Module 10: Draw Me a Star

Book Summary: An artist begins by drawing a star. The star then instructs the artist to draw the sun. The sun, in turn, tells the artist to draw a tree and the tree requests a drawing of a couple. The couple want a house, and the house wants a drawing of a dog. The dog would like a cat, the cat would like a bird, and the bird would like a butterfly. The butterfly would like drawings of flowers, and the flowers request a cloud. 

What results is a rainbow.

The rainbow requests the night and the night would like a moon.  The moon says it would like a star. The artist holds onto the star and travels across the night sky.

APA Reference of Book:
Carle, E. (1992). Draw me a star. New York, NY: Philomel Books.

Impressions: This book was part of our module concerning censorship. When I first saw the title on the list, I was surprised. Had this book been banned before? I flipped through the book and saw the portion, I can only assume, that had stirred up any objections: a nude man and woman. I grew up loving Eric Carle's collage-like illustrations and anyone familiar with Carle's work will note that there is an expressive quality to his work. His illustrations are not detailed and the images that may cause offense are not explicit. The main character of this book is an artist. Artists draw and paint nude people because art school and the traditions of art teach you that the body is beautiful. Thus, when the tree tells the artist in the story to draw a handsome couple, it is easy to imagine this is what the artist would conceive. 

The book is lyrical and while the imagery is somewhat simplistic, the concept behind the story of an artist's life is touching. Carle's collage illustration style also implies movement and energy, aiding the plot concerning a life's journey. The plot itself is cyclical, allowing the story to be read over and over again.  

Professional Review: "A remarkable, quintessentially simple book encompassing Creation, creativity, and the cycle of life within the eternal. Introduced on the title page as a toddler drawing the first of five lines to make a star, an artist ages until, at the end, he's an old man who takes hold of a star to travel the night sky. Meanwhile, the first star says, "Draw me the sun"; the sun says, "Draw me a tree," and so on: woman and man; house, dog, cat, bird, butterfly, flowers, cloud; a rainbow arching over the middle-aged artist's whole creation; and back to the night and the stars. Carle's trademark style--vibrant tissue collage on dramatic white--is wonderfully effective in expressing the joy of creation, while the economy with which he conveys these universal ideas gives them extraordinary power. Yet the story is disarmingly childlike, concluding with an ingenuous letter from the author with instructions for drawing an eight-point star. Thanks be to the book for asking Carle to "draw" it!" (Kirkus, 1992, https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/eric-carle/draw-me-a-star/)

Kirkus Reviews. (1992, Sept 1). [Review of the book Draw me a star, by E. Carle] Retrieved from https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/eric-carle/draw-me-a-star/

Library Uses: I think this book would be a good addition to recognizing challenged or banned books during Banned Books Week. Since it is a picture book and can be read quickly by a variety of ages, it would a title that could be discussed concerning censorship.  According to ALA's top 100 banned/challenged books from 2000-2009, this book was considered #61 (http://www.ala.org/bbooks/top-100-bannedchallenged-books-2000-2009)

Module 10: Drama

Book Summary: Callie is obsessed with theater and since she cannot sing or perform, she is part of the stage crew.  This does not mean that Callie is less gutsy, however, and it is obvious that she is aware of the boys that are around her. The guy Greg she likes has just broken up his girlfriend Bonnie, making Callie think she has a chance to date him. Then the school decides to host a southern themed romantic-drama musical. Bonnie becomes the female lead, much to Callie's chagrin. Greg's brother also works in the crew. When Callie befriends twin brothers, Justin becomes part of the cast, while Jesse wants so badly to sing, but is nervous. He decides to work with Callie in set design. Romantic miscommunication, misinterpretations, and gender preference are all part of the plot. Interpersonal drama while staging an actual drama for the middle school theater are all woven together. The show goes on and in the final presentation, the male lead character breaks up with Bonnie who becomes emotional and cannot finish the show. Jesse, gets into the southern belle dress and belts out the female lead's songs that he has known all along. The school is stunned and amazed. In the end, Greg wants Callie back, but she has to decide what she really wants.

APA Reference of Book:
Telgemeier, R. (2012). Drama. New York, NY: Graphix.

Impressions: This graphic novel is almost a series of vignettes centered around a theater geek in middle school. Telgemeier captures the awkwardness of middle school with aplomb. I found myself recalling my middle school years when reading this book. I felt so embroiled in reading about the dramas within Drama that I could imagine myself going through similar events in my own middle school years. I also enjoyed the cleverness of how the drama between all the friends and peers goes along with the actual production of a theatrical drama. When Callie is trying her hardest to make the prop cannon work for the stage, I could empathize with her want to make it work. I think tweens and teens will also appreciate how Callie's theater niche of set design is important to her.

