The Great Big Book of Families

The Great Big Book of Families
by Mary Hoffman, illustrated by Ros Asquith. 2010. New York: Dial Books for Young Readers. Unpaged. (9780803735163)

Author Website: www.maryhoffman.co.uk/

Illustrator Website: www.rosasquith.co.uk/

Media: pen and watercolor

Awards and Honors: none

Audience: Preschoolers

Annotation:
A sweet little book that celebrates the diversity among (and within) families.

Personal Reaction:
Families come in all shapes, sizes and forms. Mary Hoffman's book provides a sweet introduction to families and all their iterations for pre-school to second grade children. Hoffman describes all types of families in a gentle, non-judgmental way. She takes pains to be inclusive, but the book steers clear of preaching. It's a nice way to start a conversation with children about all the different ways to be a family. Ros Asquith's busy and colorful cartoon-like illustrations will grab children's attention and allow the book to stand up to repeated readings as kids seek out new details on each page.

The Invention of Hugo Cabret

The Invention of Hugo Cabret
written and illustrated by Brian Selznick, 2007. New York: Scholastic Press. (0439813786).

Author Website: http://www.theinventionofhugocabret.com/index.htm

Media: pencil on Fabriano Artistico watercolor paper, film stills, sketches by Georges Melies

Awards and Honors: 2008 Caldecott Medal; National Book Award Finalist; A New York Times Best Illustrated Book of 2007; A Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2007; 2007 Quill Award Winner; 2007 Borders Original Voices Finalist; 2007 #1 Best Book for Kids from Barnes and Noble; Parenting Magazine "Mom–Tested Book of the Year"; Miami Herald Best Kids Book of 2007; Rocky Mountain News Best Book of 2007; San Francisco Chronicle Best Book of 2007; Kansas City Star Top 100 Books of 2007; Columbus Dispatch Best Book of 2007; Los Angeles Times Favorite Children's Book of 2007; Kidsreads.com Best Book of 2007

Annotation: 
A thieving orphan, a one-eyed man, a strange little girl and a mean old man are the characters in Brian Selznick's 500 page, The Invention of Hugo Cabret, a book that blurs the lines between novel, picture book, graphic novel and movie. 

Personal Reaction/Discussion of Artwork: 

     Brian Selznick's The Invention of Hugo Cabret is an ambitious, original and impressive book for children. The plot line is classic mystery/thriller, but the unique physical form of the book is what really sets it apart. Selznick says of the book that it is "not a exactly a novel, not quite a picture book, not really a graphic novel, or a flip book or a movie, but a combination of all these things". 
  
     Hugo is a twelve year old orphan who lives in the walls of a Paris train station. After his tippling uncle disappears, leaving Hugo to fend for himself, his existence consists of tending to the clocks in the station and trying to fix up an old automaton that his father had been working on when he mysteriously died. Hugo tries to make existence a secret, but when he is discovered stealing parts for the automaton from an old man who runs a toy shop in the station, his life as he knows it changes forever. 
 
     The plot winds and turns as Selznick introduces new twists that keep Hugo (and the reader) guessing. To Selznick's credit, he keeps the action neatly uncoiling, even as the plot becomes more and more involved. There are a few story elements that don't get wrapped up (What really did happen to Hugo's uncle, and what of the dead man found in the river with his uncle's flask? Was there something sinister behind the mysterious circumstances of Hugo's father's death?), but Selznick's knack for pacing the complicated storyline is satisfying.


     The writing is serviceable, but it's Selznick's illustrations that really shine here. They move the story along and give it a truly cinematic feel. I found myself reading quickly through the written parts in anticipation of the next illustrated sequence. They're dark, moody crosshatched graphite drawings that draw readers in immediately- you feel that you're a part of the action during the illustrated scenes. The illustrations have the feeling of camera shots and Selznick uses them to establish setting, further the narrative and add detail to the story. I also applaud the decision to adorn the spine of the book with the close up drawing of Hugo's face. I actually first found the book while I was perusing the fiction shelves of my library and the book stood out amongst the rest of the plain, solid spines. Selznick includes sketches and movie stills from early cinema (which figures in the plot to a great degree) in the book. The result is a rich, magical, multimedia experience that children will enjoy.

The Extraordinary Mark Twain (According to Susy)

The Extraordinary Mark Twain (According to Susy)
by Barbara Kerley, illustrated by Edwin Fotheringham. 2010. New York: Scholastic Press. (9780545125086).

Author Website: http://www.barbarakerley.com/Site/Welcome.html

Illustrator Website: http://www.edfotheringham.com/

Media: digital media

Awards and Honors: A Junior Library Guild Selection; Kirkus, starred review; School Library Journal, starred review; Publishers Weekly, starred review

Annotation:
Much ink has been spilled writing about Samuel Langhorne Clemens, the man the world knows as Mark Twain, but did you know that his closest biographer was Susy Clemens, his young daughter?

Personal Reaction:
      The Extraordinary Mark Twain (According to Susy) is an illuminating look at Mark Twain, the husband and father. Written from anecdotes compiled by Susy Clemens, Twain's young daughter, it offers entertaining, personal observations on the man that many thought they understood, but few really knew. Susy, determined to "set the record straight" on her "Papa", wrote a revealing biography of him in her own diary and Kerley uses actual excerpts in the book. These are included as neat journal inserts in flowy handwriting font. Fotheringham's digital illustrations are sometimes flat looking, as digital drawing are often wont to be, but his caricatures of Twain are expressive and spot-on. An author's note at the ends offers more details of Mark Twain, Susy and their close relationship, a timeline of Twain's life and tips on writing an extraordinary biography. 

Curriculum Connection: 
Upper Elementary/Middle School Language Arts and Social Studies

Lesson Plan:

Teacher:               
Diana Garcia

Subject Area:              
Language Arts/Social Studies      

Suggested Grade Level:      
5-7  

Lesson Title:              
Writing Biographies

Overview:              
Students will learn about biographies- what one is, how to create one- and will pair off with a classmate and create a short biography of them.

