Shades of Cinderella

Cinderella

Written by – Not Applicable/Public Domain Story

Illustrated by John Kurtz

Jump at the sun, 2004

22 pages

Traditional

            As I was looking for traditional literature books I found this one. It has a slant on Cinderella that I had not seen before.  It is written with African-American characters rather than the typical Caucasian.  I found this a breath of fresh air to a story that is hundreds of years old.  The story is the same, but it gives a larger group of people the chance to read a classic story with a princess that looks like them.  We all know the story and how she gets to go to the ball and the glass slipper.  So grab this book and read it as a bedtime story to your daughter or son.

            The cartoon illustrations are done in what appears to be water color or colored pencil.  I am not completely sure, but they are very pleasing to the eye.  The illustrations cover both pages with the text on top of them.  This story did change the color of the dresses of the characters from what I am used to but that made it even more interesting and a nice change of pace.

            This book would be good for kindergarten through third grade.  The book is the classic princess story for any little girl would love to read it or have it read to her.  This book would be good for a Language Arts lesson by reading the story and then asking the students to write a journal entry on how they would feel if they had that type of life.  It would also be good for a character education class be teaching equality and kindness to others.  This book would also be good for a social studies lesson on how people lived during different time periods.  As of today I could not find any honors for this book.

You're Tickling My...err, Math!

Mathematickles!

Written by Betsy Franco

Illustrated by Steven Salerno

Simon & Schuster, 2003

31 pages

Poetry

            As I was at the Jacksonville public library looking for a completely different book when I found Mathematickles!  When I read the cover, I thought of my best friend’s mother who is a math teacher and thought it would be a good book.  I checked it out and really enjoyed it.  This book is a poetry book written in mathematical terms about the seasons.  The book starts out describing Fall and goes through all four seasons and things that one does during those seasons. It ends in the late summer with the young girl sleeping in her bed with a… Well, I can’t tell you everything about the book.  Stop by your local library or your favorite bookstore and check it out.

            The cartoon illustrations are done in water color and gouache.  The illustrations cover both pages and really have a strong use of color to make the seasons pop off the page.  The illustrator used brown, orange and purple for Fall and blue, white and pink for Winter.  The other seasons are depicted well along with how the text is laid out.  Text is on top of the illustrations as part of the picture itself.

            This book would be good for third through sixth grade.  It will take any reader a moment to understand what the book is about and how the use of math and the seasons are incorporated.  The use of graphs and other mathematical words may confuse a younger reader.  This book will be good for a math lesson for the obvious reason.  It would be good for an Art lesson also to show the students how they can incorporate multiple subjects together.  A language arts lesson will work well also with the poetry and to explain to the students that they don’t have to write rhyming poetry all the time.  At this time this book has won no honors or awards.

The Dark Emperor is a Science Teacher

The Dark Emperor & Other Poems of the Night

Written by Joyce Sidman

Illustrated by Rick Allen

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2010

25 pages

Poetry

            You know how you stumble onto something and it is really better than you thought.  Well this book is one of those.  I was at the library, found this book, and thought it had a cool cover.  I checked it out, but I really didn’t expect much.   When I sat down to read it, I fell in love with the artwork and poems.  The author took the time to write beautiful poems and on the opposite page, she researched the animal or insect the poem was about and listed wonderful facts about it.  This is a poetry book with a side of science; you can’t get better than that!

            The artwork in this book is unbelievable.  The images are relief printing done with gouache.  I know I am supposed to use the descriptions from our book to describe the illustrations, but to me the illustrations in this book are works of art on their own.  The poems are written on one page with a small vignette. On the next page there is the artwork, and then the science facts that refer back to the poem.  The text is black on white pages, and some of the poems are written in a concrete style of poetry.  This is another one for my library.

            This book would be good for third through sixth grade.  The poems are concrete and are not childish like some poetry picture books, so the older students will enjoy it more.  The interesting facts also make this a good book for students who think poetry is all love stuff.  This book will be good for a Language Arts lesson on poetry to show the students that not all poetry is about girly stuff.  A science lesson is a must with this book, with all the wonderful facts about animals and insects.  An art lesson would be great using this book to show the students how relief artwork looks after it is mass printed and how to use gouache.  This book won the Newberry Medal of Honor in 2011.

That's a Pumpkin?!?!?

The Ugly Pumpkin

Written by Dave Horowitz

Illustrated by Gina DiMassi

The Penguin Group, 2005

32 pages

Poetry

            A few years ago I was in Books-a-Million, saw this book and could not resist the cover.  So, I picked it up and read it and was in love from that moment on.   The book is about a sweet “pumpkin” that was looking to fit in, but all the other pumpkins laughed at him.  The trees played ruthless jokes on him, and the goblins threw things at him.  As he wanders through the forest, he comes upon a dinner party and sees all these things that look like him.  If you want to know what he really is and how this story ends, grab this book and a hot chocolate and read away.

            The cartoon illustrations are done with cut paper, charcoal and colored pencils.  The illustrations look so real that the laughing pumpkins kind of jump off the page at you.  The text is on the illustrations in white or black ink depending on the color scheme of the pages.  The illustrations cover both pages and really grab the reader with the turn of each page.  The book is written informally and has a whimsical feel to it.  The text is also easy to read with just a few lines per page. This book is a good one for a beginning reader.

            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 gourds and other fall vegetables.  This book would be very good also for a health class to teach students about the food pyramid and the importance of eating healthy. To my knowledge, the book has not won any awards.

Runny Babbit Wears Sea Poup

Runny Babbit

Written by Shel Silverstein

Illustrated by Shel Silverstein

Harper Collins, 2005

83 pages

Poetry

            My Children’s Lit professor let us listen to the poem, “Sea Poup” from Runny Babbit and I was hooked.  I trotted straight to the library as soon as class was over and checked it out.  This book is a collection of poems Shel Silverstein was writing but had not yet published upon his death in 1999.  His family decided the world needed this collection of poems that changed the first letter on the first two words to form funny off-beat words to showcase what an interesting person Mr. Silverstein was.  All the poems center around animals and the way they see things.  If you want to laugh like a kid again, grab this book, and laugh out loud. I did. 

            The cartoon illustrations are done in ink.  The illustrations spread across both pages with the text on one or both pages.  The text appears to be hand writing and gives the book a personal feel, like a journal.  There is no color used in the book - only black and white.  To me this gives the book an eclectic look that’s also easy for children to read.

            Preschool through sixth grade readers will enjoy this book.  The collection of poems is sunny, and younger children will like the funny words and the funny things the animals do.  This book will be good for a social studies lesson as the poems teach tolerance.  For a language arts lesson, the children can write a poem changing the first letter of the first two words.  Of course, a poetry lesson would work well to explain sound, meaning, and meter as the funny words sound similar to regular words, but mean something entirely different.  Runny Babbit won the Lion and Unicorn Poetry award in 2006 and the Quill award in 2005 for the children’s illustrated book.