Jacqueline Woodson

Miracle’s Boys

By Jacqueline Woodson

Grades 5-8

4 Stars

Lafayette’s parents have died and his older brother Charlie has come back from reform school hardened and hateful.  With the help of his other brother, Ty’ree, Lafayette comes to terms with his losses and extends a hand to Charlie to help him get over his own sadness and regrets.

Show Way

By Jacqueline Woodson

Illustrated by Hudson Talbott

Grades 2-6

5 Stars

This story traces the author’s family back to times of slavery.  It shows each generation passing down the art of creating show quilts, and each person remaining strong, loving, and creative despite the difficulties of slavery, working hard to earn a living, and fighting for civil rights.  The story ends with the author telling her own daughter the history of her family.

Woodson’s work often features characters who are African Americans who live in the inner city.  The characters often have to deal with difficult life circumstances such as death and violence.  This is certainly true of Miracle’s Boys and to some degree, Woodson’s picture book, Show Way.  In Miracle’s Boys, Lafayette and Charlie come in contact with gang members.  Charlie was sent to reform school for robbing a candy store with a gun.  The three brothers are barely getting and Ty’ree had to give up his opportunity to attend MIT in order to take care of his younger brothers. 

Show Way tells of Woodson’s family history, beginning with her great-great-great-great grandmother, who was separated from her family when she was sold as a slave at the age of seven.  This book doesn’t explicitly mention violence, but shows generation after generation of the women in Woodson’s family separated from their loved ones due to slavery until after the Civil War.

Both stories show families who rise above difficult, really unimaginable life circumstances.  The characters are quietly heroic.  Ty’ree sacrifices his own aspirations to take care of his younger brothers.  The women in Show Way love their daughters and pass on the ability to create quilts that show other slaves the way to escape to the north, despite the fact that they inevitably become separated from their daughters when they are sold away.  In the most difficult of circumstances, these people show grace, create beauty, and hold their heads high.

The Giver

The Giver

By Lois Lowry

Grades: 6-8

5 Stars

Jonas, a twelve year-old boy, is perfectly content in his seemingly perfect community until he is assigned the task of becoming the memory keeper for the community.  He is given wonderful memories of color, family love, and nature, and terrible memories of war, pain, and hunger.  These new insights allow him to see his own family, friends, and community in a new light.

I had never read this book before, and it floored me.  I was totally sucked into the idea of the utopia until little nagging questions started to bother me.  Why were the birthmothers thought of as disgraceful and why were they assigned to hard labor after their three years of having children?  What would happen if someone disliked their assignment?  Where were the people released to?  But I have to admit, I didn’t really realize how sinister the story was until Jonas watched his father “release” the smaller twin.

The use of color throughout the story created powerful visual images for me.  In Jonas’ first experiences with color, I couldn’t imagine why the community would have given this up for any reason.  Jonas is able to see the color red, and it seems to change everything for him to be able to see the color of an apple, his friend’s hair, and runners on the sled in a memory.  Later though, the color becomes a powerful symbol of the negative aspects the community gave up when they gave away their memories.  Red is also the color of blood and pain when he witnesses the dead and dying on a battlefield through one of the Giver’s memories.

This story reminded me a lot of the short story, “The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas” by Ursula Le Guin.  Both stories explore the concept of utopias and the possible price someone must pay in order for others to live in a privileged, yet oblivious fashion. 

I am still unconvinced of what happens in the end of the story.  On the one hand, I really want Jonas and Gabe to survive.  On the other hand, I suppose their survival isn’t entirely necessary, because Jonas’ departure from the community will require the community to take over the responsibility for their memories again.  By leaving the community, Jonas has saved his community, in a sense.  They will have to remember.  They will have to be aware of the cost of their “perfect” world.

Lois Lowry's blog

5 Picture Books and One SPOOKY novel

Caution!!!  This Book is Spooky!!

Ghost in the Machine

By Patrick Carman

Grades 6-10

5 Stars

This is the second book of three that tell of the adventures of two teenagers, Ryan and Sarah, who are on a quest to discover the secrets of their small town.  This is a suspenseful mystery which directs readers to a website that shows video clips that help tell the story.

