The Misfits

The Misfits by James Howe

Young Adult novel

Four stars

                Four students who do not fit in at their small-town middle school decide to create a third party, The No- Name Party, for the student council elections to represent all students who have ever been called names.

                I really enjoyed this book.  As a reader I really connected with all the characters.  But I feel that I can relate to Bobby the most.  He is a quiet young fellow, who is a follower at first and then becomes a leader.  When I was in grade school, I never participated much in class and mostly listened to what people had to say.  But when I do give my input it is usually something that was well thought out.  I also can relate to Bobby because he has a close group of friends who are just themselves and don’t really care what others think.

                The Misfits is a great book to bring in the middle school classroom.  It gives you a perspective of the kids who are being bullied in school and of the kids who are the bullies.  I really enjoyed the discussion in our class about people’s creeds and the task of creating a creed for a certain character in the book.  It helps me step into the shoes of a character.  For example, Addie comes off as a character that is tall, smart, and really bossy.  You grow to dislike her in the book.  But by making a creed that is in her voice strengthens the background of Addie.  Also, this book provides a discussion of implementing the No-Name Party in your own school.  Bullying does happen in schools, and as a future teacher I am not going to ignore it.  Overall, I really enjoyed this book and would love to bring it into my classroom.

Princess Grace

Princess Grace

By Mary Hoffman and illustrated by Cornelius Van Wright & Ying Hwa Hu

Multicultural Picture book for ages 7-9

Four stars

            The girls in Grace’s class will be princesses in the town parade, and Grace can’t wait.  She loves reading all the princess fairy talk books, but she is unsure of what to wear to the parade.  Her mother and her teacher, tell Grace about the famous princesses not in the fairy tale books, and Grace ends up wearing an African princess outfit.

            I thought this book was enjoyable, and has a very good story.  I feel that a lot of little girls could relate to Grace since she loves all the princess stories so much.  I remember when I was young I would try wear my princess crown and bossing my brothers around.  The thing I like most about this book is the multicultural aspect of it.  Hoffman brings in all these famous princesses around the world.             

            As a future teacher, my mind was racing with the possibilities of using this in the classroom.  First off you have the noticeable multicultural lesson.  You can expand that into a lesson about geography since the princesses are from all over.  Also, it is important to note that Grace is connecting with her identity and who she wants to be.  She didn’t want to be a frilly princess anymore, she wants to be strong princess now. 

When It's Six O'Clock in San Francisco

When It’s Six O’Clock in San Francisco by Cynthia Omololu

Multicultural Picture book Ages 9-12

3 stars

                 When it’s six o’clock in San Francisco, children all around the globe are busy going to school, playing with their friends, and spending time with their families.  Some are even sound asleep in their part of their world, it’s the middle of the night.

                This book not only shows the different time zones that people take part in, but also the different cultures around the world.  Within each page of the different cities, you get a little glimpse of something that is commonly found in the city.  For example in New York City the lady is on her telephone and in the window behind her you can see the Empire State Building.  That is why I like this book.  It is incorporating so much that it is hard to focus on one thing.

                When using this in the classroom, it could be used over and over.  Time zones would go over well with this book, because on each page at the bottom it shows a clock and what time it would be and the city.  This would also cover geography because time zones span over the entire earth, and you could point out where the major cities are.  Also the characteristics of each city can be seen through the illustrations.

Chrysanthemum

Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes

Ages 5-9

4 stars

            Chrysanthemum absolutely loves her name.  But she changes her mind, when she starts school and her classmates make fun of it.  In the end she finds out her teacher has a long name and is also named after a flower.  Then all of her classmates start to think her name is really cool.

            I love this book.  I think I can relate to Chrysanthemum in the sense that I really love my name too.  Salena is a beautiful and unique name just like Chrysanthemum.  But I cannot relate to being made fun of for it.  The watercolor paintings with black pen were used for the illustrations in this book.  They bring warmth and character to the pages.  Oh did I mention the characters in the book are mice? It is something that is only seen through the images, not the text.  Also, one of my favorite pages in the book is the page where she is playing Parcheesi with her family after her horrible first day of school.  I like it because the father is reading a book titled, “The Inner Mouse Vol.1 Childhood Anxiety” Here the illustration is expanding the text farther by showing that the parents are reassuring her but are still concerned for their daughter. 

            This book is a wonderful representation of bullying in the school setting.  I am not sure I really like the resolution Henkes provided. It seems unrealistic that the teacher would also have a long name that is also named after a flower, and then suddenly everyone wants to be just like her.  Who is to say that the children wouldn’t start making fun of the teacher as well?  A classroom activity could be making new illustrations for the text.  Maybe have each child interpret one of the pages in the book and then put all of the pictures together.

