Castles: Old Stone Poems

  This book is a beautiful collection of poems that surround the subject of ancient castles. Each poem is about a different famous castle and includes a mixture of historical fact and myth. The castles are from all over the world-from France's Chambord to Catherine's Palace in Russia. Each one is unique and equally grand. My two favorites are the one's mentioned above. I love Chambord's for it's amazing, broad low ceilings and grand spiral staircase designed by Leonardo D'avinci. I also really like Catherine's Palace for it's bright gold colored walls. It was said that Catherine was so vain she kept her hairdresser locked in an iron cage inside her room so that no one would know she wore a wig. It is little details like this in the back of the book  that make this work really interesting. I can definitely see myself reading something like this in my class and having my kids do a drawing project where they design their own castle.

Under the North Star by Ted Hughes

 This is another poetry collection by Ted Hughes. The images in this book are much for striking than the mermaids purse, and so I'm drawn to it visually for that reason. The close up of the bear that takes up an entire page is really stunning. The poems, I have found, although they may be some what abstract and difficult to understand, sound really cool when read out loud. Ted Hughes makes up some words such as in the phrase: Doomed is the Dab. When reading it, although Dab is not a word, as far as I know, you can almost put your own meaning to it when read with the rest of the poem. Whatever word you associate with Dab works, since he didn't specify one. All of the poems in this collection are about wild animals. He portrays them as fierce and yet possessing human qualities, like an osprey who folds his wings and bows to God. 

     I don't think I'd read these poems to my class since I feel they reflect his own outlook on life which I believe is less of a positive one and more centered on the idea that the strongest survive. Although I find the beauty of nature he describes so well in his work inspiring, his heightened focus of violence somewhat turns me off.

The Mermaid's Purse by Ted Hughes

Ted hughes love for the natural world is echoed in these poems about the many creatures that live in the ocean and on the sand. The book is small in size, which is fitting since the poems are pretty short and the images are abstract and in black and white. I really like Ted Hughes voice in these poems and the practically perfect descriptions he uses. I like the poem about the seal. He describes the seal to have famine child eyes and to look like it just lost it's mother in the ocean. I saw a seal up close over thanksgiving and they look exactly like that, with big baby eyes. They are so stinking cute, next to kittens and baby puppies! The poem that the book is titled after is somewhat strange, and I don't particularly like it that much. A mermaid opened her purse to get out an aspirin and a shark came along as the "doctor" and ate her head off, I'm assuming. These poems are kind of fun, but I don't think I'd choose this book to read to my class, since I believe there are others that are better.

Lewis Carroll: The Walrus and The Carpenter

This is a long poem from Alice and Wonderlands Through the Looking Glass. It tells the tale of TweedleDe and Tweedledum and Alice's encounter with them. They ask her if she likes poetry and then begin to recite a long poem about the carpenter and the walrus who eat all the baby oysters after tricking them to come up on the beach. It is somewhat of a gruesome and dark story, and yet it is mysteriously interesting. I want to know where Lewis Carroll came up with his inspiration for this story and if has a deeper meaning. I think it could be interpreted in many ways. This would be a fun book to read to a class since the artwork is pretty fantastical and colorful. It would be fun to do a project where student's receive a poem and then have to make a work of art from that poem. It might also be fun to have kids write their own similar fantastical poem along with doing images to reflect it.

Boshblobberbosh

This book by J. Patrick Lewis pays homage to Edward Lear, an artist and poet himself. The images are dark and fantastical and the poems are strange and nonsensical. Some of the poems involve puns and are quite clever for that matter. A poem about Owls is one of my favorites: "There once was a man who loved vowels, so much that he hooted to owls. When they cried, "Oooooooh" he cried "Oh-O-ohh to you you half-moony meloobius fowls."" His play on words in the poem is pretty genius. Another poem is about the thing in the middle of your face, or your nose and has a picture of a big face that takes up two pages. It is similarly clever and interesting. I think this would be a fun book to read to kids, since you could play around with voices and the pictures are great. It could really get kid's imaginations going, since lot's of times children think in ways that, to adults, seems nonsensical.  

Ocean's Child

This book has cool artwork, and it looks like it was airbrushed. The story uses rhyming and repetition to tell another bedtime story. It is interesting because it talks about different sea creatures and describes how they sleep. For example, a baby whale rests on the back of its mother and dolphins rest close to the surface of the ocean. This is something I had been interested in as a kid- how fish sleep, or if they do. This could be a cute story to read with kids during a science unit about the ocean.

            The only negative thing about this book is that I found the repetition somewhat predictable and annoying. On the other hand, kids might not feel the same. In a classroom setting, when I have heard teachers read repetitive books, the kids have enjoyed that fact that they can expect one part of the story every time and say it along with the teacher. This keeps them in the story. For me, it was just annoying, but I didn't read it aloud with a bunch of overly excited kids in the room, so that may be part of it.

Desert December

This book is a South African children's book that my mom brought back from there when she visited a family friend. It tells the story of a little boy and his amazing adventure when he travels many miles to give his mother a present. The author uses great word descriptions to weave a lovely story of this boys family and life in South Africa. It is interesting also how it feels different from the American Stories I have been reading. It reads a little differently, although it is in English, and some of the word descriptions were different from anything I've heard before. For example, the author uses the phrase hosanna blue to describe the nights sky on Christmas Eve. I've never heard this term used to describe a color, but when I looked it up, it works. Hosanna means an expression of adoration, praise or joy.

It was also interesting how much the story paralleled the Christmas story. I didn't notice this until I looked it over a second time, but the ending has an image of a baby in swaddling clothes surrounded by two parents and the little girls brother. There is also a star shining overhead and this star helped the boy find his mother and her new baby, similar to the three wise men who followed the star to baby Jesus. I think this would be a great book to read to my class around Christmas time since it brings in elements of other cultures while bringing in elements of our own.

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?

I really like this book. It would be a great book for talking about seeing things from other's perspectives or walking in someone else's shoes. Each page has an animal and it says that the animal is seeing the animal on the next page. The last animal sees a teacher and the teacher then sees children and the children see all the animals and their teacher. It might be fun to do a swapping of roles for this story and have all the students switch off reading a page of this story to their teacher. I also really like the big cut out animals. They are made of simple shapes yet show allot of movement and energy, which I don't think is an easy thing to pull off, considering the limited materials they used. It's a simple but fun book and I think you could do allot it with in a classroom, creatively. As an art student, it might be fun to do an art project from this book where the students "see" their classmates and do a collage of another student, who does a collage of someone else and so on. 

Good Night Moon

         I remember reading this as a kid and loving it. Reading it again, I couldn't figure out why it had been such a classic book during my childhood. The story was simple with few words and the images not as exciting as other books. I asked my mom in the car about this book to see if she would remember anything and she gave me some helpful information. She said that this book was more fun than other books because it was one of the first books that had an untold story hiding within the images that didn't come out in the text. The images have allot going on that you wouldn't notice at first and it was really fun as a kid to find all these "hidden" things. For example, the mouse that showed up in different places on every page, and the mittens moved around and had to be found. It was an interactive book with lot's of detail. This made it fun for a kid with a big imagination. And the story was so simple that you could practically memorize it by the third or fourth read. As a grown up, I completely forgot about all these things and so reading this book again, I did not pin it as a great book because it lacked a dramatic, advanced story line and amazing artwork. I think I'll need to ask kids what they think is great literature, since my idea of great children's books might be really different than what kids like. 

