The Misfits

The Misfits By: James Howe

                Immediately upon reading the first page of this book, I knew I was going to enjoy it. The author of The Misfits, James Howe, has a way with words that makes you feel like you’re within the pages of his book. You can so clearly visualize every aspect of his characters that the pages play out like scenes from a movie; you can see what the character looks like, what they’re wearing, how they’re acting, and what their facial expressions are like. Being able to visualize in such a clear way adds so much to the total experience of reading a book like this, and allows you to connect to characters on a much deeper level. I also loved the different variety of personalities and characters Howe has throughout his novel; you have the goodie- two shoes, the rebel, the popular kids, and the shy ones in between.

                James Howe, I think, chose a great setting and story line for this novel. Being in middle school and trying to fit in is a subject that every person who has gone through school can relate to. I, myself, actually ran for sixth grade student council in elementary school, and reading this book really brought back memories of me campaigning and giving speeches in hopes of becoming treasurer of the elementary school student council. Like the characters of this book, I also lost and came in a close second to my competition, just like the characters of the novel, so I was really able to connect to the events of the story and put myself in the characters’ shoes as they went through the events of the story. This quality of writing allows the reader to really feel what the characters are feeling, and as a result become much more interested and invested in the story.

                The other piece of James Howe’s writing that I love so much is the type of language he uses throughout the book. This type of language is particularly evident when you read the chapters that take place while everyone is in forum and are talking to each other. It sounds like the way I used to talk when I was that age; I still do talk that way, actually. The language is funny, entertaining and smart, and is one of the reasons I as a reader kept flipping through the pages and reading the story; it is one thing to have relatable characters, a good story, and a good setting. If your story does not have relatable language, then the reader is not going to be as enthusiastic about reading through the story. However, if the language is snappy, quick, and funny, like in this instance, then you are going to have a story that keeps a reader’s interest and makes them want to learn more about the characters and the events that they are going though.

                Overall, I really enjoyed this book and I definitely think I am going to go to the library and find the sequel. The story kept me entertained and curious to find out what was in store for all of the characters. I would defiantly use this book within my classroom if I was teaching upper elementary. I think it is a book that students would really get a kick out of reading. More importantly, it shows that being different and not fitting in perfectly with the norm is not always a bad thing, which I think is a great lesson to see.

Official Publisher's page for James Howe

                

My Woodson Experience

             

   For my Jacqueline Woodson experience, I read her book, Miracle’s Boys. I thought that it was a great book that really showed a tight family bond throughout the midst of death, gangs, and other problems. Talking about Woodson’s other novels, as well as looking though some of her picture books really showed me the common themes that hold throughout her works. Her books center on African American families and their experiences while living in New York. These families in her stories face many hardships but still maintain their sense of family and love.

                In Miracle’s Boys, Woodson depicts a family of brothers who lost both their father and their mother. One brother spent a long time in jail, and was in jail when his mother passed away and blames his younger brother for not being able to save her. I know that personally I have never experienced such powerful emotions, but while reading these sections of Woodson’s novel, I found myself tearing up a few times. Woodson’s descriptions and interactions between her characters are so real that as the reader you cannot help but feel exactly what these characters are feeling as you turn every page. Authors who write like this make it very easy for the readers of their books; they create situations and characters that the readers can identify with and connect to, so when these characters are placed in these heart wrenching situations, the reader almost has no choice but to become personally involved in the story’s events and feel for the characters they are reading about. I’ve read a number of books in my time, and there are some out there that are so boring to read because it’s hard to relate to the characters and get into the sequence of events; there are very few books that make me feel different emotions while reading them, and Woodson’s novel Miracle’s Boys was one of the few books that has.

                On Woodson’s website, she says that as a child she was disciplined for lying at home. When she went to school, however, she realized that the one place it was okay to lie was on paper in her stories. She says that it was through writing stories that she became a fantastic liar. I could not agree more; her lies create realistic events and characters that keep her readers interested and wanting more. After reading a couple of Jacqueline Woodson’s books I know that I am going to be reading more of them in the future.

Two Children's Books

Click, Clack, Quackity- Quack- Doreen Cronin and Betsy Lewin

Type: Children’s Picture Book-Watercolors

Intended for children ages 6-9

Rating: 4 Stars

                Click, Clack, Quackity-Quack is an alphabet story that follows around a duck on a farm while they discover all the different things going on. On every page there is a different letter of the alphabet that starts a sentence bout something that is happening on the farm.

                I thought this book was very cute and would work really well for early readers because of its format. Every sentence starts with a letter of the alphabet, and every proceeding sentence starts with the next corresponding letter of the alphabet. This structure ensures that the reader will have some idea of how to start the sentence, because they will know what letter the sentence is supposed to start with. The pictures in this book are also really helpful for the reader to look at, because they give direct clues as to what the sentence is saying. If the reader gets tripped up on a word like watermelon, for example, they would be able to use context clues within the pictures to determine just what that word is that starts with the W.

                For use within a classroom setting, I think that this book would be really useful. I am actually thinking about using it during a lesson with my current reading buddy, because she gets really tricked up right now with multi syllabic words, and I think this book would be really helpful for her because of all the little clues that she can look for within the pictures to help her out. This is a reading trick that she needs to begin to use when she is reading her picture books, and this would be the perfect gateway book for starting to get her to use that trick. This book I could see working well with either silent sustained reading, or as a read aloud book for the entire class to participate in together.  The repetition in it could be a fun thing for the class to participate in saying together as a group, and the repetition of language and use of picture context clues would make it a good book for a student to read on their own.

Click, Clack, Moo; Cows That Type – Doreen Cronin

Illustrations by  Betsy Lewin

Type: Children’s picture book- watercolor paintings

 intended for children ages 7-10

Rating: 4 Stars

                Click, Clack, Moo’ Cows That Type is a story about a group of cows on a farm who decide that they want better living conditions and amenities if they are going to be giving the farmer their milk. They leave the farmer little notes on the barn door to let him know that there will be no milk unless they get what they want.

