Hatchet

Paulsen, Gary
Newberry Honor Book
Fiction
Aladdin Paperbacks, 1996
5th grade and up

Summary: This book is about a boy named Brian Robeson. Brians parents just got a divorce and he is going to spend time with his father in Canada. During the flight there his pilot has a massive heartattack and dies. Brians plane crashes into an L shaped river in Canada. He is lucky to be alive, but is left to survive by himself in the woods. During this time he teaches himself how to fish, how to build a fire and how to live in the wilderness with nothing but the hatchet that his mother gave him as a gift. He is angry at his mother because he knows that she had an affair, something that he is going to tell his father about. He lives through a tornado and getting attacked by a porcipine and a moose. He learns that the only important thing that matters now is to survive. Eventually he swims into the lake to find the crashed airplane and comes upon a survival kit with food, tools, and a transmitter. He thinks that the transmitter is dead but soon enough help comes to find him.

Response: When I was in the 5th grade we had to read this book for school. For some reason it has stuck with me as being one of my all time favorite novels. Brian is a boy who is dealing with something that is hard for any adolescent to deal with and that is divorce. At this time his life is changing and he has to learn how to adapt to it, just like he has to learn to adapt to his new life in the woods. I like how he becomes so idependent. Throughout the book you see him change and grow and to realize the things in life that matter most. That holding grudges and staying mad at people is not a good idea because you may never see them again. "The memory was like a knife cuttinginto him. Slicing deep into him with hate." pg 31. I thought that this was a really powerful line in the book. He is talking about his mothers affair and how much it has hurt him. I think that every person can relate to this in someway. Many people have a memory or a story that they can never let go. As a young girl i loved the wilderness, i loved being outside, i loved camping and I loved playing in the dirt. I think that is why I am so drawn to this book. I went on trip to Alaska one year and it sounds very much like the same place that he describes. I just can't imagine being this character. Being 13 years old and having to hunt your own food, and bathe in a lake. Having no bed to sleep in or air conditioning to keep you cool. It really makes you realize not to take things for granted because many people in this world live just like this...every single day! "Treasure...unbelievable riches. He could not believe the contents of the survival pack." To him this was treasure. Ask any American what treasure is and I am almost sure that this would not be their response.

Classroom: There are many classroom connections in this book. You could talk about dealing with feelings, survival and how to adapt to situtations when needed. (Ex: Moving to a new place) Students could also do an author study on Gary Paulsen. They could create a writing log and pretend they are Brian. What they would do, how they would feel ect. Survival scenarios could be given out like living in a desert, cold place, no electricity ect.

Becoming Naomi Leon

"THE POWER OF LOVE"



Author: Ryan, Pam Muno
Publisher Scholastic, Inc., 2004
Genre: Realistic Fiction, Multicultural
Age:4th and up


Summary: This book is about a brave and courageous little girl by the name of Naomi Soledad Leon Outlaw. Naomi lives with her relative whom she calls Gram and her younger brother Owen, who was born with a birth defect. They live in a trailer which they call Baby Beluga in Lemon Tree, CA. When they were young their mother “Skyla” dropped them off and really wanted nothing to do with them. She struggled with a mental disorder, alcoholism and pure selfishness. Naomi tells the story from her point of view and shares her issues with growing up and finding her self. She is a mixed child, her mother is American and her father is Hispanic. She struggles with this at school because she is “different” than the other kids her age. She is a very shy girl who appreciates everyone around her. Her great grandmother has taught her to be a strong young girl and to have such a positive outlook on life. Naomies little brother Owen was born with a deformity and has gone through several grueling surgeries to try and correct it. He is too is not accepted at school, and the boys make fun of him and call him a retard. He finds comfort in wearing tape on his shirt. One day their mother “Skyla” shows up at their door all the sudden wanting to be a part of Naomis life. Just Naomi, not Owen. She promises that she is not trying to take the children and that she just wants to get to know them. She buys all these gifts for Naomi, trying to buy her love. She never gives Owen any attention, and is very turned off by his deformity. She says that all of her money comes from her boyfriend, Clive. One day Skyla comes and says that she is going to take Naomi to live with her in Las Vegas. Naomi is very scared because her mother has hit her before and Naomi knows what kind of person she is inside. Gram decides to take the trailer and go on a vacation to Mexico so that Naomi and Owen can meet their father, and hopefully get a letter of recommendation from the court so that the children can remain in Grams care. Naomi finally gets to meet her father, and really bonds with him. After their visit they head back to California to deal with the court. They end up fighting in court, and eventually winning against their mother. This is a story of a brave little girl and her realization that there are going to many bumps in the road in life.

RESPONSE: This was an absolutely WONDERFUL book. I had no idea what I was going to be reading about when I first picked this book up because I like the surprise, but this really has become a book that has moved me. I loved everything about this book, the characters, the setting and the message at the end of the book.

There was something about every one of these characters that I felt like I could relate to. Naomi was such a sweet, shy girl who genuinely cared about people. I was always the shy kid in school and never talked much, and was always ridiculed because of it so I can definitely relate to her on this level. I felt like Naomi was someone that I could really look up to. She was dealing with so much in her life but she remained calm, and true to herself. It didn’t really bother her what other people thought about her, she just brushed it off and I really respected that. The end of the book was really powerful for me. “It was like a stampede crashed through the wall in front of me. No , I said again, and slowly began telling the story from the beginning. How Gram was widow and lost her only daughter…” “As if a dam had burst, I couldn’t stop the rush of words.” This was really powerful because I feel like she held so much in for so long and finally she let it all go.

I really loved Owens character as well. The poor child had dealt with so much but still continued to be strong. He had faced several surgeries which I am sure were tough for him. He faced being made fun of at school, and even his own mother not accepting him. It really made me smile when the kids at school were making fun of him and they ripped his tape off of his shirt and he fell down and started convulsing and it really scared his classmates. He did this on purpose, to play a joke on them even though they are so mean to him. He could have said so many hurtful things to those kids but he didn’t. It was so hard for me to sit and read about how Skyla did not accept him. Right in front of his face she said that she did not want him, and instead of taking it to heart he let it slide off of his shoulders, he knew that Gram loved him and that is all that matters.

