Poppy Written By: Avi

Avi. (1995). Poppy. Avon.

I admit that I tried to get into reading this story once before with a pile of “summer reads” to catch up on several years ago, but that I was having a hard time when I tried to get into the storyline. So, I felt that it was time that I gave this book another try. The story’s main focus is on two mice who are risking their life to make it across a field highly guarded over by a fierce owl named Mr. Ocax. The storyline is told from the point of view of the mice with the mouse Poppy as the story’s main protagonist in focus. I would have enjoyed this small world detail in both the description and accompanying illustrations scattered throughout the book as a young child, for it reminds me of the “behind the scenes” life perspective of little critters, reminiscent of some of my childhood favorites, including The Cricket in Times Square or Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH. This book is sprinkled with wonderfully descriptive language that creates such a visual for scenes and perspectives that can easily be glanced over in other stories. It is absolutely the shining aspect of this particular story. Just a few of my favorite lines that painted excellent visuals in my mind include:

p. 73 – “Forgetting everything for a moment, Poppy plucked a pair of lady’s slippers and fitted them to her feet. How cool, how soft, and delicate they were, as if someone were kissing her toes.”

p. 136 – “Poppy woke refreshed. For a moment, she just lay still, luxuriating in her discoveries. She imagined telling her family what a phony Mr. Ocax was. What a delicious moment.”

p. 38- “Lungwort appeared at that moment. His hair was slicked down; his whiskers were crisply curled; his tail had been scrubbed to a glowing pink, his thimble hat was set at a natty angle.”

Although the heartache of loss and the struggle for survival and outwitting an enemy are the prevalent events in this story, which can be heavy to swallow, the way the setting and characters are described create a canvas rich for exploring characterization facets and for examining how such a simple setting of a field can be created to seem like the dangerous, treacherous expanse that it is for the mice. Point of view comparisons play a key point in discussing the crafting of this story as well. I am certainly glad that I gave this book another go!

My Side of the Story: Journey to Jamestown: Elias's Story/Sacahocan's Story

Ruby, L. My Side of the Story: Journey to Jamestown: Elias’s Story/Sacahocan’s Story. Kingfisher.

This book is a unique offering to historical fiction in the way that it is laid out. One half of the book is told in the first person perspective of an English boy named Elias. Then after you finish reading his side of the story, then you flip the book upside down and read the perspective of a Powhatan girl named Sacahocan. Elias discusses in a narrative format his life of being an apprehensive in gaining much needed apprentice experience as a barber-surgeon in 1608 in the colony. Some of the description of surgeries are graphic and turn my stomach a little, but it was the hard realities and, in some cases, misunderstood medical beliefs that were held in colonial times. As a historical fiction book, the events are not actual accounts from the beginning to the end, but integrated throughout the story line that could have happened are numerous historical facts that I happen to already be familiar with being a local native interested in regional colonial history.

One such real life incident that is documented in Captain John Smith’s personal journals where he was stung by a stingray’s barb, but in the case of this book, Elias is the hero who helps Smith in his painful predicament. Other real life characters from Jamestown’s history are a part of this story’s quilt, including Captain Christopher Newport and Chief Powhatan. The nations under Powhatan are given as another historical fact peppered into the weave of this story, from the Mataponi to the Kecoughtan (my high school’s name!) Elias learns his skills from being forced to remember what he has observed that was similar before with Master Whitman and hard field experiences that force him to be a smart problem solver. He also learns from meeting Sacahocan, the Native American girl whose perspective is the one heard in the other half of the book. She is also a healer in her group of people, and with that common tie, she announces that Elias is “born with the spirit to heal. You see with a third eye.” That third eye to each one of them is their intuition, and they both maturely solve problems and help their people.

I think the novelty of the format gives a twist to comparing and contrasting points of view of people from different cultures and experiences living in the same time, and in this case, the same landscape. I think numerous comparisons between the two main characters can be made, as well as comparing colonial life versus present day conveniences. It would also be beneficial to extract historical facts and chart them, then look for sources to back up and substantiate what the reader thinks may have actually happened. Reading this before a field trip to Jamestown could prove to be especially helpful in this regard.

From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler

Konigsburg, E. (1967). From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. Aladdin.

Newbery Medal Winner - 1968

I did read this book as an elementary student many years ago, but it was a chapter book that I didn’t remember too much about the story line beyond the very generalities of two kids being in a museum at night in New York City, figuring out a mystery. I wanted to revisit this book, because I feel like I couldn’t really say I’ve read it if it’s been over 20 years ago and wasn’t at the time one of my favorites which I read more than once. Upon my rereading, I see as an adult how smartly woven this tale is and why it was awarded the Newbery. The story makes the reader think, and expects the reader to intelligently use inference in abundance while retaining facts and clues all along the way. I liked that challenge as a child, and I find that very appealing to read as an adult.

After reading it as an adult, and a teacher with a critical eye of a reviewer and appreciator of children’s literature, part of me wonders why I didn’t read this book more than once as a child. I do connect some aspects of this book to Harriet the Spy, which I read a year or two later as a child. I read Harriet several times, each time with relish about Harriet’s cunning smarts and sneaky ways, doing her own thing independently and smartly, spying on others. As with most kids, reading about children who have adult abilities and opportunities of freedom real kids do not really get is inciting and interesting. Children read books like these almost as field guides, if they find that aspect of a storyline intriguing.

The story involves a women named Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler telling the story of two children, Claudia and Jamie, to her lawyer, whom she calls Saxonberg. The book starts out with a letter to him, and then the story proceeds with Mrs. Frankweiler being the narrator, occasionally dotting the story with her insights which are written within parentheses, almost whispering on the side while pushing a pause button to the story. One keen example is:
(p. 14) “(Flattery is as important a machine as the lever, isn’t it, Saxonberg? Give it a proper place to rest, and it can move the world.)”

Claudia decides to sneak off for an adventure in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in the city they live in of New York, where there are throngs of people and it’s easy to blend in. She reels in her brother Jamie as her sidekick, and they stay overnight, hidden within the museum for a week. While there, she begins to work on solving the origins of an angel statue that is instigated by her own curiosity. After much investigative work, they figure out who was the former owner who donated the statue, none other than Mrs. Frankweiler, and so they go to pay her a visit. There in her house is where she allows them to go through her “mixed up files” in numerous cabinets to put together the answer to the mystery. I liked how Mrs. Frankweiler describes her house, and I can smell the stuffiness of a big antique shop as I read it: “(The house is) filled with antique air. Well, when a house is as old as mine, you can expect everything in it to be thickened by time. Even the air.” (p. 126)

Konigsburg is also well versed in crafting descriptive language to enhance the reader’s visualizations and comprehension of the events unfolding. One example that was initially striking was when she was describing the temporarily grumpy look of Jamie, Claudia’s brother and accomplice in the story:
(p. 11-13) “He sat slumped in his seat with his lips pooched out and his eyebrows pulled down on top of his eyes. He looked like a miniature, clean shaven Neanderthal man.”
(p. 22) “ Claudia saw then that his pockets were so heavy they were pulling his pants down. There was a gap of an inch and a half between the bottom hem of his shirt and the top of his pants. A line of winter white skin was punctuated by his navel.”
(p.103) “Claudia’s whisper began to sound like cold water hitting a hot frying pan.”

The particular edition of the book I read from was a “35th Anniversary” edition, which meant that Konigsburg included a modern afterward to the story. I always find introductions, forewards, prefaces, author’s notes, and afterwards intriguing because they always help me enhance my background knowledge and understandings as I digest a story in the end. They can also serve as backstage passes to understanding the author’s purpose and motivations, which can be inspiring to the reader as a writer. Even getting to see a copy of Konigsburg’s acceptance letter from the book company is a rare glimpse into the official life of a famous writer. I loved rekindling my love with this book from my childhood!

The Stories Julian Tells By: Ann Cameron

Cameron, A. (1981). The Stories Julian Tells. Random House.


