Final Reflection

I really enjoyed Reading and Responding for Children's Literature. I loved how laid back it was but I still got so much out of it. I experienced so many children's books that I would have never been able to read if I hadn't been obligated to read them, because it's so hard to read those books when you have tons of other school stuff to do...unless it is required. I really learned a lot. I really loved blogging about them and having the freedom to write our feelings, rather then having requirements. I know the other reading and responding class does Word documents and has to write about so many different things. I feel that by picking out books, sometimes at random, they aren't going to be good or worthy to use in your classroom, and some you just aren't able to say much about. I really think Jen's way of teaching the class was perfect and she cared about what we had to say. I would recommend this class to anyone because I got a lot of book ideas about my classroom. If you're passionate about a book, that there is a way to read it and incorporate it into the curriculum. There are also a ton of ideas online so you aren't thinking of ideas and books all by yourself. I learned that there is resources out there that support the teacher and that it is important to make use of them. I liked all the projects that we did. I think that they were helpful and useful and I really liked how the presentations were so informal and we shared at our tables. I feel that I learned more and it was easier to talk about what I learned and researched. I can't think of any one thing that I would change out the teaching or set up of the class. I enjoyed going to it every week and I really appreciated how Jen really cared about what we had to say and really respected our opinions and our busy lives as students.

Dolphins At Daybreak (Magic Tree House Series #9)-By: Mary Pope Osborne; Illustrated By: Salvatore Murdocca

I read this novel with my child study little boy. He loves the series and I had never read it before but see all the books in the Scholastic book orders. It was all that he could talk about for the first few weeks of child study and then I finally brought a book in and he got so excited. We read it. It was a quick, easy read but it was action packed. The chapters were cliff hangers and it was realistic at least to the second grader. What he really likes about the book is that the characters stay consistent through all the books and there are TONS of them and they all start the same way for the most part, so it is actually a series, rather than the Star Wars books that have a wide variety of different authors and different things going on that don't really connect. There is a lot of dialogue and easy for kids to get in to. I would definitely read them as a read a loud or have them as free read books. It was about an 80 or 90 page novel, so it was easy to get through and the little boy reads pretty well and gets through them pretty fast if he sticks with it. By giving kids fun books like this to read I think it is easy for them to get wrapped up in and relate it to interests in there like and making connecting. I know a big thing we talk about in block A about reading for meaning and making connections is a big part of that. I think it is awesome when children are making connects to text and they are enjoying it, rather then being forced to read and forced to make connections or asked low level comprehension questions guided by the teacher.

And To Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street-By:Dr. Seuss

This Dr. Seuss book build off of each page. A boy walks to school everyday and his imagination takes him away. He notices a horse and a wagon on his way to school and each page more things are added, so at the end it's pretty much a parade on Mulberry Street. I have never read this book before either but it wasn't one of my favorites. The book was taken over by a lot of text and there wasn't many detailed illustrations. I like when there are a lot of details in his books because they are so abstract that it's cool to see whats in his imagination. There wasn't really a moral or lesson that was trying to be taught but showing how children's imagination run wild and how parents or adults just don't understand what is going on in kids heads. I picked two Dr. Seuss books for the poetry collection because I haven't read any other Dr. Seuss books this semester and all his books are so poetic or the first thing I think of when I think of a poem. In my classroom I want a whole collection of Dr. Seuss books because I think they are up for so much interpretation and kids just love them. It's amazing that 30 or 40 years after they were published they are still as popular as they were many years ago and still used a lot in classrooms. This wasn't my favorite Dr. Seuss book but I'm definitely not going to stop reading his books. It was still a good book but not compared to his others in his collection.

Hooray for Diffendoofer Day!-By: Dr. Seuss; With Help From: Jack Prelutsky & Lane Smith

I really enjoy Dr. Seuss books and I just became familiar with this book early this year when my science methods teacher mentioned it in one of his lectures during class. I finally just got around to reading it. This was a book that was published in 1998, but Dr. Seuss died in 1991. It was good that that had found sitting in a drawer or something. The words were done, but the illustrations weren't, So Jack and Lane decided to help get it published. I really love the books because they are so abstract by using made up words or things but the point of the story is so strong and important. He really has a message that he wants to send out to the people reading the books that he does in a fun, captivating way. This book really applies to us. It is about students attending Diffendoofer School and talking about how great their school is and all the teachers. No detail about the school is left out and it is so positive. The narrator just loves it. But than they have to take an assessment "much take a special test to see who's learning such and such-to see which school's the best." And everyone freaks out because because if the school doesn't do well they will go to flobbertown where everyone does everything the same. It really reminded me a lot of where we are now in education and Dr. Seuss had to have written this in the late 1980's. It's sad still so much is the same. Moral of the story is that everyone passes and they keep the school. The pictures were very fun and colorful and creatures that you see in Dr. Seuss books but with more bright, bold colors. It was a very fun read and I think that it would be a great book to read to students when it comes time to take a standardize test to help them understand what the purpose is and take some stress out of it.

The Adventures of Simple Simon-By: Chris Conover

This book was very abstract and so were the illustrations. It's about the adventures of this pumpkin Simon and he just ends up failing and getting hurt over everything he does. It's a book written as a poem but it incorporates nursery rhymes. The illustrations are very detailed. There is a side bar and an illustration on the opposite page, showing what is happening in the story and the side bar shows how Simon feels or shows him doing what he is trying to accomplish. The pictures show diversity very well. There are no people in the book but all different animals and they are all getting along and working together. There are bears, elephants, tigers, birds, pigs, camels, and many more. There is also writing in different languages, saying "the end" or "bye". I thought it was a cute book and would be good for younger children because it had a great rhyme scheme, so it would be good to talk about rhyming words with and there are a very of nursery rhymes introduced into the text so it would be good for the children to recognize and use text to text connections. I didn't think the book flowed together very well, the text didn't connect to make a story well and it was hard to follow but as I read it again it came together a little better but still was in a dream world and hard to follow. The illustrations were fun to look at because there was so much detail included in each picture on the page.

