Realistic Fiction
Author: Robert McCloskey
Title: Make Way For Ducklings
Publisher: The Viking Press
Date: 1969
Age Level: Primary (K-2)
Summary:
A father and mother duck decide to start a family in the middle of a big city. They make friends with a policeman, and when the eight eggs hatch into ducklings, the duck family is able to walk across town and through the streets. The policemen stop traffic, causing everyone to make way for the ducklings, as they walk across town to their new home.
Strengths:
· The names of the ducklings all rhyme (Jack, Kack, Lack, etc), which helps promote phonemic awareness.
· This is a fun book that students can have fun listening to or reading on their own.
· The pictures in this book, although they are all brown and white, are fun to look at and very expressive.
· This book promotes family life, even in the form of ducks, which is important for students of this age to see.
Concerns:
· I wonder how students would react to the ducks’ talking in this book. I wonder if they would get confused and begin thinking ducks were capable of speech.
Classroom use/Other comments:
· This book could be read to the students, or could be a book students could read to themselves when a little older and practicing their individual reading skills.
Author: Bernard Waber
Title: Ira Sleeps Over
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Company
Date: 1972
Age Level: Primary (K-2)
Summary:
This is a book about a young boy named Ira, who is about to go on his first sleepover. He is deciding whether or not to take his teddy bear with him, with whom he has never slept before. His sister convinces him that he should not, because his friend Reggie will make fun of him. When it is time for bed, however, Ira discovers Reggie sleeps with a teddy bear as well. Ira then goes home to get his teddy bear, realizing there is no need to be embarrassed.
Strengths:
· This book teaches children that it is okay to have a teddy bear or a blanket to sleep with, and that they should not be embarrassed by it.
· This book goes through the process of a first sleepover, so children who have not been on a sleepover before, may learn what it is like.
Concerns:
· Some parents may not want their children to be encouraged to sleep with stuffed animals, and thus may not like their children to hear this book.
· This book demonstrates sibling rivalry. I wonder if the children might consider sibling rivalry to be acceptable after reading about it in this book.
Classroom use/Other comments:
· This book can be read to the class for fun, or can be read by students on their own. Perhaps if students begin discussing sleepovers, this would be a fun book to recommend or to read to them.
Author: Ellen Raskin
Title: The Westing Game
Publisher: Dutton Children’s Books
Date: 1978
Age Level: Upper (5-6)
Summary:
The mysterious death of an eccentric millionaire brings together an unlikely assortment of heirs who must uncover the circumstances of his death before they can claim their inheritance.
Strengths:
· This book forces students to use reasoning skills to try to figure out who the murderer is.
· This book has a brilliant plot that all comes together at the end. It really enforces the idea of paying close attention while reading, so that you don’t miss anything important.
· The plot of this book is exciting enough to pull students through reading it. There are so many cliffhangers throughout the book, that even students who generally don’t like to read will get caught up in the plot and want to keep reading in order to find out what happens.
Concerns:
· Some parts of this book are a little bit hard to follow. It jumps quickly through the weeks and months, and if you aren’t paying close attention, it would be easy to get confused.
· This book shows some stereotyping, especially of Asians. I feel that it would be necessary to discuss with the students the importance of accepting everyone as individuals.
Classroom use/Other comments:
· This book could be used as a mystery. Students could be told to read only certain sections at a time, then make predictions about what they think will happen or who they think the murderer is. When they have finished the book, they can go back through all of their predictions, and see how accurate they were.
Author: Eleanor Estes
Title: The Hundred Dresses
Publisher: Harcourt Brace & Company
Date: 1972
Age Level: Elementary (3-4)
Summary:
In winning a medal she is no longer there to receive, a little Polish girl teaches her classmates a lesson.
Strengths:
· This book shows students how painful it can be to be teased, and how important it is to do the right thing and not be a bully.
· This book, though it is a chapter book, has sketches alongside some of the pages that help demonstrate what is happening in the book.
· Students can see from this book what the consequences of their mean actions may be, and hopefully will learn to be nice to their fellow students.
· This book shows how important it is to have an imagination, and that using your imagination can help you get through the toughest of times.