This chapter book is part of a type of series where the author Ann Cameron has written this first book about Julian, and has written a sequel entitled More Stories Julian Tells. Then, she has also written about Julian’s little brother in Stories Huey Tells, and then in its own sequel More Stories Huey Tells. Additional books have been written with Julian as the central character, such as Julian, Dream Doctor, and Julian, Secret Agent. In the last chapter of this Julian book, we are introduced to Gloria, who has her own collection of books that Cameron has her as a star in. In this first book about Julian, there are six chapters in which Julian gets into mischief, with his trusty younger brother Huey falling victim to his big brother’s convincing more than once.

I liked the styling of language that Cameron used to have Julian describe to the reader his father: “When he laughs, the sun laughs in the windowpanes. When he thinks, you can almost see his thoughts sitting on all the tables and chairs. When he is angry, me and my little brother, Huey, shiver to the bottom of our shoes.” (p. 2) Despite being a shorter, easy chapter book, Cameron still provides solid description that is concise but still paints a specific picture of visuals and actions, involving your senses while you watch the story play out in your imagination.

One bit of mischief the two of them get into in the book is that they dive into eating pudding that tasted like “a whole raft of lemons. It takes like a night on the sea.” Their father had made it for their mother for when she got home, but they couldn’t resist tasting uncontrollably while their father napped. Julian, as the older sibling, had instigated it all by egging on his brother to start. As a result, they got a “beating and a whipping.” However, what they mean is that they had to make a brand new batch under their father’s direction, beating eggs and whipping the mixer with a beater. They, of course, learn a valuable lesson – listen to what your parents say, and stay out of the dreamy lemon pudding!

It’s clear that throughout all of the stories, classic moments of older versus younger sibling and childhood blunders leading to lessons learned reign, giving the reader a laugh and many moments to make self-to-text connections to!

Ruby Holler By: Sharon Creech

Creech, S. (2002). Ruby Holler. HarperCollins.

Winner of the Carnegie Medal - 2002

Ruby Holler, written by Sharon Creech, is a novel about two orphans named Dallas and Florida, who initially live in an orphanage called the Boxton Creek Home for Children, which is run by the surly Mr. and Mrs. Trepid. The two children have one bad experience after another as they are tried with families, none of which treat them the way they deserve, and they end up back in the home. It’s when an elderly couple, Sairy and Tiller, have Dallas and Florida come live with them in their picturesque country setting near the mountains called Ruby Holler. At first, Florida and Dallas brace themselves for the worst, as their past experiences have always dealt them unfair treatment. Florida, the girl, is the more cynical of the twins, and Dallas, the boy, has a little more of a hope for things. As they take journeys to explore nature, they all four learn about each other and about the importance of trust. In the end, Sairy and Tiller show them the simplistic beauty of the holler and the wonder of being loving and caring in life.

Dallas and Florida have a hard time initially thinking any of the good, down to Earth treatment that they are receiving is genuine, and simple necessities in life, such as food and their own lofty area to sleep in, is too good to be true to the twins, even though it is true. Sairy, the older woman, consistently has a lovely demeanor about her, and even when her husband Tiller has some doubts about it working sneak up, she always consoles him with her gentleness that it will be fine. Their own children are grown and have moved out of the holler, and the company of the children grows more and more delightful, and the tough to crack twins start to open up a bit and begin to learn to trust in the situation. Sairy and Tiller have two long standing personal wishes to experience in their lives before they get too old: Sairy desires to travel to the island of Kangadoon to see an exotic bird, and Tiller wants to go canoeing on the Rutabago River. Sairy and Tiller decide to take on their adventures, Sairy with Dallas and Tiller taking Florida. It is during these adventures that Sairy and Tiller, albeit on separate journeys, happen upon peeling away layers of defenses that reside within Dallas and Tiller, asking questions and finding out what makes them tick.

Meanwhile, Mr. Trepid, who caught wind of Sairy and Tiller’s “understone funds” (money buried) from Dallas, strikes a deal with the only neighbor of the elderly couple named Z. While the four are on a trip of explorations, Z tricks the greedy Mr. Trepid into believing he is looking for the funds, when really Z is turning the tables of trickery on Mr. Trepid in order to protect his friends that live nearby. Z also comes to the realization that he may possibly be the father of the twins, which motivates him even more to be protective and helpful of the four. Tiller and Florida fall overboard while paddling, and it is with great luck that they both survive. As if both Sairy and Dallas have psychic connections to their significant other, they follow their instinctive call of warning they fear for Tiller and Florida. They just so happen to be able to find the two, just at the right time. They take Tiller to the hospital, where he recovers.

Florida begins to not be as immediately negative about things as the story progresses, and Dallas’s spirit helps to support that, along with the reinforcement that results from continuous positive experiences with the couple. The biggest concept that the twins work on is the concept of trust, and the older couple of Sairy and Tiller help to foster this, showing that there’s more to life. Sairy and Tiller, adoring of each other, show the twins a much different experience about what life and relationships can be between people. In the end, the new happy version of what they can now call family emerges, built on love and trust, two things much needed in life.

Bud, Not Buddy By: Christopher Paul Curtis

Curtis, C. (1999). Bud, Not Buddy. Delacorte Press.

Winner of the Newbery Medal – 2000
Winner of the Coretta Scott Kind Award for writing – 2000

This novel has a spirited boy named Bud, who is ten years old and an orphan. His mother died when he was six, and as a homeless young man in the depression era in Michigan, he most certainly has a tough life to lead. With his suitcase of bits and pieces of memories, he gets his mind set on the hope of finding his father. Bud remembers how his mother kept some flyers about a famous jazz band when they would play, and one particular one that did not have their home town of Flint on it was the one that had upset her the most. Not long after that, Bud found his mother who had passed away. He goes to seek one of the men in flyer pictures named Herman Calloway, which Bud, desperate to solve whatever mystery is left in his life by trying to put together the pieces of the puzzle left for him, sets firm to believing that he is his own father. Sprinkled throughout the text are Bud’s self-mantras to keep him tough to the world, which he calls “Bud Caldwell’s Rules and Things for Having a Funner Life and Making a Better Liar Out of Yourself.” His mature, street savvy skills of survival are insightful, and enlightening for the reader to read these sources of much of Bud’s thinking. He travels to find his “father,” and when he does, the man denies that he is Bud’s dad. He comes to discover that he is instead his mother’s father, his grandfather, and that’s why his mother wept and kept the flyers, missing her strained relationship with him that never really had a chance to be mended. Bud proceeds to become a budding musician thanks to a band mate, Steady Eddie, who gives him a horn, and in turn, this opportunity and adventure led him to gain hope. Bud deals with weights or worries that most modern day children could not fathom having to deal with, but through this book, can certainly gain a deep understanding of perseverance and survival, all within the realms of a constant hope despite adversities of being orphaned, dealing with racism, and the Great Depression. It was well crafted in descriptive language, and the sense of hope could be heard and felt by me throughout the book, due to the way the hard challenges clouded and blended with his endurance. I appreciated Bud’s wit and keen observations about life, because seeing other people’s point of view expands our core of knowledge and understandings about the many facets and shades of the human condition.

Summer of the Sea Serpent By: Mary Pope Osborne

Osborne, M. (2004). Summer of the Sea Serpent. Random House.

