Mockingjay

Title: Mockingjay

Author: Suzanne Collins

Series Reading #3

In the third and final book of the Hunger Games series the districts of Panem have finally rebelled. District 12 has been destroyed and Katniss and Peeta have been separated. While Peeta has been captured by the capitol, Katniss, her family, Gale, and Haymitch reside in the infamous district 13. Katniss has become the nation’s mockingjay, the symbol for rebellion and revolution. Without giving too much away, readers will not be disappointed by the final book in the series. Though I must admit the book got off to a slow start, Collins had me absolutely hooked by the middle. I couldn’t put the book down because I knew I had to figure out how the story ended! The ending to the series surprised me. I must commend Collins for keeping me on my toes in each book. The series is truly wonderful. 

As with the first two books, I would recommend this book to middle school students and up. I think a lot of great classroom discussions and projects can come from reading this series particularly if paired with the social studies and/or science curriculum. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again, the best part of the series is that it appeals to such a wide variety of people. Whether you’re young, old, a man, a woman, a teacher, a student, chances are you will find some character in this series that you relate to and some part of the story that you love. Whether it’s the games themselves, the survival element, the love story, the futuristic setting, you name it, and this series has it all. This is a definite must read for those who have yet to pick it up.

Planting the Trees of Kenya

Title: Planting the Trees of Kenya: The Story of Wangari Maathai   

Author: Claire A. Nivola

Biography #1

I have read other stories about Wangari Maathai before but this book has got to be by far one of the clearest portrayals of her life that I have read. The story begins be detailing what life was like for Wangari when she was a child growing up in Kenya. As she remembers it, the hills were lush and green and the trees thick and ground full of water. The fig tree was sacred and protected. When Wangari grew up she decided she wanted to go to college to study Biology. In the five years she spent in America, Kenya changed drastically. No longer were the hills lush and full of life, the trees were diminishing, and the water dried up. Instead of growing food for themselves, farmers were now selling their crops and buying lower quality food from the local store. Wangari did not like what she saw so she began to educate the women in her community on how to grow and replant trees. Men began to admire what they women were doing and joined their efforts. Wangari taught local schools all she knew about making plants grow. Many years later, Kenya is once again lush and full of life.

I would recommend this story for children in 3-5 grade. Though I loved the content of the story, the pictures were particularly magnificent. They were so incredibly detailed and colorful I found myself looking at them longer than the time I spent reading the words. As with many books, the pictures added to the story greatly and helped tell the story. Throughout reading the book, I found out a lot about Wangari Maathai and think children would learn a lot too. I especially liked the author’s note in the back that gave more information about who Wangari is and how her efforts have made a difference in the world.  In my opinion, this was an excellent book I would love to see be shared with more students. There is plenty of room for more research to be done about Wangari for students who are particularly interested by her story.

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.