RE 5140 Spring 2010 Assignment # 2 Reading Logs Set 1 from Award Lists
a. Three Caldecott Award or Honor Books from the past 10 years
1. The House in the Night
b. Author: Susan Marie Swanson Illustrator: Beth Krommes
c. Houghton Mifflin Company New York, New York 2008
d. Describe the artwork in terms of style and media. What elements of the
illustrations appealed to you?
The House in the Night Susan Swanson tells a simple comforting bedtime
story. Her Author’s Note states that she patterned her book after one of
her favorite books, The Oxford Nursery Rhyme Book. The story begins as a
child arrives home and follows a building pattern as she gets ready for bed.
The art work is done by Beth Krommes in predominately black line drawing
adding accents of white and yellow. Bedtime can be dreaded and scary for
children. The yellow accents in the story add light, warmth and security to
the child’s journey into a peaceful sleep. The black is calming and could help
a child become less fearful of the dark of night and bedtime. The
predominately black art reminded me that we do see fewer colors the darker
our environment becomes. It reminded me of how much I prefer black and
white photography for people. Black and white seems soft and calm. That is
exactly the feeling I got reading this book. Beth Krommes illustrated a quiet
calm transition to sleep. The child had her Mom, her pets, the security of
her room, and her book helping her imagination carry her into a peaceful
night’s sleep. I can see this book becoming a favorite bedtime story book
for a child that could be worn and well-loved.
2. a. The Stray Dog
b. Author and Illustrator: Marc Simont
c. Harper Collins Publishers, U.S.A., 2001
d 3. Describe the artwork in terms of style and media. What elements of
the illustrations appealed to you?
Marc Simont was the author and illustrator. This is a true story retold
about his friend’s experience of finding a stray dog. Marc Simont captured
my attention on the cover with a picture of a big man with a net a little
frightened looking dog. His book is filled with soft simple pictures that look
like they were completed in water colors. His illustrations spoke volumes
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about the feelings of the dog catcher, the stray dog, and the family who
eventually adopted the dog. His pictures showing actions and the emotions
through body language were as clear as if I was looking at photographs. The
scene in the bathtub when the children were giving their new dog a bath was
soft, with bubbles and water covering the page with the gentle beauty of
the love the children were pouring out on their new pet. The style and
choice of his media created a soft, gentle story of rescuing a homeless
stray. I think the art enhanced and deepened what could have been a simple,
too familiar story to many readers. This is an assuring story in a busy world
where kindness and concern for people, much less stray dogs, can be in short
supply. As a dog lover who has adopted strays my reaction is, “This is a book
I want to own!”
3. a. Rosa
b. Author: Nikki Giovanni Illustrator: Bryan Collier
c. Henry Holt and Company New York, New York 2005
d. 3. Describe the artwork in terms of style and media. What elements of
the illustrations appealed to you?
Rosa is a large, easy children’s book about Rosa Parks. In 1955 Rosa, who
was black, refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama city bus to
a black man. Her decision sparked a protest and a black boycott of riding
city buses that spread into the national American Civil Rights movement.
The size of the book may have been intended for reading aloud to groups …
large so everyone could see the pictures. But I thought as an adult reading
the book and looking at the pictures that it was large because the
discrimination blacks were experiencing in America at that time was a BIG
problem to them and to the moral fiber of our country. Its sheer size
impressed me! The art work looked like oil paintings. The shades of the
colors were dark, just like the time portrayed in the book. Rosa’s face had a
calm assurance and peace glowing from it. That was the type of attitude
needed to peacefully bring about change to correct a great wrong in
America. Two illustrations puzzled me. Around Rosa’s head and around Dr.
Martin Luther King, Mr.’s heads in some pictures was a halo shaped picture.
It looked like boards in the shape of the inside of a ship. Was that some
water coming through? Could this have been them thinking about the slave
ships that brought the first of their ancestors to America? Were they
thinking, “Finally, we’re going to begin to fix this wrong.”? I liked the large
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size of the illustrations, their darkness, and the emotion so clearly displayed
in the faces of all the characters. The story and illustrations are an
objective presentation of a slice of black history before the Civil Rights
Movement in America. The book made me think, “see”, and feel for the
characters in this story.
b. One Newbery Award or Honor book from the past ten years.
a. Feathers
b. Author: Jacqueline Woodson
c. G. P. Putnam’s Sons New York, New York 2007
d. 1. What elements of the author’s style and language drew you into the
book? Explain and give examples.
