called out the window…” and “’Don’t let those signs steal yo’ happiness,’ Jimmy Lee called after her.” From the “white community” readers feel their intolerance and distain for the “blacks.” “’What is she doing in here?’” and “…she said through clinched teeth. ‘Colored people can’t come in the front door.’” She also expresses the hope among African Americans during that period of time for a better future. Gazing at the library ‘Tricia says, “It was much more than bricks and stone. It was an idea. Mama Frances called it a doorway to freedom.”

The dialect McKissack uses is another accurate cultural marker in the text. “What’s got yo’ face all clouded up like a storm day?” and “’I recon…But you best hurry on ‘fore I change my mind’” are examples from the text.

Jerry Pinkney’s beautiful and culturally accurate pencil and watercolor illustrations flow around the text and complement the reality of the story. The pictures seem to come alive as ‘Tricia progresses on her journey. He captures the facial expressions of each character in the community. Those of hope, hatred, confusion, love, joy, and sadness can be read on individual faces. The clothes and background scenery are accurate to the last detail. The postures and gestures of the people are amazingly realistic.

This book is a historically accurate introduction to African American life in the south during the 1950s for young students. It will generate a great deal of discussion on the subject of discrimination and the struggles faced by the “black” community during that period of United States history.

REVIEW EXCERPTS

Booklist starred (August 2001 (Vol. 97, No. 22))
"Pinkney's watercolor paintings are lush and sprawling as they evoke southern city streets and sidewalks as well as Tricia Ann's inner glow. In an author's note, McKissack lays out the autobiographical roots of the story and what she faced as a child growing up in Nashville. This book carries a strong message of pride and self-confidence as well as a pointed history lesson. It is also a beautiful tribute to the libraries that were ahead of their time.

Horn Book (November/December, 2001)
Though this story takes place in an unnamed Southern city, the helpful author's note states that McKissack was raised in Nashville, where, unlike many other Southern cities of the 1950s, the public libraries welcomed African Americans. The library pictured on the final pages, bathed in hopeful lemon sunshine, is the downtown library of 1950s Nashville. There are many books about a child's first trip alone, and many books about racism and the struggle for civil rights, but this book is about more than either: it is the story of a child facing a difficult time sustained by the support of the adults in her life. McKissack and Pinkney strike just the right balance in a picture book for young readers and listeners: informative without being preachy; hopeful without being sentimental.

CONNECTIONS
*Students can investigate the Jim Crow segregation order, which barred African Americans from using the same facilities as European Americans.
*Students can study the Civil Rights Movement and the efforts of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to bring equality to all Americans.
*Research may be done on the 1950 decision of Nashville’s public library board of director to integrate all their facilities.
*Other books by Patricia McKissack may be introduced:
Let My People Go
The Honest-to-Goodness Truth
Ma Dear’s Aprons
The Dark-Thirty
Mirandy and Brother Wind

Culture 1 - International Literature

2009-06-19T20:26:00.000-07:00

This is part of a class assignment from TWU

CULTURE 1 – International Literature

A. Batchelder Award novel – The Thief Lord by Cornelia Caroline Funke

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Funke, Cornelia Caroline. The Thief Lord. 1st American ed. New York: Scholastic, 2002. ISBN 978-439404372.

PLOT SUMMARY
This magical tale is of two orphaned brothers, Prosper, twelve, and Bo, five, who flee to Venice to escape separation from one another. They team up with a group of street urchins led by a mysterious thirteen-year-old boy, Scipio, who calls himself the Thief Lord. The group lives in an abandoned theater and survives by selling stolen items to an unscrupulous merchant, Barbarossa. Through Barbarossa, the Thief Lord accepts a job to steal a wooden wing from a wealthy photographer for a large profit. In the process, the children, the photographer, and the detective sent to locate the missing boys team up to discover the magical carousel to which the wing belongs.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS
German author, Cornelia Funke, spins a tale set in the magical city of Venice. There are various cultural markers that link the story with the Italian setting. One is the rich Italian vocabulary generously used throughout the novel. Some examples that readers encounter are lira, gondola, pasticceria, scusi, and ponte. For the most part, the words are explained in context, but Funke also includes a glossary at the end of the book as a further resource. The names chosen for her Italian characters are also particular to the region, names like, Riccio, Conte, and Ernesto Barbarossa. “Be that as it may, they are still one of the old families—well, you know, like the Correr, Vendramin, Contarini, Venier, Loredan, Barbarigo, and countless other. They’ve rules this city for centuries…” (69).

Funke’s novel abounds with a host of colorful characters, each having a special role to play in the twisting plots of the book. They range from Victor Getz, a soft-hearted, disguise-loving detective who has resided in Venice for 15 years, to the sweet-faced, five-year-old German boy, Boniface, to the tall, dark orphan, Mosca of African descent. The author describes each character individually, yet most seem to be misfits, tied together with a common bond. They have no one with whom to share their lives. The orphans are drawn to each other out of necessity, but Victor Getz is drawn in by the ingenuity of the orphans and the charm of the brothers. Finally, Ida Spavento, a lonely widow, is also enchanted by the group and invites Prosper, Bo, and Hornet to live with her.

The setting of the novel is in the beautiful city of Venice. A map of Venice is included for reference, as well as information at the end of the book on the history of the city. Funke describes the city’s maze of canals, the palaces, the piazzas, the sculptures, and the labyrinth of alleyways in a way the makes the magic of the city tangible to readers. “Whenever he came to St. Mark’s Square, he stopped and tipped his head back to stare up at them. Four houses—massive golden horses—stood frozen there, stomping and neighing”(74). She paints a picture of the city in a way that readers come to expect something magical to happen and it does! The beautiful Venetian carousel, inspired by a photo of one in an Italian garden Funke had seen, mysteriously turns the young, old and the old, young.

The disappearance of the carousel and the happiness of those who took a ride invite reflection. The easy-to-read format will appeal to young readers and a happy conclusion will gladden all those whose hearts are touched by the young orphans and the fugitive brothers. The Thief Lord will be an unforgettable ride.

REVIEW EXCERPTS

Horn Book starred (Spring, 2003)
The story's pace is slow, but the resonance of the carousel image creates a potent atmosphere that laces the tale with excitement.

Kirkus Review starred (August 1, 2002)
A bestselling author in Germany, who has reached the US for the first time, Funke delights readers in the feelings of childhood, what it feels like to be innocent, afraid, curious, and safe; need friends and love; and want independence yet also to be cared for. Although the core of this tale is heartwarming, the merry-go-round, like Ray Bradbury's carousel in Something Wicked This Way Comes, hints at darkness, leaving its riders and the novel's readers changed forever.

CONNECTIONS
Students may be interested in reading other Batchelder Award winning novels. Teachers may want to “create” a trip to the city of Venice, Italy, to discover with students its location, points of interest, history, and uniqueness.
A project researching antique carousels may be of interest.

B. Picture book by Mem Fox – Wombat Divine

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Fox, Mem. Wombat Divine. 1st Voyager Books ed. New York: Harcourt Brace, 1995. ISBN 9780152014162.

PLOT SUMMARY
In this heartwarming story of friendship and encouragement, Fox introduces readers to various animals from down under. Wombat is excited that this Christmas he gets to participate in the Nativity play; but during tryouts, no part seems right for him. He is both encouraged and consoled by his animal friends. Finally, to Wombat’s delight, it is suggested that he would be perfect to play baby Jesus and he plays it divinely.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS
In her book, Wombat Divine, Mem Fox introduces readers to the unusual animals of Australia through her witty text, complemented by the charming watercolor illustrations by Kerry Argent. In this simple book, the diversity of the animals is evident, yet they share the common bond of friendship. Their feelings are vividly shown in the facial expressions of the animal friends. Also touching is their concern that Wombat has a part in the Nativity.

Young readers will be delighted by the colorful illustrations on one- and two-page spreads that seem to move as Wombat fumbles through each tryout. The repetitive text makes the book easy to read for younger children and a divine choice to read aloud.

REVIEW EXCERPTS

Booklist (Vol. 93, No. 4 (October 15, 1996))
As usual, Fox spiffily combines a witty text with her wonderful art. Here the fun comes with seeing all sorts of Australian animals (emu, bilby, kangaroo) decked out in their Christmas-play garb. The crisp watercolors set against pure white backgrounds will delight story-hour audiences and lap sitters alike.

Publishers Weekly (September 30, 1996)
In her humorous and understated watercolors, Argent's (One Woolly Wombat) beguiling bunch of Australian animals embodies a refreshing all-for-one Christmas spirit. Fox's (Time for Bed) title is one of the few this season to take a playful approach to Christmas and its pleasures are infectious.

CONNECTIONS
Young readers can read further about the unusual Australian animals mentioned in the story. Teachers may also use the story when discussing tryouts for a play or characteristics of good friendship.
Readers may also be interested in other books about animals by Mem Fox including:
Koala Lou – ISBN 9780152005023
Possum Magic – ISBN 9780152005726
Feathers and Fools – ISBN 9780152023652
Sleepy Bears – ISBN 9780152020163
Hunwick’s Egg – ISBN 9780152163181

C. Novel by international author – The Breadwinner by Deborah Ellis

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Ellis, Deborah. The Breadwinner. Toronto, ON: House of Anansi, 2000. ISBN 9780888994165.

PLOT SUMMARY
Parvana is an eleven-year-old Afghan girl who lives with her family in a one-room apartment in Nabul, Afghanistan. Most of the country is controlled by the Taliban militia, which imposes strict limitations upon the citizens, especially upon women.
Parvana’s parents are both educated and had good jobs. Now the city lies in ruins and her father ekes out a living translating documents for people on the street. Women are not allowed outside unless they are accompanied by a male and are covered from head to toe with a burqa (a tent-like dress) and a chader (a head covering). When Parvana’s father is arrested for being educated, the family is left to fiend for themselves. Parvana takes it upon herself to be the breadwinner for the family by disguising herself to look like a boy. She unites with a former friend from school who has also disguised herself. Together they earn money to meet the needs of their families.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS
The Breadwinner by Deborah Ellis is a poignant novel of life in Afghanistan under the rule of the Taliban militia. Ellis describes the oppression the citizens experience under the Taliban rule through the eyes of a young girl who has experienced war her whole life. Many cultural markers help readers understand life under Taliban rule in the Middle East.

Ellis’ novel is rich in vocabulary that describes food, furniture, clothing, and festivals such as nan, burqas, chador, toshak, shalwar kameez, and Eid. A glossary at the end of the book assists readers in understanding terms used in the story. As Parvana recalls her history lessons in school, Ellis is able to interject some of the history of Afghanistan and glimpses of what a beautiful country it used to be.

Through Parvana’s eyes readers get a vivid picture of the destruction throughout the city and of the marketplace full of activity. “The market was a very busy place. Men shopped for their families, and peddlers hawked their goods and services. Some, like the teashop, had their own stalls” (10). Ellis helps readers understand the dangers of breaking Taliban rules, the hardships families face while trying to survive in a war torn area and the injustice towards women. “The Taliban had ordered all windows painted over with black paint so no one could see the women inside” (36). “She wasn’t really supposed to be outside at all. The Taliban has ordered all the girls and women to stay inside their homes…more than a year now, they had all been stuck inside one room” (7).

Ellis characters are well developed. Parvana is independent, smart, and strong in her conviction to endure and overcome when faced with hopelessness. In spite of her fears, she even submits to collecting human bones to earn money for her family. Though the other women of the family are strong, they begin to buckle under the weight of their desperate situation until a family friend rallies them together and offers assistance.

Through her research and interviews, Ellis has created a novel of an authentic time and place that is culturally accurate and, not only informative, but also disquieting to readers. The Breadwinner’s easy-to-read storyline centering on the theme of a families struggle to survive oppression invites reflection and response from readers.

REVIEW EXCERPTS

Book Report (November/December 2001)
This story is great for history students, helping them better understand Afghanistan's turbulent history and the current plight of Afghan women. Although simply written, this tale contains some graphic scenes for mature readers. It also presents a lesson in philanthropy, because all of the book's royalties go to support the education of Afghan girls who remain in Pakistani refugee camps.

Publishers Weekly (March 19, 2001)
…the narrative voice often feels removed "After the Soviets left, the people who had been shooting at the Soviets decided they wanted to keep shooting at something, so they shot at each other" taking on a tone more akin to a disquisition than compelling fiction. However, the topical issues introduced, coupled with this strong heroine, will make this novel of interest to many conscientious teens.

CONNECTIONS
Students may be interested in investigating the Taliban and its influence over the citizens of Afghanistan.
Parvana’s Journey – ISBN 978088899-5193 is the continuing story of The Breadwinner that students might find interesting.
Students could read stories with settings in other countries by Deborah Ellis or investigate how she researches information about her stories.

Bibliography - Modules 1-6

2009-04-23T19:13:00.000-07:00

Works Cited

Esbensen, Barbara Juster. A Celebration of Bees: Helping Children to Write Poetry. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1995.

Florian, Douglas. Insectlopedia. San Diego: Harcourt Brace, 1998.

Graham, Joan Bransfield. Flicker Flash. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1999.

Hines, Anna Grossnickle. Pieces: A Year in Poems & Quilts. New York: Green Willow Book, 2001.

Janeczko, Paul B. Dirty Laundry Pile: Poems in Different Voices. New York: Haper Collins Publishers, 2001.

Janeczko, Paul. A Poke in the I: a collection of concrete poems. Cambridge, MA: Candlewick Press, 2001.

Lewis, J. Patrick. July Is A Mad Mosquito. New York: Atheneum, Maxwell Macmillan International, 1994.

Little, Jean. Hey World, Here I Am! New York: HarperCollins, 1989.

Livingston, Myra Cohn. Celebrations. New York: Holiday House, 1985.

Livingston, Myra Cohn. Keep on Singing: A Ballad of Marian Anderson. New York: Holiday House, 1994.

More Surprises. Ed. Lee Bennett Hopkins. New York: HarperCollins, 1987.

Prelutsky, Jack. The New Kid on the Block. New York: Greenwillow Books, 1984.

Silverstein, Shel. Runny Babbit: A Billy Sook. New York: HarperCollins, 2005.

Smith, Hope Anita. Keeping the Night Watch. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 2008.

Franco, Betsy. A Curious Collection of Cats. Berkley, CA: Tricycle Press, 2009.

Smith, Hope Anita. Mother Poems. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 2009.

Soul Looks Back in Wonder. Ed. Tom Feelings. New York: Dial, 1993.

Williams, Vera B. Amber Was Brave, Essie Was Smart. New York: Scholastic Inc., 2001.

Module #6 - Responding to Poetry

2009-04-23T18:28:00.000-07:00

(This is part of a class assignment from TWU)
Module #6 – Responding to Poetry
Poetry Break: Serious

Keeping the Night Watch
by Hope Anita Smith
Smith, Hope Anita. Keeping the Night Watch. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 2008.

Introduction
Have two students ready to role play an Old West showdown. Have one student state, “This town isn’t big enough for both of us.” Before the actors “fire,” ask the students if they could think of a way the opposing sides could avoid a showdown? Show students the poem title. Explain why the Showdown at the O.K. Corral became a memorial event. In the old western movies often someone would say, “This town isn’t big enough for both of us.” What was meant by that? Are showdowns only between gunfighters of the Old West? Explain that a showdown is any decisive confrontation or contest. Think of a time when you might have been in a showdown. Ask the students to listen and follow along as you read the poem.

Showdown at the O.K. Corral
by Hope Anita Smith

When Daddy left,
our house was empty,
too big for the rest of us.
We couldn’t fill up all the space.
Now that he’s back,
I can’t find a place to fit.
There isn’t enough room for me.
Daddy looks the same,
but something’s different.
He takes up too much space.
He’s in my space.
His eyes are constantly
waving the white flag of surrender,
but I am like a gunfighter in the Old West.
I walk around with my words drawn,
ready to fire.
Because this house isn’t big enough
for the two of us.

Extension
Read the poem again. Let’s discuss what is going on here. Who is having a showdown and when could it have taken place? Why is the speaker so angry? Divide into groups and discuss the poem. Decide what could be done or said to stop the showdown between the father and the speaker in the poem. Share yours ideas with the class.

Poetry Book Review: Janeczko

Janeczko, Paul B. Dirty Laundry Pile: Poems in Different Voices. New York: Haper Collins Publishers, 2001.

Readers will enjoy Paul Janeczko’s anthology of twenty-seven persona poems by various poets, “written in the voice of the object or animal” about which the poem is written. Not only will this collection be ideal for a discussion of point of view, but the poems harbor a wealth of poetic language. Some examples of onomatopoeia that really stand out are “The Vacuum Cleaner’s Revenge” by Patricia Hubbell. “I munch. I crunch. / I zoom. I roar. / I clatter-clack / Across the floor.” Another one that children will enjoy reading aloud is “Washing Machine” by Bobbi Katz. “Glubita, glubita, glubita, glubita, glubita, glubita. . .GLUB. / Swizzle-dee-swash-- / Swizzle-dee-swash / I talk to myself, / while I do the wash!”

Metaphors and similes also abound, as do personifications, in many of the poems but especially in “The Red Gloves” by Siv Cedering. “…we are five-room houses / waiting for our inhabitants / to come home. / We are soft shells / that miss / the snails that would give them / their own slow speed. / We are red wings / that have forgotten / how to fly.” Another example is “Roots” by Madeleine Comora. “Roots like ours, / coarse and strong / as a grandmother’s fingers, / reach into the earth.”

Whimsical watercolor paintings by Melissa Sweet adorn the book with sometimes double-page illustrations, or smaller pictures decorating a page, or borders encircling the poems. Each illustration will provoke a smile from readers but never overpower the poems. Sweet’s front cover illustration of children jumping into a pile of dirty laundry is sure to attract attention, along with the thought provoking questions on the back cover that state, “If a crayon could talk, what would it say? If a mosquito wrote a poem, would it rhyme? Would a pile of dirty laundry know that it smells?”

