Evaluating books

Award: Caldecott

David Ezra Stein wrote and illustrated Interrupting Chicken.  He also received the Ezra Jack Keats New Writer Award for Leaves and Leaves was also a Publishers Weekly Best Book, a Kirkus Reviews Editor's Choice, and a School Library Journal Best Book.  Stein also wrote and illustrated Tad and Dad, Pouch!, I'm My Own Dog, The Nice Book, Because Amelia Smiled, Monster Hug, and many more.  I absolutely love the illustrations in this book and I know kids are really able to visualize what's happening in the story after looking at the pictures.

Main characters: The little red chicken, Papa

Setting: The little red chicken's bedroom

Summary: Papa begins reader the little red chicken a bedtime story, but she can't help herself whether it's Hansel and Gretel, Little Red Riding Hood, or Chicken Little, she keeps interrupting the story.  Instead of listening to the story, the little red chicken interrupts the story to create an outcome that saves the characters from something dangerous or embarrassing.  Papa has the little red chicken tell a story this time so she begins to read Bedtime for Papa and Papa can't quite make it through without falling asleep.

I would use this story to help students make a text to self connection.  I would ask students to retell the story and ask them what the Papa's problem was in the story and how he solved that problem.  I would use this story to help students work on comprehension and using the CLUE strategy to see what predictions they would make throughout the story.  I have seen students read this book in the classroom and I know they just love it when teachers read it to them because they find it very funny and entertaining.  Below are some of the activities I would do in my classroom.

Reference:

Stein, David. Interrupting Chicken. Candlewick. Somerville, MA. 2010.  Print.

Award: Caldecott

Jon Klassen wrote and illustrated This is Not My Hat.  He is a Canadian writer and illustrator of children's books and he won the Caldecott award and the British Kate Greenaway award for this book.  He was the first person ever to win both of these awards for the same book.  He has also written and illustrated Cats' Night Out, I Want My Hat Back, Extra Yarn, The Dark, We Found a Hat, and more.  I love that the students can use illustrations in this story to make predictions about what has happened or what they think is going to happen.

Main characters: Little fish, big fish

Setting: The sea

Summary: This book is about a little fish who takes a small hat from a big fish.  He is going to hide because he thinks nobody will be able to find him.  He says he knows it's wrong to steal from another person, but he tries to make it okay by saying the hat didn't fit the big fish anyway.  We see in the illustrations that the big fish ends up getting the hat back in the end.

I plan to teach younger elementary students and I really love this book for that age group.  It has wonderful illustrations that show students how to use clues from the story to predict what's going to happen and what is happening in the book.  This book also has a great text to world connections about doing what is right even when nobody is watching.  This is a good lesson about not reminding students that taking things that aren't yours is not right and making good choices is very important.  I would have students predict what happened next and create that part of the story in the classroom.  What happened to the fish?  Did he get away?  What might happen next?  I would have students create and illustrate what would happen next in the story.  Below are some more activities I would have students complete with this story.

Reference:

Klassen, Jon. This is Not My Hat. Candlewick. Somerville, MA. 2012. Print.


Questions to consider:

• Do you have favorite authors? Illustrators? Why do you like their work?
• How could you use your books as mentor texts for writing instruction or for modeling of deep reading?
• Have you seen picture books used in middle elementary grades on up to high school? Was it effective? If not, how could it have been? If yes, why so?
• How do you choose what books to read aloud to your students?

Tales, Legends & Fables

A fable: The Lion and the Mouse

Main characters: Mouse, Lion

Summary: A scared mouse that was about to be killed by a lion pleaded that if the lion let her go, she will repay him in the future.  He ended up letting the mouse go even though he thought a mouse could never help him.  Days later, the lion gets caught in a hunter's net and roared for help.  The mouse came to the rescue and set the lion free.

This would be a great story for younger students to read and learn about how anyone can help another person.  I would also use this to teach younger students about sequence of events.  I would have students cut out pictures and paste them in their notebooks in the order that the story happened.  Below are the pictures that I would use.

