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.