Concerns:
· Some students may be able to relate to Wanda, the Polish girl who gets made fun of, better than others. They may feel singled out, or embarrassed to hear a story that relates so much to their own life.
Classroom use/Other comments:
· This book could easily be read aloud to students, or could be read by students themselves. Though it is a chapter book, it has small pages with large print, and some of the pages are broken up by sketches.
· This book could be used in the classroom if they are having problems with bullies and the teacher wants to demonstrate how painful being the one who is being bullied can be.
Author: Andrew Clements
Title: No Talking
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Date: 2007
Age Level: Upper (5-6)
Summary:
The noisy fifth-grade boys of Laketon Elementary School challenge the equally loud fifth-grade girls to a “no talking” contest.
Strengths:
· This book demonstrates to students how important it can be to think before speaking.
· This book shows students how important it is for everyone to get along, and not divide boys versus girls.
· This book is written in a way that is easy to follow for elementary students. It is somewhat simplistic, but perfect for fifth and sixth graders.
· The challenge given in this book of no talking seems like an unlikely one, but the author goes through each of the steps well enough that it is clear to see how it was able to work.
· The students show a great deal of maturation from the beginning to the end of the book.
Concerns:
· This book shows that the principal has no control over this particular group of fifth-graders. I wonder if students would get into their minds that if they could be as unruly as the bunch in the book, the teachers wouldn’t be able to control them either.
Classroom use/Other comments:
· This book could be used in a literature class, and could even be used to challenge the students themselves to spend a certain period of time not speaking, just seeing what it is like to observe the world around them.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Picture Books 1/26/09
Picture Books:
Author: Ann Turner
Title: Katie’s Trunk
Publisher: Macmillan Publishing Company
Date: 1992
Age Level: Elementary (3-4)
Summary:
This is a book about a girl named Katie, whose family sympathizes with the English in the Revolutionary War. It shows what it is like to be a child during that time period, and Katie’s family has to hide in the woods when the ‘rebels’ come to raid their house. Katie is so angry that these people, who used to be family friends, are invading their house, simple because they are ‘Tories’. She runs back to her house and hides in a trunk, where she is almost found, but spared by a man whom she used to know. Katie realizes, at the end of this book, that there are still good people out there, even though a war is going on.
Strengths:
· The book is written in such a way that you feel you really get to know what it would be like to live in the time of the Revolutionary War.
· Although the subject matter, of the war, is difficult to approach, the author makes it appropriate for younger children, and does not even use the word war in the book.
· Uses terms such as ‘rebel’ and ‘Tory’, which could be incorporated into a history lesson to teach students more about the Revolutionary War.
· Ends on a positive note, giving the students the impression that there is good in everyone.
Concerns:
· The book talks about Katie praying to God. Would this be a problem for reading the book in school?
· The story line seemed a little bit hard to follow, such as the reason for Katie’s anger, and why she ran from her parents the way that she did. I wonder if young students may not catch some of the finer details of the story.
Classroom use/Other comments:
· This book could be used in the classroom in a history class. It is a well-written story, and thus could be read aloud to the students, but likely would be closely paired with history, because of its context in relation to the Revolutionary War.
· Although this book is a picture book, and the format seems like it could be used in a first or second grade classroom, I would recommend it for a third or fourth grade class, based on the subject matter.
Author: Gloria Houston
Title: My Great-Aunt Arizona
Publisher: Harper Collins Publishers Date: 1992
Age Level: Elementary (3-4)
Summary: An Appalachian girl, Arizona, grows up to become a teacher who influences generations of schoolchildren.
Strengths:
· Repetition, which is helpful for students who are beginning to learn to read.
· Set close to home, in the Blue Ridge Mountains, which may be of interest to students.
· Tells of all the things there were to do in the Blue Ridge Mountains at the time Arizona was growing up – dancing to fiddle music, making maple syrup, etc.
· Gives a great description of what school used to be like, when it was in a one room schoolhouse. This could be fun to discuss with the children, as they compare and contrast their schooling with Arizona’s.
· Wonderful illustrations.
Concerns:
· There is some vocabulary that students might not know, that would need to be clarified. For example, many elementary school students these days won’t know the term ‘petticoats’.
