Name: The Three Kings: A Tale from the Middle East
Author: Eric A. Kimmel
Illustrator: Leonard Everett Fisher
Publisher: Holiday House
Published City: New York, New York
Publication date:1994
ISBN: 0-8234-1115-X
Summary
The Arab Princess is as wise as she is beautiful,but she has a problem. She needs to get married and she cannot decide between three cousins: Prince Fahad, Prince Muhammed, and Prince Moshen. She loved Prince Moshen, but he was a poor Prince with nothing to offer her. The Chief Minister did not like her decision because Moshen had nothing, so she gave him and his two cousins a chance for her hand in marriage. She gave them one year to find "the greatest wonder", and whichever cousin found it would receive her hand in marriage. The cousins started off together and then went off in three directions. A year later they returned to the place where they split off to find their wonder. Prince Muhammed had brought back a crystal ball from distant Hadramaut that he could use to see what is happening anywhere in the world. Prince Fahad brought back a flying carpet from Egypt. Prince Moshen brought back an orange from the shores of the Great Sea. The others laughed at his orange, but it was a special orange. The orange could cure any illness, even when the person was dying. While sitting togther Prince Moshen wondered aloud how the princess was doing. Together they looked into Prince Muhammed's crystal ball and found out the Princess was not well. In fact, she was dying. They all hopped on Prince Fahad's flying carpet and flew to the princess's palace. There Prince Moshen gave her his orange and she was restored. It was time to make a decision. All three wonders helped save her life, but which one would she choose? Every courtier had their opinion, but she choose Prince Moshen. While all had helped save her life, it was Prince Moshen who gave up all he had to save her.
Review
The tale of the Three Princes can be found in The Arabian Nights. The tale has all of the elements of a Disney tale: a princess who wants a poor prince, a flying carpet, a crystal ball, and a cure for any disease. The real difference in the story is that it does not transform anyone into something they are not. The princess is always wise and Prince Moshen will always be poor.
Young children will love the story of the wise princess who does not listen to the cheif priests tell her what to do, but uses solid reasoning to choose her prince. Children will be happy that she chose her poor prince who gave all he had to save the princess. Love triumphs over all, and everyone is happy at the end.
The chalk drawings add the air of mystery and enchantment to the tale. In the notes about the book, illustrator Leonard Everett Fisher tells how he wanted to recreate the essence of the Arab world. The chalk drawings on a black board have a graininess to them that reminds the reader of the desert sand that inhabits the Arab countries.
The reader only sees the face of the wise and beautiful princess when she is on her death bed. The moon in all of the pictures is a cresent, the symbol of the Muslim culture. There are shades of the royal color of purple throughout the book. The flying carpet is purple, the blankets on the Prince's camels are purple, pillows on the Princess's bed is purple, and in one of the illustrations the sky has a purple hue.
Professional Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Three cousins compete to find an object wondrous enough to win the hand of a princess--and end up saving her life. "A sprightly retelling with ambient artwork that shimmers with wisdom and magic," said PW in a starred review. Ages 4-8. (Mar.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From School Library Journal
Grade 2-4-A wise and beautiful princess is wooed by three princes. Two are men of wealth and renown, while the third, Mohsen, possesses "little more than his handsome face, his cloak, and his camel." It is he, of course, whom she wishes to marry. To give him a chance to compete with them, she sends them all on a quest, vowing to marry the one who returns with the greatest wonder. The first finds a crystal ball; the second, a flying carpet; Mohsen, a curative orange. On their return journey, the men see tragedy in the crystal ball-the princess is dying. The carpet whisks them back to the princess, and Mohsen feeds her his orange. She is saved, but still the question remains-which prince should she marry? She chooses Mohsen because he has sacrificed his treasure for her. Storytellers familiar with Virginia Tashjian's With a Deep Sea Smile (Little, 1974; o.p.) or Harold Courlander's The King's Drum & Other African Stories (Harcourt, 1962; o.p.) will recognize this as a variant of the African story, "The Search." But where these earlier versions leave the final question unresolved, Kimmel's tale provides a satisfying conclusion. His smooth narrative is strong and direct-traditional in structure, but with a fresh, contemporary voice. Dark underpainting and dense blocks of bold color give Fisher's illustrations weight and dimension, while his dramatic use of light focuses the eye effortlessly through the pictures. A welcome addition that deserves to become a read-aloud standard.
Linda Boyles, Alachua County Library District, Gainesville, FL
Connections
Have students get in groups of three or four and have them look at other tales in 1001 Arabian Nights and turn them into Children's books. They must do extra research, and they cannot use Aladdin.
Have students continue the stories of how Prince Fahad and Prince Muhammed found other princess's to marry.
Have students brainstorm which of the three wonders they would have chosen and the many things they could have done with it. In this case, the orange can be sliced and each slice will heal.
Monday, September 17, 2007
Friday, September 14, 2007
Cinderella the Dog and Her Little Glass Slipper
Name: Cinderella the Dog and Her Little Glass Slipper
Author & Ilustrator: Diane Goode
Publisher: The Blue Sky Press
Publishing City: New York, New York
Publication Date: 2000
ISBN:0-439-07166-6
Summary
In this telling of the Cinderella story, Cinderella is a dog who looks like a little spaniel. Cinderella's father has married a well-bred lady, who thinks of only herself and her two daughters. Cinderella is a nice dog, so she does everything for her stepmother and stepsisters. She does not tell her father because her father is afraid of his new wife. Not once does Cinderella complain even when her stepsisters are getting ready for the Prince's ball and ridicule her. Cinderella even mentions that a ball is not a place for her to go. When Cinderella cries after her sisters have left, her fairy godmother appears and wisks her up a carraige, horses, footmen, and a ballgown complete with little glass slippers. The story twists here from the original, Cinderella has to attend TWO balls before the leaves her glass slipper behind.