                I thought this book was pretty cute. I enjoyed the water color pictures, as well as the connections that I could make between this book and Click, Clack, Quackity- Quack seeing as they were done by the same author and illustrator. This book, however, was not an alphabet story where each sentence starts with a specific letter of the alphabet. This book was a typical story book starring cows as the main characters. I thought that the story line was really cute and clever in the way that it gave human characteristics to the cows and showed the cows taking control of their living situation by asking the farmer for special amenities. It is a fun twist on the typical owner/pet structure that most kids are used to seeing at home where the owner is the one in control and the pet listens to the owner.

                Using this book in a classroom setting would work well, just like the other book by this author and illustrator. There is a certain amount of repetition within the book, which would help beginning readers out with word predictions; it also has different formats of writing within it, which I really liked. For example, you have the regular text of the story which can be found on either the top or the bottom of the pages, but then you also that the little notes that the cows keep leaving for the farmer which can be found in the middle of the page. These little notes look a lot like post it notes, and they are posted in the middle of the picture of the barn door. This would be really good for students to see, so that they see all the different types of things there are out there to read, aside from classically structured children’s books. Just as with the other book by this author, I can see it working well as a silent sustained read or as a group read on a circle rug. Students could participate in saying the repetition out together, and seeing the note form of writing is going to be good for them to see and discover together.

Multicultural Children's Books

 Celebrating Ramadan- Diane-Hoyt- Goldsmith

 Photographs by Lawrence Migdale

Type: Multicultural Children’s Book- photography- intended for children ages10-13

Rating: 4 Stars

                Celebrating Ramadan is a book that explains the Muslim holiday of Ramadan, and the traditions that are associated with it.

                I thought this book was actually very interesting to look it. It is more of an informational children’s book as opposed to a typical children’s story book, but it really gets into the details on what Ramadan and the Muslim faith is all about. It told more so from the genre of an informational book, and has an authoritative tone when discussing all the different elements of Ramadan. Instead of having hand illustrated works of art throughout the book, this book uses photographs to keep with the informational tone of the book. There are tons of pictures throughout this book showing lots of the different aspects of Ramadan, from and ordered set of pictures showing how prayer is done, to pictures showing how traditional foods are made.

                Because of the massive amounts of text per page and the tricky language that is used and shown phonetically, I think this book would be good for older elementary students; that are not to say that this book wouldn’t be useful for a read aloud in the classroom for younger aged students. This book would be really useful to read aloud in parts to show the different traditions and customs of the Muslim faith along with their corresponding pictures. For older students, this book could be used in a research project or a multicultural presentation. Either way, I can see this book serving many purposes in the classroom setting. Seeing as this book is giving an unbiased look at the Muslim faith and is used to inform, I would not foresee any problems arising from using it in the classroom; I can see myself using a book like this in the future as a window book for students to look through.

To Be a Kid- Maya Ajmera and John D. Ivanko

Type: Multicultural children’s book intended for ages 7-10

Rating: 5 Stars

                To Be a Kid shows the things that children from all over the glove have in common. It has images of children from all over the world doing the same activities, and shows that even though we may come from different parts of the world, we all have something in common.

                I read this book as a mirror book, because it showed activities that I think almost every child can relate to. Along with all of these different activities, the book shows photographs of different children from all over the world taking part in the activities. At the bottom of each picture, there is a label to denote just where every child is from. There is a really light and playful tone to this book, which I really liked because it helps get its point across that even though everyone is different does not mean that we do not have things in common. I also really enjoyed the photography used in the book and how it depicts children from different parts of the world and different cultures participating in the same activity. It was really interesting to be able to look at the different labels underneath the pictures and see just where all the different children were from.

                I really think this book would be useful to use in a classroom setting during a lesson about differences and similarities. I think in elementary school it is really important to teach your students that even though not everybody looks the same or has the same type of culture, it is still possible to have things in common with these people. The simplicity of this book would work well with students in lower grade levels, but the meaning of the book will stretch between children of older grade levels.

White Wash- Ntozake Shange

Ilustrations by Michael Sporn

Type:  Multicultural children’s picture book- pastel wash with a striking effect intended for children ages 7-10

Raing: 5 Stars

                White Wash is the story of two African American children, a brother and a sister, who are attacked by two white males on their way home from school. The brother gets pretty badly beaten, and his sister gets her face spray painted white. Afterwards, the little girl is afraid to leave her house but then realizes that she has a right to go outside just like everyone else in the world.

                I really enjoyed this story, even though it is slightly controversial. I thought that this story was really interesting, especially the part where the little sister believes that she is crying white all over her face, when in fact her face is being spray painted white by the two attackers.  Her crying white all over her face seemed pretty symbolic to me meaning that there is a lot of pressure in society to be a certain way; for her, this meant that she needed to be white to fit in. The theme of this book was also very good; in the end, after the little sister has hidden out in her house for a little while, she decides that she has the right to go outside, just like everyone else. In other words, no matter the color of your skin, you still have the right to go out there and do what you want to do or be what you want to be. The illustrations within the book added to the intensity of the book and were beautiful to look at. They looked as though the artist had taken pastel paint, mixed it all around, and then scratched likes into it using a fork before drawing the lines and the characters on the page. They are just so full of color and intensity that they become a beautiful element of the story.

                I would really like to use this book in a classroom someday; however because of the subject matter and the events that unfold throughout the story, I would have to be very careful about how I would approach this book. Just to be safe I would probably send home a permission slip for parents to sign allowing their child to be present during the lesson containing the book. I think that this book would work really well in a lesson about differences and rights; it shows that people tend to treat each other differently based on the type of power group they are in- the majority or the minority, but ends by saying that no matter what group you fall in, you still have the same rights as everyone else. This book would also be great to use for critical literacy. There are elements of it that can be interpreted differently, and elements that give way to conversations on deeper topics such as race and ethnicity, gangs, power struggles, etc.  So, even though this book appears to be slightly controversial, I personally think that there are a lot of elements to it that make it really good for using in a classroom as long as it is handled and taught in an appropriate manner.

