Module #7: Ivy + Bean

Module #7:  Ivy + Bean

Book Summary:

Ivy + Bean is a realistic fiction book by Annie Barrows and Sophie Blackall.  This book is aimed at older elementary school girls.  Bean is the youngest of two siblings and her day is spent playing pranks on her older sister. When one of Bean’s joke goes a little too far, she has no other option but to plan her disappearance.  Little does Bean know that the new and odd neighbor girl will come to her aid with the use of her magic.  These two set off on a magical adventure, from dressing up Ivy to look like a proper witch, to running through a gauntlet of backyards to get to the magic ingredient in Ivy’s dance spell - worms!  Although their spell is successful, it does come with punishment for misbehaving. Bean and Ivy learn a lesson and, at the same time, become friends.

APA Reference of Book:

Barrows, A. & Blackall, S. (2006). Ivy + Bean. San Francisco, Calif: Chronicle Books.

Impressions:

This book brought back childhood memories of summer and playing with the neighbors. It is the story of two little girls, one more of a tom-boy while the other one is more girly, that find their differences to be one of the reason they like each other.  Ivy is an only child, while Bean is the youngest sister who finds her older sibling unbearably boring.  This book was funny - I kept picturing the girls getting yelled at by the neighbors as they trampled through flowers and backyards. And what is playtime without the use of imagination and magic? This book was delightful and fun.

Professional Review:

In the tradition of Betsy and Tacy, Ginnie and Geneva, come two new friends, Ivy and Bean. Ivy has just moved in across the street from Bean, who wants no part of her. She thinks Ivy looks dull, always with her nose in a book. Bean, on the other hand, is a spark plug; she's full of tricks, especially ones that can be played on her older sister, Nancy. But the day Bean pulls a trick that goes wrong and Ivy comes to her rescue, a friendship is born. The deliciousness here is in the details, with both girls drawn distinctly and with flair. Ivy, who at first seems to be a dud, has aspirations to being a witch, which is dangerously intriguing; Bean's spunky way of talking and acting (there's a classic moment when she wiggles her butt at Nancy) will make readers giggle. Even with all the text's strong points, what takes the book to a higher level is Blackall's artwork, which captures the girls' spirit. A chapter from the second book in the series, to be published in this fall, will whet readers' appetites for more Ivy and Bean. Category: Books for the Young--Fiction. 2006, Chronicle, $14.95. Gr. 1-3. Starred Review (PUBLISHER: Chronicle Books (San Francisco Calif.:), PUBLISHED: c2006.)

Cooper, I. (2006). Ivy and Bean. Booklist, 102(15), 42.

Library Uses:

This is a good to book to encourage young girls to begin reading longer chapter books. The print is large and the book contains comical illustrations of Ivy and Bean. 

Module #6: No, David!

Module #6:  No, David!

Book Summary:

This is the story of a very rumbustious little boy named David. David is always getting himself into one kind of mischief or another, while mom is constantly shouting “No” at him.  David tracks in dirty footprints, tries to knock over the fishbowl, and runs around the neighborhood naked, yet at the end of the story, mom does not punish David, but simply loves and hugs him.

  APA Reference of Book:

Shannon, D. (1998). No, David! New York, NY: Blue Sky.

Impressions:

I have mixed feeling about this book. I did not like the art work, as I found it rather fighting - David almost looks as if he has fangs for teeth! David is constantly doing destructive things, but in the end mom loves him unconditionally.  Is the book a cautionary tale for kids to not be bad or a tale for parents, urging them to be grateful they don’t have children like David? I do like that David Shannon uses a whole page spread for each David’s mischievous endeavors, though.

