Pig on the Titanic

"A True Story!" proclaims the cover. But a pig on the Titanic? Really? Yes! This book retells the story of a music box pig named Maxixe who goes with Miss Edith aboard the Titanic. Maxixe cheerily recalls his adventures on the Titanic in first person. He accompanies Miss Edith everywhere, playing the Maxixe , a popular French dance of the era, whenever she twisted his tail. Then, one fateful night, the Titanic strikes an iceberg, and Miss Edith flees the rising water in her stateroom. She doesn't forget Maxixe though, because he is her good luck charm. Miss Edith wraps him in a blanket, tucks him under her arm and runs for the deck. She tries to let other people like children and mothers with babies get into the lifeboats before her, but when a sailor mistakes Maxixe for a baby and tosses him into a lifeboat, she has no choice but to jump in after him. 

Once in the boat, Miss Edith realizes that it was truly fortuitous that out of everything in her stateroom, she brought Maxixe with her out onto the deck. Her lifeboat is filled with children, many of whose parents never made it off the Titanic, and Maxixe, though damaged from the fall into the boat, happily plays music for hours, distracting the children from the mayhem around them.


The illustrations in this book were so clear and realistic that they resembled photographs. I just loved the detail and yet simplicity of them. The illustrations also took full advantage of the storyline, showing readers through the Titanic from a stateroom to the famed grand staircase to the exterior to the different levels of the doomed ship, all from the perspective of Maxixe.

As the author's note at the end informed me, the story is true. There actually was a musical pig carried on board the Titanic by a famous French clothing designer named Edith, and yes, a crew member did mistake the little pig for a baby and throw it into a lifeboat as it was being lowered over the edge into the water, and yes, the musical pig did play for the children in the lifeboat as they waited for rescue.

I think that this book would be a unique way to extend the story of the Titanic and even to use in a Read Write Think Aloud lesson for younger students because they could imagine themselves as a treasured object that was rescued from the Titanic and write a first person memoir about it. 


So where is Maxixe now? And does he still play his little song? That's for you to read and find out!

Oui! Oui! 
Ooooh La La! 
Oink! Oink!

What Kinds of Seeds Are These?

I loved the illustrations in this book. They were simple and clean, with many of them being full bleeds. I also thought it was cute that there were children on many of the pages exploring the seeds and plants. I liked the idea that the book was written in both rhyme and prose. The pages with the rhyme gave hints about the type of seed and were catchy and cute with fun words like "wif-whuffle" and "tuft" and "trekkers". The rhyming pages also had illustrations showing children or an animal playing in the plant whose seeds were being rhymed about. Opposite the pages of rhyme were pages that depicted the seed and asked the question, "What kind of seed is this?" followed by the answer to the question.

However, I took issue with how this book presented several of the seeds. Some of the seeds had clear illustrations on the non-rhyme page of the seed discussed in the rhyme. The acorn and the dandelion each even had two full-bleed pages apiece! At the same time, though, several of the "seeds" were actually pictures of the plants from which they came. For example, the page about coconuts showed a full palm tree, and the page about Red and Silver Maple Tree seeds showed the trees, not the seeds. In addition, sometimes, the rhymes were totally unrelated to the question and answer on the opposite side. On one set of pages, the rhyme was:

"Wedged like peas in a pod or sardines in a tin,
these seeds are contained in canoe-style skins.
When the skin gets too tight, little seeds get a squeeze - 
they pop from their pod like a miniature sneeze!"

and the illustration on the rhyming page was of a pea pod. However, the picture on the opposite page was of purple flowers, and the answer to the question "What kind of seed is this?" was "a violet seed". Huh? For the young readers who are still learning about prediction and organization of books, this would be confusing! I also wished that the answer to the "What kind of seed is this?" question were complete sentences just because I didn't want to confuse young readers about what a sentence is.

Biggest, Strongest, Fastest

Steve Jenkins' Biggest, Strongest, Fastest was a fantastic introduction to animals. I was a bit worried because the first page has almost a paragraph of text on it, but that was the only one. It was just introducing the fact that the book was about animal record holders. The rest of the pages each had at least two-page spread dedicated to an animal who was the biggest, strongest, or fastest at something. There was the giraffe, the tallest animal in the world; the blue whale, which is the biggest animal that has ever lived; the flea, the world's best jumper; the sun jellyfish, the world's longest animal, and many more. 

