January's Sparrow

January's Sparrow

written and illustrated by Patricia Polacco, 2009, New York: Philomel. (0399250778).

Media: pentel acetone marker, acrylic paint, pencil and oil pastel

Awards and Honors: n/a

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

Annotation: Sadie, a young girl in Kentucky, must follow the Underground Railroad to escape from slavery with her family and begin anew in the North.

Personal Reaction: January's Sparrow tells a powerful story about racial tolerance and acceptance but the importance of the message is marred by the shortcomings in the execution of the picture book. I'm conflicted about this title because I believe that the message of the story is great, but the presentation is clunky.

The bad: Polacco's depiction of the Crosswhite family edges toward caricature at times. The exaggerated features and heavy dialect of the family are overwrought to the point where they distract from the message. The text is awkward in places and the narrative is not particularly graceful. Polacco ends Sadie's story with this oversimplification: "... in 1860 Abraham Lincoln was elected president, and in the middle of the war between the North and the South- the Civil War- he gave all the slaves their freedom".


The good: There are some particularly poignant moments within the story and the message of the entire community coming together to defend the Crosswhites from a band of slave catchers is inspiring. The ability of ordinary people to stand up for right and wrong in extraordinary circumstances is a powerful lesson. Children will no doubt have a strong emotional connection to the trials and tribulations of the family which may serve to deepen their understanding of a troubling period of American history. 


While hamfisted at times, January's Sparrow deserves a place in curricula about slavery and the Underground Railroad. Although it lacks Polacco's trademark sensitivity, it contains teachable moments and a message of acceptance and courage whose importance cannot be ignored.

Use of symbol: (throughout the text) Sadie's carved sparrow represents freedom. "Sadie... took a small wooden sparrow from the sill... She remembered January whisperin' to her when he put it into her hands. "It's fixin' to fly. And so is I." (p. 15-16)

Curricular Connection: Middle School, United States History, Slavery

For Liberty: The Story of the Boston Massacre

For Liberty: The Story of the Boston Massacre

written and illustrated by Timothy Decker, 2009, Asheville, North Carolina: Front Street Press. (9781590786086).

Media: pen and ink

Awards and Honors:

2009 Cybil Nominated title for Non Fiction (MG/YA)

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

Annotation: A stark, graphic novel style account of the Boston Massacre, one most significant events in the lead up to the Revolutionary War.

Personal Reaction: Author and illustrator Timothy Decker builds this story of the Boston Massacre slowly in deliberate, measured prose, while his austere pen and ink drawings capture the drama and tension of the storyline. There's much lying beneath the surface in this deceptively simple book. Decker is economical with his words and images, yet he still manages to pack a wealth of historical detail into the story. Background on the political situation in the colonies and Great Britain is given at the beginning of the story and Decker concludes with the subsquent trial of the soldiers. This book presents a balanced account of a very dramatic chapter in United States history. Black and white illustrations complement the gravity of the historical event. For Liberty is different than many historical picture books in that there is no back matter such as a timeline or bibliography, but this book would make an excellent addition to any lesson on the Boston Massacre.

Use of Onomatopoeia: 

"Bells pealed throughout the city."

"They could hear the growing din as the talked." 

"The throng of colonists grew as did the roar of their cries." 

"The bells continued to ring as if signaling the new tragedy."

Use of Sophisticated Language:

"Quarter no fiendish soldiers in your homes. Welcome no ill bred thieves to your hearth. Protect your liberties in this doleful and dark time."

"...soldiers quartered in a populous town, will always occasion two mobs where they prevent one. They are wretched conservators of the peace."

Use of Rhythm/Repetition:

"The mob swelled.

The reasonable men went home.

The bellicose remained."

"Surely the mob would not assault a trained soldier.

Surely his men would not fire for fear of shooting their officer.

Certainly a show of force would dissolve the anger."

Curricular Connection: 

5th Grade History/ Social Studies, California State Board of Education Standards

5.5     Students explain the causes of the American Revolution.
1. Understand how political, religious, and economic ideas and interests brought about the Revolution (e.g., resistance to imperial policy, the Stamp Act, the Townshend Acts, taxes on tea, Coercive Acts).

