The Lorax by Dr. Seuss

The Lorax is about how a person (the Once-ler) destroyed the Truffula Trees by over harvesting them. It all stemmed from greed. The Once-ler ignored the Lorax’s warnings about chopping down the trees for the Once-ler wasn’t only destroying the Truffula Trees; he was destroying the Brown Bar-ba-loots food supply. The pollution from the Once-ler’s factory was hurting the Swomee-Swans because of the smog in the air and the humming-fish because of the goo in the pond. This went on until all the Truffula Trees were gone. When the trees were gone, the factory closed. Dr. Seuss’ and the Lorax’s message was that people will continue to destroy our environments UNLESS someone cares an awful lot, enough to make a difference and stop the destruction.

The Lorax has become a lesson in conservation. This is because the story is about using a resource until there is nothing left. This book is typical Dr. Seuss with its made up words, rhyming, and sing-song lyrical flow. However, whether or not Dr. Seuss intended for The Lorax to become a plea to conserve our resources, which is exactly what happened. This book is one of the most popular when teaching our students about conservation and protecting our environments. This book is a didactic book because it teaches a lesson in conservation. It teaches that some resources will not replenish themselves once they are destroyed, so people have to take care of them. Some children’s books that teach conservation include Go Green with Me by Rececca Mattano and Kristen Collier, Two Islands by Ivan Gantschev, Mother Earth by Nancy Luenn, Old Turtle by Douglas Wood, and Wump World by Bill Peet.

The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss

The Cat in the Hat is about two children at home alone on a rainy day and they did not like it. Then a giant cat showed up who knew some good games, but everything the cat did turned into a mess. The cat brought in Thing 1 and Thing 2 to play more games, but the too made a mess of the house. It wasn’t until the fish saw the mom walking toward the house that things got straightened-up, which the cat also took care of.

The Cat in the Hat is a wonderful beginner book. It was the product of a challenge in which to use as many sight words as possible and to make the illustrations seem like a child’s imagination. In this story Dr. Seuss used 223 words from a list of 400 that his publisher provided for him. These words were sight words young readers were learning in school. Dr. Seuss stepped up to the challenge by creating a story with a whimsical tone while using childlike imaginative illustrations. This book still appeals to children because of its simplicity and parent influence. Since a lot of parents started their reading ability with The Cat in the Hat, they like to share this experience with their children. Also, the recent movie did not hurt either.

Many of Seuss’ beginner books illustrates the same tension as in The Cat in the Hat such as A Fly Went By and Ten Apples Up On Top. However, a contemporary book that has the tension similar to Dr. Seuss’ The Cat in the Hat would be No, I Want Daddy! by Nadine Brun-Cosme. In this book a family is out-of-balance because of over-tired parents and the way a child deals with it. Some books that teach right from wrong like The Cat in the Hat book includes If You Give a Mouse a Cookie (If you give… series) by Laua Joffe Numeroff, Corduroy by Don Freeman, The Little Engine That Could by Watty Piper, The Little Red Caboose by Marian Potter, Bambi by Felix Salten, and No, David! by David Shannon.

Journey Home by Yoshiko Uchida

This was a follow-up book to Journey to Topaz. Topaz was a concentration camp set up by the United States government during World War II. It was where the government sent all of the Japanese-Americans because they were thought to be enemies. They were even called alien-enemies.

The story was told by Yuki, a Japanese-American. Yuki and her parents were out of the concentration camp now, but many of her friends were still there. The one thing Yuki wanted most was to go home to California and back to her old life, but the Japanese were barred from the West Coast by law. She wanted her brother to come back from the war, he volunteered for service when they were in the concentration camp. He was somewhere in Italy fighting for the United States. Finally, Yuki and her family were able to go home to Berkeley, California, but not to there old house or their old life. There lives had changed forever. Yuki was witness to many injustices toward her family just because they were Japanese, but not from everyone. Yuki and her family never gave up hope that their lives would be better, but it would never be the same.