When Callie discovers one of the twin boys that become her friends is gay; it isn't a focus of the story. It appears to be more of a plot point of the confusion that ensues when teens are trying to figure out their interpersonal relationships. 

This book depicts the microcosm that becomes middle school, with all its innate drama.

Professional Review: "If you read reviews on Raina Telgemeier’s previous graphic novel, Smile, you’ll see words like “charming” and “sweet.”  Her second attempt at capturing the middle school years is no less successful, and Telgemeier sticks with what she’s good at, capturing the middle school years. Let me tell you, Telgemeier hits the drama and to-do of those tumultuous years right on the head of the nail.

Callie fell in love with the theater when her mother took her to a production of Les Miserables.  But she quickly learned that she didn’t have what it takes to be onstage, so instead Callie is more than content with being part of the crew backstage. When her middle school puts on a musical, Callie is thrilled to be in charge of set design, but the drama on stage quickly spills offstage. There are twin brothers, boys who like Callie, and boys Callie likes. There’s best-friend drama, and of course, putting on a full-scale musical production (even in middle school) is full of commotion.

The middle school I work in has put on a number of musicals, and Telgemeier really captures the frenetic pace of putting on a production.  (In reality, at this age, teachers are a bit more involved in the process, but I chalked that up to poetic license.)  There’s excitement and passion. The kids feel great about everything that they accomplished.  There are friends’ politics. Reading Drama, I felt like I was standing in the corridors of my own school.

And today’s issues aren’t ignored, though they’re not actually issues in the book, such as characters coming to terms with their sexual identity.

The comic only strengthens when you consider the artwork. Telgemeier already has a signature style, a look that marks the artwork as her own, but there were a couple of scenes that truly shine. When Callie shows Jesse her favorite theater books, the scenes are full of passion as Callie is drawn into a giant book, showing Jesse why the books are so magnificent. It moves the artwork from a level of cute and sweet to truly outstanding.

This is going to be on every upper elementary school, middle school, and even high school shelf. Readers, especially young female ones, will eat up the title" (Keller, 2012, http://blogs.slj.com/goodcomicsforkids/2012/09/17/review-drama/).

Keller, E. (2012, September 17). [Review of the book Drama, by R. Telgemeier] Retrieved from http://blogs.slj.com/goodcomicsforkids/2012/09/17/review-drama/

Library Uses: With the interest in manga and graphic novels, this graphic novel would make a good recommendation for middle grade readers and possibly high school readers that would like to remember what it was like to be in middle school again.

Module 9: The Wonder Book

Book Summary: Amy Krouse Rosenthal is well-known for her stories for children. This book is different in that it is filled with non-sensical poems and trivia that is for a broad range of ages, but would mostly appeal to kids and their parents. Nursery rhymes and songs that are familiar to families are re-told as well. Hidden visuals are also throughout.

APA Reference of Book:
Rosenthal, A.K. (2010). The wonder book. New York, NY: Harper.

Impressions: My first inclination upon reading Rosenthal's version of "This Little Piggy" was to share it with my husband. I began reading some of the silly poems to him since many were clever. In the same way that Shel Silverstein's illustrations illuminate the meaning behind his poems, Paul Schmid's illustrations add to the humorous poetry. The puns and palindromes are educational in their wordplay. 

One potential issue I could see with this book is that it does not have a distinct overall theme. However, the randomness of the poems and activities inside means that the book can be opened to any page and enjoyed without having to read it in order.

Professional Review: "An uneven collection of poems and witticisms, the very best of which evoke Shel Silverstein. Several poems are takes on old standbys, such as “It Could Be Verse”: “Eeny Meeny and Miney Moe / Caught a tiger with their tow / The tiger hollered; they wouldn’t let go / No more Eeny Meeny or Miney Moe.” Others are short and super silly: “Tinkle / Tinkle / In the sea / Don’t look under / While I pee...” Some of the most successful pieces are those in which Schmid’s black-and-white drawings are integral to the poem’s meaning. In the palindromes section, for example, “Won ton? Not now,” is illustrated with a picture of a little girl offering a won ton to a boy who is hanging upside down while being squeezed by a large snake. Even when they are not absolutely necessary to the meaning of the poems, the illustrations, dynamic and expressive, lend a degree of charm and whimsy to a serviceable, often funny, collection" (Kirkus, 2010, https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/amy-krouse-rosenthal/the-wonder-book/).