The Giver

                I can remember being assigned to read The Giver when I was in the sixth grade. However, that year I had a teacher that was not all that motivational when it came to getting her students excited to read. I don’t really remember anything about this book from reading it for the first time all those years ago. What I do know is that I appreciated it so much more the second time through than I ever thought I would have

                For me, the pages of this book just kept on turning and turning- I literally read it in only a few hours one night before class. Lowis Lowry does a really good job of keeping her audience in the dark throughout the entire book, much like the main character Jonas is. It is because of this ambiguity within the story that makes you want to read on and see if you can predict what will happen. I also liked the way that she slowly divulges information to the reader; like the fact that no one within the town can see color, and that being released is just a fancy word for dying. The whole concept that an entire town lives in their own utopian society, and has no real free will and choice for themselves is fascinating. Everyone who reads this book is going to be a human with their own experiences that shape who they are, so I think that is why people are so fascinated by this book; we all have experience s that have shaped us, and the characters throughout this book, except Jonas, really do not know what that is like. Their lives are carefully calculated by the elders of the community.

                The descriptions that the author uses in the narrative are also wonderful. Once the audience learns that no one in the village can see color, and that the flashes Jonas has been seeing are flashes of color within his world, the images that pop into the reader’s head are reminiscent of works of art. I, myself, was imagining his friend’s red hair in a sea of black white and grey. These kinds of mental pictures are a great thing to have in a picture-less children’s novel; it really does give pictures to the book from which the reader can pull from. I, personally, sometimes think that these mental pictures are even better than illustrated picture books because it allows the reader to own their representation of the story. I’m sure that the pictures in my head of the story differ greatly from others who have read The Giver.

                One other great thing about the content of this book is the basis it provides for a critical literacy discussion surrounding utopian societies and whether or not they are good. I feel that there would be great room for debate surrounding this topic as well as the issues of everyone in the society being exactly the same. One question that comes to my mind is how does every one perceive these people to look? Are they white? Are they black? Why do you envision this? Questions like these can spark a really good critical literacy discussion between students.

                Overall I thought this was a fantastic book, and even though it is on many controversial book lists, I would most defiantly like to use this book in my classroom in the future as long as the school will allow it.  This book can be studied and so many different meaningful discussions can come from it that I think a school would be crazy to ban this book from their curriculum. It keeps its audience interested, and sparks meaningful conversation between its readers; how is that a bad thing?

Author's Official Website: http://www.loislowry.com/

Five Picture Books and a Children's Novel

The Lorax-Dr. Seuss

Type: Children’s book- cartoon drawings with bold color fills

Intended for children ages 6-10

Rating: 5 Stars

                The Lorax is a story about a man named the Once-ler, who came upon a whole forest of beautiful Truffula trees. He learned about all the fun things he could make and sell from chopping down the Truffula trees and proceeded to chop down all of the Truffula trees he could find, thereby destroying the entire forest.

                I really liked the story of The Lorax; I thought that it had a lot of good messages within it concerning consumerism and the production of goods. It really is a perfect story about consumerism and how humans are destroying many of their own natural resources in order to produce building materials, and pretty things to wear. It also put an image with the idea that consumerism does take away natural resources in the way the Truffula forest is shown in the beginning of the book, after all of the Truffula tress have been chopped down; and in the middle of the book when the Once-ler is telling the story of when he himself stumbled upon the Truffula forest.

                This story could be really useful in a classroom setting. Although it is found on some controversial book lists, I do not really think that this would be a controversial book to use in a classroom. The destruction of resources, such as rainforests, has been a really big issue now for a long time. I think this book could fit in perfectly with a lesson having to do with the destruction on natural resources. It is a Dr. Seuss book, which I think will lure kids into reading it willingly, but the content of the book, will give teachers a chance to dive into some critical literacy ideas concerning the topic and overall theme of the story. Unlike some other children’s books, this story does have a clear setting, theme or moral, and clear characters.

Black and White- David Macaulay

Type: Picture book, watercolor illustrations

Intended for children ages 6-10

Rating: 5 Stars

                Black and White is a picture book that has four different concurrent stories going on at the same time. There are four boxes within the two pages, and each story has something to do with all the other ones as you read along.

                This book had a really interesting concept throughout it- on each page there were two different boxes with a picture and narration, so there were four boxes found throughout each set of two pages. Each of these boxes appeared to have a different story going on at first, but as you go along through the story, you realize that the four stories begin to become more and more interconnected. I thought that this was a really good twist to traditional storytelling. Each story cell had a specific setting pertaining to its story. They were all different settings, but then as the stories begin to reveal their relevance to each other, you realize just how these settings that appear to be random actually connect to each other in logical ways. I also thought it was interesting how there was really no indication as to what story box you should be reading first, second, third, or fourth. If you go by normal book reading technique, you should be reading left to right, top to bottom. But since there were only two cells on each page should you read them top to bottom and then move on to the next page and read top to bottom?

                I think this would be a very good book to use in the classroom. There are many elements of this book that challenge our conventions of reading, even more so for young children who are just beginning to read or becoming more confident readers. I think it would be a really good exercise to let each child read the story in the way that they see fit- left to right, top to bottom, etc, and then later see just how each of the students read the book and hear what their resulting conclusions were. This is a book that lets you decide how you want to read it. You can view it as four individual stories going on at once, or you can see it as four individual stories that eventually become interconnected in their events and characters. Either way, each student is going to have their own thoughts and experience from reading the book, and I think a really interesting classroom experience can be taken from it.

Flotsam- David Weisner

Type: Wordless picture book- watercolors

Intended for children ages 4-10

Rating: 5 Stars

                Flotsam is the story of a young boy who is sitting on the beach one day and comes upon an underwater camera that has washed ashore. Inside it he finds film and gets it developed.

                I really thought that this was a very clever children’s book. Even though it is a wordless picture book, there is still a story that you can follow along with, as well as a theme, setting, and characters. The illustrations of this book are amazing to look at. Because there are no words in the book, the illustrations have to be extra detailed and precise to assure that the audience is going to be able to follow along with what is happening in the story. Every page has a picture that I could spend ten minutes looking at; and within that time, I really do not think that I would have even begun to see all of the different details that David Weisner has included. It is this attention to detail that makes this book truly great and deserving of the Caldecott Medal.

