Africa Dream (Coretta Scott King award)

  Greenfield, Eloise. (1977). Africa Dream (Carole Byard, Illus.). New York: HarperCollins Children’s Books.

  Africa Dream is the winner of the Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award for 1978.

  This book is about a young African American girl who dreams of traveling to the home of her ancestors. It’s a simple story, targeted for young children. The book could be used to launch discussions of culture, heritage, and transformations. The illustrations are pencil drawings. They are life-like and yet also have a sort of softness to them, as to depict that the girl is dreaming. This would be a good book for children of all races, but particularly African American children, who do not frequently see themselves represented in picture books.

 

First the Egg (Notable Books for Children)

  Seeger, Laura Vaccaro. (2007). First the Egg. New York: Roaring Brook Press.

  First the Egg is on the Notable Books for Children list for 2008.

  This book is about change and how things come full circle. From egg to chicken, seed to flower, word to story, and back to the beginning, from chicken to egg. It’s a very simple, basic book for very young children. It uses cut-outs to get from one page to the next, a technique that can be very effective in getting small children to listen to, and participate in, a story. I liked the simple illustrations and the colorful pages. This is definitely a book I would recommend to parents of young children. They could start reading this to one as young as a year old.

 

A Day No Pigs Would Die (Challenged books)

   Peck, Robert Newton. (1972). A Day No Pigs Would Die. New York: Random House

  This book has often been challenged, that is, people have demanded that it be removed from libraries. It was 16th on the American Library Association‘s list of books most often challenged in the 1990s. (Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Day_No_Pigs_Would_Die, August 1, 2011).

  After young Robert Peck helps a neighbor’s cow give birth and saves the mother animal, he is given a baby pig for his trouble. Robert and “Pinky” become best friends. Robert even takes Pinky to the fair where it wins a ribbon for being the best behaved pig. Later, after it is discovered that PInky is barren, it’s decided that the pig will have to be slaughtered. Robert goes with his father to kill his pet. He hates his dad, but he also sees that it breaks his father’s heart as well, and in that moment comes forgiveness. This is a hard book to read, especially for animal lovers. However, for myself, it reminded me of some things from my childhood. While I did not grow up on a farm, my grandparents lived on one. We would visit in the summer and I actually witnessed a pig being slaughtered. I also had many friends who were in 4-H. They would show their animals at the fair and then turn around and sell them to the slaughterhouse. It was hard for them but it was accepted as a fact of life. That’s what Robert and his family reminded me of. They simply accept it as something that had to be done and life went on.

 

Go Ask Alice (Challenged books)

                                                           

   Anonymous. (1971). Go Ask Alice. New York: Simon and Schuster.

   Since it’s publishing in 1971, Go Ask Alice has become one of the most challenged and banned books of all time. Due to its frequent and strong references to sex, heavy drug usage, and teen pregnancy, libraries and schools across the country have banned the novel as it sits at number 23 on the American Library Association (ALA) “100 Most Frequently Challenged Books” from 1990-2001. (Retrieved from  http://dangerousbooks.wordpress.com/2008/05/01/go-ask-alice/ August 1, 2010)

  Go Ask Alice has been a favorite of teenagers as far back as I was a teen in the 1970’s. It’s the diary of a teenaged girl who gets involved in drug abuse and ultimately dies. I kept the book over the years and gave it to my own daughter. It has since become one of HER favorite books. Originally published as the diary of an anonymous girl, it later was said to have been written by a teen psychologist and used the stories of many of her patients, tied together to become this book. Regardless of who or how it was written, I highly recommend it to teens today. They face the same issues when it comes to drugs as teens of 20 and 30 years ago, and it can be effective in showing them what can happen if they abuse drugs.

 

Heather Has Two Mommies (Challenged book)

  Newman, Leslea. (1989). Heather Has Two Mommies (Diana Souza, Illus.). Los Angeles: Alyson Publications.

