Genre 3, Poetry Books: Diamond Willow

(amazon)

Bibliographic Information
Frost, Helen. DIAMOND WILLOW. New York, NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. ISBN 978-0374317768

Plot and Critical Analysis
Similarly with most 12 year olds, Diamond Willow wonders why she does not fit in with her peers and trying to prove she is not a little girl anymore – both to her parents and to herself. This verse novel has a clear and direct voice in its main narrator, but also flows easily from narrator to narrator. Her self assertion takes a turn when on her solo dog sled trip to her grandparents a dog is accidentally injured due to a fallen tree in the path. As Willow travels through the story, both figuratively and metaphorically, reincarnated family members watch over her and even interact with her to assist in her actions and comprehension. While the point of view changes regularly, the verse is conversational and easy to follow. She flees with Roxy, the injured dog, to take Roxy to her grandparents house so they’ll keep her. As they get stuck in the snow, the town begins to look for them all the while animals in the forest (all reincarnated family relatives) protect Willow. As she learns of a family secret, Willow becomes honest with herself and finds that she is listened to and that she does have friends. Without giving the end away, both girl and dog find themselves where they’ve always wanted to be and are much happier due to their friendship with each other.

The title, and narrator’s name, refers to a type of bark that has a darker diamond shape throughout the bark. This novel itself has a hidden jewel within the plot. The author takes this reference and not only makes it the narrator’s name and the title, but uses this diamond shape in the layout of text. Similarly to the artistic darker diamond in the bark, there are bolded words throughout each page to give the hidden, deeper meaning to the text. Such phrases as “It is my fault” (26) and “I want a true friend” (74) are bolded in paragraphs with the surrounding text acting as background to the overall point of each page. While the diamond shaped text of each page changes among points of view, it reads clearly even though visually, the text is not in a traditional form.

Awards and Reviews
Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award (Pennsylvania Center for the Book)
Mitten Award (Michigan)
Texas Lone Star Reading Lists: 2009
Pritz Honor Book author

School Library Journal
When a diamond willow's bark is removed, sanded, and polished, it reveals reddish brown diamonds, the dark center of which are the scars of missing branches. Frost has used this image to craft an intricate family story in diamond-shaped verse. In her small Alaskan town, 12-year-old Diamond Willow, named for the tree, prefers to be just "Willow" but muses that if her parents had called her "Diamond," "…would I have been one of those sparkly kinds of girls?" Instead she describes herself as an average, part-Athabascan girl with one good friend, who finds herself more comfortable around her family's sled dogs than with people. Her story takes a heartrending turn on a solo dogsled trip to visit her grandparents, and Willow is soon caught up in an intense adventure that leads to the discovery of a family secret. As she unravels the truth, Willow comes to understand the diamonds and scars that bind her family together. She also gains awareness of her own strength and place in her community. Willow relates her story in one-page poems, each of which contains a hidden message printed in darker type. At key intervals, the narrative is continued in the voices of her ancestors, who take the form of animal spirits—Red Fox, Spruce Hen, Mouse, Chickadee, Lynx—and her sled dogs. Frost casts a subtle spell through innovative storytelling. Her poems offer pensive imagery and glimpses of character, and strong emotion. This complex and elegant novel will resonate with readers who savor powerful drama and multifaceted characters.—Marilyn Taniguchi, Beverly Hills Public Library, CA --Marilyn Taniguchi (Reviewed June 1, 2008) (School Library Journal, vol 54, issue 6, p140)

Kirkus Reviews
Diamond Willow, a young Alaskan of Athabascan and European descent, doesn't have many friends; she's happiest when she's sledding her father's dogs and visiting her grandparents. When her first solo dogsled trip to her grandparents ends with a terrible crash that blinds her father's favorite dog, Roxy, she sets to making sure that Roxy will live out her days with care and not undergo euthanasia—a decision that leads to an amazing revelation about her family. Frost presents her story in a series of poems in Willow's voice, using a form inspired by the marks on a diamond willow stick; roughly diamond-shaped and no two exactly alike, each contains a "hidden message" printed in boldface that spans several lines and encapsulates the poem. It's a novel idea, and largely works quite well. Less effective are interstitial narratives in the voices of the characters' ancestors, who take part in the story as animals. This device, although integrated into the narrative as a whole, serves to distract the reader from the quiet power of Willow's story. Flawed, but not fatally so. (author's note) (Fiction. 10-14) (Kirkus Reviews, June 15, 2008)

Connections
Not poetic in rhyme, but poetic in story, Diamond Willow shows a new style of writing to its young readers. Visually, the diamond shapes on each page, made by the text, is interesting and assists the reader as they quickly read through this book. While younger children may find talking animals or animals with human thoughts funny or exciting, this book may cause a question for older children as it supports reincarnation. As Willow travels through Alaska and in the story she is monitored by ancestors who are now living as animals. While they are a comfort to her and provide security at times, some parents may not want their children being introduced to the concept of reincarnation. Also, the secret the family shares with Willow at the end is great for a storyline, but may be too serious for younger readers. I would encourage kids to read other verse novels for a new form and possible as a way to get them more comfortable with poetry.

Similar Reads:
Thunder from the Sea (Joan Hiatt Harlow): Another tale of a child and his best friend, his dog, living in a remote area and not knowing of their purpose when a new baby comes home.
Out of the Dust (Karen Hesse)Set in prose, this is a story of a girl and her family living in the Dust Bowl era and their hardships.

