Welcome! This blog evaluates children's and adolescent's literature in order to help parents, teachers, and book lovers of all kind to make thoughtful decisions about the books that they are reading and sharing with the children in their lives.
This is the story of a boy who notices an injured bird on the ground in a city full of people, and no one else even notices. He takes the bird home and nurses it back to health.
I really enjoyed this book. I would give this book a 25/32. This book really lacks diversity and it seems so silly to me because in a big city like they live in, there should be a lot more people represented other than just Caucasian. The plot is interesting and the story carries a nice message of kindness and compassion, which is one reason why I like this book. The book is really culturally relevant as well in a time when we are all in such a hurry that we often do not to stop and think about nature and how our small acts of kindness can help to change the world.I would recommend this book for grades Kindergarten through 4.
When Ojiisan, a wise, old man in the town who is well-respected and humble. When he realizes that there is going to be a tsunami, he sacrifices something of great importance to the people, in order to save them.
I would give this book a 31/32. This book takes place in Japan and tells the story of how a man saved his village from a tsunami. The illustrations in this book are creative and intriguing collages, however, I wonder if some of the images are stereotypical of Japanese people. However, the protagonist is a wise rice farmer in Japan, making this a great book to have if your looking to add some books with diversity to your home or classroom. The story line is engaging and the social message is one of helping those in your community, a positive message for every school to teach. This book is culturally relevant because natural disasters like tsunamis could happen at any time and it is important to teach students (of an appropriate age of course) about topics such as this. I would recommend this book for 2 through 5 grade.
Fable Comics is a collection of fables re-told in this graphic novel. This compilation of fables was created with by 26 contributors.
I would give this book a 25/30. This is a really fun book that many kids will love. I wouldn't really consider this book to be diverse. However, I do think that this book is really culturally relevant and the illustrations are stunning, in that each fable is made different from the last. The book may not fit my criteria super well of what I would consider to be high quality literature very well, however this book is still really wonderful to have to engage those readers in the classroom who enjoy graphic novels, and to support learning in multiple ways. This book would also be great to compare to the original story and try to figure out how the creators took the original stories and made them into these great short comic fables. I would recommend this book for 3rd through 7th grade.
Abuela takes you on a journey as young girl imagines herself and her grandmother flying over the streets of Manhatten.
I would give this book a 30/32. This is a beautiful book that takes you on a journey with a girl and her grandmother who she adores very much, who came to America from another country. What I like most about this book is it celebrates her grandmother and her grandmother's culture. Too often we give students and children the impression that they should leave their family's culture behind in order to be a "worthy citizen" and I think that this book celebrates their own family culture, while also celebrating being in America. The main characters are diverse and the storyline is well-constructed. There isn't a ton of character development through out the story, however, there are really positive messages about family. I think that this book is really culturally relevant for children, as there are children within our classroom whose family may have come to America within the past couple of generations. I really like that the author decided to do this book in Spanglish, showing a mixture of cultures.
This story is a folktale of a coyote who wants to eat a sheep, and a sheep who can outsmart him.
I would give this story a 27/32. I really enjoyed the illustrations and color used in this book. The book definitely had a great story line that reminded me very much of other folk tales that I have read, but this one is bilingual, which is really great for helping to have a diverse collection of books for children to read. I think that children would definitely be engaged in the story line of this book. This book shows some diversity in that the lamb (referred to as a she) outsmarts the wolf who is trying to eat her. In this way, it still portrays 'she' in a more positive light and having a protagonist type role in a book. Character development and cultural relevance were both okay, but there are some bilingual books out there that are of an even higher quality for children. Nonetheless, I think that this is a great book to have in the classroom or at home, and it teaches kids a few words in Spanish in this Spanglish book.
Here are some literary elements to look for in the book:
Onomatopoeia: "Coyote shook the water off of his fur, freh, freh, freh."
Conflict and Solution: There are many conflicts that the sheep faces with the coyote and each time she find a new solution.
For a mini lesson: Explore problem and solution with students by using this book and the problem the the sheep faces of the coyote wanting to each her, and all of the ways that the sheep comes up with to solve this problem.
Personification: The main coyote and the sheep in this book possess human like qualities because they can talk to one another.
Catching the Moon is the story of a young girl who wants to be a baseball player. With little to no support from her family, she has to prove her skills in order to catch the attention of a coach who is going to coach a team right in her neighborhood. she faces discrimination because she is a girl, but in the end, she proves that she can do anything that she puts her mind to.