This book was awesome!  I learned about these books because the teacher of a seventh grade Language Arts class that I volunteer in was reading the first book, Skeleton Creek, aloud to her students.  The kids were captivated by the story and so was I.  The video element of these books added a lot to the experience.  The kids were excited to read far enough in the story to view a video clip, and I felt that experiencing the story through two different mediums was a completely new way to read a book. 

            As a major chicken when it comes to scary stories AND movies, I do have to say that this book would have scared the socks off of me when I was in middle school.  The very first video clip of this book is pretty intense.  This book deals with a secret society, murder, ghosts, and involves one of the main characters discovering a corpse.  The faint of heart should read something else, but I can imagine that this book would appeal to many kids who are relatively difficult to interest in a typical book.

            I couldn’t stop reading this book, and having to log onto the Internet to access the videos actually slowed me down a few times.  However, waiting to log onto to view was videos was usually worth it.  They have a kind of Blair Witch Project/video journal feel to them that compliment the book, which is designed to look like Ryan’s journal, complete with “photographs”, taped in clippings, and font that looks like handwriting.  All of this made me feel like I was solving the mysteries right alongside Ryan and Sarah.  An all around great read!

            I would use this book to inspire reluctant readers with an interest in scary stories.  This would also be a good book to get students interested in journaling, both in written and video format.  As I witnessed in the classroom that I tutor in, this would also be a great read-aloud book.

Guess What?

By Mem Fox

Illustrated by Vivienne Goodman

 Grades K-12

5 Stars

This is a really fun book, with simple, but engaging text, detailed and playful pictures, and a small surprise at the end.  The book asks the reader to make guesses about “a crazy old lady called Daisy O’Grady”.

The illustrations of this book really make the story come alive.  They are realistically painted and are filled with peculiar little details that combine everyday items like a sunbeam mixer and a bottle of Tabasco sauce with the strange and slightly disgusting, like a box of Lifeless Lizards Scale Powder and a rat with a bloodied, bandaged tail skittering around Daisy O’Grady’s mixing bowl.  These little details had me squinting at the pictures to read every little word and to catch every little joke.  One page shows Daisy O’Grady’s outhouse, which is surrounded by frogs, owls, and oppossums and has a batman sticker on the door, as well as graffiti that reads, “Broonhilda was here.  Hansel and Gretel too!”  Daisy O’Grady’s bureau has a skeleton inside with a toe tag that reads, “Mr. O’Grady”.  An armadillo is resting on top of a newspaper, a hat with wings is flying across the room, there is a Paddington bear sticker as well as a Doors sticker on the door, and a tennis racket is leaned up against the corner.  This book made me wish that I could snoop around in Daisy’s house, but I sure wouldn’t want to stay the night!

Fox’s text is just as playful, but relatively sparse and simple.  She asks a series of questions, like, “Is she tall?”, “Does she mix rats’ tails, toenails, and dead lizards’ scales?”,  “Is she a cursing, cackling, cranky old witch?”  Each of these questions are followed with an invitation to “Guess!”, and of course, the answer is always, “Yes!”  The last page tells us that although some people think she’s mean, she’s really not, and the illustration shows Daisy showing a girl how to fly on a broomstick.

The theme of the book seems to be, that even though Daisy is clearly a witch, and an extremely odd one at that, that she is still a likeable, friendly woman.  With all of her creepy habits and interests, she would be a really interesting person to know.

I would use this book in the classroom to talk about differences, and how it is not only okay to be different, but that this is what makes us each interesting and unique.  I also think that kids all the way up to high school could look at the illustrations and be inspired to add interesting details to either their artwork or writing.

 

Dear Tooth Fairy

By Alan Durant

Illustrated by Vanessa Cabban

Grades 1-3

4 Stars

Holly loses her tooth and before she decides to give it to the tooth fairy, writes a series of letters back and forth with her to find out about fairies, why they want her tooth, and what they will do with it. 

