Wednesday, February 20, 2008

MIGHTIER THAN THE SWORD: WORLD FOLKTALES FOR STRONG BOYS

Yolen, Jane. 2003. MIGHTIER THAN THE SWORD: WORLD FOLKTALES FOR STRONG BOYS. Ill. by Raul Colon. New York: Silver Whistle. ISBN 0152163193

In MIGHTIER THAN THE SWORD: WORLD FOLKTALES FOR STRONG BOYS Yolen retells folktales from all over the world that portray boys using their brain rather than their brawn to get ahead in life. Yolen begins the book with a letter to her sons and grandsons explaining why using the brain to solve problems is a better solution than fighting. She then provides fourteen examples of boys and young men using the power of their mind to be courageous and strong in situations such as outsmarting a troll who wants to eat them, facing pain and fear to return a mother’s treasure, or giving up a reward to save another’s life. At the end of the book, Yolen provides notes on the historical origins of each folktale and how she often combined or adapted the tales from several versions found. Yolen also gives information on characters and themes that are found in various other folktales from around the world. Following the notes, she lists a bibliography of sources that were used to research the various folktales that she retells in this collection. Colon provides simplistic black and white pencil sketches that compliment and add emphasis to a section of each tale.

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

The Little Red Hen

Pinkney, Jerry. 2006. THE LITTLE RED HEN. New York: Penguin Group. ISBN 0803729359

In this retelling of the cumulative beast folktale, THE LITTLE RED HEN, Pinkney tells the story of the little red hen finding wheat seeds and wanting to plant them. As each task needs to be done leading up to having bread to eat, the little red hen solicits help from her neighbors, with a special plea to the animal that she feels is most suited for the task at hand. The little red hen comes to only to hear the same phrase of “Not I” from each neighbor. When the bread is complete, however, everyone is quick to volunteer to help with the eating. Having done all of the work herself, the little red hen only shares the bread with her chicks. This classic tale is one that children will enjoy hearing again and again. They will be able to quickly choral read the phrases “Not I” as each animal declines helping the little red hen and even the youngest students will be able to follow along as the animals names are color coded in the text based on their color in the picture, such as the “round pink pig”. The children will be delighted to see that the unhelpful animal neighbors get just what they deserve in the end and will joyfully call out the line, “Oh no you won’t” when they offer to eat the little red hen’s bread. The pencil, ink, and watercolor illustrations are full of many details that will capture the attention of the reader and provide a great opportunity for a picture walk before beginning to read the story. Pairing this tale with other versions of the “Little Red Hen” will provide a wonderful opportunity to discuss the similarities and differences in the stories.

Dona Flor

Mora, Pat. 2005. DONA FLOR: A TALL TALE ABOUT A GIANT WOMAN WITH A GREAT BIG HEART. New York: Alfred A Knopf. ISBN 0375923373

In the traditional tall tale, DONA FLOR: A TALL TALE ABOUT A GIANT WOMAN WITH A BIG HEART, Mora retells the story of a woman that lives her life helping, feeding, and protecting the people of her village. This woman giant is ready to put her life on the line and face the village’s fears to ensure their peace and safety. Readers will be delighted to see what she finds behind the large threat to the village. Dona Flor exhibits the loving and gentle qualities of Mother Earth and her desire to protect her children. This tale, taking place in the American Southwest, will attract the Spanish speaking English language learners as it contains Spanish words and phrases sprinkled throughout the text. Colon creates captivating illustrations through a variety of media, including watercolors, etchings and pencils. The warm colors create soft pictures that portray the gentleness of Dona Flor. Making an excellent read-aloud, students will enjoy hearing a tale of a woman heroine.

Beautiful Blackbird

Bryan, Ashley. 2003. BEAUTIFUL BLACKBIRD. New York: Anthem Books for Young Readers. ISBN 0689847319

In the picture storybook BEAUTIFUL BLACKBIRD, Bryan retells the fable of a time when Blackbird was the only bird in Africa to have black feathers. When all of the birds gathered, everyone agreed that Blackbird was the most beautiful bird of all and the other birds all wanted to have black marks on their bodies to be as beautiful as Blackbird. Blackbird agreed to create a magic brew to blacken parts of the other bird’s feathers, but Blackbird told them that it was on the inside that matters most. This traditional tale focuses on discovering inner beauty. Bryan’s simplistic paper cut-out illustrations provide a bright and visually appealing representation of the story without distracting from the message the story conveys. Children will delight in trying to create the steps to go along with the “Show Claws Slide” dance described in the story.

Thursday, February 7, 2008

Laura Vaccaro Seeger

Laura Vaccaro Seeger has an energetic and unique style of writing and illustrating her children’s picture books. Seeger, using simplistic text and illustrations, creates concept books for primary age children that clearly explain ideas such as feeling and colors, with examples such as:

In WALTER WAS WORRIED, Seeger clearly depicts children feeling such emotions as puzzlement, shock and delight as the weather changes outside from fog to lightning to snow. The reader will be amazed to discover that the letters spelling each featured emotion word are incorporated into the child’s facial features and expressions in the brightly colored, yet simplistic illustrations. This book will be one that children will enjoy exploring on their own after the read aloud is complete.


In LEMONS ARE NOT RED, Seeger examines the concept of identifying a correct item color with text and illustrations such as, “Carrots are not purple…Carrots are orange…Eggplants are purple.” The reader first sees the purple carrot and this provides and excellent opportunity to brainstorm items that could be purple and make predictions as to the color of a carrot. When the page is turned, the carrot cut-out “magically” flips to the correct color while providing and example of a purple item. This same test and illustration pattern repeats throughout the book and captivate the students.