Children will delight in reading poems from another point of view, and teachers may find this collection an inspiration to young poets who want to try a hand at writing persona poems.

Poetry Choice: Poetry by Children

Introduction
Ask the students to name things in the sky? Ask students to think what each thing on the list reminds them of. List suggestions the students make. Today we are going to read a poem about the moon written by a student. Ask the students to listen while you read it. Then read it together.

Esbensen, Barbara Juster. A Celebration of Bees: Helping Children to Write Poetry. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1995.

The Moon
by Gaynell M., age 8

The moon reminds me
of golden butter.
It looks bright yellow,
And when the stars come out
at night,
They start
Nibbling
on
it!

Extension
What do you like about this poem? Tell the students it was written by an eight-year-old. Tell the students that they are going to work in pairs and create a poem about something in the sky. They may choose something from the list we created or another idea of something in the sky to illustrate and write a poem about. Suggest that in the poem students might tell what the object reminds them of or what it is doing or something they know about that object. The teacher will pick an example and the class and teacher will compose a poem together first. For example: The stars remind me of silver glitter thrown across dark sky at night by a clumsy fairy. She sweeps them up before the sun notices!

Module #5 - Poetry Performance

2009-04-10T21:10:00.000-07:00

(This blog is part of a class assignment at TWU)
Module #5 – Poetry Performance

Poetry Break – Refrain
Introduction
Use the poem as a prelude to the picture book, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, by Judith Viorst. Ask students if they have ever been in a rotten mood before. What makes you have a rotten mood? Is it okay to be in a bad mood sometimes? Listen to the poem. See if it describes how you feel when you are having a rotten day.

I’m In a Rotten Mood
by Jack Prelutsky
Prelutsky, Jack. The New Kid on the Block. New York: Greenwillow Books, 1984.

I’m in a rotten mood today,
a really rotten mood today,
I’m feeling cross,
I’m feeling mean,
I’m jumpy as a jumping bean
I have an awful attitude—
I’M IN A ROTTEN MOOD!

I’m in a rotten mood today,
a really rotten mood today,
I’m in a snit,
I’m in a stew,
there’s nothing that I care to do
but sit all by myself and brood—
I’M IN A ROTTEN MOOD!

I’m in a rotten mood today,
a really rotten mood today,
you’d better stay away from me,
I’m just a lump of misery,
I’m feeling absolutely rude—
I’M IN A ROTTEN MOOD!

Extension
Ask students if the poem describes how they feel when they are in a bad mood.
Repeat the poem again. Have them say the first, second, and last lines with you.
Ask for volunteers to prepare this poem as a choral reading to practice and perform for everyone. Have two or three students take turns saying the beginning lines, then say the final line in each stanza together, getting a little louder each time. Read Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.

Poetry Book Review – New Book

A Curious Collection of Cats
by Betsy Franco
Franco, Betsy. A Curious Collection of Cats. Berkley, CA: Tricycle Press, 2009.

Betsy Franco describes every conceivable characteristic, antic, and behavior of domestic felines in her new book, A Curious Collection of Cats. This delightful collection of thirty-two concrete cat poems will be fun for cat lovers and entertaining to all. In haiku, limerick, and free verse Franco depicts cats scratching, fighting, hacking, purring, stretching, sleeping, stalking and doing the many other curious capers that cats do. She uses much figurative language, especially onomatopoeia. “LENNY VS. PATCH” for example, reads, FIGHTING FELINES! / SCREECHES HOWLS! / POUNCING, BITING! / HIGH-PITCHED YOWLS! / CLAWING KICKING! / SCUFFLING PAIR! / BLACK FUR, WHITE FUR EVERYWHERE!
The words move in every direction across each page becoming a part of Michael Wertz’s amazing monographs. Wertz fills the book with almost florescent colored felines from the cover, to end pages, to the title page. One long cat tongue of words reads, IF YOU’VE / EVER ATTEMPTED TO LICK YOUR NECK CLEAN, / I THINK YOU’LL UNDERSTAND WHAT I MEAN, / WHEN I SAY THAT MY CAT’S TONGUE IS ESPECIALLY LONG, / GO AHEAD. LICK YOUR NECK. PROVE ME WRONG!
One descriptive haiku reads, THE DEEP, RHYTHMIC RRRRRETCH / OF THE TABBY’S GAGS AND COUGHS: / A NASTY HAIRBALL.
Students will be entertained as they follow the words across each page and read familiar descriptions of their own cats.

Poetry Break – Newer Book

Introduction
Wear a red cape and mask. Ask students what makes someone a superhero? Do superheroes have to have super powers? Can you think of a regular person whom you might consider to be a superhero? Listen to the poem and try to guess who is this child’s superhero. (Cover the last line of the poem.)

Superheroes
by Hope Anita Smith
Smith, Hope Anita. Mother Poems. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 2009.

I know Batman has
a really cool car.
And Spider-Man can swing on a web
like Tarzan.
But I have a better superhero than that.
I know that Wonder Woman can deflect bullets with her bracelets.
And the Bionic Man can leap thirty feet in the air
and has superhuman speed.
But I have a better superhero than that.
I have a superhero who lifts me out of
sorrow
and rocks me in her arms.
I have a superhero who knows how much
danger I’d be in without her
and travels the heart of darkness to come
back to me.
All other superheroes are just pretenders to
the throne
because I have the ultimate superhero,
the one with eyes in the back of her head.
She sees all and knows all.
She guards my closet door and keeps monsters
at bay.
She knits me a protective force field that
also keep me warm at night.
She is always just where I need her to be.
Just when I need her to be.
She is the mother of all superheroes.
She is my mom.

Extension
Ask the students who this superhero is. What makes the mom a superhero? Are the things that this superhero does important? Read the poem again. Who would you call a superhero at your house? Provide students with Mother’s Day cards that are printed with Wonder Woman on the front and folded. Inside ask them to write and tell their mother or grandmother why they think she is a superhero.

Module #4 - Poetry Across the Curriculum

2009-03-26T18:45:00.000-07:00

(This blog is part of a class assignment at TWU)
Module #4 – Poetry Across the Curriculum

Poetry Choice - Spring
Introduction
Ask students if they have heard the phrase, “March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb?” Discuss the meaning of the phrase. What other beastly and gentle animals could be used to describe March? Fill in the phrase, “March comes in like a _____ and goes out like a _____.” with animals suggested by the students. Ask students to listen to how Patrick Lewis describes March.

March
by Patrick Lewis
Lewis, J. Patrick. July Is A Mad Mosquito. New York: Atheneum, Maxwell Macmillan International, 1994.

One day this coldhearted guest
Blusters in and thumps his chest,
Bends
the
birches
to
their
knees,
Nips the buds off all the trees.

Chickadees, two chipper chaps,
Trimmed in coal black bibs and caps,
Hop across the heather row,
Chirping “Tut-tut-tut!” to snow.

climb!
to
start
may
Temperatures
Crocuses poke up in time.
March, the bullyboy, leaves town
Once the weather settles down.

Extension
Repeat the poem together. Tell the students that they are going to make a slideshow presentation of spring pictures. Pair the students. Ask each pair to locate two pictures. One of something that shows blustery weather and one that shows that spring is here using the computer or by locating them in magazines (students could also draw the pictures). Compile the pictures into a slideshow program all can watch as a voice over recites the poem with music in the background.

*************************************************************************************
Poetry Book Review – Curriculum Connection

Flicker Flash
by Joan Bransfield Graham
Graham, Joan Bransfield. Flicker Flash. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1999.

Librarians will want to introduce young readers and teachers to
Flicker Flash by Joan Graham as an ideal introduction to a science unit on light. This colorful, unique book of twenty-three concrete poems is a comprehensive overview of light sources. It is enhanced by the angular, matte illustrations of Nancy Davis. Her pictures seem to surround the movement of the words in each poem in a way that does not detract from the poem itself. Instead, the pictures enhance the words so that their arrangement can convey the intended effect of the poem.

The appealing design and the variety of fonts keep readers young and old anticipating which light source will take form on ensuing pages. Graham touches on forms of light ranging from a candle, to a firefly, to a refrigerator light, to a flash bulb, and don’t forget the incubator bulb. These short poems are filled with repeated sounds, which make them easy to read aloud and fun to recite together. In “Campfire,” for example, it states, “campfire / flicker / sly eye tricker / tall tale boaster / marshmallow / roaster.”

The figurative language Graham uses is evidenced in “Fireworks. “Who plants / the star flowers / shooting up high, / scattering petals / across the sky?” A lighthouse is personified in “Lighthouse.” “Oh, / Captain / of the / midnight / sky, you / stretch / your arms / and flash / your eye...” She delights readers with tongue in cheek humor as well. In “Refrigerator Light” for example it reads, “I can plainly see / that the Brussels / sprouts are meant / for YOU...the / chocolate cake’s / for ME.”

From the glowing front cover with a large sun shining down on a group of houses, to the back cover showing a yellow moon and stars in the sky, to the bright yellow end pages, readers will be drawn to this book like moths to a flame.

Book Review – Biographical Poetry

Keep on Singing: A Ballad of Marian Anderson
by Myra Livingston
Livingston, Myra Cohn. Keep on Singing: A Ballad of Marian Anderson. New York: Holiday House, 1994.

Keep on Singing: A Ballad of Marian Anderson by Myra Livingston is an autobiographical overview of the life Marian Anderson, the first black woman singer invited to sing at the Metropolitan Opera House in 1955. This book could be used as an introduction to Black History month, a unit on outstanding African-American women in history, or a unit on the Civil Rights Movement.

A rhyming stanza or two of the ballad is printed on each page or two-page spread along with watercolor pictures by Samuel Byrd depicting scenes from Anderson’s life. The author’s notes that are included at the end of the book will help younger readers understand more fully some of the details of Marian’s life on which the short ballad does not elaborate. One stanza, for example, reads, “Toured in sixty cities, / Often met Jim Crow.” Another stanza where meaning might not be too clear reads, “An Easter Sunday long ago / When she stood up to fears / In front of Lincoln’s Monument / And eyes were wet with tears.”

The ballad describes how as a youth Marian had to work to help out financially. She began singing well at a young age, but was not allowed to enroll in music school because she was black. After taking formal lesson, Marian went to Europe where her talents were recognized and applauded. Back in America, she still found herself limited because of race issues. Finally she was invited to the Met in 1955. Her determination and efforts paved the way for other young African-American singers.

This ballad is sure to spark discussion and questions that will create interest in further studies in African-American history. It is a poem that touches on a subject that some adults can reflect on and remember and that will help students realize the inequality of life in our country's past.

Module #3 - Kinds of Poetry

2009-03-06T20:00:00.000-08:00

Module #3 – Kinds of Poetry

Poetry Choice – Poetry That Does Not Rhyme
Introduction
Brainstorm together the signs of the coming of spring. How do plants know it is spring and time to start growing? Are spring greens the same as summer greens?

Do You Know Green?
by Anna Grossnickle Hines

Hines, Anna Grossnickle. Pieces: A Year in Poems & Quilts. New York: Green Willow Book, 2001.

Green sleeps in winter
waiting
quiet
still
beneath the snow
and last year’s stems
and old dead leaves
resting up for spring
and then…
Green comes…
tickling the tips
of twiggy tree fingers
Psst!
Psst! Psst!
poking up as tiny
slips of baby grass
Ping!
Ping! Ping!
springing up as coiled
skunk cabbage leaves
Pop!
Pop! Pop!
bursting out on bare
brown branches
Pow!
Pow! Pow!
Brand new baby yellow green
bright bold biting busy green
until it seems
everywhere one goes
green grows.

Extension
Read the poem together. Then divide into two groups for a choral reading where one group reads the descriptive words and one makes the sounds. Do any other colors represent something in nature? Have students create a collage picture of spring using tissue paper pieces, construction paper, or crayons and markers.

Poetry Book Review – Verse Novel

Amber Was Brave, Essie Was Smart
by Vera B. Williams
Williams, Vera B. Amber Was Brave, Essie Was Smart. New York: Scholastic Inc., 2001.

In a collection of twenty-eight, short, free verse poems, Vera B. Williams has created a touching verse novel in prose and pictures. Amber Was Brave, Essie Was Smart is the story of love, support, and playfulness between two young sisters facing a difficult life together. Readers quickly become aware that the young girls and their mother are surviving in dire circumstances after the father is jailed for an injudicious act of forgery.
The sisters are introduced in the beginning of the book with front and back color pencil portraits of each one. The short interconnected poems, interspersed with pencil sketches, tell their story. Readers come to understand the personalities of Essie and Amber, how they comfort each other while their mother is away working long hours and how they interact with each other, their mother, and friends. In “Best Sandwich” the girls find comfort in each others arms as they “breathe each other’s breath” snuggling “with Amber on one side / and Essie on the other” with their teddy bear “right in the middle.”
Thoughts of their father float quietly in the back of their minds as revealed in “The Question That Always Made Amber Cry.” Amber asks, “Tell me just one more time, Essie… / Where is Daddy?” In “Sad Lullaby” Ambers watches “Their mother / Sitting sitting / Just sitting / On her bed “ sighing and unable to sleep.
One day the girls notice a change in their mother and in everyday routines. Readers feel Amber’s apprehension and joy in the concluding poem “Amber Says What They Did When the Doorbell Rang” when their father returns home. Williams lets readers view that touching family moment through her sketches of the family embracing. Everyone will also enjoy the colorful sketches of scenes from the story that conclude the novel.
Williams writes her verses with little capitalization or punctuation. She uses short powerful phrases that reveal a great deal. “But there were only a few flakes / left in the cereal box / Not even half a glass / was in the milk container / And the last banana / was brown.”
Readers young and old will admire the love and companionship of Amber and Essie in their struggles to endure their hardships and find joy and comfort in each other. Some may identify with the trials of a single parent family and want to discuss the actions of the father that increase family difficulties.

Poetry Break – Unusual Form, Concrete

Introduction
What are words the students can think of that describe eating a popsicle? Have them listen as the poem is read and see if they mentioned the many of the words included in the poem. Show students the poem and its shape. Read the poem together again.

POPSICLE
by Joan Bransfield Graham
Janeczko, Paul. A Poke in the I: a collection of concrete poems. Cambridge, MA: Candlewick Press, 2001.

P o p s i c l e
P o p s i c l e
t i c k l e
t o n g u e f u n
l i c k s i c l e
s t i c k s i c l e
p l e a s e
d o n ‘ t r u n
d r i p s i c l e
s l i p s i c l e
m e l t, m e l t
t r i c k y
s t o p s i c l e
p l o p s i c l e
h a n d a l l
s
t
i
c
k
y

Extension
Have groups of students brainstorm words that describe a favorite food they have chosen. Have each group write a concrete poem in the shape of that food. They then can transcribe the poem on a poster to read and share with the whole class.

Module #2 - Major Poets and Awards

2009-02-20T16:28:00.000-08:00

(This site was created for a class at TWU)

Module #2 – Major Poets and Awards

Poetry Break - NCTE Award poet – Myra Cohn Livingston
Introduction
Secretly select several students who have something in common like those who have blonde hair or blue shirts or something. Begin discriminating against those students by doing things like not allowing them to sit in chairs, telling them they can’t check out books, by giving the other students a bookmark and not them, and announcing that don’t get free time because of the thing they have in common. Ask the class if they think what was done was fair to those students. Discuss discrimination, what they know about Martin Luther King and his dream for America.

Martin Luther King Day
by Myra Cohn Livingston
Livingston, Myra Cohn. Celebrations. New York: Holiday House, 1985.

The dream
of Martin Luther King
will happen
in some far-off Spring

when winter ice
and snow are gone.
One day, the dreamer
In gray dawn

Will waken
to a blinding light
where hawk and dove
in silent flight

brush wings together
on a street
still thundering
with ghostly feet.

And soul will dance
And soul will sing
And march with
Martin Luther King

Extension
Read the book The Other Side by Jacqueline Woodson. Do the girls’ thoughts of having no fence between them relate to Martin’s dream? Draw a picture of how you would make America a better place.

Poetry Choice: Douglas Florian
Introduction
Who likes spiders? Display pictures or specimens of spiders for the students to view. What are some noticeable features of the spiders? Share the poem with the students; then read it together.

The Daddy Longlegs
by Douglas Florian
Florian, Douglas. Insectlopedia. San Diego: Harcourt Brace, 1998.

O Daddy
Daddy O
How’d you get
Those legs to grow
So very long
And lean in size?
From spiderobic
Exercise?
Did you drink milk?
Or chew on cheese?
And by the way,
Where are your knees?
O Daddy
Daddy O
How’d you get
Those legs to grow?

Extension
Group the students. Let each group create spiders with an unusual feature; for instance, one group could create spiders with big fangs, or heads, or long hair, or eyes, or colors.

Poetry Book Review: Multicultural

Runny Babbit: A Billy Sook
by Shel Silverstein
Silverstein, Shel. Runny Babbit: A Billy Sook. New York: HarperCollins, 2005.

The genius of Shel Silverstein is his knowing what will delight children and the young at heart. Runny Babbit is the feature character this unique and amusing collection of poems by Silverstein published after his death in 1999. Runny and his friends live in a special place where everyone talks “Runny Babbit talk.” Silverstein developed their language by transposing initial letters at the beginning of two or more words in each line of the poems.

The eighty-nine page selection includes an index of forty-two poems. Each short poem shares a double-page spread with its complementary illustration.
An introductory poem explains to readers the “Runny Babbit” language.

Instead of sayin’ “purple hat,
They all say “hurple pat,”
Instead of sayin’ “feed the cat,”
They just say “creed the fat.”

