Title: The Rainbow Fish Author/Illustrator: Marcus Pfister Publication Date: 1992 Genre: Fantasy Recommended Grade Range: Primary to Intermediate Plot Summary: This is one of my favorite stories from when I was younger! The setting of this story takes place in the sea. There is a main character named Rainbow Fish, who is the most beautiful fish. He always thought that he was too beautiful to play with any of the other fish and when anyone asked him for one of his shiny scales he would always say “Never!” The plot then starts to unfold when Rainbow fish realizes that he is all alone. He didn’t understand why nobody liked him. Finally he asks Octopus who says, “Give away your shiny scales. You wont be as beautiful, but you will have friends.” The literary conflict of this story entails person versus person because Rainbow fish must choose whether to give away his scales and have friends or to not give away his scales and to no have friends. The Climax is unveiled when Rainbow fish says, “I cant do that!” However a blue fish came to ask for a scale and what was Rainbow fish to do? Rainbow fish says “maybe just one tiny scale.” The Resolution of this story is then discovered as Rainbow fish gives away all but one scale, sharing all that he had to make everyone feel as beautiful as he had. The Themes in this story are very simple sharing with others, self -­‐discovery, equality and friendship. Features of Quality: Rainbow Fish is a perfect story that captures events in student’s lives. This would be perfect to do a read-­‐aloud and reader response activity! I love how the author/illustrator is a knowledgeable and used colors that stood out and created scales that make connected wonderfully to the story. Having students learn about the importance of sharing and the overall emphasis on making sure that everyone receives equal opportunities in the classroom is important in creating a literature rich classroom environment! This story is timeless and has key concepts (sharing, friendship, equality) that even adults can use. The developmental elements in this story such as sharing are important in the younger grade levels to socially develop students to adapt to the classroom environment. The language in this story is appropriate for primary grade levels to become familiar with key words and names of animals (Fish, Octopus, Starfish). This story also demonstrated literary integrity with regard to theme, plot, setting, climax and resolution. Curriculum Connections: In the classroom I would do a reader response activity in which the students are able to discuss main idea, setting, plot, climax, and resolution in the story. They will able to work with a partner or work by themselves. This activity should take about ten to fifteen minutes and once every student has completed it I will call on people to answer the question. If the student doesn’t know the answer or is having trouble distinguishing the differences they will be able to ask a student to help them. I would also love to have my students create their own story about sharing. They will be able to tell a story like Rainbow fish or they might want to create a story about their own life. The story must use complete sentences and must correctly use capitalized letters, punctuation and grammar. Title: When Cows Come Home Author: David L. Harrison Illustrator: Chris L. Demarest Publication Date: 1994 Genre: Fantasy Recommended Grade Range: Intermediate Plot Summary: This story was a very unique story that I had never heard of before. The setting takes place on a farm. The main characters of this story are cows and farmers. The cows always like to do their own thing during the day, when the farmer looks the other way. They “fiddle their fiddles and shout hooray…cows play tag in fields of hay.” The cows are always playing games, dancing, and cooling off at the end of the day. The plot takes place as all the cows are playing and laughing at the donkeys. They even say “lets open the gate, let’s run away, open the gate so we can stray.” What are these cow going to do? Will they run away? The Literary Conflict comes into play when they must choose “should we leave, or should we stay? Open the gate! We might, we may!” The Climax of the story is when they see farmer looking toward them. The Resolution is “cows obey and head for home in a cow like way.” Themes in this story entails family, obedience, self control, happiness, and individualism. Features of Quality: When Cows Come Home is a wonderful story that has the audience laughing at almost every page. This is a very good story for musical learners because it has a musical rhyming pattern and example of this is “they hitch their bikes to farmers sleigh, to pull their babies, as they play.” The author is very well known when it comes to books about cows and the illustrator did a fantastic job depicting the details of the text, with the illustrations in the story. This story expands self-­‐
awareness with regards to free will and the overall knowledge that parents know what is best for their children, just like the cows knew the farmer knows what is best for them. This is a very enjoyable story that shows creative depictions of cows. I loved the originality of this story and how it captured the fantasy behind a cow’s life. Students will be engaged in the read-­‐aloud with this book because of the attention to detail, especially in the illustrations. I love how the author used vocabulary that is familiar to intermediate students but also used words such as swish, hitch, dash, cud, and sway that will help students progress in their vocabulary skills Curriculum Connections: This would be a wonderful story to have students create their own poetry. Students will be able to create their own animal based story that captures the narrative elements. They will be able to share their stories with the class and will be able to illustrate a scene from their story to share. Once everyone has created their story I will take the illustrations and put them all together to create a class book. I would also love to have students do a reader response activity in which they detail a sequence of events in the story. They are going to create a timeline on what happened in the story and when it happened. The students will be able to work in groups of two depending on class size and will be able to distinguish between the narrative elements in the story. Title: Cupcake Author/Illustrator: Charise Mericle Harper Publication Date: 2010 Genre: Fantasy Recommended Grade Range: Primary Plot Summary: This is a wonderful story that enables children to understand the differences of people in our society. There are two main characters in this story Vanilla Cupcake and Candle. Vanilla cupcake has always thought of himself as plane and he thought all of his brothers and sisters were more special than he was. The plot then starts to unfold when candle joins the story. Candle