                I would be very enthusiastic about using this book in my classroom. There are so many different types of activities that you could come up with using this type of book. Because there are no words throughout the entirety of the book, students will be able to interpret it in a variety of ways. It could spark a very good class discussion about what students think is going on within each different page. I also think that it would be interesting to use this book in a writing activity and have each student write out what they think is going on throughout the entire book, and then go back and look through all of the different ideas that students can interpret from the pictures. Even though there is a very strong plot like throughout the story, because it is a wordless book there is going to be some room for interpretation, which is what I think makes this book so great.

Snowflake Bentley- Jacqueline Briggs Martin, Illustrated by Mary Azarian

Picture book- etchings

Intended for children 7-11

Rating: 5 Stars

                Snowflake Bentley is the story of Wilson Bentley and how he came to love the beauty of snowflakes. His parents bought him a microscope camera when he was young and he spent the rest of his life photographing snowflakes and nature and writing about them.

                This book was really interesting in the way that it is part biographical fiction and part biographical nonfiction. I liked how there were really two parts to the story- the primary narration that tells the story of Snowflake Bentley and how he came to love studying snowflakes , but then there are also side panels that appear every few pages that tell the historical biographical information on Wilson Bentley, the story’s main character. I really liked that feature because it gives the reader more information on the main character of the story; it lets you get to know his life on a deeper level. I also particularly liked how the illustrator of the story used sort of the same method that Snowflake Bentley used when he would hike his snowflake pictures- etching. It gives the book itself a deeper connection to its main character through its exhibition of the same technique.

                This would be a really good book to use in the classroom if you were doing a lesson on snowflakes or a lesson on biographies. I think using this book as a model would work really well to show students that biographies can take shape in many different forms. I remember when I was in elementary school, I had to do a biography on a famous person that I liked, and I remember it being incredibly boring to write a paper retelling the facts that I had learned out of another book. Giving kids the opportunity to turn a biography into something creative like this would be a really good project. I, personally would have been much more enthusiastic about writing a biography if I would have been able to put my own little fictitious twist to it.

Jumanji- Chris Van Allsburg

Picture book- realism black and white

Intended for children ages 7-11

Rating: 5 Stars

                Jumanji is the story of siblings who come across a mysterious board game one day and decide to play. When they start playing, the game creates jungle situations that come to life- a stampede, quicksand, bats flying around etc. Soon, the children realize that they have to finish the game or deal with the new reality they have created.

                Beginning Jumanji, I remembered that I had already read Chris Van Allsburg’s other adventure game book, Zathura.  I really enjoyed reading Zathura, and the same held for Jumanji. The fantastical situations presented, I feel, are fun for any age. The illustrations of the book really put you in the moment and help you imagine what it must have been like for the kids to, say, outrun a stampede of Elephants. I enjoyed the fantastical nature of the story as well; it’s just fun to imagine what you would do being put in that kind of situations. I still don’t know what I would do.

                I think this book could be used in a classroom really well for a group reading book or an SSR book. I feel it is the type of book that a teacher could read out loud and keep her class interested the whole time because of its adventure aspect and action sequences. This book would also be really good to use in a fiction unit; if you were working towards having students crate their own fiction pieces for publishing, this would be a really good book to use for those students who are more inclined towards an adventure type story. This book is so incredibly over the top that I think it’s a good one to show students and let them know that they sky is the limit when it comes to what you can write about.

Ella Enchanted- Gail Carson Levine
Type: Children’s novel

Intended for children ages 9-13

                Ella Enchanted is the story of a girl named Ella who has had a terrible cure put on her since she was a baby- the curse to obey whatever she is told. This curse has dominated her life for as long as she can remember; but when the prince and Ella fall in love, she has to try to break the curse, before it’s too late.

                I remember reading this novel as part of a circle read in the fourth grade. However, in the fourth grade I did not enjoy it whatsoever because of the lack of enthusiasm my teacher had in regards to reading it to the class. After re- reading it, if you will, I realized just how wonderful this book really is. There is a level of humor in the tone of the narrative that keeps the reader interested and wanting more. There is action, adventure, and a love story to keep the readers entertained; there really is something for everyone in this novel. The author is able to describe the settings in such detail that you feel as though you are with these characters and they embark on their adventures; there is also a very nice moral or theme to the story, which I believe is to think for yourself and not be influenced by the words of others. Because throughout the whole story, poor Ella has to obey the commands of what anyone tells her, but by the end she breaks the curse by sticking up for what she believes in and creating her own path.

                I think this book would work really well within the classroom as a silent sustained read or as a round circle read. This is a novel that I think students would have motivation to read on their own, for a book report, etc.  There is the element of magic within this book, but I do not think it is on any level that parents would have a problem with the class being exposed to the book. Mainly there are just mythical fairy tale creatures within the novel and it is not on an y controversial book list that I am aware of. So, overall I think it is a really good boo to use with reluctant readers because it has all different kinds of story elements in it- adventure, romance, magic, as well as a good moral and theme that the students can take from reading it.

               

               

               

The Higher Power of Lucky

               

                 Before starting The Higher Power of Lucky, I was not sure how much I was actually going to like the book considering it has been found controversial by many people. However, upon finishing this book, my mind was forever changed on the matter of controversial books.

                Lucky is a book that is considered to be controversial simply because of the presence of one word; scrotum. The book in its whole is about so much more than this one word. Unfortunately to some, this one word overshadowed the entire book.

                Personally, I thought this book was great. It touched on many topics that I think students can benefit from reading about. Lucky worries about being abandoned by her dad’s ex-wife and only real family member, Brigitte. She is also dealing with the feelings of being annoyed by her friends all while plotting to run away from Brigitte and attempts to find her higher power. These are all issues that any child, and adult for that matter, can relate to. I think that is one reason why Lucky is such a powerful read.