In Feathers Jacqueline Woodson first drew me into the story with having
the main character Frannie tell the story. To me it seemed like I was
reading the private diary of her life, her thoughts, and her feelings. She
was talking to me and I wanted to listen. On the firs page Jacqueline
Woodson started using italicized (italicized) print in places. That intrigued
and puzzled me and had my attention all the way through the book. At times
she used italicized print to denote conversation, though not always because
she frequently used quotation marks and traditional punctuation. Sometimes
it signaled what she and her deaf brother were saying to each other in sign
language. Other times it signaled what she was thinking or remembering
that someone had said to her. I’m not sure I figured out exactly what the
author was doing. However, I felt the change in print signaled that I was
getting ready to read something important to Frannie. Jacqueline Woodson
kept my attention by maintaining several stories all at once. For example, at
the end of Chapter 4 the new boy in Fannie’s class they called Jesus shared
a painful true story about why he was at their school. I wanted to read more
about him, right then!!! I had to wait several chapters to learn more about
him. The author crafted the story so I had to attend to several stories at
once even though I was most focused on Jesus Boy. Frannie experienced
sadness and witnessed cruelty, but Jacqueline Woodson’s careful use and
choice of words let hope and kindness shine in some of her characters.
Fannie’s Grandma reminded her, “…there’s a time when each one of us is the
different one and when it’s our turn, we’re always wishing and hoping it was
somebody else. You be the somebody else when you see that boy. You be the
one to remember.” Jacqueline Woodson’s style and language drew me in to
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her book to feel with and for her characters and made me cheer when the
best of the human spirit came out in her characters when others needed it
the most.
c. Two Coretta Scott King Award or Honor Books
1. a. Bud, Not Buddy
b. Author: Christopher Paul Curtis
c. Delecorte Press New York, New York 1999
d. 8. How did the author make the story believable? Were you able to
relate to the characters in any way?
Bud, Not Buddy is only the second book by Christopher Paul Curtis I have
read. However, again I was immediately drawn into the story and to the
main character, Bud Caldwell. From chapter one I knew Bud and he and his
situation felt real to me. The author made me feel what Bud felt and it
always fit the situation Bud was in. Bud had suffered in an orphanage and in
foster homes in Flint Michigan in 1936 at the end of the Depression. When
Bud had another bad experience, getting blamed for beating up a boy in his
latest foster home, when actually it was started by the other boy, Bud
decided to run away to try to find his dad. I absolutely was with him! I
would have done the same thing! I understood with him there is a time to
try, to be polite, to apologize (even though he had nothing to apologize for!),
and a time to call it quits and move on!! Before leaving his last foster home
Bud planned some revenge. My mind was saying, “Go, Bud!” He reasoned
through using a shotgun for revenge deciding instead to use warm water on
his sleeping foster brother to trick him into thinking he’d had a night time
accident!! I was pleased and proud of his wise decision-making, but equally
pleased he chose some revenge which seemed perfectly believable to me
under these circumstances. Bud goes “on the lam” searching for his father.
A homeless ten year old at the end of the depression found himself in the
food line at the local mission. He was really too late to get in line, but a kind
couple pretended he was their son so he could get a meal. Bud wisely went
along with their idea. As they left the mission one of the couple’s sons stuck
out his tongue at Bud. Bud’s reaction was, “I couldn’t really blame him, I
don’t think I’d be happy about sharing my brown sugar and my folks with any
strange kid either.” In this case and several others in the book Bud was able
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to feel for other people … amazing! I’m not sure I would have had such
understanding of other people’s feelings at his tender age. I realized though
that Bud had had love the love of his mother, and he had endured cruelty.
He chose not to get bitter. Instead he learned from each experience and
remained resilient to the end. I have struggled with maintaining that same
balance as I have traveled through life. Bud is believable as he searches for
his father. He tries to hop a train, but doesn’t make it, so he chooses to
walk to find his father. A stranger stops and offers him a ride. Bud is not
sure whether to trust him, so he tried to drive off in the man’s car! I was as
unsure of the man as Bud was. Actually I was afraid for him. I knew he
could not get away driving a car, but I understood why he would want to try.
I was so relieved to learn he could trust Lefty Lewis! Mr. Lewis was able to
help Bud find Herman Calloway, who was not his father, but his grandfather.
Initially this brought great stress because Bud’s mother and his grandfather
disagreed so much his mother left home, never to be heard from again. His
grandfather did not know his daughter was dead or that he had a grandson.
