1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
De Haan, Linda and Nijland Stern. 2002. KING AND KING. Tricycle Press. ISBN 9781582460611
2. PLOT SUMMARY
King and King is a fairy tale about a Queen wanting her son, Prince Bertie, to marry so she can pass the throne to him. The problem is Prince Bertie doesn’t like any of the Princesses that are presented to him. When all hope is almost lost, Princess Madeleine arrives with her brother, Prince Lee. Prince Bertie replies, “Oh, what a wonderful prince.” The two princes fall in love and get married. After the wedding, the Queen retires and the two princes are known as the King and King and live happily ever after.
3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
King and King have the familiar fairy tale element where, “everyone lives happily ever after.” The difference in this story is the surprising twist, when the prince falls in love with another prince. Same sex- families and those who are open minded and want to show their children other diversities will delight in this story. For others, this book is controversial due to its homosexual theme. This story does present readers with the idea that everyone is different and it doesn’t matter who you fall in love with as long as you are happy.
The illustrations are vividly done with bold and colorful watercolor pictures with some being done in a collage form. Most of the pictures help to enhance the text but the pages that contained the collages didn’t seem to make a very good connection to the text.
4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)
School Library Journal: “The book does present same-sex marriage as a viable, acceptable way of life within an immediately recognizable narrative form, the fairy tale.”
Booklist: “Here's a winning Dutch import for parents looking for an original tale with a gay slant.”
Kirkus Review: “A joyful celebration that firmly challenges the assumptions established and perpetuated by the entire canon of children's picture books.”
5. CONNECTION
De Haan, Linda. KING & KING & FAMILY. ISBN 9781582461137
Parnell, Pete & Richardson, Justin. AND TANGO MAKES THREE. ISBN 9780689878459
Gregg, Jennifer. FLYING FREE. ISBN 9781594579721
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Things Not Seen
1. BLIOGRAPHY
Clements, Andrew. 2002. THINGS NOT SEEN. New York: Puffin. ISBN 0399236260
2. PLOT SUMMARY
Things Not Seen is about Bobby Phillips, a teenage boy who lives with his dad who is a scientist and his mom who teaches literature at the university. Life for Bobby has always led a normal life until one morning when he finishes his shower, steps out and looks in the mirror only to find he is invisible. At first Bobby’s parents do not believe him and thinks he is playing a practical joke on them. His parents finally realize that Bobby is not playing a joke and they make him promise not to tell anyone until they can figure out what to do. Left at home, while his parents go to work, Bobby becomes very bored and decides to visit the universities library. Bobby puts his coat, scarves, hat and sunglasses on because of the cold weather. When Bobby leaves the library, he accidentally runs into a girl. Bobby becomes nervous about the girl and her being able to figure out that he is invisible but he realizes that the girl is blind. Bobby’s parents wind up in the hospital for a few days due to a car accident. Bobby is left on his own and decides to search for the girl he ran into at the library. Bobby finds Alicia and the form a friendship in which Bobby confides in her about his invisibility. Alicia tells her parents and together with Bobby’s parents who have left the hospital, begin looking together to find a cure. Through research, Bobby and Alicia track down a cure and without telling their parents, they proceed with the experiment. The experiment is a success and Bobby becomes visible.
3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
This story is told from the point of view of Bobby Phillips. Bobby’s first-persons narrative takes readers through his experiences of being invisible. These experiences include hanging out in the university library naked and unseen and acting as a spy in Sears Corporate Office. Alicia’s character has the disability of blindness. Clements helps the reader become aware of Alicia’s despair when she awakes and realizes she is blind. “But in the morning…the morning was horrible. I know I was awake, but it was like I was still asleep, or like I was lost inside the big dark…thing.” (Clements 105). Alicia’s blindness changes her life and it is depicted with accuracy. She uses a white cane to help her walk, she listens to audio books, and Bobby and her are able to text messages through a computer that has text to speech capabilities. Alicia’s character is not stereotypical. She is portrayed as proactive, strong and she realizes she can accomplish her life goal. With Bobby’s invisibility and Alicia’s blindness it creates a connection between them. Their disabilities show them as being different and not being understood which is common in society. The underlying theme is that although Bobby’s condition does eventually get cured, Alicia’s condition will never be reversed.
This book is a fast paced mystery which readers will enjoy. Clements has lots of fun with the invisibility in the story which helps readers to easily imagine what it would be like for their world to disappear.
4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)
Horn Book Guide: “This is a well-done school-and-family story with a not-so-invisible wrinkle.”
School Library Journal: “The author successfully blends reality with fantasy in a tale that keeps his audience in suspense until the very end.”
Kirkus Review: “A readable, thought-provoking tour de force, alive with stimulating ideas, hard choices, and young people discovering bright possibilities ahead.”