Children will fall in love with this floppy-eared, loveable rabbit as they read with a giggle and a groan many of Runny Babbit’s experiences to which they can relate.
Teachers will want to read over the poems several times so they can be read with ease and fluency. As a result, the students will be able to hear the rhythm and rhyme of the words and easily grasp their meaning. A favorite might be “Runny’s Cat and Hoat.” Runny Babbit’s mother made him a new hat and coat since his old one had holes in it. The poems continues

How the gang all gaughed and liggled
‘Cause he fooked so lunny.
They yelled, “Oh, such a cretty poat
On such a bugly unny!”

Not only the wordplay, but Silverstein’s signature ink drawings on white background of the chubby rabbit and his friends will incite laughter. “Runny’s Shearns to Lare” is one of many illustrations that captures movement and the emotions of each of the characters, including Runny’s tranquil oblivion. Runny’s comical host of friends are introduced as they march in a line across the inside front and back covers behind Runny drawing readers in and building curiosity.
So if you are in the mood to bead a rook that’s billy as can se,
Try this Runny Babbit book, and you will gauph with lee!

Module 1 - Introducing Poetry for Young People

2009-02-05T18:48:00.000-08:00

(This site is created for a class at TWU)

Module #1 – Introducing Poetry for Young People

Poetry Break – School/Library/Books
Introduction
Begin with a discussion whether it is better to read a poem for enjoyment or to try to figure out the author’s meaning? Share with them “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” by Robert Frost.

After English Class
By Jean Little
Little, Jean. Hey World, Here I Am! New York: HarperCollins, 1989.

I used to like “Stopping by woods on a Snowy Evening.”
I liked the coming darkness,
The jingle of harness bells, breaking—and adding to—the stillness,
The gentle drift of snow….

But today, the teacher told us what everything stood for.
The woods, the horse, the miles to go, the sleep—
They all have “hidden meanings.”

It’s grown so complicated now that,
Next time I drive by,
I don’t think I’ll bother to stop.

Extension
Ask students if they have felt this way at some point? How do they feel about poetry? What do they like about it? What do they dislike about it? Was there a point when their opinions of poetry changed? Have students to volunteer to share a poem they remember because they just enjoyed it.

Poetry Choice – African American Poetry
Introduction
Enjoy some popcorn together with students. Ask what thoughts eating popcorn brings to mind? The theater? Family night? Football?

I Love the Look of Words
By Maya Angelou
Soul Looks Back in Wonder. Ed. Tom Feelings. New York: Dial, 1993.

Popcorn leaps, popping from the floor
of a hot black skillet
and into my mouth.
Black words leap,
snapping from the white
page. Rushing into my eyes. Sliding
into my brain which gobbles them
the way my tongue and teeth
chomp the buttered popcorn.

When I have stopped reading,
ideas from the words stay stuck
in my mind, like the sweet
smell of butter perfuming my
fingers long after the popcorn
is finished.

I love the book and the look of words
the weight of ideas that popped into my mind
I love the tracks
of new thinking in my mind.

Extension
Invite children to recall favorite foods that bring to mind fond memories like toasted marshmallows, candy apples, peanuts, fresh baked cookies, or crisp apples. Let them write about and illustrate these memories to share with the class.

Poetry Book Review – Hopkins Anthology
More Surprises
More Surprises. Ed. Lee Bennett Hopkins. New York: HarperCollins, 1987.

More Surprises is a second collection of poems selected by Lee Bennett Hopkins that serves as a companion to his award winning book, Surprises.
Megan Lloyd illustrates this anthology of poems with colorful, appealing, and often playful illustrations of scenes described by each selection. Her artwork flows around the text filling much of the white space and giving movement and texture to the pages. A crowd of the comical characters Lloyd uses throughout the book greet readers on the cover, inviting children to look inside.

This 64-page volume is an “An I Can Read Book” of thirty-four, easy-to-read poems that children will relate to or giggle at. The selections are divided into six categories that include Some People, Body Parts, Living Things, How Funny, Hot and Cold, and In School and After. Each division has five to six poems which are indexed by title and author at the end of the book.

Hopkins has chosen rhyming and free verse poems for the collection. Even beginning readers will find the short rhyming poems are easy to read aloud and fun to recite together. His selections include examples of alliteration, personification, similes, and other figurative language. I liked the ending of “Brother” by Mary Ann Hoberman which reads, “And I put the little bother of a brother back to bed.” Another delightful poem is “Worm” by Sara Perkins in which the personified worm eats away parts of his house. I also enjoyed “Open Hydrant” by Marci Ridlon. It reads, “Just a luscious waterfall for cooling city fishes.”

Librarians and teachers will enjoy the concluding selections as I did. They are “Good Books, Good Times!” by Lee Hopkins, “Picture People” by Myra Cohn Livingston, and “Keep a Poem in Your Pocket” by Beatrice Schenk de Regniers.
This collection reflects authenticity of voice and timeless events that children and many adults can relate to and enjoy. So--
“Keep a poem in your pocket and a picture in your head and you’ll never feel lonely at night when you’re in bed.”
*************************************************************************************

Module 8

2008-05-01T18:57:00.000-07:00

These reveiws are part of a class assignment from TWU.

Krull, Kathleen. 1996. Wilma Unlimited: How Wilma Rudolph Became the World’s Fastest Woman. Illus. David Diaz. New York: Harcourt Brace & Company.

Wilma was not supposed to walk again after her bout with scarlet fever and polio, but she was determined. While studying her classmates’ moves in basketball, she exercised her legs on the sidelines. One Sunday, to everyone’s amazement, she unbuckled her braces and walked into church on trembling legs. With tenacity and perseverance, Wilma became the fastest woman in the world. Krull relates the triumphant achievement of this amazing woman in a simple, clear narrative. She notes, in passing, the other obstacles Wilma hurtled; being black, a woman, and participating in a men’s sport. The stylized, colorful acrylic and watercolor drawings by David Diaz are framed in brownish-gray background photos that relate to the content of the text. Included is an author’s note that gives additional information on the life and achievements of Wilma Rudolph and on the crippling disease of polio.
This story of a young girl overcoming the many difficulties she faced throughout her life will inspire readers young and old.

Jenkins, Steve and Robin Page. 2003. What Do You Do With a Tail Like This? Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.

In their cleverly designed picture book, Steve Jenkins and Robin Page highlight the various ways animals use their noses, ears, tails, eyes, mouths and feet. Set against a white background, only an enlarged part of several animals is shown on a double-paged spread; their noses, for instance; along with the question, “What do you do with a nose like this?” The following page displays an entire picture of the animals and the text describes the unique way each one uses its nose. “If you’re a platypus, you use your nose to dig in the mud.” The colorful, paper-collage pictures show texture and are flanked by creative text design that young readers will enjoy. Final pages of the book give additional information about the animals mentioned that will interest students desiring to know more. “The platypus uses its sensitive bill to detect the faint electric pulses emitted by its prey.” This Caldecott Honor book will be an informative choice for young animal enthusiasts.

Krull, Kathleen. 2003. Harvesting Hope: The Story of Cesar Chavez. Illus. by Yuyi Morales. New York: Harcourt, Inc.

Kathleen Krull writes this touching and inspiring narrative of one man’s fight to improve working conditions for migrant workers in the 1960s. After a drought forced the Chavez family from their comfortable home in Arizona, they joined the throng of migrant workers in California working in slavery conditions for very little pay. As a young man Cesar began to hope for change. He began recruiting support and gaining the trust of the farm workers until the National Farm Worker Association was organized. In a nonviolent protest, thousands of farm workers walked off their jobs to join a 300-mile march led by Chavez to the state’s capitol. The march was to build awareness of the poor conditions and pay migrant workers endured. As grapes rotted on the vine, wealthy vineyard owners finally recognized the NFWA and signed a contract for better conditions and pay. “Much more work lay ahead, but the victory was stunning.” This biography is very thorough and bulges with details on the life and emotions of Cesar Chavez. Some information may be difficult for younger readers to understand. In addition, the author’s note at the end of the book, gives further details of the continued struggles of Chavez on behalf of migrants until his death in 1993. The stylized illustrations by Yuyi Morales capture the emotions of the people in warm, bright acrylics in flowing double-paged spreads that complement the emotions of the story. The characters are accurately depicted with varied skin tones, body types, and hair. This book would complement a study on racism.

Gibbons, Gail. 2002. Halloween Is... New York: Holiday House.

With easy-to-read text and explanations, Gail Gibbons explains the history and customs of Halloween. She introduces each concept with the words “Halloween Is...” in large ghostly font across the top of each page, stringing the bottom of each page with tiny pumpkins, ghosts, and stars. Gibbons explains why people wear costumes, carve pumpkins, and fear black cats, skeletons, and bats. Included are descriptions of present day party activities, games, treats, and haunted houses.
Brightly colored illustrations of children participating in Halloween fun and non-scary historical scenes compliment the text. Young readers will be attracted to the cover which features a large pumpkin wrapped in a sash that displays the title. They will also enjoy in the clever ending, “Halloween is parades, laughter, make-believe, and time for saying BOO!” No “trick” here, this book will be a real “treat” during the fall or anytime!

Kids Discover. January 2008. Vol. 18. Issue 1.

Kids Discover is an award-winning magazine for children. It covers, in depth, a single subject in each issue providing colorful pictures with interesting captions, helpful maps, useful timelines, and fun activities. The January 2008 issue, Kings and Queens, gives an overview of royal rulers throughout history and today. It begins with a discussion of the world’s first rulers. It then discusses European monarchs, with a continual flow of intriguing facts for young readers; such as, Mary Queen of Scots “took the Scottish throne—as a one-week-old baby.” A world map is marked with pictures and captions of how the rest of the world was ruled in the past followed by an exploration of the riches of various monarchies. Mark Twain’s quote “All kings is mostly rapscallions” introduces a discussion on crime and punishment of both rulers and subjects. Finally kings and queens of today are introduced with a map showing their dominion. From Ramses II to Elizabeth II, this magazine gives young readers a well-organized dose of information, concluding with fun activities to enjoy. Though promoted as reading for age six and up, many of the topics cover would be difficult reading for that age.

Module 7 - Fantasy

2008-04-19T19:43:00.000-07:00

These book review are part of a class assignment from TWU.

Holm, Jennifer and Matthew. 2005. BabyMouse: Queen of the World!New York: Random House.

Babymouse is a delightfully funny female mouse with curly whiskers, a heart dress and a black bow. She fantasizes her way through the problems she encounters in her life. Like most adolescents, Babymouse wants her life to be different. She wants to look different, be part of the popular crowd, and be someone special, like the queen of the world. Her daydreams usually get her into lots of trouble, but her ever-faithful friend, Wilson is always by her side. After trying to join a crowd of popular girls, Babymouse finally realizes that her life is great the way it is and that she is queen of her world. Young readers will relate to this cute little mouse and enjoy her imagination and humorous asides! Matthew Holm’s amusing black, pink, and white graphics are entertaining and easy to follow. Babymouse teaches readers that being yourself and enjoying who you are make life anything but “typical.”

Smith, Jeff. 1996. Bone: Out From Boneville. Columbus, OH: Cartoon Books.

Fone Bone, a little round headed creature from Boneville, and his two cousins Smiley and Phoney Bone are lost in the wilderness after the ever stingy and money loving Phoney gets run out of town for another one of his money making schemes. After a swarm of locusts separate the cousins, Bone stumbles into a valley filled with strange creatures. While searching for Smiley and Phoney, Bone befriends a leaf, a dragon, and some chipmunks before meeting young Thorn. Phoney also ends up at Thorn’s house with Thorn’s no nonsense, cow-racing granny in hot pursuit. The four of them decide that a trip to Barrelhaven for the cow races is the best place to meet up with Smiley. However, the rat creatures attack under the direction of a mysterious hooded figure. The dragon saves the day and all are united at the nearby town. The book closes with the hooded figure watching and waiting. This novel is a little slow, confusing and hard to follow in some places. The characteristics of Smith’s characters are well depicted in his black and white graphics with Bone as loyal and loveable; Phoney, selfish; Smiley, gullible; Granny, cantankerous; and Thorn as kind and helpful. The plot of the story ties together in future volumes of the series, as does the quest of the Bones to return to Boneville. In this volume, good triumphs over evil.

Lowry, Lois. 1993. The Giver. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company.

Twelve-year-old Jonas lives in an “ideal” society run by a Committee of Elders. Jonas anticipates the “Ceremony of the Twelve” where he and the other 12-year-old children in the community will receive their adult “Assignment.” The Committee gives Jonas the honorable assignment of “Receiver of Memory.” There is one Receiver in the community who retains all the memories of the world outside the community called Elsewhere. When the community went to Sameness, everyone lost their memories of life as we know it. Jonas receives from the former Receiver, now the Giver, happy memories at first, like color, snow, love, and happiness, then he receives memories of pain, death, and war. The experience changes Jonas’s perception of the world that he has always known. With the help of the former Receiver, Jonas decides to return memory to all the people in his community by running away to Elsewhere. His carefully made plans get thwarted when Jonas brings a young baby along with him. Lowry leaves the reader to decide if Jonas and the child really make it to “Elsewhere” or if they finally die.
The Giver is a fascinating, scientific-fiction fantasy set in an unspecified future time in a nameless, utopian community. It has an original, creative plot that young adults will probably enjoy more than younger children.
The overall theme of the book is sameness versus freedom. The mood of the story gradually changes from light to dark as the utopian plan for happiness is discretely revealed. This book is very thought provoking.

DiTerlizzi, Tony and Holly Black. 2003. The Spiderwick Chronicles: The Seeing Stone. New York: Scholastic, Inc.

Goblins, trolls, sprites, and hobgoblins dwell around the old Spiderwick house but no one can see them. When Jared and his family moved there after the divorce, he hoped things will go better, but he was wrong. Thimbletack, the house brownie, warns him that goblins are near. Jared can’t see them, but he watches as something drags his twin brother, Simon, into the woods. With the help if his sister, Mallory, and the seeing stone from Thimbletack, the two venture out to rescue their sibling. Simon is caged in a tree by trolls who are seeking Arthur Spiderwick’s Field Guide to the Fantastical World. But they have the wrong twin! Jared possesses his great, great uncle’s book. By the time the children take on a huge troll, ten goblins, and rescue an injured griffin, it is late and their mother is frantic. But, how did the goblins know Jared had the book? Someone must be watching the house!
The Seeing Stone is the second of a five volume series of the Spiderwick Chronicles. Young readers will enjoy its easy to read format, the amusing pen and ink drawing of the creatures from the “fantastical world,” and the engaging plot. Events move along quickly to the climax where the children are in the woods at night surrounded by the goblins. Each creature, whose particular traits and differences are described in detail, uses some distinct language. Hogsqueal the hobgoblin describes the trolls shouting, “Ninnyhammers!” “ Pestleheads! Goobernuts! Jibbernolls! Fiddlewizzits!” Even Jared muses about how he and his twin, Simon are surprisingly so different. This series is a good pick for young readers venturing into high fantasy.

Colfer, Eoin. 2001. Artemis Fowl. New York: Hyperion Books for Children.

Artemis is twelve and rich, with a genius IQ, a criminal mind, and a butler to assist in his schemes. After the death of his father, the Fowls no longer hold billionaire status. Artemis is on a quest to remedy that situation by stealing gold from the fairy People that exist in the subterranean world. His first step is to obtain the Book of the People that contains all the secrets of “fairydom,” then kidnap a fairy creature and hold it for ransom. His victim is the spunky Officer Holly Short, a member of the elite recon division of fairy police whose fellow officers will use any magical gadget or creature necessary to rescue her. Readers will be amused as they are introduced to the host of creatures who dwell underground, some that mirror the characteristics of the their human counterparts. Readers discover a suppressed tenderness in several crusty characters; like the feelings Butler has for his sister, the Commander has for Holly, and Holly has for Butler’s sister. This fast paced, elaborate quest is full of humor, action, and magic. Artemis does score a partial victory, including the restoration of his mother’s health, after risking everything on a hunch. But Officer Short leads readers to believe they will meet again at a future date in the continued series. Readers will find this engaging good-versus-evil fantasy novel a bit unusual in that it is the human aspect of t he story that is “fowl.”

Module 6 - Historical Fiction

2008-04-05T11:02:00.000-07:00

These book reviews are part of a class assignment from TWU.
Module 6 – historical fiction

Choldenko, Gennifer. 2004. Al Capone Does My Shirts. New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons.

Most people dream of living on an island, but this one is Devil’s Island, better known as Alcatraz and Moose Flanagan does not want to live there. Not only did he have to leave his friends in Santa Monica when his dad took the job as guard and electrician, but also his winning baseball team. Times are hard during the depression years of the 1930’s and the increased wages his father is making will help send his sister Natalie to a special school for the autistic. Being Alcatraz Island Boy is only one of the problems Moose faces. His father works all the time now, he’s the new kid in school at mid-year, and his mother saddles him with the care of Natalie after school while she teaches piano lessons. It is cool living by the prison that houses some of the worst criminals of the time like Al Capone and Machine Gun Kelly; but to Moose, the worst criminal on the island is the warden’s scheming daughter, Piper. When Natalie is rejected by the school because of her age, Moose desperately seeks help from the only person who might have the contacts and pull to get her in, Al Capone. Moose gradually learns to better understand his mother and that “When you love someone, you have to try things even if they don’t make sense to anyone else.” Readers not familiar the autism will come to understand how difficult it is to look after and make decisions about someone with that disease to give them a quality life. The author provides interesting additional information at the end of the book about Alcatraz and autism.

Peck, Richard. 2000. A Year Down Yonder. New York: Dial Books for Young Readers.

