Literature blog

WHITE SOCKS ONLY

White Socks is written by Evelyn Colemon and illustrated by Tyrone Geter. This book is suggested for children in 3rd grade and is a multicultural book. 

This story is about a little grandmother and how when she was her granddaughter's age she decided to take a walk into town by herself. She finds it to be very hot outside and goes towards a water fountain labeled "whites only". She takes off her shoes exposing her very clean white socks and starts to drink from the fountain. 

This book would be considered contemporary realistic fiction. The book tells a story that could happen in the real world and has characters that could exist. The author does a great job of describing the environment of the book. The illustrations in this book bring the story to life with color and detail. He helps further support the story and character by his art.

Discussion Questions:
1. What did the sign "whites only" actually mean?
2. Why do you think that other people started joining her in drinking from the fountain? 

Motivational Activities 

1. Have children write when and how the point of view changed in the story. Also, have children explain why it was important to have this change. 
2.  Have children discuss out loud what they think the purpose of the story was?

Evelyn Colemon has many other books as well including,

* Shadow on Society Hill

* Freedom Train

Coleman, E., & Geter, T. (2015). White Socks Only. New York: Av2 by Weigl.

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Me and My Cat?

Me and my cat is written and illustrated by Satoshi Kitamura. This story is about a young boy who is turned into his cat and his cat is turned into him by a witch in the middle of the night. No one realizes that the two have switched bodies and don’t understand why they are acting so strange. At the end of the book, the witch comes back stating that she had the wrong address and switches the two back to normal.

This story would be considered a Fantasy. This book would be considered fantasy because it has elements that could not happen in real life, like switching bodies with a cat. The foundation of the story is a logical fantasy and it does have strong characterization. The images in the book support the story very well.

Motivational Activites:

Teachers could have students read the story aloud to one another in small groups and discuss if this is something that could happen in real life or not.

Teachers could also have students evaluate the pictures in the book and stat if they like the picture, if the pictures helped support the story and if they would have read the book on there own at home.

Personal Comments:

I found this book to be not as interesting as I had hoped. I do like that the story is nice and short and could allow teachers not to spend to much time on just one book. I think that younger children will be fascinated by a person switching bodies with a cat.

About the Author:

Satoshi Kitamua is a Japenese Author and illustrator. He has said that most of his inspiration came from comics that he would read as a child. Satoshi has written many other books including:

Kitamura, S. (2009). Me and my cat? London: Andersen.

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A Bad Case of the Stripes 

    A Bad Case of Stripes is written and illustrated by David Shannon. This story is about a young girl who ends up getting covered head to toe in colorful stripes. She is particularly concerned about what everyone thinks of her at all times. When she goes to school the children make fun of her, making her feel embarrassed and sad. A little old lady comes to her house and gives her lima beans that end up turning her back to normal. This story would be considered a Fantasy. A young girl being covered in colorful stripes and then being cured with lima beans is not a realistic event. The story does have strong characterization as well as excellent supporting images. 

Motivational Activities:

Teachers can have students write down their favorite

foods anonymously and hang them up to show that everyone likes something different.

Teachers can also have students explain to each other why making fun of someone is not a nice thing to do.

 Saint Leos Core values:

These activities align with Saint Leos core value Respect because respect means honoring someone’s dignity. Having students say why making fun someone is not nice will teach them how to respect one another and their choices. Respect is an important thing to have and having discussions on why it is not nice to make fun of others will help students learn what respect is. 

About the Author

David Shannon has written and illustrated many books. His books are full of color but have simple and relatable images. He has also written books like No David, David get in Trouble, and Duck on a bike.

Shannon, D. (2011). A Bad Case of Stripes. New York: Scholastic. 

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The House That Jane Built

I read the story The House That Jane Built by Tanya Lee Stone, illustrated by Kathryn Brown. This book is based on a true story which makes it that much more interesting to read! The story is about a woman, Jane who is very wealthy but chooses to move to a poor part of Chicago. Jane loves helping others and wants to uplift this community. She convinces people to help build parks, public bathhouses, music halls, etc. She even opens up her own home to anyone in need. Jane makes a powerful and big impact in this neighborhood. This story would be considered non-fiction. The story is written about a real woman who actually was the first female to win the Nobel Peace Prize. The story has only real elements and could be considered a simple bibliography for children.

Motivational activities:

Teachers could have students come up with one way that they can make a difference in their community.

Teachers could also ask students, over the weekend to do one act of kindness for someone else and then write a short paragraph on what they did and how it made them feel.

