Duck at the Door - Blog 13

Duck at the Door by Jackie Urbanovic is about a duck named Max who knocks on a door in the middle of a cold winter night. Irene, the owner of the house, welcomes Max into her home and allows him to spend winter there with her and the rest of her pets. At first Max has trouble adapting to his new living conditions, but eventually learns how to cook, answer the phone, read, and work the remote control. The other animals in the house become irritated with Max because he begins to act as if he is the only animal in the house. As summer sets in, the animals are ready for Max to return to his flock; however, they soon realize they all miss Max. Winter rolls around, and once again Max knocks on Irene’s front door, to all the animals delight, but this time he brings his flock to experience winter.

This book falls into the Fantasy genre because there is no way a lady could have a duck live at her house and control the TV while making its own food. The illustrations are color pencil with watercolor. They are super cute. It's cute how the illustrator draws you in by the little details. 

Classroom Activities:

I would have the kids write a story about if they had an animal come to their house what would it be.

Draw a picture of the pet you have and tell what it does.

Questions for the students:

Where do ducks go in the winter time?

Can ducks really cook?

I though this book was super cute. It was a quick read and I really enjoyed it.

Urbanovic, J.(2007). Duck at the Door. New York, NY: Harper Collins

Mel-Mel Loves The Morning - Blog 12

Mei-Mei Loves the Morning is a beautiful multicultural children's book about a young Chinese girl and her Grandfather and how they spend their days together.

The book opens as Mei-Mei awakens in the morning to the sounds of her grandfather and their pet songbird, Bai-Ling.  From there – and after breakfast - the author takes the reader on the journey that is Mei-Mei’s day spent with her grandfather.  They ride on a bicycle through the town to the park.  On the way, there is a great deal of detailed explanation of the sights and sounds of the hustle and bustle of the morning in the city.  Once at the park, Mei-Mei and her grandfather join their friends for tai-chi and tea. Then again, on their way home, Mei-Mei and her grandfather are treated to the goings-on of the busy city in which they live.  The story is not just about how Mei-Mei loves the morning, it is about how she loves spending time with her grandfather just as he loves spending time with her.

This book is a fantastic multicultural work that provides ample opportunities for young readers to see what the very different life and culture is like in a busy Chinese city.  Mei-Mei is not unlike her American peers, but her experiences are far different that those of the children likely to read and learn from this book. The illustrations were watercolor and very bright. The facial expression were great along with all the little detail!

Classroom Activities:

Create a schedule of how the students spend their Saturdays or Sundays when they are not in school.

Practice some traditional Chinese tai-chi exercises such as the tiger-taming, bird-grabbing and ball-carrying from the book.

Questions for the Students:

What sort of things do you do when you spend time with your grandparents?

What kinds of special foods do you eat with your family?

I thought this book was cute and brought back lots of meomores of my Grandfather and I. I loved him a lot and grew up visiting with him after shchool and over the summers. 

Tsubakiyama, M. (1999). Mel-Mel Loves The Morning. United States of America: Albert Whiteman & Company. 

 

Casey At The Bat - Blog 11

A number of poets are known for just one poem, but seldom is that one poem
as famous as Casey at the Bat by Ernest Lawrence Thayer. 

 Casey at the Bat is about A baseball team from the fictional town of Mudville 

(implied to be the home team) is losing by two runs with two outs in their last inning. 

Both the team and its 5,000 attended fans believe they can win if only they could 
somehow get "Mighty Casey" (Mudville's star player) up to bat. However, 
Casey was scheduled to be the fifth batter of the inning, and the first 
two batters (Cooney and Barrows) did not reach base. The next two 
batters (Flynn and Jimmy Blake) were perceived to be weak hitters with 
little chance of reaching base to allow Casey at the bat. 

Surprisingly, Flynn hits a single, and Blake follows with a double 
(Flynn reaching third on the play). Both runners were now in scoring 
position and Casey represented the potential winning run. Casey is so 
sure of his abilities that he does not swing at the first two pitches, 
both strikes. On the last pitch, the overconfident Casey strikes out, ending 

the game and sending the crowd home unhappy.

This book would fall into the Poetry genre as the story has condensed language, expression of imaginative thoughts and perceptions, often containing rhythm and other devices of sound, imagery, figurative language. "But there is no joy in Mudville - mighty Casey has struck out." (Thayer, 1985) The illustrations are very cool. They appear to be sketched drawings with chalk smeared to show movement. Very eye catching. 

