Time for a Bath

http://www.stevejenkinsbooks.com/books/bath.html

Bibliography:

Jenkins, S. & Page, R. (2011). TIME FOR A BATH. New York: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children. ISBN 9780547250373

Summary:

Whether it’s wallowing in the mud like a rhinoceros or allowing a pair of shrimp to groom you like a tomato grouper, creatures of all types have interesting and amazing ways that they take a bath.  

Critical Analysis:

Have you ever wanted to know how a pangolin or an emu takes a bath?  Steve Jenkins and Robin Page present an inviting concept book that explores the bathing habits of multiple creatures in Time for a Bath.  As a team, these two author, illustrators do a phenomenal job in offering readers of all ages a short, interesting, and factual  twist on the lives of animals.

Jenkins and Page use beautiful eye-catching collage illustrations of the creatures and their bathing habits.  These illustrations create a wondering of what unique way each animal uses to groom themselves.  A reader is easily able to learn the bathing habits each creature possesses by reading the clear and concise captions that accompany the wonderful illustrations.  Not only do they explain the habits of common animals like an elephant, rhinoceros, and deer, but also about other less common, yet still interesting, creatures.  Did you know that a gecko has no eyelids and has to lick them with its tongue to keep them clean?  Or, that a pangolin lifts its scales and lets ants eat the debris out from underneath the scales?  

In addition to the captivating illustrations and captions, Jenkins and Page offer their readers a chance to learn about less common creatures, such as, the jerboa, roseate spoonbill, and Japanese macaques.  Overall, a reader focuses their attention on bathing habits, but is informed of other factual information for each animal they read about, at the end of the book.  Thus, enhancing the amount of knowledge gained of common and not so common creatures.  Finally, the beauty of Time for a Bath is that it offers an entertaining and factual read for young and old alike.

Awards:

The Eureka! Nonfiction Children's Book Award 2011

Outstanding Science Trade Books for Students K-12 for 2012

Chicago Public Library's 2012 Best of the Best

Review Excerpts:

"These will be an effective way to introduce animal habits and to link them to human behavior, and they may elicit audience interest in further discussion and exploration." —Bulletin

“In Time for a Bath, readers are informed that animals bathe for different reasons: to clean themselves, to cool off, to warm up, and to dissuade parasites. A "vulture takes a sunbath. The sun's warmth feels good, and the sunlight helps kill bacteria." The gecko, lacking eyelids, keeps its eyeballs dirt-free by licking them with "its long, flexible tongue." Readers will be captivated.” — School Library Journal

Connections:

-Read other works by Steve Jenkins and Robin Page:

Time to Eat

Time to Sleep

-Compare and contrast the habits of creatures on a chart

-Research additional bathing habits of animals not mentioned in Time for a Bath

-Chart the mentioned creatures on a map

-Write a story using one of the animals from Time for a Bath, making sure to include a bath time part in the story

Hitler Youth: Growing Up In Hitler's Shadow

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Bibliography:

Bartoletti, S.C. (2005). HITLER YOUTH: GROWING UP IN HITLER’S SHADOW. New York: Scholastic. ISBN 0439353793

Summary:

Bartoletti offers an award winning historical account of a generation of young people that were affected by their devotion, and sometimes non-devotion, to Adolf Hitler and the Third Reich’s policies and propaganda.

Critical Analysis:

What happens when you’re starving and work is hard to come by, and then someone steps in and has an ideal that offers jobs, food, and an overall better place to live?  For your children, this person and their organization offer overnight camping trips, parades, and a place to just belong.  However, would you want your child to recite an oath, just to belong, such as this, “In the presence of this Blood Banner, which represents our Fuhrer, I swear to devote all energies and my strength to the Savior of our country, Adolf Hitler.  I am willing and ready to give up my life for him, so help me God.”?  That is exactly what the children of Germany recited in the 1930’s as they became members of the Hitler Youth.  For their devotion, they got Adolf Hitler, the Third Reich, and the Hitler Youth organization.  How did this happen?  Hitler targeted the youth of a nation, “I begin with the young...my magnificent youngsters!”  By reading Bartoletti’s accurate and unbiased telling, a reader learns of the depredations committed by Hitler and his cronies towards a country and its people, and just how children became Hitler Youth members and carried out the Third Reich policies and promoted its propaganda.  

