Ling & Ting: Not Exactly the Same

Ling & Ting: Not Exactly the Same

Lin, Grace. (2010). Ling & Ting: Not exactly the same. New York: Little, Brown and Company

Genre: Children’s Multicultural Fiction

Age Level: K-3^rd

Summary:  Ling and Ting are twin Chinese girls who seem very alike but value their individuality. The multicultural aspects of this book are shown by the girl’s names and other content related to the Chinese culture like making dumplings and using chopsticks instead of silverware. The plot of this story is chronological but presented in an episodic manner. The author shows us many experiences that Ling and Ting use to show their differences like getting a haircut, making food, and choosing reading material. The girls have many similarities as well including their looks, sense of humor, and how they both strive for uniqueness. This Theodore Seuss Geisel Honor Book has a funny, unpredictable story line that young reader will enjoy.

Reflection: This is a great book for young/beginner readers. It shows them how siblings can get along in productive ways and have fun together by cooking, doing magic tricks, and going to the park. This book design attracts much attention which is how I found it.  Its bright and bold illustrations pop out on any bookshelf. The book design includes a dust jacket which gives the reader a lot of information on the book and its author. The front flap contains a short summary of the book and the back flap shows the author and explains where she got her inspiration for this story. Grace Lin has two sisters. They all have black hair and glasses but they are definitely not the same. I think after reading this, young readers will want to read more stories by Grace Lin which she also lists on the back flap.

 

The Giver

The Giver

Lowry, L. (1993). The Giver. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co.

Genre: Fantasy

Age Level: 12-16

Summary: The Giver is a young adult novel set in a utopian society where everything that is the same is treasured and differences are weeded out and discarded.  There are many rules that govern the community and people must adhere to these laws or face release from the community. Every year from 3 years of age to 12 years of age, children are granted new roles and responsibilities until the Ceremony of the Twelves awards the children the roles they’ll be spending the rest of their lives training for and living out. The main character Jonas lives with the parents to which he was assigned and his sister who joined their family unit when he was a young child. The story begins with Jonas a few months away from the Ceremony of the Twelves anxiously awaiting the job to which he’ll be assigned. One by one he watches his classmates get chosen for different occupations feeling both excitement for his friends and relief he wasn’t chosen for certain positions. During the ceremony, he is passed over. Feeling anxiety until the end, he is finally called onto the stage and it is announced that Jonas has been chosen for a once in a lifetime opportunity: to become the Receiver of Memory. Pretty soon after, it becomes obvious to the reader that Jonas is gifted with a special ability thus adding to the fantasy and creating a supernatural tension in the story. As more revelations are made about the community, it becomes apparent that Jonas will never be happy living there. Will he escape? What will become of him?

Reflection:  The Giver is a great novel.  On the surface, the characters and the town seem to be in working order and content with their lives, but underneath a darkness looms that isn’t shared as common knowledge.  Lois Lowry creates very dynamic characters with distinct personalities.  The relationships between the characters play a major role in the story. The parents, although not biological, are there to rear their children in the ways of the community as they age, but it’s soon discovered by Jonas that his parents are not being entirely truthful creating lies by omission. Jonas’s character development is very central to the plot of the story. As he begins the story as just an ordinary boy, he is soon forced to mature faster than any of his classmates as he assimilates memories and feelings not experienced by anyone else in the town save The Giver.  Jonas and The Giver begin to discuss ways to leave the town secretly because it is forbidden. Jonas feels that it would be selfish of him to keep these memories all to himself. He feels they should be shared with the rest of the community in which he strongly feels change is needed but knows it is very unlikely to happen. The Giver explains to him that if he were to leave or be released then the memories would return to the community. That is all that Jonas needs to hear and he soon puts his plan into motion but not without taking something of personal importance with him first. This story teaches many lessons to the reader including “you are never too young to make a change” and “change, no matter how scary, can still be for the best” and “sometimes, you must go to extremes to make a necessary difference. “

Los Gatos Black on Halloween

Los Gatos Black on Halloween

Montes, M. (2006). Los gatos black on Halloween. New York, NY: Henry Holt and Company.