The organization of the book itself was very conducive to learning. Teachers could read this aloud to their students quite easily to introduce a science lesson, but it would be even better if it was read one-on-one together with a student. On each animal's page was a basic sentence about the animal, an illustration, and a more complex sentence with diagram to explain further. For instance, the page about the bee hummingbird said, "The smallest bird is the bee hummingbird" in large font. Near the bottom of the page in smaller font it read, "The bee hummingbird is an acrobatic flier that is only 3 inches long. It weighs 1/30 of an ounce - less than a dime." Next to the descriptive sentence was the outline of a human hand and the outline of the hummingbird for the sake of size comparison.

Each animal was depicted by a charming cut paper illustration that was strikingly realistic, especially considering the medium. At one point, I literally ripped my hand away from the page because I had become distracted while turning the page and thought that there was actually a giant spider sitting there. No worries - there was no spider. The illustrations truly made this book. Not only were they realistic, but they also reinforced the concepts about big, strong, and fast that were being taught. I could envision this book fitting well into a science or reading curriculum and would recommend reading it even if it's just to marvel at the illustrations...but watch out for the bird spider!

So You Want to Be President?

An illustrated history of the United States Presidency, this book seems like it should be boring and dry, but it was far from it. This book kept me laughing from the first page to the last. At the same time, however, it was also highly informative. I learned about the requirements to serve as President, the responsibilities of the office of President, and facts about each President. For instance, did you know that John Quincy Adams went skinny dipping every morning? And that a determined reporter once stole all of his clothes and refused to return them until he allowed her to interview him? 

The author also did a particularly good job of gearing the book towards children. One of my favorite lines was: "The President doesn't have to eat yucky vegetables. As a boy, George Bush had to eat broccoli. When George Bush grew up, he became President. That was the end of the broccoli!" (St. George, p. 9). I also loved how she emphasized that all different types of people with varying interests, talents, and backgrounds had been the President. She ended the book by encouraging her readers in this way: "That's the bottom line. Tall, short, fat, thin, talkative, quiet, vain, humble, lawyer, teacher, or soldier [following the Presidential Oath] is what most of our Presidents have tried to do, each in his own way. Some succeeded. Some failed. If you want to be President - a good President - pattern yourself after the best" (St. George, 47).

The illustrations enhanced the text incredibly well, hence the 2000 Caldecott Medal. In their casual, hilarious political cartoon style, they brought life to the words on the page, making me laugh even more. I loved the exaggerated expressions on the cartoonish faces of the Presidents, the hilarious antics in which they were involved when the illustrator portrayed them, and the surprising accuracy they had. There was even a glossary at the back of the book listing all of the pages and what Presidents were pictured on them.

Though this book is now slightly out of date, (although, apparently an updated edition has recently been released) as it says that there has never been a President of color, it is still a very clever way to teach students about the history of the Presidency, our past Presidents, and the requirements of the office of the President!

(P.S. I know that I already posted this post, but I am re-posting it because it is a nonfiction picture book!)

How Big Were the Dinosaurs? GIGANTIC!

This picture book by Patrick O'Brien looked very promising as I pulled it out of the plethora of other dinosaur books, but in the end I came away with mixed feelings. I liked that each dinosaur was the "star" of its own page and had a translation of its name underneath. I also liked that each dinosaur was pictured next to a familiar object such as a car, bulldozer, or other animals to help give readers perspective on the size of the dinosaur. For example, the Compsognathus dinosaur's name means "delicate jaw" and is featured next to a mommy duck and her ducklings for size comparison. I loved that there was a list of the dinosaurs at the end with pronunciation guides for their names as well as explanations about them.  I also thought that it was a great idea to narrow down the focus of the book to just the size of dinosaurs. In this way, young readers could bring their attention to a single attribute of dinosaurs while they were reading or being read aloud to.

At the same time, however, there were aspects of the book that I did not like as much. To begin with, I wished that the pronunciations had been underneath the dinosaur names instead of at the back. Because they were in the back, had I been trying to read this aloud I would have either had to practice it repeatedly or flip back and forth between the pronunciation guide and the page of the unpronounceable dinosaur. Would you be able to read quezalcoatlus or phobosuchus without help? I think not! I also did not like the way that some of the dinosaurs were featured next to objects that students sometimes think may have existed with dinosaurs, thus furthering their misconceptions. Specifically, there is a picture of a Triceratops lancing a fully-armored knight seated on a horse and ready to joust. There is also a picture of an elasmosaurus (imagine a Lochness monster) getting ready to eat a Viking ship. Students who would be reading a book like this may already think that there really were dinosaurs during the time of the Vikings or the time of King Arthur, and they do not need those ideas perpetuated.