Do the author and illustrator present authentic perspectives?
Is the culture portrayed multi-dimensionally?
Are the cultural details naturally integrated?
Are details accurate and is the interpretation current?
Is language used authentically?

I think that this book possessed all of these qualities. The author did a wonderful job really researching the places and the events that took place. You really get a feel for the Mexican culture, especially in the second half of the book when they travel to Mexico. Noche De Rabanos is a celebration where radishes are carved to create figures or scenes. The book did an awesome job teaching the reader about different activities that the Mexican people participate in. http://www.tomzap.com/radishes.html Here is a link I found about more information on this festival. The author also introduces many Hispanic foods like pan dulce, which is sweet bread and tortillas. The author uses authentic language throughout the book. “ I wore a new white blouse with puffed sleeves that Gram had bought at el Mercado.” “Manana? Asked Rueben.” “Superb Spanish Words 1.Jalatlaco 2.Mercado 3.Quesillo 4. Mole 5. Pina Coco.” 157. Naomi is constantly trying to learn Spanish whenever she visits Mexico and is intrigued by its culture, especially since she loves carving so much. I thought that the author did a great job providing the audience with an authentic perspective. When I was reading I felt like I was Naomi Leon and I was experiencing everything that she was going through. The details are also accurate, in the back of the book there is an Author Question section, and the author chose real places, real events and even Naomi Leon is a real persons name.



Teaching Ideas: I think that this would be a great book to use in the classroom when learning about different cultures. It would be fun to bring in some of the foods that they talk about in the book and compare and contrast between American dishes and Mexican dishes. Also it would be a lot of fun to have a day of soap carving. There is a section in the book that give you directions on how to do it. After reading about the soap carving I thought “Wow, that would be fun!”


Websites for research:

http://www.ci.lemon-grove.ca.us/jobs.asp
http://www.tomzap.com/radishes.html
http://www.ehow.com/how_11287_carve-soap-shapes.html
http://oaxaca-travel.com/

The Giving Tree

Silverstein, Shel
Harper Collins Publishers, 1964
Picture Book
1st and up



The Giving Tree is written and illustrated by Shel Silverstein. This book is the story of a young boy who once had a favorite tree. The tree absolutely loved this little boy and whenever the tree saw the little boy she would become so happy. The little boy loved to play in her leaves, swing on her branches and eat her apples. He would play hide-and-go-seek with the tree, and he would sleep in her shade. The boy gave all of his love to the tree and she appreciated it so much.
As the boy started to grow up, he began taking advantage of the tree. The tree felt very lonely when the boy was not around. One day the boy began coming to the tree and asking for favors. First, the boy asked for money. The tree said to take her apples and the sell them, and so he did. Then the boy came back again and said that he needed a house to keep warm and so the boy cut off all of her branches. Then the boy came back and said he wanted a boat, so the tree told him to cut her trunk and he did. The tree had given everything she had to give to the boy and she had nothing left to give and was very sad. The boy came back once more, but he was very old. The tree said “I have nothing left to give you, you have taken everything.” The boy said that he needed nothing except for a quiet place to sit and rest, so the boy sat and rested on the old stump, and the tree was happy.

I LOVE this book. This book is about a boy and his relationship with a friend, who happened to be a tree. The tree had the gift of giving, and gave everything she possibly could to make the boy happy. The boy took advantage of her for many years but when he got older he realized that he didn’t need any of the material things so he sat with his old friend, and that was the best gift he could have given back to the tree. The pictures in the book were very simple, along with the word choice, but the message at the end of the book was overpowering so it balanced out very well.

Classroom: I would use this book in the classroom for a lesson on respect and giving. You could create your own classroom giving tree and have students write on apple cutouts gifts that they can give such as friendship, loyalty, and trust. This would be great on talking about emotions and building healthy relationships as well.

Birds, Beasts and Fishes

Carter, Anne
Cartwright, Reg
Poetry
Macmillion Publishing, 1991
2nd and up

ON A CAT AGEING
He blinks upon the hearth rug
And yawns in deep content,
Accepting all the comforts
That Providence has sent.

Louder he purrs, and louder
In one glad hymn of praise,
For all the night's adventures,
For quiet, restful days.

Life will go one for ever,
With all that cat can wish;
Warmth, and the glad procession
Of fish, and milk and fish.

Only-the thought disturbs him-
He's noticed once ot twice,
The times are somehow bredding
A nimbler race of mice.
-Alexander Gray

I chose this poem because I love animals. This book was just full of great animal poems, so it was hard to choose just one. I really liked this poem because you could really sense the attitude of the cat. A cat is a simple, familiar animal so talking about poetry and using a cat I thought would be great for younger kids. "Life will go on forever, with all that cat can wish, warmth and the glad procession of fish and milk and fish" was my favorite stanza from the poem. Cats often have this attitude that they own the area where they are at and they lay around without a care in the world. Sometimes I wonder what cats are thinking while they lay there and purr and I guess it would be fish and milk just like the poem says! The first part of the poem talks about how the cat yawns accepting all the comforts and it makes me laugh because i feel like I can really apply this poem to my own cat. I thought that this poem did such a great job capturing the description of a cat and a cats feelings and attitudes towards life. I thought that this poem had a few elements of poetry including rhythm, rhyme, and images. You can really picture this cat and what he is doing and thinking. The poem really flows together each part being about equal and I think that this gives it rhythm. The author uses rhyme throughout the poem as well. For example: "And yawns in deep content, accepting all the comforts, that providence has sent."