Time:                  
2-3 hours
Materials/Equipment Required:  
- The Extraordinary Mark Twain (According to Susy) by Barbara Kerley
- notebooks
- pencils

Objectives:  
Students will learn about the process of writing a biography and will practice by pairing together with a classmate, interviewing and writing a biography about them. Students will learn to research, conduct inquiries, organize and summarize information into well-written mini-biographies.
Suggested Procedure:          
Teacher will read aloud The Extraordinary Mark Twain (According to Susy) and lead a discussion of Susy and her biography of “Papa”.
Teacher will distribute the handout  “Writing an Extraordinary Biography” (available at www.barbarakerley.com/ teachers.html) to students and they will read it together and discuss how to:
1.    gather information by conducting interviews and taking notes
2.    how to get facts straight about people, places, dates, events, quotes
3.    bring the subject to life by including details, quotations, lots of examples
4.    create a well-rounded portrait of their subject by showing difficulties and successes, good and bad habits, serious and funny sides
Teacher will ask students to pair off and interview each other. Example questions are: 
-    Where were you born?
-    Who are the members of your family
-    Where do you live?
-    Who is your best friend?
-    What do you want to be when you grow up?
-    What is your best quality?
-    What is your worst habit?
-    Tell me a funny story about your family/friends?

Students will takes turns being the interviewer/subject, taking notes, etc.

Students will produce a short 1 to 2 page biography of each other.

Additional Resources:  
Allow students to explore biographies of famous people in the library, or on  biography.com or the Biography Resource Center database (if available)

The Dreaming

The Dreaming

written and illustrated by Queenie Chan. 2005. Los Angeles: Tokyo Pop. (1598163825).

Author/Illustrator Website: http://www.queeniechan.com/

Media: pen and ink on Deleter brand A4 comic paper

Awards and Honors: none

 

Annotation:
Twin sisters Jeanie and Amber are accepted to a prestigious and isolated boarding school in the Australian bush that harbors some dark secrets.

Personal Reaction:

     The Dreaming is a traditionally drawn manga comic with spooky and suspenseful plot. Twin sisters Jeanie and Amber are accepted to a prestigious and isolated boarding school in the Australian bush, but from the minute they arrive strange things begin to happen. There's a creepy vice principal, a walled-off room, bizarre paintings and some really disturbing dreams. These occurrences coupled with the scary rumors they hear from their fellow students are enough to spook Amber, but Jeanie thinks it's all a lot of nonsense until one of their friends goes missing in the middle of the night. The book is the first in a trilogy and leaves off at the height of the suspense. I've never been a fan of the manga genre, but teens (especially girls) would likely enjoy this series. The dialogue is believable, the illustrations are detailed and expressive, and the storyline is engaging and suspenseful.

The Secret Knowledge of Grown-Ups

The Secret Knowledge of Grown-Ups

revealed and illustrated by David Wisniewski. 1998. New York: Harper Collins. (0688153399). 

Author/Illustrator Website: none

Media: cut watercolor paper illustrations

Awards and Honors: none

Annotation: 

David Wisniewski reveals the real reasons why grown-ups tell kids to eat their vegetables, comb their hair and not jump on the bed.

Personal Reaction:

     The Secret Knowledge of Grown-Ups is a silly exploration of the real reasons grown-ups have for telling kids to eat their veggies, drink their milk and not play with their food. It's a file of top-secret, classified grown-up knowledge. Wisniewski's trademark paper collages work perfectly as the illustrations- the cover is created to resemble a manila envelope stamped "confidential" and "top secret", and the crumpled documents inside give the book a realistic look. Wisniewski comes up with some farfetched reasons behind parents' rules (don't jump on your bed because mattresses are actually living, wooly creatures that might awake, don't pick your nose because your brain might deflate) that will leave kids in stitches.

Boxes for Katje

Boxes for Katje

by Candace Fleming, illustrated by Stacey Dressen-McQueen. 2003. New York: Farrar Straus and Giroux. (9780374309220).

Author Website: http://www.candacefleming.com/

Illustrator Website: none

Media: colored pencil, oil pastel and acrylic

Awards and Honors: ACCBC Choices 2004, Bill Martin Jr. Picture Book Award Nominee 2005, Booksense 76 Book, California Young Reader's Medal Nominee 2006-2007, Carol D. Reiser Book Award For Inspiring Community Service in Children, Children's Literature Choice 2004Great Lakes Book Award, Florida Reading Association Children's Book Award Nominee 2004-2005, Golden Sower Award Nominee of Nebraska Library Association 2005-2006, IRA Teachers' Choice, 2004, Junior Library Guild Selection, NCTE Notable Children's Book in the Language Arts 2004, NCSS-CBC Notable Social Studies Trade Book 2004, New York Public Library Best Book for Reading and Sharing 2003, Notable Book for a Global Society Award sponsored by IRA, Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Medal Winner, Publisher's Weekly Best Book of 2003, Red Clover (Vermont) Children's Choice Award Nominee 2004-2005, Show Me Reader Award Nominee 2005-2006, Virginia Young Reader Award Nominee 2005-2006, Volunteer State Book Award Nominee 2005-2006, Washington D.C. Capitol Choices Book, 2003, Washington State Children's Choice Picture Book Award Nominee 2005

Annotation:

A simple, heartwarming book based on the true story of the author's own mother and her efforts to help out a small Dutch village after World War II.

Personal Reaction:

     After World War II, the families of Olst, Holland don't have much. There's no sugar or milk, food is scarce and people must patch their shoes and coats to stay warm during the winter. But one spring day, the postman arrives with a package from America - the "land of plenty". It's addressed to a young girl named Katje and inside is a bar of soap, a pair of wool socks, and a bar of chocolate- common things to Rosie, the American girl who sent them, but huge luxuries to Katje and her family. This simple exchange sets off a correspondence between Katje and Rosie and when the people in Rosie's hometown of Mayfield learn of Katje and her neighbors' needs, they all band together to help out the people of Olst. Stacey Dressen-McQueen's bright child-like illustrations accompany the sweet story. The townspeople's clothing is depicted in colorful historical detail and their expressions of joy lighten the mood. This is a heartwarming tale of how simple kindnesses can really make a difference in the world. The friendship between the families of Olst and Mayfield is touching and will help teach children the universal lesson of giving.
  