· This book is more of a timeline of Arizona’s life. I wonder if students would have the patience to sit through it, when it is more history based, and less fun. This is why I recommend it for the slightly older grades.
Classroom use/Other comments:
· This book could be used to depict what it was like living in a different time period.
· This book could be used to show students how important teachers are, and what an impact they can have on students’ lives.
Author: Dave Pilkey
Title: The Paperboy
Publisher: Orchard Books
Date: 1996
Age Level: Primary (K-2)
Summary: A paperboy and his dog enjoy the quiet of the early morning as they go about their rounds.
Strengths:
· This book shows the responsibility and importance of having a job, and how you can make it a fun experience.
· This book has paintings for illustrations, which really draws the eye to look at them closely.
Concerns:
· This book does not have much practical application to school, it is more of a ‘just for fun’ book.
· This book shows a young boy out on a paper route, with only his dog for a companion. I wonder how many students’ parents would allow them to go around their neighborhood alone in the dark, as times have changed some since the book was written. This may not be as believable as it might once have been for children.
Classroom use/Other comments
· This book could be read aloud to the class as a fun book, or could be used in the classroom library as a book students could read on their own.
Author: Maurice Sendak
Title: Where the Wild Things Are
Publisher: Harper Collins Publishers
Date: 1963
Age Level: Primary (K-2)
Summary: This is a book about a boy, Max, who is sent to bed without supper, and travels from his bedroom to a place 'where the wild things are'. He creates mischief for a time, but realizes he wants to go home, where he smells good things to eat. When he returns home, he finds his mother has left his supper in his room for him to eat.
Strengths:
· This book emphasizes the importance of having a vivid imagination.
· This book introduces fun new vocabulary words such as gnashed and rumpus.
· The illustrations are captivating, and there are even some double-page spreads of just pictures without words. These pages are just as exciting as the ones with words, and really draw the reader in.
· This book has an exciting storyline, and would be very fun for children to read or have read to them.
· Although this book discusses monsters, the pictures portray them in ways that they are not scary for young children to look at.
· This book shows that if you are naughty, you will have to serve a punishment for it, such as being sent to your room without supper. If you change your behavior, however, you may be rewarded, as Max was when he was given his supper at the end of the book.
Concerns:
· This book has quite a bit of fantasy in it. I wonder if children would be able to separate what is real from what is made up, and if they would begin to believe that monsters are real by reading this book.
Classroom use/Other comments
· This would be a great book to read aloud to students while they look at the pictures, in the primary grades.
· This is also a book that students could use in upper elementary school to practice reading with proper intonation and giving voices to characters.
Author: Mo Willems
Title: Knuffle Bunny Too
Publisher: Hyperion Books for Children
Date: 2007
Age Level: PreK or Primary (K-2)
Summary:
This is a book of a preschool child who goes to her first day of school, bringing along her beloved one of a kind Knuffle Bunny, only to find one of her friends has the same one. When the bunnies get switched, the girls and their fathers must meet in the middle of the night to switch them back, before the girls are able to sleep.
Strengths:
· The pictures in this book are fantastic. They are a combination of photographs and drawings. The backgrounds of the pictures are black and white photos, with color drawings of the characters on top. It really draws the reader in, and makes the book seem more realistic.
· I like that some of the things that are said in the book are shown in text bubbles, while the rest of the text is written straight out. It adds personality to the book.
· I like that the text size varies for some words.
· The print size is large, so that young children can follow along with it as the teacher is reading to them.
· The pictures follow the story very well, but also expand on the text.
Concerns:
· I did not have any concerns about this book, I thought it was fun, well written, with great pictures.
Classroom use/Other comments:
· This would be a fun book to read on the first day of school, either for preK or kindergarteners, since it is set on the first day of school.
Author: Ann Turner
Title: Katie’s Trunk
Publisher: Macmillan Publishing Company
Date: 1992
Age Level: Elementary (3-4)
Summary:
This is a book about a girl named Katie, whose family sympathizes with the English in the Revolutionary War. It shows what it is like to be a child during that time period, and Katie’s family has to hide in the woods when the ‘rebels’ come to raid their house. Katie is so angry that these people, who used to be family friends, are invading their house, simple because they are ‘Tories’. She runs back to her house and hides in a trunk, where she is almost found, but spared by a man whom she used to know. Katie realizes, at the end of this book, that there are still good people out there, even though a war is going on.
