Allen Jay and the Underground Railroad Written by: Marlene Targ Brill Illustrated by Janice Lee Porter
What makes this story special is that the people are real and the events show cased in this story could have possibly happened. The story about little Allen Jay takes place in Ohio in the 1840’s when times were incredibly different from the way we live now. Allen Jay belongs to a Quaker family that promotes equal living among all people; in this case, African Americans. One day Allen’s father ask a great favor of Allen; to help a runaway slave. Allen’s father, Isaac was under investigation and couldn’t get caught so indeed it was up to Allen to save the slave known as Henry James. Allen Jay takes Henry on horse and carriage through the Underground Railroad to his grandfather’s house all the while hearing horrible slave stories of Henry’s past and up until that night, his life. Later that night Allen Jay’s grandfather helped Henry make his way up to Canada where everyone was equal and free.
The stories strength lies within the plot; a riveting, scary, and close to home for most young preteens plot brings a lot of life to a subject that went on only a little longer then a 100 years ago (approx). The plot shows how a slave was forced to do drastic things to gain freedom and if they don’t take the chance for freedom they would die having lived the miserable life of a slave. There are pictures on every page that resemble a colored pencil like feel. Although the pictures help move along the story, they are not as strong as they should be for the plot which has a lot of emotion and depth. I would use this is a classroom setting when studying history and the world we once lived in where people weren’t treated equally let alone fairly. I could use this to encourage children to see how things have changed and that it only took one person making small changes to change a person’s life. With the main character being so young, a lot of children could relate; I could have them write a journal entry as if they were in Allen Jay’s shoes and what they would do if they were asked to do such a dangerous thing.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
The Gardener
The Gardener Written by: Sarah Stewart Illustrations by: David Small
When Lydia Grace’s dad loses his job during the Great Depression she is sent to live with her uncle in the city working at a bakery. Although Lydia leaves her family on the farm as well as her love of gardening to start work she can’t help but to bring her passion for gardening to the city. Lydia at first misses her home life ; this is apparent in her thoughts about her uncle and how he never smiles as If he didn’t want her there. She learns to bake, helps her uncle smile, and bests of all turns her uncle’s bakery and house into an explosion of flowers. At the end of the story she gets a letter from her parents that her dad has finally gotten a job and that she can come home again!
Although the Great Depression isn’t mentioned straight forward it is apparent of what is going on by the format of the pictures and letters on each page. The huge colored sketches on each page show how cheap food was at that time such as a loaf of bread for 5 cents or muffins for 2 cents. The time era is also presented though the dates in the letters, the old cars on the streets, and a picture of Herbert Hoover on the wall of the bakery. If I were teaching a social studies class I would use this to stress how deprived people were at this time and how child had to work to help the family. This may give insight to the audience of children and help them realize how good they may have it.
When Lydia Grace’s dad loses his job during the Great Depression she is sent to live with her uncle in the city working at a bakery. Although Lydia leaves her family on the farm as well as her love of gardening to start work she can’t help but to bring her passion for gardening to the city. Lydia at first misses her home life ; this is apparent in her thoughts about her uncle and how he never smiles as If he didn’t want her there. She learns to bake, helps her uncle smile, and bests of all turns her uncle’s bakery and house into an explosion of flowers. At the end of the story she gets a letter from her parents that her dad has finally gotten a job and that she can come home again!
Although the Great Depression isn’t mentioned straight forward it is apparent of what is going on by the format of the pictures and letters on each page. The huge colored sketches on each page show how cheap food was at that time such as a loaf of bread for 5 cents or muffins for 2 cents. The time era is also presented though the dates in the letters, the old cars on the streets, and a picture of Herbert Hoover on the wall of the bakery. If I were teaching a social studies class I would use this to stress how deprived people were at this time and how child had to work to help the family. This may give insight to the audience of children and help them realize how good they may have it.
