Harlem

Harlem
by, Walter Dean Myers
pictures by,Christopher Myers

In the Caldecott Honor book, Walter Dean Myers uses poetic verse to describe the community and culture of Harlem. While Myers' words truly portray the images of an earlier era in Harlem, my favorite part of this book is the collage images by Christopher Myers. His images express both the pain and suffering of African Americans during a difficult time in American history as well as the pride and joy of a strong and creative culture. I enjoyed this poem book, and would recommend including it in a classroom library.

A Child's Calendar

A Child's Calendar
Poems by John Updike
Illustrations by Trina Schart Hyman

This collection of poems includes one poem for each month of the year. The poems describe the sights, sounds, smells and activities that many children experience at that time of year. In January, "the sky is low. The wind is gray. The radiator purrs all day." For me, these poems evoke images of "simpler times" in my mind. Children fishing, playing hopscotch, etc.

Hyman's illustrations complement the text. Each illustration includes great detail that will spark conversations with young readers. I enjoyed these poems, and can imagine using them on the first of the month in an elementary classroom.

Where the Sidewalk Ends

Where the Sidewalk Ends
by Shel Silverstein

Well, I simply had to blog about this poetry book from my youth. I absolutely LOVED this book when I was a kid, and I still have my original copy- inscribed "Merry Christmas Suellen 1981 Love Aunt Candy and Uncle Paul"

This collection of poems and drawings contains a fun mix of silly and serious. Mostly silly, I think this book attracts children to poetry, and makes them laugh. As I re-read this book as an adult, I find myself drawn to some of the poems that I really don't remember from my childhood. My favorite as an adult is "Listen to the Mustn'ts":

Listen to the MUSTN'TS, child,
Listen to the DON'TS
Listen to the SHOULDN'TS
The IMPOSSIBLES, the WON'TS
Listen to the NEVER HAVES
Then listen close to me-
Anything can happen, child,
ANYTHING can be.

As a kid, I loved "Sick" and "Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout Would Not Take the Garbage Out." I remember memorizing "Sick" in 5th grade and performing it for my class.

The illustrations in this book are simple, yet add meaning to many of Silverstein's poems. This is a classic, must have book for the classroom!

As a side note, I was reading the acknowledgments in the back of the book, and noticed that several of the poems are actually taken from previously published words in slightly different versions. Many of them were originally written by William Cole. I certainly always assumed these were original poems by Shel Silverstein. I just thought that was interesting.

Mysterious Thelonious

Mysterious Thelonious
by Chris Raschka

Inspired by the pianist and composer Thelonious Monk, this book mixes beautiful illustrations and text to create a portrait of Monk's music. The text in this book is written in large cursive writing, with words broken apart, and artistically displayed throughout the page. The non-traditional format made the poem somewhat difficult for me to read at first. I struggled to clearly grasp the order of the words, or even which syllables belonged with which words. However, as I slowly decoded the text, I realized that the poem tells the story of Thelonious Monk and his piano that played "no wrong notes." The format of the book perfectly matches the message of the text. As a musician, Thelonious experimented and improvised, not restricting himself to the notes on a page. He played the music of jazz, and as this poem articulates, "the music of freedom." As I read this poem and thought about ways to use this in the classroom, I thought about the idea that sometimes we restrict children's writing and creativity by focusing to much upon the "rules" of language. This poem, written non conventionally, discussing music that was non-conventional and creative, may open up windows for student's to explore with their own writing in new and unique ways.

Jazz

Jazz
by Walter Dean Myers
illustrated by Christopher Myers

I found this illustrated poetry book when I was looking for materials to develop a music unit about jazz. These poems pay tribute to jazz musicians and lyrically describe different characteristics and moods of jazz. There are poems dedicated to particular musicians as well as particular instruments.

I love the illustrations in this book. Christopher Myers created these illustrations by painting black ink on acetate and placing it over acrylic. Using this method, he beautifully depicts images of African American individuals who have contributed tot he history of jazz.

The introduction of this book includes a thorough description of the jazz music, including both characteristics of the music itself, as well as historical information about the development of jazz. At the end of the book, the author includes a glossary of jazz terms. Included in this glossary are words such as: be-bop, blow, chops, fusion, boogie, etc. He also includes a jazz time line, with significant events in jazz's history highlighted.