In FIRST THE EGG, Seeger illustrates how different items progress, such as a seed to a flower and a tadpole to a frog. Seeger uses a simplistic cut-out illustration technique that magically transforms the item from such things as a caterpillar to a cocoon to a butterfly. The bright colors will keep the student’s focus as they make predictions as to what will come from the named item. With a unique twist, the book starts with the egg coming first to produce a chicken and ends with the chicken coming first to produce the egg. This would be a good way to introduce life cycles.

Seeger, Laura Vaccaro. 2004. LEMONS ARE NOT RED. Connecticut: Roaring Book Press. ISBN 1596430087
Seeger, Laura Vaccaro. 2005. WALTER WAS WORRIED. Connecticut: Roaring Book Press. ISBN 1596430680
Seeger, Laura Vaccaro. 2007. FIRST THE EGG. Connecticut: Roaring Book Press. ISBN 9781596432727

Pssst!


Rex, Adam. 2007. PSSST! New York: Harcourt. ISBN 9780152058173

Adam Rex writes and illustrates picture storybooks that will captivate the students and cause them to laugh out loud, while begging the reader to share the stories again and again. In PSSST!, Rex tells a story of a girl visiting a zoo and she is stopped by various animals and asked to bring back items such as tires, trashcans, and paint. After taking the money that the animals provide for the items, the main character returns to each animal to deliver the requested items. Students will be thrilled to see what the animals create with the items in the end. This energetic story provides a great opportunity to show how voice is used effectively in writing, as each animal has their own distinct style of talking. The brown pencil sketches creating the backgrounds makes the brightly painted characters pop out on the page, bringing the student’s focus to the characters and their expressions. Children will enjoy the “comic book format” as many pages have six panels of scenes taking place in the story.

New Pet

Yaccarino, Dan. 2001. NEW PET. New York: Hyperion Books for Children. ISBN 078680579X

From the “Blast Off Boy and Blorp” series, NEW PET shows how one’s idea of a perfect pet might not be the same as someone else’s. Blast Off Boy and Blorp are exchange students are in need of companionship from a pet. Even while part of the story takes place in another universe, children can relate to the ideas of living in an unfamiliar place and having something you wanted turn out differently than expected. Will the pets that they are living with end up being “man’s best friend”? Yaccarino creates a delightfully humorous easy reader that kids will enjoy. Yaccarino does not create very deep characters, but with the simplistic plot, children will have no problem following the story from beginning to end. The bright cartoon illustrations with exaggerated expressions add meaning to the text and children will laugh out-loud as they study the pictures and read the story.

Wordless Picture Books

Wordless picture books create a story that is different for every reader and can vary greatly with every retelling. With illustrations to guide the story and depict the characters, setting, plot, and action, the reader will use their imagination to create the words and dialog that become the pieces of the story. Several illustrators create this type of story and they are an excellent source to use with all students, especially English Language Learners. This type of story allows the student to expand their oral language development as they make connections between vocabulary learned and images in the books. Two good examples of these stories to use include, but are not limited to:

Peter Sis, in SHIPS AHOY, shows a boy playing on the couch in his living room and how his imagination transforms the couch into a ship, submarine, or even a raft surrounded by a sleeping water monster (AKA the vacuum). These simple pencil sketches created mainly in blue and black allow the reader to bring their own colors for the scenes into their imaginations as they create the story that is taking place, creating an entrancing book.

Barbara Lehman creates a fast-paced adventure story in RAINSTORM, where a boy discovers a secret passage that takes him to a tropical island where the sun is shining and there are friends with which he can play. After returning home, he travels again towards the island children and brings them back to his world to play in his room. Children will be enchanted as they travel through the tunnel with the main character and experience the thrill of a new discovery. The bright and simplistic watercolor and ink illustrations bring life and power to the story, captivating the storyteller.

Lehman, Barbara. 2007. RAINSTORM. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 9780618756391
Sis, Peter. 1999. SHIPS AHOY. New York: Greenwillow Books. ISBN 068816644X

I Like Myself!


Beaumont, Karen. 2004. I LIKE MYSELF. Ill. by David Catrow. New York: Harcourt, Inc.. ISBN 0152020136

I LIKE MYSELF is a dynamic picture storybook that exemplifies positive self-esteem, where the main character likes every part of herself, from her hair to her toes and does not care what other people think. She likes the way she acts and thinks and does not want to change anything! Beaumont creates a powerful message to children, girls especially, that they should like ever thing about themselves, no matter how they are made. Catrow’s bright illustrations bring life and humor to this powerful story. The spirit and zaniness of the girl are revealed though her varied facial expressions, body language, and actions that Catrow creates using animated cartoon illustrations. Children will be captivated by both the story and the illustrations and will beg for this story to be told over and over again.

I am Too absolustely small for School

Child, Lauren. 2003. I AM TOO ABSOLUTELY SMALL FOR SCHOOL. Massachusets: Candlewick Press. ISBN 0763624039 (9780763624033)

Child uses humor to create a believable story to which children can easily relate.
In the picture storybook, I AM TOO ABSOLUTELY SMALL FOR SCHOOL, Lola starts to become nervous about school starting and it’s up to her big brother Charlie to convince her that school is the place to be. Charlie counters all of Lola’s reasons for staying home with convincing arguments for going to school and eventually helps Lola get to school. Readers will laugh out loud as this story unfolds and enjoy seeing how Lola’s first day turns out. Child creates lively mixed media illustrations that are bright and engaging. Child veers from the traditional text placement in the story by having the words be different sizes, loop in circles, and vary in font styles, bringing energy and enthusiasm to every page. Engaging and fun, this is a book to use with students beginning school for the first time.