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Down the Rabbit Hole: The Diary of Pringle Rose

Posted on May 12, 2014 by admin Leave a comment

Written by Susan Campbell Bartoletti

This new addition to the Dear America series written by Susan Campbell Bartoletti is a whirlwind of adventure and survival. There is no need for dystopian when we take into account the true stories from our own past.

Pringle Rose is a fourteen girl who has been raised in every comfort in the coal rich city of Scranton, PA in 1871. Her father owns one of the large collieries and is not about to be pushed around by some new labor union threats.

Unfortunately, he and his wife are killed in a tragic carriage accident leaving Pringle and her brother Gideon alone in the world with a greedy uncle and a mean aunt. In order to save her Down Syndrome brother from being institutionalized, Pringle and Gideon run away.

While these two children are made up characters, the struggles between mine owners and mine workers was very real. Bartoletti skillfully tells both sides of the story in very personal ways that will lead to thoughts and discussions about how difficult life was at that time.

The children travel half way across the country on a train by themselves in search of an old family friend. They end up living in Chicago and experience, dramatically the great fire.

It is a masterfully written story that will grip fourth, fifth and sixth grade readers as well as anyone who picks it up. The core curriculum and literacy skills can be met on practically every page as the author’s research is so thorough. She has included the transportation of the time, the medical misunderstandings of Down Syndrome, boarding schools, mine owners, mine labor unions, the Chicago fire and a trust fund that requires a person to be twenty one years old to inherit from parents.

The writing is clear and precise. Included are many actual places and dates. Librarians and teachers will be able to use this text to begin or conclude studies about the coal region, railroads in America or the Chicago fire that brought about serious changes in building codes all across the country.

Title: Down the Rabbit Hole: The Diary of Pringle Rose
Author: Susan Campbell Bartoletti
Publisher: Scholastic, 2013
Reviewer: Elizabeth Swartz
Format: Hardcover, 320 pages
ISBN: 978-0-545-29701-1
Genre: Historical Fiction
Grade level 4 to 7
Extras: Author’s Note, Photographs at the back, Nonfiction Section on Life in America in 1871, recipes from the time

Posted in 2013, Down syndrome, Fiction, History, Mines tagged with fourth grade, literacy skills

Dead End in Norvelt

Posted on April 21, 2014 by admin Leave a comment

Written by Jack Gantos

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There’s a reason the Gantos boy won the Newbery Medal. He also won the Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Ficiton. The first book in the Norvelt series based on the author’s childhood is engaging and laugh out loud funny, though darkly funny in places. Miss Volker, Jack’s neighbor, is the elderly medical examiner and obituary writer for the town of Norvelt, established and named for EleaNOR RooseVELT. Miss Volker’s arthritis has gotten so bad, she must soak her hands in melted paraffin before they are of any use at all, so she enlists Jack’s help at every opportunity. Meanwhile Jack is in an extended grounding for accidentally shooting off his father’s Japanese rifle and for mowing down his mother’s corn at his father’s urging. His excitement grows as the old ladies of Norvelt start dropping like flies. After several deaths, the town newspaper publisher and the police begin to get suspicious. Is Miss Volker the culprit or is it the lone surviving original male Norvelter, adult tricycle rider Mr. Spizz? All the while, Jack is fighting constant nose bleeds, and Miss Volker is determined to help him with that.

And Jack’s father is building a runway for an airplane of questionable safety while Jack digs a bomb shelter by hand.

Fourth graders and up will enjoy the dry humor. The story will hold their attention to strengthen literacy and comprehension. Teachers, librarians, and parents will enjoy the fact that with each obituary comes a history lesson. A quick check of facts may be in order, though.

Title: Dead End in Norvelt
Author: Jack Gantor
Publisher: Square Fish/Farrar Strauss Giroux, 2011
Reviewer: Sue Poduska
Format: Paperback, 384 pages
Genre: Middle grade historical fiction, humor
ISBN: 978-1-250-01023-0

Posted in 2011, Fiction, History, Humor tagged with comprehension, fourth grade, literacy skills

The Soccer Fence: A Story of Friendship, Hope and Apartheid in South Africa

Posted on March 18, 2014 by admin Leave a comment

Written by Phil Bildner
Illustrated by Jesse Joshua Watson

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Every child wants to play. But the fences in our world, past and present cause pain to the youngest of our citizens, as is clearly illustrated in words and realistic illustrations, in this new book about the apartheid of South Africa’s past.