Review
One of a few Cinderella adaptations that features dogs, Cinderella the Dog and Her Little Glass Slipper offers a little twist to the traditional tale. Diane Goode uses almost every breed of dog to tell the story of Cinderella. Cinderella is a loyal spaniel while the step-sisters and step-mother look like the meaner breed of pit-bulls. The Prince is a charming Jack Russell Terrier, and the fairy godmother is a cute little brown & tan mutt with a pink tutu.
Cinderella's father is still living, but is so afraid of his wife he does nothing to help his daughter. He lets his wife and step-daughetrs take all the room in his house, leaving poor Cinderella living in ashes. In this day and age it is hard to imagine a girl not eventually standing up for herself or having such a noble heart that she doesn't evenmention her suffereing to her father. But when the invitation comes for the Prince's ball, she doesn't even question if she should go.
In the other Cinderella stories the Prince has only one ball, but this version the Prince holds two balls. One wonders how the stepsisters did not recognize Cinderella twice. The tale is a feel-good version. Once the sisters find out Cinderlla is the mysterious princess they begged for her forgiveness which the noble Cinderella gave with no thought.
The illustrations of the dog characters are lively despite the use of the pastel colors. Dogs inhabit all of the architecture and some of the dresses. For example, the gargoyles are dogs and inside the castle are bas-reliefs of other dogs. Cinderella's gown has a wolf chasing bunnies, her wedding dress has paw prints, and so do the step-sisters bridesmaids dresses.
Professional Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
As she did in The Dinosaur's New Clothes, Goode gives a familiar fairy tale an unexpected cast, this time introducing a pack of canines with a good-natured spaniel as the title character. The author interjects some witty wordplay (Cinderella's stepmother is a "well-bred" lady; and one of her mangy stepsisters scoffs, "Everyone would laugh to see such a dirty dog at the ball"), but it is the art that throws youngsters the juicier bone. Silly images abound: the nasty stepsisters, dressed in their finery with powdered wigs towering above their ears, primp for the ball; Cinderella's fairy godmother, a winged dog wearing a pink tutu, hovers above the ground; and the tongues of canine revelers hang out literally as the transformed beauty enters the royal ballroom. Goode works dog motifs into her luminous paintings with amusing frequency (dogs are featured on furniture and wall moldings, as weathervanes and statues and a paw-print pattern decorates Cinderella's wedding dress). This imposing heroine and the much smaller prince, a Jack Russell terrier, make quite the fetching couple as they celebrate their wedding at the tail end of this waggish volume. Ages 4-up. (Sept.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From School Library Journal
PreSchool-Grade 4-Goode, who cast dinosaurs in Hans Christian Andersen's "The Emperor's New Clothes," now makes dogs the actors in this version of "Cinderella." Though she does not acknowledge her source, her shortened, colloquial retelling follows Marcia Brown's free translation of Charles Perrault's story (Scribner, 1971). Dogs dressed as 18th-century French courtiers provide boundless opportunities for verbal and visual jokes. For example, the bodice of one stepsister's ball gown fastens with bones, while bones decorate her extravagant wig. She mocks Cinderella by saying, "Everyone would laugh to see such a dirty dog at the ball." The scenes of the gala feature a wild assortment of breeds, as well as an elegant wolf couple. The prince, looking adoring as only a canine can, is half Cinderella's height, not counting her wig. Goode dresses the animals in pretty pastel colors and displays them against buff stone architecture, carved with dogs in bas-relief. Librarians who enjoy the humor of dressed-up animals as human surrogates may relish the silliness and informality of this story, an irreverent contrast to the standard version. Traditionalists may find it all a bit arch and tedious, and will prefer Brown's classic for storyhour. Collection builders may want to add it to meet demands for comparative retellings of the famous tale.
Margaret A. Chang, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, North Adams
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Connections
Have Students write their own versions of Cinderella.
Have students choose a different animal and tell the Cinderella story using that animal and have them illustrate it.
Compare & Contrast this feel-good version of Cinderella with the original Grimm Fairy Tale. Have the students rate which one they like best and give reasons.
Author & Ilustrator: Diane Goode
Publisher: The Blue Sky Press
Publishing City: New York, New York
Publication Date: 2000
ISBN:0-439-07166-6
Summary
In this telling of the Cinderella story, Cinderella is a dog who looks like a little spaniel. Cinderella's father has married a well-bred lady, who thinks of only herself and her two daughters. Cinderella is a nice dog, so she does everything for her stepmother and stepsisters. She does not tell her father because her father is afraid of his new wife. Not once does Cinderella complain even when her stepsisters are getting ready for the Prince's ball and ridicule her. Cinderella even mentions that a ball is not a place for her to go. When Cinderella cries after her sisters have left, her fairy godmother appears and wisks her up a carraige, horses, footmen, and a ballgown complete with little glass slippers. The story twists here from the original, Cinderella has to attend TWO balls before the leaves her glass slipper behind.
Review
One of a few Cinderella adaptations that features dogs, Cinderella the Dog and Her Little Glass Slipper offers a little twist to the traditional tale. Diane Goode uses almost every breed of dog to tell the story of Cinderella. Cinderella is a loyal spaniel while the step-sisters and step-mother look like the meaner breed of pit-bulls. The Prince is a charming Jack Russell Terrier, and the fairy godmother is a cute little brown & tan mutt with a pink tutu.
Cinderella's father is still living, but is so afraid of his wife he does nothing to help his daughter. He lets his wife and step-daughetrs take all the room in his house, leaving poor Cinderella living in ashes. In this day and age it is hard to imagine a girl not eventually standing up for herself or having such a noble heart that she doesn't evenmention her suffereing to her father. But when the invitation comes for the Prince's ball, she doesn't even question if she should go.
In the other Cinderella stories the Prince has only one ball, but this version the Prince holds two balls. One wonders how the stepsisters did not recognize Cinderella twice. The tale is a feel-good version. Once the sisters find out Cinderlla is the mysterious princess they begged for her forgiveness which the noble Cinderella gave with no thought.
The illustrations of the dog characters are lively despite the use of the pastel colors. Dogs inhabit all of the architecture and some of the dresses. For example, the gargoyles are dogs and inside the castle are bas-reliefs of other dogs. Cinderella's gown has a wolf chasing bunnies, her wedding dress has paw prints, and so do the step-sisters bridesmaids dresses.