          I think this would be a good book to have in the classroom library for kids to browse through themselves. 

Snow White

I have read this book as a kid but never remember the ending being as gruesome as this. The evil queen comes to Snow White's wedding and is forced to dance in red hot iron slippers until she falls down dead. I find it interesting that I don't remember this part, since I read this story multiple times as a kid. Maybe my mom skipped it, or maybe it wasn't such a big deal, then. Either way, I was kind of shocked when I read it again now. Other than that, the story is beautifully written and the images are breathtaking and full of detail. I don't think I would read this to my class since it is somewhat long and is a story most people know. I also think that Snow White is a pretty bad example for kids when it comes to the wise advise that you don't talk to or take things from strangers. I was really frustrated with her when she repeatedly made the mistake of talking to the old witch, who was wearing a new disguise each time, even after she had been warned multiple times by the seven dwarves not to open the door for ANYONE. She might have been beautiful, but she didn't seem that smart to me. I think that is why I love Beauty and the Beast more than any other fairy tale. Belle is beautiful, kind AND she has brains! 

The Moon Came Too

This was probably my favorite book as a kid. The little girl in it reminds me so much of myself. She loves to dress up and when she goes to grandma's house, she has the hardest time deciding what to bring with her. I could seriously crack up for a long time when I think about all the junk I would take on family road trips. I had this thing that had about 10 pockets that had a hanger on top that you could take in the car and hang on the clothes hanger hook. I would fill it up with random stuff like bouncy balls and anything else I could find around the house, mostly stuff from this one drawer in the kitchen. I have no idea why I needed so much junk, but it seemed to keep me entertained. 

This book is about a little girl who takes just about everything she owns with her when she goes to visit her grandma. When she gets there, she looks up in the sky on her grandma's porch and realizes that the moon came too!

Going to visit my grandparents was also one of my favorite things to do in the summer so this book is pretty much about my own life. I might read it to my kids before spring break or something. We could talk about stuff we take with us on trips or stuff that is important to us. We could talk about how our stuff defines, or doesn't define, who we are.

Je Veux une maman

I want a mother...

This book is in french, and I have it from being a kid. It would only work as a book in a multi-language school or maybe as a tool to learn a foriegn language, but I could just translate it myself as I'm reading it. It is about a little boy in southern France who lived along in a little house. He had to take care of himself and do everything a mother would do. One day, he decides to go out and find a mother, he is tired of working. After many false attempts, a sweet short haired woman takes him home to be his mother. He is now a happy member of a family, with a mom and dad. I think this is really cute book since this little boy has to do all the things a parent does. He even wears grown up clothes. It is really cute. He even puts a diaper on himself. You sort of fall in love with the wise little boy. He is so wise he knows he needs a mother and so he packs his bags one day and goes on a search to find one. 

This would be a fun book to read with kids and might even spark a little thankfulness in kids when they see a boy doing all the things their mother's do. The kids might think: what if that was me? Phew, good thing I have a mom!

Amy the Dancing Bear

This was one of my favorite books as a kid. It is written by Carly Simon and reads just like a song or lullaby. The images are beautiful and full of detail. As a kid I loved Amy the dancing bear because she reminded me of myself. I was always full of energy and never wanted to go to bed. 

This book is about a little dancing bear, Amy, who doesn't want to go to sleep because she is having so much fun dancing. She talks her mother into letting her stay up late into the night to keep on dancing her heart away. Finally, when it gets to be midnight, Amy puts her mom to bed.

I can still remember how, as a kid, staying up late was such a big deal. It was so exciting to stay up later than the parents and also terrifying if you got caught. I still remember how I was at my grandparents house with my cousins and we were staying up way later than we should have in the upstairs bed room. For some reason, we needed some ice, so I snuck down to the kitchen to get some and ran into my grandma in the kitchen. I completely froze with fear and could not open my mouth. I pretended to be sleep walking and stumbled back up stairs. The next day my grandma mentioned it, and I completely denied having any recollection of the incident. Now, I think it is funny that I was so afraid to be caught staying up late.

This would be a cute book to read to kids, but I might not read it in my classroom but save it as a book to read to my kids, since it is a little less educational and just pure fun.

You Are Special by Max Lucado

I really love this book. I remember reading it when I was young and being impacted by the story line. It is about a little puppet who is criticized by the other townspeople and given grey dots to wear to show his shame. If another puppet likes something about you, you get a star, but this puppet only gets dots. One day, he hears from a fellow puppet who doesn't have any dots or stars on her that he can go to the carpenter at the top of the hill to be like her. He goes to see the carpenter that made him and starts to learn that it doesn't matter so much what other people think. He starts to realize this because he begins to realize how much he is loved by and cared for by his maker. 

This story is really touching and made me shed tears. It is written so well and the images of amazing. I love the little puppet punchinello and how he drawn, looking so bright eyed and happy after he goes to see his maker. This is a great story for kids I would definitely read it in my classroom. 

Stars Above Us

This is a cute story about a father and daughter's relationship. The little girl in the story is afraid of the dark and her dad takes her outside to show her all the good things that live in the dark, like fireflies and stars. Then her dad puts stars on her ceiling to bring those good things from outside into her dark scary room. Amanda and her dad spend more time together in the book and then her dad goes off to war. Amanda is concerned about him, but she hopes on her lucky star and he comes home safe and sound. 

This might be a good book if I was teaching in town where there were military kids who had fathers who went to war, or this might be a good book to read on fathers day. The artwork is made up of beautiful watercolor paintings similar to Pinkney's Little Match Girl. This would also be a good book for talking about science and outer space since it talks about different constellations.

Sky Magic

      I love this book because it takes poetry written by famous poets and compiles it into one book with beautiful, rich illustrations. The subject of the poetry is all about the sun, moon and stars. Many of the poems are by poets I have never read before, but the poems are really fresh and interesting. I especially like the poem Rising by Sarah Hansen. It goes like this: 

Like a fresh loaf,

Sun rises,

Tempting dawn

To break

Her golden crust-

Taste morning!

Most of the poems are really short, but there are a few longer poems. The poems are organized into a progression from day to night, from sunrise to sunset. The art work in this book is notable for its brilliant oranges and blues and it has allot of depth to it. The images are magical and not the obvious depiction of the poem but have elements you wouldn't expect, like paper hat boats and piano's spewing stars.

If America Were a Village by David J. Smith

This is a new book all about our country, America. Because America is made up of many different kinds of people, the book simplifies the subject by talking about America as if it were one single village of 100 people. Most of the people in the village can afford housing, but a small percentage of villagers cannot, similar to the United States. Each page of the book addresses a different topic such as "What do we own?" or "What religions do we practice?" The facts in the book are directly proportional to statistics in America. 

