Those Shoes

written by Maribeth Boeltz

illustrated by Noah Z. Jones

©2007. Cambridge, Massachusetts. Candlewick Press. Realistic Fiction.
Lexile Measure: AD680L
Picture Book. Diverse Protagonist. 

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. 

Social Justice Issue: Poverty