 Professional Review:

David is an energetic little boy who manages to get in all sorts of trouble, so it is little wonder that all he ever hears his mother say is, “No, David!” Shannon effectively uses facial expressions to portray David’s lively personality. When reaching for the cookie jar, David is pictured with his tongue sticking out. When caught tracking mud on the floor, his eyes and mouth are round to feign innocence. Equally revealing are David’s actions, which are shown through the illustrations. We see David banging on a pan, jumping on his bed, and running naked down the street.  Shannon also communicates David’s feelings through artwork. When Mom sends her mischievous child to his room, David’s downturned mouth and clenched fists show how angry he is. Then, when he is sent to the corner for breaking a vase, we see a tear rolling down David’s cheek. In the end, though, Mom calls, “Davey,” and reassures him that, yes, she loves him.

Prior, L. l., & Willson, A. W. (2013). No, David!. Journal Of Children's Literature, 39(1), 58.

Library Uses: This book could be used to teach manners and mindfulness to younger children during storytimes.

Module #5: This One Summer

Module #5:  This One Summer

Book Summary:

This is the story of two young girls who during their summer vacation begin to discover the complexities of adulthood. Although they are still in their early teens and still little girls in their innocence, this summer will be their introduction to sex, boys, drugs, alcohol, pregnancy, family roles, family conflict, and depression. At the end of their summer vacation, they have experienced something different from their childhood vacations, and they expect that next summer will also bring more change.  

APA Reference of Book:

Tamaki, M. & Tamaki, J. (2014) This one summer. New York, NY: First Seconds.

Impressions:

This graphic novel was the winner of the 2014 Michael Printz Award Honor Book and the 2014 Caldecott Honor Book.  The first thing that captures your attention in this graphic novel is its use of indigo blue ink for the drawings instead of black.  The characters are true-to-life young girls, Rose and Windy, discovering the pains of growing up: witnessing family arguments, different family structures, and boys. I enjoyed reading this graphic novel and I would have enjoyed it even if it had just been a regular young adult novel. It reminds me of that time in my life when I was getting too old for kiddy stuff, but dragging my feet into adolescence, knowing there is no turning back once you get there.

Professional Review:

TAMAKI, Mariko. This One Summer. illus. by Jillian Tamaki. 320p. First Second. May 2014. Tr $21.99. ISBN 9781626720947; pap. $17.99. ISBN 9781596437746.

Gr 8 Up—Every summer, Rose and her parents vacation at a lakeside cottage. The rest of the world fades away as Rose reunites with her friend Windy and delves into leisurely games of MASH, swimming, and the joy of digging giant holes in the sand—but this summer is different. Rose is on the cusp of adolescence; she's not ready to leave childhood behind but is fascinated by the drama of the local teens who are only a few years older, yet a universe apart in terms of experience. They drink, they smoke, they swear. As Rose and Windy dip their toes into the mysterious waters of teen life by experimenting with new vocabulary ("sluts!") and renting horror movies, her parents struggle with their own tensions that seem incomprehensible to Rose. Layers of story unfurl gradually as the narrative falls into the dreamlike rhythm of summer. Slice-of-life scenes are gracefully juxtaposed with a complex exploration of the fragile family dynamic after loss and Rose's ambivalence toward growing up. The mood throughout is thoughtful, quiet, almost meditative. The muted tones of the monochromatic blue-on-white illustrations are perfectly suited to the contemplative timbre, and the writing and images deserve multiple reads to absorb their subtleties. This captivating graphic novel presents a fully realized picture of a particular time in a young girl's life, an in-between summer filled with yearning and a sense of ephemerality. The story resolves with imperfect hope and will linger in readers' mind through changing seasons.—Allison Tran, Mission Viejo Library, CA

Tran, A. (2014). This One Summer. School Library Journal, 60(5), 144.

Library Uses: This is a great book for teens and adults. Reluctant readers will enjoy reading and looking at the illustrations.  

Module #4: Last Stop on Market Street

Module #4:  Last Stop on Market Street

Book Summary:

Last Stop on Market Street is a 2016 Newbery Medal winner.  The book is eye-catching with its orange cover and big bold title. The illustrations depict every day city life. This is the story of a little boy named CJ and how his Nana shows him how to see beauty in things that appear gloomy or strange. In the midst of a wet and dirty urban city, CJ realizes that beauty can be found if you bother look.