Reference:
Library of Congress Aesop Fables. The Lion and the Mouse. 2017. Retrieved from http://read.gov/aesop/007.html.

4 texts that have won Caldecott awards

Main characters: Beetles, Damselflies

Setting: Backyard

Summary: A tiny shoot appears and two damselflies look at it wondering what they could do with it.  The plant gets taller and leaves sprout from it and two beetles arrive and with the help of other bugs, they build a tree fort.  They keep running into bigger bugs and animals that are taking over the fort and eventually the fort gets carried away.  This book is written in a made up language and you have to use the picture clues and have an imagination to understand what struggles these bugs are facing.

I would use this book in my classroom to teach students about using pictures and context clues to figure out what the story is talking about.  I would also do an activity where students wrote a word or phrase from the book and then wrote what they think it means.  Then, I would have students state why they think that's what it means.  

Reference:

Ellis, Carson. Du Iz Tak? Candlewick Press. Somerville, Massachusetts. 2016. Print.

Main Character: Old woman 

Setting: A village where winter was coming

Summary: An old woman lived in a house with a big family and she knew winter was coming so she had to get some knitting done.  With so many people around, she couldn't take it anymore and one day yelled "leave me alone" and left the village.  Everywhere she went there were distractions whether it was bears, mountain goats, or little green moon-men.  Once she was finally alone and had knitted 30 sweaters, she started to get lonely and decided to head back to the village where everything was exactly like she left it.  

After reading this book, I would have students write their own story about a time that they were overwhelmed or stressed.  I would have them draw pictures and create their own little book so they can relate to the story and make a text-to-self connection.  

Reference:

Brosgol, Vera. Leave Me Alone! Roaring Brook Press. New York, NY. 2016. Print.

Main characters: A cat

Summary: A child, dog, fox, fish, mouse, bee, bird, flea, snake, skunk, worm, and a bat all saw a cat walking with its whiskers, ears, and paws.  The story ends with the cat walking to the water looking at its reflection and asking you to imagine what the cat saw.  The pictures in the book reflect what all the characters see in a really amazing way.  

I would use this book to teach my students about perspective.  I would explain what perspective is and how it is a point of view and how someone sees or feels about a situation.  I would have students look at the same picture and write down what they think the character's perspective is and then compare what students thought was the character's perspective.  This is also a great lesson about how everyone can have different opinions and see things differently and it doesn't necessarily mean that they are wrong.

Reference:

Wenzel, Brendan. They All Saw a Cat. Chronicle Books. San Francisco, CA. 2016. Print.

Main characters: African slaves

Setting: Congo Square in New Orleans, Louisiana

Summary: While unfairly working all week, slaves counted down the days until Sunday where they were briefly able to come together at Congo Square.  They were free to dance, sing, and listen to music.  This book shows how hard the slaves work during the week and are patiently waiting until Sunday to not have a care in the world.  

I would use this book to teach my students about slavery.  This would connect with any history lessons regarding slavery and oppression.  After reading this book, I would have students write a poem or rap about slavery relating to the book.  I would also ask them to write in their journals and ask them what they think life was like as a slave.

Reference:

Weatherford Boston, Carole. Freedom in Congo Square. Bonnier Publishing Group. New York, NY. 2016. Print.

A tall tale

Main characters: Dona Flor

Setting: A tiny village in the American Southwest

Summary: Dona Flor is a giant woman that lives in a village where her neighbors love her.  She has the biggest heart and assists her neighbors in any way that she can.  She carries kids to school when they are running late, makes giant-sized tortillas for people to eat or use as roofs, and calms the wind when it is too loud.  When the neighbors start getting worried after hearing a loud roar, Dona Flor begins searching.  Later she finds a tiny puma and realizes that the puma is no threat to her neighbors and returns home to happy and relieved neighbors.

