Take a look at the sky...

Author: Thomas Locker with Candace Christiansen
Title: Sky Tree
Publisher: HarperCollins, 1995
Genre: Nonfiction
Pages: 40
Reading Level (Lexile): 490L

I found this book in my local library, in the Children’s Nonfiction section.

Plot Summary: Sky Tree is a collection of paintings of a Tree. Each painting is unique in that the sky behind it is different, as well as the change in the weather. The book follows a tree through each of the four seasons. Each page describes the life around the tree and asks children a question about it at the bottom of the page. For example, one question is “What does this painting show us about autumn colors?” This question goes along with the painting of an autumn tree and description of the colors of its leaves.

Sky Tree relates to my theme because it connects the life of a tree with its relationship to the sky and the seasons.

While reading Sky Tree, I thought about how much I enjoy looking at the trees as they change colors in the fall. I also was able to picture a snowy day while looking at one of the winter paintings in the book. I think this is an excellent nonfiction book to share with students because it personifies a tree and shows how it changes. The author worked with a Chemistry teacher in order to put more science into the book and understand facts about our natural world. The questions at the bottom of the page are thought provoking and tap into feelings evoked from the paintings. Children can use prior knowledge of how trees look in each season in order to connect with the book. I also like how the author connects the tree with the sky. This discovery could really allow children to not only notice the trees, but the sky around them. I could foresee teachers using this book in a variety of ways. The writing is in somewhat of a poetic form. This would be a great resource to use when teaching description and vivid word choice in writing. The questions at the bottom of each page could definitely be used as journal entries or discussion points. I really love this book because teachers could use it in a variety of ways and with all ages of elementary students. The younger students could benefit from reading this book as they learn about trees and the four seasons.

"The Promise of Eternity..."

Author: Nathaniel Harris
Created and Designed by: David Salariya
Title: Mummies; A Very Peculiar History
Publisher: Franklin Watts, 1995
Genre: Nonfiction
Pages: 48
Reading Level (Lexile): 960L

I found this book in my local Library, in the Children’s Nonfiction section.

Plot Summary: Although this book does not have a plot, the book is organized into different chapters. Each chapter covers different information about mummies. The pages have a lot of diagrams and captions to go along with the pictures. There is a ton of information about mummies as well as the Egyptian people and their beliefs. The book kind of has a spooky tone to it, which makes it a little more exciting to read! The book also goes through the mummification process and talks about the afterlife of Egyptians.

Mummies relates to my theme because the Egyptians had unique relationships with each other and the Gods they believed in. They did unique things to their corpses in order to mummify them and truly believed they would go to a better place. They took great care in wrapping them and placing objects in their tombs that they would need in the afterlife.
I could relate with this book because it reminded me of when I was able to visit an exhibit on King Tut. I had previously seen some Egyptian artifacts in the exhibit, but I was able to learn new things about mummies.

Mummies is an excellent book to use a resource in the classroom. Because of its “spooky” tone and the content, I would probably use this with upper elementary students. This book does some content that older students would be able to handle. Mummies would be a great nonfiction book to use as a research project, or just to learn more about mummies. I think students would really like diving into this book because of the pictures. In my experience, kids love nonfiction books, especially boys. I think kids would love to read this and find out more about the complex world of the Egyptians.

What would you do?

Author: Kevin Henkes
Title: The Birthday Room
Publisher: Greenwillow Books, New York: 1999
Genre: Contemporary Realistic Fiction
Pages: 152
Reading Level (Lexile): 750L
I found this book in Huck’s Children’s Literature as a suggested book for this genre.

"A story that helps us see our own chances for benefiting from mutual tolerance, creative conflict resolution, and other forms of good will."—The Horn Book

Plot Summary: "Two of the things Benjamin Hunter received for his twelfth birthday took him completely by surprise: A room and a letter. The room was from his parents. The letter was from his uncle."
Ben is a 12 yr old boy who is put in a difficult situation. For his birthday, he doesn’t get a TV or anything cool like that. He gets a room from his parents to be used as an art studio. He also receives a letter from his uncle. He doesn’t remember him because his uncle left and moved to Oregon when he was 2 years old. The letter invited Ben to see his uncle, which his mother is not happy about. Ben had an accident and lost a finger when he was little. His mom blames his uncle for the accident and has not had contact with him. Eventually Ben’s mom takes him to Oregon to see his uncle. Relationships are mended, but not without shame, guilt, and anxiousness on the family members. Ben’s birthday room becomes something more than just an art room.

