Beastkeeper by C. Hellisen

Summary:  Sarah is always on the move.  Her mom hates the cold, so her family (her mom, dad, and Sarah) are constantly packing up and heading for warmer climates.  Sarah has very little time to make friends at the many schools she has attended.  One night, Sarah awakens to the sounds of her father persuading his wife to stay with the family.  Sarah's mom refuses and heads out the door, much to Sarah's dismay.  Almost immediately, things begin to change at home.  Sarah's dad becomes almost beast-like, becoming hairy and eating rare meat.  He takes Sarah to stay with her grandparents, who she has never met.  They live in a dank, dark forest in a crumbling castle, which would be exciting if it wasn't so creepy.  Sarah learns the truth about her bloodlines, which hold a curse that will turn her into a beast as soon as she falls in love.  Sarah has to figure out a way to keep the change of happening as her world dissolves around her.

Quote:  “Sarah had discovered that while she liked to ask questions in the hopes that someone or other could answer them, adults liked to ask questions they already knew the answers to. She wasn't sure why exactly that was, and had finally decided that as people grew older, the more important something was the easier it becomes for them to forget. They had to keep asking as a way to help them remember.”

You'll like this if you liked:  Valiant by S. MacGuire, Monstrous by M. Connolly

Genre:  fantasy

Literary Circle #2: lunch lady and the cyborg substitute

Literary Circle #2

 Krosoczka, J. (2009). Lunch lady and the cyborg substitute. Knopf Books for Young Readers.

Questions/Answers:

“Right there” questions:

1.  Where is the lunch lady’s secret lair located?  below the school through a secret door way

2.  What book genre does The lunch lady belong to?   graphic novel

“Think and search” questions:

1.       What kinds of inventions does Betty, the lunch lady’s sidekick, create?  A spatula that acts as a helicopter, lunch tray that is actually a laptop, etc.

2.  How is perspective used to give emphasis to certain parts of the story?    Some of the drawings are from up above, looking down on the subject, such as the panel that shows Mr. McConnell saying “Glorious!”  Other panels are shown from below, looking up at the subjects.

Interpretive questions:

1.       How does the lunch lady’s assistant help her? She comes up with inventions to help the lunch lady with her adventures.  The inventions are meant to assist the lunch lady with her quests.  She also keeps the lunch lady’s secret life as a crime fighter/detective a secret.

2.       Why does the lunch lady seem suspicious of the substitute when he says that he’s filling in for Mr. McConnell?  Mr. McConnell hasn’t missed a day of school in 20 years, so something seems odd about him not being at the school.

Critical evaluative questions:

1.  What does the limited color palette tell the reader about the book?  The use of black and white gives a neutral background for the yellow to stand out.  Yellow seems to be used to emphasis certain aspects of the story.

2.    How does Hector, a member of the Breakfast Bunch, end up handling the bully?  Instead of avoiding the bully or ignoring him, Hector looks him in the eye and said a confident “No!” when asked for his lunch money.  The bully leaves him alone after that encounter.

  

Literary Circle #1: Love that dog

Literary Circle #1

 Creech, S. (2001). Love that dog. New York: HarperCollins.

Questions/Answers:

“Right there” questions:

1.  Who is Jack’s audience throughout the book?  Jack’s main audience is his teacher, who stays silent throughout the book

2.  Why is Jack hesitant to write a poem about his dog?  Jack is worried that the poem about his dog, Sky, will make his classmates sad

“Think and search” questions:

1.   Jack worries that he’s “borrowing” too many of Walter Dean Myer’s words in one of his poems.  How does the teacher help remedy Jack’s concern?  Jack’s teacher suggests that Jack include the line “inspired by Walter Dean Myers” in his poem so that the poet receives credit for his inspiration.

2.  How does Jack label his poems for display?  Why does he prefer this method when his class mates can see his work?  Jack doesn’t want his classmates to know about his poems, so his teacher suggests that he label them as “Anonymous”. 

Interpretive questions:

1.  The cover of the book is bright yellow.  What kinds of emotions does this color evoke for the reader?  Why do you think the author chose yellow?  The bright yellow evokes a feeling of joy and happiness.  Even though Sky’s death was very sad for Jack, he ultimately came to the realization that he was happy to have such a great dog in his life.