This book shows a great lesson about how just because you or someone you know might be different, it doesn't mean you can't love them the same.  Looks should not affect how you treat someone and you should always remember the golden rule.  After reading this book, I would have students create their own tall tales.  I would also have them illustrate their tall tales and then share them with the class.

Reference: 

Mora, Pat. Dona Flor. Random House, Inc. New York. 2005. Print.

A fractured fairytale

Main characters: Princess Miserella, Plain Jane, an old fairy, Jojo

Setting: A kingdom in the middle of the woods

Summary: Princess Miserella was very beautiful, but not on the inside.  When she got lost and was trying to get home she ended up meeting an old fairy and Jane.  Jane was beautiful on the inside, but not so much on the outside.  When the princess was being rude to the old fairy she ended up sending them all into a deep sleep.  After 100 years of sleeping, Jojo came along and saw the three women sleeping and noticed how beautiful the princess was.  He had never kissed anyone before so he practiced on the old fairy and Jane first and woke them up.  Jane wished that Jojo loved her and the old fairy said that was a great wish and suddenly Jojo realized that the princess was smiling while having a bad dream and he knew girls like that who were pretty on the outside, but ugly on the inside and he didn't like that.  The story ended with Jane and Jojo falling in love and having three children.

I would use this book to compare fractured fairytales to fairytales.  Before reading this book, we would read Sleeping Beauty and students would compare and contrast the two books.  I would have them explain which one they liked better and why.  After comparing the two books, I would have them write their own fractured fairytale.

Reference:

Yolen, Jane. Sleeping Ugly. Puffin Books. London, United Kingdom. 1981. Print.

A fairytale retold for teens

Main characters: Cinder, Prince Kai, Linh Adri, Linh Peony, Linh Pearl, Iko, Dr. Erland, Levana

Setting: New Beijing

Summary: In the futuristic New Beijing, a deadly plague happens where humans and androids are now living.  Cinder is a cyborg and is the best mechanic in New Beijing.  Prince Kai comes to her to fix a broken android.  Cinder's stepsister, Peony, dies of the plague and her stepmother blames her for it so she volunteers her for plague research.  After discovering that Cinder is immune to the plague, Dr. Erland starts to look into her immunity and researches her life prior to becoming a cyborg, which Cinder has no recollection of.  Meanwhile, Prince Kai becomes Emperor of the Eastern Commonwealth and people are wanting an alliance between Earth and Luna, which is ruled by Queen Levana.  Kai wants to get out of doing this by marrying someone else and he's also searching for the heir of Luna.  Cinder finds out that Levana plans to marry Kai and then kill him so at the annual ball, Cinder tries to kill Levana first.  Kai is forced to arrest Cinder and while in prison, Dr. Erland comes to tell Cinder that she is the true queen of Luna.

There are many characters in Cinder.  I would use this book to have students learn about character traits.  I would use the CLUE strategy while reading this book with students.  I would have students make predictions, read a chapter, look back at their predictions, and then make new ones as they continued to read the book.  I would also have students compare and contrast this story to Cinderella and use text-to-text connections.

Reference:

Meyer, Marissa. Cinder. Macmillan Publishers. London, United Kingdon. 2012. Print.

One story from The Stinky Cheese Man

"The Really Ugly Duckling"

Main characters: Ugly duck, father duck, mother duck

Setting: A pond

Summary: A father and mother duck had seven ducklings.  Six of the duckling were normal-looking ducklings, but there was one ugly one.  Others would comment on the ugliness of the duckling, but he knew he would grow out of it one day and be a swan so he didn't listen to them.  In the end, it turned out that the ugly duckling did grow up to be an ugly duck.

I would definitely use this with younger students because I think they would find all of the stories really funny.  I would use this story to have students come up with their own "stupid" fairytale.  I think students would have a lot of fun with this and after completing them, they can read them to the class.

Reference:

Scieszka, Jon. The Stinky Cheese Man and other Fairly Stupid Tales. Viking Press. New York, NY. 1992. Print.

