Love, Ruby Lavender

Ruby Lavender is a 9 year old girl who lives in the little country town of Halleluia, Mississippi with her mom and very close to her beloved grandmother, best friend and confidant, Miss Eula. She loves her family and the chickens she and Miss Eula rescued from the slaughter when a neighboring chicken farm was sold. The chickens, Bess, Ivy and Bemmie become a very large part of Ruby’s life especially when she gets the news that Miss Eula will be leaving on an extended trip to Hawaii to visit her newborn baby granddaughter. Ruby is devastated, feels abandoned and so lonely. I love the line from the book,”Every time I walk by our silver maple tree, I feel like an empty paper bag.” I know what that feels like! Ruby and Miss Eula have always communicated through writing letters at first by leaving them in the hole in the old silver maple tree near the post office and then back and forth from Hawaii to Mississippi. Ruby is able to express her emotions, thoughts and feelings so well through her letters.
The summer brings much with it that forces Ruby into maturity and helps her to come to terms with the death of her grandfather. Ruby cares for her chickens, makes a new friend, deals with a very difficult classmate and finally discovers that as Miss Eula says,“ Life does go on.”
This story was very believable in that it accurately depicted the true emotions of the characters, especially those of Ruby. She dealt with so many emotions throughout this book such as dealing with the loss of her grandfather and the guilt she felt thinking it was partly her fault, the loss of her very best friend, Miss Eula, when she went to Hawaii, the loss of the baby chicks when Melba Jane caused the nest to fall, the happiness of finding a new friend and the joy of raising Rosebud, the one surviving chick.
There are so many themes that are explored in this novel as well. A few of them are the special bond between a granddaughter and her grandmother. Their relationship was very special and Ruby truly valued that relationship above any other. Many of my own students have that special bond with their grandparents as well so could easily relate to Ruby. Another theme is that of dealing with a difficult friendship or with someone you just cannot get along with. Again that’s real and our students experience it as well. Dealing with death is another important theme and one we all have to deal with at some point. Feeling left out and lonely is another huge theme of this book. Ruby didn’t seem to fit in with others at times. She felt different but at the same time was okay with being who she was. That’s a great lesson for our students, too. Hancock states,” the ability to identify with a character challenged by contemporary problems…engages the reader in literature. Fiction provides a realistic view of people and issues while keeping the reader at a safe distance from the actual occurrence.” Wiles has done an excellent job of dealing with issues our students face everyday on their way to growing up. Her characters are unique and believable, the plot shows what happens to the characters in such a way that the reader cares about the outcome. (Tunnell) Wiles has used a unique style of writing by having the actual letters written by Ruby and Miss Eula included as part of the text. It helps to bring the reader inside Halleluia to become part of that community and part of Ruby’s life.
This book reminded me so much of Each Little Bird That Sings. Comfort and Ruby deal with several similar issues such as death, difficult friendships and the love and loss of pets. The chickens could be compared to Dismay, Ruby’s grandfather to Comfort’s uncle and Comfort’s great aunt to Miss Eula.
I loved the setting of the stories. That was the time of slamming screen doors and neighbors just dropping by for a visit. I miss that time!
In the classroom, the many themes of the book could be explored and comparisons could be made between the two books. I think it would be fun to have them write a letter to one of the characters or to each other as one of the characters. What a great way to explore a lost art!
I did like this book as much as Each Little Bird that Sings and plan to use it as a read aloud to my younger students and will encourage my older ones to read it on their own

