Module 3

SLIS 5420/Module 3 June 21-27

"Esperanza Rising" by Pam Munoz Ryan &
"Looking For Alaska" by John Green

Summary for "Esperanza Rising":
A young girl, Esperanza, has everything she wants until her father is killed and then everything is taken from her and she has to move to California with her mother to start a new life. The struggles and challenges she faces are shown as she grows and learns from them.
My Impressions: This book was beautifully writing and such a great story. Esperanza goes through a lot but grows up through all of it. She learns about the hardships of life and finally understands how even with the hardships life will be okay as long as you have family.

Reviews:
Esperanza Rising was recommended to me by a friend who is studying young adult literature. It touched her so deeply that she passed me a copy to read. I don't normally read juvenile fiction, but the topic intrigued me.
I found the book delightful. The characters are vividly portrayed, their emotions are deep and real. I could relate to several of the characters in the book in several ways, and the Mexican culture is an underlying theme throughout the book. Esperanza's pain felt very near to my own heart, and her personal growth through it was refreshing.
This book may be juvenile fiction, but I believe it has something for everyone. History, culture, an eye-opening look into a different frame of mind, so many things blend together to make this story unique. I can understand why the author felt that her grandmother's story needed to be brought to life, and I'm pleased to say that Esperanza Rising is a book the author can be proud of. Her story-telling can reach new generations with things that they hopefully will never experience, as well as things they may have dealt with themselves.
This tale of the life of Esperanza will stay with you. The young woman's abrupt start on the road to adulthood carries you with her through the seasons marked not by months of the year, but by the crops harvested during those times.
~Liz Copeland 2006 http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/70574/book_review_esperanza_rising_by_pam.html

Cross the River With Esperanza!, October 14, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Esperanza Rising (Hardcover)

There are many books and movies out there about young people and their families as they struggle to survive in Mexico and then in California when they decide to cast their lot with the American Dream...Esperanza has everything she could ever want or need on her father's El Rancho de las Rosas near Aguascalientes, Mexico, when he is killed by bandits in 1924. Esperanza and her mother must flee their ranch and her evil uncles, with the help of their loyal servants. She loses every privilege she had when she crosses the river to Southern California, where she must confront her own issues of class ism and work to save her mother's life. Very exciting book! The friendship between Miguel. the son of her family's servants, helps Esperanza learn that they are equals in their newly adopted country. The author tells us that this is a fictionalized account of how her real Abuelita came to the United States, which makes the story even more enjoyable. Can't wait to have my students read this book!
http://www.amazon.com/Esperanza-Rising-Pam-Munoz-Ryan/dp/043912042X

Uses in School:
This is a great book to use during Mexican Heritage month and also so students can understand other minorities hardships. It is a really great read for class level ages 6th-8th. I really enjoyed reading this book.

Ryan, Pam Munoz. (2002)."Esperanza Rising". New York: Scholastic Press.


"Looking for Alaska" by John Green

Summary: At boarding school Miles's life changes drastically when he not only makes new friends but falls in love for the first time. But an even bigger change is after the tragic accident happens.
My Impressions: I love this book. It relates to teenagers everywhere. It is an all around great book. Tragic but beautiful. A way to show that no matter what you can find your way.

Reviews:

Kirkus Reviews

The Alaska of the title is a maddening, fascinating, vivid girl seen through the eyes of Pudge (Miles only to his parents), who meets Alaska at boarding school in Alabama. Pudge is a skinny ("irony" says his roommate, the Colonel, of the nickname) thoughtful kid who collects and memorizes famous people's last words. The Colonel, Takumi, Alaska and a Romanian girl named Lara are an utterly real gaggle of young persons, full of false starts, school pranks, moments of genuine exhilaration in learning and rather too many cigarettes and cheap bottles of wine. Their engine and center is Alaska, given to moodiness and crying jags but also full of spirit and energy, owner of a roomful of books she says she's going to spend her life reading. Her center is a woeful family tragedy, and when Alaska herself is lost, her friends find their own ways out of the labyrinth, in part by pulling a last, hilarious school prank in her name. What sings and soars in this gorgeously told tale is Green's mastery of language and the sweet, rough edges of Pudge's voice. Girls will cry and boys will find love, lust, loss and longing in Alaska's vanilla-and-cigarettes scent. (Fiction. YA)

Publishers Weekly

Teenager Miles chronicles his first year at boarding school. According to PW, "The novel's chief appeal lies in Miles's well-articulated lust (for Alaska, the title girl) and his initial excitement about being on his own for the first time." Ages 14-up. (Jan.) Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information.

