Module 14: Witness

Book cover image:

 

Taken from Goodreads.com (Goodreads, Inc., n.d.)   

Genre:

This book is from the poetry module but can also be classified a couple of other ways.  First, this novel is written in free verse which is quickly becoming its own genre/ format that could create an entirely new collection in libraries. Second, this book is a work of realistic historical fiction as it takes place in 1920s Vermont during a time when the Ku Klux Klan was infiltrating communities across the country.

Book Summary:

Witness by Newbery Award winning author Karen Hesse tells the story of a cast of characters from a small town in Vermont who are impacted by the influx of the Ku Klux Klan.  As the story unfolds in verse the reader finds out who the heroes are and who the evil ones are.  Everyone in the town is impacted by the KKK in some way. 

APA Reference of Book: 

Hesse, K. (2001). Witness. New York: Scholastic Press.

Impressions:

I really wanted to love Witness as much as I did Out of the dust but the story never gripped me in the same way and I finished the book feeling a little cheated.  There was so much potential in this book and so much of the story that still needed to be told and wasn’t.  There was an amazing and diverse cast of characters and the author included pictures and short bios at the beginning, but even as an adult I kept having to flip back to see who was talking and what their position was in the town. As much as I have developed a new-found love of novels in verse, I feel like this one deserved more character development and background story in the form of a novel.  One thing that I did like about this story was that the author takes a different look at the KKK than we are used to reading and that is that the KKK did not just discriminate and attack blacks; they also targeted Jews, Catholics, and any person who did not agree with them or helped those who they felt were immoral.  It was a part of history that our young people need to learn about and she did present that well. 

Professional Review:

Reviewed on November 1, 2001 in The Horn Book and published online on Book Verdict

Karen Hesse's latest free-verse novel employs eleven different voices to record the Ku Klux Klan's effects on a Vermont town in 1924, with dubious success. The fictional cast, comprising two children and nine adults, is introduced with sepia-toned photographs to boost their verisimilitude and help sort out who's who. Yet many still feel more like types than complex individuals. There is the hypocritical preacher, who calls Harlem the "den of the devil" while failing to see anything wrong in his own racist and lecherous behavior. There is the eighteen-year-old Klansman-in-the-making, who ultimately reforms after witnessing a courageous act by a black girl. The girl, Leanora, in turn, learns that not all whites are alike from a wise old Civil War veteran, who performs the unbelievable and leadenly symbolic feat of chasing demonstrating Klan members away from the courthouse with his cane. At times, the text offers fresh and resonant images, such as when Leanora's father calls her "a wild brown island" after she wonders aloud "why can't folks just leave [her] alone." Eschewing capital letters (why?), the free-verse format works fairly well for the preacher and the town newspaper editor's sections, since it accentuates their professional rhetoric. But with other characters, the entries sound heavy and too obviously staged: "damn klan. / to think of what they could drive from my life / with their filthy / little / minds." Curiously, the uniquely affected speech patterns of one narrator, a little Jewish girl, resemble that of another reportedly precocious six-year-old—Opal Whiteley (The Story of Opal). Young Esther's cumbersome speech grows tedious to read, making one wish Hesse had found another way to convey her innocence in the face of insidious evil. Overall, Witness has a compelling story to tell, but one that is too complex to work effectively in this format.

APA Reference of Professional Review:

Media Source Book Verdict. (2001, November 1). Witness. Retrieved April 28, 2018, from Book Verdict: http://bookverdict.com/details.xqy?uri=Product-69409633.xml

Library Uses:

For this type of story, I feel the best way to use this book in a library or classroom would be a book club style discussion.  The discussion could easily focus on different aspects of the story from the writing style, the history, and the individual aspect of each character’s life. 

Sample questions:

1. Why do you think the author choose to tell the story through the voices of so many different characters?
2.  How would the story have been different if it had only been told from the point of view of one of the characters?
3. Do you think it was effective to tell the story in free verse form instead of in standard novel format? 
4. How is this story similar or different from other stories you have read about the Ku Klux Klan? 
5. Discuss the different characters and the way they reacted to the increase of Klan activity in their community. 

Readalikes:

There are a couple of different ways to approach readalikes and that is to look at other books that discuss the Ku Klux Klan and prejudice or to look at other novels written as free verse.  Additionally, there are readalikes written as free verse that are historical fiction, similar to this title.  I will take a varied approach at this and present a little of each to give readers the opportunity to explore some different material.