Goggles!

Goggles! by Ezra Jack Keats

Ages 5-9

Five stars

            When Peter and his friend Archie find a pair of old motorcycle goggles near their hideout, they can’t believe their luck-until some bigger boys decide they like the goggles too. Peter and Archie are in a squeeze, but after some quick thinking and a little help from Peter’s dog, things start to look a lot better.

            Ezra Jack Keats was a awarded a Caldecott Honor for Goggles!  She was also awarded the Caldecott Medal for The Snowy Day.  I checked out this book, for a presentation on bullying.   Keats does a nice job showing us a prime example of a bully picking on others.  What I most enjoyed about this book was the pictures.  They are dark, collage, and gritty illustrations. 

For me, it was obvious to see that this takes place in the American Ghettos around the 1960s.  You can see this from their hangout, and they way they talk. “Let’s go sit on the steps.”  Kids don’t sit on the steps anymore.  This obviously isn’t the meaning of the book, and the book is still enjoyable whether you see this or not.   One thing that I did not like about this book is the solution of what Peter and Archie did about the bullies.  Yes, it was a more realistic answer to trick them and run away, but I feel that there could be a better solution to teach the readers about bullies.

Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes

Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes by Mem Fox and Helen Oxenbury

Ages 4-8

Four stars

            This is a multicultural book about babies from all over the world.  They may all come from different countries but they are all alike in the sense that they all have ten fingers and ten toes.

            I enjoyed this book, and so did my two year olds that I watch.  It has a great rhyming scheme that is catchy.  Oxenbury uses pencil and watercolor on a pure white page.  The pictures look like real babies and real hands and feet.  All my kids shouted “HAND!” when they saw the picture of the pair of hands.  It has a fantastic moral that students can learn from, “Everyone is different and alike.”  Another reason, that I really enjoyed this book, is the simplicity of it.  When noting on the different cultures, Mem Fox says simple things like “They were born on the ice. And another baby is born in a tent.”  And she brings it back to, “and both of these babies, as everyone knows, has ten little fingers and ten little toes.”

            This book is not only perfect for a multicultural lesson, but it is great for beginning readers.  It also shows the emotion of love from parents to their children.  With the narrator of the story kissing her own child three times on the nose.  Another idea for discussion would be the characteristics of the different children.  Where do they come from, geographically speaking?  The different clothing?  But I would always bring back the meaning of the book, that we are similar too.

My Woodson Experience

I have read one of Jacqueline Woodson’s books, The House You Pass on the Way.  But, I have also experienced a thoughtful discussion about the other books she has written. 

            She has quite a few similarities in her writings.  The one that I found most common was an interracial relationship in the majority of her books.  And going off that idea, she frequently has characters that are multiracial.  When her characters are multiracial, she does not keep this hidden.  The character usually identifies with it being a large part of their identity or something they are struggling with.  This topic of ‘identity crisis’ would be relatable to middle school aged kids who are going through something similar.

            Another topic that was regularly found in Woodson’s novels is family involvement.  There is always a loving family around supporting the main characters.  Within this family involvement, the father figure has a large role.  It may be that the main character really connects with their father, or that their father is distant to them but this affects them greatly.  Family involvement can be connected to almost everyone. 

            My opinion on Woodson’s novels: I don’t think she is a good writer.  She brings up potential controversial topics that would lead to fantastic discussions with grades sixth through eighth.  But, her writing style is really jumpy.   The endings are abrupt and leave me feeling that I missed something. 

Purplicious

Purplicious by Victoria Kann and Elizabeth Kann

Pre K – 2^nd grade

4 stars

            Pinkalicious loves the color pink, but her classmates think pink is for babies.  She starts to believe they are right, but then she finds a friend who loves purple.

            This book is a follow up to Pinkalicious.  Usually a sequel or a continuation of a book is not as enjoyable as the first one.   But I really enjoyed it because it has value and teaches the kids that it is not a bad thing to be unique.  Growing up a little part of me, felt that I was different but I never cared what others thought so I can relate to Pinkalicious.  One page that I really enjoyed was when she has four pages of her diary showing and it starts off nice with “I am who I am and I like pink.”  Then the fourth page says, “Pink has no purpose.”  This was a nice way to show how her thoughts and ideas of pink changed because of the children at school.

            If I had Pinkalicious in my classroom, I would definitely have Purplicious in my classroom.  The pages are fun to look at and it has an important lesson to teach.  You could have the students write about their favorite color on paper of their favorite color.  They could write about anything, make a list of things in that color, write a new story with a similar title (blualicious), or even write a new story about purple. 