Twelve Rounds to Glory: The Story of Muhammad Ali

Twelve Rounds to Glory: The Story of Muhammad Ali

by Charles R. Smith Jr., illustrated by Bryan Collier. 2007. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Candlewick Press. (9780763616922). 

Media: watercolor and collage

Author Website: http://www.charlesrsmithjr.com/

Illustrator Website: http://bryancollier.com/
 

Awards and Honors: Coretta Scott King Author Honor Book, Notable Social Studies Trade Book For Children

Annotation: An original and ambitious biography of Muhammad Ali, written in poetic free form verse.

Personal Reaction:

    Twelve Rounds to Glory tells the story of Muhammad Ali, one of the world's greatest heavyweight champions. Written entirely in poetic verse, it follows Ali from his birth as Cassius Clay in Louisville, Kentucky, through his legendary bouts, to his current fight with Parkinson's disease. Charles Smith divides Ali's story into 12 chapters that he calls "rounds". At turns entertaining, tragic and inspiring, this book is a comprehensive look at his boxing career, though the most revealing and interesting portions deal with his personal life. His childhood, his personal convictions and his opposition to the war in Vietnam are the parts that really shine here, providing a portrait of a deep and complex man. Bryan Collier's dark and moody collage illustrations give the book a serious tone that lends it to use with older students. 

Grampa and Julie: Shark Hunters

Grampa and Julie: Shark Hunters

written and illustrated by Jef Czekaj. 2004. Somerville, Massachusetts: Czekaj Press. (189183052X). 

Media: pen and ink, digitally colored

Author/Illustrator Website: http://www.czekaj.com/

Awards and Honors: none

Annotation:

The misadventures of Grampa and Julie, who are on the hunt to find Stephen, the biggest shark in the world.

Personal Reaction:

     While children will probably be left in stitches, adults will likely scratch their heads at the misadventures of Grampa and Julie, a dynamic duo on a quest to find Stephen, the biggest shark in the world. Grampa and Julie: Shark Hunters  compiles three years of comic strips that were published in Nickelodeon Magazine. It's a bizarre little graphic novel starring a rapping chicken and squirrel, a gang of hungry monkeys, an all-knowing Snow Queen, and a pair of Abominable Snowmen, among other characters. Julie plays the straight man to Grampa, an absent-minded ichthyologist and something of a nutty professor. The story twists and turns unpredictably, taking them from the middle of the ocean, to outer space, to the North Pole. While I got dizzy from trying to keep up with the plot twists, kids will find the book, with its silly illustrations and offbeat humor, irresistible.

Monkey King

Monkey King

written and illustrated by Ed Young. 2001. New York: Harper Collins Publishers. (9780060279196). 

Author/Illustrator Website: http://edyoungart.com/

Media: collage with handmade and bought papers

Awards and Honors: none

Annotation: A simplified retelling of the story of the Monkey King, one of the most colorful and well-known characters in Chinese legend.

Personal Reaction/ Discussion of Artwork:

     Ed Young creates a quick paced adaptation of a classic Chinese legend in  Monkey King. Monkey is "courageous and clever, nimble and quick-witted", but he's also a bit of a trouble maker. He angers the Dragon King by stealing a gold pillar from his underwater kingdom and invokes the wrath of the Jade Emperor in return. When the Jade Emperor cannot punish Monkey, Buddha steps in to put Monkey in his place. 

     Young's illustrations are graphically minimalist; they're beautiful, but sometimes their lack of detail makes them hard to decipher. The color palette, a combination of neutral, earthy browns and beiges and deep jewel tones, is unusual but eye-catching. Sometimes Monkey appears as a tiny figure within a landscape, other times he fills the page, giving the illustrations a strong sense of movement. Young's compositions are dynamic and images spill off the edges of the papers. A double-spread gatefold illustrates the confrontation between Monkey and Buddha, and it's impressive- one page folds out horizontally and the other vertically to show Buddha's giant, obsidian hand stretched to the heavens. 

     While the story has its faults (the number of characters is large and their appearances are brief and without introduction, the prose is clipped and confusing at times) Young does a decent job of paring an epic saga down to a manageable and attractive picture book.

Sit-In: How Four Friends Stood Up by Sitting Down

Sit-In: How Four Friends Stood Up by Sitting Down

by Andrea Davis Pinkney, illustrated by Brian Pinkney. 2010. New York: Little Brown and Company. (9780316070164). 

Author Website: http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/contributor.jsp?id=2861

Illustrator Website: http://www.brianpinkney.net/

Media: watercolors and India ink on 300lb Arches paper

Awards and Honors: Carter G. Woodson Book Award, 2011; Jane Addams Book Award

Annotation: The story of how, in 1960, four college students took a stand against segregation by sitting down at a lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina.

Personal Reaction:

    The husband and wife team of author Andrea Davis Pinkney and illustrator Brian Pinkney have created an exceptional book in Sit-In: How Four Friends Stood Up by Sitting Down. It's lyrical, it's inspiring and it's wonderfully illustrated. The history of the lunch counter sit-ins is well known, but the Pinkney's really make the story shine. The prose is poetic; Davis Pinkney weaves a creative extended metaphor centering on food and ends with a final recipe for integration- "Start with love... Add conviction... Mix black people with white people... Bake until golden... Serve immediately." The additional of inspiring quotes ("Be loving enough to absorb evil.", "We must... meet hate with love.") from Dr. King throughout the story is effective. Brian Pinkney employs loose, dynamic brush strokes and wide swaths of bold colors to create beautiful, impressionistic illustrations. Colorful and bright, Brian Pinkney's paintings vibrate with energy. The book includes a Civil Rights timeline and suggestions for further reading.