APA Reference of Book:

De la Peña, M. D., & Robinson, C. (2015). Last stop on Market Street. New York, NY: Penguin Random House LLC.

Impressions:  I picked this book, because it was this year’s Newbery Medal winner. Reading Anita Silvey’s article “Has the Newbery Lost Its Way?” (2008), I wondered if this book would be good.  I really enjoyed reading this book. It is simple, yet very effective when Nana explains to CJ various things in the city - from a tree drinking water from a straw, to discovering that you can see with your ears. The illustrations capture CJ’s energy and his Nana’s serenity and love of life. I feel many readers young and old will relate with CJ and his travels with his grandmother. Grandparents always appear to be full of magic and wisdom. It actually made me teary eyed and I love the ending, particularly because the pair become part of the magic and part of the beauty the city has to offer.

Silvey, A. (2008). Has the newbery lost its way? (cover story). School Library Journal, 54(10), 38-41.

Professional Review:

Last Stop on Market Street M a tt d e la P e n a , illus. by C h ris tia n R o b in so n . P u tn a m , $ 1 6 . 9 9 IS B N 9 7 8 - 0 - 3 9 9 - 2 5 7 7 4 - 2 Like still waters, de la Pena (A Nation’s Hope) and Robinson’s {Gaston) story runs deep. It finds beauty in unexpected places, explores the difference between what’s fleeting and what lasts, acknowledges inequality, and testifies to the love shared by an African American boy and his grandmother. On Sunday, CJ and Nana don’t go home after church like everybody else. Instead, they wait for the Market Street bus. “How come we don’t got a car?” CJ complains. Like many children his age, CJ is caught up in noticing what other people have and don’t have; de la Pena handles these conversations with grace. “Boy, what do we need a car for?” she responds. “We got a bus that breathes fire, and old Mr. Dennis, who always has a trick for you.” (The driver obliges by pulling a coin out of CJ’s ear.) When CJ wishes for a fancy mobile music device like the one that two boys at the back of the bus share, Nana points out a passenger with a guitar. “You got the real live thing sitting across from you.” The man begins to play, and CJ closes his eyes. “He was lost in the sound and the sound gave him the feeling of magic.” When the song’s over, the whole bus applauds, “even the boys in the back.” Nana, readers begin to sense, brings people together wherever she goes. Robinson’s paintings contribute to the story’s embrace of simplicity. His folk-style figures come in a rainbow of shapes and sizes, his urban landscape accented with flying pigeons and the tracery of security gates and fire escapes. At last, CJ and Nana reach their destination— the neighborhood soup kitchen. Nana’s ability to find “beautiful where he never even thought to look” begins to work on CJ as the two spot people they’ve come to know. “I’m glad we came,” he tells her. Earlier, Nana says that life in the deteriorated neighborhood makes people “a better witness for what’s beautiful.” This story has the same effect. Ages 3-5.

Last Stop on Market Street. (2015). Publishers Weekly, 262(49), 27.

Library Uses:  This book could be used for urban city themes.  It can be used to show the use of public transportation, books with ethnic principal characters, volunteering and activism, as well as child and grandparent relationships.

Module #3: Drummer Hoff

 

Module #3:  Drummer Hoff

Book Summary:

Drummer Hoff is an adaptation of a folk verse by Barbara Emberly, with illustrations by Ed Emberly. This book was awarded The Caldecott Medal in 1968. This book has beautiful woodcut prints. The colors are bold and the illustrations have intricate designs.  The story is told in a repetitive, rhyming structure. The characters in the book are all military men building a cannon that Drummer Hoff will fire. The book’s finale is a great explosion, filling the pages with dark colors and bold letters spelling “Kahbahbloom”.  On the last page, we infer that everyone has been blown away and only the cannon remains, but this time instead of military men, its nature that has endured and conquered war machines with flowers, birds, and moss. 