Strengths:
· The book is written in such a way that you feel you really get to know what it would be like to live in the time of the Revolutionary War.
· Although the subject matter, of the war, is difficult to approach, the author makes it appropriate for younger children, and does not even use the word war in the book.
· Uses terms such as ‘rebel’ and ‘Tory’, which could be incorporated into a history lesson to teach students more about the Revolutionary War.
· Ends on a positive note, giving the students the impression that there is good in everyone.
Concerns:
· The book talks about Katie praying to God. Would this be a problem for reading the book in school?
· The story line seemed a little bit hard to follow, such as the reason for Katie’s anger, and why she ran from her parents the way that she did. I wonder if young students may not catch some of the finer details of the story.
Classroom use/Other comments:
· This book could be used in the classroom in a history class. It is a well-written story, and thus could be read aloud to the students, but likely would be closely paired with history, because of its context in relation to the Revolutionary War.
· Although this book is a picture book, and the format seems like it could be used in a first or second grade classroom, I would recommend it for a third or fourth grade class, based on the subject matter.
Author: Gloria Houston
Title: My Great-Aunt Arizona
Publisher: Harper Collins Publishers Date: 1992
Age Level: Elementary (3-4)
Summary: An Appalachian girl, Arizona, grows up to become a teacher who influences generations of schoolchildren.
Strengths:
· Repetition, which is helpful for students who are beginning to learn to read.
· Set close to home, in the Blue Ridge Mountains, which may be of interest to students.
· Tells of all the things there were to do in the Blue Ridge Mountains at the time Arizona was growing up – dancing to fiddle music, making maple syrup, etc.
· Gives a great description of what school used to be like, when it was in a one room schoolhouse. This could be fun to discuss with the children, as they compare and contrast their schooling with Arizona’s.
· Wonderful illustrations.
Concerns:
· There is some vocabulary that students might not know, that would need to be clarified. For example, many elementary school students these days won’t know the term ‘petticoats’.
· This book is more of a timeline of Arizona’s life. I wonder if students would have the patience to sit through it, when it is more history based, and less fun. This is why I recommend it for the slightly older grades.
Classroom use/Other comments:
· This book could be used to depict what it was like living in a different time period.
· This book could be used to show students how important teachers are, and what an impact they can have on students’ lives.
Author: Dave Pilkey
Title: The Paperboy
Publisher: Orchard Books
Date: 1996
Age Level: Primary (K-2)
Summary: A paperboy and his dog enjoy the quiet of the early morning as they go about their rounds.
Strengths:
· This book shows the responsibility and importance of having a job, and how you can make it a fun experience.
· This book has paintings for illustrations, which really draws the eye to look at them closely.
Concerns:
· This book does not have much practical application to school, it is more of a ‘just for fun’ book.
· This book shows a young boy out on a paper route, with only his dog for a companion. I wonder how many students’ parents would allow them to go around their neighborhood alone in the dark, as times have changed some since the book was written. This may not be as believable as it might once have been for children.
Classroom use/Other comments
· This book could be read aloud to the class as a fun book, or could be used in the classroom library as a book students could read on their own.
Author: Maurice Sendak
Title: Where the Wild Things Are
Publisher: Harper Collins Publishers
Date: 1963
Age Level: Primary (K-2)
Summary: This is a book about a boy, Max, who is sent to bed without supper, and travels from his bedroom to a place 'where the wild things are'. He creates mischief for a time, but realizes he wants to go home, where he smells good things to eat. When he returns home, he finds his mother has left his supper in his room for him to eat.
Strengths:
· This book emphasizes the importance of having a vivid imagination.
· This book introduces fun new vocabulary words such as gnashed and rumpus.
· The illustrations are captivating, and there are even some double-page spreads of just pictures without words. These pages are just as exciting as the ones with words, and really draw the reader in.
· This book has an exciting storyline, and would be very fun for children to read or have read to them.
