Rosa

A. Title: Rosa


B. Author: Nikki Giovanni

C. Illustrator: Bryon Collier

D. Publisher: Henry Holt & Company, Inc.

E. Genre: Biographical Picture Book

F. Reading Level: 4-6


G. Awards: Coretta Scott King Book Award


H. Summary: Rosa is the story of Rosa Parks and the Civil Rights Movement. Rosa Parks is the African-American woman who refused to give up her seat on a public bus. This picture book takes you through Rosa Parks' day to show her side of the story. She didn't get onto the bus intending to cause a huge scene and be remembered throughout history. Rather, Rosa was tired and just didn't want to have to get up to give someone else the seat just because he was white, or just because she was black. The March on Washington, NAACP, and Martain Luther King's speech were amoung the Civil Rights events that were also discussed in Rosa. About a year after Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat on a bus to a white man, the Supreme Court ruled it illegal to segregate on a bus.


I. Response: I really enjoy any picture book that has a lot of historical and educational value. I am a huge history geek, and I think in the classroom is the perfect place to share that passion. We can learn so much from what we have already accomplished or failed to accomplish. This book about Rosa Parks' life really would be a great addition for any elementary classroom library. I really liked the combined use of collages and watercolors to illustrate the different feelings and emotions going on during the heated times. The collages had a neat touch with what looked like small, torn pieces of paper that were used to create some of the illustrations. I also loved the details of the faces and the way the light and shadows fell on them; they are truly gorgeous.

J. Teaching Ideas: The number of resources to go along with Rosa are amazing. I can come up with numerous history lesson plans involving Civil Rights, African American History, empathy, etc. A simple search on Google pulled up so many ideas from credible sources. Scholastic's website has a great resource that has an activity sheet to go along with it. The activity sheet has a list of events that happen during the book Rosa and the students are supposed to fill in the order the events took place in. The lesson plan aims to reinforce the comprehension and understanding of the story and the Civil Rights Movement. Some recommended discussion questions include discuss the jobs Mr. & Mrs. Parks had and were they wealthy, segregation, the typical bus rides for African Americans, what helped Rosa to be so brave and remain in her seat, the term boycott, why does MLK Jr. take the bus boycott to a national level, etc.

Saint Patrick

A. Title: Saint Patrick

B. Author: Ann Tompert

C. Illustrator: Michael Garland

D. Pushlisher: Boyds Mills Press

E. Genre: Biography Picture Book

F. Reading Level: 3-4

G. Summary: Saint Patrick starts off with a forward, which is a prayer by Saint Patrick. A long time ago a boy was born near the Irish sea named Succat, but he would later be known as Patrick. Patrick's father was a well-off man who was also a deacon in the church, but Patrick wasn't a religious child. Patrick also grew up very comfortable with educated parents, but he wasn't very into his studies and so he was kind of bad at school. When he was sixteen, Irish pirates attacked their village and looted and killed. He was captured and sold into slavery. He was sold to a chieftain in Northwast Ireland, and there he took care of his master's cattle and sheep; his master never treated him poorly. While out in the fields, Patrick had alot of time to think, and he thought about he never really payed attention to the teachings of the church; so Patrick decided to fast and pray. At night he heard a voice telling him he would go to his own country and that his boat was waiting for him. Patrick set off toward the Irish sea some two hundred miles away. Along the way Patrick suffered many hardships but he never lost his drive or his hope. He made it to the port and asked the departing ship to go and they said no. Patrick prayed as he walked away and the captain changed his mind. The boat landed and then men wandered for a month in the woods, starving. The men on the ship were pagons and asked Patrick for help; he told them to pray to his god for food, and then the pigs arrived. Patrick made it back home, and he realized that he needed to live his life for God and to teach the Irish heathens. Next, Patrick sailed to France, spent several years preparing for a mission, studied to become a deacon, and later was ordained a priest. Eventually, Patrick was made a bishop, and he and his followers set out on his mission to convert/save many barbaric Irish peoples. The illustrations in this book are done in mixed media.

H. Response: The thing that I love most about Saint Patrick is that the illustrations are so colorful that you just can't take your eyes off of them. They're clearly done in mixed media with what appears to be digetal imagery, collages, different styles and types of papers and materials, etc. Each illustration is full of different types of media, and they all create these bright, eye-poping, vivid images. They're very cool, and I definitely suggest checking them out. The story itself was really interesting to read because I am Irish and Catholic and sadly, I didn't really know the story of Saint Patrick. The story has a lot to do with god and religious topics, but it also had other themes including beating the odds, and never giving up. This isn't my favorite children's picture book, but it definitely had some really great aspects to it.

I. Teaching Ideas: This book doesn't have as many classroom teaching opportunities as many of the others that I've read. One idea would be when discussing or teaching about other countries or religions using this book as a way to start the lesson. Saint Patrick could be used to introduce a unit on Christianity or Irish history.

