5 Picture book reviews - Spenser Morris

The Cow on the Roof

 Maddern, Eric. The Cow on the Roof. New York: Frances Lincoln, 2006. Print.

     The Cow on the Roof is the story about Shon and Sian and the roles and chores they take on everyday. Despite Shon’s accusation, he learns that Sian’s chores are just as hard.

     The book right off the bat goes into defining male and female roles. Where Shon works all day in the hot sun doing the “hard work” outside, Sian gets to enjoy staying home and doing the “easy jobs”. I am glad the story ends with Shon understanding Sian’s job is not as easy as he thought it would be, but this only reinforces the idea of gender roles. A man cannot do the work of a woman is one of the messages of this story. I thinking defining these roles is inappropriate for a child because I believe they have the right to do anything they want to pursue; why should the messages of these books stand in their way?

     The other idea I wanted to go into that I believed was inappropriate is the section talking about the homemade brown ale. This book goes into detail explaining the “dark colour, a frothy head and a smell that made his mouth water”. I think they could have chosen a different beverage to use. Not all kids know what ale is and if they do not know then you have to explain it to them which could produce certain problems. Assuming a child knows what an ale beverage is probably is not the best idea.

     I did appreciate the colorful illustrations. They were very neat looking. I love when picture books give an abstract sort of view on life and this book did just that. It seems to be more interesting.

Bubble Trouble

Margaret., Mahy,. Bubble trouble. New York, NY: Clarion Books, 2009. Print.

     Bubble Trouble is the story of this baby boy whose sister blows a bubble and the boy gets stuck inside. This bubble explores the town and everyone beings to chase it until a young lad uses a sling shot to pop the bubble, hurling the baby towards the ground. With the help if the towns people, they are able to catch the falling baby in a quilt.

     The really nice thing about this story is it is told in a rhyme. I personally like books that rhyme because they add a “sing-songie” kind of feel to the story. As a child, I remember liking poems and rhyming books because they seemed more exciting and I could not wait to get to the next page. The other nice thing about this book is all of the wording is done in waves. This makes the book more interacting as your eyes flow along the peaks and valleys of the text. The story is simple, but you meet a ton of different characters along the way. This give a child more chances to relate with a character and to see the interactions amongst different people in a society. The last thing I want to comment on are the illustrations. It seems like Polly Dunbar used different mediums to create these pictures and I really appreciate that. As a kid, the pictures where extremely important to the story. I could stare at the pictures and find new things every time. Using different mediums and putting them all together, to me, is very appealing to the eye. Overall, this book was pretty fun and I did enjoy it.

I Stink!

McMullan, Kate, and Jim McMullan. I Stink! New York, NY: Joanna Cotler Books, 2002. Print.

     This is the story of the life of a garbage truck…that’s it.

     What drew my attention to this book were the exciting illustrations. They look to be made out of water colors and I think they are really neat. The colors fill the pages from side to side leaving only enough blank space for the words. There was one section of this book I particularly enjoyed. In this section, it explains what is in this garbage truck in alphabetical order starting with A and ending with Z. I always liked when books did that. Some of the responses were really creative and the illustrations only added to this stimulating tool.

     As far as the overall story, it wasn’t my favorite. A day in the life of a garbage truck just does not seem all that exciting to me. I did not see a nice message presented in this book. I am not sure what kind of literary merit a child could earn from reading this piece. Although it was really cool to look at and the colors blew my mind, I find the story to be an important part and this book seemed to fall short. It did not hit on any topics a child could remotely relate to, unless they have thrown away a dirt diaper or ugly underpants.

Down by the Cool of the Pool

Mitton, Tony. Down by the cool of the pool. New York: Orchard Books, 2002. Print.

     This is the story of a animals dancing down by a pond and how each one dances differently.

This was another rhyming story which I personally like. The rhymes provide a nice rhythm which makes the story even more enjoyable. This book hits upon the issue that we all do things differently, for example dancing, but just because it is different does not mean we cannot all still have fun. In fact, the dancing of all of the other animals adding to the frog made the event more fun. This is a great lesson for kids and a lesson you can always refer back to if you were doing another activity and your students are not seeing eye to eye. It is important to remember that everyone has their own way of participating in different activities but that does not mean a certain individual is wrong.

     I also appreciated the illustrations in this book. There are tons of colors on page and lots going on. I could spend a long time just looking at the expression and body moments of each animal on each page. Overall, I enjoyed this book. It would be a good choice to read to a kindergarten classroom or have on the shelf of a 1st to 2nd grade room.