· Although this book discusses monsters, the pictures portray them in ways that they are not scary for young children to look at.
· This book shows that if you are naughty, you will have to serve a punishment for it, such as being sent to your room without supper. If you change your behavior, however, you may be rewarded, as Max was when he was given his supper at the end of the book.
Concerns:
· This book has quite a bit of fantasy in it. I wonder if children would be able to separate what is real from what is made up, and if they would begin to believe that monsters are real by reading this book.
Classroom use/Other comments
· This would be a great book to read aloud to students while they look at the pictures, in the primary grades.
· This is also a book that students could use in upper elementary school to practice reading with proper intonation and giving voices to characters.
Author: Mo Willems
Title: Knuffle Bunny Too
Publisher: Hyperion Books for Children
Date: 2007
Age Level: PreK or Primary (K-2)
Summary:
This is a book of a preschool child who goes to her first day of school, bringing along her beloved one of a kind Knuffle Bunny, only to find one of her friends has the same one. When the bunnies get switched, the girls and their fathers must meet in the middle of the night to switch them back, before the girls are able to sleep.
Strengths:
· The pictures in this book are fantastic. They are a combination of photographs and drawings. The backgrounds of the pictures are black and white photos, with color drawings of the characters on top. It really draws the reader in, and makes the book seem more realistic.
· I like that some of the things that are said in the book are shown in text bubbles, while the rest of the text is written straight out. It adds personality to the book.
· I like that the text size varies for some words.
· The print size is large, so that young children can follow along with it as the teacher is reading to them.
· The pictures follow the story very well, but also expand on the text.
Concerns:
· I did not have any concerns about this book, I thought it was fun, well written, with great pictures.
Classroom use/Other comments:
· This would be a fun book to read on the first day of school, either for preK or kindergarteners, since it is set on the first day of school.
Annotated Bibliography 1/21/09
Historical Fiction:
Author: Ellen Levine
Title: Henry’s Freedom Box
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Date: 2007
Age Level: Elementary (3-4)
Summary:
In this book, Henry is a slave, who is sold from his family at a young age. He meets a woman, marries, her, and they have children. He thinks he couldn’t be happier, but then one day his wife and children are sold, and there is nothing he can do to stop it. Henry decides to mail himself to freedom, with the help of a kind doctor who disagrees with slavery. He boxes himself up, and is shipped to Pennsylvania, where he is free at last.
Strengths:
· This book has a good balance between showing the despair that slaves had to go through when their family was sold, and the joys they could have in life, whether by getting married, or by finally obtaining freedom.
· This book ends on a happy note, when Henry is finally free.
· It is very interesting to think about what it would be like to send yourself somewhere in the mail, and to be so desperate to escape that you would resort to that. This could be an interesting conversation to have with the students.
Concerns:
· This book shows a lot of pain experienced by Henry and his family. I wonder if the students would react poorly to seeing that pain.
· Henry is shown as intentionally hurting himself in order to get off work so he could ship himself to Philadelphia. It would need to be discussed with the class that this is not an acceptable thing to do, and that Henry was very desperate when he did so.
Classroom use/Other comments:
· This book can be used when studying the Civil War, and slavery.
· This book can also be used as a starting point for a project where students use their imaginations. If Henry could be clever enough to think to mail himself to Philadelphia, what are some ways that students could think of, that slaves might have been able to get themselves to freedom?
· I thought this was a fabulous book, very well written, and it really shows what it was like to be a slave, without going into too much detail. It is appropriate for younger grades, although I would still reserve it for 3rd grade and up, because of the subject matter.
Author: Michael Bedard
Title: Emily
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Date: 1992
Age Level: Primary (K-2) or Elementary (3-4)
Summary:
In this book, a young girl moves to a house next door to a woman who never left her house, one who is revealed at the end of the book to be Emily Dickinson. Emily asked the girl’s mother to come play piano for her, and the girl was able to go along. During this time, she was able to discover the meaning of poetry, and to exchange gifts with Emily herself.
Strengths:
· This book gives a good definition to poetry, which can often be a term that is difficult to explain to young children.