Mary Alice did not want to go live with her feisty old grandmother out in a hick town in the country. The depression years of the 1930’s had taken a toll on everyone and now her parents were sending her from Chicago by train to live with Grandma Dowdel until they could get on their feet again. Grandma Dowdel did strange things and everyone was afraid of her. After a rough start, however, Mary Alice begins to admire the ability, ingenuity, intuition, generosity, and kindness all rolled into one unpredictable grandma. Not only does her strange-garbed grandma thwart the plans of the neighborhood rapscallions, she wills and deals to make ends meet, brings the town snob down a notch, and muses while the nude postal lady runs screaming from her house wrapped in a snake. Mary Alice not only begins to love her grandma but to find much of her grandmother in herself. Richard Peck captures the country drawl and the down home wisdom and expressions of Grandma Dowdel. "My teeth is chattering like a woodpecker with palsy." "That's the skinniest girl that ever I saw. She could rest in the shade of a clothesline." "They'd steal a hot stove and come back for the smoke." Readers will enjoy this exuberant grandma and the life lessons she demonstrates by the way she lives.

Cushman, Karen. 1995. The Midwife’s Apprentice. New York: Clarion Books.

Fourteenth century England is a harsh place for a poor, orphaned waif. Sleeping in the warm horse dung at night while trying to forget her hunger is the highlight of Brat’s life until Jane, the town midwife, takes her in and dubs her Beetle. Though taunted by the town folk, the local boys, the midwife, and her own conscience for being stupid and of no worth, Beetle with her companion, a rescued cat named Purr, proves to be not only cleaver but also a quick learner. Through her own devices, Beetle becomes someone of use in the world, someone loved, and someone worthy of the name, Alyce. Young readers will get a taste of how cruel life was during that time period and what children who were alone in the world then had to do and eat just to survive. They will cheer Alyce on as she grows in confidence learning midwifery by watching from the shadows, learning to read by listening to a professor talk to her Purr, learning to love and be loved by a small boy she rescues from what had been her former situation, and learning the sweet taste of a little gratifying revenge on the townspeople. With Alyce we see that in life we must “try and risk and fail and try again and not give up.” The author’s note at the end of the book helps readers understand the profession of midwifery.

Fleischman, Paul. 1994. Bull Run. New York: Scholastic, Inc.

The commentary of sixteen voices from the past, eight southern and eight northern, reveal attitudes, naïve misconceptions and the bare truth of the first Civil War ground battle fought at Bull Run in July, 1861. As each character, be it a soldier, civilian, or slave, relates his or her own perspective of the war, readers come to understand that both sides thought the war would be very short and that both thought their side would be victorious. For some the war issue was succession from the union; for some, it was the idea of being a hero; for some, it was freedom; for some, a job; and for some, merely entertainment. The issue of slavery was really on the back burner. Readers come to understand that blacks were mistreated in both the northern and southern states. As the battle begins, the grim reality and horrors of war take the participants by wide-eyed surprise, but it is too late. Forces are already set in motion and overnight a country becomes immersed in bloodshed and death that lasts several years. The questions readers ask will be “Was there a victory?” and “Wasn’t there a better way?” David Frampton’s woodcuts depict which character is speaking at the beginning of each chapter, and an index of characters in the back of the book is helpful to those participating in a reader’s theater. Maps of the battle at Bull Run Creek in Virginia help clarify locations and battle positions.

Curtis, Christopher Paul. 1999. Bud, Not Buddy. New York: Delacorte Press.

Bud is a young, 10-year-old orphan boy who lives in Flint, Michigan during the depression era. After he gets enough of the orphanage and mean foster families, Bud is determined to find his wayward father using the clues he carries inside his suitcase. Bud’s philosophies of life called, “rules and things to have a funner life and make a better liar our of yourself,” guide him through several desperate situations. Heading for Grand Rapids, Michigan, he experiences kindness and cruelty and eventually finds true happiness. Bud meets gruff, old Herman E. Calloway and his band. The band embraces the polite, young orphan boy and discovers that Calloway is Bud’s grandfather. Christopher Curtis makes the depression era of the 1930’s come to life through the eyes of his spunky, young protagonist. In this quick-paced historical fiction the author accurately depicts events of the time without sugarcoating them. The raid on the Hooverville camp is a good example. Lively humor contrasts with the harsh reality of that era, especially for African Americans. Curtis captures perfectly the dialect and speech patterns of a young, black child of the time and the other characters in the novel, especially of the band. “…that’s my bread and butter in there. That’s my horn, my ax, my saxophone, the thing I make all my money with, so don’t get butterfingers and drop it.” The universal theme of “orphan finds happiness” will have both young and old alike engaged in finding the outcome of Bud’s quest as he follows his humorous philosophies of life. The Afterward to the book, explains Curtis’s research of the Great Depression and that many of the characters were based on family members who lived during that time.

Module 5 (cont)

2008-03-24T21:23:00.000-07:00

Yee, Lisa. 2003. Millicent Min Girl Genius. New York: Scholastic Press.

Lisa Yee has created wonderfully, enjoyable characters in her first novel, Millicent Min Girl Genius. Her protagonist is eleven-year-old Millicent Min whose intellect at genius level causes many of her problems. Readers both young and old will relate to Yee’s true to life, heartwarming characters from the wise, all-knowing grandmother, to Millicent’s parents who both keep secrets, to her open and trusting friend Emily. Though intelligent, Millicent is brain dead when it comes to making friends and creating a social life. The laughs and sighs flow constantly as Millicent’s narrates her attempts to fit in and analyze all situations.
In an effort to help, her family arranges for her to play volleyball, attend a college summer course, and tutor her nemesis, Stanford. During this summer schedule Millicent meets Emily, her first true friend. Not wanting the genius status to drive Emily away, Millicent keeps it a secret. From there the lies snowball in this funny and delightful book about friendship, honesty, and trust. The book ends with a predictable, all-is-well happy ending that will satisfy young readers. Millicent’s resume is inserted in the front of the book as a special treat. And, for an added touch, the chapter titles are dates as in journal entries with some varying typography is included.

Module 5 - Contemporary Realistic Fiction

2008-03-24T14:48:00.000-07:00

These book review are part of a class assignment from TWU.

Child, Lauren. 2004. Clarice Bean Spells Trouble. London: Orchard Books.

Clarice Bean Spells Trouble by Lauren Child is the second in a series of chapter books featuring the delightfully humorous Clarice Bean. In this first-person narrative that would delight graduates of the Junie B. Jones fan club, Clarice verbalizes in her thoughts on spelling bees, friends, family, school plays, and teachers. Child captures the attention of her readers quickly with Clarice frankly stating some of the problems she’s facing. Her logic and wisdom and the council she shares from her TV heroine, Ruby Redfort, as she deals with her problems will amuse students. Ultimately, Clarice loses her dream roll in the school play, The Sound of Music, trying to keep her friend, Karl Wrenbury, out of trouble. The book ends on a happy note as Clarice lives every child’s dream by landing a bit part in a TV show opposite child star, Ruby Redfort.
Readers will enjoy the quirky, childlike doodles and other media Child inserts throughout the book as well as the creative typography used for emphasis. A flower on some pages indicates amusing definitions and spellings at the bottom of the page. Clarice’s chatty character and voice will ring true in her thoughts and feelings to contemporary intermediate school students. It would be a good read aloud.

McDonald, Meagan. 2002. Judy Moody Saves the World! New York: Candlewick Press.

Judy Moody is on a quest to save the world in Judy Moody Saves the World. Her mission in this book is to save the environment. This spirited third-grader inspires her whole class to participate in an environmental project to save the rain forest after a few misdirected efforts towards family and class and a humiliating defeat by her little brother, Stink, in a band-aid design contest. Judy and author Meagan McDonald win big in this book that will be a hit with second and third graders. The black and white tea and ink drawings by Peter Reynolds throughout the book and the enlarged print make it a good transition to more difficult chapter books. McDonald adds a table of contents and an introduction of characters to the front of the book. Judy’s spunky character, energetic enthusiasm, and third grade reasoning is right on target. The humorous dialog and wacky interjections make this book a “Rare” find. It is third in the series and will leave readers searching for more.

Sachar, Louis. 1992. Marvin Redpost Kidnapped at Birth? New York: Random House.

Marvin Redpost Kidnapped at Birth? by Louis Sachar is first in a long series of books featuring his spunky third-grader, Marvin. In this book Marvin is considering an age old question that many young people contemplate at some point and that is “am I really part of this family?” For Marvin the clues indicate that he is a prince who was kidnapped at birth. After going as far as having a blood test, Marvin comes to realize that the family he already has is not so bad, even if he really is the lost prince. Sacher’s simple, easy-to-understand humor will appeal to beginning chapter book readers. The chapters are short and highlighted by the pencil illustrations of Neal Hughes that clearly show the expressions of the characters in each situation. The dialog between friends and siblings is natural and believable, revealing the relationships between characters. Even if Marvin doesn’t seem to fit into his family, this funny book is a sure fit for new, independent readers.

Gantos, Jack. 2000. Joey Pigza Loses Control. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

In this true to life, comtemporary novel by Jack Gantos many students will be able to relate to or at least get a better idea of the condition of ADHD suffered by the narrator Joey Pigza in Joey Pigza Loses Control. It is the sequel to Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key. Joey goes to spend the summer with his rather dysfunctional father who drinks, is dishonest, ill-tempered, and irresponsible. Yearning to build a relationship with his dad, Joey bends over backward to please his father. He even goes so far as to throw away his much needed medication, against his own better judgment, so he can be a the man his dad wants him to be. When the situation and his condition turn from bad to worse, Joey escapes the clutches of his angry, alcoholic father and calls his mom to his rescue. The author uses the dialog to build a vivid picture of the adults Joey is trying to understand. Though Gantos adds humorous touches along the way, the reader is swept along with the increasingly frightening chaos of events that Joey is powerless to prevent. The reader feels sympathy for Joey and his desire to be loved by his dad and to be a “normal” kid. The author ends with a touching scene between Joey and his mother. His experience helps Joey develop a better understanding of himself and compassion for his dad and grandmother and their uncontrollable situations.

Book Reviews for Module 4 - Poetry

2008-03-08T14:23:00.000-08:00

These book reviews are part of a class assignment from TWU.

Prelutsky, Jack. 1997. The Beauty of the Beast: Poems From the Animal Kingdom. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.
Meilo So beautifully illustrates this anthology of poems about the animals, insects, and birds from all over the world in wispy, muted shades of watercolor. The creatures seem to move through the book captured in mid-motion. So effectively ties the end pages to the title by contrasting the beauty of butterfly wings and bird feathers with the beasts of leopard skin and scales. The water-colored pictures compliment and surround the poems as if they are part of the illustrations. The reader is crawling through the habitats of the animals while reading about them.
Selected by Jack Prelutsky, this collection of poems is divided into five sections; insects, fish, reptiles, birds, and mammals. Prelutsky introduces each section with a poem of his own. The 100-page volume includes a contents page, an index of titles and an index of authors. This collection has various rhythms and rhymes. Some poems are long and flowing and some are short. “Thoughts About Oysters” is a longer humorous rhyming poem with figurative personifying of the oyster as a friendless person. “The Tree Toads” is a free verse poem that compares the croaking to the toads to quarreling. In her shape poem, “Happy Eagle,” Alice Schertle gives the reader a visual picture of the eagle lunging for a meal in both shape and words. With repetitive stanzas, Grace Nichols appeals to the reader’s emotions in her poem, “I’m a Parrot” ending with the lines, “I want to be Free, Can’t You Understand.” Children should enjoy many of these poems that describe so vividly the habits and characteristics of members of the animals kingdom that delight us and fascinate us.

Baring-Gould, William and Ceil Baring-Gould. 1988. The Annotated Mother Goose. New York: Clarkson N. Potter. Inc./Publishers.
This anthology is a collection of old and new Mother Goose and nursery rhymes with an explanation of their possible meanings, origins, and changes that have evolved through the years. It is a large, well-organized reference volume that includes a table of contents, eighteen chapters, a bibliography, and an index of first lines. It gives an introductory chapter that explains the rhymes referred to as “Mother Goose” and where the term originated. Each section or chapter begins with a poem or rhyme and a short explanation of the type of rhymes covered in that chapter. The poems in the chapters are numbered for easy reference and within the rhymes certain lines are numbered indicating interesting information with corresponding numbers listed in half-page side margins. The book is illustrated with black and white prints by Walter Crane, Randolph Caldecott, Kate Greenaway, Arthur Rackham, Maxfield Parrish, and with early historical woodcuts, with chapter decorations by E. M. Simon. It would not appeal to young people but would be more appropriate for adults seeking information on classic children’s rhymes from Medieval chants and jingles to the rhymes published in 1870 Philadelphia. The reader will find that many of the rhymes have reference to historical events that are sometimes gruesome and that many have double meanings; one meaning for children entertaining themselves and another quit different meaning for adults.

Hoberman, Mary Ann. 2007. You Read to Me, I’ll Read to You: Very Short Scary Tales to Read Together. New York: Little, Brown and Company.
Children will have fun sharing You Read to Me, I’ll Read to You aloud together or with adults. This is Mary Ann Hoberman’s fourth in a series of read together books. The book introduces funny, new stories of scary creatures that haunt the imaginations of children. Using pencil, watercolor, and dry pastels, Michael Emberley fills the volume with comical scenes described by each poem. Most of the fifteen poems spread across two pages and are illustrated with at least six laughable illustrations. The text is color- coded in purple and red for two people to read separate parts and in orange, for the parts they read together. The poems are filled with rhyme, and repetition and most end with the phrase, “ You read to me, I’ll read to you.” The first poem, “Introduction.” explains how to read the color-coded verses in the book, and the last poem, “The End,” reviews some of the creature characters that readers met while reading the book. The tales are playful conversations betweens characters. “Zombies” is a tale of two zombies who put on masks to “bamboozle” people into thinking they are real and lovely. “The Ghoul” is about a ghoul explaining to a child what he is and what he eats. “Scaredy Cats” are two creatures that delight in being scared as they state, “What a lovely Way to feel! Aren’t you glad It wasn’t read?”

Lewis, J. Patrick. 1990. A Hippopotamusn’t and Other Animal Verses. New York: Dial Books for Young Readers.
Librarians will want to introduce young readers to J. Patrick Lewis and his individual poet collection of 35 witty animals poems in A Hippopotamusn’t that are sure to tickle the funny bone. The playful and humorous illustrations by Victoria Chess compliment each poem and delight readers. Each short poem shares half to three-fourths of an outlined page with an illustration that is done in color pencils, pen, and tempera paints. Some of the illustrations flow over into the poem space. The vividly colored pictures appeal to the eye and show texture.
These short poems are filled with repeated sounds, which make them easy read aloud and fun to recite together. In “Penguins,” for example, it states, “Dripping, Flipping, Flippers, Flopping—”and the “Yummyhummingbird, Zigs, zags, zings!”
Lewis includes rhyming and free verse poems in the collection. A favorite free verse, shape poem is “A Flamingo” in which the flamingo is compared to “a cool drink of something pink.” Other examples of personifications, similes, and other figurative language are evidenced in “The Beak of the Pelican” as “How does she get that faceful of luggage off the ground?” In “Robin” it states “Suddenly Spring wings into the backyard.” Readers will enjoy the word play of “River-Lovers,” “Oyster Stew,” and Tut-U-Tut-Tut” such as “That redheaded woodpecker, redwooded headpecker, rockheaded woodpoker’s head.” They will also relish the sometimes tongue-in-cheek humor of the poems. The last poem in the collection is the book’s namesake on the cover, “A Hippopotamusn’t” listing the comical things a hippo mustn’t do.

George, Kristine O’Connell. 2001. Toasting Marshmallows: Camping Poems. New York, NY: Clarion Books.
The illustrator, Kate Kiesler, uses vivid oil paintings to complement George’s single poets collection, Toasting Marshmallows: Camping Poems. The layout of the pictures and text changes on each page. Some pictures spread across two pages, some are three-quarters of a page, and some a single page. The illustrations complement the text and give the reader a sense of being among the campers. Some show movement, but other seems a little stiff. The glow of the tent on the back cover and the warm fire for toasting mallows on the front cover invite the reader to look inside.
This collection of poems by Kristine George focuses on the sights, sounds, and feelings of familiar camping experiences with which most of us have had some experiences. The poems are arranged from the beginning of the camping trip “Tent” to the end poem, “Pulling Up Stakes.” “Sleeping Bag” recaptures vivid memories by stating “I’m a caterpillar in a cozy cloth cocoon that zips.” Likewise, “Toasting Marshmallows” evokes memories of various techniques used by marshmallow toasters.
George’s writes using much figurative language and sound words, especially onomatopoeia, “I wiggle, scoootch, scrunch, and jiggle. Flop.” The shape of the text is sometimes concrete, as in “Eavesdropping” and sometimes in stanzas. “Eavesdropping” is a perfect example of personification, “Tipping a slender ear, Moon tries to pretend she isn’t listening to our secrets.”
The poems seem to focus on the wonder and excitement of exploring a campsite. Sensory words give the reader the feel, smell, sound, and taste of camping as in “Campfire”. It reads “Warm front, Cold back. I turn around. Warm back. Cold front. I turn around.” The collection includes haiku and a call and response poem. The collection reflects an authenticity of voice and universality that all can relate too. Distinctive use of spacing, line breaks, and poem formatting are evident.

Reviews for Module 3

2008-02-23T17:45:00.000-08:00

These book reviews are part of a class assignment from TWU.
Book Reviews – Module 3

Mora, Pat. 2005. Dona Flor: A Tall Tale About a Giant Woman with a Great Big Heart. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.