 During the 1990s, copies of Heather Has Two Mommies began disappearing off of book shelves from both school and public libraries around the country as people borrowed the book with no intention of returning it. By checking the book out of the library and then claiming it as lost, community members were battling to remove this book’s viewpoint from a child’s hands. Other challenges to Heather Has Two Mommies occurred in Brooklyn, New York (February, 1992), Springfield, Oregon (June, 1992), and Fayetteville, North Carolina (October, 1992). Both of the cases in Oregon and North Carolina elected to allow Heather Has Two Mommies to remain on the book shelves in the children’s section. In Brooklyn, New York the Bary Ridge School Board President said that the board objected to words in the book that were age inappropriate; the book was removed from the district’s curriculum.  (retrieved from http://sites.google.com/site/thesisactivities/heather-has-two-mommies July 27, 2011).

  I found Heather Has Two Mommies to be an easy read and a good book to read to small children. It is very short and to the point. Our country is full of “unconventional” families. While Heather has two lesbian mothers, another child has two gay fathers. Still another has a mom and a stepfather, and yet another has a mother and a babysitter. The point of the book is to reassure small children that no matter what their situation at home may be, it’s normal. I liked this book and I like the fact that it discusses several different home situations beyond homosexual parents. Children spend enough time worrying about little things. It’s nice to find a book that lets them know family is family, no matter what.

 

We Are The Ship (Coretta Scott King award)

  Nelson, Kadir. (2008). We Are The Ship: The Story of NEGRO LEAGUE BASEBALL. New York: Hyperion Books for Children.

  We Are The Ship is the 2009 Coretta Scot King Author Award Winner.

  We Are The Ship is the story of Negro League baseball. Although there was never any “law” against blacks playing on mostly white teams, due to segregation in this country, they simply didn’t. So, in 1920,  they created their own league. This book is about the history of the league, the players of the league, and their experiences. I am a big history buff and love reading about the past. This particular story holds extra interest for me. When I was still working as a news reporter, I was sent to New York City to cover Jackie Robinson Day at Shea Stadium.  President Bill Clinton was on hand to honor the first black Major League Baseball player of the modern era. Of course, Robinson is discussed in We Are The Ship, and his crossing over to the regular leagues marked the end of the Negro Leagues. I found this book interesting and easy to read. The illustrations, paintings really, are magnificent. Colorful, realistic, and really contribute to the beauty of the book in a big way.

 

The Stupids Have a Ball (Challenged books)

   Bullard, H. & Marshall, J. (1978). The Stupids Have a Ball. Boston; Houghton Mifflin Company.

 1985: Because “it describe[s] families in a derogatory manner and might encourage children to disobey their parents,” the Stupids series has been removed from shelves. This book appears as the twenty-seventh most censored book on the American Library Association’s “100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990-1999.” (retrieved from http://www2.lib.virginia.edu/exhibits/censored/child.html July 26, 2011).

     I found this book to be inoffensive and don’t really understand why this series would be challenged by anyone. In this particular title, the Stupids throw a party to celebrate the fact that their children have flunked all of their classes. And even though it’s a costume party, and everyone comes in costume, the Stupids are too stupid to notice. This is a quick, easy read for smaller children. The illustrations convey a sense of goofiness. My one criticism would be that it really has very little depth to it. It’s short and sweet. However, it could be used to start a discussion between parent and child about the importance of grades and NOT being stupid. Also, it could be used as a lesson on individuality.

 

Chalk (Notable Books for Children)

  Thomson, Bill. (2010). Chalk. Tarrytown, NY; Marshall Cavendish Children.

  Chalk is on the 2011 Notable Books for Children list.

  Chalk is an intereresting and unusual book in that it is ALL about illustration, understatement, imagination, and inferencing.

  This picture book has no text at all. However, the story is easily figured out from the pictures. Three children are heading to the playground in the rain. Once there, they open a box of chalk.

    Despite the weather, they start to draw on the asphalt with their chalk. As they draw, their pictures start to come to life. For example, one girl draws the sun and the sun comes out.