 Genre: Children’s Fiction

Age Level: 4-Up

Summary: This children’s picture book is a story about many types of monsters that come to life on Halloween night and join in a monstrous ball that is soon interrupted by a true horror.  This book of fantasy includes many elements that we still use in books and movies today. The story includes flying witches, skeletons, ghosts, zombies, vampires and several other conventional Halloween characters that all go parading through the town and graveyard and eventually reach a haunted mansion where they engage in a night of well-mannered frivolity.

Reflection: This book has received the Pura Belpre award which is named after Pura Belpre, the first Latina librarian at the New York Public Library. The Pura Belpre Award, established in 1996, is presented annually to a Latino/Latina writer and illustrator whose work best portrays, affirms, and celebrates the Latino cultural experience in an outstanding work of literature for children and youth. This story is an easy to read, rhyming text about Halloween night that incorporates Spanish words and vocabulary.  The rhyming helps the sentences flow very easily and helps the reader keep on pace. This book would work great in helping teach Spanish to English speaking students and vice versa because after the Spanish word is read, the English version is read within the same sentence or immediately in the next line. The illustrations are very colorful showing that this book is fun and not at all supposed to scare the reader. 

Sam, Bangs, and Moonshine

Sam, Bangs, and Moonshine

Ness, E. (1966). Sam, Bangs, and moonshine. New York, NY: Henry Holt and Company.

Genre: Children’s Fiction

Age Level: 7-Up

Summary: This book is about a fisherman’s daughter who daydreams and fabricates stories she shares with everyone in town especially a neighborhood boy who believes everything she says. Her stories include everything she imagines like her mother being a mermaid, owning a lion and baby kangaroo, and having a talking cat.  One day her father leaves for an all day fishing trip and she sends young Thomas on a wild goose chase not knowing of the impending weather danger. Her father returns home to find her in panic mode and he races out against the elements to save the young boy and Bangs the cat. What will become of him and his daughter’s companions?

Reflection: The first thing I noted about the illustrations was the lack of detail and color. Black, white, and gold are the only colors used in the pictures and little detail is shown as many of the illustrations are simple outlines and shading. What compels the reader to continue the story is more the context than the illustrations. When a lie told by Sam endangers her friends, this captivates the reader to continue and adds value to the moral of the story. This story is for older readers and conveys a good message about telling lies and telling the truth.  A book such as Sam, Bangs, and Moonshine having a universal theme such as this is worthy of children’s attention. The moral value that can be transmitted by the story is reason enough to incorporate it into instruction or add it to a classroom library.

The Napping House

The Napping House

Wood, A. (1984). The napping house. Orlando: Harcourt Brace and Company.

Genre: Children’s Fiction

Age Level: 5-7

Summary:  The Napping House is a children’s picture book with notable achievements such as being a 1984 American Library Association Notable Book for Children, a 1984 New York Times Best Illustrated Children’s Book, and the winner of the 1984 Golden Kite Award from the Society of Children’s Book Writers. This book has a progressive plot that introduces more characters on every page. As the title suggests, the house is full of sleeping individuals. Each character is described in a manner of tiredness (snoring grandma, dozing dog) until the last character, who could be portrayed as the antagonist, is introduced.  This character, in turn, brings an end to every ones’ peaceful night’s rest.

Reflection:  This book would be great for young children who are learning to read because it uses elements of repetition. The words repeated most are the adjectives describing the characters which are all related to napping.  As the story progresses, the dark illustrations set the mood that the reader would expect to find in a napping house but also shows where conflict is possible adding a dog, cat, and mouse in the same bed. The illustrations are excellent in this picture book.  The artistic media of choice was oil on pressed board. As the characters begin to wake, the changing colors suggest a changing mood in the house to where eventually it’s no longer a napping house.

A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever

A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever

Frazee, M. (2008). A couple of boys have the best week ever. Orlando, FL: Harcourt, INC.