The first readalike is a novel in verse that has won a Newbery Honor Medal, National Book Award, New York Times Bestseller and numerous other state awards. Inside out & back again by Thanhha Lai is a historical fiction that is set during the Vietnam War and tells the story of 10-year-old Ha who is forced to flee the only home she has ever know when Saigon falls.  She finds her self in Alabama, a foreign land to her, where she must make this new land her home.

Roll of thunder hear me cry by Mildred D Taylor won the 1977 Newbery Award Medal along with dozens of other awards and is a classic well-loved children’s book.  Land has a special meaning to the Logan family especially during the Jim Crow era when blacks still didn’t have the freedom the laws has promised them.  The Logan family is strong and full of pride and love and endure horrible acts of discrimination because of the color of their skin.  The story is told from young Cassie Logan’s point of view and goes through an entire year of her life

The last readalike for this module is also a novel in verse that is also historical fiction that explores racism and prejudice. Unbound by Ann E. Burg tells the story of young Grace who is called up to the big house from her home in the slave cabins.  Despite warnings from all her family to keep her thoughts to herself, she finally voices her opinions about the injustice around her and her and her family escape.  In their quest for freedom they encounter many dangers that leave them wondering if they will ever find true freedom.

Checkout my Goodreads list of children and youth literature I read during the Spring 2018 Semester at UNT. 

Module 13: The case of the Monster Fire

Book cover image:

 

Taken from Goodreads.com (Goodreads, Inc., n.d.)   

Genre:

For the purpose of this class, The case of the monster fire: Hank theCowdog #71  by John Erickson was listed as a series book.  A deeper look at the book, the genre could be further narrowed to contemporary realistic fiction and loosely classified as a mystery.  The story covers the devastating wildfires that impacted the panhandle in March of 2017, so as time passes, the book could be reclassified as historical fiction.

Book Summary:

This is the seventy-first book in the Hank the Cowdog series that started back in 1980 with The original adventures of Hank the Cowdog.  The story follows the favorite head of security, Hank, who is on high alert because of the extremely dry and windy conditions around Slim’s ranch.  Slim, the forever bachelor cowboy, decides it is time for him and Viola to start planning for a future together and accepts a loan, with much resistance, from Viola’s father to buy 10 heifers for the ranch.  Hank has always been able to defend the ranch from anything, but the monster fire that ravages the panhandle is unlike anything the have ever seen before.  Without giving away the entire story, Hank and Slim come together during a difficult time and readers go on an adventure that will reveal the true meaning of community.

APA Reference of Book: 

Erickson, J. R. (2018). The case of the Monster Fire. Perryton, TX: Maverick Books, Inc.

Impressions:

I am an avid lover of the Hank the Cowdog series  and the author John Erickson who lives in Perryton, TX, not far from my hometown.  I remember being introduced to the Hank series when I was in kindergarten in 1984 and have continued to read them and share them with my boys who are now in their teens.  I had the chance to meet John Erickson in 2013 during the annual conference of the Texas Library Association, and now make it a point to visit him every year.  That being said, in March of 2017 John Erickson and his wife lost everything in the wildfires that burned over 300,000 acres of the Texas Panhandle and the entire community of Hank the Cowdog lovers grieved with them.  Despite the loss, Erickson did something very special and shared his story and thanks to his community in the newest book of the Hank series.  This book made me laugh, made me cry, and restored my faith in humanity.  In the book the community, both near and far, comes together to help Slim and the other ranchers who lost everything, insuring that everyone has clothes to wear, a bed to sleep, and that all the livestock have hay and feed immediately after the fires. This part of the story is completely true and retells Erickson’s experience when people across the country immediately went into action to insure his family and all the ranchers were able to survive after the fires.  Trucks and trailers came in from across the country to feed all the surviving livestock after the fire burned up all the pastures.  After reading this book and visiting with Mr. Erickson in April, this story was his way of saying thank you to everyone and to heal after one of the most devastating experiences in his life.  This book gets 5 stars from me!  

Professional Review:

This book was just released March 28, 2018, so there are not currently any formal professional reviews, but I have found plenty of news articles from Texas that provide a review of sorts of John Erickson’s most recent book.  I will share one that is particularly well written from Texas Public Radio and will add links to the others I think are worth sharing.

The article “In 'The Case of The Monster Fire,' Hank the Cowdog Makes It Through A True Panhandle Tragedy” was written by Written by Christopher De Los Santos and published Michael Marks April 2, 2018 for Texas Public Radio.

