Tag Archives: Olivia Ruff

Where The Buffaloes Begin

Title: Where The Buffaloes Begin

Author: Olaf Baker

Illustrator: Stephen Gammell

Publisher and Year: Puffin Books, 1981

Number of pages: 40

Tags/Themes: Culture, Diversity, Award Book, Animals, Fiction, Picture Book, 2-3 , Olivia Ruff

Genre: Fiction

Descriptive Annotation: This book is about a young Native American who went away from his tribe in order to find the buffalo herd. While he was gone, their rival enemy tribe was sneaking into their camp. The boy found the buffalo herd, and he sped back to their camp with the buffalo following, killing their enemies. The illustrations are in black and white.

Classroom Application: The book would help students learn about Native Americans. This novel could be a great introduction to Native American culture for younger children, and it helps with SELS, as the protagonist helps save his tribe from harm through his independence and will to explore.

Linguistic and Cultural Diversity Analysis: For older students (2-3 grade) the book would be a good addition to a unit on Native Americans as a way to demonstrate the culture and connection, or rather, inseparable relationship with nature. Two quotes: “Little Wolf never knew what came to him, what spirit of the wild whispered in his ear; but suddenly he leaped to his feet and cried out” (19) and “The prairie grouse got up almost under the pony’s feet” (3).

 

Ten Little Rabits

Title: Ten Little Rabbits

Author: Virginia Grossman

Illustrator: Sylvia Long

Publisher and Year: The Trumpet Club, 1991

Number of pages: 24

Tags/Themes: Culture, Diversity, Animals, Fiction, Picture Book, K-1, 2-3 , Olivia Ruff

Genre: Fiction

Descriptive Annotation: This picture book is about rabbits participating in different activities that Native Americans participate in. The different activities include ritual dances, fishing, and storytelling which are all important aspects of Native American culture in a broad sense. The illustrations depict different tribes and their regalia/clothing. There is an author’s note describing the tribes represented in the novel in the back of the book.

Classroom Application: The book would help students learn about different cultures and learn about the traditions of tribes. This could be used in a social studies classroom. This novel could be a great introduction to Native American culture for younger children.

Linguistic and Cultural Diversity Analysis: This picture book would be great for younger students in K-1 to introduce other cultures in the classroom. For older students (2-3 grade) the book would be a good addition to a unit on Native Americans as a way to demonstrate the culture and customs within the illustrations. The rabbits are participating in activities in which they are wearing certain regalia, providing an opportunity for students to learn about the culture of the tribes represented. The language used in this book is simple, making it appropriate for very young children. Quotes: “Nine festive drummers beating on a drum”(17) and “Two graceful dancers asking for some rain” (4).

 

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).

 

If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler

Author: Italo Calvino

Illustrator:

Publisher and Year: Harcourt, 1981

Number of pages: 264

Tags/Themes: Adventure, Chapter Book, Fantasy, Fiction, 8-12, Olivia Ruff

Genre: Fiction (Avant-Garde)

Descriptive Annotation: This novel is an example of Avant-Garde fiction. The novel has a different plot for each chapter, and it follows a the process of reading the book by Calvino. The style, plot, and narrator changes each chapter because each chapter is the first chapter of different books. The end of the book combines the titles from each chapter to form the beginning of “If On A Winter’s Night A Traveler.” The words used in the novel are complex, so it would be for an advanced English class.

Classroom Application: This novel would be idea for a college prep English course. The novel pushes the readers to analyze the traditional format of narrative, and the language used in the novel will push students to learn new vocabulary. This would be good as an introduction to Avant-Garde fiction, which is a part of literature that can easily be overlooked, but it is useful for generating great discussion about the reading process and structure of novels.

Linguistic and Cultural Diversity Analysis: The author, Italo Calvino, is an Italian author, and this novel was translated into English. The novel covers a range of thought provoking concepts given the nature of Avant-Garde. This novel disrupts typical aspects of literature, specifically with plot, narration, and structure. Students will be challenged to think outside of the box in regards to how they view literature because the novel itself calls attention to the reading process. I would use short stories first to introduce students to Avant-Garde, and this novel would be what I choose as the end of the Avant-Garde unit because it embodies many aspects of Avant-Garde fiction. “You are about to begin reading Italo Calvino’s new novel, If on a winter’s night a traveler. Relax. Concentrate. Dispel every other thought” (3). “With a zigzag dash you shake them off and leap straight into the citadel of the New Books Whose Author Or Subject Appeals To You” (6).

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).