Children's Literature :: Book Reviews 14 of 75

And here is my second installment of my Children's Literature book reviews.  I have added Color Zoo, Friends (Mostly), Trudy, Once I Knew a Spider, Mark's Messy Room, Piggy Bunny, The Cats in Krasinski Square, A Boy Named Giotto, and When We Married Gary.  I have to have of these done by Thursday, so I'm going to have one more post this week about these.

Book Title:  Color Zoo
Author:  Lois Ehlert
Illustrator:  Lois Ehlert
Genre:  Picture book, animals, shapes
Date Published: 1989
Awards:  Caldecott Award, 1990
Brief Summary:  This is a simple book that focuses on shapes, colors, and animals.  The way it is designed is with animals made up of 9 unique shapes.  As you turn the page, a shape is taken away and the animal is turned into another animal.  At the end of each animal section, there is a review of the shapes that made the animals.
Ideas for Use:  This would be great in kindergarten when students are going over the names of shapes and colors.  It would be fun to get them to replicate the book, or draw a picture of an animal made up of these shapes.

Book Title:  Friends (Mostly)
Author:  Barbara Joosse
Illustrator:  Tomaso Milian
Genre:  Fiction, humor, picture book
Date Published: 2010
Awards:  None
Brief Summary:  Henry and Ruby are best friends that do everything together.  They know what the other likes and are able to play well together because they like different aspects; when they are playing pirates, for example, Henry likes the gold coins and Ruby likes the rubies.  Ruby gets jealous because Henry can swim and she can’t.  She gets mad and decides to play by herself.  After a while, Henry shows up and begins playing with her.  She is reluctant, but she likes to be the leader, so she gives in.  They share secrets with each other, which they also share with one classmate each.  Of course, they get mad that their secrets are told, but after a lot of apologies, they make up.
Ideas for Use: This simple book shows how friendships work.  They play on each other’s strengths and weaknesses; they get mad and apologize to one another.  This would be great to share at the beginning of the year to remind students how relationships work, or if there are some students who are in a fight.

Book Title:  Trudy
Author:  Henry Cole
Illustrator:  Henry Cole
Genre:  Fiction, animals, picture book
Date Published: 2009
Awards:  None
Brief Summary:  A girl and her grandfather visit an auction with the promises of getting an animal.  Esme looks through several animals, keeping in mind that her grandmother was allergic to feathers and ruling our animals that were too smelly.  She finally finds a goat that is free to a good home; they take her home and fix up a little barn for her.  Then, they realize that Trudy has a special skill of being able to predict snow.  One day, she goes inside and it doesn’t snow which causes Esme to panic.  The next day, she goes out to check on Trudy to find a matching baby goat lying beside Trudy.
Ideas for Use:  Since the setting of this book is the transition from winter to spring, it would be a good seasonal transition book. 

Book Title:  Once I Knew a Spider
Author:  Jennifer Owings Dewey
Illustrator:  Jean Cassels
Genre:  Fiction, animals, picture book
Date Published: 2009
Awards:  None
Brief Summary:  In this book, an expectant mother is sitting by the window and notices a spider beginning to weave its web.  She watches it for a few days, talking to it, and notices that the spider looks like it’s getting bigger, too.  They decide that the spider must be pregnant, which is proven true when she begins laying her eggs and wrapping them in her web.  When her baby is born, she describes it to the spider and even holds her up so the spider can see her.  Winter comes and the mother is afraid for the spider.  When the snow melted, she saw that the spider was still alive, though shriveled and pale.  When summer comes, the eggs hatch and the spider dies.  She later tells that none of the baby spiders survived the winter.
Ideas for Use:  This was a strange book that I probably would not share with a class.  While the art is beautiful and the story is well-written, it doesn’t seem very applicable, to me.  The art is a little too realistic, in my opinion, for an elementary classroom with children that might be scared of spiders.

Book Title:  Mark’s Messy Room
Author:  Geraldine Elschner
Illustrator:  Alexandra Junge
Genre:  Fiction, animals, picture book
Date Published: 2006
Awards:  None
Brief Summary:  Mark is a messy kid and his cat, Carlo, is fed up.  After a particularly bad night of sleeping in the cactus’s pot and being hungry, he runs away.  Just when Carlo begins to feel alone and tired, he finds a window to jump in and sleep for the night.  The family that lives there happily takes care of Carlo by feeding him, bathing him, and loving him.  Soon, Carlo realizes that with such a clean and orderly house there is nothing to do; he sneaks back home to Mark, who has cleaned his room in an attempt to bring back his beloved cat.
Ideas for Use:  I nearly cried when I read this!  While it is a cute little book, I probably wouldn’t use it in my classroom or read it aloud, but it could possibly have a place in my library.