wants to help Vanilla Cupcake fell more special, but how? The literary conflict of the story is the Vanilla Cupcake determining how to become special and not ordinary. Candle tries to help him by adding special topping to the cupcake. They try adding pickles and spaghetti, but nothing seems to do the trick. The climax is unveiled when Candle tries putting a nut on the top of cupcake however; Cupcake does not like that very much and he wanted that nut off. The Resolution is determined when Candle jumps on top of Cupcake to get the nut off and he’s just the topping Vanilla Cupcake needed. The themes of this story are easy defined by self-­‐realization, friendship, family and awareness. Features of Quality: This is a perfect story that can be read aloud to anyone of any age. This timeless exemplifies self-­‐awareness in a society that establishes a person by only what is on the outside. There are many examples from the story that illustrate individuality and opens the eyes to how a person is truly known by how they are on the inside. All this cupcake wants is to be something special and in the story when cupcake is not chosen to be eaten he says, “nobody picked me, I’m to creamy, white and plane. Self-­‐awareness is very important for a person to develop a good self-­‐esteem and this story helps shed new light to that when cupcake gets a special candle topping. This story directly exhibits literary integrity with regards to clearly setting for the plot, conflict, climax, resolution and theme that makes the story so true to its nature. The point of view in this story is to explain how we are all different but it does not matter how a person looks as long as they are willing to put in an effort to persevere in life. This story tells the truth of human experiences by enabling the reading to step into childhood. This story displays many adaptations such as “ordinary” “special” and not being like all of their other brothers and sisters. In order to find yourself you have to experience new situations and learn about yourself as whole. This story captures many experimentations that I would have never expected such as, “how about smelly cheese, pancakes, pickles an egg” who would think to put such a thing on top of a cupcake. Creativity in this story was genius when it came to choosing a cupcake as the main character, everyone loves cupcakes and this new perspective on how one looks prettier than the other is very interesting. This perspective opens up my mind to think about what the pretty on the outside might not taste so great on the inside. I would recommend this enjoyable story to anyone who is willing to open up their minds to new ideas and understanding. Curriculum Connections: In my classroom I would love for my students to write their own story about self-­‐realization. They will be able to choose a food if they wish or they might even decide to choose animals to represent their story. Once they have completed the story, the students are to choose a partner to share their story with. I would also love for my students to draw their own cupcake that represents them. They are to color their cupcake in and list off all of the adjectives they would use to describe their individual cupcake. Once completed I will handout cupcakes and each student will be able to share in the joy of individuality. Title: Big Bad Wolf is Good Author: Simon Puttock Illustrator: Lynne Chapman Publication Date: 2001 Genre: Derivative Fairy Tale Recommended Grade Range: Primary Plot Summary: This was a wonderful story that gave students a chance to read their favorite three little pig story in a different perspective. The story begins with the main character being the Big Bad Wolf. This wolf is a good wolf that has been misinterpreted. The plot of this story is when wolf decides he wants to be good and he wants friends more than anything. He starts to talk to Mrs. Goose in her garden, but she is very afraid and runs inside. When wolf explains that he is good now, she does not believe him. The literary conflict of this story is wolf’s inability to make friends. One day while wolf is walking by Mrs. Duck’s house, Mrs. Duck is frantically looking for her duck number five. She assumes that Big Bad Wolf has eaten him, but he has not. The climax of the story is then told when wolf decides he is going to go look for this duck number five and then he will have a friend. The resolution is then brought forth when wolf finds duck number five and returns him to his mother duck. Finally, Big Bad Wolf has a friend. The themes of this story are self-­‐determination, friendship, family and consciousness. Features of Quality: This story was an amazing story that opened up my mind to a whole new perspective of the big bad wolf. This story enables the reader to open up their mind to expressing second chances to the character. The originality that embodies this creative adaptation makes me wonder what was going through the author’s mind. I loved how this story demonstrated literary integrity by have a perfect flow. The author used a method that showed how the big bad wolf knew he was wrong, but he was trying to change. Second chances are very important in order for our society to move forward and that is directly established in this story. The big bad wolf saves the day and at the end of the day he is invited inside the ducks home. I love the happy ending of the story unlike the story of the three little pigs. The viewpoint of this story was from a whole different person. The wolf described how lonely he was and he said “its because I’m bad bad bad…I will not be bad anymore.” The wolf changed over the course of the two books and is now able to be the person he always knew he could be. This is definitely a timeless that can be told years and years to come because of how its story can relate to our society in many ways such as greed, loneliness, assumptions, friendship and fear. This story helps the reader to understand how a person can change over time and enables to reader to determine their own conclusion to how to react to the story. The forgiveness lies in the hands of the reader. Literacy is effectively written in this story and uses correct grammar, punctuation and word choice that reflects a student in the primary to intermediate grade levels. The plot of this story is perfect for this grade level and connects to the child’s learning especially with regards to social factors. The narrative elements create an appropriate tale that helps capture the important features of the story such as the reflection of the wolf’s mannerisms. Curriculum Connections: I would love for my students to take the time and write about this story. They are to determine the theme, setting, character, climax, conflict and resolution of the story. Once completed, they are to think, pair and share with the whole class. The students in my class will also be able to establish a story