Module 8 - Gregor the Overlander

 Courtesy of suzannecollinsbooks.com

Book Summary:   
This story is about a young man who has had to take on unexpected responsibilities.  When his dad up and disappears, he takes on the responsibility of helping tend to his younger sisters while giving up his own enjoyments.  While doing laundry with his baby sister, they are pulled into a whole that takes them a long way down.  The meet giant cockroaches, rats and spiders along with another race of humans.  He helps these humans battle agains the rats and in the process finds his dad. 
APA Reference:

Collins, S. (2003). Gregor the overlander. New York, NY: Scholastic.

My Impressions: 

This isn't really my type of story, but I can see how students would enjoy it.  Being taken to a fantasy land and having a grand adventure keeps students motivated to read.  Gregory's adventure is a good story of good triumphing over evil.  It also shows how important it is to never give up.  He kept believing his dad would come home, and he eventually found him. 
Professional Reviews:

Gr 4-8-It's the beginning of summer and everyone is going off to camp except Gregor, an 11-year-old boy from New York City. Since his father's disappearance from their New York City home, he has been helping out with taking care of his little sisters, especially two-year-old Boots. Gregor sacrifices his chance to go to camp, letting his other sister go instead. While doing laundry in the basement of his apartment building, Boots disappears down an air chute and Gregor goes after her. At the bottom of this innercity "rabbit hole," the two find themselves in the "Underland" surrounded immediately by giant cockroaches, or crawlers. The story moves quickly as the two "Overlanders" are taken to the Queen of the Underlander humans, where Gregor learns of a prophecy which focuses on him and a quest to find his missing father. He travels with bats, crawlers, spinners (giant spiders), a rat, and two of the royal Underlanders. Gregor spends his time between protecting Boots, who doesn't know she needs to be protected, and becoming the leader of the questors who must not only save his father, but also save the Underlanders' kingdom. This fantasy by Suzanne Collins (Scholastic, 2003) is skillfully written with well-developed characters and enough action to keep listeners' attention. Narrator Paul Boehmer does an excellent job of providing different voices for the myriad of characters. With the hint of a sequel, this would be an excellent selection for libraries to add to their fantasy collections.-Lisa D. Williams, Chocowinity Middle School, NC

Professional Review Reference:
Williams, L. (2005). Gregor the overlander. School Library Journal, 51(8), 64.

Library Uses:
One use for this book would be to help older students with creative writing.  A lesson could be done in the library on creative writing and opportunities available.  After reading it, they would write their own creative writing.  Another use would be to have an art contest with this book as the focus.  Students would complete a group reading of the book and then be required to draw what they think one of the areas of the underland look like.  It could be a group contest with each student taking a different scene, or individual with each doing a scene of their choice.

Module 7 - Because of Winn-Dixie

 Courtesy of http://www.education.wisc.edu/

Book Summary:   
"Because of Winn-Dixie" is about a young girl, Opal, who was abandoned by her mom and lives with her dad.  Her dad is a preacher who spends most of his time working.  Opal comes across a dog causing havoc in the Winn-Dixie grocery store.  She claims the dog as hers and names him after the store.  She begins meeting individual through out the story who are also lonely  individuals.  She becomes friends with each one and at the end of the story brings everyone together and strengthens her relationship with her father in the process.  It is a tale that deals with compassion, loneliness, and creating friendships. 

APA Reference:
DiCamillo, K. (2000). Because of winn-dixie. New York, NY: Scholastic.

My Impressions: 

"Because of Winn-Dixie" is a delightful tale about a little girl trying to fit in.  After saving a dog, she makes friends with people that others shy away from.  She figures all of these friendships she's gaining are due to Winn-dixie and his antics.  They certainly make their mark on the community.  While trying to fit in herself, she ends up bringing each of her friends together to form an unexpected group of friends.  This is definitely is a book most 4th and 5th graders will love.