Folktales from different countries

Africa:

Main characters: Sun, Moon, Water

Setting: Earth

Summary: The sun and the water were good friends, but the water would never visit the sun.  After asking the water why, the water revealed that the sun didn't have a big enough house for all of his people.  The sun went home to his wife, the moon, and said he was going to build a big house so the water could visit.  After building the house, water came and kept coming in and asking as the water grew higher in the house if it was still safe to invite more people in.  The water overflowed the house so the sun and the moon were forced to go up into the sky and they have been there ever since.

Reference:

World of Tales. (2008). Why the Sun and the Moon Live in the Sky. Retrieved from http://www.worldoftales.com/African_folktales/African_Folktale_10.html.

Asia:

Main characters: The beggar, the miser

Setting: An old village

Summary: The beggar goes to the miser's house because he was very rich even though he never helped people.  The beggar asked for meat, milk, wheat, beans, bread, and water.  After the miser said he didn't have any of these things, the beggar said he better start asking people for some food because he was even more poor than him!

Reference:

World of Tales. (2008). The beggar and Miser. Retrieved from http://www.worldoftales.com/Asian_folktales/Asian_Folktale_1.html.

Australia:

Main characters: Oolah, Galah

Setting: Near the bindeah bush

Summary: Oolah the lizard was tired of lying in the sun so he started playing with his boomerangs.  He was throwing them with Galah watched and one ended up hitting Galah on the head making her feathers and skin fall off.  She then rubbed Oolah's skin with her bleeding head so the lizard will always have the stain of her blood and carry bindheads and Galah will always be a bald-headed bird.

Reference:

World of Tales. (2008). The Galah and Oolah the Lizard. Retrieved from http://www.worldoftales.com/Australian_folktales/Australian_folktale_2.html.

China:

Main characters: Li, Sing, Chang, the king fish, the king fish's nephew

Setting: the village of Everlasting Happiness

Summary: Li and Sing were two rich men who often treated people poorly.  After moving to the village of Everlasting Happiness, Li fell very ill with a fever and was acting mad.  Li suddenly awoke feeling the need for water so he went to the pond where he met a fish who said he was the nephew of the king.  Li begged the nephew to talk to the king and turn him into a fish.  After granting his wish, Li turned into a fish, but he was caught by his servant Chang after trying to eat a worm off of Chang's fishing hook.  Chang took Li inside and wanted the cook to chop him up for dinner.  After the blade fell down, Li woke up out of his sleep and was starting to feel better.

Reference:

World of Tales. (2008). The Talking Fish. Retrieved from http://www.worldoftales.com/Asian_folktales/Chinese_Folktale_5.html.

I would use all of these folktales from other countries to help my students see that there are different folktales in different cultures.  I would relate these stories to different history lessons about different countries.  After reading these books, I would have students research different countries and have them present what they learned about the different countries.  I would have them list popular books from these countries, what food they eat, how they dress, and more.  After researching different countries, I would have students compare and contrast these books to folktales in America.  

Three versions of the same story written from the viewpoint of different cultures

Main characters: Cinderella, Gus, Jaq, Anastasia, Drizella, Lady Tremaine, Fairy Godmother, Prince Charming

Culture: United States of America

Summary: After Cinderella's father dies, she is stuck living with her stepmother and stepsisters who make her do all of the chores and treat her very poorly.  When the entire family gets invited to a ball, they get excited because they know that the prince is looking for a wife.  After Cinderella's friends helped create a beautiful dress for Cinderella to wear, her stepsisters ripped the dress apart.  When her stepsisters and stepmother left for the ball, Cinderella stumbled upon her Fairy Godmother.  She made her a beautiful dress and carriage and sent Cinderella to the ball and told her the spell would wear off at midnight.  After arriving at the ball, the prince couldn't take his eyes off of her.  Midnight was approaching and Cinderella ran off, but she left a shoe behind.  The prince searched all over for the girl that the shoe would fit and in the end, found Cinderella and they could finally be together and she was free of her stepfamily.  

Reference:

Disney. (2017). Cinderella's Story. Retrieved from http://princess.disney.com/cinderellas-story.