of their own. My students are to write a story about a time they did something good for someone else. I would encourage my students to give the story to the person they did something good for. Title: More Than Anything Else Author: Marie Bradby Illustrator: Chris K. Soentpiet Publication Date: 1995 Genre: Historical Fiction Recommended Grade Range: Primary Plot Summary: This was a very fascinating story that I will definitely have in my classroom. This story has a nine-­‐year-­‐old main character named Booker T. Washington. Booker T. has always wanted to be able to read but his family does not value reading as much as they should. The plot unveils when Booker explains how he wants to learn to read. The literary conflict of the story is Booker T. wanting to learn to read, but his family values work more than education. The climax reaches its peak when Booker decides he is going to learn to read on his own. He decides to write the letters of the alphabet in the dirt on the floor and he imagines the songs that people are singing in the stories that he begins to read. The resolution is Booker T. being able to read and to even understand his own name. The themes of this story are perseverance, success, family, work and history. Features of Quality: This is a timeless story that can be read to anyone of all ages. There are many people in our society today that struggle with reading and most people find it frustrating and difficult. This young child finds learning exciting and he wants nothing more than to be able to have a successful life and to be knowledgeable in anything and everything. Many children struggle with reading as well and if they see that a boy is teaching himself how to read they can begin to push themselves to learn, just as this young boy did. Adults would thoroughly love how this story captures such an important issue as reading. Anyone is capable of doing anything they set their mind to and this story is proof of that. The language expresses the story perfectly especially when the Booker says, “I draw the marks on the dirt floor and try to figure out what sounds they make, what story their picture tells.” That quote made me realize that anything and everything is possible. This is a true story of Booker T. Washington and helps students connect his story to history. I love how this story has an issue that concerns children and helps them to realize there are other people out there that struggle with the same issues. This story also expands on awareness by having the students understand that reading is an essential part to an education, without reading we would be an illiterate society. Reading is important and the awareness of being a strong reader or a slow reader opens up a students mind to developing new skills. This story captured a moment in history where African Americans were thought to be uneducated but this story proves that children wanted nothing more than to be like everyone else, it does not matter about a person race and color it matters about the person themselves and the fact that perseverance stands out in the end. The story reflects how there is a whole other viewpoint on what a person is capable and how unique each person is in their own light Curriculum Connections: I would love for my students to tell a story about a time in their life when they had to do something hard, but put forth the effort to finish. The students will be able to share their story with the class if they choose or they might want to keep their story to themselves. I would also love for my students to determine a timeline of events for this story. They are to also determine the setting, climax, resolution, conflict, character analysis and themes. Title: A Sick Day for Amos McGee Author: Philip C. Stead Illustrator: Erin E. Stead Publication Date: 2010 Genre: Fantasy Recommended Grade Range: Primary Plot Summary: This was a very significant story that was able to capture a different perspective, from any story I have ever read. The main character of this story zookeeper named Amos McGhee. Amos loves spending time with his zoo animals and he feels as if they are family. He always visits when them at different times of the day and it is very rare that he misses a day of work. The plot begins when Amos wakes up every morning and goes to work. These animals have become accustomed to their mornings with Amos. The literary conflict is established when the zookeeper calls in sick for work and the animals notice that Amos is not there that morning. What are these animals to do? The climax is then brought forth when the animals decide to leave the zoo. Finally the resolution is determined when these animals take the city bus to the zookeeper’s house to be with their friend. The themes of this story are caring, compassion, friendship, work and happiness. Features of Quality: This is a wonderful tale that tells the story of a Zookeeper. This story is show originality in the fact that there are zoo animals taking the city bus to see their friend. I loved how the author used illustrations to make the story stand out by using neutral colors and paper-­‐mache like animals. The story is very timeless and can be read to anyone of any age because of the fact that the story relates to friendship, sickness and most of all kindness. The story makes you laugh at times when you see the animals playing chess with the zookeeper and makes you sad when you see how sad the animals were when their friend did not come to spend the day with them. “The animals waited for their friend. The elephant arranged his pawns and polished his castles. The tortoise stretched his legs and limbered up…where is the zookeeper?” The story is perfect for anyone who wants to feel like a kid again and enables the reader to experience issues that concern children today such as understanding morals and values as well as determine who your real friends are. Adults would enjoy reading this story and relating it to their past and present situations with balancing the relationship between friends and work. This author was a very skilled author who won the Caldecott Medal for creating such a captivating story that captured a whole new meaning to having a sick day. Curriculum Connections: I would love for my students to establish a cause and effect chart. The students are to determine the events that created a cause and effect sequence. They will be able to work with a partner and brainstorm about the ideas they have decided. I would also like for my students to tell about a time in their lives where they cared for someone close to them. They are to share their story with their tablemates and be able to learn something new about their classmates. Title: Where The Wild Things Are Author/Illustrator: Maurice Sendak Publication Date: 1964 Genre: Fantasy Recommended Grade Range: Primary Plot Summary: This imaginative story creates a whole new world that excites many