Frog and Toad-Philosophical Discussion

Philosophical Discussion—Frog and Toad

Though I feel having philosophical discussions with my EC students is a wonderful idea and very important as well, this particular class really struggled with many of the questions. At first all I got was a lot of blank stares. Bravery and courage aren’t concrete and sometimes thinking beyond the concrete proves to be a challenge for my students. They do love Frog and Toad so really enjoyed the story. We started with Matthew’s question concerning this,” Frog and Toad look in the mirror to see if they are brave. Frog says they look brave. Toad asks if they really are brave.” I asked , “how do you look when you’re brave?” Blank stares. And we did discuss the meaning of the word brave first. I kept on until finally one student said you stand up tall and hold your head up high. Then another said Frog and Toad weren’t brave because they were humped over and not standing straight. Yes! I finally got something. They decided that you can look brave but you can also be brave and not look any different than you normally do. Most agreed that no one looks brave all of the time and one said that you don’t have to be doing something scary to be brave. You just wake up brave everyday. One girl said she never woke up brave but felt brave when she went out to feed her dog at night.
The general consensus was that you have to do something scary to show that you’re brave-like jumping off a building. When I asked them if you’re doing something dangerous and you don’t know it’s dangerous are you brave, some said yes, one said no because you wouldn’t know you needed to be brave.
I then asked how Toad knows he is not afraid and one boy said he just feels like he’s brave and that nobody has to tell you if you’re brave or not, you just know. We were moving slowly past the concrete. I was so excited!
This group agreed that if you run away from something, you could never be called brave. As one said, “That makes you a chicken.” One student said that you don’t have to be brave all of the time but you should be most of the time.
At the end of the discussion I asked again-What does it mean to be brave? This time the consensus was when you’re not scared of something and when you have a good feeling inside your body. We’re definitely getting there. And I think the more we do these lessons the more the thinking of my students will stretch. They’re just not used to thinking in this way. Others have always done it for them. I’ll have the same group next year so look forward to having more philosophical discussions.
I feel this book is very deserving of the Newbery Honor Book Award because of the philosophical aspect it brings to the endearing Frog and Toad stories. The Newbery is for the most distinguished author in American Children’s literature and this book because of its depth and possibilities for instruction in the classroom is definitely deserving.

Countdown

Countdown

Wow! This book was such an incredible trip down memory lane for me. I knew I was going to love it when I saw the 45 on the cover. Sweet sweet memories. Deborah Wiles creates a perfect blend of true events with historical fiction. Franny’s life in the early 1960’s could have been any eleven year old’s life at the time. She experiences difficulties with friendships, family issues, general feelings of being invisible, things most kids go through- and then as if that wasn’t enough, the Cuban missile crises is threatening their very existence. Throughout this wonderful documentary novel, Franny takes us through several emotionally wrenching days of her life, but in the end she realizes that she is somebody, important to so any people, a vital part of her family and her school. She is strong and resilient and demonstrates extreme bravery during the scariest of times.

The five criteria for evaluating quality historical fiction (documentary novel in this case) are all met in Countdown. (Chapter six) First and foremost it delivers a good story. History is authentically presented (could it be more authentic with the documentaries?), historical accuracy must be a priority, it must recreate the time through setting, daily life, and customs. The story reveals history through a character of similar age to the reader (fifth grade) and finally the writing style should unobtrusively weave historical detail into a good story.

Deborah Wiles is genius in the way she blends a fiction story with the documentation. I couldn’t put the book down. With every page, every photograph, every song, quote and commercial, I relived a past that I had pretty much forgotten. I was very young when the Cuban missile crisis occurred and didn’t understand what the implications were but I did know that strange things were happening. There was a bomb shelter we visited at the Dixie Classic Fair. There was a fallout shelter sign at Old Town School where I attended and my mom put a whole lot of canned food down in the basement just in case we had to live there for a while. I remember my older brother John telling me that if we had a nuclear war, the whole world would light up brighter than the sun. I don’t know why that made such an impact on me but it did. I don’t remember being scared; I just knew things were different. It was a strange time. I keep flipping through the book and reliving it over and over.

There can be no better way to help our students understand what life was like in this period of history than in the way Wiles has combined the real with the fiction. The photos, lyrics, and other materials, helped to put the reader right smack in the middle of the 60’s enabling you to fully experience the time. I think Franny summed up the general feeling of the time when she said during the drill, “Suddenly I don’t know where I am or what day it is or how I got here, and I don’t know which way to go.”

In the class room this book would lend itself to a great intergraded unit study. I would have students research via internet workshops various topics of time such as the Cuban missile crisis, John F Kennedy, Castro, Atom bombs, 60s culture, and then present their findings to the class. Throughout the book study, students could be engaged in such activities such as I poems, wordles, two voice poems, acrostic poems, and double entry diaries. I would also utilize literature circles to discuss the questions presented in the Countdown Discussion Guide. Written responses in personal journals would also be encouraged.

