Corduroy

 Corduroy

Written and Illustrated by Don Freeman

Published in 1968

Grade Level: 1st-3rd grade

Synopsis: Corduroy is the story of a teddy bear who lives in a department store, but is never bought.  The story is written from Corduroy's perspective and thus the reader sees things as the teddy bear does.  One day a little girl wants to buy him, but her mother points out that he is missing one of the buttons on his overalls.  That night, Corduroy decides to explore the department store in search of a button.  This becomes an adventure for him as he tries to make his way through the store.  On his journey he encounters a moving escalator and finally a "palace."  He finally finds an object that he thinks is a matching button.  On his adventure, Corduroy makes noise and a security guard comes into the picture.  The security guard finds the stuffed bear in a place he should not have been.  He places the bear back downstairs with all the other toys.  The next day the same little girl comes into the store with some her own personal money from her piggy bank.  She takes him home and and though she liked Corduroy the way he was, she sews on a new button so he will be more comfortable with the strap fastened.   

Theme/Skill:The story of Corduroy is one of hope and compassion.  The little girl that ends up purchasing the bear shows no discrimination towards him when she discovers that he is missing a button.  She loves him just the way that he is.  This is an important lesson for children to not judge someone based merely on their appearance.  It goes along with the old saying, "Don't judge a book by its cover."

Pre-reading activity: Before reading Corduroy show the students a piece of corduroy material.  Allow the students to touch the material.  In a graphic organizer, organize the attributes of the material; how it feels, how looks, etc.  Use the students answers to fill out the graphic organizer.

Post-reading activity: Read Don Freeman's story to students.  Have students bring in their own teddy bears the following day.  Organize the bears by their attributes; color, size, material, clothing, soft vs. hard, etc.  Allow the students to choose what four categories they want to categorize the bears into.  Show them examples of bar graphs.  Graph some attribute (such as hair color) to model the activity.  The students will then use the statistics (written on the board) to create a bar graph. 

Assessment: Students will be assessed on their graphs.  The graphs should be neat and accurately spaced.  Students should practice using the ruler to make the bar graph as linear as possible.  Because this will be many of the students first encounter with a bar graph, they will be graded informally. 

Reflection: Children are little people with big imaginations.  When they are young, children use those imaginations to keep themselves entertained.  Teddy bears are a popular toy that many children often have.  For instance, when I was in first grade, all those years ago, my class had a mascot.  It was a teddy bear named Fluffy.  Each week, one child would be allowed to take Fluffy home.  The parents took pictures and kept a journal of what their child did with the bear.  This book reminded me of the time I spent with the bear.  Just like the rest of my classmates, I treasured that time with the stuffed animal; an inanimate object that could not love us in return.  Nevertheless, we doted on the bear and looked forward to our time with it.  The little girl in Corduroy is no different.  She loved that bear from the moment she saw it; free from judgment.  This is a character trait that all people can share.  Perhaps reading Don Freeman's book to children will encourage them to be compassionate people. 

Goodnight Moon

 Goodnight Moon

Written by Margaret Wise Brown

Illustrated by Clement Hurd

Published in 1947

Grade Level: 1st grade

Synopsis: Goodnight Moon is a well liked and well known children's book.  It is a wonderful example of a bedtime story.  "Author Susan Cooper writes that the book is possibly the only "realistic story" to gain the universal affection of a fairy-tale, although she also noted that it is actually a "deceptively simple ritual" rather than a story" (Wikipedia, 2011).  So many households experience similar nights.  That is why the story has gained popularity throughout the years.  The book focuses on a rabbit who says goodnight to everything around him; "Goodnight room. Goodnight moon.  Goodnight cow jumping over the moon.  Goodnight light, and the red balloon..." 

Theme/Skill: The story of Goodnight Moon opens up many pathways of teaching that teachers could follow.  For instance, teachers could use the book to activate students' prior knowledge (relate the activity of going to bed to their own lives), and teach them the similarities and differences between them and the bunny in the story.  A teacher could also choose to teach students about rhyming words, setting, or fairytales. 

Pre-reading activity: Introduce the title.  Have the students predict what they think the story might be about.  Ask them why they say that/what makes them think that.  This will get students thinking about their thought process.  Introduce the author and the illustrator to the students.  Make sure that they are clear about the roles of each.  Show the cover of the book and talk about the setting; where is this story going to take place? What time of day might it be?  Explain the basic plot of the story, which is that a bunny takes a long time to go to sleep because he spends so much time saying good night.  Take a picture walk and allow the students to point out objects in each picture that the bunny may say goodnight to. 

Post-reading activity: The author of Hubbard's Cupboard has many wonderful suggestions for teachers about a plethora of children's books.  The website suggests an entire unit based on Brown's Goodnight Moon.  Ask students if they recognized part of a nursery rhyme in the story.  Introduce the companion nursery rhyme 'Hey, Diddle, Diddle.'  Read the poem aloud and have students share the things in this poem that could never really happen (cat playing a fiddle, cow jumping over the moon, dog laughing, dish and spoon running).  Of course, these things are all personification, yet first graders do not yet need to know such a term.  The teacher should then reread 'Hey, Diddle, Diddle' and let students enjoy the rhyme.