At the end of the book Bud and Miss Thomas were dealing with their loss
and grief over the death of his mother. Miss Thomas comments that even
though it had been four years since Bud’s Mother died it still hurt
sometimes. Bud agrees, saying, “Sometimes a lot.” That struck a cord with
me. My mother died five years ago. Sometimes it hurts, and yes, sometimes
it hurts a lot. A few pages later Bud comments, “I was carrying Momma
inside me and there wasn’t anyone or anything that could take away from
that or add to it either.” Yes, Bud I do know how that feels. Christopher
Paul Curtis carried me through Bud’s search for his father crafting a story
that made me feel what Bud was experiencing. He used humor and masterful
vocabulary as I laughed, smiled, and cried through a story with characters I
loved and felt I knew. Bud’s experiences show how resilient the human spirit
can be with determination and love.
Coretta Scott King Award or Honor Books
2. a.The Legend of Buddy Bush
b.Author: Shelia P. Moses
c. Margaret K. McElderry Books, an imprint of Simon and Schuster New
York, New York
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d. 5. What did you learn about the time in which the book was set? Do you
think that time period was described accurately? How do you know?
The Legend of Buddy Bush was set in 1947 on Rehobeth Road in Rich
Square North Carolina. Pattie Mae tells the story of her uncle Buddy Bush
returning to live in this small southern community before the Civil Rights
Movement. Pattie Mae and her family are black. She and her mom rent a
house on land owned by Ole Man Taylor. It used to be the main house of
the plantation, but when the white people left the slaves moved in. Pattie
Mae and her Mom chop cotton for him for a small amount of money and he
lets them grow food on the land he doesn’t use. Uncle Buddy works in the
sawmill and pays her mother $35.00 a month rent, but they still seem to
just scrape by. Ole Man Taylor owns most of the land where the blacks live
on Rehobeth Road except for Pattie Mae’s Grandpa, Braxton Jones. He
worked four years for free for the white people who used to own his land
till he earned the deed. The rule on Rehobeth Road is you have to be
twelve to work the tobacco fields for $4.00 a day. Chopping cotton earns
only $2.00 a day. Children and women work in the fields. This was a hard
time for blacks on Rehobeth Road. There were few opportunities for
blacks, but there were plenty of opportunities for whites to discriminate
against blacks in the community. The white folks in the sawmill where
Uncle Buddy works think “all coloreds belong in the cotton fields.” When
they go into town they have to go in the back door of stores and the movie
house and have to sit in the balcony. When Uncle Buddy is accused of
trying to rape a white woman, there was no due process, no lawyer for him,
and no bail. To scare and humiliate the blacks they put Uncle Buddy on a
chain gang on Rehobeth road for a few days in front of his grandparent’s
home. Unfair treatment at the hands of police was not new to the family.
Thirty-five years earlier the sheriff assaulted and arrested Grandpa
Braxton in suspicious circumstances and they feared Grandpa would die
from a blow to the head he received from the sheriff. The Ku Klux Klan
tried to take Uncle Buddy away, but he escaped into the swamp. Shelia
Moses made me laugh and cry as I grew to admire her characters. Her
Author’s Notes in the back of the book explained how she wove the
historical events about Buddy Bush with telling her family’s story. I do
think this time period was described accurately because of my reading over
the years. I was born in 1951 so I remember segregation, separate public
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facilities, the Civil Rights Movement that brought huge changes in Civil
Rights for blacks in America. Shelia Moses’ book seemed accurate based
on what I know. It gave me a better understanding of what blacks had had
to endure, to begin to accomplish what I have witnessed in my lifetime.
One Robert F. Silbert Award or Honor Book
a.When Marian Sang
b.Author: Pam Munoz Ryan Illustator: Brian Selznick
c.Scholastic Press New York, New York 2002
d.What factual information did you learn? Did anything surprise you? How
do you know if this information is correct?
When Marian Sang is a beautifully written and illustrated book about the
gifted African American singer Marian Andersen who lived from 1897- 1993.