Other works by Yoshiko Uchida include The Best Bad Thing, Tears of Autumn, The Wise Old Woman, Sumi’s Prize, The Birthday Visitor, Two Foolish Cats, Magic Purse, Invisible Thread, The Bracelet, The Forever Christmas Tree, and A Jar of Dreams.

Horton Hears a Who by Dr. Seuss

Book vs. movie 3 of 3

This story is one of Dr. Seuss’ masterpieces. It is about an elephant, Horton who hears a Who. Horton is the only one who can here the Who because elephants have very keen hearing. A Who is a very small person, and they live on a speck. The book uses rhyme, just like all of Dr. Seuss’ books to convey its message. In this case the message is that everyone is important, no matter who you are, how small you are, or how big you are. Horton keeps saying, “A person’s a person, no matter how small.”
There are many similarities and differences between the movie and the book. In both the book and the movie, Horton is a very likeable character. However in the movie he is funny and a little carefree. The movie gave some background information on where the speck (Whoville) came from and the book did not. The movie focused more on Whoville than the book did, and the movie had more characters than the book. There was more jungle animals involved in the movie. There was even an evil twist in the movie; this was when Mrs. Kangaroo went to Mr. Vladikoff to get his help with getting the speck (now on a clover) away from Horton. This scene was made to be scaring in the movie, where in the book it was the monkeys who took the clover away from Horton and gave it to Mr. Vladikoff. In both the book and the movie, Mr. Vladikoff drops the clover in a field of clovers and Horton searches for it until he finds the right one on the three millionth one. All throughout the book, the little kangaroo would agree with his mother, but in the movie, you can tell the little kangaroo wants to join Horton. At the end of the book everyone is joyful because they can hear the Whos, but at the end of the movie when everyone hears the Whos, Mrs. Kangaroo is very unhappy because she was wrong.
I liked this book because of its simple message and Horton’s very likeable character and perseverance. For the most part, I liked the movie. However, there were many parts of the movie that I thought were boring. Of course, the movie was a feature film; it had to have more excitement, more explanation, and more scenes to make it long enough for a feature film. The thing I like the most about the film was that it kept the same message as the book, “A person is a person, no matter how small.”

Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak

Book vs. movie 2 of 3


This book is a fantasy story intended for ages 3 – 7 and evokes ones imagination. The illustrations are superb and help to visualize the story perfectly. It is a very easy read and a very likable book. The story flows as a young child’s imagination would; going from one thing straight to another. It is very easy to believe that Max was ready for an adventure, even if he had to make it up himself. The wild things are intended to be scary, but they really are not. They are basically a distortion of what a child would imagine, which is how a lot of people dream.

However, the movie is quit different. Max is a very lonely, defiant, and angry child. His anger comes out several times throughout the movie. In the movie Max runs away, but in the book he is sent to his room. In both, this is when he goes to the wild things island. In both the book and the movie Max becomes king. However in the book Max plays and has fun with the monsters, while in the movie Max tries to control the monsters. The monsters are not all the scary in the movie. They do show a lot of emotions. In the movie Max and the monsters build a fort. This is not part of the book. There is also a lot of sadness in the movie that is not in the book. This movie is rated PG which is not the ages the book is intended. This movie would not keep a young child’s attention and it was a little long and drawn out. However, the young adults seem to like it, basically because of all the action.

How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell

Book vs. movie 1 of 3

This book would be a great read for boys because it was about boys doing what boys do best, getting into mischief. The movie was also about boys being boys and getting into mischief. Both the book and the movie wrapped the story around the main character, Billy eating worms because of a bet, and both are about friendships. However, this was where the similarities end.