Susan Campbell Bartoletti writes in a style of ease using first-hand accounts of the youth that were in "Hitler's shadow." In addition, she softens the content with the comforting background color of yellow and uses gray captions under pictures to contrast to the horrific time period in history that she addresses.  Organizationally, this book is set up in chronological order of how the Hitler Youth came to be, the actions of its members and protesters over time, and finally the repercussions of this time in history.  Bartoletti includes pictures that aren’t horrific to look at, but still offer the reader a true portrayal of what they are reading about.  She starts the reader off with a clear idea of who they are reading about by including the key young people's photos and a brief description of each person to read about before one ever gets into the meat of the story.  Furthermore, she includes an epilogue, timeline, author’s note, and information about the photographs at end of the book to give the reader a bit of additional information. Overall, this factual read offered a wealth of new knowledge, however it can be nightmare worthy for some readers.  Bartoletti can’t address this time in history without talking about Hitler’s euthanasia and extermination policies, therefore readers need to take that into consideration when reading her award winning work.

Awards:

2006 Newbery Honor

2006 Sibert Honor

2006 Parents Choice Award

Review Excerpts:

“...offers a unique and riveting perspective on WWII by focusing on the young people who followed Hitler…” - Publishers Weekly

“In her first full-length nonfiction title since winning the Robert F. Sibert Award, Susan Campbell Bartoletti explores the riveting and often chilling story of Germany's powerful Hitler Youth groups.” -Goodreads

“Superb.” -Kirkus Reviews

Connections:

-Read other works by Susan Campbell Bartoletti such as:

A Christmas Promise

Black Potatoes: The Story of the Great Irish Famine

Dancing with Dziadziu

Growing Up in Coal Country

Kids on Strike!

Nobody’s Diggier than a Dog

Nobody’s Nosier than a Cat

Silver at Night

The Boy Who Dared

The Flag Maker

They Called Themselves the KKK: The Birth of an American Terrorist Group

-Create a Book in a Bag Report:  Students find ten objects that represent this book and include them, along with a brief description of what it is and how it connects to the book, in a bag to present to the class.

-Create a PowerPoint or video depicting Bartoletti’s book

-Compare and contrast this book to a historical fiction book that addresses children affected by Adolf Hitler, such as,  The Book Thief by, Markus Zusak

Monster Museum

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Bibliography:

Singer, Marilyn. 2001. MONSTER MUSEUM. Ill. by Gris Grimly. New York: Hyperion Books for Children. ISBN 078680520

Summary:

Children go into the Monster Museum and explore nineteen horrifyingly exciting creatures it has to behold.  While exploring, they have a frightenly great time.  In the end, monsters bid them farewell, and the children that were kind just may have found they have a new friend.

Critical Analysis:

Marilyn Singer has created a comically spooky compilation of twenty-one rhyming monster themed poems.  In this compilation, the reader gets acquainted with what the museum has to offer its guests in the first poem, Monster Museum. Then readers read on to poetically experience such inhabitants as Count Dracula, The Werewolf, The Mummy, Bigfoot, Medusa, and many more.  Bigfoot offers an entertaining account of his “awesome” wedding day to Misses Yeti, where they were “tossing snowballs like confetti.”  To make this book even more entertaining than it already is are its watercolor illustrations by Gris Grimly that contribute to furthering the spine-tingling hilarity of each poem.  Grimly does a nice job of giving each monster a scary, but yet comical expression.  The visiting kids each have a look as if thinking, “What in the world have I gotten myself into?”  In the end, the “brave souls” are "bid farewell," and then Singer uses a play on words to title the “Glo-Scary.”  The “Glo-scary" allows readers to peruse and also learn about each horrifying character inhabiting the museum.  This monster themed compilation is appropriately entertaining for elementary aged children.

Review Excerpts:

“Among the season's best creature features.” -Publishers Weekly

“Singer’s poems are lively and humorous (if not great literature), and they impart quite a bit of information about various famous monsters.” -Kirkus Reviews

"This fresh, witty book will be popular for not-so-scary storytimes, as well as independent reading.” -School Library Journal

Connections:

-Read other works written by Marilyn Singer:

Mirror Mirror

Shoe Bop!

