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!