Genre 6 Fiction, Fantasy & YA

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Lord, Cynthia. 2006. RULES. Book design by Kristina Albertson. New York,N.Y.: Scholastic Press. ISBN:0-439-44382-2.

PLOT
Twelve-year old Catherine has no tolerance for her younger brother David's disabilities. She creates rules for his set of behaviors. It's her friendship with Jason, a paraplegic that has her re-evaluating those rules and herself.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Catherine's character creates the plot for each chapter exposing her insecurities through rule making behavior for her brother. Common for girl teens of this age, who don't want to appear "dorkish", for self preservation from embarrassment she must contain and control the problem, her brother.

Each chapter begins with a "rule". The author weaves the story using the rules to further the plot and setting which is set in present time, the mall, occupational therapy, birthday parties, neighbor's yards and in the house. Places all common to her brother but still believable areas for the reader to experience situations that would cause a scene. I can identify in part with Catherine because I grew up with many foster children, one being deaf. He "mooed" loudly wherever we went and it caused people to look and stare. I wanted to hide. However, unlike Catherine I was not in charge of making the rules.


Using first person in natural conversations with her parents and friends, the dialogue is believable. The words and defiant tones are representative of teenagers today. Even Jason, Catherines' paraplegic friend who she has made "speaking" cards for taps out to her in response to not wanting to go to Speech Therapy,"Whatever. Speech."(Lord, 2006 pg. 148). Signifying the voice, the style and theme of growing into adulthood regardless of handicap, tweens respond equally,"Whatever". The story is not biased or overloaded with details but gives enough to the reader to understand the situation and feel with the characters, even with David. Catherine looks at her brother and thinks, "How can his outside look so normal and his inside be so broken?"(Lord, 2006. pg. 110). Meanwhile, Jason's outside appears broken but his inside speaks clarity and helps Catherine change her rules accepting herself and the world around her.

The gender quotient appears equal. Catherine has her friend Kristi and Melissa. Jason and David have disabilities while another character Ryan, teases David. Through these characters conversational language,Catherine is forced to learn about herself, put away her feelings of resentment, rejection and accepts her brother, "like sharing something small and special, just my brother and me"(Lord, 2006 pg. 200).

The point of view, material and content is appropriate for this age of reader as well as for adults. One rule made,"If you need to borrow words, Arnold Lobel wrote some good ones"(Lord, 2006 pg. 198), again relates to the reader who may be familar with his works helping to establish plot, setting and mood of the chapter.


REVIEWS/AWARDS

Kirkus Review
Catherine is an appealing and believable character, acutely self-conscious and torn between her love for her brother and her resentment of his special needs. Middle-grade readers will recognize her longing for acceptance and be intrigued by this exploration of dealing with differences.

School Library Journal
Catherine is an endearing narrator who tells her story with both humor and heartbreak. . . this sensitive story is about being different, feeling different, and finding acceptance. A lovely, warm read, and a great discussion starter.

Buckeye Children's Book Award (Ohio)
Dorothy Canfield Fisher Award (Vermont)
Great Lakes Great Books Award (Michigan)
Great Stone Face Award (New Hampshire)
Kentucky Bluegrass Award
Kid's Choice Awards Nominee
KidPost Book of the Week
Maine Student Book Award
Mitten Award (Michigan Library Association)
Newbery Honor Medal
Schneider Family Book Award
Washington Post Notable Children's Book in the Language Arts (NCTE)


CONNECTIONS
Theme: Social Skills

School Library:
Have students each write one new rule on a Post-It note. Write the classroom rules on the board. Have students post their note to the matching rule. If the rule is not similar, create a section for "Other Rules". Next, post Catherine's Rules for David and compare to class rules or "Other". How realistic are the "rules"? What are some common sense, good manners, or social skills that we use as Young Adults?


Public Library:
Next to the Storytime room, have colored paper for children to write "rules" posting onto the wall. Read the selected books for younger children or have books displayed at front desk.
Allen, Kathryn, Madeline. 2003. THE LITTLE PIGGY'S BOOK OF MANNERS. Henry Holt,Co. ISBN-10:0805067698
Eberly, Sheryl. 2001. 365 MANNERS KIDS SHOULD KNOW:GAMESAND ACTIVITIES. Standard Publishing. ISBN-10:0784716846
Katz, Karen. 2002. EXCUSE ME! A LITTLE BOOK OF MANNERS.Grosset & Dunlap.ISBN-10: 0448425858
Leaf, Munro.2004. MANNERS CAN BE FUN. Universe.ISBN-10: 0789310619
Leaf, Munro.2002. HOW TO BEHAVE AND WHY.Universe. ISBN-10: 0789306840

Poetry Connection: It's Hard To Be An Elephant by Jack Prelutsky. (Imagine all the rules Catherine would come up with for this poor old pachyderm.)Prelutsky, Jack. 2008. BE GLAD YOUR NOSE IS ON YOUR FACE.ISBN-10: 0061576530
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Rosoff, Meg. 2004. HOW I LIVE NOW. Jacket Ill. Istvan Banyai. New York, N.Y.: Wendy Lamb Books. Random House Children's Books. ISBN: 0-385-74677-6.

PLOT
Elizabeth, who prefers to be called Daisy, visits her Aunt in England. The fifteen-year old girl from New York, only child, stepmother-hater learns about love and family from their instant acceptance. Through an unexpected World War and her four cousins, Elizabeth tells her story.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Elizabeth, the main character goes by Daisy which to me when I think of Daisy is a sweet, innocent, fresh name for a character. This sets up the irony of who Elizabeth is. The author reveals in detail the cousins but the reader patiently waits throughout each chapter to learn something new about Elizabeth. The reader experiences the metamorphosis of a selfish, callous, city girl, to a love raging tween transforming into an adult-like caregiver needing to quickly grow up to survive, taking care of Piper, her youngest cousin throughout the war.

The plot took some surprising turns, a few of which I was not ready for and questioned if it was appropriate even for a twelve-year old to read. For example the matter-of-fact child sex, and masturbation conversations. Maybe this was the author's way of keeping the male tween interested in the storyline. Maybe this was the author's way of dialoguing a theme true of what teens talk about reflecting a style to gender and culture. As a parent and future librarian, this is a good example of why parents should read the book before their children. For librarians, the importance of knowing content preventing future questions,"Why is this book in our school library?"

The setting was contemporary creating the stereotyping of "war", bombing, food rationing, limited petrol, lack of medicine, and borders closing. Characters referred to "The Occupation" and "The Enemy" but never a specific mention of a date or place other than England.
The author's style was new to me. Not written using quotation marks to clue in conversation, just capitalization mid sentence in paragraphs. Elizabeth's character tugged at me as she stopped the story to talk to the reader, "You might wonder as I did"(Rosoff, 2004 pg.37) or "This is a place that I need to explain..." and I felt it disconnected me from the story even though she was "filling me in with facts". From one chapter, "I would like to make an important point before this goes any further. If you don't believe me it just means you've never met one of them yourself, which is your lost"(Rosoff,2004 pg.49).

A theme that transformed from lust "starving, starving, starving for Edmond. What a coincidence that was the feeling I loved best in the world"(Rosoff, 2004 pg.45), "Hunger wasn't a punishment,crime weapon simply a way of being in love"(Rosoff, 2004 pg.53) for which a teenager today would also esteem. However contrasted further along in the story, it changes to an actual hunger and starvation not from love but the effects of the war. At one point the children are left alone in the house as the mother leaves the country before the war breaks out, a turning point in the story. The government comes through checking the village and Elizabeth thinks, "We do not need any government surplus parents thank you very much" as would be the expected defiant reaction from independent teenagers(Rosoff, 2004 pg 59) regardless if they were starving, neglected and in need of help. Is it a predicatable ending of hope and love? There are twists and turns to get there, road blocks along the way with a surprise at the end!

REVIEWS/AWARDS

Starred Review*Publishers Weekly*
This riveting first novel paints a frighteningly realistic picture of a world war breaking out in the 21st century . . . Readers will emerge from the rubble much shaken, a little wiser, and with perhaps a greater sense of humanity.

Starred Review*The Horn Book*
A winning combination of acerbic commentary, innocence, and sober vision. . . . Hilarious, lyrical, and compassionate.

Starred Review*Booklist*
Gr. 8-11. A 15-year-old, contemporary urbanite named Daisy, sent to England to summer with relatives, falls in love with her aunt's "oldy worldy" farm and her soulful cousins--especially Edmond, with whom she forms "the world's most inappropriate case of sexual obsession." Matters veer in a startling direction when terrorists strike while Daisy's aunt is out of the country, war erupts, and soldiers divide the cousins by gender between two guardians. Determined to rejoin Edmond, Daisy and her youngest cousin embark upon a dangerous journey that brings them face to face with horrific violence and undreamt-of deprivation. Just prior to the hopeful conclusion, Rosoff introduces a jolting leap forward in time accompanied by an evocative graphic device that will undoubtedly spark lively discussions. As for the incestuous romance, Daisy and Edmond's separation for most of the novel and the obvious emotional sustenance Daisy draws from their bond sensitively shift the focus away from the relationship's implicit (and potentially discomfiting) physical dimension. More central to the potency of Rosoff's debut, though, is the ominous prognostication of what a third world war might look like, and the opportunity it provides for teens to imagine themselves, like Daisy, exhibiting courage and resilience in roles traditionally occupied by earlier generations. Jennifer MattsonCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
2005

ALA Best Books for Young Adults Winner
Booklist Books for Youth Editors' Choice Winner
Boston Authors Club Julia Ward Howe Prize Winner
Branford Boase Award Winner
Horn Book Fanfare Winner
Kirkus Reviews Editor Choice Award Winner
Los Angeles Times Book Prize Nominee
Michael L. Printz Award Winner
Orange Prize for New Writers Nominee
Publishers Weekly Best Children's Book of the Year Winner
Publishers Weekly Flying Start Author Winner

2004
Guardian Children's Fiction Prize Winner
Whitbread Award Shortlist

CONNECTIONS
Theme: Family

School Library:
Search a 4 generation genealogy chart for both of your parents. If you were adopted or living with a grandparent, continue from their information. Follow it further enough to discover "roots" outside of the United States. Write a fictional essay of your travels to that country, which relatives you visited and the activities you shared during your stay.