As many who are familiar with current popular series in children’s literature, the Magic Tree House series by Mary Pope Osborne is a crowd pleaser. Osborne writes her stories so that they are very fast paced and full of page turning curiosity, propelled by the adventure of the two main protagonists, Jack and Annie. The main series consists of 28 books, each of which take place in a specific historical time period of the past or distinctive setting that they travel to in their magical tree house, such as in Ancient China, during the Civil War, or aboard the Titanic. It seems all of my second graders love to devour the series, and I always tell them to start at the beginning of the series, with #1, and progress to the very next one, and don’t skip around. I have nearly all of the current offerings for the accompanying non-fiction research guides, and they are allowed to check out both the fiction and non-fiction to compare and use as a resource, or they can read the non-fiction guide afterwards before moving to the next fiction selection in the series. I even give a mini-lesson on these specific points, and explain why it’s important to read many series in the order that they are written. Within the first, you are introduced to the characters and learn about their personality traits, background, and get a feel for the patterning that may exist in a series. I talk to them also specifically about the Tree House series that each book is not just an adventure to someplace and then they are back, but that there’s a background story about different sets of clues that they need to gather involving Morgan le Fay, the owner of the tree house and a librarian full of magic. The clues are usually unearthed in book groupings of four, meaning once one is solved, in the next four books, Jack and Annie are seeking clues for Morgan. There are kids who missed that part of the story and do not see the interconnectivity of the books. I feel it’s important for the series to be fully comprehended, and navigating different types of series is something that I discuss within mini-lessons, I model when I read the first Tree House book aloud, and within guided reading groups or literature circles during workshop time.
Besides the core series of 28 books and a growing collection of research guides being written by Osborne, she embarked on stepping up the series in sophistication at #29, Christmas in Camelot. From book #29 on, these particular books came out in hardback, where as the first 28 were only paperback issues. (Once you are hooked in the series after 28 books, many are eager to cough up the extra money for the pricier version of printing.) It was awhile before any of these came out in paperback, which are referred to as “The Merlin Missions” mostly to more mythical types of places. In the third edition to this subgrouping Merlin Missions is Summer of the Sea Serpent. Jack and Annie had already traveled to Camelot in #29, then to a castle in #30, and now in #31, travel to a made up land’s sea coast, where you can guess they encounter a sea serpent. They meet two children, Teddy and Kathleen, and they come to find out that Kathleen is a selkie, which was mentioned in part of Merlin’s rhyme clue he issued to Jack and Annie as they were seeking the Sword of Light. After the core adventure of the four of them finding the Sword, Jack and Annie report to Merlin, who they later realized was the Water Knight that helped them earlier in the story. The hard cover “Merlin Missions” have much of the structure of the first 28 paperbacks, but they are much more fantasy filled and less with staying true to a particular setting or period of time as the first 28 do. There is slightly more sophisticated language, perhaps in a way to keep readers who have read the first 28 sticking with the series as they themselves mature as readers, so does the series. I’m sure that writing these missions helped to spice up Osborne’s formula and writing for both herself and the readers.

The Giver By: Lois Lowry

Lowry, L. (1993). The Giver. Laurel Leaf.

Newbery Medal - 1994

This story is written in such a unique way, in a narrative voice that is different, describing a “perfect world” where emotions do not exist, life is sterile and uniform, and The main character is twelve year old boy named Jonas who has the weight of the world put on his shoulders. As he is coming of age and the futures of Jonas and his fellow twelve year old find out their determined occupations for the future, he is selected to be the next Receiver of Memory for the so called utopian community he lives in. He is taken under the wing of the aging, current Receiver, who helps him to be exposed to emotions that Jonas nor anyone else in the community has ever experienced. Jonas realizes the betrayal of his society and is upset the more that is unraveled for him by the Receiver, yet his curiosity and his courage, which was why he was selected, keep him going.

It is the foibles and shortcomings of real humans that make us individuals, and it is through learning from mistakes and trying to make right decisions that a richness is given to life as we actually know it. In the story, there is no cause and effect, no lessons learned, no desires felt, and only the “desirable” people are kept in the community. A coldness exists throughout hearing about this community, and that feeling of betrayal builds right along side Jonas as the reader learns about the realities that have been suppressed in order to create a less than perfect “perfect society.” This book was moving and crafted well. The diversity of Lowry's writings is indeed impressive.

Donovan's Word Jar By: MonaLisa DeGross

DeGross, M. (1994). Donovan’s Word Jar. Harper Trophy.

This chapter book is about a little boy named Donovan, who as the title indicates, keeps a jar that has a mounting collection of words in it. Each of the ten chapters has alliteration with the letter D happening in the titles, starting with “Donovan,” then “Donovan’s Discovery,” “Donovan’s Dilemma,” and proceeding with his name and “decision, delay, departure, dines, disappointment, diplomacy,” and finally “delight.” He has an epiphany one morning while eating breakfast, and reads the word “nutrition” on the box of cereal. When he said it aloud, he thought about how “he liked the way the word slid down his tongue and rolled off his lips.” That kicks off his curiosity and awareness that he has not been paying attention to all the words in the world, and he states: “I am going to start paying extra attention to words from now on. I bet there are trillions of words out there, words I’ve never noticed.” Some of the many words he collects includes: emporium, extraterrestrial, kaleidoscope, compromise, and perseverance. However, his collection soon begins to ooze from the jar, and he begins to worry about what to do with them all. Despite asking around for advice, he doesn’t find the answer until some of his Grandma’s neighbors get a hold of the words, and the words act as reminders, as eye openers, and as messages they pass to others. At first, Donovan is upset his jar is being dispersed, but then he realizes the amazing things and behaviors that the power of a single word brings to people, making them think. “They (the people) made me feel like a magician. My words changed them.” The author follows that statement with the description of his feelings: “The sunshine Donovan felt inside was shining all over his face.”

I shared this book with my class, and being the big vocabulary encourager in class, my students took to heart the importance of collecting words we found different, interesting, “juicy,” and fun to say. We look for words that we like the way they feel when we say them, that are fun to pronounce, and make us feel smarter. They asked if I had a jar we could use. (Do I have a jar? Hello?!? Have you seen my closets? I am a teacher! I have something for everything! They know that, they have seen my closets, so that’s why they asked!) Our jar began to overflow eventually as well, as words were discovered during reading workshop, from activities around school, and from things that they heard at home and outside world. (Words from read alouds already go on their own charts daily.) Before the word went in the jar, it had to be shared (we did once or twice a day to prevent a vocabulary inundation all day) and it had to be a meaty, interesting, fresh word. This vocabulary gathering developed into our classroom chart of “instead of said” where students were the active learners who when they came across a better, more descriptive word for “said” added it themselves during reading workshop time to a rough draft “collection poster” in which I recopied for neatness and final editing. The format of being long and skinny was fun for my students, because after I had recopied it after school one day, I taped all the segments together, tied the scroll with a ribbon (for presentation.) The next day, with great fanfare, I unrolled it in the classroom’s longest part, and they all said in unison, “WHOA!” They had found and thought of every last one of those words. We continued with another word, “good” (which we all know is sadly generic and overused), then “went”, and so on. The kids really love it! To see them with importance go to the chart and write words and use the book as a reference for spelling is powerful for them and for me to see, and to see them take their notebook paper or sticky note over to any chart in the room to jot down a vocabulary word to use during writing workshop has only helped to support their efforts as budding crafters of writing themselves.

Missing May By: Cynthia Rylant

Rylant, C. (1992). Missing May. Yearling.

Newbery Medal Winner – 1993

This is my last post on a Rylant book, and I feel a sort of grief myself. I feel like I have had such an opportunity to get to know her this semester through our readings, class discussions, and yes, my drive through West Virginia during Spring Break. I have always read numerous Rylant books in my second grade classroom, and felt I knew about her crafting and how children interpret her writing rather well. However, I’m surprised to feel like as an adult reader, looking at books with a bit more of a keener eye for her inspirations and connectivity to so many of her written pieces. Once again, I pictured the mountain landscape, modest homes and lifestyle of many who live in West Virginia as I read Missing May.

