Discovering Children's Literature : March 2014

March 19, 2014

Only Passing Through: The Story of Sojourner Truth

Only Passing Through: The Story of Sojourner Truth

Author: Anne Rockwell

Illustrator: R. Gregory Christie

Publishing Company: Alfred A. Knopf

36 pages

Nonfiction

The story of Sojourner Truth is absolutely inspiring. While reading Only Passing Through: The Story of Sojourner Truth I was able to learn all about Sojourner’s life through Anne Rockwell’s literature. Sojourner was born into slavery. Throughout her youth and young adult life she had several different owners. After a state law in New York was passed in 1827, Sojourner finally had hope of freedom. Her master promised her freedom if she worked one more year for him. So she did, and she worked hard for her freedom in that time. Due to an injury, her master told her that she would stay one more year. Knowing what he was asking was illegal, she left his farm taking her freedom she was promised. After several more heartaches, Sojourner found her way. Her tale is absolutely inspiring, and is told very well throughout this book.

I found the illustrations to be very interesting. They are not like most illustrations seen within children’s literature. These illustrations are instead are somewhat abstract with only the facial features showing great detail. I found these illustrations to be very unique in style. These illustrations are completed with very bold watercolors. These illustrations are only single page with the text placed on the opposite page.

I really enjoyed this text and Sojourner’s story. I feel that this book could be used within any upper level elementary classroom. I would not recommend this book for classes below second grade. With that being said, I would use this book for Black History Month. I believe that Sojourner has such a powerful story. It should be incorporated into the classroom. I would also incorporate this text within any unit pertaining to slavery. This text covers many different aspects of slavery and would be very beneficial as a complementary piece of text. One final way I saw that this book could be used within the classroom would be alongside instruction of timelines. One really interesting element found within this book is a timeline of events that occurred within Sojourner’s life. I would have students sort these events in order after reading the text as a class. I feel that this would give students a really meaningful, hands-on way to connect to the instruction of timeline.

Ida B. Wells: Let the Truth Be Told

Ida B. Wells: Let the Truth be Told

Author: Walter Dean Myers

Illustrator: Bonnie Christensen

Publishing Company: HarperCollins Publishers

37 pages

Nonfiction

Ida B. Wells: Let the Truth be Told by Walter Dean Myers is an absolutely stunning biography of Ida B. Wells’ life and achievements. While I do have some previous knowledge of Ida B. Wells, I do not remember learning her story throughout any of my education. Therefore, I was able to look at this book somewhat as a child would have and I could not have been more intrigued. Ida B. Wells was born into slavery. After the thirteenth amendment, slavery became illegal and therefore all slaves were now free. Once free, she began to go to school and excelled quickly. Ida passed her teaching test and began her first job teaching. But all the while, she was noticing life around her for African Americans. This slowly began to shape Ida B. Wells, and she began to write in protest. She wrote about her own personal experiences as well as others. She began to shape the history we now know today.

I thought the illustrations throughout this book were wonderful. Christensen has very realistic depictions throughout the book that brings the story to life. These illustrations are completed with what seems to be watercolors and ink pen. The majority of these illustrations are single page. If the illustration does cover both pages, the second page is just a background. This works well with the text as it is located on one page, usually blank or with very little illustration as mentioned.

Through reading this book myself, I determined that this book is for use in older elementary classrooms. This conclusion is mainly due to the content covered as younger grades would not grasp some of the concepts. With that said, one of the first ways I would like to use this book within my own classroom would be within a social studies unit. I feel that this book would be a great addition to any unit involving amendments, court cases, equal justice, or suffrage as all of these aspects where included within this book. The second way I would use this book within my classroom would be a literature piece for Black History Month. I feel that Ida B. Wells played such a large part in our history that students need to learn about her story. A third way I feel that this book could be used within an elementary classroom would be in connection with biography instruction. Overall, I would definitely use this book within my classroom.

The Camping Trip That Changed America

The Camping Trip That Changed America

Author: Barb Rosenstock

Illustrator: Mordicai Gerstein

Publishing Company: Dial Books

34 pages

Nonfiction

I originally picked up this book just solely based off of the title and cover. As I started reading I was absolutely amazed by the content. The illustrations are beautiful and because I was not previously familiar with this story, I was able to learn all about The Camping Trip That Changed America. The book starts out by introducing Theodore Roosevelt and John Muir, they both “shared a love of the outdoors. They both loved a good story, too. And that was enough to change America.” After Roosevelt read one of Muir’s books asking for help from the government to save the vanishing forests, he asked Muir to take him on one of his trips out west to explore the trees himself, and Muir did as the president asked. On their trip Muir showed Roosevelt giant sequoias in the Mariposa Grove, Glacier point, and Yosemite Valley. At the end of his trip, Roosevelt knew what he had seen had to be protected, but how?