This would a great book to teach kids about economics, sociology and many other subjects by taking facts and figures and bringing them down to a level that is easy for kids to understand. There is allot of writing on each page and so it would be difficult to read in one sitting. It would be a good book to read just a page or two a day, or take just sections from it at a time relative to the current classroom subject matter. The art work in this book is made up of bright and colorful paintings of regular life in America, and relates well to our own lives.

Love That Dog

                         Although this was not one of my favorite 

books 

          we have read, 

I am glad 

    we read it 

                            since it would be a great book to get kids 

interested 

in poetry. I think 

                        it would also help young people 

                           

realize that if this kid can 

be a poet, 

           we can too! 

Any walls or barriers keeping 

kids from thinking 

poetry is for them would be broken 

                                                                     

                                                                      down 

 when they read 

the simple 

                           "poems" written by the author. I think it would get them excited 

to think that they can take just 

about 

a      n        y           t       h       i    n   g and break 

                     it 

                            up 

into 

    lines and 

call it 

                             a poem. 

This kind of revelation 

would get kids imaginations reeling...

            

This book would also be a great tool to introduce kids to other famous poets. It would demystify the process of interpreting poetry by making them realize that maybe the poet didn't even understand what he was writing about when he wrote it. Maybe William Carlos Williams was just sitting by a red wheel barrow and some white chickens, and, having no idea what to write about that day, decided to write about what was right in front of him and wanting to make his boring circumstances really exciting threw in the line: so much depends upon... Maybe he was just like any young student who wanted to make something exciting out of something mundane and boring and he used language to do that. Now everyone is asking: what is so significant about this wheel barrow and white chickens that makes everything depend upon on them? I think good writing should make people ask questions and I think kids can come up with poems that do that, even if they don't have the answers themselves. Writing shouldn't be easily understood, because if it can be, then it doesn't stretch one to think outside the box, or find the sacred in the mundane.

Anticipation Set Response for Year of Impossible Goodbyes

After thinking about the title, I imagine that in the book Year of Impossible Goodbyes, similar to So Far From the Bamboo Grove, characters are forced, due to war, to leave behind people and things they love to go to another, foreign, land. Not only do they have to say goodbye to these things but also to other less tangible things like their freedom and their ability to sleep peacefully at night. I think the quote about the life of the spirit being long and life being short applies to the book because, while life may be ephemeral and fleeting, the life of the spirit does not soon give up or quit as easily, but can keeps on going for a long time. It could also mean that there is hope because there is an after life where the spirit of a person never dies but goes on to a better place.

Hope would play a huge role in my heart because hope is my heartbeat; it keeps me going. It's just like why go on if nothing has meaning, If there is no hope? Hope is everything. What is hope? That is a good question. Hope is a reason to live, it's something you are looking forward to. Hope is waking up in the morning and expecting great things to happen to you that day and the next day and the next. I would imagine I would need this hope all the same if I were in Sookan's situation.

 

Alfred Noble: The Man Behind the Peace Prize

I thought it was interesting to learn from reading this children's book that the very man who invented dynamite was the same man who created the Noble Peace Prizes. It also blows me away how just one man, one really rich man that is, could make such a big difference in the world. The Noble Peace prize is an amazing thing and it is not only an award for great men and women of the world but it has also found it's way into high schools. For example, my high school graduation included an award for the person who was most likely going to win the Nobel Peace Prize. I still remember who won that award, and I remember looking up to her allot. 

I think this book would be a great one to read in the classroom. You could talk about so many different subjects- war, violence, peace, science. I think it would also be a great book to talk about the idea that it only takes one person to make a difference. Every great thing you will learn about usually began with just one inspired person. This fact will never cease to amaze me and would great inspiration for young individuals.

So Far From the Bamboo Grove

This book was deeply moving and quite incredible. It amazes me that one girls journey, at only the age of 11, could be so intense. They had so many close calls and encounters with death, it's hard to imagine that happening in America or in my own comfortable life. War is such a foreign concept to me, since I have never had to experience it that directly. I am thinking about how notable Ko's consistent survival methods were. Talk about persistence! She sort of reminded me a little of my older sister Elizabeth who is now a surgeon in Dallas. When Yoko put up the signs for her brother Hydeyo in the train station, I was thinking about how she said there were so many other signs up there too, and I started to think about how many other similar stories like Yoko's were out there, stories of survival, of courage and overcoming impossible odds. This thought sort of blows me away to think about- that every person really does have a journey of their own, and I believe everyone's journey is just as interesting and significant as everyone else's, even if yours is not as action packed as Yoko's.

Maybe my own journey is also full of many 'close calls'. For example, my Dad. He went into medicine, not because he loved medicine, but because he was told there was more money in that field than in marine biology, his true passion. This decision began to affect my life when I went to school and my parents forced me to do nursing instead of art, my true passion, since they insisted I'd never find a job as an artist. I failed to get into the nursing school at Iowa, thank heavens!, and now I'm following my passion so the cycle has stopped! That was a close call, not with physical death, but with the death of passion and talent, and what is life without passion or without destiny?  So there are stories that make up every person you meet on a the street and just like the title of Yoko's essay, it takes understanding to see that and to be willing to hear their stories.

      I wish that more information had been given about the essay that Yoko wrote; maybe she could have included portions of it in the book. I was interested to know what she was thinking about when she wrote it. 

The Swiderwick Chronicles

I read this book for one of our series books and I really enjoyed it. It was riveting and held my attention, I kept wanting to read it. It was a sort of spooky-harry potter-esque book but it did not fall into the category of being cliche or predictable. On the other hand, it was pretty creative in it's story line. I think this is a book that children would really enjoy. 

One aspect that could be improved from this book is that there could be more character development. That would make the books longer, but I think it would make them more memorable. I think it is the character development in Harry Potter, plus the amazing subject matter, that makes it such a popular book- you fall in love with the characters you are reading about and want to know what happens to them. Spiderwick Chronicles could have more of that, but, like I said, it's a short read, which might be nice for younger age groups, so the extra length might change the audience make up.

Something worth commenting on about this book is that it included drawings with the text. In some places this was affective, like when the drawings depicted non-existent creatures like elves that might be hard to visualize, but in other places it was less affective. I think it was somewhat less affective when it depicted the character's themselves, since the images were similar to or less illustrious than what I imaged in my head, and so somewhat repetitive or detractive from the story. 

Tango Makes Three

    This children's book is a story about two male penguins who aren't interested in other female penguins. They spend all their time together and are not like the other penguin couples. In the story, they end up raising another baby penguin together who's name is Tango. This book is controversial because it addresses the controversial topic of homosexuality.

The back of this book says that it was based on a true story, but what they do not mention is that the penguins were not observed in the wild but were observed while in captivity. Animals are not meant to live in captivity but to live in their natural habitat away from human influences. Anytime a human or animal is taken into captivity it becomes corrupt. For this reason I would not read this book in my classroom because it deceives children into thinking that homosexuality is normal and takes place naturally among animals in the wild, when this is not case.