Professional Reviews:

Because of Winn-Dixie is an exciting book about a 10-year-old girl who goes to a store called Winn-Dixie for mac 'n' cheese. To her surprise, she finds a dog instead and names him after the store. Opal and Winn-Dixie meet loads of people, and the dog helps Opal make the friends she's been missing.

At a party for their new friends, Winn-Dixie goes missing! Will Opal find her dog or never see him again? Kate DiCamillo is an outstanding author, and this is an astonishing book. You have to read it!

Professional Review Reference:

Womack, A. (2008). Because of winn dixie. Storyworks, 15(4), 7.   Retrieved from storyworks.scholastic.com.

Library Uses:
Uses for this book could be numerous.  Many schools at some point in the year will conduct fundraisers for the local animal shelter.  This would be a good book to have students read in aloud in groups in preparation for that fund raiser. Then it could be put in a display with other animal books to promote animal awareness.  Another use for this book would be in a book club.  Our school has book clubs that meet and the groups are made mixed up after each book reading.  Various groupings are according to homelife, social background, reading levels.  This would be a perfect book for reading about children from single parent homes.

Module 6 - The Wreck of the Zephyr

 Courtesy of yourbooksworld.com

Book Summary:   
This story is about a young man who claims to be the best sailor that has ever been.  One night he goes out in a storm and wakes up on an unfamiliar beach.  He walks to the nearest village and on his way notices that sailboats are sailing in the air rather than on water.  He wants to learn to sail the air. A man he meets takes him up and tries to teach him.  That night he goes out by himself and goes home.  When he arrives, his boat goes back to the ground.  He spends the rest of his life looking for the island with air-sailing boats.

APA Reference:
Van Allsburg, C. (1983). The wreck of the zephyr. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company.

My Impressions: 

  The artistry in this book adds so much to the story.  The story itself shows how the imagination can lead to amazing adventures.  I can see many boys dreaming of flying through the air with their sailboat.  Children reading this book will see the benefit of using their imaginations and reaching for their dreams.  It also shows the value of perserverance.  The boy spent his whole life looking for that island and still didn't give up.

Professional Reviews:

Award-winning children’s book author Chris van Allsburg brings us another original fantasy.  In it a young boy, brilliant at sailing, scoffs at the advice of more experienced sailors and ventures out into a storm.  When his boat capsizes, he finds himself on an island populated by people who sail in the sky with the use of special sails.  Determined to master this new skill, he steals some sails and uses them to travel home.  Forgetting that the sails do not work over land, he decides to show off by ringing his village’s bell tower and, like a modern-day Icarus, plunges from the sky.  The ending is a little more gentle than the Greek story, and instead of perishing he lives out his life limping from his injury, searching for new sails to restore his flight.Van Allsburg, in his characteristically understated way, spins the story in a somber mood, allowing the fantastical story events and the timeless themes of pride, desire, and sorrow to emerge with quiet grandeur.  This kind of fantasy may appeal best to serious-minded children, but even those who are used to more lighthearted books may benefit from this story of inflated pride which leads to tragedy.

Professional Review Reference:
Gonzalez, S. (2009, September 6). Eye level books: Literature for a christian imagination. Retrieved from http://www.eyelevelbooks.com/2010/09/06/book-review-the-wreck-of-the-zephyr/

Library Uses: This would be a good "read aloud" book for any library.  Also, it could be used for demonstrating artwork in books.  Some artist will come to schools and create a piece of art while a story is being told.  This would be a good introduction for that sort of activity.

Module 6 - And the Dish Ran Away with the Spoon

Courtesy of thereadingbook.com

Book Summary:   
This book starts with the traditional nursery rhyme about the dish running away with the spoon.  For some reason Dish and Spoon failed to return this time for the nightly reading.  Cat gathers Cow and Dog and they begin looking for Dish and Spoon.  They make their way through the neighborhood on their search.  They visit well known nursery rhyme characters from Miss Muffet and Spider to Little Boy Blue to Big Bad Wolf.  They eventually find Dish and Spoon with a few mishaps along the way.
APA Reference:

Stevens, J., & Crummel, S. S. (2001). And the dish ran away with the spoon. Orlando, FL: Harcourt, Inc.