2.  Jack said that to make a poem “you just have to use short lines”.  Is that true of most poems?  Why do you think that Jack considered that a requirement for his poetry?  Many poems have very long lines and can take up several pages.  Jack seems to like the spacing and format of poems with short lines.  He likes that his ideas are direct and to the point and don’t run on.

Critical evaluative questions:

1.  Jack’s poetry is written as a journal, with dated pages.  Why do you think that the author chose to write the story in this way?  I think that the author wanted to show Jack’s growth as a poet during the school year by laying out the poems in a journal format.

2.    Which of Jack’s poems is the climax of the book?  Jack’s poem about Sky’s death—“ My Sky”—is the climax of the book.  

Caldecott Evaluation: The lion and the mouse by J. Pinkney

Jessica Drinks (LIBS 642)

The lion and the mouse by J. Pinkney

GRAND CALDECOTT EVALUATION

                Jerry Pinkney is both the author and illustrator of  The lion and the mouse.  The book’s cover measures approximately 11 by 10 inches.  It has a very large illustration of a lion on the front of the book and the mouse on the back.  Interestingly, there is no title on the front cover.   Both of the size of the cover and lack of a title made me immediately pay attention to the large drawing of the lion on the front.  Once I opened the book, the title, author/illustrator’s name, and a short summary are located on the front dust jacket design.  The endpapers are completely covered by even more amazing illustrations—a full safari scene in the front with lions, elephants, zebras, and giraffes and a family of lions with their cubs giving the mouse family a ride on the back.  The inside of the back endpaper houses the “artist’s note” that explains the story’s basis in the Aesop fable.  The large number of illustrations really caught my attention and drew me into the story before I even began “reading” it (I put reading in quotes since it is a wordless book).

                The illustrator uses both watercolors and colored pencils to create the illustrations, which are done in a very realistic way.  The use of watercolor gives a lot of movement to the drawings and the use of white in the background instead of sky blue is very calming.  In the beginning of the book, the large illustrations take up two pages.  The use of such large illustrations suggests that the author is drawing the reader into the story with the sizeable, detailed pictures.  On some of the pages the illustration is very large and in your face, such as when the lion is caught in the trap.  This causes a heightened sense of danger for the reader.  On other pages, the illustrations are drawn inside panels, suggesting a sequence to the action for the reader.  The panels show that the reader should follow the movement from left to right, the way you would read a comic book.  The story of “The lion and the mouse” is a classic Aesop’s fable.  While the giant, majestic lion and the tiny, scampering mouse feel like opposites of the animal kingdom in a written version of the story, they are equal in heart in this wordless book.  The illustrator uses the cover to draw both animals the same size, suggesting that they are both worthy of being saved by the other.

 The cover shows both the lion and the mouse in an outdoor, wild environment, so I knew immediately that it wasn’t a story inside a zoo or other enclosure.  As soon as I opened the book, the inside illustrations show a large scene of the African grasslands with multiple examples of animals native to Africa (giraffe, zebra, elephant, etc.)  Because the cover shows both the lion and the mouse, we immediately recognize them as the main characters.  Even on pages with other animals in the drawings, the lion and mouse are always the main focus, either because of their size or location on the page.  For example, when the lion is caught up in the trap, there are howler monkeys in the background, shouting out.  But the lion takes up the majority of the page so that the reader knows the monkeys are not the focus.

                As far as visual elements go, Straight lines in the drawings give the pictures height, such as mouse balancing on tall grasses when he hears the lion’s roar after being captured.  The wavy lines on the lion’s mane and mouse’s fur give much realistic detail to their appearance.  Cross hatching gives depth to the drawings, such as in the grasses underfoot.  Curved lines give movement to the illustrations.  The illustrations are done in a very muted, realistic color palette.  The color fills the page, not just with the main characters but also the detailed backgrounds.  The realistic coloring makes the reader wonder if this story could actually happen in real life.  Some of the pages include illustrations completed inside square panels.  The use of these panels almost acts like a frame around the illustration, giving it emphasis.  The drawings of animals are done in natural, curvy shapes without jarring, harsh straight lines.  There is so much texture in the illustrations that some of the pages almost feel like photographs!  The illustrator showed so much detail and texture in the environment (grasses, rocks, trees), animals (fur, eyes, faces), and supporting details (rope, net).  The rope looks braided and tangled, not flat.  The lion’s mane is large and fluffy.  The tree bark is uneven and rough as the mouse scampers across it.

