Module 3- Newbery Award Winners: Roller Skates by Ruth Sawyer

*Summary:

When her family leaves for an extended stay in Europe, Lucinda is left in the care of her old teacher Miss Peters. Lucinda is a care-free tomboy, who does not see the point in the formalities of high society in old New York. Instead, Lucinda would rather spend her time roller skating across the city meeting new people. Lucinda’s charms win her many friends like the cabbie, Mr. Gilligan, Patrolman M’gonegal, and Tony, whose father owns a fruit stand. When bullies start picking on Tony and knocking over all the fruit in his father’s fruit stand, Lucinda concocts a plan to help Tony, and discovers that she may not be so unladylike after all.

*Bibliography:

Sawyer, R., & Angelo, V. (1936). Roller skates. New York: Viking Press.

*My Rating:

Blah. This book was okay. Perhaps I am just not a fan of older books, but I found this book to be rather boring. I did, however, like how Ruth Sawyer developed the character of Lucinda and made her very lovable and charming. Lucinda kind of reminded me of a tomboy version of Shirley Temple. The plot line, however, was somewhat predictable and I’m not sure a lot of kids nowadays would be able to relate to Lucinda. 

*Reviews:

"I was thinking about this book for months before I decided to find it again.  I read and re-read this when I was growing up.  I loved it then and I love it now.

Lucinda Wyman is a tomboy who doesn't fit into the box that her time and place would like to put her in.  Her parents' trip to Italy buys her a year of freedom in which to explore 1890's New York on roller skates.  The story of Lucinda, the wonderful people she befriends in the amazing city she loves was mesmerizing to me as a kid.  I loved Lucinda and could relate to her because I didn't quite fit in, either, and I loved to read and talk to all kinds of people, and I made puppets and put on plays with them and adored The Tempest.  I still love just about all of those things (although I don't do puppet shows anymore) and I still love this book with its simple pleasures and enduring tragedies and joy of being alive and free out in the great big wonderful world."- Excerpt from a blog

http://www.chaoticcompendiums.com/2010/02/book-review-roller-skates-by-ruth.html

*Uses in a library:

A librarian could use this book to maybe highlight older winners of the Newbery Award. This book could be displayed in a sort of time line with other Newbery Award winning books.

Module 2- Caldecott Award Winners: This is Not my Hat by Jon Klassen

*Summary:

This is Not My Hat by Jon Klassen is a humorous story with a slightly dark twist. The opening lines really catch the reader’s attention, “This is not my hat. I have just stolen it.” This story follows a fish who has just stolen a hat right off the head of a big fish while the big fish was sleeping. The little fish thinks he can get away with stealing the hat because he probably won’t get caught. But, eventually, the big fish find him and takes the hat back. This book has a good moral, but is simple and fun.

*Bibliography:

Klassen, J. (2012). This is not my hat. Somerville, Mass.: Candlewick Press.

*My Rating:

LOVED IT! The thing that caught my attention most in this book is the fact that the story is told from the perspective of the thief, and not the victim. The story has suspense, humor, and great art work. I loved the fact that the illustrations covered a 2 page spread, and you could get a sense of movement from the illustrations. This book is a good way to teach a moral lesson without sounding preachy. Kids will love this story! My 3-year old daughter, Emily, sure did!

*Reviews:

A tiny fish steals a blue hat from a big fish. It's a bold move, and he shows no remorse for what he has done. As he is describing his thoughts about getting away with the theft, the illustrations show he is disillusioned in his apparent success. A crab saw where the little fish escaped to, and the crab points the way to the tiny fish's hiding place. The reader is left to interpret the result of their interaction through the final wordless pages. The narrative parallels the illustrations as the reader deduces the facts of the actual theft. This story, similar to Klassen's previous tale, I Want My Hat Back (Candlewick Press, 2011), is told from the perspective of the thief. This would make a remarkable read-aloud for students to interpret the ending in various ways.

Wright, L. (2013). This Is Not My Hat. Library Media Connection, 31(4), 63.

*Uses in a library:

This book would be really fun to include for a story time. The librarian could start the story time by reading a “News Report” written about the case of the missing hat. Next, the librarian could read the book aloud and then have the kids create their own news story about the book. As a craft, the kids could use newspaper to create hats that they have decorated.

Module 2- Caldecott Award Winners: Jumanji by Chris Van Allsburg

*Summary:

Jumanji is the story of a brother and sister named Peter and Judy who, on a boring, sunny day, come across an abandoned board game underneath a tree at the park. The two, rush back home to play the game, although they think the game looks rather dull. The game’s instructions have an ominous warning: “ONCE A GAME OF JUMANJI IS STARTED IT WILL NOT BE OVER UNTIL ONE PLAYER REACHES THE GOLDEN CITY.” Boy, are Peter and Judy surprised when the game comes to life and their house is filled with lions, monkeys, molten lava, pythons, and a monsoon! Thankfully, Peter finally reaches the golden city on the game board and when he shouts, “Jumanji!” everything goes back to normal. By the time Peter and Judy’s parents return home, there are no signs of the turmoil that the two have been through.

*Bibliography:

Allsburg, C. (1981). Jumanji. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co..

*My Rating:

As a kid I had watched the movie version of Jumanji, and honestly, until this course I had no idea that the movie was based on a book. This book is an enchanting story with beautiful illustrations. Children would love this book because it lets them escape from everyday life and use their imaginations. This book is a Caldecott Award winner, and I can see why. The story is very inventive, and unlike many other children’s picture books.