Classroom Activities:

I would have the kids play baseball trivia and the one who wins gets a Babe Ruth candy bar.

Have them write a poem with any kind of sports team. 

Questions for the students:

Where did Casey live?

What happened at the end of the game?

I really enjoyed this as I have only read the story. I grew up around baseball and know what it's like to be the all "mighty" and fail at the end. This book really shows kids that is all a game and life still goes on.  

Galda, L. Cullinan,  B. E., & Sipe, L.R. (2010). Literature and the Child (7th ed.) Belmont, CA: Wadsworths, Inc.

Thayer, E. (1985). Casey At The Bat. United States of America: Raintree Inc.

Who Was Queen Elizabeth? Blog - 10

Who Was Queen Elizabeth? by June Eding  was a great biography about Queen Elizabeth. The life of Queen Elizabeth was dramatic and dangerous: cast out of her father's court at the age of three and imprisoned at nineteen, Elizabeth was crowned queen in 1558, when she was only twenty-five. A tough, intelligent woman who spoke five languages, Elizabeth ruled for over forty years and led England through one of its most prosperous periods in history. She was never married.

This book is a biography of Queen Elizabeth by telling her life from the moment she was born and it was absolutely great. The illustrations were drawn with black pen that look pretty close to maps and portraits.

Classroom Activities:

I would have the kids make a timeline of Queen Elizabeth's life.

Have a discussion about the royal and noble ranks.

Questions for the Students: 

How did Queen Elizabeth become a Queen?

Was she every married and why not?

What deadly disease came in 1663?

I really enjoyed this book. I actually checked out 3 more of its kind after reading Who Was Queen Elizabeth? Even though it's a children's book, as an adult I really learned a lot. I noticed a lot of repetition which is good for kids and made me chuckle.

Eding, J. (2008). Who Was Queen Elizabeth?. New York, NY: Grosser & Dunlap Inc. 

George's Marvelous Medicine - Blog 9

Roald Dahl’s classic children's book, George’s Marvelous Medicine, is a great, entertaining read for children and a perfect example of a Science Fiction work of children's’ literature.

George’s parents leave him at home with his mean grandmother who is not nice to George at all but to whom George must remember to give her medicine.  Instead of giving her the right medicine, though, George concocts an awful potion from a wide array of household products that he finds.  For example, a few of the products George uses are shaving soap, hair remover, laundry detergent, flea powder, shoe polish, pepper, horseradish, animal pills, curry powder, deodorant and brown paint.

When George gives his “medicine” to his grandmother, she grows larger than the house.  George also gives the medicine to chickens and other farm animals who also grow exceptionally larger.  George’s father thinks the medicine is a great idea and that the larger animals will produce more food and could even end world hunger.  The only problem is that George cannot remember the exact recipe.  So, they try a number of variations which fail and result in various chicken abnormalities (they were all tried on chickens).  Then, when George’s grandmother grabs a cup of one of the experimental versions of the “medicine” she disappears into nothing, which they all agree is better for them in the long run.

This book fits the science fiction genre because there is no way you can make a concoction that makes you grow exceptionally larger. I'm sure their are people who wish they could. The illustrations in George's Marvelous Medicine are all pencil sketchings that are really funny. Gives much to the imagination.

Classroom Activities:

Have the students each make a recipe for a fantasy “medicine” using household ingredients, then make a story describing what their “medicine” would do.

Have the students draw pictures of chickens with the various abnormalities caused by the different variations on George’s potions.

Questions for the Students:

Describe a situation when an older person or family member was mean to them and how they reacted and dealt with the situation.

What are some things that you have cooked at home with your parents or grandparents?  How did they turn out?

Was the story realistic?  Why or why not?

George’s Marvelous Medicine is a great book.  It is highly entertaining and the illustrations by Quentin Blake compliment the fantastical story perfectly.  This is one of those books that, though written for children, is just as enjoyable for adults.

Dahl, R. (1981) George's Marvelous Medicine. New York, NY: Scholastic Inc.

Henry's Freedom Box - Bog 8

A fantastic example of a multicultural work of children's literature is Henry’s Freedom Box: A True Story from the Underground Railroad.  This beautifully illustrated and heartwarming story is one that children will love to read and that can gently teach them about the difficult concept of slavery in the United States.