One of the staples of elementary school library shelves across Texas is Hank the Cowdog – the dog who fancies himself the “head of ranch security” at the M-Cross Ranch in the Panhandle. Since 1983, Hank has solved mysteries, fended off coyotes, and pined for the affection of the ranch’s collie, Beulah.

It’s fiction, of course, but in his most recent adventure “The Case of the Monster Fire,” Hank faces a challenge that’s very real for his creator, John R. Erickson. That’s because Erickson’s ranch went up in flames during the massive Panhandle fires that burned over 300,000 acres last year.

Erickson says that when the fire started, the National Weather Service had been predicting it for days. “I walked out the door and I saw the smoke,” he says. He and his wife Kris needed to leave quickly. The next morning, his son got as close to the ranch as he could. “The ranch was still burning, and he called us and said, ‘I have terrible news.’ The house was gone,” Erickson says. “We also lost a nice little guest house, and I lost my writing office and my library. We lost every book we owned, every stitch of clothes. Kris lost ten quilts that she had made. So, we were as homeless as snowbirds in winter.”

After the fire, Erickson tried to keep his usual writing schedule. He kept a journal of his activities recovering from the fire. “In May, it was time to write a Hank book,” he says. “[The fire] was the thing that was on my mind. It had become kind of an obsession. I wasn’t sure that I could write a funny, lighthearted book about the kind of fire we went through, but I gave it a try and I think it turned out quite well.” He says it typically takes him six weeks to write a Hank book, but this one took only three weeks. The book isn’t just about the tragedy of the fire – it’s also about the hope and generosity that came after.

“Ranchers up here had lost 318,000 acres of pasture land, and on our ranch, our cattle had nothing to eat,” he says. “But people in other parts of the state and as far as places like Michigan and Ohio started sending hay. And I was getting calls from people I didn’t know and had no idea how they got my phone number, and they were saying, ‘Where do you want this hay?’ There were two guys from Floresville, Texas, which is south of San Antonio, they had to go over 600 miles. Drove all night and brought me 32 bales of hay.” Erickson says he thanked them and they went on their way. He still doesn’t know who they were. Another call was from a farmer in Louisiana. “His son was a Hank fan,” Erickson says, “and he heard about the fire and he said, ‘Daddy I want to take Hank some hay.’”

Helped by fellow ranchers, his faith community, and Hank readers from across Texas and even around the country, Erickson is recovering from the fire and turning his loss into an adventure for his characters and his fans.

Additional new stories on John Erickson and the ‘Monster Fire’ can be found at:

“A year later: John Erickson writes about the Perryton fire through the eyes of Hank the Cowdog”

“‘Hank The Cowdog’ AuthorWrites Book Depicting Perryton Wildfire” 

“The case of the Texas fire: An unexpected turn of events in the life of Hank the Cowdog author John R.Erickson” 

“For 'Hank the Cowdog' authorthe fury of a Panhandle prairie fire was almost beyond imagining”

APA Reference of Professional Review:

De Los Santos, C., & Marks, M. (2018, April 2). In 'The case of the Monster Fire,' Hank the Cowdog makes it through a true Panhandle tragedy. Retrieved April 24, 2018, from Texas Public Radio: http://tpr.org/post/case-monster-fire-hank-cowdog-makes-it-through-true-panhandle-tragedy 

Library Uses:

Drought and wildfires have continued to affect numerous regions of our country in recent years including Texas, Oklahoma, California, Montana, and many more, which means numerous children and families have experienced a loss similar to that of Slim and Hank in The case of the Monster Fire.  Libraries in these areas can use this book to help these young people deal with some of the feelings they may be experiencing.  By reading this story they can start talking about their feelings and working through some of the emotions they are feeling.  I would encourage parents, teachers, and/or counselors to read this book with those children and talk about their experiences.  The grief experienced after loosing everything to fire is very real and this story can open up the line of communication.

Additionally, parents, librarians, and teachers can visit the official Hank the Cowdog website and go to the FanZone for games, activities, printouts, and more!