                I loved how each character in this book was such a definite individual and had their own characteristics and identities that were specific to them. Miles is a little bit immature, and always wants Lucky to read Are You My Mother  to him, Lincoln loves to tie knots and always drops the telephone because he is busy fidgeting to finish his latest knot creation, Brigitte misses France a lot and cries sometimes, but sticks around and cares for Lucky with a smile on her face. Lucky is in incredibly curious young girl who wants to explore the world and find as many different bug specimens as is humanly possible. Lucky also wants to feel secure in her home and not have to worry about Brigitte running away back to France someday. All of the characters have such depth and complexities about them that it is impossible to describe them fully in this blog. It’s these complexities that make the story so relatable and interesting to read. You can have a good story, but if the characters aren’t there to back it up and make it relatable, then it is a waste of a story.

                The use of symbols within this story is also very interesting to look at. So many physical things in this story represent something besides themselves. Brigitte’s Parsley grinder, in a way, represents everything about home that she misses and wants back. Brigitte’s red dress is both a symbol of the day that she arrived in Hard Pan, but for Lucky it represents maturity and being a grown up. Lincoln’s knot that he gives Lucky before she runs away can be seen as a token of his love and friendship for her. Miles’ Dr. Seuss book is a symbol of his youth and immaturity, and HMS Beagle can be looked at as a symbol of loyalty and friendship in the way that he is always at the bus stop waiting for Lucky when she gets home from school, even if school gets out early for the day.

                The setting of this story, Hard Pan, is masterfully described by the author so much so that the reader can actually picture and imagine themselves there with clarity. I know that I could imagine myself in that sandy desert far away from city life with nothing around but sand. This description of the setting really helps the reader to understand and feel the different events that happen later in the story.

                Overall, I thought this was a great story about trust, friendship, and finding out that you don’t have to share blood to be family. It is a great story with so many fantastic elements in it that it would be a shame for teachers to be fearful about teaching this book in their class simply because of the use of one single little word.

Three Children's Books

Horton Hears a Who!-Dr. Seuss

Type: Picture book, cartoon drawings with color splashes

Intended for children ages 6-10

                Horton Hears a Who! Is a story about an elephant named Horton who comes across a tiny clover blowing in the wind. He hears voices on the clover screaming for help, so he plucks the clover out of the air and discovers that the people of Whoville live on it. Even though nobody believes Horton, he decides to stick up for the people of Whoville, because a person’s a person, no matter how small.

                I’ve loved this book for a long time; I used to read it in school all the time as a child for silent sustained reading. I think that this story has a really good theme and moral that people come in all different shapes and sizes, and that being a loyal friend is not always the easiest thing to do. I love how the simplicity of the colors used in this book really draws you in towards the important elements- Horton is grey, the Clover is coral, etc. This use of color sort of devalues the setting of the story, because it is not the focus that the author is trying to draw your attention towards. The author is trying to draw your attention to the key players in the story and the key elements, such as the clover.

                This book would fit really well within a classroom and could be used in a multitude of ways. You could use this book as an example of exemplary rhyme scheme or as a moral lesson on the importance of loyalty and friendship when it is being tested. You could even use this book for its pictures and dissect why certain colors were used in certain pictures, and why not one entire page of this book is filled in with color completely. This book really is a multi use book that can be used and adapted to fit within different lessons.

Probuditi- Chris Van Allsburg

Type: Picture Book- sepia artwork

Intended for children ages 6-10

                Probuditi is the story of a little boy who gets to go see a magician and hypnotist on his birthday. When he gets home he decides to hypnotize his little sister. He successfully makes her think she is a dog, but what is going to happen when his mother gets home and has a dog as a daughter?

                I liked this book, but it was definitely not one of my favorite Chris Van Allsburg books. It was not a bad book, but I thought the story was a little bit dull. I did like the ending however. Throughout the whole book you think that his sister was hypnotized and actually believed that she was a dog. However, at the end of the book you come to find out, on the last page nonetheless, that his sister was in fact faking it the entire time.

                I would not have any problems with using this book in the classroom; however I think that this book would be better served as an SSR book for students to read on their own. I could see this book being used in the classroom as an example of an unexpected or twist ending, but that’s about it.  It was not a bad book, it just did not hold my interest as I read it.

My Friend Rabbit- Eric Rohmann

Type: Picture book- hand colored relief prints

Intended for children ages 5-9

                My Friend Rabbit is a really cute book about a little rabbit and his mouse friend. Rabbit always gets into mischief- he tries to fly mouse in a plane but gets it stuck in a tree. However, no matter how much trouble rabbit gets himself into, mouse is there to help him.

                This book was a really adorable story about friendship and always being there for one another. The book consisted of mainly pictures and had very few words, so it’s a really good book to use with younger children. The pictures were also very vibrant and full of color and detail. Even though the book itself did not have much text to it, the detail in the illustrations gave all of the characters a definite personality. Rabbit is a curious little animal who likes to play and as a result sometimes gets himself into a little bit of trouble. Mouse is a more sensible character who also likes to play, but knows how to look out for trouble and avoid it.

 I can defiantly see using this picture book in a classroom setting for both a silent read, and also as a book teaching a lesson about loyalty and friendship- some of the book’s hidden messages.

               

               

Controversial Children's Books

My Two Uncles- Judith Vigna

Type: Picture Book- line drawings and watercolors

Intended for children ages 5-11

                My Two Uncles, is a children’s picture book that deals with the controversial issue of homosexuality. It has to do with a little girl who has two uncles; her father’s biological brother, Ned, and his friend Phil.  Ned’s father does not approve of the way he and Phil live their lives, and it all comes to be seen when Ned is invited to his parent’s wedding anniversary, but refuses to go because he cannot take Phil to the party.

                I honestly really liked this book. I thought the controversial issue was handled in an appropriate manner that is relevant to something that could happen in the real world. The child in this book is kind of caught in the middle of the argument between the grandfather and the uncle and wonders if she too did something to cause the uproar. I think this point in the book is really relatable for children who have been caught in the middle of this type of argument, but I also think that it makes the story easy for its readers to relate too. The story doesn’t just describe what it means to be gay or a homosexual to its audience, but it actually describes a situation that these homosexual characters and their family members are going through.  The book also had a good lesson at the end that I think can benefit all students who read this book- something along the lines of being different is okay, which is applicable to other topics besides homosexuality. Also, I felt that the characters and the setting within the book were very real and identifiable along with the rest of the story. The characters seemed like family members that any one person could have in their family.