Professional Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
As she did in The Dinosaur's New Clothes, Goode gives a familiar fairy tale an unexpected cast, this time introducing a pack of canines with a good-natured spaniel as the title character. The author interjects some witty wordplay (Cinderella's stepmother is a "well-bred" lady; and one of her mangy stepsisters scoffs, "Everyone would laugh to see such a dirty dog at the ball"), but it is the art that throws youngsters the juicier bone. Silly images abound: the nasty stepsisters, dressed in their finery with powdered wigs towering above their ears, primp for the ball; Cinderella's fairy godmother, a winged dog wearing a pink tutu, hovers above the ground; and the tongues of canine revelers hang out literally as the transformed beauty enters the royal ballroom. Goode works dog motifs into her luminous paintings with amusing frequency (dogs are featured on furniture and wall moldings, as weathervanes and statues and a paw-print pattern decorates Cinderella's wedding dress). This imposing heroine and the much smaller prince, a Jack Russell terrier, make quite the fetching couple as they celebrate their wedding at the tail end of this waggish volume. Ages 4-up. (Sept.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From School Library Journal
PreSchool-Grade 4-Goode, who cast dinosaurs in Hans Christian Andersen's "The Emperor's New Clothes," now makes dogs the actors in this version of "Cinderella." Though she does not acknowledge her source, her shortened, colloquial retelling follows Marcia Brown's free translation of Charles Perrault's story (Scribner, 1971). Dogs dressed as 18th-century French courtiers provide boundless opportunities for verbal and visual jokes. For example, the bodice of one stepsister's ball gown fastens with bones, while bones decorate her extravagant wig. She mocks Cinderella by saying, "Everyone would laugh to see such a dirty dog at the ball." The scenes of the gala feature a wild assortment of breeds, as well as an elegant wolf couple. The prince, looking adoring as only a canine can, is half Cinderella's height, not counting her wig. Goode dresses the animals in pretty pastel colors and displays them against buff stone architecture, carved with dogs in bas-relief. Librarians who enjoy the humor of dressed-up animals as human surrogates may relish the silliness and informality of this story, an irreverent contrast to the standard version. Traditionalists may find it all a bit arch and tedious, and will prefer Brown's classic for storyhour. Collection builders may want to add it to meet demands for comparative retellings of the famous tale.
Margaret A. Chang, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, North Adams
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Connections
Have Students write their own versions of Cinderella.
Have students choose a different animal and tell the Cinderella story using that animal and have them illustrate it.
Compare & Contrast this feel-good version of Cinderella with the original Grimm Fairy Tale. Have the students rate which one they like best and give reasons.
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Porch Lies: Tales of Slicksters, Tricksters, and Other Wily Characters
Name: Porch Lies: Tales of Slicksters, Tricksters, and Other Wily Characters
Author: Patricia C. McKissack
Illustrator: Andre Carrilho
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade Books
Publisher City: New York, New York
Publication Date: 2006
ISBN:0-375-83619-5
Summary
Porch Lies: Tales of Slicksters, Tricksters, and Other Wily Characters is a collection of tales Porch lies are tales of humor and exaggeration told to listeners of all ages gathered together on the porch, according to McKissack. Stories involved in this bunch of Porch Lies are a face-to-face encounter with the King of the Ghosts, an encounter where an old grandmother out tricks Jesse James, and the state fair where the granddaddy of all lies is told by saying "not much of nothing."
The reader learns how Cake Norris has died at least 27 times, but somehow is still walking around Earth. Each tale will leave the reader laughing, even the creepy "Earth Bone and King of the Ghosts."
Review
Porch Lies is a compilations of stories based on what author Patricia McKissack heard on the front porch of her grandmother's house. McKissack added her own character names and expanded the outlandishness of the tales.
Each character telling the story is a bit of a stereotype, but in a good way. They are great storytellers who enthral the reader, and they are willing to bend the truth of the story for a great laugh or for spine-tingling effects. Most stories take place in the depression years in the South. Few white people enter into the stories, but they tend to be rich,older ladies, Klansmen, or former slave owners. In "Aunt Gran and The Outlaws" Frank and Jesse James enter the tales for a white version of the "slickster" tales.
Each tale starts off with a little bit of background about the tale. The background information is written in italics to set it off from the rest of the tale. Sometimes the background is just as funny as the story, like in "Change." The storyteller is normally an older person telling a story of their youth. Each tale is also dedicated to a person or people who have somehow inspired the story, or have told the story before.
"A Grave Situation" is a story about a rich, older white woman and her African-American driver. It has shades of "Driving Miss Daisy." The story is told from the viewpoint of a 10-year-old servant girl who had the utmost faith in the slickster character. Mis. Crickett Thompson had a driver named Lincoln "Link" Murphy who was a known slickster or "sneasal". Link walks a fine line between right and wrong, and Mis. Cricket lets him get away with his shenanigans. When Mis. Crickett dies her requests were promptly denied by her lawyer, and it is Link who comes to save the day. The story reads well, and any school teacher or Librarian should read this story aloud to their classes. The reader is sucked into the tale wondering just what Link is going to do next. The naivete of the young Beatrice Perriman is refreshing and elementary students will identify with her ability to see the good in Link Murphy.
Carrilho's illustrations are perfect for the African-America tales. The starkness of the black and white illustrations mirrors the oldness of the tales. One would believe they are looking at an old black and white television set as they read.