· Very descriptive writing, easy to create a picture in your mind of what is happening.
· This book tells a lot about Emily Dickinson, but in the form of a story. It is exciting for the reader, and not dry as sometimes biographies can be.
· This book shows acceptance for those who are different than we are – although Emily chose not to leave her house, the young girl was able to find ways to relate to her, in areas such as a love for gardening.
Concerns:
· I did not find any concerns about this book. It is well written and informative, but fun to read and enjoyable.
Classroom use/Other comments:
· This book could be used when studying poetry, and learning how to write poems.
· This book could be used either in a primary or elementary level classroom. It may be a bit long to use in some primary classrooms, but there is nothing in the subject matter that would prevent a teacher with a class whose attention span was long enough from reading it to them.
Author: Mary Ann Rodman
Title: Yankee Girl
Publisher: Farrar Straus Giroux, New York
Date: 2004
Age Level: Upper (5-6)
Summary:
Alice was a 6th grader whose father was an FBI agent in 1964. He was moved from Chicago to Mississippi, where the integrating of schools had just begun. Alice goes to school with people much more prejudiced than she had ever been. There was one black girl who was part of the integration process, Valerie, who was in Alice’s class. Alice had to learn how to balance her desire to be friends with Valerie with her desire to be popular. The other students made it clear that Alice could not have both. This book follows her struggles to find how to do ‘the right thing’ as her parents had raised her, while still trying to fit in with the other sixth graders.
Strengths:
· This book shows very real struggles for middle school students, both in learning to accept everyone, even if they’re different, and in learning not to give in to peer pressure.
· This book shows students how complicated of a process integrating schools truly was.
· Alice can be a great example for students, because even though she had trouble doing what she knew was the right thing throughout the book, she ultimately made good decisions, and it is important for students to see that if they persevere, they can do the right thing also.
· This book handles a delicate topic in a very appropriate manner for school children.
Concerns:
· This book uses the term “nigger”. Even though it is clearly portrayed in the book as an inappropriate term, would this book be able to be read in a classroom?
Classroom use/Other comments:
· This book can be used in a classroom when studying the civil rights movement, and when discussing the integration of schools. This would be a good book to read leading up to the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.
· This book was skillfully written, handled difficult topics well, and had a gripping plot. Many students would relate to the characters in one way or another, and thus be more interested in continuing the book.
Author: Richard Peck
Title: On the Wings of Heroes
Publisher: The Penguin Group
Date: 2007
Age Level: Upper (5-6)
Summary:
This book is about a fifth grade boy living in the time of WWII. When his older brother leaves to fight in the war, Davy and his best friend throw themselves into the war effort, collecting scrap metal and paper, anything the government is asking for. Davy learns a lot about what it means to be at war, and slowly begins learning about his father’s experience fighting in WWI, which he previously had not spoken about. When Davy’s brother goes missing in action, their family has to bond together and stay strong, waiting hopefully for good news that will allow them to be a whole family again.
Strengths:
· This book leaves a lot of room for the teacher to add her own lessons to teach children about WWII. For instance, it discusses hanging stars in windows, but students have to use the context to guess what those stars meant. This could be a lesson for the class, when learning about WWII.
· This book shows many childhood conflicts, such as bullying. For instance, Davy and his friend had been collecting paper for the war effort, and were carefully bringing it back to their houses when older boys, whom they had previously looked up to, stole it all from them. The book shows how upset the boys were, and can be a good model to remind students why bullying is a bad thing.
· This book gives a very good sense of what it was like to live in the 1940s, not just from the perspective of the war, but also what the schools and neighborhoods were like back then.
· This book really makes students appreciate the things they have, especially in school. Davy’s teacher at the beginning of the book, doesn’t know much about math and has one of the students teach most of those lessons. Students can look at their teacher and realize how lucky they are to have someone well educated to teach them.
Concerns:
· This book has some vocabulary that would need to be taught to the children. These are words from the time of the war, such as girdle.
Classroom use/Other comments:
· This would be a fabulous book to use in a unit about WWII. It’s informative and interesting, but also fun to read.
