Module 15, Scary Stories

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 Scary Stories, By Alvin Schwartz 

Overview: Scary Stories is a collection of short scary stories. Each story is about one to two pages with terrifying short stories and even more terrifying illustrations. The short stories range from topics about brains, bloody fingers and big toes.

Schwartz, A . (1989). Scary stories to tell in the dark. New York, NY: Harper Collins publisher.

Little Library Review: I love this book! For me it is a classic of my childhood. The interesting thing about the questionable nature of the book is that I read this book first in the 90's in early elementary and no one was up in arms about it at the time. I like this book for those readers that just love to scare themselves and test their boundaries of fear. This book is graphic and scary and I would not read this with very young readers. The spooky stories will definitely have you visualizing and hesitant of walking around in the dark, but that is the fun of reading a book like this. This book would be perfect for a sleepover party to scary the tuna salad out of each other right before bed time. :)

Other Professional Reviews:
Grade 3-8. This folklore collection is unusually good. True to the genre, the stories contain suitable for telling, particularly for Halloween or around the campfire. Contemporary and humorous stories are blended with spooky ones. The scholarship in the source notes and bibliography are useful to serious literature students. Although the cover is not charming, it hints to macabre, shadowy black and white illustrations inside. The stories are not unbearably grotesque:they are suitable for even low elementary grades.

Chamberlin, L. B. (1982). Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (Book Review). School Library Journal, 28(5), 81.

Using it in the Library 📖: An activity that can be done with this book is to have a faux camp out in the library. The librarian can have students bring their sleeping bags or towel as you read aloud the scary stories together. It would be a perfect read aloud to do near Halloween but really I am sure the kids would enjoy this activity anytime of year. This could be done with a book club, reward or a just because.

Module 14, Take Me Out Of The Bathtub

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Take me out of the bathtub, By Alan Katz and Illustrated by David Catrow 

Overview: Take me out of the bathtub is a collection of silly and funny poems from a little boy and his wild house hold. The book features short poems about diaper changing, cleaning, and taking a bath to the tune of familiar songs like twinkle, twinkle and take me out to the ball game.

Katz, A. (1991). Take me out of the bath tub. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster publishing.

Little Library Review: Take me out of the bathtub is a fun way to introduce or maintain kids love of poetry. These lyrical poems are fun because they have a familiar rhythm and the content cover zany topics that will make kids laugh. Poetry can sometimes be a hard sell for children but Alan Katz does a really good job of making light of the wild things happening in this house. The illustrations are not to be overlooked and compliment the silly words of the poems/songs.

Other Professional Reviews: K-Gr 3--The 14 songs from Alan Katz's book, Take Me Out of the Bathtub and Other Silly Dilly Songs (Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2001), are featured in this companion CD. The songs cover a wide range of topics, from food fights to loose shoe laces and from a bad babysitter to a tale of the tub. Because the whimsical lyrics are set to well-known tunes such as "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" ("Take Me Out of the Bathtub), "I've Been Working on the Railroad" ("I've Been Cleaning Up My Bedroom"), "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" ("Stinky, Stinky Diaper Change"), and "Home on the Range" ("Give Me a Break," about an overdue library book), listeners will quickly catch on to the silly songs. The numbers included in this collection are performed by a wide range of artists who infuse just the right amount of energy and enthusiasm into each song. Instrumental tracks are included so that listeners can perform each song on their own. A good addition to collections for young children.

De Fazio, V. S. (2011). Take Me Out of the Bathtub and Other Silly Dilly Songs. School Library Journal, 57(3), 81.

Using it in the Library 📖: Activities or lessons that can be done with this book are a poetry study of this book and other Katz books. Students can then create their own lyrical poems and perform for each other or an audience.

Module 13, Sisters

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Sisters, By Raina Telgemeier 

Overview: Sisters is a graphic novel about adventures of two sisters together. They go on road trips, buy pets, visit family and go through sisterly ups and downs together. The graphic novel is full of drama, sisterly arguments and disagreements but in the end they are there for each other throughout their set backs. 

Telgemeier, R. (2014). Sisters. New York, NY: Scholastic Inc.

Little Library Review:  This book is a funny comedy of two sisters that fight but love each other in the end. It is a good book for siblings to read and identify with sympathize with the characters. It also teaches a lesson with humor that although you fight and don't always get along your sister will be there for you. The story structure is setup as a graphic novel so it is a appealing to those readers that maybe bored with the same old format of fictional stories. I would recommend this book for upper elementary readers.