In the end, though, How Big Were the Dinosaurs? GIGANTIC could be a fun addition to a collection of dinosaur books, books about size/comparing, or non-fiction picture books. 

Prairie Girl: The Life of Laura Ingalls Wilder

As a child, I was absolutely enamored with Laura Ingalls Wilder. Not only did I read and reread all of her books, but I also read the books about her mother, her grandmother, her great-grandmother, and her daughter. I had a dress with a hoopskirt and several bonnets for different occasions, just like I imagined she would wear, a covered wagon nightlight that I bought myself because it reminded me of her, and a book of sewing patterns so I could make aprons and dolls like hers. When I was eleven years old, my grandmother took me on the ultimate road trip - to see her house in Mansfield, Missouri. I remember that it was amazing and yet almost sad because it was as though I had destroyed a dream. She became a real person for me when I saw her house, not the hero I had built her up to be. It was not until years later after having read her official biography that I appreciated how much she had meant to me during my childhood in spite of the fact that she was different than my imagination had led me to believe. 

So, naturally, when went looking for a biography to read, guess whose I chose? Laura Ingalls Wilder! I have already read the adult version of her biography Laura Ingalls Wilder: A Biography, but I was curious to read a version whose intended audience is the same age as that of her books. Prairie Girl: The Life of Laura Ingalls Wilder is written by the same author as the adult biography - William Anderson - a historian, a specialist on Laura's life,  and a director at The Laura Ingalls Wilder Home and Museum. Because it was written by Anderson, I was confident in the authenticity of it, unlike some of the other cheesy biographical options about her located nearby on the library shelf.


Overall, I enjoyed the simplified version of her biography. Not only did it cover important events in Laura's life, but it was written in language that a child reading her books would be accustomed to. It was also organized in a way that any reader of her books would recognize, with chapter titles resembling that of the books I loved so much. I also appreciated that Anderson included expressions and phrases that I remembered from the books, and I am sure other readers would as well. For example when describing Laura, he said, "[Laura] was so short that Pa called her half-pint. He said she was like a pint of cider, half drunk up (11). 

Aside from just describing the events in Laura's life, Anderson also did a fantastic job portraying the real people in Laura's life and comparing them to the books. Many of them shared recognizable characteristics, and as such brought a smile to my face. Mary was portrayed as the perfect daughter, Laura as the tomboy, Pa as the hardworking farmer, etc. just as they were in the book series. 


Another aspect about the book that I greatly enjoyed was the fact that it interwove throughout it how Laura always loved writing and only came to be a professional writer late in life with encouragement from her daughter. There were poems she had written as a child included, mentions of the journals she kept, descriptions of her teaching career, and remarks about how much she enjoyed school as a child. I think that this would encourage students to do what they love because it could eventually become their career!

My only criticism is that the biography sort of lets children in on the secret that Laura didn't always tell the whole truth when she wrote her books. It was only through the biography, in fact, that I found out that she fabricated the order of events in some of her books to make it flow better and left out years of her life because they didn't fit correctly. This was the one thing that I hard the hardest time coming to terms with, and for all those other obsessed little readers out there, I worry about destroying their dream too early. Is that silly?

A Wrinkle in Time

I desperately wanted to like this book. It's a Newberry winner. It won a Sequoyah Book Award and  Lewis Carroll Shelf award and was a runner-up for the Hans Christian Andersen Award. It's a classic. But I just did not. Before reading this book, I think that I had always recognized, at least subconsciously, that there was a distinction between science fiction and fantasy, but I had never considered it closely. This book made it very clear to me that the two are quite different. 

I like fantasy. I am an avid Harry Potter fan, and before that, I loved the Chronicles of Narnia as well as animal fantasy books like Stuart Little and Charlotte's Web. However, the main problem for me with science fiction books is the fact that they contain stories that are allegedly possible. The idea is that sometime in the past (or future), the events of the book could have actually happened if the scientific knowledge had developed adequately, whereas with fantasy, it is evident from the start that none of the events ever could have happened or ever will happen.  Because of this, I am able to overlook inconsistencies with the world as I know it in fantasy books, something I am not able to do when reading science fiction books. 


With A Wrinkle in Time I could not get beyond the incredulity of the events to allow my imagination to run free. I was constantly hung up on details such as the three witches who are actually fallen stars who are actually centaurs who are actually nothing at all or the magical creatures that are like octopi but have no faces and smell wonderful. Ahhhhhh! What??