J. Bio Poem:

Saint

Devout, Compassionate, Trusting, and Brave

Friend of sailor Pagans

Lover of God, faith, and Praying

Who feels scared, nervous, and under prepared

Who finds happiness in spreading the word of God

Who needs God to guide him and protect him

Who gives the knowledge of Christianity to those in need

Who fears the barbaric lands of Ireland, failing, and being killed

Who would like to see the Pagans enlightened to Christianity

Who enjoys fasting

Who like to wear a simple, brown robe when I preach Christianity

Resident of Southwest Britain near the Irish Sea

Patrick

Yeh-Shen: A Cinderella Story from China

A. Title: Yeh-Shen: A Cinderella Story from China

B. Author: Ai-Ling Louie

C. Illustrator: Ed Young

D. Publisher: Philomel Books, a division of The Putnam
Publishing Group

E. Genre: Folktale/Fairytale


F. Reading Level: 2-3

G. Summary: Yeh-Shen: A Cinderella Story from China has the same illustrator as the author/illustrator of Lon Po Po: A Red Riding Hood Story from China. The illustrations in Yeh-Shen are done in the same style and media as Lon Po Po: oil pastels and water color with a panel layout. In Yeh-Shen, a long time ago, a cave chief had two wives, which was the custom, and each produced a daughter. Unfortunately the chief and one of the wives died leaving the lone wife to raise both daughters. The stepmother was a very angry, bitter woman because her daughter was not very beautiful, especially in comparison her step-daughter Yeh-Shen. Yeh-Shen was forced to do all of the hard labor chores and had no friends. One day Yeh-Shen caught a small fish to keep in her pond, and every day she would save some of whatever small ration of food her stepmother would give her to give to her fish. The fish grew massive in size, and when the stepmother found out that Yeh-Shen had a secret friend she became furious, caught the fish, killed it, and cooked it for dinner. Yeh-Shen was so devistated when she found her only friend missing that she cried over the pond. Suddenly a old man appeared and told her not to cry; the old man told Yeh-Shen that her fish was a magic fish, and to ask the fish bones for favors but to be very careful with them. Everyday Yeh-Shen would ask the fish bones for enough food to live on, until one day she asked the fish for a gown suitable enough to go to the village feast. This feast is where all of the men and women come together to try and find someone to marry, and Yeh-Shen desperately wanted to go. The fish gave her a gorgeous dress, headdress, and slippers and told her to be very careful with the slippers. Yeh-Shen went to the feast and everyone talked about her beauty; then just before anyone realized who she was she ran away, losing a slipper in the process. When she got home, the fish no longer talked to her and she was once again wearing rags. The slipper ended up in the hands of a prince who was determined to find the owner of the tiny, fragile slipper. Once he found Yeh-Shen he knew that he had found his one true love.

H. Response: Right away I could tell the illustrations in Yeh-Shen were done by an illustrator I had seen before, and that the illustrations were done in the same kind of layout/spread, panel layout. The story itself was a lot of fun to read, and right from the beginning I could see classroom connections with the Cinderella story and with the time the story took place, before the Ch'in and Han dynasties. I really enjoyed this version of Cinderella, but I have to admit that I like the Chinese Red Riding Hood tale, Lon Po Po, better than Yeh-Shen. I also think I like the Irish tale of Cinderella better than the Chinese because in Yeh-Shen the Prince never sees her before searching for her. The Prince come into possession of her gorgeous slipper and wants to find its owner; only after finding out that the slipper belongs to Yeh-Shen does he fall in love with her. Unlike the Disney and Irish versions of Cinderella where the prince falls in love with her at first site and then has to find her by the slipper she left behind. The similarities between the Irish Cinderella and the Chinese Cinderella include a widower parent, each Cinderella has a man or woman help them by giving them the right clothes to wear to the occasion, both Cinderellas being forced to do chores and stay in because of their beauty, happy endings, and the ugly, mean stepsister(s) and stepmother paid for the way they treated the poor Cinderella-like characters. Some of the differences between Yeh-Shen and Fair, Brown & Trembling were the number of stepsisters, one widow was a man and the other a woman, one 'fairy godmother,' AKA the person who helped the main characters get their dresses, that was a woman and one was an old man, one had a church and one had a feast, one had a Prince searching for the owner of a shoe and one had the prince searching for Cinderella herself.

I. Teaching Ideas: Just like in the post below, there a thousands of option for ideas, lesson plans, or units on multicultural Cinderella stories. Teachnet.com has a whole list of ideas for incorporating fairytales and the Cinderella story into multiple subjects. The ideas on this page are mostly for higher grade levels, including upper middle school and high schools levels. Some ideas include writing a short paragraph on a fairytale character (like Cinderella) in the first person perspective, dramatize by having students dress up like a character and read aloud, introduce inventors/explorers who had ideas most people originally thought were only imagination, include geography by discussing different castles around the world and where they're located, and the list goes on to include ideas for math, art, spelling, and Cinderella specific lesson ideas.

Fair, Brown & Trembling: An Irish Cinderella Story

A. Title: Fair, Brown & Trembling: An Irish Cinderella Story

B. Author: Jude Daly


C. Illustrator: Jude Daly


D. Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux


E. Genre: Traditional Irish Folktale


F. Reading Level: 2-3

G. Summary: In Fair, Brown & Trembling, in a castle in Erin lived a widower and his three daughters: Fair, Brown, and Trembling. Every Sunday Fair and Brown wore a new dress to church while Trembling stayed home to cook the meals. Trembling's two older sisters didn't want to let her out of the house because she was very beautiful, and they thought that she would marry before they would. The old henwife came up to Trembling and told her she should be at church. The henwife asked her what she wanted to wear, a white gown and shamrock-green slippers, and the henwife put on her cloak of darkness, chanted some words, and created the most beautiful gown and slippers for Trembling. The henwife also gave her a white horse and told her to stand in the doorway of the church but never go in and be sure to leave before the end of church to make it home in time. Next Sunday the henwife gave Trembling a dress of the finest black satan with scarlet shoes and a black horse. The next Sunday, Trembling wore a dress with a snow-white bodice and rose-red skirt and blue slippers, and she rode a white mare with blue and gold diamonds. Each Sunday everyone in church would wonder who she was, especially all the single men and princes. The last Sunday, the Prince of Emania stayed outside the church and as Trembling tried to ride away he grabbed her slipper off her foot. He searched all over for the foot that fit the slipper. Finally the Prince of Emania found Trembling locked in a closet in her Castle. After that the Prince fought off every other gentleman caller that Trembling had, and the two were married, lived happily ever after, and they had fourteen kids. The illustrations appear to be done in an oil pastel.

H. Response: I really wanted to read the Irish Cinderella tale because I have a lot of Irish decent, and I really enjoyed this version. There are a lot of similarities between the Disney Cinderella story and this Irish folktale: three sisters, one sister is forced to do the work while the other sisters enjoyed the spoils of life, a widower parent, a women who by some type of magic helped the Cinderella of the story, a prince, a slipper, a search for the woman's foot that fits the slipper, and a happily ever after ending. The differences include the fact that the widower is a man, the Cinderella went to church not a ball, the Prince took her slipper off her foot instead of finding it after she ran away, and at the end they have fourteen kids. The illustrations have really deep, rich colors, and the pictures seem very real and deep.