My Impressions: 

 This is a really enjoyable book for young children.  Anyone who enjoys nursery rhymes will enjoy this

 extention of nursery rhymes.  Dish has run away with Spoon and neglected to return.  I love how Cat gets

 upset and rounds up the troops to find them.  It was very creative to use other nursery rhymes to make a

 neighborhood to travel through. 

 

Professional Reviews:

K-Gr 3-The nursery community takes action when the dish and spoon fail to return from their nightly romp. Little Miss Muffet, Bo Peep, the Big Bad Wolf, and Humpty Dumpty help Cat, Cow, and Dog locate the AWOL dinnerware before bedtime. Children can be encouraged to think about favorite book characters as part of a larger literary community, and hone their mapping skills as they follow the map of the animals' search. The oversized illustrations, particularly of Dog in her party hat and polka-dot tutu, are hilarious.

Professional Review Reference:

Auerbach, B. (2005). And the dish ran away with the spoon. School Library Journal, 51(9), 60. Retrieved from http://www.schoollibrarymonthly.com/

Library Uses: 
One good use for this book would be for a community volunteer to come into the library and do a reading of this book.  It would be best used in the lower elementary grades. 
Another use for this book would be have a month dedicated to poetry.  This would be a perfect book for the display.

Module 5 - Bud, Not Buddy

 Courtesy of Bing images

Book Summary:   
Bud, Not Buddy is a book about a young black orphan boy during the Jazz era.  He starts out in an ophanage and is sent to live with a foster family.  When things turn bad due to their already existent child, Bud decides take off on his own.  He begins by trying to have his first meal at the mission.  Then he goes to the library.  Finally a friend from the orphanage catches up with him.  The decided to go west.  They stay the night in a camp made up of cardboard boxes.  Bud misses the train and decides to look for his true father.  All he has to go on is flyer he received from his mother.  He starts walking to the next town.  He gets picked up and eventually makes it to the place supposed to be owned by his father, Herman E. Calloway (a jazz band leader and club owner).  Of course, when Bud confronts his father, his father doesn't believe him.  Herman's band takes Bud in.  Through a course of events they finally learn the truth, that Herman isn't his father but actually his grandfather.  This book gives a good example of what life was like for blacks and poor people during the Jazz era.

APA Reference:
Curtis, P. C. (1999). Bud, not buddy. New York, NY: Scholastic.

My Impressions: 

I really enjoyed this book.  Though fiction, the settings and events that take place are characteristically

accurate to the day and time being portrayed.  For instance, Herman E. Calloway couldn't actually own his

club because he was black.  He always kept a white member of the band that he could put the club's name

in.  This would be an excellent book for teachers to use during Black History Month.  I also liked the

portayal of Hoovertown.  The towns set up outside of cities made of cardboard boxes were lived in by

families who didn't have enough money to rent or buy houses.  I actually learned a lot from this book.

 

Professional Reviews:

Bud, Not Buddy, by Christopher Paul Curtis, made history on Martin Luther King Day in January 2000. It was the first children's book in literary history to receive both the 2000 John Newbery Award book and 2000 Coretta Scott King Author Award. The committees work independently to make their selections so the announcement of the awards that morning in San Antonio, Texas, at the American Library Association midwinter meeting surprised everyone in the audience, including the committee members. Bud, Not Buddy has evolved as not only the most distinguished choice in literature for 1999, but also has become one of the more popular Newbery Award titles.

It is a heartfelt novel that resonates with both zest and tenderness as it entertains questions about racism, belonging, love, and hope. Bud's fast-paced, first-person account moves with the rhythms of jazz and celebrates life, family, and a child's indomitable spirt. It is the story of ten-year-old Bud Caldwell, recently orphaned and living in Flint, Michigan, during the Great Depression. After leaving a terrible situation in a foster home, Bud begins his journey to find who he believes is his father-a well-known bandleader who lives in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

The popularity of Bud, Not Buddy is strongly evidenced by the number of publications and websites that provide suggestions in using the title in the classroom and library media center.
 