Freckleface Strawberry

Moore, Julianne. Freckleface Strawberry. New York: Bloomsbury USA Children's Books, 2007. Print.

     This story is the story of a young lady struggling to hide freckles from the other children because she thinks she is different.

     I think this book is a great learning tool for children because it shows them that it is ok to be different. Even though the main character tries to hide the fact that she is covered in red dots, she learns that these things are part of everyday life and it’s kind of cool to be unique.

     I really liked the illustrations in the book. They reminded me of a comic book style where following the action takes place all over the page. I think this is this visually stimulating for children. The pictures also represented all different races within the illustrations. This is important for the children. This allows them to identify and relate to the children in the book. The colors used in this book were also very unique. They did not have to fill the page with colors in order to keep it interesting. Having some white space within the different “comic frames” made it easy to follow and simple.

     The vocabulary in this book also provided easy understanding and is appropriate for kindergarten through 3rd grade.

     It was nice to see all of the children “missing” the main character at the end of the book. This shows self worth and provides a sense of want that the kids can all hope to have in their lives. This book for sure has the best message of the 5 books that I read for this assignment.

My Five Picture Books- Ashley Parker

For this assignment I decide to just pick 5 picture books at random. I decided to choose a wide range of books for ethnicity, human and animals characters, to topics,to the setting of the story, and finally artistically. I decided I wanted to have fun with this first book assignment to see if I could find connections in a obscure way that most people would not think about on a day to day basis, and I was able to link all the books together by the theme of the books which is enjoyment and happiness with where and what life has to offer.

The first book was:

Kasza, Keiko.Ready for ANYTHING!.New York, New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 2009.Print.

Ready for ANYTHING! is about a Duck and a Raccoon who are supposed to be going on a picnic. The day of the picnic Duck shows up only to find that Raccoon has changed its mind about going. This is because Raccoon has thought of several different senerios of things that could go wrong on this picnic each on worse than the last. So Duck then gives Raccoon several more senerios of how the picnic could turn out in a positive manner. Duck is able to convince Raccoon to still come on the picnic because of all the good things that may be. In ready for anything Raccoon had to look for the positivies and adventure he could have instead of looking at the bnegativies that could be. After Raccoon did this he was able to have a enjoyable afternoon with Duck.

My second book was:

Perez, Amada Irma.My Very Own Room.San Francisco, California: Children's Book Press, 2000.Print.

My Very Own Room is based on the authors own family history and story. It is about her getting her own room by finding a place in the house that could make it work. She goes to her mother with the idea and is first rejected, but seeing the disappoint ment in her childs eyes she and the rest of the family work together to make it possible to have her very own room so that she no longer has to share a room with her five brothers. Thought the whole book was about her wanting her room it showed the fun and enjoyment that she as well as her family had in the process of setting up and getting what she need for her new room.

The third book I selected was:

Banks, Kate.That's Papa's Way.New York,New York: Frances Foster Books, 2009.Print.

That's Papa's Way is about a little girl going on a fishing trip with her father. Starting with them waking up in the morning and digging up worms, to them fishing, to them having a picnic with the family, and ends with them on the porch hugging. This book also talks about their different way of doing things, father and daughter. This story showed a daughter enjoying a day of fishing with her father even though they did things differently she still had fun and enjoyed their day together.

The fourth book I read was:

Rylant, Cynthia.All In A Day.New York, New York: Abrams Books for Young Readers, 2009.Print.

All In A Day is all about the day. It is about enjoying the day and discussing what the day could bring. It talks about the wonder of the day and how once it is gone it can not come back and tomorrow isn't here yet so enjoy what you have today. All In A Day was all about being happy and enjoying the present day and what you have today because yesterday is gone forever tomorrow hasn't arrived yet so live in the moment.

My last book was:

Wilson, Karma; Chapman, Jane.Don't Be Afraid Little Pip.New York, New York: Margaret K. McElderry.2009.Print.

Don't Be Afraid Little Pip is a story about a young penguin bird named Pip who is supposed to be learning how to fly but is scared of what is in the ocean. She instead wants to learn how to fly instead because Pip feels that birds are supposed to fly in the sky not swim. Pip finds herself in the water by accident and her friend helps her to learn that swimming is what penguins do. Pip had a hard time with the idea of not being able to fly but instead having to swim. She was scared and so she didn't want to do it. When she finally was forced into the water though she had fun and enjoyed being able to swim, and was even able to relate it back to flying.