Readalikes:

The first readalike I want to share is written by S.J. Dahlstrom who has been mentored by John Erickson throughout his journey as an author.  Dahlstrom writes the The adventures of Wilder Good  series which currently includes four books, with book five coming out this year.  The first book in the series, The elk hunt, introduces 12-year-old Wilder Good and his family who live in a small town in southern Colorado.  Wilder is on the cusp of becoming a teenager and is really trying to figure out what it means to enter the grown-up world.  Fortunately, he has a wonderful role model in an elder from his family’s church who takes him hunting for Elk and helps him come to grips with the world around him. 

The next series readalike is the Faithgirlz/ Princess in Camo series written by two women from Duck Dynasty, Missy and Mia Robertson.  The first book in the series, Running from reality tells the story of Allie Carroway who is done with reality TV.  Allie and her cousins are tired of having everything about their life broadcast for the world to see on TV so Papaw Ray sends them on a trip to escape reality. Their adventures lead them to explore nature, family, faith, and love with no pictures or cameras aloud!

The final mystery/ adventure readalike series I suggest is the A to ZMysteries by Ron Roy which features 26 books, one for each letter of the alphabet.  The first book in the series is The absent author that is obviously featuring the letter A for author.  Dink writes to his favorite author requesting that he come and visit their town but when the big day comes the author is nowhere to be found.  Dink and his best friends set out to solve the mystery and find the famous author before it is too late.

Checkout my Goodreads list of children and youth literature I read during the Spring 2018 Semester at UNT. 

Module 12: Hank Aaron: Brave in every way

Book cover image:

Taken from Goodreads.com (Goodreads, Inc., n.d.)   

Genre:

The book, Hank Aaron: Brave in every way written by Peter Golenbock and illustrated by Paul Lee is a biography in picture book form.  Biographies fall in the broad genre of nonfiction. This book could also be classified as juvenile sports nonfiction. 

Book Summary: 

This picture book takes the reader through the life of Hank Aaron, a young African American boy, who dreamed of playing baseball in the major leagues before blacks were allowed to do so.  Hank grew up in the time of the Great Depression in Alabama with his parents and played baseball in the open field near his home. Hank daydreamed about baseball, even at school, while his mom had her own dreams of him attending college.  Hank’s father knew his son wanted to play professional baseball but he also knew that there were no colored players in the majors during that time. When Hank turned 13, the major leagues acquired their first black player, Jackie Robinson.  This gave him renewed hope that he could play and he actively pursued those dreams. Hank Aaron became a leading home run hitter and when he neared the record of Babe Ruth he started receiving hate mail.  Fortunately he never gave up and millions of others began cheering him on regardless of the color of his skin. 

APA Reference of Book: 

Golenbock, P., & Lee, P. (2001). Hank Aaron: Brave in every way. San Diego: Gulliver Books Harcourt, Inc.

Impressions:

Baseball season is upon us, and being a mom of three teenage boys and a wife to a sports loving husband, I have no choice but to love baseball.  My family believes opening day should be a national holiday, therefore I was excited to read a biography about one of baseball’s greatest players. This book is very well written and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it to the very end.  I have watched my boys play sports since they were very young and I have watched my fair share of live professional games and I feel that the author fully captured the emotion that comes from watching a player achieve greatness.  When Hank hits his 715^th home run to set a record and rounds home plate with his mom waiting there to hug him I actually caught myself tearing up.  Hank fulfilled his dreams, despite a tremendous amount of adversity and his mom, along with the entire nation, were there to support him.  In addition to the story being well written, Paul Lee did a fantastic job of illustrating the story.  This book is intended for young readers, therefore the illustrations are just as important as the writing to convey the meaning and emotions of the story.  It is one thing to tell the story of an African American boy dreaming of playing baseball in a time were that was unacceptable, but it is another to actually see it.  The illustrations show Hank, a young black boy, coming up to bat with a white catcher, a white umpire, and a few pages later an entire stadium full of white people.  This does not have to be written into the narrative because the picture says it.  This book gets five stars from me!

Professional Review: 

Reviewed on August 1, 2001 by Holly T. Sneeringer, St. Mark School, Baltimore, MD in School Library Journal and posted online on Book Verdict 

Gr 1-3 This richly illustrated biography tells the story of the Hall of Famer by placing him in the proper historical context and attempting to humanize him. Aaron, a southern country boy, followed his dreams under the strict, but loving guidance of his parents. Despite his mother's wish that he attends college, he took a job on a professional team and rose quickly to the top as a home-run hitter. However, with racial tensions at an all-time high in the United States, his journey was not without problems. Hate mail and threats began to chip away at his hopes for success, until Aaron's adoring fans helped keep his dream alive. What Golenbock does well is capture the feel of 1960s' America, swelling with civil-rights tension. He deftly tells the athlete's story and proves that his subject certainly was "brave in every way." At times the narrative is a bit slow and the style is dry. Still, this baseball giant is brought down to earth as readers learn of his humble past and his personal struggles. Lee's strong, full-page acrylic illustrations in rich tones and textures work well and give the story depth and intensity.