The Ghosts of Luckless Gulch

The Ghosts of Luckless Gulch

by Anne Isaacs, illustrated by Dan Santat. 2008. New York: Atheneum Books for Young Children. (97814146902010). 

Media: acrylic and ink on bristol paper, touched up in Photoshop

Author's Website: http://www.anneisaacs.com/content/

Illustrator's Website: http://www.dantat.com/

Awards and Honors: New York Public Library's 100 Best Books of 2008

Annotation: A tall tale set during the Gold Rush, The Ghosts of Luckless Gulch is the story of Estrella Rivera, a young girl with some extraordinary abilities.

Personal Reaction:

     The Ghosts of Luckless Gulch, a traditional style tall tale told by contemporary author Anne Isaac, is the story of Estrella Rivera, a young girl with some extraordinary abilities. She can heal animals and runs so fast she burns the air behind her. Estrella befriends some uncommon animals (a kickle snifter, a sidehill wowser and a ruberrado puppy) who she adopts as pets. When they go missing, it's up to Estrella to find them and bring them home. It's as a result of her journey that California gets its soaring mountains, earthquakes and redwood forests. The Ghosts of Luckless Gulch is set in the California of the Gold Rush days and is an original take on traditional tall tales. I appreciated that Isaac protagonist, Estrella Rivera, is a fearless and independent Mexican American girl, but ultimately the book didn't capture my imagination. Tall tales, with their far-fetched narratives, usually exhibit clever, tongue-in-cheek humor, but The Ghosts of Luckless Gulch was dull and witless. Nonetheless, it references enough history and geography that I could see it being used in elementary schools to supplement California's state history curriculum. Isaac also makes generous use of metaphors and similes ("It's odder than a skunk selling perfume.", "The tracks vanished as suddenly as an icicle in a blacksmith's forge."), which would lend it to being used in language arts lessons. 

Use of Simile:

"It's stranger than a square tomato!" (p. 9)

Grandfather's Journey

Grandfather's Journey

written and illustrated by Allen Say. 1993. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company. (0395570352)

Media: watercolor

Author/Illustrator Website: http://www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com/authors/allensay/

Awards and Honors: Bulletin Blue Ribbon; Caldecott Medal Book; ALA Notable Book; Booklist Editors' Choice; Boston Globe/Horn Book Award; Horn Book Fanfare Selection; School Library Journal Best Books of the Year; New York Times Best Illustrated Children's Books of the Year

Annotation:

Allen Say's tribute to his grandfather and the two lands that he loved- Japan and California.

Personal Reaction:
     Grandfather's Journey is the touching and personal story of Allen Say's grandfather and his life lived between two countries- Japan and the United States. As a young man, Say's grandfather came to the United States, where he admired the beauty and splendor of the country and the cities. He finally settled in California, the place that he liked best. He crossed the Pacific again to marry his childhood sweetheart and brought her back to California. There they had a child (Say's mother), but returned to Japan when she was a teenager. She was married in Japan and gave birth to Say, who was raised there. His grandfather grew old in Japan, but always longed to visit California once more. World War II made those dreams impossible, but Allen Say grew up and moved to California- a place that he came to love, just like his grandfather had. Illustrated in beautiful, evocative watercolors, this book speaks to family, home and longing. Say has created a very special book which touches on universal themes. 

Jabberwocky

Jabberwocky

reimagined and illustrated by Christopher Myers. 2007. New York: Hyperion Books for Children. (9781423103721). 

Media: watercolor and acrylic paints

Author/Illustrator Website: none

Awards and Honors: Booklist, Starred Review

Annotation: 

A creative reimagining of Jabberwocky, Lewis Carroll's famous poem from Through the Looking Glass, and What Alice Found There.

Personal Reaction:

      Christopher Myers' colorful and creative spin on the most famous gibberish verse in the English language bristles with energy and dynamism. Myers has (through research and a few artistic liberties) transformed a poem that is ostensibly about a knight who slays a monster into a modern verse about a one-on-one basketball challenge. The Jabberwocky becomes a dark, hulking, 13-fingered giant with glowing eyes and flashing teeth. The hero is a boy who appears, sneakers in hand, to challenge the monster on the court. He makes quick work of the Jabberwocky ("One, two! One, two! And through, and through") and struts off the court dribbling the basketball. Myers accompanies the action with illustrations that set up the context- children running through opened fire hydrants, playing double-dutch and shooting marbles. This contemporary interpretation would be an excellent way to introduce a classic poem to students, or to supplement curriculum on British literature.

    

Curriculum Connection: Middle school language arts- poetry

Energy Island: How One Community Harnessed the Wind and Changed Their World

Energy Island: How One Community Harnessed the Wind and Changed Their World
written and illustrated by Allan Drummond, 2011. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. (9780374321840).

Media: pen and ink with watercolor

Author/Illustrator Website: http://www.allandrummond.com/

Awards and Honors: Booklist, Starred Review; Kirkus Reviews; Los Angeles Times; New York Times Book Review; Publishers Weekly; School Library Journal, Starred Review

Annotation:

This is the story of the people of Samso, an island in Denmark, who by thinking creatively and working together were able to become almost completely energy independent.

Personal Reaction:
     Energy Island: How One Community Harnessed the Wind and Changed Their World tells the story of Samso, an island in Denmark, that has changed the ways in which they use and create energy. Allan Drummond makes an important topic eminently accessibly through his engaging prose and cheerful, cartoon-like illustrations. Green sidebars present factual information about topics such as global warming, fossil fuels, and renewable energy sources. It's an optimistic and encouraging take on a topic that can be very heavy (for children as well as adults). Drummond shows readers how a really daunting issue can be solved through some new ideas, the perseverance of a devoted few, and the hard work of the entire community.

Curriculum Connection: Elementary or middle school science- green energy 

Lesson Plan:
Subject Area:               
Environmental Science

Suggested Grade Level:       
3-6

Lesson Title:               
Learning about Energy

Overview:               
Students will learn about alternative energy sources.