Birds On A Wire- By: J.Patrick Lewis & Paul B. Janeczko; Illustrated By: Gary Lippincott

This book was different from anything I have ever read or even seen. The introduction at the front of the book introduced the format of the book. The book is written as a "renga" which is an ancient Japanese version form in which poets take turns adding verses. The renga is written by two or more poets. The first poet writes three lines and the other poet follows with two lines. So it's kind of like a game or a puzzle by connecting the verses to make some sort of sense. It was really interesting to read but yet kind of challenging too. It really didn't flow together very well. On each page was three lines of text and it was followed by two italicized lines written by the other poet. It was kind of hard for me to understand and I had to read it a few times to get the just. But the description the poets used was amazing. It was written beautifully. I think this would be great to do with a class when teaching poetry, to partner up and construct a poem together. It really incorporates two different points of view into one to construct one big piece at the end. However, I don't know if I would read this to little kids. I think it is for probably fifth grade and up because of the complex set up and word usage of the story, but I think anyone is capable of the poetry pattern. The illustrations are also very detailed and beautiful and really reflect was is going on in the poem so that is another way to understand the story, to take the picture clues that are given to the reader.

Love That Dog-By: Sharon Creech

What a quick and easy read (I think it took me less than 30 minutes to read), but yet there was so much to take from the text and get out of it. It was actually kind of inspiring to me. I really hate writing poetry and have never enjoyed it. I feel like I am doing it wrong (if that is even possible) and this little boy was just throwing word and feelings on a page and created something awesome. His confidence in writing went from zero to 100% so quickly and his teachers encouragement and response really helped in to continue to try. I think a very important part to teaching is to encourage your students to believe in themselves and this book is a prime example. Without encouragement this student would still be at page 1. I thought it was cool that the poetry still constructed a story and had a beginning, middle and end in poetic form and the boy had no idea that he was doing such a thing. Sharon Creech sounded like a familiar author and after reading her biography, I realized I had read many of her books growing up (Walk Two Moons and Bloomability really ring a bell). I really liked Jack's poem, My Sky, because it was so emotional and you could tell that he was really passionate about it and really loved his dog. I also liked how the writing stayed consistent and didn't change from poetic style to a normal journal entry. I would definitely read this as a read aloud but I would make sure that everyone had a copy of the book so they could see the format and I think it would be a good book to talk about the format of poetry and how it works and the freedoms you have with it to write.

So Far From The Bamboo Grove-By:Yoko Kawashima Watkins

I liked this book a little bit more than The Year of Impossible Goodbyes, just because it was a little bit faster paced and easier to get right into. I thought it was wonderful to read the two books side by side and see the similarities and differences of the same situation, just opposite sides. I thought I would have more harsh feelings toward "the bad guys" but I didn't. I was actually really sympathetic at times because those people were kind of thrown into the situation if the believed in the cause or not. I thought it was really hard to not feel sympathetic to both sides. I think these books would be very powerful to students in a classroom, because I think war is such a powerful topic to talk about. We are currently in war but we don't see the first hand effects of it on people or the area because it's not happening at home but rather in a far away place. Some student might not even know that a war is going on. Scary but true. I also liked how both of the books were about family because I think that is very important especially in the time of war when everything is falling apart. I really shows a lot about what is really important in the long run in life. They both talked a lot about courage and bravery also. I don't think either one of the characters in the books would have survived if they didn't have courage and bravery. These books are so powerful to even adults reading them, in class we had such a powerful discussion and I think young students also have the ability with a little guidance that can also be very powerful.

Anticipation Set: The Year of Impossible GoodByes

Take 1 minute to reflect on the title. Predict comparisons and contradictions to So Far From The Bamboo Grove.

"One's life is short, but the life of the spirit is long"--How might this quote relate to the book?

Be prepared for the emotional discomfort and horrible innuendos that are connected with the "Sock Girls".

• Take a moment to reflect about how Buddhist meditation and how it would affect someone to be completely taken away from them.
  
  
  

Think about how families were torn apart from each other and the emotions that are involved that you could potentially never be reunited.

Think about what role HOPE would play in your heart.

Twelve Terrible Things-By: Marty Kelley

This book was so cute. By the cover you think the book is going to be very scary and when you open the cover of the book, the opening page is a warning page about how you shouldn't turn the page about all the terrible things in the upcoming pages. When I looked at the cover I thought it was going to be about scary, terrible things but in actuality, it is about things that just make you angry or upset. In this book the illustrations tell the story and the word or words are just captions or feelings. The first page is a picture of ice cream that has fallen and the word on the page is "ooopsie!" So it's very humorous but very true feelings. The illustrations are done from the angle of the eyes of the person so you see what they are seeing. It's very creative and I think it's what makes it humorous and really feel the disappointment. The first illustration you see both of the persons hands, his two tennis shoes and the ice cream on the ground with the cone in one of his hands and then his shadow is in the background. The one I can really relate to is the dentist picture and the caption is "Say AHHHH..." I don't really like going to the dentist so it's really relatable. I think it would be a good book to use with young students in your classroom to share their fears or "terrible" things. I think it would be an easy thing to create into a classroom book. Some of the things are seen as funny to some but others they can totally relate and there is no wrong answer. It would be a good writing and reading activity.

Willie And The All-Stars-By: Floyd Cooper

This book was about a true event but wasn't a true story. It had made up characters. This book was about a young black boy living in Chicago He enjoys listening to Cubs games. He dreams of becoming a Major Leaguer but that dream is still impossible in 1942 when there was still a color barrier. He learns a lot about his world and where he stands in it. But he still never loses hope. He ends up getting tickets to a baseball game at Wrigley Field and watches the Negro Leaguers play. The illustrations are very good. They really help tell the story. There is a lot of emotion drawn in like on the faces of the characters and in the town in general. The text also had a lot of emotion in it. There was a lot of description and adjectives to make you feel like you were there following Willie around. It made it really dramatic. It incorporates a lot of diversity. His best friend is white and the neighborhood that he lives in is very mixed, but they still had to use different drinking fountains and bathrooms. I think this book would be very good to read and have in your classroom. It tells a good story and baseball is a huge American past time. It also shows how far we have come in this country from complete segregation to inclusion (even though it still isn't great.) If would be great to use in a segregation unit to bring the point home that segregation happened everywhere. Very emotionally touching book.

