Book Talks

Traditional Literature

Bagels from Benny - Aubrey Davis
Reading level - 3.0; Interest level - K-5
from Angela Burgess

It could always be worse - Margot Zemach
Reading level - 4.9; Interest level - 2nd-4th
from Nicole Guifarro

Fantasy

Stellaluna - Janelle Cannon
Reading level - 4.9; Interest level - pre K - 5th
from Kammie Ruth

Runaway Ralph - Beverly Cleary
Reading level - 4.1; Interest level - 3rd-5th
from Jessica Williams

Oh my, Baby Bear! - Audrey Wood
Reading level - 4.5; Interest level - K-2nd
from Roxi Harp

Multicultural

My diary from here to there - Amada Irma Perez
Reading level - 4.0; Interest level - K-5th
from Frances Phan

First day in grapes - L. King Perez
Reading level - 3.2; Interest level - 2nd-6th
from Keri Bass

Dona Flor - Pat Mora
Reading level - 3.6; Interest level - K-2nd
from Angie Selig

Realistic fiction

Love, Ruby Lavender - Deborah Wiles
Reading level - 4.2; Interest level - 3rd-5th
from Laura Cochrane

Junie B., First Grader: Aloha-ha-ha! - Barbara Park
Reading level - 1.9; Interest level - K-2nd
from Cindy Brown

Biography

Helen Keller: Her life in pictures - George Sullivan
Reading level - 5.8; Interest level - 2nd-5th
from Melinda McLaughlin

Informational

Rain and shine: A first look at seasons - Sara Lynn and Dianne James
Reading level - 3.8; Interest level - K-6th
from Kristy Hollar

The Bermuda Triangle - Aaron Rudolph
Reading level - 5.0; Interest level - 5th-8th
from Angie Blair

The Invisible Princess

Information for students
Author: Faith Ringgold Title: The Invisible Princess
Book Genre: Multicultural/African American Publisher: Dragonfly Books

Summary: Mama and Papa Love wanted to have a baby, but did not want the child to be raised as a slave. They had a baby girl and a The Prince of the Night whisked her away. Later on in the story The Invisible Princess takes everyone from the cotton fields, including the slave master’s daughter, to the Invisible Village of Peace, Hope and Love.




Personal rating: ****

Pages: 32

Rationale: I felt like this was a good story teaching peace, hope and love. As with all of Faith Ringgold’s books, the illustrations are wonderful.

Information for teachers
Reading level: 4.2 Interest level: Ages 2nd -4th grade

Thematic Areas: kindness, patience, love, cruelty, greediness, evil

Content Areas: language arts, social studies, music, art, movement

Potential Problems or Difficulties: At times I felt like this story was a little slow.

Possible use in classroom:
· Talk to the students about the mood of the story. Have them draw pictures for the story that relays that mood.
· Could be used to educate children on slavery and how wrong it was
· Could be used to talk about the unconditional love that Mama and Papa love had for their newborn baby girl
· Could bring in music that pertains to this era in our history, let the children listen to the words and then dance to it

Bud, Not Buddy

BOOK ENTRY FORMAT FOR GENRE PROJECT


Information for students
Author: Christopher Paul Curtis Title: Bud, Not Buddy
Book Genre: Multicultural Publishing Info: Dell Yearling, 243

Summary: Bud Caldwell, a ten-year old orphan, runs away from his abusive foster home to search for his father. With a cardboard suitcase of his treasure, Bud attempts to make the journey from Flint, Michigan to Grand Rapids to find a man he is convinced is his father, the legendary Herman E. Calloway. Bud is helped by several people along the way and eventually locates Herman E. Calloway, who denies that Bud is his son. However, it is revealed by the contents in Bud’s suitcase that Herman is a relative of Bud’s, but not his father.


Personal rating: ****

Rationale: well written plot, delightful characters, simplistic language, smooth flow, humorous, helps children understand people with other backgrounds

Information for teachers
Reading level: 5.2 Interest level: 5th-7th

Thematic Areas: family, abandonment, abuse, determination, survival, relationship, hope, racism

Content Areas: history, social studies, music, philosophy, science, art

Potential Problems or Difficulties: Some regional language and dialect may be confusing for some. Also, there are scenes and references to violence and abuse. Two characters, who are children, Bud and Deza Malone, kiss. It also depicts a harsh view of life for children on the streets and families living in poverty.