The Giver

         I think this is great book to have kids read. It brings up so many interesting concepts about life, love and pain. An interesting concept I liked thinking about while reading it was the concept of the Giver himself. He was the one person who had to bear all the pain of the past by himself. The community never had to think about the Giver or about pain, and so there was no name for him after his training of receiving was over. He got the name the Giver because Jonas gave it to him; he had been known by the community as just the receiver, even though he had stopped receiving for a long time. Jonas knew the Giver by his name Giver but now the community was going to know the Giver as the Giver, not just a receiver, but as the one who would give them the memories of the past and change their lives forever.

An interesting thing I noted while reading it for the second time since middle school was the fact that although this was a supposedly "perfect" community, the people were still very far from perfect. The people were still cruel and judgmental toward one another, even though every possible thing had been done to eliminate violence or evil. For example, when the old woman Larissa called the other older woman dumb and a parent, in anger, called his child by the number 23. 

Anticipation Guide: "So Far From the Bamboo Grove."

Yoko Kawashima

This guide is by: Sarah Gistenson, Rachael Pitts, Rachel Von Lienen

"When will peace come so that we can turn on the lights? I heard the last train
pass. It was bedtime. I was so tired I threw myself down ontop of the futon with
my clothes on hoping there would be no air raid to wake me." (20)

Go to this link and read the first two paragraphs about the author and Japan's history:

http://www.uvm.edu/~litblock/webquest/236Spring2003/King/

After reading this, how do you feel about what you have read?

"Through the opening I saw the body of an engeneer, burnt black. 'Don't look,' Ko said. Mother kept on walking.We had been the only healthy ones to get on the train at Nanam, and now we were the only healthy ones to get off. I looked at the long road we were about to take, rails stretching ahead, shining mysteriously in the light of three quarter moon." (42)

This book, like many books, recounts a portion of one's person's journey
through life, their attempt to get from one place to another. This story is
about one woman and her families journey from Korea to Japan, from a place of war to a place of saftey and peace.

Looking at the map below, follow with your eyes the journey of Yoko from Northern Korea to Japan, through the city of Seoul.







As you read this book, try to put yourself in the shoes of Yoko or Ko, and imagine what it would have been like to go through what they experienced. Like Yoko, you too are on a journey of your own. How do the experiences that Yoko speaks about in the short passage above and what you read about on the link, compare to your own life?

Enjoy Reading!

My review of the class

  I switched my major to art education, so I don't technically need to be taking this class anymore, but the class is so enjoyable I wouldn't want to drop it. Children's picture books have been mesmerizing and it's like walking into a whole other world of literature I new nothing about. There are so many great picture books to choose from! When I started reading them and would find an author I liked, I imagined that this author was one of the best, that there were not other authors as good like her/him, but I was proved wrong, there are lots of great authors. The subject also relates perfectly to being an art teacher because of the combination of art work and literature. I want to read children's books in my art classes now. I also enjoy reading the literature. I haven't read a regular novel for a long time, and it is really enjoyable and fun. Getting to read what my student's would be reading is also giving me a new perspective that will be beneficial when I am a teacher. 

The Misfits

 I absolutely loved this book. I liked it for multiple reasons, the biggest reason being the characters. I think everyone reading this book could find someone in it to love or feel attached to. I loved Addie's passion and zeal. I liked reading about someone who is a doer-not just a talker-a real mover and a shaker. I believe that young kids could be inspired by reading this book. I also really like how the gang of five are so completely different from each other and yet are best friends. Similar to the movie's Now and Then and The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, the concept of completely different people having such a tight, unique and free relationship, is something I craved for as a kid. I had something similar to it when I met my best friend Amelie in 8th grade, but I would have liked our "group" to include more people. I never really had that. The theme of really different kids being friends creates for such an interesting dialogue between characters and also reflects the underlying message that people are really complicated and unique, not objects you can label. The diversity in this book and the questions of racism and prejudice it brings up make it an enriching book for the classroom. The overall theme of the book is inspiring (to see people as more than a label), and that reflects Jame's Howe purpose in writing the book-to inspire change among young people. I think it is really a brilliant book and it feels so true and original I could easily believe it was based on a true story. Also, I have never laughed out loud so many times reading a book before! Bobby Goodspeed is an unforgettable character. Personally, I think the book would have been better if the part about Joe and Colin could have been left out. I don't think it was really necessary to the overall message of the book. 

White Wash by Ntozake Shange

  This book has gorgeous art work with swirling colors and shiny pages. It's a heartbreaking story about how an African American girl has her face painted white by a mob of white men on her way home from school. Her brother who is walking with her gets beat up pretty bad too. After the incident, the girl will not come out of her room and feels like a complete loser until all her friends from school come and tell her how much they missed her. It could be a good book for discussing controversial issues like racism and bullying.

I Never Knew Your Name by Sherry Garland

   This book is also another heart breaker. It is pretty powerful to. This is a great book for kids because of the issues it brings up. It tells the story of a boy who always thinks about befriending this other boy who is sort of an outcast in the community. The narrator watches him from a distance- playing basketball late at night and feeding the pigeons on the roof at school. The tragedy is that the boy ends up committing suicide in the book before the narrator ever has a chance to befriend him. This book is well written and the artwork is also noteworthy. It's a good book for fostering awareness of the importance of reaching out to people and not being afraid to befriend people who are different than you. 

Hiroshima No Pika by Toshi Maruki

   This book will break your heart. After I read it, I had to look at it again, examining the pictures and words, amazed that this really did happen. The authors note in the back tells how this story came to be written. The author was having an art show about Hiroshima in Japan, I think it was, and a very angry woman, walking among the crowd of people, could not evade her attention. Finally the woman came and spoke directly to the artist that she wanted her to tell her story. She then proceeded to grab one of the microphones at the opening and tell her story to the surprised audience. A few people ended up weeping after hearing her speak. She survived the bomb on Hiroshima along with her daughter and her husband, whom she carried on her back for a very long distance, including across multiple rivers. The fires were ranging everywhere in the city and spreading fast and they had to escape but her husband had been badly burned in the fire and couldn't walk. It is an amazing story and yet devastating to read. I don't know how it would affect young children.

Arlene the Sardine by Chris Raschka

    This book is about a personified fish Arlene who wants to be a sardine. The contrast of the sing-song voice and vibrant exploding pictures with the suicidal message makes this book somewhat grotesque. The author begins by treating this little fish like a human being and then describes her death in an unemotional, flippant way. It is sort of shocking and could startle or confuse children. I suppose the author thought it would be humerus...? But I have hard time grasping it. Maybe his idea was more complex, I just don't know. 

