Title: Chato and the Party Animals
Author/Illustrator: Gary Soto/Susan Guevara
Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons; New York; 2000
Pura Belpre’ Award
This story is about a cat named Chato and his best friend Novio Boy. Chato is “the coolest cat
around” and loves to party. While at a birthday party, Novio Boy gets really depressed because he says
that he is from the pound and doesn’t know his birthday so he has never had a party. Being a good
friend, Chato plans a surprise birthday party for Novio Boy with games, decorations, and plenty of food.
All is going great until the guests arrive and Novio Boy is not one of them. Chato realizes that he
forgot to invite him to his own party and they all go searching for him. No one can find him anywhere
and they think he has been kidnapped or gotten lost. In the end, Novio Boy shows up and is so grateful
for his birthday party and great friends.
One thing I really like about this book is that it incorporates Spanish words into the story and
can therefore be used to help teach multicultural lessons. The beginning of the book even has a glossary
of all the Spanish words that will appear throughout the story so that the teacher could go over the list
with the class before reading so the students will know the words when they come to them.
The plot in this story develops nicely as all the cats start out at a party which leads to the reader
finding out that Novio Boy is upset because he has never had his own party. From there we see his
friend plan and organize a great party but have the dilemma of not knowing where the birthday boy is.
The conflict is solved and the story ends with a happy ending appropriate for the age group the book is
targeted towards. Overall, I enjoyed this book and thought it was fun and playful yet taught an
important lesson about being a good friend.
The Pura Belpre’ Award is given to a Latino writer and illustrator whose work best portrays,
affirms, and celebrates the Latino cultural experience. While I did enjoy this book and the incorporation
of the Spanish words, I don’t think that the book really addresses the Latino culture. The story was
about cats having a party and did not seem to have customs related to the Latino culture. Nonetheless,
it does meet the other requirements as it has a Latino illustrator and the story is well written with a
good meaning.
I would definitely use the book in the classroom to introduce some of the students to Spanish
terms they may not already be familiar with. With the majority of the text being in English with only
select Spanish words, you can spend more time with the words and have the students do some fun
activities with them before reading the book so that they will recognize and understand them when they
are read in the text.
Title: Number the Stars
Author: Lois Lowry
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin; 1989
Number the Stars is about a young girl named Annemarie from Denmark and how her life
changes during World War II. As Jews are being taken from their homes, Annemarie’s family take in
Ellen, Annemarie’s best friend who is Jewish, and hide her by saying that she is their other daughter.
Annemarie’s family then puts themselves in danger by trying to help a group of Jewish families,
including Ellen’s, escape to Sweden.
While Annemarie is only ten-years-old, she is forced to grow up quickly and learns some of the
harsh realities of the world. She then wants to help her family help others escape to safety although she
is very upset about being separated from her best friend. In the book, Annemarie struggles with the fact
that because she is a child she is often not told many things in order to protect and shield her, although
she feels that she is old enough to know and help.
The story is told from the standpoint of a ten-year old girl, which is very easy to relate to. The
plot is simple and easy to follow since it is told from a child’s perspective. This standpoint also makes
this book an excellent choice to use in the classroom because the students reading it can relate to a
main character close to their own age. Because the book is written from a young girl’s point of view, it
will make it easier for the students to understand the text and relate to on a personal level.
While reading, I could sympathize with Annemarie and understood what is was like to
intentionally not be told certain information and be angered because it seems like you are being lied to.
I also understand what it is like to want to help in a situation but to not have enough authority in order
to do so.
One reason that Number the Stars makes an excellent choice for an award winner is because it
is an engaging fiction book that provides factual information. It takes the topic of the Holocaust and
uses a made up family and characters to portray a situation that may be similar to a situation that
actually happened. When used in a classroom, students learn what it was like in Europe during World
War II and some of what it was like for people that were Jewish. Since this story is a fiction novel it is
more likely to capture student’s interest than just an informational text but still provides useful and
accurate information. The book would obviously need to be used with an older class of at least fifth
grade if not sixth grade. This is due to the reading difficulty as well as the subject matter. The book
would fit in nicely with the curriculum when teaching about the Holocaust. One concern would be that
the students should have some prior knowledge of the Holocaust before reading the book in order to
fully understand all the situations in the book.
Overall, the criteria for winning the award are fairly simple. It must be published the previous
year in the United States, the author must be a citizen of the U.S., it must have well defined plot and
characters, and must contribute to literature geared for children. Number the Stars met all of these
criteria and also has the ability to be used in the classroom to teach without seeming like an educational
book.
