Monster

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Monster

Myers, W. D. (1999). Monster. New York, NY: Harper Collins.

Age Level: 12 and up

Genre:  Multicultural

Summary: 
             This multicultural charm follows a 16 year old boy Steve Harmon as he sits trial for accomplice to murder. Told from his point-of-view and in a screen play format the reader is thrown into the courtroom as the trial unfolds. Will he get acquitted or will he spend the rest of his life in prison? What lessons did this young man learn from the decisions he made on that one unforgettable night of his life?

Reflection: 
             What an interesting book! Everything from the different font styles used, the photographs, the screen play format, to the journal entries shown as if they were hand written right onto the pages, made this book interesting.

The author uses type face print to show the reader when the screen play is being used and hand writing to show when journal entries are being used. There are also times when the author uses gigantic bold font to suggest emphasis. These text changes make the book easy to follow and intriguing to the eye.

There are several photographs included in the text. I like how they add a realistic touch to the already realistic dialogue. These photographs allow the reader to visualize the main character and the situations he was put in. We get to see pictures of his mother, his mugshots, and even surveillance pictures of his involvement with the crime. Pictured below are surveillance pictures.

 This book has a VERY powerful message or theme. 

*There are serious consequences for the decisions you make in life. 

What a powerful lesson to teach students. 

Test-to-Self Connections

Test Quote: “I’m just not a bad person. I know that in my heart I am not a bad person.”

This reminds me of... So many young people get hooked up with the wrong people and get put in situations they should not be in. This quote reminds me that we all have choices in life that we have to live with. It is our job as parents/teachers to steer our youth in the right direction in hopes that they never have to prove to anyone that they “are not a bad person.”

The Devil's Arithmetic

The Devil’s Arithmetic

Yolen, J. (1988). The devil's arithmetic. New York, NY: Viking Penguin

Age Level: 10 and up

Genre:  This is Modern Fantasy

 

Summary:

Hannah is tired of hearing her family speak about the Holocaust and her family’s involvement in it. During every Jewish holiday Hannah is forced to hear the same stories. She wonders why she must hear them. During Seder she is asked to open the door to welcome the prophet Elijah into the home (a tradition done at every Seder). When she opens the door she is transported to a different time and place. She is in Poland during the Holocaust. Her new experiences teach Hannah a lesson she will never forget. 

Reflection:

We must not forget the past. If we forget it, we may not learn from it. That was one of th4 most important lessons I learned from this novel.

I was immediately drawn to this book because I have a fascination with the Holocaust and Jewish history. I myself am not Jewish but have always been dumbfounded that something like the Holocaust could take place. The book itself starts very slowly and does not pick up steam until chapter 4. The earlier chapters set up the scene allowing the reader to feel Hannah’s boredom with the family’s stories. This becomes important towards the end of the book.

            The novel is categorized as modern fantasy because the main character’s time travel back in time. Because time travel does not exist, it is fantasy. Some might feel as though it is historical fiction because it deals with the Holocaust. However, the time travel aspect makes it fantasy.

            The story’s setting is integral because the story would not be the same in another setting. The story has to take place in concentration camps for it to make sense. The imagery the author use to describe the conditions of the concentration camp gave this novel emotion. I felt the pain Hannah was feeling.

            The Devil's Arithmetic would be great to use to introduce the concept of the Holocaust and the Jewish culture to students. It has just enough action to keep the reader’s attention. I enjoyed reading this novel!  

The House in the Night

The House in the Night

Swanson, S. M., & Krommes, B. (2008). The house in the night. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Company.

Age Level: 2 to 8

Genre:  This is a picture book.

Summary: The story follows a young child as light transcends out of the dark. In the lighted house appears a bed. On the bed lays a book. In the book is a bird which allows the child’s imagination to take flight through the night sky.

Reflection:

This patterned picture book for young children is full imagination. The illustrations take the reader on a journey through the night sky. It is a wonderful book to use for pre school aged children to identify all things associated with the night. It could also be used to teach patterns and sequencing. This book would be classified as a cumulative pattern book.

The artistic media used was scratchboard and watercolor.  These glowing illustrations were colored in black and yellow. The yellow was used to show light. 

The artistic style used is surrealistic due to the pictures of the child riding a bird out a window and into the night sky. 

The simplistic text makes it an easy read and a great bedtime story!

The Gettysburg Address

The Gettysburg Address

Lincoln, A., & McCurdy, M. (1995). The Gettysburg Address. Boston, Ma: Houghton Mifflin Company.

Age Level: 10 and up

Genre:  This is a picture book.

Summary: The infamous Gettysburg Address Abraham Lincoln gave during the conclusion of the battle at Gettysburg is illustrated smartly giving the reader a refreshing look at the events that took place during the Civil War. 

Reflection:

What a great way to introduce this infamous text to young students without creating confusion. The language and meaning of the text is difficult for a child to decode and understand. The illustrations in this book do exactly what they are supposed to do in a picture book: they support the text. Without the illustrations the book would not exist. They not only support the text, but help the reader decipher the meaning of the text. Michael McCurdy does an excellent job telling the story through pictures.

            The artistic media used was pen and ink and was drawn using only black ink.

The double spread book layout helps to give the illusion of the openness of the battlefields. 

            The Forward written by Gary Wills provides the reader with a general overview as to why Lincoln wrote and gave this speech. The afterword was written by the illustrator Michael McCurdy. He explains why he decided to illustrate this book and his passion for the Civil War. You can see his passion in the facial expression used in his artwork. 

           What a great way to introduce this address to young students!