Book Title:  Piggy Bunny
Author:  Rachel Vail
Illustrator:  Jeremy Tankard
Genre:  Fiction, animals, humor, picture book
Date Published: 2012
Awards:  None
Brief Summary:  Liam is a piglet with a dream of being the Easter Bunny.  His siblings make fun of him for it and his parents try to convince him that he is the perfect piglet.  None of this affects Liam and his dreams.  Eventually, everyone trying to dissuade his dreams begins to nag at him; he starts to doubt himself.  His grandparents, however, give him a pep talk and order him a bunny suit online.  When Liam looks into the mirror, he doesn’t see a piglet in a bunny suit, he sees Liam the Easter Bunny…and so does everyone else.
Ideas for Use:  This is a great book to help students believe in themselves.  It would be one of the books to read at the beginning of the school year and return to throughout the year.

Book Title:  The Cats in Krasinski Square
Author:  Karen Hesse
Illustrator:  Wendy Watson
Genre:  Fiction, history, picture book
Date Published: 2004
Awards:  None
Brief Summary:  This is a beautiful story about World War II Warsaw where a girl has developed a relationship with abandoned cats.  The cats slip between the walls of Warsaw to get food.  The girl lives with her sister (assumed that the rest of the family fell victim to the Holocaust) who tells her about a plan being made to smuggle food into Warsaw.  She tells her sister of the paths through the wall that she learned from the cats and they plan the pick-up.  Her friend tells that the Gestapo heard about the plan and will be waiting with dogs to sniff out the food.  The girl and her sister hatch a plan and gather the abandoned cats into baskets.  They let them loose at the train station when the dogs are released; the cats get to the food first and no one gets blamed for smuggling food inside.
Ideas for Use:  This is a beautiful book that should be used when teaching about the Holocaust.  I would definitely not use it with elementary students, but I would have liked to read it when in the 8^th grade studying World War II.

Book Title:  A Boy Named Giotto
Author:  Paolo Guarnieri
Illustrator:  Bimba Landmann
Genre:  Fiction, art, picture book
Date Published: 1999
Awards:  None
Brief Summary:  This story seems to be a biography of the early life of Giotto, the Italian Renaissance painter.  In the story, Giotto is a shepherd who likes to sketch in his spare time – or rather, instead of watching his sheep.  Because he was sketching, he lost a lamb as his father angrily points out when he gets home.  His father compliments a painting in the street as it is carried and asks who the artist is.  Curious, Giotto listens and follows his father to the artist despite his grounding.  The artist listens to Giotto’s story and gives him painting tips before supplying him with materials and sending him on his way.  The next day, Giotto paints a picture of the mother sheep on a rock, which the lost lamb sees and runs to.  The artist returns to see the boy and his beautiful painting.  He tries to convince Giotto’s parents that he should stay with him and become his apprentice.  Seven years later, Giotto leaves to become the apprentice and master his art.
Ideas for Use:  This book is well-written and has beautiful pictures.  I would definitely use this as an art teacher, but I don’t see how it could come up in a general education classroom.  I would keep it in my classroom library for any students interested in art, though.

Book Title:  When We Married Gary
Author:  Anna Grossnickle Hines
Illustrator:  Anna Grossnickle Hines
Genre:  Fiction, family, picture book
Date Published: 1996
Awards:  None
Brief Summary:  Beth remembers their father, but the younger sister doesn’t.  Their mother will talk to them about him because sometimes she and Beth get sad about him not being around.  She explains it by saying he had problems and was not ready for a family.  She decides to marry Gary and to show the daughters that they are marrying him too, they wear rings on necklaces.  He says they can call him “Poppa” since they already have a daddy.  It tells about things that they do with their new Poppa and that the four of them fit nicely, like puzzle pieces.
Ideas for Use:  I feel like this could be a very important children’s book to someone who was in a similar situation.  It may not be one I would share with the entire class (because of some views on remarriage), but if I knew a child was going through the same type of situation, I would definitely read this to them or let them read it themselves.

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How It Happened (A Weight Pondering)

I know that I made it sound as if I was going to do consecutive posts on my Children's Literature class -- and that was the plan -- but a thought occurred to me yesterday morning.  When I have thoughts, I either have to say them or write them to finally stop thinking about them, so blogs are the lucky victims.

I was thinking about my weight and how it came to be.  I'm not a huge girl or anything, but I am overweight; I think technically obese, but I feel like I would rather take information like that from a doctor instead of the trustworthy internet.  At the same time, I've been told that I do not look like I weigh (insert three digit number here) pounds. 

