Come Along, Daisy

  Come Along, Daisy by Jane Simmons

Picture book PreK-2^nd

5 stars

            “Come along, Daisy,” says Mama Duck.  But Daisy the duckling does not.  She is too busy chasing dragonflies and bouncing on lily pads.  Then, when she looks around, Mama Duck isn’t there anymore and Daisy is all alone.

             I love this book because it reminds me of my two-year olds that I watch at the daycare I work at.  I am always keeping an eye on them; to make sure they are following instructions and staying near me.  Also, the first time I read this book, I read it with my nephew who is about 18 months.  He has read it before and could point to Daisy and say her name.  This was phenomenal to me, and looking back on it, it reminds me of Mem Fox and her theory of reading aloud to children.  The illustrations are a wonderful form of acrylic painting and are fun to look at.  One of my favorite pictures is when it is a view of a tiny Daisy in the marshland weeds and the hawk is huge compared to Daisy.  Then you catch a glimpse of Daisy’s mother on the river right next to Daisy.  As the reader you are thinking, “Daisy is so close to her mother and she doesn’t even know it!”

            This book is a wonderful and gentle cautionary tale for children to stay near their parents when out and about.  As I said before, children love this book.  It is great for students who are just beginning to recognize words and the sentence structure.  I even had my nephew “read” me the story because he said, “I can’t read.” and tossed me the book.  I made him tell me what happened on each page before I read it to him. 

Frog in a Bog

Frog in a Bog by John Himmelman

Picture book for Grades K-3

Three stars

                Himmelman leads children through natural events that occur on a typical day in a bog, beginning with a frog hopping into some moss.

                This book shows how everything in nature and in a bog is connected.  I found this book to be informative of different types of plants, insects, and animals.  Instead of simply saying, “a turtle, a fern, a flower,” Himmelman said specifics.  It was kind of boring, in the sense that it is not really about a frog and there is not a plot/story.  I do love the complete circle that Himmelman makes with starting about a frog hopping onto some moss and ending with the frog again. 

                 This would be perfect for a science class though.  I brought it to read to 6^th graders while they were on their School of the Wild field trip, and they loved it.  It made them think about what they have learned this week and about things that they never really thought about before.  Himmelman has made a number of nature related picture books, and you can check out his website too.

The Wall

The Wall by Eve Bunting

Controversial Picture book

Grades K-5

Four stars

                A young boy and his father travel to Washington D.C. to visit his “grandfather’s wall.”  Bunting never says that it is the Vietnam Veterans Memorial during the story; only at the end does she give a little description of it.

                I found this book to be nowhere near controversial.  It may discuss a somewhat controversial topic, but Eve Bunting covers it well to make it accessible to young children.  I found the muted watercolor instructions a perfect fit for the story.  And, it shows how war affects everyone.  When the father says, “He was just my age when he was killed,” makes your heart go out to those with family members who died at war.  The little boy was having a hard time connecting to this person who he never met.

                I would use this book in my classroom with no question.  The Wall, does a nice job covering the impact war can have on us and its consequences that we deal with.  It might be a touchy topic, but to ignore such a thing would be insane.  It is a great book to read on Veterans Day or Memorial Day, and also when you would be discussing Vietnam War and its aftermath.  It might be hard or more challenging if there was a student in your class that has lost a relative or a loved one in war, but as the teacher we should not ignore it.   

The Un-Wedding

The Un-Wedding by Babette Cole

Controversial picture book

Ages 6-12

Two stars

            Mr. and Mrs. Ogglebutt hated each other, and their children started to think they were the ones who caused them to hate each other.  They asked their pastor for help and he suggested an un-wedding.  Un-wedding invitations were sent out, an un-wedding cake was ordered, they said “I Don’t”, and they even had their own un-wedding honeymoons.  The children had two houses built for each parent and everyone lived happily ever after apart.

            This book makes divorces sound like a happy affair.  And the kids benefit from it because they get two of everything now.  Cole never says “divorce” in the book, but it is definitely implied.   This solution would work metaphorically, but I feel that Cole is ignoring the confusion and worry that can sometimes tag along with a separation of parents.  Also, a pastor would never agree to host an un-wedding.  The water colored pictures are light and funny.