I Dream of Trains by Angela Johnson

   This book is beautiful. Details like: "As the Mississippi morning gets hotter and red dirt sticks to my feet, making them heavy..." make this book read like an old African American spiritual song. It is based on the true story of Casey Jones Train that ran by plantations where many African Americans worked in the south. The blow of his train whistle was the sound of freedom to many African American slaves and Casey's tragic death one night on the railroad sent tides of sorrow through the black communities. Casey, a big Irishman, worked side by side with a black man named Webb and this also added to the fuel of people's imaginations. This is a heartbreaking tale but also beautiful and full of hope.

The Stolen Smile by J. Patrick Lewis

   This book is really great. The writing is superb and highly poetic in nature. It is pretty sophisticated writing for a children's book, so it might be difficult to hold children's attention with it, but I really enjoyed reading it. It retells the story of the man who stole the Mona Lisa from the Louvre in France. He stole it as an act of patriotism for his home country of Italy. When he took the work to his home country, expecting to be a hero, he ended up getting put in jail and the painting returned to France. Some asthetics about this book that I believe deserve mentioning are the font and the way the pictures are framed onto a white background like paintings. It makes for a very sleek and beautiful book. 

The Hero Beowulf by Eric A. Kimmel

  

  

  This is a great book retelling a great work of fiction, the story of Beowulf the warrior. The story might be kind of violent for children, so I probably would not read it to my students. It includes a couple bloody battles between Beowulf and various monsters. This story attracts me because it is more than just a story about action and war, it emphasizes the virtues of courage and heroism. When the King asks Beowulf if he is afraid to fight the terrible monster Grendel Beowulf replies: "Why should I fear? If I am fated to win, then Grendel cannot defeat me. If I am fated to lose, then it has been my destiny since the day I was born. Neither I nor anyone alive can change it." This is so beautiful, the attitude of a true hero. He put his faith in a higher power and, just like David and Goliath, he didn't waver in fear but answered to the call of destiny. Truth and duty were more important to him than his own life. He also knew who he was, a mighty warrior after his father, and he understood that following his destiny was more important than the consequences of failure. He never even considered the consequences of losing, he simply followed the call of duty, something I can apply to my own life- like doing the right thing when no one is watching.

Albidaro and the Mischievous Dream by Julius Lester

   

 This book has amazing art work by Jerry Pinkney, the same artist who illustrated the Little Match Girl. It is a story about Albidaro, the watcher of children, who sees that children are tired of obeying their parents so he watches with delight as a dream beings to visit all the children of the world and tell them to disobey their parents. It would be a good book for children, not only because it is about children, but because it would teach them a good lesson. Not only did the children of the world receive this dream, but the animals of the world also did. They started invading the children's homes and messing things up. The animals would not obey the children and they felt the frustration and anger that many parents might feel when their own children disobey. This brought the children and the parents together as a team, instead of focusing on each other as the enemy. This could possibly open up children's eyes to see what their parents might feel by imagining how they would feel if an elephant broke all their dishes or a giraffe got in their shower.

Drummer Boy by Loren Long

  

  This book has lovely art work by Loren Long, the same artist/writer who did The Toy Boat. I love the story and the artwork together. The book is about a little drummer boy who gets put in the trash and ends up being taken by different animals to different places in the snow and cold of winter. Even in his loneliness and fatigue he continues to play his drum for every lonely, cold creature he is brought to. Each time he gives his music away, something changes. The owls fell asleep, the city was more at peace, the snow fell etc. In the very last scene, the drummer boy is back at home after being found by the boy and is placed in front of the baby Jesus in the manger. Unlike every other scene, this one is unique. When the drummer boy finishes playing his drums like never before, it mentions the drummer boy's own feelings for the first time. Instead of changing the atmosphere around him, his own heart feels warm. I love how this story speaks about the truth that no one can out give God, the greatest giver of all. When we give to Him, he gives much, much more in return.

The Bee-Man of Orn by Frank R. Stockton

   

   This book is really interesting. The images are breathtaking and highly detailed. The story is an old folk tale about a bee-man who is told by a sorcerer that he has been changed into something from something else. The bee man sets out on a quest to discover his original form so as to have the sorcerer change him back. After his journeying he comes to the conclusion that he was changed into a bee-man from a baby. The sorcerer changes him back into a baby, but the man grows up to be a bee-man again. 

   I loved reading this book because the concept was so interesting. The bee-man traveled the world-looking at different people and creatures-both good and evil- trying to find his original form. This idea is so interesting to me because it directly parallels my own life. Man was originally a perfect being-without any bad qualities-up until the moment he sinned. When sin entered the world through Eve's disobedience and Adam's consent, everything changed. Death entered mankind. Originally, we were eternal beings-perfect in our ways and radiating with the glory of God- but after sin entered the world- we became spiritually dead, mortal beings. The bee man's quest to discover his original identity is much like my own quest to discover my true identity- my quest to understand who I was before sin entered the world-and who I am becoming now that all things have been restored. The most amazing part is that all things have been restored for every human being! To begin your own journey of discovering your original identity-before death, sickness and pain entered the world-you must only believe the good news of Jesus Christ! He was the atonement sacrifice- like the sorcerer's power that worked to transform the bee-man into a baby again-the blood of Christ is the power that removes sin so that we can have a bran new life-a fresh start and an eternal inheritance in the Kingdom of Heaven! 

Especially Heroes by Virginia Kroll

  

  This is a great book for kids. It is longer and wordier than other books I've read and the artwork is somewhat bland, but the subject makes for a great discussion starter. After reading it a good classroom question might be "do you have any heroes?" or "is there something that you care about enough to die for?" These two questions are the main themes in the book about a young girl who discovers her own heroes are all around her- her father, mother and next door neighbor. The book takes a look at the inner thought process of a young girl as she wrestles with these two questions.  

    Reading this book also made me realize how much America has changed in such a short period of time. In the book, everyone in the school left early on tuesdays to go to church. I also learned a fact that around this same time period, the church bells would ring on sunday mornings and anyone not found in church could be put in prison! 

Great Joy by Kate DiCamillo

   

  The artwork in this book is beautiful with it's stark contrasts of gold and dark purple. The story has a heartwarming Christmas theme and yet does not fall into the category of being cliche. It has an original undercurrent to it, as if the book had it's own heartbeat. The characters stand out-especially the little girl-as unique and interesting. I like the details the author includes in her writing-adding to the books liveliness. 

   The story is about a young girl who feels compassion for the man who plays music and sleeps on the street corner. Much to her mother's dismay, she invites him to her school pageant and his arrival at the pageant helps her remember her lines. This is a successful book- a good book to read during winter. Because of the colors the artist uses and the rich story line, reading it is almost like standing around a warm fire.

Up by Jim LaMarche

   

  The rich, honey colored pictures plus the interesting story line make this book worth reading. It tells the tale of a young boy who discovers he can elevate objects. He doesn't think his gift is that significant until he helps his family save a whale that has been beached near their home. It is a cute story about how strength is not just a matter of physical prowess, but a measure of heart and faith. This boy found strength in his persistent ability to believe the impossible. This reminds me of the parable of the persistent widow. It is always the more persistent one that wins the race and, in the case of the widow, the more persistent one who gets justice from her adversary. I am reminded from this story to persist in my faith-believing the impossible- and to not give up until I get a breakthrough.