This story involves four characters, three of which are still living, coping with the death of the fourth. Summer provides the first person perspective as the storyteller and is an orphan who, after many transitions, finally ends up happily living with her Uncle Ob and Aunt May. The reader comes into the story after Aunt May has passes away, and misses out on having a deeper emotional connection to her, but perhaps that would have clouded our listening to Summer, for as the reader, I depended on her words to give the only perspectives available – hers and her Uncle Ob. They are both saddened, and have difficulty moving on in their somewhat isolated existence. In steps their somewhat eccentric neighbor boy named Cletus, whose simplicity actually helps them to try to find clarity about their situation. I liked Summer’s insight on Cletus where she states: “Cletus had some gifts-I was learning this bit by bit-and knowing when to talk and when not to was turning out to be one of them.” (p. 56-57) He comes across information on a psychic, and Uncle Ob begins to put some blind hope into being able to talk to Aunt May in the afterlife, and so they set out on a “big” trip with their hopes in tow to visit this woman. Sadly, when they get to the town, they find that the psychic herself had passed away, which deflates their hopes and they head back home. First Cletus and Summer are afraid that Ob’s quiet disappointment means that he won’t stop off I-64 to let them see the “big city” capital of Charleston, but Ob has a moment that his tide changes. It seems that he knows he needs to move on, and takes them there to see the sights, including the famous gold dome of the capital. I definitely visualized that scene, as the capital building is quite close to the interstate on 64, and after seeing the rest of the state, could understand why Summer felt a pleasure about seeing it. She described it as:

“The capitol building sprawled gray concrete like a regal queen spreading out her petticoats, and its giant dome glittered pure gold in the morning sun. I felt in me an embarrassing sense of pride that she was ours. That we weren’t just shut-down old coal mines and people on welfare like the rest of the country wanted to believe we were. We were this majestic, elegant thing sitting, solid, sparkling in the light.” (p. 70-71)

The glittering of the dome becomes in a way a symbol for their new glimmer of hope for their futures, and that beauty still exists in what is a seemingly gray world. After finishing the book, it is easy to see why the book is divided into two parts – one entitled “Still as Night” and the second “Set Free” because in the end, they are indeed set free from the weight of grief and they are left with memories and hope. Rylant’s crafting in Missing May is trademark her, with a well written and easy to read chapter book as a result.

The People Could Fly: American Black Folktales Written By: Virginia Hamilton and Illustrated By: Leo and Diane Dillon

Hamilton, V. (1985). The People Could Fly: American Black Folktales. Alfred A. Knopf.

Coretta Scott King Award: for writing – 1986, honor for illustration – 1986.

This collection of folktales have been collected and written by Virginia Hamilton, and is divided into four major sections of chapters. They are 24 versions of some of the most commonly heard and told traditional folktales of African American origin. Hamilton gives a very informative introduction to the collection which helps to explain the origins of the stories. She begins with an insightful statement: “Folktales take us back to the very beginnings of people’s lives, to their hopes and their defeats.” She goes on to explain the reasoning and need that arose for African Americans who were slaves to have a rich oral storytelling tradition. As oppressed people, they still held fast to their gifts within to keep themselves going as people, and one of those many gifts was their imagination. Hamilton explains that many of the commonly heard characters, such as the rabbit, snake, and fox, “took on the characteristics of the people found in the new environment of the plantation.” The slave was often represented by the characteristics of the small rabbit, who was known to be a sharp thinker and able to use his skills to deal with stronger, meaner animals such as a fox or bear, which represented the oppressive factors and people in their life as a slave. Later on after the war, the protagonist began to take on the name John and with this more directly human representation, he takes on more of a trickster role who uses his cunning to outsmart the slave owner. Hamilton uses what she refers to as “a reasonably colloquial language or dialect, depending on the folklore.” Elements of coastal Southern Gullah, Caribbean, and numerous African language influences make each story distinctive yet influenced by the different cultures. An extensive bibliography of her sources for the tales which she compiled and adapted during her research is given at the end of the book. My particular edition that I reviewed included the enhancement of an audio CD of eleven of the stories read by the amazing voice of James Earl Jones, as well as the author herself.

The first section is entitled: “He Lion, Bruh Bear, and Bruh Rabbit and Other Animal Tales.” These various tales use animals in humanistic ways to represent slaves and the people in their lives, and how the animals outsmarted their way out of situations. The second section of the book is called: “The Beautiful Girl of the Moon Tower and Other Tales of the Road, Extravagant, and Fanciful.” Fanciful tales found in this section deal with the protagonist being rewarded in the end, such as to win over the beautiful woman. Some of the stories are tall tales of exaggeration as well. One story was hard for me to walk away liking, entitled “The Two Johns” because of the killing of a grandmother and such. I personally feel it is a mature tale not for the young to hear. There are also some drawings in the Hairy Man story that would have petrified me as a kid. The third section is entitled: “John and the Devil’s Daughter and Other Tales of the Supernatural.” It is in this section that there is a prevalence of John as the main character, and supernatural, the devil, and ghosts are in this section, and again, they are not for the easily scared. The last section is called: “Carrying the Running-Aways and other Slaves Tales of Freedom.” The story in this section where the book’s title derives from “The People Could Fly” is very inspirational and hopeful in its symbolism of freedom and speaks of perseverance and strength in the most challenging situation of being a slave. This book, written by Hamilton and illustrated by Leo and Diane Dillon, is a gift in many regards. They created a collection that not only serves as entertainment, but even more so as a way of educating on the storytelling and way of life as a slave, and to historically record a rich cultural heritage.

Bull Run Written By: Paul Fleischman and Illustrated By: David Frampton

Fleischman, P. (1993). Bull Run. HarperCollins.

This book is a fictional collection of stories from sixteen characters that have some connection to the Civil War battle of Bull Run. Reminiscent of his crafting of chapters in Seedfolks, Fleischman writes each chapter to be one person’s point of view. In contrast to how in Seedfolks he had each person’s story told only within one exclusive chapter, in Bull Run, the chapters are shorter, but the characters resurface to give another point of view chapter in the book several times. Fleischman’s illustrator for this book is David Frampton, and he uses wood cuts to make primitive, folk art quality black block ink prints that have symbols of some sort that represent the character along with the person’s initials included in the block. The woodcut picture accompanies the character’s name as a header to each story chapter, which helped me to keep up with who was talking. Fleischman also writes down the character names in the back along with the page numbers of their chapters so to help those who plan to do some oral telling of it, such as in readers’ theater. (Fleischman knows the teacher’s terms for this. I’m impressed!) The end pages of this hardback version are slightly cream and parchment like, giving an echo of the maps on them as being on old charts. The maps zero in from the East Coast, to the Eastern Theater in the upper portion of Virginia where Bull Run occurred (in Northern Virginia,) to strategic maps in the back end pages which show the lines of action in the morning and how they progressed into the afternoon.

Lives are intertwined in some regard throughout the book, some more than others. Characters are from the North and the South, are women and men, young and old, free and slaves. This grouping is very diverse, which makes this book so powerful to read, and to use as a much more dimensional, engaging teaching tool than reading any flat North vs. South statements about the Civil War. There was no cut and dry way a Northerner was, nor a Southerner. Within those warring sides existed many shades of gray. I think that this book would be an excellent teaching tool and springboard for discussion, because accounts of people, whether real or realistically fictionalized, bring the human aspect forward in the history. Humans naturally seek to make human connections, and that’s what made this story of the Civil War so much more approachable to me than I thought it would be.

Instead of going in depth on all sixteen characters, I instead wanted to draw out some of the subtle ways Fleischman writes about some of the interactions I observed as a reader. One that particularly caught my attention early in the book was on page 2, when Colonel Oliver Brattle living near Fort Sumter in Charleston, noticed the what was to him an odd reaction by the African Americans standing outside when everyone was observing, which was that they were “similarly glum-suspiciously so.” Then the Colonel ended saying that as he looked at one of his servants and “the slimmest of smiles fled his lips, like a snake disappearing down a hole.” The hope of freedom and walking away from his oppressive life must have been brought to the forefront of the servant’s mind as a reality.

I chuckled at the comparison one character named Shem Shuggs made: “Mr. Bee hated Yankees the way a broom hates dirt…” I admired the way Fleischman used language creatively when he was describing train cars departing with soldiers aboard: “The cars moved, drawing taut and then snapping dozens of parting conversations.” In the age of photography’s birth, hand illustrations were still the most prevalent way of depicting and sharing images, and one such artist for a newspaper, James Dacy, describes after seeing a skirmish between soldiers: “I burned to put upon paper the faces of the taunting traitors and the fallen heroes, took up a pencil, tried to draw-but couldn’t. My hands were shaking, with fury.” The perspective of Gideon Adams was of particular interest, as he was a light skinned African American who self-elected to fight on the side of the South. To hear his point of view as a fly on the wall where he heard and saw unacceptable treatment and opinions of people like him was heartbreaking.