5. CONNECTION
Clements, Andrew. LOST AND FOUND. ISBN 9781416909859
Clements, Andrew. THE JANITOR’S BOY. ISBN 9780689835858
Clements, Andrew. THINGS THAT ARE. ISBN 9780399246913
Clements, Andrew. 2002. THINGS NOT SEEN. New York: Puffin. ISBN 0399236260
2. PLOT SUMMARY
Things Not Seen is about Bobby Phillips, a teenage boy who lives with his dad who is a scientist and his mom who teaches literature at the university. Life for Bobby has always led a normal life until one morning when he finishes his shower, steps out and looks in the mirror only to find he is invisible. At first Bobby’s parents do not believe him and thinks he is playing a practical joke on them. His parents finally realize that Bobby is not playing a joke and they make him promise not to tell anyone until they can figure out what to do. Left at home, while his parents go to work, Bobby becomes very bored and decides to visit the universities library. Bobby puts his coat, scarves, hat and sunglasses on because of the cold weather. When Bobby leaves the library, he accidentally runs into a girl. Bobby becomes nervous about the girl and her being able to figure out that he is invisible but he realizes that the girl is blind. Bobby’s parents wind up in the hospital for a few days due to a car accident. Bobby is left on his own and decides to search for the girl he ran into at the library. Bobby finds Alicia and the form a friendship in which Bobby confides in her about his invisibility. Alicia tells her parents and together with Bobby’s parents who have left the hospital, begin looking together to find a cure. Through research, Bobby and Alicia track down a cure and without telling their parents, they proceed with the experiment. The experiment is a success and Bobby becomes visible.
3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
This story is told from the point of view of Bobby Phillips. Bobby’s first-persons narrative takes readers through his experiences of being invisible. These experiences include hanging out in the university library naked and unseen and acting as a spy in Sears Corporate Office. Alicia’s character has the disability of blindness. Clements helps the reader become aware of Alicia’s despair when she awakes and realizes she is blind. “But in the morning…the morning was horrible. I know I was awake, but it was like I was still asleep, or like I was lost inside the big dark…thing.” (Clements 105). Alicia’s blindness changes her life and it is depicted with accuracy. She uses a white cane to help her walk, she listens to audio books, and Bobby and her are able to text messages through a computer that has text to speech capabilities. Alicia’s character is not stereotypical. She is portrayed as proactive, strong and she realizes she can accomplish her life goal. With Bobby’s invisibility and Alicia’s blindness it creates a connection between them. Their disabilities show them as being different and not being understood which is common in society. The underlying theme is that although Bobby’s condition does eventually get cured, Alicia’s condition will never be reversed.
This book is a fast paced mystery which readers will enjoy. Clements has lots of fun with the invisibility in the story which helps readers to easily imagine what it would be like for their world to disappear.
4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)
Horn Book Guide: “This is a well-done school-and-family story with a not-so-invisible wrinkle.”
School Library Journal: “The author successfully blends reality with fantasy in a tale that keeps his audience in suspense until the very end.”
Kirkus Review: “A readable, thought-provoking tour de force, alive with stimulating ideas, hard choices, and young people discovering bright possibilities ahead.”
5. CONNECTION
Clements, Andrew. LOST AND FOUND. ISBN 9781416909859
Clements, Andrew. THE JANITOR’S BOY. ISBN 9780689835858
Clements, Andrew. THINGS THAT ARE. ISBN 9780399246913
Friday, November 21, 2008
Habibi
1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Nye, Naomi Shihab. 1997. HABIBI. New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers. ISBN 0689801491
2. PLOT SUMMARY
Liyana is an Arab-American 14 year old girl living in St. Louis with her parents and brother, Rafik. One day after Liyana’s first kiss, her parents inform them that they will be moving to their father’s homeland of Jerusalem. Liyana is heartbroken to know she will have to leave her friends and culture and customs she knows. As the story progresses, Liyana starts up a friendship with Omar, a Jewish boy, and then begins to fall in love with him. Through the story Liyana faces many struggles with cultural differences which helps her remain strong and embrace her heritage.
3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
HABIBI, written by Naomi Shihab Nye, has won the Jane Addams Children’s Book award and the American Library Association Notable Books for Children. Nye brings authenticity to this story because she has lived both in America and the Middle East giving her first hand knowledge of the cultures within. Nye gives her readers a vivid description of the village outside the city, “The dusky green of olive trees planted in terraced rows up hillsides, walls of carefully stacked stone, and old wells with real wooden buckets.” (Nye 52) Other cultural markers include the religious practices such as the muezzin which gave the call to prayer on a loudspeaker from the Mosque in the village that Sitti lives in. Nye examines the physical descriptions of the characters. Dr. Kamal is described as “rumpled black hair and dark eyes.” Liyana’s mother as “long brown hair, which she usually wore pulled back in a straight ponytail, and hazel eyes.” Liyana is described as, “a half-half American girl with Arab eyes and her and her brother as both looking more like their Palestinian father than their American mother.
There are also cultural customs addressed. An example is when Liyana meets Omer, a young Jewish boy and finds out that dating is not allowed, “It’s inappropriate for a girl to invite a boy anywhere in this part of the world.” (Nye 229) To further complicate their developing relationship the violence and mistrust that exist between Palestinians and Jews cultures makes it more difficult. Another custom included when Liyana’s relatives prayed, “they unrolled small blue prayer rugs from a shelf, then knelt, stood, and knelt again touching their foreheads to the ground, saying their prayers in low voices.” (Nye 52) Throughout the story there are Arabic and Jewish words integrated to help bring authenticity to the text such as booza (ice cream), shiva (a time when family members remove their shoes, do not leave the house and mirrors are covered to mourn the dead. One important cultural difference that is clearly portrayed is the strife between the Arabs, Jews, and Palestinians. These differences have created conflicts between these groups causing bombings, attacks, and imprisonment. Due to all the tension between these groups Liyana learns first hand when her dad is falsely imprisoned for a day because he was trying to help Khaled after being shot by soldiers. Through all the struggles and cultural changes, Liyana begins to realize she is no longer homesick for the U.S. and begins to feel at home in Jerusalem.
