Weedflower

Title: Weedflower

Author: Cynthia Kadohata

Required Text

Before I started reading Weedflower I was somewhat unenthusiastic about the book simply because I wasn’t sure what to expect. However, by the end of the first chapter I was hooked and couldn’t put the book down.  I was quickly roped into twelve-year-old Sumiko’s character and was fascinated by the life that she lived with her Japanese family on their flower farm in rural America. Part of the reason I was roped into Sumiko’s character so easily is simply because I related to her and sympathized with what she was going through. When she gets invited to a special birthday party and then gets uninvited because she is Japanese, I just had tears in my eyes. On the one hand, I knew what it was like to be ostracized and bullied but on the other I had no idea what it would feel like to be excluded because of my skin color. It also broke my heart that she had spent so much on the birthday gift when her family was just scraping by. I felt how much she wanted to fit in and it just broke my heart that she wasn’t accepted because of her race.

Then there was Pearl Harbor. The part when she had to burn the only picture she had of her parents because it was “Un-American” and the part when they had to get rid of Baba just broke my heart. Overall, there were so many sad parts in the book that made it so personally touching. I truly view this part of American history in a different light now. As I said with Leon’s Story, parts of America’s past like this seem so far away, so unrealistic and hard to relate to until you see it through the eyes of someone who experienced it. Then the horror becomes so vivid it’s hard to stomach. That aside, I think this text is one that should definitely be used with middle school students. If reading it touched my life, it is sure to touch theirs and give them a better idea of what the Japanese-Americans went through immediately following the attacks of Pearl Harbor.  This was a truly excellent book that I would recommend to just about anyone. 

Leon's Story

Title: Leon’s Story

Author: Leon Walter Tillage

Illustrator: Susan L. Roth
Required Reading

In the hundred or so pages contained in Leon’s Story, I learned more about discrimination and the black south than I have ever learned in any history class, and let me tell you, it certainly wasn’t an easy thing to read about. I will admit that in the beginning of the story I had the idea in my head that what I was reading is nothing new to me – I had heard it all before. It is easy to read about racial hate crimes and segregation when the reality of the situation seems so far away. However, by the middle of the book my attitude towards the text changed dramatically. After reading about all of the horrendous things Leon personally witnesses, what happens to him and his family, and the life blacks were forced to live on a day to day basis, I found myself literally sick with hatred for my own people and guilt for what had taken place. I thought to myself, this is a piece of history that hits too close to home, that wasn’t all that long ago, and that still has serious relevance in today’s society. It was a scary realization.

That being said, I think there is a great deal to learn from reading Leon’s story. It is a story that is filled with sorrow, but it is a story that evokes raw emotion that simply can’t be duplicated in a history textbook. The first person accounts in this story are what truly makes the story. The personal connections the reader makes to Leon and his family only make what happens to them more horrifying. I’m unsure of what grade I would use this book in. On the one hand, I feel as if it is much too graphic for young students, even older students. I myself had a difficult time getting through parts of it. On the other hand, the reality of the situation put forth is this story is something that can’t be easily duplicated, thus it seems it would be an important component of a Social Studies unit about slavery. I would feel most comfortable using the text 7^th grade and older because of these considerations. 

Big Red Lollipop

Title: Big Red Lollipop

Author: Rukhsana Khan

Illustrator: Sophie Blackall

Picture Book #5

Big Red Lollipop is your typical karma story, “what goes around comes around”. After being invited to her first birthday party at school Rubina rushes home to tell her family the exciting news. There is only one problem – her little sister Sana wants to come too! To make matters worse, Rubina’s Ami (mom) insists that she takes her. As she expected, Sana ruins the party and Rubina doesn’t get invited to another for a very long time. Sana even eats her red lollipop she gets in her treat bag! Little sisters can be the worst.  But, what happens when Sana grows up, is invited to a party, and must take her little sister Maryam with her? Readers will be surprised by Rubina’s response.

I enjoyed this book for several reasons. First, the illustrations were very well done. They were colorful and realistic and added to the story greatly. I also enjoyed the moral of the story or the message that it was trying to convey. Though it had a little to do with karma, it also had to do with friendship and forgiveness between sisters. This would be an excellent book for any students with younger siblings, male or female. I would recommend its use for any classroom as a silent reading book or for circle time use. In fact, I may share it with my own little sister when I get the chance. 