Other Professional Reviews: Gr 4 Up— Telgemeier has returned with a must-have follow-up to Smile (Scholastic, 2010) that is as funny as it is poignant, and utterly relatable for anyone with siblings. This realistic graphic memoir tells the story of Raina; her sister, Amara; and her brother, Will, as they take a road trip with their mother from California to Colorado to join a family reunion. The author's narrative style is fresh and sharp, and the combination of well-paced and well-placed flashbacks pull the plot together, moving the story forward and helping readers understand the characters' point of view. The volume captures preadolescence in an effortless and uncanny way and turns tough subjects, such as parental marriage problems, into experiences with which readers can identify. This ability is what sets Telgemeier's work apart and makes her titles appealing to such a wide variety of readers. Not only does the story relay the road trip's hijinks, but it also touches on what happens with the advent of a new sibling and what it means to be truly sisters. Fans of the graphic novelist's work will be sure to delight in this return to the Telgemeier's family drama.—Krishna Grady, Darien Library, CT

Grady, K. (2014). Sisters. School Library Journal, 60(7), 96.

Using it in the Library 📖: Sisters is written in graphic novel structure: a fun activity to do after reading this story would be to create fictional stories in a comic book format.

Module 12, Rosa

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Rosa, By Nikki Giovanni, Illustrated by Brian Collier 

Overview: Rosa Parks is a average African American woman working in the 1950's as a seamstress. One day on her way home she is tired and encounters a situation on her bus ride and is faced with a difficult situation. She takes a stand for herself and others like her. The story does not stop here though as most familiar with her story do. This book continues and tells how Rosa was feeling and the impact that is had on her family and friends.

Giovanni, N. (2005). Rosa. New York, NY: Holtzbrink Publishers.

Little Library Review: This book is written about a common public figure Rosa Parks, however, it is written from a different perspective and connects with her background as common person and human. I like the way that the author shares stories of her experiences at home and with her husband to show that she was just an average person who made an extraordinary difference. The text is also written in a simple child friendly way so that children are able to understand the story and events of actions that day. The illustrations are full of rich color and make a powerful impact on the story's delivery. 

Other Professional Reviews: Gr 3-5-- An eloquent narrative and powerfully expressionistic art paint Rosa Parks with a heroic sheen. Cast as a capable, strong-minded woman who sat down that fateful day ready and able to face the consequences, Parks actually glows in the illustrations--fittingly, as her experience lit the way for those who organized the subsequent bus boycott and, like the marchers depicted on a culminating double foldout, were moved to so many further acts of courage.

Peters, J. (2006). Rosa. School Library Journal, 52(3), 88-89

Using it in the Library 📖: This book would be a good mentor text to use as a resource for research on individuals that have made an impact. The language is simple enough that readers will be able to get a lot of real and important information from the story.

Module 11, Actual Size

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Actual Size, By Steve Jenkins 

Overview: Actual Size is a colorful book of information about the actual size of an array of animals. As you read about each animal a picture is illustrated of the either a part or entire body for readers enjoyment. 

Jenkins, S. (2011). Actual Size. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company.

Little Library Review: Actual Size is a really amazing book because it gives readers a glimpse of animals they otherwise may never see. Someone may tell you how big a bears paw is but Steve Jenkins shows you, which is many ways is more powerful. This book is good for any age reader to enjoy, compare and have fun with animals and their many sizes.   

Other Professional Reviews: PreS-Gr 5-- In striking torn-and-cut paper collages, Jenkins depicts 18 animals and insects-or a part of their body-in actual size. One illustration compares an atlas moth with a 12-inch wingspan to a dwarf goby fish, which is 1/3-inch long. The eye of a giant squid, at a foot across, occupies a spread to terrific effect; only the snout and tongue-curling its two-foot length across two pages and littered with termites-are visible in the picture of the giant anteater. The hand of a gorilla fills a page opposite the entire pygmy mouse lemur with its tiny human-fingertip-sized palm. The saltwater crocodile grows to 23 feet, so tremendous that its head occupies a three-page foldout. On the reverse side is the rat-eating Goliath frog, a staggering 36 inches long in full hop. One or two lines of text briefly introduce each animal and give specific measurements, e.g., the gorilla stands 5 ½ feet tall and weighs 600 pounds, while the mouse lemur is 2 ½ inches tall and weighs 1 ounce. The end matter offers full pictures of the creatures and more details about their habitats and habits. Mixing deceptive simplicity with absolute clarity, this beautiful book is an enticing way to introduce children to the glorious diversity of our natural world, or to illustrate to budding scientists the importance of comparison, measurement, observation, and record keeping. A thoroughly engaging read-aloud and a must-have for any collection.

Ratterree, D. (2004). Actual Size (Book). School Library Journal, 50(6), 128

Using it in the Library 📖: This book would be a good resource book to use for collecting information about animals featured in the book. Steve Jenkins also includes measurement and sizes, it would be fun to really use measurement tools to measure the illustrations. A variety of tools could be used. Students could also recreate a similar styled book of real items and their actual sizes.

Module 10, Henry's Freedom Box

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Henry's Freedom Box, By Ellen Levine 

Overview:  The book begins with Henry's life as a young slave. He is struggling with his identity because he doesn't know his birthday and he is seperated from his family. He collects things as he grows up but is torn apart again from his family once again when he is a man. In despair and desperation he comes up with a plan for his freedom to mail himself off to the North. 

Levine, E. (2007). Henry's Freedom Box. Boston, MA: Scholastic Inc.