John, Paul, George & Ben

 

John, Paul, George & Ben

written and illustrated by Lane Smith, 2006, New York: Hyperion Books for Children. (0786848936)

Media: pen and ink with collage elements and photographs, combined digitally

Awards and Honors:

A New York Times Best Illustrated Book of the Year
A Publishers Weekly Bestseller
A Book Sense Summer Children's Pick
A School Library Journal Best Books of 2006
Horn Book Fanfare List - Best Books of 2006
A Child Magazine Best Book of the Year
An Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Platinum Book Award Winner
A Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year
A National Parenting Publication Gold Award Winner
A Parenting Magazine Best Book of the Year
A St. Louis Post Dispatch Best Book  

California Young Reader Medal, Best Picture Book for Older Readers, 2010
The Columbus Dispatch Top 20
New York Daily News Jolly Good Books Round Up
Merit award in Children’s Trade Hardcover (Bookbinder’s Guild New York Book
Show)
A Miami Herald Best Book
A Blue Ribbon Book from the Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
Winner of the 13th Annual Zena Sutherland Award for "Best Text" and "Best
Overall"
2008 Virginia Readers' Choice Award (Elementary Level)
Best Children's Author - 2007 Connecticut Book Award

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

Annotation: A humorous re-imagining of the boyhoods of the Founding Fathers John Hancock, Paul Revere, George Washington, Ben Franklin and Thomas Jefferson.

Personal Reaction:

Lane Smith combines bold, appealing illustrations and his trademark humor in this smart re-imagining of the the boyhoods of America's Founding Fathers. Each patriot has his own special "talent" that gets him into some mischief in his formative years, but ends up later being indispensable to the American Revolution. John annoys the teacher with his boldness, Paul's noisiness does nothing to endear him to his customers, George's honesty gets him into trouble, Ben's clever sayings give him a reputation as a know-it-all, and Tom is a little too independent for his own good. Students who are already familiar with the history and personalities of the American Revolution will appreciate the jokes, if not all of the puns and allusions. The illustrations are filled with touches that evoke the historical period like crackle texturing and muted colors, yet still retain a bold, modern flavor through Smith's cartoon-ish characters. Although Smith stretches historical truth for comic effect, he separates truth from fiction in a "Ye Olde True or False Section" that gives students additional information about the American Revolution and the men behind it. 

Curricular Connection: 

5th Grade History/ Social Studies, California State Board of Education Standards

5.5     Students explain the causes of the American Revolution.
      4. Describe the views, lives, and impact of key individuals during this      

      period (e.g., King George III, Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson, George 

      Washington, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams). 

The Houdini Box

The Houdini Box written and illustrated by Brian Selznick, 2008, New York: Atheneum Press. (1416968784)


Media: pencil

Awards and Honors:

The Texas Bluebonnet Award, 1993
The Rhode Island Children’s Book Award, 1993

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

Annotation: A young boy who longs to be a magician has a chance encounter with his hero, Harry Houdini, who promises to teach him the secrets of his tricks.

Personal Reaction: Selznick's first book for children tells the story of Victor, a ten year old boy who idolizes the feats of Harry Houdini. Victor tries to emulate his hero but is not nearly as adept as Houdini in escaping from locked trunks, walking through walls, or holding his breath under water. Victor's mother, worn out from Victor's hijinx, decides that a weekend in the country might calm him down. On his way to visit his Aunt Harriet, Victor meets Harry Houdini in the train station and the magician promises to send him a letter. Victor waits and waits (none too patiently) until he finally receives word from Houdini asking him to come to his house. When Victor finally arrives to meet his idol, he finds that Houdini has passed away but has left him a box. Believing that the box did not belong to Houdini, since it was inscribed with the initials E.W., Victor hides it away deep in his closet and vows to never think about Houdini again or to attempt any of his tricks. It is not until Victor is grown and has a child of his own (named Harry, "in honor of his Aunt Harriet") that he rediscovers the box and the magic contained inside. 

Young readers will connect to Victor's story as Selznick does a wonderful job of capturing a young boy's excitement in relatable prose. The story is at turns humorous, suspenseful and touching and the crosshatched pencil drawings lend a sense of mystery and age to the illustrations. Selznick enriches the story with a wealth of additional material, including an author's note, a biography of Houdini, research notes, early sketches, historical photographs, a list of further reading and personal anectdotes.