Traction Man

Title: Traction Man

Author: Mini Grey

Picture Book #4

Traction Man is a story about an action super-hero that arrives as a Christmas gift for a special little boy. With Traction Man, this little boy goes on many amazing adventures. Whether he is fighting off evil pillows, going deep sea diving while cleaning the dishes, or saving the Barbies in the garden – Traction Man is the guy to do it. After all, it’s all in a day’s work.

I was pleasantly surprised by this picture book and can’t wait to read more from this author. With this book, she effortlessly captures what is inside the mind of a child while he plays and that is truly magical. She is able to turn everyday situations into an adventure and keep the reader on the edge of their seat wondering what will happen next. I see the male students in my classroom particularly connecting to this book and enjoying the exciting atmosphere it creates. Not to mention - the illustrations in this book are wonderful! The colors literally pop off of the page and they tell a story all of their own helping the readers immerse themselves into the story headfirst. 

I would definitely recommend this book to other teachers and their students. I think it is a fun book that is sure to excite the mind of any reader. Playing is what children do best and this story captures the very essence of this statement. Traction Man is sure to be a hero in your classroom library. 

Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse

Title: Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse

Author: Kevin Henkes

Picture Book #3

I absolutely adored Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse by Kevin Henkes because it was a story about anger and how to properly deal with that complicated emotion. The story begins with the main character, Lilly, explaining about how much she loves school and all of the things she likes about school best. She then goes into discussing her teacher, Mr.Slinger, and how she wants to be a teacher just like him some day. As the reader of the story, I connected with Lilly greatly and reflected on my own feelings as a child when I used to want to be exactly like my teachers. They were always great role models to me and I used to take everything they said and did to heart, which is why I sympathized with Lilly when Mr.Slinger had to reprimand her one day for showing off her purple plastic purse during inappropriate times throughout the day. Out of anger Lilly draws a mean picture of Mr. Slinger and sticks it in his bag at the end of the day only to find that he has written her a nice note saying she may share her purse with the class another day. The rest of the story details how she goes about apologizing for her mistake.

I think this story would be good for young readers because it teaches them about properly reacting when they are mad. Through the story, the children learn how Lilly is sorry for actions against Mr. Slinger and how she shouldn’t have reacted so poorly and so rashly. This would be a good story to use during a unit about emotions with Kindergarten or for a circle time book with the class after an altercation between classmates, a student and the teacher, etc. Moreover, I feel like the students would connect with the main character, Lilly, because she is described as being a student like them. Having a male teacher may appeal to the boys in the room if a story about a plastic purple purse is “too girly” for them to read. 

How to Heal a Broken Wing

Title: How to Heal a Broken Wing

Author: Bob Graham

Picture Book #2

How to Heal a Broken Wing is an inspiring story about a young boy named Will who takes notice to what everyone else seems blind to – a fallen bird. Upon finding this fallen bird, Will takes him home and, with the help of his parents, he nurses him back to health. As the author states, “a loose feather can’t be put back but a broken wing can sometimes heal”.  Once the bird has finally healed and can fly again, Will releases him letting him soar into the open sky.  Coupled with comic strip-like illustrations, this story is one I found to be particularly moving. The action Will takes is simple but is something that many people don’t think to do.  

I think this book is good for any child to read because it teaches about (what I see as) a social responsibility to help those in need around us. Human or animal, I think it is important to reach out all the same and respect others that inhabit this earth. On a side note, I would use this as a learning experience to teach children about the importance of being safe when handling animals. Birds can carry a whole host of dangerous diseases and it would be important for them to learn about how to properly handle them. It may be a stretch, but I can see this book tying in nicely with a social studies unit about community and a science unit about animals. I would do a mini lesson about how to properly handle animals and warn against picking up things such as feathers with their bare hands. 

Amanda & Her Alligator

Title: Hooray for Amanda & Her Alligator

Author: Mo Willems

Picture Book #1

Amanda & Her Alligator is much like any other Mo Willems book in that it is cute, funny, and entertaining for any young reader. The first thing I liked about this book is that it had a table of contents separated by “surprises” in six sections or chapters. I thought this was a neat way to incorporate this feature especially since it is not commonly found in picture books. The second thing I noticed right away were the illustrations. As with any Mo Willems book, they truly make the story. Simple yet powerful, they had me smiling throughout the entire story and really made me fall in love with the characters (especially that cute little alligator).