Little Library Review: This is one of those powerful eye opening books for children to read about another perspective of how some people had to once live. I think children will connect to this book because of the value they have for their birthday and family and make a connection with Henry. I imagine young readers will empathize when they consider how tough things were for Henry that he felt he had no choice but to mail himself in a box. The illustrations as Henry is traveling gives the reader a perspective of how dangerous the situation was and how brave Henry was. 

Other Professional Reviews: 
Gr 2-5 — Inspired by an actual 1830s lithograph, this beautifully crafted picture book briefly relates the story of Henry "Box" Brown's daring escape from slavery. Torn from his mother as a child, and then forcibly separated from his wife and children as an adult, a heartsick and desperate Brown conspired with abolitionists and successfully traveled north to Philadelphia in a packing crate. His journey took just over one full day, (hiring which he was often sideways or upside down in a wooden crate large enough to hold him, but small enough not to betray its contents. The story ends with a reimagining of the lithograph that inspired it, in which Henry Brown emerges from his unhappy confinement — in every sense of the word — and smiles upon his arrival in a comfortable Pennsylvania parlor. Particularly considering the broad scope of Levine's otherwise well-written story, some of the ancillary "facts" related in her text are unnecessarily dubious; reports vary, for instance, as to whether the man who sealed Henry into the crate was a doctor or a cobbler. And, while the text places Henry's arrival on March 30, other sources claim March 24 or 25. Nelson's illustrations, always powerful and nuanced, depict the evolution of a self-possessed child into a determined and fearless young man. While some of the specifies are unfortunately questionable, this book solidly conveys the generalities of Henry Brown's story.

Threadgill, C. (2007). Henry's Freedom Box: A True Story. School Library Journal, 53(3), 176.

Using it in the Library 📖: This would be a good book to do some activities or lessons about character point of view and character traits. Henry goes through so many ups an downs in the story that the story naturally lends itself for stopping points to reflect. 

Module 9, Who Pushed Humpty Dumpty

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Who pushed Humpty Dumpty, By David Levinthal  

Overview:  Who pushed Humpty Dumpty is a mystery of short snippets of events happening around private investigator Binky. Binky is a toad and is traveling around this fairytale town investigate these crimes happening to some familiar fairy tale characters. 

Levintal, D. (2012). Who pushed Humpty Dumpty. New York, NY: Random House Children's Books.

Little Library Review: Who pushed Humpty Dumpty is a funny mystery book with lots of old familiar characters that readers will recognize. The book is hilarious because it is centered around this very serious, very professional TOAD private investigator. He is bound and determine to clean up this little town of the "crimes" taking place. I would recommend that parents or teachers expose their child to fairy tales stories like The 3 bears prior to reading this mystery. It is not necessary but it will make the story that much more humorous as you read. I recommend this book for all elementary age children to enjoy. 

Other Professional Reviews: Gr 1-4 -- These open-and-shut cases of nursery-rhyme mysteries are narrated by Officer Binky, a toad with a manner reminiscent of Joe Friday's on the old Dragnet TV show, with his typical "Just the facts, Ma'am" style. In the first of five short stories, the officer gets a call from Mrs. Bear, who is upset because someone broke into the family home, ate their porridge, sat in their chairs, and slept in their beds. Based upon the evidence-a blond hair and an empty bowl, a piece of blue material caught in a chair that has seen better days, and a disheveled quilt on a bed -- Officer Binky deduces that it "could only be one dame: Goldilocks!" When questioned, she admits to being the intruder. The intrepid cop assures readers that "they'll feed her three meals a day where she's going, and she'll have plenty of time to rest." Hansel and Gretel, Humpty Dumpty, Snow White, and Jack and the Beanstalk are all similarly treated in eight pages or less with the police officer quickly solving the mysteries behind the well-known tales. Illustrations are presented in a variety of sizes and set off by frames in different colors. At the end of each segment, a red stamp reading 'CASE CLOSED' is superimposed over Nickle's richly colored acrylic artwork. The tongue-in-cheek telling of tales will tickle the fancies of children familiar with the originals. -- Maryann H. Owen, Racine Public Library, WI

Owen, M. H. (2012). Who Pushed Humpty Dumpty?: And Other Notorious Nursery Tale Mysteries. School Library Journal, 58(9), 118.

Using it in the Library 📖: A fun activity to do after reading this book assuming that students are familiar to the fairy tales it to do a book hunt to connect the mystery with its original fairy tales and compare.

Module 8, Nightmares

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Nightmares, By Jason Segel 

Overview:
A boy named Charlie has recently lost his mother and is going through a hard time. Not long after his mothers death his father decides to remarry and they all move into his new mothers creepy house. During this difficult transition Charlie starts having nightmares and suspects his stepmother is at the root of all of his problems. In his investigation of his nightmares and suspected witch stepmother he stumbles upon a portal. His brother and friends enter this Nether world of danger and freight and he must save them.  They all ban together to conquer monsters and their worst fears.