One Pizza One penny
One Pizza, One Penny Written by: K.T. Hao Illustrations by: Giuliano Ferri
Translated by: Roxanne Hsu Feldman
Who knew that Chris Croc and Ben Bear living on Sunflower Street in Sunnyville would change a city in one day; That’s the big picture painted in this cute easy to read children’s book. The two main characters are a bear and a crocodile that are nothing short of the best cooks around. Ben Bear makes amazing pizza’s and Chris Croc and his cakes are to die for so it’s no wonder that on a normal afternoon of sharing their food with each other that a strange man in a limo would ask for some cake which had never been given to the public let alone for money. It was astonishing and lead to both Ben and Chris selling their foods on the street. Unfortunately no one came to buy their cakes and throughout the day they exchange the one coin that was used to buy Chris’s cake the previous day from the man in the limo back and forth for each others food that they once shared with no cost. At the end of the story a bird comes to buy a pizza and cake and sees that all the food is gone (eaten from Ben and Chris) and declared that the next day he will bring all his friends to buy their food because obviously it was so amazing because all of it was gone. The next page is a two page spread of animals selling their best homemade foods and a line that says “Isn’t it funny what one gold coin can do”.
This book is a fun, cute story about friends some what starting a revolution. And throughout this book style is defiantly a big influence in the imagery of the story. The writer uses a mass abundance of adjectives to describe not only her charterers but the food, daily events, and conversations within the book as well. The sentences are short and easy to follow along with as it moves you through the plot and will keep the child engaged and looking at the vivid pictures to conclude what the writing claims to be happening. The format of the book is great for its huge, fuzzy, impressionistic pictures that convey and add to the book’s style. They cover the whole page while the words lay upon the image. The pictures also use a wide variety of orange, green, and yellow color and are very easy to look at. I would use this book is class as a fun read aloud, to empathize sharing with one another, friendships, or how one little thing changes a lot. This could use this book as a transition book for such things has big changes in society and how they come about (pertaining back to the coin). Since the book is a beginning easy to read book I would encourage children to read it on their own as well.
Translated by: Roxanne Hsu Feldman
Who knew that Chris Croc and Ben Bear living on Sunflower Street in Sunnyville would change a city in one day; That’s the big picture painted in this cute easy to read children’s book. The two main characters are a bear and a crocodile that are nothing short of the best cooks around. Ben Bear makes amazing pizza’s and Chris Croc and his cakes are to die for so it’s no wonder that on a normal afternoon of sharing their food with each other that a strange man in a limo would ask for some cake which had never been given to the public let alone for money. It was astonishing and lead to both Ben and Chris selling their foods on the street. Unfortunately no one came to buy their cakes and throughout the day they exchange the one coin that was used to buy Chris’s cake the previous day from the man in the limo back and forth for each others food that they once shared with no cost. At the end of the story a bird comes to buy a pizza and cake and sees that all the food is gone (eaten from Ben and Chris) and declared that the next day he will bring all his friends to buy their food because obviously it was so amazing because all of it was gone. The next page is a two page spread of animals selling their best homemade foods and a line that says “Isn’t it funny what one gold coin can do”.
This book is a fun, cute story about friends some what starting a revolution. And throughout this book style is defiantly a big influence in the imagery of the story. The writer uses a mass abundance of adjectives to describe not only her charterers but the food, daily events, and conversations within the book as well. The sentences are short and easy to follow along with as it moves you through the plot and will keep the child engaged and looking at the vivid pictures to conclude what the writing claims to be happening. The format of the book is great for its huge, fuzzy, impressionistic pictures that convey and add to the book’s style. They cover the whole page while the words lay upon the image. The pictures also use a wide variety of orange, green, and yellow color and are very easy to look at. I would use this book is class as a fun read aloud, to empathize sharing with one another, friendships, or how one little thing changes a lot. This could use this book as a transition book for such things has big changes in society and how they come about (pertaining back to the coin). Since the book is a beginning easy to read book I would encourage children to read it on their own as well.