Professional Review Reference:
 Brodie, C. S. (2002). Bud, not buddy. School Library Media Activities Monthly, 19(3), 47. Retrieved from http://www.schoollibrarymonthly.com/

Library Uses: 
This would be an excellent book to have theme book talks about.  This book abounds with themes:  family relationships, racism, travel, labor unions and much more.
This book could also be used for kids to make maps.  They could map out the journey that bud took to be posted with a book display in the library.

Module 4 - The Grey King

Book Summary:   
 The book starts out with a sick little boy, Will, thinking he's forgotten something.  He has hepatitis and ends up being sent to family in Wales to recouperate.  While there he begins to remember bits and pieces of what he "thinks" he's forgotten.  Will begins the journey of fighting for good, the light, and against evil, the Dark.  Will learns he's been destined his whole life to wake up the sleeper to fight the battle.  Bran helps Will throughout his journey and in the process learns of his own heritage.  This is a journey worth reading about.

APA Reference:

 Cooper, S. (1975). The grey king. New York, NY: Macmillan Publishing Company.

My Impressions:
Good against evil.  It's the oldest fight in the world.  Will takes hold of his destiny and follows his heart to the end.  This is a good story of taking the necessary step to reach  a goal.

Professional Reviews:
 Gr 5-8-While recovering from hepatitis, Will Stanton is sent to a farm in Wales where he is soon caught up in the battle against "the Dark." He struggles to recall the prophetic lines he once memorized and gradually, as he learns the local place names of the geographic features around him, the meaning of the lines becomes clear to him. Through Bran, a young boy with mysterious origins who becomes Will's friend, Will fulfills the prophecies and once again defeats the Dark. This fourth book of Susan Cooper's The Dark Is Rising series (S&S Childrens, 1975) won the 1976 Newbery Medal. Twenty-five years later, it is still as powerful and mesmerizing as when it was first published. Richard Mitchley's reading is excellent and heightens listeners' enjoyment of Cooper's prose. His ease with Welsh pronunciation and the distinctive cadence of Welsh English adds greatly to the authenticity of the story's setting, which is an essential element of this book. He gives the characters distinctive voices without actually doing voices for each. Children not familiar with the earlier books in the series may find the basic premise a bit confusing since Will's status as an "old one" and the conflict between the light and the dark are not given much explanation.

Professional Review Reference:
Sherman, L. L. (2001). The grey king. School Library Journal, 47(10), 89. Retrieved from
http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/

Library Uses:    This would be a good book to teach plot and setting.  Another use would be for a book club to read.

Module 5 - Esperanza Rising

 Courtesy of wikipedia.com

Book Summary:   
This story is about a young girl who had everything one could wish for.  When her father dies, her life is turned upside down.  She and her mother have to flee to escape her uncles.  They have to leave her grandmother with nuns while they escape. Esperanza goes from living the rich life to living the life of a peasant.  She has to learn how to work and fend for herself.  Eventually they are able to bring her grandmother to live with them. She learns that some of the poorest people in life are in reality very rich simply because they have family and friends and are loved.

APA Reference:

Ryan, P. M. (2000). Esperanza rising. New York, NY: Scholastic.

My Impressions: 

This book did a good job of showing distinctions in class.  I also like how it started out with Esperanza being on top of the world and had to learn to live in a completely different lifestyle.  It shows how we should value what we have.  I really liked this book.

Professional Reviews:

Gr. 5-9- Thirteen-year-old Esperanza and her newly widowed mother are forced to leave their beautiful Rancho de las Rosas in Mexico to live and work in a migrant camp in the San Joaquin Valley during the Great Depression. This Pura Belpré Author Medal winner will give readers an unusual perspective on the difficulties of life in the 1930s.

Professional Review Reference:
Gonzalez, L. (2003). Esperanza rising. Book Links, 18(3), 38. Retrieved from www.ala.org/booklinks 

Library Uses:  This would be a good book to use when discussing different cultures.  It could also be used to show differences in economic classes.