I would use this poem, and the whole book in my classroom. You could use it when learning about poetry and you could even do a lesson on animals. Every page has a poem about a different animal so you could have the kids read some of these poems and then make up their very own poem about one of their favorite animals!

http://www.poetry4kids.com/index.php

Blizzard of the Blue Moon

Osborne, Mary Pope
Murdocca, Sal
Random House, 2006
2nd grade and up
Fantasy Fiction

Summary: This book is about Jack and Annie and their next Merlin Mission. This time they are in New York City, looking to save a magical Unicorn. They are sent back in time to the Great Depression. Here they see how America was during this time, and just how poor people really were. There is a horrible blizzard that is taking over the city and they must make their way to find this unicorn to save him. They are given a poem which gives them all the clues that they will need throughout the story. When they finally get to Cloisters there are two other people trying to find the magical unicorn. When they do, Jack and Annie have to come up with a way to save the unicorn and keep him from going back to the Dark Wizard.

Response: I really enjoyed reading this book, and learned a lot from reading it as well! The author does a really good job informing the reader and tying in facts within the story. For example “The city of New York is the largest city in the Western Hemisphere. It covers an area of 322 square miles.” She would tie in really interesting information and this was all stuff that I was unaware of. Throughout the book I also saw that Mary Pope Osborne would talk about carnivals and merry-go-rounds, which was related to Carnival at Candlelight, the book we read in class. I also liked how the author compared today now and then by using concepts children could understand, such as money. In Carnival at Candlelight I felt that Jack was superior to Annie, but in this book I think they really worked together to make a great team. Jack could sometimes be stubborn, but Annie was so smart and I liked that. I really liked the illustrations that the illustrator used as well. On page 83 there is a picture of Jack and Annie riding on the unicorn through the blizzard. When I looked at this picture it is exactly what I had pictured in my head. The last part of the book includes More Facts for Jack and Annie and You! Section. This part of the book is full of information for kids to read. It tells you all about the places that Jack and Annie visited during their trip. It also talks about the Great Depression, subways, and Central Park. She also says that Unicorns appear in old stories from all over the world which I thought was so interesting!

Classroom Connections: I would definitely use this book in my classroom. There is so much information in this book. You could use it for a history lesson to help kids really understand what went on during the Great Depression. You could also use this and have them create a “what happens next” story with Jack and Annie. There is so much that you could do with the Magic Tree House books!

The Mirror of Erised

I think that Mirror of Erised represents what your deepest desire is. When Harry looked into the mirror he saw his family. When Ron looked into the mirror he saw himself holding the Quidditch cup. “The happiest man on earth would be able to use the Mirror of Erised like a normal mirror that is, he would look into it and see himself exactly as he is.” “It shows us nothing more than our deepest, most desperate desires of our hearts.” The significance of this mirror to Harry Potter is that this is what he lives for. He does not remember his family and he will always have that hole inside of him. It will always be Harry’s deepest desire to find out about his parents. I think that all of us have a desire deep inside our hearts. Whether it be a fear we have not faced, a deep love for something or a passion. I chose to make a collage of pictures. Each picture shows something to do with education where children are reading, doing well in school and loving to learn. One of my deepest desires is to be a great teacher. A teacher that makes learning fun for kids and makes them want to be in school. I think that it takes a certain type of person to be a good teacher and it is a hard job to do. I think that deep down inside I have the passion to be a great teacher. If I looked into the mirror this is one of the things that I would see. I put a quote on my collage that says “A good teacher is like a candle-it consumes itself to light the way for others.” I think that this quote really describes the kind of teacher I want to be. I want to light the way for others to learn and to be able to be an inspiration to children.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