readers. The main character of this story is Max. Max loves adventure and his mother often calls him “wild thing.” The plot of the story begins when Max is in his room one afternoon and his room suddenly turns into a forest. Max sails the seas and comes across an island inhabited by the wild things. The wild things seem to be afraid of Max and soon make him their king. The literary conflict of the story is then brought forth when Max becomes lonely. The climax is then determined when Max begins to think about home and how much he missed his family. The resolution of the story is when Max decides that he is going to go back home and leave the kingdom of the wild things. The themes of this story are self-­‐determination, imagination, happiness, friendship and family. Features of Quality: This is a very timeless story that has been around for many years. I loved how this story has issues that concern children today with regards to finding yourself, having an imagination and family life. The imaginary place that Max travels to opens up the readers mind into Max’s. The reader is now able to be inside of the mind of the character. I found it very connective that Max’s mom always called him wild thing and then when he travels to his newfound kingdom the animals that are discovered are the wild things. This story’s language is very expressive and captivates the reading into wanting to know more. An example of this expressive tone is “and when he came to the place where the wild things are they roared their terrible roars and gnashed their terrible teeth and rolled their terrible eyes and showed their terrible claws til Max said be still!” The reader does not know if the animals are going to attack Max or follow him. The expressive language makes the story as true to its potential. The author is a Caldecott award winner and is known for writing in children’s fantasy fiction. The emotional development of the story enables the reader to develop feeling toward the character when he realizes that he wants to be with his family more than anything else. This relates to how children want to be independent, but still want to be able to be dependent upon their family. Curriculum Connections: I would love for my students to create their own wild thing story. They are to create a whole new world and invent any creature that comes to their mind. They are to describe the location, inhabitants and what they would miss from home. The students are then to share their world with their tablemates. I would also enjoy having my students to create their own world. They can draw their world and/or build their world. Once completed the students will be able to share their world with the class and be able to describe what they love most of all. Title: The Stranger Author/Illustrator: Chris Van Allsburg Publication Date: Genre: Fantasy Fiction Recommended Grade Range: Intermediate Plot Summary: This was a very captivating story that had a whole new light to the seasons changing. The main characters of this story are Farmer Bailey and the Stranger. The plot begins one-­‐day with farmer Bailey driving in his truck, suddenly hears a thud sound. He gets out of the car to see what the noise was, when he sees a man in the road. He rushes to his aide and decides to take him home. Farmer Bailey assumes that this stranger is a hermit, but Mrs. Bailey seems to think otherwise. The doctor that was called said that he had lost his memory and would remember within the upcoming weeks. The family however; grew very fond the stranger and loved spending time with him. The literary conflict of the story is told the stranger begins to wonder why certain trees are changing but not others. The climax is then told when the stranger cannot think of anything other than the fact that some trees are orange and some are green. The resolution is then told when the stranger leaves his new family and the season of summer has ended. The themes of this story are seasons, friendship, family, compassion and determination. Features of Quality: This was a very captivating story that kept the reading suspicious of what is to happen next. The author uses detailed information of foreshadowing such as “instead of running into the woods, the rabbits took a hop in his direction. He picked one of them up and stroked its ears, then set it down. The rabbits hopped away, then stopped and looked back, as if they expected the stranger to follow.” This quote made me begin to question the expressiveness of the relation of the stranger. I love how the author slowly progresses the reading into determining who the stranger is. The vocabulary of the story influences its interpretation such as “High above them a flock of geese, in a perfect V formation, flew south on the trip that they made every fall. The stranger could not take his eyes off the birds. He stared at them like a man who’d been hypnotized.” This is perfect for the relationship for children for the reasoning of having children use clues to determine an outcome. If children know that birds flow every fall that is to explain who the stranger might be. This seasonal story enables to reader to experience a whole new perspective on how the seasons change and to be able to establish the connections that they might have with the stranger themselves. Curriculum Connections: I would love for my students to create their own leaves. My students are to use tissue paper and the handout that I have provided. Once they have finished their leaf they are to turn the leaf over and describe the sense of fall. I would also love for my students to describe their favorite season and why it is important to them. They are to then draw their season and explain to their tablemates the reasons why they chose their specific season as their favorite. Title: The Napping House Author: Audrey Wood Illustrator: Don Wood Publication Date: Genre: Fantasy Recommended Grade Range: Primary Plot Summary: This is a wonderful story told in poetry form. The main characters of this story are granny, child, dog, cat, mouse and flea. The plot begins by describing that there is a napping house and in this nappy house everyone is sleeping. The literary conflict is then brought forth when the granny is sleeping on the bed, the child is sleeping on the granny, the dog is sleeping on the child, the cat is sleeping on the dog, the mouse sleeping is on the cat and the flea is awake on the mouse. The climax is established when the flea bites the mouse and creates a domino effect amongst the sleeping house. The resolution is then determined when no one is sleeping in the napping house. The themes of this story are family, sleeping, biology, and trust. Features of Quality: This is a perfect poet story that creates laughter and excitement in a child’s eyes as they read. I love how this story had no age limit and helps children to apply poetry in their own lives. The cognitive development that is