Bear Feels Sick

Bear Feels Sick by Karma Wilson and Jane Chapman

Pre K to 2^nd Grade

4 stars

            It is that time of year, and Bear is sick.  His friends help him out with tea and warm blankets.  Once Bear gets better, all of his friends are sick now.

            Wilson has written five books about Bear, and they all have the same rhyming theme and Bear’s friends are always there too.  My two-year old students at the daycare I work at love Bear Wants More.  The rhyming is catchy and they always shout “and Bear wants more!”  So of course I checked out this book and brought it to work.  It fit perfectly for this time of year as well.  We talked about the trees in the book and compared them to the trees outside now. 

            This was fun to read and if it is read aloud be sure to enhance “And Bear feels sick.” This would be a great lesson for students when teaching them the importance of covering your mouth when coughing or sneezing, and why we should wash our hands often.  Bear Feels Sick is a fun way to show students how to treat their friends who are sick. 

Sylvester and the Magic Pebble

Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by William Steig

2^nd to 4^th grade

Three stars

            Sylvester finds a magic pebble that can make wishes come true.  But when a lion frightens him on his way home, Sylvester scrambles and wishes he were a rock.  Now he is unable to wish himself back to normal.  His parents are worried and have no idea where Sylvester is.  In the end his parents go for a picnic at the rock that is Sylvester, not knowing it was him.  They find the pebble and set it on the rock, now Sylvester can wish himself back to normal.

            I chose this book because it was in the Caldecott section, and I kind of remember reading this when I was younger.  This book was written in 1969 and is still a very popular book.  For my first time reading this book, I didn’t really care for Sylvester turning into a rock.  It brings such a horrible turn in the book.  The parents are worried, they ask neighbors, and police for help and no one can find Sylvester.  A whole year passes before he is found and reunited with his parents.  I was very grateful this book had a happy ending. 

            This book would provide students to recognize their feelings during the reading of the book, and be a good book for readers who are getting ready to move from basic picture books.  Here is a decent website listing a wide range of activities to do with this book that are cross curricular.

Tuesday

Tuesday by David Wiesner

Ages 5 and up

4 stars

            It is dark and time for bed.  That is when the frogs from a nearby pond start to fly on their lily pads.  The frogs scare the birds, watch TV in your house, and even fly away from dogs.  When the sun comes up all the lily pads flop to the ground and the frogs hop on back to the pond.  Next Tuesday pigs fly. 

            I chose to read this book, because it has come up in class quite often and I enjoy David Wiesner’s work.  Once again, David amazes me with his detailed drawings.  I really enjoyed this book because the frogs on the pages looked so frumpy and happy I couldn’t help myself. 

            This book would be great for student’s to write a story too, or maybe continue the story with the flying pigs.  I love hearing students’ different versions of the story.  Wordless books are a great resource for young children how are possibly struggling to read or even students who are learning how to write a story.

Flotsam

Flotsam by David Wiesner

Ages 5 & up

5 stars

            A young boy discovers an underwater camera that floated onto the beach.  He develops the film and finds out that this camera has been to a lot of places over a long period of time. 

            I absolutely loved this book.  The pictures are so vivid, and you are left starring at them for a really long time.  One of my favorite pages is the page showing the second photograph.  It is of octopuses reading in armchairs, fish listening on the couch, and there is even a coffee table, a fishbowl, and lamps.  The best part of this page is in the background you see an upside down truck that is crumpled a little, and on the side of it, it says Bob’s Moving and Storage.  So one can infer that all this furniture got to the bottom of the sea by a moving truck crashing. After finishing the book, I notice on the cover of the book, in the glare of the fishes eye you can see the camera.  Little details like this can be found on every page of this book.

            I also enjoyed when he found the picture of the girl, and uses his microscope to see the picture within the picture.  I found myself flipping back to see the original, and how much I could see.  This book was so enjoyable for me, I wanted to spread the word by having a couple of my friends (who are not elementary teachers) look at the book.  And one of my friends said they could relate to the little boy in the book because when they were young they were very curious about nature and had a sort of nerdy attitude. 

            I feel that this book would be useful resource in the classroom.  Just this semester I have found a new awareness of wordless books and how powerful they can be.  For a post activity to reading the book, you could have the students brainstorm about what flotsam might be, and even what the cover of the book is.  To be honest, before I read the book I thought the cover, at a glance, looked like the robot light, HAL, from 2001 Space Odyssey.  Then after you read the book, discuss with students how they might change their meaning/definition of flotsam and share with them the true definition. 

