Tag Archives: Picture Book

Ida, Always

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Title: Ida, Always

Author(s): Caron Levis

Illustrator/Photographer: Charles Santoso

Publisher and Year: Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2016

Number of Pages: 37

Tags: Animals, Emotion, Fiction, Friendship, Picture Book, K-5, Sarah Luce

Genre: Fiction

Descriptive Annotation:

Ida, Always is based off a true story of two polar bears in the Central Park Zoo. The story introduces the reader to Ida and Gus, two polar bears who played together, ran together, and dreamed about New York City together. Ida taught Gus about the city’s heartbeat, and how it was always around them and with them. One day, Ida got sick, and the zookeeper told Gus that Ida would die soon. Gus and Ida spent all of Ida’s remaining days together, working through their feelings; some days growling, other days laughing. Eventually, Ida died, and Gus learned how to accept her being gone, while still remembering her and feeling her heart beat there with his.

Classroom Application:

This text would likely be used best with teaching children about death, loss, and grief. While heavy topics that may not necessarily come up in curriculum and standards, they could be important to discuss depending on student experiences or situations within the classroom. Many students encounter the death of a loved one or classmate at an early age, and a book like Ida, Always could be a good tool.

Linguistic and Cultural Diversity Analysis:

This book is set in the Central Park Zoo in New York City. Many students may have never been to a big city, so the illustrations and some of the text may give students an opportunity to experience the culture of a big city. Most suburban and rural areas have a lot of land that is green and natural, but many cities do not have landscapes like this. The illustrations in Ida, Always portray the landscape of big cities, where there are lots of buildings and skyscrapers surrounding the relatively small area of natural land. The polar bears also talk about the noise of the city as “the city’s heartbeat” and how “they added their snores to the sounds of their city”. I could introduce the book by asking students if they have ever been to a big city and what they noticed about the landscape there. I could also ask the students if they have ever been to a zoo and/or if they have ever seen polar bears.

Illustration:

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Eraser

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Title: Eraser

Author(s): Anna Kang

Illustrator/Photographer: Christopher Weyant

Publisher and Year: Two Lions, 2018

Number of Pages: 38

Tags: Fiction, Fine Arts, Friendship, Picture Book, K-1, 1-2, 2-3, Sarah Luce

Genre: Fiction

Descriptive Annotation:

Eraser is a story about school supplies that all work together to create projects and complete homework, but Eraser feels left out and unimportant. Many of the other utensils exclude Eraser from meetings and activities so she eventually decides to run away. She meets the Rough Drafts and they all admire her and show Eraser her worth and how useful she is. The rest of the school supplies also realize their need for Eraser and she comes back to the desk and is included into the group. Students reading this book will enjoy it more if they have a grasp of puns and word play.

Classroom Application:

This text could easily be used to reinforce inclusion within the classroom. Nearly all students are aware of the importance of erasers and they understand that all their school supplies have individual uses. That can be a great way to show that just like school supplies, all students are unique and bring different talents and valuable experiences to the classroom.

Linguistic and Cultural Diversity Analysis:

This book represents a culture and an atmosphere of inclusion. I could easily open with an activity, asking students to use a pencil with no eraser to do something where they would need to erase. After reading the book, I would also focus on the idea that all students can be included because they all bring something useful to the classroom, just like Eraser says, “I DO create. I create second chances” (page 24). The setting and characters allow the book to be easily related to, as most, if not all, students have experience using school supplies. The story is also funny, holding students’ attention, like when Scissors says, “I don’t run. EVER” (page 7).

Illustration:

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Roxaboxen

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Title: Roxaboxen

Author(s): Alice McLerran

Illustrator/Photographer: Barbara Cooney

Publisher and Year: Lothrop, Lee, & Shepard Books, 1991

Number of Pages: 27

Tags: Adventure, Emotion, Family, Fiction, Friendship, Picture Book, K-5, Sarah Luce

Genre: Fiction

Descriptive Annotation:

Roxaboxen is a story based on the childhood experiences of the author’s mother growing up in Arizona. It is about young kids who would play in the desert across the street from their homes as they created a town and their own little society. They made houses, streets, and businesses, had cars and horses, and even had a mayor and policeman. As the children grew into adults, they still carried their memories of Roxaboxen with them, and it was still there years later, physically and in spirit. There is an author’s note at the end, commenting on the origins of the story and how her mother’s memories helped the author and illustrator create the book.

