THE LIGHTNING THIEF

The Lightening Thief

Written by: Rick Riordan

Penguin Group Publisher, 2005

375 pages

Fantasy

A coworker suggested that I read The Lightening Thief a few months back when I was talking about watching the movie. I was told that I must not watch the movie unless I have read the book first. The Lightening Thief is about a twelve year old boy named Percy Jackson who is the son of a mortal woman and the Greek God Poseidon. Percy, Annabelle (daughter of Greek God Athena), and his protector Grover (half goat and half man) set out on an adventure to find a stolen lightning bolt. The lightning bolt holds enormous amounts of power and being in the wrong hands would create huge destruction to the word.  During their journey, Percy and his friends discover their powers and encounter several mythological enemies along the way. My personal favorite encounter was when Percy came across Medusa. Medusa is a creature with snack hair and if looked in the eye will turn one onto concrete. 

Since, The Lightening Thief is a chapter book, there are no installations. However, the text is formally written. There has been a movie made about the story, but it is slightly different.  The characters in the movie are older, modern, and less personalized. In order to get a deeper incite on the characters and to learn of more details in their journeys, one must read the book.  

          The Lightening Thief has been nominated for several awards and was ranked ninth on The New York Times Best Seller list for children books. I would include this book in my classroom library, but it is a book directed more for children ages 12 and up. When read aloud to an upper elementary class I would have students' talk about character building and have the students relate with Percy or Annabelle.  With time permitting, I would also like to view the movie along with the book to have students compare and contrast between the two. Lastly, I think the book would be a great piece to use when talking about mythology. 

BAT’S BIG GAME

Bat’s Big Game

Written by: Eugene W. Field

Illustrated by: David McPhail

Scholastic Inc. Publisher, 2004

24 pages

Fantasy  

             I came across this story while looking for another story that features bats and I ended up being drawn to this story. Bat's Big Game is actually the simplified retelling of Aesop's fable. The story is about animals and birds who decide to play a game of soccer. The animals are team A and the birds are team B. Bat comes along and decides that he wants to play as well and decides to join the team in which he believes will win; the animals. However, after convincing the animals that he is as well an animal, Bat discovers that the animals are losing. So, Bat decides to convince the birds that he is a bird and join their team. Eventually, both teams learn about Bat's plan to be only on the winning team and force him to chose one and stick with it. 

            The illustrations in this story were created digitally and the text is placed in an informal placement. 

            Although the story has not won any awards it does have excellent morals and qualities. I believe this story is appropriate for children preschool to third grade. I would use this story to teach students how to be a good team player. As Bear says, "a good player sticks with the team...even when they are losing."Also, even though animals cannot really talk, the story does have facts within it about the different animals. 

            

SLEEPING BEAUTY

Sleeping Beauty
Retold By: Mahlon Craft

Illustrated By: K.V. Craft

North Star Publishing, 2002

29 pages

Traditional Literature

            I chose to read this piece of traditional literature because of its beautiful and magical illustrations. Unlike most sleeping beauty stories, Maholon and K.V. Craft (husband and wife), bring the story to life. The writer and illustrator takes the typically simple story and enhances it into art. The story begins when a beautiful Queen, who's one desire is to have a child, meets a magical frog who tells her she is to have a daughter. Just as the frogs predicts, the King and Queen have a daughter and name her Aurora. During the celebration of their daughter, fairies come to grant Aurora with magical gifts; however, one evil fairy presents the gift of a curse. On Aurora's sixteenth birthday she will fall asleep eternally and the curse can only be broken by the kiss of true love. 100 years later Aurora finally is presented with her true loves kiss and, as all fairly tales do, lives happily ever after.

            For the illustrations, K.V. Craft, uses oil over watercolor paintings to bring out the classical characters that where inspired by Baroque paintings. I personally feel that the illustrations bring a historic feature to accompany the text. The text for the story is done in the most formal form, for it is opposite of the illustrations. Even though the story has not won any awards it has been recognized for its illustrations and the illustrator is a multiple award winner for other pieces. 

           I personally enjoyed this version of the fairy tale for it brought new meaning and incite on the story. When used in a classroom I would use it to teach traditional literature and use it to create a comparing and contrasting piece. I also, would use this story for mythology projects, art, and multicultural  The reason for using it as a multicultural piece is because of the written form and the accents in which are included within the text wording. I believe this story can be used for children of all ages. 