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Looking-for-Alaska/John-Green/e/9780525475064

Uses in School: A great teen novel. Great discussion book for junior high and high school aged students.

Green, John. (2005). "Looking for Alaska". The Penguin Group: New York, NY.

Module 2

SLIS5420/Module 2/June14-20

"And the Dish Ran Away with the Spoon" by Janet Stevens & Susan Stevens Crummel

"Cinderella Skeleton" by Robert D. San Souci

"Dish Ran Away With the Spoon"

Summary: A new twist on the original nursery rhyme. Dish and Spoon runaway and don't come back and the other characters have to find them.

My Impressions:
I thought this was a funny twist on the nursery rhyme. It made me laugh and I loved all the illustrations. Everyday things had faces and could talk and its just an all around fun book to read.

Reviews:

One heck of a winner, June 5, 2001

By	Kim M Mangelsdorf (Michigan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: And the Dish Ran Away with the Spoon (Hardcover)

I recently bought this book for my child and I can't decide who wants to read it more. He is three and says, "It's cool!" and I personally can't get enough of it. The jokes neatly planted in there and the wonderful illustrations makes this book a winner. It is one to buy for your kids and to save for the grandkids even. If you only have a bit of money to spend on a book, choose this one! - From Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/Dish-Ran-Away-Spoon/product-reviews/0152022988/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1

Review by Michael Sims: We all know the story. It ends with the Dish running away with the Spoon, and usually they return so the rhyme can be read again. Unfortunately, one day Dish and Spoon don't return. They are nowhere to be found. Cat explains the problem to the skeptical Dog: "It's the way our rhyme goes. I fiddle, she jumps, you laugh, they run . . . Without Dish and Spoon, there's no rhyme. No more diddle diddle. It's over." Both Cow and Dog suggest alternative endings to the rhyme, but Cat insists that they stop fiddling around. Shameless puns abound in this book, both in the text and in the revised and extended rhyme that accompanies it.

On their quest the animals encounter all sorts of figures from Mother Goose. Fork recognizes the Spoon because they were originally from the same place setting. To help, Fork draws a map, which includes everything from the Three Bears' house to Little Bo Peep's pasture. The legend at the bottom explains the unit of measure: a crooked mile. Spider complains about Miss Muffet's aloofness. Wolf wears bunny slippers, and hanging on his coat tree in the foyer is a button-up sheep suit. In one house bobtailed blind mice lurk in the corners. The author and illustrator, who are sisters, must have enjoyed creating this book.

Let's make the bottom line of this review explicit: Children will love this book, but no more than the adults who read it to them.

http://www.bookpage.com/0106bp/children/dish_ran_away.html

Use in School: This book is just a fun book to be used in school maybe during storytime.

Crummel, Susan Stevens & Stevens, Janet. (2001). "And the Dish Ran Away with the Spoon". New York, NY :Harcourt Inc.

"Cinderella Skeleton"

Summary: This is a rendition of Cinderella the only difference is that she is a skeleton and its all based around Halloween.

My impressions: I thought this book was almost scary. I had never seen a Cinderella like this. It was a very interesting read. A lot of it was the same outline story of Cinderella just changed for it to be a skeleton or as they call it in the story a ghoul.

Reviews:

Now in paperback--the tale of Cinderella is told with a twist, presented withskeletons in the main roles. Hysterically funny."--"Kirkus Reviews" (starredreview). Full color.

http://www.powells.com/biblio/17-9780152020033-0

"Share this macabre rib tickler with Stinky Cheese fans." -- Booklist
http://www.rsansouci.com/pages/books/cskel.htm

Uses for School:
Use this at Halloween. Or do a whole story-telling series on different Cinderella stories and have this one in the mix and see how the Children react to it.

San Souci, Robert D. (2000). "Cinderella skeleton". Hong Kong: Harcourt.

Module 1

5420/Module1/ June 7-13

Book 1 for this Module:
"The Hundred Dresses" by Eleanor Estes

Summary: This book is about two girls who pick on one girl because she says she has 100 dresses in her closet. But once the girl they have been picking on moves schools they feel sorry that they picked on her and want to find a way to say sorry.