Genre 3, Poetry and Poetry Books: Dinothesaurus

(amazon)

Bibliographical Information
Florian, Douglas. 2009. Ill. by Douglas Florian. New York, NY: Antheneum books for Young Readers. ISBN 978-4169-79784

Plot and Critical Analysis
A poetically creative way to teach about dinosaurs from their beginnings, their traits and appearances, to even question their extinction. It takes on a chant like rhythm even phonetically spelling out dinosaur names so that the reader can both pronounce the word and continue the rhythm. In addition to the rhythm are the rhymes at the end of each line, grouping varies between two lines and three lines. Each dinosaurs rhyming description also varies among very brief 4 word sentences to lengthier sentences and rhyming adjectives. More than just cute non informative rhymes, the text actually teaches about dinosaurs including herbivore definition, measurements, and which dinosaurs were smarter than others. In rhyme, it offers witty puns and even dinosaur self acceptance.

The illustrations range from sketches, to collages and stencils. Some pictures are comical accenting the gender of the dinosaur while others focus on elements such as the long neck or pointy spikes. Cleverly, being a thesaurus, there are letters incorporated into all of the drawings and sometimes text from dictionaries. Text and illustrations together create a vivid image on each page providing the reader with a different take because one is focused more on the rhyming than the fact it is a non fiction book and one is learning. However, one is focused more on the humor and illustrations than the fact they are learning while reading this book (I have already suggested it to all my dino-loving friends with small children).

There is a glossary at the end offering straight forward facts on the topic of each page whether it's a dinosaur type or a topic, such as the end of dinosaurs. This is a modern take on poetry, with humorous rhymes or images on each page. I would say this is appealing both to the reader and to the listener

Reviews
Publishers Weekly, Starred Review,
Florian's free-flowing, witty collection of poems and collages about dinosaurs is a giganotosaurus delight—perhaps his best work ever. The poems marry facts with a poet's eye for detail: the Brachiosaurus was “longer than a tennis court” and the Ankylosaurus says, “We like spikes and we like scutes/ (Bony plates we wear as suits).” Small experts will appreciate the “Glossarysaurus” at the end, but the heart of the book is in its humor, the spontaneity of both illustrations and poems, and Florian's slightly askew view of the Mesozoic creatures. A Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton spews cutout images of things a T. rex might actually have eaten, along with a tumble of other things (newspaper clippings, a boot, a building), while the text ends with a great pun (“I find it terrific/ That it's T-rex-tinct”). The tiny (20-inch) Micropachycephalosaurus stares up at a huge display of his enormous name spelled out phonetically, in illuminated caps and as a rhombus. Art and text will encourage aspiring paleontologists and poets to parse these pages again and again. Ages 6–up. (Mar.) --Staff (Reviewed January 19, 2009) (Publishers Weekly, vol 256, issue 3, p60)

Kirkus Reviews
In the fine tradition of Jack Prelutsky's Tyrannosaurus Was a Beast, illustrated by Arnold Lobel (1988), a set of dinophile-pleasing verses penned by a poet with a rare knack for wordplay and silly rhymes finds apt visual setting fronting playful images of monsters rearing up from extinction to grin toothily at young viewers. Sandwiched between poems about the Age of Dinosaurs and its sudden end, Florian parades 18 creatures, from Pterosaurs ("They were not ptame. / They were ptenacious— / From the Ptriassic / Pto the Cretaceous.") to T. Rex, then closes with an informative "Glossarysaurus," plus museum and source lists. Spectacularly depicted (as is his frequent custom) on paper bags in crayon and collage, the poet's dinos are easily recognizable despite being freely rendered and, often, semitransparent. Collage elements add to the visual excitement, often to great effect—a skeletal, iPod-sporting T. Rex prepares to chow down on a heap of cut-out dinosaur bits—and always with enormous playfulness. Children fixated on explicit gore may be left unmoved, but to everyone else this will be a dino-delight—especially when read aloud. (Picture book/poetry. 5-10) (Kirkus Reviews, January 15, 2009)

Connections
As this book is intended for younger children, one could focus on the basic lesson of rhyming words. Not every rhyme in this book is poetic masterpiece, but they are fun and show how words sound alike. Children could create a poem about their favorite animal and focus on the daily habits of the animal or behaviors. I also think this provides an early example of how to create art using one than more tool - for instance, collaging and drawing together. There is another element to this book based on its illustrations.

Similar Readings
First Dinosaur Encyclopedia (Caroline Bingham)- also focuses on basic dinosaur facts
Dinosaur Bones (Bob Barner) - teaches about dinosaurs and uses a "dinometere" to compare measurements

Genre 2, Traditional Literature: The Gifts of Wali Dad

Bibliographic Information
Shepard, Aaron (retold). 1995. Ill. by Daniel San Souci. New York, NY: Atheneum Books for Young Readers. An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing. ISBN 0684194457

Plot and Critical Analysis
In this Indian and Pakistani tale, a simple grass cutter gives one gift that leads to a triangle of gift giving. Its resolution showing each characters different versions of happiness. For Wali Dad, he saved his money for a lifetime and with the extra bought a gift to be presented to the Queen of Khaistan, whom a merchant informed him was the most noble of ladies. She is grateful and returns a present, but the simple grass cutter does not know how to process gifts from queens and has the merchant take it to the most noble man the merchant knows: the King of Nekabad. With this developing cycle, the kind wishes to return the kindess with an even better gift, one that Wali Dad sends onto the queen. As this transference of gifts continues Wali Dad grows more and more ashamed thinking both royal houses are making his life more difficult and how will he explain his role. As both queen and king come to meet their gift giver, or who they think is their gift giver, Wali Dad's troubles are solved when he is visited by two "peris from Paradise" - visions. They turn his hut into a castle and he greets his visitors with pride. Upon greeting, the king and queen fall in love and leave Wali Dad behind never knowing of his involvement, but that their gift giver is their love. The legend ends with all characters finding their own happiness be it a simple life in a grass hut or true love.