Henry is a little boy who doesn’t even know his birthday because nobody keeps track of slaves birthdays.  He lives a tough life and when his first master dies, he is torn-away from his mother and given to the master’s son who puts him to work in his tobacco factory.  Henry’s new master is mean and Henry is unhappy until he meets and falls in love with a woman named Nancy, also a slave.  Henry and Nancy are married and start a family.  Then, when Nancy and Henry’s children are sold by their master, Henry’s life again turns to pain and sorrow.  He decides he can no longer take it and, with the help of a sympathetic friend, packages himself in a crate – which will be mailed to Pennsylvania where Henry can be free.  Henry endures a great deal while trapped and confined in the crate as it is shipped on steamboat all the way North.  Finally, Henry arrived in Philadelphia on March 30, 1849, which became what he had never had before, his birthday.

This book is an example of a multicultural work because it features a story about a part of American history and culture that is different from that of many of us, myself included.  Henry’s story is similar to many slaves in that it teaches children about life in the South before slaves (and many African Americans in general) were freed.

Classroom Activities:

The students can make their own “freedom boxes” – just like the crate in Henry’s story – and place inside them something important to them which can be mailed from school to their house.

We can build a lifesize “freedom box” for the children to climb inside of so that they can see – for just a few minutes – what it would have been like for Henry to be trapped in his crate for hours and hours.

Questions for Students:

What do you think it would be like to be taken-away from your family?  What do you think Henry felt when, after he was taken from his mother, he saw his children taken-away from him?

What is a difficult trip that you have made and why?

Henry’s story is truly inspiring.  This book is easy to read and has absolutely beautiful, colorful illustrations.  I enjoyed the story and the incredibly tough experiences Henry “Box” Brown had to face as well as the uplifting ending which showed that despite all those difficulties, Henry could be “born again” into a free life which he truly deserved.

Levine, E. (2007). Henry's Freedom Box. New York, NY:Johnson Co.

Abe Lincoln at Last! - Blog 7

Abe Lincoln at Last is the 47^th book in the Magic Tree House series and it is a perfect example of historical fiction.  Just as in all of the Magic Tree House books, the main characters, Jack and Annie, set out on an adventure through their magical tree house.  This time their chore is to locate an historical artifact, a feather from a great hero.

When Jack and Annie are first transported back in time, they meet two boys (who turn out to be President Lincoln’s sons), Tad and Will who tell them that they can introduce them to the President.  The children are unsuccessful, however, because of Mr. Lincoln’s extremely busy schedule.  Not able to meet with the President, Jack and Annie travel further back in time where they meet a boy named Sam who also tells them he can introduce them to Lincoln.  When Sam is injured by a kick to his head from a horse, Jack and Annie help him with his chores.  Sam thanks Jake and Annie by giving them a quill (feather) that he uses for his schoolwork.  When Jack and Annie travel forward in time again, back to the White House, President Lincoln (who was really Sam as a child) recognizes the quill and Jack and Annie who helped him.  Jack uses the quill to write a message to the President and their quest is fulfilled.

Abe Lincoln at Last is historical fiction because it is an adventure for Jack and Annie which is a fictional story but it is set in a true historical era, the lifetime of Abraham Lincoln and it provides the fictional characters with the opportunity to interact with the real, historical people and events.  The book is great for teaching children what life was like for Abraham Lincoln as a child and for President Lincoln when he led our country from the White House.  The book is divided into chapters and contains frequent, black and white illustrations of the characters and the scenes in the story.

Classroom Activities:

Create a historical “treasure hunt” for the children where they are given clues about historical figures and events which lead them to find a surprise reward.

Ask the children to write a brief work of historical fiction, showing their ability to incorporate their own ideas, characters and scenarios with true, historical facts.

Ask the students to describe a place in the past that they would like to go or a historical figure they would like to meet and why.

Questions:

What was it like for Abraham Lincoln as a child?

What kind of ways does being President affect Abraham Lincoln’s ability to interact with regular visitors and his children?

I really liked the surprise elements of the book like Will and Tad being President Lincoln’s children and Sam being the younger version of Abraham Lincoln.  I enjoyed how the author stayed true to Jack and Annie’s nievity about traveling back to that era by not letting them know the children with whom they were interacting.  I really thought that added a cool element to the puzzle within the story.

Osborne, M. (2011) Abe Lincoln at Last!.New York, NY: Random House , Inc.

Galda, L. Cullinan,  B. E., & Sipe, L.R. (2010). Literature and the Child (7th ed.) Belmont, CA: Wadsworths, Inc.