Public Library:
Create a Young Adult display exhibiting large genealogical trees and "roots" from popular writer's, Judy Blume, Judith Voirst, Meg Rosoff, Cynthia Lord and other award-winning authors, displaying their works next to their ancestral charts.
After reading those books, students can gather information the author used to establish, "familial ties" or could that could be used to trace a family tree for that fictional character, perhaps filling in the blanks and "inventing" more facts. Present with class to see if there are any "sybling connections" or host a class "family reunion" with each student brining their chart and favorite book to share.

Poetry Connection: Granny Grizer by Jack Prelutsky. Prelutsky, Jack.1984.THE NEW KID ON THE BLOCK. Greenwillow. ISBN-10: 0688022715
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Hale, Shannon and Dean. 2008. RAPUNZEL'S REVENGE. Ill. Nathan Hale. New York, N.Y.: Bloomsbury USA Children's Books. ISBN-13: 978-1-59990-070-4.

PLOT
A new spin on a classic tale of Rapunzel. From a little girl to a Western-galloping heroine, Rapunzel seeks to find her true identity and reunite with her mother. Through her adventure she meets her Prince, Jack.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS
"Well I'll be swigger-jiggered and hung out to dry," the lassoing redheaded Rapunzel exclaimed, bubbled caption overhead, "I was speechless". Such captions throughout this graphic novel make wordplay fun adding depth to the characters. It took me awhile to accept a slanging, swinging, roughing, toughing cowgirl-like character compared to the books introduction of an innocent protected-from-the-outside- world child. Only until she climbs the wall does her character change. I wondered where she had learned to become so tough or had heard the accent and drawls of the western world that she incorporated into her speech.

It was Part 2: Rustling Up Some Grub that put the following story into context for me creating the "Wild Frontier" plot and setting for the story. From there on in the dialogue and characters were true to form. Comedy throughout the novel kept this tale original and fresh not piggy backing on the older version of one locked away. For example, the future hero Jack, bumps into Rapunzel disquised wearing western women's clothing compared to the Colgate smiling assumed "adventuring hero"off looking to save the beautiful maiden, asks Rapunzel, "so tiny ragmuffin, you may point the way to her mystical tower" oblivious with whom he's speaking. Rappunzel gives him directions to her recently escaped dungeon and they part in opposite directions, captions above," This is where the 'once upon a time' part ends, with yours truly finally free from that perpendicular prison". That was the beginning of a 'yeeeha" adventure consistent with the author's style and voice.

This graphic novel visually colors the setting painting action ahead, detailing each scene with facial expressions giving the reader a ride vanquishing villians keeping with the theme of good verses evil and love will conquor all. The style the author carries is a playful tone that works between Rapunzel and Jack. After reuniting with her mother and killing off Gothel Jack looks up at Rapunzel, "Punzie?Hey Punzie! Let your hair back down! I want to climb up!"(Hale, 2008 pg. 142). This ties for the reader the old version with the new. Rapunzel's reply,"Not to get all namby-pamby, but thanks for helping me". With that, a short-haired Rapunzel and Hero Jack kiss, which is where fairytales end, happily-ever after.

REVIEWS/AWARDS
Booklist
Grades 5-8.This graphic novel retelling of the fairy-tale classic, set in a swashbuckling Wild West, puts action first and features some serious girl power in its spunky and strong heroine. Young Rapunzel lives a lonely life, never knowing what lies beyond the high garden walls of her mother’s royal villa until one day she climbs the wall to see what’s on the other side. When she finds that the world outside is a dark place oppressed by her mother’s greed for power and uncovers the real secret of her own birth, she is imprisoned in a magic tree tower. In her years of captivity, she learns a lot about self-reliance and care for her exceptionally long hair, and eventually she is able to escape, vowing to bring down her mother’s cruel empire. Hale’s art matches the story well, yielding expressive characters and lending a wonderful sense of place to the fantasy landscape. Rich with humor and excitement, this is an alternate version of a classic that will become a fast favorite of young readers. --Tina Coleman

School Library Journal*Starred Review*.
Grade 5 Up–This is the tale as you've never seen it before. After using her hair to free herself from her prison tower, this Rapunzel ignores the pompous prince and teams up with Jack (of Beanstalk fame) in an attempt to free her birth mother and an entire kingdom from the evil witch who once moonlighted as her mother. Dogged by both the witch's henchman and Jack's outlaw past, the heroes travel across the map as they right wrongs, help the oppressed, and generally try to stay alive. Rapunzel is no damsel in distress–she wields her long braids as both rope and weapon–but she happily accepts Jack's teamwork and friendship. While the witch's castle is straight out of a fairy tale, the nearby mining camps and rugged surrounding countryside are a throwback to the Wild West and make sense in the world that the authors and illustrator have crafted. The dialogue is witty, the story is an enticing departure from the original, and the illustrations are magically fun and expressive. Knowing that there are more graphic novels to come from this writing team brings readers their own happily-ever-after.–Cara von Wrangel Kinsey, New York Public Library Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

2009
ALA Notable Children's Books Middle School
Coretta Scott King Author Award
Cybil Graphic Novel Middle School
Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children's Book Award-Nominee
Pura Belpre Award
Schneider Family Award
Sibert Medal and Honor
South Carolina Adult Book Award
YALSA Great Graphic Novels for Teens
2008
Eisner Award Nominee Best Publication for Teens/Tweens
Printz Honor

CONNECTIONS
Theme: Fairy Tale's through Graphic Novels

School Library:
Students will research for graphic novels using a "fairytale theme".
Bracken, Beth. 2008. CINDERELLA. Stone Arch Books. ISBN-10: 1434208605
Hoena, Blake A.2008.JACK AND THE BEANSTALK.Stone Arch Books. ISBN-10: 1434208621 Lemke,Donald.2008. HANSEL AND GRETEL.Stone Arch Books.ISBN-10:143420863X
Powell, Martin. 2008. RED RIDING HOOD.Stone Arch Books. ISBN-10: 1434208656

Public Library:
Can continue to showcase graphic novels or read other selections written by Shannon Hale:
BOOK OF A THOUSAND DAYS.2007. Bloomsbury USA Children's Books.
ISBN-10: 1582349908
PRINCESS ACADEMY.2007. Bloomsbury USA Children's Books. ISBN-10: 1599900734
THE GOOSE GIRL(BOOKS OF BAYERN).2005. Bloomsbury USA Children's Books. ISBN-10: 1582349908
Spotlight Shannon Hale with "fairytale" moments from her life using a timeline on display. Young Adults can add their own "fairytale" moments to the timeline or "fairytale"moments from the community.

Poetry Connection:Something Told the Wild Geese by Rebecca Field. Harrison, Michael. 1999. ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF POETRY FOR CHILDREN.ISBN-10: 0192761900
Poetry can be used to showcase "fairytales".

Genre 5 Historical fiction

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Kadohata, Cynthia. 2006.WEEDFLOWER. Book design by Amy Zeak. New York, NY: Atheneum Books for Young Readers. Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing.
ISBN-13: 978-0-689-86574-9.

PLOT
The 1940's find Sumiko, a twelve-year-old Japanese-American girl relocating to a camp on Indian soil where her people are unwanted habitants. From a flourishing flower farm in California to an internment camp in Arizona, Sumiko plants seeds of friendship amongst the harshest of conditions.

CRITIQUE
"Shikata ga nai","this cannot be helped", a phrase Sumiko heard often used by the Japanese throughout the book. The irony is that Sumiko could and did help. Her character was one always looking for ways to plant seeds of good deeds for example, taking care of her sick brother, giving money to her uncle, defending her Indian friend Frank, and helping Mr. Moto create his award winning garden in the encampment. Hated by many solely because of ethnicity, Sumiko prevails representing honor balanced by compassion.

I was drawn to this story because my husband's mother is Japanese. One game mentioned in the book, Hanafuda, a card game played with colorful flower patterns. My husband taught me how to play this game years ago, so I was quite impressed with the author's authenticity and style creating real use of language "hakujin"(white people), events(daily traditional family bathing), daily games and activites. Just the mentioning of Hanafuda compares an underlying theme carried throughout the story. I noticed, "matching the flower patterns to win the game". Sumiko met each challenge, "matched it" overcame the imprisonment (a seeming losing battle) to "win" her dreams.

The characters are believable. The language used by both the Japanese and American Indian. The plot is presented in a way that all children identify with "the outsider". Sumiko details accounts,"This is what it felt like to be lonely". The setting is critical to the comparing of a lush growing flower farm with an arid Sonoran desert attempting to grow a garden planting vivid images of scorpions and dust storms that seem to dim all hope leaving the reader engrossed, engaged and cheering on Sumiko's efforts.

I love to garden. Among gardeners, a "weed" is a "flower" in the wrong place. However, Weedflower, the nickname given to Sumiko by her Native American friend, Frank, is in the right place. A perfect title for this novel! The idea of creating a story around beauty such as a flower farm, the caring for it, the author's description and Sumiko's whole life revolved around flowers. "We can't leave the flowers! Sumiko said. "Who'll take care of them?" "What does it matter?" Ichiro said. "But it does matter! It matters because the flowers are-they're-everything we do depends on the flowers!" (Kadohata,pg.71) Relating again the non-stereotypical Sumiko who believes "it can be helped-do something" contrasting her ancestoral upbringing.