Shota and the Star Quilt

   This was a cute story. The artwork reminded me of a patchwork quilt-fitting for the subject. The story had a good message about the power of love that overcomes the evils of greed and selfishness. It is cool that the book was written by multiple people-a collaborative projects about collaboration and friendship. The story, unfortunately did not flow like other stories I've read and seemed kind of predictable in how it was written. This book is riding on it's cool art work and a good idea, but great writing would take it farther.

The Tree by Dana Lyons

"Trees are great teachers of unconditional giving." -from the forward

     This book is truly majestic- a book that every child should own. The artwork is stunning and the story reads like an ancient song-like the song that inspired the author to write the book. Dana Lyons was spending a weekend in the Olympic Rain Forest playing his guitar under an ancient Douglas fir tree when a complete song flowed out of his spirit. After playing the song, he looked up at the tree and said, "this must be your song!" Soon thereafter, at a Native American celebration-he played the song for the tribal chief. The chief listened intently and then declared that the song did come from the tree-he recognized the tune. The chief went on to say that "it is known in our tradition that each tree has it's own song. Our music comes from them. We show our respect for the great trees by singing their songs and playing them on the flute." 

   This book is a call to the hearts of every human being to return to the place of our origin- to return to the garden and our role as stewards of the earths many treasures, especially the trees- those ancient signposts- givers of the breath of life.

  

The Lotus Seed

  

  This book is beautiful. The images glow with a unique light and design that makes you feel like your in a dream. The text reads like a long poem, and is written in poem form too. It is a story about hope, family and discovering the sacred in the mundane. It is also, like so many of the stories I love, based on a true story. In the book, a mother's son steals her precious seed, a token of her past, and plants it. The mother is sorrowful until she sees the beautiful flowers that grow in the seeds staid. This book highlights the truth that just as a seed must die for it to bring forth much fruit, so we must die to the past, and the things we hold so dear, to embrace the future.

Albert by Donna Jo Napoli

  

    This story is perplexing at first and somewhat strange, but it's these characteristics that make it so interesting. It speaks of deep truths through simple language that children can understand. The story is about a young man, Albert, who is afraid to go outside because of the bad sounds. Albert spends his days doing meaningless tasks like cutting newspapers and writing post cards he never sends. One day this all changes when he sticks his hand out the window to check the whether. Just as he is about to pull his hand back through the window a robin plops a stick in his hand and starts to build her nest. Albert ends up holding the nest until the baby birds are hatched and ready to fly out of the nest. For a whole week, he sleeps standing up and gets his meals from the mother robin. 

    This experience completely changes Albert-reflecting the truth that no human can ever be happy or complete until they learn how to love-how to give and how to forget themselves. Albert found freedom when he realized his connection to all living things, discovering his ultimate destiny was to love and be loved. To love is to lay down one's life for the life of another. For Albert it was giving up sleep and comforts of food and daily life. Love will always cost you something, and true love is unconditional. Scripture says that there is no greater love than this, that a person lay down his/her life for the life of another. Jesus Christ is the perfect example of this love- "For God so loved the world, that He gave his one and only begotten son, that whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16

Sparrow Girl by Sara Pennypacker

 

 This book is beautiful. The message of the book is powerful. It tells the true story of China's sparrow war and the deadly aftermath. In 1958, farmers in China declared war on sparrows, blaming them for eating too much of their wheat crops, but this war resulted in many chinese dying from famine because there were no sparrows to eat the insects. It is so tragic how one man's foolishness, the leader in china at the time, could result in so many lives being lost.

  In this story, a little girl, the main character, ends up a hero because of her compassion. In the book, she saves seven birds lives. Although she doesn't think it was very successful at the time, these seven birds end up as China's salvation. Seven is a significant number. In scripture it is known as the number of perfect order. Through the wisdom and compassion of one little girl, perfect order is restored (signified by the seven birds) to the village-the natural order that God established when He created the earth. 

Number the Stars

   I chose to read this book because I recalled reading it when I was a child and distinctly remember it making an impact on my little heart. I think I even might have cried... The story is fascinating- and it's especially remarkable that most of the details are true! I love the part about humble King Christian X, the king of Denmark at the time of the Nazi takeover, who rode the streets of Denmark on his horse greeting his people. I wish I could have lived to see such a time, minus the war and terror from the Nazis. The story of the Dutch people is quite remarkable too. Their bravery and courage during the war is unmatched by any other group of people. I loved the true story about King Christian- that when a Nazis soldier asked a young boy where his body guards were (he would go out to greet the people alone), the young boy said that all of Denmark was his body guard. I wish I could have seen the guards face at such a remark!

     The story is written in such a way that my attention is held throughout; it's a "I just have to know what happens next" kind of story. I find the fact about the hanky the fisherman carried in the book, that contained cocaine and rabbits blood to keep the German dog's from finding the run away Jews, especially interesting. It's these little surprise details that solve mysteries in the reader's mind that make the book so good, plus the noble characters.

Twenty-One Elephants by April Jones Prince

This book stands out for its awe-inspiring art work and interesting story. Unfortunately, it does not read as well as I'd hoped and the writing is sort of jerky in places and word choice predictable. It does not flow like a good story should. A good book should read like a rich piece of chocolate cake, with descriptions and poetic details that grab hold of you immediately and pull you into the rushing river of the story until your tossed up, exhilarated and possibly teary eyed on the beach by the end. It is written as if it should rhyme, and yet it does not rhyme, except in some places. I so wish the writing was more like Trinka Hakes Nobles work. 

  On a brighter note, I love the subject. It's a true story about how people did not think the Brooklyn bridge was safe so B.T. Barnum took 21 elephants across it to show the public it was indeed safe. These jumbo elephants weighed 10,000 pounds a piece! That's a lot of weight. And elephants are used to test surfaces because they will not walk across something that is not safe; they use their trunks and feet to determine safe surfaces somehow. 

Peppe the Lamplighter by Elisa Bartone

   This is a heartwarming story about the struggles of being an immigrant in young American and the power of the family to overcome these struggles. The pages glow with rich original paintings by Ted Lewin. The paintings stark contrasts of dark and light set the mood for the book- evening in the city where the lamps must be lit by hand. A painter myself, I would have loved to see a street lit with nothing but fire. I imagine it must have given off a much warmer glow, like little camp fires where friends gather to keep warm. It would have felt much more romantic and personal to experience this sort of light in a city, especially the city of Little Italy in New York. The artist himself has a deep love for Little Italy since he moved to New York and his pleasure is evident in the paintings. They are rich with detail and dark alleys where your imagination can dance along. There are also many places where, like in the big gray street, water has pooled creating flower looking shapes where the ink from the water color blurred out to the edges. This gives them a unique, unfinished look.