   Unfortunately, when a boy draws a dinosaur, it comes to life and chases the children, who hide in the playground equipment.

    Using his head, the boy draws a raincloud in the tube he is hiding inside.

   It starts to rain again, dissolving the dinosaur and the children are saved.

   The illustrations is Chalk are realistic. The children LOOK like children. The colors are very realistic; a yellow raincoat against a grey sky.  This is a very enjoyable book that a parent could use to help teach a child some critical thinking skills like inferencing, generalizations, and conclusions.

 

Hatchet (Newbery Honor book)

  Paulsen, Gary. (1987). Hatchet. New York: Simon & Schuster for Young Readers.

  Hatchet is a Newbery Honor book 1988.

  The story takes place in New York and in the forests of Canada. 13 year old Brian Robeson is on his way to visit his father.

  The single engine plane Brian is in crashes when the pilot has a heart attack while at the controls.

  Brian is now alone in the wilderness with just the hatchet his mother gave him as a gift. His thoughts have been preoccupied with his parents divorce and the “secret” that he knows about his mom, which is that she is seeing another man.

  Brian must put that secret aside and focus on survival. He is sickened by wild berries, is struck by a porcupine needle, and sees a bear. When a plane fails to spot him, Brian tries to kill himself but survives.

   He uses that experience as a sign to embrace his life and becomes better at surviving in the wild. Unfortunately, a storm destroys his shelter and he drops his hatchet into the lake. It seems as if the wilderness will get the best of him.

   Brian finds a way to be resourceful. He dives for his hatchet and he also recovers the survival pack from the wreckage of the plane.  He finds an emergency transmitter and plays around with it but doesn’t put much thought into it.

   While Brian is sitting at his camp eating dinner, a plane lands. The pilot had heard the emergency transmission and comes to rescue the boy who has been in the woods for nearly two months.

   When he is back with his father, Brian never does tell him the “secret.”

    There is some music in language used in Hatchet. For example, as he falls asleep one night by his campfire he thinks: “I wonder what they’re doing now. I wonder what my father is doing now. I wonder what my mother is doing now. I wonder if she is with him.”

   There is not a lot of diaglogue in this book.  However, that works because the majority of the story is one person alone in the wilderness. So there are some thoughts, but it is mostly action.

  Foreshadowing is used quite a bit in Hatchet. The pilot teaches him how to control the plane when landing. The pilot has pain in his shoulder. The hatchet Brian’s mother gave him.

 

Holes (Newbery Medal winner)

  Sachar, Louis. (1998). Holes. New York; Yearling.

  Holes is the 2009 winner of the Newbery Medal Award.

  Stanley Yelnats is under a family curse that started with his great-great-grandfather. 

  Stanley is sent to a boys detention center, Camp Green Lake, for a crime he didn’t commit.  Once there, Stanley and the others are forced to dig large holes.

  Stanley realizes the warden is having them dig holes because he is looking for something. What he doesn’t know is that more than one hundred years earlier, iat Camp Green Lake, a white woman and a black man fell in love. This is not accepted but when the couple tries to escape across the lake, their boat is destroyed and the man dies. The woman, Kate, becomes an outlaw and ends up robbing Stanley’s great-grandfather. She buries the money and dies before revealing its location.

     The warden knows this and is having the boys dig, looking for the money. Meanwhile, Stanley follows one of the boys up into the mountains. They return to camp and find a suitcase with Stanley’s name on it (which is also the name of his great-grandfather).

    Before the warden can take the suitcase away, Stanley is cleared of the crime he is accused of and is able to leave the detention camp. It seems the family curse is lifted, as the suitcase is full of valuable items AND Stanley’s father is finally successful at something. He finds a cure for foot odor!

     Holes uses understatement in many instances, including having the reader determine why the warden is having the boys dig.  It also uses realistic dialogue. In telling the story of the interracial couple, the sheriff says, “It ain’t against the law for you to kiss him… just for him to kiss you.”