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?