The cover of the book illustrates three people who each bring a variety of beliefs. It portrays Omer who is in a yellow checked shirt, Liyanna who is in her American clothes and Sitta, her grandmother who is wearing the traditional Arabic clothing.
This story is written which conveys anger, passion and fear which will grab any reader’s attention and keep their interest all the way through.
4. REVIEW EXCERPT (S)
Booklist: “The story is steeped in detail about the place and cultures: food, geography, history, shopping, schools, languages, religions, etc. Just when you think it is obtrusive to have essays and journal entries thrust into the story, you get caught up in the ideas and the direct simplicity with which Nye speaks.”
Publisher’s Weekly: “This soul-stirring novel about the Abbouds, an Arab American family, puts faces and names to the victims of violence and persecution in Jerusalem today.”
Kirkus Review: “Liyana's romance with an Israeli boy develops warmly, and readers are left with hope for change and peace as Liyana makes the city her very own.”
5. CONNECTION
Nye, Shihab Naomi. WORDS UNDER THE WORDS; SELECTED POEMS. ISBN 9780933377295
Nye, Shihab Naomi. WHAT HAVE YOU LOST. ISBN 9780380733071
Nye, Shihab Naomi. THE FLAG OF CHILDHOOD: POEMS FROM THE MIDDLE EAST. ISBN 9780689851728
Nye, Naomi Shihab. 1997. HABIBI. New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers. ISBN 0689801491
2. PLOT SUMMARY
Liyana is an Arab-American 14 year old girl living in St. Louis with her parents and brother, Rafik. One day after Liyana’s first kiss, her parents inform them that they will be moving to their father’s homeland of Jerusalem. Liyana is heartbroken to know she will have to leave her friends and culture and customs she knows. As the story progresses, Liyana starts up a friendship with Omar, a Jewish boy, and then begins to fall in love with him. Through the story Liyana faces many struggles with cultural differences which helps her remain strong and embrace her heritage.
3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
HABIBI, written by Naomi Shihab Nye, has won the Jane Addams Children’s Book award and the American Library Association Notable Books for Children. Nye brings authenticity to this story because she has lived both in America and the Middle East giving her first hand knowledge of the cultures within. Nye gives her readers a vivid description of the village outside the city, “The dusky green of olive trees planted in terraced rows up hillsides, walls of carefully stacked stone, and old wells with real wooden buckets.” (Nye 52) Other cultural markers include the religious practices such as the muezzin which gave the call to prayer on a loudspeaker from the Mosque in the village that Sitti lives in. Nye examines the physical descriptions of the characters. Dr. Kamal is described as “rumpled black hair and dark eyes.” Liyana’s mother as “long brown hair, which she usually wore pulled back in a straight ponytail, and hazel eyes.” Liyana is described as, “a half-half American girl with Arab eyes and her and her brother as both looking more like their Palestinian father than their American mother.
There are also cultural customs addressed. An example is when Liyana meets Omer, a young Jewish boy and finds out that dating is not allowed, “It’s inappropriate for a girl to invite a boy anywhere in this part of the world.” (Nye 229) To further complicate their developing relationship the violence and mistrust that exist between Palestinians and Jews cultures makes it more difficult. Another custom included when Liyana’s relatives prayed, “they unrolled small blue prayer rugs from a shelf, then knelt, stood, and knelt again touching their foreheads to the ground, saying their prayers in low voices.” (Nye 52) Throughout the story there are Arabic and Jewish words integrated to help bring authenticity to the text such as booza (ice cream), shiva (a time when family members remove their shoes, do not leave the house and mirrors are covered to mourn the dead. One important cultural difference that is clearly portrayed is the strife between the Arabs, Jews, and Palestinians. These differences have created conflicts between these groups causing bombings, attacks, and imprisonment. Due to all the tension between these groups Liyana learns first hand when her dad is falsely imprisoned for a day because he was trying to help Khaled after being shot by soldiers. Through all the struggles and cultural changes, Liyana begins to realize she is no longer homesick for the U.S. and begins to feel at home in Jerusalem.
The cover of the book illustrates three people who each bring a variety of beliefs. It portrays Omer who is in a yellow checked shirt, Liyanna who is in her American clothes and Sitta, her grandmother who is wearing the traditional Arabic clothing.
This story is written which conveys anger, passion and fear which will grab any reader’s attention and keep their interest all the way through.
4. REVIEW EXCERPT (S)
Booklist: “The story is steeped in detail about the place and cultures: food, geography, history, shopping, schools, languages, religions, etc. Just when you think it is obtrusive to have essays and journal entries thrust into the story, you get caught up in the ideas and the direct simplicity with which Nye speaks.”