This is the passion felt throughout the book and a type and shadow of Sumiko's life. Sumiko's dream to own a flower shop kept her inspired. "Every flower she disbudded, every dish she washed, every day the girls snubbed her brought her closer to her dream. She just wanted to be surrounded by flowers every day for the rest of her life and name her daughter Hanako, 'flower child'"(Kadohata,pg.116)Taking her uncle's seeds to the encampment, is a literary element that carries Sumiko's soul and hope through the story.

The author lists two pages of specific research, interviews with former flower farmers from that time, victims of the encampment and and studied the collection of interviews at the Center for Oral and Public History, California State University, Fullerton. Also, the National Archives-Pacific Region includes documents pertaining to the Colorado River Relocation Center. This prior history details for the reader the real life story of Japanese Americans living with Native Americans in Poston, AZ during World War II. It clarifies and establishes the authenticity of characters, the setting, weaving through dialogue a story worth harvesting.

REVIEW/AWARDS

2007 Scott O'Dell Award

Jane Addams Children's Book Award

Agatha Award Finalist

ALA Best Books for Young Adults Nominee

ALA Notable Children's Book Nominee

Booklist Editors' Choice

CBC/NCSS Notable Social Studies Trade Book

CCBC Choices (Cooperative Children's Book Council)

Charlie May Simon Book Award ML (AR)

Chicago Public Library's Best of the Best

Dorothy Canfield Fisher Book Award Master List (VT)

Indian Paintbrush Book Award Master List (WY)

IRA/CBC Children's Choices

Kentucky Bluegrass Award

Massachusetts Children's Book Award Master List

Nene Award Master List (HI)

Texas Bluebonnet Master List

Young Hoosier Book Award Master List (IN)http://books.simonandschuster.com/9780689865749 (accessed July 26, 2009)

Kirkus Spring & Summer Preview: Kadohata combines impressive research and a lucent touch, bringing to life the confusion of dislocation.

Publishers Weekly: Kadohata clearly and eloquently conveys her heroine's mixture of shame, anger and courage. Readers will be inspired.

Publishers Weekly: Set in America immediately before the attack on Pearl Harbor, this insightful novel by the Newbery-winning author of Kira-Kira traces the experiences of a Japanese-American girl and her family. Sixth-grader Sumiko, the only Asian student in her class, has always felt like an outcast. Early on, a heartbreaking scene foreshadows events to come, when Sumiko arrives at a classmate's birthday party and is told by the hostess to wait outside on the porch, and is then sent away. The girl's feelings of isolation turn to fear after the United States declares war on Japan. First, government officials take away Sumiko's uncle and grandfather. Then her aunt must sell their California flower farm; they are transported to a makeshift camp and later to a Native-American reservation in Poston, Ariz. Living like a prisoner in the desert, Sumiko nearly succumbs to what her grandfather termed 'ultimate boredom' ('that mean close to lose mind,' he explains). But Sumiko finds hope and a form of salvation as a beautiful garden she creates and a friendship with a Native American boy, Frank, both begin to blossom. The contrast between the Native Americans' plight and that of the interned may enlighten many readers ('They take our land and put you on it. They give you electricity,' snaps Frank). Kadohata clearly and eloquently conveys her heroine's mixture of shame, anger and courage. Readers will be inspired by Sumiko's determination to survive and flourish in a harsh, unjust environment. Ages 11-up. (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

CONNECTIONS

School Library and Public Library host guest speakers, professors, local heroes, experts to recount their personal histories. Students can bind pictures from the presentations and present them with an "illustrated tale".

If possible, find locations to visit, museums for fieldtrips or have students research internet "virtual fieldtrips" to become more personally involved in the history.

Ask students to create a monument or a tribute to those Native American or Japanese Americans who suffered through that time period.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Erdrich, Louise. 2005. THE GAME OF SILENCE. Ill. by Jim Lamarche. New York, N.Y: Harper Collins Publishers. ISBN 0-06-029789-1.

PLOT
The white westward settlements of 1849 displace Indians of North America. One tribe, the Ojibwa find that to live they too must move westward. Omakayas and her family learn the danger to their way of living and realize the game of silence will preserve their future.

CRITIQUE
In the beginning, children play with their parents a lighthearted game of silence with tokens and goodies to be won. Omakayas notes these are "worth her silence
"(Erdrich pg. 18). Contrast the end of the novel, again the game is played, no prizes to be won, a somber game because the rules have changed, now ones survival was at stake. "This time there would be no laughter if some cildren mistakenly spoke. The game was very different now and everyone knew it"(Erdrich pg. 248).

The author's characters begin innocently, curiously exploring their young lives and surroundings and with each presentation of a "new season", the reader watches the characters become wiser to the true dangers of life. Neebin(Summer) begins the first six chapters, followed by Dagwaging(Fall), Biboon(winter) and finalizing in Zeegwun(Spring). "The sun lost its strength, leaves fell from the trees[I read this to mean the Ojibwe are loosing their hope and warriors are falling].There was still no word from Fishtail or the others who had left, and although life went on in its usual routine, there was an increasing tension under everything that people did"(Erdrich pg. 97). These chapters organize a sequence of events for the reader establishing the setting, giving life to the overall theme of Omakayas dream, "All things change, even us, even you"(Erdrich pg. 235) with which the author unfolds pieces in each season such as daily tasks, making soup, gutting a fish, beading, weaving, dancing, canoe making and tanning hide for "makazins"(Erdrich pg. 63) authentic experiences for the reader.

Two Strike and Omakayas, young girls, develop a feudal jealousy, mistrust and competition. This literary theme is shadowed among the Indian adults and the white men. An Indian exploration party sent out to resolve the mistrust is met by further hurt while white men feed the warriors contaminated food with the intent to kill them, waiting and watching them die. "Fishtail said it would take the Ojibwe a very long time to recover from the loss. Still, the government had not retreated from it's position. The Ojibwe were being forced west, into the country of Bwaanag, away from their gardens, their ancestors' graves, their fishing grounds, their lodges and cabins and all that made the island home"(Erdrich pg. 235). Through Omakayas, the author moves the story along relating through her eyes the beauty of their home, the land, their freedom, their traditions, and the desperation of having to relocate and give up what they know to be theirs. Omakayas grasps this concept at the end, "I wonder if its last time to move from summer camp to winter camp?"(Erdrich pg. 97).

Great research, authenticity and accent features are graphically illustrated inside the covers citing the events in the novel, the shore when the newcomers arrive in their jeemaanan (canoes), where Deydey visits the catholic priest known for "soul taking", the home of Break Apart girl, the distance of travel to the winter cabin and the title that reads,"The beloved home of Omakayas and a map of her adventures during the year of the game of silence, c.1849". The author is of Chippewa descent and notes further spellings and dialects the reader can study listing books of reference and a glossary of Obibwe pronunciation and terms at the back of the novel. Such exactness in language is used throughout the story. If the reader has further interest to study this language and culture, Erdrich directs them to a curriculum developed by professor Jones from the University of Minnesota from her author's notes.

REVIEW/AWARDS
Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction
Kirkus Editor’s Choice
Horn Book Fanfare
ALA Notable Children’s Book
ALA Booklist
Editors’ Choice New York Times Notable

Publishers Weekly: This meticulously researched novel offers an even balence of joyful and sorrowful moments while conveying a perspective of America’s past that is rarely found in history books.

School Library Journal: Erdrich’s captivating tale of four seasons portrays a deep appreciation of our environment, our history, and our Native American sisters and brothers.

The Horn Book: Nine-year-old Omakayas; her pet crow, Andeg; and the rest of her family have returned to their summer home, but things are changing. In this sequel to The Birchbark House (rev. 5/99), Erdrich deftly revisits the events of the previous book, including the devastating death of Omakayas's baby brother, Neewo, in the smallpox outbreak that took so many villagers' lives. And now a new threat has come: another group of Ojibwe.

CONNECTIONS

School Library: Learn traditional Native American games and incorporate the "Game of Silence", how it was played and why. Compare languages among the main Indian tribes of that region at that time. Have students research the geographical areas or boundaries the Indians lived free and then compare with the broken treaties and where Reservations were established and early life on a Reservation.

Learn traditional "storytelling" stories and compare to those shared in the book. Learn basketmaking, listen to music, the drums and other cultural markers listed from the book. Compare to Omakayas daily chores and duties "of a girl and of a boy" then and today. How are they similar or different? Have students make a schedule of how they would spend their day if this was their life.

Study the effects of Small Pox and other diseases that destoyed many tribes. How do diseases effect our society today?

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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Paterson, Katherine. 1996. JIP: HIS STORY. Book design by Dick Granald. New York, N.Y.:Lodestar Books. ISBN 0-525-67543-4.

PLOT
Befriending animals, newcomers and a lunatic, Jip lives on a poor farm in Vermont. Set in the 1850's, his desire to know why he was abandoned and what his destiny will be unfolds through genuine characters comments and intrigue. The story results in suspenseful unraveling of those closest to Jip.

CRITIQUE
Jip searches for his true identity, thinking he knows who he is, a fallen gyspsy child and is treated as such (the poor boy) until other's realize his true identity. As a result, he is treated differently even more of an outcast, and the mood of the other characters change towards him. True to the accuracy of that time period aiming disrespect towards different types of "citizens".

Jip's character is loyal and honorable and because of that arouses conflict within in himself. He wonders why his mother never came back for him displaying the lack of loyality which readers identify with. Later he realizes that the one who has come back for him is not to be trusted and that really, the townspeople had been protecting Jip all along demonstrating their sense of loyality. Paterson's creation of character's are believable for example, the interest, care and support from his teacher, one that Jip can trust as teacher's are trusted today.

"You have never known it, Jip, but you are my son."

"Marm?" Teacher was lying! A woman so noble lying like some scroundel. "It ain's true. You know it ain't true. Why do you say such a monstrous thing about yourself?"(Paterson pg. 176).