capable of creating an enhancing idealistic story helps the reader to explain how a cause and effect takes place. The reader is able to determine the cause and effect of this story by “a wakeful flea, who bites the mouse, who scares the cat, who claws the dog, who thumps the child, who bumps the granny, who breaks the bed, in the napping house where no one is sleeping.” This describes how the flea caused the napping house to become the unnapping house. The story is in perfect poetic form and uses the illustrations to describe the consequences of the flea’s actions. The illustrations make the story adaptive to all mannerisms of the characters and it lets the reader to be able to directly relate to the story. This story focuses opens up a whole new creative perspective that is perfect for uses such descriptive words that make an ordinary even more extraordinary. Curriculum Connections: I would love for my students to create their own poem. They can choose any topic of their choice and will follow the guidelines that I determine. The students are to then draw illustrations of their poem and describe them to their classmates. I would also love for my students to choose a book of their choice and turn that story into a poem. They are to then draw their own illustrated depictions of the story of their choice. Once completed, I will hang these stories in to hallway for all students in the school to see. Title: Voices in the Park Author/Illustrator: Anthony Browne Publication Date: 2002 Genre: Postmodern Recommended Grade Range: Primary Plot Summary: This is a wonderful story that captured many different perspectives. The main characters of this story are a gorilla mother and her son and a gorilla father and his daughter. The plot begins by each family visiting the park during the four seasons. These families are completely different and experience different occurrences in the park. The literary conflict of this story is established when the families unite and the uptight mother and guarded meet a family with a depressed father and cheerful daughter. They do not get along a first and the climax is established when these families realize that everyone is different and that everyone looks at life in a whole new way. The resolution is determined when the families leave the park together experiencing something new all together. The themes of this story are individualism, family, friendship, and perspective. Features of Quality: This story opens up the reader to imagine a whole new experience for fall. The reader is now able to experience the same scene through the eyes of four individuals. The story uses originality to describe how all people are different and experience certain situations in a whole new light. The author uses many viewpoints in the story such as traits of stubbornness, cautiousness, sadness and happiness in the park. A person who is happy might not get the same feeling from the park as a person who is sad and depressed. This story is an innovation that enables the reader to experience many different people’s feeling toward an ordinary season. They notice the trees change, the snowfall and even thunder boom. I love how captivating it was to read and loved having my imagination run wild. The demonstration of character, conflict, climax, resolution, theme and point of view are clearly expressed in this story and enable the reader to have a mind of their own while still sticking to the main points the author was trying to address. Curriculum Connections: I would love for my students to pair up with someone from the class that they do not normally hangout with. These students are to then ask question about the other student and learn about something that they might not of known about them. Once completed, we will talk as a whole class about what was learned. I would also enjoy having my students create their own story that tells about people who are different but come together in the end. I will have my students share their stories with their group members and then put all their stories together into one story. Title: Rose Blanche Author/Illustrator: Roberto Innocenti Publication Date: 1985 Genre: Historical Fiction Recommended Grade Range: Primary Plot Summary: This was a wonderful historical story that teaches students about the past. This story begins with a main character named Rose Blanche. The plot of this story is unveiled when Rose notices changing in her community. She was told by her mother to watch out for the soldier trucks, when crossing the street, because they do not slow down for anyone. Rose also notices that they are always passing the school and winking at the children, but why are they there? The trucks smell and are noisy and change is upon her community. The literary conflict is told when Rose notices that there is a boy on the back of one of the trucks, who jumps off the back and starts to sprint for somewhere safe. Unfortunately, the mayor was in the middle of the road and stopped him before he could escape. The climax is then brought forth when Rose decides to follow the trucks and see what is happening. The resolution is then told when Rose helps many children escape, but looses herself in the process. The themes of this story are compassion, individualism, determination, family and consciousness. Features of Quality: This is a historical story that focuses on a devastating time in our history. Its important for students to be familiarized with our past and be able to establish their own thoughts and opinions on what happened. There is no better way to teach young children the past more than teaching them through the eyes of a child. This story is timeless and can be thought to have the reader be experienced in the background knowledge of the Holocaust. The awareness of this story opens up the reader to the character determining what is right and what is wrong. This young girl did everything in her power to help people and she knew that her country was wrong. This story lets children know that it is important to stand up for yourself and your beliefs but at the end of the day your voice is what matters most. Anyone can make a difference even if it is a small change it is still a change. The demonstration of setting, plot, theme, climax and conflict are clearly addressed in the story and relate directly strong points of view of beliefs. This story can be related to the story The Boy in the Striped Pajamas with regards to Holocaust influence and the strong determination of the main character to help someone else. Curriculum Connections: I would love for my students to write a poem about this story. They are to include the main events of this story and are cause and effect analysis. I would love for them to share with their peers and the class as a whole. I would also love for my students to create a timeline of events for this story. I will have my students have a poster board per table to