Professional Reviews
From School Library Journal
Grade 5 Up–These 10 literate stories make for great leisure listening and knowing chuckles. Pete Bruce flatters a baker out of a coconut cream pie and a quart of milk; Mingo may or may not have anything smaller than a 100-dollar bill to pay his bills; Frank and Jesse James, or the Howard boys, help an old woman against the KKK-ish Knights of the White Gardenia; and Cake Norris wakes up dead one day–again. Carrilhos eerie black-and-white illustrations, dramatically off-balance, lit by moonlight, and elongated like nightmares, are well-matched with the stories. The tales are variously narrated by boys and girls, even though the authors preface seems to set readers up for a single, female narrator in the persona of McKissack herself. They contain the essence of truth but are fiction from beginning to end, an amalgam of old stories, characters, jokes, setups, and motifs. As such, they have no provenance. Still, it would have helped readers unfamiliar with African-American history to have an authors note helping separate the truth of these lies that allude to Depression-era African-American and Southern traditions. That aside, they're great fun to read aloud and the tricksters, sharpies, slicksters, and outlaws wink knowingly at the child narrators, and at us foolish humans.–Susan Hepler, formerly at Burgundy Farm Country Day School, Alexandria, VA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
*Starred Review* Gr. 3-5. Like McKissack's award-winning The Dark Thirty (1992), the nine original tales in this uproarious collection draw on African American oral tradition and blend history and legend with sly humor, creepy horror, villainous characters, and wild farce. McKissack based the stories on those she heard as a child while sitting on her grandparents' porch; now she is passing them on to her grandchildren. Without using dialect, her intimate folk idiom celebrates the storytelling among friends, neighbors, and family as much as the stories themselves. "Some folk believe the story; some don't. You decide for yourself." Is the weaselly gravedigger going to steal a corpse's jewelry, or does he know the woman is really still alive? Can bespectacled Aunt Gran outwit the notorious outlaw Jesse James? In black and white, Carrilho's full-page illustrations--part cartoon, part portrait in silhouette--combine realistic characters with scary monsters. History is always in the background (runaway slaves, segregation cruelty, white-robed Klansmen), and in surprising twists and turns that are true to trickster tradition, the weak and exploited beat powerful oppressors with the best lies ever told. Great for sharing, on the porch and in the classroom. Hazel Rochman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Connections
Students can write their own Porch Lies.
Have students look up Porch Lies in other literature and compare the story-telling styles.
Students can research Frank & Jesse James and Web Hollow to see if there is a grain of truth in the story "Aunt Gran and the Outlaws."
Author: Patricia C. McKissack
Illustrator: Andre Carrilho
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade Books
Publisher City: New York, New York
Publication Date: 2006
ISBN:0-375-83619-5
Summary
Porch Lies: Tales of Slicksters, Tricksters, and Other Wily Characters is a collection of tales Porch lies are tales of humor and exaggeration told to listeners of all ages gathered together on the porch, according to McKissack. Stories involved in this bunch of Porch Lies are a face-to-face encounter with the King of the Ghosts, an encounter where an old grandmother out tricks Jesse James, and the state fair where the granddaddy of all lies is told by saying "not much of nothing."
The reader learns how Cake Norris has died at least 27 times, but somehow is still walking around Earth. Each tale will leave the reader laughing, even the creepy "Earth Bone and King of the Ghosts."
Review
Porch Lies is a compilations of stories based on what author Patricia McKissack heard on the front porch of her grandmother's house. McKissack added her own character names and expanded the outlandishness of the tales.
Each character telling the story is a bit of a stereotype, but in a good way. They are great storytellers who enthral the reader, and they are willing to bend the truth of the story for a great laugh or for spine-tingling effects. Most stories take place in the depression years in the South. Few white people enter into the stories, but they tend to be rich,older ladies, Klansmen, or former slave owners. In "Aunt Gran and The Outlaws" Frank and Jesse James enter the tales for a white version of the "slickster" tales.
Each tale starts off with a little bit of background about the tale. The background information is written in italics to set it off from the rest of the tale. Sometimes the background is just as funny as the story, like in "Change." The storyteller is normally an older person telling a story of their youth. Each tale is also dedicated to a person or people who have somehow inspired the story, or have told the story before.
"A Grave Situation" is a story about a rich, older white woman and her African-American driver. It has shades of "Driving Miss Daisy." The story is told from the viewpoint of a 10-year-old servant girl who had the utmost faith in the slickster character. Mis. Crickett Thompson had a driver named Lincoln "Link" Murphy who was a known slickster or "sneasal". Link walks a fine line between right and wrong, and Mis. Cricket lets him get away with his shenanigans. When Mis. Crickett dies her requests were promptly denied by her lawyer, and it is Link who comes to save the day. The story reads well, and any school teacher or Librarian should read this story aloud to their classes. The reader is sucked into the tale wondering just what Link is going to do next. The naivete of the young Beatrice Perriman is refreshing and elementary students will identify with her ability to see the good in Link Murphy.
Carrilho's illustrations are perfect for the African-America tales. The starkness of the black and white illustrations mirrors the oldness of the tales. One would believe they are looking at an old black and white television set as they read.
Professional Reviews
From School Library Journal
Grade 5 Up–These 10 literate stories make for great leisure listening and knowing chuckles. Pete Bruce flatters a baker out of a coconut cream pie and a quart of milk; Mingo may or may not have anything smaller than a 100-dollar bill to pay his bills; Frank and Jesse James, or the Howard boys, help an old woman against the KKK-ish Knights of the White Gardenia; and Cake Norris wakes up dead one day–again. Carrilhos eerie black-and-white illustrations, dramatically off-balance, lit by moonlight, and elongated like nightmares, are well-matched with the stories. The tales are variously narrated by boys and girls, even though the authors preface seems to set readers up for a single, female narrator in the persona of McKissack herself. They contain the essence of truth but are fiction from beginning to end, an amalgam of old stories, characters, jokes, setups, and motifs. As such, they have no provenance. Still, it would have helped readers unfamiliar with African-American history to have an authors note helping separate the truth of these lies that allude to Depression-era African-American and Southern traditions. That aside, they're great fun to read aloud and the tricksters, sharpies, slicksters, and outlaws wink knowingly at the child narrators, and at us foolish humans.–Susan Hepler, formerly at Burgundy Farm Country Day School, Alexandria, VA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
*Starred Review* Gr. 3-5. Like McKissack's award-winning The Dark Thirty (1992), the nine original tales in this uproarious collection draw on African American oral tradition and blend history and legend with sly humor, creepy horror, villainous characters, and wild farce. McKissack based the stories on those she heard as a child while sitting on her grandparents' porch; now she is passing them on to her grandchildren. Without using dialect, her intimate folk idiom celebrates the storytelling among friends, neighbors, and family as much as the stories themselves. "Some folk believe the story; some don't. You decide for yourself." Is the weaselly gravedigger going to steal a corpse's jewelry, or does he know the woman is really still alive? Can bespectacled Aunt Gran outwit the notorious outlaw Jesse James? In black and white, Carrilho's full-page illustrations--part cartoon, part portrait in silhouette--combine realistic characters with scary monsters. History is always in the background (runaway slaves, segregation cruelty, white-robed Klansmen), and in surprising twists and turns that are true to trickster tradition, the weak and exploited beat powerful oppressors with the best lies ever told. Great for sharing, on the porch and in the classroom. Hazel Rochman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Connections
Students can write their own Porch Lies.
