"I Have a Dream," by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., is a picture book of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech. The book has the most iden"I Have a Dream," by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., is a picture book of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech. The book has the most identified parts of the speech, and simplified and shortened for elementary students to read. The illustrations in the book, paintings by Kadir Nelson, depict the Civil Rights Rally at Washington, D.C. during Dr. King's iconic "I Have a Dream" speech. At the end of the book, Dr. King's speech is printed in it's entirety, and the back panel of the cover has a short biography about Dr. King and the painter Kadir Nelson. The major themes in this book, or excerpts of Dr. King's speech, are racism, justice, and hope. I bought this book after visiting the Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, Tennessee. Dr. King's speech is an iconic moment in American history and the speech being presented in a picture book format allows for younger children to have the opportunity to hear it in a format more easily understood for their age and learning level. I would recommend having this book in a classroom or home as a stepping stone for deeper discussions about the harder topics of racism, how Dr. King died, and why learning about Dr. King is important. I would use this book during lessons about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and how instrumental Dr. King was to the Civil Rights Movement and his importance to Americans and our society today....more
"It's Hard to Be a Verb!" by Juila Child tells the story of a little boy, Louis, and his struggle with learning how to embrace his ADHD. Louis has a h"It's Hard to Be a Verb!" by Juila Child tells the story of a little boy, Louis, and his struggle with learning how to embrace his ADHD. Louis has a hard time keeping his "wiggles" under control and focusing on small tasks at hand and in school. Louis' mom and teacher tell him all he was to do is learn to "focus," but no matter how hard Louis tries he has a hard time focusing. Louis' mom finds ways to teach Louis how to take control of his need to move and wiggle during times he needs to focus. I would recommend this book for parents, teachers, and anyone with a child or student who struggles with their wiggles. The major theme in the book is learning differences. I really like this book because the challenges that ADHD can make for a child are simply, and creatively, represented. The text of the book is "loud" or seems to "move" and even changes color visually representing Louis' internal need to get up and move. I would use this book to teach a class about learning differences and to help them better understand how a person can try and try, but sometimes we need extra help to succeed in what we are trying to do. This book is a great mirror for students who are like Louis who are extra wiggly and a window for students to understand those around them who have extra wiggles....more
"Thank You, Mr. Falker," by Patricia Polacco is an autobiography about Patricia Polacco's struggles learning how to learn with dyslexia and dysnumeria"Thank You, Mr. Falker," by Patricia Polacco is an autobiography about Patricia Polacco's struggles learning how to learn with dyslexia and dysnumeria. Trisha, the main character of the story, discovers she is having a much harder time learning to read than her classmates. Trisha is unable to keep her letters and numbers on the page still and from appearing to be "wobbly," and Trisha begins to think something is wrong with her. Trisha begins to struggle with feeling smart, low self-esteem, learning to cope with the death of her beloved grandparents, bullying, and her learning differences. Mr. Falker, Trisha's teacher and hero of the story, is based off of Patrica Polacco's real teacher. Mr. Falker begins to teach Trisha new ways for learning letters, numbers, words, and how to put sounds together. At the end of the book Trisha has successfully learned to read and the ending is filled with a sense of hope for Trisha. The major themes include: learning differences, self-esteem struggles, bullying, death, and hope. I really love this book and do recommend it for teaching students about how learning differences can have these effects, that Trisha experienced, on a person's everyday life. However, I would also want to find books that are empowering for students with learning differences. Trisha says repeatedly how she feels stupid and dump because she cannot read. This feeling is a mirror for students who have felt this way, but I would like more windows for students to see how to embrace their differences and use those to their advantage to succeed. ...more
“The Water Princess,” tells the story of a young girl in Africa and the daily trip her and her mother take to get water. The book is told from a first“The Water Princess,” tells the story of a young girl in Africa and the daily trip her and her mother take to get water. The book is told from a first-person narrator, Gie Gie, and how each day Gie Gie, her mother, and other women and children throughout the village and surrounding areas walk for miles each day to the river to retrieve water. Gie Gie describes how the water is not clean, how her mother must boil the water before the family can drink, clean, and cook with it. The story is a childhood experience of African model Georgie Badiel and her own experience with having to walk for miles for water. The end of the book provides information to the unclean and unavailable water crisis for villages in Africa. The major themes in the story are family, poverty, and perseverance. I recommend this book because “The Water Princess,” could be used as a window for students to understand the privilege of resources being readily available to them; and a mirror for students who have experienced extreme hardship and/or poverty like our main character Gie Gie. This book could be used to inform a class about the water crisis in Africa and to help promote discussions about ways to help. I really loved this book and it is a book I would use in a class as a tool to discuss global, and local, issues and to promote discussions on ways we as a class could help. ...more
“The Pain and The Great One,” is about two siblings, an older sister and younger brother, and the story is told from two different points of views. Th“The Pain and The Great One,” is about two siblings, an older sister and younger brother, and the story is told from two different points of views. The first half of the story is told from the older sister’s point of view about her little brother, The Pain, and how she feels her parents love her little brother more than her. The older sister describes things her younger brother does that she thinks makes him “The Pain” and feels her brother can do anything he wants. The second half of the book is told from the younger brother’s point of view about his older sister, The Great One, and how he feels his parents like his sister more because she older, able to do more independent things, and can-do things he cannot do. The major themes throughout the book are family and jealousy. I loved this book because I have a younger brother and many times felt the same way the older sister does throughout the book. I would recommend this book for children who have siblings so they could have a book that is relatable in their own lives. This could be a challenging book to use in the classroom for students to relate to who might not have siblings; but could be used as a great tool for understand different points-of-view and how individualized everyone’s experiences and thoughts are. ...more
