The Skin I’m In

Flake, S. (1998). The skin I'm in. New York: Jump at the Sun/Hyperion Books for Children.

Genre: multi-cultural/traditional literature

Age Group: 6^th-12^th grade

Summary:

This is a well-written book about a young girl named, Maleeka Madison.  She attends an inner-city school, McClenton that has a very poor environment for students to be successful.  Maleeka has vey low self-esteem and continually gets made fun of for her dark, chocolate skin and her “hand-sewn” clothes that her mother makes for her to wear.  She gets caught up in many situations due to her inability to stand up for herself and the detrimental social status of a student named, Charlese.  When a teacher by the name of Miss Saunders joins the faculty, she encourages and sees potential in Maleeka, that she feels she is wasting.  She gets her interested in writing; which will ultimately help her with many obstacles that Maleeka is facing.  In the end, Maleeka has to make some powerful choices and decisions; you’ll have to read to find out what she decides to do!

Reflection:

This was a very powerful book and I think even adults should have a chance to read this book, especially educators of middle-school students.  This book is written in first-person point of view from the character, Maleeka Madison.  Through the powerful dialect and the writing itself in the book, you truly see the problems that lie in middle school through decisions that Maleeka makes based purely on “physical fear” as well as “social fear.”  One situation that spoke loudly to me was when Maleeka finally breaks down about Char being the instigator of the classroom fire.  Many people continually ask Maleeka who was apart of the fire and she will not tell and takes all the blame, due to fear.  When she finally breaks down, and yells out at Charlese, she continually says, “Tears roll down my face…I’m rocking and thinking and crying” and the touch of Miss Saunders hugging her tight relieves some of her pain.  Throughout the story, the words are so powerful that you see that no one in the book can help her but herself and it completely saddens you. 

The author also uses the power of a “make-believe” character that Maleeka has made up to “mirror” what she is going through.  This is a powerful message that I think Flake is sending. Maleeka writes diary articles from a slave girl, Akeelma (which is her name pretty much spelled backwords.) She parallels the situations and emotions that she is feeling through this character.  The similes and metaphors in these entries are fabulous!  One of the entries said, “They chain us together like thieves and beat us till we bleed.  I have made up my mind though, I will show no weakness.  I will be strong.  Strong like the sea and the wind.”

Lastly, I enjoyed the organization of the story, in the sense that it had a very powerful message and very serious concepts yet it was written in a way that was easy to read; the chapters where short in length and most chapters told one particular small story of an event.  Each chapter was no more than 5-6 pages. It didn’t seem like a chapter book because it was such a “quick read.”  I highly recommend this book to others; it truly opens your eyes!

Aesop’s fables

Paxton, T., Rayevsky, R., & Aesop, . (1988). Aesop's fables. New York: Morrow Junior Books.

Genre: multi-cultural/traditional literature

Age Group: all ages

Summary: This is book is a collection of Aesop’s fables, retold by Tom Paxton.  Throughout the book, each fable has a lesson or a moral throughout the story.  There are stories that are focused around patience, gratitude, honesty, perseverance and many other virtues.  Each fable is written in the form of a poem or short story.  The hidden meanings behind each of the stories are both abstract and told. 

Reflection:

I have always been a fan of Aesop’s fables. I think they all send a great message to the readers.  I have only read two of his fables in the past, but I enjoyed all of them from this book.  I like how the collection of fables was all in one book.  I chose two that were my favorite and gave great messages.  I liked one called, Gratitude. It was a retelling of the story about a mouse and lion’s friendship.  The style of the writing was written in short sentences and quick transitions- “sometimes the week and sometimes the strong must help each other to save the right and wrong.”  I also thought children would like the rhyming throughout the fable; it made the story easy to read and understand.  When the mouse was asking the lion to let him go, he said, “If you’ll please just release me, I promise someday, the debt will be one that I gladly repay.”

            Another fable that I liked and I enjoyed the retelling of in this book was The Tortoise and the Hare. I always tell my students this story at the beginning of the year and right before testing because I think the message is very powerful- slow and steady wins the race!  The animals in this story were personified, given human qualities and traits.  The hare was lazy and cocky; while the tortoise was hard-working and determined. In the end, the tortoise was the one that came out ahead because of his dedication.