While the setting is established as different villages in the Middle East it never mentions the length of travel for this merchant turned delivery man. Time elapses quickly between visits (and pages), yet the plot is always centered around Wali Dad. This allows the reader to understand Wali Dad's shock when he is given gifts of silk and horses (appropriate for the riches of that part of the world) as he was only focused on giving simple gift to a noble lady.

San Souci's illustration at times are divided with multiple images on one page which assists the plot and allows the reader to follow along even before any words are read aloud. When gifts are on a page, they are the focus of each illustration, becoming more grand and detailed as they progress. The images clearly show the distinctions between a grass cutter and royalty, but are stylistically cohesive. One would imagine the significance of two countries coming together important, but perhaps the message of Wali Dad is more significant in showing the reader how to find happiness in the simplest of life's pleasures, such as cutting grass or finding honest work.

Reviews

Kirkus Reviews
A comic folktale with a plot of crystalline symmetry. Wali Dad is a poor grass-cutter who discovers that he has saved more money than he needs. He gets rid of it by buying a bracelet to send to a princess, but she sends him a bigger gift in return. The distraught Wall Dad sends her gift on to a prince, but the prince responds with an even larger present of his own. Anguished, Wall Dad now sends this gift to the princess, and the escalation of gift-giving continues until the prince and the princess decide to meet the generous old man. When they show up at his house, they see each other and instantly fall in love. This happy story by Shepard (The Enchanted Storks, p. 394) has no evil characters and an irresistible hero, pictured by San Souci as a skinny old man with kind eyes and a big nose. The skillfully constructed watercolors are sometimes laid out in storyboard-fashion: The page is broken up into several frames, with different shots of the same scene. A fun, well-crafted book, with nothing out of place. (Kirkus Reviews, April 15, 1995)

School Library Journal
Grade 2-5?A superior retelling of the "Story of Wali Dad the Simple-hearted," one of the best-loved tales in Andrew Lang's Brown Fairy Book (1965; o.p.) (and later in Lang's Olive Fairy Book [1968; o.p., both Dover]). Shepard has condensed the story, stressing its comic elements, and?with San Souci?has brought it to life for new audiences. Wali Dad is content to be a simple grass-cutter. When his frugal habits result in a lot of money?more than he can ever use?he buys a gold bracelet and asks a merchant to give it to the noblest woman in the world: the queen of Khaistan. She sends Wali Dad a gift in return. So he asks the merchant to take her gift to the noblest man in the world: the king of Nekabad. The king then sends a reciprocal gift, which Wali Dad passes on to the queen. The exchanges continue, the presents growing more and more extravagant, until Wali Dad, with the aid of two peris (benevolent beings akin to fairies), brings the young queen and king together. They marry, and Wali Dad happily returns to his simple life. San Souci's full- and double-page watercolor illustrations depict a comic, expressive Wali Dad with an oversized head dominated by a huge nose. Full of interesting details, the pictures support and enlarge upon the text. A worthy addition.?Marilyn Taniguchi, Santa Monica Public Library, CA
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Connections

Beginning with a simple gift, massive exaggerations ensue. This helps show children how one action leads to another, in the case of the queen and king trying to outdo each other in lavish gifts. Wali Dad, like many characters is this genre, is a simple man who ends up with a very unusual outcome. This story exhibits the lifestyle, gifts, dress, and values in the culture which could offer children a look into a different world. San Souci's illustrations, more realistic than exaggerated other than Wali Dad's facial expressions, exhibit the similarities and differences a reader could identify comparing this village to their own city. The character of Wali Dad is one that was simply trying to gift a gift and just wants get back to his simple life and the reader will find a full circle to the story with Wali Dad ending right where he began.

Similar Readings:
The Old Woman and the Eagle (Idries Shah): Another tale from the Middle East of thinking for oneself and not allowing other people to label you.

In the Moodlight Mist: A Korean Tale (Daniel San Souci): To address diversity among folktales, this can provide both an inside look into another culture as well as exhibit the diversity of San Souci who is both an author and an illustrator.

Genre 2, Traditional Literature: Porch Lies

Porch Lies: Tales of Slicksters, Tricksters, And Other Wily Characters


(Amazon.com)

Bibliographic Information
McKissack, Patricia c. 2006. PORCH LIES: TALES OF SLICKSTERS, TRICKSTERS, AND OTHER WILY CHARACTERS. Ill. by Andre Carrilho. New York, NY: Schwartz & Wade Books. ISBN 978037583619.

Plot and Critical Analysis
In these nine tales are clever characters who with sneaky charm get everything from free pie to proving a point. The styles of language used depends on which family friend of the authors was telling the story. The strong southern accents in the dialog make the reader feel as though he or she is sitting on that same front porch in Tennessee. All good natured stories about quick witted people, not bad in moral, but just a sliver of sneakiness. In each story there are children present, often the only ones able to see through the tricks of these wily characters, which will make any child listening or reading these stories suddenly grow a little taller with pride at the idea that children are smarter than adults. There are stories of being tempted by the devil, but choosing the righteous path, and stories of redemption, similar to A Christmas Carol and visiting ghosts. The characters met may have tricks up their sleeves, but most often their hearts are in the right place. These are tales of entertainment that offer morals of kindness, good decision making, honesty, and how anyone can decide on any day to change their behavior for the better.