APA Reference of Professional Review:

Media Source Book Verdict. (2001, August 1). Hank Aaron: Brave in every way. Retrieved April 15, 2018, from Book Verdict: http://bookverdict.com/details.xqy?uri=Product-9951726.xml

Library Uses:

I personally feel that picture book biographies over great sports figures have a special place in children’s libraries.  I have raised three boys, two of which are very reluctant readers, but they have read every sports book in their school library and our public library.  Sports biographies often feature a player who has had to overcome hardships or adversity and never quit pursuing their dreams.  They had to work hard, practice, and focus on being the best to overcome hardships, outside issues such as war, racism, economic hardships, or injuries which are all great messages for young people.  These could all be used in a classroom for research purposes, but I think simply highlighting the collection through displays is a great way to get the attention of some of the less frequent library users.  At the opening of the season for various sports, create a display that can be seen by all of books about players to show readers that there are books out there that are interesting and that they can relate to.  Do book talks either in person, on the school news announcements, or on YouTube and social media to highlight some of these great books.  Once reluctant readers find books that they can relate to, they are hooked and you can start suggesting other books, both fiction and nonfiction, which they might also enjoy. 

Readalikes:

With baseball season in full swing, the following suggestions are all picture book biographies about baseball.  These are personal favorites for me and my boys and many of the readers that come into our public library.  Baseball is America’s favorite pastime, but it started out as a sport that was played only by white men, therefore it is easy to study American history through the study of baseball. 

You cannot read baseball stories without some mention of Babe Ruth, therefore this first recommendation is one of my favorite picture books about the Great Bambino  Homerun: The story of Babe Ruth is written by Robert Burleigh and magically illustrated by Mike Wimmer.  The illustration on the front cover shows Babe Ruth looking larger than life, which is how most people describe him even today.  This biography is simple and does not contain a large amount of history in Ruth, but it is a great starter for someone interested in one of baseball’s greatest players.  It leaves the reader wanting more which is a good thing when trying to get kids reading.

Girls can play baseball too, as many of us know, especially if we repeatedly watched the movie A league of their own like I did growing up.  Mama played baseball by David A. Adler and illustrated by Chris O’Leary tells the story of Amy’s mom who becomes a baseball player for the first professional women’s baseball league during World War II while her dad is away at war. There is so much history and information packed into this picture book and I personally think it is a must read.  Baseball was America’s sport and during WWII women took over numerous roles previously held by men and that included baseball. 

This last readalike also takes place during World War II, but features a young Japanese boy who dreamed of playing baseball while in a Japanese-American internment camp following the attack on Pearl Harbor.  Again, here is a great example of the amount of history that can be learned reading about baseball. Barbed wire baseball: How oneman brought hope to the Japanese Internment Camps of WWII is written by Marissa Moss and illustrated by Yuko Shimizu. The story tells of a young boy named Kenichi “Zeni” Zenimra who was not only told he was too small, but was also Japanese. Following Pearl Harbor in 1941, America became fearful of all Japanese people and forced them into internment camps to lessen the likelihood of another attack on American soil. Zeni fought adversity and ended up playing baseball with the greats such as Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig and became known as the father of Japanese-American Baseball.

Checkout my Goodreads list of children and youth literature I read during the Spring 2018 Semester at UNT. 

Module 11: What do you do with a tail like this?

Book cover image:

Taken from Goodreads.com (Goodreads, Inc., n.d.)   

Genre:

The book What do you do with a tail like this? by Steve Jenkins and Robin Page is a nonfiction/ informational picture book for children.  A subgenre for this book could either be animals or science.  Additionally, it was a 2004 Caldecott Honor book for the wonderful illustrations in the book.

Book Summary:

The book features cut-paper collage illustrations that takes readers through a discovery of what difference animals do with their noses, ears, tails, eyes, mouths, and feet.  The page that ask the question about each body part features colorful illustrations of that particular part of the body. Each page is a full-spread illustration and simply ask “What do you do with …. like this/ these?”  The page following each question features a colorful full-spread page of the entire animal and a blurb of what each animal does with the particular body part.  For example, the question about ears shows a cricket with the answer, “if you’re a cricket, you hear with ears that are on your knees”.  Seriously, who knew! Even adults can learn something from children’s books. 