“Strega Nona,” tells the story about an old woman, Strega Nona, and her assistant, Big Anthony, and the trouble with a magic pasta making pot. Strega “Strega Nona,” tells the story about an old woman, Strega Nona, and her assistant, Big Anthony, and the trouble with a magic pasta making pot. Strega Nona lives in a Catholic village, but many in the village visit her because she is magical. Strega Nona hires Big Anthony to help her at her little farm with one condition, do not touch her pot. One-day Big Anthony watches Strega Nona using the pot, and when Strega Nona leaves, Big Anthony disobeys Strega Nona and uses the magic pasta making pot. Big Anthony not only gets himself into trouble, but the village also, and Strega Nona returns to make everything right again. The major themes in this book are disobedience and consequences for one’s decisions. This book was one of my favorites as a child and I read it many, many times. I would recommend this book to teach students about choosing to disobey instructions given to them. If Big Anthony had not disobeyed Strega Nona, the village and Big Anthony would not have gotten into trouble, and Big Anthony’s consequence would not have been to eat all the pasta the magic pot had made. Students would learn through the story that every choice they make can have either a good or bad consequence, told in a fun, silly way. ...more
“Ruby the Copycat,” tells the story about a little girl named Ruby and how she copies everything another little girl does in her class. Ruby is a new “Ruby the Copycat,” tells the story about a little girl named Ruby and how she copies everything another little girl does in her class. Ruby is a new student at school and is sat behind Angela who Ruby immediately likes because of the red bow in her hair. Throughout the book Ruby continuously copies everything Angela does, from the clothes Angela is wearing to the poem Angela recites in class. Ruby’s teacher, Miss Hart, tries to encourage Ruby to become her own person, and through a few more struggles Ruby begins to discover things about herself that makes her special and unique. The major themes in this book are self-discovery, acceptance of oneself, and friendships. This was one of my favorite books as a child. I read it more than I can count, and I think I really enjoyed the bright colored pictures and how the ending is a good one with Ruby and the class. I would recommend this book for teaching students about how being themselves is so important and to not be a “copy” of another. Angela and Ruby’s friendship goes through a hardship because Ruby wants to copy everything Angela does. This book can teach students that their own unique personalities are special, valuable, and are what contribute to their friendships. ...more
“Annie and the Old One,” tells the story about the main character Annie, who is a Navajo Indian, and the relationships with her grandmother and family“Annie and the Old One,” tells the story about the main character Annie, who is a Navajo Indian, and the relationships with her grandmother and family and learning to deal with life experiences. Annie’s grandmother, the Old One, says she will die after Annie’s mother finishes weaving a rug on the loom. The story tells of the ways Annie tries to prevent her mother from finishing the rug, and Annie’s grandmother explaining how death is a part of life and Annie will have to learn to accept this. The book depicts aspects of life on an Indian reservation and how other people live. The major themes in the book are death, loss of innocence, and family. I really liked this book and being so close to both my grandmothers, I understood the desperate need Annie felt to prevent her grandmother from dying one day. I would recommend this book to give students a window into other cultures, because there is Indian spiritual beliefs in the book, and to let students gain insight and understanding about how death can and does affect everyone. This book would also make a great mirror for students who have experienced a loss of loved one and then a window to see how other cultures deal with death, life, and growing up. ...more
"The Three Pigs," by David Wiesner is an alternative story to the Three Little Pigs story. The story begins like the original Three Little Pigs, but q"The Three Pigs," by David Wiesner is an alternative story to the Three Little Pigs story. The story begins like the original Three Little Pigs, but quickly takes an alternative course. As the wolf is huffing and puffing the first little pig's house down, the little big is "blown" out of the story and into an alternate universe. The first little pig encourages the other pigs to leave their story as well and the pigs set off on another adventure. The three pigs hop into other stories, encourage other storybook characters to leave, and eventually end back up at their own story. The illustrations are very important in the book because the text can be few, and the illustrations gives visuals to the how characters are feeling in the story. The major theme in the book are alternative endings. I really like this book and its fun and creative way of retelling the Three Little Pigs story. I would recommend this book for learning about alternative endings, retelling of stories, and an activity for students could be to tell their own story of the Three Little Pigs....more
"Lon Po Po: A Red-Riding Hood Story from China," by Ed Young is an alternative telling of the Little Red Riding Hood, but a Chinese version. The story"Lon Po Po: A Red-Riding Hood Story from China," by Ed Young is an alternative telling of the Little Red Riding Hood, but a Chinese version. The story begins with a mother leaving her children to visit their Po Po, their grandmother, and telling them to lock the door and not answer it until she returns. Shortly after the mother leaves a wolf arrives, pretending to be Po Po, and asks the children to open the door. The children disobey their mother and allow the wolf disguised as an old woman into the house and the story follows similarly to Little Red Riding Hood. The children comment on the wolf's tails, but the responses are tied back to Chinese culture like the wolf's tail being compared to a bush and the wolf tells the children "Po Po" can weave you a basket. The children realize the wolf is not their true Po Po and devise a way to defeat the wolf before their mother returns. The major themes in the book are cultural diversity and alternative story telling. I really like this book and enjoyed the creative and Chinese version of Little Red Riding Hood. I would recommend this book because students who are Chinese have a book that is culturally specific to them, but for students who are more familiar with the original Little Red Riding Hood story receive a new spin on this classic fairy tale. ...more
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