The House You Pass on the Way

The House You Pass on the Way by Jacqueline Woodson

Ages 12 & up

3 stars

            This is a story about a fourteen-year-old girl named Staggerlee who comes from an interracial family.  She is a quiet girl who loves to play the harmonica and is dealing with her emerging and confusing feelings for her uncle’s adopted daughter Trout. 

            The House You Pass on the Way is short but sweet story.  It brings up some potential controversial topics through a wonderful story.  I thought this book was ok.  I really enjoyed the beginning of the book.  Woodson does a wonderful job setting up the story and introducing us to Staggerlee.  I really connected with Staggerlee when she wonders why can’t everyone just get along and be friends.  She doesn’t really have a lot of friends at school, and her classmates make fun of her and call her stuck up.  When I was younger, I had always wondered why are some of my classmates so mean to others?  I never understood why everyone wasn’t a friend with everyone else. 

            The part I disliked about this book is how Woodson brought the story to an end.  Staggerlee’s new friend Trout leaves at the end of summer, Woodson doesn’t even include the scene where they say goodbye to each other.  Then all of a sudden its October, two months after Trout leaves and she tells of the girls talking on the phone with each other.  In the next chapter it is winter, and Staggerlee hasn’t heard from Trout in a long time.  I felt, that compared to the rest of the book the timeline just sped up in the last twenty pages.  And that major scenes, like saying goodbye to each other, could have made this story a lot better.  

            Using this book in the classroom might cause some controversy with the parents/guardians.  But if you are able to defend yourself effectively you shouldn’t have a problem.  I’m not sure if I would use it.  If I chose not to use it, it would be because I am not particularly fond of Woodson’s writing style.  It would be a good book for a student to independently read, especially for a student who could possibly relate to Staggerlee. 

The Giver

The Giver by Lois Lowry

A novel for middle school kids

5 stars

            A twelve-year old boy, Jonas gets assigned the most important job in the community, the Receiver of Memory.  He finds out what the past was like and why they community is the way it is now. 

            I read this book when I was in middle school on my own, and I wish we had read it in school.  Reading this book with my college classmates brought forth an amazing discussion that I never got to experience until now.  When reading it for the second time, I could not remember what happened when members of the community were to be released.  Part of me wanted to believe that they went to a different community to live the rest of their days.  I didn’t want it to be a bad thing.  Another interesting part of the book was the baby boy; Gabriel that Jonas’ family took in at nighttime.  I felt that Gabe was an important part of the story and possibly a metaphor for something.  Maybe he represents what the future of the community will look like after Jonas runs away.  I wish we had more time to discuss this in the class. Lois Lowry is a fantastic writer, and I would suggest this book to anyone.

            The ending of the book was confusing to me.  I wasn’t sure how to take or what really happened in the end.  It was a happy ending, but I am still unsure whether Jonas dies or not.  This is where the sci-fi part of the book confuses me.  I think that I wanted to know more how the community was changed, and what would happen to Gabriel. 

            The Giver, at first appears to be a utopia but we find out through Jonas’ story that it is really a dystopia.  There are so many connections and literary elements throughout this book.  The possible activities you can perform in the classroom are endless.  You could have a small group book talk; have a debate over Sameness versus today’s society, a no-color activity, and memory treasure box. 

Black and White

Black and White by David Macaulay

Picture book for Grades

5 stars

                Black and White, at first appears to be four separate stories, but you soon come to the realization that they are all connected.  There is a story about a boy on a train, commuters waiting impatiently, some strange parents, and Holstein cows, that when they get out of the field they are almost impossible to find.

                When I first selected this book after reading the title, I thought it was going to be a book about discrimination of races.  Boy was I wrong.  This book is absolutely incredible.  So much is going on in this book that you have to reread it to catch all the things you missed.  Each page has the four stories, split up into quadrants.  The first page of the book even has titles for each story.  Even though we normally read left to right and top to bottom, I caught myself reading the story that was in the bottom right corner before the top left one.  And one of the stories has words every few pages, so I would look back and compare the pictures. It was also a lot of fun to see the connection between all the stories.  With the Holstein cows escaping and causing the train the little boy is on to stop and the commuters having to wait longer because the train was delayed.  But the part that I loved the most about the connections was how some characters were in more than one story.

                There are endless teaching opportunities to derive from this book, and I think that might be why I love it so much.  So many discussions about different perspectives when writing, why is the title Black and White, finding details, connecting text to illustrations, etc.  There are a lot of literary elements being covered in each individual story, but also the book as a whole too.