Time:                   
2-3 hours
Materials/Equipment Required:   
- Energy Island: How One Community Harnessed the Wind and Changed Their World by Allan Drumond
- computer with internet access and projector
Each student will need:
- scissors
- 4 small paper cups (like drinking cups)
-  A marking pen (any color)
-  2 strips of stiff, corrugated cardboard -- the same length
- Ruler
- Stapler
- Push pin
- Sharpened pencil with eraser on the end
- Modeling clay
- A watch that shows second

Objectives:   
Students will learn about energy sources, explore ways to save energy, think of ways to reduce their impact on the environment and build an anemometer.

Suggested Procedure:           
Teacher will read aloud Energy Island and lead a discussion about the ways in which their community generates and uses energy. Teacher will write the ways on the board.
 
Class will brainstorm ways to help save the environment (i.e. switch to clean energy, use less energy and energy efficient appliances, watch water usage, recycle materials, reuse materials, buy things with less packaging, plant a tree)
 
Teacher will explore with students the EPA’s website (http://www.epa.gov/ climatechange/kids/solutions/technologies/index.html), focusing on the ways that renewable energy can be created.  

Class will learn about the US Department of Energy’s Wind for Schools project that installs wind turbines at rural schools (http://www.windpoweringamerica.gov/schools.asp).

Students will create their own anemometers, following the instructions at http://www.energyquest.ca.gov/projects/anemometer.html. Students can measure the relative wind speed at various locations around their school.

Additional Resources can be found at:
http://www.windpoweringamerica.gov/schools_teaching_materials.asp

 

The Genius of Islam: How Muslims Made the Modern World

The Genius of Islam: How Muslims Made the Modern World
written and illustrated by Bryn Barnard, 2011. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. (9780375940729).

Media: oil on board, Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop

Author/Illustrator Website: http://www.brynbarnard.com/Site_2/Home.html

Awards and Honors: none

Annotation: Discusses the Muslim world's contributions to modern art, science, math, medicine, writing and architecture.

Personal Reaction:
      The Genius of Islam: How Muslims Made the Modern World is a well-intentioned and ambitious book that attempts to show how the contributions of the Muslim world have shaped the modern world in which we live. Bryn Barnard packs a lot of information into this book and his illustrations are quite beautiful. The format leaves something to be desired, though. For an indepth non-fiction book like this, a table of contents and an index would be welcome additions. Also, the insets on each page that aim to present additional information about each topic would be more effective if they were larger and easier to read. My biggest issue with the book, though, is that Barnard conflates the religion of Islam, the people of the Middle East, Arabs and the Muslim world. Not all are interchangeable and some text that defines the differences between these groups and ideas would help immensely. Overall The Genius of Islam: How Muslims Made the Modern World is a book with an interesting and important message that suffers from issues with editorial direction. It's too bad, because it has some really great material but it needs to be more clearly presented.

Dave the Potter: Artist, Poet, Slave

Dave the Potter: Artist, Poet, Slave
by Laban Carrick Hill, illustrated by Bryan Collier. 2010. New York: Litte, Brown and Company. (9780316107310).

Media: watercolor and collage on 400lb Arches watercolor paper

Author Website: http://www.labanhill.com/

Illustrator Website: http://bryancollier.com/

Awards and Honors: New York Times Bestseller; 2011 Caldecott Honor; 2011 Coretta Scott King Gold Award for Illustrations; Chicago Public Library's 2010 Best of the Best List; New York Public Library's 2010 Best 100 Books of the Year; Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People, 2011

Annotation:
At once personal and historical, this is the extraordinary story of Dave, a poet, potter and slave living in South Carolina during the 19th century.

Personal Reaction:
     Dave the Potter is the extraordinary story of Dave, a poet, potter and slave living in South Carolina during the 19th century. Laban Hill's simple yet noble prose and Bryan Collier's rich collage illustrations come together in this book to tell the story of one man who, despite having all freedom stolen from him, created lasting beauty and, we can imagine, a sense of dignity in his life. Dave's pots were meant to be functional pieces, but their beauty is plain to be seen. What's most incredible about his work is that on many of his pots, he inscribed short poems. In a time when reading and writing was forbidden to slaves, this was really something exceptional. This book really speaks to the innate human urge to create art and poetry that we hope will outlast our own temporal lives.

Back of the Bus

Back of the Bus
by Aaron Reynolds, illustrated by Floyd Cooper. 2010. New York: Penguin Group. (9780399250910).

Author Website: http://www.aaron-reynolds.com/

Illustrator Website: http://www.floydcooper.com/

Media: oil paint

Annotation:
The story of Rosa Parks, as seen through the eyes of a young boy on the Montgomery, Alabama bus that fateful day in 1955.

Personal Reaction:
     Aaron Reynolds imagines Rosa Park's 1955 act of civil disobedience on a Montgomery, Alabama bus in his book Back of the Bus. This is the famous story as seen through the eyes of a young African American boy. The nameless boy and his mother witness firsthand Rosa Park's refusal to move from her seat and her subsequent arrest. The boy is nervous but his mother assures him (somewhat ironically) that, "Tomorrow all this'll be forgot". Reynolds  writes in the boy's voice, using vernacular language which I find demeaning and borderline offensive most of the time. (The boy says things like, "I want me a drink real bad".) While there's nothing terrible about the book, there's nothing particularly spectacular about it either. Floyd Cooper's illustrations are nice, but he's done better work (see Joyce Carol Thomas' I Have Heard of the Land or  Pat Sherman's Ben and the Emancipation Proclamation).

Busing Brewster

Busing Brewster
by Richard Michelson, illustrated by R.G. Roth. 2010. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. (9780375933349)

Media: ink, watercolor and collage

Author Website: http://richardmichelson.com/

Illustrator Website: none

Awards and Honors: New York Times: 10 Best Illustrated Books of 2010,
New York Times: 8 Notable Children’s Books of 2010, National Council for the Social Studies and Children's Book Council Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People 2011

Annotation: In 1971, Brewster becomes one of the first African American children to integrate the fictional Central School after the Supreme Court implements forced 'busing'.


