Los Gatos Black on Halloween

Montes, Marisa. 2006. LOS GATOS ON HALLOWEEN. Ill. by Yuyi Morales. New York: Henry Holt and Company. ISBN 9780805074291

In the picture storybook, LOS GATOS ON HALLOWEEN, Montes uses mainly English text, with Spanish words and phrases inter-mixed. Most pages start with a Spanish word that the reader will easily be able to decode using the context clues and illustrations available. As each of the spooky Halloween characters start off, the suspense will rise as the reader anticipates their final destination. The reader will be delightfully surprised to find the story twists so that the monsters are terrified of the children. Montes creates a rhythmic chant that with rhyming line pairs that readers will enjoy performing. “Text meanders across the page, fitting itself around the shenanigans of fat witches, natty vampires and elegant corpses (Ellis).”

Winning the 2008 Pura Belpre award for illustrations, Morales uses dark colors and shadowing techniques to exemplify the eerie feelings of Halloween. Brighter colors come into the scene and lighten the mood for the monster ball. Each scene adds emphasis to the storylines being chanted. Readers will delight in this spooky Halloween tale and demand for it to be retold.

Reference:
Ellis, Sarah. 2006. New York Times Book Review. 43:18-19. Accessed on-line January 2008.

Charlotte's Web

White, E.B. 1952. CHARLOTTE’S WEB. Ill. by Garth Williams. New York: Scholastic. ISBN 059030271X

CHARLOTTE’S WEB is a traditional tale that teaches the lesson that friendship can come from unlikely places. In this story, Wilbur the pig is saved from an untimely death by two different friends, a girl and a spider. Charlotte, the spider, uses her web building skill to incorporate words, like “some pig”, about Wilbur in her web. Creating a stir over the pig, Wilbur becomes famous and taken to the fair. When Charlotte is left behind at the fair, Wilbur promises to look after her egg sac.

William’s simplistic pencil sketches add emphasis to the story, as they are intermingled with the text. The story contains energetic characters that touch the reader and bring sympathy for the situation that Wilbur is in. Reaching out to everyone as a friend, Wilbur inspires his friends to go the extra mile to help save his life. Even with the death of Charlotte at the end of the story, there is a “happily ever after” tone as Charlotte’s eggs hatch from the egg sac. Some of the spiderlings venture off into the world and others stay for Wilbur to look after in the barn.

Pairing the book with movie segments would be a good way to teach concepts such as setting and characterization. This book could also be paired with books about spiders to find the spider facts and fallacies in the story.

Library Lion

Knudsen, Michelle. 2006. LIBRARY LION. Ill. by Kevin Hawkes. Massachusetts: Candlewick Press. ISBN 0763622621

Who has ever heard of having a lion in your library? Rules, being very important to this library, are greatly enforced by the children’s librarian, Mrs. Merriweather. LIBRARY LION is a delightful tale that demonstrates how help can come from unlikely sources and that there are times when the strict “library rules” need to be broken.

Knudsen creates an engaging story that will be a perfect read aloud to demonstrate how rules are important, but there are times when they must be broken. Simple text and a light-hearted tone create a story to which even the youngest listener will respond and understand. Hawkes uses pencil sketches and acrylics to create pictures that are soft, “rich with expression, movement and detail (Vanca)”, which show that the lion is tender, caring, and not to be feared. Emotions, such as happiness, pride, caring, fear, sadness, and joy are clearly shown in the lion as he listens to the stories, helps out, saves his friends, leaves the library, and then returns to the place he loves best. Children will be captivated by the illustrations and story and eager to find out what is going to happen next.

Other books about libraries that would be good to share with students are:
THE SHELF ELF by Jackie Mims Hopkins ISBN 1932146164 (The library elf is watching to make sure that the boys and girls are following the library rules such as: returning books on time and putting books back where they belong.)

GOLDIE SOCKS AND THE THREE LIBEARIANS by Jackie Mims Hopkins ISBN 9781932146684 (A little girl finds a house of books and discovers books inside waiting to be explored. After choosing books that are “just right” for her, she searches for a place to read. When the libearians return, how will Goldie Socks be greeted?)

TOMAS AND THE LIBRARY LADY by Pat Mora ISBN 0679904018 (Thomas’ family travels to Iowa as migrant workers and Thomas enjoys hearing stories told by his grandfather. Thomas’ grandfather introduces him to the library, where Thomas finds amazing adventures in the pages of the books. This awakens a passion for books in Thomas that he will carry with him always.)

Reference:
Vanca, Lynn K. 2006. School Library Journal. 52 (August, 8): 91. Accessed on- ne January 2008.

Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices From A Medieval Village

Schlitz, Laura Amy. 2007. GOOD MASTERS! SWEET LADIES! VOICES FROM A MEDIEVAL VILLAGE. Ill. by Robert Byrd. Massachusets: Candlewick Press. ISBN 9780763615789

GOOD MASTERS! SWEET LADIES! VOICES FROM A MEDIEVAL VILLAGE is a book of short monologs and two skits for two actors, where the “spacious layout and generous font size facilitate readalouds (Bush).” Winning the 2008 Newbery medal, this book contains skits that portray the feelings and captures a small segment of the character’s life in the medieval village. Schlitz incorporates tid-bits of historical data and word meanings as side notes for each of the skits. Schlitz also interjects sections of historical background on topics such as crusades, pilgrimages, and falconry. “Her language is forceful, and learning slips in on the sly (Schwartz).” These skits would be an interesting way to teach the relationships that existed in these villages and explain how the class structure of the society worked. Many interesting discussions on the social relationships and social structures can be initiated through these skits.

Byrd’s simplistic illustrations portray a small segment of each skit. The penciled cartoon-like characters bring a fantasy or fairy-tale world quality to the stories. The tone of the illustrations is very melancholy, making the reader feel as if the medieval times being portrayed were not happy ones, which goes against the normal “rose colored” world that is often shown.


References:
Bush, Elizabeth. 2007. Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books. 61 (1): 51-52. Accessed on-line January 2008.
Schwartz, John. 2007. New York Times Book Review. 112 (50): 21. Accessed on-line January 2008.