Although the book could have included much more blood and gore, it does have some bits and pieces which act as glimpses into a major part of the realities of the war. The mentioning of some scary scenes act as just enough to make it a required part of the story playing out in your head, but there is not so much where your stomach completely turns or to grossly distract you from the core of the story, which is the behavioral interactions of the characters. This book does have a few terms in here which I would consider strong (mild curses) and that needs to be considered as a teacher how to deal with that as a part of the text. The stories are powerful and paint a vivid, emotionally charged portrait of how war affects people.

Boundless Grace Written By: Mary Hoffman and Illustrated By: Caroline Binch

Hoffman, M. (1995). Boundless Grace. Dial Books for Young Children.

This book is a sequel to Amazing Grace, a picture book about a spunky, self-confident young African-American girl. In Boundless Grace, the story’s protagonist has a curiosity about the father that she has never really had in her life. Her mother and father split up and he moved back to Africa and there he started another family after remarrying. Grace is told by her Nana that lives with her that “A family with you in it is a real family. Families are what you make them.” Later on, her father sends two plane tickets for Grace to visit, and she goes with her Nana to Gambia to do just that. At first, coming to a new culture was a lot for her to take in, as well as to digest her extended family for the first time. She enjoys her step-siblings, and begins to warm up to the adults. Grace is fascinated with the difference at the market and the beautiful things there as well, and the illustration by Caroline Binch is gorgeous with it richness of hues in watercolor.

While talking to her Nana once, Grace makes an interesting simile about herself: “I feel like gum, stretched out all thin in a bubble. As if there isn’t enough of me to go around. I can’t manage two families. What if I burst?” Nana, as her confidant, reminds her she can handle anything because there is no such thing as one kind of family, and that family is what you make of them. Each day, her heart grows for her new extended family as they have a farewell dinner and her father takes her to pet tame crocodiles, where she makes a wish. When Grace asks her Nana as they depart about why hasn’t she heard of a family like hers before, her Nana says that when they get back to the States, they will look up about books on families like hers, so she can see others do exist. (Yea, Nana! Books can teach you anything and show you that you too also belong in the world, no matter who you are!) This book is great as a sequel comparison, to see the progression of time and character development in Grace. Also, it’s a great read aloud for any studies related to Africa. This picture book could be used for comparing difference and similarities in two cultures, and how there is not one right way or type of culture or family. I could also see a guidance counselor using this book for a lesson at guidance time or with an individual student who for some reason feels different or out of place. Diversity makes the world go round!

Weslandia Written By: Paul Fleischman and Illustratred By: Kevin Hawkes

Fleischman, P. (1999). Weslandia. Candlewick Press.

The diversity of author Paul Fleischman cannot be denied. From wordless picture books to chapter books for middle schoolers on heavy subjects to poetry, Fleischman dabbles successfully in an array of genres and writing styles. This particular selection, Weslandia, is a picture book with a text story by Fleischman and a pairing with illustrator Kevin Hawkes. The illustrator worked with Fleischman again in 2004 in Sidewalk Circus, and the two of them apparently get one another’s visions and mesh well. Hawk es color drenched, full page bleeds are very appealing and help to tell the story beyond just the text.

The story is focused on a boy named Wesley who some would consider to be a bit “nerdy.” However, I see him as an extremely smart and mature child who is not on the same cognitive or emotional level as his peers are. Wesley knows what he likes, and doesn’t conform to any of the peer pressure or trends that he encounters on a daily basis in his life. As the story opens up, we find that Wesley is alienated by his peers as well as his parents, but that doesn’t stop his curious spirit from marching on and exploring ideas by reading. (The kids and I like that he reads and researches to plan his project!) Wesley understands himself, and gets his own genius. With that, he decides to create his own civilization with a “staple food crop” for survival that summer. Magical wind comes through that night to Wesley’s back yard, and within a few days, the seedlings of the staple food crop, a particular and new plant has Wesley’s inquisitiveness about its uses in a food and fiber manner get the ball rolling on the realities of the creation of his civilization in the back yard. He uses the fruit to get juice, leaves for herbs, tuber roots like potatoes, and the bark for weaving into cool clothing and a hat. Wesley not only has a mind to figure out how to use things efficiently, but he knows how to make a profit off of his bounty as well. Through this activity, his civilization comes alive and he is a true leader such as teaching new games and activities, and goes on to create his own written language, system of time and a new way of counting. As the summer wraps up, we watch kids marching behind Wesley to school, and they have adapted to his style of fashion. The bottom line is it can be very good to be different from the crowd, because you can come out being a leader.

This book is one I have used annually for about 5 years, and I share it during the second nine weeks, around January, when I am ready to step up the challenge of a picture book for read aloud. I like the story lines to have less predictability and more complicated plot lines, and I love stories that introduced throughout the story good, juicy vocabulary, as long as it is not too much over their heads. I am big about discussing vocabulary and challenging my kids to use inference for the story’s events. It’s important for the children to all be engaged with listening and thinking about the text, and I find that at the end of the book, there are students will their minds reeling, thinking about what they would do if they could have the ability to create any kind of civilization that they wanted. My kids have worked with map skills and creating maps of things, but not yet of a place of their own design. This book acts as not only a wonderful read aloud, but also a great springboard into a writing workshop specific topic writing piece, with in this case, an accompanying map. Regardless if the student is a girl or boy, I find that they really get into it and love sharing them with their peers at author’s chair time!

Lon Po Po: A Red Riding Hood Story from China By: Ed Young

Young, E. (1989). Lon Po Po: A Red Riding Hood Story form China. Philomel.

Caldecott Medal Winner – 1990

This book entitled Lon Po Po, is written and illustrated by Ed Young, and is a version of Little Red Riding Hood from the country of China. When I read this book with my second graders, I did so for a few reasons, besides that I like to try my books that are selected for my blog on them to see if they pass the “kid test.” I shared it during our genre study of fairy tales, which I had started out the unit by reviewing and sharing some of the classic, more European versions that are more famously known by the children, and shared this version of Red Riding Hood to make a Venn of comparisons of similarities and differences to the more familiar version known in America. The same can be done with Cinderella stories from around the world, on a much grander scale because there is a large pool of Cinderella type stories from which to drawn upon.

In this Chinese version, Young tells a story which is similar to the European version’s portion of when Little Red Riding Hood is actually interacting with the “grandmother” disguised as the wolf. This Chinese version is mostly just of that comparative section. Three children are left at home by their mother, who travels to go see their Po Po, or grandmother, on her birthday for an overnight stay. Although they are instructed to keep the door latched, the children, Shang, Tao, and Paotze, are initially tricked to open it up for the wolf, who is impostering their grandmother as if she had come there and missed the mother on her travels because she must have traveled another route. Similarities can be drawn in the portion of Lon Po Po to the European version when the children comment on unusual observations about their “grandmother” as if something is not quite right, but the wolf makes excuses to try to string them along. Shang, the wisest being the oldest, sees a glimpse of the wolf in the darkened room and turns the tables on the wolf’s trickery. Shang has Tao and Paotze climb up a tree with her to get ginko nuts which they have been persuading the wolf to crave. In the end, they manage to get down after the wolf retrieves a basket on a rope and falls down to death on the ground instead of being hoisted all the way up by the children. They nonchalantely go back to the house and tell their no so alarmed mother about it the next day, which doesn’t quite give me the satisfying ending that I was seeking, but it is still a great story to use for comparative purposes and as part of a large expose experience for children to interact with folk tales and fiction from around the globe.

Abuela Written By: Arthur Dorros and Illustrated By: Elisa Klevin

Dorros, A. (1991). Abuela. Puffin.

