Module 4: Island of the Blue Dolphins

Book Summary:  Karana's people are leaving their island to head east but her brother Ramos left his fishing gear and goes back for it.  Karana gets off the boat to go find her brother and while they are gone they realize they've been left behind.  Karana and her brother are left to fend entirely for themselves.  Ramos is attacked and killed  by the pack of wild dogs on the island and Karana finds herself entirely alone on the island.  She tames a wild dog and names him Rontu while she learns how to survive.  Years later a group of Aleuts comes to the island and Karana hides in a cave but makes friends with a girl.  When the girl and the rest of the Aleuts leave she realizes how lonely she is.  Years later a ship comes and docks on the island and Karana dresses in her best dress and goes to meet the people- ready to be with humans and she finds out the fate that became of her tribespeople.  

APA Reference:  O'Dell, Scott.  (1960).  Island of the blue dolphins.  New York, NY:  HMH Books.

Impressions:  I couldn't put it down!  As I was reading it made me wonder as to the truth of this story.  I did some quick research and learned that in the 1800's there was a real girl who was left behind on her island.  That made me love the story even more - knowing that as it was a fictional account of a true story had me dying to get to the end to see if she was ever going to be reunited with her tribespeople.  I was disappointed at the end that there was not athe big happy ending like I was so desperately wanting for our Karana.  I also enjoyed how descriptive the text was- it was very easy for me to visualize what was going on even if I had no context for it.

Professional Review:  This book is a true story about a 12 year old girl called Karana who is stranded on an island and has to work out how to survive. Her main enemies on the island are the wild dogs and she lives in fear of the Aleuts (a tribe who arrive on the island to hunt seals).

We loved learning about survival with no tools except those you make from the materials around you and the way that Karana found enough food to eat. The book was sad in some parts but it only went to show you how tough Karana was.

We admired Karana's hard work, she never gives up. She did become lonely and through her loneliness we noticed that she overcame the fear of her enemies and actually changed. Her relationship with her dog was an important part of the book for us. Her attitude to the animals around her changed too, she starts off seeing them as materials to be used to make clothes or tools and of course to eat. As she becomes older and lonelier she changes and they become her friends. She then has to adapt how she lives.

This book was not an easy read, it took some concentration to read but the story carried us along and the struggle for survival provided plenty of suspense and thrills to keep us turning the pages.

(2013). [Review of Island of the blue dolphins].   The Guardian.  Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/childrens-books-site/2013/jun/21/review-island-blue-dolphins-scott-o-dell

Library Uses:  This would be wonderful for learning about survival without modern day tools.  It would be great for learning about perseverance and not giving up when things are difficult.  I could also see it introducing some research if the students are interested in learning about the truth behind the story. 

Module 2: Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

Book Summary:  Little Alexander truly has a bad day in this classic children's book.  From the moment he wakes up until he goes to bed he believes that everyone is against him - including the cat. Alexander wakes up with gum in his hair, slips on his skateboard, doesn't get to sit up front even though he has car sickness, doesn't get the good pair of shoes, etc...  Every couple of pages he gets so fed up with his life he says, "I think I'll move to Australia."

APA Reference:  Viorst, Judith.  (1987).  Alexander and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.  Atheneum Books.  New York, NY.

Impressions: My overall impression as a kid was one of, "Poor Alexander."  As an adult my impression has changed- and I like that.  Now I see Alexander as more of a cause and effect chain reaction.  Alexander got gum in his hair because he slept with it in his mouth.  He slipped on his skateboard because he forgot to put it up. He didn't get the prize in the breakfast cereal because he didn't get there in time.  My entire perspective of this story changed to see the pattern of not being responsible.  I'd want to move to Australia too if I had all of that happen in one day.

Professional Review: "I went to sleep with gum in my mouth and now there's gum in my hair and when I got out of bed this morning I tripped on the skateboard and by mistake I dropped my sweater in the sink while the water was running and I could tell it was going to be a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day."

So begin the trials and tribulations of the irascible Alexander, who has been earning the sympathy of readers since 1972. People of all ages have terrible, horrible days, and Alexander offers us the cranky commiseration we crave as well as a reminder that things may not be all that bad. As Alexander's day progresses, he faces a barrage of bummers worthy of a country- western song: getting smushed in the middle seat of the car, a dessertless lunch sack, a cavity at the dentist's office, stripeless sneakers, witnessing kissing on television, and being forced to sleep in railroad-train pajamas. He resolves several times to move to Australia.