Pele: King of Soccer (El rey del futbol)-By: Monica Brown; Illustrated By: Rudy Gutierrez

This book was about Edson Arantes do Nascimento. He was a famous soccer player in Brazil, South America from the mid 1950s to shortly before 1980. I had never heard about him before but I'm not a big fan of soccer. Soccer doesn't seem to be a big thing in the United States as it is every where else in the world, however, so many little kids play soccer as their first sport, so it surprises me that it isn't more popular in the United States. My child study talks about it all the time. The book was written and illustrated beautifully. On each page, there was English text and it was then translated into Spanish. The book could be read cover to cover by either and English reader or a Spanish reader. Even the author and illustrator information is written in both languages. Just the general story is heartwarming and the author really develops the main character Pele, very well. The reader feels bad for him for his living situation but the author makes the reader believes so much in him and what he can do. The illustrations were also awesome! The colors were bright and really made the page really stand out to the reader. There were all kinds of hidden things inside the pictures too. The book took twice as long to read because all the time I took looking at the illustrations. The book was about believing in yourself even when you the underdog, so I think it's a great book to read to students. It's really a confidence booster. There is also a lot of diversity in it. Pele is poor and black. So it's not about the average white male. The text is also in Spanish which would be good for Spanish ELL students. Good book.

The Girl In The Castle Inside The Museum-By: Kate Bernheimer & Nicoletta Ceccoli

This was another one of my favorite books that I have read so far this semester. I found it on the new shelf of the library. I wasn't sure what to make of it because the cover looks so peaceful, that it looks a little bit scary.The illustrations are just amazing. The objects in the book like toys and other made up things are drawn so clearly but the people are drawn so softly and faded. They look so innocent. The faces remind me of porcelain dolls, so pale, soft and white. There is so much imagination put into each picture, that you question what it is. The book is also set up like a fairy tale. It begins once upon a time and elaborates on this magical world. It takes place inside a castle which is in a museum, where many children go to visit. Inside the castle there lives a girl. The girl just wants to play and she enjoys watching the children come in and discover her inside. I would definitely read this book to my class because it really sparks imagination. However, there is no diversity within the characters. They are all white and mostly female. But the characters aren't the main focus of the story though. The castle and the magic are what the author wants you to notice, so I think by having every character a white female, it doesn't draw attention to them but rather all the other details in the illustrations.

Big Bigger, and Biggest Trucks and Diggers- By: Erin Golden

I needed a book for my child study. He is a little boy and really into trucks and trains. We are starting our writing unit and he seems to not like writing, so I'm going to try to come at it from a different way using nonfiction books. It has really cool pictures of each of the trucks and giving a good description of what each on is used for, in a kid friendly way. All the machines were things that are used in construction and farming, among other things so they are all familiar. It gives multiple interesting facts about the equipment and describes what each part (tires, bucket, how to drive it, and all the other amenities) and how it works. Weight is an important factor to the machines, how much it can lift, how much it can push, etc. It breaks it into pounds but pounds don't mean much to a little kid, so it breaks it down into something common, such as three cows or 46 elephants. I think this would be a great free reading book, where kids could pull it off the shelf and grab a buddy and talk about it and make personal connections. The book also comes with a DVD, so it is very interactive. I feel that my little child study would have a blast with it. There were things in the book that I didn't even know. I think that's the cool thing about kid's nonfiction books is that people from any age can learn something from them.

The Year of Impossible Goodbyes-By: Sook Nyul Choi

I thought there was a lot of things going on in this book. There were a lot of characters, but they were all so developed. I feel like I had a good grasp of every ones personality and characteristics. The book was very detailed. I don't know anything about the event but I feel like I am much more informed about it now. I think the author did a very good job portraying the events and using great description. The Japanese taking over Korea reminds me a lot of the Nazi's and Hitler with the Jews, but a little less extreme. I thought it was encouraging to read that even though the police were so brutal to the people that the family still stayed strong and nothing could break that down. I think there were a lot of strong feelings and emotions in the story. The book said that it was based for kids age 10-14, however, 10 year olds might still have a little trouble grasping the depth of the issue. I think more advanced 10 year olds could understand it but the topic is just so complex. There were also so many problems and conflicts though the story. It just kept rising and when you thought it was going to get better, the action kept rising. I am excited to read the other one and be able to compare them. I think it's cool how the two books are about the same thing but from two completely different perspectives. It will be interesting comparing them to each other but also noticing the complete differences. I think it is a good thing to do with kids to practice comparing and contrasting by using different literature that has a lot of similarities but yet so many differences. I think this was the "good" version, where the "innocent" people were being pushed aroung, so it will be interesting to see where the other book is aimed and how the "bad guys" are seen.

Strega Nona: Her Story-By: Tomie dePaola

This book was really fun to read. I read it after I read the first and original Strega Nona book. It gave the story through her eyes and her perspective but it was still took in third person. I think it would have been cool if it was written in first person since it was her story. The story was based in Italy again. Tomie says that he does a lot of research about the places his stories are set in so he has some background knowledge but his illustrations don't really reflect his research. I like his style of drawing because you can always easily identify his work but I feel that the pictures in this story didn't do Italy or the setting any justice. I feel that wasn't enough detail in the pictures to really distinguish that is it was in a different country.
I also feel that the story covered so much of her life. I feel like this book should have been the first Strega Nona and the original one should have been a part of the series because it was just a snip it of her life. When I think of something typed "Her Story" I think that there was some misconception or misunderstanding in the first story that she as a character wanted to connect but Tomie really didn't write it that way. It covered everything previous to the first book and how she got started and what she did to become superb.
There are so many Strega Nona books. I think it would be fun to read them to a class of younger students and compare the stories to each other. I think there is a lot of little lessons in the writing that can be picked up on and there are so many different adventures happening in the series.
Overall, very good, fun books to read. I definitely encourage checking out Tomie dePaola's work. After checking out the books and doing my research, I realized that he writes some chapter books for children so I think I might check one out to see his writing in a more complex, lengthy piece.