I. Teaching Ideas: There are so many ideas for lesson plans and lesson units on multi-cultural Cinderella stories. One unit plan that I found online had the purpose for students to recognize fairy tales/legends as literature genre and to identify positive and negative character traits. The unit objectives include being able to recall the story elements of the Cinderella story, orally retell the story of Cinderella, listen to different versions of Cinderella (book and video), discuss the univeral themes and traits of fairy tales, make a plan for a service project involving clothes for families in need, recall and make inferences about story events, compare/contrast Cinderella stories from different cultures, compare/contrast character traits, describe and compare character traits of the main characters, review characteristics of fairy tales, role-play a scene from one of the stories studied, and to write an original fairy tale. This is an example of a lesson plan for second grade. This is just one of the thousands of available materials for creating a lesson plan to teach multicultural story of Cinderella.

A House for Hermit Crab

A. Title: A House for Hermit Crab

B. Author: Eric Carle

C. Illustrator: Eric Carle

D. Publisher: Picture Book Studio

E. Genre: Picture Book

F. Reading Level: k-2

G. Summary: Hermit Crab was beginning to outgrow his safe, comfortable shell in January, and he decided it was time to find a bigger, new home. Even though Hermit Crab was scared, he ventured out of his shell and into the open waters of the ocean. In February, Hermit Crab found a great, big shell that would be perfect for his new home but a little plain. Over the next year, Hermit Crab meets new friends and asks them to join his home to make it better! Hermit Crab meets sea anemones, starfish, corals, snails, sea urchins, and lanternfish, and all of them help to make his home beautiful and cozy. However, when November rolled around Hermit Crab realized that his beautiful home was beginning to get a little too snug because all year long he'd been growing! Hermit Crab doesn't think he can leave his friends when a lonely, scared girl Hermit Crab, just the right size for his place, came walking by asking if he knew where she could find a new home. Hermit Crab gave her his home as long as she promised to be nice to his friends, and he set out to find a new home and new friends to decorate it. The illustrations are done in collage with all different kinds of materials.

H. Response: I really enjoyed the book The Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle when I was younger, but I don't remember ever reading A House for Hermit Crab. I loved the way Eric Carle combined the story of venturing out into the world and meeting friends with different sea creatures and the months of the year. The best part about this book has to be the illustrations. The collages have so many very bright and drastically different materials used that they really stand out. With The Hungry Caterpillar, I remembered the illustrations before I really remembered what this book was about. I am very surprised that Eric Carle has not won a Caldecott award for any of his picture books because his media are so unique. His collages have all different kinds of shapes, patterns, and textures, not to mention all the different colors. A House for Hermit Crab is a great picture book that has wonderful collage illustrations and a great story!

I. Teaching Ideas: Before looking up any lesson plans, I tried to come up with a few options off the top of my head for classroom applications. A few lesson plan/topic options for A House for Hermit Crab would be an introduction to marine-life or environment, months of the year/time frames, and venturing out to make new friends. On Eric Carle's official website, I found fifteen lesson ideas and plans; some more specific than others. Some of the lesson plans include ideas like moving and meeting new friends, introducing sea creatures, decorating their own hermit crab and cutting it out, use cut-outs of the creatures in the book for students to decorate their own hermit crab shell, art and clay projects, and the list just continues. On the EekoWorld website, I found a kindergarten lesson plan that included the objectives actively listening to audio information, summarizing information by retelling, making connections between animal and human basic needs, and creating a schoolyard habitat for birds.

Two Bad Ants

A. Title: Two Bad Ants

B. Author: Chris Van Allsburg

C. Illustrator: Chris Van Allsburg

D. Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Company

E. Genre: Picture Book

F. Reading Level: 2-3

G. Summary: Two Bad Ants is a story about an ant community that finds a home with a jar full of sugar. On a trip to collect sugar, the worker ants traveled a long distance at night and traveled up steep mountains to reach the tasty crystals. Two ants decided that this place was heaven, and they wanted to stay behind to enjoy their new found riches. The next morning, while the two ants were sleeping in the sugar jar, a spoon scoops them up and dumps them in coffee! The ants battle the swirling, hot liquid, and manage to get out. Unfortunately, the ants climbed into holes in some bread and got put into the toaster! Once they got out of there, they were drifted away by water in the sink into a garbage disposal. Next, they tried to climb into a outlet and got zapped. Finally, they were so tried they went to sleep in a dark corner and awoke to see the worker ants returned for more sugar crystals. The two ants got back in line, marched home, and were very happy to be home! The illustrations appear to be done in pen and ink; the detailed pictures have a lot of geometric lines and symmetry probably to make the size of the ants to their surroundings pop.

H. Response: I really enjoyed Two Bad Ants for a number of reasons. My favorite part about the book is realizing how tough worker ants must have it. The details in the story and the illustrations of what the ants went through just to get to the food was very interesting. The best part, by far, was the part when the ants were in the home getting tossed around and bruised up because they had no idea what was going on, but as the reader you do know what is happening to the ants! The style of art that Chris Van Allsburg uses in Two Bad Ants is fun, but I like some of his other media styles and choices a bit better. The illustrations were very clear and went along with the story well, but I prefer his style in The Polar Express.

I. Teaching Ideas: Two Bad Ants would be a great picture book to start off a science unit on insects and their characteristics, habitat, or their every day life. On Teacher CyberGuide, I found a lesson plan that includes an activity dealing with Chris Van Allsburg's biography and life, how Chris gets his ideas for stories and illustrations, and ways to create food inspired by insects! I found links on Web English Teacher for multiple lesson plan ideas for Two Bad Ants. Some of the lesson plan topics include collecting information on ants (group work), discussion questions and writing prompts for related creative writing exercises, reading and writing activities to support the book, map-making, different perspectives, etc. I plan to use this book to aid my future lesson plans, especially if ants or insects happens to be the topic.