E.Gurnowski: Monster Picture Book Reviews

My absolute favorite books when I was little were books that had monsters in them because my cousins would always make me watch horror movies, which made me absolutely terrified of monsters. So, when I read stories about monsters and how they are just almost ordinary people with feelings I wouldn’t be as afraid of them anymore. So I felt it was only right to do my picture book reviews on monster themed stories.

Rex Adam (2008) Frankenstein Takes the Cake. Florida: Harcourt Publishing Company
There are so many different monster picture books, so for my first five I wanted some variety and I found one that I felt was out of the ordinary. Frankenstein Takes the Cake is something I haven’t really read before in a monster book. The story is about Frankenstein and his bride’s wedding day, as they go to his future in-law’s home to make arrangements for the wedding. While the happy bride-to-be is discussing what they are going to for the wedding her mother asks, “Are you inviting many monsters?”(Adam Rex, 7). After she tries to tell her mother that they aren’t dangerous at all, the book then goes into a series of poems about all of the monsters and people around them.

My favorite poems were about Frankenstein’s friend the Headless Horseman; Rex sets up the poems as an online journal. There is this one blog that stuck out to me, where the Headless horseman’s pumpkin head is starting to rot and he has to start looking for a new pumpkin for his head. From what I interpreted from the poem, I believe it is a message to embrace something new but holding on to what makes you unique and different (Adam Rex, 11-14).

Sendak Maurice (1963) Where the Wild Things Are. New York: Harper Collins Publishers

One of the most loved books of all time; this is my brother’s favorite childhood book and I even remember my mom reading it to us when we were younger. The book is about a young boy who causes mischief of couple of kinds, and gets sent to his room without his super because of his bad behavior. Once his mom calls him’ “Wild thing” he goes and travels in and out of time to place where the wild things are. While there he starts a rumpus with the wild things and grows tired of it all and becomes lonely, so he travels back home where his super is waiting for him.

The story to me refers to homes where children feel left out from their parents and want to get away, or even just get more attention from their loved ones. Max causes mischief as a way to get attention but just ends up in trouble and then travels to a world where he is surrounded by wild things just like him that love him for the way he is and even make him king of the wild things.

Mayer Mercer (1968) There’s a Nightmare in My Closet. New York: The Penguin Group

It is one story that we have gone over in class but I like how the over theme fit into my reviews. This story is about a boy that knows there is a monster [nightmare] hiding in his closet, so one night he decides to take care of his nightmare once and for all! When he confronts his monster he sees the monster’s softer side and comforts him and apologizes for shooting him. At the end of the story the little boy welcomes the monster into his bed and even tucks him in.

Mayer Mercer (1988) There’s Something in My Attic. New York: The Penguin Group

This story is very similar to There’s a Nightmare in My Closet, but this story is about a little girl who knows there something in her attic. She goes and tries to tell her parents but they don’t believe her, so she decides to go and catch whatever is up in her attic. She lassos the monster and drags it down from the attic to show her parents, once she turns the lights on in her parents room the monster escapes. So she is sent to bed, a little angry but determined to try to do it again tomorrow night.

I was really intrigued by the illustrations in these two books, because the little boy is afraid of the nightmare; however he never goes to his parents for help. The little girl in a similar story feels like she needs to prove to her parents that there is a monster in the attic. The little is more aware of his parents sleeping and the little girl is willing to wake everyone up and show what she has accomplished, almost like she has to. It really bothered me the gender difference in these two books and as I keep looking into the pictures and the text in general, I really that it is showing the little boy as a more stable level headed individual.

Mayer Mercer (1987) There’s an Alligator Under My Bed. New York: The Penguin Group

After reading the first two stories by this author I wanted to look into more of Mayer’s work so I was able to come across this story. Again, it is about a little boy who knows there is an alligator under his bed, but every time he wants his parents to check it out they can never find anything there. So he takes matters in his own hands and sets up a line of food to the garage to lure the alligator out of his room. The plan works and he is able to sleep in peace, and doesn’t forget to leave a note for his Dad so that he won’t be terrified in the morning.

I didn’t think this story was as ‘gender bias’ as the other two, however it is still a little boy taking matters in his own hands and solving the problem without proving anything, just leaving a cautionary note. It could be that I was so thrown off by There’s Something in My Attic because I felt it was a poor representation of strong little girls, because she seemed more hostile to lasso her monster instead of setting up a trap to lure him out of the attic or even make friends with the monster after being violent. For my next five books I am going to look into more Mercer Mayer books hopefully to see more trends of gender.

Bob Benden - Theme focused book review.