Rowling, J.K
Grandpre, Mary
Fantasy Fiction
5th and up
Scholastic Inc, 1998

Summary: This book is about a young boy named Harry Potter. The book starts out at his aunt and uncles house. They are the Dursleys and they live on Privet Drive. The Dursleys had one child and his name was Dudley. One day Professor Dumbledore, Hagrid, and Professor McGonagall brought Harry to their doorstep. The Dursleys raised him, not liking him very much at all. Unexplainable things would happen and the Dursleys did not like this at all. One day they went to the pet shop and there was a boa constrictor and the glass had just vanished. When Harry was a baby his mother and father were killed. He had no recollection of this happening other than green flashed. The Dursleys had an idea that Harry had something special about him. One day letters start arriving to Harry. Harry is unaware of where these letters could be coming from, he has yet to find out that he is a wizard, but the Durselys have an idea and are absolutely mortified. They wouldn’t let Harry read these letters but they began coming by the dozens. On Harry’s eleventh birthday Hagrid came to get him. He had been accepted to the school of Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. They boarded a train and headed for London. When they stopped the bought everything that Harry needed, including his new owl, Hedwig. He also needed a wand and they went to the store and there was a man named Mr. Ollivander, who told Harry that he sold the wand that put the scar on his face. After they were done shopping they went to the train that took them to Hogwarts, Nine and 3 quarters. Here is where he meets his friends Fred, George, and Ron Weasley. They enjoy their trip eating chocolate frogs. This is also were Neville Longbottom is introduced when he loses his toad, what he is known for. On the train Harry also meets Hermione Granger and they talk about what house they think they will be living in. Then Malfoy and his gang are introduced into the story, being very mean and rude to Harry. They arrive to Hogwarts where they will put on the sorting hat to see which house they will live in. The sorting hat looks deep inside their minds to see where they best fit at. They hat sings a little song and begins his sorting. All of Harry’s friends are Gryffindor’s and then it is Harry’s turn. The hat thought he might fit in Slytherin, but Harry knew he didn’t want that. The sorting hat then puts him into Gryffindor. Later on Harry meets Quirell, and when he does he gets a sharp pain in his scare. People began talking all over the school that the famous Harry Potter now attended there. Everyone wanted to get a glance of him. Professor Snape disliked Harry very much. Harry did not know why. He would call on him in class and Harry would not know the answer and he would be very mean to him. One day the Daily Prophet came out saying that Gringott had been broken into. It was broken into on Harry’s birthday. This is the part of the book where Harry starts questioning things. During flying lessons Malfoy threw a glass ball into the air, and Harry chased after it. Professor McGonagall took Harry out of class and went to see Oliver Wood who was head of the Quidditch team for Gryffindor house. They wanted Harry to be the seeker, and sure enough he was. Harry was given a Nimbus Two Thousand which was the best broomstick you could get. During the first Quidditch match Harry lost control of his broomstick and was flying all over the place. When Hermione looked at Snape she saw he was saying a spell under his breath and thought that he was the cause of this so she did a charm and he caught on fire. Then Harry regained control of his broomstick. Later in the book Harry receives a cloak with a letter on it saying that it was his fathers. This was an invisibility cloak. One night Harry went walking around and someone heard him so he hid in a room. He came upon a mirror, and when he looked into this mirror he could see his family, for the first time. He went and told Ron about this mirror and they went back and when Ron looked into the mirror he saw himself holding the Quidditch cup. They heard someone and ran back to their room. That night Professor Dumbledore talked to Harry. He told him that this was the Mirror of Erised and when you look in it you see your hearts deepest desire.
They began doing some research to find out who Nicolas Flamel was. They found out that he was the only known maker of the Sorcerers Stone. The stone transforms anything into gold, and also produces an elixir that makes you immortal. They were all onto Snape and thought that he was trying to steal the stone. They would overhear him and Quirrell talking, and Quirell always seemed so scared of Snape.
One day Hagrid was at the bar, and what he wanted more than anything was a dragon but dragons were illegal. A stranger ended up giving Hagrid a dragon egg and Hargrid took it back to his house for it to hatch. While taking care of it Malfoy finds out that there is a dragon and wants to use this against Harry and his friends. Harry tries to come up with a way to get rid of the dragon so that Hagrid does not get into trouble. He writes a letter to Charlie, Hagrids brother. Charlie writes them back saying to have the dragon, Norbert, on the highest building of Hogwarts and he will get it. While they are trying to do this they get caught outside and are given detention.
The night for them to serve detention comes and they have a very unusual mission to accomplish. Hagrid takes them to the woods and they see silver liquid everywhere. He says that this is unicorn blood and only a desperate soul would kill a unicorn. While they are walking in the woods they meet Ronan, who was half man half horse. They came upon the unicorn and it was dead. A hooded figure came out of the woods and began drinking its blood. They try very quickly to get Harry out of the woods. They tell Harry that unicorn blood will keep you alive even if you are nearly dead but at a terrible price. You will have a half life and a very cursed life if you drink this blood. Harry later asked him about the hooded figure at the bar that gave him the dragon’s egg. They realized that when Hagrid was drunk he had told the person how to settle Fluffy down, the 3 headed dog that guarded the door to the stone. They think that it was Snape or Voldemort. Harry and his gang decide to take matters into their own hands. That night they go to get the stone. First they go threw Fluffy the dog, and get past him. Then there is Devils Snare, the plant that tries to choke you. Then they came upon what they thought were birds, but they were winged keys flying all over the room. They picked the one with the damaged wing and they were right. In the next room there was a huge game of chess. The next room had 7 different shaped bottles some are poison and some are wine. They figured out the puzzle and Harry drank the liquid turning him into ice. He walked across the fire, and he knew someone was there. It was Quirell who admitted to trying to kill Harry during the Quidditch match. Snape knew he was doing this and was saying a spell to try and help Harry. The mirror of Erised was also in the room with them, and this was the key to finding the stone. Then Harry thought to himself what he wanted more than anything was to find the stone before Quirell did. Then all the sudden a voice came from Quirell, telling him to use the boy. Quirell unwrapped his turban and it was Voldemort. He was too weak to have his own body, but the unicorn blood helped make him a bit stronger. Harry tried to get out through the flames and the next thing he knew he woke up in a bed with Dumbledore standing over him. He told him that the stone had been destroyed and he also told him that Snape disliked Harry because Harry’s father once saved his life and he felt he was living in debt. At the end of the story Slytherin won the house cup but the Dumbledore awarded points to Harry, Ron, Hermione and Neville and they ended up winning at last. Then they all go home for the holiday.

Response: I absolutely LOVE Harry Potter books. I have currently read them all and this first book is the reason I began reading books in the first place. When I was younger I hated to read, I would rather have been outside playing but my mom purchased me this book so I began to read it and I got hooked. It had been a while since I had read the first book so I really enjoyed reading it once again. This book is bursting with description and that is why I love it so much. I can feel like I am actually a part of the story. I had marked the very first page which I really felt you could visualize the characters. Mr. Dursley was the director of a firm called Grunnings, which made drills. He was a big, beefy man with hardly any neck although he did have a very large mustache. Mrs. Dursley was thin and blonde and had nearly twice the amount of neck, which came in very useful as she spent so much of her time craning over garden fences spying on the neighbors.” I absolutely thought that I could picture these characters just by reading their description. I just felt like everything about this book was so carefully thought out. The platform being 9 and three quarters, and the chocolate frogs that they ate was just all so creative and everything worked so well. I also felt like the names were so carefully thought out and they fit each person perfectly. Hermione is my most favorite character because she is smart and witty. She takes control all throughout the book which I really like. George and Fred are the jokesters and I love to read and see what they are up to next. I picture Ron as being the shy fearful child. Each of them work together so well to make a great team. My least favorite character is of course Malfoy. To me he is just a little brat always looking for attention. I also really like Hagrid because he has such a love for animals and I can relate to that. At the beginning of the book I really hated Snape. I thought that he was behind everything and really was out to get Harry. But at the end of the story you kind of understand why he is the way that he is. Everyone handles situations differently. I also really like how the book keeps you guessing. You never want to put it down because every situation leads to another one and at the end of the book everything fits together perfectly and you just think wow, how did she do this? One of my most favorite parts of the book is chapter 12 the Mirror of Erised. The description and emotion you feel just from this one chapter is overwhelming. “ Harry was so close to the mirror that his nose was touching that of his reflection.” “How long he stood there he didn’t know. The reflection did not fade and he looked and looked until a distant noise brought him back to his senses.” I can actually feel what Harry was feeling in a weird way. I can picture him looking into that mirror, never remembering his parents and then to see them for the first time must have been overwhelming for Harry. Then Dumbledore tells Harry that the mirror shows you your deepest desire, what you long for the most. This was a really powerful part of the book. Then I really enjoyed reading the end. It kept you on the edge of your seat because you wanted to see if Harry was going to find the stone or not. I thought each part Harry had to do to get to the end was so creative. The flying keys, and the liquid that turns your body to Ice all of these you just think to yourself “How did she come up with that?” I also really enjoyed how she ended the book when Harry woke up and Dumbledore told him everything. I just picture Dumbledore as this very caring, gentle individual and you really picture that here. As you can see, I absolutely LOVE reading Harry Potter books and this is one of my most favorite ones.