In this story, a little girl named Rosalba goes to the park with her Abuela, or grandmother. The grandmother primarily speaks Spanish and is an immigrant living in New York City with her family. Throughout the book, there are Spanish words and phrases blended into the primarily English text, but the meaning of the Spanish is always explained in the context of the story, or can be figured out by the surrounding sentence and using inference skills. The two take off on an “adventure” in their creative minds, and that’s where we spend the majority of the picture book flying with them on their imaginary flight in the sky. Abuela and Rosalba take the reader with them on a beautiful virtual tour of the neighborhood and the nearby city of New York. The illustrator, Elisa Kleven, has created mesmerizing collages that depict an amazing bird’s eye view of the city. The boldness of the great variety of pattern and saturation of so many colors enhance the aerial views that are chock full of attention to detail, from all the people inside of building windows to the people involved in a multitude of activities that makes a big city a buzzing place of activity. Again, I think this book would be a beneficial choice to talk about multi-cultural aspects, especially providing students and readers an opportunity to be exposed to a culture that they may not be very familiar with at all. The technique of illustrating could easily be “replicated” by students in their own traveling adventures and would make for a great display of published and illustrated stories. Great text-to-text connections could be made both in comparing the text and similarities in the book using the book Tar Beach, which has somewhat of an identical imaginary type of aerial view through part of its story, as well as its own version of patchwork like collage illustrations. I recommend this book, especially for making extensions with and connections to units of study and other trade books.

Peppe the Lamplighter Written by: Elisa Bartone and Illustrated By: Ted Lewin

Bartone, E. (1993). Peppe the Lamplighter. Lothrop, Lee, and Shepard.

Caldecott Honor – 1994

This picture book has illustrations done by Ted Levin that you can clearly tell that the depiction of light in the realistic watercolor scenes in the darkness are the reason why the pictures won the artist recognition with a Caldecott Honor. The light plays both an important part of the story and the paintings, for the main character Peppe takes on the job of being a street lamp lighter in a Little Italy neighborhood that he lives in, and I estimate the time frame to be around the turn of the century. Peppe is an immigrant and lives with his father, who can be crabby and moody, and his eight sisters, and his mother was no longer living. As a young man in the family, he feels the drive to help support them by seeking a job in the neighborhood that he could do for his age, which I estimate him to be around 10-13 years old. When a man has to travel back to Italy to get his wife, Peppe gets the opportunity that he is seeking to be employed as the nightly lamplighter. At first, Peppe felt a special sense of pride about his job: “and each one Peppe imagined to be a small flame of promise for the future.” His father initially shows no encouragement or pride for his hard working son, but comes around later in the story when Peppe decided to not go out due to the constant discouragement and does not light lamps one night. Because he did that, his father realized how critical his job was, and finally encouraged him to do what he was doing well so he could find the missing youngest girl, Assunta, who had no yet come home. When he reached his last lamp that night, after wishing on every flame he lit for the safety of his baby sister, she is sitting there. In a touching painting, light pours over Peppe as he holds Assunta up so she may reach to lamp that light, because she told him that she wanted to grow up to be just like him, and with that idolization, announces, “I think it must be the best job in America.” A great selection to share to compare times from long ago and today, as well as to discuss the immigration experience in a big city more than 100 years ago. Indeed, Peppe’s perseverance is his own lighted lamp of promise, and a role model to the reader.

Amelia's Road Written By :Linda Jacobs Altman and Illustrated By: Enrique O. Sanchez

Altman, L. (1993). Amelia’s Road. Lee & Low.

The author, Linda J. Altman, has a special interest in the migrant worker way of life, and as a result, created this picture book to tell the perspective of a little girl who is the daughter of a mother and father who are migrant workers. More than anything, Amelia would like to not be on the move constantly and daydreams of being able to have a place to call home, with a picturesque white home with blue shutters. During her stay on a farm where the whole family is helping to pick apples, Amelia goes to yet another new school, but this time, her teacher makes the point to learn her name and make her feel valued. That simple act meant so much to Amelia, whose self-worth was somewhat damaged from not having a steady home and school experience. She comes across a path, or what she refers to as an accidental road, on the way home from school one day. Amelia wanders down the path, and to her “It was old beyond knowing, and quite the sturdiest, most permanent thing Amelia had ever seen.” She began to spend her afternoons there, and “she wanted to belong to this place and know that it belonged to her.” It gave her a sense of history and steadfastness, even though she knew it wouldn’t last. When it came time to move again, she came across a discarded old metal money box, and in it, she begins to keep memories. Those things, such as her drawing of her fantasy home, a ribbon once given to her by her mother, a family picture taken at her prior birthday, and the name tag her teacher had made her. Each one of those things gave her history, and she could carry them with her, and build upon those memories throughout her life. This story is important in the way it explains the lifestyle and hardships of migrant workers, and exposes children to other cultures and ways of life. This book could be used to compare and contrast to stories involving immigrant from the 1800s, to see similarities and differences between not only life back then versus life now, but the common and uncommon challenges newcomers have coming to a new culture and trying to make a living. The illustrations are by Enrique O. Sanchez, and are rich in acrylic colors on canvas, and the texture of the canvas comes through the paints to add an additional dimension to the well done paintings.

Gooseberry Park Written By: Cynthia Rylant and Illustrated By: Arthur Howard

Rylant, C. (1995). Gooseberry Park. Harcourt Brace.

In my never ending quest to study the craft of author Cynthia Rylant, I read this chapter book selection entitled Gooseberry Park. This book has a few illustrations per chapter, some of which are full page, and others enhance the edge of a page. Although chapter books are typically known for their content and not much at all for their illustrations, Rylant’s appealing animal story is truly enhanced by the wonderfully humorous sketches done by illustrator Arthur Howard, who also illustrates for her Mr. Putter and Tabby series of easy readers. The facial expressions and body language tell the emotion of the depicted characters in an entertaining way. Touches are present of one of Rylant’s small crafting “trademarks” of using trademarked items, like a Mars bar or Oreos, or the names of real television shows which ties into the illustration of Norm from This Old House on the TV screen (which is particularly more funny to me as an adult.) Another crafting element Rylant continues to use is the whispering of ideas in parentheses to slightly continue a thought, for example: Stumpy spent her time as usual: housekeeping (well, a little); food collecting (she didn’t trust Murray’s hand-to-mouth existence); and admiring all the new treasures her children were bringing home. A third styling of Rylant also exist: her short and incomplete sentences that serve as purposeful punctuation of an idea, like: “And busy. Quite busy.”

The main storyline involves a man named Professor Albert who bought a hermit crab for a pet as a retiree who needed something more in his life, and then later on heard that a neighbor had a litter of puppies. Well, the professor ends up acquiring one, naming it Kona, who ends up making friends with a squirrel named Stumpy. Stumpy also befriends a quirky bat named Murray who delivers the comic relief of the story. Stumpy becomes a mom to a litter of babies, and when a bad ice storm hits the town, Kona becomes fret with worry about his friend and her babies who live in the park named Gooseberry Park. Kona, with the help of Gwendolyn the hermit crab, cracks out of the house and sets off to rescue Stumpy and her little ones under Murray’s guidance in the park. Once they make the treacherous journey back to the house, they join back up with Gwendolyn and go about stealing food from the professor’s kitchen to nurse the babies to good health, until the winter weather eases up. The point of view of the animals is the main focus of the story, and the semi-clueless professor who is not quite as sharp as the animals is still appealing. A fun, descriptive read aloud to share with the class!

Gooney Bird and the Room Mother By: Lois Lowry

Lowry, L. (2005). Gooney Bird and the Room Mother. Yearling.