                I defiantly think that this book could be used in a classroom environment, however seeing as it is a controversial book with a touchy subject matter, I would have to have a very precise lesson plan and reasoning for using this book within the classroom. I would also probably send home a letter or include it in a book list at the beginning of the year so that parents are aware and can voice their objections before work is started with the book because even though it is more widely accepted, many people still have problems surrounding those who are homosexual.

In The Night Kitchen- Maurice Sendak

Type: Picture book- abstract watercolor

Intended for children ages 5-10

                This book is about a little boy who falls into the crazy world of the night kitchen. He is baked into a cake, turns bread into an airplane and falls into a giant bottle of milk while trying to retrieve a cup for the chefs. It’s a very whimsical abstract book that allows your imagination to run wild along with the main character of the book.

                I thought it was kind of silly that this book is considered to be controversial. The reason it makes it onto controversial book lists is because the little boy in the book falls through the world naked, and is naked in other parts of the book, like when he falls into the jar of milk.  There was no plot line or lesson within this book that I would consider to be controversial; it is simply about a boy’s dream of falling into the night kitchen and doing crazy things like making an airplane out of break and then proceeding to fly around in it.  I think the controversy behind the naked boy hast mostly to do with the parents saying something about it. I don’t think that children reading this book are going to really mind it. The nudity is handled in a very low key kind of way, it is not included in the book for the shock value, and it is in the book as part of the story line; the boy fell out of his clothes and into the night kitchen.

                I think an abstract book like this could come with many benefits if it is used in the classroom setting. It is one of those books that you need to think about after reading it. There is no clear point or reason to the story line of the book. A book like this could be a great device to use to get students engaged and thinking about the purpose of the text. I do not think any kind of notice would be necessary in order to use this book in the classroom. I would be comfortable simply using it in class and then dealing with any complaints about it afterwards.

Fairy Tales

The Frog Prince Continued…- Jon Scieszka/illustrated by Steve Johnson  

Type: Picture Book- Cartoon Stenciling

Intended for children ages 5-10

                The Frog Prince Continued… is a fairy tale parody about what happened after happily ever after for the Frog Prince and his princess. They have an unhappy marriage, and the Frog Prince leaves his home to try and find a witch to turn him back into a frog.

                I really enjoyed reading this book; just like Scieszka does with The True Story of the Three Little Pigs, he has masterfully taken a classic children’s story and put his own twist on it. Using characters that have already been created by other authors, Scieszka takes these characters and puts them in his own world and interpretation of their setting and story. It is a cute story about love and family that has a good moral at the end- although people who love each other sometimes fight; it does not mean they ever stop loving each other.

                I think this story would work really well in the classroom, and I would not have any problem using this book within that setting. Like I said with The True Story of the Three Little Pigs, a parody story like this could work really well with a genre study highlighting both different genres as well as parodies of said genres. This book also has a very sweet moral at the end that you could have your students talk about/ interpret in their own way

Cinderella- Susan Jeffers

Type: Picture Book- Watercolor illustrations

Intended for children ages 5-10

                Cinderella, by Susan Jeffers, is a pretty classic telling of the Cinderella fairy tale. Cinderella’s father remarries, and her stepmother makes her work in the house. Cinderella’s fairy godmother helps her go to the ball and she loses her slipper. The prince eventually finds out that her foot fits the slipper, and marries her. In the end of this version, Cinderella gives her two stepsisters a home in the court where they live and marry two lords.

                I liked this version; it was very Disney-esque and had beautiful watercolor illustrations. It contained the mystical elements and magic that children in this book’s age range love reading about. It is told in the third person omniscient point of view, and its characters have many of the same characteristics of the Cinderella stories we are used to hearing. Except, in this version, Cinderella’s step sisters are not all that ‘evil’ compared to her stepmother.  There were not any controversial elements that I found in this book, however I think it would work very well within a critical literacy class discussion. Every single character in this book is either a prince or a princess of noble blood, and they are all white. Even in the scenes of the book where there are masses of people, the ball for example, there are only white individuals featured. A discussion on power and social class could be one resulting lesson to partake in after reading this book, and multiple other fairy tales for that matter.  Considering children mainly in the age range of five to ten years show the most interest in fairy tales, I could see this book as being a great stepping stone to get kids started in critical literacy discussions that is going to keep their interest and get them talking.

               

Literary Elements

                Having knowledge about different literary elements is essential for a reader to have. Readers with this knowledge are able to understand the depths and complexities of different stories. Without these elements, it is impossible for a story to exist.

            Characters are the first piece of the complicated pieces of literature. They are what bring the story to life, as well as what makes the story progress and move. They can be static and dynamic, and learn lessons as the story moves along. Without characters, it would be very difficult for a story to have a moral or lesson to be learned by the readers.

            Characters can also give the story a point of view, which is another crucial literary element. A story can be told from the perspective of one of its characters, a first person narrative. With this perspective, the audience only knows as much as the character in the story and is subjected to the story’s events with a character’s prejudices, morals, and beliefs attached to them. A story can also come from a third person view, with an all knowing narrator that can let the audience in on the character’s innermost thoughts and feelings, as well as tell the audience about events the characters in the story do not yet know about. Know the point of view that the story is being told from is crucial for the reader- it tells them a lot about how the story is being presented and will prompt them to make decisions on what to believe.

            Time, when used in storytelling, is a powerful tool. It can speed up a character’s development, and it can draw out important actions taking place for effect. Time also affects the characters, and can give back story and depth to them, as is shown commonly in flashbacks. Time can also instill feelings in the reader, such as suspense. For example, when an author draws out the most climatic scene within the story; it makes that section of the text a real page turner.

            Knowing the place in which a story takes place means a lot more than just the geographical location, it can also mean the period a story takes place in as well as make a story believable. The place in which the characters of a story interact can tell the reader a lot about the characters that they might not be finding out through just their interaction. Simply put, the place in which a character interacts with within a story can give the readers ideas as to what their motives, morals, and values are without even knowing about the characters.

            Plot is a very obvious literary element that readers need to know in order to make sense of a story. It is the sequence of events that the story’s characters experience, causing then to go through dynamic changes. Without a plot there is no story. A book would just contain a bunch of characters in various places doing nothing.

