Module 4 - Bud, Not Buddy

Citation: Curtis, C. P. (2004). Bud, not Buddy. New York, NY: Laurel-Leaf Books.

Book Summary: This is an inspirational story about a 10 year old orphan who goes on an adventure to find his father, whom he believes is a popular musician. Bud's  mother is deceased, but she left clues about the identify of his father in a suitcase that he carries around with him everywhere he goes. Throughout the book, Bud is faced with many obstacles, including racial prejudice.  He remains upbeat and positive throughout it all. 

My Impressions: This is a book that makes readers want to keep reading.  Curtis' writing makes readers root for Buddy and wonder if he will ever find his father.  Though the book is serious at times, Curtis also keeps readers laughing.  I loved reading Bud's "Rules and Things for Having a Funner Life and Making a Better Liar Out of Yourself". I like how the author explains at the end of the book that some of the characters are based on some of his own family members.  He even includes pictures of them. 

Professional Review: In a story that's as far-fetched as it is irresistible, and as classic as it is immediate, a deserving orphan boy finds a home, It's the Depression, and. Bud (not Buddy) is ten and has been on his own since his mother died when he was six. In and out of the Flint, Michigan, children's home and foster homes ever since, Bud decides to take off and find his father after a particularly terrible, though riotously recounted, evening with his latest foster family. Helped only by a few clues his mother left him, and his own mental list of "Rules and Things for Having a Funner Life and Making a Better Liar Out of Yourself," Bud makes his way to a food pantry, then to the library to do some research (only to find that his beloved librarian, one Charlemae Rollins, has moved to Chicago), and finally to the local Hooverville where be just misses hopping a freight to Chicago. Undaunted, he decides to walk to Grand Rapids, where he hopes his father, the bandleader Herman E. Calloway, will be. Lefty Lewis, the kindly union man who gives Bud a lift, is not the first benevolent presence to help the boy on his way, nor will he be the last. There's a bit of the Little Rascals in Bud, and a bit more of Shirloy Temple as his kind heart and ingenuous ways bring tears to the eyes of the crustiest of old men — not his father, but close enough. But Bud's fresh voice keeps the sentimentality to a reasonable simmer, and the story zips along in step with Bud's own panache.

Sutton, R. (1999, November/December). Bud, not Buddy. [Review of the book Bud, not Buddy, by C.P. Curtis]. Horn Book Magazine, 75(6), 737-738.

Library Uses: This would be a good book to include in a book talk on books that take place during the Great Depression.

Module 4 - Dear Mr. Henshaw

Citation: Cleary, B. (1997). Dear Mr. Henshaw. Littleton, MA.: Sundance.


Book Summary: Leigh Botts starts up a friendship with an author named Mr. Henshaw by writing him letters.  He continues to write to Mr. Henshaw as he grows up even though he doesn't hear back from him. When Mr. Henshaw finally writes back, he becomes a father figure to Leigh.  He gives him advice and helps him deal with deal with kids who are stealing food out of his lunchbox at school.  Henshaw encourages him to pursue his dream of becoming an author.

My Impressions:  This is an entertaining book that also teaches kids how to deal with difficult problems without being too direct about the message.  It is easy for most kids to find a way to relate to Leigh because many kids have gotten picked on at school or have divorced parents.  Cleary does a good job of dealing with these issues in a light heated and humorous way.  I vaguely remember reading this book in third grade, but I remember it was one of the first chapter books that I enjoyed reading.  I enjoyed reading it again for this class!

Professional Review:  Gr. 4-7 - Cleary succeeds again.  Leigh Botts lives with his recently divorced mother and writes to his favorite author, Boyd Henshaw.  When Henshaw answers his letters and encourages him to keep a journal, he does so, and in the process solves the mystery of who is stealing food from his lunchbox, invents an alarm for said lunchbox, tries to write a novel, and in the end, writes a prize-winning short story about an experience with his father.  The semi-epistolary style, at first between Leigh and Mr. Henshaw, then exclusively in Leigh's journal, gives a clear sense of his life, his thinking process, and his coming to grips with his father's absence.  His resolution to continue loving his difficult-to-love father and to try to get along and make friends in a new home and school will certainly move young readers, regardless of their own situations.  And, as usual, Cleary's sense of humor leavens and lightens what might otherwise be a heavy work of social realism.

MacDonald, R. K. (1983, January). [Review of the book Dear Mr. Henshaw, by B. Cleary]. School Library Journal, 30(1), 120. Retrieved from www.schoollibraryjournal.com.

