4thgradereading

Written by Jane Yolen
Photographed by Jason Stemple

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Jane Yolen who has written over 300 books and won numerous awards including a Caldecott for Owl Moon, Golden Kite, two Nebula and Christopher awards, etc., gives readers an insight into how she turned her passion into her career. Of course every one of her works can be read aloud and loved by preschoolers to 2nd graders and clear up to adults.

On the Slant belongs on any reading lists for young authors to learn how to take criticism and make it into a published work or create a work space that enhances the creative juices to overflow. Jane also shares her life story, from her fascinating young childhood where she generated an apartment building newspaper using carbon paper to her first pink manual typewriter. The story continues as the reader learns the secret to her success starts with writing everyday whether it be ideas, stories, or poems regardless if they ever get published or not.

Photographs from her past and present provide another layer of her life, showing baby pictures to more current photographs taken by her son, Jason Stemple. These photos even show how she lives part of the time in Massachusetts, while the rest of the year in Scotland and that the most important part of her life includes her family. This book takes every age reader to a place where imagination and hard work meet. The organized format and straight forward voice keep readers turning each page to learn more about Jane. Be sure to check out her website at www.janeyolen.com to email her with your questions.

• Title: On the Slant
• Author: Jane Yolen
• Photographer: Jason Stemple
• Publisher: Richard C. Owens Publishers, Inc.
• Reviewer: Julia Beiker
• Edition: Paperback
• ISBN 13: 978-1-57274-978-8
• ISBN 10: 1-57274-978-4
• Genre: Nonfiction biography

Written by Ralph Fletcher

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Many youngsters wonder how books are created. There are many books on writing, but few are written for the fourth grade reading level. It is a real challenge to write a book that offers comprehension of such a complex subject for the fourth grade level, but Ralph Fletcher has done a masterful job of it without ever talking down to this young audience.

Reflections is really the story of Fletcher’s life’s journey to becoming a writer. He introduces the reader to some of the realities of being a working writer with the story about the manuscript for his first novel and what happened to it. It’s quite a story. His childhood is the foundation of his writing life. Growing up in a family with nine kids gives him plenty of grist for his writer’s mill, especially since his mother taught him to be a true observer of everything around him. And that observation ability became absolutely critical to his writing. Fletcher not only writes about his writer’s notebooks, what goes into them,  and what he gets out of them, but he includes photographs of his notebook pages so the young reader can really see the product. He discusses how he finds his ideas for a wide variety of projects. Youngsters will find hope for a writing future when they see how great ideas can come from the simplest things. Fletcher goes on to give a clear view of the writing process and how important the many steps are to successful writing. As any writer knows, revision is probably the most important and time consuming part of the process, and Fletcher spends some good time on that. This is a very realistic picture of writing as a career, and it is one fourth graders and up will find fascinating.

Fletcher is a prolific writer with many books on writing, and Reflections is not the only one for elementary students. Poetry Matters: Writing a Poem from the Inside Out and How to Write Your Life Story are two of his other books that will be of interest to budding writers. On his web site, kids can find Tips for Young Readers (http://www.ralphfletcher.com/tips.html), a wonderful resource. He offers teacher handouts (http://www.ralphfletcher.com/teacher.html) as well.

• Title: Reflections
• Author: Ralph Fletcher
• Publisher: Richard C. Owen Publishers, Inc.
• Reviewer: Rosi Hollinbeck
• Paperback: 64 pages
• ISBN: 1-57274-858-3
• Genre: Nonfiction

Written by Christy Jordan-Fenton and Margaret Pokiak-Fenton

Illustrated by Gabrielle Grimard

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Her father teaches Olemaun how to do many things; however, he cannot teach the eight-year-old Inuit how to read because he does not read himself.  Hearing the books read to her by her older sister Rosie is no longer enough. To read them herself becomes Olemaun’s dream. All through the winter, she begs her father to let her go to school far from her Arctic home, but he refuses. He knows bad things about the school that she doesn’t. But Olemaun is nothing if not persistent. After all, her name means “the stubborn stone that sharpens the half-moon ulu knife.” Against his better judgment, he leaves her off at the school in spring when they make their long journey to trade with the outsiders.

When Olemaun first arrives, the nuns strip her of her beautiful hair, her warm clothes, and even her dignity. They call her Margaret and treat her as a slave. When she is finally called into the classroom by a kindly nun, she hopes to learn to read; but the actual teacher turns out to be the same nun who had cut her hair with such pleasure. Instead of teaching her to read, the nun makes fun of Olemaun and puts her in a corner. After that, she takes every opportunity to prove Olemaun’s inferiority, giving her extra chores until her muscles ache. But Olemaun learns as she goes, studying letters before she wipes them from the board and sounding out the words on cleaning supplies. Even being given red socks as punishment and being shut up in the cellar cannot thwart Olemaun from her quest to learn to read.

Readers at the fourth grade levels will treasure this book about Olemaun’s determination to read. The book has the feel of a fairy tale with a wicked stepmother, but it’s all the more powerful because it’s based on a true story. Although the prejudice underlying the nun’s cruelty will likely shock readers with fourth grade reading skills, Olemaun’s ultimate victory will make them cheer silently.

About the authors: http://www.annickpress.com/modules/books/author/356/Christy_Jordan-Fenton and http://www.annickpress.com/modules/books/author/357/Margaret_Pokiak-Fenton

• Title: When I Was Eight
• Author: Christy Jordan-Fenton and Margaret Pokiak-Fenton
• Illustrator: Gabrielle Grimard
• Publisher: Annick Press
• Reviewer: Bonita Herold
• Paperback: 32 pages
• ISBN: 978—1-55451-490-8
• Genre: Social Studies