Little Red Riding Hood

A. Title: Little Red Riding Hood: By the Brothers Grimm
B. Author: Trina Schart Hyman
C. Illustrator: Trina Schart Hyman
D. Publisher: Holiday House
E. Genre: Picture Book - Folklore/Fairy Tale
F. Reading Level: 1-3
G. Awards: Caldecott Honor Award

H. Summary: This is the common fairy tale of Little Red Riding Hood by the Brothers Grimm, retold by Trina Schart Hyman. Little Red Riding Hood, Elisabeth, was given a basket of wine, bread, and sweet butter to take to her sick grandmother's house far away in the woods. Elisabeth's mother made her promise to stay on the path, go straight there and straight back, and to always mind her manners. The walk was about a half an hour away from town, and while Little Red Riding Hood was walking through the woods she met an old, clever wolf. He found out what she was doing, where she was going, and what for before he side tracked poor Elisabeth. She said goodbye to the wolf and left the path to go collect flowers for her sick grandmother. While Elisabeth was picking flowers, the wolf ran all the way to grandmother's house, and he ate her up in one gulp! When Elisabeth got to the house, the door was open and she walked up to the bed. The wolf ate her up too and fell asleep full bellied in grandmother's bed. His loud snoring caught the ear of a hunter passing by, and he came in and cut open the wolf to safe Little Red Riding Hood and her grandmother.

I. Response: I've always liked the story Little Red Riding Hood, and I've been hearing it for as long as I can remember. This particular version has gorgeous illustrations that look to be paintings. The pages with the text have detailed flower borders with the other page being a full illustration with no words. The pictures are all bright and very detailed, especially the faces of the characters. I definitely want to incorporate all of the classic fairy tales/folklore into my future classrooms.

J. Teaching Ideas: Little Red Riding Hood is a great fairy tale, but right off the top of my head I couldn't think of very many teaching ideas. The main lesson plan that I could think of is to share this story while teaching a lesson or unit on folklore or fairy tale. The website for ReadWriteThink has a lesson plan dealing with analyzing fairy tales elements and general characteristics, compose an original fairy tale, and presenting the fairy tales to the class. Lesson Plan Central had a web page with links to 14 different lesson plans that deal with folklore and fairy tales. Online searches pull up lesson plan idea after idea, and Little Red Riding Hood is one that should definitely be included!

Lon Po Po

A. Title: Lon Po Po: A Red-Riding Hood Story from China

B. Author: Ed Young

C. Illustrator: Ed Young

D. Publisher: Penguin Putnam Books/ Philomel Books

E. Genre: Picture Book/Folktale

F. Reading Level: k-3

G. Awards: Caldecott Award Winner


H. Summary: The story of Lon Po Po is the Chinese version of Little Red Riding Hood. There are a lot of similarities, but also a lot of differences. A mother and her three daughters lived out in the countryside, and one day the mother left to go visit the children's grandmother for her birthday. A clever wolf lived in the woods nearby and saw the mother leave. That night the wolf dressed up, knocked on the door, and claimed to be the three little girls' grandmother, Po Po. At first the children were deceived and aloud the impostor Po Po to come inside. Then, while in bed, the children noticed the wolf's bushy tail and its' sharp claws. The children figured out that their Po Po was actually the wolf and tricked it! They ran outside to get a nut from the gingko tree, which they told the wolf with one taste you could live forever. The three little girls climbed all the way up the tree and convinced the wolf to get a basket, throw a rope over the highest tree branch, and create a pulley system for them to lift their "Po Po" to the nuts. At first, the eldest tried to pull "Po Po" up, but half way up she dropped the wolf saying she was too weak. Next, two of the sisters pulled the wolf up in the basket even higher than the first time, but again, they were too weak to pull the wolf all the way up. The wolf was growing very angry, but all he could think about was the gingko nut and living forever. Finally, all three sisters pulled the wolf up all the way to the top of the tree and dropped him to his death. When the mother arrived home the next, the children told her all about how they had outsmarted the impostor Po Po. The illustrations are done in pastels and water color, and each page varies on the spread layout (panel layout).

I. Response: I have always really enjoyed myths, fairy tales, and folk tales, which is why I think I enjoyed Lon Po Po so much. Little Red Riding Hood is such a common tale that you're sure to hear it if you grow up in the United States! Many of my friends said that they read this Chinese version during their elementary school days, but I was not so lucky. I love the similarities between the two stories, but I have to admit that I like Lon Po Po better than Little Red Riding Hood. The thing that I like the most about it is the creative way the young children outsmart the wolf. Just like Red Riding Hood, the children in Lon Po Po are smart enough to realize that the wolf is not their grandmother, but the Lon Po Po characters go even further and trick the wolf. The illustrations are just amazing. I am a big fan of the way pastels can be combined, rubbed, and molded into unique colors specific to the story it's telling. The color choices are bright, fun, and really compliment the natural settings that they depict.

J. Teaching Ideas: After reading Lon Po Po, I had a few vague ideas for lesson plans right off the top of my head: comparing/contrasting America's folk tales to those of other countries, and teaching Chinese culture. Once I started to look online I found resource after resource for Lon Po Po; this is definitely a book I would suggest using in a lesson plan because of the number of lesson plan opportunities it presents. Right away I found three great lesson plans: TeacherVision lesson plan, UVM (Vermont) lesson plan, and a scholastic lesson plan. The first lesson plan has five great ideas for incorporating this book into the lesson plan including creating a Venn Diagram comparing and contrasting Lon Po Po to Little Red Riding Hood, creative connections for art, social studies, and math, discussing the book from the wolf's point of view and creating another character to present the story from their view point, Chinese inventions word search (have students find out what products/inventions they've used from China), and reproducing Chinese symbols. The UVM website has a lesson plan that includes discussing what the story tells about the culture it's from, how do Lon Po Po and Little Red Riding Hood compare, etc. The Scholastic lesson plan allows children to have a discussion about which story they liked better and why, explore the aspects and create panel art, and appreciating the vocabulary in the Chinese version such as "Hei yo."