Adelita-By: Tomie dePaola

I really liked this story. It reminded me exactly of how the United States version on Cinderella but I can never pass up a cute fairy tale love story. Instead of a fairy godmother in the book though,there was a maid named Esperanza, that had lived with Adelita and her father since her mother passed away when she was just a baby. I liked that there was made instead of a fairy godmother because the book seemed more realistic and there was someone really on Adelita side to support and stand up for her. Esperanza gets sent away by the evil step mother but then the Prince comes and finds her after the ball and they get married and Espranza comes back to live with them happily ever after. The book had a lot of Spanish phrases in it, with the English translations right after it with made it really fun to read and very interactive. There was also a Spanish translator in the back of the book, if you didn't understand the translation on the page. The illustrations were very colorful and the reader could tell that it was taking place in Mexico by the color choice that Tomie used. The pages were filled with color and there was no white space. It kept your eyes very busy and there was a lot of detail within the pictures. A male author writing a feminine fairy tale would be challenging but I think Tomie did a great job. I think every culture should have a Cinderella story to capture the heart of every little girl.

Bill and Pete-By: Tomie dePaola

This book was different from the other books that I read by Tomie. It was about a crocodile and a bird. At the beginning his mother tells him that they have to go to the grocery store to get a toothbrush. When I think of a toothbrush I think of a plastic stick with little bristles at the end but the crocodile toothbrushes are little birds that talk. They became best friends and they were there for each other through all their troubles. It was a story of friendship and how they do anything for each other. I also think it was a book about diversity because you don't always have to be friends with people that are the same as you but rather the best friends you can make are the most different from you. I think that would be something important that I would talk to my class about and ask their feed back because I think there are a lot of interpretations. The story had a beginning, middle and end and there was an antagonist and protagonists. I think that the middle-end of the book was a little unrelated to the beginning and I wish there would have been a smoother transition from the beginning to the end. This book had a mother figure and no one else for Bill to turn to so I think it would be a good book for single parent families and how there is other people/things out there to turn to to make relationships but the parent is always there to turn to and make proud. There is also other Bill and Pete books that Tomie has written, which I would like to read for comparison.

Tom-By: Tom dePaola

This was another true story about Tomie and his grandma and grandpa. Yet again his name in the book is spelled Tommy, but his grandpa’s name is Tom. Supposedly they were named after each other, the reader finds out in the beginning of the book. After researching Tomie he talks a lot about relating things to his life, especially to his childhood with his grandparents. Now One Foot, Now the Other is another story that Tomie wrote about his Grandpa and a stroke that he suffered and Tommy took care of him. I saw a lot of similarities between the two stories. Tomie has such great memories with his grandparents but the reader never hears about his other family memories like his mother or father or cousins, etc. I think a lot of little kids can relate to this story because at a young age grandparents are one of the few most important people. They spoil their grandchildren and just make everything fun. The children can never get in trouble by their grandparents as Tommy knows, when he plays tricks on his teacher and best friend. Again the story can be told through the pictures for children that can’t read all the words yet, so I think it could also be used for wordless activities. There was a little more diversity in this book. The students in the class were different races but they were all girls. Another thing that I really like about Tomie’s art is that the characters facial expressions and actions are so dramatic which shows a lot of emotion that the characters are feeling.

Strega Nona-By: Tomie dePaola

We did an author study on Tomie dePaola in second grade I remember reading this story. Everyone absolutely loved it. We would read it during silent reading time and any other chance we got. Our teacher ended up checking about a whole collection of the Strega Nona series. I like even though she is a "witch" that she doesn't have a negative place in the community in the book, she helps people and is kind to them rather then hinder or hurt them. This book is a Caldecott winner and that is no surprise to me. I think it is written really well. It has good morals and lessons in it, the characters all have very distinct characteristics and personalities and it was really easy to follow. I think the illustrations reflect the story well. I think it is easy for kids that don't know how to read the words to tell the story through the pictures and the pictures are drawn to reflect a long time ago (as when the story takes place), the colors are a little faded and the people's outfits are much different then we wear today, dresses and cloaks and big, fancy hats. I also really liked that it took place in another country and it was easy to identify that it was in another place. When he writes books to take place in another country or time period, he does a lot of research before he writes and illustrates the story. Although there wasn't a lot of huge Italian clues, there were many in the illustrations that could be noticed easily. While reading through the book and looking at the pictures, there wasn't a lot of diversity, everyone was white and looked the same, which is definitely not accurate in any part of the world, so I think that is one thing that could be edited, but back in 1975, I guess some of those things weren't as big of an issue as they are now.

The Art Lesson-By: Tomie dePaola

This book was about one of Tomie's life experiences in kindergarten and how he was kind of held back from his creativity and full potential in his art class. It was easy to pick up that this book was about his life after reading up and researching his life and also reading other books by himself. I thought it was funny though that the character Tommy in the book is spelled differently than his real spelling of his name. I don't know why he would do that and I couldn't find any explanation on it, I just thought that was kind of weird. His writing is so entertaining and comical at times. It just makes me feel good inside because all of his books end so well. He has so much talent. I think it is awesome. I like when books have the same author and illustrator because it really is their own book and they got to put on paper how they imagined the work to be. His pictures are very cute and very recognizable, all of his characters have very interesting characteristics and are like that through all of his illustrations in all of his books. This book reminded me a lot of my Art Methods class in how you shouldn't restrict a child's creativity because you never know what your students potential could be if you challenge them and let them do their own work. A lot of students can be really excited about some part of school and if the lesson doesn't meet their dreams and expectations, their excitement can be shattered and really turned around.

Reflection on Reading and Responding...

