Freckleface Strawberry Written by: Julianne Moore Illustrated by: LeUyen Pham
Being a seven year old girl with freckles and red hair is no easy thing according to Freckleface Strawberry who despises her freckles. Freckleface Strawberry who can do everything a seven year girl can do and sometimes even more gets made fun of by her friends for having her freckles which no one else in her family does except for her little baby brother. In the abundance of all these remarks being made about her freckles she decided to try to get rid of them. After having tried every possible thing from washing them away to covering them up with markers she decided to just make them disappear by wearing a face mask everywhere she went. In the end she hears her friends talking amongst themselves, worried where their red haired, freckled face friend had gone and how the new girl with the face mask is weird! At the end of this cute story you see Freckleface Strawberry happy to have all her friends back even if she did have a million freckles. They even show a picture of her when she grows up still with all her freckles and her family with her husband and two children; freckle-less.
This is a humorous book that will probably hit home to a lot of children whom have something they wish they could change about themselves. The strengths of this book are defiantly the theme and plot that work hand and hand to deliver a message that you are fine the way you are. The story is told from third person and shows an outsider looking in on Freckleface Strawberry seeing that everything she is seeing badly in herself actually makes her unique and special. This could help children realize that they are special and unique in their own way too. The pictures in this story play a huge role; there are huge pictures, multiple pictures, different sized pictures, and changing position pictures throughout this book. They stuck to the cartoon element and played on red, orange, yellow, and pink. This story could be used in younger grades as a read aloud and then as a beginning reader book in 1st and 2nd grades. Regardless, I think every child should read this book; make it not only a recommended but a required reading material somewhere throughout your lesson plans to engage children into looking at themselves and finding something wonderful about them. This could also be used in the 7th, 10th, and even college grade educational science classes as an introductory book to the heredity unit. They could figure out how Freckleface Strawberry got red hair and freckles when the rest of her family didn’t and then how her children didn’t get her freckles either. It could be a fun way to introduce a sometimes not so fun subject.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
clcik clack moo cows can type
Click, Clack, Moo Cows That Type Written by: Doreen Cronin Illustrated by: Betsy Lewin
If there is one thing that Farmer Brown is sure of, is that his farm will run smoothly with yummy milk and delicious eggs but when the cows get hold of an old typewriter things so haywire. The story takes place on Farmer Brown’s farm on sunny afternoons where Farmer Brown hears a strange noise coming from his barn; “Click, Clack, Moo”. It turns out that the cows are not happy with their living situations and demand through typed notes that they want electric blankets for the cold summer nights. They say that they will give no milk until they get them! Then the hens unite with the cows and say they want electric blankets too or else no eggs for Farmer Brown. Farmer Brown ends up giving in and making a deal to give electric blankets for the type writer; having the ducks be the mutual party, the ducks go to get the type writer for the farmer. The farmer gets his milk and eggs but no type writer. Now the ducks were leaving notes telling the farmer they’d like a diving board for the boring pond. The last page shows a duck diving off a diving board.
This book was hilarious and I think children would find this to be one of their favorites declaring that they want it read over and over again. The plot is quite a funny one with ironic features such as the duck getting a diving board in the end even though they were supposed to be a mutual party and the farmer getting the tables turned to where he was no longer in charge; it was the cows, hens, and ducks in charge now! The plot keeps the reader plugged into what’s going to happen next with humor and suspense to how the farmer will go about solving this problem. Every page has a unique touch with water colored, cartoon like pictures that establish a mood. An example of this is in a picture when the cows and hens stand with curious smiles and in the background is Farmer Brown mad as can be. I would use this book to read aloud to younger children or as a beginning reader book to kindergarten children. You could use this book for the repeating musical aspect of “Click, clack, moo” and have children read those lines as a group aloud as a fun way to make this book a participation book. They can also problem solve and see what they would do if they were Farmer Brown’s shoes.
If there is one thing that Farmer Brown is sure of, is that his farm will run smoothly with yummy milk and delicious eggs but when the cows get hold of an old typewriter things so haywire. The story takes place on Farmer Brown’s farm on sunny afternoons where Farmer Brown hears a strange noise coming from his barn; “Click, Clack, Moo”. It turns out that the cows are not happy with their living situations and demand through typed notes that they want electric blankets for the cold summer nights. They say that they will give no milk until they get them! Then the hens unite with the cows and say they want electric blankets too or else no eggs for Farmer Brown. Farmer Brown ends up giving in and making a deal to give electric blankets for the type writer; having the ducks be the mutual party, the ducks go to get the type writer for the farmer. The farmer gets his milk and eggs but no type writer. Now the ducks were leaving notes telling the farmer they’d like a diving board for the boring pond. The last page shows a duck diving off a diving board.