Author: Karen Cushman
Title: The Midwife’s Apprentice
Publisher: Clarion Books
Date: 1995
Age Level: Upper (5-6)
Summary:
In medieval England, a nameless, homeless girl is taken in by a sharp-tempered midwife and, in spite of obstacles and hardship, eventually gains the three things she most wants: a full belly, a contented heart, and a place in this world.
Strengths:
· This book, in terms of being used in a classroom, did not seem to have any strengths.
Concerns:
· This book discusses the midwife and the baker “hugging and kissing, and him with a wife and thirteen children”, which is not appropriate for young children to be reading. If this book were to be read to the children, this part would need to be edited out.
· This book also talks about boys being drunk, which again is not appropriate for children of this age.
· This book discusses the devil.
· No respect is shown to the midwife’s apprentice, even though she is just a girl. She is homeless and unloved, and the midwife takes her in from the cold, but is rude and unhelpful beyond that.
Classroom use/Other comments:
· This book overall does not seem appropriate for schoolchildren, of any age. I would not use this book in my classroom.
Author: Ellen Levine
Title: Henry’s Freedom Box
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Date: 2007
Age Level: Elementary (3-4)
Summary:
In this book, Henry is a slave, who is sold from his family at a young age. He meets a woman, marries, her, and they have children. He thinks he couldn’t be happier, but then one day his wife and children are sold, and there is nothing he can do to stop it. Henry decides to mail himself to freedom, with the help of a kind doctor who disagrees with slavery. He boxes himself up, and is shipped to Pennsylvania, where he is free at last.
Strengths:
· This book has a good balance between showing the despair that slaves had to go through when their family was sold, and the joys they could have in life, whether by getting married, or by finally obtaining freedom.
· This book ends on a happy note, when Henry is finally free.
· It is very interesting to think about what it would be like to send yourself somewhere in the mail, and to be so desperate to escape that you would resort to that. This could be an interesting conversation to have with the students.
Concerns:
· This book shows a lot of pain experienced by Henry and his family. I wonder if the students would react poorly to seeing that pain.
· Henry is shown as intentionally hurting himself in order to get off work so he could ship himself to Philadelphia. It would need to be discussed with the class that this is not an acceptable thing to do, and that Henry was very desperate when he did so.
Classroom use/Other comments:
· This book can be used when studying the Civil War, and slavery.
· This book can also be used as a starting point for a project where students use their imaginations. If Henry could be clever enough to think to mail himself to Philadelphia, what are some ways that students could think of, that slaves might have been able to get themselves to freedom?
· I thought this was a fabulous book, very well written, and it really shows what it was like to be a slave, without going into too much detail. It is appropriate for younger grades, although I would still reserve it for 3rd grade and up, because of the subject matter.
Author: Michael Bedard
Title: Emily
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Date: 1992
Age Level: Primary (K-2) or Elementary (3-4)
Summary:
In this book, a young girl moves to a house next door to a woman who never left her house, one who is revealed at the end of the book to be Emily Dickinson. Emily asked the girl’s mother to come play piano for her, and the girl was able to go along. During this time, she was able to discover the meaning of poetry, and to exchange gifts with Emily herself.
Strengths:
· This book gives a good definition to poetry, which can often be a term that is difficult to explain to young children.
· Very descriptive writing, easy to create a picture in your mind of what is happening.
· This book tells a lot about Emily Dickinson, but in the form of a story. It is exciting for the reader, and not dry as sometimes biographies can be.
· This book shows acceptance for those who are different than we are – although Emily chose not to leave her house, the young girl was able to find ways to relate to her, in areas such as a love for gardening.
Concerns:
· I did not find any concerns about this book. It is well written and informative, but fun to read and enjoyable.
Classroom use/Other comments:
· This book could be used when studying poetry, and learning how to write poems.
· This book could be used either in a primary or elementary level classroom. It may be a bit long to use in some primary classrooms, but there is nothing in the subject matter that would prevent a teacher with a class whose attention span was long enough from reading it to them.