I am really enjoying Reading and Responding so far. It’s so fun going to the library to check out children’s books. It’s a nice break from long textbooks and articles. It has been helpful reading books and getting a feeling for what a good children’s book is, from what isn’t. I’ve really gotten good at analyzing books from the weekly blogs over books. Although it’s fun going to the library to check out books, it is always overwhelming at times. There are so many books to choose from and I feel like I don’t know what to pick. We have a lot of freedom to pick what we want and I think that’s what makes it so hard for me. I’m not used to having no guidance or guidelines. We have a lot of assigned children’s novels to read but I wish we had more assigned children’s books because I think I have picked a lot of books but they are more recent and I want to know what other people suggest or even teacher recommendations. There are just so much out there that it would be nice to have it narrowed down a little bit perhaps. I want to be an early elementary teacher so I will be doing a lot of read a loud and have to have a lot of picture books in my classroom of all sorts. I think there are a lot of classic picture books out there that I am forgetting about since I have been in elementary school. I also wish we had more of a chance to talk about what pictures books we read that week and what we liked and didn’t like. I feel that the class has a lot to say and a good help for advising on what to read.
I love doing the blogs. I think it is an awesome way to make reflecting about the books fun and interesting, rather than the basic summary and what we could do with the book.
All in all, I really like the class and have learned a lot and had a lot of fun reading, relaxing and reflecting!

The Misfits-By: James Howe

I thought The Misfits was a decent book. I wasn't in love with it, but I didn't hate it either. The first nine chapter made the book really hard to get into because they moved kind of slow but then everything started to come together and start happening. I liked all the different characters. They were all so different from one another that it made the book really interesting. I think it made it easier to like and dislike characters because they had such strong personalities. For example, Addie was a very powerful character and did what she wanted and said what she felt which I both liked and disliked a lot because in high school those kind of kids annoyed me a lot but I liked her because she didn't back down from what she believed and she never gave up. I wish I could be like her a little more often.
I liked the format of the book and how it was narrated and written in first person but then at their meetings it was written like the script, so you didn't get any one's feels or emotions, but rather could form your own thoughts and opinions because they talked about some pretty intense stuff.
As far as the controversial issue of the book, I didn't see a problem with it. I think the people reading the book and the issues that happen in the book and words that are said in the book come up all the time at that age, so everyone knows what they are. The author being a homosexual man also helps the book because it is coming first hand and not a made up experience. He knows what it is like. I would much rather read about a character that has true, factual feelings then a character whose feelings are made up and the author really didn't know how to write the character. I also think it is a prime time for kids to experience different feelings and try to figure them out, so if they have something to relate to or a way to learn more about their feelings than I totally support that. I think parents also need to understand that and be supportive of their child whatever they may believe.

And Tango Makes Three-By: Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell; Illustrated By: Henry Cole

When I went to the library and asked the librarian for the controversial books that she knew, she looked for this book. She couldn't find it for quite a while and then she thought of the banned book selection at the front of the library. Supposedly it was banned books week and they had a set up at the front of the library. This book was front and center. I didn't think this book was as bad as they said. I thought this book took the whole homosexual and child issue to a very unique level. I thought it was unique how the authors used penguins to present the idea. I know it's a non-fiction story but I feel that it gives kids a different perspective of the issue and I think it makes it a little less controversial by using something other then humans to send the same message. I liked how it talked about the penguins and the different families and then mentioned the gay penguins but never explicitly say they are gay or homosexual. I liked how the author compared them to the other penguin families and showed that those penguins could take care of an offspring just as well as the other heterosexual families. Everyone watching the penguins at the zoo cheered for them and didn't see a problem with it, so I think the parents and people who have a problem with this story really need to reevaluate what they are thinking because I think the author in this book portrays the characters very innocently. After doing research and discussing the book with other people, the males take care of the egg, which could also controversial in our society.The author's note was also very informational and told the background story that wasn't included in the book.

It's So Amazing: A Book about Eggs, Sperm, Birth, Babies, and Families-By

This book was like the encyclopedia about everything related to sex and growing up. It had chapters about reproduction, gender, growing up, female parts, male parts, the egg, the sperm, sex, love, pregnancy, growing up/staying healthy, the fetus, multiples, birth, DNA, birth/adoption, keeping safe, HIV/AIDS, and babies. As you can see it discusses everything. The book is kind of set up like a graphic novel, which I thought was a good way to set it up since it's directed at kids. It made it more understandable, easy to follow, and fun to read. There are two characters that guide you through it, a parrot, who wants to find out all the answers and a bumblebee that is kind of dreading the subject. The narrates ask questions about the certain topics throughout the whole book and they make it fun and interesting. The pictures are drawn but are very detailed and leaves nothing out. One page that really stood out to me was the drawings of actual size fetuses as certain stages. They were smaller then I thought. Some of the pictures would probably make kids uncomfortable or embarrassed because of all the detail. This book is very accurate. I plan to teach in a younger classroom, so I don't know if I would just have this book laying on the shelf but I think that if students had certain questions, I would definitely recommend it to them or their parents to help education them on their curious questions. I learned about sex and the body in 4th grade and I think that we were barely mature enough to handle the topic but it's when boys and girls started having crushes and getting curious, so I think it was an opportune time but I don't think you can teach it any earlier then that. I think if children come to school with a question like that you need to speak to the parents and let them know what their child is wondering. Kids are always curious no matter what age but I think it's how detailed you get with them in your answer, is the appropriate way to go about it. I think parents should explain stuff that they want their children to know anytime before 4th grade, when their teacher is probably not going to have a class discussion on sex, but let them know that those questions are going to be expected from their children and it is not weird or unusual.

The Tree Of Life: Charles Darwin- By: Peter Sis

Well, obviously this book is controversial because it's about Darwin, his life and his belief about evolution. This book was really complex. It was like two to three stories going on at once. There was his public life story, private life story, and secret life story. This was a picture book but it was a very complex picture book. The pictures were very abstract and the story was not written for a little child to follow, but perhaps like a sixth grader, junior high student, or even a high schooler. Within each page there is just so much going on that it is hard to keep everything straight. There is all kinds of diary entries and letters that he has written to other people. This book gives Darwin's side of the story primarily but it also gives a little bit about some people that stood up against his belief. I don't think the author is trying to say that Darwin is right or wrong but just giving a biography of his life. I think I would use this in my classroom if I were talking about evolution in science and just give kids the background of the person who helped develop this idea and that this perspective is neither right or wrong but it's a popular belief among people in our society. I think it's important not to force the idea on anyone but rather just make students aware of it, because they are likely to stubble across the idea somewhere. I would also make sure to send a letter home with the students or at the beginning of the year letting parents know that we will be talking about evolution briefly, just so parents know that you aren't trying to hide anything or teach their children something that they are highly against.