Monday on the Mississippi

The Painted Fan

The Golden Heart of Winter

The Pickle Plan

Archer Armadillo’s Secret Plan

Big Wheel

Charmed

-Read this compilation during a monster themed narrative writing unit

-Read during the month of October

-Write original monster or spooky themed poetry

Diamond Willow

http://childrensbookalmanac.com/wp-content/uploads/Diamond-Willow.png

Bibliography:

Frost, Helen. 2008. DIAMOND WILLOW. New York: Farrar, Straus, & Giroux. ISBN 9780374317768

Summary:

Twelve year old Diamond Willow is an introverted Alaskan girl who wonders if she will ever be shiny like the Diamond in her name or always just plain Willow.  No matter though because she has love and affection for her sled dogs and is a capable dogmusher.  But is this really enough?  Through persuasion she convinces her parents to let her sled to her grandparents for the weekend and on the way home tragedy strikes her beloved dog Roxy.   Through this tragedy, Willow journeys on self-discovery and a mission to save the one she loves.  In turn, she gains a new outlook of herself and the world surrounding her.

Critical Analysis:

Diamond Willow by, Helen Frost is poetry written in the first person verse novel form.  In fact, each poem is written as a diamond shape poem encompassing another poem within.  These poems are eloquent and parallel to whom Diamond Willow is.  Each embedded poem is an insight into Willow’s innermost thoughts and feelings.  In addition, Willow’s character parallels the diamond willow stick that she is named after.  This is a stick that looks rough and plain on the outside, but when the bark is peeled away and the wood is sanded, you see beautiful diamond scars that are from where its branches have broken away.  Frost helps to poetically portray this emotional parallelism by slowing revealing Willow’s true scars of losing her twin soon after birth.  A great addition to this verse novel is the well-chosen sensory language that Frost uses.  With this language, the reader feels the cold, “quiet air” of Alaska, sees the “sparkling” snow, and feels Roxy’s blinding pain.  Willow’s happiness is truly felt at the end, “I am flying… like my twin sister Diamond is alive inside me.”  Through Helen Frost’s eloquence, the reader follows Willow’s realization of who she really is because of the consequences that befall her and the ones she loves after the fateful tragedy that strikes Roxy.  This poetic novel is brilliantly written and a true surprise to its readers.

Awards:

2009 Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award

2008 Mitten Award - Michigan Library Association

2009 The Lion and the Unicorn Award for Excellence in North American Poetry Honor Book

2009 Winner of Best Books of Indiana, Children and Young Adult Book

2009 CCBC Choices List

Review Excerpts:

“Frost presents her story in a series of poems in Willow’s voice, using a form inspired by the marks on a diamond willow stick; roughly diamond-shaped and no two exactly alike, each contains a “hidden message” printed in boldface that spans several lines and encapsulates the poem. It’s a novel idea, and largely works quite well.” – Kirkus Reviews

"This complex and elegant novel will resonate with readers who savor powerful drama and multifaceted characters." —School Library Journal

“Set in a remote part of Alaska, this story in easy-to-read verse blends exciting survival adventure with a contemporary girl’s discovery of family roots and secrets.” —Booklist

Connections:

-Read other written works by Helen Frost:

Keesha’s House

Spinning Through the Universe

The Braid

Monarch and Milkweed

-Research diamond willow 

-Write a diamond shape poem

-Write a haiku using Alaska or winter as the topic

The One and Only Ivan

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Bibliography:

Applegate, Katherine. 2012. THE ONE AND ONLY IVAN. Ill. by Patricia Castelao. New York: Harper Collins Children’s Books. ISBN 9780061992254

Summary:

An artistic gorilla, The One and Only Ivan, spends his days considering art and TV shows in his domain at the Exit 8 Big Top Mall and Video Arcade where people come to see him and his friends.  His dearest friends are Stella the elephant and Bob the stray dog, but even though he has them, his world is still mundane day in and day out.  That is until Ruby, a baby elephant, shows up and changes Ivan’s life forever.  Tirelessly, Ivan embarks on an artistic plan of expression to save Ruby, and in turn saves himself from a life in a lonely cage and a doomed circus show.

Critical Analysis:

Based on a real-life gorilla’s story that Katherine Applegate heard about, she has created a novel in verse told from the first person perspective of Ivan, a gorilla.  Readers are entwined in a first-hand experience of what it is like to live in a cage and be on display for others’ entertainment by Applegate’s use of figurative language.  Her poetry is also written in a conversational manner that makes it feel as if Ivan is talking to you as you read his thoughts and feelings.   Sadness is portrayed for a large portion of the verse in that it seems as though Ivan and his friends are destined to a life in a cage.  Ivan at first calls his home a “domain,” but one day Ruby asks Ivan if she is going to die in her domain like Aunt Stella.  In his response he feels “something tighten in [his] chest, something dark and hot,” and calls their domain for what it really is, a “cage.”  Gut-wrenching is an appropriate description of Katherine Applegate’s novel in verse until hope then happiness is felt in the end when Ivan, Ruby, and Bob are given the humane life that any creature deserves.  Through this portrayal in poetry, Applegate makes the reader contemplate the life and treatment of domesticated animals.  The One and Only Ivan is appropriate for ages 8 and above.

