Diversity: Darby

Darby

by: Jonathon Scott Fuqua

This book is about a 9 year old little girl named Darby growing up in South Carolina in the 1920's. Darby is white and her best friend is black. This is something that just doesn't happen during this time period. Darby looks forward to coming home from school each day and meeting Evette in the woods to play. Darby's dream is to become a journalist. She writes for the local daily newspaper and her fathers friend is the editor. With Evettes help, Darby gets better and better at her writing and starts getting an article published every week. When she sees her friends brother getting beat up by a member of the Ku Klux Klan she writes about it. Her father is against the Klan and doesn't like the acts of the man who beat up Evettes brother and allows her to write the article. Her family faces hard times after the article is published. The KKK even burn a cross in their yard. I think this book is a great book to use in a high 5th or 6th grade reading class. This books catches the readers attention because it is written in first person through the eyes of a 9 year old. There is also a lot of history in this story. It is a good book to bring up some class discussion and inferences about how people felt during the 1920's, when the story took place. I recommend this book to anyone who likes historical fiction and wants to read about what life might have been like for a nine year old little girl growing up with a friend no one thought she should have.

Diversity: If a Bus Could Talk

If a Bus Could Talk

by: Faith Ringgold

This book is full of great information about the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement and the courageous acts of Rosa Parks. This book starts out with a little girl who gets on a talking bus. The bus is the exact bus Rosa Parts first sat in the "wrong" seat. The bus tells the story of the things Rosa Parks went through from a young age through adulthood. This is a great story that tells the hardships of Mrs. Parks in a way that younger students can understand. This would be a great book to use in a 2nd though 5th grade classroom. Because of the length and depth of some of the facts, I would not use the whole book in a K-1 classroom, but would address the topic and maybe share parts of the story. I recommend this book when discussing the Civil Rights Movement or during black history month. The pictures were great! The details of the pictures really helped show the feelings of the characters. The talking bus was also a great way to get and hold the younger students attention. I think this book is a must in a classroom collection!



Laurence Yep

Sweetwater

BY: Laurence Yep

This book is a science-fiction novel written with much creativity. As I read this book I realized how narrow minded I am. I feel like I had a hard time following the story because I kept thinking about reality and how the things in this story do not exist. I feel like a student in seventh or eighth grade could could really get into this book. With the main character, Tyree, being male, this is a great book to open the mind of young male readers. This book tells the story of how he has tow work with his new alien friend and his blind sister to help save the way of life for their small community living on the planet Harmony. He learns to play the most beautiful song from the alien song master, Amadeus. Though they are faced with many dangers such as sea dragons, diminishing food supply, and the rising sea that will soon destroy their city, they work hard to save what they love and learn to get along with the alien people. This is a great book for entertainment and would also open some great discussion about how one views the different parts of the story. The book is very inventive and is open to the readers point of view about how he/she interprets what is happening.
Other books by Laurence Yep include:
Dragonwings and Dragons Gate
The Earth Dragon Awakes: The San Fransisco Earthquake of 1906
The Dragon's Child: A story of Angel Island
and many more!



Jerry Pinkney

The Ugly Duckling

by: Jerry Pinkney

This story was the traditional story of the little duckling that hatches and is different from everyone else. After much torment, he decides to run away. Through the rough winter he runs into many problems. Once winter is gone he decided to follow a group of swans. When they approach the duckling he apologizes for being so ugly. This is when he looks in the water and sees that he is the most beautiful swan of them all. I like this story because it shows students that everyone develops at their own pace and that the bad things in their life will change. One thing I do not like about this story is the importance of beauty. I think that children are under so much pressure to be beautiful already. Though I will continue to share this story with children, I like to tell them that beauty can come in many forms. Beauty can be on the outside or the inside.

Some other books illustrated by Jerry Pinkney are:

Three Little Kittens

The Moon Over Star

Little Red Riding Hood

Sweethearts of Rhythm

God Bless the Child

and many more!!!!

PNLA Award

New Moon

By: Stephanie Meyer

This books won the PNLA award. The Pacific Northwest Library Association's Young Reader's Choice Award is the oldest children's choice award in the U.S. and Canada.  Nominations are taken only from children, teachers, parents and librarians in the Pacific Northwest ~ Alaska, Alberta, British Columbia, Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington.

This is the third book in the Twilight Saga. This is one of the most popular series of books that are out at this time. I have read and greatly enjoyed each of this books. This particular book is about a human, Bella, who desperately wants to marry a vampire, Edward. This is the story of the hardships they face when the voltori, leaders of the vampire race, are avid on Bella being changed to a vampire. Bella is greatly in favor of changing into a vampire, but Edward loves her too much to do this to her. This is a great book for mature 8th grade readers and high school students. Many of my fifth grade students read the first two books, but I feel that some of the content in the last too is too mature for this age. I wouldn't recommend this as a classroom read, but it is a great book for teenage readers to choose for entertainment. There could be some great discussions on the choices Bella makes and arguments on whether or not Edward should change her, but these discussion should probably stay out of the classroom.

Pura Belpre Honor Book

Breaking Through

By: Francisco Jimenez

This book is a Pura Belpre Honor Book. This award is jointly sponsered by the ALSC (Association for Library Service to Children) and part of the ALA (American Library Association) as well as the REFORMA (National Association to Promote Library and information Services to Latinos and the Spanish-Speaking). This award was founded in 1996 and its primary aim is to recognize Latino/a writers and illustrators whose work best portrays affirms, and celebrates the Latino cultural experience in an outstanding work of literature of children and youth.

This book is about a family of illegal immigrants whose father dug them into America when Fransico was only 4. At the young age of 6, Fransico is working in the fields of California trying to help his family raise enough money to move around in search for more work. His main goal is not to get sent back to Mexico because he was to get a good eduation in America. His nightmare came true when the immigration officers walked into his school and took him out. His family had to go back to Mexico until they could get what they needed to return to the US legally. This book tells about the things Fransico had to go through to get back to the US and finally graduate from High School in California. This book really made the reader understand and almost feel the hardships that the immigrant family went through and also helped you understand why they chose to go through them. This would be a great book to read in a middle or lower high school setting. Most of the content and discussions would be too mature a topic for elementary students.

Young Adult Canadian Book Award

True Confessions of a Heartless Girl

By: Martha Brooks

This book is the winner of the 2002 Governor Gernaral's Literary Award. This award is like the Canadian Newbery. This is a story about a seventeen year old girl who runs into a lot of trouble. She is pregnent and shows up to a Canadian town with a pocket full of stolen money and driving a stolen truck. This is a story full of the hardships this girls faces and how things slowly and subtley turn around for her. This is a story for a mature young audience. I think this would be a great story for high schools students. The characters are very detailed and well though out. Even though Noreen makes many mistakes and goes through a lot of hardships, she always seems to run into people who love her anyways. This book will make you really take a look at the people that surround you and appreciate them for who they are. Sometimes the best things in life are right in front of you and  you don't even know it.

Shiloh (the book) by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor vs. Shiloh the movie

Shiloh

By: Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

Though I have heard about Shiloh for years and knew most of the story , I had never seen the movie or read the book. I decided it was time to do both! I read the book first. It was very good. As I was reading I thought about how I just discussed negatives with my class. This book contains many examples of the characters using double negatives in their dialogue. Also, I remember from an article I read a while back that the main character in stories is usually a girl. This book has an eleven year old male main character.

The book and the movie were very similar. They both made it very clear the love between he boy and the found beagle. Both book and movie did a fantastic job showing the strong relationship between Marty and his family as well as the strong dislike between Judd Travers and Marty. The overall stories were the same. A boy finds a dog and hides it from his family. When his family finds out they insist he gives the dog back to the owner. The dog gets hurt so the family works together to get him well before returning it to the owner. The owner finds out and gets upset. Marty makes a deal to work for the owner to buy the dog. The owner doesn't want to, but eventually gives in. (With help from a little blackmail). In the end of the book and the movie Mary ends up with a new addition to his family, Shiloh.

Though there were many similarities, there were some small differences as well. The differences I noticed didn't change the story, just a few of the scenes changed from book to movie. One of the biggest differences is the character "Sam" in the movie. She is a granddaughter of the Doctor and is one of Marty's friends. In the book she doesn't exists. The book has Marty's only friend being David. Thought the movie does mention David, he is never seen. Sam has several roles in the movie. Another difference is the blackmail Marty uses against Judd Travers. In the book Marty sees Judd kill a deer and says he will turn him in to the game warden if he doesn't sale Shiloh to him. In the move he sees Judd shoot at a fox and catch rabbits out of season. He makes the same deal, if he doesn't sale Shiloh to him he will turn him in to the game warden. In the movie the mom goes looking for a job to help the family. She tries to sale nail polish and get a job as a hair dresser. This does not happen in the book. There were a few other small differences, but like I said, the overall story and message from the book and the movie were alike.



Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

by: Roald Dahl

vs

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory the move

Though I remember seeing he movie a million times as a kid, I couldn't remember actually reading the book. The recent Charlie and the Chocolate Factory starring Johhny Depp had a different twist to the old classic story I remembered. As far as the original movie and the book there were many similarities. The book and the movie were so similar in fact I had trouble finding differences. The new movie had some special effects, such as the bird houses at the beginning that catch on fire, that differ from the book and the original movie.
At the beginning of the school year I had many fifth graders that had read the book in fourth grade and completed an assignment where they compared and contrasted them. I loved how interested in this activity they had been. They remembered it all summer and it was one of the first things brought up in reading. I knew right away I had to bring in great literature to my classroom that they would learn to love!



Beezus and Ramona

Beezus and Ramona

by Beverly Cleary

vs

Ramona and Beezus the movie

I bought my eight year old daughter the book and the movie Beezus and Ramona a few months ago. She was very interested since she too has a little sister she considers a pest. I hadn't read the book since I was a little girl and hadn't sat down to watch the movie, so I thought it was about time.
I read the book first. It was about a four year old Ramona and her eleven year old sister Beezus. The little girl caused lots of trouble from wrecking Beezus' art class to throwing a party for 15 four year old without telling anyone. Each chapter was a different story of something crazy Ramona had done.
The movie was completely different, but still shows Ramona as being a pest. In the move Ramona is nine and Beezus is about thirteen or fourteen. In the movie the Quimby's are about to lose their house and Ramona does all she can to save it. Everything she tries to do to help turns into a disaster.
Both the book and the movie were great! Thought the stories about Ramona and Beezus were very different in the book and movie, they both were about the relationship between the two sisters and the troubles they face growing up.
This would be a great read aloud in a third or fourth grade classroom. The book is funny and would easily hold students attention.



One Crazy Summer-Coretta Scott King Honor

One Crazy Summer

by Rita Williams-Garcia

Corretta Scott King Honor



This was a story about an eleven year old little girl that had, what I would consider, a pretty tough life. Her mother had left her and her two sisters when she was small and she lived with her father and his mother. They did the best they could with the three girls, but she still felt sad that her mother left them. One summer the girls father decided to send them to California to spend the summer with their mother. Not only was it scary for them to travel from Brooklyn to California on their own to meet someone they didn't really know, but the time period made it even scarier for them because they were black. The story took place in the summer of 1968. They were faced with a lot of stares, hippies, and even black panthers that summer. The book does a great job of describing the situations and the feelings of the girls. There were many situations where the oldest daughter, Delphine, the main character, had to do things and think the way an adult would normally. I think this would be a good book to recommend to a reader in the seventh or eight grade. I enjoyed this story and would think it would also be a good book to use as a read aloud in fifth or sixth. I probably wouldn't have many fifth or sixth graders read it on their own because they may have a lot of questions about the things the girls face and go through. It would definitely be good to have many conversations while reading this book.

Newbery Honar- Surviving the Applewhites

Surviving the Applewhites

by Stephanie S. Tolan

Surviving the Applewhites by Stephanie S. Tolan was about a very artistic family who takes on a child who has been in trouble and is in foster care because both his parents were arrested on drug charges. I enjoyed reading this book, but feel that some of the content may not be suitable for a younger reader. I would definitely recommend this book to maybe a late year eight grader though. I think my favorite part about this book was the message. The boy that was in trouble, Jake, had done everything from smoking and cussing to burning down his last school. The Applewhites took on the challenge of helping him when they already had a full plate. While he was there they had to work together to put together a play the dad was directing. They had to come together and work as a family when the original theater decided to cancel the show and they decided to put it on in their barn. What helped Jake come around was his ability to help and see how he was needed. He helped with the four year old son, one of the dogs really took to him, and he was even part of the play. By the end of the story he was ready to be known as an "actor" not a "delinquent".



Newbery Medal-When You Reach Me

When You Reach Me

by: Rebecca Stead

When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead was a fascinating story! I couldn't stop reading it until I finished the book. This story was about a young girl growing up in New York. She lived in a small, lower class, apartment with her mom. The story took place in the late 1970's. What I liked most about this book was the comments that kept me wanting to read on and find out what it the world the author was talking about. What I mean by this is, every once in a while she would throw in something that wouldn't make sense with what I had read so far and the main character would say that she didn't know that yet. The details of the relationships and feelings the main character was having was amazing. I felt like I could almost feel what she was when she was talking about losing her best friend, making new friends, realizing how she was treating others and how to be a better person. One thing I feel that almost all students can relate to is the feeling of not being good enough. In the story Miranda, the main character, had made friends with a girl whose family had more money than her own. She described how she felt when her friend and her father came to her house for the first time. The main idea of the story was something I didn't realize was happening until almost the end; time travel. I am not usually interested in books or movies about time travel, but this one changed my opinion of these types of books. I would definitely recommend my highest fifth grade readers read this book. (In fact, I already have recommended it!) Because of some of the complex ideas of time travel, it may be difficult for some students to follow. I think that stronger fifth and sixth grade readers and seventh graders would greatly enjoy this book. I know I did!