The Planet Hunter: The Story Behind What Happeed to Pluto-By: Elizabth Rusch; Illustrated By: Guy Francis

I went into the library and asked the librarian if she knew of any good controversial books. She looked on the computer and pulled up a couple of different titles. She pulled out The Planet Hunter. I was a little puzzled at first wondering what the controversy could really be. First I figured that some people argued that Pluto was still a planet, which I'm sure is true because not everyone just believe what they hear. However, the librarian said, that the controversy lies within the library's and librarians and how to classify those books. Since Pluto is no longer a planet what do they do about the classification and so forth? So, I learned that not only are books controversial for children and their parents, they also boggle with the librarians brains in more of a educational/logic based way, which I thought was very interesting to see another perspective. I did a bit of research about the books I read. This book was a true story and got a lot of credit for being really accurate and kid friendly for the complex issue that is covered. As I was reading the book, I noticed that as well. The topic took on a story like form and in the corner of each page there was a bubble with a fact in it for more information related to what was discussed on the page but unrelated to the story line. The pictures were cartoons but when the sky was shown it was very realistic looking, the stars and planets were illustrated so well that they looked like real pictures. But I think for it to be credible the pictures of the sky had to be accurate and realistic looking to make it more believable for children. I personally didn't find anything controversial about the book. The author backed everything up so well and if you look it up on the Internet you will find the exact same information and people.

Not In Room 204-By: Sharron Riggs; Illustrated By: Jaime Zollars

This book is aimed for ages 4 to 8 years old. After reading it, it definitely covers the heavy topic of sexual abuse. I don't know if children would understand the book, if sexual abuse isn't explicitly happening to him/her at such a young age, and the book never says straight forward what is happening to the main character Regina Lillian Hadwig, but rather in only a more round about way. I don't necessarily think that the book needs to be more straight forward, but how Regina handles the sexual abuse is different then another person might handle the sexual abuse. I think when discussing sexual abuse everyone handles it differently. It can happen to boys or girls and people don't always handle it in the same way, emotionally or physically. So I think this book only portrays a very small percentage that might be affected by sexual abuse. Also teachers aren't going to be as upfront about the issue as Mrs. Salvador was. Many teachers don't mention it in their classrooms because it's something that may "cross the line" to bring up to their students because many parents don't think it is appropriate at such a young age, when actually this age group is the large majority of people affected. Mrs. Salvador didn't seem like a very warm person a the beginning of the book and makes me as a reader feel a little intimidated because she is always disciplining the class rather then giving positive criticism. I only sense her kind, caring personality half way through the book, when she is talking with Regina personally. She is not someone that I would be comfortable talking to because of how strict she seemed. The note at the beginning of the book was very nice to know what the reader was going to encounter in the book. I feel like it wasn't aimed only at adults but to let children know that it isn't their fault. But yet there were things that adults can do and ways to help. I think I would be comfortable reading this in my class but only with something leading into it. Like a unit on safety or health, but I won't dwell on the sexual abuse topic, but rather let the students know that there are people to turn to. I think if this is happening to a child that they will know what you are talking about and seek out help, if they know that they are safe.

Someone For Mr. Sussman-By: Patricia Polacco

This was a pretty entertaining book. I think Patricia Polacco is a pretty good author. I like her books. They are kind of long and some are pretty serious but they are written well. This wasn't a very serious book however. It was about a matchmaker who is trying to find a match for Mr. Sussman and secretly she is the one who wants to be his match. She goes to great lengths to try to please him, and he doesn't see what she is trying to do. She always goes a little too far in all that she is trying to impress him with. And finally when she gives up, he sees her true self and they end up getting married. So it's pretty much a happily-ever-after book. The story is told through the matchmakers grandson, so it tells the whole story from an observer point of view, and I thought that was pretty interesting. The narrator doesn't ever really say anything but he is in every picture and it's apparent when he narrates "My Bubbie" or "She asked me" etc. The book was pretty long but yet it was such a quick read and in the classroom you could definitely incorporate predictions as to what was coming next and using evidence to make claims. It's wasn't a tradition book in that the matchmaker and Mr. Sussman were both fairly old (probably in their mid 60s based on the illustrations) which I thought made the book cute. Twenty years ago getting married at an old age was unheard of, but today I think it is a lot more acceptable because of the high divorce rate and people just wanting companionship. The story definitely had a clear beginning, middle and end and had a nice flow. The book put a smile on my face through the whole story.

Thump, Quack, Moo-By: Doreen Cronin & Betsy Lewin

I read a book created by the same authors called "Click, Clack, Moo: Cows that Type" for Drama in the classroom and we did a story drama activity with it. I thought it was pretty funny so I tried this one. This one was alright. It wasn't as good at "Click, Clack" but the part I think is so funny is that the animals have such attitudes. They are so funny to read. The mice were also pretty comical. They foreshadowed the next couple of pages by a poster with the weather on it on the bottom corner of the pages. Nothing turned out right for the farmer, as hard as he tried to threaten the animals on his farm. There wasn't a lot of educational value in the book, it would be more of just an enjoyment read and it was a pretty easy read for younger kids to tackle by themselves. The illustrations were nothing too exciting, they were very simple, and pretty much told the story by looking at them. I don't really have a lot to say about this book because of it's simplicity and mainly being written for humor.