There is also a CD available with the poems narrated and sung to accompanying music. I've always thought that poetry and music are intimately related, and this book is a fun way to blend the two.

Love That Dog

Love That Dog
by Sharon Creech

As I started reading this novel, I initially felt a little bit like Jack, the narrator of this story. I'm typically not a lover of poetry, and I often don't "get it." However, after a few pages, I fell in love with Jack and his teacher, and the poetry of this novel.

As a future teacher, I particularly related to a teacher, working with a reluctant student, trying to encourage his poetic writing. I imagine as teachers, we will all run into a boy like Jack who thinks, "I don't want to because boys don't write poetry." But Jack's teacher's patience and kindness provided Jack with space to gradually realize he was an author of poetry. I loved the the author included the poetry mentioned throughout the novel. I think this would be a great book to use with young writers. This book will encourage students not only to explore with writing poetry, but also to widen their reading repertoire to include poetry as well.

The back of the book also included an excerpt from Sharon Creech's new novel "Hate That Cat." This looks like it would be equally enjoyable.

Nocturne

Nocturne
by Jane Yolen
Illustrated by Anne Hunter

This picture book is a poetic description of the outdoors at night. I love the poetic verse, and Yolen's unique writing style truly captures the beauty of the night. She writes, "In the night, in the velvet night, in the quiltdown quietdown velvet night moths flutter up, flutter down, like wind-up toys, without the noise."

As I read many of Jane Yolen's books, I am continually amazed with her ability to capture images and moods with words. This book really feels more like a poem than a children's story book. I thought the illustrations in this book didn't quite do Yolen's words justice. In my opinion, the images of the people taking a walk look somewhat unnatural and stiff. I love the cover illustration, but most of the other pages were less enjoyable to me. Yolen's words are so sentimental and soft, I would have preferred more natural and soft images.

My Special Day at Third Street School

My Special Day at Third Street School
by Eve Bunting
illustrated by Suzanne Bloom

This picture book, written in rhyming verse, tells of an authors visit to Third Street School. The children prepare the room for their special guest (Amanda Drake), and eagerly listen to her share about writing. When one student asks if she would write a book about their school, author Amanda Drake replies, "My goodness! What a great idea! When I go home I'll try it. If I can do a super job, a publisher may buy it." Finally, the end of the book reveals that this book, is the book about Third Street school.

The rhyming verse in this story is fun an clever. This would be a fun book to read to students to inspire writing in general, or maybe inspire some poetry exploration. I also enjoyed the illustrations in this book. The children and adults in this book represent a diverse population. The pictures include a nice mix of various races and genders. Even the author,Amanda Drake, has pink hair-"Amanda Drake is tall and thin. Her hair is streaked wit pink. It doesn't sound attractive, but it's nicer than you think."

Night-Night, Little One

Night-Night, Little One
by Angela McAllister
illustrated by Maggie Kneen

This is a sweet little story about a little baby bunny, who after a long day playing with his sisters, struggles to fall asleep. When he complains to his mother that he doesn't like the night, she opens his curtains and says "It;s only at night that you can see the starts." Baby bunny loves the stars, but wonders who will see the stars if everyone is asleep. Mommy bunny then tells baby bunny about all the night animals who come out to the forest at night; Mr. Fox, the Hedgehog family, Mrs. Bat and her children, and Mrs. Badger and her family. When mommy bunny tells baby bunny that Herbert the Hedgehog doesn't like day time and he has a hard time falling asleep, baby bunny is comforted and drifts off to sleep.

I thought this was a charming little story. Many kids can relate to struggling to sleep at night. I thought that the idea of discussing baby nocturnal animals struggling to go "day-day" (instead of night-night...) was a cute idea. The illustrations in this story are cute and loving. All in all, this is an enjoyable book.

A Rainbow Of My Own

A Rainbow of My Own
by, Don Freeman

This book caught my eye because I immediately recognized the illustrations as similar to Don Freeman's other classic book "Corduroy." In this story, a little boy imagines that he could have a rainbow all to himself, and play games with it, climb on it, play hide and seek with it, etc. In the end, he goes home to his room and finds the sun shining through his fish bowl, creating a rainbow in his room.

I was somewhat disappointed with this book. There was nothing specific that I didn't like about this book, but it really just left me feeling fairly neutral. I loved the book "Corduroy" so much, that I had high expectations for this story. I thought the text in the story was a bit bland and I didn't feel any emotional connection to the story.