I am a vegetarian, which I feel is something that both hurts and helps my diet.  Why I say it may be hurting my diet is because as a child (and even now, since I'm thinking about it), when people didn't know what else to add to my meal to make it "whole" they would add pasta, rice, or something starchy and carb-y.

What made me start thinking about this, I believe, is my current soda intake.  As a child, I would down Cokes all the time -- from the time I got off of the school bus to the time that my mother picked me up from my grandparents.  They finally started limiting it to two per day when they began thinking the caffeine and sugar was keeping me awake at night.  (Yeah. It doesn't matter if I have caffeine or not, I end up staying up to all hours of the night.  Perhaps it's genetic?)  My question now as I look back on it is why didn't they buy some of the diet or diet, caffeine-free drinks?  That would have solved the problem of sugars and caffeine, but would have still allowed me the sweet, carbonated goodness and gradually ween myself off of it.

I finally came to the conclusion that part of the blame for my weight issues is that I was never really taught how to eat.  Well, I know how to eat, per-se, but I was never taught how to eat healthy.  I honestly don't think that anyone told me as a child that being full and being stuffed were not the same thing.  I know that sounds utterly simple, and as an adult I realize how simple it is to realize and control, but as a child, I did not know and I never really came to the conclusion on my own.

There were times when my mother would be planning out dinner and ask for suggestions.  When I replied with something I liked (of course, the breads, pastas, rices, etc.) she would take the rest of the meal into consideration and mention if we had another starch, saying that it would be too much.  I don't remember this much in my earlier years, though, only when I became more health conscious.

I am not blaming anyone but myself, although it may seem that way.  I should have known and enforced my limit on eating.  After I was told to cut back on the Cokes, I should have done so and not slipped a few extras from time to time.  I should give up sodas all together again, but even as I write this, I am drinking a Monster: Absolute Zero.  (Yes, it is one in the morning.  No, I don't care.)  I saw myself gaining weight and didn't do anything about it.  In my late teens, I saw myself gaining weight and decided that I was going to do something about it.  My motivation?  I didn't want to have to shop in what my mother calls "the big girl sizes."  I was dangerously close to it, too.  Since then, I have dropped three sizes.

As the summer begins, I know that I am slacking.  I had become lax on my diet and I noticed the tole it was taking on my body and mind.  Every time I put something even relatively unhealthy in my mouth, my brain shouted at me; later, my stomach rumbled and cramped to punish me.  Even on my "cheat days," I had to be conscious of what I was eating, even if it was less healthy.  I'm not a full-time student over the summer, so I do not get free gym membership at my school. 

I've been stuck at the same weight for three months and it's my own fault.  Although I was embarrassed to do so, I asked my doctor if there was anything that I might be able to take that could help me with my weight loss; apparently, my thyroid problems also hinder my progress.  He told me that I was a perfect candidate for Adipex.  (I'm still not sure how to take his wording.  A perfect candidate?)  I picked up my prescription on Monday and began taking them on Tuesday.  I think it's too early to tell if they have really had an effect, or if it is just psychosomatic.  Hopefully in the long run, it will pay off.

That seemed rather successful.  Now that I have written all of this out, I don't feel the urge to dwell upon it anymore.  Thank you again, blog.  You have helped me clear my mind.

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Children's Literature :: Book Reviews 5 of 75

This summer, I am taking a class called Children's Literature.  I am not sure why it is only a requirement to those with a Language and Culture minor, but, for whatever reason it is.  I thought this class was going to be like beating a dead horse because we have had so many literature/English language arts classes already.  Luckily, I was wrong thus far; I am enjoying the class.  The assignment I am most excited about is our book report assignment.  We are required to read 70 picture books -- out of these 70 books, 10 have to be non-fiction and 5 have to be poetry -- and we also have to read 5 chapter books for children.  Because most of my friends are either education or English oriented, I thought I would share my book reports on my blog, also.  This way, those who may need book ideas for their classroom library can find a few reviewed books, and hopefully I can get some suggestions on good children's literature also.