Garmann's Summer-By:Stian Hole

I really liked this book. The only problem I had with it is that it didn't really flow together very well, each page was like a different paragraph about Garmann's summer. But yet they weren't really story. I can't even really describe it. I just haven't ever read anything like it. Garmann learns a lot about himself and others over the summer about fear, life and death and beginning and endings. It was hard for me to really hear the voice of Garmann in my head while I was reading, I think it was because all the illustrations made him look so shy and timid. He was a curious little boy and was really quiet and calm. He was an only child and his 3 crazy old aunts were visiting for the week. They taught him a lot, that its OK to be scared, you just have to face your fears sometimes. The story had a beginning and an end but the middle was a little foggy. It was hard for me to pick out the climax since the book was more of a compilation of different events. It surprised me that his mom and dad didn't have a bigger role in the story, especially since he is so young (only going into first grade). His aunts, that he sees once a year, seemed more important to him. I don't know if that was just for that week or if his parents took a backseat role and let him explore on his own, hence why he had so many questions for his aunts. I thought the illustrations were awesome! I was really interested in them and spent a long time looking at each one. Hole took each character and just repeated him/her through out the rest of the book. The aunts were the same individual person seen on the first page to the end of the book, so it was pretty easy to keep them all in line. Garmann never has a shirt on and always the same shorts, just a different facial expression. But the illustrations were so life like. They looked like each individual detail was clipped out of a magazine and glued precisely on the page. I think this would be a great book to read at the beginning of the year to students to allow the butterflies in every one's stomach to ease, because Garmann was very nervous for the first day of school.

Thea's Tree-By:Alison Jackson; Illustrated By: Janet Pedersen

I picked a lot of good books out the week. They were are very different from each other and had very different formats but they all told a good story. Thea's Tree was written all by a compilation of written letters. Thea is supposed to do a science project and she plants a seed in her front yard and is going to watch it grow. Her teacher tells her through an email that she should ask other experts about what she is seeing as the plant grows. Through the story she writes to a Botanist, Arboreal Acquisitions, Curator, and many other people but meanwhile her plant is getting huge and ruining her house. She finds 3 gold coins, a golden egg, golden harp and then sees a giant. It's a story based off of Jack and the Bean Stock. It story took me by surprise because at the beginning I didn't know where it was going, the book summary didn't say anything about a fairytale, but after the plant kept growing I caught on quickly. I thought it was clever how it was written through a bunch of letters to tell a story. The illustrations were very detailed and done in water color so they looked a little sloppy but you could definitely see what was going on. There wasn't a lot of ethnically diverse characters. They are all white. It would be a great spin off to fairytales, like after you read Jack and the Bean stock and introduce different ways the story can be told or how authors write it differently sometimes by adding more detail or extra twists.

Queen of Halloween-By: Mary Engelbreit

The library had all their Halloween books out, so I decided that it was the appropriate time of the year to check one out. I don't know what the rules are on Halloween anymore, as far as if you can bring it to school or not. I feel that there are so many rules anymore about celebrating or participating in those special days. I feel that a lot of the fun aspect is taken out of a lot of the simple things in life. I respect every one's opinions and don't want to offend anyone so if someone in my class had a problem with a certain occasion then we wouldn't participate, especially when it comes to religious beliefs, however, I understand that not all problems can be solved like this by just getting rid of them. This book really isn't offensive, besides maybe being about a Halloween night. It's about a girl and her brother going trick or treating and wanting to go by themselves and finally their dad says they can, as he waits on the sidewalk keeping a watchful eye on them, and the kids face their fears by trick or treating independently. It was a very cute, simple story. There weren't a lot of characters and the plot was very simple. The illustrations were my favorite part. Mary Engelbreit does such cute illustration. I didn't know she was an author until I found this book. I have seen a lot of her stuff in gift shops, on greeting cards, and notepads and stuff. Her art is always so happy and peaceful. All the characters have smiles on their faces and it is all takes place in "safe places and situations". It was a quick, easy read. Everything was very upfront and didn't create a lot of thinking for the reader. I think it would have been a little better if the author would have made the book a little bit more suspenseful and allowed for some prediction.

The Giver- By: Lois Lowry

First of all I can't believe that I read this book in like 4th grade. I don't remember much of it but it is such a complex book and has a lot of heavy issues. I don't think I really got the complexity of it back then. There are so many abstract concepts and ideas. The author had to have such an imagination to create a totally different society that made some sort of sense and have some sort of rhyme or reason behind it. When I went to the library, all of them were out of the copies, however, there was a copy of it on CD, so I listened to it. It probably took longer to listen to then it would have to read but it was a different way to hear it and absorb it. I think in your classroom sometimes it is good to read books in different ways, have different people read in different ways and it also is good listening and comprehension practice. I enjoyed doing it differently for a nice change of pace. I think a very complicated issue to understand in the book is visualizing a different society. Many people have only lived or seen one society in his/her life, so visualizing a whole new, different way of life is had to imagine, especially for younger readers. But how awesome would it be to live in a perfect society. You are born and then you go through stages, get a job and then work until your an elder and then die. It sounds like a peaceful life, and if you don't know any different, you could never get bored. The book didn't have any diversity like any usual culture, which is another issue. Why would the author not incorporate diversity, especially in a science fiction book? The world is only getting more ethnically diverse as we look into the future. It's just a thought that I had, he is saying that diversity isn't perfect?

To Dance:A Ballerina's Graphic Novel-By: Siena Cherson Siegel; Illustrated By:Mark Siegel

I really enjoyed this graphic novel. It was really girly (about a girl and her life as a dancer) but it was also created with a lot of complex issues like moving, education, dancing, and family. I thought it was very well written. I have never read a graphic novel before and I was impressed with how easy it was. I always thought they would be harder to read because of how complex they are but after reading one it flowed together very well. I would totally recommend this book to anyone. The book starts off introducing her at the age of six, when she starts dancing and then it ends when she goes to college. I thought the author did a good job of covering important events in her life but yet keeping them connected and related to one another. The book was broken down into different chapters. The book was really personally. Not only could you hear her personal thoughts but you could also she them. I noticed that in graphic novels, it's like three perspectives rolled into one. The reader reads what the character is actually saying, what the character is thinking to themselves and the narration. Whereas in a book it isn't as clear. The pictures help roll the story into one also. Without the pictures I don't think the story would have made any sense. When I went to the library I thought I was only going to be able to find the action graphic novels because that's all I have ever seen (probably why I have never read a graphic novel before now), but I realized that not all graphic novels are like that and I thought this was really fun to read. It's always nice to read something in a different format.