Author: Mary Ann Rodman
Title: Yankee Girl
Publisher: Farrar Straus Giroux, New York
Date: 2004
Age Level: Upper (5-6)
Summary:
Alice was a 6th grader whose father was an FBI agent in 1964. He was moved from Chicago to Mississippi, where the integrating of schools had just begun. Alice goes to school with people much more prejudiced than she had ever been. There was one black girl who was part of the integration process, Valerie, who was in Alice’s class. Alice had to learn how to balance her desire to be friends with Valerie with her desire to be popular. The other students made it clear that Alice could not have both. This book follows her struggles to find how to do ‘the right thing’ as her parents had raised her, while still trying to fit in with the other sixth graders.
Strengths:
· This book shows very real struggles for middle school students, both in learning to accept everyone, even if they’re different, and in learning not to give in to peer pressure.
· This book shows students how complicated of a process integrating schools truly was.
· Alice can be a great example for students, because even though she had trouble doing what she knew was the right thing throughout the book, she ultimately made good decisions, and it is important for students to see that if they persevere, they can do the right thing also.
· This book handles a delicate topic in a very appropriate manner for school children.
Concerns:
· This book uses the term “nigger”. Even though it is clearly portrayed in the book as an inappropriate term, would this book be able to be read in a classroom?
Classroom use/Other comments:
· This book can be used in a classroom when studying the civil rights movement, and when discussing the integration of schools. This would be a good book to read leading up to the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.
· This book was skillfully written, handled difficult topics well, and had a gripping plot. Many students would relate to the characters in one way or another, and thus be more interested in continuing the book.
Author: Richard Peck
Title: On the Wings of Heroes
Publisher: The Penguin Group
Date: 2007
Age Level: Upper (5-6)
Summary:
This book is about a fifth grade boy living in the time of WWII. When his older brother leaves to fight in the war, Davy and his best friend throw themselves into the war effort, collecting scrap metal and paper, anything the government is asking for. Davy learns a lot about what it means to be at war, and slowly begins learning about his father’s experience fighting in WWI, which he previously had not spoken about. When Davy’s brother goes missing in action, their family has to bond together and stay strong, waiting hopefully for good news that will allow them to be a whole family again.
Strengths:
· This book leaves a lot of room for the teacher to add her own lessons to teach children about WWII. For instance, it discusses hanging stars in windows, but students have to use the context to guess what those stars meant. This could be a lesson for the class, when learning about WWII.
· This book shows many childhood conflicts, such as bullying. For instance, Davy and his friend had been collecting paper for the war effort, and were carefully bringing it back to their houses when older boys, whom they had previously looked up to, stole it all from them. The book shows how upset the boys were, and can be a good model to remind students why bullying is a bad thing.
· This book gives a very good sense of what it was like to live in the 1940s, not just from the perspective of the war, but also what the schools and neighborhoods were like back then.
· This book really makes students appreciate the things they have, especially in school. Davy’s teacher at the beginning of the book, doesn’t know much about math and has one of the students teach most of those lessons. Students can look at their teacher and realize how lucky they are to have someone well educated to teach them.
Concerns:
· This book has some vocabulary that would need to be taught to the children. These are words from the time of the war, such as girdle.
Classroom use/Other comments:
· This would be a fabulous book to use in a unit about WWII. It’s informative and interesting, but also fun to read.
Author: Karen Cushman
Title: The Midwife’s Apprentice
Publisher: Clarion Books
Date: 1995
Age Level: Upper (5-6)
Summary:
In medieval England, a nameless, homeless girl is taken in by a sharp-tempered midwife and, in spite of obstacles and hardship, eventually gains the three things she most wants: a full belly, a contented heart, and a place in this world.
Strengths:
· This book, in terms of being used in a classroom, did not seem to have any strengths.
Concerns:
· This book discusses the midwife and the baker “hugging and kissing, and him with a wife and thirteen children”, which is not appropriate for young children to be reading. If this book were to be read to the children, this part would need to be edited out.
· This book also talks about boys being drunk, which again is not appropriate for children of this age.
· This book discusses the devil.
· No respect is shown to the midwife’s apprentice, even though she is just a girl. She is homeless and unloved, and the midwife takes her in from the cold, but is rude and unhelpful beyond that.
Classroom use/Other comments:
· This book overall does not seem appropriate for schoolchildren, of any age. I would not use this book in my classroom.
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