Truthfully, despite my best efforts to maintain neutrality about it being a science fiction novel, this book rubbed me the wrong way right from the start. I found that the author took too long to describe things that I thought were integral to the story, causing me to read faster and more agitatedly than I normally would in an attempt to have my questions answered. For example, the concept of a "tesseract" is introduced in chapter one but is not explained until chapter five, despite being mentioned frequently in the interceding chapters. At other times, the author never explains things at all. Specifically, there is a little boy named Charles Wallace who has an uncanny ability to understand others, almost such that it seems he reads minds. However, even at the end of the book, I was left entirely perplexed as to why he was like this. Was he a special type of human? Was he magical? Was he some non-human entity? Had his scientist parents given him a special concoction as a baby?

Besides confusing, I also found the main characters very one-dimensional. Meg, the protagonist, is completely obsessed with finding her father and literally mentions it on almost every page (No exaggeration here. See pages 116-125 of chapters 6 and 7 for proof). Her friend Calvin never seems to do anything but hold Meg's hand when she is scared and impress everyone with his basketball skills.

In the end, my apologies to all science fiction fans, but I just would not recommend this book. Not only did I find it bizarre, but even as a piece of literature, it was not written for any particular age group. The vocabulary (e.g. ephemeral, aberration, propitious), difficult scientific concepts (e.g. the dimensions, chemistry, atomic structure), and allusions to classic literature (e.g. Shakespeare, the Bible) would suggest that the book is most appropriate for a middle school audience. However, the very basic plot structure and one-dimensional characters would suggest that the book is most appropriate for a younger audience. I think this is why I simultaneously raced through it and was boggled by it, and I think that readers would be too.

The Green Glass Sea

I don't truthfully remember the last time that I was so enraptured by a book that I grew disappointed whenever I had to set it down. Ellen Klages' The Green Glass Sea did just this for me. 

Set in the early to mid 1940s, her historical fiction novel traces the story of the then top-secret Manhattan Project from a unique perspective - that of the children of the scientists. She brilliantly plays with points of view, using third person limited and switching between two different girls, Dewey and Suze, who eventually come to have a lot more in common than just living together in the secret town of Los Alamos. In doing this, the story becomes much more intimate than most perspectives on the Manhattan Project. Readers hear about how challenging it was to live in a place that did not really exist, how lonely it was to have parents whose important work kept them from their children, how depressing it was to live in a place that was mostly desert, and how difficult it was to keep everything secret.

This personal viewpoint also meant that the event that would traditionally be considered the culmination of the Manhattan Project - the bombing of Hiroshima - is mentioned only in passing on the last page of the novel. The climax of the book (which I will not give away) is a much more personal event for the main characters of the story, and I loved that about it.

I also loved the non-traditional perspective on scientists that The Green Glass Sea offered. To begin with, it defeated the stereotypes of scientists as people who wear white coats, have crazy hair and glasses, and live in their labs. At one point, Dewey explicitly notices this while she is sitting in the dining hall at Los Alamos reading a comic book. "[Dewey] had just gotten to the part where Wonder Woman found the hideout of the bad guy, a Nazi mad scientist who was going to blow up the world. You knew he was a scientist because he wore a long white coat and had a pointy beard and thick glasses. She looked around the room and thought about that. Just about everyone she could see, every man at least, was some kind of scientist in real life. But nobody, not one of them, looked like the one in the comic. No white coats, just T-shirts and plaid shirts and blue jeans." (p. 87)

Not only did The Green Glass Sea validate non-traditional views of scientists' appearances, but also validated female scientists. In addition to the main characters both being girls, one of whom was very interested in building and exploring "gizmos", there is also a strong female scientist in Suze's mother. She is a brilliant chemist and takes great interest in Dewey's "gizmos".

The Green Glass Sea has won a plethora of awards, all of which were well-deserved. I felt for Dewey; I felt for Suze; I was moved to tears on several occasions. I have always loved historical fiction, and I will definitely add this to my list of loved historical fiction books. I would highly recommend this book for upper elementary students, especially in conjunction with a social studies unit on World War II to make it more personal and alive.

So what exactly is the "green glass sea"? You'll have to read it to find out!

Tagxedo

Today in my technology class, we were exploring new digital technologies that could be integrated into our classrooms, and I came across Tagxedo, a website that turns words into pictures. I just could not resist creating a rubber duck from this blog. The largest words are those that I use most frequently. How cool is this?