In the picture book, Dona Flor, Pat Mora has created a heroine who is as big as her love for the people and animals of her southwest village. This giant woman who can speak the language of animals brings to mind Paul Bunyan with her amazing feats that assist the people in her community. When a wild puma, threatens her village, Dona Flor tracks down the gato and finds it to be only a small panther. Readers will enjoy learning and deciphering the meaning of the Spanish words Mora uses throughout the text. The storyline seems to drag somewhat and wander here and there around the problem of the puma. The illustrations, by Raul Colon are very interesting in his use of watercolor, etching, and pencil drawing. The etching in the watercolor adds texture and movement to the pictures done in soft nature tones. Some have unusual perspectives that reinforce the hugeness of Dona Flor.

Pinkney, Jerry. 2002. Noah’s Ark. New York: SeaStar Books.

Jerry Pinkney retells the biblical story of Noah who was commanded to build an ark before God flooded the entire earth. After collecting each species of animal on the earth, the animals and Noah’s family board the ark as the rains begin. When the water subsides, Noah and his family start life anew and a rainbow is placed in the heavens as a covenant that God would never flood the earth again.
From cover through the end pages, Jerry Pinkney’s Caldecott honored Bible story is filled with his masterful illustrations. The scenes described in the story unfold in Pinkney’s detailed double-page drawings. Animals and people caught in mid-motion seem to come to life on each page. Interesting perspectives of the illustrations are another device that draws the reader’s attention, especially looking from under the water where sunken cities lay to the bottom of the ark overhead. Pinkney’s simple narrative and richly colored and textured illustrations will make this book a favorite of adults and children.

Morales, Yuyi. 2003. Just a Minute: A Trickster Tale and Counting Book. San Francisco: Chronicle Books.

This amusing tale from Mexico retold by Yuyi Morales finds Grandma Beetle preparing to celebrate her birthday party with her grandchildren when the skeletal Senor Calavera arrives to take her to the hereafter. He is in no hurry and assists grandma in her party preparations as she counts the completion of each task in English and Spanish. Soon the children arrive and Senor Calavera is also invited to the party. He leaves without the grandma so he will be invited to the party the next year.
From the colorful tile decorated walls of the house with the little saint over the door protecting it, to the cuisine, to the candy filled piñatas, readers get a good taste of Spanish culture, food, and language in Just a Minute: A Trickster Tale. Even the skeletal Senor Calavera representing death is part of the Spanish culture. Grandma remains calm as the comical antics and expressions of Senor Calavera and curious cat delight readers. The double-page acrylic-painted illustrations show texture, add humor to the text, and capture the expressions of the children, the skeleton and the grandma as she gives a knowing wink at the conclusion of the book.

Bryan, Ashley. 2003. Beautiful Blackbird. New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers.

Ashley Bryan retells the African folktale of a blackbird that is the envy of the other birds of the forest. His lovely, black feathers “gleam all the colors in the sun.” The other birds are happy when blackbird shares some of his black coloring using his blackening brew. Bryan displays a picture of the scissors he used to create the illustrations in Beautiful Blackbird on the endpapers of this unique and creative book.
The colorful collages of the birds are cut from paper and placed sometimes on white, sometimes on colored, double-page backgrounds. Each bird is different and cut to reveal different characteristic and personalities. All seem to flutter across the pages as a flock of real birds. Readers and listeners will enjoy the rhythmic, rhyming words. The chant of the birds mimics the repetitive call of birds in the wild. This Coretta Scott King Award winner will be a hit with children, especially since it lends itself to movement.

Perez, Elvia. 2004. From the Winds of Manguito: Cuban Folktales in English and Spanish. Westport, Conneticut: Libraries Unlimited.

This collection of Cuban Folktales in both Spanish and English was edited by Margaret Read Macdonald, translated by Paula martin and illustrated by Victor Francisco Hernandez Mora. It begins with a section about Cuban geography, history, religion, and children’s games. Recipes are also included in the first part of the book. The second part of the book includes a collection of tales from the countryside, Afro-Cuban tales, animal stories, and stories of fantastic beings. Each story is written in both languages. The black and white illustrations show abstract people and animals with exaggerated features. In the center of the book, photographs of Cuba and its people are added. A glossary, a list of Afro-Cuban Gods, and notes on some of the tales are included at the end of the book. Some of the humorous tales are about human frailties. The Liar for instance is about a man who lies to his godfather. The godfather ignores him until one day he challenges the liar to prove his lie. The liar in turn challenges the godfather to a task that would make the boast true. The Farmer and His Horse is about a man who tries to buy tickets for himself and his horse to ride the train. When the stationmaster refuses to sell a ticket to the horse, the man thinks he has outsmarted the clerk by tying his horse to the back of the train.

2008-02-09T21:58:00.000-08:00

Wong, Janet S. 2002. Apple Pie 4th of July. New York: Harcourt, Inc.
With a theme similar to Grace Lin’s The Ugly Vegetables, Janet Wong creates a story of a Chinese-American girl who doesn’t feel that her parents understand how to be American because they are preparing Chinese food to sell in their restaurant on the 4th of July instead of apple pie and other American favorites. She is surprised when so many people come to eat dinner and that the food is accepted as heartily as Chinese fireworks. She feels pleasure when her family participates is the American tradition of watching the show and eating apple pie. The unusual illustrations by Margaret Chodos-Irvine are done using printmaking techniques on printmaking paper, which make the pictures appear to be separate cut pieces of paper. The illustrations show various skin tones of the characters as well as texture in the food and clothing. This book addresses the issues children as well as adults face in accepting each other in American society and benefiting from what different cultures have to offer each other.

2008-02-09T21:23:00.000-08:00

Yaccarino, Dan. 2001. Unlovable. New York: Henry Holt and Company.

The large, sad eyes of the plump little pooch on the cover of author and illustrator Yaccarino’s book, Unlovable, is sure to draw the attention of every student who loves dogs. This small canine judges himself by the opinions of the cat, bird, goldfish, and other dogs. They cause Alfred to believe that he is so ugly he is unlovable. When a new dog, Rex, moves next door, he and Alfred quickly become friends. Since Alfred and Rex can’t see each other through the tall wooden fence that separates them, Alfred feels he has to pretend he is something he isn’t so Rex will like him. The surprise comes when Rex digs under the fence and the reader finds that the dogs are identical, best friends, and ready to challenge the cat! Using watercolors, Yaccarino paints the most charming pictures using a minimum amount of lines. The text is set inside each illustration and they work together to convey the feelings of this pitiful pup. More white space is used after the pups meet to show their activities together. In this heartwarming story of friendship, readers will learn, along with Alfred that real friends like you just the way you are.

2008-02-09T20:41:00.000-08:00

Woodson, Jacqueline. 2001. The Other Side. New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons.
E. B. White uses beautiful and skillful watercolor illustrations to help tell this touching story of friendship between two young girls who are neighbors in their small town in time set prior to the civil rights movement. They are separated by race and by a long brown fence that runs through the town dividing one side from the other. Each girl is warned not to cross the fence to the other side. Their desire to become friends breaks down barriers between them as Annie and Clover venture near the fence and finally cross it to play. Clover narrates the story with her thoughts and feelings as she observes Annie on the other side of the barrier. “Someday somebody’s going to come along and knock this old fence down,” is the hopeful and prophetic conclusion of the friends. White’s warm and amazingly lifelike pictures capture the skin tones, postures, expressions, hairstyles, and dress of the children so vividly. One can see joy, longing, thoughtfulness, and curiosity in the faces of the characters. With many double-paged, soft-colored illustrations the reader can almost hear the bees humming in this quiet rural community. This is an excellent picture book and message for readers young and old.

2008-02-09T20:18:00.000-08:00

Lin, Grace. 1999. The Ugly Vegetables. Watertown, MA: Charlesbridge
Publishing.
The Ugly Vegetables by author and illustrator Grace Lin is a bright, colorful picture book done in a type of folk art style with watercolors. It is about a young Chinese girl who compares her mother’s garden to the other gardens in the neighborhood. She is disappointed that her mother has an ugly Chinese vegetable garden in a neighborhood full of beautiful flower gardens until her mother makes a delicious soup out of the ugly vegetables. The whole neighborhood wants to taste the delicious soup and plant Chinese vegetables the following year along with beautiful flowers. Lin includes a list of the names of the Chinese vegetables in the back of the book and also a soup recipe. She paints a culturally diverse neighborhood and teaches readers that we can all learn from each other and that it is okay to be different. Some of the pictures spread across two pages. Others are framed by the brightly colored and designed pages. Through the young child's narriative, students identify with her need to belong and be like everyone else. But then Lin shows that communities can be enriched by cultures that are different, as with the mother's vegetables and soup.

Module #2 book reviews

2008-02-04T20:37:00.000-08:00

(This post is part of a class assignment from TWU. )

Sabuda, Robert. 1995. Arthur and the Sword. New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers.
Robert Sabuda retells the classic story of King Arthur as a boy who is proven to be the rightful heir to the throne of England after a long period of darkness without a king. A sword buried to the hilt in a stone appears in the church courtyard with the inscription stating that the rightful king of England is the one who can remove the sword from the stone. While guards are away, Arthur easily removes the sword from the anvil and Merlin the magician declares that Arthur is the son of King Uther and Queen Ingraine. Sabuda’s beautiful stained glass illustrations add to the medieval feel and setting of the story from the title page to the final notes on King Arthur. The swirl of color in each piece of “glass” seems to give it the texture of real glass. The illustrations extend the story as Merlin’s cat is drawn to Arthur and seems to know that Arthur is the rightful king. The pictures move with the curved shapes of the glass pieces, as well as the straight blazing pieces depicting light. The illustrator’s ability to depict emotions and descriptions of the characters through this medium is truly a gift. At the conclusion of the story, Arthur’s heart-warming words, “I shall not fail you. I shall not fail this land,” are a foreshadowing great and kind king legend has made him. Young readers will probably want to read more of King Arthur.

Selznick, Brian. 2007. The Invention of Hugo Cabret. New York: Scholastic Press.
The new, unique style of this 530-page movie-within-a-book will have readers delighted and engaged from the introduction to the conclusion. From the beginning, the reader follows Hugo, a young, unfortunate orphan who resides within the walls of a Paris train station, to find out what secrets he knows and why he is hiding. When Hugo is not working on the clocks in the train station, he steals toys from the station’s ill-tempered toy vender. Hugo is creating something mechanical that he hopes will reveal something from his past. In the process he also reveals secrets held by others with the help of his friend Isabelle, who holds the key and the “book smarts” that leads to the answers. The text and illustrations of this story are interwoven; it needs both illustrations and text to tell the story. Often the author compares elements of the story to the workings of the clocks tended by Hugo. His characters seem both real and mysterious as the plot becomes more complex until it reaches a satisfying and happy conclusion. Selznick’s detailed pencil sketches and text on black bordered pages give the reader the feeling of viewing an old black and white silent movie as one follows the action through double page graphics interspersed with text. This Caldecott winner is one readers will cheer!

Book reviews LS 5613 Spring 2008

2008-01-26T20:47:00.000-08:00

These book reviews are posted as part of an assignment from TWU.

Knudsen, Michelle. 2006. Library Lion. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Candlewick Press.
That exceptions to the rules are sometimes allowed is the theme of this enchanting tale of a lion that happens into a library. At first chaos erupts until the prim and proper head librarian, Miss Merriweather, declares that it is not a problem as long as the lion is not breaking any rules. The lion becomes a regular at story hour and even enchants Miss Merriweather with his willingness to help out. When Miss Merriweather falls, the lion roars for help and sadly banishes himself from the library for making noise. Miss Merriweather, the patrons, and even the persnickety Mr. McBee find that without the lion, the library is just not the same. Everyone is overjoyed when the lion returns after he if found by Mr. McBee who explains that sometimes there is a good reason for breaking the rules.
The soft watercolor and pencil pictures by Kevin Hawkes add to the enchantment of the story and give the book a nostalgic appearance of children’s literature from the 1950s. Through his pictures the reader can easily relate to the emotions evident on the faces of the characters, the patrons, and the lion, which add to the book’s appeal. The artwork and text work together to develop this tale of library and lion. The storyline moves slowly in some places, but idea of a lion in the library will delight young readers.
I enjoy adding to the magic of this fantasy as I read it to students. I don’t show them the title page, which is the only page that shows both lion statues in front of the library and the real lion at the same time. Instead I lead my listeners to believe that the lion is really one of the statues come to life. One of the lion statues even looks as though it is smiling at the end of the book.

White, E. B. 1952. Charlotte’s Web. New York: Harper Collins Publishers.
Charlotte’s Web is a magical tale of friendship. Wilber the pig, born the runt of the litter, is destined to be Christmas dinner until a barn spider named Charlotte befriends him. She endeavors to save his life by weaving messages about the pig in her web. Her efforts are rewarded when Wilber becomes a prize-winning pig at the fair. As a spider, however, Charlotte’s life is short, so after she lays her egg sack, she dies. Wilber is naturally upset, until he sees that life goes on with the birth of her offspring.
White’s tale is heartwarming as well as heart wrenching, though it does end on a happy note. Young readers will enjoy experiencing the adventures, pleasures, and pain of life through Wilber’s eyes. The sketches by Garth Williamsbring bring the personalities of the characters to life and give the reader a vivid understanding of the text and the emotions of the characters. Many of the drawings show movement and a charming touch is that the title on the cover of the book is drawn as though Charlotte spun the words. Charlotte's Web was a Newbery Honor award winner and continues to be a favorite among elementary students.

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This ends assignments from a previous class.

Module 6

2007-04-27T18:41:00.000-07:00

This book analysis is part of a class assignment from TWU.

Module 6 – Fantasy/Fiction/YA
Book 1

Bibliography
Lowry, Lois. 1993. THE GIVER. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Company. ISBN 0395645662.

Plot Summary
Twelve-year-old Jonas lives in an “ideal” society run by a Committee of Elders. He lives with his assigned mother, a member of the Department of Justice; a father who is a Nurturer of infants; and a sister, Lily, who is a Six. Each family unit is created according to their compatibility. Jonas anticipates the “Ceremony of the Twelve” where he and the other 12-year-old children in the community will receive their adult “Assignment.” The Committee give Jonas the honorable assignment of “Receiver of Memory.”

There is one Receiver in the community who retains all the memories of the world outside the community called Elsewhere. When the community went to Sameness, everyone lost their memories of life as we know it. Jonas receives from the former Receiver, now the Giver, only happy memories at first, like color, snow, love, and happiness. Then he receives memories of pain, death, and war.

The experience changes Jonas’s perception of the world that he has always known. With the help of the former Receiver, Jonas decides to return memory to all the people in his community by running away to Elsewhere. His carefully made plans get thwarted when Jonas brings a young baby along with him. After dodging search planes, starving, and almost freezing to death, Jonas and the baby hear beautiful music and see lights.

Critical Analysis
THE GIVER is a fascinating, scientific-fiction fantasy set in an unspecified future time in a nameless, utopian community. This setting affects the action, characters and theme because the novel centers around an “ideal” community where people create a type of happiness through sameness. Lowry gradually adds enough tiny details about the setting to make the reader realize that something is amiss in this community. “But suddenly Jonas had noticed, following the path of the apple through the air with his eyes, that the piece of fruit had...changed” (24).

Jonas, the main character in the novel, is easy to identify and is presented as a credible 12-year-old boy. Jonas is much like the other 12-year-old boys in his community but he often poses questions about things that he is unsure about. “Larissa,” he asked, “what happens when they the actual release? Where exactly did Roberto go?” (34). The other characters and their personalities are introduced both through narration and by thoughts of the main character. The fantastic elements of this utopian community are revealed through the lives of the characters. Lowry shows the development and growth of Jonas as he obtains memories of emotions and freedoms his community no longer has access too. “I liked the feeling of love,” he confessed. “I wish we still had that”(126).

THE GIVER has an original, creative plot that young adults will probably enjoy more than younger children. Lowry skillfully leaves the reader little prepared for the dark events that unfold quickly as the climax builds in the book. “He killed it! My father killed it! Jonas said to himself, stunned at what he was realizing” (150). The more Jonas experiences as he receives memories from the Giver, the more he comes to abhor his own society. The climax intensifies when Jonas flees his community with a young child and it builds until he reaches “Elsewhere.” Yet, Lowry leaves the reader to decide if Jonas and the child really make it to “Elsewhere” or if they finally die.

The overall theme of the book is sameness versus freedom, or love and choices versus the risk of pain. The theme emerges naturally in the story and Lowry is careful to develop the good points of the community as well as the bad.
The author encourages the “willing suspension of disbelief” by coining new terms like, release, ceremony of the ones, assignments, giver, receiver, etc. She also provides very little explanation of her utopian society but lets the reader gradually discover its “laws.” The mood of the story gradually changes from light to dark as the utopian plan for happiness is almost discretely revealed. This book is very thought provoking.

Review excerpts
Newberry Medal winner
Starred review in Booklist: “Readers lulled by the warmth and safety of the community will find themselves quite surprised...”
Starred review in Hornbook: “...Lowery has written a fascinating, thoughtful science-fiction novel.”
Starred review in Kirkus: “...a richly provocative novel.”
School Library Journal: “This tightly plotted story and its believable character will stay with readers for a long time.”

Connections
*Discuss what students think happened to Jonas and Gabe. Ask students to write their own endings to Lois Lowry’s story, THE GIVER.
*Ask students analyze Jonas's reasons for leaving his perfect society and make recommendations for the lifestyle of a perfect society.
*Research and compare another utopian-like community, like the Quakers to the one presented in THE GIVER which considers rules of conduct as well as its relationship with the outside world.

Book 2
Bibliography
DiCamillo, Kate. 2003. THE TALE OF DESPEREAUX. New York, NY: Scholastic Inc. ISBN 0439701679.