The stories take place in the south, but are not of one specific area. More importantly than the specific settings is the sense community in each tale. Neighbors are aware and concerned for other neighbors, defending each others honors as well as properties. The readers will find that a sense of community and family is just as strong as the words spoken in each story. Carrilho's illustrations, all black and white, and distorted images of characters in each tale, often focused on the emotion - be it guilt, sorrow, fear, or happiness. The illustrations could easily be portraits hanging in galleries, but instead add both a visual element as well as a personal touch to each of its characters. Both imaginative and unusual, the images stick with the reader even after the page is turned. The language and illustrations are both common for African American modern pieces. The southern accents are emphasized as well as intelligence and modern vocabulary, but with a slight lazy southern drawl attached. As for the images, they are African American characters in style of charactatures - warm and familiar looking or exaggerated emotions.

Awards and Reviews
Awards
ALA Notable Children’s Books: All Ages Category, 2007
Parents’ Choice Awards: Fiction, 2006
Coretta Scott King Award: The Dark-Thirty: Southern Tales of the Supernatural: Goin' Someplace Special

Booklist, Starred Review
... Without using dialect, her intimate folk idiom celebrates the storytelling among friends, neighbors, and family as much as the stories themselves. "Some folk believe the story; some don't. You decide for yourself." Is the weaselly gravedigger going to steal a corpse's jewelry, or does he know the woman is really still alive? Can bespectacled Aunt Gran outwit the notorious outlaw Jesse James? In black and white, Carrilho's full-page illustrations--part cartoon, part portrait in silhouette--combine realistic characters with scary monsters. History is always in the background (runaway slaves, segregation cruelty, white-robed Klansmen), and in surprising twists and turns that are true to trickster tradition, the weak and exploited beat powerful oppressors with the best lies ever told. Great for sharing, on the porch and in the classroom. -- Hazel Rochman (Reviewed 05-15-2006) (Booklist, vol 102, number 18, p46)

School Library Journal
–These 10 literate stories make for great leisure listening and knowing chuckles. Pete Bruce flatters a baker out of a coconut cream pie and a quart of milk; Mingo may or may not have anything smaller than a 100-dollar bill to pay his bills; Frank and Jesse James, or “the Howard boys,” help an old woman against the KKK-ish Knights of the White Gardenia; and Cake Norris wakes up dead one day–again. Carrilho’s eerie black-and-white illustrations, dramatically off-balance, lit by moonlight, and elongated like nightmares, are well-matched with the stories. The tales are variously narrated by boys and girls, even though the author’s preface seems to set readers up for a single, female narrator in the persona of McKissack herself. They contain the “essence of truth but are fiction from beginning to end,” an amalgam of old stories, characters, jokes, setups, and motifs. As such, they have no provenance. Still, it would have helped readers unfamiliar with African-American history to have an author’s note helping separate the “truth” of these lies that allude to Depression-era African-American and Southern traditions. That aside, they’re great fun to read aloud and the tricksters, sharpies, slicksters, and outlaws wink knowingly at the child narrators, and at us foolish humans.–Susan Hepler, formerly at Burgundy Farm Country Day School, Alexandria, VA --Susan Hepler (Reviewed September 1, 2006) (School Library Journal, vol 52, issue 9, p212)

Connections
Storytelling is an art and this book makes it easy to feel like a storyteller. In fact, I found myself reading portions out loud and with an exaggerated southern accent. It offers an escapism into a time when people did still on porches into the night sharing stories, truths, and lies. The style if very specific of a porch sitter in the south dating back to a simpler time. With old fashioned sayings appearing in most stories, the reader will quickly feel in a different time with different people. Culturally speaking, these tales of tricksters represent a south that even I don't frequent, and I am from the south. One could continue this activity with similar tall-tales, geographically focused stories, or even in a writing activity to create their own stories of ghosts, tricksters, and life lessons.

Similar Readings:
African-American Folktales for Young Readers: Including Favorite Stories from African and African-American Storytellers (Collected and edited by Richard Alan Young and Judy Dockrey Young): Similar styles of stories, from a similar demographic, in a similar time.
A ring of tricksters: animal tales from America, the West Indies, and Africa (Virginia Hamilton): Similar entertaining folktales, but about animals. Could also be linked to other fairy tales (like the previously mentioned Cinderella) and become a conversation piece for comparing cultures and different countries.

