Archive for May 8, 2013

Frogged

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Written by Vivian Vande Velde

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Another unique and fun fairy tale from the princess of fractured tales, Vivian Vande Velde.  Princess Imogene is almost thirteen, a time when she should embrace her princess-ness and her princess duties.  But she is gangly where most princesses are beautiful, prone to clumsiness and loud outbursts.  As she studies the book, The Art of Being a Princess, she finds that she doesn’t seem to be the kind of princess who is ‘as good as she is beautiful.’  She tries very hard to be good, but she seems to be missing part of the formula.  Trying to escape reading the irritating book, Imogene walks to mill pond.  To her surprise, a frog talks to her.  He convinces her that he is a prince under a magic spell.  Trying to be kind and good, Imogene kisses him to remove the spell.  Too late, Imogene discovers that he has tricked her.  The spell jumps on her, the “prince” is really the wainwright’s son and the only way she can turn back into her human form is to get someone to kiss her.  She has a problem with this solution.  She simply can’t bring herself to trick someone else.  It is so un-princess-like.  So Imogene begins quite an adventure trying to find a way to remove the spell and hoping to get home in time for her birthday.  She becomes part of a traveling band of actors, some she wouldn’t mind turning into a frog, but she stays true to her good heart.  Still the road back to the castle is twisted and long (especially for a frog), but she finds her way home where family helps her find the perfect solution.

Imogene may not be a perfect princess, but she is one that young readers can understand.  She encounters quirky characters from farmers to actors to royalty, but she is always herself.  She talks a lot about not being perfect, but her moral compass is firm.  Lots of humor, interesting plot twists and surprises, this would make a great class read aloud.  Have the students make a chart of all the lies that are told to Imogene and her reaction to them as a literacy activity.

  • FroggedTITLE: Frogged
  • AUTHOR: Vivian Vande Velde
  • PUBLISHER: Harcourt
  • REVIEWER: Risa Brown
  • EDITION: Hardcover, 198 p.
  • ISBN: 978-0-547-94215-5
  • GENRE: Fantasy, adventure

 

Posted in 2013, Contemporary, Fantasy, Fiction, Humor

Arctic Aesop’s Fables: Twelve Retold Tales

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Written by Susi Gregg Fowler
Illustrated by Jim Fowler

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These fables vary from tales of understanding our self-perceived importance, to selfishness and greed. The reader will learn how working together we can accomplish what we can’t do on our own. Another tale tells how a problem was solved; while yet another reminds us not to expect from others what we are unable to do ourselves. You will also be reminded that sometimes slow and steady will get you farther in the long run. These are just some of the wonderful fables to experience in this book.

Aesop’s Fables have always been excellent tales to help children learn important morals and “rules” of life without realizing they are actually learning anything. This book is an excellent adaption of twelve of the hundreds of fables attributed to Aesop. By using native animals from the Great Northern Tundra, and the Arctic landscape and culture, you not only to get to enjoy the tale, but you can experience a little of what Alaska is like.

The illustrations are excellent renderings that bring the landscape to life and help to visualize the story.

These are excellent tales for young and old readers alike, however, it may require at least a fourth grade level of maturity to fathom the morals behind the fables.

  • Arctic Aesops FablesTitle: Arctic Aesop’s Fables: Twelve Retold Tales
  • Author: Susi Gregg Fowler
  • Illustrated by: Jim Fowler
  • Publisher: PAWS IV, Sasquatch Books
  • Reviewer: Carole Robishaw
  • Paperback: 32 pages
  • ISBN-10: 1570618615
  • ISBN-13: 978-1570618611
  • Genre: Fables, Literature, Fiction, Culture
Posted in 2013, Contemporary

World Rat Day: Poems About Real Holidays You’ve Never Heard Of

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Written by J. Patrick Lewis

Illustrated by  Anna Raff

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What is your favorite holiday?  Christmas?  Independence Day?  National Skunk Day?  What?  You have never heard of National Skunk Day?  Why, it comes around every year on June 14.  To commemorate this momentous day, J. Patrick Lewis wrote this poem.  “If the skunk did not exist, then the skunk would not be mist.”

National Skunk Day not your cup of tea?  What about Dragon Appreciation Day on January 16?  “At every meal, bow your head, fold your wings, and say ‘Graze’.”  Still not ringing your bell?  What about National Hippo Day or Bulldogs are Beautiful Day?

Whichever new holiday you find to your fancy, you will certainly find many, many uses for this hootin’,  hollerin’ book in your classroom library.  Children can connect what they read with their own lives.  For instance, cats on Happy Mew Year for Cats Day may eat Mice Crispies while the children eat rice crispies.    What about when they play “mewsic”?  Pulling several of these out would provide loads of fun reading activities.

Our language can be a little frustrating to fourth grade children.  Good and food should rhyme.  Why don’t they?  Well, before you get too frustrated, turn to page ten and read about World Rat Day.  “The Rat Is…the mous-tache in the trache, the wrong-doer in the soer.”