Have students look up Porch Lies in other literature and compare the story-telling styles.
Students can research Frank & Jesse James and Web Hollow to see if there is a grain of truth in the story "Aunt Gran and the Outlaws."
Friday, September 7, 2007
A Caldecott Celebration: Six Artist and Their Paths to the Caldecott Medal
Title: A Caldecott Celebration: Six Artist and Their Paths to the Caldecott Medal
Author: Leonard S. Marcus
Publisher: Walker & Co.
Publication City: New York, New York
Publication Date: 1988
ISBNs: 0-8027-8656-1; 0-8027-8658-8(reinforced)
Summary
The Caldecott Medal celebrated 60 years in 1988, and as a tribute to the medal, Leonard S. Marcus chose one book from each decade as a highlight of the decade. The chosen books in order are: Make Way For Ducklings by Robery McCloskey, Cinderella; ot, THe LIttle Glass Slipper adapted by Marcia Brown, Where the Wild Things are by Maurice Sendak, Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by William Steig, Jumanji by Chris Van Allsburg, and Tuesday by David Wiesner. Each illustrator gives insight into how they chose the books storyline-or setting in Wiesner's case. The illustrators/authors go into some detail as to how they drew their illustrations, and why they chose the specific medium to portray their ideas.
Review
As the 70th year of Caldecott approaches, it will be interesting to see if there is an update to this book. For a fan of children's books, and for someone who likes to know the behind-the-scenes story of the story, then they will enjoy this book. Marcus makes the assumption that the reader has read each book and is familiar with the plots. The sketches provided to show beginnings of illustrations is a nice touch, and it is noticably lacking in the 1970s choice, Sylvester and the Magic Pebble. It makes the reader wonder why Marcus chose that particular book. "A Caldecott Celebration: is written at an appropriate level for a child who needs to write a book report on awards, illustrators, or children's books. The writing assumes the young reader can handle phrases like "stuffy mythological scenes" and "bloodcurdling rendition."
Professional Reviews
From Publishers Weekly:
Filled with witty anecdotes and pithy observations, Marcus's (Dear Genius: The Letters of Ursula Nordstrom) approach to examining the works of six Caldecott Medalists will be of as much interest to adults as to picture book readers. He has chosen one book from each decade, "so that viewed together, the six offer an informal cross section through time of the American picture book": Robert McCloskey's Make Way for Ducklings, Marcia Brown's Cinderella; or, The Little Glass Slipper, Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are, William Steig's Sylvester and the Magic Pebble, Chris Van Allsburg's Jumanji and David Wiesner's Tuesday. With a generous sprinkling of the artists' own words and sometimes those of his or her editor, Marcus chronicles the inspiration behind these works, the creative process, the artists' reactions to winning the prestigious award and its effect on their careers. He fills the volume with the kinds of details children relish: McCloskey once shared his Greenwich Village digs with 16 ducks and Steig does black-and-white drawings first, then fills in each color one by one throughout the book. Encouraging readers to see each picture book through the artist's eyes, Marcus shows Brown's compositional studies, explains how Van Allsburg chose from which perspective to view the coiled python in the living room and how Sendak decided "that the illustrations leading up to the rumpus would get larger and larger, as Max's emotions pushed out the words." He traces the evolution of the illustrations for Tuesday from Wiesner's first quick sketches, when the idea occurred to him on a jet plane. With Marcus's sure hand guiding this tour, readers will find cause for celebration. All ages.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Connections
Students will choose a book from the past decade (1998-present) and add a chapter on to "A Caldecott Celebration."
Students will compare and contrast the winner with the honors books and use their judgement on whether or not the committee made the correction decision.
Author: Leonard S. Marcus
Publisher: Walker & Co.
Publication City: New York, New York
Publication Date: 1988
ISBNs: 0-8027-8656-1; 0-8027-8658-8(reinforced)
Summary
The Caldecott Medal celebrated 60 years in 1988, and as a tribute to the medal, Leonard S. Marcus chose one book from each decade as a highlight of the decade. The chosen books in order are: Make Way For Ducklings by Robery McCloskey, Cinderella; ot, THe LIttle Glass Slipper adapted by Marcia Brown, Where the Wild Things are by Maurice Sendak, Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by William Steig, Jumanji by Chris Van Allsburg, and Tuesday by David Wiesner. Each illustrator gives insight into how they chose the books storyline-or setting in Wiesner's case. The illustrators/authors go into some detail as to how they drew their illustrations, and why they chose the specific medium to portray their ideas.
Review
As the 70th year of Caldecott approaches, it will be interesting to see if there is an update to this book. For a fan of children's books, and for someone who likes to know the behind-the-scenes story of the story, then they will enjoy this book. Marcus makes the assumption that the reader has read each book and is familiar with the plots. The sketches provided to show beginnings of illustrations is a nice touch, and it is noticably lacking in the 1970s choice, Sylvester and the Magic Pebble. It makes the reader wonder why Marcus chose that particular book. "A Caldecott Celebration: is written at an appropriate level for a child who needs to write a book report on awards, illustrators, or children's books. The writing assumes the young reader can handle phrases like "stuffy mythological scenes" and "bloodcurdling rendition."
