The Stray Dog

The Stray Dog

by Marc Simont

Synopsis:

The book opens on a family going out for a weekend picnic. While picnicking, a dog appears to the family. The young girl and boy spend the afternoon playing with the dog they name Willy. But when it is time to go home the children's parents tell them that Willy must stay behind, and that they can't take him home.

For the rest of the week everyone in the family is preoccupied with thoughts of Willy. The next Saturday they return to the same spot in hopes of finding him again. Luckily for them Willy returns! But this time he is being stalked by a dog catcher. The children chase after the dog catcher as he tries to capture Willy. When they catch up to the man, they convince him to let them take the stray dog. He returns with the family and finds a home where he belongs.

Response:

I found the book to be a light and entertaining read. The illustrations complimented the text very well. I enjoyed Simont's use of watercolor for two reasons. First, he managed to paint lasting scenes, easy to visualize even after I had put the book away. And second, he effectively depicted both the general setting of the story and the actions and feelings of the individual characters. Some of the illustrations, especially of the family painstakingly waiting out the week, really captured the thoughts of the characters as the story unfolded. I think The Stray Dog would be an appropriate book to include in an elementary classroom literacy curricula.

Activity:

For this book I think that there are a few different activities that could be done. The book lends itself well to a lesson about predictions of inferences. A teacher could have their students analyze the scenes and make predictions about what is to come later in the story, or have students infer what the characters are thinking/feeling based off of the illustrations. A teacher could also read only part of the story, the beginning or middle, and have students predict what will happen next, having them write down or discuss their changes to the story.

This book also demonstrates basic story structure. The text and pictures combine to form a well defined setting, characters, and plot line. It has a clear beginning, middle, and end. A teacher could use the idea of reading only part of the story and have students build the rest of the story themselves, as a class, or in groups. Students could recreate a different beginning or ending to coincide with the part they've been shown as a way to demonstrate their understanding of the different parts of a story.

Where the Wild Things Are

Where the Wild Things Are

Maurice Sendak

Synopsis:

Our protagonist Max is a young boy with a bit of a wild side. After running around the house and making mischief of one kind, and another– he is sent to his room. Max’s imagination takes over and soon he is where the wild things are. But, he quickly learns being away from the people that love him is not worth being king of all wild things.

Response:

This Caldecott medal winning book combines simply text with gorgeous complex illustrations to create a story that is both heart felt and multi-layered. On the first surface we have a misbehaving boy who finds himself in a bit of trouble for making misguided choices. The boy is a very relatable character to any child who has misbehaved before. Because of this “relatablility“ the audience is able to draw upon life experiences to apply from their life to the story. This ability to relate with the character is crucial to creating an understanding of the text.

Below the first surface, we start to link our experience with the meaning of the text. Max is a boy with a strong imagination; kids will have to work hard to find the meaning between the island Max escapes to, and the realization that he arrives at once he is there. This epiphany is necessary to link with Stray Dog which we will get to soon. However, meaning is somewhat subjective. Is it necessary that the child links the two texts in this way, no, but finding meaning and linking to one’s own experience is the first step to intertextuality.

The deepest layer, the third layer, is the ability to see this book in other books. What that means is, kids are able to look at Where the Wild Things Are relate to the character or story (first level), attach their own meaning (the second level) and link it to another text or media piece and find a new meaning in this link. Intertextuality enhances the meaning of the text and creates a stronger bond between reader and reading.

Activity:

To link these books, we have to make a commonality between then salient after reading and before rereading. Have kids form small groups, call these “families.” Have the kids form bonds with there families and explore the different emotions and feeling that come along with being a member of family. Introduce a stuffed animal (the pet). How does the introduction of this animal effect the family? Next, have the one of the kids “leave the family.” Have the remaining members comment on what it feels like to miss someone you love. Have the “lost member” comment on what it feels like to be absent from a loving group or “family.”

This activity will take some time, however it will help the children learn how to form bonds? How to maintain bonds? And, explain these emotions in constructive way. Have the whole class discuss the experiment afterwards.

How I Became a Pirate

How I Became a Pirate
by Melinda Long

Synopsis:

A day at the beach becomes the adventure of a life time for young Jeremy Jacob once he signs on as the newest crew mate of Captain Braid Beard the pirate. In need of a talented digger to help bury their booty, the crew "convinces" Jeremy to come join their group as long as he's back for soccer practice the next day. But while Jeremy likes the idea of no one telling him to eat his vegetables or brush his teeth, he soon misses the comforts of home. So he devises a plan to get back home...but will he make it back in time for soccer practice?!

Review:

Melinda Long’s How I Became a Pirate is filled with high adventure told through the wild imagination of the main character Jeremy Jacob. The engaging story telling of Long is complimented perfectly by the vibrant illustrations of David Shannon. The pictures of the book bring to life adventure on the high seas for young Jeremy.

Through the use of descriptive language and beautifully detailed illustrations, How I Became a Pirate allows readers to step into the world of pirates, if only while reading the book. It was a fun read that drew striking similarities to Where The Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak. Jeremy, like Max from Wild Things, offers young readers a character to relate to their own yearnings for adventure, not to mention freedom from everyday chores and responsibilities. But what I really liked, was how Jeremy didn't loose his sense of family during his pirating adventure.