My impressions:
I really liked this book. I liked the lesson behind it. It really made me think about how children are teased and how much it hurts their feelings. I feel like this is a good book to use for children in school. Children who might be being teased or children doing the teasing.

Reviews: My first experience with this book was the audiobook I borrowed from the library. It makes for a great read-aloud. It wasn't until a year or so later that I finally saw the actual book. I was mesmerized by the illustrations. Even though it's about dresses, I think young boys (at least sensitive ones) would like this story, too, because it's really about kids' relationships with one another and what it's like to be the outsider.- Carter 2008

Beautiful book for young readers, especially girls.
A group of fourth-grade girls taunt a poor Polish classmate who wears the same dress to school every day. The book teaches the golden rule, and shows that we might not be given a second chance to apologize for behavior. I cry every time. -Dani 2008

Use in Schools: Elementary school students should definitely read this book. I think it will help them understand someone's point of view if they have never been teased or if they have ever teased someone. The Librarian could ask opinions on if they think what is in the book is right or wrong.

Estes, Eleanor. (1944). "The Hundred Dresses".Orlando,FL, USA: Harcourt Inc.

Book 2: "Madeline" by Ludwig Bemelmans

Summary:11 girls and Madeline live under the care of Miss Clavel. Madeline's appendix burst and she is rushed to the hospital and all the other girls want to go to the hospital and have their appendix out because Madeline is like the leader of the group. But while in the hospital Madeline gets candy, care and ends up with a great scar that all the other girls want.

My views: I love Madeline. I adore how the book rhymes and is an enjoyable story. The illustrations are also really beautiful and help bring the story to life.

Reviews:

Publishers Weekly

As with last year's pop-up version of Beatrix Potter's Two Bad Mice, this book seems born to the form. A spread showing ``the old house in Paris'' has lift-open windows so that the ``twelve little girls in two straight lines'' can be viewed; Madeline leans forward to ``pooh-pooh'' the zoo tiger and teeters on the wall ``to frighten Miss Clavel.'' When Miss Clavel turns on her light, readers can pull the tab and banish the darkness. And Madeline's hospital stay, with movable doll carriage and a tossable ball, looks enviable indeed. With all the bustling in these pages and tabs to tug, the book will immerse both old fans and new readers in the joys of knowing Madeline. Ages 3-8. (September)

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Madeline/Ludwig-Bemelmans/e/9780670445806/?itm=1&USRI=madeline

Lisa Bankey
What I really love about the Madeline books are the illustrations. Bemelmans illustrations fascinated me as a child. I love them because they are not perfect. Most of the picture books I read when I was young had beautiful illustrations. I did enjoy those books as well, but I felt frustrated that I could not draw like that. But I did (and still do) draw more like Bemelmans’ style for the Madeline books. I delight in studying the details of his quirky illustrations, the chandeliers, the ivy covered walls, and the Paris landmarks. Madeline.com talks about how he also contributed illustrations for New Yorker, Bazaar, and Fortune magazines. Bemelmans also painted murals at New York's Carlyle Hotel.

http://www.annarbor.com/entertainment/books/madeline-by-ludwig-bemelmans/

Uses: This is a great story book for children. It gives them a look at France and the differences it has from the USA. It also it just a really fun rhyming story for children to read.

Bemelmans, Ludwig. (1958). "Madeline". New York, NY: Penguin Group.

Book Lists

Well the book list is really really long, but I will keep you posted as I read books. I'm only supposed to write about two books a week but I'll write out a list of the books that I am reading that week. We only have to read like 7-12 books a week, they are children's and YA books so that's not that many.

Books I read this week:

Madeline

Where the Wild Things Are

Corduroy

The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses

Make Way for Ducklings

Caps for Sale

Swimmy

The Giving Tree

The Hundred Dresses

The list she gives has different sections and you have to pick say 5 books from one section and 2 from another with a list she provides which is made up of like 20 books. And sometimes its hard to decide on just 5.

Thanks for all the comments :)

Day 1

This week I have been reading children's books for my Library Science Class 5420 which is Children's Literature. It's very interesting so far. I will posting blogs about the books I am reading throughout the weeks.