Personal Reaction:
     In 1971, the United States Supreme Court implemented forced busing in an attempt to integrate public schools. Some black children were bused to white schools outside their neighborhoods and were met with racial hostility from the families of the new schools they were attending. This is the fictional story of Brewster, a young boy who becomes one of the first students to integrate Central School. Richard Michelson presents a short, simple story on a large topic as told through the eyes of a very young child just entering first grade. Because Brewster is too young to understand the implications of much of what is happening around him, it's a gentle introduction to a complex issue. In this regard Busing Brewster is much like Benno and the Night of Broken Glass, which introduces a troubling period of history by telling the story of Kristallnacht through the eyes of a neighborhood cat in Berlin. R.G. Roth's child-like illustrations, rendered in watercolor and collage, are even reminiscent of Josée Bisaillon's non-threatening illustrations from Benno and the Night of Broken Glass. Though Michelson does touch on the violence and ignorance Brewster experiences (a rock is thrown through the bus window by protesting parents and a student makes a racist comment to Brewster at school), it's kept at a gentle level to make the story accessible by younger kids. The ignorance is also tempered by an encouraging librarian, Miss O'Grady who reads to Brewster and encourages his dream of one day becoming president

Curriculum Connection: Elementary social studies, Civil Rights

Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return

Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return
written and illustrated by Marjane Satrapi. 2004. New York: Pantheon Books. (0375714669).

Media: pen and ink

Author/Illustrator Website: none

Awards and Honors: Angoulême International Comics Festival Prize for Scenario

Annotation:
Marjane Satrapi's follow up to the award-winning graphic novel Persepolis- it follows her from the ages of 14 to 24 as she endures the trials and tribulations of young adulthood, life as an exile, and making her place in the world.

 Personal Reaction:

     I loved Persepolis so I was very excited to read Satrapi's follow-up to the story of her rebellious childhood in revolutionary Iran during the 1970s and 1980s. In Persepolis, Satrapi was the politically precocious child of a progressive family- by Persepolis 2, Marjane is older, more pessimistic and confused about her identity. The book cover 10 years of Marjane's life, beginning when at the age of 14 she is sent to Austria to escape the dangers of war in Iran. She plans to stay with her mother's good friend, but when that doesn't work out she ends up bouncing from house to dorm to apartment. She struggles with her identity as a maturing woman and as a outsider in a foreign land. Her experiences growing up in Iran are completely unrelatable to her peers and she finds it hard to be comfortable in any social group. Moreover, she desperately misses the comfort of her family but doesn't think her feelings are valid, because her parents are experiencing the devastation of war in her home country. She's cut off from family, has no real friends and has no one to care for her. Marjane finally ending up living on the streets after the devastating break up of her first romantic relationship. It's winter time and Marjane becomes dangerously ill. She's sent to a hospital and when she recovers, she asks her parents if she can come home to Iran.

     When she returns to Iran she must deal with the trauma of her experiences in Austria and negotiate her cultural identity. She has spent her formative teenage years in the West and now no longer feels that she fits in within her home country. She's not completely a westerner, but no longer an Iranian. Persepolis 2 is the story of how Satrapi loses her identity and finds herself reborn. Where Persepolis was political, Persepolis 2 is personal- it's more focused on advancing the narrative than making grand, universal statements but it's nonetheless a worthy companion to her first volume.

Our Enduring Spirit: President Barack Obama's First Words to America

Our Enduring Spirit: President Barack Obama's First Words to America
speech by Barack Obama, illustrated by Greg Ruth, 2009. New York: HarperCollins Publishing. (0061834556).

Author Website: none

Media: ink and watercolor

Awards and Honors: none

Annotation:
Illustrator Greg Ruth's pictorial representation of President Barack Obama's inaugural address to the people of the United States.

Personal Reaction:
     Our Enduring Spirit is a simple book; it's little more than an abridged version of President Obama's inaugural address accompanied by black and white sketches on color splashed pages. The book was born when Artist Greg Ruth decided to start a "drawing-a-week" project that he called the 52 Weeks Project. Every Monday, for a year, he would create a drawing and post it on his website. Barack Obama's historic election happened to take place within that year, and Ruth was so moved by it that he began creating portraits of the new president. An editor at HarperCollins took notice, and the idea for the book was formed. It's a nice idea, but the book falls flat. Other artists have successfully created illustrated versions of famous speeches (I Have a Dream, Dr. King's famous speech illustrated by Coretta Scott King award winning artists comes to mind), but Ruth's illustrations don't do President Obama's words justice.     

Shrek!

Shrek!
written and illustrated by William Steig, 1990, New York : Farrar, Straus, Giroux. (0374368791).

Author/Illustrator Website: http://us.macmillan.com/author/williamsteig

Media: ink and watercolor

Awards and Honors: Publishers Weekly Best Children's Books of the Year; School Library Journal Best Books of the Year

Recommendations: Booklist; Bulletin-Center Child Books; Children's Book Review Service; Elementary School Library Collection; Horn Book; Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review; New York Times; New York Times Book Review; Parents' Choice Awards; Publishers Weekly; School Library Journal, Starred Review; Washington Post Book World

Annotation:
William Steig's tale of a repulsive ogre who meets a stunningly ugly princess and falls in love.

Personal Reaction:

      I adore William Steig and this book is a real treat- bizarrely literate, offensively comic, and with a happy ending to boot. Shrek is a repulsive anti-hero; he can spit fire ninety-nine yards, snakes die if they bite him, and his terrible fumes make people faint. When his parents kick him out of the hole where he lives, he goes out into the world to seek his fortune. The first person he meets is a witch who gives him a prediction: "A donkey takes you to a knight-/ Him you conquer in a fight. Then you wed a princess who/ Is even uglier than you". (The characters in Shrek have a tendency to speak in rhyming, often hilarious, verse.) Shrek continues his travels, causing chaos and wreaking havoc wherever he goes until he meets the princess (who is absolutely foul). It's love at first sight, of course, and they end up living "horribly ever after".