Genre 2, Traditional Literature: Cinder Edna

(Amazon.com)

Bibliographic Information
Jackson, Ellen. 1994. CINDER EDNA. Ill. by Kevin O'Malley. New York, NY: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books. ISBN 0688123236

Plot and Critical Analysis
this Fractured Fairy Tale, of the classic Cinderella, Cinder Edna offers a new take on the fairy tale where the heroine thinks for herself and finds a modern "happily ever after." The lives of Cinderella and Cinder Edna mirror one another as they each care for their stepmother and stepsisters, go to a ball, and marry a Prince, but it is how they get to these moments that proves they are different. While Cinderella hopes for a fairy Godmother to give her a pretty dress and get her to the ball, her neighbor Cinder Edna hops on a bus in the gown she bought online. As Cinder Edna decides her actions and thinks independently, an element often neglected in the female characters in fairy tales, she learns to trust herself and do what will make her happy, which is a lesson all children could benefit from learning. The text is modern and humorous often throwing in ideas that will amuse children and parents alike. It goes on to prove that what we think we want, may not be the what will truly make us happy. Cinderella grows board of her life with a Prince she has nothing in common with, but Cinder Edna finds similar traits and hobbies with the Prince's brother Rupert as they marry and live in their cottage with solar heating. Cinder Edna is stronger, and smarter, than Cinderella and ends up far happier as her positive attitude is far more important than Cinderella's beauty. The overall message is to act for yourself and value the important things in life.

The storyline is more humorous and modern than the classic, but all the main details remain: cruel stepmother and sisters, fairy Godmother who comes with a carriage and dress but also a curfew, and the glass slipper that reunites a girl to her Prince. What begins as a night out away from the everyday lives, ends with one character finding her Prince and the other finding her partner. It is about the life and not the image. The attractive and powerful are not as happy as the realistic and good natured. It is a theme that children would benefit to hear over and over again that is evident in Cinder Edna, not by the ideas of the story dissected apart, but more how they connect and together share an important message.

Many cultures share the story of Cinderella, but this one may be more significant due to the modern fairy tale it shows of a young woman who is smart, self sufficient, and honest and can have it all - her work she loves and the man she loves. It is a longer picture book than others, but the storyline moves quickly and anyone who knows the story will be entertained by the parallels between these two females and the modern twists the author throws in for laughs. The illustrations are sharp in the characters expressions and fill each page with colorful supporting details to the plot.

Awards and Reviews
Publishers Weekly
Instead of glass slippers, Cinderella's neighbor Cinder Edna wears comfortable penny loafers to the ball, where she falls in love with the prince's goofy, tender-hearted younger brother. "Full of kid-pleasing jokes," said PW. Ages 5-up.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

School Library Journal
Kindergarten-Grade 3-This clever, double story follows the fates of two young women. Readers know Cinderella, who works all day, sits in the cinders, and needs her fairy godmother to get the ball moving. But Cinder Edna next door has used her spare time to learn 16 different ways to make tuna casserole and to play the accordian. She earns money by cleaning out parrot cages and mowing lawns, and can she tell jokes. When the dance is announced, she dons the dress she bought on layaway, takes the bus to the ball, and wears loafers for dancing. She wins the attention of Prince Randolph's younger but dorky brother, Rupert, who loves to dance and tell jokes, and runs the palace recycling plant. Both women dash off at the stroke of midnight. The two princes' plans for finding the owners of the lost glass slipper and the beat-up loafer are a hilarious contrast. Ella ends up, of course, with the vain, boorish Randolph. Edna moves into a solar-heated cottage, caring for orphaned kittens and playing duets with her husband Rupert. O'Malley's full-page, full-color illustrations are exuberant and funny. Ella is suitably bubble-headed and self-absorbed while Edna is plain, practical, and bound to enjoy life. Kids will love this version of the familiar story for its humor and vibrant artwork. Buy two copies-one to circulate and the other to hoard for story hours.
Susan Hepler, Alexandria City Public Schools, VA

Connections
I have always enjoyed learning how one idea, story, or song can be interpreted different. While this is easiest to understand by musicians covering the same songs, this is also fascinating to me with literature. Since each group of people have their legends and folktales, finding one such tale could create an eye opening experience to a child on how everything and everyone are connected. The similarities between people is the first way to get children to think beyond themselves. One could find all the Cinderella versions and do a comparison and fact sheet about each culture. Or allow children to take a basic story and rewrite it, modernizing it, or changing the hero. Creativity does not have to be brand new, but can take some elements from another source and then make them your own, a child's personal version of well recognized story could lead to literary exercises of reading other versions or writing a personal one.

Similar Readins:
Sleeping Bobby (Will Osborne): Another twist of a classic fairytale with a strong female character being the one to wake the Prince.
Leaping Beauty (Gregory Maguire): Offers a new twist on eight fairy tales with different animals as the lead characters.

Genre 1, Picture Books: Caldecott Awards

A Caldecott Celebration: Seven Artists and Their Paths to the Caldecott MedalCaldecott

Bibliographic Information:
Marcus, Leonard S. 1998, 2008. A CALDECOTT CELEBRATION: SEVEN ARTISTS AND THEIR PATHS TO THE CALDECOTT MEDAL. New York, NY: Walker & Company. ISBN 9780802797032

Plot
This Juvenile nonfiction begins with an introduction about the Caldecott Medal - its namesake, its requirements, and its winners. It focuses on seven select winners and their works. A brief biography on each illustrator is offered as well as quotes from acceptance speeches, photos, and images of their award winning illustrations. It covers seven illustrators from a variety of years addressing each of their styles and how they became award winning illustrators. It also includes a comprehensive list of winners from 1938-2007 and a glossary.

1. Make Way for Ducklings, by Robert McCloskey (1942)



One of my childhood favorites about a family of ducks wondering Boston looking for a safe place to live. They eventually come across the public park with its gardens and ponds and decide that the Boston Commons make for a suitable home. The people of Boston of course are very shocked to see ducks wondering around the city, even stopping traffic. McCloskey thought of the story after witnessing a family of ducks one day in the park, eventually buying six (different) ducks into his apartment for two years as he mastered their behavior. His illustrations were done with lithographic crayon on zinc plates to offer a very understated sketch like view into this city and the quest of the ducks. Reviews of the book complimented its warmth and sense of security for children reading of a family finding a safe home. A concept I don't think I understood at the time, but now agree with it being the overall point of the story. Perhaps, this early experience of mine was a subconscious thought in my decision to move to Boston many years later.