This book was hilarious and I think children would find this to be one of their favorites declaring that they want it read over and over again. The plot is quite a funny one with ironic features such as the duck getting a diving board in the end even though they were supposed to be a mutual party and the farmer getting the tables turned to where he was no longer in charge; it was the cows, hens, and ducks in charge now! The plot keeps the reader plugged into what’s going to happen next with humor and suspense to how the farmer will go about solving this problem. Every page has a unique touch with water colored, cartoon like pictures that establish a mood. An example of this is in a picture when the cows and hens stand with curious smiles and in the background is Farmer Brown mad as can be. I would use this book to read aloud to younger children or as a beginning reader book to kindergarten children. You could use this book for the repeating musical aspect of “Click, clack, moo” and have children read those lines as a group aloud as a fun way to make this book a participation book. They can also problem solve and see what they would do if they were Farmer Brown’s shoes.
The giving tree
The Giving Tree Written by: Shel Silverstein
This gifted book shows the relationship between a tree and a little boy who through the years turns to a man right before the trees very branches. When the boy is young he goes to the tree everyday to swing from her branches, collect her leaves, and eat her apples but as he gets into adolescence he starts to see the tree less and less; only visiting when he needed the tree’s apples to sell in the city for money. The boy didn’t come back until he was a man and then he came to get branches so that he could build a house. The tree was of course, happy to help because she loved him. Seasons passed and he didn’t come around for a long time again. When he came back he was old and really wanted a boat so the tree gave her truck so he could build a boat and sail away. Finally the tree was just stump when the really old man came back but that all the old man needed was a place to sit and the tree was very happy to give him that!
As you may know this is a censored book because of something that I think could very well be true but shouldn’t be censored for. It’s censored because the tree is supposed to symbolize a mother giving her all and the child only taking, not giving anything in return. I could see this story has a representation of that but I don’t think the boy didn’t want to give back; he really didn’t have too much to offer the tree. I would much rather say that the tree giving the boy everything she had isn’t a sign of weakness but more of a strength. It takes a lot to give love the way the tree did; and you simply cannot go as far as the tree did as a human but it’s nice to know that something can have that much love for someone to keep giving and giving! The pictures are simplistic sketches of the boy and the tree making it clear that the real message is in the story itself. If I were a teacher using this book in the classroom I would use it as a browsing book or as a book to use to emphasize how giving to someone is a very special act that should not be taken lightly; such as teaching manors, please and thank you. You could also use this book to look at relationships in a close way and how they can change as the people change!
This gifted book shows the relationship between a tree and a little boy who through the years turns to a man right before the trees very branches. When the boy is young he goes to the tree everyday to swing from her branches, collect her leaves, and eat her apples but as he gets into adolescence he starts to see the tree less and less; only visiting when he needed the tree’s apples to sell in the city for money. The boy didn’t come back until he was a man and then he came to get branches so that he could build a house. The tree was of course, happy to help because she loved him. Seasons passed and he didn’t come around for a long time again. When he came back he was old and really wanted a boat so the tree gave her truck so he could build a boat and sail away. Finally the tree was just stump when the really old man came back but that all the old man needed was a place to sit and the tree was very happy to give him that!
As you may know this is a censored book because of something that I think could very well be true but shouldn’t be censored for. It’s censored because the tree is supposed to symbolize a mother giving her all and the child only taking, not giving anything in return. I could see this story has a representation of that but I don’t think the boy didn’t want to give back; he really didn’t have too much to offer the tree. I would much rather say that the tree giving the boy everything she had isn’t a sign of weakness but more of a strength. It takes a lot to give love the way the tree did; and you simply cannot go as far as the tree did as a human but it’s nice to know that something can have that much love for someone to keep giving and giving! The pictures are simplistic sketches of the boy and the tree making it clear that the real message is in the story itself. If I were a teacher using this book in the classroom I would use it as a browsing book or as a book to use to emphasize how giving to someone is a very special act that should not be taken lightly; such as teaching manors, please and thank you. You could also use this book to look at relationships in a close way and how they can change as the people change!