Main characters: Kao, her mother, stepmother, stepsister, prince

Culture: Thailand

Summary: Kao lives with her stepmother and stepsister who make her do all of the chores around the house.  After Kao's father dies, she goes to the fish pond and a golden fish comes up to her saying that it is her mother.  After spending so much time talking to her mom in the pond, Kao's stepmother sends her daughter to spy on her and see what she's up to.  After learning her secret, the stepsister captures the fish, cooks it, and eats it.  Kao buries the fish bones in hopes that her mother will return.  She does return as an eggplant plant and once again Kao gets to spend time with her mother.  Once the stepsister finds out again, she digs up the plant, and then they eat and burn it.  Kao finds leftover seeds and decides to plant them.  They grow into two trees and when the wind blows, she can hear her mother's voice.  One day, a prince stops and he wants to dig up the trees and bring them to the palace because he likes the sound they make in the wind.  Kao allows the prince to take the trees and they end up getting together and living happily ever after.

Reference:

Hamada, Cheryl. Kao and the Golden Fish. Children's Press. Chicago, IL. 1993. Print. 

Main characters: Yeh-Shen, stepmother, stepsister, magical fish, King

Culture: China

Summary: Yeh-Shen lives with her stepmother and stepsister, who do not treat her very well.  Yeh-Shen becomes friends with a fish in a nearby pond and shares a handful of rice with the magical fish.  Her evil stepmother discovers what she's been doing and decides to capture and eat the fish.  The magical fish comes back and helps Yeh-Shen get ready for a local festival.  In fear of being recognized, she leaves the festival and accidentally leaves behind a golden slipper.  The king finds the tiny, golden slipper and searches for the owner of it.  She tries to steal her slipper back, but while trying to steal it the king catches her and figures out who she is.  As you can probably guess, they lived happily ever after.

Reference:

Louie, Ai-Ling. Yeh-Shen: A Cinderella Story from China. Puffin Books. London, United Kingdom. 1982. Print.

I would use all of these books to teach my students about different cultures.  It would be interesting for them to see how the same story is re-told in different ways in different cultures.  I would have them compare and contrast the different cultures and different books.  I would connect these books to a history lesson about different cultures.  I would have students write in their journals about which version they liked the best and why.  I would also have students write their own versions of Cinderella and allow them to be creative as they would like and create any version of the story that they would like.

A story in a format other than a traditional book

The Princess Mouse-A Tale of Finland

Main characters: A farmer and his two sons, narrators, Princess Mouse

Format of the story: Reader's Theater

Summary: A farmer said his two sons had to cut down a tree and whatever way that tree fell, they had to follow to pick a sweetheart for them to be their bride to be.  Mikko's tree pointed toward the forest and he stumbled upon a mouse.  He was a little embarrassed, but he picked the mouse to be his sweetheart.  The brother's sweethearts had to create a fine cloth for the farmer to approve of before marrying the brothers.  Once approved, the mouse and Mikko came to their wedding where Mikko's brother kicked the mouse into the stream.  Out of the stream, popped out a lovely princess and the brothers and guests could not believe their eyes.  They learned that a witch enchanted the mouse and the spell could only be broken why a brother who wanted to marry her and a brother who wanted to kill her.  Mikko and the princess got married and lived happily ever after.

I would use this reader's theater in the classroom to teach students about fluency and reading with expression.  After modeling for students and telling them what a reader's theater is, I would have them pick a character from the story and practice reading through the story.  I would have them present their reader's theater while reading with expression.  I would use this reader's theater to help students comprehend the story and it would be a really fun way for them to read a story and act it out.

Reference:

Shepard, Aaron. (2003). The Princess Mouse. Retrieved from http://www.aaronshep.com/rt/RTE31.html.


Questions to consider:

• What stories did you enjoy the most? Why?
• How would students react to the stories? Do you have any certain types of students or grade levels in mind?
• How will these books help students understand culture?
• How will these books help students gain perspective on their lives?
• How did the illustrations or mediums add to the meaning and enjoyment of these books?
• How could you use these stories in your classroom? Think of the reading standards.