Assessment: This lesson would be appropriate for first graders who are at the age when it is important for them to build the skill of sentence building and vocabulary.  That is why students will be informally assessed on their ability to form complete sentences when sharing answers. 

Reflection: In a book review about Goodnight Moon, writer Josh Hanagarne says better than I could why this is such an amazing book.  He says, "the book sounds like going to sleep.  I’m not sure how else to say it.  By the time I read it, my voice gets quieter and quieter, without me realizing it.  I have no idea if Brown had this intention, but my belief is that Goodnight Moon was written as much for wiggly toddlers as for adults who are winding down for the night" (Book Review, July, 13, 2010).  Clearly Margaret Wise Brown has succeeded in writing a book that will be loved and read at bedtime for generations to come.

Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs

Written by Judi Barrett

Illustrated by Ron Barrett

Published in 1978

Grade Level: 3rd grade

Synopsis: The book Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs begins in the morning around the breakfast table.  Some chaos occurs when pancakes accidentally go flying across the room.  Inspired by the events at the breakfast table, Grandpa tells his grandchildren the "best tall-tale bedtime story he'd ever told."  He tells them a story about a town called Chewandswallow.  In this town, food and beverages come from the sky.  Sometimes a pea soup fog covered the town and other times it rained tomato soup while toast fell from the sky.  The people had all they could ever want until one day the weather took a turn for the worse.  The sky began dropping too much food.  There was no where to put the extra food and homes were being destroyed by the large falling foods.  The people of Chewandswallow could not stay there any longer, so they built rafts out of stale bread and peanut butter and set sail for a new land.  After hearing the bedtime story the children go to sleep and wake in the morning to find that the sun looks like a pat of butter atop a mountain of mashed potatoes, which is actually a snow-covered hill. 

Theme/Skill: The contents of this story could be used as a supplementary text for a weather unit in which the teacher could introduce students to the various forms of precipitation.  Connecting literature to science is a useful teaching strategy. 

Pre-reading activity: Introduce the term precipitation.  It may seem obvious that students will be able to speak about common weather patterns, yet they may not know that the rain and snow that they see fall from the sky is called precipitation.  Show the students images of various types of precipitation and then have them work with the child next to them to come up with what they think precipitation is.  The teacher will ask students to share their definitions and together, with guidance from the teacher, the students will form a refined definition for the new word, which generally means any form of water that falls to the earth from the atmosphere.

Post-reading activity: Allow students the chance to identify what they thought about the story.  Have them identify what items fell from the sky in Chewandswallow.  This should lead into instruction precipitation.  Introduce the terms freezing rain, sleet, and hail to students.  Have stations set up in which students will travel in groups from station to station and learn about precipitation by reading age appropriate articles (perhaps from Time for Kids or children's books about weather).  Other stations will include tools for measuring precipitation, while other stations will give information about the amount of precipitation that falls in different parts of the country and the world.  Students will work together to find the information they need and find the answers to the questions in their weather packets. 

Assessment: Students will be graded on their ability to work with their classmates in small groups.  Students will assess their own behavior and participation in the group as well as complete a group assessment at the end of the activity. 

Reflection: Judi and Ron Barrett have created an imaginative story about a unique land where food falls from the sky.  The story could stand alone as could the illustrations, but together they create a world of imagination and creativity.  The story is entertaining and the illustrations bring the words to life.  I don't think that children will be the only readers to fall in love with the story.  Children will be engaged by its silliness and unique page setup, while adults are sure to enjoy the subtle humor. 

The Year You Were Born

A Day-by-Day Record of 1987: The Year You Were Born

Compiled by Jeanne Martinet

Illustrated by Judy Lanfredi

Published in 1993

Grade Level: 6th-8th grade

Synopsis: The Year You Were Born is exactly what it says it is; a day-by-day record of the year you were born.  This particular book is about 1987, but Tambourine Books also published books for 1981-1989 as well.  The front of the book includes some brief facts from the 1987 U.S Almanac such as the number of births and deaths in the United States, households with television sets, the top crop, and number of children's books sold.  The book also includes interesting or important facts from each day of the year.  It includes birth dates and facts about well known people throughout history.  For example, "Who else was born in May?  John F. Kennedy.  U.S. President, 1961-63.  The youngest man to be elected president, he was also the 4th president to be assassinated."  Nearly every fact has an accompanying illustration that represents that fact. 

Theme/Skill: Although the information in the book is older than students in school today, there are still relevant and important skills to be learned from The Year You Were Born.  Students could learn about timelines and chronological order; understanding progression as well as cause and effect; wonderful for Social Studies class.  With this book, students could also be instructed in the purpose of research and where to look to find information; relevant to research in all subject areas. 

Pre-reading activity: The teacher could introduce the book to the class; what's in it and how it was compiled.  To expand upon that, the teacher should ask the students why someone would create a book like The Year You Were Born, how it could be used, why it is important to organize information in this way.  It would also be important to define the terms 'fact' and 'opinion.'  Students should be able to identify the difference between the two as well as what each type of data tells you, and where they are commonly found (i.e-encyclopedia vs. a letter to the editor). 

