Storytelling

The Owl and the Grasshopper A wise old owl had just told the sun goodnight in the quiet of the morning as he was drifting off to sleep. When out of nowhere the loudest noise arose almost knocked the sleepy owl from his perch. The very sleepy owl asked the grasshopper in his kindest and politest voice to please wait until the sun was seating to perform his music. But the grasshopper not wanting to be told when to sing, only sang louder. Being the wise old owl, he use flatter on the vain grasshopper. The grasshopper only thinking of himself and his own enjoyment. The owl encourage the grasshopper to sing louder so the flowers in the far valley could hear his lovely voice. As the grasshopper sang out the owl interrupted him saying that his voice sounded off key. The wise old owl offer him a drink to see if that would help his voice. As the grasshopper move closer to the owl to get a drink the owl gobbled him up.

Families, Families, Families! by Suzanne Lang & Max Lang

Book Trailer for Ender's Game By Orson Scott Card

                                                Card, O.,  (1991). Ender's game. New York, NY: Tor.
Images from Public Domain.

Looking for Alaska

                                               
Green, J. (2005). Looking for Alaska: A novel. New York, NY: Dutton Children's Books.

Images from Animoto and Susan Kohler Ray.

Module 15 – Looking for Alaska

Summary

Miles goes to a boarding school where he finds the Colonel and Alaska. The three become great friends.  The friends play pranks and fall in love. The three smoke and drink to deal with their problems. Then tragedy happens and the friends’ lives will never be the same.

Reference of Book

Green, J. (2005). Looking for Alaska: A novel. New York, NY: Dutton Children's Books.

Impression

The characters dealt with adult issues. I wish books for high school students didn’t deal with sex, smoking and drinking. The story started out as count down to a date, the reader has no idea what the day is. Then tragedy happens and the author starts counting days since the event. Story was a good read. I look forward to seeing the movie.

Professional Reviews

I recently reviewed Green’s latest book, and loved it, so when I saw this one at the library, I immediately snatched it up.
Miles moves from Florida to Alabama to attend Culver Creek Preparatory School. There, he meets his roommate “The Colonel” also known as Chip Martin. Miles wasn’t all that popular at his previous school, in fact…no one really knew he existed so when Chip shows an interest in him, he eases into the friendship knowing that it could disintegrate at any moment. After their brief introduction and receiving the nickname of Pudge (even though Miles is skinny as a rail), Miles is introduced to Alaska Young.
Alaska is witty and beautiful and different from the girls back home but she is also taken. Her college boyfriend is mentioned numerous times but is never seen. This mysterious air is what attracts Miles to her, but it’s also what frustrates him most. Especially when she goes missing and he and Chip are left to figure out what happened.
The story is broken up into two parts, before and after with before being the events leading up to her disappearance, and after, the events that followed it. As a reader, I knew right away that something was going to happen, but I had no idea what. With each chapter breaking it down even further (2 months before, 28 days after, etc), which worked to a degree as I certainly felt the tension build, the end result was not what I had hoped for. The ending left a lot of questions unanswered and to be honest with you, this pissed me off. The structure begs for resolution. You cannot lead a reader down the before/after path and not give them something in return!
My reaction to the ending, affected my overall enjoyment of the book itself. Putting the ending aside, I will say that I enjoyed the dialogue between the characters and the development of Miles over time. He is a likable character and his interactions with the other characters were often entertaining if not, enjoyable. Scores of readers have praised the book for its emotional punch so perhaps its magic was lost on me. After all, I am not a young teen by any stretch of the imagination and that is what this book is geared towards even with its numerous mentions of alcohol and sex.

Tina (date). Review: Looking for Alaska [Review of the book Looking for Alaska, by J. Green]. Book Chatter. Retrieve from http://bookchatter.net/2012/06/26/review-looking-for-alaska/

Librarian Use

Display book with other books that are being made into movies.  Encourage patrons to read before movie comes out. Start a lunchtime book club. Read book and discuss.

Something Big Has Been Here by Jack Prelutsky

Something BIG Has Been Here

Summary

This book is a collection of poems written by Jack Prelutsky. The poems are funny and silly. There are tigers, Addle-pated Paddlepuss and many other characters that are part of the hilarious poems.

Reference of Book

Prelutsky, J. (1990). Something big has been here. New York, N.Y: Greenwillow Books.

Impression

The poems are very funny. Some of the words are made up and others would be useful to teach vocabulary. I am not a fan of poetry but the poems were fun to read and could be used to each different reading skills. I like the title index and first line index at the end to help find just the right poem.

Professional Reviews

A wealth of funny new verse from a favorite poet.  Prelutsky’s comic muse is at its best here – whether describing a homemade robot gone berserk (“…it ate the dust pan/and attacked us with the broom, /it pulled apart our pillows, /it disheveled both our beds…”) or a whimsical trip to yesterday (“I’m moving very fast/as I’m putting off the future/for the rather recent past…”), he uses unexpected, vivid words in infectiously rhythmic cadences.  Amusing details abound – in a long list of the many fish a boy is not catching, or in a tall-tale adventure “that’s the reason why my homework/isn’t here with me today.”  Many of the entries end with a nifty surprise or a deft comical twist.  Stevenson, who also illustrated Prelutsky’s The New Kid on the Block (1984), contributes quietly hilarious b&w art.  Another winner from this talented pair. 