Beware of the Storybook Wolves

A. Title: Beware of the Storybook Wolves

B. Author: Lauren Child

C. Illustrator: Lauren Child

D. Publisher: Scholastic Press, a division of Scholastic Inc.

E. Genre: Picture Book/Fairy Tales

F. Reading Level: k-3

G. Summary: Each night, Herb's mother reads him a story before bed. Sometimes it's Little Red Riding Hood with two scary wolves: one big one and one small one with an eye patch (the one on the book's back cover). Before his mother leaves, Herb always makes sure she takes the book with her because of the storybook wolves. In the dark, he hears the low grumbling, growling of wolves, and Herb realizes his mother accidentally left Little Red Riding Hood in his room! The wolves want to eat him, but he convinces them he is dessert and that first they need to eat an appetizer. Then, while Herb is stealing Jell-O from the fairytale book, the wicked witch inside tells the wolves Herb has tricked them. Herb then borrows Cinderella's fairy godmother to protect him. Once all the storybook creatures had been returned, Herb stacked all his books up and put his bed on top to make sure no more storybook creatures decided to come out that night!

H. Response: Beware of the Storybook Wolves has the same media types and styles as I Will Never Not Ever Eat a Tomato, both by Lauren Child. This book also has double page spreads with most of the words worked into the pictures. Lauren Child's media style allows her books to be bright and colorful so that they're both fun to read and to look at. I thought the idea of the fairytale characters coming to life at night is great fun and a great way to introduce different fairy tales. My favorite illustration in the book was when Herb dumped Cinderella's fairy godmother onto the floor and real sequins fell out with her!

I. Teaching Ideas: Scholastic has a lesson plan for Beware of the Storybook Wolves dealing with reading comprehension and can be taught k-3. The goal of the lesson plan is for the children to make connections between the fairy tales that are present in the book, and others not included, and then the students will have the chance to create their own "fractured" fairytale; drawing paper, chart paper, and crayons and markers are all you need. Children get to draw their favorites characters or favorite parts in the story. The lesson plan really sounds like a lot of fun and something younger elementary aged students would really enjoy. I also found a website called "Fairy Tale Resources and Books" on TeacherNet that has a lot of great lesson plans and lesson resources dealing with Fairy Tales, myths, etc.

I Will Never Not Ever Eat a Tomato

A. Title: I Will Never Not Ever Eat a Tomato
B. Author: Lauren Child
C. Illustrator: Lauren Child
D. Publisher: Orchard Books/Candlewick Press
E. Genre: Picture Book
F. Reading Level: k-2

G. Summary: The illustrations are done in mixed media. Charlie gets asked by his parents to feed his little sister, Lola, dinner. Lola happens to be an extremely picky eater and doesn't like anything, especially what was for dinner that evening. To help get Lola to eat the food, Charlie made up stories about foods from different planets, from under the sea, or from the clouds on the highest mountains of Fuji. In the end, Lola asks to try the tomatoes without Charlie having to make up a story!

H. Response: The illustrations in this book are very creative, bright, colorful, and fun. I love the way Lauren Child incorporated multiple types of media into the illustrations: drawings, real-life pictures, digital imagery. The illustrations are double page spreads with the words mostly written into the pictures. I think the creative, funny tales Charlie made up made a perfect story to list and teach young students about foods. I also loved how Lola trusted her older brother and wanted to be like him. Not only does this book make it easy for young children to associate food words with the matching pictures, the stories about each food are very entertaining.

I. Teaching Ideas: I Will Never Not Ever Eat a Tomato is a great book to teach young students about different types of foods and the food pyramid. There are many creative ways to incorporate this book into a lesson. One way would be to read the book as a class, name all of the foods in the book, and in groups, color and cut out pictures of the foods to place in a giant food pyramid. One lesson plan I found online included parental involvement with tasting new foods from the book! There is also a suggestion for having a "name the food day" in the classroom that allows the students to taste the different foods and put the correct name with them. These are just two ideas, but there are many other creative lesson plans that could be derived out of I Will Never Not Ever Eat a Tomato.

Swamp Angel

A. Title: Swamp Angel

B. Author: Anne Isaacs

C. Illustrator: Paul O. Zelinsky

D. Publisher: Penguin Books Australia Ltd.

E. Genre: Picture Book - Folktale

F. Reading Level: 1-3

G. Awards: Caldecott Honor Book

H. Summary: Swamp Angel is a fun twist on a legend like Paul Bunyan. The book is about a gentle giant that is a woman, Angelica Longrider AKA Swamp Angel, who enters a competition to rid the towns of Tennessee from a bear named Thundering Tarnation. Thundering Tarnation had eaten out storages of food for winter in at least half of Tennessee! Many men signed up to try and defeat Thundering Tarnation, but not one of them could overpower such a massive bear. Then Swamp Angel and Thundering Tarnation get into a wrestling fight that lasts for days and nearly destroys the countryside! Trees fell down left and right, and the two wrestled for so long that they soon fell asleep. The snores from the two of them was enough to continue to knock down trees, and the tree that killed Thundering Tarnation in his sleep was one that fell down from a snore! The meat from the bear was enough to feed the starving people of Tennessee all winter, and Swamp Angel got to keep his fur as a rug. But don't worry Thundering Tarnation isn't forgotten, during the fight he was thrown into the sky and made a lasting impression in the stars as a constellation. The illustrations are oil paintings on cherry, maple, and birch veneers.


I. Response: I really enjoyed Swamp Angel!! I've never even heard of this story, but it's nice to see a women in a position like Paul Bunyan. It's also a story in the Appalachian region! I also love how even though she was larger than life, the people of Tennessee still didn't think that she could take on a bear like Thundering Tarnation... that was a job for a man. But guess who is the only one that can stop the bear, Swamp Angel! Not only is the story fun, it also has a great message: don't let anyone ever tell you what you can and cannot accomplish; if you try hard enough, you can achieve anything! I also absolutely love the way Paul O. Zelinsky illustrated this book. The pictures have great warmth, depth, and detail in them, and I thought it was a great touch since the story took place outside in the Tennessee woods. It's very easy to see why this book is a Caldecott Honor Book, though I think it should have won!