She was the first African American to perform with the Metropolitan
Opera. I had heard about and seen film clips of her historic performance in
1939 at the Lincoln Memorial. However, I did not know that 75,000
attended. I did not know that Eleanor Roosevelt, the President’s wife,
resigned from the D.A.R. in protest over the organization’s refusal to let
Marian perform in Constitution Hall because she was black. I knew America
fostered prejudice in the 1930’s and 40’s but I was surprised to learn she
was not accepted here in Music School because she was “colored” in spite of
the fact she had extraordinary talent. When Marian was working to
establish herself as a singer I was surprised equally to learn that she did not
meet the prejudice in Europe that limited her in America. I learned from
the author notes that, “Marian was an uncomfortable activist.” Neither did
she harbor bad feelings toward the D.A.R. This book was a Robert F. Silbert
Honor Book in 2003. The award is given each year to the author(s) and
illustrator(s) of the most distinguished informational book published in
English during the preceding year. On that basis I believe what I read and
learned in this book and in the extra notes at the back is accurate.
e. one Jane Adams Award or Honor Book
a. The Storyteller’s Candle
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b. Author: Lucia Gonzalez Illustrated by Lulu Delacre
c. Children’s Book Press San Francisco, California 2008
d. 2. Describe one of the main characters. How did the author make this
character unique and believable?
The main character in The Storyteller’s Candle is Pura Belpre. Pura is the
first Puerto Rican librarian in New York Public Library System. The story is
set during the Great Depression (1929-1935) when many Puerto Ricans were
moving to New York seeking a better life. Hildamar and Santiago are two
Puerto Rican children in the story who have recently immigrated to New
York with their extended family. They want to visit the neighborhood
library. However their aunt assumes no one in the library speaks Spanish
and they don’t speak English, so “they never went inside.” However, one day
Pura Belpre visits their classroom. She is a skillful storyteller and puppeteer
from the public library. She invited all the children to visit the library during
their winter vacation. Her message that, “The library is for everyone.”
spread throughout the community. Soon adults and children visited the
library to hear Ms. Belpre’s familiar stories about Puerto Rico. She is quickly
able to involve children and adults in the planning and production of a fiesta,
play, dances and a parade at the library based on their up-coming celebration
of Three Kings Day and the familiar story of Perez and Martina. The
activities were held at the library. Pura was so skillful that, “The reading
room had become an island in the Caribbean.” She always had a candle
burning during her activities. At the end of her stories she would say, “Blow
out the storyteller’s candle and your wish will come true.” Pura Belpre was
very believable and unique to me as I read this book. She was able to help
immigrants feel at home and create the feeling of home in their new
homeland. By inviting all the Puerto Ricans, young and old, into the library
and celebrating their culture, she did make them believe the library was for
everyone. She made them feel they belonged as she fostered a sense of
community. By keeping them involved she was fostering literacy which is a
valuable skill, especially for immigrants who seek to fit in and benefit from
their new homeland. She was unique in the New York Library system
because she was the first Puerto Rican Librarian to be employed. I was
delighted to learn from reading the back of the book that this character I
had so quickly come to love was the Pura Belpre whose name was given as an
award “to Latino writers and illustrators whose books celebrate the Latino
cultural experience.” Before I knew this she felt real to me! Her
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storytelling, her puppets, and her way of drawing people in to the library and
getting them involved as she honored their culture, probably helped make
many wishes become reality because of Pura and her storyteller’s candle.
f.Two Pura Belpre Award or Honor Books
a. 1.What Can You Do With A Rebozo?
b. Author: Carmen Tafolla Illustrator: Amy Cordova
c.Tricycle Press an Imprint of Ten Speed Press Berkley, California 2008
d.8. Respond to the design and layout of the book. What do you think of the
cover design, size of the book, font, spacing, and visual elements?
What Can You Do With A Rebozo? is a story told by a Mexican American girl
about the many uses of a rebozo, a long Mexican scarf. Bright colors and
smiling faces create a cover that beckons the reader in with a question-title.
This story is told in simple rhyming sentences with vibrant colors and simple
appealing pictures. The clear black font sometimes curves and dips across
the pages. The limited writing leaving open space and the abundant pictures
draw a reader into the culture, the people, and the uses of a rebozo. The
book is a good size for young readers’ hands. The short sentences are wellsuited to their limited vocabularies. It is also ideal for sharing with a small
group or a class because of the vivid colors and large pictures. The question
–title and the rhyme enticed me to try to think of more ways to use a rebozo
as I was reading the story. The questions at the end of the book invite
readers to continue to think about: What can you do with a rebozo?
a. 2.Dona Flora: A Tall Tale About a Woman With A Great Big Heart
b. Author: Pat Mora Illustrator: Raul Colon
c. Alfred A. Knopf Random House New York, New York 2005
e. 11. What values were conveyed through this book? How were values or
social views conveyed to the reader?