I LOVED this book. I would give this book a 31/32. The illustrations in this book are fantastic, the book features diversity of characters, there is character development among multiple characters that can be traced through the story the grammar and vocabulary is wonderful and is quite broad for a children's book. But the best thing about this book to me, was the diversity, the achievement of a diverse character, and the messages that this book sends to readers, and especially to young girls that you can overcome stereotypes and that you can overcome obstacles. The girl was so good at baseball, but her parents wished that she didn't love it so much, but that didn't stop her. There are messages such as friendship, perseverance, and acceptance, that are such important messages for kids to hear.
Here are some literary elements to consider:
Beginning, Middle, and End: In the beginning, the girl wanted to be a baseball player, even though she didn't have a lot of support. In the middle, she finds out about a baseball coach who will be starting a team in her neighborhood, but that she can't be in it because she is a girl. In the end, she proves that she is worthy enough to be on the team, and the coach helps her to get the supplies that she needs to play baseball on the team.
Title and Subtitle: Explore the title: Catching the Moon, and the subtitle, The Story of a Young Girl's Dream, and discuss why the author decided to use a title and subtitle.
Conflict and Solution: There are multiple conflicts and solutions through the book.
For a mini lesson on conflict and solution, give children each a different conflict from the book and have them draw and write what the solution was.
Mercy Watson Thinks Like a Pig is the story of Mercy, the Watson's pet pig, who gets into trouble by eating the neighbors flowers that they had just planted. When the neighbor, Eugenia, calls animal control, Eugenia's sister Baby tried to warn the Watson's about their beloved pig and animal control coming to get Mercy. However, Mercy is nowhere to be found. This is the silly story, which in the end, brings the neighbors together to enjoy some toast, including Mercy of course.
I would give this book a 21/32. I really enjoy Kate DiCamillo's writing style and I thought that this book and the idea of a silly pet pig like Mercy is adorable, however, I wouldn't consider this book to be of high quality necessarily. It is still a cute read and I can definitely understand why many kids that I work with like these books.
This book really lacked the element of diversity, and the story line was good, but I wouldn't say that it involved achievements of any kind, really. There is not a lot of character development, and not really any social messages for affirming our children. The grammar in this book is appropriate. I would say that the cultural relevance of this book isn't really there either. Although I wouldn't consider this to be a work of high quality literature necessarily, I think that the Mercy Watson books are entertaining and funny, which makes them enjoyable for kids, and there is no reason that kids shouldn't be reading books such as Mercy Watson. I just do not think that they are books that I would use in the classroom for lessons or anything like that.
Here are some literary elements:
Text to match meaning: Whenever the characters are yelling something loudly, the font gets bigger, for example...
"Pig, Pig, Pig!" This shows that the yelling is getting louder and louder.
Beginning, Middle, and End: In the beginning of the book, Mercy ate the neighbors flowers. In the middle of the book, animal control was looking for Mercry, but Mercy was at a tea party, and at the end of the book, all is forgiven and they eat toast together.
Onomatopoeia:" "Erf?" said the dog."
For a mini lesson on onomatopoeia, use this book as an example for some onomatopoeia. Have students come up with other noises that they might hear in a book and record them on the board. Next, have students write a sentence using an onomatopoeia.
When the sun goes missing, all of the animals go looking for the sun, but all give up except one lizard. This folktale celebrate the lizard finding the sun and bringing sunlight back to the community.
I gave this book a 24/32. This book features beautiful illustrations are beautiful, although I cannot positively say that the images are not stereotypical and would love to hear thoughts on this from anyone who has read this book and knows more about this. There are some diversity of character, and a mixture of animal and people characters who interact, however, the lizard, who is referred to as a 'she' has to get help from the emperor, a male, which seemed stereotypical to me. The story line is definitely interesting and one that kid would probably like. This book really doesn't contain character development, in fact the characters seem rather flat. The grammar and language is definitely fine, however, all of the book is in English and Spanish, but the English pages always comes first. This may send the wrong message to children in our classes or lives for whom Spanish is their first language, that English is more important than the language of their home, which is not the impression that I would want students to have. There is some cultural relevance to this book, as it is based off of an indigenous folktale, however, i'm not sure how accurate this portrayal is to the original. I would recommend this book for grades kindergarten through 3.
