Module 5 - Pura Belpre Award Winner

Soto, G. (1997). Chato's Kitchen. 
New York, NY: The Putnam & Grossett Group.

Summary:
The Pura Belpre award winner, Chato’s Kitchen, takes place in a Latino neighborhood with Chato (a cat) inviting his new neighbors, a family of mice, to dinner. The mice suspect there is trick to the invitation and invites their friend, a dog to go with them.  Chato decides they can all eat together.  The setting and the events of the story are very typical of Latino culture.

My Impression:
This story is well written and students will love reading it multiple times. Children are exposed to Spanish language and ways of the Latino culture.

Review:
Chato's Kitchen
Horn Book Magazine
K-2 - Illustrated by Susan Guevara. Chato, a "low-riding cat with six stripes," spends an afternoon in the kitchen along with his best friend, Novio Boy, a cat with "the loveliest growl in the barrio." They prepare a mouthwatering array of dishes, including fajitas, enchiladas, and chiles rellenos, but the heartlest dish is yet to come, for Chato has thoughtfully invited his new neighbors - a "tasty" family of mice. When the rodents arrive and announce that they've brought Chorizo, the cats think that the guests have come with even more treats: "Sausage! Chato and Novio Boy . . . gave each other a 'low four.'" However, the cats are in for a surprise. Chorizo, it turns out, is an old family friend from the old neighborhood, and he's neither sausage nor mouse. He's a dog -"a low, road-scraping dog." Chato resigns himself to a mouseless meal, comforted that dinner will still be pretty good because, "after all, it came from Chato's kitchen." Humorous details abound in Guevara's richly colored artwork, which portrays the characters with affection and authenticity. The illustrations convey the cats' cool and confident attitude - Chato has a gold hoop in one ear and wears his baseball cap backward, while Novio Boy, bandanna round his head, has a flashy cross dangling from his cat collar; both cats sport pencil-thin mustaches. Soto's fresh and satisfying fare is distinctively seasoned with the sights and sounds of East Los Angeles; the sprinkling of Spanish words and phrases adds the perfect flavor. A glossary - including the items on Chato's menu - precedes the story.


Suggested Library Use:
Teaching students about welcoming new neighbors could be discussed after reading this book.  Also, incorporating a look at the Latino foods and culture could also extend this story.

Brabander, J. (1995). Chato's Kitchen. Horn Book Magazine, 71(5), 591-592.

Module 5 - Coretta Scott King Honor



Rhodes, J. (2010). Ninth Ward.
New York, NY: Little Brown Books for Young Readers.

 Summary:
A Coretta Scott King Honor book is realistic fiction.  It was written about a family and friends during Hurricane Katrina. The main characters are a 12 year old girl and her elderly caretaker, Mama Ya-Ya, who is raising her. They ride out Hurricane Katrina helping each other through this tragic event in their lives. This book offers some realistic insight into the people who survived this event their close knit family ties and close knit community they live in, the Ninth Ward.  Many of these people were too poor to evacuate during Hurricane Katrina and must rely on each other.


My Impression:
Author Jewell Parker Rhodes shares the story of a 12 year old girl and her Mama Ya-Ya, who has been raising her since she became an orphan when her teenage mother died in childbirth.  Rhodes showes the closeness of the two main characters and the close ties the neighbors have with one another.  The events of the evacuation and the hurricane along with the breaking of the levies seem very realistic.  A great story that tells of close family ties and friendship that is true to this culture and community.


I visited this same area about a year after the hurricane and saw much of the devistation that was still there.  This brought the events of this novel to life.