APA Reference of Book:

 Emberley, B., & Emberley, E. (1967). Drummer Hoff. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.

Impressions:

I was attracted by the book’s illustrations – simple, yet bold at the same time. I enjoyed reading the book, due to its charming rhyming and repetition. I could see children being very attentive and interested in the story, as it catches your ear when read aloud. I wondered if the story was a commentary on the Vietnam or Korean War, as it was published in 1967. To me, this story symbolized the theatrics of war and its futility.

Professional Review:

In this Caldecott Medal book, colorfully decorated soldiers prepare a cannon named Sultan before our eyes in detailed woodcuts. A cumulative verse grows as each soldier arrives on the scene, reinforcing the repetition of black lines and punctuated pattern. In this print "Major Scott brought the shot"—a cannon ball—and he is placing it inside the barrel. His tall hat is decorated with flowing tassels and an emblematic bird, which is repeated on his belt buckle. Looped cord on his shoulder distinguishes his uniform. Bright red hair forms a long, curled mustache. The other soldiers, displaying unique-looking headpieces and distinctive hairstyles and facial features, peer out from a trench. Drummer Hoff maintains his position throughout the story, standing behind the cannon, holding his drum. Although the book was created during an era of war, it reflects the times in a nonthreatening way. Birds and flowers appear on each page as though this nonsensical event is taking place in a meadow. A low horizon line gives the appearance of watching a play on stage, and the blank background causes us to focus on the vibrantly colored characters and rhyming verse. Drummer Hoff'wus a true collaboration for this husband-andwife team. Ed Emberley carved wood blocks for each picture, leaving only tbe black lines raised on the surface of the wood. For every print, Barbara Emberley made three separate one-color drawings that mapped out where each of the primary colors would go when the book was printed. Secondary colors were created where primaries overlapped.

Erbach, M. M. (2006). classic caldecotts by decade. Book Links, 15(6), 16-20.

Library Uses: This would be a good book to use during storytime, due to its rhyming and repetition of words. It encourages the audience to remember the rhyme as the story gets longer and longer.  The illustrations are bold in color and allow for the presenter to ask the audience what colors they see.

Module #2: The Snow Day

Module #2:  The Snow Day

Book Summary:

The Snow Day, by Ezra Jack Keats, is a classic children’s book, as well as a Caldecott Medal winner. Keats is also the illustrator of this picture book. The narration is minimal; the main character is a little boy named Peter whose amazement at the first snow fall is easily seen by his posture and head poses. This is the story of a little boy and his adventures and discoveries on a first snow day.

APA Reference of Book:

Keats, E. J. (1962). The Snow Day. New York, NY: Viking Penguin Inc.

Impressions:  When I first read the book it looked like a simple book that any child could enjoy and relate to, or hope to one day relate to as it never snows in Los Angeles.  When I realized the publication year was 1962, it made me realize that this book was published during the Civil Rights Movement.  The main character is African American or ethnic, due to his dark complexion.  It made me think that the author - a white Caucasian male - was trying to not only show this boy’s fascination with snow, but also comment on races being the same, as in sharing the same feelings of joy and wonder.  Also, it made me think that maybe Peter had experienced segregation hardships, but this snow day was a day to simply enjoy the impartial snow.

Professional Review:

In this mood book, never static but sparkling with atmosphere in lovely water-color pictures, a small boy experiences the joys of a snowy day. The brief, vividly expressed text points out his new awareness of the sight and texture of snow (the crunch, crunch of his feet making tracks), the sound (the plop of snow smacked off a tree with a stick), and the fun of playing with snow — then his thinking and thinking about the outdoor adventures later in warm bathtub and bed, while more snowflakes fall. Perfect for a snowy day’s preschool story hour. VIRGINIA HAVILAND

From the February 1963 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.

Haviland, V. (1963, February 5). Review of the snowy day. Retrieved September 10, 2016, from http://www.hbook.com/1963/02/choosing-books/reviews/review-of-the-snowy-day/

Library Uses:

This book can be use as a learning tool to show the different season, this book in particular can be used for winter. This book can also be use to teach colors as they illustrations are simple with bold colors.  This book can additionally be use to highlight outdoor activity and sports.