Olivia Kidney

I decided to read Olivia Kidney, Ellen Potter's first book in the popular series partly because I wanted to see what all the hype was about and partly because I am currently also reading and greatly enjoying Spilling Ink: A Young Writer's Handbook, co-authored by Ellen Potter. While the front cover of Olivia Kidney proclaimed, "breathtakingly original debut", I was not prepared for just how original the book would truly be. 

In this realistic fiction novel, Olivia Kidney, a twelve-year-old girl who moves frequently, finds herself locked out of her new apartment. Not knowing her neighbors yet and with her dad, the apartment's superintendent, off fixing something who-knows-where, Olivia thinks she is destined for an afternoon of boredom sitting in the hallway. Little does she know the adventures that await her. From an apartment made of all glass to a princepessa to a goat to an evil pirate to an apartment-turned-rainforest, her afternoon is far from boring. Not only does she meet many of her neighbors, she also discovers their strange pasts and the bizarre connections that they have with one another. And, in the process, Olivia discovers more about who she is as a growing young person.

To say the book was full of unexpected twists would be an understatement. When I neared the end of the book, I found myself frequently flipping backwards to see where these surprising revelations had come from because I was just so caught off guard by them. Much to my amazement, however, there were clues all along that pointed to these very things. So, dear readers, keep a sharp eye when reading this book! You just never know what might happen or what seemingly insignificant details may hold the key to a secret!

In the end, I really liked the book, but I have to admit that as I was reading it, I was frustrated by its apparent lack of reality. I think that I expected it to be much more like real life than it was. However, once I finished it, I realized that it was incredibly relatable, regardless of the fact that it was sometimes a bit unrealistic. I will say, though, that I was not a fan of the illustrations. I thought that they were too cartoonish at times, detracting from the story rather than adding to it. Other than that, though, I would highly recommend this book for older elementary and middle school students, especially those who are undergoing many changes in their lives. Olivia Kidney provides just enough realism to be able to help these students relate but also just enough fantasy to allow them to escape from their challenging circumstances.

She's All That: Poems about Girls

I have to admit that despite the fact that I already had an armful of poetry anthologies and was on my way to the check-out desk, I snatched this poetry book off the library shelf because it has a bright yellow cover with pink, sparkly letters, and a matching pink ribbon bookmark. I was a bit skeptical that it would be a good read for the exact same reasons that I chose it - the daisy-covered, sparkly-pink-lettered cover. Much to my surprise, however, this anthology was very well done.

The poems in this book, which include such noted poets as Maya Angelou, Langston Hughes, Alice Walker, Judith Viorst, and James Berry, were selected by Belinda Hollyer, a former teacher and librarian and current author. The book is divided into 9 sections, each containing poems related to the theme of that section: Always Me, Mirror Mirror, Full-o Zest, Best Friends, Sing Daughter Sing, Sweets for my Sweet, Causing a Stir, I Remember You, and Growing Up. 

I am not usually a poetry reader, but I read this poetry anthology from cover to cover. I loved the variety of types of poetry - there were free verse poems, couplets, narrative poems, lyric poems, poems for two voices, and more. I also appreciated that the overall message of the book was that girls should be true to themselves. All of the poems encouraged girls do what they like best, be it play the cymbals, juggle, run track, dance ballet, play basketball, or just do nothing! The poems were also multi-cultural, as there were poems about Indian girls, Vietnamese girls, and African-American girls, among others, and these poems also carried the message of being comfortable with yourself.

At the same time as the poems addressed such topics as being a good friend, growing up, and falling in love, they also unabashedly dealt with challenging topics head on. There were poems about prejudice, chauvinism, accepting others for who they are, death of loved ones, factory work, and racism. Because of these more challenging topics, I would recommend this book to older elementary or early middle school students. Younger students may not understand or appreciate some of the references made by these poems to earlier eras in American history or may not be mature enough for some of the topics. I do think that this anthology would be fantastic for a teacher to read aloud one at a time to his/her older class or to recommend to girls who may be struggling with some of the challenges that these poems address.

Hans Christian Andersen Fairy Tales

The premise of this collection of Hans Christian Andersen fairy tales was quite cute. It intertwined one of Andersen's well-known fairy tales, that of the Sandman, with the other tales by Andersen that the author chose. She introduced the Sandman by saying that "no one in the world knows as many stories as the Sandman" (p. 9) and then had the Sandman share seven "very fine stories" (p. 9) - one for each night of the week - with a little boy named Hjalmar. These seven stories were: "The Emperor's New Clothes", "The Princess and the Pea", "The Tinderbox", "The Rose Tree Regiment", "The Naughty Boy", "The Jumpers", and "The Little Match Girl". 