The movie started out as Billy being the new kid at school and being bullied by Joe. In the book school was not an issue and Billy and Joe were already friends. In the movie, the bet was ten worms in one day between Billy and Joe with the loser putting worms in his pants and walking down the hall at school. In the book, the bet was fifteen worms in fifteen days between Billy and Alan with Alan paying Billy $50 if he eats all of the worms. In the movie, the boys fixed the worms in a variety of ways, but in the book, all the worms were fried or boiled. In the movie, the boys got into mischief when they were trying to get the worms cooked, but in the book, the mischief was between the boys. In the book the boys complained about cheating, they argued, and fought. In the book, the only time cheating was mentioned was at the end when Joe threw the last worm in the river to keep Billy from getting it in time. In the book, there were no girls mentioned except for the boys’ mothers, however in the movie, a girl was the first person to become friends with Billy and helps him out all throughout the movie. In the book, Billy was the only person to eat a worm, but in the movie, Adam almost eats one and the principle of their school eats one in an omelet.

The movie used humor to communicate its message and it ended with Billy and Joe becoming friends. This was one of those movies you walked away from with a warm fuzzy feeling. The book ended with Billy getting his mini-bike and Joe working off the $50 bet at his father’s store. In both the movie the boys became friends and in the book the boys reestablish their friendship. I liked the movie better because he focused on more than just eating worms.

Sam and the Tigers by Julius Lester

Sam and the Tigers is about a place where the animals and the people work together, and all the people were named Sam. The little boy Sam, his mom Sam, and his Dad Sam went to the marketplace to buy some new clothes for the first day of school. Sam bought a red jacket from Mr. Elephant, purple pants from Mrs. Monkey, a yellow shirt from Miss Cat, silver shoes from Mr. Giraffe, and a green umbrella from Brer Rabbit. On Sam’s way to school he met a tiger who was going to eat him until Sam offered the tiger his red jacket. The tiger thought he was so fine, he left Sam alone. Then another tiger came, and another and another until Sam had given all of his new clothes away, even the umbrella. There were five tigers in all and each was the finest. The five tigers got to fighting over which one was the finest, so they took Sam’s clothes off and grabbed each others tails. The five tigers chased each other around a tree, while Sam put the clothes back on. The tigers chased each other in a circle so fast, they melted into butter. That night Sam, his family, and their neighbors had pancakes with tiger butter. This story reminded me of bullying because the tigers threatened Sam and took his clothes. However, in the long run bullies never truly win and neither did the tigers. This book was also illustrated by Jerry Pickney who brings a story to life through his pictures.

Other works by Julius Lester include The Scrambled States of America and More Stories to Celebrate Our Country, Long Journey home/Stories from Black History, To Be a Slave, John Henry, and Day of Tears.

Angelfish by Laurence Yep

Angelfish is about a young girl, Robin who is a ballet dancer and half Chinese. Robin accidentally breaks the plate-glass window of a fish store called Dragon Palace. The store keeper, a Chinese man named Mr. Tsow wanted Robin to pay for the window, so Robin ended up working in the store. The job was not difficult, but dealing with Mr. Tsow was. He was mean, insulting, and hateful, but Robin was curious about him. She wanted to know how he knew about dancing and why he was so angry. She learned Mr. Tsow was a famous ballet dancer back in China. She also learned more about her Chinese heritage. She learned about the Red Guard and the Cultural Revolution that took place during the Communist Revolution under Mao Tse-tung. She found out that the people of China rebelled against the government and hurt anyone who was treated as upper class. She also learned that they cut-off some of Mr. Tsow’s toes during his reeducation so he could never dance again. She now understood why Mr. Tsow was so mean and disliked dancers so much. She understood why he preferred fish to people. However, just like in the Beauty and the Beast story they were doing in the recital, Robin got through to Mr. Tsow (now Mr. Cao, his name when he was in China). Robin got through his protective shield and convinced him that he needed to share his talents with others or the Red Guard would continue to win. Mr. Cao helped with the recital by doing the backdrop and costume designs. However, Mr. Cao’s brother, who owned the fish store, found out and reminded Mr. Cao that he had a debt to repay to his family. It was because of Mr. Cao being a dancer in China that the whole family was punished. Mr. Cao had to do what his brother said to repay him for all that was lost in China. When Robin’s teacher had an accident, Mr. Cao left his brother’s store and took over the practices and the production of the recital because Mr. Cao wanted to repay his debt to his other family, his teachers and fellow students. Through the course of the story Mr. Cao changed from the Beast to a wonderful man who loved the arts and angelfish.