APA Reference of Book:  

Jenkins, S., & Page, R. (2003). What do you do with a tail like this? Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing.

Impressions:

As a librarian, educator, and mom of curious children, I absolutely loved this simple picture book.  It is perfect for younger emergent readers to look at the pictures and have an adult or older sibling read to them what each of the animals do.  The illustrations are full of color and detail and easily capture the attention and curiosity of the reader.  As a librarian and educator, this book is perfect for reading aloud and getting the children to participate in guessing what each animal is and how they use the different parts of their body.  I will throw out plenty more ideas in the ‘library uses’ part of the blog, but there really are so many great things that can be done with this book.  For a picture book for early elementary readers, I think this book provides the perfect amount of facts for each animal and there is a good balance of text and illustrations.  For readers such as myself who always crave more information there is a short glossary at the back of the book that uses pictures for each entry and gives more information on each animal.  Each entry includes information such as where the animal lives, how big they can get, and other interesting facts.  This book really is a great example of a high-quality nonfiction/ informational picture book.

Professional Review:

Reviewed on March 1, 2003 in School Library Journal by Wanda Meyers-Hines, Ridgecrest Elementary School, Huntsville, AL and posted online on Book Verdict

K-Gr 4 Jenkins, this time in collaboration with his wife, has created yet another eye-opening book. Children will learn that lizards can completely break off their tail as a defense and that it will grow back. And, they'll find out that crickets' ears are on their knees. Most fish have two eyes, but some have four, the better to see above and below the water at the same time. These are just a few of the fascinating facts of nature dangled out front to draw readers into this beautifully illustrated book. On each spread, five different animals' tails, ears, eyes, or other body parts, done in vibrant cut-paper collage, appear with a simple question ("What do you do with a- like this?"). The next spread shows the five creatures in their entirety and offers a brief explanation. For example, "If you're an elephant, you use your nose to give yourself a bath." The back pages offer more information for older or more curious readers. This is a great book for sharing one-on-one or with a group.

APA Reference of Professional Review:

Media Source Book Verdict. (2003, March 1). What do you do with a tail like this? Retrieved March 8, 2018, from Book Verdict: http://bookverdict.com/details.xqy?uri=Product-9464162.xml

Library Uses: 

There are obviously plenty of ways to use this book to introduce science lessons for elementary age students, but I want to take a fun, artistic approach to the using the book in the library.  Firstly, this book is perfect for a read aloud and gives the children plenty of opportunities to interact with the reader.  As the storyteller reads the question about “what do you do with …”, they can show the picture to the children and have them raise their hands and make guesses. The picture can either be shown on a projector or just by holding it up where everyone can see.  As they ask the children questions, have them guess what type of animal it is and what they do with the that particular body part.  Once plenty have guess have been made, flip the page and read what each animal does.  After the book is complete, have the children go back to their tables were plenty of art supplies are laid out.  Have each student create their own animal (real or imagined).  After animals have been created have the students come up and present their animals, hiding all but one body part just as done in the book and let the class guess what the animal uses the part for. For some added fun, add in some music by the Singing Zoologist, Lucas Miller that is both fun and educational.  Kids and parents of all ages will enjoy this, trust me! 

Readalikes:

The following readalikes can be used to extend the lessons on animals in a fun and colorful way.  Introducing many different stories about animals will build curiosity and allow children to explore their favorite animals and learn about new animals they may never have heard of. 

National Geographic book of animal poetry: 200 poems with photographs that squeak, soar, and roar! compiled by J. Patrick Lewis is a fantastically fun and colorful way to introduce young children to poetry.  With 200 poems and illustrations, children will be captivated and learn a few more facts about these cool animals. 

I try not to use readalikes by the same author, but Steve Jenkins has written so many great animal books, it is hard not to include at least one.  One of my kids’ favorites and one I always enjoy reading at the library is Biggest, strongest, fastest.  I love love love the illustrations in all of Steve Jenkins books, and he always combines the colorful pictures with cool facts about different animals.  Many world records from the animal kingdom can be fond in this book such as the largest, fastest, and even the longest lived. 