My girl Gooney! Where do I begin? Okay, well, anyone who knows anything about me as a teacher knows that we work hard in my classroom, but we also love a good laugh and enjoy each other’s humor on a daily basis. Humor has always been one of my best medicines. I was introduced to Gooney Bird in the first offering entitled Gooney Bird Greene after our school reading specialist recommended it to my team at a meeting not long after it had come out. One standout about the book is that the writing process is discussed in it with the children by the teacher and Gooney Bird, which is great for the purpose of setting the stage for writing workshop in my classroom each year. At the entertainment level, the main character, Gooney Bird Greene, exhibits numerous distinctive character traits, such as being creative and confident, which serves as a great platform for discussion character traits with the class as well.

Gooney moves to a new town and begins going to Watertower Elementary School. She is feisty and has her own certain brand of quirky insight and maturity. In the first chapter book, she boldly speaks as if she is an equal to the teacher, although not in a defiant or misbehaving way, and gets up in front of the class to tell her “Gooney Bird” style stories. Every one of her stories has a title, which she often gives as a tease to make the class think, and the meaning of the title never quite comes out how to mean what you would first think that it means by hearing it. After a few of her stories, which are told by Gooney in various chapters in the book, my students catch on to her “style of crafting” and start thinking outside of the box, because Gooney only tells “absolutely true stories.” I then begin to tell Gooney Bird style stories throughout the year about little events that are appropriate to share with my students and with titles that make them think. I give the title ahead of time, and they relish in trying to figure out what I really mean and love the tease of their thinking. It’s one of our favorite things to do in class for a little fun and higher level thinking!

I wanted to find out if the second installment in the series was close to being as good as the first. I observed some of the same favorite elements in this book, such as Gooney with her confident spirit and leadership in the classroom, but I did honestly miss her stories, and I knew my class would miss that favored element as well. However, the book is still enjoyable and also still serves as a good discussion point and teaching tool with its own particular language arts focus, which is on vocabulary. The way that the teacher, Mrs. Pigeon, has the class use inference as well as dictionary skills to figure out the meaning of possibly new and unfamiliar terms Gooney uses, such as ennui, cajole, fiasco, and underestimate, is rather similar to what I do in my classroom. My kids thought the “coincidence” of the way we are just like Mrs. Pigeon’s class was a great connection to make to the text! Students and readers interacting with this book also use their own skills with inference to think about meanings of vocabulary as well. The story line involves Gooney finding a “mystery person” to be the room mom to help with their play production, and without giving away the ending, let’s just say Gooney pulls some strings and pulls on Mrs. Pigeon’s heartstrings to get the job done. I enjoyed sharing the sequel with my class, who was eager to “visit” with our buddy Gooney again, but we did miss her uncanny storytelling!

Take a Giant Leap, Neil Armstrong! By: Peter and Connie Roop

Roop, P. and C. (2005). Take a Giant Leap, Neil Armstrong! Scholastic.

I picked up this chapter book from the gift shop at the Armstrong Air and Space Museum. located in his family's primary hometown of Wapakoneta, Ohio while I was on Spring Break in that state. Whenever I go to a new place, I have to go to the museums that are new (or old favorites) and I have to go to their gift shops. Museum gift shops are a magnet to people who are teachers! I decided my souvenir, besides a postcard for my globe spanning post card collection, would be a book that I could read for my project. I told my students that about the book, and with my fascination, a few of my students soon jockeyed to have a turn with the book in their personal book boxes so they could read it for reading workshop.

This chapter book is from a series of biographies published by Scholastic called “Before I Made History” and is written by the author duo of Peter and Connie Roop. I am previously familiar with work from this couple from their books such as Keep the Lights Burning Abbie and Buttons for General Washington. I mostly know them for their non-fiction history related books, but they have written all types of genres, both non-fiction and fiction. This particular biography on Neil Armstrong was quite full of facts and content in ten solid chapters, but never went on too long or drawn out on an aspect of his life so to keep the pace moving. I think that it could be very easy to fall into a challenge of telling about a very accomplished person’s life and feel overwhelmed with how much to tell and how much detail would be supportive. I feel that the Roops did a fine job of finding a balance of telling about Armstrong’s whole life, yet sticking to the side of the scale of his years growing up, which is the aim of the “Before I Made History” series.

In general, many people know about Armstrong’s most famous accomplishments, but do they know what happened in his life and what were his driving forces which led him to this major, historical accomplishment? I think that it is invaluable for students to learn about how Armstrong’s self-discipline for hard work and studying, along with his passion for his interests in flying and outer space, led him to persevere and believe in his dream of someday getting to walk on the moon. It’s was heartwarming to read about how his family was supportive of his interests in flying, and with their modest income, did manage to do things like take him to the Cleveland Airport on long, bumpy roads from their hometown area of Wapakoneta, Ohio as much as they realistically could, that his father took him on a real plane ride when rides were once being sold at a local airfield when he was six, and that they bought him a telescope to feed his curiosity of the night time sky. Armstrong was encouraged to read about his passions and he did as much as he could, and he built from scratch amazing airplane models, and later on, even a homemade wind tunnel.

He went to Perdue University to combine his passions of designing airplanes, flying, and outer space. Armstrong took a three year break being a fighter pilot, where he could fine tune his flying skills, serve his country in the Korean War, and have college tuition paid for through the scholarship. The last chapter discusses his space career, and where the book ends, it very easily leads a reader to read other sources and research to find out more about his infamous space career. I like that this book explains his foundations and how he found his passions, never giving up on his aspirations. I think that is important for young students to hear about in this world today. Hard work and perseverance will keep you from feeling held back and regretful in life. Armstrong certainly can look back and not regret anything!

Raven By: Gerald McDermott

McDermott, G. (1993). Raven: A Trickster Tale from the Pacific Northwest. Harcourt Brace.

Caldecott Honor Book – 1994


In this trickster tale told and illustrated by master artist Gerald McDermott, the cunning animal that outwits and conquers in this story is indeed a raven. The bird is depicted in the stylized, bold patterning indicative of the artistry of the native people of the Pacific Northwest region of America. The story’s major problem is seen by Raven, where he realizes that the Earth is dull and gray and in need of light, and so he sets out in an outsmarting way to get the sunlight back into the sky. Raven goes about this by transforming into a pine needle, falling in the water being drunk by a young woman, who becomes “with child” and has a boy (who is really the Raven reincarnated.) When the intriguing, spirited toddler cries for what is in the glowing box of his “grandfather,” The Sky Chief, the chief will give anything to make his grandson happy, and when he gets the glowing ball of sun, transforms back into a raven, flies into the sky, and places the sun there for all on Earth to benefit from.

In the front of the book, McDermott gives some background information on the origin of the raven artistically, as well as a trickster and prominent character in Native American culture in the Pacific Northwest who uses both his skills at tricking others and his goal to do so to be a hero in a helpful way. This combination of “brave and cunning, greedy and gluttonous” gives an interesting juxtaposition on a central character mainly utilized to explain the world around them in the days of oral storytelling tradition. On his website, (see the link in the Featured Author section on the right,) I found it interesting in his special trickster tale section that he stated: “The trickster has special appeal for children because of his ability to triumph over larger foes not by physical strength but by wit and cunning. In addition, tales of the trickster still speak to us in a gentle, humorous way about the strengths and weaknesses of humankind.” I think that McDermott puts into words a solid description of trickster tales of all kinds across cultures, and retold orally or by numerous authors. Children love to hear about animals that have humanistic characteristics, where being tricky or dishonest is not as scary than if it was a human character, and that subjects can be explored and discussed with a safe distance demeanor about the situation. McDermott is both a gifted storyteller and illustrator of children’s picture books.

Goin' Someplace Special Written By: Patricia McKissack and Illustrated By: Jerry Pinkney

McKissack, P. (2001). Goin’ Someplace Special. Antheneum Books for Young Readers.

