New Perspective on Wearing Many Hats

Rembrandt’s Hat

Written by Susan Blackaby

Illustrated by Mary Newell DePalma

Houghton Mifflin Company, 2002

30 pages

Fantasy

            I chose this book because I liked the title. It sounded like it would be a good book, and I was right.  The book is about a little bear named Rembrandt who loses his favorite hat while at the park one day.  He sets out to find his hat only to run into some funny characters that volunteer to be his hat.  He soon tires of having to deal with the others sitting on his head and finally he goes and finds… Well, I can’t spoil the story for you.

            The illustrations are done in a mixed media and in the informal manner.  There are vignettes and full page illustrations also.  The bear has beautiful blue eyes that look realistic and sad when he loses his hat.  In the illustrations there are little bits of news print in every one.  The use of pastel colors makes this book have a somber feeling to it that lends to the feelings of the bear.

            This book would be good for kindergarten through third grade.  The book is easy to read but has a subject matter that any age will understand.  I would use this book in a character education class to teach children about helping someone even if they are not a close friend.  This book would be good for a math lesson because Rembrandt tries on so many hats, just counting them would be good practice.  Language arts would be good to teach about prediction.  This book has not won any honors at this time.

Your Face Will Stick Like That!

The Pout-Pout Fish

Written by Deborah Diesen

Illustrated by Dan Hanna

Farrar Straus Group, 2008

29 pages

Fantasy

            I was on Amazon ordering books and came across this one. I was intrigued with the read aloud CD that came with the book, so I bought it.  When I got the book, I waited until the next morning when I was taking my son to school. I placed the CD in the CD player and we both started to laugh.  The book is about a fish that has a frown, so he is called a pout-pout fish.  He never smiles, and he whines about it.  He says “I’m a pout-pout fish with a pout-pout face” and so he thinks because he looks a certain way, he can’t smile.  All his friends try to get him to smile to no avail.  Then one day something spectacular happens out of the blue!  

            The cartoon illustrations are done with water colors and are a great depiction of the sea and sea life.  The illustrations cover most of both pages with the text on the pages.  Some of the illustrations are done in panels.  The use of color in the illustrations is wonderful with subtle blues, pink, yellows and greens making this book easy to look at and read.

            This book would be good for kindergarten through third grade.  The book is easy to read, but has a subject matter that any age will understand.  I would use this book in a character education class to teach children about diversity and acceptance.  A science lesson would be good for this book to teach students about sea life and plants found in the sea.  A language arts lesson on poetry would be perfect for this book, as it has rhyming words and a quick beat that children love.  To my knowledge this book has not won any awards.

What Would Wood Be?

The Tale Of The Three Trees

Retold by Angela Elwell Hunt

Illustrated by Tim Jonke

Chariot Victor Publishing, 2004

25 pages

Traditional

            We received this book as a gift one year from a family friend and I had forgotten about it until this assignment came along.  I was looking for books in my son’s room and found it again.  I sat down in the floor and read it.  This is a wonderful book about three trees that all dreamed of being something more than just trees.  They all want to be big wonderful things, and when they are cut down and made into common everyday things, they are upset.  One is even left in a pile until one day the wood is used to do something wonderful for the world.  Now, if you want to know what a tree did for the world, well, you will have to read the book.

            The surreal illustrations are done in water colors of blue, white, green and red.  The illustrations are done in the most formal way with the art work on the page with the text beside it.  The text is large enough to see but not overpowering to the reader.  I really like how most of the illustrations are kind of hazy, but the trees and the items made from the trees are clearer than the rest of the pictures.

            This book would be good for kindergarten through sixth grade.  This book has a strong Christian theme, so it would not be appropriate in a public school setting, but it would be good in a Christian and/or private school.  I would use this book for a science lesson on the life-cycle of a tree.  A social studies lesson would be good to teach children that we don’t always reach our dreams the same way other people may.  A character education lesson would be good to show students how to have kindness and understanding of one another.  As of today this book has not won any honors.

The Original Elf on the Shelf Was a Cobbler

The Elves And The Shoemaker

Retold by Jim LaMarche

Illustrated by Jim LaMarche

Chronicle books, 2003

25 pages

Traditional

            Choosing this book was easy. I personally loved this story as a little girl, and when I saw the eyes on the little elves on the cover of this particular book, I had to read the story once again.  The story is about a poor shoemaker and his wife who had just enough leather to make one last pair of shoes.  The next morning when they awoke, they found a perfect pair of shoes.  The shoemaker and his wife were shocked and happy.  We all know as adults what happens in this story, but that small bright-eyed little one tugging at your leg doesn’t. Enjoy the story yourself again.  Enjoy it even more as you share it with a child.

            The cartoon illustrations are done with acrylic washes and colored pencil on Arches water color paper.  The type set is Guardi and Brandywine which gives the book a feeling of being written a hundred years ago.   This book has both types of illustrations that are on one page with text and a vignette on the other. They take up both pages with the text on top of them.  This gives the book an old-world feel.

            This book would be good for kindergarten through third grade.  The book has beautiful illustrations and is easy to read.  Younger readers will love to have this book read to them.  This book would be good for a history lesson on how life used to be when we went to specialty shops to buy things instead of Wal-Mart.  This book would also be fitting for a Language Arts lesson with a good story rewrite from a child’s point of view.  This would be a good book for character education, too with the theme being how to treat other people and to help those without being asked.

This book has not won any honors.

Away in a Manger...With a Mouse

Mortimer’s Christmas Manger

Written by Karma Wilson

Illustrated by Jane Chapman

Simon & Schuster, 2005

32 pages

Fantasy

            While looking for books I found this cute little mouse looking at me on the shelf, so I picked up this book and found that the mouse was Mortimer.  This book is about Mortimer’s search for a new home.  He is tired of living in the wall where it is cold and dark, so he goes on the hunt for a new place to live.  One day he sees a new thing in the living room and decides to investigate.  He finds a nativity and moves in, but what he does not know is why this thing appeared and how it is going to change his life in the end.  This is a great book for Christmas. Read it to your family, and let a new Christmas tradition begin.

            The cartoon illustrations are done in bright acrylic paint.  The use of color throughout the book is wonderful.  Each page has a warm color base which is a nice contrast to all the white paged books I have been reading.  The deep green of the Christmas tree is wonderful; it makes me smell the needles already.  The text is laid out on top of the illustrations with small vignettes on some of the pages.  The font is a nice size, so no one will have to strain to read this book.

            After reading this book I realized it would not be suitable for a public classroom.  With this in mind, it did give me a chance to consider the applications in a Christian or private school curriculum and how to integrate it into their plans.  This book could be used for a lesson in Religious history to talk about the meaning of the manger and why it is such a strong symbol of Christmas (as much as the tree).  This book could be used in a Character education class to teach acceptance of all no matter what.   A language arts lesson on punctuation would be good because this book has a good bit of punctuation and dialog from just the mouse.  This book has not won awards at this time.