This was a very delightful book about Asian Americans, character and values, and friendship. I was very surprised by how quickly I was hooked when I started reading this book. The problems and solutions that the main character, Robin had are some of the same problems and solutions our young people face today. Also, learning about ones heritage is important to understand how and why our personalities have been shaped. Our personalities are shaped by our ancestors because of how they were treated and how they treat the people around them.

Other works by Laurence Yep include The Dragon’s Child: A Story of Angel Island, the Junior Thunder Lord, When the Circus Came to Town, Ribbons, and Bravo Mia!.

The Talking Eggs by Robert D. San Souci

Illustrated by Jerry Pinkney

The Talking Eggs is about a little girl (Blanche) who works all the time for her mother and sister. She is a sweet and kind little girl, where her mother and sister were cross and mean. They treated Blanche very cruelly. One day Blanche met an old woman by the well. When Blanche ran away from the cruelty of her mother and sister, she met the old woman in the woods. The woman took Blanche to her farm deep in the woods, but warned her to not laugh at anything she saw. The farm and the woman were strange. The cow had two heads and corkscrew horns; the chickens had one or more legs and sounded like mockingbirds; the woman took her head off to comb and fix her hair; and the rabbits were dressed in human clothing and danced to banjo music played by one of the rabbits. Before Blanche left the old lady’s farm, she went to the chicken house to get eggs. She was to only take the ones that said “take me”. These eggs were going to make Blanche’s life better. She was to drop the eggs over her left shoulder before she reached her home. When she did this, things started to appear. Things like diamonds and rubies, gold and silver coins, silk dresses and satin shoes, and a handsome carriage and a pony. That night Blanche’s mother sent her sister, Rose to find the old woman to get some talking eggs and some riches of her own. Her mother planned to take Blanche’s things and her and Rose would go to the city and be grand ladies. Rose found the old lady, but Rose laughed at everything on the farm. Rose was even nasty to the old woman. When Rose was sent to the chicken house to gather only the eggs that said “take me”, she took the ones that said “don’t take me” because they were so beautiful. However, inside the beautiful eggs were snakes, toads, frogs, yellow jackets, and a big wolf. These creatures chased Rose and her mother into the woods. When they returned to their home, Blanche was gone. She went to the city to be a grand lady. This book reminded me of Cinderella and gives the message that kindness to others will be richly repaid. The illustrations in this book are wonderful and enhance the story with a perfect visual image of the story. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes to fantasize or who loves Cinderella stories.

Other books illustrated by Jerry Pickney include:
Rikki-tikki-tavi (authored)
The Ugly Duckling (authored)
Noah’s Ark (authored)
The Sunday Outing
Aesop’s Fables
The Jungle Book: The Mowgly Stories

Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis

Corretta Scott King Award

Elijah is an eleven year old boy who lives in Buxton, Canada. This story was set during the time of slavery and Buxton was a settlement of runaway slaves and of freedom. Elijah is the son of two slaves who made it to freedom, and is the first child in the settlement to be born free. Elijah is considered “fra-gile” by his mother and others in the community. Elijah is concerned he will always be fragile until he is forced to go with Mr. Leroy to America to find the preacher because the preacher stole Mr. Leroy’s money. Mr. Leroy saved the money to buy his family out of slavery and he gave it to the preacher to purchase Mr. Leroy’s family. The problem with going with Mr. Leroy was that Mr. Leroy died before they could find the preacher. Elijah had to decide on his own what to do, find the preacher or go back to Buxton on his own. He decided to find the preacher, but the preacher was already dead. Elijah also found some run away slaves chained-up and decided to save them. The only one he was able to save was the baby, Hope. This book is a coming-of-age book in which the main character, Elijah is confronted with some harsh realities. He faces deceit, the meaning of freedom, the cruelness of others, greed, revenge, and death. This book is an historical fiction book about hope and freedom. Elijah of Buxton is a wonderful, believable book that gives the reader some insight of how difficult it was to grow up and deal with the challenges of life. Many of the aspects of this book are timeless and can be related to our world today by many of our youth.