Possible use in classroom: have students create rules for their lives and compare them to Bud’s; discuss what a “Hooverville” is have students create a plan for helping people in their community; host a debate on the issue of labor unions and railroad workers; have students invent a band, create a name for the band, identify the members and the instruments they play, and create a poster for the band; swap rocks with students in other schools; compare the lives of characters in different books set in the Depression era; have students plan, write, and record on video a commercial advertising the book; have students construct an illustrated timeline that shows the development of communication from the invention of the telegraph to today's new technologies; have students to find out who the major jazz artists were during the Great Depression

Student Information

Author: Benjamin Alire Saenz Title: Sammy and Juliana in Hollywood
Genere: Multicultural Publishing Info: Cinco Puntos pp. 291

Summary: Sammy Santos is a young boy just like any other 17 year old boy except he lives in Hollywood. It’s not Hollywood California but a small town in southern New Mexico. He faces many different situations the war in Vietnam, dress codes, racism, death, and violence. Before the summer of his senior year he falls in love with Juliana. In one year he learns the essence of growing up.

Rating: ****

Rationale: Well written, serious, tearful and suspenseful plot, complex and believable adolescent characters and problems.


Teacher Information

Reading Level: 2.8 Interest Level: 5th-12th

Thematic Areas: friendship; family; belonging; survival; racism; death; courage; values; hatred; identity

Content Areas: Morales; social studies; history; psychology; segregation; culture

Potential Problems or Difficulties: There is a lot inappropriate language, swearing continually throughout book in Spanish and English and there are a couple of scenes of explicit sexual overtones.

Possible use in the classroom: Have the student’s brainstorm some ideas on how it would feel to have someone die that they really loved, have them write those ideas down. Compare and contrast those ideas to how Sammy felt when someone he loved died. Divide the students into groups and have the students act out a scene from the book that they liked the best. After they acted out the scene they must tell why they picked that particular scene. Have a speaker come and talk to the class about violence and how to do with death. This book could introduce a lesson on Vietnam War and how people reacted to the war.


Angie Blair

Number The Stars

Student Information

Author: Lois Lowry Title: Number The Stars
Genre: Multicultural Publishing Info: Yearling pp. 137

Summary: Based on some actual events. A young girl Annemarie of age 10 and her best friend are growing up in a city called Copenhagen in Denmark. The German Nazis have taken over Denmark and German soldiers march the city. The unthinkable happens her best friend Ellen and her family are going to be “relocated” by the Germans. For her safety Ellen moves in with Annemarie’s family and pretends to be apart of the family. Will their families have enough courage to survive and protect each other? Then the unthinkable happens Annemarie is on a secret mission, will she have the strength and courage to save her best friends life.

Rating: ****

Rationale: Well written, suspenseful plot, courageous and realistic characters, and believable problems that a young adult would encounter.

Teacher Information

Reading Level: 4.9 Interest Level: 4th-6th

Thematic Areas: Friendship; family; belonging; survival; courage; values; life vs. death situations

Content Areas: History; social studies; values; psychology; religion; culture

Potential Problems or Difficulties: Harsh view of life for the Danish Jews and the circumstances they endured.

Possible use in the classroom: Before reading the book have students look at the cover of the book and predict what they think will happen in the story. Have the students color and label a map locating Denmark, Copenhagen, Germany, and Sweden. Discuss with students information about World War II and the role of Hitler and the Nazis. Students will create a “Recipe for Peace”, what does it take to make peace, have students brainstorm some ideas and create a sign or poster using a recipe format. In the story there was symbols that represented different people (The Star of David, the swastika). Have the students think about their most important characteristics and create a symbol to represent it. Compare and contrast the different cultures of Germany, Jews, Danish, and Americans.

The Hundred Penny Box

Author: Sharon Bell Mathis Title: The Hundred Penny Box
Book Genre: Multicultural Publishing Info: Puffin Books, 47 pp.