This story clearly explains to our children of today what the separation of the races meant in South Africa. It wasn’t a fence taken down easily or quickly. Readers will see the main character grow older and bigger while still being denied the opportunity to play soccer with the other boys of the town. While this is categorized as a fictional account of the struggle to open up the country, it will be a valuable addition to every school library and classroom. It can meet the needs of the core curriculum as it strives to educate our youth of the mistakes of our global past while strengthening all basic literacy skills.

The many-layered story includes early riots, Mandela’s release from prison and his winning of the presidential election as well as the unifying soccer match that brought South Africa’s struggle to the world stage.

It brings to mind Jacqueline Woodson’s beautiful book, The Other Side, which tells of such separation between playing children in the past of our own country. These books could easily be introduced together to discuss parallels in the societal developments of world history.

Second grade, third grade and fourth grade readers will cheer for all sides whether reading the book individually or having it read to them by a teacher, parent or librarian. However, this book should not be limited to use in the primary grades, as it has such a strong voice and important story to tell.

Title: The Soccer Fence: A Story of Friendship, Hope and Apartheid in South Africa
Author: Phil Bildner
Illustrator: Jesse Joshua Watson
Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s, 2014
Reviewer: Elizabeth Swartz
Format: Hardcover, 40 pages
ISBN: 978-0-399-24790-3
Genre: Historical Fiction, South Africa
Grade level 1-4

Posted in 2014, Fiction, History, South Africa tagged with fourth grade

From Norvelt to Nowhere

Posted on February 10, 2014 by admin Leave a comment

Written by Jack Gantos

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Get ready for more antics from that Gantos boy, hero to fourth grade boys and girls everywhere. From his Halloween costume that looks like the local serial killer to digging a fallout shelter right into his family’s septic tank, Jack’s misadventures are memorable and hilarious. Miss Volker, Jack’s best friend, becomes the last old lady in Norvelt, courtesy of a series of poisoned Girl Scout cookies. Then Eleanor Roosevelt dies and Jack’s cross country adventure begins. Jack escorts Miss Volker to Mrs. Roosevelt’s grave. They get word of her sister’s death in Florida. With detectives and killers alike following them, they take a zig-zag course in various vehicles, including a hand-painted VW Beetle, a hearse, an amphibious vehicle, and a police motorcycle with a side car. They take a train to Washington, DC and buy a beetle at a Foggy Bottom used car lot. Jack, at age fourteen, drives them to Tennessee and to Florida, with Miss Volker warming her hands in everything from split pea soup to a bucket of coals in the car. Although Jack tends to get all his literary information from Illustrated Classics, there is enough about Moby Dick and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde to make the references interesting and informative, and to encourage further literary activity. The historical references are also sneakily educational and funny.

The publisher’s website, mackids.com, has a lot of information about the author and his books. The author’s website, http://www.jackgantos.com/, is a good companion guide.

TITLE: From Norvelt to Nowhere
AUTHOR: Jack Gantos
PUBLISHER: Farrar Straus Giroux, 2013
REVIEWER: Sue Poduska
ISBN: 978-0-374-37994-0
FORMAT: Hard cover, 278 pages
GENRE: Historical Fiction, Humor, History

Posted in 2013, Fiction, History, Humor tagged with fourth grade, literary activity

I Am Harriet Tubman

Posted on January 6, 2014 by admin Leave a comment

Written by Grace Norwich
Illustrated by Ute Simon

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This new addition to the “I Am” biography series allows middle grade readers to discover who Harriet Tubman was on their own. It is filled with realistic pencil drawings, maps, graphs and data boxes telling students about Harriet’s tips for survival, her fights for women’s rights and other helpful information about the times.

The format of this biography works well for educators involved with the common core. Students can find the meaning for words in the glossary, use the index when writing their own reports and check the websites included for further information. It is a quality non-fiction book written in an accessible narrative fashion that students will enjoy reading. They will find themselves deeply imbedded in the story and looking over their shoulders to see if they are being followed.

Teachers or librarians can use this book for read aloud time to introduce students in grade three or grade four to the genre of biography. Literacy skills strengthened include: reading for information, reading an index, using a glossary, reading maps and using picture clues to enhance comprehension.