Magic Pebble
Sylvester and the Magic Pebble Written by: William Steig
Sylvester Duncan lives a normal Donkey life as a collector of unusual pebbles until one rainy Saturday at the lake when he finds a magic red pebble. Realizing that this pebble is magical he runs home to tell his parents but he is caught off guard by a hungry, mean looking lion! In a panic he wishes to be a rock so that he may escape the lion; Sylvester may have escaped the lion but now he’s stuck as a rock. Seasons pass and worried parents turn hopeless until the very end of the story when the rock is now the picnic area of his parents who find the pebble and wish to see their son yet again. The pebble does its magic and the family is reunited with a great story to tell!
The plot of the story is easy to follow, flows naturally, and will hold an elementary student’s attention from one event to the next. Once you get close to the end you hope that the parents do find the rock and wonder how they will come about changing Sylvester back to a Donkey and author does this easily and the event wasn’t forced. The art work captures the attention of the reader with its brightness and childlike appearance. A weakness about this is story however; is that it does have a picture that displays police as pigs and because of its time of publishing, this picture made was considered offensive to many police and this book was censored. I feel like in the times we live now children wouldn’t catch this as a bad aspect of this story. They may catch the stereotype of police being pigs but I don’t think they will get it at the age this book is intended for. If I were using this book in a classroom setting I could use this as a beginning book to the genre of fantasy or I could use this is a prompt to a project about “if you had one wish what would it be” where the children can think about what they would want if they had their own magic pebble.
Sylvester Duncan lives a normal Donkey life as a collector of unusual pebbles until one rainy Saturday at the lake when he finds a magic red pebble. Realizing that this pebble is magical he runs home to tell his parents but he is caught off guard by a hungry, mean looking lion! In a panic he wishes to be a rock so that he may escape the lion; Sylvester may have escaped the lion but now he’s stuck as a rock. Seasons pass and worried parents turn hopeless until the very end of the story when the rock is now the picnic area of his parents who find the pebble and wish to see their son yet again. The pebble does its magic and the family is reunited with a great story to tell!
The plot of the story is easy to follow, flows naturally, and will hold an elementary student’s attention from one event to the next. Once you get close to the end you hope that the parents do find the rock and wonder how they will come about changing Sylvester back to a Donkey and author does this easily and the event wasn’t forced. The art work captures the attention of the reader with its brightness and childlike appearance. A weakness about this is story however; is that it does have a picture that displays police as pigs and because of its time of publishing, this picture made was considered offensive to many police and this book was censored. I feel like in the times we live now children wouldn’t catch this as a bad aspect of this story. They may catch the stereotype of police being pigs but I don’t think they will get it at the age this book is intended for. If I were using this book in a classroom setting I could use this as a beginning book to the genre of fantasy or I could use this is a prompt to a project about “if you had one wish what would it be” where the children can think about what they would want if they had their own magic pebble.
Johnny appleseed
Johnny Appleseed Written by: Gini Holland Illustrated by: Kim Palmer
Johnny Appleseed as many would call him was born September 26, 1774 in Massachusetts only two years after the United States was born. John was always helpful through his childhood years to take care of his nine brothers and sisters. He started working at an apple orchard during his adolescence and seeing that the apple seeds always thrown away, he sparked a great idea. He decided to collect the seeds and travel across what was then the far west as the Great Lakes and plant his apple seeds in preparation for settlers and in doing so he sold, traded, and gave away his apples and seeds. Johnny Appleseed was known for his environmental side and was always one to put himself in nature. He lived with the animals on their terrain and this lead to many heroic and adventurous stories such as the one where he floats on a block of ice down a river! Johnny Appleseed lived to be 71 and died being well known by Indians and settlers alike so much so that his stories have been passed own for centuries leaving the children of today’s society to have him fresh in their minds.
This is a simplified biography that covers John Chapman’s life; highlighting aspects pertaining to his apple orchard empire. The setting of this story is a highly important factor; starting in the beginning with John’s father off in war with George Washington in New York. They also mention John’s favorite book being the bible which could indicate that children’s books did not exist; giving insight to the reader of how things have changed. A big weakness lies within the pages of this book that may confuse many children readers. While the book is easy to read, doesn’t show any huge stereotypes, and is very educational; it also reminds children periodically throughout the book that stories and tales that were passed down through generations finally making its way to the present, may not even be true. Such as a paragraph about John and a cub of bears; saying “The legend of Johnny Appleseed often went ahead of him…There were true stories… Other stories may have been made up”. This could have children wondering if the biography they are reading it accurate. Every page is a full realistic art piece with a lot of detail and color. The pictures help the story show asides such as what settlers did when they first came to America with John helping to build a house off on the right. The book taught me about a man I’ve never heard of and got me interested in learning more and so I’m sure it would have the same effect on a child. I would suggest having children read this book if there were doing as history report on a positive influence in our nations beginnings or as a browsing book for children about pioneer life and how one man changed it greatly.