            Mood, as I am going to describe it, is the result of all of the literary elements put together. The mood of a story is the feeling that it imposes on the reader. A story’s plot, characters, setting, etc, all contributes to the mood of a story. Those elements stimulate the imagination and put an image in the reader’s head. For a reader to understand the mood of a story means that the reader understands the way the language interacts with the setting and characters and creates a feeling for the reader to feel and tie in with the events taking place.

Symbols are incredibly important for readers to understand while reading stories. Symbols can help to develop the story’s tension and resolution, as well as put the reader in touch with a meaning that is not directly stated within the text. Things like color are commonly used as symbols, and can tell a reader a lot about a character. For example, a character wearing white may be interpreted as being a pure character, but a character wearing red may be interpreted as a lustful character with bad intentions. If a reader can tap into these different kinds of hidden meanings, they will be able to take away much more from the story and learn more about its characters and their motives.

            Last but not least, theme is the culmination of all these different literary elements. It pulls from the plot, characters, setting, symbols, etc. The theme of a story is the main topic of story and what the author has to say about it. If a reader does not know how to use all the literary elements put together, they will not be able to fully understand the true meaning and theme of the story; which, when you really think about it, is the entire point of reading a book.

Picture Book Blog #2

Bubble Bath Pirates- Jarrett J. Krosoczka

Type: Picture book- watercolor

Rating: 3 Stars, intended for young children ages 4-7

                This book is about two young boys and their mother pretending to be pirates during bath time. The mother is trying to get her rowdy pirates to take a bath, while using pirate like language. For example, to “ready the cannons” and “fire” is the terminology they use for unplugging the drain and hearing the water rush down.

                I checked out this book because I remember seeing it around my school’s library when I was younger. I think the way the author uses pirate lingo within the story is a very clever use of words. Also, the watercolor cartoon drawings are very bright and colorful and add a certain amount of fun to reading the story.

                Although I enjoyed this book for the entertainment value it has, I do not think that there is really an area of curriculum in the classroom that this book would fit into, except silent sustained reading or the writing workshop.  This book could be a good tool to use within a writing workshop to show students that writing can come from any subject area or experience that an author wants to pull from, even something as simple as taking a bath. So, even though I enjoyed the book, I gave it a 3 star rating because of its lack of curriculum connection in the classroom

Pssst!- Adam Rex

Type: Picture book

Rating: 4 Stars

Intended for elementary students ages 6-10

                This picture book is about a little girl’s adventure to the zoo. All of the animals keep saying, “Pssst! Come here!”, and when she does they tell her things that they want her to go get for them. For example, the pigs want some trash cans; the penguins want paint, etc. And you do not find out why until the end of the book

                I personally thought this book was really clever. It gives a very unique voice to all of the individual different animals and personifies them all in different ways.  Also, the end of the story is a complete surprise to the reader, because nothing happening within the bulk of the story seems to have any real plot to it, but when you get to the very last page of the book, everything that has happened in the story comes together and gives the reader a moment of clarity.

                I think a book like this would work really well in the classroom as either a reading aloud book, or as an example of personification and twist endings. The antics of the animals throughout the book would keep a student’s attention, and asking the class questions about why they think the animals want these specific objects would make for good class discussion while the book is being read as well as bring forward good predictions about what is going to happen at the end of the book.

                I have not used this book in a lesson, but I would have no worries about doing so. It is a good example of various literary elements such as personification and suspense. I think this book could spark a very good discussion in a classroom, as well as keep the class’ interest. It also provides ample opportunity to get the students excited about reading books- the variety of different animals can open up the way for using multiple voices that can add to the story and make it even more enjoyable for the student, according to Mem Fox.

Hattie Hippo- Christine Loomis, Illustrations by Robert Necbeckar

Type: Picture Book with watercolor paintings

Rating: 5 stars

Intended for children ages 5-10

This is a comical story about a young hippo named Hattie. She likes doing many different things, but is rather clumsy. She misses getting caught by her dance partner, she eats all of the food for her guests at a tea party, and she makes all the water fly of the pool when she does a cannonball.

As a child, I always loved Hattie the Hippo books, mainly because of the character of Hattie. She is an imperfect character who becomes lovable because of her flaws- just like everyone, and she is also good at something, just like everyone. Hattie always showed me that it was okay to not be perfect all the time at everything. I also really enjoy the watercolor pictures of this book- they really add to the character of Hattie, and make you laugh as they show her mistakes in doing different activities.

I think this book would be really good to use in the classroom as a kind of ‘what’s the moral of the story’ lesson. Hattie is great for teaching a moral lesson, because even though she is imperfect, the kids will still love the character. I think this would work really well in a read-aloud format- the students would be occupied by the funny and colorful watercolors in the picture book, as well as Hattie the Hippo’s antics- ballet class, swimming, etc. I wouldn’t have any problems using this book in a classroom setting; there are no controversial elements to it, and reading this book aloud to a class is going to be enjoyable for both boys and girls.

Engelbert Sneem & His Dream Vacuum Machine- Daniel Postgate

Type: Watercolor Poem/Picture Book

Rating: 5 Stars

Intended for children ages 5-10

                Engelbert Sneem is a watercolor picture book that has a rhyme scheme to it. It is about an evil man named Engelbert Sneem who steals children’s dreams with his vacuum, and puts them away in jars for only himself to enjoy and no one else. One night, he accidentally steals a nightmare with his vacuum, and when he looks at what he has caught he finds out that it was a nightmare about him. He is so broken down by this that he gives everyone’s dreams back to them and instead steals nightmares from children so they’ll never have to be scared again.

                I loved this book! The rhyme scheme, the illustrations, and the main character mad this book so much fun to read. The rhyme scheme kept the flow and pace of the book going, and the illustrations were very interesting to see, because they have an eerie quality about them, but they are still not threatening. It’s almost as though you can see throughout the illustrations that Engelbert is a bad guy in the beginning, but still sense that he has some redeeming qualities about him that will come to play later in the book.