Run Far, Run Fast

Run Far, Run Fast

written and illustrated by Timothy Decker, 2007, Asheville, North Carolina: Front Street. (1590784693)

Media: pen and ink

Awards and Honors:

Selected by White Ravens Catalogue – 250 Outstanding International Children’s Books of 2008.

English Language Section – International Youth Library – Schloss Blutenburg, Munich, GERMANY.

First Place Cover/Jacket – Adult Graphic Novel Series – 2009 New York Book Show.

Author Website: http://timothydecker.com/

Annotation: A young girl in plague ravaged fourteenth-century Europe flees her family and her town, wandering the villages and countryside alone in search of refuge until she meets a stranger who she hopes will be able to help.

Personal Reaction:
     A short and simple tale of one girl's experience is enriched with emotion and historical detail through stark black and white illustrations. Decker deftly employs crosshatched pen and ink drawings and graphic novel formatting in telling his story. Though the text is concise and dialogue is minimal, multiple wordless panels provide the reader with details about the characters, the setting and the devastating toll of the Black Death.
     Decker doesn't spare the reader the grim details of the plague; we see churchyards filled with freshly dug graves, shrouded bodies lying in village streets and the baseball sized swollen nodes of plague victims. He also includes historical details (such as a few panels featuring the rats which were vectors of the disease, a group a children playing "Ring-Around-the-Rosie", interiors of abandoned monasteries, and self-flagellating pilgrims) that lend this book to inclusion in lessons about the Black Death. 
     The tone of the story is bleak. The text is filled with lines like, "The pestilence swept away all the was. When it passed, when the fear and confusion ebbed, only sorrow remained". The characters all have similar featureless countenances with no mouths and sorrowful downturned eyes. Yet we see small reasons for hope when the girl meets a stranger who feeds her and shares with her what little understanding he has of the plague. On the last page of the book we see the girl and her younger brother sleeping in the stranger's house, while he reads quietly in a chair by the hearth. There is a pot on the fire and plants in the window box, yet even in this scene of relative domestic tranquility the stranger's bird-like plague mask hanging on the wall suggests that the characters are not completely secure. 

Use of simile: (p. 4) "Every year was the same until her tenth summer. The Pestilence entered the girl's world like a tide."

Use of repetition/ Use of personification: (p. 12) "A soldier told her the gates of the city were locked to keep the Pestilence out. But the Pestilence was already in the city."

(p. 18) "A soldier told her the city gates were locked to seal the Pestilence within the walls and thus protect others. But the Pestilence could not be caged."

Curricular Connection: Middle school world history: Black Death/bubonic plague

The Widow's Broom

The Widow's Broom
written and illustrated by Chris Van Allsburg, 1992, New York: Houghton Mifflin. (0395640512).

Media: pen and ink

Awards and Honors: none

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

Annotation: The curious story of a worn-out witch's broom and the trouble it causes in one small village.

Personal Reaction: 
      The Widow's Broom is another great example of what we have come to expect from Chris Van Allsburg- a book that's eerie and enchanting at the same time, infused with a pervasive but subtle message.

     Minna Shaw is a lonely widow who lives by herself on a farm. By chance, one night a witch falls to earth on her broom, landing in the widow's vegetable garden. Minna nurses the injured witch back to health, and when the witch departs the next night she leaves behind the worn-out broom.
     
     Minna soon learns that the broom hasn't completely lost its magical powers. It begins helping out with chores around the house- chopping wood, feeding the chickens, fetching water, and sweeping (of course). While Minna is delighted to have the good-natured broom's company and help on the farm, her neighbors (the Spiveys, in particular) are less than impressed. In fact, they believe that the broom is evil and dangerous and they want her to get rid of it.

    And get rid of it, they do. After an altercation with the neighbor boys, the widow allows a gang of men led by Mr. Spivey to take the broom and burn it in an act of vigilante revenge. But not long after they destroy the broom, its ghost is spotted carrying an axe through the woods and slowly circling the Spivey's home. Spooked, the Spiveys end up packing all they own into their wagon and leaving their farm behind.

   After the Spiveys pull away it is revealed that the mob did not burn the broom as they imagined and that Minna has cleverly managed to have the last word in the disagreement. The story is a wonderfully subtle commentary on tolerance and acceptance and against close-mindedness. Its dark, atmospheric mood is perfectly matched by Van Allsburg's evocative illustrations, but it also has its moments of levity that lighten the story.