Title: I Am Harriet Tubman
Author: Grace Norwich
Illustrator: Ute Simon
Publisher: Scholastic, 2013
Reviewer: Elizabeth Swartz
Format: Paperback, 127 pages
ISBN: 978-0-545-48436-7
Genre: Nonfiction, Biography

Posted in 2013, Biography, History, Nonfiction tagged with comrehension, fourth grade, literacy skills, read aloud

Year of the Jungle: Memories from the Home Front

Posted on November 20, 2013 by admin Leave a comment

Written by Suzanne Collins
Illustrated by James Proimos

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Suzanne Collins knows of what she writes in this story of a little girl whose beloved Daddy is sent away to war for a whole year. It happened to her in 1968 when he was sent to Vietnam.

James Proimos’ illustrations show the wonder and confusion of a small girl and her understanding of the war. All she knows is that daddy is going to a jungle and it is okay because she knows jungles from cartoons. At night she dreams of flying to the jungle with her cat to see daddy.

But how long is a year, really? For a child, it lasts forever. All the holidays come and go, but still daddy is not back. He sends postcards, sometimes. Then he sends a birthday card to the wrong child. The main character begins to understand how bad things must be at a war for a daddy to make such a huge mistake as getting the kids’ birthdays mixed up.

Suzanne shows clearly how the words a neighbor or news broadcaster say can change the child’s view of circumstances. The child becomes scared only when told to by what others around her say and do even when all of Daddy’s post cards are desperately trying to keep her days normal. When he comes home and she is still afraid, he tells that most soldiers do come home and Mommy is always with her. Her cat is a wonderfully stabilizing presence in the book and gives daddy a safe thing to write to her about.

While this is supposedly a storybook for four year olds and older, it is also a story for grown- ups. It will help them to relate to children in clear and helpful ways. Maybe it is mostly for grown-ups to share with children who have a parent, grandparent or other close friend off at war.

The most beautiful line in the book is on the first page and repeated on the last. It also exemplifies the main character. “Even though he always feels afraid, he is really the bravest of all. And that’s what makes him special.”

An important literacy skill that this book would help teach is the difference between reality and fantasy. How is a real jungle different from a cartoon jungle?

It also illustrates the passage of time by using symbols of holidays. “Shamrocks, but no postcards. Colored eggs, no postcards.” Students could think of other symbols that represent particular times of the year. Also, the picture clues in this story are very relevant. Proimos uses the cat illustrations to help delineate the sizes of souvenirs that daddy sends. How big is the doll? Well, in the picture she stands eye to eye with the cat.

The book could be used by middle school teachers and librarians as an introduction or example of writing an autobiography based on an early memory.

This is a very moving and important book on many levels all about waiting and wondering and being okay.

Title: Year of the Jungle: Memories from the Home Front
Author: Suzanne Collins
Illustrator: James Proimos
Publisher: New York: Scholastic Press, 2013
Reviewer: Elizabeth Swartz
Format: Hardcover, 40 pages
ISBN: 978-0-545-42516-2
Genre: realistic fiction/ autobiographical fiction/war fiction

Posted in 2013, Autobiography, Fiction, History, War tagged with fourth grade, literacy skills

Darling: Mercy Dog of World War I

Posted on September 27, 2013 by admin Leave a comment

Written by Alison Hart
Illustrated by Michael G. Montgomery

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In this exciting story, written from the dog’s point of view, the fourth grade reader will learn about the life of a canine working at the war’s front line.

Darling lives the good life in England with his human family until World War I interferes. She is an escape artist who spends time digging under fences and worrying the local sheep along with her stray rat terrier friend, Rags. After the man of the house goes to war, the mother is about to send her away as too much trouble and too expensive. The government appeals for dogs to help in the war effort, so she is recruited as a messenger dog. Darling is nearly destroyed when the army discovers she’s not suited to be a messenger. Luckily, her sergeant believes in her and gets her a job as a mercy dog, a job to which she is well-suited. Mercy dogs, sometimes called Red Cross dogs, were sent into the no man’s land of a battlefield to locate wounded soldiers. When she is severely wounded, Darling once again needs a reprieve, as all useless animals were destroyed. And, once again, her sergeant comes to her rescue and gets her declared a war hero. Will she see her family again?

This tale of redemption and loyalty contains a lot of information about how animals are used in war and what the rigors of war are like for soldiers. The reader will also learn a little about World War I and the Belgian campaign. Part of the “Dog Chronicles” series, this volume combines history and love of animals in a unique way. It will hold kids’ attention and increase their reading comprehension. The content is well-researched and contains a table of contents, further facts, map, bibliography, for further reading section, and websites. The author’s website (http://www.alisonhartbooks.com/) and the illustrator’s (http://www.michaelgmontgomery.com/) provide more information about the creative team.