Summary: Aunt Dew, who is 100 years old, comes to live with her nephew’s families house. Michael, a young boy, lives spending time with great, great, grand Aunt Dew. Aunt Dew keeps an old large scratched wooden box with 100 pennies wrapped in silk cloth. Every penny she has in her box represents a special moment in each year that she has lived. Michael’s mom, Ruth, is very impatient and seems to get rid of a lot of Aunt Dew’s possessions, and her next target is the box. Michael does all that he can to protect her box because he knows how much it means to her and him as well. This book was awarded a Newberry Honor Book Award.

Personal Rating: ****

Rationale: Good illustration, realistic content, no stereotypes, great plot

Reading Level: 3.9 Interest Level: K-3rd

Thematic Areas: Life experiences, family, acceptance, social structures, extended family, imagination

Content Areas: Math, Psychology, Sociology, Social Studies

Possible Problems or Difficulties: Students may have a hard time understanding the ending. For a Kindergarten student, I believe there is too much text and not enough illustration.

Possible uses in the classroom: Encourage students to search for a penny with the years on it from the time they were born until now. Have them design a box of their own to keep the pennies in. Have them write short journal entries to include with the pennies in the box. Allow the students to share their significant events if they care to.
Refer to some of the significant events Aunt Dew had. Study the time period that she mentioned, Great Depression, Depression. After studying these time periods have them get into Aunt Dew’s point of view and have them journal about things they see, people they meet, and what they dream of for the future.

Freedom Summer

Author: Deborah Wiles

Title: Freedom Summer

Book Genre: Multicultural

Publishing Info: Atheneum, 27 pp

Summary: This is a very touching story about a Caucasian boy and an African American (John Henry Waddell) boy who are best friends. John Henry’s mom, Annie May, works for the Caucasian boy’s family and rides the bus to his house every morning at 8 – John Henry comes with her! Both boys help Annie May do her work around the house by shelling butter beans and sweeping the front porch. They also swim in Fiddler’s Creek because John Henry can not swim in the town pool. At dinner the next night, the Caucasian boy’s mother makes an announcement that the town pool is now open to “everybody under the sun, no matter what color.” The next day, when the boys go to swim in the pool, they discover that the pool is being filled with asphalt. Will Rogers, John Henry’s older brother, tells them to head home. The boys decide that now John Henry can go into Mr. Mason’s store with the Caucasian boy and get his own popsicle, so they walk in together.

Personal rating: ****

Rationale: This book addresses some very long-lived cultural issues – racism. This book was obviously written back in the day where segregation was still very active. The illustrations in the book are very accurate. They actually look like paintings. I believe that it is quite interesting that the Caucasian boy in the book has no name, yet the African Americans do. That is a little ironic considering the racism lesson that the book is based on.

Reading level: 2.4

Interest level: K-6th

Thematic Areas: culture; friendship; family

Content Areas: history; language; science

Potential Problems or Difficulties: No potential problems or difficulties

Possible use in classroom: Class discussion could be about the differences in John Henry and the Caucasian child. A history lesson could be brought in by talking about the civil war and old times when segregation was active. Children could write a story and draw a picture illustrating what kind of games they like to play in the pool/creek/lake.

The Hatseller and the Monkeys

Author: Diakite, Baba Wague Title: The Hatseller and the Monkeys
Book Genre: Multicultural Publishing Info: Scholastic Press, 32 pp.

Summary: This book is about an African man who makes his living selling hats. He loves selling hats and believes that this is a wonderful business. This story relates a specific time that BaMusa was going to a nearby festival to sell his hats. On his journey he encounters some silly monkeys and learns a valuable lesson from them.

Personal rating: Great****

Rationale: This book was well written with an interesting plot. The illustrations in the book are very beautiful and match what is happening in the text well. I like the fact that BaMusa in able to gain some good knowledge out of what could be considered an annoying incident.

Reading level: 4.1 Interest level: K-3rd

Thematic Areas: Perseverance

Content Areas: History, Social Studies, Natural Resources, Language Arts, Trade and Money, Human resources

Potential Problems or Difficulties: Some students may not be familiar with the occupation of hat selling so the teacher could have a mini lesson relating to this.