Segel, J. (2014.) Nightmares. New York, NY: Random House Publishing.

Little Library Review: This book was as humorous as it was scary. I enjoyed reading this story most because of the tone of the characters in the story. It was written in a fun and smart way. The nightmares were graphic and terrifying but it was balanced with the humor of Charlie and his friends. I would not read this with younger readers because of the scary content but definitely appropriate for older readers that will separate the content from reality.

Other Professional Reviews: Gr 4–6— Eleven-year-old Charlie Laird is absolutely convinced that his stepmother Charlotte is a witch. She dresses funny, serves seriously strange food (kale pancakes), and runs a store called Hazel's Herbarium. Charlie's dad, little brother, and friends all like Charlotte and think Charlie's still grieving for his mom. He's also suffering from terrible nightmares, and living in Charlotte's crazy purple mansion isn't helping. The evil witch who stars in those nightmares threatens to follow the protagonist into the real world and kidnap his brother. Instead, he is tricked into the Nightmare World, peopled with monsters and madness: gorgons, goblins, crazy clowns, scary bunnies, tests filled with gibberish, and the monomaniacal President Fear (who also inhabits the real world as the truly terrifying Principal Stearns). But all is not what it seems, and some of the scariest creatures turn out to be sympathetic—or even allies. There are lessons to be learned about facing fears and uncovering the real enemy in this tale. Pals Alfie, Rocco, and Paige are interesting and fairly three-dimensional; most of the adults (with the exceptions of Fear/Stearns and Charlotte) are merely background. The fear is as much psychological as anything, and there's humor and a fairly high ick-factor, but relatively little violence. A good choice for elementary-aged scare-seekers.—Mara Alpert, Los Angeles Public Library

Alpert, M. (2014). Nightmares!. School Library Journal, 60(9), 132.

Using it in the Library 📖: Something fun and interesting to do as you are reading this book in a literature circle or book club, is to stop and read another book that tells you what descriptions of dreams meaning. I think kids would find this information interesting and maybe get them reading into another book. Whether it is true or not, students would still enjoy the mystery and questioning.

Module 7, HOOT

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HOOT, by Carl Hiaasen

Overview: Roy has just moved to Florida with his dad. He has moved around a lot and has rough start with the kids at his new school. As Roy is settling into  his new town a restaurant, Mother Paula's Pancake House, is being constructed. Suspicious activities around the new restaurant bring Roy to an quirky character, Mullet Fingers. Though Mullet Fingers, Roy discovers there is a owl burrow at the restaurant site and decide to try to take action to save them. With new found friends Beatrice and Mullet Fingers, Roy battles middle school bullies and adult bullies to eventually save the owls and stop the building of the new restaurant.

Hiaasen, C. (2002). Hoot. New York, NY. Random House Publishing, Inc.

Little Library Review: Hoot is a book with several different themes and of good and evil that kids will be drawn to. The characters are silly and interesting that will keep the book light and funny while tacking tough issues. The book is setup in a way that multiple characters face challenges and grow through out the story. There are plot elements with step families. lost of family members, changes, moving and bullies lot of connecting threads that a early teens will be able to relate to while they are finding their own moral foundation.

Other Professional Reviews: Gr. 5–8. It seems unlikely that the master of noir-tinged, surrealistic black humor would write a novel for young readers. And, yet, there has always been something delightfully juvenile about Hiaasen’s imagination; beneath the bent cynicism lurks a distinctly 12-year-old cackle. In this thoroughly engaging tale of how middle schooler, Roy Eberhardt, new kid in Coconut Cove, learns to love South Florida, Hiaasen lets his inner kid run rampant, both the subversive side that loves to see grown-ups make fools of themselves and the righteously indignant side, appalled at the mess being made of our planet. When Roy teams up with some classic children’s lit outsiders to save the home of some tiny burrowing owls, the stage is set for a confrontation between right-thinking kids and slow-witted, wrongheaded civic boosters. But Hiaasen never lets the formula get in his way; the story is full of offbeat humor, buffoonish yet charming supporting characters,and genuinely touching scenes of children enjoying the wildness of nature. He deserves a warm welcome into children’s publishing. —Bill Ott

Ott, B. (2002). Books for middle school readers. Booklist, 99, (4), p405.

Using it in the Library 📖: Activities or lessons that can be done with this book: research project on owls, the conservation of owls, a discovery investigation of owl pellets, create a poster or persuasive commercial for or against the restaurant building.

Module 6, THE DAY the CRAYONS QUIT

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THE DAY the CRAYONS QUIT, by Drew Dewalt, Illustrated by Oliver Jeffers

Overview: Duncan's crayons are upset and are ready to quit! Each crayon has their own grievances and write a letter to Duncan to let him know. As you read the letters you can feel the personality of each of the crayons. It will make you laugh out loud.

Dewalt, D. (2013). The day the crayons quit. New York, NY. Penguin Young Reader Group.

