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. 

WIND FLYERS

Wind Flyers

Written by: Angela Johnson

                                                         Illustrated by: Loren Long              

Simon and Schuster, 2007

30 Pages

Realistic Fiction

            I chose to read Wind Flyers due to the magnificent illustrations. Wind Flyers is a story that involves a young boy and his great-great-uncle who was a wind flyer during WWII.  The uncle shares his stories about how he, from a very young age, always dreamed of flying. The story follows the uncle’s journey in making his dreams come true and how flying makes him feel. Presently, the uncle and his nephew share flying together and their feelings about flying.

           The illustrations in this story are done with acrylic paints and are beautifully done. The art catches the history and emotion in an almost realistic form. The illustrator, Loren Long, and the author, Angela Johnson, both formed a visual setting in Barbara. While the story itself is beautifully written, I personally favor the illustrations and feel that they themselves create the story.

           Wind Flyers has not won any awards, but the author is a three-time Coretta Scott King Award-winner. The book provides many history lessons incorporated in one. The history topics this story brings for discussion are plane history, WWII airmen history, and Alabama history. Although the story’s lessons would primarily revolve around history it could also be used for adjective lessons, comparing and contrasting, relationship building, relating activities, or for lessons on poetic form. Due to the history content and higher thinking activity opportunities in the book I would recommend this story for middle elementary children, but it is appropriate for all ages. 

RHYMING DUST BUNNIES

Rhyming Dust Bunnies

Written by: Jan Thomas

Illustrated by: Jan Thomas and Ann Bobco

Beach Lane Books, 2009

34 Pages

Fiction

            This book was chosen because my sons’ kindergarten class is talking about rhymes and I was looking for a funny book to help him along. Rhyming Dust Bunnies is a very humorous story about four dust bunnies named Ed, Ned, Ted, and Bob (notice all names rhyme except Bob’s). The book follows Ed, Ned, and Ted in talking about what words rhyme with what while Bob is concerned about getting sweep up. Every time Bob yells that there is danger near, his friends only say that that word does not rhyme with theirs. However, Bob’s friends end up learning about how they should have been listening to Bob all along instead of only concentrating on their game.

            For the illustrations in the book Jan Thomas and Ann Bobco digitally created bright, simple, and primary artwork. The bright colors are eye catching for young children and the text is written in captions. The captions are also written colorfully and fun rather than simple and black.

            No awards were won for this book, but it is a wonderful book to have in preschool and 

kindergarten classrooms. The books’ main purpose is obviously to make a great lesson on rhymes for the story is written in a way that a teacher is given opportunities to pause for questioning. However, this story could also be used for teaching listening skills and phonics. There are many cute pintables available online for class incorporation.