I would love to at some time develop a unit of study for this book. It would be perfect for fifth grade social studies and would be great for my students who are almost at the end of their structured reading programs. I have always wanted to do a novel unit with a group of my EC students and this would be one I would choose.

Deborah, this book has been such a gift to me and I thank you for it!

Websites to check out:
http://www.thepeoplehistory.com/1960s.htnl
http://the60sofficialsite.com/
http://kclibrary.lonestar.edu/decade60.html

Questions for Deborah Wiles

1. You mentioned that you had always wanted to write a book about this scary time of your life. Did writing the book help you deal with or come to terms with that scary time?

2. What will the other 2 books in the 60s trilogy deal with and when can we expect to see them come out? Yes, I’m anxious to have them as well!

3. Who were your role models growing up and what if any influence did they have on your becoming a writer later on in your life?

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Freedom Summer

Freedom Summer

Freedom Summer takes place in the 1960s right around the time the Civil Rights Act was passed. It’s the story of two best friends who share everything – chores, marbles, swimming in the creek. The only difference between the two is the color of their skin. John Henry understands tat he isn’t allowed in the town pool or in Mr. Mason’s store so the boys do their best to compensate for that. Then the new law passes and both boys are so excited to finally be able to swim together at the pool. Upon their arrival they find workers filling in the pool with asphalt and John Henry knows that white folks don’t want colored folks swimming in their pool.” Joe knows it’s true as well. Just because laws change, hearts don’t always follow along. But the true friends aren’t going to back down so arm in arm they head into Mr. Mason’s store, going forward, making change happen.
This is a beautiful story of true friendship and follows the theme of that as well as bravery that are common threads through so many of the books we have been reading. I absolutely love this story. The last page where the boys are facing going into the previously all white store with their arms around each other, ready to face together whatever may happen is so moving. That illustration sent chills up my spine. As we read in chapter 6, “ historical fiction is realistic fiction set in the historical past. While the story is imaginary, characters and events could have occurred in this historical context.” I’m sure scenes like this played out many times in the 60s. I was very blessed to have parents who didn’t notice skin color and they passed that on to us as well. We grew up with African American friends and I never knew it was an issue until I was older. Then I was shocked and just couldn’t make any sense of it.
In the classroom this would be a wonderful addition to any study of friendship or the Civil Rights Movement. Putting life into the characters by using young characters having true to life experiences makes it so much more interesting and real to students. A good activity would be to have the students create a Two Voice poem or Bio poem for the boys where each is able to express how they feel about what’s going on around them. Deborah Wiles does an amazing job of allowing us to experience what it was like during this part of history. I haven’t been able to read much lately to my students because of end of grade testing but do hope I will be able to get this one in next week. Wonderful book!

Let’s Hold Hands Project

Let’s Hold Hands Project

Timeline

We plan to implement our project in January of next year. We will begin our unit by
having our students complete an “All About Me” book. We will complete an Author’s study
about Susan Roth and introduce our students to the Let’s Hold Hand Project. We will
then create our paper dolls, and then we will immerse our students in the culture to which
our dolls will be sent by using the internet workshop and our culture books. The next
step will be to write our “Wow” Nonfiction book about the Fall Creek or Courtney area to
accompany the rest of our materials.

Place/Culture
China

Exchange Group
Contact Person-Thomas Beckett
SKH Kei Tak Primary School
Wong Tai Sin, Hong Kong
Age Range-5-12

This is a Chinese Primary School in Hong Kong. The school has 750 students and the
language of instruction is Cantonese. They have an English program run by local English
Teachers. We will each be assigned to a class to do our project with. This is a very
poor area and school. It is very close to the border of mainland China.

Internet Workshop
We will use the following websites to research the Chinese culture.
http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/kids/places/find/china/
This site includes facts and images about China.
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/asia/china/
This site includes facts and activities about China.
http://www.strange-facts.info/interesting-and-fun-facts-about-china
This site includes interesting facts about Chinese culture.
http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/china/
This site includes facts about the history of China.
http://www.mrdowling.com/614china.html
This site includes facts about Chinese culture today.
http://www.pbs.org/kqed/chinatown/resourceguide/index.html
This site includes facts about Chinese immigration to America, and Chinatown
communities in major cities.
http://www.explore.org/videos/player/china-the-great-wall?

gclid=CL2jypGZjKkCFUaK4AodBgIUpA
This site includes a video about the Great Wall of China.