Awards:

2013 Newbery Medal Winner

2013 Christopher Award

Review Excerpts:

“Utterly believable, this bittersweet story, complete with an author’s note identifying the real Ivan, will inspire a new generation of advocates.” – Kirkus Reviews

"Applegate makes a powerful statement about the treatment of animals–especially those living in captivity–and reminds readers that all creatures deserve a safe place to call home. A must-have." – School Library Journal

“Important.” —The Horn Book

Connections:

-Read non-fiction books on such topics as: the circus, caring and/or training circus animals, gorillas, elephants, zoos

-Research: the habitats of gorillas and elephants, circus careers, zoology

-Find and recite/read poetry on topics such as: the circus, gorillas, elephants, zoos

-Create zoo, animal, and/or circus poetry

-Read other works from Katherine Applegate:

            Animorphs series

            Remnants series

            Sharing Sam

            Listen to My Heart

            Home of the Brave

            Eve and Adam

Swamp Angel

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0525452710.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

Bibliography:

Isaacs, Anne, 1994. SWAMP ANGEL. Ill by Paul Zelinsky. NewYork, NY: Dutton Children's Books. ISBN 0525452710

Summary:

In 1815, larger than life Angelica Longrider was born in Tennessee.  Her daddy gave her an ax to gnaw on, and by age two used it to build her mother and father a log cabin.  Later, when she was only twelve years old a wagon train and its passengers got “mired in Dejection Swamp” and she came to their rescue, earning the nickname Swamp Angel.  In time, Tennessee was plagued with the likes of a gargantuan bear called Thundering Tarnation who was eating up the winter stores.  Voracious men set off to the task of getting rid of the nasty varmint, but not all the hunting was to be had by just the men.  Amid taunts that she should tend the mending and be making pies, Swamp Angel set out to deal with the likes of the pesky bear.  Much to the men’s dismay, Swamp Angel single-handedly got rid of Thundering Tarnation.  In the process of wrestling with “that bristled bear,” she created The Great Smoky Mountains, Ursa Major, and the Montana Shortgrass Prairie, thus enhancing her already immense character.

Critical Analysis:

Author Anne Isaacs has spun an amazing yarn in her original creation of an American tall tale.  She presents the reader Swamp Angel who is a hero with character of gargantuan proportions.  When she “was full grown, she was second to none in buckskin bravery, performing eye-popping wonders in the bogs and backwoods of Tennessee.”  Also, in keeping with the tall tale tradition Isaacs explains through lively actions, massive amounts of hyperbole, and humor how Swamp Angel created some of America’s natural wonders while whipping Thundering Tarnation, and in doing so becoming a heroine of Tennessee.

Illustrator Paul Zelinsky has brought the character of Swamp Angel to life in his primitive style of illustrations.  At once a reader can tell that Angelica Longrider is indeed larger than life and meant for great adventures.  The first page shows a family picture of dad standing next to mom who is holding Angelica when she was a baby.  However, this isn't any ordinary baby, she is huge!  Zelinsky illustrates a main character in proportions that show she is much bigger than ordinary things.  When two year old Angelica is building the log cabin, it looks as though she is playing with Lincoln Logs.  As she gets older and is known as Swamp Angel, Zelinsky shows her almost always having to squat or hunch over to emphasize her massiveness in everyday life.

Isaacs and Zelinsky have done an amazing job in keeping the tradition of American tall tales alive in this original tale.  They have created a tale that will have readers of all ages entertained in the outrageous shenanigans of a female hero and a feisty bear. It is only fitting that this book was awarded the Caldecott Honor in 1995!