The style, the dialogue this question revokes and reveals so many layers of the story. Jip would give anything to know his mother, yet thinks poorly of whomever she was, so it couldn't be the teacher whom he loves. So, why give up this chance to go along with it to be loved by a noble woman? He cares so much that what he thinks of himself, he doesn't want to tarnish her integrity. Yet her love and loyalty for Jip, she is willing to.

Jip's loyal and compassionate nature in reference to Lucy's new arrival to the farm, "He knew a hurting animal when he saw one"(pg. 25). Many parallels and conversations between Put and Jip allow the author to reveal the plot, setting and theme. Put makes reference "a cage is home sweet home to me" whereas Jip doesn't want to be caged only later the plot thickens. Jip finds himself in a "caged" position having to make choices of who to free.

Both Jip and Put deal with identity issues, Jip, "Where did I come from?" and Put,"Where do these spells come from?" Loyalty and kindness are established between these two characters carrying a theme of outsiders verses insiders, those who are loyal and will defend the less fortunate and those out to profit, hunt or hurt.

The author's style brings in the stories of Oliver and Uncle Tom's Cabin which Jip identifies with.

"That boy in the workhouse-that Oliver-"

"It was just like a poor farm, it was, only worse."

"Him being born there-"

"His beautiful young mother dying-"

"He didn't rightly know who he was neither"(Paterson pg.78).

Foreshadowing further feelings of abandonment, slavery and hope with the lunatic Put making a comment towards the poor, the slaves, the lunatics and outcasts,"There's unluckier people in this world than you nor me, Jip" utilizing the character's verbal slang appropriate to their unschooled skills(Paterson pg. 26).

The author uses metaphors for example,"niggling tug at the shirt sleeve of his mind"(Patterson pg. 47). Another "argument buzzed like hornets on attack. He flung to ward off the sting of words"(Paterson pg. 57). "The anger rose up inside like soap lye bubbling up in a kettle"(Paterson pg. 102). The setting vividly described the food that poor people on the farm were accustomed to and made mention many times to the penny candy at the store that so many times Jip wanted to purchase for others but saved.

The recurrent theme from Jip's perspective,"I'm just an ignorant boy", however, the reader see's his actions, hears his thoughts and comments that come from more than an "ignorant" boy and does not accept the stereotypical "must not be a smart boy if he's not in school tending a lunatic living on a poor fram". Lucy's comparison,"I won't be a drunkard's orphan or poor farm girl. I'll be a regular somebody". The reader realizes Jip's potential grasps at each page eager to shout, "You're such a good person" impatiently waiting to see when Jip will discover this about himself. The author creates a realistic environment that keeps his opportunities at bay, because that's what people see and that's how people really are, except Jip. The strength of this novel lies within its characters and a momentuous ending when all surprises are opened up but I'm not giving away the change of events, a must read!

REVIEW/AWARDS

Scott O'Dell Historical Fiction Award

ALA Notable Children's Books
School Library Journal Best Book
Booklist Editions Choice Award
YALSA Best Books for Young Adults

South Carolina Young Adult Book Award Nominee

National Book Award Finalist

Booklist Top of the List

Best of Editor's Choice

Iowa Teen Award Nominee

Young Hoosier Book Award Nominee

ALA Best Books for Young Adults
Parents' Choice 1999 Paperback Book Honor
Parents' Choice 1996 Story Book Award

Publisher's Weekly: Jip tells a historically accurate story (that's) full of revelations and surprises.

Educational Paperback Association: Two-time Newbery Medal winner Katherine Paterson writes of children in crisis, at the crossroads of major decisions in their lives. Her youthful protagonists turn "tragedy to triumph by bravely choosing a way that is not selfishly determined." M. Sarah Smedman in Dictionary of Literary Biography.

Amazon.com Review: When an aged lunatic named Putnam arrives at a poorhouse farm in rural Vermont in 1855, he is treated as little more than a beast by everyone except the orphan Jip, who himself arrived at the charity orphanage/asylum after being found abandoned by the roadside. Jip and Putnam become friends, then allies of a sort, as Jip struggles to improve his own lot and that of his friend Lucy, the unfortunate daughter of the late town drunk. This historical tale by Katherine Paterson involves its young protagonist in the great 19th century struggle between slave owners and abolitionists while sending him into a test of his own loyalty and courage. Paterson handles weighty issues with grace and verve, and does not shrink from terrible truths in this challenging novel for young readers. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

CONNECTIONS
Adoption/Foster Care-Public Library may use this book to showcase the theme of Adoption for the month using outreach services or bringing greater awareness to the community.
Slavery -School Library create a collection that discusses The Underground Railroad and have students set up "safe houses" throughout grade levels for students to pass through to "hide" from the Principal. Students research clues to find out who and what are their passage to freedom.

Genre 4 Nonfiction and Biography

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Bartoletti, Susan Campbell. 2005. HITLER YOUTH: GROWING UP IN HITLER'S SHADOW. Book Design by Nancy Sahato. New York, NY: Scholastic Nonfiction.ISBN-10: 0439353793

PLOT
During the years 1933 to 1945 Hitler Youth created a supportive force behind Germany's success of the Third Reich. This story gives personal insight of a few children who supported and a few who resisted "Gleichschaltung" or "conformity" to Hitler's education of Nationals Socialism. It portrays the power of youth, their potential and consequences that forge a future.

CRITIQUE
Having grown up listening to countless stories from my mother who was a product of the Hitler Youth in Hamburg, Germany, I was drawn to reading this author's account of other biographies. Giving strength to this book, Bartoletti's accuracy of these episodic researched accounts begins with a foreward introducing the children, an epilogue, time line, author's note and includes original photographs offering a vicarious experience for those unfamiliar with this horiffic event.
The text is organized and written from a historical timeline so the reader can follow the evolution of power gained by the Hitler Youth and the reason for its momentom chronologically. Beginning for example in 1926 Hitler Youth membership total, 6000 compared to 5,437,602- 10 years later. To think, my mother was one of those numbers, unwillingly. By 1939 Hitler Youth membership accounted for 7,287,470 youth.

I ask myself, "If Hitler tapped into such a living resource as those children, who is tapping into our children today? With marketing ads, fashion and technological propaganda of "must haves", what shadow influences our children today?" Noted in the book with reference to the children, Hitler said,"What material! With them I can create a new world." Evaluate then the importance of correct teaching and how it influences children's mindset for good or bad is clearly written from these children's accounts. From the "Author's Notes", her questions that influenced this research were shared. "I wondered: What role did young people serve in Hitler's Third Reich? Did they help Adolf Hitler and his rising Nazi Party ride to power in Germany? If so, were they willing participants in his machinery of oppression and murder? Or were they brainwashed victims? Or something in-between?" Her findings comprise this book and she ends the story with questions," Could another despot like Hitler rise to power on the shoulders of young people? What are you willing to do to prevent such a shadow from falling over you and others?" From this book I have gained greater respect for my mother and deeper understanding of the way I was raised. Citing the title in Chapter 10, "I Could Not Help but Cry".

STARRED REVIEWS
School Library Journal* Starred Review*Grade 5-8–Hitler's plans for the future of Germany relied significantly on its young people, and this excellent history shows how he attempted to carry out his mission with the establishment of the Hitler Youth, or Hitlerjugend, in 1926. With a focus on the years between 1933 and the end of the war in 1945, Bartoletti explains the roles that millions of boys and girls unwittingly played in the horrors of the Third Reich. The book is structured around 12 young individuals and their experiences, which clearly demonstrate how they were victims of leaders who took advantage of their innocence and enthusiasm for evil means. Their stories evolve from patriotic devotion to Hitler and zeal to join, to doubt, confusion, and disillusion. (An epilogue adds a powerful what-became-of-them relevance.) The large period photographs are a primary component and they include Nazi propaganda showing happy and healthy teens as well as the reality of concentration camps and young people with large guns. The final chapter superbly summarizes the weighty significance of this part of the 20th century and challenges young readers to prevent history from repeating itself. Bartoletti lets many of the subjects' words, emotions, and deeds speak for themselves, bringing them together clearly to tell this story unlike anyone else has.–Andrew Medlar, Chicago Public Library, IL Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Booklist*Starred Review* Gr. 7-10. What was it like to be a teenager in Germany under Hitler? Bartoletti draws on oral histories, diaries, letters, and her own extensive interviews with Holocaust survivors, Hitler Youth, resisters, and bystanders to tell the history from the viewpoints of people who were there. Most of the accounts and photos bring close the experiences of those who followed Hitler and fought for the Nazis, revealing why they joined, how Hitler used them, what it was like. Henry Mentelmann, for example, talks about Kristallnacht, when Hitler Youth and Storm Troopers wrecked Jewish homes and stores, and remembers thinking that the victims deserved what they got. The stirring photos tell more of the story. One particularly moving picture shows young Germans undergoing de-Nazification by watching images of people in the camps. The handsome book design, with black-and-white historical photos on every double-page spread, will draw in readers and help spark deep discussion, which will extend beyond the Holocaust curriculum. The extensive back matter is a part of the gripping narrative. Hazel RochmanCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved.

CONNECTIONS
School Library: Interfacing with Technology and the Musuem of Holocaust in Washington,D.C, allow the children to "tour" virtually the facility, stopping at the wall of shoes, noting the children's black shoes. Have them write a response, "Walking in these shoes", what would they feel, they see, they experience from reading this book and seeing these accounts.

