Title: Ruby Lu Brave and True.
Author: Lenore Look
Ages: 2nd - 5th grades
Quick Review: Cute. Loved it. Easy read. Funny. Peer into the world of Asian Americans. Sheryl McFarlane offers a nice short review, too.
Title: Feathers
Author: Jacqueline Woodson
Ages: 6th - 9th grades
Quick Review: Beautiful story. Deserves every award it receives. Liked it so much, I made it into a Sunday School lesson for my 8th graders. Prejudice comes in so many forms. Didn't like the very end so much, but the first 98% is wonderful. Read a contrasting point of view at Jeanette's blog.
Title: Doing Time Online
Author: Jan Siebold
Ages: 4th - 7th grades
Quick Review: Nice, thoughtful story. Do-the-right-thing-kind-of story. Check out Nancy Keane's book talks for possible lesson ideas.
The International Children's Digital Library <http://www.childrenslibrary.org/> is an online site with a collection of children's books from around the world. ICDL's researchers have contacted the original authors for the works to include on the site's database. The site's FAQ describes the background as:
The International Children's Digital Library (ICDL) is a research project funded primarily by the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS), and Microsoft Research to create a digital library of outstanding children's books from all over the world. The project was introduced at an international celebration at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. in November 2002. The collection's focus is on identifying materials that help children to understand the world around them and the global society in which they live. The materials in the collection, all presented in the original languages in which they were published, reflect similarities and differences in cultures, societies, interests, and lifestyles of peoples around the world. At the end of the initial research period, it is anticipated that the ICDL collection will include approximately 10,000 materials in at least 100 languages.
Since these are original scans from copyrighted works, you really shouldn't print these out, but they would be great to project in a classroom with an LCD project, interactive whiteboard or big screen TV.
As the name implies, Free Comic Book Day is a single day when participating comic book shops across North America and around the world are giving away comic books absolutely free to anyone who comes into their stores.
To see which stores in the Memphis area are participating or to find a store in your area, check out this link to a store locator.
AUTHOR: Audrey Wood
AGES: Preschool to Beginning Readers
REVIEW: The Napping House is a rhyming tale of a house where everyone is sleeping on a rainy afternoon. The story begins with the napping granny, and one by one the other characters join her in the bed for a nap, each piling on top of the others until there is so many that inevitably, they will all be woken from their peaceful nap. When the energetic flea wakes the dog, chaos ensues and everyone is abruptly woken from slumber. Throughout the story there is a repetitive rhyme that builds with each character that joins the pile.
What I enjoyed the most about this story is how the rhyme scheme built up the intensity of the plot while also making it very easy for a young child to follow. The book is simple yet charming and is a great book for nap or bed time of course! However, I cannot discuss the book without acknowledging the illustrations. In my opinion, they are one of the best features of this book! The images are whimsical and dreamy, which goes along perfectly with the story. They really brought the characters to life in such a beautiful way. For another short review, Family Reads offers this post on taking naps, and Lauren's World Literature for Children also comments on the building nature of the story. Lauren also offers this teaching idea:
This book is a great way to get students involved in writing. They could write cumulative stories themselves, along with drawing the pictures. Students will enjoy that because it is a very simple method of writing. For younger students, there are great activity pages on Audrey Wood's website. There is one worksheet that students complete to find shapes inside the house.
This book was created by a husband and wife team, the wife Audrey writes and her husband Don illustrates. This book won several awards when it was published in 1984 including the New York Times Best Illustrated Children’s Book, the Golden Kite Award from the Society of Children’s Book Writers, a National Council of Teachers of English 1984 Teacher’s Choice, as well as several others.
Guest Blogger: My name is Sara H., and I am a student at the University of Memphis. I graduated with a BA in history in December of 2007 and I am currently working towards my Master’s of Arts in Teaching. I hope to teach history at the secondary level and cannot wait to start!! I have a real passion for history, but I also enjoy spending time with my family, my boyfriend, and my feisty American bulldog puppy.
As a special gift to Star Wars fans, Del Rey will be offering Book One in the series, Star Wars: Legacy of the Force: Betrayal, as a free downloadable PDF, audio book, and eBook. This promotional offer will run for two weeks, from 9:00 a.m. Tuesday, April 29, until midnight on Tuesday, May 13. The free download, which can be shared, e-mailed or printed, will be available on Random House's site at <http://www.randomhouse.com/
delrey/starwars/sw_legacy.html>.
Harry Potter isn't just for children and their parents. It has officially made it into the hall of academia as well. CNN correspondent Patrick Lee describes how the Potter-verse is being integrated into college classrooms across the country. It seems there's no spell that J.K. Rowling can't conjure. Read the complete story see CNN's site at:
<http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/books/03/25/cnnu.potter/index.html>.