Bob Benden

First Five Picture Book Reviews

For my five picture books, I simply picked five books at random from the bookstore and read through them. I looked for an overall theme in the book and analyzed how well it related to the kids reading the books (or having it read to them) and what sort of issues or ideals the book can bring to the forefront for discussions (with the exception of Thesaurus Rex, which I found to be simply entertaining and educational in a different way). I feel the most important aspect of most kids’ books is to educate kids on social issues, and not necessarily academia.

Franco, Betsy. Zero Leaves Nothing on the Tree. New York, New York: Tricycle, 2009. Print.

                Zero Leaves Nothing on the Tree is the first counting book I’ve ever encountered that dealt with the number zero. Often counting books start at one and proceed from there, however this one simply only discusses the number zero and what it looks like in different scenarios. I liked this book a lot because while it could be interpreted as depressing (just look at the title) I think it has a very uplifting tone to it. In addition, the illustrations are very simple (mostly primary colors) and show children of many different cultures and races. The book deals with the number zero in areas of kids’ everyday lives, and I think it’s a really interesting concept and the book was a very entertaining read.

Steinberg, Laya. Thesaurus Rex. New York: Barefoot Books, 2005. Print.

            Thesaurus Rex is a very educational story about a T. Rex and his journey through a fun day with his mom. The story rhymes well and has quite a bit of alliteration in it as well. The book covers many different synonyms for the main word on each page (i.e. sip, slurp etc.). Thus teaching kids many different ways to say the same thing. This book could be exceptionally useful with younger kids since the language is relatively simple, yet vocabulary can be greatly expanded just by reading a handful of pages. The illustrations are very simple and done in a pastel style pallet. While fun, this book is very educational and would be a great way to teach students new vocabulary or to teach them what synonyms are.

Verroken, Sarah. Feeling Sad. Enchanted Lion Books, 2009. Print.

                Feeling Sad is a generally uplifting story about a duck with a negative view on the world around her and her teddy bear. It is raining throughout the first half of the book until she meets a frog who totally changes her views on life and the rain stops. The pictures are done in black and white, until the duck finally turns her attitude around and she is shown in color. This book helps children learn that sadness is a part of everyone’s life, however it can take just one small thing to start turning your mood around and put everything back into a better lens. I think this book could be very useful to use in a class since many kids are learning emotional expression and finding the vocabulary to convey their emotions while inside the age range of those for whom these books are intended.

Chodos-Irvine, Margaret. Best Best Friends. New York: Harcourt, 2006. Print.

                Best Best Friends is about a pair of friends, Clare and Mary who’s friendship is tested at an early age by an unknown feeling. Mary’s birthday party (and all the attention being on Mary) brings about jealousy in Clare, and she is forced to realize what it is she feels. She eventually gets over it and they become best friends again. I think this book is very helpful for kids to understand what the feeling of jealousy is, as it is a very complex and strange emotion to be feeling. I think this really helps kids understand what it is, and more importantly gives a word or a label to an emotion they’ve probably felt yet couldn’t express nor understand. In addition, it shows kids the importance of friendships and how despite uncomfortable situations, they’re very important to maintain. Most importantly, I feel this book really focuses on jealousy in an interesting and very relatable way to kids.

Janisch, Heinz. "I Have a Little Problem," Said the Bear. North-South, 2009. Print.

                This story is about a bear who has a small problem and a very big problem by the end. He keeps trying to tell different members of his community about them, yet they keep interjecting and trying to solve it without actually listening. I think this books theme of listening and the importance of hearing and truly understanding someone’s problems is a very good one to cover for children of this age. Especially when students of this age have no idea how to go about telling people their problems, it’s important they see how much of a difference simply listening can make, instead of rushing to solve based on an immediate judgment. The artwork in this book I found to be very captivating with the different styles on each page and its creative interpretations of the area around the bear.

A Review of Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi

Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis is a brilliant example of quality literature that takes the form of a graphic novel, a medium that can enrich a student’s vision of his or her world in a new and exciting way.  Persepolis is particularly relevant in our classrooms during this century because it can help students gain a deeper understanding of what it means to live with war, especially as the wars currently being fought abroad have taken such a toll on the global youth.  

            Persepolis is the unique memoir of Marjane Satrapi, an Iranian woman who comes of age during the tumultuous regime changes of the latter part of the 20^th century. Persepolis is a graphic novel done exclusively in black and white, written originally in French and in four volumes.  Persepolis 1 and 2 chronicle Satrapi’s childhood in Iran as the Shah’s regime is forced to an end and an Islamic revolution ensues.  These first two volumes of the story are ideal for ages 13 and 14, and would translate easily into a middle school English curriculum.

