Poetry

Title: Blues Journey
Author: Myers, Walter Dean
Illustrator: Myers, Christopher
Publisher & Date: Holiday House, 2003
Genre: Multicultural Poetry
Age Range: 2nd-5th
Summary: The author is writing about blues music and what it means to him. He is trying to describe blues music while writing in a similar format that a blues song lyrics would be written.
Response: One thing I liked about this book was that it gives you a background about blues music and how it is related to poetry. So, it kind of gives you some help understand how the poem is written. I really liked the illustrations because on each page, some element of the picture is blue, whether it be a person, a group of people, or the sky above them. Also, in the back of the book, it has a Blues glossary. It gives you common phrases used in blues music and tells you what is meant by this phrase. This would be very helpful for students to understand blues and the culture that it came from. I think the glossary in the back is even more helpful because it helped me understand parts of the poem. Wouldn't it be nice if ever poem book had one of these!

Realistic Fiction

Title: Because of Winn Dixie
Author: DiCamillo, Kate
Publisher & Date: Candlewick Press, 2000
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Age Range: 3rd-6th
Summary: Because of Winn Dixie is a great book. Opal and her father, who is a preacher, moved to another town in Florida. Because she is new, she doesn't have very many friends. She was going to the store to get some groceries for her dad, when she sees a stray dog that is about to get in a lot of trouble. She tells the manager that it's her dog and it's name is Winn Dixie. He believes her and asks them to leave. Her dad lets her keep him and he goes everywhere with Opal, even to church. She makes friends with the librarian, Miss Franny and gets a job at Gertrude's Pet Store working off a collar and leash for Winn Dixie. She makes friends with Gloria Dump, who everyone thinks is a witch. They throw a party and there is a thunderstorm, which terrifies Winn Dixie. Opal and her dad search for Winn Dixie and come to find out he was just hiding inside of Mrs. Dump's house where they continue the party.
Response: This is a great book. It was very entertaining and I am sure that any child can relate to it in some way. Whether they are new to town, or are having trouble making friends. Some could relate to having a best friend in an animal. Others could be struggling with loosing a parent and growing up in a single family home. This book has a lot of offer and should be on every teachers bookshelf.

Utopian / Dystopian

Title: Gathering Blue

Author: Lois Lowry

Publisher & Date: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2000

Genre: Utopian / Dystopian

Age Range: 6th grade & up

Summary: The main character Kira, was born with a twisted leg, and so she must drag it around with her everywhere. In the village where she lives, most defective people are taken to the field and the beasts drag them away. So, in this village, they only want the pure and the best. But Kira's mom stands up for her, defending her and how she has a place in the village. Kira, at a young age was helping in the Weaver's building. Also, Kira's father was killed when she was still in her mother's womb. He was on a hunt and she was told that the beasts killed him. Near the beginning of the book, Kira's mother becomes sick and they take her down to the field. Kira sits with her mother until her spirit is gone. But Kira has no where to go because after one has an illness they burn the house, so the illness does not spread. People in the village want her gone, but there is a trial held by the Guardians and they decide to let her stay in the Edifice and she is now to become the Weaver of the Robe. She learns to dye thread from Annabelle, an older woman who lives on the outer part of the village. Annabelle teaches her all kinds of weeds that will help her to dye threads different colors. She finds out one day that Annabelle is dead, after Annabelle tells her there are no beasts in the forest. So Kira is on her own. They build her a station to dye and dry the threads and a garden to grow the herbs. She makes friends with Thomas, who also lives in the Edifice; he is the Carver. They both stumble across the little girl who is training to be the next singer. She finally dyes all the threads and replaces worn and torn places on the robe. It is ready for the Singer to wear it proudly. There is a part of the back of the shoulders where she will thread the future. Matt wanders off for a couple of days and she becomes worried. He arrives the day of the singing and he has a present. He has brought back some blue, which is only found in the found across the boundary. Matt also brings back a blind man. Kira finds out that this blind man is her father and that someone in the Edifice didn't want him to become a guardian and tried to kill him. Little do they know he is alive and living in a village where there are others who are broken and hurt. They are welcome there and her father wants her to come back with him, to a place where she will be welcome. Matt goes back with her father, but Kira has a job to do and she decides to stay. Maybe one day Kira will return to her father in the other village!

Response: This was a great book! It was very easy to read and follow. It has just enough suspense to make you want to continue reading to see what happens next. At the end of the book it leaves you wondering if she is staying at the Edifice to prove someone wrong that her father is alive. It makes you wonder what she is going to thread on the robe. It also makes you wonder if she ever will return to her father. The other thing I keep thinking about is how and if she is going to try to help Jo, the future Singer, escape or what. This would be a good book to do several activities with. You could talk about death rituals in different cultures, because in their village, the ill are taken to the Field of Leaving. You could also study dying and the different plants that were mentioned in the book.

Science Fiction

Title: June 29, 1999

Author: Wiesner, David

Publisher & Date: Clarion Books, 1992

Genre: Science Fiction

Age Range: K-3

Summary: A little girl, Holly, decides to try an experiment. She launches vegetable seedlings in the air, trying to discover where they will end up and what will happen to them. A few days later, gigantic vegetables are landing everywhere in the United States. Holly was excited to have such obvious evidence that her experiment worked, but she began to see vegetables that weren't on her list. She pondered where these vegetables came from, and realized that they weren't from her seedlings. At the end of the book, you find out that a starcrusier was touring the sixth planet and accidentally released their entire supply of food.

Response: This was a very creative book that I think many children will enjoy. Because the copyright is in 1992, it makes me wonder if the author just chose a random date in the future to write this story about. I would think that until June 29, 1999, any children that read this book could have questioned whether this would actually happen on June 29,1999. But now that that date has past, I think it is a fun book to read about, knowing that it can't happen. This book lists several vegetables and cities where they fell, so this would be a good opportunity to review and teach children their vegetables and find out where all the cities are located.

Fantasy

Title: Bridge to Terabithia

Author: Paterson, Katherine

Publisher & Date: Harper Collins Publishers, 1996

Genre: Fantasy

Age Range: 4th grade-6th grade

Summary: Jess Aarons is the only boy in his family. Over the summer, he is practicing to become the fastest runner in his class. When he gets the chance to prove it, a new girl that moved next door to him, is allowed to race, and she beats him. At first Jess, doesn't want to have anything to do with her, but as the book progresses, they both become friends. In the woods, nearby their houses, they find an old crab apple tree with a rope attached. They decided to swing across the river and create a made up land called Terabithia. This is the one place where Jess and Leslie can be themselves and not be teased. The are king and queen and spend many afternoons playing in Terabithia. Towards the end of the book, it was raining and had been raining all week, and they couldn't go to Terabithia. Jess and Leslie's art teacher invites Jess for a day at the museum and he accepts the invitation. When he gets back, everyone is very quiet. He finds out that Leslie had drown in the river trying to swing across to get to Terabithia after it had been raining so much. Jess is devastated and doesn't quite know how to handle the situation. Once he realizes she is really gone, he decides to build a bridge across the river. Maybelle, Jess's younger sister who idols him, follows him to the bridge and he names her queen of Terabithia.

Response: This was a great book. I hadn't ever read the book, but I had seen the movie. The movie goes hand in hand with the book. I really liked how easy the book was to read. It just flowed very nicely. Compared to the Tiger's Apprentice, which is also fantasy, this book seemed to be a lot more enjoyable. I think this would be a great book to help children understand how creative they can be. Just like Jess and Leslie, they too can imagine wondrous, make believe places. I think many children could sympathize with the characters. Leslie moved from a place where she was comfortable to a place where no body seemed to like her. Jess had three sisters who teased him and tattled on him. He had to do lots of chores. His father was not present very often. I am sure many children can understand many of the problems the characters face. This book had some good messages in it, and it was a good book to deal with death or bullying. I would definitely recommend this book.

Fairy Tale

Title: The Golden Slipper: A Vietnamese Legend

Author: Lum, Darrell

Illustrator: Nagano, Makiko

Publisher & Date: Troll Associates, 1994

Genre: Fairy Tale

Age Range: K-4

Summary: This is similar to Cinderella, but it is based in Vietnam and their culture. Cam is the name of the girl who is in a similar situation as Cinderella. Her mother passed away and her father re-marries a woman who becomes her step mother who has a daughter named Tam. Cam's father dies and she is left to live with her stepmother and stepsister. Of course, Tam gets everything handed to her and Cam has to work for everything. There is an Autumn Festival that both Cam and Tam can't wait to go to but Cam must do her work in the field before she can go. A woman comes and helps her get her work done and dresses her in silk top and flowing pants just as she had imagined. She goes to the festival on a horse and looses her slipper on the way. The prince tries to find the owner of the slipper, but it won't fit on anyone but Cam. And she goes and lives with the prince.

Response: I liked how the author crossed over the original story of Cinderella and applied it to Vietnamese culture. For example, Cam worked out in the rice fields and she wore silk shirt and flowing pants instead of a ball gown. Instead of a Ball, they go to a Festival. There was a catfish which is important in Vietnamese culture. I think it would be interesting to get your class to read this Cinderella tale and the original Cinderella and compare and contrast the differences understanding some of the important things in Vietnam culture.

Traditional Literature Book

Title: Mabela the Clever

Author: MacDonald, Margaret Read

Illustrator: Coffey, Tim

Publisher & Date: Albert Whitman & Company, 2001

Genre: Folktale

Age Range: K-3

Summary: This story starts off stating that cats are clever and mice aren't. But Mabela, the mouse, was a clever mouse, because her father gave her some advice. The Cat came to the Mouse village to announce that the mice were invited to join the Cat Club but had to be initiated. They were all lined up following the instructions to never look back, always keep marching and singing, and the cat is always in the back. The cat was being clever and kept snatching up the mouse in front of him. Mabela remembered the advice her father gave her and this kept her from being eaten by the mouse.

Response: This book was a classic folktale of good versus evil. It teaches you to listen to you parents and those that are wiser than you. I think it also could send the message to be careful to who you listen to or what information you believe. I think this book could be used for older children as well and incorporating the message: don't always listen to everything you are told. You should have proof that what you are told is in deed fact. For the younger children, I think this would be a great book to emphasis listening to your parents and your teachers.