  The story is somewhat heartbreaking and yet redemptive at the same time. The father is verbally abusive to his son Peppe because he lights the lamps. His father makes him feel ashamed for doing such a lowly job, yet that is the only work he can find and his father cannot work. In the end his father has a change of heart, although it is somewhat abrupt and therefore difficult to believe possible. A little bit more detail in the writing part would have made this story even better, although it was quite enjoyable.

Toy Boat by Randall de Seve

  

  This book is fun. The images are larger than life and make a good couple with the humble story line. The story and the images are inseparable. I love how the illustrator, Loren Long, could take a pencil a cork and a can and make a boat look so alive, like a little dog or companion for the boy. The last painting is the most beautiful of the sunset and the boy with his toy boat.

  I also like thinking about the creative process the writer took part in when she came up with the book. From reading the authors note I found that the book, something so lovely and full, began out as a tiny toy boat on her desk, made with a toothpick, a can, a cork and white tape. These elements that make up the boat are sort of symbolic of the writing process. Creating new ideas is sort of like taking random objects that don't originally relate and connecting them together to form a new object or idea. 

  This book also draws up memories of being a kid and the excitement of making toy boats. It was like rush of pure energy through my nine year old body when I thought of the idea to make a boat. I was on a canoe trip with my dad and his friend, and we were spending the night on a sand island in the middle of the river. I wasn't interested in fishing with my dad so I gleefully set about to making a worthy vessel to watch it go down the river along the bank of the island. It was so fun having to come up with materials where choices were limited. I did succeed in my endeavors with a little help from my dad's fishing tackle box and the boat sailed down stream and out of site, hopefully to be discovered by some other child. I needed passengers for my boat so I put some ants on it that I came across while hunting for materials. They were my sailors.

Titanicat by Marty Crisp

Painting by Ken Marshall

    I find it interesting that I chose a book by a different author that is illustrated by the same Robert Papp, Trinka Noble's illustrator. I am finding that I usually choose the books that have historical subject matter and beautiful paintings on the covers. This is not to say that these are the only good books, it is just what I seem to find most attractive. I have chosen a few books not along these lines, and I will get to those later and find out what made them jump off the shelf. Often the newer books have cooler, more vibrant art work and this, along with an interesting subject, is usually what gets me.     

    Titanicat is a great book. I learned so many interesting things from the book because the author did extensive research to create an authentic, realistic look at a true story. The book is about the Titanic and the cat that boarded that ship for a short period of time. The story follows the documented account of the Titanic cat that was custom for all ships at the time to keep as a way to control rodents and also for good luck. The cat, somehow foreseeing the danger as animals have amazing senses, got off the ship at it's only stop in Southampton, bringing her four kitten's with her. The superstitious young sailor, the main character in the book, who was given responsibility for the cat, got off with her. He didn't want to be on ship that had bad luck. I am fascinated by the Titanic and the stories that surround it so I included some below.     

    The book talks about how the Titanic was supposedly an "unsinkable ship..." Those people who believed the hype about the ship, since no ship is really unsinkable, did not realize the gravity of the situation until it was too late. Many of the lifeboats were not even full! The ship had only enough lifeboats for half the passengers, 1,100 people. Out of this number, only 705 people were actually in the lifeboats and therefore survived the sinking! (What were they thinking? Just read the next paragraph.)     

    Originally, the boat was so "unsinkable" that they only needed 20 lifeboats to "help rescue survivors of other sinking ships (this is what I read, no joke)." Before it's maiden voyage, Engineers said that even in the worst case scenario, (the Titanic colliding with another ship) it would take up to 2 to 3 days for the ship to sink! The Titanic sank in three hours after hitting the iceberg. The iceberg scraped the starboard side of the ships brow in six different slits. Those in charge thought it was only a minor collision. The ships fireman stated that the sound was like "the tearing of calico, nothing more." They were very very wrong...    

    One fact I read online that really horrified and amazed me was that even before the Titanic was really filling up with water, they put chains on the doors to the lower third class cabins so those below could not come up any higher. They blocked off these doors to prevent water from flooding into other parts of the ship. Other people in higher classes were actually told by those in authority to go back to their rooms, that everything was fine.     

    Even more interesting is the fact that the high-tech engineering of the Titanic actually added to it's downfall. The Body of the ship was divided into 16 different compartments that could be closed off to prevent flooding the whole ship. Sounds genius right? Because the front compartments were damaged by the iceberg and began to fill with water, and since this water was trapped in these enclosed compartments, the front part of the ship became increasingly heavier than the rear. This resulted in the ship's brow tilting forward until the stern broke off from the brow, bring a quit demise to this beauty of a boat. The front of the ship did a nose dive to the bottom of the ocean, while the back portion followed bit later. Both pieces of the boat were discovered years later to be more than 2 miles under the surface and 2,000 feet apart! If the ship's hull had not been divided up, the water would have distributed evenly and the ship, not breaking in two, would have sunk much slower. Enough time would have passed for all the passengers to be saved!

The Last Brother By Trinka Hakes Noble

    

    Just like the Scarlet Stocking's Spy, this book holds beautiful artwork by Robert Papp and a story revolving around the subject of War. This time it's the Civil War and instead of a young female hero it's a young boy, named Gabriel. I like this book because the main character is young and it is based on real life events. I loved reading Trinka Hakes Noble's books the Scarlet Stocking's Spy and The Last Brother because everything in these books comes from a unique mixture of family history and historical evidence and you learn so many interesting facts about the past. For instance, I had no idea that the Civil War was often called the boy's war because many of the soldiers who fought were young boys- between the ages of  ten and fourteen! I also had no idea what a Bugler was before reading this book. A bugler is someone who is in charge of mimicking the sergeant's orders by blowing a horn so the rest of the regiment can follow suit. 

       This specific book was based off of the battle at Picket's Charge, one of the bloodiest battle's in American History- with thousands of casualties in just fifty minutes. Reading about the battle on Wikipedia I found that: "Approximately 12,500 men in nine infantry brigades advanced over open fields for three quarters of a mile under heavy Union artillery and rifle fire." I can just imagine this... the horror of having to walk straight into a death trap, like walking the plank with a cloud of bullets all around you. As the Confederate army was falling like flies, the Union army was shielded behind a stone wall. 

      The above information is what I discovered doing my own research and this is exactly what happens in the book. The author has a knack for making history come to life- using details that are perfectly chosen for the scene. I like the image she paints of Davy, Gabe's older brother after he has come back in from the battlefield: "We fought the Rebs in the woods today," he said hoarsely, his eyes closed. It is a simple description but it stuck out to me because I can see it so vividly. The authors family history, research and experiences visiting  the actual battlefield make this story seem so real and alive. 

     Like the Scarlet Stocking's Spy, The Last Brother is a powerful book. Contrary to what one may think from first glancing at the image on the books cover of a boy in a blue Union uniform, this book is not just about war. It is about a young boy's devotion and love for his older brother and an unlikely friendship that develops between Gabe and the bugler fighting for the 'other' side. Because of their friendship and Gabriel's unflinching courage in the face of death, lives are saved on both sides of the battle line, making a story that isn't easy to forget. Even more fascinating, I read on Wikipedia that General Picket, when questioned later about why he believed the charge was unsuccessful stated "I've always thought the Yankee's had something to do with it." The Yankee's are those fighters who were formerly members of the Union but were fighting for the South. Although the author does not make a note about this, I will infer that even the part about Gabe and Orlee's friendship and the help they provided for each other is based on truth.