Post-reading activity:  This is not a book that would be read cover to cover to students.  Have students write their birthdays on a slip of paper, drop those papers in a hat, and draw five to ten birthdays at random.  Read the students the facts from that day.  Some may need clarification while others lead to discussion.  If you are teaching an event in history, this book would be a great secondary text to show students a timeline and discuss its purpose.  Use events from the school year to create a timeline with students.  Have events from the year written on index cards and jumble the cards up.  Have a student read each event on the card to the rest of the class and then tape that even on the board.  With the help of students, put those events in chronological order.  The next step will be for students to organize ten to fifteen important events from what they have been learning about (i.e- the Industrial Revolution) onto a timeline.  They must include details; dates, names, places, outcome (cause and effect).

Assessment: The timelines will be graded on correctness and neatness.  Each event on the timeline will be worth four points (one point for date, one for location, one for correctness, and one for the effect it had on other events/people).  Students will be given a quiz that will test their ability to determine fact from fiction.  This quiz is not meant to trick the students, but rather to act as a precursor to the unit exam in which students will be tested, in large part, on specific facts.  Students will identify whether a statement is true or false and correct the false statements. 

Reflection: I remember getting this book for my birthday one year and turning the pages immediately to the day I was born.  It sparked my curiosity and I wanted to know what happened the day I was born.  Unfortunately, Tambourine Books did not continue to write books about each year.  I am sure that something could be found that is very similar.  As a reader, I see the restrictions of the book, but as an educator I see the possibilities.  It could undoubtedly be used in Social Studies, but in English Language Arts as well.  Perhaps the book could be used to give students context and background knowledge of a book that takes place during 1981-1989, one of the years that The Year You Were Born covers. 

Roxaboxen

Roxaboxen

Written by Alice McLerran

Illustrated by Barbara Cooney

Published in 1991

Grade Level: 3rd-4th grade

Synopsis: "On a hill on the southeast corner of Second Avenue and Eighth Street, in Yuma, Arizona, there is a place once known as Roxaboxen.  The events in this book really happened-to Alice McLerran's mother," Marian (Roxaboxen, 1992).  The story is told by a third person narrator who tells the story of Roxaboxen; how it came to be, the children who built it, and what they did there.  Roxaboxen is a place in the desert where a group of children build an imaginary village.  They build houses, set up roads, start businesses, and develop their own form of currency and government/rules.  The children use their imaginations to pretend they are driving cars or riding horses.  They built forts and fought wars; bandits versus girl scouts.  Eventually, the children grow up and leave Roxaboxen, but they never forget it.  They tell the stories of their adventures in Roxaboxen to their own children and their children's children.  

Theme/Skill: This book is a story about childhood and community.  The children in the story work well with one another.  There is no arguing or fighting.  All the children love Roxaboxen because they are able to be express themselves as individuals, while also working together to form their own special community.  Roxaboxen could be used as a way to teach students about community efforts, projects, and organization.  Students can be taught that each member of the community is important.

Pre-reading activity: Give the students a history of the word 'community.'  It is likely that all the students have hear the word before, but not in this way.  Break down the word to show the students the history and meaning of the word.  Roxaboxen is a community created by children.  Community comes from the French word for "to eat together."  Show students other words that have similar roots, such as company and companion.  (Idea borrowed from A lesson based on Roxaboxen).  Based on the level of the students, the teacher may include other vocabulary terms from the book such as ocotillo, amethyst, and whirling.  The following worksheet may be used: 

Post-reading activity: Before reading Roxaboxen aloud to students, be sure to make them aware of what similes and metaphors are.  The book is full of them and it is important for students to be able to identify and gather meaning from this type of figurative language.  Students can also work in groups after reading the book and develop index cards that cover the who, what, when, where, why of the characters and events.  Extra copies of the book will be needed. 

Assessment: McLerran's book lends itself nicely to lessons on history, science, and humanities.  Assessment will vary based on the focus of the teacher and the lessons. 

Reflection: Roxaboxen is, to this day, one of the best children's books that I have ever read.  Its story is enduring, creative, unique, yet relatable, and unforgettable.  It is a "celebration of the active imagination, of the ability of children to create, even with the most unpromising materials, a world of fantasy so real an dmultidimensional that it earns a lasting place in memory" (Roxaboxen, 1992).  As a child, I wanted to go to Roxaboxen.  I wanted to play like the kids in Roxaboxen did.  I wanted to build something like the kids in Roxaboxen.  I was not the only person who loved the story and images created by McLerran and Cooney.  This was also my parents' favorite book to read me.  Perhaps it brought them back to a simpler time, a time of joyous friendship, a time with no worries or responsibilities; childhood.  In fact, my father and I sat on the couch the night before I left for college and he read Roxaboxen to me.  As you can see, if you bought Roxaboxen it would not be a book that sat on the shelf collecting dust.  It would be a book that would be revisited again and again. 