Little Library Review: This is such a funny book with an interesting perspective that readers will love. When I read this book I like to change my voice with each crayon, they are all so different and ooze with personality. My favorite crayons are red, orange, and  peach is the best! The good news is if you really enjoy this author and illustrator combo there is a sequel to this hilarious book, The Day The Crayons Came Back.

Other Professional Reviews: It is possible to read too much into a picture book. A funny statement since what were talking about is literature for people who haven’t even seen a decade of time pass them by. But historically picture books have been places where prejudices are both intentionally and unintentionally on display. Yet for every Denver by David McKee (a picture book about the beauty of trickle down economics) you’ll find fifty people reading WAY too much into something like Rainbow Fish (Communist propaganda) or Click Clack Moo (inculcating kids into unionism). The thing is, picture books are meant to teach and inform our children. Yet along the way a parent or gatekeeper might be worried about the unintentional messages getting pushed along the way. At the end of the day you have to weigh your reactions carefully. You can’t be pointing fingers left and right, claiming authorial intent where there is none. Okay. So round about now you’re trying to figure out what the heck any of this has to do with The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt. I mean, talk about an innocuous title. Why am I going on and on about unintentional messages in works of children’s fiction in preface to talking about this book? Well, here’s the trouble. I have a major problem with this story and it’s entirely possible that it’s just in my own head. So here’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to lay out the facts as they stand and you can judge for yourself whether or not this book does indeed make a major you-can’t-do-that-in-the-21st-century mistake, or if I’m simply suffering from a case of Reading Too Much Into It. Either way, it sure makes this Daywalt/Jeffers collaboration into an interesting point of discussion.
Duncan’s your average kid. Not the kind of person who’s going to expect that when he reaches for his crayons at school he is, instead, going to find himself with a bundle of letters. Each letter is from a different crayon voicing their complaints. Says gray, “I know that elephants are gray but that’s a lot of space to color in all by myself.” Or pink saying, “Could you please use me sometime to color the occasional pink dinosaur or monster or cowboy?” Red and blue need a rest, white feels empty, yellow and orange both claim the sun, and all black ever wanted in life was, for once, to color in a rainbow or a beach ball. By the end of the letters Duncan wants to make the crayons happy. And that’s when he comes up with the perfect solution to everybody’s woes.
Now let’s talk crayon history for a bit. This is fun. In 1962 the U.S. Civil Rights Movement was underway. America was going through big changes. Assumptions that had lain dormant for years were finally getting challenged and even crayons were getting a double glance. You see 1962 was the year that Crayola decided to officially change the crayon known as “flesh” to “peach”. You see where I am going with this, I suspect. While white children certainly would use the color as flesh, it wasn’t exactly on the up and up to assume that white was the de facto skin color. Fast forward to 2013 and the publication of The Day the Crayons Quit. Peach does indeed make an appearance in this book and in that section complains vociferously that its wrapper has been removed. “Now I’m NAKED and too embarrassed to leave the crayon box. I don’t even have any underwear!” That Daywalt is linking peach to flesh again is no crime. Interestingly, on the previous page the pink crayon has been making a very different complaint about never being allowed to draw cowboys or dinos or monsters. The monster that it HAS drawn is covering its private parts, obviously believing itself to be naked as well, as the dinosaur points and laughs. So. Pink and peach are clearly equated with flesh tones.
Then what’s the deal with brown?
There is only one vaguely brownish crayon in this book and it is the much maligned beige. The official brown does not make an appearance it would seem. Beige’s sadness is the fact that while “Brown gets all the bears, ponies and puppies . . . the only things I get are turkey dinners (if I’m lucky) and wheat.”
Mmm hmm.
This is precisely where the difficulty comes into play. How much am I reading into this through my own prejudices? Let me give you a bit of comparison. This year is also seeing the publication of The Black Rabbit by Philippa Leathers. In that particular book a little white rabbit keeps seeing a “scary” big black rabbit that he runs away from. The black rabbit is, in fact, the little rabbit’s own shadow and at the end he comes to love the big black rabbit after all. A librarian recently commented to me that it would have been far preferable if the little rabbit had been brown or some other color. Otherwise you have a book where a white character fears a big black one. At first I was inclined to agree, but after thinking about it I wasn’t so sure. After all, the white rabbit’s fears are entirely in its own head. There’s also the fact that the book, I believe, is originally Australian, so the author wasn’t working with a lot of the codes and keys common in American culture. I was even reminded of the huge brouhaha surrounding The Rabbits’ Wedding by Garth Williams. In 1958 the Alabama state library system removed the book from circulation because it featured a black rabbit and a white rabbit getting married. But sometimes a rabbit is just a rabbit.