This was a really fun book.  I chose it because I knew that a student who I work with would love it.  Throughout the story, the tooth fairy writes letters to the main character, Holly.  The letters are written on tiny, fairy stationary that can be removed from envelopes attached to the pages of the book.  Also included in the envelopes was a leaflet that tells about the different types of fairies, a map of fairyland, a fairy riddle game, and a coin in exchange for Holly’s tooth.  The student who I was reading the book with loved looking in all of the envelopes and wanted to read every single word on all of the papers.  When we were finished she told me, “I wish this was my book!”  Can’t get a better endorsement than that.

This wasn’t perhaps literature of the highest quality, but it engaged the student.  The characters, setting, and storyline were all fairly surface level, but I’m fairly confident that the student could tell you all about the different kinds of fairies and the layout of fairyland.

Holly and the Tooth Fairy communicate through letters throughout the course of the book.  I would use this book to introduce letter writing in my classroom. 

Letter writing teaching ideas!

 

The Crocodile Blues

By Coleman Pohlemus

Grades K-4

5 Stars

This is a wordless picture book that tells the story of a man who buys an egg from a vending machine.  The egg hatches in the middle of the night and the man discovers a crocodile in his refrigerator.  The man moves out of the house, only to receive an invitation back to his old home, which the crocodile has turned into a nightclub called the Blue Crocodile.  The crocodile presents the man with a new egg, and the story ends.

This book is beautifully, but simply illustrated.  The digitally produced pictures use only black, white, blue, and yellow and are primarily silhouettes.  The pages fold out to reveal the upper floors of a building and extra details of the story.  The story line is relatively simple, but forms a circular pattern that leaves the main character right back in the same position he was in at the beginning of the story, and leaves the reader wondering what he will decide to do this time.

I would use this book in the classroom as a way to encourage reluctant writers to write words for this wordless picture book.

More books illustrated by Polhemus!

Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Book?

By Lauren Child

Grades K-4

5 Stars

A boy falls asleep and inadvertently falls inside his book of fairy tales, which he had drawn in and cut sections out of when he was younger.  He gets into trouble with some of the characters in the book and has to find a way to escape out of the book, back to his bedroom.  When he gets out, he fixes almost everything in the book.

This is a really playful book, complete with flaps, upside down text and illustrations, and “cut out” sections of the book.  I found myself turning the book upside down and laughing out loud.  The main character, Herb, interacts with various characters from different fairy tales, some friendly, and some not so friendly.  He discovers that he has cut some characters out of the book, (like Prince Charming, which he had used to decorate his mother’s birthday card), scribbled a mustache on a queen, and added telephones to all of the rooms in the book.  Herb escapes from one fairy tale to another by cutting holes in the pages to escape, tries to make up for defacing his book by trying to erase the queen’s mustache and drawing her a new throne, and tries to teach Goldilocks some manners.  Childs brought new life to some favorite characters.

I would use this book in the classroom as a way to have a quick, lighthearted conversation about treating our classroom books with care and respect.  I would also use this book to talk about different versions of fairy tales and favorite old stories.  This book could spark some interesting creative writing projects based on traditional fairy tales.

Visit Lauren Child's website!

Pumpkin Pumpkin

By Jeanne Titherington

Grades K-2

4 Stars

A boy plants a pumpkin seed and watches it grow into a pumpkin.  At the end he carves the pumpkin into a jack-o-lantern and saves some seeds for the next year.

This is a very simple book with realistic pictures that show the life cycle of a pumpkin.  Different parts of the pumpkin plant are identified and we get to see the pumpkin progress from a tiny seed to a large pumpkin.  The cycle continues because the main character, Jamie, saves some of the seeds for the next year.

I would use this book in the classroom to talk about the life cycle of a plant, to talk about the different parts of plants, and to read before growing plants from seeds in the classroom.

Lesson ideas for a pumpkin unit

Higher Power of Lucky

The Higher Power of Lucky

By Susan Patron

Illustrations by Matt Phelan

5 Stars

Grades 4-6

This is the story of a little girl who has lost her mother, and is unsure if her temporary guardian will stay and take care of her. 