                While I have not used this book in a classroom setting yet, I definitely hope to in the future. I think it is a really fun book that would get students excited about using poetry as much as Dr. Seuss books would. It also masterfully uses made up words to add comedy to the story while you read it. I think a book like this would really get a class excited about reading and writing, and also provide a challenge for them in sounding out and deciphering all of the made up words within the text.

One Scary Night- Antoine Guillappe

Type: Wordless picture book in only black and white

Rating: 4 Stars

Intended for children ages 5-12

                This book is a wordless picture book that is illustrated only in black and white. It follows a young boy through the woods on his way home one night. While the focus is on the boy, in every page you can see a wolf like creature following him and hiding behind trees, bushes, etc. In every frame, he gets close and closer to the little boy, until the very end of the book when the wolf jumps on top of the boy. You think the boy has been attacked, until you turn the page and see that the boy is smiling and playing with the wolf.

                I thought this book was really clever through its use of only pictures. Even though there were no words in this book, the pictures were enough to instill a sense of urgency and fear upon me, as well as keep me guessing about what was going to happen.  Even though the illustrations were very basic, they still added a lot to the story.

                I, personally, think that this picture book could be used in a big variety of grades. Since many young children start out writing and conveying meaning through pictures, a book like this would be very good for them to use. Then, as you move up through the grades, you can focus on the different elements that the story has, such as plot, suspense, characters, climax, declination, etc. Even though it is a picture book, it can be used in virtually every elementary grade, which I think is a really good aspect of t his book.

                I have not used this book with students, but I would really like to. I actually think I am going to use t his book in the upcoming weeks with my reading buddy for my Block A class. She really does not like reading, and because of that is reluctant to do activities with any of the books I bring in. I’m really curious as to how she’ll respond to a wordless book.

Allen Say

Allen Say

            Allen Say is a Japanese immigrant who was born in Yokohama, Japan in 1937. His mother was a Japanese- American woman from Oakland, California, and his father was a Japanese native.  Say’s parents separated when he was eight years old, and he went to live with his father while his sister went to live with his mother. At age twelve, Say moved again and went to Tokyo to live with his grandmother. Since they did not have a great relationship, he negotiated a deal with her to live in an apartment by himself.

            While going to the Aoyama Gakuin School in Tokyo, he became an apprentice to Noro Shinpel, a cartoon artist. This was the beginning of his training in art, and is a very important element of his autobiography, The Ink- Keeper’s Apprentice. When Say was sixteen, he decided to move to America due to the lack of opportunities in post-war Japan. So, he left and moved to California with no knowledge of English to find out that his father had already enrolled him in a military academy. He was the only non-white student attending the school, and was later expelled for smoking cigarettes on school property. With nowhere else to go, he enrolled himself at Citrus Union High School in Azusa, California and pursued art. He attended weekend programs at the Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles, as well as the Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles. After graduation, Say moved back to Japan vowing never to return to America. However, after a year he decided to move back to American where he worked as an apprentice to a sign painter. He quickly became bored and decided to quit. He got married and moved up north in California and started study as an architect at the University of California at Berkeley. During his study, there was a mistake with his army deferment, and he was drafted into the army. He then spent two years in Germany, but continued to write and draw and take pictures. His work caught some attention from his commanding officers, and Say’s photography was published in the newspaper, Stars and Stripes.

            When he returned from his stint in the army, Say began to work as a commercial photographer. Many art directors and designers were impressed with the way he could sketch out a scene and ideas before committing them to film. It was these individuals who convinced him to illustrate images for books. His first book was Dr. Smith’s Safari in 1972. Say continued to write and illustrate books for the next ten years. The only novel he has ever written was his autobiography, The Ink-Keeper’s Apprentice.

            In 1988, an editor at Houghton Mifflin Company came to Say with a story written by Dianne Snyder, entitled The Boy of the Three- Year Nap. It was an old Japanese folktale, and won the Caldecott Honor Award and the Boston Globe- Horn Award. After winning these awards, Say stopped photography all together and began writing and illustrating children’s books.

            In 2000, the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles held a retrospective on Say’s work in Children’s Literature. Original drawings and paintings were featured along with original sketchbooks.

            I think Allen Say’s books are really interesting too both read and look at. His stories have so many layers of meaning that they can be taken different ways. You can read them for their topical value or dive deeper and read them in a deeper more meaningful way. Personally, I think it is Allen Say’s illustrations that make his books so powerful to read. His realistic way of sketching and painting gives depth and meaning to the illustrations, which in turn give the narration a deeper, more powerful meaning. Like I previously mentioned, Allen Say has won the Caldecott Honor as well as the Boston Globe- Horn Award for his work. Allen Say is a very strong author who creates valuable works that can be appreciated by people of all ages and backgrounds. The only thing is that some of the content matter in his books would be difficult to use in lower elementary grade classrooms. Even I had some difficulties understanding the full depth of his books on the first read through. I had to go back and re read and really pay attention to what he was saying in order to fully understand.

Titles by Allen Say:

Music for Alice (2004)

Home of the Brave (2002)

Grandfather's Journey (1993)

The Sign Painter (2000)

Tea with Milk (1999)

Allison (1997)

Under the Cherry Blossom Tree (1997)

Emma's Rug (1996)

Stranger in the Mirror (1995)

The Ink-Keeper's Apprentice (1994)

Tree of Cranes (1991)

El Chino (1990)

The Lost Lake (1989)

The Boy of the Three-Year Nap (1988)—Illustrations

A River Dream (1988)

How My Parents Learned to Eat (1984)—Illustrations

The Bicycle Man (1982) 

Bibliography:

"About Allen Say." Houghton Mifflin Harcourt - Distinguished Book Publishing since 1832. Web. 13 Sept. 2010. <http://www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com/authors/allensay/author.shtml>.

 

"Allen Say." Something About the Autor. Ed. Donna Olendorf. Vol. 69. Detroit: Gale Research, 1992.       181-83. Print.

 

Education Place®. Web. 14 Sept. 2010. <http://www.eduplace.com/kids/tnc/mtai/say.html>.

"The Gentle Art of Allen Say." USA Today Nov. 2000. Academic Search Elite. Web. 9 Sept. 2010.