Kirkus Reviews. (2010, March 1). [Review of the book The wonder book, by A.K. Rosenthal] Retrieved from https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/amy-krouse-rosenthal/the-wonder-book/

Library Uses: For kids that enjoy silly stories, riddles, or humorous poetry books, this book would be an appropriate recommendation. I could also see this book as a fun additional to family traveling materials as the poems could be shared with all family members.

Module 9: Karma

Book Summary: Fifteen year old Maya (Jiva to her father) lives in Canada, her Hindu mother has just committed suicide and her Sikh father decides to take her to India in order to return her mother's ashes to their final resting place. Upon arriving in India, the prime minister, Indira Gandhi has just been assassinated. There are riots where Hindus and Sikhs are killing each other in the streets. Maya's father disappears within the turmoil and Maya goes on a train (pretending to be a boy) in order to get away from the violence.  She witnesses hate towards a Sikh man when he is dragged off the train by guards and burned to death. She goes into the car of a family when the eldest daughter, a doctor, discovers her on the street. She knows that she is able to communicate and is mute intentionally. She asks her brother to help her tell her story so that she can begin healing. What results is a journal of thoughts passed back and forth between the two. The boy decides to help Maya cross the desert in order for her to find her father. When Maya is united with her father, the boy disappears because he knows it would not be honorable to maintain a relationship with a teen girl, especially a girl with a Sikh father. In the end, both daughter and father return to Canada, both changed.

APA Reference of Book:
Ostlere, C. (2011). Karma: a novel in verse. New York, NY: Razorbill.

Impressions: Despite the sad tale of the political turmoil in India in 1984, this book is beautifully written in verse.  It is easy to identify with Maya (called Jiva by her Sikh father) in her coming to terms with her religious leanings and beliefs. When she witnesses a Sikh man getting burned to death, as a reader, you feel the horror she feels. When she goes voluntarily mute, you understand why she does not want to talk. Further, you feel her inner turmoil with her crisis of identity as a half-Hindu, half-Sikh teen.

Ultimately, this is a love story in a way, when a Hindu family takes her in, after finding her on the street all alone and mute.  The adopted son in the family feels for her and helps her find her father. There is a small part of heartbreak when Maya goes back home to Canada. Her father had originally promised Maya into marriage upon arriving in India, but both have been changed by circumstance. Universal themes in this story include the the idea of hope, the power of love, and willingness to help someone in need.

Professional Review: "The first thing I discovered about Karma by Cathy Ostlere (besides the fact that it was about India, which is why I wanted to read it in the first place) was that it was written in verse.  And I will admit that little tidbit almost made me skip over the book; after all, I figured a novel in verse would be difficult to read, and that I wouldn’t connect with the main character at all.  But because the book sounded so interesting, I decided to persevere, and I am incredibly glad I did; not only was this book fascinating, but all my preconceived notions were in error.

Karma is lyrical and deft, beautiful yet very easy to read.  Despite the length, the novel flowed very smoothly and it was quick.  I had no trouble understanding what was happening, nor did I have any difficulty connecting with Maya.  In fact, she was the highlight of the novel for me.

Maya is half-Sikh and half-Hindu, and as a result, the conflict that is raging all around her between the two religious groups is mirroring what is happening within her.  She doesn’t know where her loyalties lie or whom she can trust.  Even her name, the very clue to her identity, is uncertain – is she Jiya, the “official” name that her father pressed upon her, or Maya, the name her mother wanted to give her that she identifies with?  It’s so eye opening to see what Maya feels inside reflected all around her with horrible violence.

The time period is tragic yet important in India’s history, and it’s fascinating to see it through the eyes of a fifteen year old.  While that kind of violence would be horrific at any age, to see it so young really changes Maya.  She falls mute, unable to speak because she is so racked with guilt over what she’s seen.  She thinks she no longer deserves to speak – she is already carrying guilt over her mother’s death, after all.  Ostlere does an incredible job making the reader feel like they are part of the narrative, immersed in this place of horrifying violence.  The reader only wants Maya to return home, to find a place of safety, yet it’s unclear where that could be because she seems to be pushed against her will wherever she turns.

Karma was a fascinating, eye-opening coming-of-age novel, and I am so glad I gave it a chance.  I realize novels in verse don’t exactly excite most people, but I urge you to try this book.  You may not connect with it, but it’s possible you might, and you’ll be rewarded with an absolutely incredible story and a heartbreakingly real main character.  This was really an amazing book and I can’t wait to see what Cathy Ostlere does next" (Krishna, 2011, http://skrishnasbooks.com/2011/05/book-review-karma-cathy-ostlere.html).