J. Teaching Ideas: Swamp Angel can be used a fun classroom folktale or has a way to teach a moral lesson: never let anyone tell you that you can't achieve your dreams. I found a lesson plan on folktale and folk art that can be taught with Swamp Angel. The lesson plan can be used in the age range of 9+ years old. The lesson includes a hands on experience where the students get to create their own art mimicking the style of Paul O. Zelinsky. There are also many lesson plan connections that could teach characteristics of folk art and/or folktales.

My Friend Rabbit

A. Title: My Friend Rabbit

B. Author: Eric Rohmann

C. Illustrator: Eric Rohmann

D. Publisher: Roaring Book Press, a division of the Millbrook Press

E. Genre: Picture Book

F. Reading Level: K-1

G. Awards: 2003 Caldecott Medal

H. Summary: My Friend Rabbit is very clever and funny story for beginning readers. The story is a mix between text and picture pages and also just picture pages. The illustrations are done in hand-colored relief prints and are very bright and fun. The background is a pretty blue sky, each character has a thick black outline and detailed features. The narrator is a tiny mouse who has a friend that is a rabbit, and everywhere rabbit goes trouble follows! Rabbit accidently gets their toy airplane stuck high up in a tree, but he has a plan. He stacks an elephant, a rhino, a hippo, a moose, an alligator, a squirell, a bear, and a goose and all her young ones one on top of the other. The plane is still just out of reach so rabbit and mouse climbed up and stretched, and then all of a sudden everything shook and everyone fell. The animals were not happy, but the plane had fell and rabbit was mouse's friend; so the mouse scooped up rabbit in the plane and they flew away. As they were flying away rabbit wanted to hug mouse to show his appreciation but was actually covering his eyes!

I. Response: My Friend Rabbit is a great picture book. It has the thrity-two pages, two-page spreads, and wonderful illustrations. My favorite page is the one where all the animals are looking at him very angry because they had all just fallen down on one another. The expressions, details, and colors are amazing and very vivid. This story is sure to remind kids of an older friend or sibling who is bigger than them and sometimes wild.

J. Teaching Ideas: Scholastic.com has a k-1 lesson plan for mathematics and number sequencing using My Friend Rabbit. It includes making copies of a page for each student, cutting, gluing, and rearranging the animals in certain orders. Lessons dealing with friendship and trouble would be easy to apply. The illustrations would be a lot of fun to try to immitate or make your own using the style. Once you read this book, it's really clear why it won the Cadlecott Medal in 2003. The teacher could also just read this book for fun and enjoyment because the students will definitely love it.

Baseball Saved Us

A. Title: Baseball Saved Us

B. Author: Ken Mochizuki

C. Illustrator: Dom Lee

D. Publisher: Lee & Low Books Inc.

E. Genre: Picture Book, Historical Fiction

F. Reading Level: Grades 3-5

G. Awards: 1993 Parent's Choice Award

H. Summary: During World War II, the American government sent Japanese-Americans to desert camps. The camps were surrounded by a barbed wire fence and soldiers with guns; the conditions were horrible with sandstorms, hot days, and cold nights. The people soon became restless because there was nothing to do, and the children soon began to change and become disrespectful. The father of the main character decided to build a baseball field to give the community something to do. At first just a few helped to build it, but eventually a lot of the people in the camp joined in. The main character, a young boy, tries hard to get better at baseball and succeeds. When the government finally let the Japanese-Americans go home, playing for the school baseball team is what helped him to become adjusted and accepted at school. The illustrations were done on paper with encaustic beeswax; then the illustrator scratched the images in the wax and painted them with oil paint for the color. Some of the pictures were inspired by photographs from an internment camp in 1943.

I. Response: I am so glad that I bought this book for my collection. Not only does it shed light on a negative, but important, part of our nation's history, it also shows a great point of view of racism. The point of view of an innocent child makes the story really sink in. I think another reason it struck me so much was because it was a hopeful story about a bad time in Japanese-Americans' lives. The author also took an event that could happen to anyone, being left out of playing a sport in PE class. On top of the racists comments, that we all know is wrong, there is feeling from within of not being chosen or accepted.

J. Teaching Ideas: This book is almost perfect for the using in the classroom. I found one lesson plan for Baseball Saved Us that used the book as a way to introduce historical fiction books. As the teacher reads, the children make a list of characters, places, events, and facts. Then discuss the elements of historical fiction with the class and create a venn diagram. The middle of the venn diagram has the list of things the class wrote down, the left side has historical facts, and the right side has fiction; the teacher uses this exercise to show what historical fiction is and how it is a mix of both. I also found a lesson plan on the discrimination of immigrants. The objectives are as follows, "1. Students will create a dictionary of reform terms. 2. Students will write profiles of several key reformers in American history. 3. Students will examine the impact individual people can have on society. 4. Students will design and implement related community service projects. 5. Students will gain an understanding of the historical context of the reformers and their objectives." The lesson plan also gives lists of specific topics, people, and ideas to use or give as options. The website also discusses what types of skills the exercise is addressing. This book would even just be great to read to the class and just have an open discussion about how the main character must have felt, how the treatment of him made them feel, would they ever treat someone this way, do they know and understand what World War II was, and the list could go on and on.

Math Fables Too: Making Science Count

A. Title: Math Fables Too: Making Science Count

B. Author: Greg Tang

C. Illustrator: Taia Morley

D. Publisher: Scholastic Inc.

E. Genre: Picture Book - Informational Text

F. Reading Level: PreK-K/Primary

G. Summary: Math Fables Too: Making Science Count is a great informational text picture book that includes counting and mathematics, and science. The beginning of the book has an author's note that discusses Greg Tang's intentions when writing this book. The author's goal is to help kids learn to count and begin to understand the concepts of addition. The author also wrote into the book non-mathematics related objectives: to get kids more interested in science, animals use of tools, and a positive message to kids about mathematics and science. An example of the counting and scientific information is on pages three and four; "Daydreams - One evening 2 Koalas were in search of something sweet. They climbed a eucalyptus tree with nimble hands and feet. This tree is very poisonous to all but just a few. Koalas are immune and so the leaves are safe to chew. 1 took a little nibble and the other 1 a bite. For theses very picky eaters, the leaves must be just right. The 2 marsupials loved the taste and ate the night away. And since they are nocturnal - they planned to sleep all day!" Each page-spread is set up in a way much like this, and the illustrations have a 3-D look to them that makes me think the medium is paper collages; the illustrations' background looks to be painted or digital with the paper-collages layered on top.