Polar the Titanic Bear

 Polar the Titanic Bear

Written by Daisy Corning Stone Spedden

Illustrated by Laure McGaw

Published in 1994

Gravel Level: 3rd-5th grade

 

Synopsis: Margaretta "Daisy" Spedden had booked passage on the Titanic in April of 1912.  She was to travel with her husband, Frederic, and her son Douglas.  Douglas brought with him his most treasured belonging; that was Polar, his stuffed animal.  Years later, Daisy wrote Polar the Titanic Bear, a fictionalized version of her family's experiences on the Titanic.  She tells the story from the point of view of the bear.  It begins as Polar is being sewn together in a shop and then put on a shelf in F.A.O Schwartz, a famous toy store in New York City.  Polar is left on the shelves for weeks until a woman purchases him and gives him to her nephew as departing gift.  Polar, his master, and master's family set sail on the Caronia for Madeira, an island near Portugal.  This is their home for many months until the family returns to New York for the winter months and up to Bar Harbor, Maine for the summer.  For years Polar travel with Master and his family to many different interesting places around the world.  In the spring of 1912, they board the Titanic, the most luxurious ship of all time.  Together, Polar and Master explore the huge ship until one cold night the ship struck an iceberg and people had to be loaded onto the life boats.  Polar is lifted safely onto a life boat with Master and Master's mother and nurse.  The Carpathia comes and rescues the people from the life boats, but Polar is left behind.  Eventually, a sailor finds him and reunites him with his owner.  Polar is eternally grateful to be back in the arms of Douglas, his master and friend. 

Theme/Skill: The theme of the book is friendship and love, yet the book could be used to demonstrate to students the element of personification.  The book also lends itself effortlessly to the study of history and the Titanic.  The teacher should help students to see that complicated events or ideas, such as the sinking of the Titanic, can be easier to understand if they are fictionalized into a children's story. 

Pre-reading activity: Introduce the term 'personification' to students.  Ask them what the root word is.  They will notice that 'person' is at the root of the term.  Have them tell you what they think the word means until they form the correct definition.  Give them a worksheet that has ten sentences on it, several that use personification.  Give students time to read the sentences, but do not let them write anything yet.  Call on students individually to read the sentence and tell you if that sentence uses personification and why.  Tell them that a good way to remember personification is to think of animated Disney movies because they all use personification.  This activity will not take long.  The next topic to introduce should be the Titanic.  Show students images, video clips, and facts about the Titanic to help them understand and see the significance of this ship's place in history. 

Post-reading activity: Because the teacher has guided students' discussion throughout the reading of the story, students should be able to choose something from their own life that they have a similar connection to (like Polar and Douglas).  Students will be given a significant amount of time to write in their journals about a toy or inanimate object that they care for.  Within the next few days, students will conference with the teacher to refine their journal writing into a final copy.  Students will then choose a part from their writing that they want to share with the class and bring in the object/thing that they wrote about to share as well. 

Assessment: Students will be assessed on their ability to use personification in their own writing.  This may be a challenge to some students because this writing assignment requires students to write from perspective other than their own.  Students will be assessed on spelling, grammar, and punctuation as well their organization of plot.   

Reflection: Polar the Titanic Bear is told from the perspective of a stuffed animal.  As a child, this always fascinated me because I believed that when I was not looking my toys came to life.  I believed that they had thoughts and feelings of their own (I am sure that I was not alone in thinking these things).  This book is intriguing because it tells about the sinking of the Titanic from a perspective that has never been seen before.  As readers, we were not alive when the Titanic sank, but we have learned about it from other people's accounts and points of view.  We hear facts and hear stories from people who survived the crash and historians who have devoted their time to learning about Titanic.  How fascinating it is to read Spedden's account of the Titanic from the perspective of her son's treasured stuffed animal. 

Miss Rumphius

Miss Rumphius

Written and Illustrated by Barbara Cooney

Published in 1982

Grade Level: 2nd-3rd grade

Synopsis: Winner of the American Book Award, Miss Rumphius is a story about Alice Rumphius, otherwise known as the Lupine Lady.  Alice used to sit on her grandfather's knee and listen to stories of far off places.  As a result, Alice wanted to travel the world.  She wanted to live by the sea, just as her grandfather had done.  One night her grandfather tells her that there is a third thing that she must do.  He tells her that she must make the world a more beautiful place.  Alice nods her head, but she did not know yet what that could be.  Alice grew up and moved to a city far from the sea.  She worked as a librarian and people called her Miss Rumphius.  She visits a tropical island and meets the Bapa Raja and his wife.  She climbed tall mountains, traveled across deserts, rode on a camel in Egypt, and then went to make her home near the sea.  Every morning she watched the sun rise and thought how beautiful it was.  How can I make the world a more beautiful place she kept thinking.  One day, an idea hit her, she would plant lupines all over the countryside.  Some people called her That Crazy Old Lady.  At the end of the story when Alice is a very old woman she tells her great niece that she too must make the world a more beautiful place. 

Theme/Skill: The obvious theme of Miss Rumphius is to do good deeds and leave the world a better place than it was when you came into it.  The character of Alice has such good intentions to make the world a better place that she should be used as an example of of generosity and philanthropy. 

Pre-reading activity: The teacher could create a poster or Power Point presentation with the faces of people living in our modern world who are known for their good deeds.  Faces that students may recognize are Oprah, Mother Teresa, Bill Gates, John Wood, Bill and Hilary Clinton, and Brad Pitt.  (The 25 Best Givers is an article that the teacher could pull information from.  It may have to be reworded or condensed in order for students to understand it.)  Students will see what these people have in common, which will then lead to the introduction of the term philanthropy.  Based on the discussion about The 25 Best Givers, the students will come up with synonyms for the new vocabulary term.  After students seem to have a grasp on the term, ask them to predict how they think philanthropy will play a part in Miss Rumphius. 