Judith Viorst flawlessly and humorously captures a child's testy temperament, rendering Alexander sympathetic rather than whiny. Our hero's gum-styled hair and peevish countenance are artfully depicted by Ray Cruz's illustrations. An ALA Notable Book, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day is a great antidote to bad days everywhere, sure to put a smile on even the crabbiest of faces.

[Review of Alexander and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day].  Retrieved from  http://www.amazon.com/Alexander-Terrible-Horrible-Good-Very/dp/0689711735

Library Uses:  This could be used for a lot of different purposes but I think I would use it to support curriculum with a cause and effect lesson.  It could also be used to just talk about bad days we've had and the students could make connections to what they have had happen to them.  I'd like to see if the students could create a page to add to the book- give another scenario that would add to the bad day.

Module 3: Many Moons

Book Summary:  Princess Lenore is sick and the one thing she thinks will make her better is the moon.  The King summons his best men:  a Lord, a wizard, and a mathematician to get the moon for his daughter.  No one is able to get Lenore the 'moon' until a jester has an idea to ask her what she thinks the moon is made of and how big it is.  She ends up getting a moon shaped necklace and is cured.  The next big challenge is how to keep her from seeing the real moon which is of course still in the sky.  Again the smartest men cannot solve this dilemma and if falls upon the jester to solve.

APA Reference:  Thurber, James.  (1973).  Many moons.   New York, NY:  HMH Books.

Impressions:  Cute!  I really enjoyed reading this story.  When I noticed the pattern with the wise men reading off their list for the various things they have got for the King I saw some humor shine through.  There were some wacky things that these men have done for this King and I loved how at the end of each list were a few items their wives had tacked on for the wise men to get them.  Clever.  I also loved Lenore's explanation for why there was another moon in the sky- sounds like an explanation one of my students might come up with.  The best part- to me- is that no one is able to solve the King's dilemmas except the court jester- nice twist.

Professional Review:
Although the Caldecott-winning edition illustrated by Louis Slobodkin (HBJ, 1943) is the one that many parents and librarians grew up with, this new full-color version by Simont has a charm of its own. His illustrations are more modern in appearance, although the essentially periodless style of dress on the characters has the timeless look that this literary fairy tale demands. Backgrounds are generally sketchy, giving the characters center stage. The clever Jester, dressed in fool's motley, is still the only one of the King's advisors who has the sense to ask Princess Lenore just what she expects when she asks for the moon. The pompous Lord High Chamberlain, the skatty Wizard, and the absent-minded Mathematician are as helpless as ever, and the little princess with her common sense and gap-toothed smile is charming. This will delight a whole new generation of children.

Cerny, Rosanne.  (1991).  [Review of Many moons].  School library journal.  Retrieved from http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0156569809?ie=UTF8&isInIframe=1&n=283155&redirect=true&ref_=dp_proddesc_0&s=books&showDetailProductDesc=1#iframe-wrapper.

Library Uses:  This book would be a great introduction to teaching younger kids about the moon, where it is, what it is made of, and is it possible to catch it.  The repetition would be great for making predictions as well.

Module 2: Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs

Summary:  In Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, grandpa tells an amazing story that takes place in the small town of Chewandswallow.  The people of this town never have to cook because food falls from the sky three times a day until the weather starts acting peculiar.  The food starts to act like dangerous weather and the people of Chewandswallow have to set sail for a new place to live.  When they arrive in their new land they have to learn how to shop for food and even how to cook it.

APA Reference: Barrett, Judi.  (1978).  Cloudy with a chance of meatballs.  New York, NY:  Macmillan Publishing Company.

Impressions:  I remember when the movie came out- I saw the preview and thought, "that looks dumb," and never went and saw it.   This week I read this book with a group of students on a level N and got this book out of the Literacy Closet hoping I could entice them with a book that had a movie attached to it.  As we read it- I noticed that I liked it way more than the kids did!  I truly enjoyed Grandpas story about the town of Chewandswallow. I loved how silly the name of the town is and how silly the idea of food falling from the sky is.  The detail put into this story is great like open roofed restaurants, a sanitization department, and weather/food predictions on the evening news.  I also enjoyed the detail from the illustrations that made the story even better!