Reviews:
Ninth Ward
School Library Journal

Gr 5-8--Hurricane Katrina is whirling toward New Orleans in this touching novel (Little, Brown, 2010) by Jewell Parker Rhodes. Twelve-year-old Lanesha is a confident loner in her Ninth Ward neighborhood. Other kids tend to avoid her because she has the sight--she sees ghosts--and casually ignores them. Lanesha concentrates on her studies. She loves math, words, her teachers, and above all things, midwife Mama Ya-Ya who took her in when her mother died giving birth. Lanesha has snooty light-skinned uptown relatives, but they abandoned her to the loving care of Mama Ya-Ya. Lanesha watches in amazement as her beloved Ninth Ward prepares for the storm of the century. Fortitude, a vocabulary word Lanesha relishes, will be necessary to see her through the storm. After Mama Ya-Ya dies, Lanesha must be brave and save herself and her best friend when the water begins to rise. Sisi Aisha Johnson, a gifted narrator, brings richness and texture to each character and her performance emanates with the humor, warmth, and grace of this fine story. This 2011 Coretta Scott King Honor Book is not to be missed.

Melgaard, T. (2011). Ninth Ward. School Library Journal, 57(3), 77.

Kirkus Reviews

10-14 years--Born with a caul, 12-year-old Lanesha can see and sometimes communicate with spirits, and her guardian, former midwife Mama Ya-Ya, has dreams and visions that foretell the future. Their exquisitely happy, though poor, life in the New Orleans Ninth Ward is disrupted by news of a powerful storm approaching. Mama Ya-Ya knows it will get bad, but she has no means to get Lanesha out of the city. Knowing she herself will soon die, Mama Ya-Ya decides to wager that Lanesha's talents, both her supernatural skills and her more commonplace pluck and creativity, will see the young girl and her friend TaShon through Hurricane Katrina safely. The two children must confront not only the intense storm and Mama Ya-Ya's death but rapidly rising flood waters to survive. Rhodes's characters are likable and her story gripping. Unfortunately, though, romanticized depictions such as this one threaten to undermine our collective sense of the true plight of pre- and post-Katrina Ninth Ward residents. A good title for discussion when balanced with historical accounts of Katrina and her aftermath.

NINTH WARD. (2010). Kirkus Reviews, 78(14), 682.

Suggested Library Use:

This book could be used when studying historical fiction that is paired with a non-fiction book about Hurricane Katrina.  Students could compare and contrast the events of the two text.

Module 4 - Newbery Medals 1984

Cleary, B. (1983). Dear Mr. Henshaw. New York,
NY: Harper Collins Publishers, Inc.

Summary:
Leigh Botts began writing his favorite author, Mr. Henshaw, in second grade.  He now is in sixth grade.  He has just moved to a new town and school.  His parents have divorced and he doesn't get to see his dad much because he is a truck driver and is gone a lot.  Leigh shares with Mr. Henshaw his struggles with his parents divorce and his dad gone all the time.  He also has struggles being the new kid at school and someone keeps stealing food from his lunch.  Mr. Henshaw encourages Leigh to keep a journal and to work on his writing.  In the end Leigh enters a writing contest at school only because of the encouragement from Mr. Henshaw.

My Impression:
Dear Mr. Henshaw is a book that many students could relate to as they go through struggles with moving and divorce.  Students can find comfort in knowing they aren't the only one experiencing these feelings.  The encouragement that Mr. Henshaw gives Leigh to work on his writing through journal writing can be therapeutic for students dealing with struggles.

Review:
Dear Mr. Henshaw
School Library Journal
Gr. 4-7 - Cleary succeeds again.  Leigh Botts lives with his recently divorced mother and writes to his favorite author, Boyd Henshaw.  When Henshaw answers his letters and encourages him to keep a journal, he does so, and in the process solves the mystery of who is stealing food from his lunchbox, invents an alarm for said lunchbox, tries to write a novel, and in the end, writes a prize-winning short story about an experience with his father.  The semi-epistolary style, at first between Leigh and Mr. Henshaw, then exclusively in Leigh's journal, gives a clear sense of his life, his thinking process, and his coming to grips with his father's absence.  His resolution to continue loving his difficult-to-love father and to try to get along and make friends in a new home and school will certainly move young readers, regardless of their own situations.  And, as usual, Cleary's sense of humor leavens and lightens what might otherwise be a heavy work of social realism.
MacDonald, R. (1983). Dear Mr. Henshaw [Book Review]. School Library Journal, 30(1), 120.