work together to determine their answers. I will then have my students explain why they believe the way they do in their answers. Title: Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters Author/Illustrator: John Steptoe Publication Date: 1987 Genre: Fables, Folk Tales and Myths/derivative Recommended Grade Range: Intermediate Plot Summary: This is a wonderful story that opens up new perspectives on fairytales. The main characters of this story are Mufaro, Nyasha and Manyara. The plot of this story begins by noting the difference among the sisters Nyasha and Manyara. Nyasha is the very kind sister who is always thinking of others and Manyara is the greedy sister who always thinks of herself. Suddenly, the king of the village is looking for a wife and Manyara believes it should be her. The literary conflict is established as the father, Mufaro, decides both sisters should attend and Manyara decides she will leave in the nighttime to beat her sister. The Climax unfolds when Manyara is mean to and old women, a young child and old man. The next morning Nyasha is caring and kind to the old man, young child and old women. The resolution is brought forth when the king explains that he was the old man, young child and old woman. The king marries Nyasha and Manyara soon becomes the maid. The themes of this story are family, selfishness, kindness, friendship and consciousness. Features of Quality: This is a very interesting story that takes a whole new meaning to Cinderella. This story is perfect for concerning children in the importance of kindness. This story helps the reader establish opionns on characters especially when you know certain characteristics of the characters themselves. “Manyara was almost always in a bad temper. She teased her sister whenever their fathers back was turned and she had been heard to say that someday Nyasha, I will be queen and you will be my servant.” Manyara tries to influence the reader to favor her when she says, “your silly kindness is only weakness.” This is untrue when this statement only makes the reader dislike Manyara even more than before. It’s important to honor your values and stay true to yourself. In order to figure out who you are you must be individualized. The author established many connections to Cinderella that innovate a whole new perspective especially social perspective to the classic tale. I loved how the story ended with Manyara being the servant for Nyasha, which was shown in a bit of foreshadowing the previous quote. Understanding a new ethnic group is also a key literate affective depiction of this story. Curriculum Connections: I would love for my students to make their own derivative story about Cinderella. They can choose their own themes and can create illustrations of the stories that they create. I would love for my students to be able to determine a time in their lives where they were greedy when they should not have been. They are to then write a poem that describes what they would have done differently given the chance. Title: The Lion and the Mouse Author/Illustrator: Jerry Pinkney Publication Date: 2010 Genre: Fables, Folk Tales and Myths Recommended Grade Range: Primary Plot Summary: This was an amazing story that told the tale that captured a moment in time, in the forest. The main characters of this story are Lion and Mouse. The plot begins by a Lion and a Mouse in the forest. Lions and mice do not exactly get along and one afternoon the mouse runs into the lion. Should the lion take the mouse for dinner or let him go? The literary conflict is established as lion decides to let the mouse go and then the lion falls into a trap. The climax is at its peak when mouse is the only one left to save lion. Should he let him live or let him go? The resolution is then unfolded when mouse saves the day and both live in harmony in the forest. The themes of this story are friendship, consciousness, values and nature. Features of Quality: This story is a literature rich tale that is told through the nature tale of Lion and Mouse. This story is told in no words, which means other senses of the reader are used to get a better connection of the story. The illustrations of this story are the words and make the story truly magical. The reader must follow the story and look into each detail of the picture to determine what is happening in the story. I love how the influence of each of the characters help children to understand that anyone can be who they want to be and that means that friends can form, from the most unlikely places. The story takes ahold of the reader to create a new perspective on how tales and myths. The mystery that is found on every page makes the reader wonder what was going through the author’s mind. The authentic style that is used throughout the story is something that I have never seen before. Having no words for this story is almost better because it gets the reader to put their own interpretations on what is happening in the story and when it is happening. I think this story would be awesome to have students read especially when they get a chance to have their own unique roar when the time presents itself. Curriculum Connections: I will have my students create their own ending to this story, using no words. They can choose a whole new ending all together or can add a new sequence of events for the story. The students are to then share their stories with their tablemates. I would also love for my students to create their own illustration of the scene of their story. They are to draw descriptively in order to explain the story, which has no words. This will then be placed in the hallway for all students to be able to see. Title: Black and White Author/Illustrator: David Macaulay Publication Date: 2005 Genre: Fantasy Recommended Grade Range: Primary Plot Summary: This was a wonderful story told in four parts. The main characters of this story are a robber, a boy and his parents, a boy on a train and the train station. The plot is told through the eyes o the main characters. The robber explains how easy it is to rob people, the boy explains his parents, the train station explains delays and the boy on the train explains his journey. The literary conflicts are very different among the stories. The boy on the train realizes that boulders are moving without being forced, the robber explains how he robs people, the train station explains how the train is being delayed and the boy explains how his parents are acting weird. The Climax’s of the stories involved embarrassment of the boy and his parents acting like children, the boy on the train being in his own imagination, the robber realizing his robbing techniques and the train station realizing they don’t know where the train is. The resolutions are determined by the boy realizing his parents are not so bad, the boy on the train finally with his parents again, the train station finding the train