Chasing Vameer
Chasing Vermeer Written by: Blue Balliett Illustrated by: Brett Helquist
Petra and Calder are both about to turn 12, attend Ms. Hussey’s class 5 days a week, and live on the same street in Chicago but they never became friends until one strange, mysterious event brought them together in ways no one would believe. In late October Ms. Hussey’s class went on a field trip to the art museum only to find out that a famous painting had gone missing. From that moment Petra and Calder decided to join forces with an elderly woman, an unexplainable book, and clues laid out before them to find the culprit leaving codes and secret messages in the newspapers. From there on the book is a series of twist and turns through events that startle the reader that such young children are doing such dangerous things! In the end Petra and Calder find the famous painting that should have been hiding half way around the world (as FBI suggested) in their own back yard and as for the thief known as Fred who you are earlier introduced to as a minor insignificant character; he dies escaping the police!
This book is very easy to read and has the ability to capture a child’s attention easily with its unique format. The book has two grey sketches for each of the 24 chapters. The strength of this book lies in the pictures which are clues to finding out the mystery and who actually took the painting before the end. In the beginning of the book the author states that there are secret codes in the pages of the book and that a certain animal will pop up within the book to help you solve the mystery. The book is fun, inventive, and exciting with puzzles, math codes and clues that keep both children and adults entertained not only with the plot of the story but of the fascination of trying to figure out the mystery before it is revealed to you! A teacher should buse this book in her class as a book to have children browse for silent reading. It could also read as a class where each student reads certain chapters one night, and the next day at school they talk about who they think is doing the crime. It would be fun and exciting for the children to come to class to try to solve a mystery!
Petra and Calder are both about to turn 12, attend Ms. Hussey’s class 5 days a week, and live on the same street in Chicago but they never became friends until one strange, mysterious event brought them together in ways no one would believe. In late October Ms. Hussey’s class went on a field trip to the art museum only to find out that a famous painting had gone missing. From that moment Petra and Calder decided to join forces with an elderly woman, an unexplainable book, and clues laid out before them to find the culprit leaving codes and secret messages in the newspapers. From there on the book is a series of twist and turns through events that startle the reader that such young children are doing such dangerous things! In the end Petra and Calder find the famous painting that should have been hiding half way around the world (as FBI suggested) in their own back yard and as for the thief known as Fred who you are earlier introduced to as a minor insignificant character; he dies escaping the police!
This book is very easy to read and has the ability to capture a child’s attention easily with its unique format. The book has two grey sketches for each of the 24 chapters. The strength of this book lies in the pictures which are clues to finding out the mystery and who actually took the painting before the end. In the beginning of the book the author states that there are secret codes in the pages of the book and that a certain animal will pop up within the book to help you solve the mystery. The book is fun, inventive, and exciting with puzzles, math codes and clues that keep both children and adults entertained not only with the plot of the story but of the fascination of trying to figure out the mystery before it is revealed to you! A teacher should buse this book in her class as a book to have children browse for silent reading. It could also read as a class where each student reads certain chapters one night, and the next day at school they talk about who they think is doing the crime. It would be fun and exciting for the children to come to class to try to solve a mystery!
The Moon is La Luna
The Moon is La Luna Written by: Jay M. Harris Illustrated by: Matthew Cordell
Ever wanted to learn another language but not go through all the hassle of memorizing! If the answer is yes, then this clever rhyming book is for you. This book is a huge rhyme that teaches you words in Spanish all the while keeping up with the theme that a lot of words in English are similar to those in Spanish. It goes through people’s lives and shows how things can get mixed up if you use the English word instead of Spanish in everyday life. The book uses many characters from old to young, boy to girl, and doctor to grandma showing how all of them use Spanish words and how they differ from English. For instance, someone may ask for a pie in Spanish which actually means feet or at the end when someone says “see ya” and really means chair!
This large rhyming poem is very funny and will have children giggling the whole way through. The books best feature after its style of course, is its format. The book has a little poem on each of its 26 medium sized pages. Each poem contains a subject and it is corresponding rhyming of one word in English and how it is pronounced in Spanish. Along with the poem are ½ page pictures oddly placed and depicting something funny. The pictures are just enough to give the idea or joke of what is being said and are not too detailed so that the child can focus on the meaning of the Spanish word. Not necessarily a weakness, but a problem to this book is that the children have to be of an older crowd to understand some of the jokes because they have to follow along with English and Spanish words. I don’t know a bit of Spanish but when I read it I found some poems to be somewhat easy and therefore funny but in some of them I had to read it a couple times to get it. A teacher could defiantly use this book to help students learn new word in Spanish in the language unit. They can then practice their words in a skit together; maybe groups can be formed and re-enact a poem from each page.