H. Response: The reason I love this book so much is because it covers multpile subjects and topics and is so well illustrated. Each page spread is unique to the animal it is about. It clearly has both mathematical and scientific concepts that can be applied to the classroom. Each spread tells interesting facts about the animals and their lives; my favorite pages are the ones that discuss the spitting fish: "These fish have such a sneaky way of catching what they eat. They spit a stream of water that knocks insects off their feet!" I also really like the way the illustrations are done. They are two page spreads with the words in the illustrations. The way the landscape and the animals pop out of the book because of the layering and collages are just so neat.

I. Teaching Ideas: Scholastic has a great lesson plan for another one of Greg Tang's books that is very similar in concept; the lesson plan is for Math Fables, which is a counting book that also discusses the animals environments. After reading Math Fables Too: Making Science Count, you could start a class discussion about whether or not the class knows what a fable is. As a teacher you could ask your students to talk about the animals on the cover of the book and what the students know about them before you read the book to the class. You could have the students locate where the animals in the book live and make a giant floor map. Or "play out the numbers in the story with unifix cubes or another type of counting math manipulative." You could also assign a project for the students to make their own number book, maybe dealing with animals maybe not. The class could also work together and create an animal habbitat such as an ant farm or a butterfly garden. These are just a few ideas I found from the lesson plan built around the original Math Fables, there are plenty of other great ideas that can be applied to this book!

Counting Crocodiles

A. Title: Counting Crocodiles

B. Author: Judy Sierra

C. Illustrator: Will Hillenbrand

D. Publisher: Voyager Books, Harcourt, Inc.

E. Genre: Picture Book, Fiction/Counting, Folktale

F. Reading Level: K-2/Primary



G. Summary: A clever little monkey lives in a lemon tree on an island in the middle of the Sillabobble Sea. Across the sea there is an island that has a banana tree! The little monkey uses her quick wit to out smart the hungry crocodiles that live in the surrounding water. She tricks them into creating a pathway across the water by counting them. On the copyright page, there is a note: "This story is based on Pan-Asian folktale in which a trickster animal (a monkey, a rabbit, or a mouse deer) persuades crocodiles or sharks to form a bridge over water, under the pretext of counting them." The illustrations are done in oil, oil pastel, watercolor, and gouache on vellum.

H. Response: I got this book in October or November at the math conference in Greensboro, NC and I absolutely love it. First of all the illustrations are phenomenal; the way the illustrator combines the media of oil, oil pastels, watercolor, and gouache on vellum create such breathtaking water/underwater pictures. In the story, the clever monkey counts the crocodiles in so many fun ways: crocs resting on rocks, building blocks, in a box, in polka-dots, juggling clocks, and the list goes on and on. The funny illustrations to go along with the strange things the crocodiles are doing makes this book very entertaining and interesting. Younger kids will love to see crocodiles in the water dressed in tuxedos playing violins, with big blond wigs, dressed up like Goldilocks, or sunbathing. This book also counts up from one to ten and then back down from ten to one. For younger elementary grades, this book could be used in numerous ways to aid classroom mathematics lessons.

I. Teaching Ideas: This book would be excellent to start off a lesson on counting and recognizing numerical order because the book counts up from one to ten and then back down from ten to one. After reading, one way to include Counting Crocodiles would be to draw or paint their own scenes full of ten animals. There is a lesson plan that goes along with a Dr. Suess counting book called Ten Apples Up On Top that could also work with Counting Crocodiles. Each student takes a paper plate and draws a self-portrait of themselves (or to apply it directly to the book, you could have the students draw their favorite animal, a crocodile, or maybe the monkey). Next, each student decides how many apples to balance on their head (or the students could draw bananas to go along with Counting Crocodiles). Once the student has picked how much fruit to balance on the head of their portrait, then they create the cutouts of the fruit to paste on the head. Once everyone is completed, as a class we can decide which self-portrait or animal-portrait will go where, so that the number of fruit is in order from smallest to greatest. There are so many little ways to modify this one lesson plan into working well with this book. The bottom line is that Counting Crocodiles has gorgeous and bright illustrations that can keep anyone interested, a great example of counting and numerical ordering, and is just overall fun. It is a great mathematical book addition for any lower level classroom.

Lost! A Story in String

A. Title: Lost! A Story in String

B. Author: Paul Fleischman

C. Illustrator: C. B. Mordan

D. Publisher: Henry Holt and Company, New York

E. Genre: Picture Book, fiction - Informational Text

F. Reading Level: Grades 3+


G. Summary: During a storm, a grandmother tells her granddaughter a story about a young girl who gets lost in the woods while looking for her dog. The grandmother uses string to tell the story of how the young girl used her wits and whats available around her to help her survive in the snow. Using logical thinking, the young girl finds her dog and returns both of them homes safely. After the story, there are pages of informational text on how to create, with yarn, all the shapes the grandmother made while telling her granddaughter about the young, lost girl; the young girl in the story turns out to be the grandmother herself! There are step-by-step directions and visual pictures to teach you how to make the shapes. The illustrator, C. B. Mordan, follows in the footsteps of the illustrator for Joyful Noises and I am Phoenix in doing sketches for the illustrations. The illustrations in Lost! A Story in String are definitely hand sketches, but these are made using ink and are drawn onto a clayboard instead of drawn with pencils. This type of media allows for great shadow detail and dense forestry detail. Also, because everything is drenched in snow in the story, the contrast between the white, snow covered areas and the black ink of the forest are phenomenal.

H. Response: Overall, I really like Paul Fleischman's writing style. Everything he writes about can be applied in the classroom because he once considered becoming a history teacher. I loved Lost! A Story in String mostly because while I was growing up my friends and I always had a string playing "Cat's Cradle." The story itself is great as well. The little girl who gets lost is so smart and a great role model. She is grounded and thinks thoughtfully through all of the problems that occur while she is out searching for her dog. She never gets really scared or frustrated; she just takes one thing at a time until she reaches home. Not only does this book have great classroom applications, it also has great life skills: patience, hard work, logical thinking process, and never giving up.

I. Teaching Ideas: Lost! A Story in String can be connected to the classroom in quite a few ways for younger students. Students could learn, from the book and teacher instruction, how to make shapes out of string. Then, working in groups, individually, or as a whole class, the students could tell a story of their own using the yarn to make the pictures. Students could tell and show stories about themselves, their family, subjects in school, other books the class is reading, etc. The flexibility of the story telling with string shapes allows for the possibility of being applied to almost any subject. The book can also teach about never giving up and using your mind to its fullest capabilities, especially when in a dangerous situation such as getting lost in the woods.

Moses

A. Title: Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom

B. Author: Carole Boston Weatherford

C. Illustrator: Kadir Nelson

D. Publisher: Jump at the Sun/Hyperion Books for Children, 2006

E. Genre: Picture Book

F. Age Range: ages 5-8

G. Awards: Caldecott Honor Book, Coretta Scott King Award

H. Summary: In the book Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom, Harriet Tubman is born into slavery and aches for freedom. She listens to the guiding voice of God, who leads her to freedom in Philadelphia, PA. In the process of becoming free, Harriet leaves her whole world and family behind in the south. She soon realizes how much she misses her family;Harriet would give her life to have the rest of her family free. She once again lets God guide her to his church doubling as a stop on the underground railroad. With this resource, Harriet returns back to the south and frees her family! Soon she realizes that her calling was to continuously return to the south and free as many slaves as she could. This picture book was written to be Harriet Tubman's spiritual journey of God guiding her to freedom and the freedom of others. The last page of this book has an author's note that tells about the true life of Harriet Tubman.

I. Response: The abolishment of slavery and the Civil Rights Movement are huge parts of our nation's history, and this book does an excellent job of combining excellent illustrations with a well told story. In my opinion, the illustrations are the best things about this book. Of course the story isn't too bad either! The materials used to create the illustrations are not listed in the book, but I love the effect they have. The colors are so rich, and the pictures seem to have an amazing depth to them; almost like what you're reading the book, you're looking into Harriet Tubman's world. I also like how the author took the spiritual journey of Harriet and connected it fully at the end by giving Harriet Tubman's biographical information. The book is written to easily be incorporated into lesson plans dealing with the Civil Rights Movement, slavery, and the life's of the individuals who helped to shape the free nation we live in today.

J. Teaching Ideas: This would be an excellent book to introduce or to incorporate slavory, civil rights, and underground railroad topics. Education World's website has a lesson plan for grades 3-5, Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad, that includes a internet scavenger hunt and some other activities. The lesson plan's keywords are Underground Railroad, Black History, abolitionist, Harriet Tubman, and slavery. I like this activity because it incorporates the learning of history with advancing computer skills. The bottom of this lesson plan has excellent internet resources including The Internet African American History Challenge, National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, and National Geographic's The Underground Railroad. The options for incorporating Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom into classroom learning, activities, and projects are pretty broad. The Educator's Reference Desk also has lesson plans dealing with these topics, plus many others. One of those lessons is for the Kindergarten grade level and is called Who Was Harriet Tubman?. This lesson helps younger children start to recognize the issues of slavery and to learn who Harriet Tubman was and how she helped many slaves escape.

What Do You Do With a Tail Like This?

A. Title: What Do You Do With a Tail Like This?
B. Author: Jenkins, Steve
C. Illustrator: Page, Robin
D. Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2003
E. Genre: Picture Book
F. Age Range: Grades k-3
G. Awards: 2004 Caldecott Honor Book

H. Summary: What Do You Do With a Tail Like This? is very entertaining and educational book. This picture book goes over what some animals do with their ears, eyes, mouths, noses, feet, and tails in a very interactive way. The creative pictures of the animals in this book creates a very positive interaction and guessing game with the readers. The last page in the book also offers additional information on every animal in the book!

I. Response: I really enjoyed this scientific picture book as a future teacher and just for enjoyment! This book is sure to grab the attention of elementary age school children, grades k-3 at least. The children and readers are able to have fun while learning knew things and putting their brains to work. Before the author reveals what the animals use the designated body part for, there is a page that shows numerous animals and names a specific body part. I love this aspect of What Do You Do With a Tail Like This? because it opens up all kinds of great discussion opportunities. Children reading this book are able to think through the information given to them and come up with their own ideas on how the animals work. The book also describes what the animals actually use the named body part for. The end of this picture book also has an excellent couple of resource pages. Each animal discussed in the book has a paragraph of information on them in the back. I think this book has the power to get younger children interested in science and animals, and to potentially spark an interest in science that may last much longer than just while reading What Do You Do With a Tail Like This?. Another part of this book that I absolutely love is the illustrations. The illustrations are made out of cut-paper collage and have a layered quality to them. The images have a 3-D effect and almost seem to be popping out of the book because of the layered collage. The different colored and textured papers really added to the overall effect.

I. Teaching Ideas: This books can be applied in the classroom environment in a number of different ways. As a teacher, you could use this book to help introduce a project about animals, characteristics, classifications, etc. The Scholastic website has a large variety of lesson plan ideas, including many that are fine tuned to certain children's literature. The link above takes you directly to a lesson plan entitled "A Planet Full of Animals." This particular lesson plan is aimed at children around the kindergarten age. The objectives are to observe that various kinds of animals have similarities and differences and to sort and classify various kinds of animals. Another lesson plan, available from Scholastic, called "Activity Plan Mixed Ages: Animal Sculptures" combines animals, creativity, and imagination. Another idea for classroom application would be to allow each student to pick an animal, maybe from the book maybe not, and for them to do a project all about the unique survival features of their animal. There are so many possibilities for projects to go along with this book. Furthering investigation similar to that in What Do You Do With a Tail Like This? leads to development in the child's scientific observational skills.