Title: Darling: Mercy Dog of World War I
Author: Alison Hart
Illustrator: Michael G. Montgomery
Publisher: Peachtree Publishers, 2013
Reviewer: Sue Poduska
Format: Hardcover, 163 pages
ISBN: 978-1-56145-705-2
Genre: Fiction, Middle Reader, History, Animals

Posted in 2013, Animals, Fiction, History tagged with comprehension, fourth grade

The Enchanted Attic: Wrestling with Tom Sawyer

Posted on September 13, 2013 by admin Leave a comment

Written by L.L. Samson

Illustrated by Kris Nelson, Ben Fetterly, and Antonio Caparo

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We have learned not to judge a book by its cover. Now we will learn not to judge a book by it style. When I began reading this book it was difficult to “get into”. The word choices and usage were odd. No, they were just different. I was ready to write it off as something that could not be used in a typical fourth grade classroom until I realized the brain pathway building potential of this little gem. While the above average reader may find this book intriguing, even an average student might struggle with comprehension without some scaffolding. But with any reader, new ideas and thought patterns will be created.

The storyline is actually quite interesting. Walter has recently moved from London to the United States where he now attends a boarding school for “the once well-heeled (wealthy) who’d fallen on harder times, or for those who had recently accumulated their wealth and were snubbed by the well-heeled. Walter and his friends have an amazing adventure with Tom Sawyer after Walter and his friends conjure up Tom in the enchanted circle in the “not so secret attic”. It was an amazing adventure sprinkled with a mad scientist, a hidden tunnel and plenty of mystery and drama.

Because the word style/choices are different, this book would make an excellent choice as a read aloud. Being able to hear the words should help students read them more easily as well as increase comprehension. One of my favorite things about the book is the generous sprinkling of vocabulary words throughout. After each potentially new word there is an easy to understand definition. Ascertain (figure out). There are also explanations about things such as a land grant (“A royal land grant is a big deal and normally includes more acreage than even the wealthiest of people own nowadays.”)

This book might possibly make an interesting choice for a literature circle choice. Even if the typical structure has to be modified to account for the more difficult comprehension issues, this book lends itself to discussion and out of the box thinking.

Title: The Enchanted Attic: Wrestling with Tom Sawyer
Author: L.L. Samson
Illustrators: Kris Nelson, Ben Fetterly, and Antonio Caparo
Publisher: Zonderkidz
Reviewer: Sandi Waymire
Format: Paperback, 180 pages
ISBN: 978-0-310-74057-5
Genre: Contemporary fiction (historical context)
Lexile score: NA

Posted in 2013, Contemporary, Fantasy, History tagged with comprehension, fourth grade, read aloud

Native Americans: A Visual Exploration

Posted on July 12, 2013 by admin Leave a comment

Written by S.N. Paleja

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Despite some effort to provide culturally diverse education for students, information on Native Americans is largely ignored or just plain nonexistent. In this ambitious text, the author provides an excellent overview and beginning point for learning about the first North Americans. Each page uses graphics to provide information and should capture the attention of fourth graders with numerous charts, graphs, and timelines. Naturally, the author begins with where the people came from and when. He gives a great explanation of the land bridge called Beringia and how and when it disappeared. He also shows that many groups used shoreline exploration rather than overland routes for migration. The various climate zones in which the groups lived and the names of the tribes are discussed, as well as the types of shelters they constructed, the community structures and the food they ate. A particularly striking graphic of the many uses for the bison is shown. The reader learns about environmental impact, the diverse languages of Native Americans, their spiritual beliefs, and their inventions. When Europeans entered the picture, looking for riches, the lives of Native Americans changed drastically. The author explores their current situation and possible future.

With all the infographics presented, the author implicitly suggests further reading activities, such as drawing more detailed maps over smaller regions. This is a dispassionate treatment of the overall subject, which affords a great opportunity to learn the true facts. The extensive bibliography and index make it easy for the curious reader to continue study of the topics introduced. The publisher’s website (www.annickpress.com) has more about the book, the author, and the publisher.

TITLE: Native Americans: A Visual Exploration
AUTHOR: S.N. Paleja
PUBLISHER: Annick Press
REVIEWER: Sue Poduska
EDITION: 2013
ISBN: 978-1-55451-485-4
GENRE: History, Native American Affairs
LEXILE: 1070

Posted in 2013, History, Nonfiction, Social Studies

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