So is a crayon just a crayon? I think the difference may lie in what a kid gets out of reading this book. In the case of The Black Rabbit, few kids are going to equate themselves with fluffy bunnies. Even if they do, the black rabbit is ultimately the hero of the story. There’s a bit of a difference with crayons. Kids are constantly coloring themselves and the people they love with the crayons they have on hand. Crayola, knowing this, even released a brand of multicultural crayons of varying brown tones in response to the public’s desire for that very product. So to produce a book where pink and flesh are equated with skin tones and that possibility isn’t even considered with beige or brown makes for a complicated reading. It’s an easy mistake to make if you’re not thinking about it at first, but you would have thought that someone in the course of editing this thing might have brought the point up with Mr. Daywalt. Heck, they might have brought it up with Jeffers too, since he’s the one who came up with the naked monster picture in the first place.
Getting away from brown, beige, and peach crayons entirely, let’s look at the book in terms of its other merits. When I was a kid I definitely ascribed personalities to inanimate objects. Not just dolls and toys, oh no. I could turn a game of War into a long drawn out romantic epic, thanks to the personalities ascribed to various playing cards. And crayons were no exception. Each one had a different part to play. They dealt with jealousies and romances, the whole nine yards. So in that frame of mind, The Day the Crayons Quit speaks to something very real. Kids like to believe that the objects that they play with are as invested in the experience as the kids themselves. So Daywalt has clearly found a unique but necessary niche. If he follows the book up with a story of playing cards we’ll know he’s on the right track.
This is also an epistolary picture book. I don’t know if Daywalt knows this, but a common assignment given by a variety of different elementary school teachers requires kids to read epistolary books (Dear Mrs. LaRue, The Journey of Oliver K. Woodman, etc.). As such, The Day the Crayons Quit is no doubt destined to remain on multiple children’s book lists for decades and decades to come.
Which is a bit of a pity since the book itself is tailor made for an adult readership. Sure, some kids are going to get a real kick out of it. But as I read through the book I kept thinking that were it not for the art of Oliver Jeffers, this title would be a difficult read. After all, it’s pretty much all about the words. Jeffers does what he can to give as much life and vitality as he can to the text, but there are twelve letters in here and around the orange and yellow crayons you’ll be forgiven if your attention starts to wane.
That’s why the success of the book (and success it indeed is) can be ascribed primarily to its illustrator. I began to notice that the childlike style of the art can really, believably be the style of a kid. This is undoubtedly why Jeffers was picked for the project in the first place. Aside from David Shannon it can be difficult to find artists that replicate children’s art styles without coming off as half-cooked. Jeffers has also taken great pains to put in as many small clever details as possible, and it makes for a very rewarding rereading. At first you wouldn’t notice. His Santa on a fire truck is straightforward. The dragon accidentally burning a clump of grapes is cute but for me the book really picks up with (no surprise here) the moment when Jeffers gets to draw a penguin. Even the paper he chooses for each crayon is interesting and significant. Admittedly I was a little surprised that the purple crayon’s letter wasn’t written on lined paper (since it’s such a stickler for staying inside the lines) while the gray crayon’s was. His faux coloring books are fun in and of themselves but it’s the final picture that’s worth it. There are a lot of hat tips to the crayons’ demands to be found here, from black rainbows to white cats. I think the character of Duncan still totally forgot to pay heed to blue’s request, but otherwise it’s on the up and up. You could even ignore that all the humans are drawn with pink or peach or white crayons, if you had half a mind to.
That’s sort of what makes the problems I have with the book such a bummer. There’s really good stuff going on here! Oliver Jeffers is fun to watch no matter what he does and Daywalt has the makings of a fine author for kids. The troubles come when you look at what the book is saying. Fans of a certain stripe are sure to disregard my concerns with a wave of their hand. “She’s reading WAY too much into this”, they might say. Probably. But it seems to me that you cannot write a book about crayons and mention peach and pink as naked without acknowledging that not every kid in the world thinks of those colors as a flesh tones. I mean, that’s just obvious. Here’s beige again: “I am BEIGE and I am proud.” Beige power, eh? Come on, little crayon. Time for you to think outside the box.
On shelves now.