Chinese Picture Books: An Annotated Bibliography

Chen, Young. A Gift. Honesdale, PA: Boyds Mills Press, 2009. Print.

A Gift is a beautiful story about a family that lives oceans apart. The family is unable to
be together during the most important holiday in China which is Chinese New Year.
This is one of the most important holidays in the Chinese culture. It is common during
this holiday for family and friends to spend time together. Although Amy’s aunt and
uncles live in China and are unable to make a new-year visit, they have sent their niece
a special gift that expresses their love and their wish to keep the family together. It
is a dragon necklace. In the back of this book is an author’s note which explains during
this holiday it is important for the family members that live outside of China to stay
in touch with their families by sending letters, talk by telephone, and send gifts like
the one Amy received from her aunt and uncle. The significance of this necklace is
that the stone is made from the motherland and represents a piece of home. The
once symbol of the emperor of China was the dragon. The dragon has now become the
symbol of China itself. Chinese consider red a color of luck which is why the string
holding the dragon is red. The necklace Amy’s family sent to her also represents love
and a wish for a good fortune.

Hall, Bruce E. Henry and the Kite Dragon. New York: Philomel Books, 2004. Print.

This story is based on true events that happened in 1920’s. Two rival groups of children
representing two different cultures come face to face, and when they do they find
they share much more than just the same sky. As the book jacket describes this is
a beautifully told and brilliantly illustrated celebration of diversity and acceptance.
Mr. Chin is an elderly man and all of the children in Chinatown call him Grandfather. This
shows a sign of respect for his age. This story is remarkable for its historical and
cultural detail as well as its level of cross-cultural sensitivity. The story is about
two groups of children. One group is Chinese and the other group is Italian. The
leader of the Italian group Tony Guglione is a tough boy and when he and his
friends are in the park the Chinese children dare not venture into the park. The
Chinese boy and his friend Thelma Fung help Grandfather Chin make beautiful
authentic kites from packing crates and cardboard. The kites are then painted by
Grandfather Ching in beautiful, vibrant colors. Grandfather Chin would bring the
kites to life as they chased the pigeons that flew by the buildings. The pigeons
were scared of these creatures (the kites) and would fly away as quick as their
wings would carry them.
On Louie, Therese. Raymond’s Perfect Present. New York: Lee and Low Books Inc.,

2002. Print.

This is a sweet story about a little boy Raymond and his mom who is sick. He is not able
to play outside like other children his age. Instead, he has to stay inside because
his Mom is very sick and his neighbor doesn’t want her to worry about where her
son is. Raymond passes the time by watching people outside the window. He wants
to do something special for his Mom since she is sick. He looks out his window
and sees a man give a woman flowers and her reaction with a smile. Raymond very
quickly decides that flowers for his Mom would make her feel better. She also told
Raymond about when she was a little girl she lived on a farm and loved the flowers
that grew there and the birds that would tap on her bedroom window. Raymond
goes to the florist to buy flowers for his Mom, but does not have enough money.
He decides to buy seeds instead and grow his own flowers. His plan is working and
just as they begin to bloom his Mom gets sicker and has to go to the hospital. The
flowers begin to wilt and die a few days before Raymond’s Mom is scheduled to
come home from the hospital. He begs and pleads with the flowers to hang on so
his Mom can see the beauty as she looks out of her bedroom window. The flowers
die and Raymond’s Mom does not get home in time to see the flowers. Raymond is
disappointed because now he has nothing special to show his Mom.

Look, Lenore. Uncle Peter’s Amazing Chinese Wedding. New York, Atheneum, 2006.
Books. Print.

Uncle Peter’s Amazing Chinese Wedding is told from the perspective of a young girl, his
niece named Jenny, who is Uncle Peter’s number one girl. They do everything
together, but when the day comes for Uncle Peter to get married, everyone is
happy for Peter except Jenny. She is Uncle Peter’s number one girl and now that is
about to change as he is planning to marry Stella. This is a heartwarming story of
how Jenny is not losing anything at all, but instead is gaining a new aunt who loves
her very much.