Krishna, S. (2011, May 18). [Review of the book Karma, by C. Ostlere] Retrieved from http://skrishnasbooks.com/2011/05/book-review-karma-cathy-ostlere.html

Library Uses: I could see recommending this book for reluctant readers because of its novel-in-verse format. While the book looks daunting, it is actually beautifully written verse and reads quickly.

Module 8: Dying to Meet You

Book Summary: Mr. Grumply is a revered children's author in search of a home for the summer in order to finish the last book in a series he began years ago. He decides he needs quiet and unhooks his telephone and communicates with his lawyer, agent, and realtor all via letters. He discovers an old house through a realtor for rent on 43 Old Cemetery Road that has been available for a long time. The owners are professors in ghostly matters and they are abroad for the summer, potentially never to come back. Mr. Grumply settles in nicely in the mansion only to discover that the owners' son, Seymour, is still living in the house with his friend Olive. Olive, as it turns out, is the original owner of the house and a ghost. Seymour and Olive make living in the house a terrible time for Mr. Grumply. When they discover that he is completely broke and fighting terrible writer's block, they decide to help him put together the final story. Mr. Grumply and Olive make amends and it appears that he will purchase the house and live there. There is one caveat though: anyone who buys the house also gets Seymour. When there is a possibility to demolish the house, the three main characters go into action to prevent it. This is the first book in a series.

APA Reference of Book:
Klise, K. (2009). Dying to meet you. Boston, MA: Harcourt/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Impressions: This book is cute and quirky. The book has a re-readable quality with its mock ads, newspaper clippings, and letters all adding clever parts to the story. There is a comedic quality to how Mr. Grumply, Seymour, and Olive all communicate within the house with letters, aside from the letters that are also sent to people outside of the house. The book is illustrated with newspaper clippings and ads that also add components to the story. The title makes it appear that there is a potential for a scary story. In reality, it is more humorous, with the wordplay throughout the book. The only odd part, in my opinion, is how Seymour's parents are portrayed as professionals that could care less about their son. Mr. Grumply and Olive clearly make up better paternal and maternal figures in the story. Since this book is the first in a series, I am curious about how it progresses in future books.

Professional Review: "Plenty of fun lurks in this ghost-story comedy when a dried-up, unsociable writer, I.B. Grumply, rents an old house already occupied by Seymour Hope, an abandoned boy, and his best friend, Olive, an active and bossy lady ghost. All told through letters, newspaper articles and other documents, the story also stars M. Sarah Klise’s whimsical line drawings, which add substance to the plot. Readers learn that Mr. Grumply’s writer’s block has continued until he’s penniless; he’ll have to open up and make friends with his new roommates if he wants to produce that next bestseller. Kate Klise fleshes out the plot with back stories on the house, Seymour’s catastrophic, absent parents and Olive’s haunting of the house. Suspense intrudes when Seymour’s parents reappear and decide to demolish it. Everywhere they look, readers will find comedy, even in the headers on the letters and character names. Of course it’s all going to come out magnificently in the end, thereby setting up the next book in the planned series. A quirky, comedic romp" (Kirkus Reviews, 2009, https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/kate-klise/dying-to-meet-you-2/)

Kirkus Reviews. (2009, March 1). [Review of the book Dying to meet you, by K. Klise] Retrieved from https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/kate-klise/dying-to-meet-you-2/

Library Uses: I think this book would appeal to kids that like books with visuals and letters, such as Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney or Postcards from Camp by Simms Taback. Also, the wordplay throughout the story would make this book appealing to educators.

Module 8: Pish Posh

Book Summary: Clara Frankofile is the resident snob of Pish Posh restaurant, owned and operated by her wealthy parents, including her maniacal French chef father. She is seated nightly at her own special table, sharing it with no one, and deciding if someone is a Somebody or a Nobody. Only those designated as a Somebody may stay in the restaurant and those that are considered Nobody's are kicked out. One evening, she decides that her former doctor is a Nobody. He explains as he is departing that there is a mystery in the restaurant. When Clara makes it her business to know everything that is happening at Pish Posh, she is troubled to understand what he means. The doctor ends up dying, leaving the mystery to be solved entirely by Clara. One night, a teen jewel thief hides out in one of Clara's elaborate rooms. Clara thinks she has made a friend, but discovers the girl has just stolen her pearls. She confronts and befriends her in order to discover the mystery behind the soup cook in her father's kitchen. It turns out that the soup cook is much older than anyone would have guessed.

APA Reference of Book:
Potter, E. (2006). Pish posh. New York, NY: Philomel Books.