Bird, E. (2013). Review of the day: The day the crayons quit by Drew Dewalt. School Library Journal. Retrieved from http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2013/08/05/review-of-the-day-the-day-the-crayons-quite-by-drew-daywalt/

Using it in the Library 📖: Lessons or activities you could do with this book are: parts of a letter, letter writing, and perspective writing.  Something fun to do could be write a litter back to each of the crayons from Duncan's perspective explaining why he has been using them this way. To practice voice and expression I would print or copy each crayons part out and have student role play the parts.

Module 5, TAR BEACH

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Tar Beach, by Faith Ringgold 

Overview: Tar Beach is about a young girl name Cassie who imagines traveling over her rooftop building to the George Washington bridge. Cassie admires the city views and describes in poetic detail her affinity for the bridge, city, the stars and the Union building her father works at. The "tar beach" is the roof top that her family, and neighbors hangout on in the evenings as Cassie and her little brother fly around the city.

Ringgold, F. (1991). Tar beach. New York: NY. Crown Publishers, Inc.

Little Library Review: Before you actually read the words of the book you will notice the colorful and unique illustrations of the city and quilt. I find the illustrations endearing and comforting. I imagine that  lots of families that grew up in an urban setting are able to make connection with the vivid pictures. The story is simple in that it is about a girl describing her family and her city but it has deep undertones of multicultural celebration. The plot is not different in that is it exploring but the setting and family  and surrounding make the story stand out from others.

Other Professional Reviews: Gr 1 Up--Tar Beach is a work of modern art translated into a children's picture book, and the adaptation is so natural that it seems inevitable. From her 1988 story quilt, reproduced on the cover and within the last pages of the book, Ringgold has taken both the setting and the text. The painted scene in the center of the quilt shows a Harem rooftop on a starry night with four adults playing cards and with Cassie Louise Lightfoot and her brother, Be Be, lying on a blanket gazing at the sky. Cassie sees herself flying over the city lights; dreams of wearing the George Washington Bridge as a necklace; imagines giving her father the union building he is not allowed to join because of his half-black, haft-Indian heritage; flies over the ice cream factory; and takes her little brother with her to the sky. Cassie's story, written along the borders of the quilt in tiny script, becomes the text Of the book. The illustrations painted for the book version are done in the same colorful, naive style as the quilt. This type of art translates beautifully into the storybook format, and a border of bright fabric designs on the bottom of each page duplicates the material used in the quilt. In capturing the euphoria of a child's dreams, and in its gentle reminder of the social injustices of the adult world, the book is both universal and contemporary.

Whilton, S. (1991). Book review/ preschool & primary. School Library Journal. 37,(2), p74.

Using it in the Library 📖: Activities of lessons that could be done with this book is visualizing and writing with sensory details. The entire book is filled with literary writing examples that student could stop jot and visualize without the pictures and sketch their picture inside their heads. This book would also be good resource for mentor sentences that use sensory details. This book also focuses a lot of the structure of the buildings and the bridge, a sensory bin with build manipulatives can create a opportunity to build their own sky skyscrapers like in the story.

Module 4, The ONE and ONLY Ivan

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The ONE and ONLY Ivan, By Katherine Applegate

Overview: The One and Only Ivan is about a gorilla that lives in a mall with a few other animals. Ivan was captured as baby and knows next to nothing about his original habitat in the wild. At the mall there are other animals who have been kept in captivity throughout  their lives after also being taken from the wild. One is an adult elephant who serves as the mother of the group. The other is a baby elephant, both Ivan and the baby elephant Ruby look to Stella the mother elephant for support. After Ruby arrives Ivan decides he does not want the same fate that he has had for Ruby and devises a plan for them to escape the mall. In the end Ivan changes their future with his drawings and makes an brave leap as gorilla in the wild.

Applegate, K. (2012). The one and only Ivan. New York: NY. Harper Collins.

Little Library Review:  The simplistic style of the writing created a very believable and somewhat helpless feel to the world in which Ivan lives. Simple statement sentence sand sentence fragments add to the very basic understanding that Ivan has of the world. It is a view into the eyes of an animal living in captivity in a habitat far from his/her natural environment. It really makes the readers reflect and think of animals in captivity from another perspective.

Other Professional Reviews: Gr 3-7—This tender tale of friendship and hope is narrated by a silverback gorilla living at The Big Top Mall, a shabby, circus-themed roadside attraction. For years, Ivan was passively content. He had his art, unlimited bananas, and his friends: Stella (an elephant), Bob (a stray dog), and Julia (a human child). Ivan’s eyes are finally opened to his deplorable surroundings when he loses a friend due to neglect. The last straw is when he witnesses the attraction’s owner abusing Ruby, a newly acquired baby elephant. Thus, Ivan is inspired to take action. With some help from his human friends, his dream of a better life for all the Big Top’s animals just might come true. The character of Ivan, as explained in an author’s note, is inspired by a real gorilla that lived through similar conditions before being adopted by Zoo Atlanta. Applegate makes a powerful statement about the treatment of animals—especially those living in captivity—and reminds readers that all creatures deserve a safe place to call home. Castelao’s delightful illustrations enhance this lovely story, and the characters will capture readers’ hearts and never let go. A must-have.—Alissa J. LeMerise, Oxford Public Library, MI.

LeMerise, A. (2013). SLJ reviews for top media award winners. School Library Journal. Retrieved from http://www.slj.com/2013/01/industry-news/slj-reviews-for-top-youth-media-award-winners/

Using it in the Library 📖: Activities and lessons that could be done with this book could be: examining the book from multiple perspectives of the characters in the book, a research project on animals in captivity, a character analysis of Ivan as a character and his change through out the story.

Module 3, TUESDAY

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TUESDAY, By David Wiesner 

Overview: Tuesday rolls around this week and you may think it is an ordinary unassuming, no frills day but then something happens once the sun goes down... Tuesday night the frogs start behaving out of the ordinary traveling around the quiet neighborhood giving some animals and people a shock. The frogs enjoy simple amusements as they are out all night and until the wee hours of the next morning. Once they have returned home they leave the town dumbfounded in their tracks. Little does the neighborhood know a new surprise awaits them next Tuesday.