Caldecott Award and Newbery Award

The Difference Between Caldecott and Newbery Awards



Both the Caldecott and the Newbery awards are awarded by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association.

The Caldecott Medal is awarded "to the artist of most distinguished American picture book for children published in English in the US the preceding year". This award was named after English illustrator, Randolph Caldecott.

The Newbery Award is given "to the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children published in English in the US the preceding year. This award was named after English bookseller, John Newbery.

The Lion and the Mouse

The Lion and the Mouse

by: Jerry Pinkney

"The Lion and the Mouse" by Jerry Pinkney is a picture book that tells the classic story of how a tiny mouse helps a lion using beautiful pictures. The first thing that caught my eye about this book was the large lion on the front cover. The detail in the cartoon lion was great. I could see by looking at the eyes that there was something off the page that the lion was focusing on, this had my interest from the beginning. Though I had not seen this book before, I have read a few versions of the story about the lion and the mouse. I instantly thought about this story and the lessons we had on it in our reading series from when I taught first grade. This book would be a great extension from those lessons. I always like to show my students different versions of stories and how people think differently. The pictures throughout the book were all as beautiful and as detailed as the cover. Though there were no words, the story was easily understood. I would definitely recommend this book to any child, parent or teacher. 

Kitten's First Full Moon

Kitten's First Full Moon

by: Kevin Henkes



"Kitten's First Full Moon" is a story about how a kitten compares the moon to a large bowl of milk. The story was written by Kevin Henkes. All the illustrations in the book were black and white and seemed to me to be drawing, probably created with pencil sketch. The pictures were simple, but helped tell the story of the kitten and the obstacles it faced when trying to reach the "large bowl of milk". I could easily look at the pictures and tell by the face the kitten was wearing how he felt about not being able to reach the moon. I feel that kids would really enjoy this story because it is a fun, short, easy read and has pictures that are entertaining. I would use this book in the classroom as a read aloud in a younger classroom. It would also be a good book for students who haven't been reading long.

The Man Who Walked Between the Towers

The Man Who Walked Between the Towers

By Mordicai Gerstein

The book The Man Who Walked Between the Towers by Mordicai Gerstein is a story about Philippe Petit and his walk between the World Trade Center towers before they were completely finished in 1974. The book told how he asked for permission but couldn't get it. It went on to tell how he worked out a plan to do it anyway and how his friends helped him carry out his plan. The pictures in this story really helped make the story. If just picturing Philippe walking across the towers isn't enough to take your breath away, the pictures will. I love how the book had two fold out pages that extended the scene. The pictures really helped take your breath away and visualize what was going on in the book. This would be a great book to read to any Elementary class when talking about the World Trade Center.

Ella Sarah Gets Dressed

Ella Sarah Gets Dressed

By Margaret  Chodos-Irvine

Ella Sarah Gets Dressed by Margaret Chodos-Irvine is a story about a little girl that wants to wear un-matching clothes. Her mom, dad and sister try to talk her out of it by picking out other clothes and asking her if she wants to wear them. Each time Ella Sarah gets more upset and says "NO!". At the end of the story she wears the un-matching clothes she wants. Her friends come over to play and they are all dressed in clothes they picked out that do not match either. I think this story would be a fun read aloud to K-1 because a lot of those kids can relate to this story. Many students in K-1 want to pick out their own clothes and their parents want them to wear something different. I really liked how the pictures in this story emphasized Ella Sarah, the main character. Though the other characters were in the book, they were drawn large so that their heads didn't fit on the page. The only face you saw was Ella Sarah's. This would be a great book to use to introduce main characters since she is so easily identified.  

First the Egg

First the Egg

By Laura Vaccaro Seeger

This book would be a great book to use as a read aloud in a primary classroom when starting a unit on cycles. Each page starts with a picture of something small (like a tadpole) with a cutout in the page, then the next page uses the same color from the the first to make something bigger (like a frog). I really loved how colorful the pages were. The pictures were very inviting to children and would easily catch the attention of young readers.

Hello! My name is Tabitha Lindsey. I am currently working on a Master's Degree in Elementary Education. I have created this blog as an assignment for one of my classes at WKU. Throughout the semester, I will be reading different children's books and letting you know what I think about each book and maybe give some ideas of how some of them can be used in the classroom. I taught first grade for three years and am currently teaching fifth. Having the experience of working with these different ages I hope to provide information and opinions that will be useful for more than one grade level!