Professional Review:  Overall, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs is a fun and entertaining book for children.  It helps children explore their imaginations, picturing the different things that are happening in the small town of Chewandswallow.  The author brings the imaginative land to life and we can see this through the pictures changing from black and white to color.  The storybook is aimed for children between the ages of 4 and 8 but it is an enjoyable book for people of all ages. 

     Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs helps one to use their imagination.  Recently this world-renowned storybook was made into an animated movie.  However the characters and story lines are somewhat different, the idea of food falling from the sky is still the main theme throughout.  What children can learn from reading the book or watching the movie are things about the weather.  Severe storms bring danger and harm where slight weather conditions such as rain brings food (in the story) but in real life water to plants.  This book is a very good book to relate with a science activity in the classroom.  It can also be related back to the food pyramid.  Children can determine what foods are healthy or unhealthy for them to eat. 

     I think this book is well written and entertaining.  Bedtime stories can take a child anywhere they want in the world, and this story shows exactly that.  The children are taken to a land where food falls from the sky.  This is unlike any other ‘normal’ story that we hear.  A child must use their imagination to really grasp the humor and excitement that is portrayed in the storybook.

Brown, L. (2011).  [Review of Cloudy with a chance of meatballs by L. Brown].  Retrieved from http://reviews-of-childrens-literature.pbworks.com/w/page/10581679/Cloudy%20With%20a%20Chance%20of%20Meatballs

Library Uses:  This would be great to tie into some writing curriculum and have a creative writing lesson that goes along with reading the story.  Another way to use this in the library would be to have an art project where the kids get to illustrate what a 'tomato tornado' and a 'pea soup fog' would look like.  Could they come up with another food/weather incident and illustrate it?

Module 1: The Giving Tree

Book Summary:  The Giving Tree, by Shel Silverstein, is about a tree that gives everything she has to a boy.  When the boy was young the tree gave apples and a place to play.  When the boy grew older the tree gave him her apples to sell for money, branches to build a house, and her trunk to make a boat. In the end all the boy-now an old man needs is all the tree has- a stump to sit on.  There is a repeated phrase throughout the story, "And the tree was happy," because no matter what the boy needed throughout his life the tree was happy to give it to him.

APA Reference:  Silverstein, S. (1992).  The giving tree.  New York, NY:  Evil Eye Music, Inc.

Impressions:  My impression of this book has changed over time.  When I was little I loved the book, it was an easy read about a caring tree who had a great friendship with a boy.  Now that I'm an adult re-reading this book- it makes me cry.  This book is a very touching story of friendship and giving.  Not just giving, but giving everything you have for the happiness of someone else.  It is amazing to me that such a simple picture book can encompass that kind of generosity from the tree.  I also notice that the adult version of me gets a little mad at the boy for asking for so much and not truly appreciating the depth of what the tree has done for him.

Professional Review:  Parents need to know that Silverstein's story really hits an emotional button; readers seem to either love this book or hate it. Some see selfless love as beautiful, even if it's taken to an extreme. It's easy to imagine the tree as a mature, patient mother dependably being there for her child throughout his life. But the tree can also be seen as a masochistic female who doesn't know how to set limits. (Or could the story even be a warning about greedily using Mother Nature's resources?) Still, there's little concern that the youngest readers will grasp much negative meaning from this sensitive parable.

The giving tree:  classic, sensitive parable about selflessness. 

[Review of the book The giving tree]. Common Sense Media.  Retrieved from https://www.commonsensemedia.org/book-reviews/the-giving-tree#

Library Uses:  This book would be great for several different lessons during a read aloud session like: character study focusing on both the tree and the boy, making predictions for what the boy ask for and what the tree will give, real world applications involving deforestation and conservation, plus many more.

Greetings!  This blog is dedicated to my continuing education of children's literature.  Throughout the semester I will be blogging about some of my favorite books including information about the content, professional reviews, and suggested library uses for each.  I can't wait to dive in and get busy reading, so without further adieu, I present my first blog.