Despite having been a lover of fairy tales and princess stories since childhood, I had only heard of two of the stories included in this collection. Some of them were quite obscure and tended towards the bizarre, such as "The Rose Tree Regiment" in which the citizens of the rose tree, which are eventually revealed to be leaf lice, bemoan that humans try to wash them with soap and ask a little girl to imagine if she had to live in fear of being washed.

With his extensive collection of fairy tales including very popular ones such as "The Little Mermaid", "The Ugly Duckling", and "Thumbelina", just to name a few, I have to wonder why the author chose the ones that she did. I especially questioned her choice of order because the final story was "The Little Match Girl" in which the main character dies at the end. Despite the fact that the little girl's grandmother came down from heaven and "picked the little girl up in her arms [and took her] to the place where there is no cold or hunger or pain" (p. 65), it did not override the morose overtones of the story. The final paragraph of the story, and therefore the final paragraph of the book as well, began with, "The little girl was found in the corner between the two houses in the cold light of dawn. Her cheeks were red and there was a smile on her lips, but she was dead, frozen to death..." (p. 65). 

This fairy tale collection was the 1990 winner of the Hans Christian Andersen Medaille for illustration. Hans Christian Andersen Medailles are presented every other year by the International Board on Books for Young People to "a living author and illustrator whose complete works have made a lasting contribution to children's literature" (IBBY, 2010). The illustrations in this collection were large, captivating watercolors with muted colors and characters with whimsical expressions that practically jumped off the pages. 

It was very obvious to me why this author/illustrator merited the award. My only complaint is that I wished there were more of them, not only because of their beauty but also because of their scarcity, for sometimes there would be as many as three solid pages of text between illustrations).

As a result of the sometimes gloomy overtones, the fact that the stories were quite wordy, and the fairly spaced out illustrations, I would recommend this fairy tale collection for older elementary students. I believe that younger children might lose focus while listening to some of the longer stories whereas older children could use their imaginations to create vivid mental pictures of the tales. I also think that older children could benefit from comparing and contrasting other fairy tales from around the world with Hans Christian Andersen's. Finally, I learned that Andersen could serve as an inspiration to pursue their dreams despite obstacles, because it is widely believed that he was dyslexic.

Golem

Of all the books that the wonderful librarian helped me select, the cover of this one instantly caught my eye. A very worthy Caldecott Award-winning book, Golem was illustrated using cut paper, resulting in a stunning effect. I was anxious to turn each page and see the new pictures that the author/illustrator, David Wisniewski, had created.

The story itself was well-told and very intriguing. Golem recounts the tale of a Jewish rabbi in sixteenth century Prague who is angered by the treatment of his people by the townspeople. The Jews are confined to a walled ghetto and denied the protection of the law while the citizens of Prague spread lies about them. One night, Rabbi Leow sneaks out of the ghetto with two accomplices and uses Cabala to form a Golem, a giant that can only be created by a holy man to serve his purposes. With the aid of the Golem, Rabbi Leow is able to bring justice to the Jews of Prague, force the emperor to guarantee their safety, and stop the vicious rumors that had been spread about them. The Golem is then returned to the clay from which he was created with the promise that he will be resurrected if the Jews are ever in danger again. 

As I am not well-versed in Jewish folklore, I looked up the origins of the Golem legend. According to what I read, the Golem originates primarily from the Talmud, and the word "golem" itself comes from the Hebrew for "shapeless mass." The legends generally concur that a Golem can only be created by a rabbi out of clay by invoking the secret name of God. In order to bring it to life, you must write the Hebrew word for "truth" on its forehead. To destroy it, you must erase the first letter of "truth" in order to form the word "death". The back of the book also provides a very detailed description and history of the legend, which could be quite advantageous if a teacher wanted to use this book to discuss Jewish oppression through the years or the origins of Cabala.  


As a caution, this book is not necessarily suitable for young audiences. The subject matter is fairly violent and a bit dark for kindergarten-first graders. Older students, however, could greatly benefit from reading this story and use it to study Jewish culture, learn about cut paper art, or discuss inequality and justice. In addition, since David Wisniewski has written and illustrated several books that are all inspired by folklore and tradition from different cultures around the world, this book could be one of many that serve as portals to learning about other cultures.

If you are at all interested, this book is also available for reading on Googlebooks! I would encourage you to at least look at the stunning illustrations.

