Shauna SandersChildren’s Literature

Summer 2010Reading Log 1

Modern Fantasy

Title: Catwings (1988)

Author: Ursula K. Le Guin Illustrator: S.D. Schindler Genre: Modern Fantasy Format: chapter book Awards: No awards

Summary: Four kittens are born to Mrs. Jane Tabby, a city cat who lives in the heart of

a dangerous city for cats, with cars and feet and humans. However, the kittens are

quite different than other cats in that they are born with wings. Mrs. Jane Tabby had a

dream that she could fly away from the place she lived, so that is why she believes her

kittens have wings. After a dog cornered one of her kittens, she instructed them to fly to

a safer place. The kittens flew to a forest and encountered several new fears, but

overcame them all, including an attack by an owl. In then end, the kittens survived their

new homes and ended up being taken in by two children who found them and fed them

on the outskirts of their property.

Strategies: For younger students, the book would be a read aloud and they can begin

to see how modern fantasy is sometimes just a little different than reality. After students

hear the story of Catwings, they can compare/contrast how the kittens’ lives are

different from normal kittens. The students would then talk about what other animals

were affected by the kittens’ wings and why. However, for older students, I would want

them to think more broadly and create their own story of another animals that had an

unusual trait and write about how different that animal’s life would be and the other

creatures around it.

Another neat writing assignment from this book would involve the older students

in 4th and 5th grade to really use their imaginations. The title of the assignment would be

“Youwings”. Each child would write a story using their name, then the word wings. For

example, mine would be Shaunawings. Then I would write a story about being born

with wings and what my life has been like growing up with wings. It would be interesting

for the students to really be able to think about what they could and could not do if they

had wings.

Title: The Emperor’s New Clothes (1949)

Author: Hans Christian Andersen Illustrator: Virginia Lee Burton Genre: Modern Fantasy Format: picture book Awards: No awards

Summary: This is a story about cleverness, arrogance and pride. In this story, the

Emperor loves clothing and dressing up. He loves it so much that he is easily fooled by

some robbers who pretend to weave a brand new outfit for him out of magic cloth. The

impersonators convince the Emperor that only those who are smart, and in their right

job can see the fabric. All of the other people who cannot see the fabric are stupid and

not smart enough to hold the job they have. Each person who goes to see the fabric is

afraid to admit they cannot see it for fear of being dumb. However, it takes a small child

to admit that the Emperor in fact has nothing on when he parades his new outfit made

of the magic cloth.

Strategies: This story is definitely one that most young students find funny. Instead of

reading the entire story from cover to cover the first time, it would be fun with

kindergarteners and 1st graders to read and then stop after the second person cannot

see the fabric, but pretends to be able to see it. Then, ask the students to share some

of their predictions about what they think is going to happen when the Emperor goes to

see the outfit. The same activity could be used with 2nd and 3rd graders, but they could

also get in groups and write an ending of their predictions. Then, finish the story aloud

and evaluate the predictions.

Another activity to do with any of the primary grades would be to create a T-chart

of what the emperor did that was bad, and then on the other side what he should have

done each time. The students would be able to work on comparing and contrasting

what is right and wrong.

Title: Many Moons (1943)

Author: James Thurber Illustrator: Louis Slobodkin Genre: Modern Fantasy Format: picture book Awards: No Awards

Summary: In this story, there is a young princess who becomes quite ill. When the

King realizes how sick she is, he asks her if there is anything that she desires and she

replies, “the moon”. So, the King seeks the suggestions from his wisest council, the lord

high chamberlain, a wizard, and a mathematician. After none of them can figure out

how to get the moon, the court jester suggests asking the princess. So, the jester gets

her the moon, which in her mind was a small round piece of gold. The little girl turns out

to be wiser than all the wise men in her father’s court.

Strategies: This book would be a great book to use for science lessons on the solar

system. To peek the interest of the younger students, who may not know what the

moon is made of, I would begin by asking the question, “What do you think the moon is

made of?” Then, after reading the book, we can spend some time researching what the

moon truly is made of. For older students in 4th grade, this would be a great read aloud

to use before studying the planets, which is a 4th grade standard. Students could

discuss what they think the moon really is made of, then also discuss what the planets

are made of, leading into a unit on planets and the solar system.

One way to incorporate writing into this read-aloud, would be to read the story

and stop right after the 3 wise people in the King’s court were not able to get the moon

for the princess. Then, ask the students, “How would you get the moon for the little

princess?” Once the students write down how they would do it, I would finish reading

the story. This strategy for writing would help teach students about predictions and

outcomes of stories.

Even though this may seem a little silly, I think it would also be neat to read this

book to my Pre-kindergarteners and then hand out those chocolate candies that are

wrapped in gold paper to signify the moon. We could talk about things like, “Do you

think you could reach the moon?” and “How big do you think the moon really is?”