Publisher’s Weekly: “This soul-stirring novel about the Abbouds, an Arab American family, puts faces and names to the victims of violence and persecution in Jerusalem today.”
Kirkus Review: “Liyana's romance with an Israeli boy develops warmly, and readers are left with hope for change and peace as Liyana makes the city her very own.”
5. CONNECTION
Nye, Shihab Naomi. WORDS UNDER THE WORDS; SELECTED POEMS. ISBN 9780933377295
Nye, Shihab Naomi. WHAT HAVE YOU LOST. ISBN 9780380733071
Nye, Shihab Naomi. THE FLAG OF CHILDHOOD: POEMS FROM THE MIDDLE EAST. ISBN 9780689851728
Monday, November 10, 2008
Dragon's Gate
1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Yep, Laurence. 1993. DRAGON’S GATE. New York: HarperCollins. ISBN 9780064404891
2. PLOT SUMMARY
Dragon’s Gate is about a young teenage Chinese boy named Otter who dreams about going to America. Otter wants to join his father and uncle who have been working with other Chinese workers to build a tunnel for the transcontinental railroad through the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Otter’s mother will not agree to Otter leaving China until he accidentally kills a Manchu. Otter does join his father, uncle and other Chinese workers and experiences the many hardships that come with it. The Chinese are treated harshly by the American bosses. They are made to work long days while suffering in the cold from hunger and exhaustion. Through these hardships, Otter becomes a strong young man and decides not to return to China. Instead he decides to stay in American and carry on the “Great Work.”
3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Dragon’s Gate is set in China during 1867. Yep helps to lay the background by describing the Chinese Culture in the late 1800’s so the reader can have a better understanding of what has happened by saying, “Some two centuries ago, a barbarian tribe called the Manchus came thundering down from the north to conquer the Middle Kingdom, or China, as it’s called in the Land of the Golden Mountain. For two hundred years, our family has been trying to drive them off the dragon throne; and we have paid the price with our blood and our souls.” (Yep 5) This novel is a fast-paced and action packed. The characters are fully developed and interesting. The main theme is about Chinese immigrant’s adjustment to life in America. Readers will find that there are cross culture conflicts throughout. These conflicts include the conflict between the Chinese immigrants and the American bosses and between the Chinese immigrants themselves.
Readers will find there are symbols, dragons and demons talked about and seen through myths and folklores throughout the story. Readers also get a feel for the Chinese culture when Otter’s uncle tells him, “You listen to your parents and your parents listen to the clan elders and the clan elders obeyed the wishes of the dead- as tradition requires.” (Yep 35)
This is a book that anyone would enjoy reading. Even though this is a historical fiction it is based on the Chinese immigrants that did help build the transcontinental railroad in America. It is known that the working conditions were bad and the work was dangerous. Laurence Yep does include an Afterword at the back to show where he got his research information.
4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)
Booklist: “This is an engaging survival-adventure story, a social history, a heroic quest.”
School Library Journal: “Yep uses the lively storytelling techniques of his ``Dragon'' fantasy-adventure novels to re-create a stirring historical event-here, the construction of the transcontinental railroad.”
Kirkus Review: “In a story enlivened with humor and heroism, Yep pays tribute to the immigrants who played such a vital role in our country's history.”
5. CONNECTION
Yep, Laurence. DRAGONWINGS. ISBN 9780064400855
Yep, Laurence. THE DRAGON’S CHILD. ISBN 9780060276928
Yep, Laurence. CHILD OF THE OWL. ISBN 9780064403368
Yep, Laurence. 1993. DRAGON’S GATE. New York: HarperCollins. ISBN 9780064404891
2. PLOT SUMMARY
Dragon’s Gate is about a young teenage Chinese boy named Otter who dreams about going to America. Otter wants to join his father and uncle who have been working with other Chinese workers to build a tunnel for the transcontinental railroad through the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Otter’s mother will not agree to Otter leaving China until he accidentally kills a Manchu. Otter does join his father, uncle and other Chinese workers and experiences the many hardships that come with it. The Chinese are treated harshly by the American bosses. They are made to work long days while suffering in the cold from hunger and exhaustion. Through these hardships, Otter becomes a strong young man and decides not to return to China. Instead he decides to stay in American and carry on the “Great Work.”
3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Dragon’s Gate is set in China during 1867. Yep helps to lay the background by describing the Chinese Culture in the late 1800’s so the reader can have a better understanding of what has happened by saying, “Some two centuries ago, a barbarian tribe called the Manchus came thundering down from the north to conquer the Middle Kingdom, or China, as it’s called in the Land of the Golden Mountain. For two hundred years, our family has been trying to drive them off the dragon throne; and we have paid the price with our blood and our souls.” (Yep 5) This novel is a fast-paced and action packed. The characters are fully developed and interesting. The main theme is about Chinese immigrant’s adjustment to life in America. Readers will find that there are cross culture conflicts throughout. These conflicts include the conflict between the Chinese immigrants and the American bosses and between the Chinese immigrants themselves.