Impressions: At the beginning of this book, it is easy to not like Clara Frankofile. As an adult reading about a child's snobbish behavior, my first hope was some sort of vindication for her behavior. Part of the story is how she dismisses her former doctor as a Nobody, only for him to tell her that there is a mystery happening under her snobbish nose. Clara does not believe him, but does find the soup cook in her father's kitchen has curious behavior. She has little interaction with her parents and they put together elaborate spaces in their mansion to keep Clara entertained. The odd secret of Clara's father concealing his true heritage (he is not of French descent after all) does not really add anything to the plot except make one believe anybody can change overnight if she or he wishes. The story is engaging enough, but the ending comes too quickly and the intrigue surrounding the mystery soup cook could have actually been more descriptive. Solving the mystery does little to quell my thought: ok, mystery solved; why is Clara still a brat? I do not think this story has to be didactic in order to give any indication of what Clara has learned in the process. However, too little is given at all at the end.

Professional Review: "Monsieur Frankofile’s upscale restaurant, Pish Posh, has a gimmick: his daughter, Clara (11), who heartlessly polices the success or failure of each diner, determining who can have a reservation. This does wonders for the restaurant’s popularity and makes Clara a menacingly powerful and mysterious figure, until she becomes aware of a magical secret involving the least of her father’s soup chefs. Behind Clara’s discoveries and her public demeanor are larger revelations entwined in highly imaginative, stuffed-to-the-gills plot elements. Her initial cold narration focuses on her routine and her strange, over-the-top living conditions. Potter’s tremendous textual power diminishes in effectiveness as Clara’s inner life becomes more complex and she starts to interact with others, because easy solutions and quick fixes speed the storyline. This disconcerting turn in storytelling weakens the first fascination with the characters, as they flatten and disintegrate when lives and story are tidied up to accommodate a too-easy ending" (Kirkus, 2006, https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/ellen-potter/pish-posh/).

Kirkus Reviews. (2006, April 1). [Review of the book Pish posh, by E. Potter] Retrieved from https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/ellen-potter/pish-posh/

Library Uses: I would recommend this book for middle grade kids interested in mysteries. The themes in this book are not too young in nature as to force a middle grade kid to call it "babyish" and it is not overly mature either.  

Book Trailers

For my class we created different book trailers for a specific age group.  I decided to create book trailers for middle school age kids.  I used 2 different softwares to create the trailers: Animoto and iMovie.  The new iMovie software has the option to create trailers within it.  The free Animoto software only allows videos that are 30 seconds long, forcing much shorter trailers.

Escape! The Story of the Great Houdini by: Sid Fleischman

Book cover: http://www.harpercollins.com/9780060850944/escape
Images of Harry Houdini are public domain and were found via Wikimedia Commons
Image of Sid Fleischman were found on his website: http://www.sidfleischman.com

Additional images found on Wikimedia Commons connected to the Library of Congress include the following below:
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Houdini_crate.jpg
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HoudiniSubmergedCrate.jpg
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HarryHoudini1899.jpg

My Name is Mina by: David Almond

Images for this trailer were found using Flickr Creative Commons:
ASDA Notebook - Red Wiro Bound
by Michael Randall on Flickr
https://flic.kr/p/dJ1KQ

Billingham at Night
by Philip Austin on Flickr
https://flic.kr/p/jFmBgj

Coffee House Clarice 2
by Maxwell GS on Flickr
https://flic.kr/p/7v65MN

NYC - Queens - Glendale: All in the Family House
by Wally Gobetz on Flickr
https://flic.kr/p/yfDPr

Pish Posh by: Ellen Potter




Book cover image:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/523151.Pish_Posh
Additional images for this trailer were found using Flickr Creative Commons:

Day 272 - Nobody Home
by lint machine on Flickr
https://flic.kr/p/5qoTfs

Detective sexy
by thefuturistics on Flickr
https://flic.kr/p/6et4JQ

French Restaurant
by Doug on Flickr
https://flic.kr/p/bDsG1

Image from page 70 of "Our rival, the rascal : a faithful portrayal of the conflict between the criminals of this age and the defenders of society, the police" (1897)

by Internet Archive Book Images on Flickr

https://flic.kr/p/ovWkaB

Jewel Thief
by Mark Longair on Flickr
https://flic.kr/p/2UesAY

Paparazzi
by Shena Tschofen on Flickr
https://flic.kr/p/bEjPKP

Pequeña detective

by etringita on Flickr
https://flic.kr/p/2iuvgb

Private detective office
by John (Miś) Beauchamp on Flickr
https://flic.kr/p/8ie4

Spies
by Luca Rossato on Flickr
https://flic.kr/p/8X7pFx

Spying on the neighbors
by Dana Robinson on Flickr
https://flic.kr/p/4oxsW4

Spying glass
by matteo77 on Flickr
https://flic.kr/p/5T5m8p