AUTHOR: Martha Brooks
AGES: High school
REVIEW: This is another novel that got me in a big way. It ended up where I didn't even know it was going. The story is primarily told from teenager Odella's point of view. However, other characters' points of views are sprinkled in throughout the novel. The British Columbia Teacher Librarians Association (in Canada) awarded Mistik Lake the 2008 young adult book award, describing the story as:
In Martha Brooks’ Mistik Lake, family secrets are explored in an intergenerational narrative. When Odella’s mother leaves for another man, Odella must confront her mother’s past and cope with the impact it has on the way she sees the world. In this haunting and introspective story, Brooks creates a thoughtful character that will emotionally resonate with her readers.
In another post, Lauren W. described a novel called Speak. I found Speak's themes and mature content to be similar to Mistik Lake. Mistik Lake is full of very mature themes, including promiscuity and homosexuality. I recommend using this novel with care in a classroom.
AUTHOR: Watt Key
AGES: 5th-9th grades
REVIEW: With Alabama Moon, I think children from today's times would have a difficult time relating to the character. I think boys would find the adventure of Moon living off the land by himself and with his friends to be exciting. But I think children would have a trouble relating to how Moon's father reacted to the Vietnam War. I think even with the current War in Iraq, children would find the plot plausible but the reasoning that created the plot to be too far removed from their lives. Adult readers of this book will easily connect with how Moon's father came back from the Vietnam War with anger toward his country and government. To read this book with a class would require some time discussing the air that pervaded the Vietnam era, linking it to the current sentiments with the War in Iraq may help children relate.
In Abby the Librarian's blog, she describes Alabama Moon as "the Dukes of Hazard meet Hatchet," which is probably a very apt description. The deep South and backwoods setting certainly conjure images of Bo and Luke Duke complete with a corrupt sheriff, like Roscoe P. Coltrain. The survival aspect also align with Gary Paulson's Hatchet books with a young boy alone in the wilderness. Abby offers a great synopsis of the book and a great review. I encourage you to visit her blog post for more.
Overall, I really enjoyed Alabama Moon. Abby the librarian suggest the ending came together a little too neatly, and I can see that except that I was almost half expecting for two or more of the boys to be put together at the end. There is quite a it of profanity, so a teacher would really need to gauge this with her children. You may need to go with older children because of this. While the text and vocabulary could be handled by fifth through eighth graders, you may want to use this novel with older students because of the profanity.
AUTHOR: Richard Wright
AGES: 14-18 years old
REVIEW: “The Man Who Was Almost a Man” comes from Richard Wright’s book of short stories entitled Eight Men. This story is about the extremes that a young man goes through to prove that he is a man. This is a really good book for high school students in grades 9-12. This book is great for high school students, because during this time period many children are going through a transition phase in their life. Often times, children have questionable judgment when it comes to what makes a person a man or woman. Reading this story helps correct some of their thinking because they begin to admit that certain behaviors does not make you a man.
The young man in the story wanted to feel like a man and prove his manhood, so he went out and purchased a gun. My students were really interested in this story and could relate with him as well. Even though my students get pleasure out of watching violence, they considered the young man foolish for buying the gun. Every chance my students get they are sneaking onto a fight website or talking about a fight that happened in their neighborhood, however, this story really got them to thinking about their actions.
Guest Blogger: Gregory M. is a graduate student and a first year teacher at a local high school in Memphis, TN. Gregory teaches African American literature, English 10 and English 11. Gregory received his bachelors in English from the University of Memphis in December of 2007. He did not realize that he would find a teaching job as quickly as he did, but he is more than ready to face the challenge. Gregory is a student in Dr. Grant's IDT 7061, Spring08 course.
AUTHOR: Charles Dickens
AGES: 9th - 12th grades
REVIEW: I was first introduced to this book when my daughter had to read it for high school about 10 years ago. Great Expectations is about love, family and the pursuit of happiness. The main character is a young man, Pip, whose life is traced as an orphanage from early childhood to adulthood. The book is divided into three expectations of Pip’s life. The first being how he grows up in a difficult situation being adopted by a blacksmith’s family. The second will be how he meets an escaped convict and found happiness and the meaning of friendship that turned his life around to accomplish great expectations. The third and the last stage would be my favorite, because it is about how Pip was introduced to moral, physical and financial challenges. These are challenges that we all go through at some point in life.
The book is a lengthy, but very good life book, and I think every high school should have this book on the summer reading list. The book is available for review at Barnes and Noble’s web site. You can locate another review of the book from The Literature Network and from The Atlantic Online.
Guest Blogger: Angelia E. is an admissions supervisor at a higher learning institution who is presently working on a second career. She holds both a bachelors and a master’s degree in business which gives her the great passion to teach high school business courses. She feels that she has some tips to offer high school aged kids before going to college or directly into the real world. Young people should look ahead and make good decisions in life about attending college, career, credit, and accepting responsibility. Everyone should evaluate their life choices and rethink them before making a big change or first move. Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations is her favorite high school age book; because she feels there are great expectations for everyone and the sooner one discovers it, the better it will be. Angelia is a student in Dr. Grant's IDT 7061 class for the Spring 2008 term.
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