Teaching Connections: I think that there are many things you can do with Harry Potter books. One great idea would to have the children read a section or event the whole book and then to write what happens next in the series. This would be a creative writing exercise. They could do a play and create their own Harry Potter play. They could look at scale and create their own Hogwarts floor plan. There are so many great activities that you can do with kids with the Harry Potter book and I look forward to using them in my classroom!

It's Fall!

Glaser, Linda
Swan, Susan
k-2
Information Picture book
The Millbrook Press, 2001

This book is an information book all about fall. It starts out with a little boy walking through the leaves. He describes them as being Red, Yellow, Orange, Gold, and Brown. They are crunchy and crackly. He sees the geese migrating and they are flying in a V shape. Then the monarch butterflies pass him and they are going south because it is getting colder. Then he talks about animals and hibernation. Ladybugs hid in pine cones, worms tunnel in the earth. Animals are going crazy everywhere gathering food for the winter months. The flowers and weeds are drying out. He collects pumpkin seeds and roasts them to eat after carving a pumpkin. They dig holes in the garden to pant tulips. Then suddenly, all the trees are bare and he continues to play in the leaves.

I thought that this was a good book for younger children. It talks about a variety of things that happen in the fall like the animals hibernating, and what they are looking for to eat. Where the geese and butterflies are going. I think that the author also does a good job describing these things in a way that younger children can understand them. The illustrator used paper cutouts to create the images. The images look like a big collage. There are lots of pictures of animals which I think would really keep younger childrens attention because most kids love animals and like learning about them. One of the pictures is a huge brown tree with two little boys playing in it. The tree is bare with no leaves. All the leaves are lying on the ground. They are yellow, green, orange and brown. Another thing I liked about this book was at the end there is a Nature Activities section. It is two pages full of activities to do with nature in the fall.

I think that I would use this in my classroom. It would be a good book to introduce fall with when learning about the seasons. Also you could take the activities in the back and do them. You could make leaf rubbings, dry out flowers, compare seed pods that you find. There are so many activities in the book that would be great for children to learn about fall.

Patience Wright America's First Sculptor and Revolutionary Spy

Shea, Pegi Dietz
Andserson, Bethanne
Non Fiction, Biographical Picture book
3-5
Henry Holt and Company, 2007


This book is about Patience Wright. She was born in 1725 in Oyster Bay, NY. She was raised as a Quaker by her parents John and Patience. She had eight sisters and one brother. When she was four years old she discovered her love for sculpting. When she was 23 she married a man name Joseph Wright. He was a landowner. He died in 1769 leaving her no money. She wanted to support her children through her art. She moved to Philadelphia to live with her sister and began rebelling against the Quaker lifestyle. With financial help from a lawyer she and her sister opened their own studio. She sculpted these from life models or memory. To create life size figures she used wire and paper mache To keep the wax warm she would keep it on her thighs under her dress. She would blindly shape the wax face under her skirts. During one of the winters her studio burnt down when she was out of town. All of her wax figures melted. Jane Mecom, Ben Franklin's sister urged them to open a studio in London. On Feb 3 1772 she moved to London. She attracted royalty as customers. One time she was almost arrested for having Ben Franklin's head in her bag but it was one of her wax figures. In 1773 this was the year of the Boston Tea Party. The colonist began their revolt against England. Communications were cut off with America. She needed to find a way to send her information letting America know what Britain was up to. She would sculpt a head and stick her message inside of the hollow head. She sent these messages to Continental Congress in Philadelphia. She became a spy. The Treaty of Paris ended the American Revolution in 1783 and she received a letter from George Washington. He wanted to have a wax portrait made. Unfortunately she died in England before she could sculpt him. Her son painted George Washington's portrait and helped design Americas first coins.

I found this book to be so interesting. When I was looking for my biographical picture book I didn't know where to start and so I picked a random book. I learned so much from this book and had never heard this story before. The whole story is so amazing. It is crazy to think that she was a spy by using wax figures. Another thing that shocked me was how she kept the wax under her skirt to keep it warm and she molded without looking at it. Usually the pictures are my favorite part of the book but for this book it was the text. The pictures were created by paint. The colors were all pastel. You could tell that the illustrator used something over the paint for the background to create texture. My favorite picture was where Ben Franklin's head is in a box. This is kind of humorous, but true! She would put all of the important information that she would hear while she was in Britain and send it over to the United States. This book gave a lot of important dates like the Boston Tea party, and it talked about the American Revolution. It is bursting full of information and it was information that I wasn't really aware of so I think that is why I enjoyed this book so much.

I would definitely use this book in my classroom. You could use it when talking about the American Revolution during social studies. I think that this book would best be used for upper grade levels because it is so much information.