Readers will find there are symbols, dragons and demons talked about and seen through myths and folklores throughout the story. Readers also get a feel for the Chinese culture when Otter’s uncle tells him, “You listen to your parents and your parents listen to the clan elders and the clan elders obeyed the wishes of the dead- as tradition requires.” (Yep 35)
This is a book that anyone would enjoy reading. Even though this is a historical fiction it is based on the Chinese immigrants that did help build the transcontinental railroad in America. It is known that the working conditions were bad and the work was dangerous. Laurence Yep does include an Afterword at the back to show where he got his research information.
4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)
Booklist: “This is an engaging survival-adventure story, a social history, a heroic quest.”
School Library Journal: “Yep uses the lively storytelling techniques of his ``Dragon'' fantasy-adventure novels to re-create a stirring historical event-here, the construction of the transcontinental railroad.”
Kirkus Review: “In a story enlivened with humor and heroism, Yep pays tribute to the immigrants who played such a vital role in our country's history.”
5. CONNECTION
Yep, Laurence. DRAGONWINGS. ISBN 9780064400855
Yep, Laurence. THE DRAGON’S CHILD. ISBN 9780060276928
Yep, Laurence. CHILD OF THE OWL. ISBN 9780064403368
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Tree of Cranes
1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Say, Allen. 1991. TREE OF CRANES. Ill. by Allen Say. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. ISBN 039552024X
2. PLOT SUMMARY
Tree of Cranes is about a young boy who has been warned by his mother, not to play in the icy pond. Despite his mother’s warnings, he plays in it and comes home with a cold. His mother is upset with him for disobeying. She prepares a hot bath and then sends him off to bed. When the boy hears a noise in the garden, he goes to investigate it and finds his mama digging up his pine tree that was planted for him when he was born. She brings the tree into his room and decorates it with origami cranes and candles. This becomes the boy’s first Christmas tree. He begins to listen to his mama as she tells him about her Christmas back in California.
3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Tree of Cranes takes place in Japan. It is narrated by a young Japanese boy who thinks he is in trouble for disobeying his mother. The text is written in simple form and reveals the special relationship between the young boy and his mother. There are several cultural markers throughout the passages. Examples include the boy eating rice gruel (which is fed to those who are sick) out of his Papa’s big cup, a tradition of planting a tree for the young boy’s birth, so that “he would live a long life like the tree.” (pg. 18) The author has also brought two cultures together when the mother tells her son about the Christmas she celebrated in California and shows him how to decorate his first Christmas tree by using origami cranes and candles.
The illustrations in this book provide cultural marker by showing the characters with light skin tones and black hair. The mother is seen wearing a traditional kimono and the son is placed in one after his bath. The furnishings of the house are in Japanese style such as the mattress on the floor, the tub in the wooden box, the sliding doors and the chopsticks being used to eat with. The illustrations help to give authenticity to this book and will help readers make the connections to the Japanese culture.
4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)
Kirkus Review: “Say's exquisitely designed illustrations are as elegant as those for The Boy of the Three-Year Nap (1988, Caldecott Honor). Geometric forms in the austere Japanese architecture provide a serene background for softer lines defining the appealing little boy and his pensive mother.”
Booklist: “Say's watercolors not only capture fascinating details of the boy's far away home--his tall, wooden tub, his futon, his mother's tiny tree--but also depict, with simple grace, the rich and complex bond between mother and child that underlies the story.”
Publisher’s Weekly: “The story is a poignant one, illuminated with finely drawn illustrations reflecting the serenity of a Japanese home and the quiet love between mother and son.”
5. CONNECTION
Say, Allen. KAMISHIBAI MAN. ISBN 9780618479542
Say, Allen. EMMA’S RUG. ISBN 9780618335237
Say, Allen. TEA WITH MILK. ISBN 9780395904954
Say, Allen. 1991. TREE OF CRANES. Ill. by Allen Say. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. ISBN 039552024X
2. PLOT SUMMARY
Tree of Cranes is about a young boy who has been warned by his mother, not to play in the icy pond. Despite his mother’s warnings, he plays in it and comes home with a cold. His mother is upset with him for disobeying. She prepares a hot bath and then sends him off to bed. When the boy hears a noise in the garden, he goes to investigate it and finds his mama digging up his pine tree that was planted for him when he was born. She brings the tree into his room and decorates it with origami cranes and candles. This becomes the boy’s first Christmas tree. He begins to listen to his mama as she tells him about her Christmas back in California.
3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Tree of Cranes takes place in Japan. It is narrated by a young Japanese boy who thinks he is in trouble for disobeying his mother. The text is written in simple form and reveals the special relationship between the young boy and his mother. There are several cultural markers throughout the passages. Examples include the boy eating rice gruel (which is fed to those who are sick) out of his Papa’s big cup, a tradition of planting a tree for the young boy’s birth, so that “he would live a long life like the tree.” (pg. 18) The author has also brought two cultures together when the mother tells her son about the Christmas she celebrated in California and shows him how to decorate his first Christmas tree by using origami cranes and candles.
The illustrations in this book provide cultural marker by showing the characters with light skin tones and black hair. The mother is seen wearing a traditional kimono and the son is placed in one after his bath. The furnishings of the house are in Japanese style such as the mattress on the floor, the tub in the wooden box, the sliding doors and the chopsticks being used to eat with. The illustrations help to give authenticity to this book and will help readers make the connections to the Japanese culture.