*Review:

Bored on a rainy Sunday afternoon, a brother and a sister in Van Allsburg's story get more than they bargained for when the board game they are playing comes to life. At the time Van Allsburg won his first Caldecott Medal, technological advances were just beginning to make full-color picture books the norm, so Jumanji stood out not just for its excellence but for its lack of color. The surreal illustrations were drawn with a Conté pencil, which is rougher than the standard graphite pencil and smoother than charcoal. While Van Allsburg was working on his drawings, he realized he could also use the dust that resulted from sharpening the Conté pencil. By dipping a piece of cheesecloth in the Conté dust and applying it to the surface of his drawing paper, he found he had more control over the gray tones and could fill in larger areas more quickly than he could with the point of his pencil. As Lynd Ward did with The Biggest Bear, Van Allsburg varies value to give his illustrations depth. He also varies perspective and angle in his illustrations to make viewers feel disoriented, like the world is just a little off center and out of whack.

Horning, K. T. (2012, 11). Jumanji. Book Links, 22, 13. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1146180383?accountid=7113

*Uses in a library:

A great way to get kids into the library is to provide high-interest programming. A librarian could plan a Board Game Day at the library and a quick, dramatic reading of Jumanji would be a great way to start the program. The librarian could also decorate the room with a rainforest theme.

Module 1- Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown

*Summary:
Good Night Moon is one of the most loved bedtime stories of all times. Goodnight Moon tells the story of a little rabbit who is getting ready for bedtime and is saying goodnight to everything in his room. The little rabbit says goodnight to his room, the red balloon, the cow jumping over the moon, the starts, the bowl full of mush sitting on his table, and the little old lady whispering “hush.”


*Bibliography:
Brown, M. W., & Hurd, C. (1947). Goodnight moon. New York: Harper.

*My Rating:
As a mother to a three-year old little girl, I had come across this book title before and had always wondered to myself why this book was so popular. So, I decided to do an experiment and read the book to my daughter (who is normally a wiggle worm during story time). She. was. enthralled. Before we put the book away, I must have read the book at least 10 times from cover to cover, which never happens with her. Now, as I write this a few weeks later, my daughter knows almost all of the words to this story. I have grown to love this book for the exact reason that made me hesitant to like it in the first place: its simplicity. Sometimes as adults it is easy to over-think children’s literature, this book reminded me to look at children’s literature through the eyes of a child, and not the critical eye of an adult.


*Reviews:
Preschool. The rhyming simplicity of the text still brings comfort to both mother and child, even after 50 years. Brown's ability to describe just what a small child notices is the essence of this book. The black-and-white details interspersing Hurd's red-and-green-- dominant full-page illustrations still radiate warmth.

Marino, J., & Zachary, N. (1999, 01). Goodnight moon. Book Links, 8, 29. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/197199317?accountid=7113

*Uses in a library:
This would be a great book to use as for a story time book for toddlers. I used this book as my story time book for our class assignment and it worked wonderfully. The librarian could use a felt board with visuals to reinforce vocabulary, and the kids could create crafts like a mobile to hang up at bedtime. The story time could even be a theme story time where everyone comes dressed in their pjs and the lights are turned low while the librarian reads the book by flashlight. Fun, fun, fun!!!

Module 1- Are you There God? It's Me, Margaret. by Judy Blume

*Summary: Bras, boys, kissing, and making new friends are just some of the concerns that 11, going on 12, year-old Margaret Simon faces in Are you There God? It’s Me, Margaret. When her family moves to New Jersey from NYC, Margaret has to adjust to a new life, with new friends, a new school, and moving away from her beloved Grandmother. Margaret meets a girl in her neighborhood named Nancy, and they become friends instantly. Although Margaret has made new friends, she still has a lot of insecurities on the inside that she can’t seem to talk to anyone about…so, instead she talks to God about her innermost thoughts.

*Bibliography: Blume, J. (1970). Are you there God?: It's me, Margaret. New York: Dell. 

*My Rating: This book was a quick read that would be fun for a pre-teen girl to read. I’m not so sure that many boys would find this book very interesting. I can see how this book gained so much popularity. Judy Blume was one of the first authors for books of pre-teens to talk so honestly and openly about such subjects as kissing, periods, and bras. This book is refreshing, funny, and fun. 

*Review: Gr 4-7-Are You There God, It's Me, Margaret is Judy Blume's account of what it is like to be an almost 12-year-old girl whose greatest desire is just to be normal. The novel is honest and forthright. Margaret Simon worries that she doesn't have anything to fill her bra, that she will be the last girl in her group of friends to start menstruating, that she just won't fit in. And to compound things, she has no religion, so she can't join either the Jewish Community Center or the Protestant Youth Center in her new neighborhood. This recorded version of Margaret's conversations with God, her parents, friends and us, the audience, is even more authentic than the book. Laura Hamilton's reading captures Margaret's anxiety in her conversations with God, her indignation in some conversations with her parents, and her enthusiasm and vulnerability in conversations with her friends. She can emphasize the girls' fixation with the pronunciation of new words in their life, as well as Margaret's pain when she is forced to cancel her planned holiday visit to Florida to see her much loved grandmother. Listeners seem to be co-conspirators, sympathetic friends, and always important members of Margaret's entourage. This conversational story is well-served here.-Edith Ching, St. Albans School, Washington, DC 

 Ching, E. (1998). Are you there god? it's me, margaret. School Library Journal, 44(2), 72. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/211709143?accountid=7113 

*Uses in a library: I do not think this book would be good as a read-aloud for a whole group in a library setting; however, a librarian could create a book list for “Girl’s ONLY” with this book on it. It would be kind of fun to create a display that said “No boys allowed” and have books like this one and others like it displayed as suggested reads. Keep in mind, if a librarian made a “Girls only” display it might be only fair to create a “Boy’s Only” display too.