Johnny Appleseed as many would call him was born September 26, 1774 in Massachusetts only two years after the United States was born. John was always helpful through his childhood years to take care of his nine brothers and sisters. He started working at an apple orchard during his adolescence and seeing that the apple seeds always thrown away, he sparked a great idea. He decided to collect the seeds and travel across what was then the far west as the Great Lakes and plant his apple seeds in preparation for settlers and in doing so he sold, traded, and gave away his apples and seeds. Johnny Appleseed was known for his environmental side and was always one to put himself in nature. He lived with the animals on their terrain and this lead to many heroic and adventurous stories such as the one where he floats on a block of ice down a river! Johnny Appleseed lived to be 71 and died being well known by Indians and settlers alike so much so that his stories have been passed own for centuries leaving the children of today’s society to have him fresh in their minds.
This is a simplified biography that covers John Chapman’s life; highlighting aspects pertaining to his apple orchard empire. The setting of this story is a highly important factor; starting in the beginning with John’s father off in war with George Washington in New York. They also mention John’s favorite book being the bible which could indicate that children’s books did not exist; giving insight to the reader of how things have changed. A big weakness lies within the pages of this book that may confuse many children readers. While the book is easy to read, doesn’t show any huge stereotypes, and is very educational; it also reminds children periodically throughout the book that stories and tales that were passed down through generations finally making its way to the present, may not even be true. Such as a paragraph about John and a cub of bears; saying “The legend of Johnny Appleseed often went ahead of him…There were true stories… Other stories may have been made up”. This could have children wondering if the biography they are reading it accurate. Every page is a full realistic art piece with a lot of detail and color. The pictures help the story show asides such as what settlers did when they first came to America with John helping to build a house off on the right. The book taught me about a man I’ve never heard of and got me interested in learning more and so I’m sure it would have the same effect on a child. I would suggest having children read this book if there were doing as history report on a positive influence in our nations beginnings or as a browsing book for children about pioneer life and how one man changed it greatly.
The man who cooked for himself
The Man Who Cooked For Himself Written by: Phyllis Krasilovsky Illustrations by: Mamoru Funai
Just what is cooking in the man’s house in the forest with no wife, no children and a hungry cat? That’s the big question on everyone’s mind when they read this short, cute, and realistic book about a man whose laziness leads him to find great passion. The man in our story is middle aged and won’t leave his house in the forest for anything; he’d rather sit around and be lazy. When his friend who brings him all his goods from the civilized world leaves for a summer trip the man is left to fend for himself. He actually ends up running out of food and having to fish, pick berries, and gather apples from a nearby forest tree. As he does he discovers that he has a passion for gardening as well as cooking and in the end plants a glorious garden to feed both him, his cat, and his friend!
This book is short, cute, and has a good theme. The theme in this book shows children the rewards of their hard work. The man whom spent a hard summer planting his garden would be rewarded with fresh vegetables everyday and feel good about himself in the process. This could help a child to do things that they didn’t think they could do and encourage them to not give up when they think they’ve done all they can to solve a problem; seeing this when the man is out of food and has to solve the issue right away on the account of his growling tummy. Not only that but the book also showcases a healthy life style which could bring a lot of children back to reality who have been eating large amounts of fast food and candy. The book has colored cartoon drawing that define and develop the characters of the story; the man being lazy in the beginning and turning hard working in the end, the friend being loyal, and the man’s’ cat being a good friend at all times even if he has to suffer from hunger with his master. I would have this book on my browsing shelf in my classroom and encourage children to read it during silent reading or possibly read it during a read aloud to encourage students to a healthy life style. We could start growing tomatoes artificially in our class as a project.