The characters of The Higher Power of Lucky are what really drew me in to the story.  They are a bunch of quirky oddballs who I wish that I knew in real life.  I love Lucky.  As I read Patron’s words, I could visualize a little girl carrying around her survival backpack and eavesdropping on the various addiction group meetings.  Miles reminded me of a little stray puppy who needed someone to take him home, clean him up, and let him sit on their lap.  Short Sammy reminded me of an eccentric uncle.  The way the strange characters helped each other through the story was one of my favorite elements of this story. 

Another part of the story that really stuck with me was the theme of looking for a mother.  Both Lucky and Miles are looking for someone to replace their mothers.  It seems at times that Miles has chosen Lucky to be his replacement mother, and that although Lucky does look out for him, she doesn’t want to be responsible for Miles.  Miles even carries around the book, Are You My Mother?, and repeatedly asks Lucky to read it to him. 

The other theme of the book that I found interesting was Lucky’s search for her Higher Power.  I’m not even entirely sure what this means, except that it involves her hitting rock bottom, reaching some sort of clarity, and that this is tied together with her convincing Brigitte to stay and care for her.  In some ways, it seems like this theme is tied up with the theme of searching for her mother.   She had to think that she had lost Brigitte, go off on her journey to the cave, rescue Miles once more, and then symbolically release her own mother by releasing her ashes into the desert in order for her to realize that Brigitte was going to become her new mother.

This book was definitely a quality read.  It has had me thinking about it since I read it, and I think that I need to (and want to) reread it in order to answer some of the questions that I still have about the book.

I can definitely see myself reading this book for a read-aloud book in my future classroom, but in all honestly, if I did, I would substitute the word “scrotum” for another body part of the dog.  I understand why Patron chose that word, but I think that the rest of the story shows the progression of Lucky and Brigitte’s relationship well enough, that I wouldn’t feel too badly omitting that portion of the text.   

Click here to read a New York Times article on the "scrotum" controversy. 

More artwork by Matt Phelan

3 More Picture Books

Dark Night

By Dorothee de Monfried

Grades 1-3

3 Stars

A small boy is frightened by ferocious animals in the forest and inadvertently finds himself in the house of a rabbit.  The boy and the rabbit put on a monster costume, frighten the scary animals, and get safely to the boy’s house.

The cartoonish pictures and the playful storyline make this a fun read.  A small boy and a mere rabbit outwit and frighten away a tiger, lion, and crocodile.  There are many quirky details that made me smile, like the fact that the rabbit’s home in the hollow tree is equipped with a sink, table, and plenty of hot chocolate.  The mask that the rabbit wears is really scary… it looks a little demonic, but this is balanced out by the fact that you can see the boy’s eyes through their robe (the rabbit is riding on the boy’s shoulders as they walk through the forest), and they are comically large and frightened.  The story comes full circle when the lion, tiger, and crocodile seek shelter from the scary monster at the boy’s house, only to have the door answered by the scary monster aka the boy and the rabbit wearing their disguise. 

I shared this book with a student who I work with.  She is not a strong reader, but was able to tell me the entire story by going on a picture walk with me beforehand.  The fact that she was able to predict the storyline beforehand gave her confidence and helped her to decode unknown words, which ultimately helped her overall comprehension of the book.  She also thought it was a funny story!

Read a review of Dark Night.

The Dangerous Alphabet

By Neil Gammon

Illustrated by Gris Grimly

Grades 4-8

5 Stars

This alphabet book follows two children and their pet gazelle through what appears to be the underground sewer empire of monsters and thugs.  The illustrations are both humorous and creepy and show the boy character and the gazelle trying to rescue the girl character who has been kidnapped.  She and numerous other children are tied up, in shackles, about to be cooked in a pot, and are in the company of nightmarish creatures and monsters.  The story is told in thirteen rhyming couplets with vocabulary that would challenge most grade schoolers, but is interesting enough for them to make it worth their while to figure out their meaning.  For instance, the E and F sections read, “E’s for evil that lures and entices; F is for fear and its many devices.”  The picture shows the female character being lured away by a group of creepy men with baskets and pockets full of candy.  The following picture shows the boy character with his wooden sword raised, charging off to save the girl, passing by children trapped in the mouth of a monster.  This book is definitely a little bit scary, and I might not share it with younger elementary students, but it is fun and engrossing.  I read it three or four times and am not entirely sure that I caught all of the inside jokes and little side stories.  This is a terrific book that I think would either frighten or knock the socks off upper elementary school kids. 