Professional Reviews
From Publishers Weekly:
Filled with witty anecdotes and pithy observations, Marcus's (Dear Genius: The Letters of Ursula Nordstrom) approach to examining the works of six Caldecott Medalists will be of as much interest to adults as to picture book readers. He has chosen one book from each decade, "so that viewed together, the six offer an informal cross section through time of the American picture book": Robert McCloskey's Make Way for Ducklings, Marcia Brown's Cinderella; or, The Little Glass Slipper, Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are, William Steig's Sylvester and the Magic Pebble, Chris Van Allsburg's Jumanji and David Wiesner's Tuesday. With a generous sprinkling of the artists' own words and sometimes those of his or her editor, Marcus chronicles the inspiration behind these works, the creative process, the artists' reactions to winning the prestigious award and its effect on their careers. He fills the volume with the kinds of details children relish: McCloskey once shared his Greenwich Village digs with 16 ducks and Steig does black-and-white drawings first, then fills in each color one by one throughout the book. Encouraging readers to see each picture book through the artist's eyes, Marcus shows Brown's compositional studies, explains how Van Allsburg chose from which perspective to view the coiled python in the living room and how Sendak decided "that the illustrations leading up to the rumpus would get larger and larger, as Max's emotions pushed out the words." He traces the evolution of the illustrations for Tuesday from Wiesner's first quick sketches, when the idea occurred to him on a jet plane. With Marcus's sure hand guiding this tour, readers will find cause for celebration. All ages.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Connections
Students will choose a book from the past decade (1998-present) and add a chapter on to "A Caldecott Celebration."
Students will compare and contrast the winner with the honors books and use their judgement on whether or not the committee made the correction decision.
The Hello, Goodbye Window
Name: The Hello, Goodbye Window
Author: Norton Juster
Illustrator: Chris Raschka
Publisher: Micheal Di Capua Books, Hyperion Books for Children
Publicaton Date: 2005
ISBN: 0-7868-0914-0
Summary
When a nameless little girl goes over to her grandparent's house, she automatically ventures over to the kitchen window to peek in. This is not an ordinary window for the child, but a magical one because it is the "hello, goodbye" window. This is the where she sees her Nanna and Poppy for the first time every visit and it leads into the room where she identifies the most with her grandparents. The window is where she can tell if she's going to have a good day with her grandparents or one ruined with rain. It's also the window where she says good night to the stars. She has been known to sit by the window to look out because "anybody can come along when you least expect it." She also sits by the window and listens to her grandpa play the harmonica. She also spends time with her grandparents outside of the kitchen, but her visits mainly consist of spending time near the special window. When it is time to go home, she dreams of having her own house with a hello, goodbye window in it.
Review
"The Hello Goodbye Window" is a fresh view on the going to visit the grandparent's story. Norton Juster is the author of the well-known classic "The Phantom Tollbooth." The little girl tells the story through the wide-eyed wonderment of a five- or six-year-old. She has an active imagination that shows when she says she waits by the window looking for amazing things like Tyrannosaurus Rec, who is extinct, "so he doesn't come around much." Juster's use of the word extinct once again shows the trust he has in his young readers. "The Phantom Tollbooth" is full of word jewels and "The Hello, Goodbye Window" uses upscale words like extinct when dead was just as useful. He also shows he understands chldren when the little girl takes a nap and she truly believes that nothing happens while she is asleep. There is no real climax to the story. There is no problem that needs to be solved or no plan that falls apart. It is just a story about a little girl, a window, and a visit to her grandparent's house.
The illustrator Chris Raschka's use of the expressionism style is perfect for the world of a young child who see much more to the world than just a globe. His pictures adds a little to the story. For example, when the little girl tells the reader she doesn't go behind a particular bush because a tige lives behind it, we see a little kitten behind it. The subtleness of the two interracial marriages in the pictures show the reader that the two races can live in harmony. No mention in the text of blcak or white, but it stares back at you in the illustrations. Even though the style is appropriate, at times I felt the illustrations were distracting and a bit much.
Professional Reviews
Parravano, Martha V.
Journal Name: The Horn Book
Source: The Horn Book v. 81 no. 4 (July/August 2005) p. 451-2
Title: The hello, goodbye window[2005; Juster, Norton; Hyperion Books for Children]
"The familial love that is Juster's subtext finds overt expression, spectacularly, in Raschka's illustrations--lush mixed-media creations saturated in watercolor and pastel crayon and set off perfectly by white space. In paintings that are freewheeling yet controlled, Raschka incorporates tight circular scribbles (for the little girl's and Nanna's hair, for bushes, for clouds), solid shapes (for furniture, for floors); thick strokes of watercolor (for trees, for the door that separates the little girl and her grandparents when her parents come to take her home); and a black line that outlines occasional objects. . . . A varied layout, balancing exterior and interior landscapes with smaller character vignettes, helps sustain the book's energy. Say hello to Raschka at the top of his form."
Morrison, Hope
Journal Name: Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
Source: Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books v. 58 no. 11 (July/August 2005) p. 493
Title: The hello, goodbye window[2005; Juster, Norton; Hyperion]
"There is a delightful dose of preschooler ego . . . that is perfectly matched by Raschka's chaotically uninhibited paintings, which similarly evoke a kid-centered world. He uses color fearlessly to reflect the fantastical energy of the child's narrative line, and his bold, splashy brushstrokes create an exciting and fanciful world (though the facial expressions of the multiracial family are sometimes muddied in the process). This holds obvious potential as a story to be shared by grandparents and grandchildren, but young audiences are likely to eagerly listen to anyone willing to read it to them."
Connections
Write a story about what makes your grandparent's house different from anyone elses.
Create a diorama of the kitchen and the window based on the books description.