Yang, Belle. Hannah Is My Name. Cambridge, MA: Candlewick Press, 2004. Books.
Print.

Belle Yang writes this story based on her own personal experience of her parents moving
to San Francisco when she was a little girl. She said on the book jacket that she
missed her friends and teachers for a short time. She counts it a privilege to come
to the United States. She also adds that she and her parents never looked back.
Belle Yang tells an immigrant story about a little girl and her parents that come from
Taiwan, an island off the coast of China. They desire to make America their home.
They quickly desire the American dream and for their daughter to be anything she

chooses. Like all parents Hannah’s parents want only the best for her and that is
why they come to America they want to be free. They come to San Francisco and
move into an apartment. They go and apply for a green card. Baba which is Father
goes and finds a job working at a hotel. He washes dishes when the diner is closing.
They always have to watch their back because inspectors make a surprise visit to
make sure all the employees have their green card. It is interesting how at the
beginning of the story Hannah does not like the man in a uniform and a cap that
often peeks in through the glass as her father works. Little does she know that
this man the doorman will save her father from getting caught by the inspectors
when they make a surprise visit to the hotel. He helps them escape so they are not
sent back to Taiwan. Every day with great anticipation, Hannah and her family wait
for the green cards to arrive in the mail so they can stop living their life in secret.
Hannah is so excited once they receive their green cards because now she realizes
that they no longer have to stay quiet or make themselves small. They also can now
call America their home.

Materials
Paper dolls, scissors, glue, tape, colored paper, fabric, yarn, crayons, and markers.

Plan for Shared Writing
We will write a “Wow” nonfiction book about our community, which will be mailed to our
exchange group along with the rest of our materials.

I Poetry
We will have the students write an I poem as part of our project.

Links to SCOS
FIRST GRADE NEIGHBORHOODS AND COMMUNITIES AROUND THE WORLD

Competency Goal 1: The learner will analyze how individuals, families, and groups are
similar and different.

1.01 Describe the roles of individuals in the family.

1.02 Identify various groups to which individuals and families belong.

1.03 Compare and contrast similarities and differences among individuals and families.

3.03 Compare and contrast past and present changes within the local community and
communities around the world.

6.02 Describe how people of different cultures work to earn income in order to satisfy

wants and needs.Hands Project Timeline

Do Re Mi

Do Re Mi

Thank you, Guido d’ Arezzo! Music is such a huge part of my and my family’s lives so this book was so interesting to me. I have never thought about how written music came to be. This is a beautifully collaged story of one man’s journey, of perseverance, of never giving up your dream. Long ago, if the songs that were sung weren’t memorized they were lost forever. No one knew how to write down what was sung. As a young choir boy the idea of writing down the sounds of a song crept into Guido’s head and remained with him into adulthood. Little by little over many years and with much opposition Guido developed his system of writing down the noted we sing. He went through many frustrations but never gave up. Finally one day he had his epiphany and it all fell into place. He first taught young choir children to read music and then the world. Because of him music is forever.

I love this book because it demonstrates what one person can accomplish if they set their mind to it and never give up no matter what. I learned so much from the text. Susan Roth once again brought the story to life through her richly detailed illustrations. I love the expressions on the faces especially on the faces of the monks when they ask Guido to leave. The countryside scenes, the buildings scenes are rich in color and help the reader feel a part of the story. Roth included a glossary with musical terms to enhance reader understanding as well. Roth researched Guido’s life extensively and shared that with us as well in the author’s note. I love the cover flap information where she states that, in my neighborhood alone there are people from Italy, India, Korea, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Egypt, Germany and the Philippines. Even if all of them don’t speak the same language, all of them who can read music do. Isn’t it amazing that that’s because of Guido d’ Arezzo?” Guido wrote down a universal language that brings all people of all cultures together. That is definitely amazing.

In the classroom this book would lend itself to a wonderful discussion on perseverance, not giving up on your dream. Questions like what would have happened if Guido let people talk him out of continuing his work, who called him a failure. Students could research and write about other people who have made amazing discoveries or accomplished great things. The Power Point suggests a study of inventions and inventors. Great idea- to have the students research an invention. Personally I have always wondered who came up with the sticky note idea! The students could write their own books about the invention and what the inventor had to go through to get the product made.

The Biggest Frog In Australia

The Biggest Frog in Australia

The Biggest Frog in Australia is a tale of a very thirsty frog that eventually drinks up all the water on the earth until finally he isn’t thirsty anymore. The earth becomes dry and parched, trees and plants shrivel up and all the other animals become very thirsty now because there is no water left for them to drink. The old wombat comes up with the idea to make the frog laugh. Then all the water of the earth would spill out of his mouth back to the earth where it belongs. No one could make that happen until two eels in a tangled up dance finally cause the frog to burst into laughter releasing all the water back to the dry earth. Once they were safe from the rushing water all the animals joined in the laughter.

This is another beautiful collaged tale told by Susan Roth based on a real Australian frog. The illustrations are so much fun and are done in bright, bold happy colors. Eric Rohmann states, “ reading a book involves the mind the eye and the hand. When you turn the pages your imagination –your thinking, feeling mind- fills the moments between page one and page two…. If the image is well made and the story is well told, the reader
is curious, anticipating and wondering what’s next.” This is certainly true of this hilarious book. You wonder what will happen next. Will the frog pop? What will the other animals do for water?
I loved that this book is actually about recycled water. I never would have thought about that if Susan hadn’t mentioned it in her dedication. It’s so funny. It’s big, it’s bold it’s funny and such a wonderful tale to share with our children. I did read it to one of my classes and it was them who came up with the idea of writing their own stories about the animal they had researched for their non-fiction book. I was delighted. I am looking for other myths, tales to share with them to give them more ideas. I only hope I have time to do this with them this year. This is the kind of book that just makes you “guffaw.”
Again the textures created in this book by the many different papers that Susan Roth uses are amazing. They run the gamut from the smoothness of the frog to the fuzziness or roughness of some of the other animals. What happens when one becomes too greedy is a great theme of the book. I love the fact that even though the frog caused a lot of problems for the other animals they could all come together and laugh in the end.
The huge face of the frog running across two pages makes you laugh out loud and the way the words follow the shape of the pictures- out lining them, adds to the fun. I can’t wait to see what my students do with their stories and illustrations.

Through My Eyes and Bio Poem

Through My Eyes

Through My Eyes is the first person account of the beginnings of school desegregation in Louisiana in the early 1960s. Ruby Bridges was the first and only African American chosen to integrate the William Franz School. She was in the first grade at the time and really understood very little of what was going on and why. She had to be escorted to school every day because of the hecklers in the street, mostly mothers of the white children and teenage boys. Most of her first grade year was spent alone with her beloved teacher, Mrs. Henry. Many of the white parents had taken their children out of school because of Ruby being there. Ruby and integration supporters were ridiculed, yelled at, spat upon, hit with thrown eggs and pummeled with racial slurs. Years later Ruby finally understood the significance of what she had done and the important part she had played in striving for equal rights in the South.
This is a poignant account of Ruby’s young life and the problems encountered in the early years before and during integration. Ruby describes explicitly how African Americans were treated by the white people, the pure evil doings of those so opposed to equal rights. Morgan states,” Educators can guide students to develop cross cultural understanding at an early age by using well- written picture book biographies which represent people from diverse backgrounds.” This is truly one of those books. It is an example of what it was like from the perspective of one who was at the very core of the issue, one who directly experienced the hatred. As Ciardiello states, “ Providing multiple perspectives is a major element of critical literacy practice because it helps learners view text as ideologically constructed…that can have multiple meanings based on various personal values and viewpoints.” In Through My Eyes there are several strong and very different viewpoints. First there was the perspective of the African American children, parents and their white supporters. Then there’s the mayor of New Orleans who believed that there was really no problem. It was just the press trying to get a good story. These different viewpoints could lead to a lively discussion of what took place at this time in history.
I really became involved with this book emotionally as it was so vivid in describing the horrible things that happened to African Americans and their supporters in the South at this time in history. I lived some of it so know how bad it was at times. I was bused from my neighborhood school across town to integrate public schools. It was a hard time as there were riots in the schools and in the streets.
The book tells it like it was through Ruby’s eyes as well as the occasional narrative from Ruby’s teacher, her mom, and newspaper and magazine accounts of the difficulties in New Orleans. This is a great book to read and discuss with our students to help them understand how far we’ve come but how far we still need to go to accept those a little different from us. There are many wonderful biographies out there with similar stories the students could research and write about. I would love to have my students write a letter from the perspective of either Ruby to the white teenagers or from the white teenagers, white moms or the mayor to Ruby or the integration supporters. We’re so much better but we aren’t there yet!