CINDERELLA

Cinderella
Retold By:  Mahlon Craft

Illustrated By: K.V. Craft

SeaStar Books, 2000

30 pages

Traditional Literature

             I chose to read this version because I have grown fond of the illustrator's work and was interested in reading the authors seventeenth century inspired version.  The story begins when Cinderella nurses a blue bird back to health. Once back to health the bird transforms into Cinderella's fairy godmother. The story continues by drawing the reader into the ways of Cinderella's evil stepsister and forcing readers to feel for Cinderella. A ball approaches and as tradition follows, Cinderella attends only to lose her shoe. The prince, desperate to find the owner of the shoe and his true love, calls all to come to find the owner of the foot in which the shoe fits.

           The installations for this piece of traditional literature are done with oils and watercolors. The designs were inspired by seventeen century designs and fashion. I personally feel that the illustrations complement and bring out the traditional aspects of this story.  The text is place most formally in this story and are framed with golden framing. While the story has not won any awards, I feel that it is award worthy.

            This  Cinderella story is appropriated for children of all ages and should be introduced in classrooms as an example of quality traditional literature. For a lesson I would have students compare and contrast different versions of this story. Also, because of the form in which the story is written I would bring out the historical style in which it is spoken when read aloud. 

WYNKEN, BYNKEN, AND NOD

Wynken, Bynken, and Nod

Written by: Eugene W. Field

Illustrated by: David McPhail

Scholastic Inc. Publisher, 2004

24 pages

Fantasy/Poem

               This book was recommended to me by the librarian at my local library. Wynken, Bynken, and Nod is a poem/fantasy that has been rewritten and illustrated. The story is about three sailors who sailed to the moon in a wooden shoe to catch herring fish. The fish in the story are the stars. As the sailors embark on their journal they capture the stars with their nets of gold and bring them down to Earth for a sleeping child. 

               The award winning illustrator, David McPhail, brings the story to life using what I believe is coloring pencils or watercolors. For this version of the story, the illustrator paints the characters as being rabbit which is unlike the original. The text in the story is informally place throughout the book and is written in a lullaby form.

               I would recommend this story for children preschool age to first grade. If presented in the classroom I would pull sight word recognition and phonics. This version of the story has not won, any awards, however, the illustrator is no stranger to winning awards for his art. 

YUMMY: Eight Favorite Fairly Tales

YUMMY: Eight Favorite Fairly Tales:

Illustrated and Retold by: Lucy Cousins.

Candlewick Publishing, 2009

29 pages

Traditional Literature

I choose to read this book due to its silly title. The book contains eight retold classic fairy tales such as “Little Red Riding Hood” and “Goldilocks and the Three Bears”. Each story is told both more skimpily and slightly more moderately than the original versions. However, even with mild action and name changes each story keeps its same basic idea and flow.

For the illustrations, Lucy Cousins used gouache to create bright simple childlike drawings. Due to the nature of the drawing I personal felt they brought new life to the original characters. The text in the book is very informally placed for Cousin used different fonts and font sizes throughout the book.

YUMMY: Eight Favorite Fairly Tales has not won any awards, but It has been recognized as a New York Times Book Review 10 Best illustrated children books. Do to the simplicity of this story I would recommend this story for children ages 3 and up. If used in the classroom this story could be used for a lesson on sequence of events, morals, and phonics. For older children I would have them create their own picture books, like Lucy Cousins, about their favorite classic fairy tale. 

MIRROR, MIRROR

Mirror, Mirror

Written by: Marilyn Singer

Illustrated by: Josee Masse

Penguin Group Publisher, 2010

32 pages

Poetry Book

            When looking in the poetry section at the library, this book caught my eye due to its cover illustration and the title. The book contains reversible verse poems that are about popular fairy tales and their characters. Reversible poems are poems in which one can read either top to bottom or bottom to top. Some of the fairy tale characters in which the book includes are: Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, and Snow White. Typically, the reverse poems take the prospective of one character while the other takes the perspective of another character within the same fairy tale. My personal favorite poem is “In the Hood.”  In the poem, “In the Hood,” Little Red Riding Hood’s perspective is given and then, when read reversed the wolf’s gives his perspective.  

The Illustrations within the book are very unique. The illustrator painted by mirroring. One side of a painting demonstrates one character’s perspective while the other side demonstrates the other characters. Each side, however, blends smoothly with the other and contains bright coloring. The text with this book are most formal for it is separate from the illustrations.  I personally love how the illustrations add in the comprehension of the poems different perspectives.