Post-reading activity: While reading the book pause and discuss with students how Miss Rumphius was working alone, but as a member of a community.  What community job did she hold? How did she help people? When she traveled, did she become part of other communities?  These types of questions will increase understanding.  Talk about what a community is and what kinds of communities are in their own lives.  For instance, students may be a part of several communities such as a school community, a neighborhood community, a church community, a national community, etc.  Now have students brainstorm ideas for making their own community a better place.  This will eventually be something that the teacher and students do together. 

Assessment: Students will be informally assessed on their ideas for making the world a better place.  Each student will write their idea on a piece of paper and submit it to the teacher before the discussion.  This is to ensure that students are thinking about the problem and working on developing a solution. 

Reflection: Yet again Barbara Cooney has written a wonderful story about nature and the goodness of people.  This was one of my favorite books as a child and it still is to this day.  My parents must have seen the positive qualities in Cooney's books because their are about a dozen books on our shelves with her name attached to it as either an author, an illustrator, or both.  The story is one that a parent can enjoy reading with their child or a teacher with their students.  The book lends itself nicely to a variety of teaching ideas, but more importantly its message may inspire young readers to somehow make the world a better place.

Lupines like the ones planted by Miss Rumphius

The Little Match Girl

The Little Match Girl

Written by Hans Christian Andersen

Illustrated by Rachel Isadora

Published in 1987

Grade Level: 2nd-4th

Synopsis: This version of The Little Match Girl is an interpretation Hans Christian Andersen's classic tale published in 1845.  It is about a young girl who wonders the streets alone trying to sell matches.  Most days, the little girl sells no matches and is left tired and starving.  One day, she loses her shoes that had once been worn by her mother so she is left to walk barefoot in the cold snow.  She decides that it is best not to go home, for if she does her father will most certainly beat her for selling no matches.  Instead of going home she curls up in outside corner of a house and decides to light a match to warm her hands.  When she does this she has a vision that she is sitting in front of a big stove.  Before she can warm her feet by the fire the match goes out and the stove disappears.  The girl lights a second match and while it is burning the vision of a wonderful New Year's Eve dinner appears to her.  The roast goose and the entire table of food disappears when the match burns out.  When the little girl lights a third match a beautiful lighted Christmas tree appears before her with the most beautiful decorations that she has ever seen.  As she reaches out to touch one of the ornaments, the match goes out and the tree disappears.  Just then, the girl looks up in the sky and sees a shooting star, which meant that someone is dying.  "When a star falls, a soul is going up to God," is what her grandmother used to tell her.  The girl lights a forth match and in the light of the match appears her grandmother.  The little girl begs her grandmother to take her with her because she knows that as soon as the match goes out that her grandmother will disappear.  Her grandmother scoops her up in her arms and together they soar into the sky where there is no more pain, hunger, or pain, just light and joy. 

Theme/Skill: With young students it may not be appropriate or necessary to talk about death or God as they are mentioned in the story.  Perhaps it would be more relevant and age appropriate to talk to students about weather, feelings, time period, and chronological order instead.

Pre-reading activities: Show the students the picture in the book.  Allow them to predict what they think will happen next and infer meaning from the images.  Write down their predictions so that they can refer to them during the reading of the story.  Talk to students about weather; seasons, rain, snow, hot, cold, and what people typically wear depending on the weather.  Bring this up again as you are reading to point out to students what the little match girl is wearing and how it might effect her physically and emotionally.  For younger students you may have a laminated cut out doll of the little match girl character along with clothing.  Have the students dress the girl so that she is warm. 

Post-reading activities: The teacher should ask students comprehension questions that will spark students' thinking.  Not only will this help students to better understanding the various elements that make up the story, but also build their ability to ask these questions on their own when reading.  Why does the little girl have matches?  Why are matches important?  What do they represent?  Students need to recognize the importance of the matches and their representation/symbolism of light, warmth, goodness, and peace.  This may lead into a lesson on fire safety.  At the end, show Disney's version of The Little Match Girl. 

Assessment: Students will be informally assessed on the character webs that they make about the main character.  After previewing the book, discussing, listening to the story, and watching the short film version, the students will write whether or not they believe that the visions that the little girl saw were real or only her imagination.  Students will have to provide rationale and reasoning to support their opinion. 

Reflection: Like all versions of The Little Match Girl, this one, illustrated by Rachel Isadora, is heart-wrenching.  As a I read the book again for the first time in years I became angry and sad; angry at the girl's father for abusing her, angry at the villagers who ignored her, and sad that she was alone, cold, and hungry.  Nevertheless, with this story comes the feeling of hope.  At the end, the little girl finds peace and serenity; no longer does she have to suffer unnecessarily.  In the end, the reader is left feeling relief for the main character.  The attachment you will feel to this character is enduring and reason enough to read this story. 