2. Cinderella; or, The Little Glass Slipper by Marcia Brown (1955)

Her style of illustrations was gouache, crayon, watercolor, and ink which offered a colorful rough sketch of bright simplicity. It is the story of Cinderella, quiet peasant girl visited by a fairy godmother who gives her the dress and glass slippers to attend the ball. When the prince falls in love with her just before the stroke of midnight, she runs away before the spell granting her the fancy new costume change can disappear leaving behind only one glass slipper, which the Prince uses to find her. Brown was a Caldecott runner up six times before receiving the award in 1955 (and later when on to win two more). She spent three months researching French dress, as she preferred the French version of the tale, and had to do the illustrations with only the four base colors printers used: yellow, blue, red, and black. She did the color combinations herself to create her warm illustrations of the classic fairytale.

3. Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak (1964)


A story of a wild child who is sent to bed without supper and imagines a world where he is king of the wild things. They misbehave, break things, run wildly around (all activities Max did at home), but eventually Max realizes home is where he is meant to be and returns - to a loving mother and his supper. Sendak created his wild things with "india ink line over tempera" - not sure what that meant before reading the description. He began with sketches, then painted on top of the sketches, thus creating a sort of frenzied story similar to what a hyper child like Max himself could draw. The illustrations are out of scale,exaggerated details, and unique elements fitting to a child's imagination, possibly adding to the reason children love the story - for it's originality and for the child who misbehaves and goes on an adventure.

4. Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by William Steig (1970)

The illustrations of Steig's donkey who finds a magic pebble - and is turned into a rock, and then realizes once he's gone how much he is loved - personify animals yet maintains a childlike image of them. Done with india ink and watercolor, it is light and pleasing to go from illustration to illustration. The story takes on feelings of self worth and awkwardness,but the illustrations offer clarity and composure. In the end Sylvester has a bit more confidence and is once again returned to his true donkey self and to the parents that so greatly missed him.

5. Jumanji by Chris Van Allsburg (1982)

The illustrations by Van Allsburg resemble photographs more than sketches or paintings and he achieved this with conte pencil with conte dust for this story. With pencil and dust, he creates images of lifelike animals, who at time are frightening, but mostly their realism has kept me from reading this book to children. Between the wild animals (running amok in the children's house after playing a game) and the danger they create it is a story for older children. His illustrations blend animals and household objects together creating an image of the unusual and unexpected. Amusement for children, but still a bit frightening to have animals emerge from a jungle game. Quite amazing illustrations though.

6. Tuesday by David Wiesner (1992)

To me, the most beautiful illustrations in this collection. Watercolor offers fluidity and depth like other medians cannot. Wiesner was an artist who tried many focuses before deciding on children's book illustrations and certainly before he decided to create a book about flying frogs. Without any words, the full story is created in the illustrations of lifelike frogs who arrive on flying lily pads into a peaceful town. In total, Wiesner has won 3 Caldecotts and 3 honors.


7. The Man Who Walked Between Towers by Mordicai Gerstein (2004)

Now getting to forms I understand, Gerstein used pen, ink, and oil to create his cool illustrations that even using cool colors seem to produce action on each page. It is the story of the man who walked between the Twin Towers on a high wire while they were being constructed. Gerstein, dealing with the aftermath of September 11, 2001 and the demise of the Twin Towers remember the story of the man who walked between the towers in 1974. He used photographs taken back in 1974 by the walker to create many sketches of different angles and heights. The story became about the walk between these two towers partly because Gerstein wanted to create a book focused on the creation of the towers knowing that from then on most stories about the towers would be of their destruction.



Reviews:
School Library Journal
Gr 3-6…The large, attractive pages invite readers to savor the multitude of illustrations. Some of them show the various drafts leading up to the finished artso that readers can easily see the evolution of the artists' ideas. Anecdotes about the relationship between the illustrators and their editors are also included, reinforcing the idea that this collaboration is very important in the creation of excellent books. With an index, a glossary (lithographic crayon, pre-separated art, etc.), and a bibliography of all of the Caldecott Medal winners (though not the Honor Books), this title has just about everything readers might want. Most of all, it has such wonderful tidbits-Robert McCloskey sketching the bottom of a duck's bill from his vantage point on the floor, Maurice Sendakbuying an armful of roses for Ursula Nordstrom when he won, etc. So many good stories for children and adults to enjoy.-Barbara Scotto, Michael Driscoll School,Brookline, MA

Publishers Weekly
With a generous sprinkling of the artists' own words and sometimes those of his or her editor, Marcus chroniclesthe inspiration behind these works, the creative process, the artists' reactions to winning the prestigious award and its effect on their careers…Encouraging readers to see each picture book through the artist's eyes, Marcus shows Brown's compositional studies, explains how Van Allsburg chose from which perspective to view the coiled python in the living room and how Sendak decided "that the illustrations leading up to the rumpus would get larger and larger, as Max's emotions pushed out the words." … With Marcus's sure hand guiding this tour, readers will find cause for celebration. All ages. (Oct.)



Connections:
As this book offers an inside look into the creation of award winning illustrations and also into the lives of the illustraters, one could continue with biographies of artists or do program focused on other award winning books. To some reading all the Caldecott winners could be like reading the Times Top 100 Books. It would offer knowledge into all the different art forms as well as the process of book illustration has evolved since that is mentioned in each personal story as well.

Perhaps the most obvious next step would be to allow children to create stories or create pictures using a variety of mediums.

Genre 1, Picture Books: Eight Animals Bake a Cake

(amazon.com)

Bibliographic Information

Middleton Elya, Susan.2002. EIGHT ANIMALS BAKE A CAKE. Ill. by Lee Chapman. New York, NY: G.P. Putnam's Sons. ISBN 9780399234682

Plot Summer and Critical Analysis:
Eight animals, each bringing an ingredient, get together to bake a cake. As they gather at one house, the reader learns a little Spanish on the way. While mostly in English, there are Spanish words throughout of both ingredients and animals names, for instance the cat named Gato. As Gato, Raton, Perro, Pajaro, Rana, Caballo, Vaca, and Cerdo arrive to mix their ingredients and prepare for a feast, they begin to fight over who gets to take the cake out of the oven. When the excitement ends with the cake on the floor, the friends believe their cake is ruined. Luckily, with some clever thinking they salvage their cake and enjoy their treat together. Yes, the five second rule applies to this story.

As the text is both in Spanish and English, there are aids for the reader, such as the borders of each page offering translations. As learning a second language is encouraged to learn with a primary language, this books offers an opportunity to increase literacy and recognition for not one, but for two languages. With a simple sentence structure, this book is more advanced than The House in the Night, but as each pair of sentences rhyme, children will not find this story difficult to follow and will probably find it flows due to they rhyming that is achieved by having full sentences on each page.

Visually, this would attract children's attention as not only are the animals personified, but the colors are very bright and exaggerated, similarly to the paintings of many Mexican artists, for instance Frida Kahlo.



When it comes to the visual elements, someone's background can influence how they create and how they see art. Chapman's illustrations did remind me of Mexican folk art and Spanish artists, such as Frida's color scheme and the shapes and comical gestures seen by Spanish painter Joan Miro.



Chapman uses bold, warm colors as he illustrates the fun, and energetic round animals who so eagerly, and earnestly try to bake a cake. Children will find the animals personalities humorous, as they are led from one to another page by page. Not only is the text always moving forward, but visually there is an animal or action on nearly every page leaning towards the next page causing the reader to prematurely wonder what is to come. The cultural influence in Eight Animals Bake a Cake is present in both the given translations as well as the illustrations, which can provide readers with more insight than simply learning how these eight animals baked a cake.

Awards and Reviews
Nominated for the 2003-2004 Georgia Book's Award in Picture Storybook Category

Publisher's Weekly:
Having made a bilingual foray to the market in Eight Animals on the Town, Raton (Mouse), Gato (Cat) and friends now tackle the culinary arts and add 33 Spanish vocabulary words in Eight Animals Bake a Cake by Susan Middleton Elya, illus. by Lee Chapman. Each animal brings one ingredient to the cake-baking session (recipe appears at the end): "Dog brings the egg, one huevo to beat. `Hurry up,' Perro says. `I want to eat.' " Chapman's paintings glow with south-of-the-border colors and a Mexican folk-art spirit; whimsically patterned frames contain translation equations ("Dog = Perro," "Egg = Huevo" and so on). Ages 4-8.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

School Library Journal:
Kindergarten-Grade 3-Following the same format as in Eight Animals on the Town (Putnam, 2000), with Spanish words carefully integrated into the text, endearing animals each bring an ingredient for the cake they hope to bake. "Dog brings the egg, one huevo to beat. `Hurry up,' Perro says. `I want to eat.'" Each neatly rhymed couplet is accompanied by a framed and bordered illustration that extends the humor of the text. Perro prances merrily down the path, balancing his huevo jauntily on his nose, to the amazement of some watching chickens. The English translations of the Spanish words appear in the borders so there is no interruption or confusion in the story line. The paintings are a richly colored combination of cartoon and Mexican folk art that perfectly captures the animals' eager anticipation. Most libraries will agree with these delightful characters when they say, "M s, por favor."-Grace Oliff, Ann Blanche Smith School, Hillsdale, NJ
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Connections:
Public libraries especially have the need of a diverse collection and can have programs for Spanish speakers or have programs for English and Spanish speakers together, with similar books to this one, that incorporates both languages. One could either have a program based on the languages in this book or based on cooking, or even art. With a diverse topic and multiple elements, schools, libraries, and parents could expand on different aspects of this book.

Similar Books:
Eight Animals Play Ball (Susan Middleton Elya): As another Eight Animals book, children who enjoyed Eight Animals Bake a Cake will most likely read this book willingly.

Say Hola to Spanish (Susan Middleton Elya): Encourages learning Spanish

Genre 1, Picture Books: The House in the Night

(amazon.com)

Bibliographic Information:
Swanson, Susan Maire. 2008. THE HOUSE IN THE NIGHT. Ill. by Beth Krommes. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company. ISBN: 978-0618862443

Plot and Critical Analysis
This story begins with a young girl being given a key to a house and how with that key to this house she is led to individual objects both inside and outside of her house. This relation between objects and how they collectively create the positive warmth of the home, as shown by the selective "light" through the illustrations, offers an idea of the "big picture" of connectivity in the world. With the text and carefully chosen objects in yellow on an all black and white page, both the message and those carefully selected objects create a sense of warmth to this house that is dark in the night. Objects such as teddy bears, books, the sun, dolls, flowers, and animals are illuminated with the one bright color of Krommes' illustrations.