Suggested Library Uses:
Dear Mr. Henshaw could be used to encourage students to journal write.  This will develop their writing skills and could also be an outlet for students struggling with difficulties in their lives.

Another application of this book could be using it with teaching about the mechanics of letter writing.

Module 4 - Newbery Medal 1945

Lawson, R. (1977). Rabbit Hill. 
New York, NY: Puffin Books.

Summary:
Robert Lawson's story, a 1945 Newbery Winner, takes place in the country near Danbury, Connecticut known as Rabbit Hill.  The animals are excited at the prospect of new people moving into the big house that has been vacant for a long time.  The animals are in hope the new people will plant a garden so they will have an abundant food source which they have not had in a long time.  They anxiously wait to see if the new people will be kind and friendly, not expecting the surprise turn of events.

My Impression:
This was a delightful book with a wonderful story.  Children will enjoy the storyline and conversations that take place between the animals.  They will relate well with the people who move into the big house and live in harmony with the animals on Rabbit Hill.

Reveiw:
Rabbit Hill
School Library Journal
Gr 3-6‘Uncle Analdas and his community of woodland animals who are anticipating the arrival of the "new folks," the people who are moving to Rabbit Hill. When the new folks eventually become part of the animals' lives, both benefit from their association with the other. Although the story probably will not have broad appeal, this version would serve to enhance collections of Newbery Award winners.
Brightman, M. & Mandell, P. (1996). Rabbit Hill [Book Review]. School Library Journal, 42(8), 64.

Suggested Library Use:
Studying Newbery Award Winning books would be a great way to incopporate Rabbit Hill as a winner from 1945.  Students could compare and contrast Newbery Award books from the present to older winners.

Module 3 - Caldecott Medal 1987

Yorinks, A. (1986). Hey, Al.
New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

Summary: Al and his dog live in a one room apartment and they aren’t happy with their life and wish it will change.  An exotic bird shows up one morning telling Al he needs a change.Through a course of events they go to “paradise”  with this exotic bird.  It isn’t all they thought it would be. Life isn't to great with all these exotic animals. Al and his dog decide they'd rather be back in their previous life.  They soon get to return to their old life which is better than they thought. My Impression: This story is a great story to talk to students about "the grass is greener on the other side."  I like the brightly colored pictures and the unexpected events that teach a great lesson. Review: Hey, Al School Library Journal K-Up - The theme here is, "be happy with who you are," or may be, "there's no free lunch."  Al, a janitor, lives a meager existence with his companion (dog) Eddie in New York City.  They complain to each other about their lot and are ready to take off to a better place with a huge bird who just pops in and invites them.  This "island in the sky" is perfect.  All its inhabitants are friendly birds, and there's nothing to do but enjoy the tropical paradise.  But when they both begin to sprout feathers and beaks, they realize that there is a price to pay, so they take off, Icarus-style--including a plunge into New York Harbor.  Safely home, they discover that "Pardise lost is sometimes Heaven found."  Egielski's solid naturalism provides just the visual foil needed to extablish the surreal character of this fantasy.  The muted earth tones of the one-room flat contrast symbolically with the bright hues of the birds' plumage and the foliage of the floating paradise.  The anatomical appropriateness of Al and Eddie plays neatly against the flamboyant depiction of the plants.  Text and pictures work together to chanllenge readers' concept of reality, with touches such as the stacks of delivered newpapers outside Al's door when he returns, from --his "dream"? Marantz, K., Jones, T. E., Gale, D., & Cherenfant, G. (1987). Hey, Al [Book Review]. School Library Journal, 33(7), 151. Suggested Library Uses: This book can be used to teach inferencing by reading a portion of the text and having the students infer what will happen next.  It could also be used to teach about being satisfied with what you have.

Summary:

Al and his dog live in a one room apartment and they aren’t happy with their life and wish it will change.  An exotic bird shows up one morning telling Al he needs a change.Through a course of events they go to “paradise”  with this exotic bird.  It isn’t all they thought it would be. Life isn't to great with all these exotic animals. Al and his dog decide they'd rather be back in their previous life.  They soon get to return to their old life which is better than they thought.