Reading this book, I was absolutely mesmerized by the illustrations. These illustrations made this story come to life. As a future teacher I know that this book will be one of the first I buy to put on my shelves. Gerstein brings Roosevelt and Muir’s trip to life through what seems to be a combination of paint and ink pen. I have never seen illustrations so beautifully done as these are. The majority are double spread and Muir uses the pages as his canvas to bring these landmarks to life. The text is located at the top and bottom of the page for the majority of the book. Overall, Gerstein’s work made this book for me. The story is absolutely wonderful as well, but the illustrations have me reading the book over and over again.

As previously mentioned, I already plan to have this book in my future classroom. While reading, I not only just enjoyed the story, but I was able to connect this book for use in the classroom as well. Ideally, this book would be used with lower and upper grades. I feel that second through sixth grade would understand the content the best. The first way I would like to use this book within my classroom would be in a compare and contrasting unit. I would have my students compare Roosevelt with Muir. The second way I could see this book being used within the classroom would be within a science unit on land formations. This book not only describes the men’s trip throughout several different areas, but the illustrations accompany this information nicely. Yet another way I saw that this book could be used within an elementary classroom would be when learning about national parks. This book would be excellent to accompany a science lesson of this sort.

Fire-Breathers' Science Fair

Fire-Breathers’ Science Fair

Author: Tina Gagliardi

Illustrator: Patrick Girouard

Publishing Company: Magic Wagon

36 pages

Fantasy

This book was introduced to me through my school librarian. This book tells about Carly, a dragon who attends Fire-Breathers’ Academy and her imaginary human friend, Gretchen. Carly thought Gretchen was the best imaginary friend anyone could have and they always had fun when they played together. While at school, Carly’s teacher had an announcement about an upcoming science fair. Carly and Gretchen could not wait to get started, but as they did, they realized creating a project for the science fair might be harder than they had originally thought. Will these two friends think of a project to make for the fair? Will they get it made in time? You’ll find all of these answers and more by reading Fire-Breathers’ Science Fair by Tina Gagliardi.

Overall I really enjoyed the illustrations throughout this book. Girouard does a wonderful job of making this fantasy come to life. This is done through mixed media. These illustrations are double spread which creates a larger than life feeling for these characters. The text is framed on one side of the illustration with no background. All of these aspects really bring this book to life.

While reading this book, I saw several different ways it could be incorporated into the classroom. One of the first ways I saw a possible use for this book within the classroom was a writing connection. Carly was very different from her classmates because she was the only one who had an imaginary friend. Carly did not spend her time like most of her classmates, “hiding treasure or fighting knights. Instead she often played with Gretchen…” The ending of this book proves that for Carly being different was not a bad thing. Therefore I would have my students write about a way they are different from their classmates and explain why this makes them unique. The second way I would incorporate this into the classroom would be as an introduction to an upcoming science fair and/or science project. And the third and final way I would use this book in my classroom would be to have students create their own science projects much like Carly did.

Diary of a Worm

Diary of a Worm

Author: Doreen Cronin

Illustrator: Harry Bliss

Publishing Company: Joanna Cotler Books

48 pages

Fantasy

I discovered this book through my school’s librarian. She suggested this book after I asked if she knew of any good books to use for some of my classroom assignments. Having great faith in our school librarian, I knew this would be a great book as she handed it to me, but as I started reading I enjoyed this book even more than I had originally expected. As the titled suggests, this book is a diary of a worm. Throughout his diary, he narrates the daily adventures he experiences. Although he is a worm, these entries follow the same format of what we would expect from most school aged children. These range anywhere from him telling his sister “no matter how much time she spends looking in the mirror, her face will always look just like her rear end” and the trouble he got in for saying such things to daily events with his friend, spider. Overall, I found this book to be very unique and humorous.

The illustrations within this book really add to the overall text. They give students an inside look into the worm’s everyday life. These brightly colored illustrations seem to be completed with watercolors. These illustrations vary between double spread and single spread depending on the length of the journal entry. The text is placed at the top of every left page with the date, as how most diaries are laid out. An additional element that I really enjoyed was the front and the back pages of the book. These pages included images that appeared to be taped into the journal. I thought this element was really fun and added additional interest within the book. Overall, I really enjoyed the illustrations throughout the book. I feel that Bliss did a wonderful job with the illustrations in this book.

While this book is not your usual children’s literature piece, I would definitely use this book within my classroom. I think that both lower and upper grades would enjoy this book, but I would ideally use this from kindergarten through second grade. I feel that this book has many different aspects that could be utilized within classroom instruction. The first way I saw that this book could be used within the classroom is to read this book while teaching point of view. The worm’s journal is written much like an elementary age school child, but as you may expect, he does not see things the same way a human would. Therefore, I would have my students read his journal entry and then write the entry from the point of view of a child their age. The second way I saw that this book could be used within the classroom was with introduction of journals. I feel that this is a very creative way to get students interested in writing about their day within their daily journals. The third and final way I would use this book within my classroom would be within a science lesson. While this story is fantasy, it does embed several facts about worms. This book would be great as an introductory element to a more informational text that may be used within the science lesson. I feel that Diary of a Worm would be much more interesting for students to read than most informational texts.

March 15, 2014

Avast, Ye Dog Thief!

Or access at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01d_624PIzY