The Mouse and the Motorcycle

Cleary, B., & Darling, L. (1965). The mouse and the motorcycle

Genre: modern fantasy

Age Group: 3^rd-5^th grade

Summary:  This is a light-hearted story about a mouse, Ralph, who lives in a hotel in California.  Ralph lives with his family and enjoys the hotel.  One of his favorite aspects of the hotel is the “messy people” because they leave scraps for Ralph and his family in the hotel.  Ralph is very audacious and wants to explore the world of the hotel but the housemaids cause him to stay close to his family, because they do a good job at keeping the hotel very clean and tidy.  Ralph’s adventures begin when a family comes to stay.  A friendship between a young boy, and Keith begins to grow.  Keith has a toy motorcycle that he teaches Ralph to ride and later, when Keith, is in need of Ralph’s help, the toy motorcycle comes in handy and Ralph saves the day!

Reflection:  This story is a sweet and endearing story of a friendship between a mouse and a young boy.  This modern fantasy personifies Ralph, giving him human-like qualities.  Ralph feels emotions- pain, happiness and desire.  He gets so excited when he sees the motorcycle for the first time and he has a strong desire throughout the story to want to see more of the world.  This story has a progressive, simple plot.  There is a simple introduction of the hotel; the various details of it and the personality of Ralph are in the story’s beginning.  Keith and Ralph then meet and a strong friendship forms.  The climax of the story, I would say is when Keith gets very ill and is in need of an aspirin.  Ralph knows that he needs to help him, but he is worried about the housemaids.  When Ralph’s bravery takes over, he puts Keith’s life in front of his own.  Ralph takes the motorcycle on a journey to the lobby, getting an aspirin that will in turn save Keith’s life. I think Clearly has a clever way of showing the theme of “friendship and bravery” in this story that would relate well to children. I highly recommend this story!

Officer Buckle and Gloria
Rathmann, P. (1995). Officer Buckle and Gloria. New York: Putnam's.

Genre: fiction children's literature
Age: K-5th grade

Summary: Officer Buckle and Gloria is an entertaining story about a dog, Gloria, and her partner Officer Buckle.  Officer Buckle is a police officer that is very knowledgeable about rules.  He knows more rules than anyone in the city of Napville. When giving presentations, his audience never listens and gets bored by his rules.  When he receives a police dog, all of this suddenly changes.  Officer Buckle does not know why; behind his back, Gloria brings his speeches to life by acting out various moves to his safety tips.  When he realizes what Gloria is doing, he gets upset and embarrassed that no one is listening to him.  In the end, Officer Buckle learns the importance of working together and friendship when he discovers that his presentations would not be the same without both of the members, Gloria and him!

Reflection: This story is a humorous story and would not be the same without its’ incredible illustrations.  The illustrations are done in vivid, bright colors with cartoon-like animations.  The illustrations truly bring the story to life and create a humorous mood because of the expressions and intricate details of Gloria, Officer Buckle, and the audiences when they are presenting safety tips.  My favorite illustration is the one when Officer Buckle is watching his presentation on the news and discovers the tricks that Gloria is doing in the background.  You can feel his emotions from the way that Rathman drew his facial expressions and you can tell that Gloria knows she is in trouble because of her sideways glance at Officer Buckle astonished!  

Emma's Turtle

Bunting, E., & Winborn, M. (2007). Emma's turtle. Honesdale, Pa: Boyds Mills Press. 

Genre: fiction children's literature


Age: K-4th grade


Summary: Emma's turtle is written from the turtle's point-of view.  Emma's turtle tells a story of adventure and discovery when it escapes its' pen to explore the world outside.  The turtle is intrigued with the world outside its' pen because Emma reads books to the turtle and tells it stories.  When the turtle leaves the pen, it thinks that it has traveled the world, when, in the end, it realizes that it has not even left the backyard.

Reflection:  I enjoyed this story; it is a very "light read."  I like that it was written in the point-of-view of the turtle because I think that makes it more interesting to students.  I think that the turtle's response to the outside world is the same as children's.  I was thinking back to my childhood, when I would play in an "imaginary world" all day.  I liked how Bunting prefaced the beginning of the story with Emma reading a story to the turtle.  I think this would be a good way to discuss the power of reading to students; the idea that books can take you to far away places and on adventures that you may never go on.  The illustrations in the story are very detailed; each page shows a different scene that allows you to put the imagination of the turtle into a visual.  When the “striped cat next door” is approaching Emma’s turtle you can really tell the size of the turtle to the cat by the exaggeration of the drawling.

Yoko
Wells, R. (1998). Yoko. New York: Hyperion Books for Children.

Genre: fiction children's literature
Age Level: K-3rd grade

Summary: 
     This story is about a cat, with human characteristics, named Yoko.  When she goes to school, she brings sushi for her lunch, as well as red bean ice cream for her snack.  The other students in the class make fun of her and cause her to feel embarrassed about "being different."  The teacher decides to have an International Food day and all the children bring their cultural food to school to share with the class.  The day does not go as planned until the end of the day when another student, Timothy comes over and tries Yoko's food.  This opens up a friendship between Yoko and Timothy, founded on a  mutual respect of each other's cultures.