A fun title from Scholastic Press will give children a chance to speculate what would happen if you had animal teeth.  What if you had animal teeth? by Sandra Markle takes a humorous approach to nonfiction with a book that teaches the reader about the purpose of different types of animal teeth.    Did you know the narwhal’s left tooth continues to grow until it is nearly teen-feet long and called a tusk?

Checkout my Goodreads list of children and youth literature I read during the Spring 2018 Semester at UNT. 

Module 10: Henry's freedom box: A true story from the Underground Railroad

Book cover image:

Taken from Goodreads.com (Goodreads, Inc., n.d.)  

Genre:

The book Henry’s freedom box: A true story from the Underground Railroad by Ellen Levine and Kadir Nelson was listed in the class as a historical fiction picture book but could easily fit into the realm of realistic fiction, if it is in fact appropriate to even list it as fiction. I am struggling with why it is not listed as non-fiction or biography because Henry ‘Box’ Brown was a real man who really did escape slavery in a box.  Is it because there are not enough verifiable facts to the story?  Did the author have to fill in too many blanks to create this captivating story? I am captivated by slave literature and history, so I know I will be digging into this much more as time allows. 

Book Summary:

This book explores the life of Henry Brown from his time as a young slave boy who is sold into slavery to his escape from slavery as an adult by way of a wooden crate.  When Henry is a young boy his master falls ill and passes him on to his son, separating him from his family.  Henry grows up and marries Nancy, another slave, and they have three children, all while still being enslaved.  His wife and children end up being sold at the slave market, leaving Henry devastated.  Henry longed to be free and crafted the idea to ship himself in a box to Philadelphia, with the help of a white man who was part of the Underground Railroad, where he could finally live as a free man. The journey in the box, being transported by steamboat and railcar, was not easy but he finally makes it and is given the nickname Henry ‘Box’ Brown. 

APA Reference of Book:  

Levine, E., & Nelson, K. (2007). Henry's freedom box: A true story from the Underground Railroad. New York: Scholastic Press.

Impressions: 

My very first thought after reading this book was WOW! I wanted more of the story the second I finished, and I very grateful for the author’s note at the end that tells a little more about Henry Brown and his incredible journey to freedom. Not only is the story well told for the level of the intended audience, but the pictures are captivating and compliment to the story very well.  The story itself invokes emotions, but the illustrations do so even more.  As an adult reader I do wish there was more written story, but the illustrations did give more depth to the story in a visual way.  In my honest opinion, I think that without the illustrations, the story would not have received the awards, nominations, and high acclaim than it did.  Starting on the very first page, you see young Henry sitting on a wooden barrel with his arms resting on his knees and his hands loosely clasped together.  There is no smile on his face, and his eyes look as if he is already weary from the life of slavery.  We are not certain exactly how old his is, because “slaves weren’t allowed to know their birthdays” but he is probably 8 or 9 years old and he lacks the carefree innocence and joy of youth that a boy his age should have.  All of this is illustrated on the first two pages of the story! As I said, I am craving more of the story, but considering this book was written for 2^nd – 5^th grade readers, plenty is given to introduce the hardships of slavery and the Underground Railroad.  When Henry ends up in the tobacco factory, we see him handling the tobacco leaves very carefully while his master is in the background overseeing the work with a stick behind his back.  If he is not careful he will be beaten with that stick, so he works diligently to do a good job.  A young reader really doesn’t need anymore than that until they are a little older and can handle the harsh realities of slavery under an abusive master.  Despite all this, Henry does fall in love with a beautiful woman named Nancy who is owned by another master and they get permission to marry and end up having three children.  The illustrator shows us a happy family with three young children all cuddled in their mom’s lap while dad plays them music.  Even in this happiness, mom and dad know that it could very well be short-lived because Nancy’s master had lost a lot of money.  The mom and children end up being sold and we see the heartbreak, fear and devastation told in the illustrations which is what ends up driving Henry to plan his escape out of slavery.  This is truly a fantastic story for young readers and one that I hope and pray is used in classrooms, libraries, and homes to begin teaching young people about the history of America.  It doesn’t sugar coat the issues and it doesn’t appear that the author is trying to push a personal agenda out through the story, which I think is great for young readers.  Historical stories should present all the facts from both sides and allow children to learn and formulate their own thoughts about our history.  American history contains a lot of racism and events that are uncomfortable and many of the situations were not handled well by our government.  Stories like this introduce these things to our children and help them develop empathy and hopefully they will grow up and not repeat these types of events and they will make America a better place for all people regardless of race, gender, etc. 