Coretta Scott King Award for Illustration - 2002

This picture book is about a young girl named Tricia Ann, who is based mainly on the author and her experiences growing up in Nashville, Tennessee in the 1950s during Jim Crow and segregation laws existed. Tricia begs her grandmother, Mama Francis, to let her go “someplace special” by herself one day, saying that she is responsible and old enough to do so. It’s clear that Mama Francis feels protective of Tricia Ann, not because she thinks she’s irresponsible or immature, but because of the meanness and unfairness that exists outside of their neighborhood in the city. She allows her to go, and reminds her “no matter what, hold yo’ head up and act like you b’long to somebody.” When she boards the bus and has to sit in the back, she offers her seat to an older African American woman she knows named Mrs. Grannell, who gives her advice as well: “Carry yo’self proud.” Tricia Ann encounters another act of unfairness when she sees that she can’t sit on the park bench, or knows that she wouldn’t be allowed in the restaurant she stands in front of while visiting Jimmy Lee. He reminds her: “Don’t let those signs steal yo’ happiness.” Her worst experience that day is when Tricia Ann accidentally gets swept up in a crowd and shoved into a crowded hotel lobby, only to be humiliated by an insensitive manager and told to go. After being upset, she remembers her Mama Frances’ words that carry her on to her special destination, “You are somebody, a human being-no better, no worse than anybody else in this world. Gettin’ someplace special is not an easy route. But don’t study on quittin’, just keep walking straight ahead-and you’ll make it.” Indeed, the bittersweet story ends on a positive note in the fact that Tricia Ann does indeed make it to someplace special, some place where all are welcome, the public library. In the author’s note at the end, McKissack shares how her family instilled in her not only pride and a loving support system, but that “reading is the doorway to freedom.”

This picture book has wonderful watercolor and pencil illustrations done by Jerry Pinkney, and their softness lend to the spirit that is visually portrayed of Tricia by the book’s illustrations. The colors of yellow flowers against a blue background on her dress, along with the smile we see in part of the book, light up as the main feature of the otherwise and purposely more drab background. This picture book is a good example of a book that teaches about tolerance and about how life was like in a much different generation. McKissack’s book is also a positive example of how the importance of family values and support can give a child the foundation to stand up to the wrongs in society and know that he or she is loved and important regardless of the wrongful ignorance some people have.

Here We All Are By: Tomie DePaola

DePaola, T. (2000). Here We All Are. G.P. Putnam's Sons.

Tomie DePaola is always one of the first featured authors I delve into studying with my second graders each fall. My personal favorites of his are the ones that are auto-biographical in nature, perhaps partially or fully inspired by the truth. His distinctive drawing style is recognizable in any of his books, whether it's a story relating to his childhood or to series such as Strega Nona, the Barkers, or Bill and Pete. In his picture books that I looked through, it seems that he uses acrylic on handmade paper in all the ones that actually stated what he used. In his "26 Fairmont Avenue" series of memoirs, he writes the collection in beginning chapter book style, with illustrations that are in printed in black and white (except on the cover.) From my last count, there are seven so far in the series, with this selection Here We All Are as the second in the series, which follows the first which was a Newbery Honor winner.

In Here We All Are, Tomie is 5 years old in this selection that picks up where the first memoir left off, and he writes in the voice and perspective of a young child, which makes his writing so accessible to children the age in my class who love to “reflect on the good old days of when they were young.” (Kindergarten was sooo long ago to them, you know!) The voice DePaola writes in as Tomie is fresh and casual, nothing stuffy or all knowing at all, and that’s what my kids like. It’s like hearing him on the tape where he is talking to them, not at them. With the prior knowledge of our autobiographical picture books, then the video, the students loved the first 26 Fairmount Avenue so much, I picked up the second one which I didn’t have, and they felt like they were getting to sit and visit with him again. One of the things the kids laughed at was when Tomie said that his mom told him his furniture was “genuine maple” and “When no one was looking, I liked the bedpost to see if it tasted like maple syrup or the maple candies we got sometimes. It didn’t.” You can hear his disappointment punctuated with the two word sentence at the end, but the kids think it’s cool that he shared that goofy, embarrassing thing he did as a child with them. Just as when I read the first book in the series, the students were able to make text-to-text connections to some of his picture books, such as when he discusses how his Kindergarten teacher mixed powder paints and how awful they were (as in The Art Lesson.) He also explains things in a simple, concise way if he feels the reader may not understand, such as what a lavatory is or a “monitor top” refrigerator, so to introduce a few things from the past without going overboard. The kids get to “visit” with Tom and his Nana again, just like in the picture book Tom, and hear about Nana Fall River visiting to take care of him when his new baby sister is born. Overall, this edition is a light, fresh read of DePaola reminiscing with the reader at a very readable, identifiable level.

One quote that I have printed up that DePaola said I extract from his website when I review it with kids during our author study is when he says that his job as an illustrator is to “make the invisible visible.” Three more that I highlight with my students comes from his video tape which we have at our school media center. One quote is: “Be willing to practice over and over again. Be willing to fix your writing.” The second is: “If you read books, you can read everything about anything and anything about everything.” The last one is: “If you want to be a writer, you have to read, because that’s how you learn about writing.” I think those three quotes are particularly powerful because my students hear Tomie talking to them as near equals, and I always try to set that tone with my students. They are being told they are not just writers, but authors. With DePaola’s role modeling of fun fantasy stories as well as his memoirs straight from everyday, good memories from growing up where he remembers what it’s like to be a kid, my students seem to have a special respect for him.

PS - As a sidebar, I have a Strega Nona series book connection to share. I was at Costco one day a few years ago, perusing the book section. (Yes, I ALWAYS make a bee line straight to the book stacks anywhere, and my family has come to expect it from me!) Anyways, I began to flip through and admire some of DePaola's hard backs that were there, and lo and behold, the stack of picture books had been autographed by Tomie! They were genuine and had a sticker stating so on the front (Would Costco lie to me? I think not!) Well, I picked up a signed copy of Big Anthony, His Story that day, for around ten dollars. I honestly rarely splurge on hardbacks, but sometimes Costco reels me in with their power buying! It's on the small but growing "signed by the author" book section of my special teacher only shelf. They come down for read alouds, and with fanfare, are put back on the shelf to retain their condition. Moral of the story, keep your eyes peeled! You never know when you'll find signed copies! (Yes, I have found several signed picture books at yard sales as well!)

Swamp Angel Written by: Anne Issacs and Illustrated By: Paul O. Zelinsky

Issacs, A. (1994). Swamp Angel. Puffin Books.

Caldecott Honor Book – 1995 (illustrator Paul O. Zelinsky)

This picture book entitled Swamp Angel, is written by Anne Issacs and has illustrations created by master artist, Paul O. Zelinsky. From the moment that you look at the cover, it is clear why this book was honored for its distinction in artistic interpretation with a Caldecott honor in 1995. In this particular book, Zelinsky elected to create illustrations which were indicative of the flavor of the time period, with earth tone, natural colors with oils on real wood veneer backgrounds of cheery, birch, and maple, with folkart stylings of figures and landscapes. All of these elements are combined to give the pictures a home crafted feel to them. Even with traditional and handcrafted feeling, Zelinsky still also manages to incorporate exaggerated, tall tale renderings of characters and events. Combining all of those concepts into successful illustrations is a clear sign of a master artist at work.

The storyline is a new tall tale, although spun to sound as if it has been retold and passed down orally through generations of pioneers of long ago. Think of it as a newfangled, feminist version of a woman with Paul Bunyan stature. Although a brief review of her childhood is given in the first few pages, the story stays the course of once it sets the stage of her character traits by focusing on the story’s adventure and main problem. This main character, named Angelica Longrider, is a very likeable, confident lady who grows up to save those out in the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee from the great bear called Thundering Tarnation (how “tall taleish” is that name?) She saves the day, of course, with pride and steadfast determination, and my kids loved cheering her efforts and spunky spirit on throughout the book. My students also noticed how in some picture spreads, you could see several different events taking place, and that their eyes followed from the first thing that happened in the scene to the next, but that they could also review the whole scene again in all of the steps of action before they turned the page. A crowd pleaser read aloud, and a welcome addition to a unit of study on tall tales as a type of fantasy genre, and serves as a refreshing break from hearing retellings of classics since it is new and fresh!