Library Uses: The librarian could have students write letters or emails to their favorite authors.  The kids could tell the author what their favorite book is and why they like it.  They could also ask for advice on becoming an author.  It would be important to explain to the kids that many of them will probably not hear back from the author, but it is still a good experience for them to be able to write them a letter. 

Module 3 - Tuesday

Citation: Wiesner, D. (1991). Tuesday. New York, NY: Clarion Books.

Book Summary: This is a wordless picture book except for two pages that tell the day of the week and the time of day.  Readers are taken on a fantastic journey as a group of frogs sitting on lily pads take flight and fly around the city.  They chase birds, fly past people's windows, and into a sleeping old woman's house.  When the sun comes up, they return to the pond.  News reporters show up to interview people who witnessed the flying frogs, and detectives are left looking at the lily pads and wondering what happened.   The following Tuesday, pigs begin to fly out of a barn. 

My Impressions: This illustrations in this book are wonderful.  I love how the illustrator used several panels on some of the pages to show the progression of events.  Many children wonder what kind of strange things might happen while they are sleeping.  This imaginative story gives them one possible scenario. 

Professional Review: K-Gr 4--As the full moon rises over a peaceful marsh, so do frogs on their lily pads levitating straight up into the air and sailing off, with surprise with some laundry, hovering briefly before a TV left on. A dog chases one lone low coasting frog, but is summarily routed by a concerted amphibious armada. Suddenly the rays of the rising sun dispel the magic; the frogs fall to ed but gratified expressions. Fish stick their heads out of the water to watch; a turtle gapes goggle-eyed. The phalanx of froggies glides over houses in a sleeping village, interrupting the one witness's midnight snack, tangling the ground and hop back to their marsh, leaving police puzzling over the lily pads on Main Street. In the final pages, the sun sets on the following Tuesday--and the air fills with ascending pigs! Dominated by rich blues and greens, and fully exploiting its varied perspectives, this book treats its readers to the pleasures of airborne adventure. It may not be immortal, but kids will love its lighthearted, meticulously imagined, fun-without-amoral fantasy. Tuesday is bound to take off.

Dooley, P. (1991, May). [Review of the book Tuesday, by D. Wiesner]. School Library Journal, 37(5), 86. Retrieved from www.schoollibraryjournal.com.

Library Uses: Students could write words to go with the pictures in this book.  They could also draw pictures and write a story for what they think will happen next as the pigs begin to go on their adventure.  

Module 3 - Sylvester and the Magic Pebble

Citation: Steig, W. (2005). Sylvester and the magic pebble. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers.

Book Summary: Sylvester the donkey finds a magic pebble that will make all his wishes come true as long as he is holding the pebble.  He wishes to make the rain stop, the sun to appear back in the sky, and a wart to disappear.  Everything is going fine until he encounters a lion on his way home and, in a panic, wishes to be a rock.  He turns into a rock and then wishes to be himself again, but nothing happens because he is not holding the magic pebble.  His parents begin to worry about him.  A long time passes and his parents still have not found him.  When they take a picnic to the field where Sylvester is, they find a pebble that he would have loved.  They put it on top of the rock.  Sylvester wishes to be himself again and he is finally reunited with his parents.   

My Impressions: Children love reading about things that are magic.  I have read this book to my students for several years, and it always captures their imagination. Just as they think Sylvester will never figure out a way to change back into a donkey, it happens in the most unlikely way. 

Professional Review: My particular choice is William Steig's Sylvester and the Magic Pebble because it is about magic contained within small, overlooked, and undervalued things. One hundred years from now, books in general may be overlooked and undervalued. An encounter with Steig's beguiling tale just might be enough to prompt future nonreaders to take in hand or hoof other long-shut books gathering dust in and around the geodesic dome, and to find out what they are good for.

Marcus, L. S. (2000). [Review of Sylvester and the magic pebble by William Steig]. Horn Book Magazine, 76(6), 652-652. Retrieved from http://www.hbook.com/horn-book-magazine/

Library Uses: This is a great book to use to introduce higher level vocabulary to students.  Students could learn dictionary skills by looking up unfamiliar words, or they could practice using context clues to determine the meaning of words. 

Module 2 - Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

Citation: Viorst, J. (1987). Alexander and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. New York. NY: Atheneum Books.

Book Summary: Alexander starts his day off by waking up with gum in his hair, but that is just the beginning.  Things get progressively worse for him throughout the book as he has to sit in the middle seat on the way to school, finds out he has a cavity, falls in the mud, and gets in trouble at his dad's office.  He threatens to move to Australia, but his mom ensures him that bad days happen, even in Australia. 