The story itself is about a young girl named Amanda who has to leave her toy alligator in order to go about her day. While she is gone, the alligator is lonely and anticipates her return greatly dreaming about what they will do together when she comes home. Towards the middle of the story, the alligator learns that he was purchased out of the sale bin for only 7 cents. This makes him feel even worse about himself, but Amanda reminds him that no one purchased him because they were destined to be best friends. By the end, alligator is joined by panda that, at first, seems like he will come between Amanda and alligator’s friendship. However, alligator learns that having another pal around while Amanda is gone isn’t so bad after all. In the classroom, this book would be a great read aloud story for carpet time with young students. It may teach them a thing or two about friendship and is sure to entertain them along the way. 

Bird

Title: Bird

Author: Zetta Elliott

Illustrator: Shadra Strickland 

Genre Study - Mixed Genre

Have you ever wished that you could erase something from your life? A person? A memory? Or maybe, a part of yourself? That is what young Mehkai (A.K.A. “Bird”) loves to draw; he can erase anything that doesn’t seem right. Unfortunately, we all know that life doesn’t work that way. We can’t simply erase the parts of it that we don’t like and neither can Bird; however, we can find solace in our hobbies and that is just what Bird does when his life begins to fall apart. Between his brother’s drug addiction and the death of his grandpa, the poor little boy has a lot on his plate. This is something that I am sure everyone can relate to at one point in their life or another which is what makes the story so powerful, and why I myself found it to be so incredibly moving. 

The age level for this book is a tough call. Though the text and sentence structure are fairly simple – the topics are complex and may be too much for younger readers to understand particularly if they live in more sheltered environments. I would worry about the subject-matter of this book with younger children and the way their parents may react if it was something used in the classroom. Nevertheless, as I stated before, the story is very moving and is written so very well. It will certainly find its way into my own collection someday. In the end, though it may not be a story to share with all, the relatability of this story is undeniable and something that I feel many students would find comfort in. I would recommend it to any student who was dealing with similar struggles or any older student who was looking for an inspiring read.

The Way a Door Closes

Title: The Way a Door Closes

Author: Hope Anita Smith

Illustrator: Shane W. Evans
Genre Study - Mixed Genre

Have you ever heard the phrase, “when the going gets tough, the tough get going”? The phrase itself is meant to be inspiring because it reminds people to carry on and be strong despite how tough things may get.  But, what would happen if the going got tough and you just gave up? This is something that is all too real to 13 year old C.J. in Hope Anita Smith’s The Way a Door Closes when his father decides to walk out on his family after losing his job. Because of this, C.J. is forced to be the “man of the family” for awhile and try to hold his family together. As C.J. finds out, this is a tough burden for anyone to bear but he never loses sight of what is important. Even more important is that he never loses faith in his father. Despite his actions, he believes that someday his father will come back to them and everything will be right in the world once more. 

Told in a series of short poems that give the reader insight on C.J.’s life, I found this book to be one of the most inspiring children’s novels I have read thus far. The characters in the story are real and are easy to connect to. Each poem is beautifully written and carefully adds to the overall tone/message the story is trying to portray. By the end of the novel I found myself in tears. Who knew that a series of poems could be just as moving as a story? I was certainly pleasantly surprised. Even the illustrations were wonderful – they were so full of life that they literally felt like snapshots of pictures of memories from C.J.’s life. 

This is definitely a book I would want to include in my classroom library for several reasons. First, I believe it is important because the book shows a strong African-American male character who steps in to take care of his family in the hardest of times; and second, for the fact that it is a realistic story about the absence of a parent that, sadly, many students would be able to relate to. I know firsthand that as a child this can be such a traumatizing event. It would be nice for students to have a book to turn to and a character they could relate to during their time of need.  At the same time, I believe that even for students who couldn’t relate to the character’s story firsthand would be moved by the book and find it to be quite enjoyable.

When You Reach Me

Title: When You Reach Me

Author: Rebecca Stead

Genre Study - Mixed Genre

Have you ever wondered if time travel is possible? In Rebecca Stead’s, When You Reach Me, this wonder turns into a reality when the main character, Miranda, finds herself trying to unravel a mystery involving a string of unexplainable notes that ultimately lead to the almost death of her best friend Sal. Though I admit that at first the book was hard to get into, about half-way through I found myself unable to put it down. The story itself is gripping, mysterious, and thought-provoking in the way that it twists reality with the unthinkable. In my mind, the mystery and suspense would definitely pull younger readers in.  I think students would love trying to figure the story out before it unfolds at the end. However, I must confess that even I found myself shocked by the ending as I was unable to put all of the pieces of the story together.