Author: Norton Juster
Illustrator: Chris Raschka
Publisher: Micheal Di Capua Books, Hyperion Books for Children
Publicaton Date: 2005
ISBN: 0-7868-0914-0
Summary
When a nameless little girl goes over to her grandparent's house, she automatically ventures over to the kitchen window to peek in. This is not an ordinary window for the child, but a magical one because it is the "hello, goodbye" window. This is the where she sees her Nanna and Poppy for the first time every visit and it leads into the room where she identifies the most with her grandparents. The window is where she can tell if she's going to have a good day with her grandparents or one ruined with rain. It's also the window where she says good night to the stars. She has been known to sit by the window to look out because "anybody can come along when you least expect it." She also sits by the window and listens to her grandpa play the harmonica. She also spends time with her grandparents outside of the kitchen, but her visits mainly consist of spending time near the special window. When it is time to go home, she dreams of having her own house with a hello, goodbye window in it.
Review
"The Hello Goodbye Window" is a fresh view on the going to visit the grandparent's story. Norton Juster is the author of the well-known classic "The Phantom Tollbooth." The little girl tells the story through the wide-eyed wonderment of a five- or six-year-old. She has an active imagination that shows when she says she waits by the window looking for amazing things like Tyrannosaurus Rec, who is extinct, "so he doesn't come around much." Juster's use of the word extinct once again shows the trust he has in his young readers. "The Phantom Tollbooth" is full of word jewels and "The Hello, Goodbye Window" uses upscale words like extinct when dead was just as useful. He also shows he understands chldren when the little girl takes a nap and she truly believes that nothing happens while she is asleep. There is no real climax to the story. There is no problem that needs to be solved or no plan that falls apart. It is just a story about a little girl, a window, and a visit to her grandparent's house.
The illustrator Chris Raschka's use of the expressionism style is perfect for the world of a young child who see much more to the world than just a globe. His pictures adds a little to the story. For example, when the little girl tells the reader she doesn't go behind a particular bush because a tige lives behind it, we see a little kitten behind it. The subtleness of the two interracial marriages in the pictures show the reader that the two races can live in harmony. No mention in the text of blcak or white, but it stares back at you in the illustrations. Even though the style is appropriate, at times I felt the illustrations were distracting and a bit much.
Professional Reviews
Parravano, Martha V.
Journal Name: The Horn Book
Source: The Horn Book v. 81 no. 4 (July/August 2005) p. 451-2
Title: The hello, goodbye window[2005; Juster, Norton; Hyperion Books for Children]
"The familial love that is Juster's subtext finds overt expression, spectacularly, in Raschka's illustrations--lush mixed-media creations saturated in watercolor and pastel crayon and set off perfectly by white space. In paintings that are freewheeling yet controlled, Raschka incorporates tight circular scribbles (for the little girl's and Nanna's hair, for bushes, for clouds), solid shapes (for furniture, for floors); thick strokes of watercolor (for trees, for the door that separates the little girl and her grandparents when her parents come to take her home); and a black line that outlines occasional objects. . . . A varied layout, balancing exterior and interior landscapes with smaller character vignettes, helps sustain the book's energy. Say hello to Raschka at the top of his form."
Morrison, Hope
Journal Name: Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
Source: Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books v. 58 no. 11 (July/August 2005) p. 493
Title: The hello, goodbye window[2005; Juster, Norton; Hyperion]
"There is a delightful dose of preschooler ego . . . that is perfectly matched by Raschka's chaotically uninhibited paintings, which similarly evoke a kid-centered world. He uses color fearlessly to reflect the fantastical energy of the child's narrative line, and his bold, splashy brushstrokes create an exciting and fanciful world (though the facial expressions of the multiracial family are sometimes muddied in the process). This holds obvious potential as a story to be shared by grandparents and grandchildren, but young audiences are likely to eagerly listen to anyone willing to read it to them."
Connections
Write a story about what makes your grandparent's house different from anyone elses.
Create a diorama of the kitchen and the window based on the books description.
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
Click, Clack, Moo: Cows that Type
Book: Click, Clack Moo Cows that Type
Author: Doreen Cronin
Illustrator: Betsy Lewin
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Publisher City: New York, New York
Copyright date: 2000
ISBN: 1-41-69-0348-8
Summary
"Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type" in a way reminded me of a cute children's version of George Orwell's "Animal Farm" only it didn't mirror the Russian Revolution and the human was a nice guy, if not a little frustrated nice guy. The poor farmer had put an old typewriter in the barn for storage purposes, and the cows found it. The cows were freezing in their barn and wanted some electric blankets to keep them worn. So they wrote a letter to the farmer with their demand. When the farmer refused, they refused to give milk. And they posted a note on the barndoor, that they were "closed." The Farmer was frustrated, but refused to give in. Pretty soon the chickens joined in and refused to give the farmer eggs. The duck was neutral, so he relayed messages back and forth. Finally in a meeting, ala Animal Farm, the cows and chickens agree to send the typewriter back to duck in exchange for blankets. The Farmer says okay, but the typewriter takes a detour to the duck's pond. The ducks get together and decide the pond would be much more fun with a diving board. Guess who get's their wish right away?
Abby's Review
"Click, Clack, Moo: Cows that type" is a cute story, if a tiny bit unbelieveable. Many questions run through the young readers mind: "How can a cow type?", "What is a typewriter?", and "How can a duck carry a typewriter?". As an older reader I was wondering how the farmer was going to afford the electric bills. I figured if the Chick-fil-A cows can get on top of a speeding car, reach into a moon roof to grab burgers, and stay on the car, then they can probably figure out how to use a typewriter. The tone is appropriate for little children who will find themselves giggling at the cows who type, the neutral duck, and the frustrated farmer. The writing is appropriate for a seven-year-old who knows what it means to be furious and uses it in a sentence to let his or her parents know they aren't happy with a punishment.
The pictures are done in the cartoon art styling which fits a story that is very much a cartoon book. The pictures show the emotion of the characters. When the cows first post the note they will not give milk, the hissy fit Farmer Brown has is shadowed on the barn door. The cows are looking out at Brown with their eyes wide like they cannot believe a human would act the way Brown is acting.