Island Boy

Island Boy

Written and Illustrated by Barbara Cooney

Published in 1988

Grade Level: 4th grade

Synopsis: Island Boy is the story of a Matthias, a boy born on Tibbetts Island on the east coast of Maine.  Matthias' father had moved their with his wife and three oldest children after he had cleared the land, dug the well, and built the house.  As time passed, the family grew, but no one was as attached to the island as Matthias.  As an adult, Matthias traveled as a cabin boy on his uncle's ship called the Six Brothers, to distant cities, such as Boston, New York City, and Philadelphia.  He saw many places and met many kind people, yet Tibbetts Island was always in his mind and in his heart.  On his return journey home, Matthias meets a schoolmistress named Hannah.  Together, they start a family on Tibbetts Island and watch their daughters grow up, marry, and eventually leave the island.  As an old man, Matthias tells his grandson the stories of his childhood, the history of the island, and his trips back and forth to the mainland.  One day, Matthias does not return from his trip to the sea and so it is that he dies an old man at home with his ocean, his island, and his memories.  Dozens of family and friends return to Tibbetts Island to honor his death. 

Theme/Skill: The theme of the story surrounds Matthias, the main character.  Matthias always remembers his home and what it means to him even though he spends time traveling to other places.  The story of his life is a model for others to always stay true to themselves; their passions and what makes them happy. 

Pre-reading activity: Because the title of the book is Island Boy students would learn the definition of the term island and about the geography of Tibbetts Island in particular.  Students will identify the location of the island on a map and learn about the climate on the island, water temperature, means of travel from the island to the main land, and plant and animal life on the island.  The teacher will create a Webquest about islands in general and the islands on the map in Cooney's book.  Students will work with partners or in groups of three to answer a series of knowledge, comprehension, application, and analysis questions about the topic. 

Post-reading activity: Students could learn about how lobstering and fishing are important to the economy of some coastal cities.  The teacher could share with students a newspaper article about the dangers of pollution and its effects on sea life.  The teacher could break the students in to groups with other students with similar reading capabilities.  In their groups, students would read about different types of pollution such as air pollution, water pollution, and the destruction of natural resources (rain forests, coal, oil).  Students will answer comprehension questions in their groups and then share out with the rest of the class about their article. 

Assessment: It is important that students learn to compromise and share responsibilities.  That is why students will be informally assessed on a scale of one to four based on how well they work with the people in their group. 

Reflection: Two time Caldecott winner Barbara Cooney has created a story that is sure to intrigue young readers.  She writes about "a life dedicated to family and community and rooted in the land.  Drawn from history and from the heart, Island Boy is both a rich celebration of individual achievement and a beautiful evocation of the people and places that have become part of the New England landscape" (Island Boy book jacket).  This resonates with me as someone who has spent time in Maine from the first month I was born.  I don't know how to describe it to someone who has never been there, but life in Maine is different than life here in New York.  Not different in a huge way, but different in the sense that things seem more relaxed and connected to nature.  Read Island Boy and visit Maine in order to experience the true beauty of Barbara Cooney's story. 

Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night

Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night

Written by Joyce Sidman

Illustrated by Rick Allen

Published in 2010

Grade Level: 5th-8th

Synopsis: Joyce Sidman presents a collection of twelve poems that celebrates the wonder, mystery, and danger of the night and describes the many things that hide in the dark. From the tiniest snails to the mightiest oak tree, her poetry presents a typical night as animals and plants stir, eat, grow, and then fall back to sleep with the setting of the moon.The information is intended for young audiences, featuring little-known facts like “most orb spiders eat their damaged webs” or “young snails add a layer to their shells each night.” Dark Emperor has a very interesting layout because on the left side of the page there is a poem and on the right side is a more in-depth description of the poem. The right side included more details and vocabulary describing how night creatures use their senses to move through their world.


Theme/Skill: Nature, art, and poetry are presented wonderfully in this book by Sidman and Allen.  The poems are about a variety of animals that thrive and come alive in the night.  Teachings could use this book to teach the from the science aspect (habitats/ecosystems, life cycles, species, nocturnal animals, etc), the art aspect (how the images were created and various ways to create art such as drawing, painting, carving, metalwork, etc), or the poetry aspect (rhyming couplets to free verse).  The book lends itself nicely to a variety of topic areas. 

Pre-reading activities: In order to help students become more comfortable and familiar with poetic terms, the teacher will guide students as they generate meaning from one of Joyce Sidman's poems from Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night.  The teacher will choose one poem, perhaps "Welcome to the Night," to read to the students.  After the reading, the students will share how they feel about the poem and what they noticed about it.  The teacher will then put a copy of the poem on the projection screen and give all students a copy of the poem.  With guidance and modeling from the teacher, students will identify poetic elements such as rhyme, rhythm, and imagery.  Students will make notes on their copy of the poem that will act as a reference for the next poems. 

Post-reading activities: This book may interest children from a range of ages, however, the context and teachable material in the book may be more appropriate for students in upper elementary school and middle school.  The teacher could assign a project that would relate to science, art, and poetry (English Language Arts).  Students could choose an animal or plant mentioned in the book and complete a research paper about that topic.  They would also have to create some sort of artistic representation of their research topic whether it be a poster, collage, painting, sculpture, etc.  Students must also write a poem about their subject of choice in which they include facts through elements of poetry.

Assessment: Students will be graded on their research paper, artistic representation, and poem.  The research paper will be graded on spelling/grammar, flow, structure, proper citations, and clarity of writing.  The poem will be graded on how well the student has included the factual information into their writing.  The poem should be informative, yet it should follow some structure whether it be ABBA, prose, multiple haikus, iambic pentameter, etc. 