and the robber telling a tale of Holstein cows. The themes of this story are family, friends, conflicting viewpoints, embarrassment and compassion. Features of Quality: The innovation of this story was amazing to read. I had to read this story over and over again to get the main meaning of what the author was trying to express. I love how the story is all over the place because it makes the reader pay attention to the story. If you misread one part of the story, the whole story is thrown off. I had to go back time and time again to make sure I examined the story. The captivate techniques that were used in this story have a meaning unlike any other. There is a child who is embarrassed of his parents and a bugler who is expressing why the farmers hate him and most of all the imagination of the child on the train who experiences a world unlike any other. This story captures moments in time that relate overall childhood. The demonstration of literary integrity is expressed in a positive light throughout the story with setting, plot, climax, theme, conflict, and resolution. There is a purpose to teach the reader that as a society we are all over the place every life impacts another and most of the time our lives intersect. This story is putting all of our society into one and makes it the enjoyable story that it is. Curriculum Connections: I will have my students create their own stories that links together in four different stories. They can choose any topic of their choice and be able to share with their peers. The students will then be able to draw illustrations of their stories. I would love for my students to create a timeline of events for this story and be able to openly discuss the conclusions they have established. The students will brainstorm as a whole class and be able to give their own point of views as well as learn about new ideas. Title: Sister Anne’s Hands Author: Marybeth Lorbiecki Illustrator: K. Wendy Popp Publication Date: Genre: Historical Fiction Recommended Grade Range: Primary Plot Summary: This was an amazing story that helps students learn about the past. The main characters of this story are Sister Anne and Anna. The plot is unveiled when Anna is placed in a classroom that has an African American teacher. Her parents decide that it is ok for Anna to be in the class, but they don’t see Sister Anne sticking around for the long hall. Anna is drawn to Sister Anne and has never had as much fun in her class in all of her schooling. The literary conflict is established when one afternoon a student throws a paper airplane across the room and into Sister Anne’s hands. The climax reaches its peak when Sister Anne opens the airplane to find a note written inside that says “Don’t let Sister Anne get any black on you.” The resolution is determined when Sister Anne creates a classroom that depicts moments in our history that made it extremely hard to be black. She gives the students another chance and the school year passes. Anna new forgot her teacher and whenever she thought of hands she imagined the differences that made everyone who they are. The themes of this story are compassion, history, caring, determination, friendship, trust and forgiving. Features of Quality: This was a very timeless story that is good for all ages. The author uses an event that any person would be familiar with. The familiarity to school life and understanding the past as regards to civil rights helps students and parents to relate to the story. This story has a subtle influence of religion with the understanding of nuns and I love how this story tells a tale about a teacher and her student. The originality that comes through the story helps the reader to feel for the characters and to be understand the meaning of friendship. I loved how the young girl in the story was just like any other child; she didn’t understand why everyone was so talkative about this new teacher. “Of color, what color could she be? Purple? Green? Orange? That night my dreams were full of teachers as colorful as birds.” I love the imagination of the story and how it can relate to childhood itself and most of all the ending makes me so happy to become a teacher, with regards to my impact on students “I never knew what happened to Sister Anne after she left for Chicago. But I do know what happened to me. Now whenever I draw someones hands-­‐or big toes-­‐ I fill them in with browns and pinks and whites, reds and yellows and blues, polka dots, circles and stripes.” This quote helps the reader to understand that the young girl sees everyone as pretty as they are and not just about black and white. Curriculum Connections: I would love for my students to create their own alternate ending of this story. They can create their own interpretation of the story and be able to express the friendship that Anna and her teacher had. They will share their answers with the classroom. I would love for my students to stencil their own hands and create their own interpretations of themselves. I will have my students share their artwork with the class and hang their pictures in the hallway for everyone in the school to see unity. Title: Babymouse, Queen of the World Author: Jennifer L. Holm Illustrator: Matthew Holm Publication Date: 2005 Genre: Fantasy Recommended Grade Range: Intermediate Plot Summary: This is a wonderful story that opens up imagination. The main characters of this story are Babymouse and Felicia Furrypaws. The plot is unveiled as Babymouse is a mouse that wants to be queen of the world, unfortunately Felicia Furrypaws is the queen and babymouse wants nothing more than to be her very best friend. The literary conflict is established as Babymouse learns about a party that is happening and everyone seems to have an invitation to it, but when Babymouse looks in her locker its empty. Why didn’t she get an invitation? When the opportunity presents itself for Babymouse to attend the party, she takes it even though she looses points for giving her paper to Felicia Furrypaws. Finally she was invited however; the climax is reached when she realized that she had promised her very best friend that they would watch the squids that night. Babymouse decided to go to the party instead, but all everyone wanted to do was talk, she was bored. The resolution is established when Babymouse realizes she is her own queen and heads for her best friends house. The themes of this story are self-­‐awareness, determination, friendship, family and childhood. Features of Quality: This was a very timeless story that enables the reader to have a child like memory of comic book tales. This story has the reader adapt to the childhood memory of going through school and not being the most popular. This memory helps the reader to establish a connection to the character and to be able to feel for the character. The most important part of the story is when Babymouse finds out what is more