This book relates to my theme of Relationships because Ben’s mother and uncle no longer speak due to an accident that happened when he was very little. Ben’s mother blames her brother and has not spoken with him in all those years. There are many relationships that are mended in the story and forgiveness is another major theme. It is an example of how a family can come back together after many years of being apart.

Although I didn’t make a connection with this story personally, Henkes creates characters that you can share feelings with. This story is so relatable and anyone who has had a problem or issue with another family member can understand the emotions that go along with it. I think older children in grades 3 and up could most benefit from reading The Birthday Room. Older students could probably make more connections with Ben than younger children. This story would be good to use in the classroom to discuss family issues that sometimes arise and the students could look at how Ben handles them. I think The Birthday Room would be a great story to use when teaching Characterization and emotions/actions that characters show within a story.

Love Letters

Author: Arnold Adoff
Illustrator: Lisa Desimini
Title: Love Letters
Publisher: The Blue Sky Press, 1997
Genre: Poetry
Pages: 32
Reading Level (Lexile): 450L

I found this in the Children’s Section of the Library.

Plot Summary: All the poems in this book are written by Arnold Adoff. They are love letters in poetic form celebrated by the amazing artistic ability of Lisa Desimini. Desimini uses pictures, real life objects/dolls, and real pictures to highlight each poem. Adoff adds sweet and loving words between brothers and sisters, kids and parents, students to teachers, and students to each other. The poems are very creative and humorous at times, making the book fun and enjoyable to read.

Love Letters reminded me of giving valentine cards out as a child. Many of the poems reminded me of that feeling you had when you were younger and you liked another student in your class. The book also reminded me of I Spy puzzle books because of the real life pictures and use of real life objects. The use of real life objects creates so much detail, and I found myself spending more time looking at the pictures! The pictures really make the book especially fun and exciting to read. Each page is so different, I found myself looking quickly so I could see what the next page held!

What is nice about Love Letters is that I feel as though you could use this book with younger and older students. Younger students would probably enjoy listening to this book around Valentine’s Day. This book relates to my theme of Friendship because many of the relationships highlighted in these poems is friendship. Many times with younger students, Valentine’s Day is a day to celebrate friendship with your classmates. I think this book would fit in nicely when talking about friendship. Older students could benefit from looking at the forms of the poem, word choice Adoff uses, and how the illustrations help to make the poems special to read. This book could be used as an introduction into writing poetry with upper elementary aged students.

I Like You, If You Like Me

Selected and Edited by: Myra Cohn Livingston
Title: I Like You, If You Like Me
Poems of Friendship
Publisher: Macmillan, 1987
Genre: Poetry
Pages: 160
Reading Level (Lexile): 730L

I found this book in the Children’s Section of the Library.

Plot Summary: Although this book is a collection of poems, they are organized into themes revolving around Friendship. The titles of each chapter are; “Lonesome All Alone”, “Would You Come and Be My Friend?” , “The Friendly Beasts” , “One Good Friendship” , “Come Over” , “We’re Going to Be Good Friends” , “As Happy as Happy Could Be” , “The Scratches Are Always There”, and “Missing You”. The poems are organized nicely into these themed chapters. The book is unique because it offers a mix of well-known poets as well as poems that span across different cultures and time periods. The book addresses various emotions that occur with friendship. Some of the poems reflect loneliness and losing friends while others reflect the happiness that comes with friendship.

I enjoyed reading through this collection of poems. It reminded me of other Anthologies of Poetry I have read before. I like this collection because it relates to my theme of friendship and offers poems by different poets. In other poetry collections, one author may be highlighted. This gives teachers and students exposure to different styles of poets. One poem I really could relate to was:

TWO FRIENDS

lydia and shirley have
two pierced ears and
two bare ones
five pigtails
two pairs of sneakers
two berets
two smiles
one necklace
one bracelet
lots of stripes and
one good friendship

Nikki Giovanni

I liked the tone and style of this poem as it represents two girls and what they share besides friendship. It also reflects how the girls are individuals and have things that are different from what their friend has.

I Like You, If You Like Me, is a great anthology to share with students. It celebrates the ups and downs of friendship. It allows students to reflect upon a poet’s style, word choice, voice, and tone. Students would also be able to tell the message of the poem. I think this anthology would be more appropriate for upper elementary and middle school students. With younger children, a teacher could definitely pick out some poems that may relate to a theme they are working on. These poems could be a nice addition to an introduction to a lesson or a discussion about friendship. Friendship is a common point of discussion in the early elementary grades because students are still learning how to interact with each other and maintain friends.

Anansi the Spider

Author (Adapted) and Illustrator: Gerald McDermott
Title: Anansi The Spider; a tale from the Ashanti
Publisher: Henry Holt and Company, 1972
Genre: Traditional Tale
Pages: 48
Reading Level (Lexile): 290L
Awards: A Caldecott Honor Book
I found this book in the Children’s Section of the Library.