Plot Summary
This fantasy novel is three stories woven together into one. In the first story
Despereaux Tilling, an unusually small, big-eared mouse, is born into a family of ordinary mice. He loves books, music, and the princess in the castle he where he lives. Despereaux breaks the number one rule of the mice kingdom, which is not to talk to humans. His is thrown into the dungeon to be food for the rats, but is rescued by Gregory, the jailor, who saves the mouse because Despereaux can tell him a story.

The second story is that of Chiaroscuro, a rat that lives in the dungeon of the same castle where Despereaux is born. He is coached by an older rat named Botticelli, who explains why and how rats make the prisoners suffer. Roscuro tries the technique on a new prisoner in the dungeon, stealing his red tablecloth he used as a blanket. The rat realizes that the only thing he really wants it to be in the light he see coming from the dungeon door. When he ventures upstairs to the party, he is dazzled by the light and the princess; then scares the queen to death by accidentally falling into her soup. He decides to make the princess suffer for her hatred of him.

The third story is of Miggery Sow, a young girl sold by her father as a servant for a red tablecloth, cigarettes, and a hen. Miggery Sow was rescued from servitude by the king’s soldiers and brought to work in the castle. She is rather shallow and her dream is to become a princess.

The three stories come together as Roscuro plots revenge on the princess. He persuades Mig to capture her and bring her into the dungeon. Despereaux gets wind of the plot and goes to rescue the princess. All is saved when Roscuro’s heart softens. He is promised soup as a reward for leading the characters out of the dungeon into the light. All live happily ever after.

Critical Analysis
THE TALE OF DESPEREAUX is a heart warming light fantasy told by a narrator who often addresses the reader directly. The time period is not stated specifically, but the reader can deduce from the story and pictures that it takes place in times past in a large castle with a huge dungeon beneath. These two areas of the castle reflect the light and dark theme in the book and the actions of the characters. The tale, which develops the theme of good versus evil, light versus darkness, and forgiveness has universal implications that transcend the setting.

The soft, black-and-white pencil illustrations by Timothy Ering complement the light and dark metaphors of the book. The illustrations are placed throughout the book. It is divided into four “books” each comprised of relatively short chapters.
The theme of the book, good triumphs over evil and light dispels darkness develops subtly with important messages of truth interjected here and there by the narrator. “Rats, in fact, think that life is very funny. And they are right, reader. They are right” (85). “Reader, you must know that an interesting fate awaits almost everyone, mouse or man, who does not conform” (25). There is some moralizing from the narrator used to add to the charm of the story.

DiCamillo’s characters are delightful, convincing, and consistent with their ages and background. There are several important characters in the book described through the voice of the narrator, but Despereaux is the main character. At other times the reader gets glimpses into a character’s thoughts through conversation and action. “Oh, poor Mig, she wants to be a princess so badly and she thinks that this is the way...What must it be like to want something that desperately?” (198). Despereaux’s character develops confidence as the story progresses because of his love for the Princess Pea. “Despereaux stood before the Mouse Council, and he realized that he was a different mouse than he had been the last time he faced them” (208). “I will be the knight in shining armor. There is no other way. It has to be me” (215).
The dialogue of the characters is natural and suited to them. “Har, An ugly, dumb thing like you? You ain’t even worth the enormous lot I paid for you” (137).

Children will thoroughly enjoy this fresh and original tale. The author immediately draws the reader into Despereaux’s mouse world that “brings a willing suspension of disbelief.” She masterfully weaves the separate storylines into a logical series of happenings that come together for a happily-ever-after ending.
Events build to a climax when several of characters are led down into the dungeon by untrustworthy guides. The climax of the book comes at the end when Despereaux attempts to rescue the princess from the dungeon. He holds the needle “sword” to Roscuro’s heart when suddenly Roscuro smells soup.

Review excerpts
Newberry Medal winner
Starred review in Booklist: “Part of the charm come from DiCamillo’s deceptively simple style and short chapters in which the author addresses the reader...”
Starred review in Horn Book: “DiCamillo tells an engaging tale.”
Starred review in Kirkus: “...all the ingredients of an old-fashioned drama.”
School Library Journal: “This expanded fairy tale is entertaining, heartening, and, above all, great fun.”

Connections
*Discuss the vocabulary noted by the narrator and other words in the book that might be unfamiliar to the students. Discuss what it means to conform. When is it necessary in the lives of students and people they know or have read about?
*Engage in a discussion about what it means to be a hero or heroine. What character qualities do the students feel a hero should have? List their favorite heroes in real life and in other stories.
*Have students choose a character from the book. Have them write a description of the character given in narration, dialogue, and actions of that character. Draw the character circled by descriptive words. Make placemats with the drawings to use while enjoying a bowl of soup.
*Have the students pantomime characters from the story for the others to guess.

Book 3
Bibliography
Na, An. 2001. A STEP FROM HEAVEN. Ashville, NC: Front Street. ISBN 1886910588.

Plot Summary
A STEP FROM HEAVEN is a novel of the life of a young Korean girl and her family, who leave their home in Korea for what they think will be a better life in America. Young Ju is only four years old when the family arrives in America. She and her younger brother have a difficult time adjusting to the language and their new life, but Young Ju’s parents never seem to adjust. They constantly work hard just to make ends meet. The abusive father of the family gets even more abusive when he becomes an alcoholic and the pressure to provide for his family increases. Ashamed of her circumstances, Young Ju tries to fit in at school and does her best to achieve academically. She befriends an American girl but is forbidden by her father to continue the friendship. She disobeys him. The abuse escalates until Young Ju finally reports him to the police. The mother finds strength in her daughter’s determination to continue in America without the father when he decides to return to Korea. Before Young Ju heads for college, they have managed to finally reach one of their long time goals of purchasing their own home.

Critical Analysis
A STEP FROM HEAVEN is a young adult novel of contemporary realistic fiction skillfully written by An Na. The Park family consists of believable members of a Korean family facing the emotional and social challenges of immigrating to America. It is set in a contemporary city in the states and focuses on topics that are timely and relevant; namely, abuse and cultural clash. The daughter of the family, Young Ju narrates the story from her point of view, introducing characters and events as she perceives them through various stages of her life. Through Ju’s narration, the reader can perceive the weaknesses and insecurities of the father and son, as well as the quiet strength of the mother and daughter. “Here, Uhmma, I say and offer her the bag if ice. Uhmma takes it from me, presses it to her eye, and grimaces...do not speak of this to anyone, Uhmma says” (99).

The book is arranged in short chapters that are glimpses into Young Ju’s life as she matures from childhood through adolescence. The story focuses on the Park’s family life at home and will hold the attention of teens (and adults) as they reflect on their own conflicts in and out of the home.
An Na expands the perimeter of language using many Korean words that can be defined from the context. Reading is slowed at the in the beginning chapters. Then reader must decipher young Ju’s attempt to understand American words. This natural infusion of Korean words makes the dialogue seem natural and suited to the characters. “Ah ri cas, ca mo ve he,” the witch teacher says...All the other Mi Gook girls and boys come over fast...” (31).

The loosely constructed plot builds to a climax as Ju’s father gets more and more abusive. Finally the climax comes when Ju has her father arrested after he bruitally beats her and her mother.
Readers will develop empathy for the young protagonist and an interest in the outcome of the conflict between the family and the father. The overall mood of the book is sad, but presents a hopeful, if not happy resolution. “The patch of grass is so small you can walk across in four long strides. But I don’t care. It is ours” (146).

Review Excerpts
Michael Printz Award
Starred review in Booklist: “...the coming-of-age drama will grab teens and make them think of their own conflicts...”
Starred review in Horn Book: “...each of these vignettes by first-time author An Na displays an astonishing and memorable force.”
School Library Journal: “A beautifully written, affecting work.”
Publishers Weekly: “...readers will eagerly await [An Na’s] next step.”

Connections
*Ask students to research the author’s life and find parallels between An Na and Young Ju using the biographical website for the author: http://www.nationalbook.org/anabio.html. Report the similarities and differences.
*Discuss the question of immigration with students. Why would families want to immigrate and leave their homeland. List some problems that Young Ju’s family encountered in a strange country.
*Research the country of Korea. Develop a theory for why Young Ju’s family might want to leave their homeland and immigrate to America. *Discuss the concept of “being too American.” List in short phrases the characteristics that Young Ju considers American and those she considers Korean. What characteristics would students add to each list based on their own observations and reading?

Module 5

2007-04-06T13:25:00.000-07:00

This review is written as a class assignment at TWU.

Module 5 – Historical Fiction

Book 1
Bibliography
Park, Linda Sue. 2001. A SINGLE SHARD. New York, NY: Clarion Books. ISBN 0395978270.

Plot Summary
Tree-ear, a young, poor, orphaned boy, lives under a bridge in the small Korean village of Ch’ul’po with his friend, an elderly, lame man named Crane-man. At age twelve, Tree-ear secretly watches the potter Min, the most talented potter in the village, make the finest celadon ware in Ch’ul’po and hopes to one day learn the craft himself. After accidentally breaking one of the celadon pieces, the young boy becomes an assistant to Min in an effort to compensate for the damage. Min, who is a perfectionist, drives the boy as hard as he drives himself.

Min’s goal is to create pottery that is worthy of obtaining a royal commission to make pots for the palace. At the request of the king’s emissary, Min has one last chance to obtain his goal. Tree-ear is entrusted to make a long journey across unknown territory with two precious pots to deliver to the palace in Songdo. During the journey, two ruffians break the pots. All that Tree-ear finds left of them is a single shard. He continues his quest to Songdo. The emissary agrees to grant Min a royal commission based on the beauty visible in the shard. Tree-ear returns with the good news and finds that his dear friend, Crane-man, has died. Min and his wife adopt Tree-ear as their own son.

Critical Analysis
Readers experience the unusual setting and customs of twelfth century Korea in this historical fiction by Linda Park. It is a quiet, well-paced novel with the universal theme of “orphan finds happiness.” The reader quickly becomes absorbed in the struggles of the young protagonist, Tree-ear, through his hunger, trials, and despair as he strives to become a potter’s apprentice. They are engaged until the very end seeking a happy resolution to the young boy’s plight.

Through her research, Park writes with such knowledgeable details of this era that it comes to life for the reader and creates so much interest in the prized celadon potter that many will seek further information on the topic. Without giving too much detail, Park reveals the division between the classes of people, the plight of the poor, the code of honor and self-discipline of the people, and the dedication to hard work. This is discovered in lines such as, “To work for such a master is payment enough” and “chopping wood for hours without a single bite to eat had been hard enough. But the worst…was the long trip back down…with a cart full of wood.”

Park relates the story in 3rd person and her characters use natural dialogue of the period. “Come, my young friend! Tell me how you came by such a fortune—a tale worth hearing, no doubt!” The writing creates the realistic personalities of the characters, from the humorous, but wise Crane-man to the harsh, unfeeling pottery master, Min.

In the Author’s Note, Park gives additional information from her research that may be of interest to readers about 12th century Korea and celadon potters.

Review excerpts
Newberry Medal winner
Starred review in Booklist: “A well-crafted novel with an unusual setting.”
Horn Book: “Park’s story is alive with fascinating information about life and art in ancient Korea.”
Starred review in Kirkus: “A timeless jewel.”
Publishers Weekly: “Readers will not soon forget these characters or their sacrifices.”

Connections
*Research and discuss celadon pottery. Find a local potter who will show their work and demonstrate how pottery is made.
*Use an atlas to track Tree-ear’s journey.
*Research twelfth century Korea. How does the life of common people compare to the life of common people. Discuss apprenticeship and compare it to formal schooling today.
*Review other books by Linda Park: ARCHER’S QUEST, PROJECT MULBERRY, WHEN MY NAME WAS KEOKE, THE KITE FIGHTERS, and SEESAW GIRL. Discuss how Linda Park became a writer by reviewing her biography at http://www.lspark.com/bio.html.

Book 2
Bibliography
Curtis, Christopher Paul. 1999. BUD, NOT BUDDY. New York, NY: Delacorte Press. ISBN 0385323069.

Plot Summary
BUD, NOT BUDDY is a realistic fiction novel about a young, 10-year-old orphan boy who lives in Flint, Michigan during the depression era. His mother died when he was six and after Bud has had enough of the orphanage and another mean foster family, he is determined to find his wayward father. His only clues are the items he carries in his suitcase that belonged to his mother. Bud’s philosophies of life called, “rules and things to have a funner life and make a better liar our of yourself,” guide him through several desperate situations.

Heading for Grand Rapids, Michigan, Bud hopes to locate the man he believes is his father, the bandleader, Herman E. Calloway. Along the way he experiences kindness and cruelty and eventually finds true happiness. Bud meets gruff, old Herman E. Calloway and his band. The band embraces the polite, young orphan boy and discovers that Calloway is Bud’s grandfather who collects the same rocks that Bud carries in his bag.

Critical Analysis
This is the another award-winning historical fiction novel by Christopher Curtis.
Curtis makes the depression era of the 1930’s come to life through the eyes of his spunky, young protagonist, Bud. In this quick-paced historical fiction, the reader follows this endearing orphan from the orphanage on a quest to find his father. The writer does not give too much attention to historical detail but accurately depicts events of the time without sugarcoating them. The raid on the Hooverville camp is a good example.

The writing is clear, with lively humor that contrasts the harsh reality of the time, especially for African Americans. Curtis captures perfectly the dialect and speech patterns of a young, black child of the era and the other characters in the novel, especially of the band. “…that’s my bread and butter in there. That’s my horn, my ax, my saxophone, the thing I make all my money with, so don’t get butterfingers and drop it.”

The universal theme of “orphan finds happiness” will have both young and old alike engaged in finding the outcome of Bud’s quest as he follows his humorous philosophies of life. “Whenever a Adult Tells You to Listen Carefully and Talks to You in a Real Calm Voice Do Not Listen, Run as Fast As You Can Because Something Real Terrible Is Just Around the Corner. Especially If the Cops Are Chasing You.”

The Afterword to the book, explains Curtis’s research of the Great Depression and that many of the characters were based on family members who lived during that time.

Review excerpts
Newberry Medal winner
Booklist: “…the rich blend of tall tale, slapstick, sorrow, and sweetness has the wry, teasing warmth of family folklore.”
Horn Book: “…the story zips along in step with Bud’s own panache.”
Publishers Weekly: Bud’s journey…will keep readers engrossed from first page to last.”
School Library Journal: “Curtis has given a fresh, new look to a traditional orphan-finds-a-home story…”

Connections
*Discuss the Great Depression and the events leading up to it, which is also the period setting for OUT OF THE DUST. How do these books compare?
*Find out about the cardboard villages called “Hooverville” in the 1930s, which is a scene in part of the book. Did they all have the same fate as described in the book?
Discuss and research the unionization of railroad porters. Invite a labor union member to share how he feels about unions.
*List and review “Bud Caldwell’s Rules and Things for Having a Funner Life and Making a Better Liar Out of Yourself.” Decide which ones helped Bud. Write your own Rules of Survival.
*Read and discuss THE WATSONS TO BIRMINGHAM-1963 by Christopher Curtis. Compare it to BUD, NOT BUDDY. How do the characters relate to Curtis’s own family: http://www.randomhouse.com/features/christopherpaulcurtis/christophercurtis.htm.

Book 3
Bibliography
Stanley, Diane and Peter Vennema. 1990. GOOD QUEEN BESS: THE STORY OF ELIZABETH I OF ENGLAND. Ill. by Diane Stanley. New York, NY: Four Winds Press. ISBN 0027868109.

Plot Summary
Elizabeth I, daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, was born during the religious strife of the English Reformation. Elizabeth was well educated and learned to be cautious as a young princess. At age 25, following the deaths of her father; her half-brother, Edward; and her half-sister, Mary; Elizabeth was crowned queen. Her counselors advised her to marry and turn governing responsibilities over to a male.

This intelligent, young queen and shrewd diplomat made being a woman an asset. She outwitted suitors, controlled her cousin Mary, executed conspirators, and won the hearts of the people with religious tolerance. Endeared as Good Queen Bess by her subjects, Elizabeth obtained peace and security for her country. The Elizabethan Age spanned a 45-year reign. Elizabeth died in her sleep, relinquishing the crown to James VI of Scotland.

Critical Analysis
Diane Stanley has written and illustrated several outstanding biographies for young readers. Stanley’s picture book biography, GOOD QUEEN BESS: THE STORY OF ELIZABETH I OF ENGLAND, explains the main events leading up to and including the Elizabethan Age in simplified and interesting detail. It is written in picture book style for younger readers, but is very informative for older readers as well.

The author reveals Elizabeth as a person, her fears as a young princess, her challenges as a female, and her shrewdness as a queen. “She didn’t say no, she didn’t say yes, she said maybe. She went on being vague and inventing difficulties and changing her mind and taking up time…she would pretend to consider marriage to gain what she wanted.” Stanley deals plainly with the truth, showing the good and bad sides of being a member of a royal family. “For two months, she waited in fear…Elizabeth was sent away to a distant and decrepit palace…where she was kept under house arrest.” Another example is “When some of Mary’s subjects clung to their protestant faith, she burned almost three hundred of them for heresy.”

The biography is written in 3rd person with very little dialogue. The Author’s Note at the beginning of the book explains the religious unrest of the period. A bibliography is included at the end of the book along with suggestions of books for young readers who wish to find out more about Elizabeth.

Stanley’s illustrations are drawn with the formal style of 16th century paintings. Some illustrations cover more of the page than the text. These colorful illustrations complement and reinforce the text showing amazing and authentic details of the period, the setting, the dress, and behavior of the people. The clothes are so detailed it seems one could touch and feel the textures, not to mention the patterned ceilings, windows, and floors. In addition, the expressions on the faces of the people reveal their moods and characteristics.