The Scarlet Stockings Spy by Trinka Hakes Noble

"Even the smallest of citizens can play the largest of parts when the birth of a nation if at stake...(for) the role of a patriot has nothing to do with age and everything to do with heart."

This book is powerful. It is the story of a young girl who helps Washington's army in the Revolutionary War by sending secret messages to her brother, a soldier in the army, via her inconspicuous, third-floor clothesline. It is a story of courage, sacrifice and devotion that is at times heart wrenching and other times wildly funny. Reading it was absorbingly enjoyable-like watching an old Turner Classic movie- I have so many favorite parts. One of my favorite parts is when her brother Jonathan comes dressed as an old widow in the middle of the night to check the clothesline status. The little girl and her brother have worked out an ingenious system where the clothesline is secret code for the ships in the harbor, wether they are dangerous and loaded with British weapons or harmlessly loaded with bread. Because the British are everywhere, he must wear a disguise and go by night. This time, he comes limping, with a cane and Maddy Rose is seriously concerned until he blows her away by doing a perfect handstand, balancing like an acrobat on top of the stick. Maddy Rose bursts out laughing of course.

        Because of the beautiful detail and heroic young girl, this story reads like the story of Ester from the Bible. It seems so real to me and from reading the authors note, it is not hard to understand why. Trinka Hakes Noble's own story mixes and intertwines with Maddy's. James Hakes, a direct ancestor of Trinka Hakes, served in the Revolutionary War. This is quite remarkable, but the author goes on to write that General Washington actually visited her great ancestors home when he was expecting a child and if it was a boy, the general requested that it be named in his honor. Soon thereafter, George Washington Hakes was born! Before writing the Scarlet Stocking's Spy, Trinka re-visited the land of her ancestors, walking the battlefield at Princeton, New Jersey, where her ancestors fought 227 years ago. Writing about her experiences she states: "I was deeply moved and felt not only immense gratitude and pride, but a strong connection to those who came before me, to the characters in the story, to my own cherished freedom, and to my own country." She considered it an honor to write the book and I am grateful to have discovered it.

Louisa: The Life of Louisa May Alcott

  I thoroughly enjoyed reading this children's book. The paintings by Bethanne Anderson are beautiful and one can tell from reading it that the author really had a heart for the subject. The author chose to write about the important things like family history and big events in Louisa's life, but she also incorporated interesting details that many people may not know about her such as Louisa's favorite desert apple slump which she named her cottage in Concord after. It is these details and quotes by Louisa herself, along with the art work that make this book one I would love to own and pass on to my children. I love the graceful image of young Louisa hugging a larger than life white dog on the second page. It is a really beautiful work of art and the story that goes along with it is touching. It recounts how Louisa would go on adventures in the big city of Boston as a young girl. On one specific occasion she chose to lay her head down on the back of a big friendly dog and go to sleep instead of continue trying to find her way home. This story along with the rest of the book perfectly captures the life and spirit of Louisa May Alcott- the fearless Louisa who "runs in the wind." 

The Iron Giant by Ted Hughes

     I am really glad I chose to read this children's novel. Philip Pullman describes the book well when he writes: "a classic is something utterly strange and original, and yet as deeply familiar and necessary as your own hands." This book is gripping from the very first pages and kept me up later than I had planned so as to finish it in one sitting. Ted Hughes is a master of detail and this novel reads much like a long poem. I love how he describes the coming of dawn- the darkness grew blue and the shapes of the rocks separated from each other, two sea gulls flew crying over the rocks. This is such a perfect image and is a unique way of describing such a common thing as a sunrise. 

   The plot of the story is also extremely gripping and interesting. The story, like Philip Pullman writes, harkens to something ancient and lays hold of deep truths without being cliche. The black angel from outer space automatically makes me think of Lucifer or Satan and his fall from heaven. The black angel makes music, and Lucifer, before he fell, was God's highest angel and the leader of worship in heaven. The black angel, like Satan, ends up defeated because of his only weakness- pride. In the story, the Iron Giant who originally ate up people's lively hoods (their machinery), became the hero and the one who defeated the black angel. It is truly a strange story and I am interested to read more into different interpretations and what Ted Hughes was thinking when he wrote it. Great read!

Rose Blanch by Roberto Innocenti

       This book is powerful. I chose it because of the captivating image of a blue eyed girl on the cover surrounded by wounded soldiers. The book is about a young german girl's experience of war as it relates to the authors own childhood experience. In the book, the young girl is leading a relatively normal life until one day she decides to follow one of the trucks that regularly passes through her town. She follows the tracks of the truck until she discoveres a barbed wire fence and prisoners held behind this wire. It is then that she realized something terrible was happening and it changed how she lived her life. From then on, she would take food out to these hungry prisoners and risk her life to help them. 

         Part of the books power is that it flows from the authors own childhood experiences. Innocenti writes in the forward of the book about how he was young boy in war torn Germany and similarly did not know how bad the situation was until two German soldiers appeared on his doorstep begging his father to hide them. At the same time this was happening Innocenti witnessed a truck taking a family away, including a mother and child. It must have made a big impression on the young boy because he remembers even the color of the blanket the baby was rapped in (pink) and chose to write a book about it later on in life. 

        I loved this book because the artwork is amazing and it opened the door into a world of the past; a world that reminds me to stay awake to what is happening in our time. We live in the age of media, a world bombarded by images and visual language, which can at times be overwhelming, but it is also a medium for great change. Just as the movie Invisible Children stands as an example, stopping injustice always begins by uncovering what is hidden in darkness to those who are shrouded in ignorance. This book helps shed some light on that darkness.

The Little Match Girl

The reason I wanted to read this book is because two people I love dearly have mentioned the name in conversation and so the book has been sort of logged in the back of my mind. After reading it, I realized that it is the artwork that makes this book stand out from other books. The paintings are done by Jerry Pinkney and are truly captivating and beautiful. There isn't a single face in the story book that isn't what I would call 'perfect' and fitting. The images of the family on the first page are my favorite. The apathetic and harassing father towering over the children as they bundle flowers, the dutiful older sister, pestering younger brother and gracious little match girl all paint such a real picture of the time. Jerry Pinkney writes on the  dedication page of the book that photographs from the early 20th century of children peddling flowers were the catalyst for his art. He states that "their faces stayed with me and haunt my visual memory." It was as if the children in those images were beckoning him to be heard, knowing he had the talent to tell their story well. The images of the little match girl are truly haunting, but I like what Jerry Pinkney did with these images. He took something terrible and infused it with hope. The little girl died, but she went to a place far better than anyplace in this world. Even if the rich people in the story were too busy to notice the dying girl, God did not overlook her, the One who executes justice for the oppressed (Psalm 146:7).