Ever wanted to learn another language but not go through all the hassle of memorizing! If the answer is yes, then this clever rhyming book is for you. This book is a huge rhyme that teaches you words in Spanish all the while keeping up with the theme that a lot of words in English are similar to those in Spanish. It goes through people’s lives and shows how things can get mixed up if you use the English word instead of Spanish in everyday life. The book uses many characters from old to young, boy to girl, and doctor to grandma showing how all of them use Spanish words and how they differ from English. For instance, someone may ask for a pie in Spanish which actually means feet or at the end when someone says “see ya” and really means chair!
This large rhyming poem is very funny and will have children giggling the whole way through. The books best feature after its style of course, is its format. The book has a little poem on each of its 26 medium sized pages. Each poem contains a subject and it is corresponding rhyming of one word in English and how it is pronounced in Spanish. Along with the poem are ½ page pictures oddly placed and depicting something funny. The pictures are just enough to give the idea or joke of what is being said and are not too detailed so that the child can focus on the meaning of the Spanish word. Not necessarily a weakness, but a problem to this book is that the children have to be of an older crowd to understand some of the jokes because they have to follow along with English and Spanish words. I don’t know a bit of Spanish but when I read it I found some poems to be somewhat easy and therefore funny but in some of them I had to read it a couple times to get it. A teacher could defiantly use this book to help students learn new word in Spanish in the language unit. They can then practice their words in a skit together; maybe groups can be formed and re-enact a poem from each page.
Rapunzel a Groovy Fairytale
Rapunzel a Groovy Fairy tale Retold by: Lynn Roberts Illustrated by: David Roberts
A classic story of a young girl with extremely long hair kept high up away from the world is retold in this 1970’s themed story of Rapunzel. Rapunzel is a beautiful girl with ridiculously long, bright red hair, and a mean Aunt Esme and her pet crow, Roach living atop the tallest apartment building in New York City. Rupenzel was young when both her parents die and left her with her mean aunt who forbids him to leave the building declaring that it’s too dangerous for a girl such as her. So instead, to stop Rapunzel from leaving her mean aunt brings home second hand records, scarves, and belts that her pet crow has stolen from the children at the school where she is the lunch lady at. One day however, when Esme leaves, a surprised Rapunzel meets a young boy who climbed up her hair with the eagerness to meet her. The boy’s name was Roger and from that day on every time Rapunzel’s aunt Esme left, the two children got together to listen to music, talk, and even plan Rapunzels escape. Everything was set in action until one day Esem found out about Roger and kicked Rapunzel out but not before chopping off her hair. At the end of the story Rapunzel ended up finding Roger singing at a local school. Rapunzel decided to join their band and make music. Rapunzel then decided to use her fast growing, long, brightly red hair to make wigs in every style shape, and fashion.
This story was groovy (if I must say). I liked the carefree feel of the story verses the original Rapunzel and I thought the author did a great job in bringing out the characters to make them special in their own way. Esme was the horribly mean aunt who rode a motorcycle with the license plate “evil”. Rapunzel was the young helpless yet beautiful girl and Roger was the musical, inspirational hero. The author used a lot of adjectives and described the events very easily with no room for confusion. Strength in this story lies in the pictures. The cartoon pictures bring light to the situations and characters being presented in the plot. On every spread is one full page of a brightly colored picture and then on the other side is a full page of big text and a smaller picture. This layout makes it fun for a child to read and keeps them motivated to turn the next page to not only read the text but to see the fantastic pictures that go along with it. I would use this as a read aloud in a younger elementary classroom for a comparison assinment. I could read this version and then read another version and have the children compare the two. What is different about them or how are they the same. I think the children will have fun with this assignment!