Wiesner, D. (1991). Tuesday. Boston, MA: Clarion Books.

Little Library Review: This book is such a funny, smart, and seizing picture book! It is almost wordless except for the time mentioned a few times through out the book. The frogs and their unexpected, almost alien like invasion of the neighborhood is everything in this funny picture book. Because the book is basically wordless and all of the story line is played out through the pictures, this book reaches all ages at different levels. Some younger readers will make noticings as the frogs flying throughout the houses and yard and more experienced reader may notice a little more of the details of the story. It is guaranteed kids will be surprised and laugh and the absurd amphibians as they read TUESDAY.

Other Professional Reviews: One of the best pictures in this book is on one of the first pages. There, a turtle cowers in its shell as black eyed, pupil-less frogs rise on their lily pads out of the water. The frogs descend, so to speak, on a nearby suburb, and proceed to wreak some minor havoc. They disturb a man pausing to eat a late night sandwich. They disturb laundry and enter old ladies’ homes to watch a little telly. And they take a great amount of pleasure in scaring a dog that would undoubtedly eat them if it had the chance. As the book ends, the frogs are relieved of their otherworldly powers and hop back to the swamps, leaving only their lily pads behind. The next Tuesday, at the same time, we’re given a hint of how a more porcine animal will handle such unexpected flight.

Bird, E. (2012). Top 100 picture books #24: Tuesday by David Wiesner. School Library Journal. Retrieved from http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2012/06/11/top-100-picture-books-24-tuesday-by-david-wiesner/

Using it in the Library 📖: Activities or lessons that can be done with this book are a inferencing and drawing conclusions. This book is majority wordless so readers must really make up the words to what is happening as they turn the pages. Copies of one or several pages can be made and students can create the words that would "tell" the story of what is happening. If students were given different pages a class book can be create once each part was

Module 2, Ramona The Pest

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Ramona The Pest, By Beverly Cleary, Illustrated by Louis Darling.

Overview: Ramona The Pest is a story about a spunky character name Ramona and her adventures in kindergarten. The story take place at the beginning of kindergarten, Ramona is new to school and is thrilled about her new teacher. Through out the chapter book Ramona gains independence and learns a few lesson about rules and how school works. Although she doesnt mean to, she keeps running into trouble. In this book she is accompanied by her neighbor Howie whom she loves to hate and other familiar characters to the series like her big sister Beezus and Henry Higgins. By the end of kindergarten Ramona has definitely learned and experienced some adventures her first year of school.

Cleary, B. (1968). Ramona the pest. New York, NY: William Morrow.

Little Library Review: I really enjoy this book and the main character Ramona. I've reader every book in this series but The Pest is one of my favorites. What I like most about Ramona is how easily her character is able to relate to kids in the classroom. Although she gets into trouble frequently in most of the book she is not meaning to be mean most of the time. When reading this book aloud to children they really relate to her feelings of pleasing , feeling left out, and being unfairly treated and they feel empathy for her misunderstandings. I really admire her spirit and spunk and how unique a character she is literally marching to the beat of her own drum. She is strong willed but in a noble sense. My favorite part of this book was the scene when Ramona gets her new boots and then gets stuck in the mudd. She was so snarky and sure that she wouldn't get caught or stuck. This is a great read aloud at any time of the year but maybe most helpful at the beginning of school year, when children are finding their identity in their new classroom.

Other Professional Reviews: In Anita Silvey’s 100 Best Books for Children, she says that “Critics have described Ramona the Pest as a girl’s experiences in meeting the Establishment.” Which just makes me think that a book called Ramona Vs. The Man would have made perfect sense. Someday, sad to say, we’ll see someone take Ramona and turn her into a teenager. If they’ve any sense at all, they’ll make her one that wears combat boots.
Of course Ramona had appeared for years in Cleary’s other books. Silvey says, “Cleary thought about Ramona the Pest for fifteen years before writing the book. In a New York taxi in 1953, her editor suggested that Cleary develop a story about Ramona, a minor character in the Henry Huggins books. She dismissed this idea and continued to work on other projects. But she found that Ramona, until then making only cameo appearances, began to take on a life of her own. So in 1968, Beverly Cleary picked up a sheet of paper and began with a title, Ramona the Pest. ‘The story of Ramona’s clash with the school system, her eagerness for attention, her stubbornness, her misunderstandings, her fears, her longing to love and be loved, almost seemed to write itself’.”

Bird, E. (2012). Top 100 children's novels #24 Ramona the pest by Beverly Cleary. School Library Journal. Retrieved from http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2012/06/04/top-100-childrens-novels-24-ramona-the-pest-by-beverly-cleary/

Using it in the Library 📖: Activities or lessons that can be done with this book are a character analysis. Ramona is a big character in this story and changes over time, a class could track the events and mark the characters actions as these events unfold. Internal and external traits could be a focus while searching for the proof in the story as the events happen. As more series were read in the library we could compare and contrast time frames and characters. We could also keep a timeline.