Public Library: Present a Days of Remembrance theme, "Never Again: What You Do Matters". Compare with past themes, Children in Crisis:Voices from the Holocaust, Life in Shadows:Hidden Children and the Holocaust.http://www.ushmm.org/museum/exhibit/online/ (accessed July 13, 2009). http://www.ushmm.org/remembrance/dor/years/detail.php?content=2009 (accessed July 13, 2009). Have children from the community draw a black and white picture of themselves to post on the wall next to the theme,"What You Do Matters" with book jackets of Anne Frank and other stories to be read regarding children and change on the wall.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Montgomery, Sy.2006.QUEST FOR THE TREE KANGAROO:AN EXPEDITION TO THE CLOUD FOREST OF NEW GUINEA. Photography by Nic Bishop. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children.ISBN-10: 0618496416

PLOT
Travel with an expedition into the ancient trees of Papua New Guinea's cloud forest to find a Matschie tree kangaroo. Achieve the goal set by this team of scientists who hope to collar critters, record information of animal diet, lifestyle, and contribute information to the conservation of survival.

CRITIQUE
Lets "Tok Pisin", a real language, "Mi likim kapul longpela tel"(I like kangaroos). Tree Kangaroo Conservationalist and director at Woodland Park Zoo, Lisa Dabek was the impetus in bringing light to this topic. Her passionate proposal began in 2005, with the printing of Montgomery's book in 2006 and media work published 2008 reflecting the success of her work. Nic Bishop, photographer for the book also provides the movie media photography bringing to life his film presentation. His colorful photos capture the spirit of the person and the animal focusing on the eyes and extremities such as the crisp yellow fur paw with sharp ebony claws of the tree climbing roo from page 44. The design and layout encourages further interest in finding more materials relating to the tree kangaroo conservation project which leads back to Dabek's work, her team and a familiar feeling. Lisa believes the future of conservation lies with the children. "The more kids around the world understand the importance of protecting plants and animals, the better off we'll be "(Montgomery, 2006 pg. 29). With such readable organization, curiosity of creature, she's off to a great start inspiring a child one day to be the next tree kangaroo scientist.

An accurately written description of the expedition is logically presented with before trip preparation, materials needed and itemized for the trip, the flight, the hunt, the procedure of tagging a Joey and studying the animal after it's release into the wild. Factual terminology is shared such as "clinometer", measuring the angle from where on stands to the top of the tree providing the angle in degrees. A "rangefinder" gives the distance in meters of a kangaroo's position providing new research information to be collected. The author may pop a question to the reader at anytime,"Now you figure out how to convert meters into Farhenheit", using this style to keep the reader involved in the scientific process of exploration. And of course, any child who has personally visited Seattle's Woodland Park Zoo as my girls have know, every animal there is a favorite and a book written about "them", a celebrity.

STARRED REVIEWS
A Junior Library Guild Selection from School Library Journal *Starred Review*. Grade 4-9–Montgomery and Bishop continue their outstanding collaboration to introduce readers to scientists at work. Here, they document their participation in an expedition to the rugged and remote cloud forest of Papua New Guinea in search of the elusive and fascinating Matschie's tree kangaroo. Biologist Lisa Dabek heads a team of scientists from around the world who work with local guides to locate the creatures and fit them with radio collars to learn more about them. Bishop's photographs capture the expedition in detail. Stunning close-ups of plants, insects, and birds vie for attention with panoramas of moss-draped trees in the eerie, ancient forest. Montgomery describes both the hardships and exhilaration of the enterprise. She also introduces readers to some of the local people dedicated to conservation efforts. Dabek's pursuit of her interest in animals despite problems with asthma and her suggestions about exploring the natural world should encourage young scientists. The book's fascinating glimpses into a little-explored region will hold the attention of anyone interested in unusual creatures and the efforts to study them.–Kathy Piehl, Minnesota State University, Mankato Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Booklist*Starred Review* Montgomery and Bishop follow award-wining titles such as The Tarantula Scientist (2004) with another beautifully illustrated entry in the Scientists in the Field series. This time, they join researchers on a grueling expedition in Papua New Guinea to track the rare Matschie's tree kangaroo. Montgomery gives a chronological, sometimes moment-by-moment account of the challenging climb into the remote cloud forest, the conditions in camp (rice-and-fern dinners, icy waterfall showers), and the awe-inspiring encounters with barely studied animals. The text occasionally veers into a casual tone ("a leech dropped into Lisa's eye. Yuck!") that seems aimed at a young audience, while the small font, exacting detail, and meandering narrative may demand older readers. Still, Montgomery gives an unusually strong, visceral sense of the work and cooperation fieldwork entails and the scope and uniqueness of this particular mission. She also communicates the thrill of studying animals in the wild, making observations, and discovering new information. As usual, Bishop's color photographs are exemplary and extend the excitement in stunning close-ups of creatures and of the team at work. Web resources, notes about conservation, and a glossary of Tok Pisin (the language spoken by the team's Papuan members) are appended. Gillian EngbergCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

CONNECTION
School Library: For limited language learners or older students,this website outlines plans on how to write a biography selecting a conservationalist such as Lisa Dabek. http://school.discoveryeducation.com/lessonplans/programs/championsofland/ (accessed July 16,2009). Primary age students studying Zoo life, Animals, or Conservation as a theme, connect with Lisa Dabek personally. This project coordinator from the book, can be reached through the Woodland Park Zoo website. Follow along with her Tree Kangaroo Conservation notes and web video for additional information not included in the book. Create a class "conservation from afar" possibly writing letters to zoo workers or "adopting" an animal to follow online by reporting growth stats and reporting it to members of the school in the library display wall. Children visiting the library read the facts and write responses or "research questions" for other students to follow-up. Different grade levels could "adopt a zoo" virtually and post their findings in the library involving the whole school . http://www.nationalgeographic.com/field/projects/tree-kangaroo-conservation.html (accessed July 16,2009)making mention of material from the book and highlighting tree kangaroo efforts.
Upper grades may research the conservation logo, needs, proposal, team members and the mission. Students will chose their conservation project, make their own proposal, draw up the logo and select team members supporting their mission.
http://www.zoo.org/conservation/pdf_bin/treeroo_2005.pdf (accessed July 16,2009). Older grade levels can evaluate the 2005 proposal with the 2009 noting the differences which have been made.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfhHTyhoR5w&NR=1 Interview with Toby Ross from the book and Dr. Lisa Dabek video using pictures from the book, hearing her voice in a multimedia presentation supporting the factual information presented in the book thrilled my girls. "Mom, she's the same person we read in the book". http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3NXDHlq2rU&NR=1 (accessed July 16, 2009). Hear the language, see the children, students and listen to live interaction with tree kangaroos. http://www.zoo.org/conservation/treeroo.html (accessed July 16, 2009).
Public Library: Dr. Dabek mentioned her asthmatic condition and this could also be used to encourage children to follow their dreams as did she with this condition.
Art/Conservation Lesson. Storytime puppets using Tree Kangaroo and Australian kangaroo can dialogue their differences and simmilarities meanwhile expressing the importance of their habitats and conservation projects protecting their environment. Children can take a coloring page home or a bookmark from the local forestry department noting local conservation projects.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Krull, Kathleen. 2000. LIVES OF EXTRAORDINARY WOMEN:RULERS,REBELS (AND WHAT THE NEIGHBORS THOUGHT).Ill by Kathryn Hewitt.Harcourt Children's Books.ISBN-10: 0152008071

PLOT
Twenty of historys most influential women from prime ministers to warriors are spotlighted in a way that personalizes past regards. Their lives, personalities, fears and oddities are exposed. Their contributions remembered, their role in leadership recounted.

CRITIQUE
"Well-behaved women rarely make history," a quote by Laural Thatcher Ulrich, American Historian, are the words on a page of their own before the title page. This author/illustrator team of women are behaving quite creatively making biographical literary history. First, with access information inside the front and rear page jackets introducing to the reader, the illustrator numbers and identifies each woman presented on the front and back covers. One flaw to note is the selection of only twenty women for profile. I would have liked to read more about the last reigning Queen Liliuokalani of Hawaii or Maya Lin's architectural contributions. Researching deep enough, I believe each person can find an "extraordinary" piece in their life to write a story about.

The author provides her criteria and reasoning of those she chose. http://www.kathleenkrull.com/author.html illustrates the author yesteryear and today. "I love getting the chance to explore subjects I’m passionate about, like music, and making them meaningful for kids. I’m nosy about people, for example, and the Lives of ... series allows me to snoop behind the closed doors of some of my favorite groups of (really strange) people." quotes Krull from her website. And so she finds people to write about, non fiction.

One strength included ending each description, the "Ever After"...not the "Happily Ever After" that girls are trained to expect though not demystifying the "extraordinary" quality or characteristic in any way. As a woman, "What would be your one "extraordinary" trait or event to be remembered by? From page 63, Jeannette Rankin, first woman elected to the U.S. Congress shared,"If I am to be remembered for no other act, I want to be remembered as the only woman who ever voted to give women the right to vote."

The illustrator, Kathryn Hewitt wants to be remembered in another light. http://www.kathrynhewitt.com/author.htm (accessed July 11, 2009).When asked,"Why do you draw people with big heads?" The illustrator responded, "I hope it makes kids laugh. I tell them you don't have to have a big head to be famous but it helps."