Too often creative writing is stifled due to fears of breaking grammar rules.  Reading this book to your children should give them more confidence in writing what is in their heads without worrying about grammar mistakes.  We have textbooks to help with that part.

The illustrations are adorable and appealing to readers of all ages.  But beware.  This is a book that should be read by the teacher before being read to the class.  All kinds of hysteria might erupt if the teacher were to celebrate Limerick Day (May 15) by reading, “A mother baboon is a beauty, her baby baboon is a cutie and the whole baboon troop starts to whistle and whoop when the baby starts shaking her booty”.  Oh so much fun.  Pump some poetry into your day with this book.  You won’t be sorry.

J. Patrick Lewis attempts to visit 50 elementary schools each year.  For more information about both him and his schedule visit http://www.jpatricklewis.com/ .

More illustrations by Anna Raff can be found at http://www.annaraff.com/World-Rat-Day .  Her blog (http://annaraff.blogspot.com/ ) is full of fun stuff and information.

  • World Rat DayTitle:  World Rat Day:  Poems About Real Holidays You’ve Never Heard Of
  • Author:  J. Patrick Lewis
  • Illustrator:  Anna Raff
  • Publisher: Candlewick Press
  • Reviewer:  Sandi Waymire
  • Hardcover:  36 pages
  • ISBN: 978-0-7636-5402-3
  • Genre:  Humor
Posted in 2013, Contemporary, Fiction, Humor

Angelina Jolie

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Written by Michael A. Schuman

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Most people know of Angelina Jolie from tabloid reports, but the tabloids often don’t even get the basic facts correct. So, anyone who wants to know her at all needs to read this wonderful biography, part of the “Celebrities with a Heart” series. Jolie is the daughter of two actors, Marcheline Bertrand and John Voight. Her parents split shortly after her birth, though she did spend time with each of them during her childhood. She was a troubled teenager, experimenting with drugs and self-cutting. Even when she ended that phase of her life, Jolie had a tendency toward self-destruction. For example, she would fall in love with a co-star then lose interest after the project ended. Her acting career has also had its ups and downs. But she is genuinely interested in helping refugees and others less fortunate than she is. Working with the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), she has made more than thirty trips to refugee camps throughout the world, shining a light on the refugee situation and helping out where she can. She’s also contributed a great deal of money to this cause and adopted three children from refugee camps.

Fourth graders will enjoy this biography, though some of the details are harsh enough that parents will want to discuss them with the readers. In particular, the conditions, including genocide and rape, in some of the locations Jolie visits may need further explanation. But the author in no way dwells on these subjects. To aid in comprehension and giving added value, the author includes a table of contents, excellent chronology, a filmography, a list of Jolie’s goodwill trips, chapter notes, a comprehensive list for further reading, and an index.

  • Angelina JolieTitle: Angelina Jolie
  • Author: Michael A. Schuman
  • Publisher: Enslow Publishers, Inc.
  • Reviewer: Sue Poduska
  • Paperback: 128 pages
  • ISBN: 978-1-59845-203-7
  • Genre: Middle grade, Biography
Posted in 2010, Contemporary, Nonfiction

The True Story of Sea Feather

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Written by Lois Szymanski

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As a new reviewer, I was hesitant to start out with a fourth grade level book. However, having read both Misty of Chincoteague, and Stormy, Misty’s Foal, I felt a connection to this book and decided to jump in with both feet. Although this is a chapter book, the chapters are short enough to make this a quick read aloud book.

Shannon and her family had visited Chincoteague Island every year for the annual Pony Penning. This year she had saved nearly four hundred dollars in hopes that she could finally buy a pony of her own. When her sister Ashley added her own money to Shannon’s they had almost five hundred and fifty dollars. Their hopes were dashed when they not only did not win the raffle pony, but when they were not able to buy that pony from the winner. At the auction, pony after pony was sold for more than what they could pay. What an incredible gift they were given when a lady they did not know wanted to help them buy a pony. Miss Carollynn was a cancer survivor and because her life had been given back to her, she wanted to give back to others. With Miss Carollynn’s help, they were able to buy the pony that the girls had decided was the perfect horse for them. Shannon and Ashley learned a valuable lesson and were quick to start looking for ways that they themselves could help make another child’s dream come true.

This precious story connects the history of Chincoteague Island portrayed in the previous Chincoteague horse stories to modern times. The glossary and horse information at the back of the book makes comprehension easier for the reader who has little knowledge of horses. It teaches about working hard and saving for the things you want as well as working together to achieve a goal. This would be a good book to kick off a class project where students must work together and pool resources.

More books about the Chincoteague ponies can be found at http://www.schifferbooks.com/newschiffer/search_results.php.

The US Fish and Wildlife Service Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge website offers further information about http://www.fws.gov/northeast/chinco/ponies.html.

  • Sea FeatherTitle: The True Story of Sea Feather
  • Author: Lois Szymanski
  • Publisher: Schiffer Publishing Ltd.
  • Reviewer: Sandi Waymire
  • Paper back: 48 pages
  • ISBN: 978-0-87033-595-2
  • Genre: realistic fiction
Posted in 2011, Contemporary, Fiction, Nature
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