 Genre: Children’s Realistic Fiction

Age Level: 5-8

Summary:  A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever is a great story with very nice illustrations. Two friends James and Eamon enjoy a great week together at the home of Eamon’s grandparents Bill and Pam during summer break. The plot takes the children through the week of spending time at nature camp and in the home of Bill and Pam.  They watch TV, play video games, and eat banana pancakes all the while listening to Bill’s stories and avoiding the beach just outside. They become so connected at the hip and begin doing everything as a team that Bill begins to call them Jamon. As the week winds down, the boys realize that experiences become more meaningful when shared with others around them.

Reflection:  This book is very well written and illustrated and the story structure is very easy to follow. What caught my attention first was the amount of sarcasm and humor that a child 5-8 years of age might not pick up on but the parent or teacher reading it aloud would.  Many of the underlying messages extend from the writing through the illustrations so the reader would need to look closely to really see the attitudes and interests of the characters and how they develop throughout the story. Some of the illustrations seen contradictory to the writing but that is where the sarcasm takes over.  This book would be more appropriate for young males and they would definitely feel the connection to the “best friends” theme presented here. This book makes me think back to the really close friendships I had when I was younger and how my friends and I had all the energy in the world and felt we never had to slow down.  Do any of us still have this type of best friend besides me?

10 Minutes till Bedtime

10 Minutes till Bedtime

Rathmann, P. (1998). 10 minutes till bedtime.  New York:  G. P. Putnam’s Sons

      

    Genre: Fiction Picture Storybook

       Age Level: 3-6

       Summary:  10 Minutes till Bedtime is a story book compiled mostly of illustrations.  The main plot goes in chronological order and follows the boy as his hamster leads numerous other hamsters on a 10 minute tour of the house as the boy gets ready for bed and the father counts down the minutes till bedtime. As more hamsters show up to the boys home, it becomes increasingly difficult for the boy to complete his bedtime routine which involves eating a snack, brushing his teeth, bathing, and reading a bedtime story.  Even as the minutes wind down, more hamsters continue to show up with their hamster families in their hamster-size cars causing commotion at every turn.  Will the boy be able to make it to bed on time? Read 10 Minutes till Bedtime to find out!

Reflection:  To my surprise, when I opened this book I was stunned by the lack of text.  However, that being the case, this is a great book to introduce to young children. It familiarizes them with everything they should do before falling asleep including bathing and brushing teeth.  That alone promotes good hygiene habits.  It’s also good for young children because there is so much that is not said in the book that kids can use their imagination to create dialogue between the characters. Some pages have as little as zero words on them but the detailed cartoonish illustrations show enough action to keep the attention of young readers. Having a book like this that entertains and teaches in classroom and/or home libraries is a great way to get young children interested in reading.  Who still has a nightly routine that they take part in before falling asleep?

Who am I? Let me tell you!

My name is James Glynn Bryant, but I am more commonly known a Jimmy, Jimbo, Jimothy, Mim, Slim Jim, Jumbo Jimbo, Jimmy Bryant the Iron Giant, Jimmy Bryant All-American and most recently Coach Jimmy. These names each come from different friends and relatives and have been used on many occasions.  I was born and raised in a small town in Oklahoma near Tulsa so I grew up familiar with the big city as well as rural life. I spent summers on the lake and working on my grandpa's ranch. I started playing sports at an early age and continued all through high school and college receiving most of my accolades on the track. I was recruited to Southwestern College in KS where I received several All-American honors both on the track and in the classroom and graduated with a degree in Business Administration and Education. For the last 3.5 semesters, I’ve been acting as a graduate assistant track and cross country coach at Cumberlands while completing my Masters in Reading and Writing Instruction. 

This is my last course in the program. I’m usually not a big reader so it was somewhat surprising when I heard we have to read 30 children’s books, but with this being my last class, it won’t hurt to get out of my comfort zone a little.  I didn’t read many children’s stories as a kid some I guess I’m making up for lost time. If I do end up being a reading teacher, this class will benefit me greatly. My plan is to pursue a career in coaching but teaching is a great option as well if I take the high school coaching route.