 

Flotsam

Flotsam         

Wiesner, D. (2006). Flotsam. New York, NY: Clarion Books.

Age Level: 4 and up

Genre:  wordless picture book.

Summary:

The word “flotsam” can simply mean, floating objects. This wordless picture book starts with illustrations depicting a curious boy examining ocean life and other objects that have been washed up on the shore. He quickly discovers an antiquated camera that appears to have been in the ocean for years. After taking the film to be developed the boy discovers bizarre pictures of sea life and aliens in uncommon places. The film also reveals pictures of other children posing holding pictures taken of other children with the same camera. The boy leaves his mark by taking pictures of himself and then casts the camera back into the ocean to see what new adventures it takes on!

Refection:

While reading this wordless picture book I found myself narrating it in my head. The bright and vivid illustrations are sequenced in just the right way to keep the reader interested. Watercolor is the illustrator’s artistic means of choice and the artistic style appears to be realistic in the beginning...

and then surrealistic in the middle of the book with the inclusion of pictures of sea creatures in non realistic settings.

 The illustrator chose to change the color from vivid bright colors which show fantasy to black and white to show a change in time. The black and white colors are used to show the pictures of children that were taken in the distant past.

 

This Caldecott Medal Award winning book can be used with many different age groups. Being that it is wordless, pre readers would be able to enjoy this book. Having the students make up their own story to this book would be a great lesson.

The concept of perspective or point of view shown towards the end of the book (shown below) would make a great lesson for older students. This book would also serve as a great art lesson on perspective. I love how this book inspires me as a teacher! There are so many different things you can do with this book! 

The Three Pigs

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The Three Pigs

Wiesner, D. (2001). The three pigs. New York, NY: Clarion Books.

 

Age Level:  4 and up

Genre:  This is a picture book.

Summary: 

The Three Pigs is a picture book that views the traditional story of the Three Little Pigs from the pigs’ perspective. As each pig literally escapes the pages of the story they meet other storybook characters along the way. In the end a great feast is shared with all the characters in the pig’s brick house with the wolf seen through a window all alone.

The story starts off with no surprises. The traditional story is told and the illustrations seem to be done with colored pencil and watercolors. As you turn to page two and three the story takes a turn. As the wolf is blowing the straw house down the pig inside leaps out of the story and appears to be outside of the page. A chat bubble is used to show the reader what the pig is saying or thinking. He exclaims that the wolf “blew (him) right out of the story”. As each pig is introduced they join the other pigs “outside the story.”

 Then the pigs get out of control and start making paper airplanes out of the pages of the story and use them to fly to other traditional literature storybook tales. They meet Hey Diddle Diddle and a dragon. They join the pigs as they all go back to the brick house to have some soup!

Reflection: 

            When I fist came across this Caldecott award winning picture book I though to myself, “The story of the Three Little Pigs won an award? How could this over done story possibly be any different than the hundreds of others that are out there?” Well, David Wiesner definitely created a different take on the classic story.

            The composition of the story is what guides the reader. Without the illustrations, there would be no story. Each page frame was manipulated by the characters “outside the story”. Some pages were torn up, some were made into a a paper airplane, and some where wadded up. The imagery used to show the characters taking over the story was fantastic!It was very detailed and showed action.

The artistic means used in this book are drawings (colored pencil, colored ink, and pencil) and paintings (watercolor). When the pigs went to the land of Hey Diddle Diddle, the artistic style changed from realistic to cartoon. 

  

Again. without these beautiful illustrations, the book would not exist.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book because it took a traditional fairytale and surprised me with new unexpected elements. This book would be great to use to show students how you can take a story so familiar and use creativity to alter it just enough to give it surprise without changing the framework of the original work. The story of the Three Little Pigs was not lost in this book. It was twisted enough to get my attention but still communicated the traditional story line. I now understand why it won an award!

Zen Shorts

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Zen Shorts

Muth, J. J. (2005). Zen shorts. New York, NY: Scholastic Press.

Age Level:  4-8

Genre:  This is a picture book.

Summary:  

        Zen Shorts is a book is about a giant panda bear named Stillwater and three curious children. Stillwater moved to the same neighborhood as little Michael, Addy, and Karl and they quickly became friends. As the children visit Stillwater, he tells each of them a different Zen short.

Reflection:

 
       This picture book includes many wonderfully beautiful illustrations full of color and detail. The artistic media used is water color. Even though the brush strokes are visible, the illustrator was still able to make the paintings very life like or realistic. The pictures come to life and contribute to the story immensely. Without the illustrations, the meaning of the story would not possess as much of a feeling of calm as the illustrations give us.

    There are two different types of artistic media used. In the picture above many watercolors are used to give the reader a sense of reality with a little dream like feeling. The picture below shows the other type of artistic media used. There is a lot of negative space in these illustrations where the artist used only black ink on a solid color background. These two different styles are used to guide the reader as the two different stories are being told. 

      

 
            The colorful watercolor pages of the book are used to denote when Stillwater is interacting with the three children. The black and white pages are used to denote when Stillwater is telling the children a Zen short.

            As Stillwater encounters the children he tells each of them a different Zen short (a short meditation of the teachings of Buddha). These stories do not necessarily teach a moral or lesson, just an idea to ponder over. The Zen shorts are told in a kid friendly voice and allow for further discussion. This book would be great for open discussion in a classroom and teaching practical living content.

The way the author intertwined each story was clever and made the book flow nicely. The stories characterize Stillwater as peaceful, noble, and loveable. A great story book character!  

The combination of beautiful illustrations and language made this trade book a great easy read and worthy of a look. Even the adults can learn something from this fun loving bear.