Title: Messenger (2004)

Author: Lois Lowry Genre: Modern Fantasy Format: chapter book Awards: No Awards

Summary: A small, secluded village surrounded by a forest includes many individuals

who have come to be a part of the village because of some terrible thing that might

have happened to them outside the village in another community. The main character,

Matty, lives with a blind man known as the Seer and spends his life in the village as the

messenger to outsiders. Matty realizes one day that he has a special gift and so do

many of the other villagers. However, just as he comes to this realization, he also

realizes that bad things are happening due to people trading valuable things in

exchange for material possessions. In the end as the villagers are trying to build walls

to keep others out of the village, Matty ends up giving his life to save the village and it’s

inhabitants. He also receives his true name as Healer instead of the expected,

Messenger.

Strategies: We use a reading framework at our school called Literacy Collaborative in

which the students read a book on their reading level and discuss the book with other

students on the same level. The Giver is one of the leveled books that our 5th graders

read, and they focus heavily on characterization with the book. After they finish the

book, I could read Messenger with them in the library and really analyze the characters

of the books and discuss how the characters grow from book to book.

Another strategy to use with older children reading Messenger is to talk about the

symbolism within the story. For example, Leader’s red sled that sits in the Museum in

Village symbolizes hope. Symbolism is a higher order thinking skill and it may take a

while for our many English Language Learners to understand the idea.

Title: The Story of Ferdinand (1938)

Author: Munro Leaf

Illustrator: Robert Lawson Genre: Modern Fantasy Format: picture book Awards: No awards

Summary: Once upon a time in Spain, there was a little bull named Ferdinand. He

was not like most bulls in that he did NOT run, jump or butt heads with other bulls.

Instead, he enjoyed a relaxing day under his favorite tree smelling his favorite flowers.

All the other bulls want to fight in Madrid, but not this bull. One day Ferdinand gets

chosen as the fiercest bull after his outburst caused from sitting on a bee. So, the men

take him to Madrid to fight in the bullring. However, Ferdinand did not turn out to be the

fiercest bull at all. In fact, he just sat in the middle of the ring smelling the flowers in all

the ladies’ hair. In the end, the men took him back home and he is still probably sitting

under his favorite tree today.

Strategies: This would be a great book to use with 1st, 2nd and 3rd graders to teach

visualization. I would read the story to the children without showing them any of the

pictures. Then we would talk about how long ago the book was written and that it

needed new illustrations to go with the story. Then, I would split the class into groups

and read the story again, assigning different parts of the story to each group. The

students would create a class book of The Story of Ferdinand, based solely on their

own visualizations of the words and the story.

Another strategy to use with this book would be to have the students actually act

the story out. Once a child becomes Ferdinand and portrays his character, then that

child can share how it felt to be a little different. We could then have a discussion about

how we should treat those who are a little different.

The ideas of this story are simple and I think students in 1st -3rd grades would

easily relate to this story. Many times our students like to do things that everyone else

may or may not like to do. I would give each child a bull pattern and have each student

write about something that they like to do that no one else really does much. For

example, a child might be interested in playing cards, but no one else in the room

enjoys it that much. The students could possibly become quite creative thinking of

something unique.

Traditional Literature

Title: The Bremen-town Musicians (1974)

Author: Retold Grimm by Ruth Belov Gross Illustrator: Jack Kent Genre: German Folktale Format: picture book Awards: No Awards

Summary: The four animals, donkey, dog, cat and rooster are all getting old and their

masters/owners have claimed they are going to assist in their dying by various actions

as not feeding the donkey and cutting off the rooster’s head and throwing it in the soup.

However, the animals decide to head to Bremen town to act upon their musical abilities,

but happen upon a house with robbers. The animals scare the robbers away and

decide to reside in the house forever. Thus, they never made it to Bremen town.

Strategies: My younger students in K-2nd grade would love to act this story out. By

acting the story out, the students would become more familiar with the story, which

would allow for a more in depth conversation to take place among the students about

the story. Another strategy to use with this particular folktale would be to have the

students discuss why the title, The Bremen-town Musicians is a good title for the story.

The animals didn’t even become the musicians, so why did the author use this title? By

answering this question, hopefully the students will be forced to think more deeply about

the plot of the folktale.

For younger students in PK-1st grade, we could focus on the concept of

sequencing in a story. After hearing the story, the students would have pictures with

sentences from the story and they would have to put the pictures in the correct

sequence according to how the events occurred. Then, the students would practice

their oral vocabulary by retelling the story based on their sequenced pictures.

Title: Golem (1996)

Author: David Wisniewski Illustrator: David Wisniewski Genre: Legend Format: picture book Awards: Caldecott Medal 1997

Summary: In this 1580 legend, the Jews of Prague were being accused of mixing the

blood of Christian children into their unleavened Passover bread by their enemies. To

stop this persecution and protect the Jews, the rabbi of Prague, Judal Loew ben Bezalel

created a golem out of clay and named him Joseph. Joseph was brought to life and

instructed to protect the Jews by capturing the enemies and bringing them to the jail.

He was also told that he would return to clay once the Jews no longer were threatened.