Wringer

Main characters: Palmer, Dorothy, Beans, Henry, Mutto, Nipper

Setting: Waymer

Summary: Palmer LaRue was dreading his tenth birthday because in his town, that meant that you became a wringer at the annual pigeon day involving releasing pigeons to be shot while they fly through the air.  Palmer didn't want to be a wringer.  After his ninth birthday, he was counting down the days until his tenth birthday and he was terrified.  One day he had a guest at his bedroom window and it was a pigeon.  First, he began the feed the pigeon and then he was letting it stay in his room.  He grew to love the pigeon and named it Nipper.  His love for this pigeon confirmed that he did not want to be a wringer and he didn't understand why people in his town shot pigeons for fun.  After trying to hide his new pet from his not-so-understanding friends, they start to figure out that he has this new pet and they try to capture the pigeon and kill it.  Palmer realizes he has to let his pet go so it can be safe away from his "friends".  He lets the pigeon go, but once he learns that his friend Dorothy let Nipper free around the place where they capture pigeons to get killed, he runs to the event and ends up saving Nipper from being shot.  This is a great story about sticking up for what you believe in, even when it seems everybody is against you.  It also shows that you can overcome your fears and you don't have to follow everyone else just because they are all doing something and you don't believe in it.

There are many fun activities I would do in the classroom while reading this book.  I would have students write a paragraph about living life in Palmer's room from Nipper's point of view.  I would teach students about being descriptive and what describing words the book used to show you what Nipper looked like.  I would have students find those descriptive words and draw what they believe Nipper looks like.  As we read, I would also have different questions for students to reflect on in their writing journals.  Some of those questions would ask what they are afraid of, would you stand up for something you believe in, what would you do if a pigeon came to your window, and more.

Questions to consider:

• How do we help students reflect and respond to realistic fiction?
• How will you handle it when the subject matter hits close to home for your students?
• Most realistic fiction has quite a bit of dialogue. Was it well written? How so? What can you and your students learn about writing from the author?

Reference:

Spinelli, Jerry. Wringer. HarperCollins Publishers. New York, NY. 1997. Print.

George Brown, Class Clown

Main Characters: George, Chris, Alex, Louie, Sage, Julianna

Setting: Edith B. Sugarman Elementary School, pet shop, craft store, George's backyard

Summary: After playing with a new toy called Dude-on-a-Skateboard, George decides that he needs to be more responsible and and try to earn some money to save up for the toy.  George especially wants the toy when he sees that Louie, a boy at school, has the new toy.  Despite his efforts to work at his mother's craft shop, open a lemonade stand, and put on a backyard circus, George can't escape his magic burp that comes out at all of the wrong times and makes George act crazy.  After getting a job at a pet shop, George and his friends finally have the money for the toy, but find out that it's sold out once they get to the store.  Afterwards, they see Louie stomping on his Dude-on-a-Skateboard because he says it keeps breaking and it's a piece of junk that doesn't work.  Therefore, they were happy that they didn't waste their money on the toy in the end anyways.

I would use this book as a way for students to discuss many different questions relating to real life situations.  Would you share your new toy with your friends?  Why do you think George keeps acting this way?  Have you ever worked hard to save up for a new toy?  One activity I would do with students is to have them draw a picture of any of the scenes in the book or they could add their own scene.  I would also use this book as a reader's theater.  I would take a chapter and create a reader's theater out of it and have students read the chapter and act it out.

Questions to consider:

• How do we help students reflect and respond to realistic fiction?
• How will you handle it when the subject matter hits close to home for your students?
• Most realistic fiction has quite a bit of dialogue. Was it well written? How so? What can you and your students learn about writing from the author?   

Reference:

Krulik, Nancy. George Brown, Class Clown: World's Worst Wedgie. Scholastic Inc. New York, NY. 2010. Print.