Professional Reviews
From Publishers Weekly:
Plucky barnyard denizens unite to improve their working conditions in this hilarious debut picture book from Cronin (appropriately enough, an attorney). Farmer Brown is dumbfounded when his cows discover an old typewriter in the barn and begin experimenting ("All day long he hears click, clack, moo. Click, clack, moo. Clickety clack moo"). Things really get out of hand when the cows began airing their grievances. Lewin (Araminta's Paint Box) conveys the fellow's shock as he reads: "Dear Farmer Brown, The barn is very cold at night. We'd like some electric blankets. Sincerely, The Cows." When Farmer Brown denies the cows' request, the bovine organizers go on strike. Through the use of the man's shadow, Lewin communicates his rage: the straw in his hat creates the appearance of his hair on end. With help from a neutral duck mediator, the exasperated Farmer Brown finally makes concessions. But, much to his dismay, the cows are not the only creatures that can type. Cronin humorously turns the tables on conventional barnyard dynamics; Lewin's bold, loose-lined watercolors set a light and easygoing mood that matches Farmer Brown's very funny predicament. Kids and underdogs everywhere will cheer for the clever critters that calmly and politely stand up for their rights, while their human caretaker becomes more and more unglued. Ages 3-7. (Feb.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc
Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books v. 54 no. 1 (September 2000) p. 12
Stevenson, Deborah
Cronin keeps her absurd idea well disciplined, with poker-faced precision and simple language (the bovine notes are always politely signed 'Sincerely, The Cows') that keep this from being an airy-fairy whimsy and instead make it into solid and imaginative barnyard humor. . . . The visuals parallel the loopy inspiration of the text with a sly inventiveness of their own."
Connections
Related books would be others by Doreen Cronin and Betsy Lewin like Duck for President and Giggle, Giggle, Quack.
Have the students write a paper on how they would have handled the cows.
Have the students write a story about what animal got the typewriter next and what they would have asked for.
The students will write a script for four people on what happened in the meeting with the cows and what the animals outside the barn were saying.
Author: Doreen Cronin
Illustrator: Betsy Lewin
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Publisher City: New York, New York
Copyright date: 2000
ISBN: 1-41-69-0348-8
Summary
"Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type" in a way reminded me of a cute children's version of George Orwell's "Animal Farm" only it didn't mirror the Russian Revolution and the human was a nice guy, if not a little frustrated nice guy. The poor farmer had put an old typewriter in the barn for storage purposes, and the cows found it. The cows were freezing in their barn and wanted some electric blankets to keep them worn. So they wrote a letter to the farmer with their demand. When the farmer refused, they refused to give milk. And they posted a note on the barndoor, that they were "closed." The Farmer was frustrated, but refused to give in. Pretty soon the chickens joined in and refused to give the farmer eggs. The duck was neutral, so he relayed messages back and forth. Finally in a meeting, ala Animal Farm, the cows and chickens agree to send the typewriter back to duck in exchange for blankets. The Farmer says okay, but the typewriter takes a detour to the duck's pond. The ducks get together and decide the pond would be much more fun with a diving board. Guess who get's their wish right away?
Abby's Review
"Click, Clack, Moo: Cows that type" is a cute story, if a tiny bit unbelieveable. Many questions run through the young readers mind: "How can a cow type?", "What is a typewriter?", and "How can a duck carry a typewriter?". As an older reader I was wondering how the farmer was going to afford the electric bills. I figured if the Chick-fil-A cows can get on top of a speeding car, reach into a moon roof to grab burgers, and stay on the car, then they can probably figure out how to use a typewriter. The tone is appropriate for little children who will find themselves giggling at the cows who type, the neutral duck, and the frustrated farmer. The writing is appropriate for a seven-year-old who knows what it means to be furious and uses it in a sentence to let his or her parents know they aren't happy with a punishment.
The pictures are done in the cartoon art styling which fits a story that is very much a cartoon book. The pictures show the emotion of the characters. When the cows first post the note they will not give milk, the hissy fit Farmer Brown has is shadowed on the barn door. The cows are looking out at Brown with their eyes wide like they cannot believe a human would act the way Brown is acting.
Professional Reviews
From Publishers Weekly:
Plucky barnyard denizens unite to improve their working conditions in this hilarious debut picture book from Cronin (appropriately enough, an attorney). Farmer Brown is dumbfounded when his cows discover an old typewriter in the barn and begin experimenting ("All day long he hears click, clack, moo. Click, clack, moo. Clickety clack moo"). Things really get out of hand when the cows began airing their grievances. Lewin (Araminta's Paint Box) conveys the fellow's shock as he reads: "Dear Farmer Brown, The barn is very cold at night. We'd like some electric blankets. Sincerely, The Cows." When Farmer Brown denies the cows' request, the bovine organizers go on strike. Through the use of the man's shadow, Lewin communicates his rage: the straw in his hat creates the appearance of his hair on end. With help from a neutral duck mediator, the exasperated Farmer Brown finally makes concessions. But, much to his dismay, the cows are not the only creatures that can type. Cronin humorously turns the tables on conventional barnyard dynamics; Lewin's bold, loose-lined watercolors set a light and easygoing mood that matches Farmer Brown's very funny predicament. Kids and underdogs everywhere will cheer for the clever critters that calmly and politely stand up for their rights, while their human caretaker becomes more and more unglued. Ages 3-7. (Feb.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc
Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books v. 54 no. 1 (September 2000) p. 12
Stevenson, Deborah
Cronin keeps her absurd idea well disciplined, with poker-faced precision and simple language (the bovine notes are always politely signed 'Sincerely, The Cows') that keep this from being an airy-fairy whimsy and instead make it into solid and imaginative barnyard humor. . . . The visuals parallel the loopy inspiration of the text with a sly inventiveness of their own."
Connections
Related books would be others by Doreen Cronin and Betsy Lewin like Duck for President and Giggle, Giggle, Quack.
Have the students write a paper on how they would have handled the cows.
Have the students write a story about what animal got the typewriter next and what they would have asked for.
The students will write a script for four people on what happened in the meeting with the cows and what the animals outside the barn were saying.
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