     Hilarious and smartly written, Steig turns the traditional fairy tale on its ear with Shrek. It's a great accompaniment to books like Robert Munsch's Paper Bag Princess that get children to think critically about the values typically espoused in fairy tales.

Sophisticated Language:
"Soon he came to a peasant singing and scything. 'You there, varlet,' said Shrek. 'Why so blithe?'"
"Oh, ghastly you,/ With lips of blue,/ Your ruddy eyes/ With carmine sties/ Enchant me."
"Your horny warts, your rosy wens,/ Like slimy bogs and fusty fens,/ Thrill me."

Rhyme:
"Pheasant, peasant? What a pleasant present!"
"In here a fearless knight, in there a well-born fright."
"Not so brave, thou churlish knave!"
"Do me the honor to step aside, so Shrek can go to meet his bride."

Ubiquitous: Celebrating Nature's Survivors

Ubiquitous: Celebrating Nature's Survivors
by Joyce Sidman, illustrated by Beckie Prange, 2010. New York: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children. (978061871794).

Author Website: www.joycesidman.com

Illustrator Website: http://www.beckieprange.com/

Media: linocuts, hand-painted with watercolor

Awards and Honors: Starred reviews in Booklist, Publishers Weekly, School Library Journal, Kirkus, Horn Book; Junior Library Guild Selection; Publisher's Weekly, Best Books of the Year; Washington Post, Best Books of the Year; Kirkus, Best Books of the Year; School Library Journal, Best Books of the Year; National Science Teachers Association/Children's Book Council, Outstanding Science Trade Books, K-12, 2011; Boston Globe, Top Ten Children's Books of 2010; New York Public Library's "100 Best Books"; Booklist, Top 10 Sci-Tech for Youth; Book Links, Lasting Connections for 2010; Finalist for the 2011 CYBILS Poetry Award; Association for Library Service to Children Notable Children's Book; The John Burroughs List of Nature Books for Young Readers


Annotation:
Joyce Sidman's poetic tribute to some species that have been spectacularly successful from an evolutionary point of view. 
 
Personal Reaction/Discussion of Artwork:
     Joyce Sidman is a master of using poetry to teach children about science and nature. In Ubiquitous her compelling verses, paired with Beckie Prange's illustrations, tell the story of some of Earth's most successful species. 

     Prange's lovely hand-colored linocut prints are gorgeously composed and bold while still retaining a charming rawness. Her illustrations exhibit so much variety that they keep a real energy about the book. One page may show the moon as seen from the perspective of someone laying in the grass, while another presents lichens, seven times their actual size, spreading gracefully across the page, and yet another shows the lifecycle of the dung beetle as a circle of spheres on a blank white page. The endpapers in particular are really spectacular- Prange has created a timeline to show when the various lifeforms appeared on Earth using a string 46 meters long, coiled and looped, each centimeter equalling 1 million years. The string gently shifts in color, from red to orange to yellow, and through the colors of the rainbow, to represent changes in the Earth's geologic periods. Of the fourteen species represented on the timeline only one, bacteria,  appears on the left hand side of the spread. The other thirteen are bunched up towards the end of the timeline, and humans appear at the very tip of the string. It's an effective way to visually represent how young humans really are as a species. 

     Sidman's poems are as delightfully varied in form as the species they discuss. They range from a rapid-fire stream of consciousness rant by a squirrel, to a classical ode on a mollusk's shell, to a poem about sharks in the shape of (what else?) a shark. Opposite each poem is a short factual paragraph about each species, explaining the special characteristics that have made them successful on Earth. As with Sidman's other works, you're never quite sure if this is a book of poems masquerading as science, or an informational volume dressed up as art. Ubiquitous is an visually arresting, inventive, and sometimes whimsical blurring of the division between art and science.

Allusion: "... I am Sheath-wing, beloved of ancients... As the sun-god rolls his blazing disk overhead, so I roll my perfect sphere of dung across the sands... Blessed by the gods are you who hold me in your hands."
 - refers to the worship of the dung, or scarab, beetle by ancient Egyptians and the parallels drawn between the beetle and the sun god, Ra

Personification:
"Did you know/ dandelions grow the hair/ just as we do?/ Each pale, silky thread/ springs straight/ from their head./ They were all blondes,/ of course,/ and each one/ a star."

Curriculum Connection:Elementary school science- Biology

Blankets

Blankets

written and illustrated by Craig Thompson, 2003. Marietta, Georgia: Top Shelf Productions. (1891830430).

Author/Illustrator Website: http://www.dootdootgarden.com/

Media: pen and ink

Awards: 2004 Harvey Awards: Best Artist, Best Graphic Album of Original Work and Best Cartoonist, 2004 Eisner Awards: Best Graphic Album and Best Writer/Artist, 2004 Ignatz Awards: Outstanding Artist and Outstanding Graphic Novel or Collection, 2005 Prix de la Critique

Annotation:
Craig Thompson's intensely personal memoir of childhood, family, faith, first love and heartbreak in a deeply religious household in the Midwest.

Personal Reaction:

     At nearly 600 pages, Blankets is an ambitious graphic novel, both in size and scope. It's the typical coming-of-age story, beautifully illustrated: heartstring-tugging, full of confusion and angst, and more than a little confessional. While Thompson isn't covering any new ground in the age-old tradition of bildungsroman, Blankets makes an engaging (if not an entirely revelatory) read.

     Young Thompson struggles with issues of faith, overbearing parents, childhood abuse, bullying and a strict fundamentalist upbringing. By the time he reaches high school, he's a complete loner- an outcast amongst his peers. When he meets Raina, a beautiful bad (as far as Christians go) girl, he falls hard for her and most of Blankets' 600 pages is spent covering the arc of their short-lived romance.

     The illustrations are the standout here- they're sensitive, compelling and delicately detailed in ways that Thompson's writing just isn't. While Blankets tries hard to be as impressive emotionally as is it physically, it sometimes falls short. To be sure, some facets of the story are wonderfully done- Craig's relationship with his younger brother Phil, and the interpersonal workings of Raina's family are two areas that shine. There's pathos in spades here, but Thompson's storytelling lacks a subtlety and self-awareness that would keep it from venturing into melodrama territory.