Here are some literary elements:
Personification: The animals in the story talk to each other and with the emperor.
Onomatopoeia: "Tock, tock, tock went the woodpecker's beak..."
Beginning, Middle, and End: In the beginning, the sun is gone and the animals are looking for the sun, but they all give up until it is only the lizard. In the middle, the lizard finds a shiny rock and the lizard, the emperor, and the woodpecker find the sun sleeping inside. At the end, the sun will only stay awake if there is music, dancing and festivals, which turns into a tradition.
For a mini lesson on beginning, middle, and end, share with students the beginning, middle, and end of this story, and practice sharing out loud with other stories as well. Finally, have students try to identify the beginning, middle, and end on their own.
This beginning chapter book tells multiple stories about some experiences that owl has at home.
I decided to pick up this book and read it because it sounded familiar and I was curious what the book was like. Plus, I've been looking at a lot of newer children's books, and I wanted to take a look at an older one.
This book is hard to evaluate with the rubric that I created because it focuses more on people and whether or not the book is diverse, and, well, Owl is an animal of course. With that being said, this book does not fit well into a classroom that wants more multicultural or diverse books.With that being said, I with that being said, I only gave this book about a score of 19/32.The stories are pretty flat, and there really isn't character development. There aren't social messages in the book either, in fact I found some of the stories rather strange. For example, one of the chapters is about how Owl thinks about things that are sad to him, and then cries into a tea kettle, and makes tea with his tears! I simply do not find this book to be culturally relevant or diverse, and probably not a necessary book to have in the classroom. Never the less, I would not say that it is a 'bad' book or not appropriate, I just wouldn't necessarily consider it to be of high quality. I would recommend this book for kindergarten or 1st grade.
Some literary elements in the book include:
Personification: In the first chapter, The Guest, the wind is knocking and pounding on the door, giving is human-like characteristics.
Punctuation: For younger kids, this book would be great for looking at basic punctuation including periods, question marks, and exclamation points.
For a mini lesson on punctuation, have students identify what the sentences ends with based on how it is said (inflection). Next, have students practice saying sentences with exclamation points using inflection, ask questions with inflection, and saying sentences that only just end with a period.
When a little girl draws a door in her bedroom with a red marker, it leads her to a brand new land. She finds adventure and trouble waiting for her and her marker. Her act of bravery and kindness helps to get her home, and find a new companion.
I gave this book a 27/32. The pictures in the book are beautiful and engaging, which is good, because there are no words in this book! I think that for this reason, children would love this book and to have the opportunity to fill in the blanks, and write their own story to go along with the pictures. I only gave this book a 2 for the diversity of characters, because although the little girl solves problems and has achievements in the book, all of the characters are of Caucasian decent, even in images that show a big city, which I'm sure would have plenty of diversity in real life. I gave a 3 for many of the categories, such as story line, which is interesting, but also confusing at times. For social message, I also gave a 3 because it does send a positive message to girls that they are capable and can be problem solvers, but I just feel as though it is not a super powerful message in the book. I think that there is some cultural relevance to the story, but not as much as many other books that I have read and posted about in this blog. However, the character development got full points for showing the growth of a character from being bored, to changing that for herself, to saving a creature that she comes across.
I would recommend this book for 1st grade through 5th grade.
Literary elements in this book would be really fun to explore because there are no words! Here are some you may want to explore with children:
Beginning, Middle, and End: This may be a fun way to explore beginning, middle, and end, using only visuals instead of the usual picture books with pictures and text written on the page.
Problem and Solution: What was the problem in this book and how did the girl fix it? There are multiple problems and solutions to look at such as the girl being lonely and so she draws a door to get somewhere else. Another problem is when she sees the birds who is captured, and she solves it by setting it free.
Setting: Setting would be fun to explore in this book, as the character goes from where she lives in a big city to this completely different place with castles and knights.
Mini-lesson on setting: Have students evaluate this book and find as much as they can about the setting, even though the book has no words to tell about the setting. Have students think about how the setting affects the story. What is instead of this palace that she arrives at, she ended up at a public library or inside of a volcano. Have students use their imagination to explore setting and where it could have taken the main character in the book instead.
Every morning, Dad knocks on the door and the boy and his dad play the knock, knock game. But one day his dad stops knocking. The boy wishes that his dad was there to help him as he grows older. The boy gets a note from his father giving him advice to follow as he gets older.