Possible use in classroom:

*This book could be used in conjunction with a lesson on the different jobs that African people do to make a living.
*The teacher could hat a weaver come in and show the children how to weave a simple hat out of reeds. Then students could make simple hats for an Art project.
*The teacher could have students name occupations that they are familiar with and then chart the responsibilities of each job and compare similarities and differences.
*Students could make a book filled with different occupations (written descriptions and illustrations) and the requirements of the individual who is employed to do that job.
*For a connection to Math students could have a “market” set up in class with African related items for sale that they could “purchase” with play money. The teacher could have a student assigned to make change, and this job could be rotated every few minutes so everyone could have a turn to buy and sell.

I Love Saturdays y domingos

Author: Ada, Alma Flor
Title: I Love Saturdays y domingos
Book Genre: Multicultural
Publishing Info: Aladdin Paperbacks,
Pages: 28

Summary: This book gives students a glimpse into Hispanic culture, while giving the accounts of a girl who has both Caucasian and Hispanic family members. Throughout the book, the day she spends with her American grandparents, Saturdays, is described entirely in English, while Sundays are spent with her Hispanic grandparents, and are described using Spanish phrases. The plot of this book would be ideal for welcoming Hispanic students, and their culture, to the classroom. The story seems to contrast the cultural differences between her multicultural families. It also demonstrates the characteristic common to both families, which is love. The families and cultures come together for her birthday as she recognizes the value of having the best of both “cultural” worlds. This book is an effective way to show student the diversity of families and cultures, fluent, in society today. I feel that students of any ethnicity could relate well to this book.

Personal rating: ****

Rationale: Well-written; detailed plot; great introduction to Hispanic culture and language; characters and situations in which many students could relate; realistic illustrations

Reading level: 3.2 Interest level: K-6th

Thematic Areas: Identity; family; diversity of cultures; belonging; appreciation for self and heritage

Content Areas: Spanish language; cultural and social awareness

Potential Problems or Difficulties: Prevalence of Spanish language may cause students to encounter reading or comprehension difficulty, especially if students are unfamiliar with these words

Possible use in classroom: Use in a multicultural thematic unit; use in discussions or lessons about Hispanic culture or history; use as a tool to help make students more aware of the cultural diversity around them; use to reinforce Spanish language and reading skills previously taught; have students complete research, in groups, concerning various Hispanic customs or foods

The Gifts of Wali Dad

Author: Aaron Shepard                        Title: The Gifts of Wali Dad

Book Genre: Multicultural                  Publishing Info: Atheneum Books for  Young Readers 1995 (27 pgs)

Influence according to the Author: “The dominant influences of this story are Islamic and Zoroastrian rather than Hindu.  This suggests a likely origin in India’s Northwest.  Since Pakistan has not split off from that corner, I have thought it best to attribute the tale to both countries.”

Summary:  This is a tale of India and Pakistan.  There is a man, Wali Dad, who is a grass-cutter.   He gets thirty paisa each day: ten for his food, ten for other needs and he saved ten.  Wali Dad saves more money than he needs, so he buys a gold bracelet and ask a merchant to deliver it to the noblest woman he knows, which happens to be the queen of Khaistan.  The queen gives a gift back, but Wali Dad does not have a need for what she gives, so he turns around and has it delivered  to the noblest man, the king of Nekabad.  The king returns the favor with a greater gift and the giving continues and the gifts become more and more extravagant.  There arises a time where the queen and the king and the best gift comes out of the entire event and Wali Dad finds contentment again.

Personal rating: ****

Rationale: This tale was very entertaining and had lessons of what good character looks like.  It expressed the true meaning of giving without expecting anything in return.  The illustrations were detailed and added to the plot.  This story is good for any age to enjoy.

Reading level: 4                                                            Interest level: K-6

Thematic Areas: Giving without expecting anything in return, friendship, trust, sensibility

Content Areas:  History, geography, language

Potential Problems: The lack of knowledge of the culture of India and Pakistan, some words used.

Possible use in classroom: The class could be separated into two group; one group could research the culture of India, while the other group researches Pakistan.  They could then collaborate the information and what it would mean for the King of one palace to marry a Queen of another palace.  The class could look up the words that they did not understand or know much about: Wali Dad, paisa, merchant, marketplace, peri, and turban.  The students could use technology, by looking up pictures and illustrations to demonstrate the culture of Pakistan and India-present-day and in the past.