Reflection: 

      I like the overall message that this book sends and I think it does it in an elementary kid-friendly way; open-mindedness and  the idea that everyone is different.  I asked myself throughout this book, why Wells did not have the class of students become more open-minded.  The twist in the story, which I am not sure if I liked, was that only Timothy accepted Yoko's heritage and food.  The rest of the students in the class never tried her sushi and Yoko still felt bad after the International Food day.  I think the theme of the story is an important lesson to teach- accepting differences and open-mindedness.  This book would relate well to students because food is something that is very different across cultures.  As an educator, after reading this book, I would ask the questions; Who packed your lunch?  Why do you think that you may have chosen or like the foods that you eat?  These questions could be the beginning discussion about accepting each person's differences because it is our culture that causes differences.  We do not choose where we were born or what culture we are in, so why can we judge this?  The illustrations in the book are also very creative, detailed, and bring the animals to life.  For instance, when Yoko is showing Timothy how to eat the sushi, you can see his confusion with the chopsticks because Wells does a good job with the expressions on the animals faces and the motions with his hands as he is discovering this new tool.

The Wall
Bunting, E. (1990). The wall. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Company.

Genre: Realistic fiction children's literature
Age Level: Grades 2-5


Summary:     This is a moving story about a boy and his father going to visit the Veteran's Memorial in Washington D.C. to find his grandfather's name who had died in the Vietnam War.  The story captures the tone that you feel when you are looking at the wall.  The boy asks questions to his father while they are visiting and sees the importance of the veterans as he discusses the surroundings and actions of the people around that are visiting the wall as well.  The story is very descriptive and paints a true picture of the feeling that surrounds this memorial in Washington, D.C.

Reflection:      The tone of this book is incredible! I think Bunting truly captures the feelings that encompass people when they go to visit this memorial.  The story truly describes the wall; its size, it’s feeling, as well as the amount of names that are listed as veterans who have fought for our country.  This book is a great book to read to introduce a unit on war or veterans.  The illustrations in this book are very well done and bring the wall to life for the readers.  For many readers, they can gain an understanding of empathy and respect throughout this book because of the actions and detailed descriptions that the young boy describes.  He discusses his father, hanging his head, by the side of the wall, the teacher talking to the students who have come to visit, and the respect that the family shows by visiting the memorial and leaving behind the picture of the boy.  I think this book would raise inquiry and questions from students if it were the introduction to a new unit.  Big Question: Based on the descriptions you heard in this story and what this story encompasses; what questions do you have regarding this memorial or the war? (This would lead to the areas in which we would study as well as act as an assessment for prior knowledge.)

The Hello, Goodbye Window

Juster, N. (2005). The hello, goodbye window. Hyperion Books for Children. 
Genre: Fiction children's literature
Ages: 3-13

Summary:
    This fiction children's book discusses the amazing aspects of the front window at a little girl's Nanna and Poppy's house.  In this story, the little girl is the narrator and she discusses the wonders of the world as she explores life through this window.  She discusses the world of imagination, discovery, and the excitement of being a child playing all day.  She also discusses leaving the house and being sad that she has to go but excited to see her parents after a long day of work. The little girl truly embraces the strong bond that she has with her grandparents throughout this story. 

Reflection:

                 I highly recommend this picture book for all children.  The first thing that came to mind when reading this book was how appropriate this would be for Grandparent's Day.  I was searching for a "appropriate-length" book for the grandparents to read on this special day and this would be a great one.  An activity, centered around memories with your grandparents, could have followed this read-aloud and engaged both the students and the grandparents that were visiting for this special day.

         Many topics come up throughout this book that relate to children. When reading the creative plot, through the little girl's point-of-view, many memories of my childhood came back to me.  A lot of children have vivid memories of going to their grandparents house and playing, many also have spent time looking out the window into the world that they will soon be discovering. This story embraces the concept of childhood to its' entirety.  The little girl discusses the world of imagination when she talks about the "tiger" behind the garden and Queen Elizabeth coming for tea.  I also like the ending when the little girl talks about leaving her grandparents; "you can be happy and sad at the same time you know" is a good way to describe the feeling that so many children have when they have to leave somewhere that they really enjoyed.  I thought the illustrations were incredible as well; they appeared to be painted by watercolor which would intrigue children because they are familiar with this type of art. This book received a Caldecott Medal and I can see why!