Saint Leo’s Core Values:

This story aligns with Saint Leo’s core value respect. This story is an example of respect because even though Jane has money and could live in a wealthy area she wants to make a difference in this community. She recognizes the dignity that everyone in this small neighborhood has and works on lifting that up. She opens her house to them, sets up activities for them all because she respects them and wants them to be successful.

Personal thoughts:

I absolutely loved reading this book. I enjoy that the author took a real-life story but simplified it to something young readers could understand. I think that it is really important for children to read these types of books because they have important messages embedded in the story.

The author is known for stories about powerful women as well as people of color. Some of her other work includes,

 

Stone, T. L., & Brown, K. (2015). The House that Jane Built: A story about Jane Addams. New York: Henry Holt and Company.

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The Tale of Peter Rabbit

                                       

The Tale of Peter Rabbit written by Beatrix Potter is a classic story! This story would be considered a fairytale because of its unrealistic qualities. Some of these qualities include a rabbit that talks and wears shoes and a jacket. The story is about a young rabbit Peter who goes to Mr. McGregor's garden. While in the garden Peter starts eating some of the food and Mr. McGregor's almost catches him! Eventually, Peter Rabbit is able to escape and make it back home. The art in this book is something special. There are vibrant colors used and every page is vibrant and full of like. The illustrator, Beatrix, does a great job of further supporting the story with the images produced.

Motivational Activities:

Teachers could read the story aloud to students and then ask them to draw out the main scene in comic book sort of way. This will help students develop skills for picking out important parts in stories.

Teachers could also have students talk about what Peter should have done instead of going to Mr. Mcgregors garden.

Personal thoughts:

Even though the original story is over 100 years old I think that it is a really great story. I remember being read this story as a child and really liking it. The story can be read with a bit of suspense which really brings kids in to listen and enjoy the story.

The author also has written books like The Tale of Tom Kitten and The Tale of Mr. Jeremy Fisher.

Potter, B. (2019). The Tale of Peter Rabbit. London: Frederick Warne.

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 If I Ran for President

                                              

If I Ran for President written by Catherine Stier, is a very informative book. This book would be considered non-fiction because it talks about real life facts of politics. The story is from the point of view of three young kids who are thinking about what it would be like if they ran for president. During the story, they also talk about what it takes to run for president, the different political parties involved as well as many other aspects of the job. The art in this book is simple yet creative and doesn’t take too much attention from the story.

Motivational Activates:

Teachers could have students write down some of the facts they learned about political parties and voting.

Teachers could have students write a simple paragraph on what they would do if they became president.

Personal Thoughts:

I think that this is a very important book for children to read. It is full of facts and information presented in a way that young kids will be able to understand. One day these kids will be voting so having them learn about political parties and voting now will only help them in the future. This book does an amazing job of explaining something that could be considered an overwhelming topic into a simple and fun story.

The author, Catherine Stier seems to take a liking for writing stories like this. She has also written the books If I were President and Today on Election Day.

Stier, C., & Avril, L. (2013). If I Ran for President. New York: AV2 by Weigl.

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How I Learned Geogrphy

                                      

How I learned Geography written by Uri Shulevitz. Is a great story about the power of imagination and how even when times are tough your imagination can take you away for just a while. This story is set in a time where war has broken out cause a little boy and his family to leave their home and belongings behind to find refuge in a new place. Times are very hard, they have little food and even have to share a house with another family. One day the father comes home with a map and the little boy studies and studies the map for hours. Eventually, he is transported to every different place with the power of his imagination.

Motivational activities:

Have children discuss aloud what they enjoy imagining.

Have children draw out a comic book of an imagination they have had.

Personal thoughts:

This book is super interesting and I think serves a powerful message about imagination. I think it would be great for kids to hear a story like this to help remind them that if there going through something tough or not going through much at all have a little imagination can real brighten one’s day. The author did a really great job of making this story interesting and meaningful.

Shulevitz, U. (2008). How I Learned Geography. New York: Farrar Straus Giroux.

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                                         The Hula-Hoopin' Queen   

                                           

The Hula Hoppin’ Queen by Thelma Godin is about a young girl who loves to hula hoop. One day she wanted to go out and hula hoop but her mother said no because they are celebrating their neighbor’s birthday. Her mother sends her to the store to buy more supply for baking a cake and runs into her friends that challenge her to a hula hooping contest. She doesn’t end up getting the ingredients back to her mother in time and can’t make the cake. Even though this happened the birthday party was still fun and they all ended up hula hopping together! The art in this book if colorful and fun! The images are exciting to look at and the illustrator does a great job of incorporating different artistic elements to the images.