            I feel that this would go well with the younger kids who are going through divorce because they need to understand that it is for the better and that they aren’t the only ones going through it.  There is a part in the book where the kids post a sign at school saying there will be a meeting after school for kids with problem parents, and a lot of students show up.  It would be a good starting point for a discussion with a student about a divorce. 

 

The Magic Tapestry

The Magic Tapestry Retold and illustrated by Demi

Grades K-3

Three stars

            Long ago there lived a poor weaver and her three sons.  One day, she was inspired and started working on a new tapestry that took her three years to make.  After she finished it she laid it out and it blew away in the wind.  She asked her three sons to retrieve it for her, and the youngest one went through terrifying obstacles to win back his mother’s tapestry stolen by fairies.

            This book was not one of my favorites because the two older sons were not loyal to their mother.  When they went to retrieve the tapestry they took the box of jewels instead of going through fire and ice to get to the tapestry.  It was disappointing to me.  I also did not care for the ending.  The young son catches the eye of one of the fairies, and when he takes it to his mother the fairy is on/in the tapestry.  Then the tapestry came to life and the son and the mother were also in the tapestry.  It was an odd ending to the story.  But I did like the setup of the book with the text in the bottom left or right corner and the pictures outlined with a solid background and always one little item coming out of the border.  It is simple yet beautiful. 

            The culture of the Chinese really comes out in this book.  The author tells on the back of the book that she stumbled upon the story when she was researching Chinese fabrics and the looms they were woven on.  “The Chinese, who invented the loom, believed that the weaving of two threads symbolized the weaving of heaven and earth,” Demi explains.  And this story reflects the significance of that metaphor in the Chinese culture.  This book would be essential in a lesson on Ancient Chinese cultures in Social Studies.  It could also be used in an art class and they were going to make tapestries. 

Higher Power of Lucky

Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron

Ages 9-11

Five stars

            Jacob and I were on our way to Des Moines for the weekend, which is a two-hour drive.  I brought along Higher Power of Lucky to read, but I felt bad leaving Jacob to a boring drive, so I asked him if I could read aloud to him in hopes practicing reading a chapter book aloud (which I’ve never done before).  Surprisingly he agreed.  We got about a third of the way through the book, and I never finished reading it for him.   When I did finish it he asked me what happened, and I felt that I had to tell him almost everything that happened to Lucky otherwise he wouldn’t get the full experience like he did in the beginning. 

            I really enjoyed our discussion on the symbols and metaphors of the book.  Discussing a book is probably one of my favorite things to do after reading it.  One thing that I noted while reading this book is the writing style of Susan Patron.  We entered into Lucky’s point of view from the first sentence of the book, “Lucky Trimble crouched in a wedge of shade behind the Dumpster.”  Why is dumpster capitalized? Since I was reading it aloud, I questioned it even more.  I didn’t know what it meant and why it was capitalized.  You later find out that this is a common area/place to Lucky and would be considered a proper noun.  I think this would be a very interesting conversation to have with children.

            The few pictures speak a thousand words in this book.  I didn’t realize till I was completely finished with the book what the cover really resembled.  I knew it was Lucky but I didn’t know that she had her mother’s urn in her other hand and that she was wearing Bridgette’s red dress.

Two of Everything

Two of Everything: A Chinese Folktale

Retold and illustrated by Lily Toy Hong

Grades K-2

Three Stars

            An old, poor, Chinese couple found a pot, in the field they were plowing, that doubles everything you put in it.  One day, the wife was startled and fell into the pot, so there was two of her!  Then the husband tripped over the pot and there were two of him!   They decided that everyone could live happily since there were two couples.

            The first time I read this story I was a little concerned when the lady feel into the pot because she is essentially cloning herself.  How did they know which one was the ‘real’ one and did they have the same personality?  Also, it seems very weird to have the same couple live right next to each other and all of their possessions the same too.  Overall it was a nice story, but not one of my favorites.

            In the classroom, this would offer some culture diversity through literature, since it is a Chinese folktale.  I might also use it for predictions by pausing the book and discussing with their neighbor what they might do if there were two of you.  I think this would offer students to be really creative.  Or what they would do with a pot that made two of everything.  It would be a great writing tool.  Two of Everything could also be a great intro to a mathematics course on function machines with input and output.  The pot doubles everything you put in it.