Awards:

1995 Caldecott Honor Book

2013 Phoenix Picture Book Award by the Children's Literature Association

1995 Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor Book

1994 ALA Notable Book

New York Times Best Illustrated Books of 1994

School Library Journal Best Books of 1994

Booklist Children's Editors Choices 1994

Publisher's Weekly Best Books of 1994

Review Excerpts:

“This valiant heroine is certain to leave youngsters chuckling-and perhaps even keeping a close watch on the night sky.” –Publishers Weekly

“With its good-natured, larger-than-life heroine and broad, fanciful paintings, this original Tennessee tall tale is exhilarating and side-splittingly funny.” –School Library Journal

“It is impossible to convey the sheer pleasure, the exaggerated loopiness, of newcomer Isaacs's wonderful story. Matching the superb text stride for stride are Zelinsky's (The Wheels on the Bus, 1990) altered-state, American primitive paintings--gems that provide new pleasures, reading after reading. To say that you are entering Caldecott land doesn't begin to do this book justice.” –Kirkus Reviews

Connections:

-Adapt this tall tale into a comic

-Adapt this tall tale into a reader’s theatre

-Read more tall tales, such as: Paul Bunyan, Stormalong Annie, Pecos Bill, Jonny Appleseed, and John Henry

-Write a tall tale using the author’s craft elements of hyperbole, simile, and metaphor

Sirko and the Wolf

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51CRH1RH0CL.jpg

Bibliography:

Kimmel, Eric A. 1997. SIRKO AND THE WOLF: A UKRAINIAN TALE. Ill. by Robert Sauber. New York, Holiday House. ISBN 0823412571

Summary:

Sirko has loyally served his owners, but one day his master’s wife determines that he is too old to be of any use to the family.  So off to the forest Sirko is taken by his master and left.  Shortly Sirko meets a wolf who helps him in his time of need.  The wolf hatches a plan to get Sirko back in the good graces of his master and the master’s wife.  The plan works and Sirko is showered with praise and indulgences.  However, as he is home in a warm bed, he knows that he wouldn’t be where he is without the wolf’s help.  Sirko also knows he must find a way to repay the wolf, so he invites the wolf to come to the harvest feast at his home.  The wolf discerns that he would be unwelcome, so together they devise how the wolf can be part of the feast.  All goes according to plan until the guests start playing music.  Then the plan goes awry, and Sirko has to pretend to chase away the wolf to fool his master and the guests.  Finally, when Sirko and the wolf are together again, they realize that no matter who you are or where you live you can be friends on your own terms. 

Critical Analysis:

In Sirko and the Wolf, Eric Kimmel has enlightened readers with an adaptation of a Ukrainian folk tale.  His characters are connectable with readers of all ages; however older children will more likely appreciate and gain more meaning from the tale than younger children.  With each turn of the page, a reader can feel for and relate with the events in the story even though the main characters are talking animals. 

For me, the most relatable line in the story is, “I don’t mind being hungry and cold, as long as I can sing when I please.  I would rather be free than fed.”  In keeping with folk tale tradition, it is apparent by this memorable statement from the wolf that this tale has a moral to be realized by readers.  This line speaks volumes in so many ways.  Such as, the historical strife that the Ukraine has been through, happiness doesn't come from things, and to be true to yourself.  In addition, readers can glean other morals from this folk tale, for example repay friends with kindness, help others in need, and you can be friends no matter your differences.

Robert Sauber’s richly detailed illustrations add to the appeal of this tale.  Readers will be drawn to the folk art like paintings as much as to the story itself.  Each page of illustrations draws the tale further along, giving a deeper understanding to the story.  It feels as if you are under the table with the wolf and see Sirko looking in at you from the outside when Sirko hides the wolf under the table before the start of the feast.  This book is just as much a work of art as it is a story, sure to ensue pride in a Ukrainian tradition.

Finally, the Ukrainian culture is abundantly represented in this adaptation by Kimmel and Sauber.  The depicted mountainous landscape, the bandora that the farmer plays, the name Sirko, and the farming community all have Ukrainian cultural ties.  Also helping is Kimmel’s personal familial connection to the Ukraine that is apparent in this adaptation.  This folk tale is definitely a phenomenal addition to anyone’s multicultural folk tale collection.

Review Excerpts:

"rich, evocative illustrations" –School Library Journal

“Illustrated with impressionistic paintings that vividly dramatize each scene, this picture book tells a story that will please the many dog lovers in the world.” –Booklist

Connections:

-Read other Eric Kimmel adaptations of folk tales

-Read Ukrainian Folk Tales by, Irina Zheleznova

-Research the Ukraine

-Illustrate the moral(s) of this folk tale

-Orally retell this folk tale using a felt board and felt board characters