The Lorax

Dr. Seuss considered The Lorax, published in 1971, as his best book. It did not go over well at the time and is still controversial.

a. What makes The Lorax didactic? The ending of the book makes The Lorax didactic. At the end of the story, the Once-ler bestows the responsibility of taking care of the last of the Truffula seeds and protecting the trees which grow from it from the axes that hack and got them in the mess they were in to start with.

b. Are there any didactic children's books today? If not, why not? I don't think that there are as many didactic books published any more, but they are still out there. Take for example, the books that deal with the going green hype today. These books are entertaining, yet educational, and most tell readers what they need to do in order to better take care of the earth. This is the same concept that The Lorax had.

The Cat in the Hat

When I read the assignment for The Cat in the Hat, I really did not understand what "tension" there was in the book. I've read the book at least a hundred times, but I went back and read it yet once more. As far as tension goes in the book, I think that it shows that there is a fine line between living life to it's fullest compared to being wreckless and just simply not following the rules. The fish in the story is "tense" throughout the book because of the children messing up the house.

a. Is there a contemporary book that has this tension presented in The Cat in the Hat? I can think of two books right off the top of my head that have the same kind of nonsense vs. good sense type of format. These books are Jumanji and Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs.

b. Does this book still appeal to children and why? Yes, it definitely appeals to children today. I think the reason it's so appealing is because of the language. It is a rhyming book for one, which always seems to be a popular format. The language is silly and kids like to be read those silly books that they can still make sense out of. Does that make sense?

Laurence Yep

Cockroach Cooties

Yep, L. (2001). Cockroach Cooties. Burbank: Disney Pr.

Other books by Laurence Yep: Auntie Tiger, Dragon Road, The Dragon's Child, Dragon of the Lost Sea, and Dragonwings. There are many more...This is just a sampling.

This book is about Teddy and Bobby, two brothers in San Fransisco's China Town who are eight and nine years old. Teddy, the older of the two narrates the story of how his little brother is bullied by Arnie (or Arnie-zilla as they lovingly call him). They discover that Arnie is terrified of cockroaches and go to their neighbor, "The Bug Lady" to get a cockroach, whom they name Hercules. Hercules is quite effective in the anti-bullying effort, until he meets his end. Then Bobby and Teddy have to come up with another plan. In the end, it turns out that Arnie is the bully he is due to a rough home life with uncaring parents. A friendship is eventually formed after the boys realize why Arnie has the attitude he does.

I love the message that this book sends. Instead of fighting back when being bullied, the kids first tried to work it out on their own. Although they probably shouldn't have played on Arnie's fears, I thought their method was good for an 8 and 9 year old. Becoming friends after finding out that Arnie should be more pitied than feared shows kids that things can change and that not everyone has the same great home life that they might have. I went to a sensitivity training today about this...I think we can all learn from it.

Great book for boys! Creepy crawly things always spark the interest!

Yoshiko Uchida

The Wise Old Woman
Uchida, Y. (1994). Wise Old Woman, The: Retold by Yoshiko Uchida. Chicago: Margaret K. Mcelderry.

I had never heard of this author before reading this book. I looked her up on the internet and found that over the course of her career, she has written 42 books. Some of these titles include The Magic Purse, The Bracelet, The Dancing Kettle, and The Sea of Gold.

When I first started reading this book, my heart sank due to the situation given on the first page. A farmer had to carry his 70 year old mother up a mountain to leave her to die because the cruel lord of their land ordered that anyone over the age of 70 must be left upon the mountain. The young man could not take it for he loved his mother so much, so he carried her back down the hill and dug a cave under his floor where she could live in secrecy. For two years, no one knew of this - Everyone thought that the old woman was dead. One day, warriors arrived in the village announcing that another cruel lord would overtake the village. The only way to save the village was to complete three impossible tasks: make a coil rope out of ashes, run a single thread throught he length of a crooked log, and make a drum that sounds without being beaten. The wisest people of the village were not able to complete these tasks so they were thrown in the dungeon. The lord then turned to the people of the village for help. The farmer went home to tell his mother of the three tasks and she was able to cleverly complete all three. He returned with the three items and had to admit that his mother was alive and she was who had completed the impossible tasks. The lord was not angy, but instead decided to abondon the rule of leaving the old in the mountain to die.
This book reminded me of a story I read with my class every year. It is about three brothers being left with an inheritance from their father only if they could complete an "impossible" task. I read this story with my class because it shows the brothers coming together as a team to reach their goal, where they had bickered and fought all their lives. I honestly did not care much for this story. I did not find much value from reading it. The story I read in my class teaches a good lesson. This one, not so much besides respecting the elderly.

Julius Lester and Jerry Pinkney

John Henry

Lester, J. (1999). John Henry. New York City: Puffin.

I am combining two reading requirements into one (Guess I could have done three since this is a Caldecott winner, but oh well). John Henry is written by Julius Lester and is illustrated by Jerry Pinkney.

Julius Lester, a Newbery winner, has written many, many books which deal with the African American culture. Many books are fables and folk tales. Many are novels, while others are picture books. Perhaps his most famous works are John Henry and the tales about Uncle Remus.

Jerry Pinkney is a talented African American illustrator who has won two Caldecott medals and three Coretta Scott King medals. Besides John Henry, Pinkney has worked with Julius Lester on other books. These include Sam and the Tigers, The Tales of Uncle Remus, and Black Cowboy, Wild Horses. He's also illustrated The Ugly Duckling and Aesop's Fables.

John Henry is the story of an all American Hero of the African American descent. In a foreword, the author explains how people have tried to prove that an actual John Henry existed and gives the history behind the story of John Henry. I'd heard of John Henry before, but did not know the story, so I found the book and the foreword to be particularly interesting.

John Henry was born and leapt out of his mother's arms to become a very large, very strong man with unimaginable strength and endurance. It tells of how he chopped wood, and built on an extra wing to his parent's home. He hammered through a boulder to help a road crew and had built the rest of the road before the dust could even settle from the boulder being destroyed. His final act was hammering through a mountain faster than a steam drill. After completing this task, he died and everyone and everything mourned the loss of a good man. The rainbow which had encompassed him throughout most of the story whispered "Dying ain't important. Everybody does that. What matters is how well you do your living." -- I think that's an awesome saying to live by.

This book would be good to use for a folk tale unit or during Black History month. I really enjoyed the story. The author did a great job at pulling the reader in.

Coretta Scott King Honor Book

Rap A Tap Tap - Here's Bojangles - Think of That!

Leo., & Dillon, D. (2003). Rap A Tap Tap, Here's Bojangles - Think of That!. New York: Scholastic Inc.

Rap A Tap Tap is the story of Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, who is known as the greatest tap dancer of all time. Each double page spread has a one sentence line on the first page followed by "Rap a tap tap - think of that!" This very simple to read book tells of how Bojangles started out dancing in the street in a suit and eventually his talent brought him fame and the last double spread page shows Bojangles in a tuxedo, white gloves, and a top hat. There is an afterword in the back of the book which tells about Bojangles. I knew of Bojangles and the fact that he was a great dancer, but I learned from the afterword that during the Great Depression of the 1930's, Bill Robinson was the highest paid black entertainer. He shared his wealth with less fortunate friends and neighbors throught those hard times.

The first thought that went through my head when I read this book was "This should be a Caldecott winner!" The illustrations in the this book are so strikingly bold, you can't help but to be captivated by them. When I read the inside back cover, I discovered that Leo and Diane Dillon, the illustrators, have been awarded the Caldecott twice and have recieved three Coretta Scott King Awards.

This book would be a wonderful resource to use during Black History Month.

Newbery #2

Hoot

Hiaasen, C. (2006). Hoot. New York: Yearling.

This is a good story about taking a stand for something you believe in. A group of kids discover that the local owl population is going to be diminished by the construction of a Pancake House. It is well written, age appropriate, and funny. The book does depict characters vandalizing a construction site and outwitting/deceiving the adults in the book, which I'm not totally ok with when picking a book for my students to read, but this book does a good job of inspiring young readers to question authority when necessary and act to protect the environment.

I'm not one who has caught on to the "go green" hype. Yes, I think we should, but I'm still one of those people too lazy to recycle and such things. I was, however, raised and still reside deep in the country and have a strong love of nature. I think there's nothing more beautiful than a field encompassed by woods with no sounds but the wind rustling the leaves and owls or whipperwills (sp??) singing at dusk. I have a spot on a hill behind my current house picked out where I hope to one day build my dream home just for this reason. Anywho, back to the book...I'm glad that there are people standing up for the environment and for the animals who can not speak for themselves. I think that it's wonderful that someone wrote a book about the topic of protecting the environment where the main character is a kid. This is an awesome way to prove to kids that even though they are not adults, they can still work to accomplish big things and to be heard.

As far as Carl Hiassen goes, I've read a couple of his adult books, which have some pretty twisted humor and lots of profanity in them. This book, fortunately, is different and is geared down for kids. He gives many hints as to the motivations behind the actions of the characters in this book, whereas he leaves it up to the adult reader to work it out for themselves in his adult works.