Overall, I think this is a great story that I feel would be appropriate for upper elementary grades through middle school. In my own classroom, I think this would be a good book to use with reader-response journals. Students could make predictions about what they think will happen next in the story, reflect upon what they have been able to piece together, or simply write down questions about the story they may have. In the end, I think this would be an enjoyable read for multiple ages and for multiple interests simply because it combines the best elements of science fiction, mystery, and adventure all in one book. 

The Tale of Despereaux

Title: The Tale of Despereaux

Author: Kate DiCamillo

Illustrator: Timothy Basil Ering 

Newberry Medal Winner (2004) 

 Imagine a world of courageous mice, devious rats, outlawed soup, and a princess named Pea. These are just a few of the elements present in Kate DiCamillo's modern day fairytale thoughtfully entitled The Tale of Despereaux. The story follows the lives of the main characters Despereaux (a small but mighty mouse), Roscuro (a devious rat who yearns for the light), and Miggery Sow (a miserable servant that dreams of being a princess) and how their lives cross paths. What I liked most about this novel was that each character in the story had something unique to offer and a different perspective to consider. As the reader, I couldn’t help but empathize with all of the characters as they each had a sad (yet ultimately uplifting) story to tell. In the end, I found myself rooting for the “happily ever after” ending most fairy tales depict, and DiCamillo delivered this in her own way.

Stylistically, I don’t think the book could have been better written as a read aloud story. This would be the perfect novel to share with the classroom for several reasons. First off, DiCamillo addresses the reader (or listeners) at the end of each chapter by posing a question, adding her own thoughtful commentary, or giving a vocabulary lesson of sorts. Students could keep a log book of the vocabulary presented and/or answers to the questions posed or simply verbally respond in a classroom discussion. Overall, the way in which the book is written thoroughly engages the students and makes them a part of the story which is something I think is hard to come by. In my opinion, this book is a definite “must have” for any classroom library.

Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus

Title: Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus

Author: Mo Willems
Illustrator: Mo Willems
Caldecott Honor (2004)

After only being exposed to a few of his stories, I am already a huge fan of Mo Willems and Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus is no exception. The story begins with a bus driver leaving the reader in control of his bus while he is gone. The task is simple: don’t let the pigeon drive the bus. However, this task isn’t as simple as it seems when there is a persistent pigeon badgering you at the turn of each page! Personally, I found the book to be hilarious and I think kids, especially younger ones, would too. The illustrations really make the story and add so much drama and action to the simple text. Even I found myself chuckling at some of the ridiculous faces the pigeon makes.

I would without a doubt include a copy of this book in my classroom library. It’s simple, short, easy to read, humorous, and engages the reader especially when read aloud. Though I don’t see any instructional activities that could come as a result of reading this book, I do see it as the perfect text for circle time in the primary grades. This would be an excellent book to read right when the kids get back from lunch and to settle them into an afternoon of learning as it would give them nice break from the curriculum. 

Seeds of Change

Title: Seeds of Change

Author: Jen Cullerton Johnson

Illustrator: Sonia Lynn Sadler
Coretta Scott King - New Talent (2012)

Seeds of Change is inspired by the real life events of Wangari Maathai who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004. The book begins in Kenya when Wangari is a child and follows her as she attends elementary school through college and finally as she becomes a college professor, is married, and has her own children. Throughout the book there is a strong sense of love and appreciation for nature. In fact, I would go as far to argue that the book is making a political statement about growth and development and about the importance of preserving the earth in spite of big business and corporate greed. This may be too complex of a topic for younger students to understand. Nevertheless, the journey Wangari goes on to “replenish” the earth, called the Green Belt Movement, is truly inspiring and has undoubtedly had a substantial impact on our world today.

Though I would consider this book to be a picture book, I believe the content is better suited for older students (3rd-5th). As a teacher, I can definitely see myself using this text during Black History Month or during a unit about women’s rights. One underlying theme in the book deals with the obstacles Wangari must overcome as a woman and the criticism she faces because of it. On a lighter note, the illustrations in the book are absolutely wonderful, colorful, and unique – they add quite a bit to the story, which makes it a perfect choice for a read aloud. One final thing I enjoyed about the text is the factual information contained about Wangari on the last page of the book. This gives the readers a context for the story and opens up the door for further research about her and her life to be conducted. 

Flygirl

Title: Flygirl 

Author: Sherri L. Smith
Rebecca Caudill Nominee (2012)