Fox Makes Friends

In this simple yet delightful story, Fox misunderstands what it means to "make" a friend. In the process of trying to construct a friend out of twigs, apples, pumpkins, and other items from the forest, he unknowingly actually befriends Squirrel and Rabbit. Especially after having just read Peeping Beauty where a fox tries to eat a chicken, I was quite pleased that this little Fox did not try to eat his new friends!

This book is best suited for a younger crowd with its simple plot and colorful but equally simple illustrations. According to the back flap of the book, the illustrations are a "combination of watercolor, acrylic, and digital media," a mix that I greatly enjoyed. I liked the soft, muted colors, as opposed to the bright, loud colors that often characterize books for younger children. I also enjoyed that the characters were the main focus of each illustration, allowing readers to see their facial expressions easily. The book itself is fairly large with pictures that span across the large part of most of the pages, making it an ideal read-aloud in a kindergarten or first grade class. Particularly because many children in these grades are learning how to make friends in a new environment, this book could serve as a wonderful encouragement for them to reach out to new people and work on projects together.

Fox Makes Friends is apparently this author/illustrator's first attempt at a children's book. If his first book is this cute, I can't wait for him to write another one! This book, as I discovered, is available on Googlebooks, so if you are in the mood for super-cute, then you can read the whole thing!

Peeping Beauty

As a former ballerina, I couldn't resist taking this book home with me from the library. The main character is a chicken named Poulette who dreams of leaving her farm and becoming a star ballerina. Every day, instead of pecking for grain or gossiping with the other chickens, she laces on her pointe shoes and practices. One day, a fox who claims to be an agent from New York comes to her farm and asks her to be the star in his show. After several days of temptations from the fox, including a beautiful bedazzled tutu and the promise of a packed house for her debut performance, Poulette gives in. It is only in the finale number of her performance that she finally realizes that the fox intends to eat her! Poulette, however, exacts revenge upon the fox, using her strong legs from her hours of ballet practice to grand jeté him away. She and her friends then scare the fox away for good.

The illustrations most definitely enhanced the story line, especially at the moment where the fox tries to eat Poulette. The expression portrayed on her face is just hilarious, and the picture seems to jump off the page. In addition to  this page, throughout the story the pictures were fun and engaging. The colors were full of energy and the details (like the sparkles on Poulette's tutu) were just enough to be perfect.

I did find this story rather hilarious, especially when the chickens were sitting on the fox and plotting what types of food they were going to make out of him. They suggest fox chops with applesauce, foxburgers, and roast fox with chestnut stuffing, all of which were quite funny. At the same time, however, I was not sure that I liked the message that it could have been sending. It seemed to me that the book may have been encouraging children to give bullies a taste of their own medicine. While I certainly want children to stand up to bullies, as Poulette and her friends did, I do not want them to think it is appropriate to treat bullies the way that bullies treat others.

I wanted to see if others felt the same way about the book's message, and I found a couple of different reviews. This one is by a second grade student, and she makes no mention of the idea of treating bullies the way they treat others. Rather, she just finds the fox very funny. This one appreciated that, in the end, the chickens demonstrated mercy by letting the fox go free. And finally, this one thought that the book gave an inspiring message about believing in yourself. So, perhaps I was too quick to judge the book? Have you read it to children? What do you think about it?

There's an Alligator under My Bed

Mercer Mayer's book about a little boy who decides to get rid of the alligator under his bed can only be described by one word - adorable. From the vividly-colored yet simple illustrations to the cute little boy's idea to lure the monster out, the entire book made me smile.

I absolutely loved that the main character fought back against the alligator under his bed. Since many children, including myself, believed that there were monsters hiding in their room, it was refreshing to see a child take matters into his own hands.While he did call on his parents for help in locating the monster, when they were unable to find anything, he was determined to fix the problem himself. "It was up to me. I just had to do something about that alligator," the little boy says to himself as he carefully scoots out of bed to set an alligator trap.

I have to say, though, that my absolute favorite part of the book was the final page where the illustration depicted the note that the main character left for his dad which read, "DEAR DAD THERE IS AN ALLIGATOR IN THE GURAGGE GARAGE. IF YOU NEED HELP WAKE ME UP. WARNING. BE CAREFUL." I found it particularly endearing that included in the illustration were the chair the little boy had used to tape up the note, the crayons he had used to write it, along with extra paper, a pair of scissors, and a roll of tape.

This book would be great not only for a teacher to read aloud to a class but also for beginning readers to read aloud to a teacher or a parent. Because each page has only a phrase or a simple sentence on it, most of which are accompanied by corresponding illustrations, beginning readers could more easily read this book on their own. I also think that this book could be used to encourage children to try things for themselves and to think creatively about solving problems. 