Review Excerpts
Starred review in Horn Book: “A fascinating introduction.”
Kirkus Review: “An admirably clear, attractive summary.”
Starred review in Booklist
Publishers Weekly: “Intricate artwork conveys the delicate lace and accoutrements of court dress, patterned ceilings and cobblestone streets.”
School Library Journal: “The text is clearly written, explaining the main events and key decisions of Elizabeth’s life and reign.”

Connections
*Discuss the structure of a monarchy including King or Queen, Privy Council and commoners. Establish a monarchy in the class to last for 2-3 hours over a 2-day period. Commoners will have to obey the will of the King/Queen. (Some rules will need to be set).
*Review and compare some of Diane Stanley’s other books she has both written and illustrated: BARD OF AVON: THE STORY OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE,
LEONARDO DA VINCI, JOAN OF ARC, PETER THE GREAT, MICHELANGELO, SALADIN: NOBLE PRINCE OF ISLAM, SHAKA: KIN OF THE ZULUS.
Learn and discuss the life of Diane Stanley and her development as a author and illustrator of children’s books: http://www.dianestanley.com/About%20the%20Author/About%20the%20Author.htm.
*Read and compare this biography of Elizabeth I with another biography written about her.

Module 4

2007-03-13T11:42:00.000-07:00

This review is for a course assignment at TWU.

Module 4 – Nonfiction
Book 1
Bibliography
Simon, Seymour. 2002. DANGER! EARTHQUAKES. New York, NY: SeaStar Books. ISBN 1587171392.

Plot Summary
DANGER! EARTHQUAKES begins by describing what earthquakes do, the least and the worst. It explains how earthquakes are measured on the Richter and Mercalli scales and gives examples. A double-page world map pinpoints the major earthquakes in the last 30 years. The reader learns what causes earthquakes to occur and the details of some of the major ones in the United States. One of the most spectacular and destructive earthquakes occurred in Mexico City.

The book ends on a positive note by describing what to do when an earthquake occurs, by reassuring the reader that buildings are built much safer now, and by stating that earthquakes are somewhat more predictable.

Critical Analysis
The fact that Seymour Simon has worked as a science teacher for 23 years and written over 200 books qualifies him as an accurate source of information for his book, DANGER! EARTHQUAKES. The book offers the most significant facts about the phenomena in a clear sequence of information from cause to effect. The writing is lively and Simon’s enthusiasm for the subject is evident, beginning with “The ground beneath your feet may seem solid.”

The text is superimposed on top of double-page color photos of actual earthquake destruction. An informative world map that pinpoints where most earthquakes have occurred in the past 30 years is included and one of earthquake zones in the United States. No reference aids are included, but the text is easy to read and gives simple explanations of unfamiliar terms. The title and the color photo on the cover grab the reader’s attention immediately.

Even adults would find this book very informative. It would be a good source for teachers seeking basic information for an earth science unit. The photo of the shifted rows in a plowed field is amazing.

Review excerpts
Horn Book: “The easy-to-read, informative test extends the illustrations and exhibits a knowledge of not only the subject but also the audience.”
Kirkus Review: “Chilling, thrilling, and packed with facts,…”
Library Talk: “Glorious illustrations of…natural phenomena leap off the pages of these beginning science titles from one of the venerable writers of children’s science books.”
Publishers Weekly: “Seymour Simon’s See More Readers series will rope in even the most reluctant readers.”

Connections
*Gather and read some of the other books in Seymour Simon’s See More Readers series that interest students including: AMAZING BATS, BRIDGES, BIG BUGS, COOL CARS, INCREDIBLE SHARKS, DANGER! VOLCANOS, KILLER WHALES, BABY ANIMALS, and PLANETS AROUND THE SUN.
*Visit Seymour Simon’s website: http://www.seymoursimon.com/seemore.htm.
Have students view his other books and discover facts about the author that can be posted on a bulletin board with his book titles. Have two students role play the interview with Simon available at his website.
*Discuss natural disasters and research how they occur. Create a scrapbook of the information. If possible, invite someone who has experienced an earthquake firsthand to speak to the students.

Book 2
Bibliography
Gibbons, Gail. 1997. GULLS…GULLS…GULLS… Ill. by Gail Gibbons. New York, NY: Holiday House. ISBN 0823413233.

Plot Summary
The book GULLS…GULLS…GULLS gives detailed information about the physical characteristics, the habits, and behaviors of this common shore bird. It focuses on the most common gull in North America, the herring gull, since “many gulls share the same characteristics.”
The book discusses the migration, eating habits, and communication of the gulls. Facts about herring gulls’ mating habits, hatchlings, and fledglings are also included. Formerly hunted for their feathers to near extinction, these seashore scavengers are now recognized as an important of the ecosystem.

Critical Analysis
The talented author of GULLS…GULLS…GULLS, Gail Gibbons, has researched, written, and illustrated over 135 nonfiction books for children. The easy-to-understand text is written in brief, simple lines beneath beautiful watercolor illustrations of gulls in their natural habitat. Some of the pictures are labeled for a clearer understanding of the text.

The lovely, vivid, green and blue watercolor illustrations capture perfectly the characteristics and behaviors of the gulls that the text describes. The birds fly into the illustrations beyond the borders of the pictures. They seem to be in constant motion, as they are in real life. Sea gulls are flying in from the cover to the dedication page. Some of the seashore views spread across a double page, while others may be only one page, and others may have two or three detailed pictures per page so the reader can focus on what the text is explaining.

The book is well-organized with a sequence of information and two appendixes. The first appendix is eight drawings of the common gulls found in North America and their location. The second appendix is additional facts about gulls that are not mentioned in the book. Gibbons expresses her enthusiasm for her subject stating, “Gulls are beautiful birds to watch soar through the skies. Their cries are mysterious and haunting. It is fun to watch gulls exploring their world.”

Review excerpts
Booklist: Gibbons encourages “young readers to pass over [the] less savory aspects and see [gulls] as beautiful and fun to watch.”
Kirkus Review: “The irrepressible Gibbons returns…”
School Library Journal: “As in Gibbon’s other nonfiction titles, both illustration and text provide basic, easy-to-understand facts.”
Horn Book: “The simple yet effective text concludes with a useful pictorial guide…”

Connections
*Study the seashore habitat and examine Gibbon’s other books on the seashore:
BEACONS OF LIGHT, THE PUFFINS ARE BACK, and SURROUNDED BY SEA.
*Have students visit Gail Gibbon’s website http://www.gailgibbons.com/ and research the author and her books. Have students choose a nonfiction books by the author that interests them to read and share with the class.
*Research other seashore birds. Choose on as the topic for a class book. Have students collect information to add to the book along with a watercolor illustration that describes the topic each is assigned about that shorebird.

Book 3
Bibliography
Burleigh, Robert. 1991. FLIGHT. Ill. By Mike Wimmer. New York, NY: Philomel Books. ISBN 0698114256.

Plot Summary
FLIGHT relates the historic solo flight of 25-year-old, Charles Lindbergh from New York, across the Atlantic Ocean to Paris in 1927. It chronicles his doubts, thoughts, and struggles as he makes the 3,600-mile journey. The reader experiences the precarious take-off, the cramped cockpit, and the long tedious journey recorded in Lindbergh’s in-flight diary entries. Then, the reader shares his elation and victory as the pilot sights Ireland, and finally, the lights of Paris at 10:22 p.m. After a 33½-hour flight and 60 hours with no sleep, the hero Lindbergh is greeted by the crowds of Paris and reporters before retiring to his bed. He awoke, “the most famous man I the world.”

Critical Analysis
Robert Burleigh has written 30 picture books for children in addition to other books, poems, reviews, essays, and videos. He holds a MA in humanities from the University of Chicago and believes, in his words, “the hard facts are extremely important.” He includes these significant facts in his book, FLIGHT. It is written in short sentences relating a clear sequence of events from pre-flight to post-flight.

Burleigh states that he attempts “to convey the feeling of being there” in his writing, so his interest and enthusiasm for the material is evident to the reader. The close up drawing of the Spirit of St. Louis and the oversized lettering of the single word title on the cover, helps convey the importance of the flight made by Lindbergh and draws the reader inside for a look.

Inside, the reader is captured by a personal account from Jean Fritz, a young girls living at the time of Lindbergh’s flight, as she and her mother read of his heroic achievement in the morning paper. Then, the extraordinary illustrations of Mike Wimmer catch the eye. The double-page paintings from unusual perspectives complement the text beautifully. The expressions on the faces convey the innocent determination of a young man, agony of the flight, the excitement of success, and finally exhaustion.

Review Excerpts
Orbis Pictus award
Texas Bluebonnet Book
Horn Book: “The use of present tense keeps the reader in suspense, but even more dramatic are the illustration – powerful, bold and strong”
Kirkus Review: “A book that brings new life to one of the stories of the century.”
Publishers Weekly: “Dramatic staccato prose and bold, larger-than-life illustrations invigorate this riveting account of Charles Lindbergh’s celebrated transatlantic flight.”

Connections
*Gather other books illustrated by Mike Wimmer and discuss perspectives of art:
HOMERUN, ALL THE PLACES TO LOVE, SUMMERTIME, TRAIN SONG, WILL ROGERS, THEODORE, and STEALING HOME.
*Research the Lindbergh’s famous flight. Create the front page of a newspaper with headlines about the flight. Include articles about the event, create interviews from people who might have witnessed it, give facts about the Spirit of St. Louis, and add an interview with the pilot.
*Examine other books by Robert Burleigh. Discuss how he “conveys the feeling of being there” in his other books on flight: INTO THE AIR and AMELIA EARHART: FREE IN THE SKIES.
*Experience the thrill of flight. Select a book on folding paper airplanes. Assist students in selecting and folding a design, then fly them.
*Make a timeline of air travel from first flight to space flight.

Module 3

2007-03-02T21:38:00.000-08:00

This review is part of a class assignment from TWU.

Module 3 Book 1

Bibliography
Florian, Douglas. 1998. INSECTLOPEDIA. Ill. by Douglas Florian. New York, NY: Harcourt Brace & Co. ISBN 0152013067.

Plot Summary
INSECTLOPEDIA is a collection of 21 short, humorous poems written and illustrated by Douglas Florian. A table of contents lists each of the poems that features a member of the insect world and develops the characteristics associated with each one in a funny and amusing way. One such poem is titled “The Caterpillar,” in which the larva becomes a “Fatterpillar” and “rents a room inside a pupa, And checks out: Madame Butterfly—How super!“ Another example is a concrete poem that captures the antics of whirligig beetles.

Critical Analysis
The collection of 21 poems in INSECTLOPEDIA is appealing to young readers. Not only are they humorous, but; Douglas Florian uses a wealth of puns, word play, and figurative language that appeal to young and old alike. Several are examples of concrete poetry. The poem, “The Inchworm,” is shaped like the hump of a moving inchworm. “The Whirligig Beetle” poem twirls in a circle as beetles move in water. The words in “The Termites” are stacked up like a termite mound. Clever personification is present in many of the poems. The poem, “The Ticks,” repeats the “tic” sound in every line.

Douglas Florian’s abstract, watercolor illustrations are as comical as the text. He uses a collage of items as part of the illustrations that seem to be just a collection of things just like someone might collect say...insects! Each illustration is placed on one page framed in white with the poem across from it on the opposite page.
From the beginning, the poems and illustrations work together to entice the reader to continue reading to see how ones preconceived ideas about each bug are uniquely captured in the text and pictures. Most appealing are the smiles of the fiddle-playing crickets on the cover.

I especially enjoyed “The Locust.” The illustration is half eaten away by the insects drawn on the page. The poem begins with “Hocus-pocus We are the locusts,” and describes how things disappear when locusts are about. Even the word disappear is cleverly faded from the page.

Review excerpts
School Library Journal: “There are other books of poetry about insects and lots of collections of humorous verses about animals but none match Insectlopedia.”
Publishers Weekly: The silly, imaginative verses…match the exquisite pictures in playfulness and wit. The result is downright stunning.”
Kirkus Review: “The watercolor illustrations…achieve a comic effect…”

Connections
*Allow the students to relate what they know about that insect before reading each poem. Read the poems without showing the pictures. Give the students a chance to pick one of the poems and to draw the insect the way the poet is describing it. Share them as you show Florian’s pictures.
*Discuss the unusual way Florian created his pictures with abstract, watercolor
illustrations and a bit of collage. After viewing Florian’s illustrations in the first activity, let the students add collage elements to their drawings.
*Gather other poetry books created by Douglas Florian about member of the animal kingdom. Compare the writing style and illustrations of each: BOW WOW MEOW MEOW: ITS RHYMING CATS AND DOGS, MAMMALABILIA, BEAST FEAST: POEMS, and ON THE WING: BIRD POEMS AND PAINTING.

Book 2
Bibliography
George, Kristine O’Connell. 2001. TOASTING MARSHMALLOWS: CAMPING POEMS. Ill. by Kate Kiesler. New York, NY: Clarion Books. ISBN 061804597X.

Plot Summary
This collection of 30 poems by Kristine George focuses on the sights, sounds, and feelings of familiar camping experiences with which most of us have had some experiences both pleasurable and miserable! The poems are arranged from the beginning of the camping trip “Tent” to the end poem, “Pulling Up Stakes.” “Sleeping Bag” recaptures vivid memories by stating “I’m a caterpillar in a cozy cloth cocoon that zips.” Likewise, “Toasting Marshmallows” evokes memories of various techniques used by marshmallow toasters.

Critical Analysis
Kate Kiesler uses vivid oil paintings to complement George’s single poets collection, TOASTING MARSHMALLOWS: CAMPING POEMS. The layout of the pictures and text changes on each page. Some pictures spread across two pages, some are three-quarters of a page, and some a single page. The illustrations complement the text and give the reader a sense of being among the campers. Some show movement, but other seems a little stiff. The glow of the tent on the back cover and the warm fire for toasting mallows on the front cover invite the reader to look inside.

This collection of George’s poems is written using much figurative language and sound words, especially onomatopoeia, “I wiggle, scoootch, scrunch, and jiggle. Flop.” The shape of the text is sometimes concrete, as in “Eavesdropping” and sometimes in stanzas. “Eavesdropping” is a perfect example of personification, “Tipping a slender ear, Moon tries to pretend she isn’t listening to our secrets.”

The poems seem to focus on the wonder and excitement of exploring a campsite. Sensory words give the reader the feel, smell, sound, and taste of camping as in “Campfire”. It reads “Warm front, Cold back. I turn around. Warm back. Cold front. I turn around.” The collection includes haiku and a call and response poem. The collection reflects an authenticity of voice and universality that all can relate too. Distinctive use of spacing, line breaks, and poem formatting are evident.

Review excerpts
Starred review in School Library Journal: “A terrific idyll for summertime sharing, even for the confirmed couch potatoes.”
Starred review in Publishers Weekly: “Readers will definitely want S-mores…this volume…is as delicious as a toasted marshmallow treat.”
Kirkus review: “Altogether, an engaging trip.”
Starred review in Booklist

Connections
*Gather several of the books by Kristine O’Connell to review with the students, such as: LITTLE DOG POEMS, OLD ELM SPEAKS, THE GREAT FROG RACE AND OTHER POEMS. Allow students to share which poems they like best.
*Allow students to draw/paint a picture of a camping experience or something they enjoy about the outdoors and write a few line to describe the experience. Turn off the lights and read the class camping book on the floor using a flashlight while eating smores!
*Compare the oil paintings of Kate Kiesler in three of Kristine George’s books: TOASTING MARSHMALLOWS, OLD ELM SPEAKS, and THE GREAT FROG RACE. Discuss oil painting and display some famous oil paintings that have lasted for decades.

Book 3
Bibliography
Hesse, Karen. 1997. OUT OF THE DUST. New York, NY: Scholastic Press.
ISBN 0590360809.

Plot Summary
OUR OF THE DUST is a novel written in blank verse told from the perspective of a young 13-year-old girl named Billie Jo. After describing her birth in 1920, it spans the time from the winter 1934 until the autumn 1935. Billie Jo lives with her father and mother in the Oklahoma panhandle during the Dust Bowl and Depression era. She describes the family’s struggle to survive the dust and drought, the pain, tragedy, and suffering her family endures, and the simple pleasures that come few and far between. One of those pleasures for Billie Jo is playing the piano. After the tragic death of her mother and newborn brother, Billie Jo and her father are left to struggle with guilt and grief alone without comfort from each other. After an aborted attempt to run away from a life she hates, Billie Jo returns to her father. Both forgive and heal together and embrace a future with a loving and supporting Louise, thankful for “home, the one I live in, and the one that lives in me.”

Critical Analysis
Karen Hesse’s touching novel, OUT OF THE DUST, is written in easy-to-read blank verse. It is divided into sections according to the seasons of the year. The sections contain a collection of poems each with a title of it’s own. The poems, written in stanza form, tell the story of the events in the life of Billie Jo, the main character who narrates the novel. Her strong persona appeals to readers both young and old.

With meager prose written like entries in a diary, Jo paints a portrait of her life in a time and place in which hardship is an everyday feature. This novel is one of technical and artistic accomplishment with an evidence of risk in a change from the normal form of a novel. OUT OF THE DUST offers fresh insights and stirs heart wrenching emotions in the reader.

Review Excerpts
Newberry Medal Winner
ALA Notable Children’s Book
ALA Best Book for Young Adults
Winner of the Scott O’Dell Award
Starred review in Publishers Weekly: “With each meticulously arranged entry she points a vivid picture of Billie Jo’s emotions...”
Starred review in School Library Journal: “Hesse’s ever growing skill as a writer willing to take chances with her form shines through superbly…”
Starred review in Booklist: “This is an excellent book for discussion, and many of the poems stand alone sufficiently to be used a powerful supplements to a history lesson.”