He did his job too well, and when the Emperor ordered him gone, Joseph did not want

to leave this life. However, the rabbi turned him back into clay and covered the clay in

the synagogue with old prayer books and locked the door forever. Legend has it that

perhaps he will return to life once more…

Strategies: The illustrations in this book are so beyond what most of our students are

used to seeing within a picture book. One strategy to use with older students would be

to team up with the art teacher and have the students create their own cut-paper

illustrations. There can even be a discussion about why they think the illustrator used

this form of illustration. For example, in the picture where Rabbi Loew told Golem to

stand, why is the cut paper such a good, strong depiction of this scene?

With older students, it would be a good idea to study some of the Jewish culture

that the students will see in the book. For example, the students need to understand

what a synagogue is, what a rabbi is and why Jewish people have yellow circles on their

shoulders in the pictures. There are also other versions of this Golem story written by

Barbara Rogasky and Isaac Bashevis Singer. The students can read these different

versions and then discuss how powerful David Wisniewki’s pictures are to the story.

Title: Musicians of the Sun (1997)

Author: Gerald McDermott Illustrator: Gerald McDermott Genre: Aztec Mythology Format: picture book Awards: No awards

Summary: The myth starts with the Lord of the Night summoning Wind to go and free

the musicians of the sun because the people of earth are miserable. He gave Wind

lightning bolts, a shield and thunder to help him defeat the sun. Once Wind finally

arrived at Sun, he used the shield to protect himself from the fire-darts of Sun and the

thunder to cloud the sun from seeing. Then the four musicians grabbed hold of Wind’s

cloak and he used the lightning bolts to see through the thunder clouds/smoke. Once

the musicians were home on earth, each musician played different sounds to the four

corners of the earth and everyone was happy, including Sun.

Strategies: Since mythology is such a higher leveled skill for students to learn, then I

would only briefly touch on the definition. However, with the younger students to help

grab their attention before reading this book aloud, I would write the title on the board

and ask them to talk to each other about what a book with this title could possibly be

about. The students would be practicing predicting and also be using their imaginations

and vocabulary in speech. The younger students would also enjoy using their drama

skills to portray the different story elements of this myth.

With the older students in elementary, I would definitely do some research into

different types of mythology and possibly more Aztec mythology stories. After reading

the book aloud, the students could conduct some research on the web learning different

aspects and characteristics of mythology. Then, the students could spend some time

creating a PowerPoint presentation on a different mythology book written for children.

Title: Town Mouse Country Mouse (1994)

Author: Jan Brett Illustrator: Jan Brett Genre: Fable Format: picture book Awards: No awards

Summary: The husband and wife town mice want to take a vacation in the country to

get away from the hustle and bustle of city life. When the country mice run into the town

mice, they decide to trade homes for a while. After the country mice escape

mousetraps and the town mice escape several scary animals, they both run as fast as

they can back to their own homes. Both sets of mice realize that there’s no place like

home.

Strategies: Jan Brett’s Town Mouse Country Mouse is only one version of the classic

fable. After reading this version, we would also read Helen Craig’s version, The Town

Mouse and the Country Mouse, so that we could compare how the two might be

different and why. Fables tend to begin as oral stories and sometimes can be different

because of time and translations.

Another skill to focus on with this fable is the idea of morals of stories and

metaphors. Since our elementary school is almost 90% Hispanic, we tend to have lots

of students who struggle with understanding morals of stories and especially

metaphors. After reading this story, we would begin by focusing on the saying, “The

grass is always greener in someone else’s yard.” Then, we would read some of

Aesop’s Fables and discuss their morals. We would also follow up with working on

literal meaning vs. metaphorical meanings of certain metaphors like, “You’re driving me

up the wall!”

Title: Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears (1975)

Author: Verna Aardema Illustrator: Leo and Diane Dillon Genre: African American Folktale Format: picture book Awards: Caldecott Medal 1976

Summary: A chain of reactions among several animals occurs all because a mosquito

began by telling an iguana a story that the iguana claimed was nothing but “nonsense”.

The mother owl ended up losing one of her baby owls because the monkey had

knocked a dead limb onto the nest. So, the lion calls the animals together to trace back

the origin of the crime…The mosquito realized what he had done and hid from the

others and to this day she is known to whine in people’s ears because she still feels

guilty.

Strategies: Not only are there quite a few African American folktales, but there are

several folktales written by the same author, Verna Aardema. For students in 4th and 5th

grades, it would be good for the students to read some of her other African American

folktales and compare/contrast them and possibly look for any themes they might

discover. Some of her other folktales are Anansi Does the Impossible, Bringing the

Rain to Kapiti Plain, and The Lonely Lioness and the Ostrich Chicks.

Another strategy to use with this folktale is to talk about one’s character and good

qualities everyone should possess. For example, in the story, the mosquito hid once he

realized what he had done. However, it was not that bad of a crime that started the

whole chain of reactions. In life, it’s important to be honest with oneself and others, and

to always tell the truth. Otherwise, you will spend the rest of your life begging for

forgiveness. This would be a good discussion about always telling the truth for students

in 1st and 2nd grades.

Another higher level thinking skill to use as an extension of this book, would be to

have the older students or maybe just the students in challenge courses write their own

folktale of how something came into being or why something does what it does. This

activity would definitely include some modeling by the teacher before the students

would be allowed to begin.