Dona Flora is a tall tale about a kind helpful giant of a woman. Each time
the tiny people in the village asked for help, Dona Flora helped them. She
took children to school and provided huge delicious tortillas for the people
to eat and use as rafts and roofs. When the villagers were terrified by
what they thought was the growl of a huge mountain lion, she and her animal
friends went looking for him. She displayed respect for the animals and
wisdom when she asked them for help and listened to them. She gently
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stopped the small puma who was growling into a long hollow log, making the
frightful noise. Dona Flora’s actions displayed kindness, helpfulness,
persistence, respect, and cooperation combined into problem-solving for the
tiny people she loved. It is possible to learn from Dona Flora that we do not
have to be alike in every way to love each other and live peacefully, safely,
and successfully side by side.
g. One Schneider Family Award or Honor Book
a. Dad, Jackie, and Me
b. Author: Myron Uhlberg Illustrator: Colin Bootman
c. Peachtree Publishers Atlanta, Georgia 2005
d. 9. What is the theme of the book or poem within a collection? Do you
think it is a worthwhile theme for elementary children? Explain.
For me, the theme of Dad, Jackie, and Me is respect for and belief in your
self which extends to others. Myron Uhlberg teaches the reader through a
factual but gentle reporting of facts played out in the choices and actions of
the boy, his dad, and Jackie Robinson. In 1947 Jackie Robinson was the
first Negro player in major league ball. He played for the Brooklyn Dodgers.
Jackie had to have deep self-respect and belief in himself to endure the
prejudice, harassment, cruelty and unfair treatment he suffered simply
because of the color of his skin. To endure what he had to endure took true
depth of character. In the author’s notes I learned the author’s dad, just
like the boy’s dad in the story, was deaf. His notes added to my limited
information about the prejudice and discrimination deaf people of that time
experienced. This belief in your self and respect for your self is very
important and worthwhile for elementary students. A healthy and balanced
self respect will cause a person to respect others. Students today can
believe, “It’s all about me! I have to win! I have to be recognized and
rewarded!” They sometimes have missed the lessons about the importance
and worth of all other human beings. They may not know how hard people
have to work and struggle with problems to become successful. Or, they can
just be in the middle of a struggle and think no one else has ever had to
struggle and keep trying like they are in their lives. They need to know, too,
that people win those hard battles in life over time, relying on hard work
with belief in, and respect for themselves, no matter what other people are
saying or doing. This is so much more than an entertaining book about
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baseball. Jackie Robinson, this boy and his dad have much to offer the
reader about the beauty of the resilient human spirit.
h. One Mildred Batchelder Award or Honor book
a. Run, Boy, Run
b. Author: Uri Orlev
c. Walter Lorraine Books Houghton Mifflin Company New York, New York
2003
d. Describe one of the main characters. How did the author make this
character unique and believable?
The main character in Run, Boy, Run is an eight year old boy named Srulik
Frydman during German occupied Poland in World War II. His father
instructed him to take the new name, Jurek Staniak and to forget his
Jewish name because of the danger involved in being discovered by the
Germans. His father further instructed him to learn to act like a Christian,
to cross himself, and to pray. Jurek spent most of the book hiding out in
the forests, barely avoiding starvation, and working on farms until he was
discovered and had to move on. Much of the time he was alone to fend for
himself. To me, most of this character’s experiences were unique to most
readers. Few readers in America have experienced their homeland being
invaded and being hunted down to be killed because of their nationality and
religion. Few readers have suffered the loss of most of their family
members in war and invasion. Even more unique is Jurek’s experience of
being alone in a hostile environment and having to figure out how to keep
from being captured, killed, or starving to death. Few readers have
experienced having to become a new person to survive their life. As
difficult as his circumstances were the author described them in such a way
that they were sad, extreme, but believable to me. It made sense that
people would help Jurek until their lives were in danger. The survival instinct
in the gang of Jewish boys Jurek met early in the book made sense and was
very touching. I believe most humans would do whatever we had to do
survive. For me, this book was the struggle of a boy on the very edge of life
trying to survive. In America today we are often well-insulated from
extreme struggle that test us to our very core. Reading this type of story is
good sometimes to remind us of how blessed we are as well as to remind us
that we are capable of much more than we imagine we could ever endure. I
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was not surprised to discover inside the front of the book that this is “a
story all the more incredible because it is true.”
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