I do think that many children imagine climbing and sliding on a rainbow. For this reason, young children may enjoy the story, and it may spark their own imaginative play.

Big Al

Big Al
by Andrew Clements
illustrated by Yoshi

This is the story a BIG ugly fish named Al. Although Al was the nicest fish you'd ever meet, he just couldn't make an friends! None of the little fish wanted to be friends with him, because he looked to big and scary. Al tried everything, disguising himself with seaweed, puffing himself up to make the fish laugh, but nothing seemed to work. In the end though, Al rescues the little fish from a giant net, and everyone realizes what a good friend Al can be.

I enjoyed this book. It addresses friendship issues in a light and humorous manner, while still capturing the sadness that a lonely fish(or kid!) feels. I definitely think this could be a good book to use with students when exploring issues of friendship. Yoshi's illustrations are bright and engaging.

Blueberries for Sal

Blueberries for Sal
by Robert McCloskey

I chose this story because it was one of my favorite childhood books. McCloskey's other books "Make Way for Ducklings" and "One Morning in Maine" are both books that I have read with my own children over and over again. I had positive memories of "Blueberries for Sal," and was eager to reread this book now as an adult.

In this charming story, Sal and her mother go to Blueberry Hill to pick blueberries to can for the winter. At the same time, a mother bear and her baby are munching on blueberries to fatten up for the winter as well. Sal and the baby bear inadvertently change places, and spend sometime following the wrong mother around the hill!

I still love this story. McCloskey's line drawings are endearing, and he really captures the image of a cute toddler, picking berries with her mother. The plot of the book is suspenseful, and as I read the book to my own children, they both made guesses about how the story would resolve. Although this book was first published in 1948, I think the story and illustrations will continue to capture the hearts of children and adults today.

Walking to School

Walking to School
A Story From Northern Ireland

by Eve Bunting
illustrated by Michael Dooling

This powerful picture book describes the experiences of a young Catholic girl who must walk through Protestant protests on her way to school in Belfast, Northern Ireland. She is frightened by the escalating violence, and feels upset about the threatening words her uncle uses when talking about Protestants.

Bunting effectively captures the tensions between Catholics and Protestants in Ireland, and offers a glimmer of hope as two young girls reach across these religious boundaries and express for a brief moment their frustrations with the adults in their lives that place them in such a difficult position. I enjoyed this book, and I think it could be used with students to begin exploring issues of racism and discrimination.

Michael Dooling's oil on canvas illustrations effectively portray the scenes of a tense Ireland, and a worried little girl.

The Author's notes at the end of the book also point out that this story could have easily been written about a Protestant child walking through "Catholic territory." Bunting points out that extremists on both sides keep the conflict in Ireland alive.

April Fool! Watch Out at School!

April Fool! Watch Out at School!
by, Diane DeGroat

In this story, Gilbert is excited that it is April Fool's Day, and has many plans to play tricks on his friends at school. But, when he is tricked over and over by his classmates, teacher, and even his mother, it starts to look like this will be Gilbert's worst April Fools Day ever. In the end though, he finds a clever way to fool Lewis, a classmate who has been bullying Gilbert all day long.

This is a fun little story, that I chose to read in honor of April Fools Day this week. The illustrations are particularly fun, and DeGroat has included hidden jokes and tricks within the illustrations on each page. For example, one illustrations depicts the friends playing kickball with a bowling ball. Another shows the numbers on the clock going background.

Year of Impossible Goodbyes

Year of Impossible Goodbyes
by Sook Nyul Choi

As with "So Far From the Bamboo Grove", reading this book leaves me feeling astonished about the resiliency of children and families experiencing such immense trauma. This book tells the story of 10 year old Sookan and her family, as they endure the Japanese occupation in Korea, followed by the Communist Russian control. Remarkably, Sookan and her younger brother make the incredible journey to safety in South Korea.

I have never been particularly good at remembering historical events, and I am somewhat embarrassed to admit how little I know about World War II and the events surrounding this conflict. Reading this novel, as well as "So Far From the Bamboo Grove," has helped me to gain a much better understanding of some of these events. I think that although this book is troubling and painful, reading it truly helps to gain a more deeper understanding of war and the consequences of war on families.