Plot Summary: Anansi has 6 sons, each of which has a special characteristic. His son’s names were; See Trouble, Road Builder, River Drinker, Game Skinner, Stone Thrower, and Cushion. One day, Anansi gets lost and quickly becomes in trouble. He falls into a river and fish gobbles him up. See Trouble sees his father in danger and the six sons go to help their father. Road builder builds a road for them, River Drinker drinks all the water, Game Skinner skins the fish, and Stone Thrower hits a falcon who dives in after Anansi is released from the fish. Finally, Cushion catches Anansi as he falls from the falcon’s grip. Anansi is so happy and finds a globe of light in the forest. He and The God of All Things, Nyame, try to decide which son deserves it. They argue, but can’t decide, so Nyame puts the globe of light into the sky for everyone to enjoy.

Anansi the Spider relates to my theme of relationships because it shows the relationship and friendship Anansi has with his sons. They all come to his rescue when he is faced with a dangerous situation. They all want to help him and care about him. Anansi returns this affection by wanting to give them something. This story reminded me of The Seven Chinese Brothers that I had just read! The concept was very similar. There was a problem and all brothers were able to help in some way with their special power or characteristic. Anansi the Spider also has the God of All Things, Nyame, as a character. This tall tale descends from the country Ghana. More specifically, the Ashanti of West Africa is the culture in which this story was told. It is an oral tradition. The end of the story shows this oral tradition because Nyame puts the globe of light into the sky and it becomes the moon. This explains where the moon came from, according to the Ashanti. This becomes an oral tradition because they use this story to explain where the moon came from.

Anansi the Spider would be a great story to read to children. For younger children, it would be interesting to see if they pick up the globe of light ending to the story. Teachers may have to explain that it shows the moon and what an oral tradition is. Some of the words in the book sound as though someone is telling the story, not writing it. Older students may be able to compare and contrast Anansi with The Seven Chinese Brothers. Teachers of older elementary school students could go into greater depth and expose their students to more traditional tales.

The Seven Chinese Brothers

Author: Margaret Mahy
Illustrator: Jean and Mou-sien Tseng
Title: The Seven Chinese Brothers
Publisher: Scholastic, Inc. 1990
Genre: Traditional Literature
Pages: 35
Reading Level (Lexile): 820L

I found this book in the Children’s section of the Library

Plot Summary: The Seven Chinese Brothers each have a special power. The brothers are kind and try to help repair the Great Wall. The evil emperor captures the Third Brother because he believes he is too strong and should be stopped. The brothers cleverly help each other as each one posses a different power. When they switch places (because they all look alike) the 6th brother ends up being tortured. He survives being burned because he has the power to resist heat. When the emperor sees this, he threatens to shoot him with arrows. The other brothers decide they will all go down to defend him. Before they can get to their brother, he cries so much that it creates flooding throughout the town. All the soldiers and the emperor are washed away. The brothers are left with an abundance of fish from the river and feast together.

The Seven Chinese Brothers is a tall tale from China. The happy ending reminds me of other traditional tales that leave the reader with a good feeling at the end. This tall tale, like others, also offers a moral. The brothers are almost too nice and helpful and end up being punished for it. They continue to show their compassion for their siblings as each faces a different danger. In the end, they are rewarded and live happily ever after.

The Seven Chinese Brothers may appeal to later elementary aged students. Students from other backgrounds may enjoy this book as it offers a tall tale from China. They might be able to compare their background with the Chinese culture during the times of Emperor rule. Students may be able to make connections with the brothers and think about something that he/she is good at. Although the brothers had powers that humans don’t, children could also think about what power they would like to have, if given one. This book could also be read if doing a study on Chinese culture, or as an introduction to a unit on China.

Sweet Dream Pie

Author: Audrey Wood
Illustrator: Mark Teague
Title: Sweet Dream Pie
Publisher: The Blue Sky Press, 1998
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 32
Reading Level (Lexile): 890L

I found this book in the children’s section of the Library.