Title: Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters
Author: John Steptoe
Publisher: Amistad; 1987
Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters is about two very beautiful sisters with very different
personalities. While they are both physically beautiful, the older sister Manyara is self-centered and
thinks only of herself. The younger sister, Nyasha is sweet and caring. Their father is very proud of both
girls as he is oblivious to Manyara’s true personality. Their father gets a request that all beautiful girls
should report to the king so that he marry choose one to marry. Since he prides himself on the fact that
he has two very beautiful daughters he decides to send both to see the king. Manyara becomes upset
when her father says he is sending both girls, so she sneaks out early in order to beat her sister to the
king.
Along the way she unknowingly encounters tests by the king in the form of people asking for
help and offering advice. She pays them no attention and instead rushes on while Nyasha stops and
helps each person. In the end, Nyasha is made queen as she is beautiful not only on the outside, but on
the inside as well. All along the king wanted a queen who cares for others and not just herself.
This story is very much another version of Cinderella. There is a cruel sister and a nice, caring
sister and in the end the nice sister gets to be queen. This story has been told hundreds of times in
various forms and it seems that each culture has their own version of the story. The plot unfolds
similarly to most “Cinderella” stories in that one sister is proven to be beautiful on the outside as well as
the inside. The reader then sympathizes with this character and thus is happy in the end when they get
the happy ending. I enjoyed the story and do think that the overall message about the importance of
being kind and unselfish is a good one for a children’s book.
This story can be used very effectively in a classroom to portray the classic story using African
American characters. Most children think of Cinderella and picture a blond-haired, blue-eyed girl white
girl in a big poufy ball gown marrying her prince. Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters is essentially the same
story as Cinderella but instead uses African American characters which most students would not be
familiar with. This would be a good lead in to teaching about how many stories are passed down
through time and that many cultures have their own version of very similar stories.
Of course, the story can also be used to teach morals and their importance. For example, it is
important to always be a good person and to care about others and not just yourself. Also, that being
beautiful means more about your actions that it does your physical appearance. This is a book that can
be used across the elementary grades by varying the depth of the conversation in relation to morals.
The Coretta Scott King award is given to two books each year, one for an author and one for an
illustrator. This book won the Coretta Scott King award for the illustrations in 1988. The illustrations are
striking paintings that depict the setting beautifully.
Title: Aunt Harriet’s Underground Railroad in the Sky
Author: Faith Ringgold
Publisher: Crown Publishers, Inc.; New York; 1992
Aunt Harriet’s Underground Railroad in the Sky is a children’s book about the Underground
Railroad. The story follows the main character, Cassie, as she follows Harriet Tubman’s advice and
makes her way along the Underground Railroad. She stays with people as she travels from the south all
the way up to Canada but she has to be very careful and not be caught by the bounty hunters looking to
sell her back to slavery. She has to stay hidden by the families and must stay well hidden as she
ventures from stop to stop.
In the end, Cassie makes it to Canada and completes the Underground Railroad and is reunited
with her little brother Be Be. He tells her that he is sorry he separated from her, but that freedom was
more important than staying together. The end of the book has a section of real information about the
Underground Railroad geared towards older students.
Personally, I absolutely hated this book. I was confused right from the beginning. There was
almost no character development and the plot was extremely unclear. I think that the author tried to
simplify the concept of the Underground Railroad but in doing so made it much harder to understand.
She talks about the Underground Railroad as if it is an actual train in the sky. Cassie’s brother boards
this train, but she misses it and instead must walk and take the ground version. I think that this would
be very confusing and misleading for children. Also, along the way, Cassie gets notes from her brother
at each of the stops she makes telling her about his time on the train and often the messages don’t
make sense. For example, he tells her “I have a new baby sister. Her mother got sick and went to
heaven” even though it is really not his sister. Another thing I did not like about the story is that at the
very end Be Be tells Cassie that he had to go because freedom is more important than staying together.
I think that sends a bad message to kids and undermines the importance of family. Overall, this book
was confusing and I think it would really confuse kids and give them a misunderstanding of the
Underground Railroad.
The Jane Addams Award is given to a book published in the preceding year that promotes peace,
social justice, world community, and the equality of the sexes and all races. This book does promote the
importance of not having slavery and why it was wrong. Cassie, the main character, must also overcome
her fears in order to make it to freedom and by reunited with her brother.
I would have some concerns with using this book in my classroom. I would be worried that
students would not gain an accurate understanding of the Underground Railroad and that they would be
mislead by the fantasy elements in the story. I think that it would be hard enough for some students to
grasp that the Underground Railroad was not an actual railroad, but was instead a metaphor, and that
this story just creates further confusion. If this book were to be used, I would be sure to teach in-depth
what the Underground Railroad actually was and how it worked before reading this story as to not
mislead the students.