                The use of panels in the rescue sequence draws attention to the plot of the lion.  In the first panel, we see the mouse climbing grasses, going about his daily routine.  The text “RRRROOOOAAARRRRrrr” is shown above his head.  The next panel shows the mouse running along the branch in search of the lion.  The next panel shows the mouse pausing and looking up, trying to find the location of that distressed call.  The fourth panel shows the mouse discovering the rope that holds the lion in the trap.  This arrangement of panels gives a sequence of movements to the story in the way that a single drawing could not do.  We follow along with the mouse as he suddenly becomes aware of the lion’s distress and then finds the lion in his predicament.

                In my opinion, the most outstanding feature of this book is the fact that it’s wordless.  The illustrations make words unnecessary in this story.  The detail of each illustration leads the reader through the story without being bogged down by dialogue.  And honestly, while animals can communicate within species, animals from different species don’t usually communicate.  So I found this story to be realistic, even though it’s based on a fable.  The very few times that text is used in the book show the importance of those instances, such as the “RRROOOOAAAARRrrr” across the top of two pages when the lion is first trapped and the tiny text that shows “squeak, squeak, squeak” in the mouse’s den.

Kitchen Drawer Classification Assignment

For this assignment in my LIBS 677 class, I needed to take a Powerpoint of 20 kitchen items from my professor and classify them into 4-6 categories based on a set of rules that I created.  My completed assignment is shown here:

Kitchen drawer assign -jessica drinks from jdrin001

Author Study Poster - Doreen Cronin

For my LIBS 642 (Children's Literature Class), I created the following author study poster.  I chose Doreen Cronin because my children LOVE her cow and duck books!

(click image above to enlarge)

Bibliography

About Doreen Cronin (n.d.).  Retrieved August 20, 2015 from http://www.doreencronin.com/

Association for Library Service to Children (2015).  Caldecott Medal and honor books, 1938-present.  Retrieved on August 30, 2015 from http://www.ala.org/ alsc/awardsgrants/ bookmedia/caldecottmedal/caldecotthonors/caldecottmedal

Cutler, C. (2010, October).  Click, Clack, 123 [Review of the book Click, Clack, 123 by D. Cronin and B. Lewin].  Teaching Children Mathematics, 17(3), 199.

Doreen Cronin's Biography | Scholastic.com. (n.d.). Retrieved August 31, 2015, from

http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/contributor/doreen-cronin-0

Doreen Cronin Lesson plans for Click, Clack, Moo: Cows that Type. (n.d.). Retrieved August 31, 2015, from http://www.webenglishteacher.com/cronin.html

Drew, N. (2014).  Fact or fiction:  learning about worms using Diary of a worm.  Retrieved on August 30, 2015 from http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/fact-fiction-learning-about-778.html

Moody, K. (2012).  The Legend of Diamond Lil:  A J.J. Tully mystery [Review of the book The legend of Diamond Lil:  a J.J. Tully mystery by D. Cronin].  School Library Journal, 58(3), 118.

Roach, J.  (2014, November/December).  The case of the weird blue chicken:  the next

misadventure [Review of the book The case of the weird blue chicken:  the next misadventure by D. Cronin].  The Horn Book Magazine, 90(6), 88-89.

Walther, M. (2007, September).  Powerful book, inspired writers, part III:  modeling the traits of good writing—voice and conventions.  Book Links, 17(1), 41-44.

Walters, C.  (2014). Learning about word elements with Click, clack, moo!  Retrieved on August 29, 2015 from http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/learning-about-word-families-847.html

Picture Book Soak

     I headed over to my local public library right after school yesterday.  I work in a middle school, so I arrived early enough to beat the elementary school crowd.  Our local library was relocated to an old school for a couple of years while the current location was doubled in size and remodeled.  The “new” library has been open for almost two years now, and the designers were very aware of creating a soothing, quiet, and inviting space.  The librarian’s extensive use of signs meant that I found the folklore and poetry section very quickly after introducing myself to the assistant librarian at the main circulation desk.  I was very surprised to see the sheer number of books in both sections.  I had assumed, based on my limited experience as a child, that those sections would be small because I was never attracted to those genres.  Most of my childhood was spent with the Babysitter’s Club and Sweet Valley Twins!  I flipped through some interesting reads for about an hour and then headed to the picture book section.