           Mirror, Mirror has won several awards such as the Cybil Award for poetry and it has been selected for many acknowledgements. I personally feel that this book is appropriate for all ages and I much enjoyed reading the poems myself.  However, if I were to use this book for a lesson I would choose to use it in grade second to fifth for some contents in the story could be difficult. The most obvious lesson one could pull to go along with this book in in comparing and contrasting. I would have students compare and contrast the different perspectives of the characters. Other lessons one might could include going along which this book would be on poetry. Students could even create their own reversible poems

THE HOUSE IN THE NIGHT

The House in the Night

Written by: Susan Marie Swanson

Illustrated by: Beth Krommes

Houghton Mifflin, 2008

36 pages

Poem

            I choose to read this book for I was drawn to its black and glowing yellow illustrations. The story was written from the inspiration of an old nursery rhyme book that was published in 1955. The book is written in both a poetic and comforting way for it has a smooth flow. The poetic story follows a young child as she journey to bed and the light in which leads the way. The story includes simple elements in which follows as the sun goes down and the fantasies in which float in our heads as we drift off.

            The books illustrations where done by scratchboard in black, white and yellow only. The yellow is used to highlight the elements of light and are meant to catch the eyes of readers. The text in the story is written in an informal form for it fits in around the illustrations. I believe this was done because of the limited words on each page. If the reader looks deep within each page he or she will she will notice unmentioned confronts of the night such as teddy bear, a sleeping dog, and a cozy rocker chair. The stories illustrations even won the Caldecott Medal in 2009.

                The 2009 Caldecott Medal Winner, The House in the Night, is a book written primarily for preschool aged children. However, I would introduce the story to a kindergarten class as a read aloud. The story could be used for teaching sight word reading, phonics, and rimes. I personally have used the book as a night time story for my son for its flow is soft and comforting.

LIZARADS, FROGS, AND POLLIWOGS

Lizards, Frogs, and Polliwogs

Written and illustrated by: Douglas Florian

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2001

42 pages

Poetry Book

            I choose to read this book of poems because I had enjoyed reading another book of poems from Douglas Florian called Dinothesaurus. Like Dinothesaurus, this book also contains characteristics and facts about its poems’ topics as well. However, in the case of Lizards, Frogs, and Polliwogs, the poems are all about reptiles and amphibians such as geckos, alligators, wood frogs, and bullfrogs. The poem styles range from rhyme to concrete. Some of the poems are even tongue twisters, but all are fun and informational. My personal favorite poem from the collection is The Tortoise. The Tortoise is a short poem that rhymes while talking about turtles and their shells. From the story the reader is able to learn the purpose of a turtles shell and how a turtle gets its shell.

            The illustrations in this poetry book were done in watercolors on primed brown paper bags with collage. I feel that Florian’s for of illustrating is unique and adds character to his books. The text in the story are done in the most formal form, where the text is opposite of the illustrations.

            Lizards, Frogs, and Polliwogs has not won any awards, but it has received raving reviews from magazines and teachers. I myself would personally include this book in my classroom’s library. I feel that poetry books are not included enough in classrooms and this would make an excellent source of poetry to catch students’ interests. Since the story is simple I would suggest this book for children kindergarten and up. When introducing this book to the class I would create integrated lessons to go along with the poems within it. For science, I would use the poems to discuss reptile and amphibian characteristics. I would also, use this book to introduce poetry and rhyme to younger children. Lastly, I would pull poems from this book to do phonic words by breaking the poems apart. 

DINOTHESAURUS

Dinothesaurus

Written and illustrated by: Douglas Florian

Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing, 2009

56 pages

Poetry Book

            I choose to read this book of poems because of its clever title. The book contains several different prehistoric poems about all kinds of different dinosaurs such as T-Rex, Triceratops, and Spinosaurus. For each dinosaur poem, the author includes characteristics and facts about its titled dinosaur. Some of the poems even compare and contrast the different types of prehistoric creatures. Therefore, not only are the poems cute and funny, but they are also informational as well. The book even contains a “Glossaryaurus” in the back of the book to help readers with their comprehension of the story and to further their knowledge about dinosaurs.

            For the illustrations, Florial used brown paper bags as his canvas which gives the pages a slightly aged look. Florian also used gouache, collage, colored pencils, stencils, dinosaur dust, and rubber stamps to make his illustrations complement each poem. The text in the book is informally placed around the illustrations.

            Dinothesaurus has not won any official awards, but it has been nominated for several. However, the book of poems is defiantly fit for the classroom. I would use this book in classrooms for integrative lessons for students in grades first and up. For history I would pull the prehistoric facts about dinosaurs from the story while introducing vocabulary. For science I would use the poems to talk about dinosaur characteristic will having the students learn about poetry.  Lastly, for older age groups, I would use the poems as a start for prehistoric research.