Connections
*Discuss blank verse. Introduce to students other books written in blank verse by Hesse, like: COME ON, RAIN!, JUST JUICE, and THE MUSIC OF DOLPHINS.
*Let students choose a favorite poem from OUT OF THE DUST that they particularly enjoyed or that moved them. Create a drawing, painting, or collage that reflects the images that the poem suggests.
*Explain historical fiction. Brainstorm some of the historic facts learned about Oklahoma in the 1930s from reading OUT OF THE DUST. Research facts about the Dust Bowl.
*Students select one of the community events described in the book and make a poster to advertise it.

Module 2 - Book 3

2007-02-16T20:59:00.000-08:00

This book review is an assignment for a course at TWU.

Bibliography
Schwartz, Alvin. 1981. SCARY STORIES TO TELL IN THE DARK. Ill by Stephen Gammell. New York, NY: HarperCollins. ISBN 0397319266.

Plot Summary
Alvin Schwartz has collected from folklore and retold tales of ghosts, witches, scary songs and stories that make you jump. The collection is well organized into chapters each containing a specific type of chilling tales. The first chapter is stories that make you jump because they conclude with a scream. The next chapter is stories about ghosts and chapter three is a collection of stories about all kinds of things, a witch, a grave, a hunting trip, etc. Chapter four contains stories that have been told in more recent years. The one most familiar from that section is “The Hook.” The last chapter is a group of tales meant to make the reader laugh. Schwartz has added some interesting notes at the end of the book that explains the origin of some of the tales

Critical Analysis
Each story in this collection by Alvin Schwartz is short, simple and direct. They are listed in the table of contents. Most of the stories themselves give very little background information, although Schwartz provides some background information in his notes in the back of the book. The stories are best told aloud, but a silent reading is enjoyable.

Many of the stories may be familiar to young readers, but definitely to older readers especially to those who have participated in telling ghost stories at someone’s house at night. Most of the stories have simple, natural dialogue and some musical repetition. “The Big Toe, for example, repeats the phrase “Where is my toe?” over and over. It has a magical ghost element that emphasizes the theme, “don’t take what doesn’t belong to you.”

Stephen Gammell’s creepy drawings perfectly capture the more than two dozen stories and scary songs of this collection. The smoky or misty black and white illustrations seem surreal and reinforce the text perfectly. The morbid and sometimes comical expressions on the characters faces establish the mood in each tale. Sometimes just the sketch of an object or location from the stories send a chill up the spine.

Review Excerpts
Publishers Weekly: “Guaranteed to cause pleasurable shivers.”
Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books: “Misty and eerie.”
ALA Booklist: “Sure to provoke chills along the spine.”
New York Public Library, Children’s Books 1981: “A fine collection of short tales to chill the bones of young and old with interesting notes for folk buffs.”

Connections
*Gather other books illustrated by Stephen Gammell such as SONG AND DANCE MAN, WHERE THE BUFFALOES BEGIN, WILL’S MAMMOTH, and DANCING TEEPEES: POEMS OF AMERICAN INDIAN YOUTH. Compare and discuss the art in SCARY STORIES TO TELL IN THE DARK with the art in his others works.
*Read the introduction to SCARY STORIES TO TELL IN THE DARK. Have the students write using the suggestion that Alvin Schwartz gave there which was how to finish the story that began “There was a man dwelt by a churchyard.”*Discuss stories students have heard that they thought were scary. List elements that they think make a story scary, such as telling the story at night, using a soft voice, speak slowly, etc.

Module 2

2007-02-16T19:21:00.000-08:00

This book review is submitted as a class assignment for TWU.

Module 2 – Traditional books

Bibliography
Young, Ed. 1989. LON PO PO: A RED-RIDING HOOD STORY FROM CHINA. Ill. by Ed Young. New York, NY: Philomel Books. ISBN 0698113829.

Plot Summary
In this translation of the Little Red Riding Hood story from China, a wolf, disguised as granny, pays a visit to her three granddaughters. Their mother has gone to visit the real granny on her birthday. The children let the granny inside, but before long, the oldest child realizes that that granny is a wolf in disguise. She thinks of a clever plan to trick the wolf by offering him delicious gingko nuts found at the top of the tree outside. The three girls volunteer to climb the tree to get the granny some nuts. When they don’t return, the wolf goes outside to the tree and begs for them to throw down the nuts. The girls offer to pull the wolf up to the treetop instead so the magic of the nuts will work for him. After three tries and three drops, the wolf is dead. The girls go back inside safe and sound.

Critical Analysis
Ed Young weaves a chilling translation of the “Little Red Riding Hood” story in his book, LON PO PO. His story contains the traditional elements found in fairy tales such as a simple and direct plot and characters symbolic of good and evil.

Elements of magic are also found. There are three children, the wolf believes the gingko nuts have magical powers to make one live forever, and the girls pretend to pull the wolf up the gingko tree three times. The storyline moves along quickly until good triumphs over evil. He uses precise vocabulary while adding unfamiliar words to “expand the perimeter” (p24 Jacob) of our language. The figurative statement by the wolf that “All the chicks are in the coop,” gives the reader a vivid, unsettling comparison of children to chickens.

Ed Young’s beautiful impressionistic watercolor and pastel illustrations are painted on vertical panels like ancient Oriental paintings. Sometimes there are one, two, or three panels across the page each revealing a part of the scene. The combination of dark shadows among the vivid pastel colors adds to the mystery and suspense of the story. Even the book’s cover with the wolf’s glowing eyes peering around at the reader sets the stage for a chilling tale. It is followed by the illustration on the dedication page where the wolf is transposed on a human form.

The students wondered why the mother left her children behind and didn’t take them with her in the first place. The chilling illustrations kept them spellbound until the end. They also questioned the meaning of the phrase, “he broke his heart to pieces.” The shape of the dark shadow across the last two pages, made some of them speculate that the wolf was still alive.

Review excerpts
Caldecott Medal
Starred review in Horn Book: “The illustrations throb with the mystery and terror of the wolf…”
Starred review from Kirkus: “Absolutely splendid.”
Publishers Weekly: “an extraordinary and powerful book.”
School Library Journal: “the watercolor and pastel pictures are remarkable : mystically beautiful…menacing…and positively chilling…”

Connections
*Discuss the original version of the “Little Red Riding Hood” story, then read LON PO PO and point out ways the stories are alike and different.
*Gather materials to let student try their hands at panel art using watercolors to paint on large construction paper or rice paper. Cut the pictures into panels. They might try creating pictures that tell another fairy tale.
*Have students select words from the story that are particular to the Chinese culture that they might not understand and to guess the meaning of the words from context clues. Ask why would learning such words help us understand other cultures?
*Gather some of Ed Young’s other books to review: THE EMPEROR AND THE KITE and SEVEN BLIND MICE. Learn more about the author and how he became a celebrated children’s author from information obtained at http://www.nccil.org/young.html.

Module 2 - Book 2
Bibliography
Ketterman, Helen. 1997. BUBBA THE COWBOY PRINCE: A FRACTURED TEXAS TALE. Ill by James Warhola. New York, NY: Scholastic Press. ISBN 0590255061.

Plot Summary
This is a Texas version of the “Cinderella” story in which the hero is a cowhand named Bubba who lives and works on his stepfather’s ranch. The heroine is a rich ranch owner, Miz Lurleen, who wants to marry a real cowboy. Miz Lurleen throws a party and Bubba is so busy helping his stepfather and stepbrothers get ready that there is no time for him to clean up and go.
His fairy godcow makes his wish to attend the ball possible. He arrives sporting crisp jeans, shiny boots, a dazzling shirt and a white Stetson. Miz Lurleen falls for Bubba right away but at 12:00 his nice duds turn back into rags. As he runs away, he looses his cowboy boot. Mrs. Lurleen finds her prince when she finds that the boot fits Bubba.

Critical Analysis
Helen Ketterman uses the amusing, figurative language of Texas slang in retelling the “Cinderella” fairy tale with a cowboy “Cinderfella.” She follows the basic elements of fairy tales in developing a plot that is simple and direct, using a magical fairy godcow, and giving her characters basic human traits. Of course, as in the classic “Cinderella”, good triumphs over evil.

James Warhola’s pictures in vivid oil paints spread across two pages of this fractured tale in big-as-Texas panoramic views that reinforce the Texas slang- soaked dialogue of the text. Even the panoramic scene on the cover from back to front hints of the fun and magic waiting inside as one views the fairy godcow’s sparkling halo above her curls and the magical sweep made by Bubba’s white hat.

The entertaining expressions of not only the people, but the animals too, are delightful. The personalities of the characters are defined and developed through their expressions starting on the dedication page. Warhola creates an interesting aside from the story with the fairy godcow in the background watching over Bubba and the dogs of Miz Lureen and Bubba also falling in love.

The students enjoyed this lively, Texas version of the Cinderella story with its entertaining, comical pictures and Texas slang. They especially enjoyed the phrase about “chicken fits” and wanted an explanation of the phrase “gitting them doggies along.” They noticed how the dogs in the story that belonged to Miz Lurleen and Bubba also fell in love. Later one student pointed out that the fairy godcow was in the background in seven of the pictures watching over Bubba!

Review excerpts
Kirkus review: “readers will be proud to have been along for the courtship.”
Publishers Weekly: “Rustler lingo and illustrations chockablock with Texas kitsch make this ranch-spun Cinder-fella a knee slappin’ tale.
Horn Book: “a story that’s as overworked as poor Bubba.”

Connections
*List some of the student’s favorite fairy tales and discuss the elements that many fairy tales have in common.
*Gather several versions of the “Cinderella” story for students to read before reading BUBBA THE COWBOY PRINCE. Compare and contrast the classic version of the story with the fractured version.
*Gather a large number of fractured fairy tales for students to explore. Discuss the meaning and purpose of satire and parody.
*Gather old invitations for students to review. Using the computer, let students create invitations to the wedding of Miz Lureen and Bubba. List elements that need to be included in an invitation.

Molule 1

2007-01-31T16:19:00.000-08:00

This review is part of an assignment from a college course.
Non-fiction book review
Bibliography
Marcus, Leonard S. 1998. A CALDECOTT CELEBRATION: SIX ARTISTS AND THEIR PATHS TO THE CADECOTT MEDAL. New York, NY: Walker and Company. ISBN 0802786588.

Plot summary
Leonard Marcus honors the 60th anniversary of the Caldecott Medal by introducing six of the illustrators whose work has received the gold medal. In each chapter Marcus highlights one winner from each decade of time since the medal’s existence. The artists include Robert McCloskey, Marcia Brown, Maurice Sendak, William Steig, Chris Van Alsburg, and David Wiesner. He describes a brief history of each illustrator and the process of how the highlighted Caldecott book was created. Leonard describes the research, the writing and revision, and the illustration techniques used by the artists. He also includes samples of the early stages of each book .

Critical analysis
The author introduces the meaning and history of the Caldecott Medal in the introduction to A CALDECOTT CELEBRATION. He also explains the date of the awards. These explanations are helpful to readers not familiar with it. Each chapter begins with a glimpse into the background of the illustrator, which gives the reader a more intimate understanding of the artist and the hard work they put forth striving to create the best illustrations possible to enhance their books.
He also includes information about the medium used to create the illustrations and adds an excerpt from the artist’s acceptance speech. Following the anecdotes by the artists and thought processes they use as their illustrations develop, the reader can better understand and appreciate the creations receiving such a high honor. Pictures of early sketches and inspirations help the reader follow the development of the artist’s work.

At the end of each chapter is a convenient list of other books by the featured artist that have won Caldecott awards and the book index lists all Caldecott Medal winners from 1938 until 1998. I

I thoroughly enjoyed reading how the illustrations were developed in the books presented. I never realized the work artists put forth in the development of illustrations for picture books.

Review excerpts
Starred review in SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL: “this book has just about everything readers might want. Most of all, it has such wonderful tidbits…”
Starred review in HORN BOOK: “The text is remarkable for the smooth integration of explanatory material with overall commentary, and selective detail creates a sense of intimacy and understanding.”
Starred review in BOOKLIST: “Marcus, who interviewed each artist, provides a lively, informative introduction to each book and its maker. A beautifully made book…”

Connections
*This book is an excellent source to use when introducing the Caldecott Medal award.
*Use this book to introduce children to the wide range of illustration styles that would encourage them try new techniques.
*Gather other books from each of the highlighted artists. Look for similar techniques, other award winners from that artist.
*Have students choose a Caldecott artist not profiled in this book to research and present.
*Relate some of the challenges and successes these illustrators have shared in creating a book to inspire students to try the creation process.

Module 1

2007-01-31T14:38:00.000-08:00

This book review is part of an assignment for a college course.

Picture book

Bibliography
Juster, Norton. 2005. THE HELLO, GOODBYE WINDOW. Ill. by Chris Raschka. New York, NY: Michael Di Capua Books/Hyperion Books for Children.
ISBN 0786809140.

Plot summary
A little girl expresses the things she enjoys at her grandparents home during her visits there. She delights in the experiences she has at the kitchen window. As she tours us through her day, she relates commonplace events through the enthusiasm of a child’s eyes. Finally, she determines to make the things that have become special to her at her Nanna’s house part of her own home when she’s a Nanna.

Critical Analysis
Juster uses the voice of the child as the narrator of his book. She is an endearing, believable character in a story that so closely reflects real life that many readers will recall happy times with their own grandparents. Her simple expressions and joyful enthusiasm makes the story bouncy and light. The child’s enthusiasm draws the reader into the book with words like, “really!” and “Do you know how many stars there are? Neither do I.”

Christopher Raschka’s beautiful and colorful illustrations done in watercolor and pastel crayon capture the mood of the book and reinforce the text. The illustrations are reminiscent of a child’s watercolor pictures painted in grade school. The expressions on the character’s faces capture the warm feelings and happiness shared by the grandparents, the little girl, and her parents. The swirls and slashes of color suggest movement and make the book come alive from the bouncing curls on the child’s head as she skips away from her parents on the title page to the grandpa laughing at his own joke.

Right away the students in my class wanted to share the enjoyable things that they had done with their grandparents. Many remarked on the colorful illustrations and noticed that the pictures looked like the little girl had drawn them.
When I received a paperback copy of the book for our bookfair, I thought it was probably a book for kindergarteners, so I laid it aside. Now that I have actually read it, I see why it has received so many honors, especially the Caldecott Medal.

Review excerpts
CALDECOTT MEDAL winner, 2006
ALA NOTABLE CHILDREN’S BOOK, 2006
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
BOOKLIST EDITOR’S CHOICE, 2006
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY BEST CHILDREN’S BOOK, 2005
SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL BEST BOOK, 2005
NEW YORK TIMES BEST ILLUSTRATED BOOK, 2005
NICK JR. BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR
PARENTING MAGAZINE BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR, 2005
CHILD MAGAZINE BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR, 2005
Starred review in BOOKLIST: “Two well-known names come together in a book that speaks to the real lives of children and their experiences.”
Starred review in SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL: “the simple lines and squiggles of color suggest a child’s own drawings, but this is the art of a masterful hand.”
Starred review in HORNBOOK: “The familial love that is Juster’s subtext finds overt expression, spectacularly, in Raschka’s lush mixed-media illustrations”

Connections
*Lead a discussion on grandparents with the students, their activities with them, the special names they call their grandparents.
*Allow children to create their own windows of imagination and draw what they would like to see in the window.
*Discuss the art of Christopher Raschka. Compare his art in this book with that of other books he has illustrated:
YO! YES? ISBN 053105469
ARLENE SARDINE. ISBN 0531301117

Module 1

2007-01-31T03:33:00.000-08:00

This book review is part of an assignment from a college course
Picture Book

Bibliography
Taback, Simms. 1999. JOSEPH HAD A LITTLE OVERCOAT. Ill. by Simms Taback. New York, NY: Viking. ISBN 0670878553.

Plot summary
In this cleaver, die-cut picture book, Joseph continually makes a “new” article of clothing out of an old one when the old piece wears out. Finally all that he can make out of the little piece of material that is left is a button to fasten his suspenders. When he looses that, he has nothing. However the resourceful Joseph shows you can make something out of nothing. He writes a book about the things he has made.

Critical Analysis
The text in the book is very simple and direct and was taken from an actural song the author sang as a child. Taback uses repetition that children enjoy repeating together with the reader.
To create the amusing and colorful illustrations in this book, Simms Taback uses watercolor, Gouache (a method of painting with opaque watercolors), pencil, ink and collage. It has a die-cut format. Each cutout is cleverly blended and hidden in the forward pages, then each becomes a new item of clothing for Joseph when the page is turned. The use of collages gives the pictures texture and delightful photographs of real people, fruit and vegetables, and sewing materials are incorporated into some illustrations. Each time you read the book, some extra detail catches the eye. The illustrations enhance the simple storyline.
My students looked forward to viewing what item Joseph made next out of his overcoat. One stated, “I like the way he recycles everything.” The children were sad when he lost everything and wondered what he would do. When they discovered that Joseph wrote a book, they wondered if the story was about the author.

Review excerpts
CALDACOTT MEDAL winner for 2000
Starred review in SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL: “A book bursting at the seams with ingenuity and creative spirit.”
BOOKLIST review: “mixed media and collage illustrations are alive with warmth, humor, and humanity.”
PUBLISHER’S WEEKLY: “With its effective repetition and an abundance of visual humor, this is tailor-made for reading aloud.”

Connections
*Develop a unit on recycling and how to create new things from old ones using this book.
*Gather other books by Simms Taback. Invite children to create a story using die-cut or collage techniques. His books include: THERE WAS AN OLD LADY WHO SWALLOWED A FLY and THIS IS THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT.
*Lead a discussion on morals and introduce other books with morals:Scieszka, Jon. SQUIDS WILL BE SQUIDS, FRESH MORALS AND BEASTLY FABLES, ISBN 067088135