A classic story of a young girl with extremely long hair kept high up away from the world is retold in this 1970’s themed story of Rapunzel. Rapunzel is a beautiful girl with ridiculously long, bright red hair, and a mean Aunt Esme and her pet crow, Roach living atop the tallest apartment building in New York City. Rupenzel was young when both her parents die and left her with her mean aunt who forbids him to leave the building declaring that it’s too dangerous for a girl such as her. So instead, to stop Rapunzel from leaving her mean aunt brings home second hand records, scarves, and belts that her pet crow has stolen from the children at the school where she is the lunch lady at. One day however, when Esme leaves, a surprised Rapunzel meets a young boy who climbed up her hair with the eagerness to meet her. The boy’s name was Roger and from that day on every time Rapunzel’s aunt Esme left, the two children got together to listen to music, talk, and even plan Rapunzels escape. Everything was set in action until one day Esem found out about Roger and kicked Rapunzel out but not before chopping off her hair. At the end of the story Rapunzel ended up finding Roger singing at a local school. Rapunzel decided to join their band and make music. Rapunzel then decided to use her fast growing, long, brightly red hair to make wigs in every style shape, and fashion.
This story was groovy (if I must say). I liked the carefree feel of the story verses the original Rapunzel and I thought the author did a great job in bringing out the characters to make them special in their own way. Esme was the horribly mean aunt who rode a motorcycle with the license plate “evil”. Rapunzel was the young helpless yet beautiful girl and Roger was the musical, inspirational hero. The author used a lot of adjectives and described the events very easily with no room for confusion. Strength in this story lies in the pictures. The cartoon pictures bring light to the situations and characters being presented in the plot. On every spread is one full page of a brightly colored picture and then on the other side is a full page of big text and a smaller picture. This layout makes it fun for a child to read and keeps them motivated to turn the next page to not only read the text but to see the fantastic pictures that go along with it. I would use this as a read aloud in a younger elementary classroom for a comparison assinment. I could read this version and then read another version and have the children compare the two. What is different about them or how are they the same. I think the children will have fun with this assignment!
Dont laught at me
Don’t Laugh at me Written by: Steve Seskin & Allen Shamblin Illustrations by: Glin Dibley
Don’t laugh at me is about normal people who have certain characteristics; yet, are being made fun of. Every page of this book is related to a person or people that may have something different that makes them out of the norm. For instance, some children in the book may have glasses, or braces; making them easily made fun of with mean comments from others. The book is emotional and has the ability to bring people together touching on issues of differences in people aren’t quite as big as many may seem. At the end all the people come together sharing that they are not so different after all.
This books definite strength is having characters that are very relatable to children as they would be able to see from the big, vibrantly colored pictures. Children in the book may be in a wheelchair, be shorter, or a little bigger than the other children thus readers of this book could understand alienated feeling the characters have because the reader may have also felt that way before. The message of the book is very clear to the reader that you shouldn’t make fun of or single other people out. Another concept this is has is to teach that everyone is different and for a goof reason; if everyone was exactly the same, life would be boring. This book would be helpful in teaching children to be considerate of others feelings and could be read out loud in class to invoke children to share their thoughts and feelings about the issues being stated in the book. There is also a cd with the book in song that adds a element of emotion that I would recommend sharing with the children and perhaps making it into a sing along.
Don’t laugh at me is about normal people who have certain characteristics; yet, are being made fun of. Every page of this book is related to a person or people that may have something different that makes them out of the norm. For instance, some children in the book may have glasses, or braces; making them easily made fun of with mean comments from others. The book is emotional and has the ability to bring people together touching on issues of differences in people aren’t quite as big as many may seem. At the end all the people come together sharing that they are not so different after all.
This books definite strength is having characters that are very relatable to children as they would be able to see from the big, vibrantly colored pictures. Children in the book may be in a wheelchair, be shorter, or a little bigger than the other children thus readers of this book could understand alienated feeling the characters have because the reader may have also felt that way before. The message of the book is very clear to the reader that you shouldn’t make fun of or single other people out. Another concept this is has is to teach that everyone is different and for a goof reason; if everyone was exactly the same, life would be boring. This book would be helpful in teaching children to be considerate of others feelings and could be read out loud in class to invoke children to share their thoughts and feelings about the issues being stated in the book. There is also a cd with the book in song that adds a element of emotion that I would recommend sharing with the children and perhaps making it into a sing along.
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