4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)
Kirkus Review: “Say's exquisitely designed illustrations are as elegant as those for The Boy of the Three-Year Nap (1988, Caldecott Honor). Geometric forms in the austere Japanese architecture provide a serene background for softer lines defining the appealing little boy and his pensive mother.”
Booklist: “Say's watercolors not only capture fascinating details of the boy's far away home--his tall, wooden tub, his futon, his mother's tiny tree--but also depict, with simple grace, the rich and complex bond between mother and child that underlies the story.”
Publisher’s Weekly: “The story is a poignant one, illuminated with finely drawn illustrations reflecting the serenity of a Japanese home and the quiet love between mother and son.”
5. CONNECTION
Say, Allen. KAMISHIBAI MAN. ISBN 9780618479542
Say, Allen. EMMA’S RUG. ISBN 9780618335237
Say, Allen. TEA WITH MILK. ISBN 9780395904954
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Sixteen Years in Sixteen Seconds
1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Yoo, Paula. SIXTEEN YEARS IN SIXTEEN SECONDS: THE SAMMY LEE STORY. 2005. New York: Lee & Low Books. ISBN 158430247X
2. PLOT SUMMARY
In the summer of 1932, twelve year old Sammy Lee stood by at the local pool and watched white kids swimming and diving off the diving board. As Sammy watched, he decided that he wanted to learn how to dive but being a Korean American, a person of color, he knew that he would only be allowed to use the pool once a week.
Sammy was determined to learn to dive so he continued to push through the obstacles of discrimination to reach his goal of someday being an Olympic gold medalist. While pursuing his dream, Sammy’s father wanted him to lay aside his diving and focus on becoming a doctor. For the next sixteen years, Sammy studied hard to become a doctor but continued to enter diving competitions. In 1943 Sammy lost his dad to a heart attack and stopped diving so he could finish his doctor’s degree. After graduating Sammy started working in hospitals and continued to see people being discriminated against. In 1948 Sammy entered the Olympics and became the first Asian American to win the Olympic gold medal.
3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Sixteen Years in Sixteen Seconds is a picture book biography about Sammy Lee who overcame racial discrimination to win a gold medal in the 1948 Olympics. Paula Yoo who is a journalist and television writer came across this story while studying the history of Korean American which helps to bring authenticity to this biography. The author begins this story by taking the reader back to the 1930’s where racial discrimination was prevalent. We are told this when the narrator explains why Sammy was not allowed to enter the public swimming pool any time he wanted, “ Sammy would have to wait until Wednesday, when people of color were allowed to go inside.”(pg 1), when Sammy was not allowed to attend his senior prom because only white students could, when he wasn’t allowed to eat in a restaurant with his friends, and when there was rumor of him not being allowed to compete in the Olympics because he wasn’t white. In the Asian American culture, working for a better life is very important and throughout this story Sammy’s father continues to tell Sammy that, “In America, you can achieve anything if you set your heart to it.” The narrator revels to the readers that Sammy’s parents, “left Korea for a better life in America. His father worked hard at their family’s restaurant, saving money in the bank and putting his tips in a shoe box for his son’s future.”(50) Another culture marker that Yoo brings out is honor. Asian Americans talk about honor and the importance of it. Sammy watched as a customer was rude to his father. Later he wanted to know why his father allowed the rudeness and his father made the comment, “ instead of losing my temper, he acted with honor.”(14)
The underlying theme is, “You can be and do anything you want no matter what your skin color is.” At the end of the book readers will have the opportunity to read the Author’s Note which gives extra details of what Sammy did after the Olympics.
The acrylic illustrations that are throughout the book are done by Dom Lees who is an award winning illustrator of many children’s books and is a native of Seoul, Korea. These illustrations that Lees has presented in the book are very realistic and have the feel of old photographs. Lee has used darker tones to illustrate Sammy and his father’s skin tones along with slanted eyes to portray the Asian facial features. He has also depicted the time period with the types of cars and clothing worn in the 1930’s. Both the text and the illustrations will help readers make the connection and keep their interest to the very end.
4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)
Horn Book Magazine: “She creates a picture of a person who succeeded through determined hard work -- not a larger-than-life hero, but an ordinary person of great achievement.”
Publisher’s Weekly: “Yoo debuts with an inspiring tribute to the first Asian-American to win an Olympic gold medal, in 1948.”
School Library Journal: “This inspirational biography recognizes the life of the first Asian American to win an Olympic gold medal, at the 1948 Games in London.”
5. CONNECTION
Yoo, Paula. GOOD ENOUGH. ISBN 9780060790851
Mochizuki, Ken. PASSAGE TO FREEDOM: THE SUGIHARA STORY. Ill by Dom Lee. ISBN 9781584301578
Mochizuki, Ken. HEROES. Ill by Dom Lee. ISBN 9781880000502
Yoo, Paula. SIXTEEN YEARS IN SIXTEEN SECONDS: THE SAMMY LEE STORY. 2005. New York: Lee & Low Books. ISBN 158430247X
2. PLOT SUMMARY
In the summer of 1932, twelve year old Sammy Lee stood by at the local pool and watched white kids swimming and diving off the diving board. As Sammy watched, he decided that he wanted to learn how to dive but being a Korean American, a person of color, he knew that he would only be allowed to use the pool once a week.
Sammy was determined to learn to dive so he continued to push through the obstacles of discrimination to reach his goal of someday being an Olympic gold medalist. While pursuing his dream, Sammy’s father wanted him to lay aside his diving and focus on becoming a doctor. For the next sixteen years, Sammy studied hard to become a doctor but continued to enter diving competitions. In 1943 Sammy lost his dad to a heart attack and stopped diving so he could finish his doctor’s degree. After graduating Sammy started working in hospitals and continued to see people being discriminated against. In 1948 Sammy entered the Olympics and became the first Asian American to win the Olympic gold medal.
3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Sixteen Years in Sixteen Seconds is a picture book biography about Sammy Lee who overcame racial discrimination to win a gold medal in the 1948 Olympics. Paula Yoo who is a journalist and television writer came across this story while studying the history of Korean American which helps to bring authenticity to this biography. The author begins this story by taking the reader back to the 1930’s where racial discrimination was prevalent. We are told this when the narrator explains why Sammy was not allowed to enter the public swimming pool any time he wanted, “ Sammy would have to wait until Wednesday, when people of color were allowed to go inside.”(pg 1), when Sammy was not allowed to attend his senior prom because only white students could, when he wasn’t allowed to eat in a restaurant with his friends, and when there was rumor of him not being allowed to compete in the Olympics because he wasn’t white. In the Asian American culture, working for a better life is very important and throughout this story Sammy’s father continues to tell Sammy that, “In America, you can achieve anything if you set your heart to it.” The narrator revels to the readers that Sammy’s parents, “left Korea for a better life in America. His father worked hard at their family’s restaurant, saving money in the bank and putting his tips in a shoe box for his son’s future.”(50) Another culture marker that Yoo brings out is honor. Asian Americans talk about honor and the importance of it. Sammy watched as a customer was rude to his father. Later he wanted to know why his father allowed the rudeness and his father made the comment, “ instead of losing my temper, he acted with honor.”(14)
The underlying theme is, “You can be and do anything you want no matter what your skin color is.” At the end of the book readers will have the opportunity to read the Author’s Note which gives extra details of what Sammy did after the Olympics.
The acrylic illustrations that are throughout the book are done by Dom Lees who is an award winning illustrator of many children’s books and is a native of Seoul, Korea. These illustrations that Lees has presented in the book are very realistic and have the feel of old photographs. Lee has used darker tones to illustrate Sammy and his father’s skin tones along with slanted eyes to portray the Asian facial features. He has also depicted the time period with the types of cars and clothing worn in the 1930’s. Both the text and the illustrations will help readers make the connection and keep their interest to the very end.
4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)
Horn Book Magazine: “She creates a picture of a person who succeeded through determined hard work -- not a larger-than-life hero, but an ordinary person of great achievement.”
Publisher’s Weekly: “Yoo debuts with an inspiring tribute to the first Asian-American to win an Olympic gold medal, in 1948.”
School Library Journal: “This inspirational biography recognizes the life of the first Asian American to win an Olympic gold medal, at the 1948 Games in London.”
5. CONNECTION
Yoo, Paula. GOOD ENOUGH. ISBN 9780060790851
Mochizuki, Ken. PASSAGE TO FREEDOM: THE SUGIHARA STORY. Ill by Dom Lee. ISBN 9781584301578
Mochizuki, Ken. HEROES. Ill by Dom Lee. ISBN 9781880000502
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Rain Is Not My Indian Name
1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Smith, Cynthia Leitich. 2001. RAIN IS NOT MY INDIAN NAME. New York: HarperCollins. ISBN 006029504
2. PLOT SUMMARY
Rain is has just turned 14 and has already faced several tragedies. Her mother died after being struck by lightning not long ago and on her birthday she is told her best friend Galen has been killed in a car/pedestrian accident. Rain’s father is in the military and is stationed overseas leaving Rain and her older brother Fynn to live with their grandfather. Fynn’s girlfriend, Natalie has moved in rather quickly only to find out that she is pregnant. After Galen’s death, Rain goes into seclusion for almost six months, not taking phone calls or attending Galen’s funeral. Rain decides to come out of seclusion when a local paper has asked her to photograph the Indian Camp that her aunt has put together in their community. When Rain accepts the job, she quickly realizes that there is racism and bigotry that accompanies the camp. When Rain steps up to join the fight she begins to honor her heritage and accept Galen’s death.
3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Rain Is Not My Indian Name is a heart wrenching story about a thirteen year old girl who must come to grips with her heritage and the tragic deaths of her mom and best friend, Galen. The setting for this story is in a small town in Hannesburg, Kansas. It is a community where inaccurate rumors are spread about Rain and Galen’s last night together. Smith gives enough details that make Hannesburg a town that is believable to readers. Cynthia Leitich Smith writes this story by drawing on her own experiences as a mixed blood Muscogee Creek Member, therefore bringing authenticity into the passages. Smith addresses the stereotypical labels placed on American Indians when Rain talks about how her school teaches about Native Americans around “Turkey Day by the cardboard cutouts of Pilgrims and the pumpkins and the squash taped to the windows at McDonalds. And the so-called Indians look like the bogeyman on the prairie, windblown cover boys selling paperback romances, or baby-faced refugees from the world of Precious Moments.”(13)Smith makes references to physical attributes such as Rain’s wheat colored hair and hazel eyes to Fynn’s darker complexion. Smith also includes a variety of Native American events, symbols, and customs such as the powwow that Rain and Galen attend back in June in Oklahoma City, the Indian taco they ate and the picture Rain describes while watching a girl dance, “a girl turning with a rose-quilted shawl. I shot her two ways, first to capture one footstep, one flying rose, and the slower to preserve the blur of her dance, the rhythm of the drums.”(6)
Another culture marker that brings Rains’ culture to the forefront is when she pulls out her mother’s “traditional tear dress.” Rain acknowledges that the dress, “looked wrong somehow, more like a museum piece than part of living.”(21)
Smith has written this story in a way that helps readers to connect to the Native American culture and open their eyes to the prejudices that they face like Rain did on a daily basis.
4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)
Publisher’s Weekly: “Even so, readers will feel the affection of Rain's loose-knit family and admire the way that they, like the author with the audience, allow Rain to draw her own conclusions about who she is and what her heritage means to her.”
School Library Journal: “It's Rain's story and she cannot be reduced to simple labels. A wonderful novel of a present-day teen and her "patchwork tribe."-
Kirkus Review: “Tender, funny, and full of sharp wordplay, Smith's first novel deals with a whole host of interconnecting issues, but the center is Rain herself.”
5. CONNECTION
Smith, Cynthia Leitich. INDIAN SHOES. ISBN 9780060295318
Smith, Cynthia Leitich. JINGEL DANCER. ISBN 9780688162412
Smith, Cynthia Leitich. 2001. RAIN IS NOT MY INDIAN NAME. New York: HarperCollins. ISBN 006029504
2. PLOT SUMMARY
Rain is has just turned 14 and has already faced several tragedies. Her mother died after being struck by lightning not long ago and on her birthday she is told her best friend Galen has been killed in a car/pedestrian accident. Rain’s father is in the military and is stationed overseas leaving Rain and her older brother Fynn to live with their grandfather. Fynn’s girlfriend, Natalie has moved in rather quickly only to find out that she is pregnant. After Galen’s death, Rain goes into seclusion for almost six months, not taking phone calls or attending Galen’s funeral. Rain decides to come out of seclusion when a local paper has asked her to photograph the Indian Camp that her aunt has put together in their community. When Rain accepts the job, she quickly realizes that there is racism and bigotry that accompanies the camp. When Rain steps up to join the fight she begins to honor her heritage and accept Galen’s death.
3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Rain Is Not My Indian Name is a heart wrenching story about a thirteen year old girl who must come to grips with her heritage and the tragic deaths of her mom and best friend, Galen. The setting for this story is in a small town in Hannesburg, Kansas. It is a community where inaccurate rumors are spread about Rain and Galen’s last night together. Smith gives enough details that make Hannesburg a town that is believable to readers. Cynthia Leitich Smith writes this story by drawing on her own experiences as a mixed blood Muscogee Creek Member, therefore bringing authenticity into the passages. Smith addresses the stereotypical labels placed on American Indians when Rain talks about how her school teaches about Native Americans around “Turkey Day by the cardboard cutouts of Pilgrims and the pumpkins and the squash taped to the windows at McDonalds. And the so-called Indians look like the bogeyman on the prairie, windblown cover boys selling paperback romances, or baby-faced refugees from the world of Precious Moments.”(13)Smith makes references to physical attributes such as Rain’s wheat colored hair and hazel eyes to Fynn’s darker complexion. Smith also includes a variety of Native American events, symbols, and customs such as the powwow that Rain and Galen attend back in June in Oklahoma City, the Indian taco they ate and the picture Rain describes while watching a girl dance, “a girl turning with a rose-quilted shawl. I shot her two ways, first to capture one footstep, one flying rose, and the slower to preserve the blur of her dance, the rhythm of the drums.”(6)
Another culture marker that brings Rains’ culture to the forefront is when she pulls out her mother’s “traditional tear dress.” Rain acknowledges that the dress, “looked wrong somehow, more like a museum piece than part of living.”(21)
Smith has written this story in a way that helps readers to connect to the Native American culture and open their eyes to the prejudices that they face like Rain did on a daily basis.
4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)
Publisher’s Weekly: “Even so, readers will feel the affection of Rain's loose-knit family and admire the way that they, like the author with the audience, allow Rain to draw her own conclusions about who she is and what her heritage means to her.”
School Library Journal: “It's Rain's story and she cannot be reduced to simple labels. A wonderful novel of a present-day teen and her "patchwork tribe."-
Kirkus Review: “Tender, funny, and full of sharp wordplay, Smith's first novel deals with a whole host of interconnecting issues, but the center is Rain herself.”
5. CONNECTION
Smith, Cynthia Leitich. INDIAN SHOES. ISBN 9780060295318
Smith, Cynthia Leitich. JINGEL DANCER. ISBN 9780688162412
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