Once he realized that the pirate "family" wasn't quite the same as his real one, he longed to return home for bedtime tucking and comfort during bad times. The feelings of Jeremy in the story are another aspect young readers can relate to, making this an appropriate story for an elementary classroom with many different applications.

Activity:

As stated, How I became A Pirate holds a lot similarities to Where The Wild Things Are. To link the two books together I would conduct a Grand Conversation with students, using the two stories. The focus questions for the discussion would be:

• How do the characters in How I became A Pirate and Where The Wild Things Are resemble one another? In what ways are they different?
• Do you ever wish you could get away like Max and Jeremy? Where would you go? What about home would you miss?

I would record student responses during the Grand Conversation either using an audio/video recorder and notes. After it was finished I would have students do a follow-up activity. Students would be asked to create a short story about getting away from home/family and going to an exotic land. Casting themselves as the central character, students could draw from the two stories and their experiences during the Grand Conversation to create the piece. Students would be given the option to tell their stories through writing or by creating illustrations.

JAMIE O'ROURKE AND THE BIG POTATO

JAMIE O'ROURKE AND THE BIG POTATO

Tommie de Paolo

Synopsis:

Jamie O’Rourke is a lazy Irishmen. He’s so lazy, his wife does all the work around the house. One night, Jamie happens upon a leprechaun. As the legend goes, Jamie is given magic seeds that a big potato. The big potato eases his wife’s worries of having no food for the winter. Using a combination of simplistic pictures and complex dialectic sentences, this Irish legend comes to life. But, what will they do with that potato?

Response:

I found an that both How I Became a Pirate and Jamie O’Rourke and the Big Potato offered children genuine dialect. This dialect brings the book to life, if offers the reader a chance to give characters depth. Using dialect is an interesting way exemplify the various aspects of speech throughout the world. Having read this book to classes before, I often receive a chuckle from the kids when I break into an Irish accent, but it captures their attention and brings them into the book. Using dialect as a starting point, kids can analyze this text from various dimensions (language, illustrations, plot, character, etc.).

The language in a book is one of the child’s primary assets to decode and link the book to their own experiences; the other being the illustrations. Dialectic books are not meant to be hurtful or disrespectful to different cultural groups, rather, they are used to bring text to life.

Langston Hughes used African-American dialect in his early 20th century prose and poetry, which gave his words a meaning beyond the typical definition. It gave a voice to the poetry. I am not saying that this text and Langston Hughes are approaching dialect from the same angle, but they both use it to convey a point of view. Hughes used dialect to offer political commentary to the time. de Paolo uses it to mimic the time.

Activity:

First thing I thought when I read How I Became a Pirate was dialect. Hence, I linked with Jamie O’Rourke. What better way to link these two pieces then with a “Reader’s Theatre.” Have kids split up into groups and use the dialect from each piece to create their own rendition of the story. They children can add their own lines to enhance the story line.

Strega Nona

Strega Nona
by Tomie dePaola

Synopsis:

Strega Nona is a wise old woman with unexplained magical powers. Of her many powers, one is the ability to make pasta appear out of thin air by casting a magic spell over her special pasta pot. In Nona's old age she decides to take on a helper to clean the house and tend the garden. Big Anthony gets the job and starts his duties right away. One day while Nona is performing the spell over her pot, Big Anthony secretly looks-on and sees for himself how to make the pot overflow with pasta. Anthony waits for his chance, and when Strega Nona ventures out to visit a friend in a nearby village he jumps at his chance to use the pot. But to Anthony's surprise when he uses the spell over the pot he cannot get the pasta to stop flowing! He must hold out hope for the return of Strega Nona or be buried in a sea of pasta!

Response:

After reading through Jamie O'Rourke I chose this book to read because of the similar illustrations, not realizing that both were written by Tomie dePaola. After I read Strega Nona I was interested in finding out what other books dePaola had written. As it turns out dePaola has written many books, and many of them are influenced by different cultures and their traditions.

It seemed to me, that after reading Jamie O'Rourke, Strega Nona, and some of his other books: Big Anthony: His Story and The Legend of Indian Paintbrush, that dePaola paints a pretty vague, stereotyped picture of the cultures he describes in his stories. It's not to say that the writing negatively portrays the people and cultures it uses, but the stories are based off really general, surface level descriptions of culture.

If I used these books in a classroom it would definitely not be as part of a look into the cultures of the people he represents in his books. They seem to centered around stereotyped ideas about how people from certain times and places acted. Though I don't believe dePaola meant to create pigeonholed depictions of these various cultures, he definitely succeeded in reinforcing some widely held stereotypes about specific cultures and peoples.

Book Link Activity:

The picture book Strega Nona links to Jamie O'Rourke and the Big Potato through the author Tomie dePaola, as he wrote both books. This central tie between the two books makes them a good choice for an author study or for a Questioning the Author discussion activity.