            I have four children myself, so I’m no stranger to the picture book section.  I have always been impressed with how well the section is laid out.  The wide aisles and low shelves made it easy for me to pull up a stool and start working my way through the many, many books.  It was great to read through books that my children would probably never select, so I felt like I was learning about so many new books!  It was difficult to select only four to write up for class. 

            One book that I really liked was The toy farmer by A. Pelletier.  It was a fictional

story of a little boy, Jed, who wakes up to find that his old farmer toy has come alive in his room.  Soon his carpet starts to sprout little seedlings and vines take over his walls.  Large pumpkins start to grow and Jed enters one in the county fair, winning first prize.  When he wakes up the next morning, the farm in my room has vanished and Jed is sad.  His dad lets him in on a little secret—he also won a ribbon in the fair with his pumpkins when he was a child and assures Jed that the toy returns to life for many more adventures.  My son is currently in love with tractors and farming, so I liked the book immediately for the subject matter.   I found the illustrations to be beautifully done.  The background images of Jed in his room were done in muted, realistic tones, while the farmer toy and the growing plants were done in brighter, primary colored drawings on top of the background.  The illustrations covered the pages, making me feel immediately like I was being drawn into the story.

          

  A book that I can’t wait to use with students is The gingerbread man loose in the school by L. Murray.   The story of the gingerbread man is already familiar to most children, but this story adds the fun twist that the cookie was baked by students in a school as a class project.  The gingerbread man is left behind to cool as the children head out for recess, but he panics that he’s going to be forgotten.  So we get to read about his exciting adventures as he tries to find his class.  The illustrations are adorable and simple.  They really help tell the story.   I would choose this book to read aloud to my class because of the amazing rhyming in the story.  It flows so evenly and perfectly, I almost feel like I’m singing a children’s song while reading the words. 

            It was difficult to find a book that I didn’t care for that was published after 2006. 

Most of the ones I didn’t like were old, poorly illustrated, or the storyline was out of date.  I finally found one that was published in 2011 called Princess super kitty by A. Portis.  The illustrations were simply drawn, but almost had an amateur feel about them.  I was mostly turned off by the storyline.  A little girl pretends to be a kitten and her mother goes along with it, feeding her lunch in a cat dish and throwing toys for her.  The girl decides that being a cat isn’t enough, so now she’s a super kitty.  She puts on a cape and orders her older brother and parents to follow her commands, which consist mostly of going to get her things.  After she becomes bored with that scenario, she decides she is princess super kitty and adds a tiara to her getup.  I was quickly bored with the book.  It felt like the author was just adding more and more twists to the story to keep it interesting, but I found it to be long-winded.  I didn’t like that the parents and brother followed the little girl’s commands because I think some kids are power-hungry enough without the encouragement from this book.  I could picture my daughter trying to immolate the story by ordering me to go get something for her and I can guarantee she wouldn’t like my response!  The illustrations did not to draw in my attention.

          

  A book that caught my attention was Stella brings her family by M. Schiffer.  Stella’s teacher announces that they will be having a big Mother’s Day celebration in a week.  Stella becomes quiet and distracted with her friends while she tries to figure out a solution to her “problem”—she has no mom and two dads.  Her friends ask her who ties her shoes and makes her lunch, and Stella points out that she has two dads to take care of her every need, she just doesn’t have a mom to bring to the celebration.  Stella ends up bringing her entire family including an aunt, uncle, and grandparents to the celebration.  The other students are thrilled that Stella came up with a solution that makes her happy once more.  I liked that the book included examples of nontraditional families, including a classmate of Stella’s that has two mothers and another student who is being raised by his grandmother.  It came as no surprise that the book was published this year considering the modern theme.  It seems like a necessary and appreciated addition to the library.

            Overall, I was very happy to participate in this assignment.  When I visit the library with my own children, they are pulling me in different directions, trying to find their favorite authors.  I rarely have time to select a book from the adult section for myself, let alone explore the picture books.  This assignment opened my eyes to the fact that I will have to be familiar with all types of books when I become a librarian, not just the genres that I enjoy reading. 

Bibliography

Murray, L., & Lowery, M. (2011). The gingerbread man loose in the school. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons.

Pelletier, A., & Nash, S. (2007). The toy farmer. New York: Dutton Children's Books.

Portis, A. (2011). Princess Super Kitty. New York: Harper.

Schiffer, M., & Brown, H. (2015). Stella brings the family. Chronicle Books.