Professional Review:

Reviewed on March 1, 2007 by Catherine Threadgill, Charleston County Public Library, SC Reviewed in School Library Journal and posted online on Book Verdict 

Gr 2-5 Inspired by an actual 1830s lithograph, this beautifully crafted picture book briefly relates the story of Henry "Box" Brown's daring escape from slavery. Torn from his mother as a child, and then forcibly separated from his wife and children as an adult, a heartsick and desperate Brown conspired with abolitionists and successfully traveled north to Philadelphia in a packing crate. His journey took just over one full day, during which he was often sideways or upside down in a wooden crate large enough to hold him, but small enough not to betray its contents. The story ends with a reimagining of the lithograph that inspired it, in which Henry Brown emerges from his unhappy confinement in every sense of the word and smiles upon his arrival in a comfortable Pennsylvania parlor. Particularly considering the broad scope of Levine's otherwise well-written story, some of the ancillary "facts" related in her text are unnecessarily dubious; reports vary, for instance, as to whether the man who sealed Henry into the crate was a doctor or a cobbler. And, while the text places Henry's arrival on March 30, other sources claim March 24 or 25. Nelson's illustrations, always powerful and nuanced, depict the evolution of a self-possessed child into a determined and fearless young man. While some of the specifics are unfortunately questionable, this book solidly conveys the generalities of Henry Brown's story.

APA Reference of Professional Review:

Media Source Book Verdict. (2007, March 1). Henry's freedom box. Retrieved April 6, 2018, from Book Verdict: http://bookverdict.com/details.xqy?uri=Product-98843590.xml

Library Uses:

There are many wonderful ways to incorporate this book into a social studies lesson in an elementary classroom to introduce the history of slavery and the Underground Railroad.  Without a doubt it is vitally important to discuss slavery, freedom, and why Henry risked everything, including his life to ship himself to freedom.  In addition to the history and social studies lessons, which are vitally important, you can easily go beyond that and expand the lesson.  The illustrations in this book are incredible and tell just as much of the story as the text itself.  To enhance comprehension and understanding of both the story and the impact of slavery, the teacher or librarian can work with the students to make connections between the text and illustrations.  Students can explore each illustration and see how the illustrators used them to convey feelings and emotions. Books for young readers covering racial issues from our past can be uncomfortable due to the mistreatment of people of color.  They have a bigger purpose, and that is one of teaching understanding and empathy for the way people were treated in the past.  By learning about all aspects of the past, children can grow up and make our future a better place for ALL people. 

There are a couple fantastic resources that compliment this book, so here are the links.

Here is a Scholastic Teacher’s Activity Guide slideshow, The Underground Railroad: Escape from slavery. 

In my quest to find more information on Henry ‘Box’ Brown (despite the need to do A LOT of homework), I came across an interesting article.  The article is on Common-place.org and is titled Will the real Henry ‘Box’ Brown please stand up?. 

Readalikes:

There are many different ways to go about finding readalikes, and for this blog, I will look at other picture books that explore early American history and the impacts of racism and discrimination in our early history. 

Baseball saved us by Ken Mochizuki is told from the point of view of a young Japanese American boy who along with his family was forced into internment camps after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Baseball, America’s favorite past time, is used as a diversion for the families in the camp who had been ripped from their homes just because they are Japanese. This is an ugly part of US history, but one that should not be forgotten.  The story is inspired by actual events and is will written and beautifully illustrated.

Sojourner Truth’s step-stomp stride written by Andrea Davis Pinkney and illustrated by Brian Pinkney is an awesome read-aloud picture book that tells the story of Belle, who later changed her name to Sojourner.  This brave woman escaped slavery and set out across America to fight for equal rights for black people and for women.  Sojourner played a big part in changing America and bringing attention to the injustice of slavery and the way women were treated during the time-period.

My last readalike is a little more lighthearted, but a favorite of mine and my young nieces who ask to read this all the time and are being introduced to amazing women from American history.  My name is not Isabella by Jennifer Fosberry introduces young readers to Sally Ride, Rosa Parks, Elisabeth Blackwell, and many more who fought to end discrimination and change the world one cause at a time.  The book is much simpler than the previous titles listed, but it is inspiring and features short biographies of each woman listed to lead children deeper into the history.

Checkout my Goodreads list of children and youth literature I read during the Spring 2018 Semester at UNT.