Motivation activities:

Teachers can have students share aloud what hobby or sport they love doing. The can have student draw or even bring in objects that are associated with their favorite activity.

Teachers can also have students write down the main characters of the story, the setting, and the plot. To help further these skills.

In addition to this book the author has also written stories like:

Godin, T. (2014). The Hula Hoopin' Queen. Lee & Low Books.

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Wilfred Gordon McDonald Patridge 

This story is about a young boy who lives next to a house where a group of old people live.  The little boy Wilfred finds out that one of the people there has lost their memory and he goes around asking everyone what a memory is. The boy ends up grabbing all of his favorite items and giving them to the lady who has lost her memory. The lady then remembers much about her life. The illustrations in this book are old, they seem to be dated and lack color. The images do represent the story but they are not fun to look at. 

Motivational activities:

Have children write down their meaning of a memory.

Have children bring in an object from there favorite memory for a show and tell.

Personal thoughts:

this book was a little stale I think it was cute but it lacked that personality that children want in books. The story does have good meaning and it is great for children to explore what memories are. Overall it was not a terrible book.

Other books by Mem Fox include, Time for bed, Where is the Green Sheep and Whoever You Are.

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Sophies Masterpiece

Sophie's masterpiece is about a spider who decides to take residence in a human house. Sophie tries to live in many different places in this house but each time gets swatted away. One day Sophie find a nice yarn basket to live in and by surprise, the young women it belongs to does not swat Sophie away. The young women becomes pregnant but does not have enough money to buy the new baby a blanket so Sophie decided she will weave the most beautiful blanket anyone has seen. 

The illustrations in this book were simple and calming. The pictures were not to busy but really helped and elevated the story. 

Motivational Activites:

Have student talk aloud about there favorite part of the story.
Have students read about spiders and where they like to live

Personal thoughts:
I really enjoyed this book. I thought that it was nice to read and was simple to follow. I think that children would enjoy reading this story especially since it is about bugs!

Othe books written by Eileen Spinelli include, The Best Story and Another day as Emily 

Spinelli, E., & Dyer, J. (2004). Sophies masterpiece: A spiders tale. London: Pocket.
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Guji Guji

This story is about a crocodile that has grown up as a duck. The Crocodile has always thought he was a duck and didn't realize that he was different from his brothers and sister. One day the other crocodiles saw him and told him that he was not duck. The crocodiles wanted him to bring his family to a pond so that they could eat his family but instead, he threw rocks into the water scaring the other crocodiles. He loved his duck family.
This book is a fictional story. The presence of talking animals and there life like qualities tells me that the story is fiction. The illustrations in this book are comical and make the story more enjoyable.

Motivational Activites:
Have children act out the differences between ducks and crocodiles.

Have children create there own ending to the story. have them write one paragraph on what they would have done to the other crocs.

Personal thoughts:
I really enjoyed the book. This book would be great for teachers to read aloud to there students because of its playfulness and emotion. I think the book is great for young readers as it is interesting and easy to follow. Children love reading about animals which makes this book appealing as well.
Other books written by Chih Yuan Chen include, On My Way to Buy Eggs and The Best Christmas Ever.

Chih-Yuan, C., & Stoppa, A. (2015). Guji-Guji. Trieste: Bohem Press Italia.
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Mice Twice 

Mice Twice written by Joseph Low is a fun fictional book. This book is about a hungry cat that tries to trick a mouse into coming over to his house for dinner when really the cat wants to eat the mouse. The mouse knows cats tricks so agrees to dinner but surprises him by showing up with a dog. The cat and Mouse go back and forth inviting each other over and bringing guests the other wouldn't like. I would describe the images in this story as funny and cute. The illustrator uses a lot of colors but does not overwhelm the reader with the images. 

Motivational Activites:

Create a mini play out of the story and assign all children a different animal to act out. 

Have children write or point out the different types of animals in the book as well as have children write the ending to the story that they would have wanted.

Personal Thoughts: 

This was one of my favorite books I read for this blog. This book was funny, cute and I would read it again. I think that it has a good underlying meaning about friendship and how your friends will back you up if needed. I think that children would enjoy and have fun reading this book as well. 

Other books written by Joseph Low are, The Christmas Grump, My Dog Your Dog and Trust Reba.

Low, J. (2007). Mice Twice. Paw Prints.

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