There Was an Old Monster!

By Rebecca, Adrian, and Ed Emberley

By Rebecca, Adrian, and Ed Emberley

By Rebecca, Adrian, and Ed Emberly

Grades K-2

4 Stars

This is a spin-off of the Little Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly story.  A monster swallows various bugs and other creatures, until he is eventually swallowed by a lion.  This book was created by Rebecca Emberley, with help on the illustrations from her father Ed.  Her daughter, Adrian turned the text into a song which you can hear at: www.scholastic.com/oldmonster .  The illustrations seem to be made of paper collages.  They are bright and playful.  The text has a fun rhythm and the repeating phrases make this a more manageable read for new and/or struggling readers.

I think that the song download really makes this book a more enjoyable read.  Once I listened to the song, the rhythm stuck with me, which makes the entire experience a lot more fun.  I also think that after listening to the song a few times, struggling readers will remember the words to the text and be able to read the book independently.  

Fairy Tales

The Three Little Pigs

By Paul Galdone

3 Stars

This is a fairly typical version of the story of the three little pigs.  The three pigs are sent off by their mother, the first little pig builds a house of straw, his house is blown down by the wolf, and is quickly eaten.  The second little pig builds a house of sticks, his house is blown over, and is eaten by the wolf.  The third little pig builds his house of bricks, and ends up outsmarting the wolf, cooking the wolf when he tries to climb down the pig’s chimney, and ultimately eats the wolf. 

Trying to look at this book with a critical perspective, I have heard someone mention that this story is disrespectful of the need of people in third world countries to build using materials such as straw, sticks and mud.  The pigs who use these materials are depicted as less intelligent and more vulnerable.  In this version of the story, the illustrations and text do make the third pig seem more cultured and intelligent than the other pigs.  When the wolf comes to his house, we see him sitting inside a room with pictures on the wall, flowers on the table, and reading a book.  I still think this is a ridiculous theory.  The story wouldn’t work if the wolf in either the straw or stick house survived and the pig in the brick house was eaten.  I sincerely doubt that any of the authors of the various versions of this story were trying to be critical of third world building practices.  I think that this is a story where the pig who uses the most sturdy materials is subsequently given the opportunity to outsmart the wolf.  The wolf doesn’t turn out to be all that difficult to outsmart, and in a weird little twist of the story, the final pig ends up eating the wolf.  Call it pig karma, the punishment fitting the crime… whatever.  This is a classic tale that I for one, don’t feel like over analyzing.

Rumplestiltskin

By Paul Galdone

½ Star

This is the classic version of this fairy tale, where the miller brags about his daughter’s ability to turn straw into gold.  The king locks the girl into a room filled with straw and demands that she turn the straw into gold by morning or he will have her killed.  A strange man appears and spins the straw into gold for her three times.  On the third night, she has to promise the man her first child in return for his spinning the straw into gold.  The king marries the girl, they have a child, and in order for her to keep her child, she must discover the little man’s name.

This story has never made any sense to me.  First of all, in my mind, the two biggest villains of the story are the girl’s father and the king, who eventually becomes her husband.  Her father makes a ridiculous boast about his daughter, apparently turns her over to the king and disappears from the story.  The king wants her to produce gold or he’ll have her killed, but after three nights of making gold, he apparently never asks her to make any more and marries her.  He also disappears from the story after this.  If this were my fairy tale, I’d let them learn the lesson.  In this version, the only one who actually seems to be punished is Rumplestiltskin, who comes in and saves the girl from being killed after making a deal with her and actually gives the girl a chance to win back her child.  I’m not sure what the moral lesson of this story is, but I don’t feel sorry for the girl.  The illustrations of this version make her seem simple and passive and only too willing to marry the king who demanded that she produce gold or be killed.  The baby might have been better off if Rumplestiltskin had taken it away.  What a dumb story!

 Click here to go to a site with more fairy tales!