Classroom Application:

This book could be used in classrooms to reinforce lessons about desert areas, such as Arizona, where this story originated. The illustrations depict the landscape and flora quite accurately. The book could also be used as an example to show students how to work well together in creating something. Like the children in the book played together and created a town, so could students learn to work together on things like projects and tasks in the classroom.

Linguistic and Cultural Diversity Analysis:

Depending on where one lives, this book could give a class insight into what it is like to live in a desert area. It looks much different than living in the Midwest, and there are lots of different cultures in the Western United States that are not as common in places like Illinois. It could also be used to show the culture of times in the past. In today’s society, children have many things that keep them occupied inside, like phones and tablets and television. Back in 1991 when this book was written, children entertained themselves a lot by playing outside and using imagination. This book gives insight to children who grew up being creative and inventive with what they could find outside, like “a tin box filled with round black pebbles… [that] were the money of Roxaboxen” (page 6) or creating cars out of “something round for a steering wheel” (page 15). I might introduce this book by asking my students to imagine living before a lot of technology and I might ask them what things they could do to have fun without tablets and televisions.

Illustration:

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A Different Pond

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Title: A Different Pond

Author: Bao Phi

Illustrator: Thi Bui

Publisher and Year: 2017 Capstone Young Readers

Number of pages: 32

Tags/Themes: Award Book, Culture, Diversity, Family, Historical Fiction, Picture Book, K-5, Evan White

Genre: Family, Picture Book, Children’s, Cultural

Descriptive Annotation: A young Vietnamese boy and his father wake up very early one day to go fishing.  The two go to a shop to buy some bait fish.  At the shop, the shop owner asked why they came so early, and the father explained how he got another job, so they needed to fish earlier for food.  Once at the fishing pond, the boy’s father shares a story how the pond reminds him of a pond in his old home in Vietnam before the “War” (implied Vietnam War).  The father shares how he would go fishing for food with his brother, how they would fight side by side.  After his brother died, the father went to America.  The young boy feels proud of himself for catching a big fish to eat later that day with his family.  When they arrive home, the mother starts cooking the fish, while the father goes to work. The authors note explains how the author’s parents were refuges from the Vietnam War, and wanted to write a book similar to his experiences.  From the story, it is not clear the family are refugees until the reader reads the author’s note.  It might be helpful for students to know there was war in Vietnam, and possibly what a refuge is to explain why the father needed multiple jobs.

Classroom Application: This book can be used to reinforce content from history or social sciences.  The book can be used to demonstrate how families have had to leave their home country because of war, but also how those families can still keep their family tradition, in this case, fishing.  This book can stretch students’ thinking about reasons why people need to work multiple jobs.  Thereir can be numerous reasons, and the students can be open to different reasons people need to work multiple jobs and fund ways to save money to make a living.

Linguistic and Cultural Diversity Analysis: This book represents Vietnamese American culture, especially those who are refugees. It teaches how refugees work very hard to survive in America. “ “You’re here early today,” the bait man says.  “I got a second job,” my dad explains. “I have to work this morning.” “On a Saturday?” the bait man asks. My dad nods.” (7).  From the bait, they caught a few fish. “Dad smiles, his teeth broken and white in the dark, because we have a few fish and he knows we will eat tonight.” (18).  This quote shows how this family have to be creative to get food showing the creativity and hard work of refuges to make a living.  I might introduce this book by having the students discuss a specific location the students spend time with their family or guardians. The pond is a place of recurring fishing for the father and boy, and the students might have a location where they spend a lot of time with their family.

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The Secret to Freedom

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Title: The Secret to Freedom

Author: Marcia Vaughan

Illustrator: Larry Johnson

Publisher and Year: Lee & Low Books Inc. 2001

Number of pages: 32

Tags/Themes: Diversity, Emotion, Family, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Picture Book, 4-5, Evan White

Genre: Historical fiction; children’s; cultural; picture book

Descriptive Annotation: The Secret to Freedom is about Aunt Lucy sharing her story about her experiences in slavery to her grandniece.  Lucy’s parents were sold off and was left with her brother Albert.  Albert was part of the underground railroad movement and taught Lucy about quilts and how different designs tell the run-away slaves different information.  Albert and Lucy became agents to aid  slaves to freedom.  Albert was caught one night and was lashed in the back.  After that night they decided Albert needed to leave.  Once the two children were older and had their own families, Albert found Lucy again and reconnected.  Now Lucy’s grandniece knew their family history.  The students will need to know about Civil War era, about slavery, and why going up north meant freedom.  The back of the book has a brief history lesson and glossary for words the student may not understand.  The illustrations are unrefined paintings but are still very detailed and show sadness on the characters’ faces throughout the story.

Classroom Application: This text would reinforce history and specifically the Civil War era.  This text also meets Social and Emotional Learning Standards of handle challenging situations constructive and demonstrate caring and concern for others.  Lucy shows a lot of control in her emotions.  She identifies how depressed she is but is able to use her emotions to benefit runaway slaves.  This story can be used to stretch the students into using their emotions to make an impact for others even when their emotions are filled with fury or sadness.

Linguistic and Cultural Diversity Analysis: This book represents pride in sharing perseverance from slavery.  Aunt Lucy is proud of herself and Albert for assisting runaway slaves to freedom.  ““Now  I do declare, child, your eyes sparkle just like Albert’s did all those years ago” she said.  Then we sat in happy silence, shelling peas into the bowl while the curtains billowed in the breeze beside us” (31). This book shows the value of story telling and sharing family history and how history is imperative to understanding part of American and black culture.  The setting is also very explicit in showing Albert getting lashed and showing vivid images of it. For instance, the text reads, “Those men tied Albert to a tree and lashed him, lashed him hard till blood ran red down his back” (15).  The content of this story is very serious and illustrates how slaves were treated.  I would introduce the book by showing the students some images of common quilt patterns and what they meant.  This can help the students understand the importance of the secret code used in the book and in history.

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Same, Same, but Different

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Title: Same, Same, but Different

Author: Jenny Sue Kostecki-Shaw

Illustrator: Jenny Sue Kostecki-Shaw

Publisher and Year: Henry Holt and Company, 2011

Number of pages: 40

Tags/Themes: Award Book, Culture, Fiction, Picture Book, Social Science, K-5, Evan White

Genre: India; Children’s; cultural; picture book

Descriptive Annotation:  Same, Same, but Different is about two pen pals named Elliot and Kailash.  Elliot lives in America and Kailash lives in India. They write back and forth about their life.  As they write they discover there are a lot of similarities between the two, like climbing trees, taking a school bus, and how they live with their families.  With every similarity, there is a photo to show the cultural differences between the two cultures and a photo of the boys doing the same activity just in different ways. The students need no background knowledge.

Classroom Application: This text can be used to reinforce social science and cultures.  Possibly when learning about continents/countries, a teacher could use this text to learn a little about India.  It can be used to encourage students to think more in similarities with humans rather than finding differences, crafting a social bonding with people of diverse cultures/communities, regardless of where they live.  This book could also be used to introduce pen pals for the classroom, encouraging the students to learn about their new friends’ culture and how it relates to theirs.  This can build appreciation in their real life.

Linguistic and Cultural Diversity Analysis:  This book represents the Indian culture.  It shows beautiful drawings of Kailash living in a diverse yet similar way to Americans that highlights his value.  Kailash shows Elliot how his family, school, and city works outlining some basic cultural values and norms within India.  I think this book could be introduced by teaching the students what a pen pal is, then going into the story.  Ending the story with starting a pen pal assignment to put in practice what the story spoke about .  There is much to ask about a pen pal and learning differences and the value in those differences.  “That is my tree house where I play. I live in a red brick building with my mom, dad, and my baby sister.  I live with my family too-all twenty-three of us-my mom, dad, sister, brother, grandmother, grandfather, aunties, uncles, cousins…” (8).  This quote is awesome because it shows how what American culture sees extended family can be internal for other people.  In addition, this is common for families in America too.  “A great river flows through my village.  Peacocks dance under trees shaped like umbrellas” (13).  This quote shows how beautiful Kailash’s village is.  The page has bright colors with beautiful buildings with peacocks dancing.  It’s very elegant and shows so much value in their city Kailash loves.

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Fly Away Home

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Title: Fly Away Home

Author: Eve Bunting

Illustrator: Ronald Himler

Publisher and Year Clarion Books, 1991

Number of pages: 32

Tags/Themes: Emotion, Family, Fiction, Picture Book, 2-3, Evan White

Genre: Realistic Fiction; Family, Children’s Book

Descriptive Annotation:  Fly Away Home is about a father and son living in an airport.  There are special rules on how to live in the airport so they don’t get caught like to always be moving and not talking to people.  The son observes how his dad is always trying to find a job so they can find a real home for them, but often falls short.  The boy is still optimistic and works to help his dad.  He returns bags for 50 cents and believes he will find a permanent home one day.

Classroom Application: I can use this book to reinforce social sciences/culture to show different areas of living.  A unit like urbanism, suburbs, rural and going deeper into types of places people live in and discuss different homeless areas.  This text also demonstrates Social and Emotional Learning Standards  about demonstrating caring and concern for others.  Teaching the students how anyone can be affected by a situation and their bad situation does not necessarily mean it’s the induvial fault to create empathy.

Linguistic and Cultural Diversity Analysis: This book represents the poor/homeless culture.  Teaching kids’ different people can be homeless, the young, old, families.  Also teaching being poor does not mean you’re stupid or deserving of it like media can display.  The young boy is responsible and saves his money, the father works endlessly to provide for his son.  The Father and son are very smart and know how not to get caught, and they are very friendly with the other homeless residents.  I might introduce this book giving each student or group of students a setting and they can brainstorm how they might survive or be able to live in the setting.  “He and I collect rented luggage cars that people have left outside and return them for fifty cents each.  If the crowds are big and safe, we offer to carry bags” (22).  This quote would connect to the students before text activity.  The young boy uses his head to find a way to make money.  I think this quote also shoes how the boy are maturing faster than other children.  The tone is serious and very straightforward.  The son needs to be quick and fast in his days’ work to make the most money and his language shows he needs to be straight to the point.  Even though the boy is maturing faster he still does not know how to handle his emotions. “Sometimes I get mad and I want to run at them and push them and shout, ‘Why do you have homes when we don’t? What makes you so special?’ that would get us noticed all right” (30).  This quote shows the difficulty of being homeless and the toll is does to your emotions.  The text shows how the boy is struggling to control his emotions.  He wants to release his emotions in an outburst , but the boy still knows what consequences could be for out bursting.  It shows the students there are consequences for actions they can do on impulse, especially impulse actions the homeless could do in an airport.

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Game Changer

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Title: Game Changer

Author: John Coy

Illustrator: Randy DuBurke

Publisher and Year: Carolrhoda Books (October 1, 2015)

Number of pages: 32

Tags/Themes: Diversity, Picture Book, Social Science, 4-5, 6-8, Evan White

Genre: History; Non-fiction; sports

Descriptive Annotation:  Game changer is the true story of Coach John McLendon organizing a basketball game between the best white college basketball players from Duke University Medical School and his team from North Carolina College of Negroes in 1944, whose team was called the Eagles.  The teams met up in a gym and locked the doors so no one could walk in.  Both teams played as hard as they could but the Eagles won 88 to 44.  The next day, the two teams decided to play again, but mix the teams up.  This was the first time there was inter racial basketball.  The boys all had a great time playing mixed together but also knew it was not socially unacceptable if outsiders found out.  All the boys began to grow closer together and learn from one another.  The artwork of the book is very dark but the tone of the writing has a message of optimism of time changing.  At the back of the book, there is a timeline of civil rights movement and progression of black athletes coming into the spot light.

The students will need to know about segregation, the term negroes, prejudice, and the KKK.

Classroom Application:   This text can be used to reinforce history, and could be used as the sports perspective within civil rights.  The book also explores the progression of equality in America in different areas, like sports.  Game Changer can also be used to reinforce history with breaking down barriers.  As the coach did a brave thing for the time period and can teach how it is important to take risks that go against social norms.  A social norm doesn’t mean it’s a moral norm, so taking risks and stepping outside of comfortable spaces can lead to impact on society.

Linguistic and Cultural Diversity Analysis: This book represents the culture in the 1940s and how the black community stood together to progress in equality.  This book could be used to generate discussion in looking at current sports diversity and examine if they are diverse, how diverse, and if certain groups are not represented in sports.  This can be done by using percentages and ratios of diverse athletes with a math reinforcement.  Using the charts, we can look at the time the athletes were playing.   “Nineteen years before Dr. King’s “I have a Dream” speech and three years before Jackie Robinson broke the color line in Major League Baseball, black players and white players worked together as teammates in an illegal game in segregated North Caroline” (19).  I think this quote is important because it established there are leaders in civil rights other than Martin Luther King.  It is important to learn about more than one leader, and how there was multiple leaders in civil rights through the years, no matter how famous they became.   Learning about strong leaders would lead into this next quote.  “A reporter for the Caroline Times, Durham’s black weekly newspaper, heard about the game, but he agreed not to publish the story at McLendon’s request since the Ku Klux Klan was active and considered ‘race mixing’ a crime punishable by death” (24).  This is a powerful quote that should be used with a mature class ready for these topics.  This quote shows the serious tone of the book and paints a picture of how brave the boys were for playing in an interracial basketball game.  Understanding the serious consequences makes the coach and players stronger leaders for the students.

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Funny Bones

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Title: Funny Bones

Author(s) Duncan Tonatiuh

Illustrator/Photographer Duncan Tonatiuh

Publisher and Year: Harry N. Abrams, 2015

Number of pages: 40

Tags/Themes: Award Book, Culture, Diversity, Fine Arts, Non-fiction, Picture Book, 4-5, Evan White

Genre: biography; art; history; cultural picture book, children

Descriptive Annotation:  Funny Bones is biography of José Guadalupe (Lupe) Posada.  Lupe was a famous Mexican artist in the late 1800s and early 1900s.  He was most famous for his calaveras (skull or skeleton drawings).  The book starts at Lupe’s childhood and how he learned different art forms like lithography and wood engraving.  As Lupe grew older, he opened his own shop in Mexico City and would draw calaveras in current political events like the Mexican revolution and the corrupt government at the time.  The students will need no background knowledge as the book explains the Spanish words and what Day of the Dead is.  The author’s note has a detailed explanation of Day of the Dead with its history of calaveras.  There is also a glossary of Spanish words for a more detailed definition .

Classroom Application: This text can be used to reinforce social science and used to give more detail into Day of the Dead and its culture.  This book could be used in a series for students to compare and contrast Day of the Dead and Halloween so the students understand the cultural differences and appreciate the differences.  This book does an excellent job showcasing the artwork for Day of the Dead, with the detail in the calaveras.  Funny Bones could also be used to reinforce poetry.  Calavera drawings could have a funny poem with the drawing, and the students can work on creating fun and silly poems.

Linguistic and Cultural Diversity Analysis: Funny Bones would teach about the art culture within the Mexican Culture, diving deep into different aspects of Mexican culture.  I might introduce this book by introducing the art forms of drawing calaveras first or give the students a picture of calaveras, and they have to create a poem around the photo.  Funny Bones also shows different aspects of Day of the Dead.  “On those days, the city was full of vendors who sold pan de muerto (bread), cempasúchil (marigold flowers), alfeñiques (sugar Skulls), and papel picado (paper cutouts).  People bought these and other items to decorate the ofrendas (offerings they made for their loved ones who had died)” (15).  This quote gives an insight into what a day is like and what people would normally buy during this time.  On page 17, there is a drawing of a calavera proposing so another calavera.  “I am sorry Senñor.  But that cannot be.  You’re handsome and all, but too skinny for me!”  This can be a good example for the students for what poems in calaveras are like.  They are short and sweet with some humor in them.  The text is printed on the poster of the calavera drawings with distinct font.

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Rechenka’s Eggs

Posted on December 3, 2018 by | Comments Off on Rechenka’s Eggs

Title: Rechenka’s Eggs

Author: Patricia Polacco

Illustrator: Patricia Polacco

Publisher and Year: Philomel Books, 1988

Number of pages: 30

Tags/Themes: Animals, Picture Book, Emotion, Russian, K-1, 2-3, Diversity, Fine Arts, Olivia Ruff

Genre: Fiction

Descriptive Annotation: The book is about an old woman who paints eggs for a festival every year. During the winter she feeds the caribou, and once a wounded goose found her house. She tended to the goose, and once it broke all of the eggs she had painted for the upcoming festivals. The goose then began to lay painted eggs. She laid enough eggs for the woman to take to the festival, and then the goose had to leave with her flock. She left behind an egg with a baby goose in it that would stay with the woman forever.

Classroom Application: This book does not tell any lesson, but it uses aspects from a country that does not get much air time in children’s literature: Russia. The book uses Russian words, but it does not require any previous knowledge to understand it. This book could be used in an art class to introduce the Russian tradition of painting eggs. It could be used in a different classroom to show aspects of Russian culture in the classroom.

Linguistic and Cultural Diversity Analysis: There are a few Russian words in the book, and it puts an emphasis on the culture. The illustrations use aspects of Russian traditions such as the designs on the eggs or the patterns of the fabric used throughout the novel. The buildings are real buildings in Russia as well. Quotations: “Babushka lived alone in a dacha, a little house in the country, but she was known far and wide for the fine eggs that she lovingly painted” (1) and “She crossed the bridge over the Moskva River and soon she could see the onion domes of Old Moskva” (18).

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