Caldecott and Newbery Awards

These two awards are sponsored by the Association for Library Service for Children which is a division of the American Library Association. The main difference in the two awards is that the Caldecott Award is given to the illustrator of the most distinguished picture book for children published in the United States, and the Newbery Award is given to the author of the most distinguished contribution to children’s literature published in the United States. Both awards are awarded to only United States’ citizens or residents of the United States. The Newbery Award was named after the English bookseller, John Newbery in the 18th century and the Caldecott Award was named after the English illustrator, Randolph Caldecott in the 19th century.

I believe both awards are equally important because they both honor the children’s books that have made a distinguished contribution. When a Caldecott Award is given, it is for a picture book that has been published in the previous year. A picture book is defined as one that provides the child with a visual experience of the story-line or theme. In some picture books, text is not even needed. When a Newbery Award is given, it is solely for the text of a book that has been published in the previous year. The intended audience of a Newbery Award book is a child of any age through age 14. These books play an important role in the social, psychic, and academic development of our children. Many adults enjoy these books also. I am one of them.

Resource:
American Library Association. (2010). ALSC awards & grants. Association for Library Service for Children, Chicago, Illinois. Retrieved from
http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/alsc/awardsgrants/index.cfm

Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo

Newbery Award/Honor 2 of 2

Because of Winn-Dixie is about a ten year old girl (Opal) who adopts a stray dog. She names the dog Winn-Dixie because that was the first thing she thought of when she was confronted by the store manager. The Winn-Dixie store manager confronted Opal about the dog because the dog was running all over the store, and Opal claimed the dog was hers. The dog immediately won Opal over because he smiled at her showing all of his teeth and waging his tail. Winn-Dixie convinced Opal’s dad, the preacher to let him stay by being affectionate and smiling at him. It was thanks to Winn-Dixie that Opal finally started making friends in her new home of Naomi, Florida. Opal was so lonely, that she missed her mom terribly whom she had not seen since she was three years old. Winn-Dixie paved the way for Opal and her father to work through their sorrow and become closer. Winn-Dixie also paved the way for Opal to become friends with the librarian, Franny Block; the old blind lady, Gloria Dump; the ex-con; Otis, Sweetie Pie Thomas, a little girl; Stevie Dewberry, a boy Opal’s age; and Amanda, a girl Opal’s age. This book teaches about loneliness, friendship, and acceptance. Each one of Opal’s new friends had faced some kind of sorrow which lead to their loneliness. Once Opal accepted each one of them, they all became friends. This story is an easy read and a wonderful feel good book. It makes you fall in love with Winn-Dixie and to cheer for the characters when they all come together.

Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis

Newbery Award/Honor 1 of 2

Bud, Not Buddy is about Bud trying to find his father. The setting for this story was during the Great Depression in Flint and Grand Rapids, Michigan. The Great Depression was a time when many children were left at orphanages or left to fend for themselves because their parents could not feed them. This was a time when there were soup kitchens called missions set up to feed the many starving people; when shantytowns called Hoovervilles were popping up everywhere; and people helped each other when they were able. When Bud’s mother died, Bud went to stay at an orphanage (the Home). From the Home Bud went into foster care. When he was beaten up by his foster brother and locked in a shed by his foster parents, he escaped and ran away. This is when Bud decided to act on the idea of finding his father. The road to finding his father took Bud to the mission for free food, to the library for help, to Flint’s Hooverville to hop a train to the west, to walking from Flint to Grand Rapids, and finally to meeting Lefty Lewis and getting a ride to where he could find Herman E. Calloway. This is where and when Bud became a member of Herman E. Calloway’s band and found out that this old man was his grandfather. I liked the historical aspect of this book. It gave some insight of how some people survived during the Great Depression. It was simple to read and easy to understand. Reading this story made it easy to visualize what the Great Depression was like and what Bud went through to find where he belonged. Another great book by Christopher Paul Curits is The Watsons Go to Birmingham – 1963.

Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! By Mo Williams

Caldecott Awards/Honors 5 of 5

Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus is a very simple read about following directions. The bus driver gives the instruction to not let the pigeon drive the bus. The pigeon does everything a child would do to get his way, including throwing a tantrum. The pigeon does not get his way and the bus driver is very pleased when he comes back. The illustrations are very simplistic which is exactly what the story needed. The story as well as the message is also very simple. I found myself wondering what would happen if the pigeon did drive the bus. I also identified many of the tactics the pigeon used as tactics my children have used on me to get their way. Sometimes they worked and sometimes they did not work.

The House in the Night by Susan Marie Swanson

Caldecott Awards/Honors 4 of 5

The House in the Night reads like a nursery rhyme or a poem. This book was written to promote comfort between light and darkness (day and night). It reassures the reader that everything is connected and is only part of a larger picture. In this case the universe is the larger picture. Illustrations are done in black and white with some yellow to enhance specific items. These items were meant to comfort the reader. I liked this book, but I think the same message could have been portrayed with more color in the pictures. The First Thing My Mama Told Me is another book by Susan Marie Swanson that is written on the same order as this one.

My Friend Rabbit by Eric Rohmann

Caldecott Awards/Honors 3 of 5

My Friend Rabbit is a picture book that relates the message of friendship. Friendships can happen between any two people and sometimes you may not even know why you are friends. In this story Rabbit is Mouse’s best friend and trouble always follows Rabbit. The toy airplane Rabbit and Mouse are playing with gets stuck in a tree. Rabbit gets the idea of staking the other animals on top of each other so they can reach the plane. Just when mouse reaches the plane, the stack of animals fall and they are not happy. This does not stop Mouse and Rabbit from being friends. The illustrations in this book play an important part because the author uses pictures instead of words to tell the story. In children’s literature pictures can be just as important as text and in some cases even more important. Usually the pictures are the reason young readers get hooked on a book before they ever look at the text. This is one of those books that can get you hooked on reading because of its illustrations.

The Hello, Goodbye Window by Norton Juster

Caldecott Awards/Honors 2 of 5

The Hello, Goodbye Window is an easy read for young readers. This book takes place at Nanna and Poppy’s, the grandparents’ house of a little girl. Her experiences at her grandparents’ house are very special. The window in the kitchen is a very special window for this little girl because it is the first place she sees her grandparents when she goes to visit, and it is the last place when see leaves. The window is where they greet the day and say goodnight to the stars. The window is where they watch for visitors or talk to their own reflections. On the outside of the window is the garden and backyard where the little girl plays and helps to work; and on the inside of the window is the kitchen where the little girl gets hugs and kisses and can always find her grandparents. This story tells of many happy memories the little girl has of her grandparents that most people can relate to their own lives. The illustrations are very colorful and childlike, which is a very appealing touch to the story. This book reminded me of visiting my grandparents on the farm and the wonderful things we discovered every time we went to visit. Sourpuss and Sweetie Pie is another book by Norton Juster about going to Nanna and Poppy’s house.

The Stray Dog by Marc Simont

Caldecott Awards/Honors 1 of 5

The Stray Dog is an easy read for young readers. It is about a dog that does not have a home or a family until one day when he meets a family who was having a picnic. The little stray dog made such an impression on the family they could not stop thinking about him. The family went back to the spot where they found the little dog, but the little dog was in trouble with the dog catcher. This is when the stray dog found a home and a family. This book is a feel good book. I found myself hoping the family would go back and find the little dog. The illustrations were so good they could tell the story without the text. I like the fact that in children’s literature (especially K-3) the illustrations enhance the story which gives the readers a visual for the words they are learning.