STARRED REVIEWS
Honors and Awards the illustrator has earned include:
2002 Children's Writer in Residence; The Thurber House, Columbus, Ohio 2003 First Prize (Illustrator) Bologna Book Fair and SCBWI "The Importance (and Difficulties) of Books in Translation" contest. Elizabeth Burr Award (Wisconsin)IRA Teachers' ChoiceNCSS-CBC Notable Children's Trade Book in the Field of Social StudiesVoice for Youth Advocates (VOYA) Nonfiction Honor List

*Publishers Weekly* Just in time for Women's History Month comes the Audio Bookshelf adaptation of Lives of Extraordinary Women: Rulers, Rebels (and What the Neighbors Thought). The latest book in the excellent Lives of... biography series by Kathleen Krull, illus. by Kathryn Hewitt, comes to colorful life via Melissa Hughes's sharp performance. From Cleopatra to Eleanor Roosevelt, concise profiles provide fun and fascinating facts about notable female role models from around the globe.
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

School Library JournalGrade 4-8
This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition. As with other titles in this nicely thought-out series, Krull whets readers' appetites with brief biographies of some amazing individuals. Most of these women will be familiar to students, but a few obscure figures are introduced. The writing tends toward gossip in places. (Isabella I of Spain reportedly took only two baths in her lifetime.) Like gossip, each chapter is enticing. A full-page caricature of the subject opens each chapter. The stories are arranged chronologically, beginning with Cleopatra, who reportedly spoke eight languages, and concluding with Guatemalan leader Rigoberta Menchu, who fights for native Indian rights. "Ever After" sections reveal aftereffects of each person's contribution to history. The gaps left by the absence of Margaret Thatcher and Benazir Bhutto are filled by the more obscure likes of Nzingha, Gertrude Bell, and Aung San Suu Kyi. Don Nardo's Women Leaders of Nations (Lucent, 1998) aptly complements Extraordinary Women. The jacket art offers evidence of the fun inside-Queen Victoria looks not amusedly at Marie Antoinette toying with her riches. Catherine holds an "I AM GREAT" sign. Joan of Arc chats with Eleanor of Aquitaine. And Cleopatra walks like an Egyptian. A captivating browsers' delight and a jumping-off point for report writers.Anne Chapman Callaghan, Racine Public Library, WI Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

CONNECTIONS
School Library:Younger primary age classes can research their "favorite person" using Krull's many "Lives" series books. For older Language Learners,this lesson highlights International Women's Day. http://www.eslholidaylessons.com/03/international_womens_day.html(accessed July 16, 2009).
The illustrations from these books offer ample opportunities to learn how to draw caricatures. Having fun with "large" heads and "small" bodies, students can cut out large faces from magazines and draw in tiny bodies and create their "extraordinary" personality.

Public Library:International Womens' Day theme. Children can have fun identifying the logo with it's represented country on a bulletin board. Reading books in a collection on display or for storytime highlighting extraordinary women of color, talent, or other newer women of recent prominence. Leaving the library with a cutout that describes the wonders of women or books to read more on the topic. http://www.internationalwomensday.com/

Genre 3 Poetry

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Florian, Douglas. 2003. Autumnblings. Greenwillow Books. ISBN 0-06-009278-5

PLOT
The author asks,"What do you like about Autumn?" and gives examples that children would use to respond such as apple picking, a chill in the air or trick or treat? The follow-up question, "What do you not like about Autumn?" again followed by short answers in poetic form create a unique free verse. The author uses the Fall season to explore language and introduce poetry to those of a younger age in a humorous color.

CRITIQUE
Interesting enough when one opens the jacket cover inside flap, Autumnblings has an orange, pumpkinish-like color. I had checked out Winter Eyes also and the inside flap cover ends are in a cool, icy blue. I wondered what the other two seasonal books would look like inside? The author/illustrator has a unique style of displaying the table of contents page 8-48 in a horizontal script instead of vertically . Also, an upside down question mark follows the questions given in the book. This format is useful when teaching critical thinking among younger children. The humor illustrated in color and represented through word such as,"Hi-bear-nation", "Symmetree" with a poem that follows and the artwork painted in pale pinks not in synch with the other colors of Autumn thus throwing off the "symmetry" of color given throughout the book. The poem,

"Autumn is the only season,
The leaves all leave.
Call it tree-son."

An example of the smart usage of words as found in his other books with the words spilling down, rumbling around, slippery sentences climbing high and low from the ground giving motion to the words and action for the reader.

STARRED REVIEW
Booklist
K-Gr. 2. In his third collection of seasonal poetry, Florian presents a winsome series of poems about fall, with the punning theme of the title carried throughout. Using rhyme, meter, and those puns to good effect, as well as changes in fonts and type, he adds to the sense of movement and joy in the poetry. School, holidays, playtime, and observation all figure here: A "Tree-tice" (treatise) on arithmetics combines leaves and counting; "Geese Piece" answers the question it poses by its placement in the vee formation of Canada goose migration. The watercolor-and-colored-pencil art is best at its simplest: a single red-purple apple on golden ground; a flame-colored leaf and bough reminiscent of Japanese brush painting. Pull this out with Steven Schnur's Autumn: An Alphabet Acrostic (1999) and Cynthia Rylant's In November (2000). GraceAnne DeCandido. Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved.

School Library Journal
Grade 2-5-Florian again displays his significant skill at wordplay in this companion to Winter Eyes (1999) and Summersaults (2002, both Greenwillow). Using simple rhyme schemes; invented words such as "autumnatically," "owlphabet," "fallicopters" (maple seeds); and descriptive spellings ("hi-bear-nation," "industree"), he demonstrates that reading and writing can be lots of fun. His poems call to mind all manner of things autumnal-falling leaves, cool days, ripe apples, frost-and of the feelings that go with them ("-autumn leaves/Leave me in awe"). The childlike style of the various-sized watercolor and colored-pencil paintings (in fall colors, of course) mirrors the creative style of the age group most inclined to read the poetry. A natural for use in classrooms and library programs, and accessible to newly independent readers, these poems will delight youngsters. Susan Scheps, Shaker Heights Public Library, OH. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

CONNECTIONS
Public :Using the suggestion from Booklist, use the books forementioned by Schnur and Rylant to read and compare during storytime. Create a "tree" with leaves ready to fall including "Things we see during Autumn". Children pick a leave and read the back silently to themself acting to the group the idea for all to guess. Bringing in other books relating to Autumn for reading.

School Library: Math Counting lesson and a seasonal lesson comparing poems from the differing books. Place on a bulletin board a "T" graph with headings: "What I Like About:" and "What I don't Like About:" Students read and compare the different seasons adding their writing to the chart. Students can figure and match the phrase to the correct season.
Physical Education lesson to write poetry before exercising using poetry across the curriculum. With Florian's othet book title such as "Summersaults" and "Handsprings" let students come up with exercise poetry for example, "Cart-wheels" letting the words be written in a visual circular pattern looking like "wheels"

http://www.harperschildrens.com/ (accessed June 2009)
http://books.preschoolrock.com/index.php/preschool-holiday-books/autumnblings (accessed July 7, 2009)


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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Grimes, Nikki. 2001. A POCKETFUL OF POEMS. Ill.Steptoe, Javaka. New York ,N.Y: Clarion Books. ISBN-10:0395938686.

PLOT
The main character, a girl named Tiana carries words in her pocket. She will create a poem after taking a word out, playing with everyday objects to finalize in a free verse poem.

CRITIQUE
Recommended for ages 4-8, I find I'm captivated with the illustrations as they seem to carry as much treasure in their creation as the pocket itself holding the words. An excellent example of everyday items that children can use to create simple poems and Haiku, lyrical free verse utilizing vocabulary and creative art techniques. The collage of materials including hand -sculpted alphabet letters and faucet handles encourage young thinkers.

REVIEWS
Children's Literature: Independent Information and Reviews. Reviewer, Laura Hummel. "Free verse poem is coupled on each double page foldout with Haiku. Grimes has coupled these paired poems with the contemporary art form of a harlem-born city girl. The poems invite young authors to write poetry of their own and set them into artistic collages. Children will enjoy the three-dimensional aspect of the artwork and teachers can use as a springboard for writing".

School Library Journal: "A playful and thoroughly successful pairing of words and pictures".

CONNECTION
Public Library: Create a poster,"I have a pocketful of words," the first sentence from the book. Post on wall. Have children draw and add items to write a poem about and drop in the "pocket" poster on the wall. During story time, pull out children's drawings and see if older children can create a simple poem.

School Library: Create "Pocket" booklet with objects that slip in and out. Glue poems that either students found or created using their objects in the pocket. Make a large paper quilt attaching with yarn pockets. Create a class theme and have students bring in old jean pockets to use for lunch tickets, recess and other daily routine activities. Create a literacy game using the pockets and find books that use "pocket" For example, Dr. Seuss, "There's a Wocket in my Pocket"

http://www.childrenslit.com/childrenslit/th_poetry2001.html (accessed July 3, 2009)






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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Sones, Sonya. 2001. WHAT MY MOTHER DOESN'T KNOW.Ill. Reyes, Jennifer. New York, NY: Simon Pulse. ISBN-10:0-689-84114-0(hc).

PLOT
An adolescent named Sophie introduces her life through poetic entries giving the reader inside details to her life and longing for "Mr. Right". As if peeking through a locker slat listening in to the daily dealings of drama associated with love, hormones, friends and the process of growing up. Sophie entertains topics that every American adolescent girl in school has discussed, thought or lived through.

CRITIQUE
I find verse poetry pulls me in as if I were reading from a journal. Yet, it's more complete, in synch and an organized read. From page 87, Cyber Soul Mate, "It's almost ten o'clock. I can hardly wait to see his face." With a teens anticipation I can relate because I met my husband online ,a Cyber start of a relationship. To "see his voice" is perceptually astute in that what we read we reflect our own voice into the character, what we read and what we expect in contrast to what actually is sounds differently to each reader and is created in our minds much like adolescent tragedy and the drama preception. Reality however often presents the voice differently if by listening to the reader from an audio book version. Much like a teens perception on life, young expectations "waiting" to happen, is presented differently. The title, "What My Mother Doesn't Know" can easily be perceived as "what my young naive daughter is learning and thinks I don't know". The author brings to life and humorously portrays the "giddiness" and fun of being in love and the deep hurt of being left out. From pages 231 through 259 at the bottom right hand corner, thumb through it quickly and watch the couple have a kiss! This verse novel makes me cover my mouth and giggle like I have something to hide from my mother!