            The content of Persepolis makes it particularly valuable to our modern classrooms.  After September 11^th, 2001, children who have come of age within the last decade have had an exposure to a partisan view of the Middle East.  This is where Persepolis begins to separate itself as a truly valuable piece of literature and an asset in the classroom.  Not only does the reader of Persepolis end the story feeling very close to Satrapi, a woman unflaggingly devoted to the spirit of her county, but they can also closely relate to her as a growing woman in a turbulent time.  As a heroine, Marjane challenges us to see the world in a new way, a world in which, “One can forgive but one can never forget” (Satrapi Introduction).  This theme of forgiveness, for our enemies, our loved ones, our country, and ourselves is reoccurring in the graphic novel, and can be a powerful source of discussion in the classroom.  Students may begin to question how a child in Marjane’s position, a child who may have just been a face on the nightly news to them, actually feels to be in a country during a time of war.  The intimate details of Marjane’s life are expressed in a universal way that is often both comedic and heartbreaking. Persepolis is also written with an on going narration by Marjane that accompanies the dialogue bubbles you see in traditional comic strips.  This may help new readers of graphic novels to make the transition into other graphic novels that are exclusively done in dialogue. The visual design of Persepolis is exquisitely unique in its simplicity.  The author never strays from her black and white palate and needs no more colors to create a Tehran, and an Austria, that are all her own.  The visual perspective moves through the graphic novel as Marjane does.  Her experiences begin to look different as she is alone in Austria during her teenage years.  The reader senses her pain as she sticks out among her Austrian peers, as more characters begin to have light eyes and light hair.  The use of color in Persepolis can be a tool for activities in which students can draw how they sometimes feel when they are put into situations in which they feel uncomfortable, as Marjane does in Austria.  There is great power in the honesty of Persepolis and it can become an excellent first exposure to a new media in the graphic novel.   

Works Cited:

Satrapi, Marjane. The Complete Persepolis. 1st ed. New York City: Pantheon Books, 2004.

Chele C.: Multiple Books: Illustration/Comparison Focused Example:

For my five reviews, I intended to do an author study of five of the books written and illustrated by Chris Van Allsburg, one of my favorite illustrators.  But, as I was going through the library, I happened upon the books Into the Forest by Browne and Jungle Gym Jitters by Chuck Richards.  Both of their drawing styles reminded me of Van Allsburg’s books.  All three of these author-illustrators use graphite pencils in their artwork.  And all three illustrators incorporate fantastic elements into their picturebooks. 

For example, Jungle Gym Jitters tells the story of Jerry J. Jingle who has a father who decides to construct a jungle gym.  As the jungle gym grows bigger and bigger, Jerry’s sisters and friends enjoy playing on it, but Jerry is reluctant to join them, since he has a case of the jungle gym jitters.  While the illustrations initially appear to be in grayscale, as I looked closer, I realized that there were subtle hints of other dark colors, accenting the illustrations.  When I realized this, I found that I couldn’t stop looking at the pictures.  I wanted to trace the impossible structures that Jerry’s father had created.  I have no doubt that a child reader would enjoy the structures as well and the images would probably spark their imaginations over how they would climb the jungle gym and  all the games they could play.  This would be a good book to share with a child who is afraid of jungle gyms, heights or that is reluctant to play outside.  It could also be used in a lesson on poetry.

Browne also incorporates color and fairy tale elements in his picturebook, Into the Forest….

Works Cited

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Richards, C.  (2004).  Jungle Gym Jitters.  New York:  Walker & Company.

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SAMPLE REVIEW: Chele C: Book 1: Activity focus example—The Chicken of the Family

Summary: Henrietta’s two older sisters try to convince her that she is actually a chicken and not a person.

Analysis: The Chicken of the Family would be a good optional read aloud for a kindergarten or first grade class. It would especially appeal to children who have older siblings. I would use it as a read aloud, since there is a lot of text on some of the pages and that could be intimidating for a child just learning to read. If I used it as a read aloud with just one or two children, I’d use my finger to underline each word as I read it. I’d pause over simple words like “the,” “she,” “family” and “love,” and ask the child to help me by shouting out the words they recognize.

If the book appealed to the child on an emotional level, I would ask him to tell me about a time his older siblings teased him. And we could talk about how that made him feel and what to do if it happened again.

As a potential activity, for after the reading, I would ask the students what type of animal they would most like to be? I would take a few minutes to brainstorm and coach them on how those animals behave and what they eat. Then I would encourage the children to spend a few minutes pretending to be their animals.

Citation: Amato, M. (2008). The Chicken of the Family. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons.