Tag Archives: Family

Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters: An African Tale

Posted on November 30, 2018 by | Comments Off on Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters: An African Tale

Title: Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters: An African Tale

Author(s): John Steptoe

Illustrator/Photographer: John Steptoe

Publisher and Year: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books 1987

Number of pages: 28

Tags/Themes: Allison Henry, Award Book, Family, Culture, Picture Book, Fiction, 2-3, 4-5

Genre: Fiction

Descriptive Annotation:  Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters is the story of Nyasha, the nice sister, and Manyara, the mean sister. One day, the King sends out a proclamation that he is looking for a wife and all eligible women need to report to the palace. Manyara sneaks out of her home at night to be the first woman to meet the King and on her journey, she is rude to many people. Nyasha follows the next morning with her father, Mufaro, and is kind to everyone. When she arrives at the palace, the King reveals that he was all of the people that she was kind to on the journey and takes her as his wife. Students would benefit from knowing how to pronounce the various African words in the text. The illustrations in the book are incredibly detailed and take up the entire set of pages. They appear to be done in colored pencil. This book is a Caldecott Honor Book.

Classroom Application: This book could be used in a social sciences lesson on African cultures. In the front cover, the author mentions that the story is based off a folktale first published in 1895 by G. M. Theal in his collection of African folktales. The illustrations are based off of ancient ruins found near Zimbabwe. This book could also be used to teach Social Emotional Learning Standard 2, “Use social-awareness and interpersonal skills to establish and maintain positive relationships.” The students could compare and contrast the two sisters and discuss their interactions, including ways to improve Manyara’s interactions with others.

Linguistic and Cultural Diversity Analysis: As mentioned above, this text is based off of an African folktale and the illustrations are based off of ancient ruins found near Zimbabwe. This text could be used in a unit on African cultures to enrich the students’ knowledge. It mentions some crops that are grown in Africa, “Nyasha kept a small plot of land, on which she grew millet, sunflowers, yams, and vegetables.” The illustrations are very detailed and show what the clothing looked like, how they traveled, what kinds of plants there are, and what animals live in the area.

Comments Off on Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters: An African Tale

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged , , , , , , ,

Of Thee I Sing: A Letter to My Daughters

Posted on November 30, 2018 by | Comments Off on Of Thee I Sing: A Letter to My Daughters

Title: Of Thee I Sing: A Letter to My Daughters

Author(s): Barack Obama

Illustrator/Photographer: Loren Long

Publisher and Year: Alfred A. Knopf 2010

Number of pages: 29

Tags/Themes: Allison Henry, Diversity, Family, Non-fiction, Picture Book, K-1, 2-3

Genre: Non-fiction

Descriptive Annotation:  Of Thee I Sing is a letter from former president Barack Obama to his daughters, Sasha and Malia. Throughout the story, Obama brings up many of the positive character traits that the girls have, and then introduces them to a historic American who also has that character trait. On the left side of each pair of pages is an illustration of Malia and Sasha looking to the right page at an image of a historically important American. Joining them on the page is a younger version of the individual being portrayed and the younger versions of each individual that has been featured in the book previously. Under the large illustration of each individual is a couple sentences explaining why that person was influential in American history. The last page shows all of the younger versions standing together facing the reader, with text that begins, “Have I told you that America is made up of people of every kind?” The illustrations are done in acrylic and at the end of the book is a page with brief bios on each of the individuals featured in the book. A knowledge of influential people in American history would be helpful for students to fully understand this book, but it is not necessary. Students should know what the various character traits mentioned in the book are, to understand why the individuals were influential.

Classroom Application: This text connects to many different academic areas and a Social Emotional Learning Standard. The individuals featured in the text’s occupational areas range from fine arts to science, math to social sciences and everything in between. This book could be used in early or late elementary to meet SELS 1.B, “Recognize personal qualities and external supports.” The character traits in this book are positive characteristics that students should develop throughout their lifetime. This book could be used to introduce a project where students pick someone influential from history that they have something in common with and then compare themselves to the historical figure.

Linguistic and Cultural Diversity Analysis: This book represents many cultures. Some of the historical figures featured in the book include: Jackie Robinson, the first African American baseball player; Sitting Bull, a Sioux leader; Maya Lin, a Chinese American who designed the Vietnam Veterans Memorial; Martin Luther King Jr., who fought for the civil rights of African Americans; and Cesar Chavez, a Mexican-American who fought for farm worker’s rights. This book shows that valuable contributions have been made to American history by people of all races and that America is great because it has such a diverse population. On the last page it says, “People of all races, religions, and beliefs. People from the coastlines and the mountains. People who have made bright lights shine by sharing their unique gifts and giving us the courage to lift one another up, to keep up the fight, to work and build upon all that is good in our nation.”

Comments Off on Of Thee I Sing: A Letter to My Daughters

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged , , , , , ,

Drawn Together

Posted on November 29, 2018 by | Comments Off on Drawn Together

Title: Drawn Together

Author(s): Minh Lê

Illustrator/Photographer: Dan Santat

Publisher and Year: Disney-Hyperion 2018

Number of pages: 32

Tags/Themes: Allison Henry, Culture, Diversity, Family, Fantasy, Fine Arts, Graphic Novel, K-5

Genre: Fantasy

Descriptive Annotation: Drawn Together is the story of a little boy and his grandfather realizing that they don’t need to use words to connect to each other. In the beginning of the story the grandfather and the grandson struggle to understand each other, as the grandfather speaks Vietnamese and the grandson speaks English. One day, the boy is drawing at the table and the grandfather pulls out a sketchbook filled with amazing drawings. The grandson and grandfather begin creating stories together, using only their drawings, no words. There are not many words in the story, so a student reading this book needs a background knowledge of how to read graphic novels, or at least the critical thinking skills to figure out how to read graphic novels, to understand the story. According to the copyright information, the illustrations were done in a variety of materials and then rendered on a computer.

Classroom Application: This story has connections to fine arts and the Social and Emotional Learning Standards. This story shows that art can cross many barriers in communication. One page says, “Right when I gave up on talking, my grandfather surprised me by revealing a world beyond words.” A few pages later it says, “All the things we could never say come pouring out” in response to the newly-discovered shared love of drawing. It can also be used to show the art styles of the Vietnamese culture, and begin an inquiry into different styles of art in different cultures. Social and Emotional Learning Standard 2 talks about building positive relationships and this story is an example of building positive relationships without being able to talk to one another.

Linguistic and Cultural Diversity Analysis: Both characters in the story are Vietnamese Americans. The grandfather is more Vietnamese, and the boy is more American. It can generate discussion on many aspects of different cultures (i.e. language, food, art) and ancestry. There are many panels in the beginning of the story that show both American and Vietnamese items for comparison. Many of the grandfather’s drawings are done in what appears to be traditional Vietnamese style.

Comments Off on Drawn Together

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged , , , , , , ,

Golden Domes and Silver Lanterns: A Muslim Book of Colors

Posted on November 29, 2018 by | Comments Off on Golden Domes and Silver Lanterns: A Muslim Book of Colors

Title: Golden Domes and Silver Lanterns: A Muslim Book of Colors

Author(s): Hena Khan

Illustrator/Photographer: Mehrdokht Amini

Publisher and Year: Scholastic Inc. 2012

Number of pages: 21

Tags/Themes: Allison Henry, Culture, Family, Fiction, Holidays, Picture Book, Poetry, K-1, 2-3, Social Science

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Descriptive Annotation: Golden Domes and Silver Lanterns follows a young girl as she explains the what the colors in her world are. Each page talks about a color and what object in the young girl’s religion are that color. A background knowledge of Muslim terms would be helpful, but there is a glossary in the back that defines many of the words. Each page is two sentences long and the sentences have end rhyme.

Classroom Application: This text can be used in the social sciences when talking about different religions. It could also be used to explain part of the culture of a student that is Muslim. This book could be used to introduce a unit on different religions and/or holidays, because it does talk a little about both Ramadan and Eid.

Linguistic and Cultural Diversity Analysis: As stated in the classroom application section, this text can be used to teach students about the Muslim religion. It is a brief introduction, so it could prompt students to look deeper into this religion or prompt them to ask questions and potentially research other religions. It can also be used in a unit on holidays as it says, “Brown is a date, plump and sweet. During Ramadan, it’s my favorite treat.” It also talks about Eid, “Purple is an Eid gift just for me. I open it up and love what I see.”

Comments Off on Golden Domes and Silver Lanterns: A Muslim Book of Colors

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged , , , , , , , , ,

My Family, Your Family

Posted on November 29, 2018 by | Comments Off on My Family, Your Family

Title: My Family, Your Family

Author(s): Lisa Bullard

Illustrator/Photographer: Renee Kurilla

Publisher and Year: Lerner Publishing 2015

Number of pages: 21

Tags/Themes: Allison Henry, Diversity, Family, Fiction, Picture Book, K-1, 2-3

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Descriptive Annotation: My Family, Your Family is a story that also has little bubbles with facts on each page. The story part follows Makayla as she travels around her neighborhood spending time with the various families that she knows. Makayla is about to have a little brother and she is very concerned that it will change their family. She sees, through the different families in town, that every family is great, and her new baby brother will make her family better. The fact bubbles include information about languages spoke at home, divorce, step-parents/siblings, and adoption. Young readers would be able to read and understand this book, and there is a glossary at the end that lists words mentioned in the story that relate to families. In addition to the glossary, there is a section titled “Make a ‘”One Great Thing”’ Poster” that provides step-by-step instructions for students to make a poster that shows one thing that makes their family great.

Classroom Application: My Family, Your Family can be used to show students that different types of families exist, and that they are all valid. It can be used to help teach Social and Emotional Learning Standard 2, by showing relationships different from the students. It also shows various ways that families maintain those relationships, such as communication and cooperation. This text could be used in an early education classroom to introduce the idea of differences in families.

Linguistic and Cultural Diversity Analysis: This book represents many different family types. Makayla herself is part of a mixed-race family. She meets a family that speaks Spanish, a lesbian couple, a girl and her divorced dad who are Asian, a boy who lives with his grandparents, a gay couple and their adopted son (also a mixed-race family) and has dinner with her single aunt and three cousins. Every one of these families is spoken of positively and the focus is on the family dynamic, not necessarily who is part of the family. When meeting Parker, the adopted boy with two dads, Makayla says, “And Parker’s two dads knew he was meant to be their little boy.” The emphasis is that the dads love Parker, not that they are gay. In the bubble on that page it says, “Some children who are adopted were born in the United States. Some were born in other countries. Either way, their adoptive families fell like they were meant to be together.” This is validating the families, showing that no matter how they came to be a family, they still love each other.

Comments Off on My Family, Your Family

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged , , , , , ,

Freedom Over Me

Posted on November 29, 2018 by | Comments Off on Freedom Over Me

Title: Freedom Over Me

Author(s): Ashley Bryan

Illustrator/Photographer: Ashley Bryan

Publisher and Year: Antheneum Books for Young Readers 2016

Number of pages: 44

Tags/Themes: Allison Henry, Culture, Diversity, Emotion, Family, Historical Fiction, Picture Book, Poetry, 2-3, 4-5, Social Science

Genre: Historical Fiction

Descriptive Annotation:  Freedom Over Me is the story of eleven slaves. It provided a narrative of each of the slaves’ duties on the plantation and then describes their inner thoughts while they are working. In the back of the book there is an Author’s Note that explains the history behind this story. The author collected many documents relating to slavery, including an appraisement form for an estate. This form listed eleven slaves with their name and price. The author wanted to craft these names and prices into people to show that slaves were humans, too. This book is written in free verse poetry and the illustrations are done in pen, ink, watercolor, and copies of historical documents.

Classroom Application: This book could be used in a unit on slavery. It provides a different perspective that shows a little bit of the slaves’ side of the story. This text could be used to show students how slaves were treated like animals when they were sold. The author includes the appraisal form in the book and it shows the slaves’ names next to cattle and other farm animals.

Linguistic and Cultural Diversity Analysis: The pages that include the slaves’ thoughts provide a brief description of what their lives were like in Africa before they were taken. It includes mentions of African art, history, and music and how those things are passed down through generations. Mulvina, the oldest slave, says, “Years of driven labor have not driven the ancestral thoughts out of me. My memory of teaching-surrounded by children, singing songs of our people, the stories of our history-lives always within me.” Betty, a middle ages woman says, “We remember our African cultures, our traditions, our craftsmanship. Within us lives this knowledge, this undefeated pride.” This book could be used in the classroom by having the students compare this story to a story about slavery from the perspective of the owner. There would be a discussion on power and how perspectives shape our idea of the world around us.

Comments Off on Freedom Over Me

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged , , , , , , , , , ,

El Deafo

Posted on November 29, 2018 by | Comments Off on El Deafo

Title: El Deafo

Author(s ): Cece Bell

Illustrator/Photographer: Cece Bell

Publisher and Year: Amulet Books, 2014

Number of pages: 233

Tags/Themes: Allison Henry, Animals, Award Book, Fiction, 4-5, 6-8, Family, Graphic Novel

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Descriptive Annotation: El Deafo is the story of a young girl, Cece, navigating elementary school and all that entails, while deaf. After contracting meningitis at age 4, Cece loses all ability to hear. She receives hearing aids and a Phonic Ear to use in school. In order to cope with being different, Cece creates an alter-ego, El Deafo. This book is a graphic novel, therefore there are many illustrations in the text. Students would need to have background knowledge in basic school situations, a middle to upper elementary level vocabulary, and the knowledge of how to read a graphic novel.

Classroom Application: I would use this text to address the Social Emotional Learning Standards for late elementary. This book could be used for Learning Standards 1.A., 2.A., 2.B.2.b., 2.C., and 2.D. These standards refer to explaining emotions, identifying social clues and describing them, identifying differences and overcoming them, and cooperating with friends and other groups. All of these topics are addressed in El Deafo, where the situations are presented, Cece chooses a course of action, and then the consequences are shown.

Linguistic and Cultural Diversity Analysis: This book is about a child that is deaf. This story presents many situations that students that are deaf and their classmates could find themselves in. This book could be used to start a discussion about treatment of peers that may be different from themselves. This book was published in 2014, therefore it is up to date in the vocabulary that it uses to describe the situations and the treatments used to assist the student that is deaf. This book could be introduced by explaining to the students that sometimes, people have different abilities. It could also be explained that, just because someone may have different abilities, does not mean that they are in need of assistance. It can be used to start a discussion on appropriate treatment of peers, addressing both bullying and trying to be too helpful. On page 34, Cece is teased by a friend for mishearing a question. Her friend, Emma, says, “No-not supper-summer! Summmmmm-mmmmmer! Supper! HEE HEE!” This part of the story focuses on Cece being teased by her peers and how see feels when this happens. Later in the story, Cece makes a friend that is too helpful. In response to Ginny, her friend, saying, “CEE-CEE. DOO YOO WANT MYYY PEEA-NUT BUTT-ER SAND-WICH?”, Cece thinks, “I really, really like Ginny. She’s funny. She’s weird. We love all the same things. So what’s the problem? It’s the wat she talks to me… “(67).

Comments Off on El Deafo

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged , , , , , , ,

Freedom on the Menu

Posted on November 29, 2018 by | Comments Off on Freedom on the Menu

Author: Carole Boston

Illustrator: Jerome Lagarrigue

Publisher and Year: Puffin Books, 2005

Number of pages: 29

Tags/Themes: Culture, Diversity, Family, Historical Fiction, Picture Book, 2-3 , Olivia Ruff

Genre: Historical Fiction

Descriptive Annotation: This picture book is told from the perspective of a child during the Greensboro sit-ins. The child’s older siblings are participating in the protests, and by the end of the book they are served at a diner where they used to only serve white people. There is a description of the sit-in’s from the men who originally did it.

Classroom Application: This book would be appropriate to read to younger students around 2-3rd graders. The book is a good introduction to civil rights, and it is told from a child’s perspective which makes it easier to understand what is happening.  I would use it as a way to explain some of the civil rights problems back then, and use it to make the students reflect how we fairly treat others.

Linguistic and Cultural Diversity Analysis: The book would be a great way to introduce civil rights to students who are younger. A teacher could use it to begin discussion about how to treat others kindly and talk about maybe things that we do now that aren’t fair to others. Two quotes: “It sounded as if he believed God was on our side” (9) and “Sister and Brother sipped coffee and I twisted on my stool while we waited for our meals” (29).

 

Comments Off on Freedom on the Menu

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged , , , , , ,

Drowned City

Posted on November 29, 2018 by | Comments Off on Drowned City

Author: Don Brown

Illustrator: Don Brown

Publisher and Year: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2015

Number of pages: 96

Tags/Themes: Culture, Emotion, Family, Graphic Novel, Non-fiction, 6-8, Olivia Ruff

Genre: Non-fiction

Descriptive Annotation: The novel is about Hurricane Katrina. The novel shows the reasons why the hurricane was disastrous, but it also shows how the country and the communities responded to helping struggling survivors. The students should understand complex words, and drowning is discussed in the novel, so this book would not be ideal for young children for those two reasons.

Classroom Application: This text would be effective in an English or History classroom. The novel is an interesting form that is not that of a traditional novel, so it would be interesting to analyze due to the form. It is important to show students that there is engaging and important literature that strays from the traditional chapter book format. It would be beneficial in a History classroom because the novel covers many different aspects of Hurricane Katrina including involvement at the community level along with federal level. Novels that are creditable and effectively show several aspects of a historical event is something that would be good to use in the classroom in order to offer a different form.

Linguistic and Cultural Diversity Analysis: The novel covers the disaster that struck New Orleans when Hurricane Katrina hit. The novel addresses the struggles that came with the hurricane including the obstacles facing the survivors, leftover environmental concerns plaguing the community, and the response from local and federal governments. This will enlighten younger students who were not alive for the hurricane to better understand the event and all of the different ways survivors struggled in the aftermath. I would assign this novel because of the form, and I would introduce this novel as a way to introduce graphic novels to my class. In terms of content, I would begin class discussion with asking them a question along the lines of, “What can you all tell me about hurricanes? Think of all aspects of the natural disaster.” And then I would put their responses on the board in order to create class discussion, and the novel would go into detail about environmental and social issues involved with one of the most horrific hurricanes to date. The narrative is written in a way that presents many facts, and I will include some quotes: “But the people there decide that being inside is better than staying abandoned on the sidewalk, and break in” (43). “Scores of sick, frail and elderly people swamp emergency medical clinics. Many are still strapped to doors used as makeshift stretchers” (74).

Comments Off on Drowned City

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged , , , , , ,