Tag Archives: Family

Not Afraid of Dogs

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IMG_5979Title: Not Afraid of Dogs

Author: Susanna Pitzer

 Illustrator: Larry Day

Publisher: Walker Publisher Company, Inc. 2006

Number of pages: 32 Pages

Tags: Animals, Family, Fiction, K-1, Stephanie Prentice

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Analysis

In this story, Daniel explains that he is a very brave boy and is not afraid of many things such as spiders and thunderstorms. He even claims that he is not afraid of dogs, rather he just simply does not like them. When he realizes that his family has to watch their aunt’s dog, he goes to extreme measures to avoid interacting with the dog. After he finds the dog is scared of thunderstorms in the middle of the night, Daniel comforts the dog and realizes that he is not afraid of dogs after all.

Daniel’s compassion for helping others allows him to overcome his fear of dogs. The story line allows children to see that being afraid of things, IMG_5980such as dogs, is normal and even common. The images, a Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators’ Golden Kite Award for Illustrations winner, capture the emotions a child might have while facing their fears for the first time. For example, the cover picture shows Daniel climbing up a lamp post in the city when a group of dogs walk past him. Taking a first glance, the reader can easily tell the child is nervous and unfamiliar with dogs. The boy is usually placed on the opposite side of the dog, most of the time looking back to make sure he was safe from the dog. This is an accurate depiction of many other children who are afraid of or unsure of many animals. The text placement is not important in the story, however the author’s decision to emphasize Bandit’s howls in a different text size and alignment allows the reader to imagine the sound in their mind.

Overall, the pictures and text work together to tell the story. This book is a great way to show children that fears are rational and common. Daniel’s courage in overcoming his fear can encourage others to overcome their own fears. Daniel’s interaction with Bandit can prove helpful in showing children how to interact with unfamiliar dogs as well. In addition, it shows the common dynamic in the relationship between siblings when Daniel’s sister is often seen taunting Daniel about his fear of dogs. The story line allows many children who have siblings and a fear of dogs or animals to relate to the story.

Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters: An African Tale

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Author/Illustrator: John Steptoe

Publisher and Year: Puffin Books, 1987

Number of Pages: 29

Genre: Folktalemufaro

Analysis: In “Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters: An African Tale,” Mufaro has two beautiful daughters: Nyasha, who is kind and considerate, and Manyara, who is rude and selfish. Manyara learns a valuable lesson when she uses sneaky tactics to become the queen. This book would work well as a mirror for the intended audience. Firstly, young, African American girls should know that they are beautiful. Secondly, it teaches children that kindness and generosity will prevail over spitefulness and rudeness. There is a King who is searching for a wife to make the queen. Together, these two have all of the power over the people. This story is an African tale, so the African culture is represented and it is evident in the clothing and accessories that the people wear. It is also evident in the marrying off of daughters to the King. From my understanding, the outfits, traditions, and names align well with the African culture.

In this book, the text (mostly dialog) tells the story and explains the images. The text is off to the side of pictures, although the text does play a major part in the understanding of the book.

Nyasha is often in a darker light when she is being made fun of by her sister. When Nyasha is not being insulted by her sister, she looks majestic and a light shines on her, while Manyara always has her hands on her hips and a disapproving look on her face. Nyasha appears much bigger than Manyara when she is crowned queen.

Manyara teaches us to always be kind to others. Do to others as you would have them do to you.

 

Blueberries for Sal

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Title: Blueberries for Sal

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Author: Robert McCloskey

Illustrator: Robert McCloskey

Publisher and Year: The Viking Press, 1948

Number of Pages: 55

Genre: Fiction

Analysis: Blueberries for Sal is about a young girl, Sal, her mother, and a little bear and her mother bear who all go to the Blueberry Hill to get blueberries in order to save for the winter. While Sal and little bear are separated from their mothers, they encounter the other mother, but in the end and reunite with their own mothers and gather enough blueberries to save for winter. This book received a Caldecott Honor.

This book can function as a mirror for children who wander away or are selective listeners to their mothers, but could also function as a mirror for mothers whom children do not listen to instructions. The initial fear that both mother and child feel when getting lost is an emotion thoroughly expressed within this book. Not only does this book function as a mirror but can also function as a window for children nowadays to learn about a different time period, specifically about the role of mother and daughter.

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Perceptually, the book appears to be a happy book with the yellow and blue front cover.  The text throughout the book is easy to read and written in blue print and a white background. The words are also big enough to read from a distance and in a clean cut print. The length of the sentences and paragraphs is not too long, just enough to tell the story before turning the page. Although the images are detailed, they simply  mirror the text, not adding much detail to the story at all.

Structurally, the images are all in blue and white and appear to be pencil drawings, detailed and intricate. Both the human mother and bear mother are larger than their child, demonstrating that the mothers are stronger and the children are weaker. Often times throughout this book, the children are looking toward the right, showing that they are less secure, and the mothers are looking towards the left, which shows that they are more stable and secure. A child’s security can be less than the mother’s because the children get lost throughout the book, feeling insecure without their mothers.

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Ideologically, this book portrays stereotypical gender roles. Specifically speaking, the mother wears a skirt and does more feminine jobs, like pick and can blueberries. This book is from an older time period, so for the time period, the idea of collecting blueberries to save for the winter while wearing a skirt is appropriate for the time period. However nowadays the roles portrayed throughout the book are stereotypical. Society should want to move further away from stereotypical roles being reinforced. This book encouraged the audience that stereotypical roles are okay and that the women should be the ones collecting and canning blueberries, not the men or even the entire family. Throughout the book Sal and Little Bear are always wandering and not collecting blueberries. A lesson that children should not learn from this book is that it is not okay to wander away from adults.   Also, Sal and the cub were told by their mothers to save blueberries for the winter and both Sal and the cub did not listen to their mothers’ instructions, which again demonstrate a poor message to the readers.

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The Name Jar

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Title: The Name Jar

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Author: Yangsook Choi

Illustrator: Yangsook Choi

Publisher and Year: Alfred A. Knopf, 2001

Number of Pages: 30

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Analysis: The Name Jar is about a young girl, Unhei, and her family’s adjustment after their move from Korea to America. Once in America, Unhei realizes that her name is different and she decides that she is going to come up with a new name using her classmates’ suggestions in the name jar. At the end of the book, Unhei realizes that she doesn’t feel like herself with any of the American names and decides to keep her Korean name because it makes her unique.

This book can function as a window for people not from Korea. The culture portrayed throughout the book teaches the audience lessons about differences between the American and Korean culture. Another function of this book is a mirror for people who move from Korea to the United States. This book allows Korean children who move to the United States to understand and relate to Unhei and her family.

Perceptually, the front cover leaves the reader with a mysterious feeling and numerous thoughts and questions about the entirety of the book.  The ambiguity of the front cover draws the audience in to read more of the book. Once starting to read the book, there is a lot of text per page, which means the author has a lot of information to share. Along with the length of the text, the color of the text was typically black on a white or light background. Occasionally the text was white on a dark background, but either way the text was simple and easy to read.

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Structurally, Unhei faces to the right, representing that she is less secure, but after she decides to keep her Korean name she faces towards the left. Unhei’s security within herself could be based off of lack of security after moving to a new country, making new friends, and having a new school. However, once she adjusts and learns that her name is special after all, Unhei has gained security within herself. Throughout most of the book, the images mirror the text further emphasizing what the text is saying in a different way.  However a couple times the text adds to the images. Typically the text is added to the images when something is written in Korean. Unhei’s stamp or letter from her grandmother were written in Korean and the reader could not have known what the stamp or letter said without having the text to support the images.

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Ideologically, this book portrays important life lessons for school age children. One lesson that is taught to the reader is that individuality helps make one unique and special! This book also demonstrates the meaning and importance of true friendship through Joey and Unhei’s friendship. From the beginning of the book, Joey was friendly to Unhei and wanted to get to know more about her. Joey was such an incredible friend that it was actually he who indirectly showed Unhei how special and important her name truly was.

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Last Stop on Market Street

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Title: Last Stop on Market Street

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Author: Matt de la Pena

Illustrator/Photographer: Christian Robinson

Publisher and Year: The Penguin Group in 2015

Number of pages: 29 pgs

Tags: Olivia Simkins, Realistic Fiction, 2-3, 4-5, Culture, Picture Book, Family, Award Book

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Analysis:

This book is about a little boy named CJ who is taking a trip to the soup kitchen with his Nana. Along the way CJ questions his Nana about why they are walking in the rain, why they have to ride the bus and why he does not have an iPod. He learns along the way to enjoy the things he has. This book has won the Coretta Scott King Award and the Newberry Award and is a Caldecott Honor book as well.

This story could serve as a door, and a mirror. The readers can view it as a mirror because they connect to a part in the novel. They might be able to connect about the time they rode on the bus or the time they volunteered at a soup kitchen or some place else. It can also serve as a door to inspire the readers to help at their local soup kitchen or volunteer in their community. I also feel like the illustrator wanted to represent all the different cultures in the story but I found out some underlying ideological features in this book. I feel that there is stereotypes represented when CJ is asking his Nana about not having a car. His friend who has a car is Caucasian and CJ is African American. This could be problematic for some readers because it could make them feel like this book is presenting racist stereotypes.

After analyzing the perceptual features of this book, I have noticed the use of colors. In the beginning of the book CJ talks about walking out of church and how he felt free. The use of colors in this book supports that statement as well. The colors are all very bright, and when looking into what bright color represent, it states that they represent freedom.

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Papá and Me

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Title: Papá and Me

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Author: Arthur Dorros

Illustrator/Photographer: Rudy Gutierrez

Publisher and Year: HarperCollins Publisher and 2008

Number of pages: 24 pgs

Tags: Olivia Simkins, Realistic Fiction, 2-3, Culture, Picture Book, 4-5, Family

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Analysis:

This book is about a little boy, his Papá, and their day that they spend together. They make pancakes, go to the park and visit the little boy’s grandparents. This text can serve as a window or a mirror for the audience. It may serve as a window because it could be a new culture that one may not be familiar with. This book has a lot of Spanish words and phrases that are explained in English as well so the reader, if not familiar with the Spanish language, can follow along. It also has a glossary at the end to help define the unknown terms and has pictures to explain to the audience what a Mariachi band is and what the instruments they use look like. It can also serve as a mirror for an audience of the Hispanic culture. The reader may read this and be able to relate because they speak Spanish or because they are close to their father as well. They may also relate in going to visit their grandparents with their family. I feel that culture is represented well in this book through its use of the Spanish language. It also does an excellent job with its use of colors. The illustrations help to show movement through the lines and vibrant colors. The use of reds, oranges, and yellows show happiness. This book also distorts pictures to have the boy appear to be higher than the father when he talks about being high up in a tree.

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Marc Just Couldn’t Sleep

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Title: Marc Just Couldn’t Sleep

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Author: Gabriela Keselman

Illustrator/Photographer: Noewmí Vilamuza

Publisher and Year: Kane/Miller Book Publishers and 2004

Number of pages: 24 pgs

Tags: Olivia Simkins, Realistic Fiction, 2-3, K-1, Culture, Picture Book, Family

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Analysis:

Marc is a little boy who is scared of everything. In order to go to sleep, he makes sure his mom does everything she can to make sure nothing will be able to scare him anymore so he can fall asleep. Finally, his mom can do nothing more than sit on his bed with him and he finally falls asleep. This book could function as a mirror for the intended audience. I feel that it is a window because the audience reading this may be a parent or child that have experienced being afraid or not being able to fall asleep because something scared them. This book can also relate to parents because parents make a lot of scarifies for their children, even if it means going out of their way to make sure their child is not afraid of anything. The readers could relate in many ways. They could relate to it because their guardian or mom used to tuck them into bed or comfort them when they were scared. The audience can apply their schema and relate to it in some way. This book depicts an African American boy and his mother whose family culture is seen through out the different images in the book. Although, without the illustrations we would not be able to decided on our own what race or culture the main characters are. The illustrations add to the text giving us a visual as to what the characters and setting look like. It also helps to define unknown terms for readers and fill in the gaps so the audience can visually see what is happening in the story.

The story shows Marc rather small in the beginning of the story and as it goes on, he grows bigger and bigger. This shows that his character is getting stronger and stronger and in the parts where Marc is scared he appears to be small which shows his character as weak and frightened. The story does not have frames until the very end where Marc is shown in a round frame when he finally falls asleep showing that Marc is content and secure. When a picture book has frames in it, the audience is not apart of the story. They are just looking into it. However, this book does not have frames so, us as readers, are apart of the story and experiencing the story as it happens.

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Have You Filled A Bucket Today?

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Title: Have You Filled A Bucket Today? A Guide to Daily Happiness for Kids Bucket1

Author: Carol McCloud

Illustrator: David Messing

Publisher and Year: Ferne Press, 2006

Number of Pages: 31

Genre: Fiction 

Analysis: Have You Filled a Bucket Today? is a children’s picture book which received a Mom’s Choice Award, and teaches children the benefits of kindness to everyone, even complete strangers. Throughout the book a bucket is used as a symbol of a person’s happiness. If the bucket is full, then a person is happy, but if the bucket is empty a person is sad. 

Have You Filled a Bucket Today? includes five different cultures on the first page and continues to show people of different races and ages throughout the book. Not only are different races and ages exhibited throughout the book but also a child in a wheelchair is represented. This book can serve as a mirror for a reader who is acting in a caring and loving manner towards others, but this book could also be considered a door since it encourages others to act and fill other people’s buckets. Society often thinks that adults have the influence, but this book shows that through simple actions, children can impact their peers, adults, teachers, and even strangers.

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Perceptually, this book appears to be a happy and joyful book. The text is big,clear and easy for students to read. The  amount of text represented on each page is just enough to grasp the understanding and then move on to the next page. Each page adds onto the previous page, while still reflecting the same message.

Structurally, the diverse characters vary, but the image of the bucket remains the same. The bucket reflects a character’s outward appearance. For example, characters that wear glasses have a bucket that wears glasses. This artistic style shows the audience that the bucket is not an item separate from the person. A bucket is symbolic of the person’s feelings and emotions on the inside. Since this book suggests that children have the power to impact a person’s happiness, the images of children and adults are on the same level. This image is a powerful point because it shows that children can impact adults just as much if not more than adults can impact children. Throughout the book, the images mirror the text, showing exactly what is written, but in some instances the images add to the text further explaining the story through pictures.

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Finally, ideologically this book’s positive message will have a lasting effect on children more than the negative lesson. One aspect that was negative was when the author points out that a bully is a “bucket dipper” (p. 15). The illustrator adds onto these words by creating images that show bullying actions. These words and images give children examples of ways that they should not behave towards their peers. The first positive message shows children the affect that happiness can have on other people as well as their own happiness. Not only does this book portray a positive message overall, but also there are relatable examples that students can take away from this book.

Jennie’s Hat

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Title: Jennie’s Hat

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Author: Ezra Jack Keats

Illustrator/Photographer: Ezra Jack Keats

Publisher and Year: The Penguin Group, 1966

Number of pages: 30 pgs

Tags: Olivia Simkins, Family, Fiction, 2-3, Fantasy, Picture Book

Genre: Fantasy

Analysis:

Jennie’s Hat is about a little girl named Jennie who is receiving a hat from her Aunt. When Jennie receives the hat, it isn’t what she expected. Jennie then sets out to find the perfect hat. This text could serve as a mirror for children. They can read this book and apply their own schema to the text. The book may have them think about the time they once received a gift from a family member and it turned out to be something they were not expecting. By having this text serve as a mirror it can also have the audience more intrigued as to what Jennie is going to do to make this present more appealing to her. The text may also give the students a chance to reflect on how Jennie reacted to the gift and whether she handled the situation correctly. The text can also give the readers time to reflect on how they might have responded themselves, if they were to receive the hat as a gift. This text also depicts different cultures through out the text. The words do not go in depth about different cultures. However, the illustrations do present other cultures through the people in Jennie’s everyday life. This story could give the readers the ideological thinking that Jennie’s response was not a nice one and she should have been happy and content with the gift she has received. It also could evoke a different kind of response. The audience could see the way Jennie changed the gift she received to fit something that served a better purpose to her, and agree that they believe she did the right thing. When looking deeper into the illustrations the readers can see that they have no frame around them allowing the audience to be a part of the story. It also allows us to see that different cultures have been featured in the book even though the text does not specifically state that the characters are of different races and cultures.

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