For an author study I would include Strega Nona and Jamie O'Rourke and the Big Potato with some of his other books (Big Anthony: His Story; The Legend of Indian Paintbrush) to study how an author's style and voice can be seen across their different works. In dePaola's work he likes to use old folk tales, and work cultural traditions and myths into his story telling. Through reading and re-reading students would identify common language, story structure, and themes that make the books unique to the author's style of writing.

For a Question the Author discussion, students would take the knowledge that dePaola wrote both stories and try to find out how both stories display his idea's and biases about the myths he is retelling. Students would analyze his use of dialect and the stereotyped cultural traditions and roles he uses to tell his stories. Questions to guide the discussion activity would be:

• How does dePaola describe/depict specific cultures in his writing? (What character names does he use? Settings? Cultural foods? Roles/traditions?)
• Can you (students) relate to any of the cultures he depicts in his writing? (What does he depict accurately? Does he miss anything? Does he include anything that is not typical of the specific culture?)
• What do his representations say about how he views these cultures/peoples? (Did he research these cultures? Write from his own experience? How did he get the information to write his stories?)
• How would you write a fairy tale about your own culture? (Would it sound like dePaola's? Different? In what ways?)

Stone Soup

Stone Soup

Marcia Brown

Synopsis:

3 soldiers are on their way back from the war. While traveling through an unfamiliar land the soldiers become hungry and tired. As was custom, the townspeople would offer their food and homes to make the soldiers comfortable. When no food is readily available the soldiers lead the community as they make stone soup. Where there was once little food, no a boils a full pot of hardy soup.

Response:

This is an interesting book for a couple of reasons 1) it is a great call to the community and 2) the soldiers can be seen as swindlers. Here are a community of people struggling to feed themselves and along come three soldiers who make soup in which all the people contribute.

Is this the intent of the text, by no means do I think so, but it is a great way to look at the text. The story on the surface seems well-intentioned, however, the soldiers knew the people were poor and still they persisted.

On the flip side, one could argue that they put there meager scraps together and made a delicious soup that fed the entire village, and our hungry travelers. In a way the soldiers did a good deed.

Activity:

Compare the soldiers and Anthony (from Strega Nona). Have the kids debate. Was Anthony just trying to impress everyone? Were the soldiers merely filling their bellies? Let the students decide, but offer them chances to take both sides of the debate.

The Emperor's New Clothes

The Emperor's New Clothes
translated by Eve Tharlet - original by Hans Christian Andersen

Synopsis:

The Emperor's New Clothes, a classic fairy tale originally told by Hans Christian Andersen, tells the story of two swindlers that trick an entire town into believing the lies they've spun about the clothes they spin. Upon entering the town and learning that the emperor is a vain man interested in how he looks above all else, the two thieves disguise themselves as weavers and devise a plan to get their hands on the kingdom's riches. They tell the emperor that they can make for him the most beautiful garment in all the world. To hide the fact that the cloth is not real, the tricksters tell the emperor and his subjects that it is invisible to stupid people and those unfit for their jobs. The emperor, vain as he is, gives the swindlers anything they need to make the outfit and a parade is set for him to unveil the lavish "outfit."

Under the guise that the outfit is so glorious and magnificent it can be seen only by the competent, the two men deceive the entire town into thinking themselves fools for not being able to see the cloth. The fear of being deemed stupid and incompetent keeps everyone from pointing out the fact that there is no garment. Only the brutal honesty of a young child breaks the spell the thieves cast over the town. One can only hope the emperor will come to his senses before displaying his "outfit" in front of the whole kingdom!

Response:

This classic fairy tale focuses on the pitfalls of vanity compared against the importance of being honest. If just one person in the town had commented that they did not see the robe, it might have stopped the two thieves from getting away with the kingdom's riches. Instead, in fear of looking stupid, everyone goes along with the lie and pays for it quite literally in the end.

For young readers, this tale can show why going with the crowd can be a dangerous and foolish decision, and that thinking for yourself and relying on your own instinct can keep you looking better than any pair of clothing ever could. I really like the message of this story and think that it's moral is still relevant to today's readers.

One version of the story, adapted and illustrated by Eve Tharlet, provides illustrations that do well to capture the thoughts of the characters in the story. By reading this book young students have an opportunity to think about and discuss why it is important to tell the truth and think for themselves instead of just going along with the crowd.

Book Link Activity:

Similar to Stone Soup, The Emperor's New Clothes depicts the story of incoming travelers deceiving local townsfolk. A major difference between the two stories is the intentions of the characters as they deceive. Both stories conclude with a lesson to be learned and offer themselves as comparison books as part of a "Moral Decisions" activity.

A "Moral Decisions" activity asks students to make judgments and evaluate all or parts of a story while focusing on a central statement provided by the teacher. Using the statement:

• The townsfolk (or the king for Emperor's New Clothes) got what they deserved.

Students would split into small groups to explore reasons for agreeing or disagreeing with the statement. The groups respond by brainstorming and recording their justifications for why they would either agree or disagree with the statement. After the students reach a consensus within their groups the class returns comes together as a whole. Each group is given an opportunity to report their final decision to the rest of the class.