STARRED REVIEWS

• ALA 2002 Top Ten Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers


• ALA2002 Best Book for Young Adults


• Booklist Editor's Choice

Kirkus Reviews
Six years after What My Mother Doesn’t Know sizzled onto the scene, Sones returns to continue the story of teen sweethearts Sophie Stein and Robin Murphy. Her signature free-verse poems give class-loser Robin voice this time, allowing him to describe his feelings as Sophie’s public acceptance of him makes her a social pariah; as he explores the physical and emotional roller-coaster of first love; as he re-makes himself from outcast to one-of-the-cool-crowd when he audits a Harvard art class – and finds himself attracted to one of that cool crowd. The excruciatingly painful dynamics of the high school in-crowd receive a thorough treatment, as does Robin’s ambivalence with them: He recognizes Sophie’s pain at her rejection by formerly close friends, but at the same time, he understands that this very rejection makes her need him all the more. Robin emerges as an appealingly flawed character whose desires – for love, for acceptance, for sex – will be instantly recognized by readers…

Entertainment Weekly.com
I picked up Sones' 2001 title, What My Mother Doesn't Know, a few years ago and loved it — but I wondered if my own teenage daughter would take to the book, written in spare but emotional free verse. But she, too, was besotted by it (and it became one of those well-thumbed books she kept by her bed). Now both of us are thrilled to find this sequel, in which 14-year-old Boston teen Sophie finds a friend in Robin, the boy everyone in school loves to hate. What happens to them, told from both their points of view, is painful, awkward, faltering, moving — and is about as realistic a depiction of teen relationships as I've ever read. I never thought I'd enjoy novels written in free verse, but I stand corrected; Sones' books are just terrific. (The reviewer gave this book an "A"). - Tina Jordan

Connections
Using Sonya Sones website, young adults can make comparisons between her other books, selecting poems that might be used to create a Reader's Theatre or a one minute narrative presentation in class. Two students could memorize the same piece and present it side-by-side as if in echo.

This verse novel could be used to present in a Talent Show for the classroom. The narrator, other students, could play the "older mother" dressed up making comments while the other students could in the background recite Sones' poetry beginning with page 32, "Once I start, I can't stop."

This beginning can also be an opening for teen addiction and used as a platform in a public library for resources solving addictive behaviors.

http://www.sonyasones.com/wmgdkreviews.htm (accessed July 7,2009)

Genre 2 Traditional Literature

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Young, Ed. 2004. I, DOKO: THE TALE OF A BASKET. Ill. Young, Ed. New York, NY: Philomel Books. ISBN-0-399-23625-2.

PLOT

A Nepalese folktale adaptation of other Asian stories, the author begins the story with a young man who chooses a "Doko", the basket, to serve their young family. Tending rice fields, supporting babies, fire kindling and carrying a mother to her grave, this "family member" recounts through personal narrative family life until finally the basket is washed new as a dowry gift for the sons wedding to begin life again.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS

The adage,"what comes around, goes around" may sound familiar but written differently and included by Young. Kung Fu Tze, Sixth Century B.C. states, "What one wishes not upon oneself, one burdens not upon another". This symbolic portraiture of the basket, what we carry in our lives of importance, if events could talk to noting observations about our lives is Young's depth of storytelling. He supports this story with illustrations that bring to life the basket, the focus point on each page. Using the wisdom of youth to begin the story, the wisdom of a grandson closes the tale and teaches the tribe a lesson on how to treat others. The basket can be used as a personal mirror reflecting how we treat others, young and old.

The soft illustrations created from pastel, gouache and collage trim each page using gold to authenticate an Asian feel to the story. Young paints the setting for the story to be told not only in words but in colored detail. Young has quoted from his website, "A Chinese painting is often accompanied by words. They are complimentary. There are things that words do that pictures never can,likewise, there are images that words can never describe." http://edyoungart.com/about.html. Accessed June20, 2009).

He has taught us the art of simple images and the beauty of language.

Booktalk-Ed Young (www.leeandlow.com/p/young.mhtml

REVIEW EXCERPT

Caldecott Medalist

Children's Book Page: Beckwith, Lynn. www.bookpage.com/0411bp/children/i_doko.html

(accessed June 21, 2009). "I, Doko: The Tale of a Basket is indeed the tale of a basket, but it is also the tale of a family and a culture. Born of oral tradition, and with a deft stroke of his talented paintbrush makes it a visual treat for readers and listeners. Like many folktales, there is a lesson at the heart of the story, treating older people with respect."

Publisher's Weekly, "Doko asks readers, 'What could I, a basket do?' " Copyright 2004. Reed Business Information, Inc.

Horn Book Magazine. "A superb rendition of a tale with universal resonance."

Booklist. "As increasing numbers of families anticipate in-home care for elderly relatives, parents will want to share this story's poignant message with their children. The book may also inspire students' recastings of familiar tales from unusual points of view."

CONNECTIONS

School Library. Theme, "What are baskets used for anyways?" Creating literature to present the purpose of baskets, cultures that make baskets, history through basketmaking  and compare stories that include "baskets". After exposure to the many cultural arts of baskets, students choose a type of basket and using paper or the real fiber learn to "weave" or make their own "basket tales".

Public Library. Celebrate Grandparents Day in the community. Invite some of the "oldest" community residents to be read to by younger citizens showing "respect" for grandparents and making cards for them to take home after Storytelling Hour. Post activities in the local newspaper or the online "Happenings" library events page to include literary activities honoring and respecting the aging throughout the week.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

SanSouci, Robert D.2000. CINDERELLA SKELETON. ILL. Catrow, David. New York, NY: Silver Whistle. Harcourt, Inc. ISBN 0-15-202003-9.

PLOT

Skeletal characters fashion a rhyming retelling of a sister trio looking for their graveyard prince at the Halloween Ball. A wicked stepmother tries to bury the blooming relationship between her stepdaughter and prince ghoul. No bones about it, a happy ever-after ending is laid to rest at the cememtary.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS
An excerpt, not for reproduction purposes only for narrative illustration begins this review introducing the reader to SanSouci's Cinderella character:
"Cinderella Skeleton!
The rarest gem the world has seen!
Your gleaming skull and burnished bones,
Your teeth like polished kidney stones.
Your dampish silks and dankish hair
There's nothing like you anywhere.
You make each day a Halloween".(2000).
I was pleasantly surprised at the depth and originality this variant offers the reader. Not my usual style of illustration I chose this book and read it to my three daughters, ages, 4, 6 and 8 years-old. I was hesitant however that the graphics might be too scary. The youngest however loved it and found it each time I put it away in the reading bag.

A good use of vocabulary for English Language Learners and use of metaphors, "like polished kidney stones". Descriptive and uncommon word usage presented for example, "dampish, dankish, burnished, mausoleum, decrepit,gristlene and ghastliest" may challenge younger readers to higher insight.

REVIEW EXCERPT
Horn Book. Anita L. Burkam stated that Catrow's drawings "employ long lines and angles of skeletons to create particularly dynamic compositions".

Horn Book: "In this sweet tale of corpse-meets-corpse, SanSouci creates a bony heroine whose trip to the ball has a distinctly Halloweenish cast. The plot follows the original folktale closely, with one grisly exception: instead of retaining her glass slipper, Prince Charnel gets her entire foot, snapped off halfway up the leg bone. The potentially scary moments are made humorous in Catrow's caricatures and dynamic composition" 2001. All Rights Reserved.

CONNECTIONS
School Library-Perfect for a Halloween theme adjective, adverb activity builder. Students take from the story words unfamiliar to them and look up noun, adjective, adverb or verb. Students can "dress up" in ghoulish 3x5 notecards matching "pairs" with other students choices. The "Ball" could be a class chart to post the "ghoulish vocabulary pairs".
Students could also "build a skeleton" by using 3x5 notecards as the "bones" finding and writing new vocabulary words on the word wall.

Public Library-Children come dressed in their skeleton costumes for Storytime reading other stories using bones and taking home with them a color page of a skeleton that has a title of a book to be read each day of the month. Cut off a "section" of the skeleton once a book has been read.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Simonds, Nina. Leslie Swartz and The Children's Museum, Boston. 2002. MOONBEAMS,DUMPLINGS & DRAGON BOATS. Ill. Meilo So.San Diego, CA: Gulliver Books. Harcourt,Inc. ISBN-10 015219839.

PLOT

Looking for a "prosperity plate"?This book is full of fun Asian goodies and New Year's treats. The reader can fill themself with cultural tales, history, Chinese zodiac food and games from the Lantern Festival, to Dragon Boat Festival to Mid-Autumn Moon festival-a year feast!

CRITICAL ANALYSIS

The author has spent more than thirty years devoting time to Chinese culture and cooking and brings her expertise to a children's book that will entertain the whole family. With Amazon, this book is ranked #10 in books under this string  of headings>Children's Books>Educational>Explore the world>Asia. 

REVIEW EXCERPT

Kirkus Review: "No library should be without this well-designed, beautiful, and informative resource.

School Library Journal. Grades 4-7. Reviewed by Ginny Gustin, Sonoma County Library System, Santa Rosa, CA.

"This book features five holidays: Chinese New Year and the Lantern FEstival, Qing Ming, Dragon Boat Festival, Mid-Autumn Moon Festival. Each section begins with a one-page description of history and customs followed by four-to six-page story, recipes and two or three crafts and games. The headings appear in both English typeface and Chinese calligraphy. A two-page resource section is divided into three parts: of interest to adults, of interest to young readers and Internet sources. Moonbeams is a useful, visually appealing addition to any holiday collection.Copyright 2002. Reed Business Information, Inc.

CONNECTIONS

Read the book online, cook a treat, play a game. This book is meant to make connections and listed are a few interactive resources that could be used at either the  school or public library setting.

www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyld=952341

Listen to real media, a 6minute 28sec presentation from morning edition, January 31, 2003. NPR's Linda Wertheimer narrates through Chinese New Year providing listeners with explanation of the book. Such as mooncakes and the Kitchen god.