Freight Trains-By: Darlene R. Stille

This book was a nonfiction story about freight trains and things they carry and their purpose. It was all about trains, more then I have ever known. I know this author writes a lot of nonfiction books about transportation and many of them are easy readers. They are put together like chapter books with a table of contents, index, glossary, and finding more information. All the pictures are real illustrations and there are vocabulary words that are highlighted throughout the book that can be looked up in the glossary. I thought it was very interesting. It didn't really have a story line since it was all true and informational and filled with all kinds of facts, so it's hard to write about the content and purpose. I didn't love the book but I didn't hate it because I actually learned some things in it. My child study really liked it because he is really into trains and the pictures really got his attention since they were real and he has actually seen trains like that before, so he could relate it to something he knows.

The House In The Night-By: Susan Marie Swanson; Illustrated By:Beth Krommes

I thought this book was alright. It was really detailed. It was about a little girls night time routine about nighttime things that are both comforting and intriguing, such as keys, light, sun, moon, books, birds, song, etc. It was very poetic and all the sentence were connected or related to one another like, "Here is a key to the house. In the house burns a light." It was a very short and easy book to read. It kind of let your imagination wonder because the pictures were very detailed but they didn't give all the answers. The little girl, the main character was riding on a bird, but you didn't know where they were going, so it still left a lot of mystery and room for you to think what you wanted. The illustrations used three colors: black, white and yellow. Yellow was used to highlight certain items in the picture such as the important or comforting things that helped the girl go to bed. I looked the illustrations because they were so simply but yet they were so good and detailed. They made your eyes just wonder all over the page. You could notice something new each time you read the book. I don't think the story was very strong but the illustrations definitely improved the book greatly. It reminded me a lot of the book "Good Night Moon" how it was so quiet, soothing and relaxing to read. My mom would read that book to me every night before I went to bed. I think this book relates to a lot of middle class kids because the character had a lot of nice things in her room like a violin, a lot of books, pictures, globe, furniture, and a house with a mom and a dad. It reminded me of something very middle class. I think poor or lower class students might have a little trouble relating to some of the parts of the story, especially the illustrations since they were so detailed and there were so many things that made up the little girls room that wouldn't be in a low income house. The story in the book said nothing about any characters but it was easy to read the illustrations and pick up on the girls life.

Pete & Pickles-By: Berkeley Breathed

Another AWESOME book! Two good book in one week...wonderful! This book was about a pig whose wife Paprika died and he lived a pretty uncomplicated life as the author puts it. Then one night a storm came and he woke up and there happened to be an elephant that escaped from the circus in his house. He ends up rescuing him from the zoo and in the long run they end up saving each others life. It was a book around friendship and imagination. The illustrations were awesome and very entertaining. one side of the page was sketched and the other side was a painted illustration. It almost looked like it was done by a computer, it looked so real and 3D. The colors that the illustrator used were very bright and eye appealing. The story was very heart warming also. There was a lot of predicting and foreshadowing that could be done in the book. A great sentence to predict to would be at the beginning, "Being all those perfect things, Pete might have run for the hills if he had known what was coming that night." The book had a pretty simple setting and there were only two characters so it was pretty easy to follow and understand. It was a very abstract story and it was very light, airy and happy. It was fun to read and you could read it multiple times because you could pick up a new detail in the illustrations every time. I would definitely recommend this book to everyone and I am going to check out other books by the author. As I was reading about the author in the back of the book, it said that the book started with his daughters sketch at a restaurant. She told him the story that she had been thinking up and later he wrote a book based on her idea, so it was a father-daughter created story which also touches my heart. People have great imaginations and creativity.

Salt In His Shoes-By: Deloris Jordan & Roslyn M. Jordan; Ilustrated By: Kadir Nelson

I read this book with my child study last week because he said that he was really into basketball. I would totally recommend it to not only basketball lovers but anyone and everyone. It was a very good book. It was very motivational and inspirational. My child study loved it! He was predicting and using evidence like it was his job. It was the true story of Michael Jordan's life and pursuing his basketball dream when he was a young boy. His mom and his sister wrote it. I hadn't heard anything about it until last week when one of my teachers recommended it to me to read. I would definitely recommend it, so far it's been one of my favorite books that I have read this semester. I don't know much about Michael Jordan's life but the illustrations in the book look like he lived in a very nice house and had a very good family life. There are illustrations of him eating dinner with all his brothers and sisters and parents, which doesn't seem like it happens very much anymore. It just seemed kind of unreal to me, especially with all the people in his family. There was also no white people or anything other race in the book besides, African American, which I thought was kind of strange too, considering there were many kids playing on the basketball court. None the less, I loved the book. It was full of emotion and it was cool to learn how Michael Jordan became Michael Jordan and to think that he wasn't always an awesome basketball player. I enjoy reading true stories written for kids because from my experience, they have a lot to say and relate to.

Potato Joe-By: Keith Baker

This book could definitely be considered to be an alphabet/counting genre book. After our presentation last week and reading this book for this week, I found a lot of similarities. It was about counting to ten. The potatoes are introduced by pairs "one potato, two potato, etc." on each page and it was very rhythmic for instance, "three potato, four potato, tic-tac-toe!" I didn't really like the book. It didn't really have a story line and it was hard to understand. It didn't have a clear purpose to me, besides counting, so it was definitely for a younger audience. I thought it was cool how the potatoes were all different shapes and colors and you could tell the author was going for some diversity because even potatoes can be diverse I guess. The illustrations used the whole pages, some were even drawn so the reader had to turn the book vertically to see the pictures. In each picture there was also a little ant that was hidden and a different insect somewhere in the picture also. All the words were in dialogue bubbles coming out of the potatoes mouths but the dialogue wasn't between the potatoes, it was more directed to an audience, which I thought was kind of weird. I don't think I would recommend this book for reading to a class but it would be a good book for individual reading because there are a lot of little details that the reader can look for and the words are very simple. I didn't get a lot of educational value out of it and there wouldn't be much to discuss to a class.