important than being the queen and that is being herself the queen in her own right. This story has an innovative derivative point of view with regards to Cinderella, but instead of being Cinderella she was placed pulling the carriage because in the classic tale the mice were pulling the carriage. I love how the story used child like grammar that enables students to relate to the character in all aspects of the story. The demonstration of literary integrity is used to determine the techniques of the story theme, climax, resolution, conflict, setting and character. I thought this was a very creative story that many comic book adaptations to capture the meaning of the language. Curriculum Connections: I would love for my students to draw their own cartoon story about themselves. They are to decide what type of person they are such as an investigator, glamorous, sarcastic and class clown. I will have my students share with their tablemates and be able to decide on one story to share with the class. I would also love for my students to create their own story, as a group. These students are to divide the work amongst setting, characters, climax, conflict and resolution. They are to then present their story and are able to use classroom materials to do so. Title: Math Curse Author: Jon Scieszka Illustrator: Lane Smith Publication Date: 2007 Genre: Fantasy Recommended Grade Range: Intermediate Plot Summary: This is a fantastic story that helps relate directly with content areas. The main character is a young girl in a classroom. The plot unfolds as a young girl is told by her teacher that “anything can be viewed as a math problem.” This girl soon becomes cursed in the math department. The literary conflict is established as she begins to view everything in her life as a math problem her sister notices changes in her sister’s viewpoints and begins to wonder what is wrong. The climax is brought forth when the girl collapses and dreams about having to solve a math problem. The resolution is determined as the girl wakes up the next morning perfectly able to solve any math problem, but what about other content areas? The themes of this story are struggles, childhood, perseverance, family and determination. Features of Quality: This is a very timeless story that can relate to any adult who has attended school. All people have had problems with math in one way or another and this story puts humor into depicting the horrors of math. This character is cursed with math and it isn’t until she solves a problem in her dream that she can be cured. This story offers innovation to establish a connection between content area and literature rich storytelling. “You know almost everything in life can be considered a math problem…math zombie, everything in her life transformed into a problem.” This helps students create a connection to the character because they understand what the character is feeling and they now know they are not alone. The character is able to overcome her curse just like any person who is struggling math today. All it takes is hard work and determination and anything will then be possible. Humor is the most enjoyable part to having adapting to struggle and when the character answers her sisters question by saying “365 days x 24 hours x 60 minutes” I could help but have my laughter escape me. Curriculum Connections: I will have my students create their own story on content area. They can tell a story about any core subject and be able to describe positive and negatives of that subject. I will divide the class into groups and each student will pair up to reach their final product. I would love for my student to be able to pair up with members of the classroom and write about a time in their life where they had trouble in a subject. They can write about how they overcame their obstacle and what they still struggle with today. Students will be able to learn something new about their classmates. Title: The True Story of the Three Little Pigs Author: Jon Scieszka Illustrator: Lane Smith Publication Date: 1989 Genre: Derivative Fairy Tale Recommended Grade Range: Intermediate Plot Summary: This is a classic story that tells a whole new perspective on a story that everyone loves. The main characters of this story are the wolf and the three little pigs. The plot is told through the eyes of the wolf and it begins by having the wolf go to the first little pig’s house for a cup of sugar, but no one was home. The literary conflict is expressed as the wolf suddenly had to sneeze and puff went the pigs house. He didn’t want to leave perfectly good meat so he ate the pig. The wolf then heads to the other pigs house and he will not open the door out of fear of what the wolf might do. The wolf explains that he only wants a cup of sugar, but the pig refuses to listen. The climax is then determined as he once again had to sneeze and puff went the house. Yet again he didn’t want to waste. Finally he heads to the last pig’s house and this pig insulted his grandmother. The resolution is brought forth when wolf stands up for family. The themes of this story are family, neighborhood relationships, nature and perspective. Features of Quality: This is a wonderful story that relates to anyone of any age. The readers of this story are able to determine their own conclusion to the story of the three little pigs now that they have learned about both sides of the tale. The originality of the story is reflected as the author decides to make a new approach to the classic tale. Should you believe the wolf or the pigs? It is the reader’s decision. I love how the illustrations of the story like a wanted poster and newspaper to depict natural human experiences. This story reflects many aspects of our society with regards to misunderstanding and rudeness. When the Wolf only wanted a cup of sugar the pigs assumed something differently just like we do as a society. “Hey its not my fault wolves eat cute little animals like bunnies and sheep and pigs. That’s just the way we are. If cheeseburgers were cute, folks would probably think you were big and bad too.” This story helps the reader to understand the wolf and how a certain reaction to change everything. I love how this story provides and enjoyable read, but does not explicitly teach you a lesson. This story tells a less than subtle tale about an annoyed big bad wolf. Curriculum Connections: I would love for my students to choose a fairytale and make a derivative of that story. They can choose a story of their choice and are free to create illustrations of their story. The students will then determine the setting, conflict, climax, resolution and characters of their story. I would love to create a handout of a derivative fairy tale and have my students be able to determine what fairytale it came from. I will place the classroom into groups of three to four students and have them be able to explain their reasoning.