The Arrival

The Arrival
written and illustrated by Shaun Tan, 2006, New York: Arthur A. Levine Books. (0439895294).

Author/Illustrator Website: http://www.shauntan.net/

Media: pencil on paper

Awards and Honors: New South Wales Premier's Literary Award; 2006 Cybils Award; Bologna Ragazzi Award, Special Mention; Spectrum Award; Junior Library Guild Selection; World Fantasy Artist of the Year; A Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2007; A New York Times Best Illustrated Book of 2007; Amazon.com's Best Teen Book of 2007; 2007 Parents' Choice Gold Award; A Book Sense Winter 2007-2008 Top Ten Children’s Pick; A New York Public Library Best Book for Reading and Sharing; A New York Times Notable Children’s Book of 2007; Rocky Mountain News, A Top Ten Book of the Year; The Columbus Dispatch, A Best Book of 2007; Booklist Editors' Choice 2007; A School Library Journal Best Book of 2007; A Washington Post Best Book for Young People for 2007; Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books Blue Ribbon for Fiction; ALA Notable Children's Book, 2008; ALA Top Ten Best Books for Young Adults, 2008; ALA Top Ten Great Graphic Novels for Teens, 2008; Horn Book Fanfare Book 2007; Metropolitan Home Magazine's Design 100, 2008; An IRA Notable Book for a Global Society, 2008; 2008 Locus Award, Best Art Book; 2008 Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, special citation for Excellence in Graphic Storytelling; CCBC Choices 2008; Nominated for an International Horror Guild Award, Illustrated Narrative

Annotation: 
A wonderfully surreal, wordless tale of immigration and the experience of being a stranger in a strange land.

Personal Reaction:
     Wonderfully surreal, visually stunning and absolutely unique, The Arrival is a masterpiece of the graphic novel genre. The completely wordless book, lushly illustrated in sepia-toned pencil drawings, tells the story of one man who leaves his country behind to build a new life for himself and his family. It's cinematic in the truest sense of the word- you don't read this book, you experience it. The illustrations are rich and evocative with more than a hint of steampunk to them- Tan combines old-fashioned looking elements with fantastical futuristic settings. It's easy to get caught up in the strangeness of the world in which the nameless protagonist lives, until you realize that Tan has created this curious and astonishing setting to show the reader what it feels like to be a stranger in a strange land. The Arrival's universality is what really makes it special. Immigration is a weighty part of the human experience and because Tan tells the tale entirely through pictures, speakers of any language, both young and old can experience this magnificent story.

Black Jack: The Ballad of Jack Johnson

Black Jack: The Ballad of Jack Johnson
by Charles R. Smith, illustrated by Shane W. Evans, 2010, New York: Roaring Brook Press. (9781596434738).

Author Website: http://www.charlesrsmithjr.com/

Illustrator Website: http://www.shaneevans.com/

Media: pen and ink, oil paint and collage

Awards and Honors: IRA Notable Books for a Global Society; Chicago Public Library Best of the Best; Booklist, Starred Review; Publishers Weekly, Starred Review; School Library Journal, Starred Review

Annotation:

A biography, in rhyming verse, of Arthur John "Jack" Johnson, the world's first black heavyweight champion.

Personal Reaction:
     With rhyming verse and bold illustrations Charles R. Smith and Shane W. Evans tell the story of Jack Johnson, the world's first black heavyweight champion. A "brave, strong, fightin' man", Jack was determined to become a "great man"- a dream he accomplished when he defeated Jim Jeffries on the Fourth of July in 1910. Smith does a masterful job at writing Johnson's story- he's able to balance historical detail with really entralling storytelling. A non-fiction book told in rhyming verse and shining with personality is a rarity. Evans' illustrations, rendered in big blocks or deep color, are bold and dynamic. He includes historic newspaper clippings and photos of Johnson as subtle collage details that lend to the story. Black Jack: The Ballad of Jack Johnson is a great example of a how a non-fiction story can be told creatively and compellingly.

Wolves in the Walls

Wolves in the Walls
by Neil Gaiman, illustrated by Dave McKean, 2003, New York: Harper Collins. (038097827X).

Author Website: http://www.neilgaiman.com/

Illustrator Website: http://www.davemckean.com/

Media: mixed media (photography, drawing, computer generated images)

Awards and Honors: New York Times Best Illustrated Children's Book (2003), IRA/CBC Children's Choice (2004) award, British Science Fiction Association award for Short Fiction (2003)

Annotation: A surrealistic tale of a young girl and her family who are plagued by an infestation of very messy, party loving wolves in their walls.

Personal Reaction:
     Neil Gaiman and illustrator Dave McKean are known for creating surreal, bizarre and slightly unhinged books for children. The Wolves in the Walls is no exception. Lucy is a young girl who believes there are wolves in the walls of her house, but her family all dismiss her fears while adding the foreboding warning, "If the wolves come out of the walls, then it's all over". 

     Of course, there really are wolves in the walls- ones who end up barreling out in the middle of the night. Lucy and her family flee the house and take shelter in the garden while the wolves live it up; watching television, plaing the tuba, eating toast and jam, and generally wreaking havoc in the house. While Lucy's family had initially been dismissive of her fears, they're now completely defeatist- no one wants to stand up to the wolves. There are suggestions of moving to the Arctic Circle, the Sahara Desert or outer space, but Lucy insists that it's not all over and she isn't going to live anywhere that's not her house. Ultimately, it is Lucy who summons up her courage and leads the charge to reclaim the house from the wolves. 
     
     While growing up kids face many fears and no matter how outlandish they may seem to adults, they are very real to children. The message of The Wolves in the Walls is that while sometimes your fears can be real, it is always possible to face them, no matter how frightening they can be.

Onomatopoeia: 
"They were hustling noises and bustling noises. They were crinkling noises and crackling noises. They were sneaking, creeping, crumpling noises."
"She heard rustlings and scratchings and squeezings and creakings in the old house..."