So You Want to Be President?

An illustrated history of the United States Presidency, this book seems like it should be boring and dry, but it was far from it. This book kept me laughing from the first page to the last. At the same time, however, it was also highly informative. I learned about the requirements to serve as President, the responsibilities of the office of President, and facts about each President. For instance, did you know that John Quincy Adams went skinny dipping every morning? And that a determined reporter once stole all of his clothes and refused to return them until he allowed her to interview him? 

The author also did a particularly good job of gearing the book towards children. One of my favorite lines was: "The President doesn't have to eat yucky vegetables. As a boy, George Bush had to eat broccoli. When George Bush grew up, he became President. That was the end of the broccoli!" (St. George, p. 9). I also loved how she emphasized that all different types of people with varying interests, talents, and backgrounds had been the President. She ended the book by encouraging her readers in this way: "That's the bottom line. Tall, short, fat, thin, talkative, quiet, vain, humble, lawyer, teacher, or soldier [following the Presidential Oath] is what most of our Presidents have tried to do, each in his own way. Some succeeded. Some failed. If you want to be President - a good President - pattern yourself after the best" (St. George, 47).

The illustrations enhanced the text incredibly well, hence the 2000 Caldecott Medal. In their casual, hilarious political cartoon style, they brought life to the words on the page, making me laugh even more. I loved the exaggerated expressions on the cartoonish faces of the Presidents, the hilarious antics in which they were involved when the illustrator portrayed them, and the surprising accuracy they had. There was even a glossary at the back of the book listing all of the pages and what Presidents were pictured on them.

Though this book is now slightly out of date, (although, apparently an updated edition has recently been released) as it says that there has never been a President of color, it is still a very clever way to teach students about the history of the Presidency, our past Presidents, and the requirements of the office of the President!

Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse

From the beginning of this adorable story, it is very clear that the little mouse named Lilly LOVES school, especially her snack-bringing, glasses-wearing, artistic teacher Mr. Slinger. However, when Lilly's grandmother buys her a special purple plastic purse that plays a jaunty tune when opened, Lilly cannot resist the urge to share it with everyone in her class. Despite Mr. Slinger's requests that she be considerate of her classmates, Lilly opens the purse in the middle of class. Unamused, Mr. Slinger promptly takes it away. Lilly then decides that she no longer likes school, especially not Mr. Slinger, writes him an angry letter with a mean picture, and stuffs it in his bag. However, once she gets home, guilt overtakes her, and she draws a new picture of Mr. Slinger with a story about how he is the best teacher ever. Then, the next day, with her purple plastic purse in hand, she and Mr. Slinger dance together, Lilly shares her own snacks with the class and concludes that she wants to be a teacher when she grows up. 

I have never read a "Lilly" book before, but this book is evidently one in a series, and I am very tempted to read the other ones now! I found this book both enchanting and great for creating teachable moments. Sometimes it is challenging for students, especially younger ones, to understand why they can't share their awesome dinosaur toy RIGHT NOW or talk about their super-fun weekend RIGHT NOW, but with this story, the concept of being patient is made more approachable and easy to understand. It also reinforced the idea that a great teacher can sometimes say no to what you want and still be a fabulous teacher. 

The illustrations also really added to the story. In particular, I loved how I could see the pictures that Lilly drew of Mr. Slinger, both the angry one where she called him "fat" and "mean" and the new one where she called him "nice" and nominated him for principal. I also really loved how there were lots of tiny illustrations that showed the subtle differences in Lilly's emotions and had little quotes about what she and her classmates were thinking. All in all, rubber duck definitely recommends Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse!

Rubber Duck is Ready!

I visited my local library today to check out books to begin reviewing for this blog and entered the children's section very tentatively. While I greatly enjoyed reading books from this section as a child, I felt odd wandering around among the picture books, choo-choo trains, and blocks scattered around on the floor. This look of confusion must have read very clearly on my face because the librarian gently asked me if I needed help with anything. I explained that I was looking for picture books to read, because I was studying to be an elementary school teacher. She immediately hopped up from behind the desk, and within seconds was showing me around the children's section, handing me book after book, even going so far as to crawl on the floor to find books for me. In the span of 15 minutes, I had a stack of books so high I could barely see over them (no exaggerating!) and so heavy that I had to have two friends help me carry them back to my apartment. Thank you, awesome librarian! I can't wait to start reading them!