Plot Summary: Pa Brindle begs Ma Brindle to make her sweet dream pie. Ma warns him that last time she made it, he didn’t have just one piece. The pie is so sweet, but the dreams that follow after you are full are not so sweet. Pa finally persuades her and they begin to make a huge pie. The making of the pie changes the behavior of the people in town and also changes the weather. When the pie is done, the whole neighborhood comes out to enjoy it. Ma warns them as well, but no one listens and they all have more than one piece. The dreams of the people spill into the street as Ma and one little girl who did not eat the pie (because it made her sneeze) watch.
This book relates to my theme of relationships because it shows the dynamic between Ma and Pa Brindle. The story also has a sweet way of showing how kind the Brindles are to other people in their neighborhood.
Sweet Dream Pie immediately reminded me of Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. This story had elements of fantasy within it as well as humor. The story is similar to Meatballs because food holds a high power and changes people and things within the town. The illustrations in Sweet Dream Pie enhance the story and humor of the pie as it is eaten by the people. The pictures reminded me of the detailed pictures in Meatballs.

Sweet Dream Pie is a “sweet” and comical story to read to children. It allows them to imagine a world where food is bigger than meets the eye. The pie is unrealistically huge and feeds the whole town. Children would probably be able to tell from the second page that this story has fantasy elements within it. Wood describes the big utensils and the pictures show Ma and Pa mixing the ingredients in a giant bowl. The pie changes the weather and people begin to act differently. The dreams that people have after eating the pie are great fun to look at. Sweet Dream Pie could be used in the classroom when teaching children how to use descriptive words in their writing. It could also be used as a model for kids to see how detailed pictures can lead to detailed sentences. I think this book could be used in the younger grades as well as upper elementary grades. Older students could write their own ending to the story, an altered ending, or create their own fantasy.

My Best Friend

Author: Pat Hutchins
Title: My Best Friend
Publisher: Greenwillow Books, 1993
Genre: Picture Book
Pages: 32
Reading Level (Lexile): NC500L
I found this book in the children’s section of the library.

Plot Summary: Although the narrator is not named, the girl talks about her best friend’s qualities as they do different things when she sleeps over. The two characters are African American girls who do everything together. The narrator is in awe of what her best friend can do. She can read, tie shoes, and button her own buttons. When her best friend is scared at night, the narrator knows how to close the windows and not be afraid better than her friend.

My Best Friend reminds me of friends I had when I was little. I remember feeling like they could do things better than I could. I think all children can relate to this feeling in one way or another. It may take time to realize that even though someone else may do things “better” than you, you can still be friends.

My Best Friend definitely shows students the qualities of being a good friend. This book fits into my theme of friendships for this reason. The narrator was very accepting of all the things her friend could do better. She didn’t get mad and kept playing with her. When it was time for bed and her friend was scared, she showed her how to not be scared by explaining it was the wind. The roles reversed and the narrator is now “better” at something. This book shows children how friends treat each other and support each other. This book could be used in a unit about friendship. It could also be paired with another story you may be reading with your students. Students could compare and contrast the two and discuss the types of friendships. With younger children, this book would be a good introduction to what friendship means.

My Friend Grandpa

Author: Harriet Ziefert
Illustrator: Robert Wurzberg
Title: My Friend Grandpa
Publisher: Blue Apple Books, 2004
Genre: Picture Book
Pages: 40
Reading Level: grades K-3
I found this book in the children’s section of the library.

Plot Summary: Emma lives in a city, but every summer gets to visit her Grandpa in the country. While staying there for a month, she enjoys spending time with him and a big tree in the yard. She spends a lot of time sitting by the tree and swinging on a swing, hanging from one of its branches. One night there is a thunderstorm and the tree falls down after. Grandpa tells Emma that he will have to take the tree out of the yard. Emma is upset, but Grandpa says he will try to save a part of the tree. He ends up saving the best part, a hole in the trunk that Emma can climb into!

Emma loves her Grandpa. In the story, Emma loves to visit her Grandpa for a month every summer. She has friends in the city, but in the summer likes to spend time with Grandpa. She climbs the tree and can’t get down, and her Grandpa rescues her. When the tree falls down, Emma’s Grandpa promises to save the best part. This story shows a strong relationship between a girl and her grandfather. This element of the story is what categorizes the book as one that fits my theme, relationships.

I enjoyed reading this story. It reminded me of my Grandpa and his house in many ways. I have a close relationship with my grandfather, just like Emma. He even has a big tree in his yard. A big, sturdy branch holds a swing that he made for my brothers and me to use. I can remember him pushing me on the swing when I was little. He could never push me as high as I wanted to go! I can imagine how upset Emma felt when the tree came down. I know that I would have been upset if that tree in his yard had come down!

My Friend Grandpa would be a nice book to read aloud to young children. They may be able to relate to the story and think about a grandparent that they love. I would use this book in my classroom, but would be sensitive to the fact that not all of my students may have a close relationship with a grandparent, if one at all. Students may be able to predict what Grandpa and Emma may do with the rest of the tree trunk.