I will post book reports as I do them so that there are not 75 short posts, or one huge post.  My first haul from the Teacher Materials Center consisted of seven books (mostly related to cats, I hate to admit):  Binky the Space Cat, Princess Super Kitty, Magic Thinks Big, Vivaldi and the Invisible Orchestra, The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish, Paint Me a Poem, and Earth Magic; however, I have lacked the motivation to read the last two yet, so I will post those in the next haul.  I will include the cover art with a link to their page on Amazon if anyone is interested.  Without further ado, here is my first set of reports:



Book Title:  Binky the Space Cat
Author:  Ashley Spires
Illustrator:  Ashley Spires
Genre:  Graphic novel, fiction, humor
Date Published:  2009
Awards:  None
Brief Summary:  Binky has never left the house and, to him, everything outside of the house (or space station, in his mind) is outer space.  He protects his family from alien invaders (bugs to us inferior humans).  He gets his letter from F.U.R.S.T. to welcome him as a space explorer.  Stealing items from his humans, he builds a rocket ship in his litter box.  As he is counting down to blast off, he realizes that he forgot to pack two very important things -- his humans!  He jumps out of the ship just as it takes off and stays home to keep his family safe.
Ideas for Use:  Being in Huntsville, anything space related is usually relevant to children's interests.  Many children do not know how to read graphic novels, so it would be a good place to start, especially since Binky is the beginning of a new series.

Book Title:  Princess Super Kitty
Author:  Antoinette Portis
Illustrator:  Antoinette Portis
Genre:  Fiction
Date Published:  2011
Awards:  None
Brief Summary:  Maggie is a little girl with a huge imagination.  She begins the day as a kitty, telling what it is that a kitty does and how she tweaks things a little ("Kitties only eat fish. And peanut butter and banana sandwiches").  Soon, she grows bored with being a regular everyday kitty, so she transforms into Super Kitty!  Super Kitty is stronger and braver than regular cats, she explains giving examples.  Eventually, she gets bored with being plain old Super Kitty and helping everyone, so she turns into Princess Super Kitty.  Princess Super Kitty doesn't do things like open jars, but she is nice and allows her brother to play with her.  When it's bath time, she realizes that kitties don't like water, so she has to change once again...into Water Lily Hula Porpoise Princess Super Kitty of the Sea.
Ideas for Use:  This book uses a lot of compare and contrast ideas, such as when she changes into someone/something else and explains the differences.  It could also be used to help with sequencing.  It also shows a female super hero.

Book Title:  Magic Thinks Big
Author:  Elisha Cooper
Illustrator:  Elisha Cooper
Genre:  Fiction
Date Published:  2004
Awards:  None
Brief Summary:  Magic the cat is trying to decide what he wants to do in a manner that is similar to If You Give a Mouse a Cookie.  He plans out his next move by using cause and effect with a layout of "If I do this, then this or that could happen."  In the end, he decides that it would be best for him to just wait and let his next move find him instead.
Ideas for Use:  I'm not entirely sure.  It has beautiful artwork, though.  Also, it is based on a real cat that is huge and loves blueberries.

Book Title:  Vivaldi and the Invisible Orchestra
Author:  Stephen Costanza
Illustrator:  Stephen Costanza
Genre:  Fiction
Date Published:  2012
Awards:  None
Brief Summary:  Every morning, Vivaldi has a new piece of music written and ready to be rehearsed.  It is the job of a little orphan girl named Candida to copy enough of the music for all the musicians.  As she copies, she daydreams and visualizes the music.  Eventually, she scribbles her poetic daydreams in between the lines of music on accident.  At first, the musicians find this laughable, but Vivaldi stops them as he finds it inspirational.  The next day, Candida goes to Vivaldi to find music written for her to copy with her same little poetic daydreams scribbled between the lines.  The music was inspired by her.
Ideas for Use:  The art in this book is amazingly beautiful; I wish I could post every page of it on here!  I strongly suggest going to the Amazon link and flipping through the preview.  It incorporates a lot of Tier 2 words and a few Tier 3 words.  I would definitely suggest this book to anyone going into music.

Book Title:  The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish
Author:  Neil Gaiman
Illustrator:  Dave McKean
Genre:  Fiction
Date Published: 1997
Awards:  None
Brief Summary:  This is the classic story of swapping things without permission and the long, tiresome trail of trying to get it back.  He swaps his dad for two goldfish that his neighbor has, and when his mom comes home, he gets in trouble.  Going back to his neighbor, he finds that his dad has been swapped for a guitar.  Then he was swapped for a gorilla mask and finally for a huge rabbit.  The girl that owned the rabbit mentioned that his dad didn't make a good rabbit.  "He's not meant to be.  He's a very good daddy."
Ideas for Use:  Young kids love to swap things and often times when their parents find out that their child has swapped an item, they get mad.  This could be a good book to help prevent this type of thing going on in a classroom.  The art style is beautiful and somewhat reminiscent of a graphic novel with speech bubbles at times; it could serve as a good introduction of this style of book.

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