Controversial Books

“So, how should we as teachers and school librarians proceed in our selection and use of books?  First, we need to affirm our personal commitment to individual choice by examining how we view books.  If we see them strictly as mirrors that reflect our particular mores, lifestyles, or standards, then our problem is a difficult one.  Whose standards or beliefs are the books to model?... If instead, we view books as windows to the world, we have determined that literature is designed to celebrate diversity and that we accept the risks that may accompany such a stance.”

-Turnell and Jacobs, Children’s Literature Briefly

Smoky Night

By Eve Bunting

Illustrated by David Diaz

4 Stars

This book tells the story of a child witnessing a riot from his apartment window.  He and his mother are forced to evacuate their apartment, along with their neighbors when their building catches fire, and he and his mother connect with a neighbor of another race.

I’m not really sure why this book is considered controversial.  It does tell the story of a riot and shows people stealing from the neighborhood stores.  It does delve slightly into race issues (the narrator says that he and his mom don’t go to Mrs. Kim’s store because his mom says its better to buy from their own people), but these topics are explained to the child by his mother, who gives both her son and the readers the most gentle version of these issues as possible.  As Turnell and Jacobs mention in their book, Children’s Literature Briefly, “All books that deal with (controversial topics) are not automatically bad.  Nor are they automatically good.  The way in which these subjects are presented makes the difference.  If uncomfortable subject matter offers insight, helps develop attitudes and skills for dealing successfully with life, and fosters resolution or hope, the book may be a worthwhile addition to a recommended list.”  Using a mother’s voice to explain this situation mitigates the intensity of witnessing a riot.  In the end, the child, his mother, and their neighbor, Mrs. Kim learn that after they got to know each other, they have things in common.   In the end, a terrible event leads to neighbors growing closer and finding commonality.  The hopeful ending in addition to gently discussing a topic that many students are probably already aware of would justify any objections that I could imagine to this book.  As Turnell and Jacobs wrote, “Avoiding the harsh and often unsavory realities of life does not make them go away.  In fact a child may be more susceptible to the effects of controversial material by being totally unprepared.”  In my opinion, it is far better to deal with these topics through a well thought out picture book, than for a child to experience the far more gruesome realities in real life, from the news, or from older, less discreet children or adults.

As a side note, the illustrations of this book add quite a bit to the story.  They were expressionistic, which distorted figures that somehow made me put a little more distance between myself and the characters in the book.  The Picasso-like figures helped the story to seem more like a piece of fiction than a re-telling of actual events.  This might help younger or more sensitive readers to put a little emotional distance between themselves and the intensity of reading about the riot.  The artist also included some collaged items that went along with the story.  For instance, when telling about the looting of the grocery store, there were pieces of cereal surrounding the picture. 

Way Home

By Libby Hathorn

Illustrated by Gregory Rogers

Four stars

A young boy finds a cat in the city and decides to bring it home and care for it.  The boy dodges many dangers in bringing the cat back to his home.  At the end of the story we find out that the boy is homeless and doesn’t seem to have any adults caring for him.

If the mark of a good book is that your thinking was shifted around by reading the book, then this is a terrific book.  As I began reading this book, I was a little unnerved by the fact that a young boy was navigating the dirty, dark city by himself.  As the story went on, I was surprised that the author and illustrated didn’t skirt around some of the less savory elements of the city, such as the garbage, the bullies, and an apparent prostitute (although I doubt that young readers would make this connection).  My surprise was complete when I found at the end of the book that the boy was not only homeless, but apparently completely on his own.  The illustrations in this book were realistic and spared no detail.  This was not a cleaned-up version of the inner city.  The pictures show graffiti, abandoned buildings, and the worn-out tennis shoe of the main character, Shane.  The boy himself, is a character that I was drawn to.  He is a street-smart kid with the humanity to care about and want to care for a kitten.  Shane put a very human face to the issue of homelessness.

This book left me asking questions like, how many kids in the United States are there like Shane?  Is this a book that I would feel comfortable teaching with in my classroom?  Would I want it on my bookshelf?  Shouldn’t kids know that there are other children who are homeless?  How old should they be before they know about this?  I’m not sure when or if I would have this book in my classroom, but as an adult, I was moved by the story.

Click here to go to the National Center on Family Homelessness