Module 1: The Giving Tree

Book Summary:

The Giving Tree by Shel Siverstein

The Giving Tree is about a boy and his tree.  The tree is portrayed as a female; she is loving, selfless and willing to give the boy anything to make him happy. The boy on the other had becomes more and more selfish as he grows older, demanding money, and a home from the tree.  In the end, the tree has nothing more to give the boy, who is now an elderly man - there is nothing left of the tree but her undying love and a stump, which she offers to him to sit upon.

Silverstein, S.,(1964). The giving tree. New York: Harper & Row.

Impressions:

I have mixed feelings about this book. I found it sad and don’t know if it’s a book about a selfish boy, a book about unconditional love or a book aimed at teaching children to share.  It reminded me of a mother-child relationship, where the child takes and takes, and the mother gives and gives.  Is it a warning to parents not to give in to a child’s demands so easily?  I think a child would not grasp the message this book offers unless an adult engaged the child and asked questions such as, “Do you think the boy should demand so much of the tree?” I do like the book in the sense that I love books that have ambiguous messages and make the reader really think about what they just read. I wonder what my 6 year old self would have thought of this book?

Professional Review:

School Library Journal

The Book Review

SILVERSTEIN, Shel. Don’t Bump the Glumpl: and Other Fantasies. 64p. HarperCollins. $17.99. ISBN 9780061493386.

SILVERSTEIN, Shel. A Giraffe and a Half. 48p. HarperCollins. $16.99. ISBN 9780060256555.

SILVERSTEIN, Shel. The Giving Tree. 64p. HarperCollins. $16.99. ISBN 9780060256654.

SILVERSTEIN, Shel. Lafcadio: The Lion Who Shot Back. 112p. HarperCollins. $16.99. ISBN 9780060256753.

SILVERSTEIN, Shel. Where the Sidewalk Ends. 183p. HarperCollins. $18.99. ISBN 9780060572341.

SILVERSTEIN, Shel. Who Wants A Cheap Rhinoceros? 64p. S. & S. $17.99. ISBN 9781481415934.

ea vol: illus. by Shel Silverstein. 2014. Tr.

K Up—Several classic tales from Silverstein are celebrating anniversaries, most notably The Giving Tree, still popular at 50. Though this spare but tender allegory for the parent/child relationship still occupies a celebrated place on bookshelves, it’s a divisive title, with some critics finding the boy selfish and narcissistic and others even positing that the work represents our destructive relationship with nature. Other new releases employ Silverstein’s trademark humor, such as Lafcadio, a laugh-out-loud tale of a sharpshooting lion, now in its 50th year. Dreamers, wishers, liars, hope-ers, pray-ers, and magic bean buyers are in for a treat: Where the Sidewalk Ends, Silverstein’s funny, lyrical, and downright bizarre poetry collection, turns 40, and this newest edition contains 12 extra poems. At 50, A Giraffe and a Half and Who Wants a Cheap Rhinoceros? have yet to show their age; these picture books are ridiculous in all the best ways. Finally, meet the Wild Gazite, the Pointy-Peaked Pavarius, and the Long-Necked Preposterous, in Don’t Bump the dump!: And Other Fantasies, Silverstein’s first poetry collection—and the only one in full color—whose arresting wordplay and images are wonderfully disconcerting.

Don’t Bump the Glumpl: and Other Fantasies/A Giraffe and a Half/The Giving Tree…. (2015). School        Library Journal, 61(1), 63-64.

Library Uses:

This book could be used in a library setting to show the usefulness of trees, from play to how its fruit, wood, and trunk can be used to build houses or boats.  It can also be used to show the effects of deforestation and environmental destruction. Finally, the book can be used to teach children the importance of sharing or saying “Thank you,” which I noticed the boy never said to the tree.