I want to give everyone a fair warning that this book is a tearjerker. I would give this book a 32/32 based on the children's evaluation rubric, which you can find posted on the blog. This is the terribly sad story of a boy who begins by playing a game every morning with his dad, to a boy who has no father there at all. The story line is so well constructed, even though its terrible sad, and it shows a character of a diverse background in a leadership role. The illustrations are LOVELY, featuring collage and water color, and characters are depicted beautifully and in interesting ways. We get to see the boy grow without his father, and his character develops so wonderfully throughout the book. This book has social messages of continuing on through loss or missing someone, which I think is a positive social message, as this is something that many students face. This book is also very culturally relevant this weekend, as students have parents who are not there. At the end of the book, there is an authors note that says that it is about his own life and his dad being incarcerated, and what it is life to grow up with the pain of missing a parent. However, in the book, you cannot tell what happened to the dad necessarily, which makes this book relatable for many students whose parents may be gone in the military, passed away, live separately, or have a parent who is incarcerated, like the boy in the book. I would recommend this book for K through 3rd grade.
Here are some literary elements that you may want to use in this book:
Title and Subtitle: Like multiple other books in this blog, this book also has a title and a subtitle.
Ellipses: "how to dribble, how to shave...[on the next page]...how to drive, how to fix the car."
Colon:"...on my desk, I find a letter from my father:" and "...hear these words".
For a mini lesson on colons: Discuss how colons are used in this book and in other books that contain colons. Next, have students determine what the colon's purpose is and why the author chose to use it. You may also want to look at semi-colons and compare how they are used in books.
Ali likes to play soccer with his friends and listening to loud music, but most of all, he loves writing in calligraphy. He loves the silent music of his pen as it stokes the page and helps to drown out the noise of the war that is happening around him.
I would give this book a 30/32 and here's why. The book had wonderful illustrations that feature calligraphy in Arabic. The book is representative of a boy who lives in Baghdad making this book diverse, and in a positive way. The story line is well-constructed , and though there wasn't a whole lot of character development, it still is a great story. This book is so relevant today, and in times when we often hear negative things about the Middle East, this book gives us a glimpse into the life of a boy who lives there and who is effected by the war. This can help children to understand the impact that war can have on people and children, whether its people in our own country, or people in the country who we may be at odds with. It was brought to my attention that the boys name in the book would really be Muhammad Ali, and that this was left out of the book (He says his name is Ali). This may have been to take out the any religious affiliations in the book in order to focus on the boys experiences, rather than what religion he belongs to. Other than this, the book is credible and shares a wonderful story that can help students to understand how other parts of the world are being impacted by violence, and how this impacts kids too. I would recommend this book to children in 1st through 5th grade. Here are some literary elements to consider teaching: Title and Subtitle: Use this book to help students understand title and subtitle as a part of some books, while some books may only contain a title. Use this books as well as other books to determine if books have a subtitle and a title. Setting: This book has a clear setting. Have students describe the setting of Baghdad by the pictures and descriptions in the book. First Person Point of View: This story is told in the first person point of view. Ali tells that story of his life himself and uses "I" as he tells the story. Mini-lesson in first person point of view: Tell students that this story is in first person point of view, and then have them listen to the story to find out why. After reading the book, see if any students can determine why this book would be considered to be written in first-person point of view. Have students identify other texts with first person point of view. Social Justice Theme: Violence/war
August Pullman is just like any other 5th grader, except that he was born looking different than other children. After being home-schooled through elementary school, Auggie attends a mainstream middle school for the first time. School is no walk in the park for Auggie, but his kindness does not go unnoticed, and he teaches his classmates many valuable lessons.
Whoa. This story is filled with so many positive messages about kindness and how we should be treating EVERYONE, no matter what they look like, after all, its about what's on the inside. I would give this book a 31/32. This book would be most appropriate for 6-8 grade, but is a great read for any high-schooler or adult as well.
The message of this book is golden and much needed in schools and households, and that is a message of kindness. This book also addresses bullying and mistreatment by peers. I only gave the book a rating of 3/4 for language, because in the book, the word 'retarded' is used when Auggie says that he is not retarded to his mom in a heated moment in the book. However, this could lead to a great lesson about this word and why it isn't okay to use it in the context that Auggie used it. After all, he is only a kid who makes mistakes, too. The book has a great storyline and is told from different perspectives, not just Auggie's. The story is definitely engaging and keeps you on your toes. Auggie's character develops a lot as he cannot even imagine going to middle school in the beginning and by the end...well you should just read it. These are the reasons that I gave the book the score that I did. Here are some literary elements that you may wish to explore in this book: Point of View- This book was written in multiple points of view, from close family to friends, to people who you would not have expected. Characterization: How was Auggie characterized throughout the story? For a mini lesson on characterization: As reading this book, have students pick out parts of that book that help to characterize Auggie through descriptions, actions, and interactions with others. This could also lead into conversations about who we are and what we do being more important than what we look like. Symbolism:This book has tons of symbolism to be found, such as the masks that Auggie wears to hid his appearance, as his desire to hide away from the cruel world. Another example would be when he cuts off his padawan braid, representing his legging go of his childhood and sort of "growing up". Social Justice Theme: Disabilities.
No Lexile Measure Found Picture Book. Bilingual. Diverse Protagonist.
A Movie in My Pillow: Una pelicula en mi almohada gives us a glimpse into the childhood of Jorge Argueta and what it was like to come to America as a child during a time of war in his home country of El Salvador. Jorge's poems piece together to tell the story of his experiences, including the changes that he faced, the relationship with his father, and the feeling of having his family back together again. I would give this book a 30/32. The book shoes diverse characters, and more importantly, the achievements of those characters. The illustrations are beautiful and representative of the authors culture. The social messages are very positive and affirming for children, and I think that this book would be especially positive for those who are moving to America from another country. The language is appropriate, and the book is very culturally relevant, as there are children coming to America seeking refuge and they could relate to this book about coming to America from another country. The author is definitely very knowledgeable on this topic as well, because this is an autobiography told through poems. The story line and character development are the only sections that got 3 points based on the rubric. This is because the story line has to be sort of pieced together because it is written in poems. And I also just felt as though there wasn't a lot of character development throughout the story, though there definitely was some. Still a fantastic book that would be a great addition to any classroom or household. I would recommend this book for 1 through 5 grade, or for anyone who is learning Spanish as well! Literary elements in this book:
Text to match meaning: There is one poem called Yo-yo, where the words of the poem follow the stings of the yo-yo and zig-zag around the page. Poetry: Evaluate the poetry and the structures of the poems that Argueta wrote for this book. Also, consider how he wrote a story using poems. Figurative Language: There as metaphors and personification. For example, you can find personification in the poem The Best Guide in Town, "Little city trains that go in and out of the open mouths of mountains"
or metaphors in My Grandma's Stories "Mitas stories are old
like the mountains"
For a mini lesson on metaphors, use this book to show children examples of metaphors, and then have students look for other metaphors as they are reading. Students may want to create a collection of metaphors they can find, or they may want to come up with some of their own.
There's a new girl in school, Maya, who is friendly to everyone. She smiles at them, invites them to play, and is always kind. But no one is kind back. The other students ignore her, and talk about her and the clothes she wears and the food she eats. Then one day, Maya is gone.
This book is so different than many children's books I have read. It is not a book with a happy ending, but it is deep and it is meaningful. It's an important book for children to read in order to understand the full impact of their actions towards others.
I would give this book a 27/32 and this is why. The book has beautiful illustrations, and represent a full range of diversity, however, the book did lack achievement of diverse peoples, and I wouldn't necessarily the messages to be self-affirming, but rather they are critical messages about kindness and acceptance that are really important. I think that this book is very culturally relevant, however, and that the author is knowledgeable and wrote this book with a lot of consideration and thought. I would recommend this book for 2 through 5 grade.
Literary elements in this book include:
Italics: Rather than quotations for speech, this book contains italics. for example-- This is what kindness does, Ms. Albert said.
Beginning, Middle, and End: This book has a clear beginning, middle, and end. In the beginning, a new student comes to school--Maya. In the middle, Maya shows kindness to other students but the students do not show kindness to her. And at the end, Maya is gone, and the main character regrets not being kind to Maya.
Theme: This book has a really important message in it about kindness. The teacher describes kindness as a ripple effect.
For a mini lesson on theme, have the students write what they think the theme or the message of the story is, and write why the theme or message is important. Have students compare the theme to another book about kindness, such as The Quiltmaker's Journey by Jeff Brumbeau, and consider the different ways that the stories convey a similar message. Social Justice Theme: Poverty
Henry is a slave who at at a young age learned that slaves are torn apart from their families. When Henry has his family torn away from him once again, he decides that he must escape. With the help of a man who was against slavery, Henry escapes in his freedom box. Henry's Freedom Box is a lovely book, and in my opinion a must have in the classroom or at home. I gave this book a 32/32 and here's why. This is the true story of a slave named Henry and his experiences as a slave, and how he escaped the terrible life he was being forced to live. The social message in this book is that slavery isn't okay, and to help others who aren't being treated fairly by society. I think that the character development in the book is wonderful, as we get to see Henry grow up and the unfair life that he is faced with, and how he bravely took a chance in order to find freedom. The illustrations are beautiful and it shows a realistic portrayal of the events that took place, at least from my knowledge. I would recommend this book for 1 through 5 grade. Literary elements in this book include: Title and subtitle: Discuss the title Henry's Freedom Box, as well as the subtitle A True Story of the Underground Railroad. For a mini lesson on text features: Discuss the purpose of having a title and a subtitle. Have students bring one book into class that has a title and a subtitle and share the books that they found. Have students create a subtitle for a book that does not have a subtitle. Students may also want to practice writing their own book with a subtitle. Conflict and Solution: This book would be a great book to discuss a conflict and a solution, and to tie it into history lessons about slavery. Questioning: This story contains a lot of questioning in the text, such as Where was Nancy? and But how? These questions are not in quotations as if directed at a character in the story like we usually see.
Jeremy, like most kids, wants the new, stylish shoes that some of his classmates are getting. Jeremy runs into obstacles trying to get a pair, but finally, he finds a pair at a price that he can afford, the only problem is, they're just too small. He buys the shoes anyways, but does not keep them for long, and he learns a lesson about friendship and helping someone in need.
To me, this is a really important book.
This book touches on many important topics and real emotions that we sometimes go through as children, and even as adults. Jeremy does not want to give his shoes away because they mean so much to him, but in the end, he realizes that it's the right thing to do. People in this book are portrayed as diverse in the illustrations, the main character is not of a wealthy family and also lives with his grandmother, representing diversity in families as well as economic status, the story-line is well-written and character growth is clear and positive, the social messages are positive in that we should give to those who need when we have things to give, and of course this is culturally relevant today, as many kids can relate to the feelings that the main character experiences through out the book. For these reasons, I would give this book a 32/32. I would recommend this book for grades 1 through 5.
Literary elements that you may wish to explore in this book are...
Em-dash: Throughout the book, the author uses a lot of em-dashes. This could be used to explore the em-dash and figure out its purpose in writing.
Beginning, Middle, and End: This would be a good story to track the beginning, the middle, and the end, and really take out the most important piece of the text.
Contractions: There aren't a ton of contractions, but there is enough variety to get students thinking about different contractions in texts and what two words are used to make the contraction. Some contractions that you can find in the book are there's, he's, let's, you're, can't, don't, they're, I'm, it's.
For a mini lesson on contractions, I would first read through the book and discuss the book, and the messages of kindness that are in the book. Next, I would re-read the book and have students point out any contractions that we find and write them on the board. After we finish the book, we would go through the contractions that we found and figure out what two words are used to make the contractions. Next, students would brainstorm any other contractions that they have heard or seen in books.
When Alvina's grandmothers take care of her while her parents are out of town, Alvina runs into a problem. One of Alvina's grandmas is from Trinidad, while the other is from England, and even though the both love Alvina they just cannot seem to agree. Alvina comes up with a plan to get her two grannies get along.
I love this book because it represents biracial families, which is not something that I have seen often in literature. I would give this book 31/32. I think that this book is extremely relevant today, and addresses topics such as conflict, diversity, and multiculturalism.
This book shows that two people who are very different can come together for a good cause, in this case to be with their granddaughter, and celebrate each other's cultures and backgrounds and even to learn from one another. Another thing that I really enjoyed about this book is that Alvina realizes the problem and comes up with a solution to help her grannies get along. (You go girl!) I would recommend this book K-3, although it is appropriate for people of all ages.
Here are some literary elements you may want to explore with your students or child:
Speech bubbles: In the book, the illustrator uses speech bubbles sometimes to show what the grannies in the book were saying to one another. Something to have students consider is why the writers chose to have speech bubbles instead of including dialogue in the text? What other books do this and is it effective?