Bio Poem

Ruby
Young, brave, African American, Southern
Daughter of Lucille Bridges
Lover of peace, her parents and equal rights
Who feels scared, proud and confused
Who finds happiness in helping others
Who needs to belong
Who gives back to her community
Who fears racists, black dolls in coffins and the Ku Klux Klan
Who would like to see different races living in harmony
Who enjoys public speaking and visiting schools
Who likes to wear starched white dresses when going to school..
Resident of New Orleans, Louisiana
Bridges

Hanukkah, Oh Hanukkah

Hanukkah, Oh Hanukkah

Hanukkah, Oh Hanukah is a simple song that Susan Roth has used to introduce children to the holiday. She created an adorable mouse family, very appealing to children, to take us through the celebration and the events that take place through beautiful illustrations. The actual song is included in the back and as the PPT mentions, it would be fun to have the children sing the song as well as read the book. Many of the words associated with the holiday are explained throughout the text, such as dreidel, hora and latkes.

This would be a wonderful book to use to explain Hanukkah to those who aren’t familiar with the holiday and to celebrate with those who are. As the PPT suggests it could be a springboard for the students to research other holiday traditions and celebrations such as Chinese New Year. Sorry, just had to throw that one in. I love the idea of having the students write a simple song as well as have them choose a song already written and make their own book from it. What a great way to celebrate different cultures. I hope to be able to do just that with one of my EC classes next year. Susan’s beautiful illustrations with their bold, bright colors and the simple illustrations would be very appealing to young children and would give them ideas for their own books.

Great Big Guinea Pigs

Great Big Guinea Pigs

Great Big Guinea Pigs is the precious story of a mother guinea pig telling her baby a nighttime story before bed. The baby wants a” true” story so his mom tells him all about their ancestors from South America, the Giant Guinea Pigs.” Guinea pigs haven’t always been” sweet, cute and little.” They were as big as buffaloes! Susan Roth gives fact after fact of the way guinea pigs used to be before they became domesticated and cute and cuddly and answers question after question from the baby, “then what happened?” so much like our students do.
Perspective plays a huge part in this book as we get to view the scenes from many different angles such as from the ground when looking up at the huge birds and from all angles of the cage the guinea pigs live in.” One of the most interesting elements that an artist uses is perspective or point of view.”(Wooten and Cullinan )It helps us view the scenes from the perspective of the Guinea Pigs both in the forest and in the cage. Full bleed illustrations are also an element Roth uses very effectively in this book. It makes us feel as if we are in the cage or in the forest ourselves. The endpapers of some of Roth’s books fascinate me and these here do as well. As Cullinan states, “many times, the narrative of the story begins on the endpapers.” It does here as it puts you right in the middle of the torn up newspapers that sometimes line a guinea pig cage. Rohmann believes that the endpapers are the first introduction or the “sherbet course that cleanses the palate and turns your eye to the world of the book…” I love that!
At the back of the book there is a note about where the various papers came from that make up the illustrations in the book. I was fascinated by all the places they were found from New York City to Korea, Thailand and France. There’s so much more to it than going to the local craft store for everything! It all comes together so beautifully.
I loved this book. I have two guinea pigs living at my house and they are absolutely as adorable as Susan Roth makes them in the book. I had heard that they were once bigger than they are now but the book is full of information that I didn’t know. It was fun learning about them. The colors are bright and bold and true to life.
In the classroom I would lead my students in a discussion of how things change and evolve determined at times by their environment. My 3rd graders would love it, especially if we can relate it to dinosaurs! As I’ve mentioned before they are fascinated by collage and I can’t wait to read this story to them and show them these illustrations. They are more like the ones the students did in their non-fiction books and I know they will want to give it a try.