My Impressions: I have always loved this book.  I think it is an easy book that kids can relate to.  Everyone has bad days every now and then.  The things that happen to Alexander throughout the story as he gets in fights with his brothers and his friend Paul tells him that he is his third best friend are common problems that children encounter.  This book helps children see that they are not alone and that things will get better.  The black and white illustrations are a perfect accompaniment to this story. 

Professional Review: Of all the books out there that deal with schadenfreude, none do it quite so well as Alexander. Now there’s a kid who just cannot win. If he isn’t losing his cash in Alexander, Who Used to Be Rich Last Sunday then he’s protesting a new living situation (not in Australia) in Alexander, Who’s Not (Do You Hear Me? I Mean It!) Going to Move. Of course he started life in this book where everything that could possibly go wrong does. The perfect antidote to any adult that claims that childhood is one sweet, blissful, stress free ride of innocence and carefree days.

Dean, K. (2009, April). Top 100 picture books poll results. [Review of the book Alexander and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day]. School Library Journal.

Library Uses: This would be a good book to use with younger elementary school students to discuss feelings and how to cope when this aren't going their way. 

Module 2 - Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs

Citation: Barrett, J., & Barrett, R. (1978). Cloudy with a chance of meatballs. New York: Atheneum.

Book Summary: This book starts off with a grandfather telling his grandchildren a story about a land called Chewandswallow.  The people in the land of Chewandswallow do not have any food stores or restaurants.  They eat whatever falls from the sky.  Each day, the weather forecasters give the forecast about what food will fall from the sky next day.  Everything is fine until the food keeps falling from the sky and will not stop.  So much food falls that the people cannot eat it all and the town is a wreck.  The school has to be closed when a giant pancake falls on it and no one can get inside.  The people had to leave the town and set up a town made out of food in a new place.  

My Impressions: I remember reading this story when I was a child.  Kids today still love hearing this story about food falling from the sky.  The book has become even more popular after the movie version came out a couple of years ago.  This is a very creative story that allows children to imagine what life would be like if food really did fall from the sky.  

Professional Review: Gr 1-3-- In the town of Chewandswallow, the citizens enjoy the bounties of the skies, and open-roofed restaurants allow diners to catch their dinner. Unfortunately, the weather takes a turn for the worse, and there is no choice but to flee from the falling food. The detailed pen-and-ink illustrations begin in black and white, but as the tale progresses, colors join the black line details. A savory story to share over and over again.

Gallagher, G. (2006, July). [Review of the book Cloudy with a chance of meatballs, by J. Barrett and R. Barrett]. School Library Journal, 52(7), 45-45. Retrieved from www.schoollibraryjournal.com.

Library Uses: This is a great book for a story time with younger children.  Children could also participate in a writing activity where they write what happens to the people after they set up their new town that is made out of food.  

Module 1 - The Giving Tree

Citation: Silverstein, S. (1964). The giving tree. New York, NY: Harper & Row.

Book Summary: This book tells the story of a little boy who grows up and visits a certain tree each day.  He gathers leaves, plays games, climbs the tree, uses it for shade, and eats the apples produced by the tree. As the boy grows older, he falls in love and starts to visit the tree less frequently.  The tree calls out to the boy, now man, and asks him to come and enjoy some of the activities of his youth, but he responds that he is too big and instead requests money.  The tree gives the man her apples to sell.  When the man is a little older, he returns to the tree, this time needing a house.  The tree offers the man her branches to use to build a house.  After many more years, the man returns and wants a boat.  The tree allows him to cut down her trunk to build a boat.  The tree is reduced to a mere stump with nothing left to offer the man.  The aging old man returns several years later, and the tree informs him she has nothing left to give.  The boy replies that all he needs is a place to relax, and he sits down to rest on the stump.  

My Impressions: This is a very simple story, but I think it is a story to which readers can easily relate.  I like the simple illustrations and I think they suit this book well.  While it is written as a children's book, I think adults can appreciate this book more than children.  

Professional Review: The Giving Tree shares the story of a young boy and his lifetime relationship with a certain apple tree. But it is much more than that. It is also a story of giving (and taking or receiving), friendship, happiness, loyalty, sacrifice, gratitude, happiness, and most importantly—love. The tree ultimately gives everything for the boy without receiving much in return. The theme or message of the book has been interpreted in many different ways. It can be very simply understood by a second grader, or an adult can search for a deeper meaning.

Brodie, C. (2009, September)  The giving tree by Shel Silverstein - a forty-five year celebration.  [Review of the book The giving tree, by S. Silverstein].  School Library Monthly 26(1), page 22.

Library Uses: This would be a good book for a story time.  The librarian could ask children about anything that is special to them in the same way that the tree is special to the boy in the story.