Reflection: I had to do a project about the Newbery Award and books that have won or been named as honor books.  In my research I came across many books that had won the award over the past ninety years.  All the books that have been chosen have been wonderful additions to children's literature, yet none struck me as unique as Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night.  The setup of the book is what most intrigued me.  As a teacher, I immediately noticed the versatility of the content of the book.  Not only could this book be used in several grade levels, but in a variety of subjects as well.  The ability of the book to connect to art, science, and poetry is my favorite thing about this award winning book.  Students could learn about through this book in different settings and from different points of view and genres.  Science, art, and English teachers need to grab a copy as soon as possible!

Christmas In Water Village

 Christmas in Water Village

Written by Christine Maxfield

Illustrated by Jean Colquhoun

Published in 1989

Grade Level: 3rd grade 

Synopsis: Christmas in Water Village is a wonderfully illustrated book narrated by Patience Jewell.  Patience lives in a quaint town in Northern New England called Water Village.  It is the early part of the 1800s and she lives with her parents and younger brother named Joshua.  The reader is under the impression that Patience is telling the story as a grown woman who is reflecting on a particular time from her childhood.  It is Christmastime (her favorite time of the year) when a new girl, Hannah, enters the one room schoolhouse in Water Village.  The children are curious about Hannah, but have a hard time befriending her because "she would only look down at her feet, her honey colored hair falling over her face."  The festivities of the holiday season soon distract the other children who soon forget about the new girl.  Patience and Joshua's mother tells them that Hannah is so sad because her father, Captain Fisher, has been lost at sea for months.  Patience and Joshua soon befriend Hannah.  One night, Patience wishes on a star that Captain Fisher will return home to her friend and he does.  At the end of the story, Hannah and Patience are both old women and still the best of friends. 

Theme/Skill:This would be a great text to use to teach children about friendship; how to be a good friend and why people need friendship.  Students should be able to identify what made Patience and Joshua good friends to Hannah as well as what makes their own friends good companions.

Pre-reading activities: Christine Maxfield wrote Christmas in Water Village in the twentieth century, yet it takes place during the 1820s, nearly two hundred years ago.  Teach students about the time period.  Let them see how people dressed, how they lived, jobs they had, and how school/education was set up.  Bring in props that students can touch and handle while you talk about them.  Show students where Water Village is on a map.  Show them pictures of how the town looks today.  This will provide a visual reference in students' minds.  Make compare and contrast charts such as Venn Diagrams that act as a visual aid for students to see the similarities and differences between the culture apparent in the book and how things are now (talk about the difference in jobs, homes, school).

Post-reading activities: Students should know what details and descriptions are necessary for good writing.  The teacher should choose a character from another book that all students are familiar with.  The teacher will model how to create a character outline using some sort of graphic organizer.  Students will help the teacher choose details about that character; what they look like, how they act, hobbies, friends/family, characteristics, personality.  After this activity, students will choose any two characters from the book and complete a character chart for each.  

Assessment: Character maps will not be formally assessed student answers because answers will vary, yet students should have the general idea.  What will be assessed is how well they were able to identify details about characters.  The goals is for students to be able to pick out detail choose descriptive words to describe a character because they are going to to have to create three characters of their own in order to write their own Christmastime story. 

Reflection: Even though the book is called Christmas in Water Village it is not primarily about the Christian holiday.  It is about caring, friendship, understanding, and compassion; all of which are positive traits for young children to learn.  If a teacher wants to use this book then perhaps they should emphasize it as a book about friendship rather than holiday reference.  Some parents may oppose the book, but a teacher could defend it by emphasizing its other positive qualities.  People like books for many different reasons.  I, for instance, initially was drawn to this book because one of the character's shared her name with me.  For a child/student, something as simple as that can draw their attention.  As an adult/teacher, it is our job to teach students the deeper elements of a story so that they can understand it in terms of how it connects to their own lives.

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

Written by Judith Viorst

Illustrated by Ray Cruz

Published in 1972

Grade Level: 3rd-4th grade

Synopsis: From the moment Alexander wakes up with gum in his hair, things just do not go the way he would like them to.  When Alexander gets out of bed, he trips on the skateboard and drops his sweater into the sink while the water was running.  At breakfast, Alexander's brothers, Anthony and Nick reach into their cereal boxes and find amazing prizes while Alexander ends up with just the cereal.  The terrible, horrible things to not stop for little Alexander.  On the way to school, he doesn't get the window seat and when he gets to school his teacher, Mrs. Dickens doesn't like his picture of the invisible castle (which is actually just a blank sheet of paper).  She criticizes his singing while his friend, Paul, doesn't play with him.  There is no dessert in Alexander's lunch.  After school, his mother takes him to the dentist, who informs them that Alexander has a cavity.  Furthermore, Alexander's foot gets caught in the elevator door, his brother Anthony accidentally pushes him into some mud, his brother, Nick, calls him a crybaby, and their mother punishes him for trying to punch Nick.  The shoe store is sold out of Alexander's choice of sneakers (blue ones with red stripes).  A his father's office, Alexander makes a mess of things when he fools around with the copy machine, the books, and the telephone.  At home, the family has lima beans for dinner (which he hates), he gets soap in his eyes during his bath, and he has to wear his least favorite pajamas to bed.  At bedtime, his nightlight burns out, he bites his tongue, Nick takes his pillow, and the family cat chooses to sleep with Anthony.  Throughout the story Alexander has been saying how he wants to move to Australia so at the end, his mother assures him that everybody has bad days, even people who live in Australia.