The Biggest Boy

Author: Kevin Henkes
Illustrator: Nancy Tafuri
Title: The Biggest Boy
Publisher: Greenwillow Books, 1995
Genre: Books to Begin On (Relationships)
Number of Pages: 32
Reading Level (Lexile): 400L
I found this book listed in our textbook, Children’s Literature by Huck.

Plot Summary: Billy is growing and wonders about how big he can actually be. His parents begin to play along with this idea and tell him how big he will be. For example, his mom says, “If you are the biggest boy…then you can wear the roof as a hat.” Billy laughs about each idea and then goes to sleep dreaming of how big he could be.

This book relates to my theme because Billy’s relationship with his parents is shown throughout the book. His parents encourage his idea and don’t put him down for it. They imagine how big he could be with him as he laughs along. It shows how parents can foster the creativity of a young child.

I can remember my parents saying to me, “You are a big girl now, you can do that!” and encouraging me the same way as Billy’s parents did in the story. I think most children at that age are playing around with the idea of how big they are as they look at adults who are much bigger than themselves.

This is a good book for beginning readers. It is a book to begin on because it is age appropriate with young children who are exploring their size and wonder about the future. The text has a lot of decodable and high frequency words. The pictures depict how big Billy imagines he could be. The Biggest Boy would be a great book to help older students see how literary devices can enhance writing. Sentences like, “The house can be your jacket” and “…you can toss the sun up like a ball and catch it” show personification and metaphors.

Waiting for Baby

Author: Harriet Ziefert
Illustrator: Emily Bolam
Title: Waiting for Baby
Publisher: Henry Holt and Company, Inc., 1998
Genre: Books to Begin On (Relationships)
Number of pages: 32
Reading Level (Lexile): 270L
I found this book in children’s fiction section of the library.
Plot Summary: Max’s Mom is getting closer and closer to having their new baby. Max talks to the baby each day, growing more and more frustrated that he or she is not coming out. Since his tactics aren’t working, he decides to go about his days like the baby is not coming at all. He plays with his dad and mom and bakes cookies with Grandma. Finally, overnight the baby is born and dad takes him to meet his new baby sister.

This book relates to my theme of relationships because a new member is coming into Max’s family. Although he hasn’t met the baby yet, Max is already wondering about him/her.

While reading Waiting for Baby, I immediately connected with Max. I have two younger brothers. I was only 2 years old when my first brother was born and don’t remember anything. I was 7 when my youngest brother was born. I remember being very excited, just like Max. I also remember my Grandma coming to visit, just as Max’s Grandma came. She took me to the hospital after he was born to meet him. I had the same excitement Max did when I found out the baby was finally born!

This book is great to read to emergent readers. It would be appropriate for children that are going to have a sibling in the near future. Max goes through different emotions, which can be typical for children in his situation. Waiting for Baby would be appropriate for children ages 1-7 and up to about 2nd grade. For younger children, this book would be good to read aloud to them. For beginning readers, the print is big and interesting to read (on some pages the words swirl around!). This book’s text and pictures are predictable and fun to read for students.

I could see this book being used in the classroom for various reasons. If you are teaching a theme on families, friendships, or relationships, this book would be another piece of literature that you could use. It would be a great resource to use if you have a student whose parent is expecting a new baby. They may be able to relate to the different emotions Max has as they change throughout the book. Waiting for Baby could also be used with younger students as a fun read aloud, having them repeat or read certain sections. There is a part of the book where the pages are shorter for each day of the week. The students would probably get excited to read what is on each smaller part of the book. The students may be interested in reading the book or looking through the pages on their own after you read it to them.

Literary Experiences

I have always loved reading. My earliest memories are of my parents reading to me before bed. I was lucky enough to have a quite extensive library of books at home to look at. My parents showed me that reading was fun and could be enjoyable. I also loved going to the library, especially in the summers for story time and to check out books. Some of my favorite books as a child were Goodnight Moon and The Berenstein Bears series.
My Librarian in Elementary School was one of my favorite teachers. Her teaching was a direct reflection of her love for books. The library at school became a favorite, familiar place for me to read as well.

Although reading became more of a chore throughout middle school, I continued to read on my own outside of school work.

My favorite author quickly became Roald Dahl. I became hooked on his amazing storytelling and descriptive writing capabilities. I read almost all of his books.
I really try to expose my students to all different types of books and genres. I will continue to show my students my love for reading and hope that they will become life long readers.

Theme

For this course, I am choosing to look at pictures books that revolve around relationships. These relationships could be with family or friends. I think that books that address this theme are important to read to children. It opens the doors to many real life problems students may have and not realize or not know how to solve. Children's books about relationships and families can also teach students that families are different and that is ok.