Allusion:At one point in the story, the granny who is from Trinidad tells Alvina a story about Anansi the spider, though there are not a lot of details given about Anansi or the cultural relevance in West Africa and the Caribbean. Have students identify books which allude to something else, such as a person, a historical event, a character from a different book, a painting, ect.
Words to match meaning: The book ends by saying that Alvina's grannies gave her a great big hug, except great big hug is written in great big letters. Students can explore words to match meaning in many children's books, and may even watch to practice this strategy in their own writing. Social Justice Theme: Non-traditional families
It's a special day at the orphanage and Mutanu just can't wait. Every year, the orphanage honors the children by holding a special birthday ceremony for the orphans, many of which do not know their actual birthdays. And today is the day, a celebration of life for the children.
This is a really sweet book that is the true story of an orphanage in Kenya. I would give this book a 27/32 (Children's Literature Evaluatio). I love that this is a multicultural book and I really liked this book because it brings awareness to children about social issues relating to poverty that are happening in the world, and possibly within their own communities. This book can be used to teach kindness and compassion for those who live in poverty or have a different lifestyle, as well as how doing something for someone else, even if it seems small, can make a big impact.
In the back of the book, there is information about The Creation of Hope, which is the orphanage that the story is about. There are even pictures of Mutanu, the main character of the story. It explains why many of the children in the orphanage do not know their birthdays, as well as the number of children who have received a birthday party, what kinds of prizes they get in their bags, and more. This book is appropriate for all ages.
Here are some literary elements that you may want to explore in this book...
Em-dash: Through out the book, the author uses em-dashes. Through out the book, the author uses em-dashes 5 times. Have students read the sentences with em-dashes to figure out the purpose of them. Students can also look for em-dashes in other texts that they read and try to write em-dashes in their own writing.
Genre: A biography is an account of someones real life experiences written by someone else. This book is written as a biography about an experience that Mutanu has. For this reason, this would be a great book to include when discussing different types of genres.
Theme: This is a great book to dig deep into the messages of, such as happiness, kindness, and giving. Students can find books with similar themes and create book lists according to the theme.
Lexile Measure: 710L Graphic Novel. Middle School. Diverse Protagonist. Bilingual. Written in last 4 years.
Little White Duck: A Childhood In China explores childhood experiences of Na Liu (referred to as Da Qin in the book meaning big piano) growing up in Wuhan China. She takes the reader on a journey through 8 stories that give us a look into the memories that she has growing up in China in the form of a graphic novel.
I enjoyed some parts of this book more than others, but overall it was a good read. I would give this book a 26/32 (Children's Literature Evaluation).
One thing that I really do like about this book is that it gives some history about China, and some background about some traditions such as the Chinese New Year, as well as a glimpse into how political and economical events effected her parents life and her own life growing up. In the book, Liu describes the cultural revolution that happened in China between the 1940's and 1980's as being beneficial to her parents, however, according to some, this only tells one side of the story, which may be problematic. However, this book is definitely worth considering looking into and having discussions about if using this as a classroom text to study China's history, while keeping different perspectives in mind.
The illustrations in this book are really interesting and lovely, and there are Chinese words and writing throughout the book, as well as translations in the back. The author also has a biography in the back of the book in which she explains why she decided to write this book, and how we each have a unique experience growing up and that it is important to preserve these experiences as the world continues to change.
I would recommend this book for grades 5 through 8, as there are some topics that may not be appropriate, or may scare children of a younger age, such as the killing of animals (the four pests and chopping a chicken's neck). This would be a great book to use to help understand some major events in the last century in China, as well as traditions.
Some literary elements to discuss with children:
Autobiography: After reading this story, children could pick out 8 individual experiences of their own from their childhood that are important and significant to them, and that they would want to include in their own autobiography.
Graphic Novels: Students could use this book to help them understand graphic novels, and maybe try writing one of their own.
Theme: At the end of the story, Da Qin realizes that she is much better off than many other children, and at first she had mixed feelings because she didn't want them to touch her coat, and she had a hard time understanding the games that they played, but at the same time, she feels empathy for them because she has much nicer things than they do. This is something that students can probably relate to, and it can help students to understand the authors message or theme in a story.
This is the story of a boy who notices an injured bird on the ground in a city full of people, and no one else even notices. He takes the bird home and nurses it back to health.