Just what is cooking in the man’s house in the forest with no wife, no children and a hungry cat? That’s the big question on everyone’s mind when they read this short, cute, and realistic book about a man whose laziness leads him to find great passion. The man in our story is middle aged and won’t leave his house in the forest for anything; he’d rather sit around and be lazy. When his friend who brings him all his goods from the civilized world leaves for a summer trip the man is left to fend for himself. He actually ends up running out of food and having to fish, pick berries, and gather apples from a nearby forest tree. As he does he discovers that he has a passion for gardening as well as cooking and in the end plants a glorious garden to feed both him, his cat, and his friend!
This book is short, cute, and has a good theme. The theme in this book shows children the rewards of their hard work. The man whom spent a hard summer planting his garden would be rewarded with fresh vegetables everyday and feel good about himself in the process. This could help a child to do things that they didn’t think they could do and encourage them to not give up when they think they’ve done all they can to solve a problem; seeing this when the man is out of food and has to solve the issue right away on the account of his growling tummy. Not only that but the book also showcases a healthy life style which could bring a lot of children back to reality who have been eating large amounts of fast food and candy. The book has colored cartoon drawing that define and develop the characters of the story; the man being lazy in the beginning and turning hard working in the end, the friend being loyal, and the man’s’ cat being a good friend at all times even if he has to suffer from hunger with his master. I would have this book on my browsing shelf in my classroom and encourage children to read it during silent reading or possibly read it during a read aloud to encourage students to a healthy life style. We could start growing tomatoes artificially in our class as a project.
Flora the Frog
Flora the Frog Written by: Shirley Isherwood and Anna C. Leplar
Flora is about 10 years old and like any girl enjoys school, playing, and her friends, but when the teacher announces that Flora will be a frog in the school play; she is less then thrilled. Flora wanted to be anything other then a frog for the school play and although she held these thoughts she couldn’t bare to reveal them to her excited teacher and her ecstatic mother whom made her the finest frog costume she’d ever seen once she heard the big news. No, Flora was stuck with her fat, green, frog custom and the despair of it teasing her every time she saw it. That is, until the day she saw 3 real and very beautiful frogs with spangles all over their skin hopping about. The story ends with Flora running home after discovering the real beauty of frogs deciding and announing that she would love to be a frog; but the costume needed one little tweak; it needed spangles!
The book is very large in size and every page has a huge picture of dim colors and realistic art. The writing is also large and it could be read by a younger aged child by themselves. The book makes a valuable point that everything is beautiful in its own way as well as teaching children to look at things in different perspectives for you may not see something so obvious. The Strength in this book is its style of writing that includes realistic dialogue that can bring a reader into the book and not just be on the outside looking in. The feeling of Flora in this story could happen to many children and therefore grab the reader; for instance feeling out of place or not wanting to share their feelings. I would suggest having this book be on the browsing shelf of a classroom for silent reading or perhaps even read aloud. After a read aloud session you could ask the children what they would do if they were feeling a certain way and didn’t want to tell anyone; what they could do to resolve their problem or how they could share their feelings. This could help children open up and learn to show their emotions.
Flora is about 10 years old and like any girl enjoys school, playing, and her friends, but when the teacher announces that Flora will be a frog in the school play; she is less then thrilled. Flora wanted to be anything other then a frog for the school play and although she held these thoughts she couldn’t bare to reveal them to her excited teacher and her ecstatic mother whom made her the finest frog costume she’d ever seen once she heard the big news. No, Flora was stuck with her fat, green, frog custom and the despair of it teasing her every time she saw it. That is, until the day she saw 3 real and very beautiful frogs with spangles all over their skin hopping about. The story ends with Flora running home after discovering the real beauty of frogs deciding and announing that she would love to be a frog; but the costume needed one little tweak; it needed spangles!
The book is very large in size and every page has a huge picture of dim colors and realistic art. The writing is also large and it could be read by a younger aged child by themselves. The book makes a valuable point that everything is beautiful in its own way as well as teaching children to look at things in different perspectives for you may not see something so obvious. The Strength in this book is its style of writing that includes realistic dialogue that can bring a reader into the book and not just be on the outside looking in. The feeling of Flora in this story could happen to many children and therefore grab the reader; for instance feeling out of place or not wanting to share their feelings. I would suggest having this book be on the browsing shelf of a classroom for silent reading or perhaps even read aloud. After a read aloud session you could ask the children what they would do if they were feeling a certain way and didn’t want to tell anyone; what they could do to resolve their problem or how they could share their feelings. This could help children open up and learn to show their emotions.
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