Kirkus Reviews (2010). Something Big Has Been Here [Review of the book Something Big has been here, by J. Prelutsky]. Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved from https://www.kirkusreviews.com

Librarian Use

Use to introduce poetry. Have the students learn a poem to share during Poetry Month (April). Use to teach imager to children.

Module 13- Giants Beware

Module 13- Giants Beware

Summary

Claudette is a giant slayer. Claudette and friends set off on an adventure to find a giant and slay before their parents stop them.

Reference of Book

Aguirre, J., & Rosado, R. (2012). Giants beware! New York: First Second.

Impression

Great story! It has bullies and heroes. The characters grew and changed in the story.  Claudette did not let the bullies bother her or her friends. She kept her focus and knew what she wanted to do. Once she got found the giant, he was not what was said about him. I did not like reading the graphic novel format.  

Professional Reviews

Between “The Hunger Games” and Pixar’s forthcoming “Brave,” which will feature the animation studio’s first female protagonist, fierce and feisty heroines are all the rage.

In “Giants Beware!,” written by Jorge Aguirre and illustrated by Rafael Rosado, the heroine in question is Claudette, a khaki-robed, redheaded, self-proclaimed “giant slayer.” Claudette may be undersize, hotheaded and prone to violence and lock-picking, but she’s also loyal, brave and ambitious.

Claudette has two sidekicks: Marie, an aspiring princess, and Gaston, Claudette’s fearful little brother, whom she lightly cons (her fingers are crossed) into joining her on a mission to kill the local baby-feet-eating giant by promising princesshood to one and sword-making lessons to the other.

The story, with its riffs on fairy tales and quest narratives, offers just the right balance of familiarity and originality, with plenty of humorous asides. Valiant, a terrorizing pug, treats the marquis’s castle like a toilet. Claudette suspends a town bully by his underwear, and there is an abundance of slapstick. Stinky feet figure in the story too. But this is also the kind of story in which even aspiring princesses who obsess over hem length are outraged by the improper use of prepositions.

Paul, P. (2012). Girl Gets the Giant [Review of the book Giants Beware!, by J. Aguirre]. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com

Librarian Use

This book could be used to introduce children to graphic novels. Use in a display of books that show girls as brave and heroic.

Module 12- Martin's Big Words

Module 12 – Martin’s Big Words

Summary

A picture book biography of Martin Luther King Jr. that introduce children to King’s legacy of the changes that he help make to America. Martin’s Big Words tells the story about his dream to change the world forever.

Reference of Book

Rappaport, D., & Collier, B. (2001). Martin's big words: The life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. New York, NY: Hyperion Books for Children.

Impression

The picture book was very well illustrated. It is a good book to talk about segregation and what his words can do. I liked how it was his words change the country and he did not use violent. Martin fought for all people and showed a country how to use words.

Professional Reviews

The Barnes & Noble Review
Acclaimed author Doreen Rappaport and Coretta Scott King Award winner Bryan Collier, who previously collaborated on Freedom River, have pooled their talents yet again in a stunning tribute to civil rights activist Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. An extraordinary picture-book biography, Martin's Big Words consists of Rappaport's own words interwoven with quotes from Dr. King...all powerfully brought to life by Collier's striking, glorious art.

Rappaport's spare, gripping text and Collier's distinctive collage-and-watercolor illustrations depict King's life journey with reverence and dignity -- beginning with his childhood experience of seeing "White Only" signs throughout his hometown, presenting his efforts as a civil rights crusader, and ending abruptly with his assassination. The front cover of the book immediately conveys King's power and spiritual strength, consisting entirely of a lifelike portrait of him -- the title and the author's and illustrator's names are relegated to the back cover. As Collier says in his illustrator's note, he "tried to push [the imagery] to an emotional level that allows the reader to bring his or her own experience to it, without actually losing the intensity or the intention of the story." His technique is utterly effective.

By using simple, direct language -- much of it King's -- the text offers young readers an accessible yet profound introduction to King's legacy. It explains that as a child, he listened to his minister father's "big words" and vowed to inspire others with such words when he grew up. The book's final sentence: "His big words are alive for us today," testifies to King's success -- and to the timeless importance of this great leader's ideals. As further inspiration for interested readers, Martin's Big Words includes a list of significant dates as well as a bibliography of resources for them to explore.

Levine, J., (2002). Martin’s Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. [Review of the book Martin’s Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., by D. Rappaport]. Goodreads, Retrieved from http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/160943.Martin_s_Big_Words

Librarian Use

Story time in January to introduce Black History month and why we celebrate Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday day.