Bio Poem

Patience
Strong Willing, brave, adventurous, loving
Sister of Sarah, Martha, Mary, Elizabeth, Rachel, Deborah, Rezine, Anne, and John.
Wife of Joseph Wright
Lover of adventure, wax making and religion.
Who feels thrill, love and passion.
Who finds happiness in helping her country.
Who needs wax to do what she loves.
Who fears loss of her business, the fire that destroyed her wax figures, and trouble for her country.
Who would like to see the American Revolution come to an end.
Who enjoys molding with her hands.
Who likes to wear large hats when the sun is at its brightest.
Resident of Oyster Bay, NY
Wright

www.scc.rutgers.edu/njwomenshistory/Period_1/wright.htm

score.rims.k12.ca.us/score_lessons/women_american_revolution/wright.html

www.askart.com/askart/w/patience_lovell_wright/patience_lovell_wright.aspx

Rosa

Title: Rosa
Author: Nikki Giovanni
Illustrator: Bryan Collier
Publisher: Scholastic Inc, 2005
Grade: 3-5
Genre: Biographical Non-Fiction, Coretta Scott King Award Winner, Caldecott Honor Book

Summary:

This book is about a young African American woman by the name of Rosa Parks. Her husband was Raymond Parks, and he was known for being one of the best barbers in town. Rosa was a seamstress. One Thursday afternoon she had gotten ahead of schedule and decided to go home. She got on the bus and noticed that the entire black section was full so she sat in the neutral section. Then out of nowhere, the bus driver gets up and tells her to move in a very unkind manner. She stood up to let the other person out and then sat back down. The whites were yelling at her and telling her that she was going to be arrested and sure enough she was. She decided after thinking to herself that she was tired of having to use different facilities than the white people. She sat there and would not get out of her seat and was then arrested by the local police. Word got around town about her arrest and people became infuriated. Twenty-five women gathered together and made signs to hang up around town. The signs told people to boycott the bus system. After this a young boy who was fourteen years old was lynched. There were one hundred thousand people at his funeral. Martin Luther King Jr. became their voice, and he told people to stay off the buses. They walked together in a nonviolent movement. On November 13, 1956 the Supreme Court ruled that segregation was wrong, thanks to Rosa Parks.

I felt like this was a very good book and very informative. I learned things from this book that I didn’t even know before. I learned about Rosa Parks’ husband Raymond, and how he was a barber. I learned that she was a seamstress and I also ruled that there was a neutral section on the buses. I had always thought that there was a black section and a white section on the bus. Another thing that I really liked about this book was the authors note at the beginning. The author used really good description when describing her strength. I noticed in the book that Rosa sat in the middle of the bus. For some reason I had always thought that she sat at the front of the bus. I always thought that the events of that day were planned out beforehand; I didn’t know it was a spontaneous decision to protest. I thought the book made me feel good. At the end I was thinking “Yeah! You go Rosa!” Thanks to these people standing together and being strong they have made giant steps to end segregation, even though there is still some left today. One of the quotes in the book that really got to me was “I said give me those seats! The bus driver bellowed.” I thought that this was so rude, and I could never imagine yelling at a person like that. This is the part of the book that really upset me the most because it was just plain mean. I really thought that the illustrations added to the mood on this page as well. You can see her eyes and she is at the bottom of the page and then you see the bus driver just starring at her. It looks like the illustrator used cutouts and collage to create the illustrations in the book. I felt like I learned a lot of very valuable information from this book after reading it, and I am glad that I did!

I would use this book in my classroom when learning about Civil Rights. I think that this would be a good book to read to the class and then have a class discussion on what happened and to make children aware that this sort of thing should never happen again. You could have children write stories or create their own collage during black history month, this would be a good time to introduce this book!

http://www.rosaparks.org/

My thoughts on Non-Fiction texts

I feel like non-fiction has been one of my most favorite genres. I think that I like non-fiction books because they are believable. I can also apply them to my life and feel like that maybe it could happen to me. Also I feel like I can learn something from non-fiction literature. I have a hard time reading a book if I feel like it didn’t or can’t really happen. When you are younger one of the best things is to read a book and to learn something from that book. My favorite was reading books about animals because I loved them so much and there are tons of informational books on animals. I think that informational texts are so useful in the classroom too. They really teach kids about certain topics, but in a fun way. I really like to read biographies about people as well because you feel like you really get to know that person on a personal level. There is nothing better than feeling like you are actually part of the story.

Response to the Cinderella stories and the I Poem

Overall, I found this assignement a tad bit difficult. I think I have a really hard time trying new things sometimes. I am very used to writing a formal paper or blogging now that when i had to sort of think outside of the box it became something that I had to work out. I REALLY enjoyed reading the two cinderellas and looking at the comparisons. I think that the IPoem is a great thing to use in the classroom, it really gets children's minds turning. It certainly made me think! While doing a bit of research I found that Yeh-Shen was written about a person by the name of Adeline Yen Mah. http://www.answers.com/topic/adeline-yen-mah It is crazy to think that this story is based off of a real story. Obviously some of the ideas were changed around but I really liked the idea that this was a real person.
I also did some research on the Native American symbols that I saw in the book because they really fascinated me. http://www.geocities.com/ctesibos/symbols/native-american.html

http://fryeem.pbwiki.com/I-Poem-for-2-Voices

The Rough Faced Girl

Martin, Rafe
Shannon, David
The Putnam and Grosset Group, 1992
Fiction, Traditional Literature
All Ages

This story is about a poor man that lives with his three daughters off the shores of Lake Ontario. The two oldest daughters were very mean and cold hearted and took advantage of their father. They were also very mean to the youngest sister. They constantly ridiculed and were mean to her. The Rough Faced girl had scars and burns all over her face, hands and arms due to the fire. Her hair was burnt and very ragged. The sisters thought that this was funny and constantly put her down. One day the two oldest daughters went to their father and told him that they needed the most beautiful buckskin dresses and beaded moccasins. Their father gave it to them, and they left to go seek the invisible being. They wanted to marry him. When they arrived his sister knew that they were not special enough. She asked them what his bow was made of and they said the oak tree. That answer was wrong. She then asked them what his sled was made of. And they said the green willow branch. That was also wrong and the sisters were sent home. Later the Rough Faced Girl went to her father and asked to have a pretty dress. Her father had nothing because he had given everything to the sisters, but he had a few shells and worn out moccasins. She did not care and she gratefully took the items. People stared and laughed at her, but she did not care she kept on walking. Finally she arrived at the lake shore and the invisible beings sister was there. She asked him what his bow was made of, and she said the great curve of the rainbow. This was correct. Then she asked what his sled was made of and she said the milky way, this was also correct. The Invisible one came forth and thought she was so beautiful. He could see what was on the inside of her, and that is what counted to him. Then she took a bath in the lake and all of her scars washed away and she was as beautiful on the outside as she was on the inside. Her and the Invisible one married, and lived happily ever after.

I really enjoyed reading this book. I loved looking at the illustrations. It looks as though the illustrator used paints to create his images. The first image that was appealing to me was the first page. It really gave you an idea of the setting and where the story took place. It helped me as I was reading because I could visualize this place. I really liked how the illustrator blended the colors to create a mood. For example he blended the white areas in with the sky to create fog and I thought that that was really neat. The next image I really enjoyed looking at was the one of the wigwam. I liked this image because you could see all of the symbols that were important to this Native American culture. The sun, deer, bears, eagle and the stars must have been really important to be painted on this huge wigwam. The next image I really liked was the one with all three sisters by the fire. The illustrator used dark colors to create a mood and also used intense lines to create shading. I really enjoyed looking at their costumes as well. You could see all of their beautiful jewelry and colors that they wore. Usually I enjoy looking at the pictures more than reading the text but for this book I feel like it was pretty balanced. The author and illustrator made a really good team. Also throughout the story the author used similes and compared things to objects that I am familiar with. Like when he talked about her moccasins and how they were too big and she walked like a duck. These helped me get a better image in my head as well.

I would use this book in my classroom. I would do something like we did with the Venn diagrams or the I poems. I think that this would be great to introduce culture to children and it also would be good to use the Cinderella stories because most children are familiar with the story of Cinderella. The book also has a really good moral to the end and that would be important to teach children as well.

Yeh-Shen A Cinderella Story from China

Louie, Ai-Ling
Young, Ed
Philomel Books, 1982
Fiction, Traditional Literature
All Ages

This story is about a young orphan named Yeh-Shen. Both her mother and father had passed away, and she was to live with her step mother. This story takes place in Southern China, before the Han dynasty. She was a very smart little girl, and very beautiful too. This was a problem because Yeh-Shen’s step mother was very jealous of her. Her daughter was not near as pretty as Yeh Shen. She had one friend and that was her pet fish. She hardly ever had enough to eat for herself but she always found a way to feed her fish. Her evil stepmother heard of her pet fish one day, disguised herself in Yeh-Shens jacket and she stabbed the fish, killing it. Yeh-Shen was so upset and one day an old man came to her and told her not to be upset. He also told her that her stepmother was responsible for the fish’s death. Yeh-Shen became even more upset. Then the old man told her that the fish’s bones had a powerful spirit and anytime she is in need she could go to these bones. The spring festival came around and Yeh-She really wanted to go. Yeh-Shen went and spoke to her fish and the fish granted her wish. She was dressed in a beautiful gown and golden slippers. Then the stepsister thought that she had spotted Yeh-Shen so the stepmother ran home to see if she was there. Yeh-shen ran home to beat her stepmother and fell asleep by the fruit tree. The king was given one of her slippers as a gift and wanted to find who this tiny shoe belonged to. Yeh-Shen went out in search of her lost shoe, tried to take it and they thought she was trying to steal it. The king saw her and saw how sweet she was and asked her to try on the slipper. Sure enough the slipper fit her and she was transformed into a beautiful woman. The king then knew that that was his true love. In the end Yeh-Shen married the king, moved into the palace and her step mother and sister were later crushed by flying stones in their cave.

I really liked reading this book. It was definitely a nice twist to the Cinderella story that I am familiar with. The first thing that I thought was really neat was the calligraphy that was in the beginning of the book. I think that this adds character to the book. I also like how they included a little bit of history in the beginning of the book where they talk about when the story was really written, this gives you an idea of how old this story really is. The story is in block printing as well which I found out was how many of the Chinese books were written. I think that they use this to separate the story up. At first I felt a little bit uncomfortable with it just because I am used to the story flowing together. Then I tried to look at it in a different perspective and I thought it was really cool. They use the blocks to really emphasize things. It seems that the illustrations in this book are a very important part because the pictures are in the largest blocks. I believe that the illustrator uses watercolor to create the images. I liked the Rough Faced Girl better than this version, but I felt like I learned a lot more about culture from this version. There was a lot more detailed information about the story and where it came from in a couple places in the book. I really liked the colors that the illustrator used as well. The bright purples, blues and greens really make them stand out. One of my favorite pictures is the one where Yeh-Shen is holding her hands up towards the sky and there is the man/fish. I like how the illustrator sort of combined the man/fish together to help the reader understand that the old man is the fish. Like the other book I really liked looking at the clothing that the Chinese wear. I think that the colors may be brighter than in the Rough Faced Girl, and the garments are made of silk instead of animal skins. Like the American culture, both the Native Americans and the Chinese wear a lot of jewelry to decorate their bodies. Overall I felt that this was a really great book and I learned a lot about the Chinese culture just by reading this one simple story.

I would definitely use this book in my classroom. I love the illustrations and the colors and I would be sure to point them out to my students. Also we could look at many different versions of the Cinderella story and talk about the similarities and differences. Although all of these stories are considered the “Cinderella story” there are many differences. I think that it is really neat to look at how each culture differs and how they are the same too. I think kids would really enjoy doing activities and reading about all the different cultures.

Soupy Saturdays with the Pain and the Great One

Blume, Judy
Stevenson, James
2nd grade and up
Fiction
Random House, 2007

This book is about a brother and sister and how they relate to one another. Each chapter introduces a new theme such as a soccer game, birthday party, dog sitting and many other situations that the brother and sister have to learn to get along with one another. The Great One is what is what Jacob calls his sister because he thinks that she feels that the world revolves around her. The Pain is what Abigail calls her little brother because she feels that that is what he is-a pain. The book starts off with “Meet the Pain” and I thought that this was a really humorous way for the author to start the book out with. The brother and sister are two years apart which seems like a very large gap according to the kids. Jacob has a very interesting personality, he only eats white things and when he gets his hair cut he has to wear earmuffs so that the hairdresser does not cut off his years. Abigail thinks that this is just ridiculous. Also in the book it talks about Jacobs attempt to play soccer. He starts out playing goalie, but chases after a dog and the other team scores. There is a lot of humor in this book and this really keeps the readers attention. The Pain enjoys spying on The Great One and this annoys her to no end. He listens in on her phone conversations and eventually gets caught. Abigail is not happy! Then Abigail decides to celebrate her half birthday. She has her friend Emily come over and they make princess tiaras and eat chocolate cake. Abigail gets very annoyed because her little brother comes downstairs to get ice cream and he is not supposed to be around. Then Abigail gets upset because her friend Emily, who has never been to a sleepover, wants to go home. Towards the end of the book, they get to dog sit their aunt’s dog, Olive. Olive is a very smelly pooch. Jacob eventually plays dentist with Olive. The family goes on a road trip to return Olive home, one hour away. Here is where Abigail is taught how to ride her bike by Mitch, her uncle. The very last chapters end with last words from the great one, the pain, and Fluzzy the cat.

I really enjoyed reading this book. I used to read Judy Blume’s books all the time when I was younger. I think she did a wonderful job with incorporating humor to keep the readers attention. She also did a really good job with her language and making it really seem as though these children were talking. These are real life situations that children tend to deal with, a pesky little brother and an older sister who thinks she knows it all. There were just enough illustrations in the book to keep it flowing. It looks like the illustrator used pen to draw the pictures. I felt like all of the pictures in the book had significance. The pictures are really simple but it is just enough.

I would use this book in my classroom, especially if I am teaching children how to read chapter books. This book is a great beginner chapter book for elementary aged children. The content is right where they can understand it, and still be challenged. I hope to have many of Judy Blume’s books in my classroom because they were a favorite of mine when I was a young girl.

Little Rat Makes Music

Bang, Monika
Bang. Molly
1st and 2nd grade
Harcourt. Inc 2007
Fiction

This book is by Monkia Bang, Molly Bang's daughter. They worked as a team to create this book. Monkia did the writing and her mother did the illustrations which i thought was very neat. This book is a book about a litte rat named "little rat". She was very interested in music and really loved it alot, but there was one problem. She did NOT want to practice! This became a problem for little rat because her music sounded horrible. She did not care for her teacher very much because she felt like she was always critisizing her. One day Little Rat got a tutor, Kitty, Who she admired very much. With Kitty she was able to joke and play and it wasnt so serious when she was trying to learn her music. After this she really loved playing the violin and worked very hard to learn the songs and to play them well. At the end there is a music recital and Little Rat did very well and she impressed her family and her teacher, Miss Wingbutton.

I really liked this book because i liked the format of it. The book is put into chapters and I think that this is great for beginner readers because it makes them feel like they are really accomplished a big book, a CHAPTER book. This makes them very excited about learning to read. Also i really liked the moral of the story. Practice makes perfect. If you really want to learn to do something you have to work at it, it will not just happen on its own and I think that this is a very important lesson for children to learn.

I would use this book in my classroom. I want to teach younger grades, so this book would be perfect for them when learning how to read. Also the moral of the story is really great, and we could talk about how important it is to work at something if you really want it. I plan on using all of the Little Rat series books in my classroom!

Goose

Bang, Molly

Fiction

Ages k-1

The Blue Sky Press, 1996

The book Goose is another one of my favorite books by Molly Bang. It is a very simple book with a great ending. The book is about a goose egg that gets blown out of its nest during a very bad storm. It rolled and landed in a den of woodchucks. The woodchucks took this baby goose in once it was hatched and taught her everything she needed to know. The goose often felt very sad because she felt she did not fit in well with everyone else. So the goose set off to see what she could find all by herself. Things got worse and she felt very very lonely. She fell off of a cliff but then taught herself how to fly. She flew all the way home back to her family.
I really enjoyed reading this book, just like I enjoyed reading ALL of Molly Bang's books. It looks like the illustrations were all done with paint. I really love reading books about animals so I think that is why this book appealed to me so much. I loved how the author used a situation where many different kinds of animals were friends. This could be used in the classroom when talking about being friends with others that are different than you. Also this could be used to talk about adoption. The little goose was adopted into the woodchuck family, and even though they were not blood related they still loved her nonetheless. This would be a great book to use in the classroom to talk about these issues and i would definately use it!

The Paper Crane

The Paper Crane

Bang, Molly

Multicultural, Folktale

Green Willow Books, 1985

All Ages

I did my author study on Molly Bang, and this was one of my favorite books that I read of hers. I think one of the reasons that I enjoyed it so much was because of the illustrations. The illustrations were photographed and paper cut outs. It almost looks like a collage, and I enjoy making collages very much. Anyways, this book is about a man who owned a restaurant on a very busy road. He was used to having lots of business all the time. Then a highway was built so people could not see his restaurant from the road. He began losing business and was very sad. One evening a ragged looking man came into the restaurant and ordered something to eat. He had no money to pay the owner with but the owner did not care. He made him the most delicious meal. To thank him the old raggedy man made him a paper crane. This paper crane was very special. When you clap your hands the crane comes alive, and becomes a dancing crane. After people heard about this very special dancing crane they began coming to the restaurant more often. The owner became happy again because he was getting more business. The man came back to the restaurant later and played the flute for his dancing crane. Then he got on his back and they flew away together, never being seen again but the restaurant continues to have lots of business.

I really enjoyed reading this book. I like reading books from other cultures, and as a child I was always fascinated with origami. I enjoyed looking at these pictures so much because they look so real. This book also teaches you a very good lesson and that is to treat people well no matter who they are or what they have.

I think that this would be a great book to use in the classroom. You could do a cultural study and even learn to make origami. I know that this would be something that I would really enjoy to do research on and to teach my kids. Also the lesson in this book is a really great one. That is what is so good about Molly Bang’s books. They always have something to be taught at the end and they are so appealing to young children.