This book is geared to younger children as seen by both the simplicity of the text and its rhythmic focus on the full story's cycle (key-house-light-bed-book-bird....-sun-moon, then moon-sun....bird-book-bed-light-house-key) and felt like Goodnight Moon (Margaret Wise Brown) with the repetitive and familiar language, involved in the comfort of the the child's bedtime routine. Children of various ages can recognize the rhythm as well as the objects used in both the text and the illustration. The resulting familiarity can assist not only in their understanding of the plot, but also recognizing the same objects in their own room and home. Of course the obvious warmth of the home is shown by the light in the illustrations, made even stronger by excluding all color but yellow. It is a quick read with both soothing imagery and words and one that a parent would happily read and one that a child would sit through.

Awards and Reviews

ALA Notable Children's Books - Young Readers Category, 2009
Booklist Editors' Choice - Books for Youth - Young Readers Category, 2008
Caldecott Medal, 2009.
Minnesota Book Awards: Children's Books, 2009.
Oprah's Kids' Reading Lists - New Releases: 3-to-5 Years

Booklist, Starred Review:
A young girl is given a golden key to a house. “In the house / burns a light. / In that light / rests a bed. On that bed / waits a book.” And so continues this simple text, which describes sometimes fantastical pleasures as a bird from the book spirits the child through the starry sky to a wise-faced moon. The cumulative tale is a familiar picture-book conceit; the difference in success comes from the artwork. Here, the art is spectacular. Executed in scratchboard decorated in droplets of gold, Krommes’ illustrations expand on Swanson’s reassuring story (inspired by a nursery rhyme that begins, “This is the key of the kingdom”) to create a world as cozy inside the house as it is majestic outside. The two-page spread depicting rolling meadows beyond the home, dotted with trees, houses, barns, and road meeting the inky sky, is mesmerizing. The use of gold is especially effective, coloring the stars and a knowing moon, all surrounded with black-and-white halos. A beautiful piece of bookmaking that will delight both parents and children
(Cooper, Ilene. Booklist, vol 104, number 16, p46)

Publisher's Weekly, Starred Review:
Inspired by traditional cumulative poetry, Swanson weaves a soothing song that is as luminescent and soulful as the gorgeous illustrations that accompany her words. A journey both humble and epic begins with a key to a house. "Here is the key to the house. In the house burns a light. In that light rests a bed…." In the bedroom of the house, a girl reads a book in which a bird "breathes a song…all about the starry dark." Swanson's poem then takes readers on a flight across the night sky to the realm of the moon and sun, then back along the path to the key that marked the beginning of the journey. Krommes's folk-style black-and-white etchings with touches of yellow-orange make the world of the poem an enchanted place. Patches of light and shadow give shape to the darkness, while smiling celestial bodies populate the potentially lonely night with their friendly warmth. This picture book will make a strong impression on listeners making their first acquaintance with literature. It is a masterpiece that has all the hallmarks of a classic that will be loved for generations to come.
(Staff. Publishers Weekly, vol 255, issue 19, p53)

(CALS.org. Central Arkansas Library System. NoveList Plus. 11 June 2010. <
http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=neh&tg=UI&an=261231&site=novp-live>)

Connections:
Developmentally, a toddler and preschool aged child would benefit from the repetitive text as well as the monosyllabic words. Also, a younger child would identify the distinctive illustrations by the contrast of black and white illustrations more so than other children's books that are very colorful. Both the familiarity (repetition) and clear identification (illustrations)would increase a child's involvement with this story as the majority of this story uses the final word of the previous page to begin the next page. A child can repeat the short words as he/she is being read to and can clearly point to recognized objects in the illustrations.

A librarian could also incorporate this book into a themed storytime of "Goodnight" style of books or even using it as a final story for an evening storytime to subtly draw the program to an end. A parent would benefit from reading this book at the end of a bedtime routine as the plot is one about sleep and books and could incorporate storytime into a daily routine. Picture books that provide patterns are enjoyable and age appropriate both in development as well as the young child's attention span. The artistry of black and white, with only a glimmer of light could easily be a style a preschooler could mimic, thus adding a simple activity to the story.

Similar Readings:
Goodnight Moon (Margaret Wise Brown): Similar bedtime repetition and black and white illustrations
Time for Bed (Mem Fox): Similar rhythmic text focused on going to sleep

My Personal ABC's

Before beginning this course on Literature for Children and learning what goes into this genre, I want to take my own novice opinion as this will be the last time I approach children's books without deeper thought and appreciation. For me, reading kids books is due to curiosity from the cover or title, yes I am the almost librarian who still judges books by their covers, or from finding books to read to the children in my life. I have an ounce of proofing for age appropriateness, language, or frightening images based on my babysitting, and knowing the perfect book sometimes for a kid. For instance, my four year old nephew who shares my love of dinosaurs has developed into the boy who also loves cars and trucks. Thus DinoTrux (the combination of trucks and dinosaurs) made me not only the perfect aunt to him, but a clever sister as there's a page about the evolution of dinotrux into the trucks of today - my sister is a biologist.


(from Amazon.com)

So as I am about to learn an insider's view of children and young adult literature, I'd just like to think of this moment: when kids books were mostly entertainment. For now I am about to over-think and critique every kids book I see from now on.