My Impression:

This story is a great story to talk to students about "the grass is greener on the other side."  I like the brightly colored pictures and the unexpected events that teach a great lesson.

Review:

Hey, Al
School Library Journal
K-Up - The theme here is, "be happy with who you are," or may be, "there's no free lunch."  Al, a janitor, lives a meager existence with his companion (dog) Eddie in New York City.  They complain to each other about their lot and are ready to take off to a better place with a huge bird who just pops in and invites them.  This "island in the sky" is perfect.  All its inhabitants are friendly birds, and there's nothing to do but enjoy the tropical paradise.  But when they both begin to sprout feathers and beaks, they realize that there is a price to pay, so they take off, Icarus-style--including a plunge into New York Harbor.  Safely home, they discover that "Pardise lost is sometimes Heaven found."  Egielski's solid naturalism provides just the visual foil needed to extablish the surreal character of this fantasy.  The muted earth tones of the one-room flat contrast symbolically with the bright hues of the birds' plumage and the foliage of the floating paradise.  The anatomical appropriateness of Al and Eddie plays neatly against the flamboyant depiction of the plants.  Text and pictures work together to chanllenge readers' concept of reality, with touches such as the stacks of delivered newpapers outside Al's door when he returns, from --his "dream"?

Marantz, K., Jones, T. E., Gale, D., & Cherenfant, G. (1987). Hey, Al [Book Review]. School Library Journal, 33(7), 151.

Suggested Library Uses:

This book can be used to teach inferencing by reading a portion of the text and having the students infer what will happen next.  It could also be used to teach about being satisfied with what you have.

Module 3 - Caldecott Medal 2004



Gerstein, M. (2003). The Man Who Walked Between the Towers.
Brookfield, Connecticut: Roaring Brook Press.


Summary:
This book is not a traditional biography about Philippe Petit who is the French man who walked on a tightrope between the unfinished Twin Towers.  The ink and oil illustrations present the dramatic events of Petit’s walk between the towers through the poetic text. 

My Impression:
When I first saw this book I thought it would be fiction, but was suprised to see that is was a biography of Philippe Petit involving the occurance of his wal on a tightrope between the Twin Towers as they were being constructed.  The pictures offer great reflection on the events that took place.

Review:
The Man Who Walked Between the Towers
School Library Journal Reviews

K-Gr 6 - As this story opens, French funambulist Philippe Petit is dancing across a tightrope tied between two trees to the delight of the passersby in Lower Manhattan. Gerstein places him in the middle of a balancing act, framed by the two unfinished World Trade Center towers when the idea hits: "He looked not at the towers, but at the space between them and thought, what a wonderful place to stretch a rope - |." On August 7, 1974, Petit and three friends, posing as construction workers, began their evening ascent from the elevators to the remaining stairs with a 440-pound cable and equipment, prepared to carry out their clever but dangerous scheme to secure the wire. The pacing of the narrative is as masterful as the placement and quality of the oil-and-ink paintings. The interplay of a single sentence or view with a sequence of thoughts or panels builds to a riveting climax. A small, framed close-up of Petit's foot on the wire yields to two three-page foldouts of the walk. One captures his progress from above, the other from the perspective of a pedestrian. The vertiginous views paint the New York skyline in twinkling starlight and at breathtaking sunrise. Gerstein captures his subject's incredible determination, profound skill, and sheer joy. The final scene depicts transparent, cloud-filled skyscrapers, a man in their midst. With its graceful majesty and mythic overtones, this unique and uplifting book is at once a portrait of a larger-than-life individual and a memorial to the towers and the lives associated with them.
Lukehart, W. (2003, November 1). The Man Who Walked between the Towers [Book]. School Library Journal Reviews, 125.

Suggested Library Use:
This book lends itself to a variety of activities.  You can use it to study the character traits of Petit or discuss the dangerous activities that take place making sure the students know that this was also illegal for Petit to do what he did.  The students could also do research on other dangerous activities people have undertaken.