Read the complete book on line with a story on the wall. A good use of technology and a different way to present the story. http://books.google.com/books?id=9RWmKQW1wC&dq=moonbeams,dumplings,+%26+dragon+boats&printsec=frontcover&

source=bl&ots

Students can then create their Chinese tale, research a recipe that would fit an appropriate holiday related to the tale, illustrate on a clear transparency and project their tale on the wall. The can tell their tale or have another student narrate for them.

Genre 1- Intro and Picture Books

Why read one when you can read them all? This assignment suggested reading one of the following recent Caldecott award medal books. Like a Pringle's chip, I couldn't just sample one. Here for your sampling enjoyment, have you recently read:

• THE HOUSE IN THE NIGHT by Susan Marie Swanson
• THE INVENTION OF HUGO CABRET by Brian Selznick
• FLOTSAM by David Wiesner
• THE HELLO GOODBYE WINDOW by Norton Juster
• JOSEPH HAD A LITTLE OVERCOAT by Simms Taback

I was familiar with Taback's, Joseph Had a Little Overcoat only from our public library display which caught my attention so I read it to my daughters. The author's quote at the end of the book was one theme I presented to the girls that, "you can always make something out of nothing over and over again"(Taback, 1999, p.26). The book has a "peek-a-boo" cut-out captivating the reader's interest wondering what Joseph will create next from an old overcoat.

Having introduced that, this review spotlights FLOTSAM by David Wiesner, 3 time Caldecott winner.

BIBLOGRAPHY
Wiesner, David. 2006. FLOTSAM. Ill. By David Wiesner. New York, NY: Clarion. ISBN-13:978-0-618-19457-5

PLOT SUMMARY
An investigation of beachcombing yields treasures that time has preserved in a camera. The discovery yields secrets of the sea for one boy and recalls others who too have made a similar discovery. What is in that camera? Once discovered and enjoyed, the camera is tossed into the sea for another to discover it’s trove.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS
From the jacket cover, “Flotsam: Something that floats.” Like pictures across the page or thoughts across the mind, floating from one page to the next found adventure above and below the seashore, this book provides readers of all ages with a conversational piece. The intro page before the title page appears to show an older figure digging on the beach. Ironically, it is the boy, the main character, who will meet “time” and aged characters while interacting with a found treasure, a camera. In contrast, the end page shows a younger child ready to retrieve the camera and the reader may wonder, “What will she see in the camera?”

From the cover’s fascinating draw of an orbital focus point, one may presume a fisheye or is it a lens of a camera? It isn’t until the reader travels through the illustrated context that one really “see’s” the meaning. A camera is in the reflection of the eye and is not the lens itself. Isn’t the eye a camera into the mind? I wonder if Wiesner denotes the “eye” throughout the story quietly whispering, “What do you see? Look closer, look deeper, and notice the details.”

The watercolor illustrations narrate action into this wordless picture book curiously presenting an enlarged “eye” throughout. The discovered pictures of a typical family only portrayed through sealife lounging in the living room or traveling on vacation or flying through a city of conch shells. Time is another illustration brought to the reader portrayed through pictures that can be seen within another picture of those who have found the camera and passed it ahead.

Flotsam is an excellent portrayal encouraging children to notice details. For example, the LBI label of the tote bag (Long Beach Island) and the secondhand of the clock that changes from scenes in the One-Hour Photo shop. What if the boy had not looked further into the picture? What would he have missed?

REVIEW EXCERPT
2006 Caldecott Award
Starred review in SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL: “Filled with inventive details and delightful twists . . . a mind-bending journey of the imagination.”
2006, Houghton Mifflin/Clarion Books first-ever Picture Book Video Awards, http://www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com/authors/wiesner/books/books_flotsam.shtml (accessed June 11, 2009).
http://www.commonsensemedia.org/book-reviews/Flotsam.html (accessed June 11, 2009).
Common Sense Media offers a parental guide and suggestions when reviewing this book.
http://oneminutebookreviews.wordpress.com/2007/01/22/review-of-2007-caldecott-winner-david-wiesners-flotsam/ (accessed June 11, 2009).

CONNECTIONS
In this section, making connections is vital when bringing the passion and beauty of books to children. My self challenge: apply this book to a School Library and Public Library setting. Primary Grades: Create a unit noticing details. Provide a microscope, magnify glass and collect objects for further investigation. Make connections among people. This book illustrates children geographically apart and what they wear, where they live, the environment and could be used to connect children with other cultures. YA: Using a Language Arts lesson, “If I were the camera, what would I see?” giving each student a strip of paper with a different location (the mall, the park, a tree, etc.) illustrate your position without giving it away with words. After students share, write about the Public Library: Collect other books such as Tuesday and Sector 7 also illustrated by David Wiesner . Compare and contrast the art he uses such as watercolor to create detailed images. Are there similarities among his style? Compare Sector 7 with Flotsam noting the character and the environment and the detailed illustrations creating movement without narrative.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Willems, Mo. 2004. KNUFFLE BUNNY. Hyperion Book. ISBN-10: 0786818700.

PLOT SUMMARY

Trixie happily sets out on an adventure with her daddy to the Laundromat with her prized stuffed bunny. Returning home Trixie uses gibberish to alert her father that her pet is missing. The father has no clue but the mother does and sends the father-daughter team back to the Laundromat where Trixie uses her first words, “Knuffle Bunny!”

CRITICAL ANALYSIS

A storybook for the young, every parent can relate at this level also. A child using babble-jabber nonsense chatter sometimes goes unnoticed. This increases the intensity for the reader because they understand what Trixie wants to say even if the father doesn’t. With simplicity, Willems paints the perfect tale of what might happen when a parent/child cannot communicate.

REVIEW EXCERPTS

Bccb Blue Ribbon Picture Book Awards.

BOOKLIST review(PreS-Gr1). Willems chronicles this domestic drama with pitch-perfect text and illustrations that boldly depart from the spare formula of his previous books. Even children who can already talk a blue streak will come away satisfied that their own strong emotions have been mirrored and legitimized, and readers of all ages will recognize the agonizing frustration of a little girl who knows far more than she can articulate. Jennifer Mattson

Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL review: A seamless and supremely satisfying presentation of art and text.–Martha Topol, Traverse Area District Library, Traverse City, MI

CONNECTIONS

Lost and found. Where do we go when we have lost something? How do we feel when we have found a lost item? Compare and contrast KNUFFLE BUNNY TOO: THE CASE OF MISTAKEN IDENTITIY. With school children let them illustrate their own toy and a place that they would go with a parent. Make puppets using paper bags and dialogue the event. Have them put their "treasure" in the paper bag and hide it in the room. Pair up students. Using gibberish, one student trys to guide the other to the lost item. In a Public library setting, compare other stories of “lost” treasures. For Storytime set up a flannel board story and have children mutter "Trixie" language to verbally involve them in the story. At the end, all children cheer,"Knuffle Bunny!".

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Cummings Pat. 1992. TALKING WITH ARTISTS. New York, NY: Bradbury Press. ISBN 0-02-724245-5

PLOT SUMMARY

Cummings includes conversations with 14 storybook illustrator's including, Jerry Pinkney, Chris Van Allsburg and David Wiesner, author/illustrator of FLOTSAM, reviewed above.Their biographical information is presented first followed by questions from Cummings. Example of questions asked, "Where do the ideas come from? What influences your work? What is a working day like? How did you learn how to draw?" A children's picture and an adult picture is given of each illustrator as well as a piece of their earlier art work when they were a child.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS

I have always been interested in authors and illustrators. CSU Bakersfield holds a Young Author's event yearly inviting students from Kern County to display their published books. On a Saturday, known author's have workshops, autograph books and children can interact and ask author's similar questions that Cummings includes in her books. I have been fortunate to speak with many illustrators. I'm always amazed with the single common thread they share-"If you want it, practice at it and draw, draw, draw". Similarly, suggestions from those that Cummings highlights offered the same encouragement.

REVIEW EXCERPTS

School Library Journal
Grade 3-8-- Conversations with Victoria Chess, Leo and Diane Dillon, Richard Egielski, Lois Ehlert, Lisa Campbell Ernst, Tom Feelings, Steven Kellogg, Jerry Pinkney, Amy Schwartz, Lane Smith, Chris Van Allsburg, and David Wiesner form the content of this book. All say that ``practice, practice, practice'' is the key to success. The illustrators that Cummings interviewed and her own comments are primarily aimed at young people who love to draw. They tell about how they got started, and where they get their ideas and techniques. There are chatty bits of information about the artists themselves, examples of their childhood drawings, and beautifully reproduced samples of current work. The same questions are asked of each contributor, but the answers range from serious commentary to lighthearted humor. The cumulative result is a short course in how to succeed in the book business, and general agreement that illustration is a tremendously satisfying and enjoyable occupation. Young artists will learn a lot; teachers and other children will also love it. Well designed and well conceived, this book will be welcomed in all those classrooms in which children's literature has become central to the curriculum. --Shirley Wilton, Ocean County College, Toms River, NJ
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Publishers Weekly
Ages 9-up.In this wide-ranging survey, 14 talented illustrators talk about their childhoods, their work and their daily routines. The broad cross-section includes Caldecott medalists (Chris Van Allsburg, David Wiesner), women (Amy Schwartz, Victoria Chess, Lois Ehlert) and African Americans (Leo Dillon, Jerry Pinkney). Brief autobiographical statements precede interviews that touch on both personal and professional concerns--working conditions, pets, business associates. Each subject is represented by one or two samples of his or her current work and one childhood piece, usually a real charmer.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

CONNECTIONS

Create and Illustrator Studies similar to an Author's Studies unit. Have students research information about each illustrator. Post each students self-portrait in the room. Students then can publish their biographical information as highlighted illustrators. Students can write letters to the illustrator coloring their favorite picture from a book. For a month of celebration, create, "We love our Illustrators" display for the school library. Using clay pots, hearts and pipe cleaners, post a picture of the illustrator on the heart, attach it to the pipe cleaner to set in the pot. Include several books that illustrator has completed and place in the same pot.