Theme/Skill: The theme of a lesson or unit about this book could be one about conflict resolution.  The teacher could create activities that required students to think, speak, and write about what they would do in certain situations.  Teacher should help students learn how to deal with frustrations and other feelings. 

Pre-reading activities: Choose five to ten vocabulary words from the book that you believe would be unfamiliar or challenging to students.  The teacher could type or hand write the words onto construction paper and cut them into fun shapes.  Before reading the book, the teacher should pull out the vocabulary words and ask the students what the words mean.  Put the word on a bulletin board and write related words (synonyms) below each new term.  This would allow for students to reference the words while the teacher is reading the story. 

Post-reading activities: After reading this book with the class, the teacher could talk with students about what made Alexander's day "terrible, horrible, no good," and "very bad."  The teacher can ask students what could have happened to improve Alexander's day.  The teacher could then show the film version of Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day to students.  Students can share personal experiences with the teacher and peers.  The teacher could then have students write and illustrate what their own terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day would be like.  The story should begin when they get up in the morning and continue until bedtime.  The stories can be made into books with a cover pages ad staples.  Students who struggle with writing can dictate stories to the teacher individually or in small groups.

Assessment: The teacher should make sure that the students' drawings match the meaning from the text.  It is important for students to make the connection between image and text.  This aspect of their writing will be assessed as will their understanding of the theme.  The theme should be apparent to students after discussion about the book, film, and writing assignment. 

Reflection: Every person, young or old, has wished to be somewhere other than where they are.  The fact that Alexander wishes he was in Australia is similar to how I wished I could be in an enchanted castle like Belle from Disney's Beauty and the Beast.  Alexander is a good kid who just happens to have a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.  We have all had those days when it seems as though nothing will ever go our way.  If you are ever feeling down about the darker parts of your own day, pick up Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day because you will see that you are not the only one.  Things will get better.  Nothing is perfect...not even in Australia. 

The Story About Ping

 

The Story About Ping

Written by Marjorie Flack

Illustrated by Kurt Wiese

Published in 1933

Grade Level: 2nd-4th grade

  

Synopsis: Ping, the title character in The Story About Ping, is a duck living on the Yangtze River in China.  Each morning Ping leaves the riverboat with his family to swim and explore along the river.  Each night Ping and is family, which is made up of his parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, and forty-two cousins, are supposed to return to the riverboat.  The duck that is the last one on the riverboat gets a spanking.  Ping never likes to be last so one evening he hides all night in the tall grasses in the river.  When the sun rises Ping sees that the riverboat is nowhere in sight, but he does see a little boy who has fallen off a houseboat.  The boy clings to Ping until the boy's father school them out of the water.  Ping is put in a cage to hold him until he is to be cooked for dinner.  Before that can happen, the boy frees Ping who eventually finds his family and home again. 

Theme/Skill: The before, during, and after reading activities surrounding this children's story all relate to similarities in people's (or ducks) feelings.  The theme of this lesson should be unity; no matter the appearance, location, culture, age, or gender of a person we all have similar hopes and fears.  Discussion and lessons about the Chinese culture and Ping's feelings will help students understand that appearance should not dictate attitude. 

Pre-reading activity: Have students write for five minutes about how they would feel if they got lost or separated from their family.  Students may write based on their own experiences or predict how they would feel.  The teacher will share a time when they were lost or separated in order to ignite the discussion.  This sort of modeling will also express to the students that the teacher is not just a teacher, but a person as well.  Students will share their feelings and experiences and the teacher will inform students that they should notice how Ping, the main character, feels when a similar situation occurs in his life.  This will give students a purpose and something to look for as they read and/or listen. The teacher could also make a KWL chart about Chinese culture based on responses from students. 

Post-reading activity: The teacher could introduce elements of the Chinese culture to students initiated by a discussion of the appearances of the humans in the story (clothing, physical characteristics).  Students can point out the similarities and differences between the people in the book and themselves.  The teacher could also show students where China and the Yangtze River are on the map.  The teacher might ask students to identify what kinds of animals live in a river and what people do in a river.  During these discussions, the teacher should write student responses down on large chart paper so students can see their responses and reference them later.  A Webquest could be created for students to further research China, culture, and facts about the Yangtze River.   

Assessment: Students will be graded, in part, on their participation.  Participation is, to an extent, a good indicator of what students know and how they are interpreting the topic at hand.  This only works if the students are participating.  Students could also be assessed on how well they work with a partner on the Webquest, cooperating and sharing responsibilities as they fill out the worksheet about China, its culture, and facts about the Yangtze River.

Reflection: Marjorie Flack and Kurt Wiese created a wonderful story in The Story About Ping.  The colors in the illustrations are calming and inviting with the use of cool colors of blues and grays.  Readers can relate to Ping because every person has been at the back of the line at some point in their life; every person has felt left out or not good enough.  So no matter a person's age, I am confident when I say that any reader will enjoy reading or listening to The Story About Ping.